by Garry Spoor
“Little guy, patch on one eye?”
“Yeah, that’s the fellow.”
“Yeah, well, he won’t be around much longer. He’s going to have a terrible accident.”
“I see, so you know him?”
“We’re acquainted,” she replied.
Roland guided her toward the doors which led out onto the balcony. The cold night air was refreshing and she could smell the flowers from the garden below. It was a vast improvement over the smells of the vir, crowded in the one room. Leaning on the railing, she looked up into the night sky. The moon wasn’t quite full, but the stars were bright.
“I also wasn’t lying when I said you were a remarkable young woman.”
She turned and looked at him. “When did you say that?” she asked.
“Well, maybe I didn’t actually say it, but I thought it.”
“There’s nothing remarkable about me,” she said, turning back to the night sky.
“I don’t know if you’re being modest or stubborn,” he said as he crossed the balcony to stand beside her. He looked out, over the rail, but he wasn’t looking at the stars, he was looking at the twinkling lights of Forthbar. Closing his eyes, he shook his head and sighed. “They’re looking to me for answers, and I don’t have any,” he said.
Kile glanced over at him. It seemed a little odd for the King to be sharing this information with a nobody.
“You have to know the questions before you can give the answers,” she replied.
He laughed, “That’s why I have advisors.”
“Maybe they’re not asking the right questions.”
Leaning against the railing, he turned to look at her.
“What questions would you ask?”
“I was never very good at understanding war or politics.”
“Which is probably why you’re the best person to ask. You’re also not one to mince words, like some of my advisors. They fear to say what is on their minds.”
Kile shrugged. “I suppose the first question I would ask is, ‘What does your brother want?’”
Roland turned back to the twinkling lights of the city.
Great, now she managed to depress the King.
“I’m sorry.” she apologized, touching his arm. “That’s probably why I don’t get invited to these things. I always manage to say the wrong thing.”
He chuckled. “No, you’re absolutely right. We’ve always skirted the issue of who Ravenshadow is. I guess it’s easier, referring to him by that cryptic name, than to acknowledge him.”
“But he is your brother.”
“He was my brother.” Roland replied. “But we already know what he wants. He wants the crown, the one which is rightfully his.”
“Is that really what you think?”
“What else could it be? My brother seeks what is rightfully his, and he will take it by force if necessary.”
This was the one thing Kile never understood, the one thing she could never agree with, because it just didn’t make any sense. Of course, none of it actually made sense, not to her, but she already admitted, she knew very little about politics, government, wars or the likes. To her, it was all unnecessary, and it was to her advantage to keep her nose out of it altogether. She had her own problems to deal with, and decided it was best to keep her opinions to herself.
“I think you’re wrong,” she heard herself say.
Well, that didn’t last too long.
“Do you now?” Roland replied. There was a slight edge to his voice.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said, pushing herself away from the rail. She wanted to return to the others, but Roland stopped her.
“No, please, explain.”
“I don’t know why I said that because I don’t really understand any of it. I’m just a Hunter who’s in way over her head.”
“No, you have an opinion, and I would like to hear it.”
“It’s just… why would your brother even want the crown?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.
“Not to me.”
“He wants to rule the kingdom, he wants to be the King, he wants power,” Roland replied.
“Any you believe this?”
“What else is there?”
“Would you follow him?”
“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”
“It’s a simple question. Would you follow him?”
“Of course not,” Roland said, turning away from her. “I may not agree with what was done to him, but I can understand why they did it. My brother was a cruel and vindictive man who craved power.”
“What about them?” she asked, pointing to the light of the city. “Will any of them follow him? Will any of them lay down their weapons and follow him if he became King tomorrow?”
“No, the people of this province and every province will rise up against him.”
“Even if they knew he was the rightful heir to the thrown?”
“What are you saying?” Roland asked.
“You said it yourself. Ravenshadow, by law, is the rightful King. If he truly wanted the crown he could just take it. He could walk into Azintar, reveal his true identity to the people and claim what is rightfully his. The people would accept him, if they knew he was Jonland Waltair, the true heir to the throne. But instead, he chose to start this war. He turned their Lord against the crown. He released the Uhyre into their province. Even if he came forward now and reveal who he truly is, the people will never accept him.”
“But, if he doesn’t want to rule…?”
“He doesn’t want to rule, he never wanted to rule, he wants to destroy. He wants to see the kingdom burn.”
“How do you know this?” Roland asked.
Kile shook her head. “I don’t… I don’t know. I’ve seen him and he’s… he’s not… normal.”
“Normal, what do you mean he’s not normal?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. There was something off about him, something that just didn’t fit. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I think I do now. I think he is in some way connected to the… Maligar.”
When she finally voiced what was nagging in the back of her mind for so long, she knew she was right. Although it wasn’t something she could explain, not to him or anyone else. How does one explain the Maligar? But it didn’t stop him from asking the question.
