What Once Was One (Book 2)

by Marc Johnson

  “Of course.” Eliana fixed him a drink. A big mug was set in front of him. Frost hovered above the top. The king took a drink and sighed.

  “Excellent, as always,” Sharald said. He wiped the blue residue from his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “How have you two been doing?”

  “I was just keeping Hellsfire some company here.”

  “And I appreciate it,” I said.

  She smiled with her eyes. “Any time, Hellsfire.”

  “Can you please give us some privacy?” Sharald asked.

  “As you wish,” Eliana said. She motioned to the other elves in the building. All of them left, until it was just the king and me.

  “I wanted a chance to talk before you left, away from prying ears,” King Sharald said. “I’m sorry to hear about your banishment from Alexandria and about what happened with Princess Krystal.”

  I stared at my now empty glass, wishing I had another. “Thank you.”

  “I wish there was something more I could do for you.” Sharald took another sip of his drink. “This reminds me of something long ago.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I wasn’t born to rule. I was third in line, but my older sister died and my older brother abandoned his duties. It had all fallen to me.” He reached for his drink, but then stopped. “There was also a girl involved, before my late wife.”

  “And you chose the throne over her?”

  Sharald sighed. “In a way. It was the toughest decision I’d had to make at that time. It wasn’t long after that I met my wife—a few short years later. I didn’t think it possible, but I loved Liliana far more than I ever did Kaleena. I had thought my heart would never mend over the hole Kaleena’s departure left. I know it doesn’t seem like this now, but you never know what the gods have in store and where it will take you.”

  I didn’t quite believe in what the king said. The pain cut so deeply that I could drink Forest Sunrises until nothing I saw in front of me was real. I nodded, yet couldn’t find my voice.

  The king looked at me with caring eyes. “After the expedition into Southern Shala, I do not know what your plans are, Hellsfire, but you will always have a home here.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  He raised his mug. “To lost loves.”

  I raised mine. “To lost loves.” We clinked our glasses together.

  “I do know some available elves,” Sharald said, leaning in closer. “Eliana’s pretty and single. Plus, you can have all the drinks you can handle.”

  I glanced at the door and frowned. “Thanks, but I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

  “In time, you will be.”

  Eliana and the others eventually came back while the king and I sat and drank. While he had heard the report from Prastian, he wanted to know what the Wastelands were like from a wizard’s point of view. He said it reminded him of when Stradus told him stories when he was younger.

  After more drinks, we eventually left Eliana’s bar. I would like to say I helped the aging king, but he helped me. He steadied me on the bridge and held my arm as we walked down the oak’s stairs. I burst out in laughter when a few of the leaves brushed against me, tickling me. The leaves laughed as they did so, and followed me no matter where I went. The king also chuckled, but more at my state.

  “Hellsfire,” King Sharald said when we finally reached the bottom. “If I wasn’t here, I don’t know how you would have gotten down.”

  “It was the leaves, I tell you. They wouldn’t leave me alone!”

  King Sharald shook his head. “If you say so.”

  Demay ran up to us. He stopped and said, “I was just on my way up to see you.”

  “What is it?” Sharald asked.

  “What’s wrong with Hellsfire?”

  “I’ve had six Forest Sunsets,” I said, holding my hand out. I peered at it, only seeing five fingers. “That’s not six.”

  “He’s had seven, and a Winter’s Chill,” Sharald said.

  “Oh,” Demay said. “And you’re still standing? Anyways, we have visitors.”

  “Who?”

  “The Princess of Alexandria.”

  I grinned at Demay and touched his nose. “Yeah, right. She’s in Alexandria. What would she be doing here?” My smile vanished and I frowned. “I’m never going to see her again except in my dreams.”

  “I’m serious,” Demay said. “She’s here.”

  I stared at my friend and blinked hard until the circling stars around his head evaporated. What was she doing here?

  “Lead the way,” I said.

