“We used to have magic?” William asked in surprise.
“Yes, but that was millennia ago. It no longer exists.”
“What was it?”
“Knowledge,” she answered, “the ability to know.”
“But I feel his energy,” Elizabeth defended, still holding his hand. “I feel it.”
William’s face shouted confusion, but he focused on her hand. It felt so soft against his skin, so nice. “Well, the only person that would probably know anything would be Thrix,” he said. “Perhaps I should ask him about what just happened.”
“No,” Elizabeth said.
Victoria shook her head, too. “I don’t think we should. He’s acting strange, and his secrecy unnerves me.”
“But you can clearly use the map,” Elizabeth said excitedly.
“Which requires magic,” Victoria brought up again. “You must possess something more than the rest of your family.”
Elizabeth slowly pulled her hand away and William stared at his hands again. “I bet Tolin could help you find answers,” she suggested.
“What answers?” Max asked as he approached them and stared at his brother. “What are you talking about over here? I saw Thrix walking away, and his face looked angry.” He paused as the others didn’t respond; his attention alternated between the three, sensing the tension between them. “So what’s...”
Elizabeth took Max’s hand but quickly released it, shaking her head. “I don’t feel the same energy in him.”
Max stared back in confusion, his brow lowered and hands raised. “What’s she talking about, brother,” he asked William. “What’s going on?”
“I could use the map,” he answered. “Elizabeth claims that I have an ‘energy’ within me, the kind that Thrix possesses but even stronger.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“How can that be?” Max asked.
“Well, magic is passed on through generations,” Victoria explained. “That’s the only way. But you would all have it if one of your parents did, though I know your father doesn’t possess the ability. Therefore, it must’ve come from your mother, Queen Valencia.”
“Well, I’m not his blood brother,” Max shrugged. “Both of our parents differ.”
Elizabeth thought aloud. “When I healed Richard, I sensed no…” her voice trailed off. She walked towards Richard and the others followed.
She reached down to Richard on the ground, gently touching his hand and closing her eyes. Richard shifted slightly but otherwise stayed still, quietly snoring away while curled up into a ball. Elizabeth stood, shaking her head, and stared directly into William’s eyes. Her stare was piercing; it even frightened him. She took his hand again and closed her eyes. Upon opening them, she revealed her brilliant, faintly glowing light green eyes as she tightly squeezed his hand.
“Only you carry the gift, William.”
Chapter XXVII
“Why are you here, Thrix?” Aroden asked as the two of them stood beside Thrix’s huge brown horse.
“To ensure the stone’s safe return to Brymar,” he calmly answered while securely holding the reins to his horse. “This realm must not fall because of it.”
“Then why not tell us more about it? Why keep so much from us?”
“Because it would break my oath,” he answered. “And because this world would destroy itself if it knew the power of the stone.”
Aroden squinted, his patience waning. “Which one are you, Thrix? A mentor that plays alchemist with my youngest son, a traveller that plays games on us in Orwell, or are you here for another reason, perhaps one that’s more self-serving?”
“Watch your tongue, King Aroden,” he sternly warned. “You would be wise not to anger me.”
“Or you will kill me?” Aroden tested.
He didn’t respond.
“Why did you play such trickery on my family, Thrix? Why focus on us?”
“I need to gain passage into Brymar.”
Aroden’s brow lowered. “It seems you shouldn’t have left Brymar in the first place, then.”
“I had to,” Thrix muttered, “so that you could find it and call it your own. The choice was not mine to make.”
“Why would you want my family to live there?”
“To be able to easily watch over you and your family,” Thrix answered. “Who do you think has been helping you this whole time?”
Aroden didn’t respond.
“The enemy bodies in the streets of Orwell killed by magic, or in the caverns,” Thrix continued, his white feathered, black-shafted arrows proudly on his back, “who do you think killed that vile leader of the Laskil Order?”
“It was you?” Aroden asked. His anger cleared as he put together the pieces.
Thrix nodded. “You would not be standing here were it not for me, nor would anyone else in your family.”
Aroden gulped. “I owe you gratitude, then,” he regretfully muttered.
Thrix shook his head, the frustration still evident in his eyes. “I have little use for your gratitude,” he spat back. He scoffed. “You too easily forget your past, King Aroden – a dangerous mistake to make.”
Aroden’s brow lowered. “I do not understand your meaning.”
“You keep secrets from you family, King Aroden. Do you so easily forget your time with the Master Architect, Elitheria?”
The statement almost caused Aroden to lose his footing, the blood draining from his face at the mere mentioning of her name. “You know then,” he said, and Thrix affirmed.
Labouring under the memory, Aroden continued. “I had no idea her role until I heard the story from Zed’s book this morning.” He paused, almost to himself, “The Master Architect…and to think the information was in Zed’s library all this time.” Aroden looked at Thrix, “But why all of this?”
Thrix spoke. “I know of the bond you once shared. Elitheria ensures her children are protected in these tumultuous times; surely you would know this.”
Aroden exhaled slowly. “Then Elitheria sent you to protect her son in Brymar,” he blurted out. “She sent an Eternal?”