“The what? What is this…? Maligar?”
“I can’t explain it, because I don’t really understand it myself.” She said, turning away from him.
“Kile, if you know something…”
“I don’t know anything. Not for certain, anyway. All I know is… I’m afraid.”
“You have nothing to fear, while I’m with you.” Roland said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She quickly spun around and King stumbled back.
“Kile. Your eyes….”
She held her hand up to silence him. “It’s here.” She said, falling into her Edge. She had gotten careless, she dropped her guard and now it was in the keep. As she stretched out her consciousness, she became aware of the disturbance in the natural world, and she wasn’t the only one. She could hear the dog howling throughout the city of Forthbar, the horses in the courtyard had become agitated, even the rats, within the keep, were trying to escape.
“Kile, what is it? What’s here?”
“The Maligar.” She whispered.
“My Lord,” a young man called from the doorway. Kile quickly turned her back to him, the last thing she needed was for him to see her eyes. Let him think he was interrupting a chance meeting between his King and some young woman. Of course, it wasn’t that far from the truth, she realized. Wow, that made things a lot more awkward.
“What is it?” Roland asked.
“They’re here, my Lord.” the messenger replied.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Roland told her before he turned and headed back to the hall. He stopped beside the messenger. “You, stay here. Watch over her,” he whispered.
“Sire?”
“Do as I say.” The King commanded.
“Of course, sire.”
She heard the door open and got a whiff of the vir in the overcrowded room. The smell was disgusting, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary. She could also hear their voices, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. They all ran together and it sounded a lot like a rock slide, just a loud noise on an unbearable level.
Gripping the railing she stared out at the city of Forthbar. Why now, she asked herself. Why is the Maligar here? Who just arrived? Did their arrival have something to do with the Maligar, or was it just a coincidence? She needed answers, and waiting for Roland to return wasn’t going to get her any.
Turning, she headed to the door.
The messenger stepped in front of her.
“I’m sorry miss, you’re going to…”
She made the mistake of looking at him.
Sometimes the freaky eyes come in handy, she thought as she pushed past him. The young man made no further attempt to stop her, in fact, it looked as if he didn’t want anything more to do with her.
The room was dark, but it didn’t seem like anyone noticed. It was only dark for her, because she was the only one who could see the Maligar, or its lingering effects. It wasn’t here, not quite, not as it was on the battlefield where Captain Jax died, this was only a shadow of it, one long tendril, reaching through to the mortal realm.
Kile squeezed her way through the crowd until she managed to get into the front line, and that’s when she saw them. They entered through the far doors and slowly walked between the rows of spectators. She watched them as they got closer, and that’s when she recognized them. They were Alva. Tall and lean, with long blonde hair and sharp features, almost otherworldly. They carried themselves with a grace unmatched by the vir. Although they existed in the mortal realm, some small part of them walked in the natural world. Closing her eyes, Kile fell into her Edge, and this time she could see what they truly looked like, and what she saw, unnerved her. They did not appear so comely in the darkness. Shadows of a grotesque shape, a mockery of the vir, they staggered through the crowd. Nobody was moving, they were just watching these abominations make their way toward the King.
Somebody placed a hand on her shoulder. “Commander, we were wondering where you went off to.”
She turned to look at Tullner.
“Kile, what’s wrong?” he asked when he saw the look on her face, or it could have been her eyes, they were usually a dead giveaway.
She tried to explain, she tried to tell him what those things were, but she wasn’t sure if she was actually saying anything. From the look on the young soldier’s face, if she did say something, it wasn’t intelligible. She saw the long knife in his belt. Of course, they were allowed to keep their weapons, nobody feared them. She quickly seized the blade from Tullner. He grabbed her arm, and she drove the heel of her boot into his foot. She tried to apologize, but she wasn’t really sure what she said, if she said anything. Breaking away from the crowd, she could see the shadowy things clearer now. They were vir like, with long smoky appendages, walking bow legged with their knees on backwards. One turned to look at her, or at least she thought it looked at her, it had no face. She gripped the long knife tightly and lunged forward, but before she could strike, there was a loud whoosh. She was momentarily weightless when something hit her, or she hit something. Either way, everything went black.
***~~~***
20
Kile opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. There was a soft orange glow splashed across the room, and a pleasant smelling breeze, filled the air. The bed was softer than any she could remember and the blanket was of Eiderdown. She wanted nothing more than to pull the sheets over her head, turn over and go back to sleep. To forget about everything that happened over the past, say, three years. Until she realized she was waking up in a hospital room… again. With the number of times she’s woken up in an infirmary, she should forgo her plans of writing a book on adventuring and her ideas of mapping the kingdom and concentrate instead on reviewing hospital facilities. How many times did this make now, three, four? She was beginning to lose count. She stretched out her legs, then her arms. No chains or shackles this time; that was always a good start.