  We hastened back to the dome and I tried to sober up. The haze in my head didn’t leave me. It only worsened with all the questions of why and how she was here.

  When we returned to the castle, Krystal and Prastian were standing in front of it, engaged in conversation. With her were Ardimus and Rebekah. They stopped talking and approached us.

  I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. She was here and I was so glad to see her. The air dried my mouth and my heart threatened to burst from my chest. I hadn’t thought I would ever see her again. For a brief moment, I thought of the things we could do together, but then remembered that if I ever touched her again, she would die.

  “Your Majesty,” Krystal said, bowing. She gave me a brief smile.

  “Princess, please. Sharald will do.”

  She nodded. “As you wish.”

  “What brings you here?” Sharald asked. “I’m pleased to have you, but this is unexpected.”

  “My father decided to send an expedition into Southern Shala now instead of later. I wanted to catch up with the others before they crossed the Ennis Mountains. Thank the gods I reached you in time.”

  “I thought King Furlong didn’t want you to go?” I asked.

  “I persuaded him to change his mind. This was too great an opportunity to pass up, and it’s best that we all go together.” She stared at me. “Hellsfire, are you all right?”

  Krystal’s violet eyes danced and started to leave her skull. I shook my head several times. “I’m fine, Your Highness.”

  “I’m glad you’re going,” Sharald said. “The more skilled warriors, the better.” He nodded at Ardimus and Rebekah. “Let me have one of my elves show you to your rooms. After you clean up, we can discuss the plan we came up with over dinner.”

  Krystal bowed. “Thank you, Sharald.”

  Two of Sharald’s guards escorted Krystal and her people. I followed them, making small talk and asking how their trip was. I waited to talk to her until she dismissed her guards and we were alone in her room.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, keeping my voice low in case the elves overheard me. “I thought your father forbade you to go.”

  “He did, but as I told you, I persuaded him, and I can be very convincing.” She stepped in close and ran a finger along my chest. I smiled, reminded of how much I missed her and how much she was right. “What happened to you, Hellsfire? Your eyes linger on things and you’re having trouble standing up straight without swaying.”

  “You ever hear of a Forest Sunset?”

  She chuckled. “And how many of those have you had?”

  “Seven, and one Winter’s Chill.”

  “That many! That would explain it. Why so many?”

  “Heartache,” I whispered. I grabbed her hand and intertwined her fingers with mine. “But I’m glad you’re here now.”

  “Me too,” she said, squeezing my hand.

  “I’ll let you get ready, and see you at dinner.”

  “Hellsfire, there’s one last thing. I didn’t only want to come to Southern Shala as a representative of Alexandria or to even fulfill a childhood dream.”

  “No?”

  “No,” she said. “If we get the opportunity, I thought maybe this council of yours or other wizards might be able to help us.”

  I cleared my parched throat. “I would like that. But what about your father? I’m still banished from Alexandria.”

&nbs
p; “One problem at a time.”

  I nodded. “There are a few spells I would like to try that I never got a chance to. They might work.”

  “All right. After dinner. I know this is hard for you, Hellsfire, but it’s hard to be a ruler sometimes. You have to put the good of your people before your own desires.”

  “I never asked you to choose between me or your people, Krystal.”

  “I know that. Yet I have also learned that sometimes what’s best for the princess can be best for the kingdom.”

  I met her eyes and we shared a smile.

  During dinner, we told Krystal and the others what we planned. She agreed with where we should go.

  Afterwards, I examined the princess and worked my magic. But all the rituals and spells I tried failed. My magic just couldn’t penetrate the nexus’s curse. Whatever Premier had done to alter the nexus’s magic allowed it to feed off my magic, using it to strengthen its own.

  Early the next day, we said our goodbyes to King Sharald and left. Since we were headed south, there was one place I wanted to stop that I hadn’t been to for years—home.