“Very good, King Aroden,” Thrix nodded. “Why else would she demand that he remains in my own personal quarters of Brymar?”
“So that’s why Brymar was abandoned when we found it.” Aroden considered the revelation.
Thrix’s expression soured. “I would never have left otherwise.”
“That was from a time long ago, Thrix, and I upheld my agreement with her.”
“You shunned your son,” he corrected, “shunned her son. You displeased Elitheria, King Aroden, and she’s not one to displease lightly.”
“But she hid her identity from me,” Aroden stuttered. “I loved her with every ounce of my being, but she left me.” He paused as the pain swelled in his chest. “I took care of our son as agreed upon; he lived a royal life, even though it pains me to see him every day in Brymar, seeing Elitheria’s eyes in him staring back at me.”
“You lie,” Thrix emotionlessly accused as he stared into Aroden’s watery eyes. “He lived far from a royal life in Brymar.”
Aroden paused, his sadness replaced by frustration. “Then why are you here with me? Why play tricks on Richard and Brian? If Brymar is your home, and Elitheria’s son is there, then why travel with us?” Aroden angrily demanded, his fists clenched. “You do a poor job of protecting Elitheria’s son in Brymar if you’re here with us and misleading mine!”
“Lower your voice, you fool!” Thrix ordered, his eyes glowing a brilliant red. A few of the nearby Arraci even approached, but Aroden shooed them off. “I do protect one of her sons, here. While one resides in Brymar, the other travels amongst us, yet you are too blind to see it.”
Aroden’s eyes widened, and he peered around them. “You must explain yourself.”
“You overstep your bounds, King Aroden. I do not answer to you.”
“Please, Thrix,” Aroden begged, his anger dissipating. “I must k
now. I had only one child with her, carry only one painful burden. Please, tell me this is true.”
He didn’t respond.
“No,” Aroden muttered, already knowing the answer.
“Another child of Elitheria walks amongst us, one whose heritage is split between royalty and divinity.”
“It’s not possible,” Aroden declared. “You deceive.”
“Believe what you wish.”
“Who, Thrix, who is the other? Please, tell me who it is.”
“I will not.”
Aroden sighed in despair. “I wish to speak with Elitheria,” Aroden spouted out. “Please, Thrix, I must speak with her.”
“You dare to demand an audience?” Thrix boomed back.
“No, no,” Aroden stuttered, “but you tell me nothing. How can I act without knowing what I must act upon?”
“You must do nothing,” Thrix said. “The stone must return to Brymar to restore the barriers between the realms. Upon our return, Elitheria’s two children will be safely behind the walls of Brymar. The Master Architect demands this.”
“But you leave me no choice.”
“No,” Thrix said as he turned to leave him, “I do not.”
*************************************************************
“What are you saying?” William demanded as he sternly peered into Elizabeth’s eyes. “I don’t understand.”
Max put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We should speak with father before we say anymore here.”
“I will go right now,” he declared.
“Wait,” Victoria said. “Aroden is talking to Thrix right now.”
They looked at them on the other side of the road. “Our father appears upset,” Max commented.
William kept staring at his hands. “What’s inside of me?” he asked Elizabeth. “Can I do magic then, or is it something else?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I’ve never felt a power like that. I assume you could do some form of sorcery, but I don’t know what.”
“Their conversation has ended,” Max pointed out.
“Let’s go,” William said, practically pulling Max along with him.
The group walked across the narrow dirt road and approached Aroden, who paced back and forth. His brow was creased, his fist clenched, yet his eyes carried more sorrow than anger. After seeing the group, he stopped walking and curiously looked at them. He stood up straight, his hands restless, before he finally decided to place them behind him. William could see concern in his eyes but ignored it, stopping right in front of him and blurting the question out.
“Do I have the same mother as Richard?”
Aroden didn’t respond, his mouth frozen as he thought of Thrix’s words.
“Father, answer my question.”
“Why would you ask this?”
“Elizabeth finds a strong energy within me, one that I don’t share with Richard. It’s passed down from parents, father, and Richard doesn’t have it, but I do.”
“No,” Aroden muttered. “It’s not possible.”
“Answer my question.”
Aroden stuttered at first and after giving up on words, he finally managed to shake his head, his glossy eyes shooting to the ground. William stared back in shock; he felt light-headed, as if the world spun around him and the ground shook beneath him. All of them stood there in silence as the truth struck. His body felt numb, as he barely felt his brother’s hand touch his shoulder. He cast away his focus on Aroden and turned to Max, who shared the disbelief.
A small voice from behind them jolted William from his thoughts. “You left me alone,” Lilia said as she moved closer to William. Victoria stood beside the girl with a hand on her shoulder, but Lilia continued to speak. “You said you wouldn’t.”
But William didn’t say anything back. He couldn’t summon words, could barely conjure the strength to stand. His eyes finally met Aroden’s. “Did you know?” he mumbled out quietly before raising his voice. “Did you know, father?”
“I didn’t,” Aroden answered with his hands raised. “I didn’t know either.”