“Where am I?” She asked, sitting up.
“I suppose if they had a nut-house, this would be it.”
Kile turned to where a young man sat at a table beside an open window. The sunlight, behind him, was making it difficult for her to see who he was. Of course, blurry morning vision didn’t help either. She squinted as the young man rose from his chair and approached. He wasn’t very tall.
“Alex, is that you?” She asked.
“It’s about time you woke up,” Alex said when he reached her bed.
His clothes were worn and frayed and had, what looked like, a layer of road dust. A tattered gray cloth was tied around his head, covered his missing eye. Although he looked shabby, aside from his healing wounds, he appeared to be in good health.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Hey, that’s my line,” he said, sitting on the bed beside her.
“Are you still… working?”
He looked down at his clothes and laugh. “What? You mean this?” he said, slapping at his tunic. Small puffs of dust rose from the leather. “This is all for show,” he added.
“For show?”
“Yeah, I tell stories down at the pub now. If I was to go in there wearing clean clothes, the patrons don’t take me seriously. They ignore me, but if I show up, looking like I just came off the battlefield, they’re eager to hear my tales, and they tip better.”
“I heard about those stories you’ve been telling.”
“Oh, you have, huh?” he replied sheepishly.
“Yes, I have,” she said. “Can’t you tone them down a bit?”
“I tried, really. I mean, I tried to stay true to the actual events, but, let’s face it, they were kind of boring. My public wants excitement, danger, adventure, romance, you know.”
“Romance?” Kile shouted, sitting up. “What romance? Whose romance?”
Alex slowly got up from the bed and backed away from her. “Oh, so you haven’t actually heard all my stories,” he replied.
“Alex. What romance? There is no romance.”
“It’s what the people want.”
“I don’t care what the people want. I don’t want my private life being played out in miniature to a bunch of drunken soldiers.”
“Hey, they are not all drunken soldiers.” Alex said proudly. “I’ll have you know I have been asked to perform before the King, himself.”
“When?”
“Two days ago, when the King arrived. They sent for me down at the Flatten Sparrow. He heard about my stories and he wanted me to perform a few for him.”
“Which stories?”
“Well, I tried to do a few from the Legendary Wizard series, but he wasn’t interested, he wanted to hear the tales of the Wild Hunter. He already knew a few of them. He must be a fan.”
Kile fell back on the bed.
“Well, that explains a lot.” She said to the ceiling.
The door to the room opened, and Daniel quickly stepped in. He was dressed in the white robes of a healer and had a yarrow perched on his shoulder. He glanced out into the hallway and then closed the door quietly behind him.
“Alex, you were supposed to tell me when she woke up,” he said, approaching the bed.
“Come on Danny, she’s only been up about five minutes,” Alex argued.
Vesper leapt from Daniel’s shoulder into Kile’s arms.
“Hay, Vesper, did I freak out again?” she asked the yarrow.
-Kile went funny-
He replied.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
“What, you didn’t see?”
“I wasn’t invited.” He told her, looking over his shoulder at the door. “They’ll be here soon. Tell m
e what happened.”
“Who’s coming?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Some important looking people. Just tell me what happened.”
“What do you want to know? The part where the King tried to hit on me, or the part where I attacked one of the Alva ambassadors.”
“You attacked one of the Alva?” Daniel exclaimed.
“The King hit on you?” Alex shouted, almost at the same time.
“It was nothing.” Kile said, waving it off.
“You tried to kill an Alva ambassador, and you say it was nothing.” Daniel shouted.
“No, not that, the King thing. The ambassador thing, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to pay for that.”
Daniel ran across the room to the cabinet. Throwing open the door, he pulled out Kile’s clothes. “We have to get you out of here,” he said.
“And go where?” she asked.
“Anywhere, but you can’t stay here. Alex, do you think you can create a distraction, long enough for me to get Kile out of the castle.”
“Yeah, sure,” Alex replied, his face beaming with excitement. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Danny, stop.” Kile shouted. “I’m not going to go running off again.”
“Kile, you tried to kill an ambassador. People saw you this time. I don’t think you’ll be able to get out of this one.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t,” she replied.
“What are you saying?” Daniel asked. He dropped the boots beside her bed.
“Danny, I’m a little messed up, in case you haven’t noticed.” She laughed. “I don’t know what happened at the party. I’m not even sure I saw what I saw. Nobody else did. Maybe I had my mind scrambled one too many times.”
Daniel sat on the end of the bed. “You can’t believe that,” he told her.
“Do you have a better explanation?” she asked him.
“You can’t just… give up. The Kile I know doesn’t give up.”
“I’m not giving up, Danny. I’m… I’m just accepting what’s happening.”
“Kile…”
Just then, the door opened and two guards stepped in, followed by a tall, lean man with a sinister-looking black mustache, followed by the King. Both Daniel and Alex fell to one knee, Kile just waved.