  CHAPTER 17

  As we rode into my hometown of Sedah, I was thankful to have a chance to be back and see my mother again, but I was also worried. We rode as fast as we could travel without exhausting the horses, but even stopping here for only a day was wasting valuable time. Premier’s powers had already returned and with each passing day, he was getting farther away from us. And Renak’s warning of the gods’ war still loomed in my mind. I believed him, and if I ran into such a war, I would have to deal with it, and I might never see my mother again. She deserved to see her son, even if it was for one last time. There was also part of me that wanted to know if I could ever return home. Would being a wizard finally get people to respect me, or would they fear and hate me more?

  The windmill marked the entrance to the dusty main road. We trotted our horses up the hill and onto the bridge over the gurgling brook. I smiled, remembering the hours I would spend at that brook, my feet dangling over the sides while I tried to catch fish.

  Not long after, we rode through the farms on the outskirts of town. That old cow with the missing ear chewed on some grass as we passed. I was surprised she was still alive, but Mrs. Bishop loved that gangly cow.

  On the left side was a flock of sheep, running away from the young boy chasing them. I recognized young Corwyn, who was yelling and screaming at the sheep as he tried to corral them. That would never work with Andrick’s sheep. I smiled at how much taller he was, how his brown hair got in his eyes as he ran, and how frustrated he became at that chore. I remembered cursing those dim-witted sheep. I turned my head away when Corwyn stopped and stared at us, fearful of him recognizing me.

  “Corwyn!” Andrick yelled. “Get over here!”

  Corwyn ran away from us and the sheep, heading back to the other backbreaking work Andrick had for him.

  I hadn’t known how I would react actually seeing someone I knew that wasn’t my mother or a close friend. While I had nothing against them, Corwyn and Andrick reminded me of unhappy past memories and experiences I had been through.

  I had been shunned by many of those in town. Shunned because I didn’t worship their one god, even though my mother did. There were only a handful in town who believed in the four gods. I chose to do so like my father did before me, in hopes of seeing him when I died.

  I was also afraid. I had grown up being bullied by the children in town. Before I left, when my powers had just manifested themselves, I had unintentionally burned their leader, Nathan. Luckily, no one saw me do it, but I had always wondered whether he told them, and if they believed him about me. As much as he had picked on me, I had always felt bad about what I did to him. He was the first person that I had hurt with my powers, before I had learned to control them.

  We passed through the surrounding farmlands and entered the town. At the edge of the northern entrance to town was the mayor’s house. It sat on top of a small hill, above the rest of the land, which had leveled out. His was the first house people saw when coming into Sedah, and he liked it that way. I stared at the waist-high wooden fence surrounding it and smirked.

  The princess rode alongside me and asked, “Hellsfire, what is it?”

  “I was just thinking. You see that fence over there?” I pointed to the mayor’s fence. “I broke that section jumping over it.” I left out the part about how I was running from Nathan and his friends at the time. It had been repaired sometime after I left, but it also seemed a lot smaller. I would have no problem jumping it now.

  “And that beech tree we just passed,” I said. “I once fell out of it and broke my arm.”

  “You were very clumsy in your youth,” Behast said.

  Everyone laughed, and so did I. “I’m still clumsy.”

  We continued our ride. It was unsettling. Nothing was as big or as tall as it had been before. The people we rode by were shorter, especially viewed from horseback, and the buildings were smaller. I had been in villages between here and Alexandria, but having spent so much time in Sharald and Alexandria, I had grown used to the multitudes of people and the gigantic buildings needed to accommodate them all.

  There was one building that could rival those I saw in the cities and could hold everyone in the town. It was also the one place I hated to go—the church. It was the oldest building and even now, I saw its looming towers across town. Luckily, I didn’t ever have to go there again.

  The sizzling sound of metal being dumped in water caught my attention. I told the others to wait while I climbed off my horse and crept towards the blacksmith. From his massive size, I thought he might be my old friend Dorian, but when he turned around, it wasn’t him.

