The Channel (The Gifted Book 2)

by C. L. McCourt

Lanne gasped. "Oh my gosh. Rhea."

  Gaibel glanced at Lanne and returned her eyes to the road before her. "Why didn't you ever tell Terrwyn her real name?" Gaibel tried to keep the tone of her voice level, but she'd been a little upset that her daughter didn't use the name she'd been given. Deep down, she knew it made sense. She knew there wasn't a way to ensure her real name was known, but it still bothered her.

  "It would have caused too many questions. I had to be careful what I said. What if someone got too close and overheard me talking to her?"

  Gaibel glanced at Lanne as she rode beside her.

  For a moment, Lanne didn't think Gaibel was going to say anything, but then she nodded. She could see the understanding in her cousin's face, but the pain in her eyes pierced her heart.

  "Thank you for keeping her safe." Gaibel's voice was strained.

  "She'll know you soon. She'll understand." Lanne wanted to reassure Gaibel that Rhea ... that Terrwyn, would love her someday, but the words wouldn't come.

  Gaibel didn't say anything, but pushed harder, faster. She needed to focus on getting to Eantan and ensuring her daughter's safety.

  12

  Packing

  Time returned to normal as Rhea came out of what felt like a trance. Her heart was racing, and her hands were trembling. She ran towards one of the would-be assassins. "I'll check on this one, you check on the other."

  "Rhea! Wait!" Daen shouted.

  She pointed in the direction of the other shooter. "On the other side of the stream, about thirty yards out, you'll find the other."

  She reached the man whose arrow was released seconds after the first. He was dead, with an arrow lodged in his chest. But, instead of the nameless face of a murdering monster, she knew this man. Bestian.

  Rhea hated him for what he'd done to Randell, was furious with him for his attempts to kill her and her friends again. As she looked upon his angry looking face, she felt different. This kill was different than the madmen who had attacked them earlier. Knowing who he was changed things for her.

  Her lungs refused to expand, to allow her to breathe. She did what she had to do. Right? Yes. He'd been warned. Daen told Bestian and Gauvin before they set them free that if they came after them ... Her knees trembled and finally gave out, dropping her to the ground, closer to the man she'd just killed. This time she couldn't hold back, she fell forward to her hands and lost the contents of her stomach.

  Voices around her, voices that she'd blocked out, came rushing back to her. With her eyes closed, she sat back on her heels and took a deep breath before turning to see if Daen had found the other shooter.

  She could feel Randell standing next to her. He was surveying the area around them. "I don't see any others." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "You going to be okay?"

  She nodded and stood, kicking leaves over her the remains of her earlier snack. She took a stabilizing breath before reaching down and relieving Bestian of his bow and quiver. "These may come in handy later."

  Randell reached to stop her from touching the dead man, but he wasn't fast enough. His heart ached for her. He couldn't imagine what she was feeling as he looked onto the face of the man who had kidnapped him and tried to murder him.

  He couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for the guy. He'd been given too many chances to stop what he was doing, but he didn't, and now he was dead.

  Rhea pushed her wobbly legs to take her from the scene. She was committed to not falling apart. She'd saved the lives of her friends. She had defended herself. She'd repeatedly given them warnings, but they wouldn't stop. She didn't do anything wrong. She didn't do anything wrong. She kept saying that over and over in her mind as the guilt pressed the air from her lungs. If she didn't do anything wrong, then why did it feel so bad?

  Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she held them wide, refusing to blink, refusing to let the tears escape and make her appear weak.

  Randell watched Rhea as she slowly made her way back to the clearing. He took a step to follow but stopped, deciding to relieve Bestian of his sword and the knife and pouch tied to his belt. He tossed the pouch in his hand, testing its weight. "I wonder where he got this."

  Rhea reached the clearing just as Daen and Taulin returned carrying items retrieved from Gauvin.

  "I warned them. I told them not come after us." Daen locked onto Rhea's eyes and saw the sheen of tears. He reached out and took her into his arms. "I'm so sorry. It was supposed to be me. I was supposed to rid us of them if they returned."