William said nothing.
“I just found out,” Aroden continued. “I’m sorry William, I didn’t know the truth. I swear it.”
“Thrix,” William mumbled to himself. “He just told you.”
“Yes.”
William stared at his hands again. “What am I, father? I’m not like you or Richard. I have some kind of…power within me.”
“Yes, you do.” Aroden paused. “Thrix believes you to be a son of Elitheria, the Master Architect.”
“Elitheria?” William interjected, stunned with disbelief. “The deity that Zed has been speaking of?”
The rest of the group remained in shocked silence around him.
“Yes,” Aroden sighed, the pain in his eyes. “This all began well before my time with Valencia, William, before I had grown into the man I am today.” He shook his head with watery eyes. “I don’t know how this could happen; I am so sorry.”
William looked into his father’s eyes with incredulity. “I need answers,” William demanded.
“You are my son, William,” Aroden declared. He approached to put a hand on William’s shoulder, but William staggered away. “Nothing will ever change that. You are my son, and Valencia was your true mother.”
“But not my blood mother,” he countered to himself.
Aroden didn’t respond.
William shook his head, the pain in his eyes almost unbearable for Aroden to see. “I don’t understand, father.”
“William,” he started but struggled to finish. “Elitheria approached me while I was a young man. I was mesmerised by her beauty, her charm, by her kindness and sincerity,” he continued, “but knew nothing of her identity. I loved her, William, but she left one day without explanation. I know not her motive, but she brought me you, William, and Valencia and I have loved you ever since.”
“Did my mother…” he hesitated, “did…Valencia…know of this?”
“No,” Aroden immediately answered, “nor did I. We believed you to be born from her womb. The entire kingdom celebrated your coming into this world!” He managed to put a hand on William’s shoulder. “I swear to you, William,” he started, “I only just learned of this now.”
William’s hands clenched into fists and he brushed off his father’s hand. “I must speak with Thrix.”
Aroden nodded. “I doubt he will say much.”
“But I must still try,” William decided, ignoring his words. He walked away from his father, his heart heavy and breathing shaky.
Lilia tried to keep up as William ran but couldn’t. Victoria gently picked her up. Elizabeth followed closely behind him, her expression dark, with Max beside her. She reached for William’s hand and turned him around to face her. “Stop,” she whispered while the others stood around them. The softness of her touch took him by surprise as he looked into her beautiful eyes. She stared into his before diverting to the ground. “I didn’t know this would happen, that my discovery would cause you so much pain,” she said. “I’m sorry, William. I…”
“You found the truth,” he shot back, fighting back his frustration. He took a deep breath, his chest almost too tight to inhale, and looked to the starry sky above. “I no longer know who I am or…” he looked to the hand she held, “what I am.”
“You are still my brother, William,” Max said. “This doesn’t change that.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a full blood brother with any of my brothers, now,” he said. “And my mother, the person who bathed me and nurtured me into adulthood, the one I’ve mourned for years, isn’t my blood mother. After all this time, it’s been a lie, a deception.”
“You mustn’t think like that, brother…”
“I don’t know what to think,” William shot back. He felt Elizabeth squeeze his hand but pulled away. “I must speak to Thrix.”
“Are you sure?” Max asked. “Do you really want to hear his answe
rs?”
“I must.”
He charged up to Thrix, who’d moved his horse away from the rest of the Arraci beneath a single, thick old tree. While brushing his horse and eating a massive loaf of bread, he looked up to see the others approach but didn’t deviate from his tasks. In fact, even when William stopped in front of him, he continued to groom his horse and eat his bread, ignoring the group entirely until William finally spoke up.
“Thrix,” William sternly called, “I must ask you a question.”
“Questions can be dangerous,” Thrix answered without making eye contact. The rough bristled brush passed over the horse’s thick dark brown coat. “Speak plainly if you must.”
“My mother,” William started, but he paused after seeing Thrix’s expression harden. “Who was she?”
“Is,” Thrix corrected. “Who is she would be the question, but that’s not for me to say,” he said.
“Who is this Elitheria?” William followed. Thrix remained silent as he groomed his horse, though William could sense he had become uneasy with the mentioning of Elitheria. “You are in contact with her?”
He nodded.
“Why will you not tell me about her then?”
“It would break…”
“Your oath,” William finished in frustration. “Can you not tell me anything?”
“No.”
“Then….” William sighed. He buried his head in his hands and stood silently. “I need to know where I come from.”
Thrix shook his head and remained quiet. William turned to leave, but Thrix called after him. “I watched over you,” Thrix said, “witnessed you grow into a man, not the other one. You may yet be worthy to meet your mother one day.”
William sighed at his cryptic words. “What other one?”
Thrix turned his back. “I have said too much. Go, I have nothing more to say on the matter.”
William shook his head. Thrix’s words brought more questions than answers. What other one? And why would no one answer his questions? The others followed him as he returned to his horse. Victoria put Lilia down again, her walk a little wobbly from sleepiness as she approached William, looking up with her light brown eyes and dirty blonde hair.
The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1) Page 31