  I was ready to leave when an old man came out of the shop muttering about how incompetent and ungrateful his workers were. He wiped his dirty hands on his apron. “Do you need some help?” Emden asked.

  “No. I was just looking for Dorian.”

  “Bah. Did he forge something wrong?”

  “No, I—”

  Emden peered at me, his beady eyes becoming even smaller. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

  I kept my head down and said, “Sorry to bother you, sir. I’ll be going now.”

  “Mmmm.”

  Emden stared at me as I walked away. I turned and saw Kathleen exiting the baker’s shop across the road. My breath left me. Before our eyes met, I looked down at my feet and quickly strode back to the group.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?” Krystal asked.

  I shook my head. “My friend wasn’t there. Sorry to keep you waiting. Let me escort you all to the inn before I head to my mother’s.”

  I led my horse by her reins, using it to block Kathleen from seeing me in case she recognized me. As we walked, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being watched, but I didn’t dare turn around in case I was.

  When we reached the inn, a stable boy came and took our horses away. Jastillian and Behast went inside to get rooms for the night while Prastian and Demay headed for the marketplace. I was going to visit my mother and stay with her. I walked Krystal to the inn’s door. Ardimus and Rebekah hovered around Krystal, doing their best not to look obtrusive.

  “Do you mind if I come with you, Hellsfire?” Krystal asked.

  I stared at her, wondering if that would be a good idea. She didn’t understand where I came from and how poor I had been. She couldn’t. Hers was a life of privilege and battle. “Are you sure, Your Highness?”

  She nodded.

  I sighed. “If that’s what you want.”

  “You two see to the supplies,” Krystal said. “I’ll be back later.”

  “But Your Highness—” Ardimus said.

  “I’ll be fine. Hellsfire will protect me until I return.”

  Ardimus and Rebekah shared a glance. Ardimus nodded. “As you wish.”

  “Good. Hellsfire, let’s go.”

  We began our trek to my mother’s house
. I kept glancing around, watching for both Dorian and Kathleen.

  “Why did you dismiss them?” I asked. “They’re supposed to protect you. What if something happens?”

  “Sedah’s a nice, quiet village. I’m sure nothing will happen.”

  I raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Remember when I first met you?” I had rescued her from two men who had abducted her, in the forest just outside Sedah.

  She brushed aside a lock of hair. “I remember. You protected me then. Are you saying you can’t protect me now?”

  “No, but—”

  “Good.” She leaned against me, laying her head on my shoulder. “You worry too much, Hellsfire. All I want to do is meet your mother. I don’t want to scare her with a bunch of hardened warriors at her doorstep.”

  “Says the woman with a deadly sword swinging on her hip.”

  Krystal gave me a playful bump with that hip and I returned it.

  We strolled to my home, leaving the main road and taking a smaller dirt path. I fidgeted with my robes the entire way, worrying about what the princess would think. Bringing her to Sedah was bad enough, but I hadn’t expected her to want to meet my mother and see my home.

  My mother’s longhouse was at the end of town. The last time I was here, it had been in dire need of repairs. Without my father, my mother and I had to do everything ourselves and there was always another problem to deal with. We didn’t have the money to fix everything. I glanced at Krystal, trying to read her face. What would she think of where I came from, and what would she think of my mother? Would the princess judge us unworthy?

  At the end of the small path was the longhouse. A large ash tree shaded part of it; its long branches had always kept our house cool in the summer. I opened the gate in the lavender fence that now surrounded it. That wasn’t supposed to be there, although my father had wanted to build one. He also had planned to expand the house, as they wanted more children. We had never been able to afford that either.

  Now, though, there was a new stone path leading to the door. The roof sported new shingles and the hinges on the door were no longer hanging at an awkward angle. It seemed that my mother had spent the money I had given her before I left. Money that came from the princess—a reward for rescuing her. Or maybe there was a new man in my mother’s life? How would I feel about that?