  Rhea accepted the embrace for a second but then pushed back from his arms. "What's done is done."

  Taulin was staring at her intently, but Rhea didn't care.

  Daen still held Rhea's shoulders, turning her, trying to get her to look at him. "What just happened?" Daen's face was a mix of emotions: fear, anger, pride, curiosity.

  "It was similar to what happened to me during the sword fight. Time slowed. I didn't want you hurt. It was me," she lowered her voice, "but it wasn't me alone."

  "But how did you do it?" Daen asked. "I mean the arrows. They ..."

  "I did that. I sent them back." She nodded. Her voice was straining, a whisper. "I just wanted them to stop."

  Daen took her into his arms again. "Thank you. Are you going to be all right?"

  Rhea stepped back. "I will be." She was numb now, working on autopilot. The little mundane things seemed to be all she could handle. She pressed her hand to her mouth. "I need some gum or toothpaste." She made her way to her belongings.

  Daen watched her, concerned that at any moment she'd fall apart. "Randell, keep an eye on her while I check for any other life in the area."

  Randell watched Rhea disappear behind her horse

  "I see two horses, not far from here," said Daen a moment later. He pointed past Bestian's body. "I'll go get them. They shouldn't be left tied up."

  Taulin was waiting for Rhea when she stood and turned around. "Excuse me, but do you want to tell me what just happened? Who are you?" He pointed into the trees where the dead bodies lay. "And who are they?"

  There wasn't much she could tell him for certain, but since he was now in the same cross-hairs as they were, he had a right to know something. "My name is Terrwyn Gaulette, daughter of Commander Gaibel Gaulette of the Taulomi realm. Someone either wants to capture me or kill me. As for what just happened, my gift just saved us from two men who have been trying to capture me since ..." She stopped, letting her comment just hang there, hoping he wouldn't notice.

  Taulin didn't say anything. He just watched and waited for the woman in front of him to finish. He wasn't sure if he'd gone addle from her beauty or the circumstances of the day had distracted him.

  Rhea shook her head and looked into his eyes. "Everything else about me is speculation." Their faces were inches apart now and her voice was soft. "Now you know who I am. What I am is still open for debate."

  Rhea watched Taulin take in what she'd just shared, and wondered if he would say something, but she wasn't going to wait to find out. She stepped back from him and started to load her horse with her gear.

  They'd just finished when Daen returned with two more horses in tow.

  Randell glanced around him. "It looks like we have a herd. What are we going to do with them?"

  "First, we get them to safety," said Daen. "Then we decide what to do next."

  "How long before ...?" Rhea asked Daen.

  "I told them two or three days, but with these horses, we should be there later today. Hopefully they will be there when we arrive. "

  "We're meeting them in Eantan?" Randell asked.

  "Yep." Daen said as he secure a saddlebag.

  Rhea walked over to the food pile, and before packing it up, she made a cheese sandwich and stowed an apple in her pocket for later. Her stomach had returned to normal, and she was hungry, hungry because she'd left her food on the forest floor and hungry because she'd just used her gift and the energy within her. She c
onsidered the dried meat, but it wasn't the least bit appealing.

  Daen put the jewelry in the saddlebag marked with a crest he didn't recognize. He assumed the bag and jewelry belonged to the family whose crest was engraved in the leather, but he couldn't be sure. "We'll hand this bag over to the authorities when we get into town. Maybe the rightful owners can be found. As for the money, there's no way to know who it belonged to. And to be honest, we can use the funds."

  Randell tossed Daen the bag of coins he had taken from Bestian. "Bestian had this on him."

  "Gauvin had a similar pouch." Daen held up the pouch. "I wonder where they got these horses."

  Taulin pointed to the legs and underbody of one of the two horses. "They're coated in the same reddish dirt as the ones we took from the false warriors. Maybe these two got separated?"

  Daen lifted the hoof of the horse he was standing beside before checking the hooves of a couple others. "It would appear they've, at least, been in the same territory recently."

  Taulin handed Daen some rope. "Here. Use this to tie them in a chain. There aren't enough of us to manage all of them."

  Rhea turned to Taulin. "We're heading for Eantan as well. Do you want to ride with us? Before you answer, remember that two attempts have been made on our lives already. You join us at your own risk."

  She glanced at Daen and Randell looking for any concern they might have. Randell winked and gave her a smirk. Daen shrugged and continued to ready the horses.

  Taulin was already mounting his horse. "I'm not concerned and would welcome your company. Thank you."

  ~~~

  Beth sat quietly on her horse, hidden from the tunnel entrance. It didn't take long for two horsemen to appear. Upon exiting, they stopped to check the tracks.

  "One horse went to the left and two continued on."

  Damn! Beth held very still, praying her horse would do the same.

  "Maybe she's hunting ... like last night?" The smaller of the two men suggested.

  The larger man didn't say anything. He just studied the tracks to the left. Slowly he turned in his saddle and scanned the trail behind and above him.

  Beth didn't breathe. She held her head low by her horse's neck as she tried to stay concealed behind the foliage.

  "Durth? What are ya thinking?"

  "I don't like it."

  "What do you want to do?"

  Durth was quiet, contemplating their next move. The message they'd gotten said to follow three women traveling to meet a woman and man. But there was something about the women they followed, something he didn't trust.

  "We follow the two tracks." Durth snapped his reins and his horse took off, wanting to get away from the tunnel.

  The smaller man hesitated.

  "Berdie! Come on!"

  Berdie kicked his horse and took off after Durth who was well down the trail leading to the road.

  Beth waited for them to get far enough away before revealing herself. She rode the high trail, parallel to the main road, following Durth and Berdie as they headed south to Eantan.

  Gradually, the high trail curved back towards Stone Mountain, forcing Beth to leave the trail and head into Eantan. She'd lost sight of the men for a few moments but found them heading into town.

  She ducked behind the buildings and followed them, out of sight from their prying eyes. The men, she assumed to be spies, stopped at the local livery to stable their horses before approaching the inn at the end of town.

  Beth dismounted and crept closer, leaving her horse tied to the blacksmith's fence rail.

  "How do you know they went inside?" Beth could hear Berdie questioning Durth.

  "Where else would they go?" Durth hesitated and then veered to his right. "We'll go in this way." He headed for the tavern situated at the far end of the inn.

  Beth watched as they made their way inside the tavern before taking her horse to the stables behind the inn. After she paid the attendant to care for her horse, she joined her commander inside.

  13

  The Inn

  The foursome left the bodies of their would-be assassins where they fell, just like they left the six false warriors. They didn't have the time or the means to bury them. The body count was rising, and they hadn't even reached their rendezvous. Rhea wondered when it would end.

  They continued north, along the base of the Kinling Mountains, until the trail forked. Daen took the path to the west, leading away from Kinling and, hopefully, towards their destination.

  As they rode, images of the dead men kept flashing through Rhea's mind. She wanted to cry, scream, and hide, but still held back her tears. She closed her eyes and prayed to whoever might be listening. She needed help dealing with what had happened today, what she'd done. She didn't come here to be this person, a weapon, a killer, but that's how it was starting to feel.

  Rhea reached out for the Libraim, the entity that supposedly had chosen her for this role, but got no response. She opened her eyes again, the feeling of disappointment pressing heavily on her chest and heart.

  "You can't hide from it. You can't make yourself forget. But, in time, you'll find a place for the memories you're having." Rhea recognized Taulin's voice at her side.

  She couldn't look at him or anyone for that matter. "What if I don't want to remember?"

  "We're shaped by our actions. The fact that you grieve for what has happened is good. It means you've not lost your humanity."

  His words were soothing but not enough. "I keep telling myself that it was kill or be killed, but then I wonder if I could've done something different."

  "You mean let yourself or your friends be killed? That's what would have happened if you hadn't defended yourself. The men you fought earlier and the men with the arrows ... they weren't good men and you wouldn't have been the first life they'd taken." Taulin reached out and placed his hand over hers, and the forest disappeared.

  Once again she was in the cavern with the Libraim. Warmth and feelings of comfort soaked into her body, easing her pain. This time, the only image she was given was that of Taulin, coupled with the sensation of being safe. She wanted to stay there, away from the horrors that she'd faced ... the horrors that might yet be ahead of her, but it wasn't to be. In a flash, the forest and all its sounds were back.

  She slowly opened her eyes. "Oh! What are you doing?" Rhea came to in Taulin's arms, almost falling from his horse when she realized where she was.

  "He kept you from falling." Daen explained as he held her horse's reins. "It happened again, didn't it?"

  Rhea nodded and looked up at Taulin. "Um ... thanks. You can let me down now." She slid from his lap to the ground and then got back on her horse.

  Randell came to her side, but before he could ask, she answered him. "I'll be fine." Rhea glanced at Taulin, nodding slightly, silently thanking him for his assistance before she gave her horse a little kick and took the lead, separating herself from the others, needing time alone.

  Randell and Taulin watched her pull away from them, both physically and emotionally. Daen glanced over his shoulder at the two men with a puzzled look. "What did you say to her?"

  Taulin shrugged. "That she shouldn't try to forget."

  Daen held Taulin's gaze while he thought about his advice. He wasn't sure he'd want her to remember the pain, but Taulin was right. He was still quite young for a Luxatran, but he showed maturity.

  Daen returned to his forward position, wondering what kind of hardship the young prince had faced in his short life to give him such insight.

  Rhea thought about what had transpired and wondered if it was a coincidence that Taulin was there when she needed help. She looked over her shoulder, pretending to check on everyone but focused on Taulin.

  Their eyes locked on one another for a brief moment, and her heart fluttered in her chest as she remembered what it was like to wake in his arms. Before Taulin could see the blush rise in her cheeks, she turned to face the trail again, doing her be
st to ignore the mixed emotions that battled within.

  The trail they followed had a slight incline, so when they cleared the forest a couple of hours later, they were at the top of a hill looking down into a valley whose surface was divided into uneven shapes and sizes. In some spaces, they could see livestock, while other spaces held various crops.

  Barns and homes dotted the edges of the valley floor, but high above them, straight across from where the foursome stood, was a town nestled into the hillside.

  Daen pointed straight ahead. "That's Eantan."

  "I'm so ready for food and a bath." Rhea turned to Taulin. "Where are you meeting your brother?"

  "The inn."

  "Which one?"

  He laughed. "There's only one."

  Rhea looked at Daen. "I assume that's where we're going as well?"

  Daen nodded.

  She nodded and took the lead again, making her way down the hill into the valley. Rhea could see the trail wind its way across the valley floor and up the other side to the town. It looked like a fast ride.

  When they arrived in town two hours later, Daen led them to the guard station. Randell made a mental note of everything he could see. He'd seen renderings of medieval castles before, and now he felt like he'd just rode into one.

  There was a tower surrounded by a stone wall. Within the wall, around the base the tower, were smaller buildings he assumed were barracks, maybe some offices. The smoke from one building suggested it might be a dining hall with a kitchen.

  They waited outside while Daen dropped off the personal valuables they had recovered from the false warriors. They didn't know if the items would find their way back to their rightful owners, but they knew they shouldn't keep them.

  "Did they believe you about the false warriors?" Randell inquired as Daen approached his horse.

  "They're going to spread the word."

  "Are we ready to go to the inn?" Taulin was looking to the end of the road where the inn stood out in grand fashion, much different than the Green Tavern. It was built with large stones, as if cut from deep within Stone Mountain. Lights glittered from behind wreaths that hung in the windows, reminding Rhea of the holidays at home.