“You wish for the next High Protector to kill you for your position?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Rhada asked in a lowered voice. Emeric could see the sadness in her eyes return and he suddenly realized he agreed with her. He knew now what it felt like to be a prisoner and he also knew he would choose death over that fate.
Finally, he nodded in satisfaction. Even though he had not gotten the exact information he wanted from her, he had resolved their problem.
“I will tell Lord Ivran what you have told me.” Rhada nodded in reply.
“Tell me one thing, Emeric.” She said as he stood to leave.
“Yes?” He asked with curiosity.
“What happened to your face?” She was now staring at the bandages that covered his hideous burns.
“I do not wish to speak of that.” He said with annoyance.
“Last I saw of you, you were on your way to seek revenge upon the Queen.”
“So you did see me?” He wondered why she had not said anything to him on the stairwell.
“Yes, I saw you. And I did not stop you because I felt you deserved your revenge.” She cocked her head slightly to the side and asked; “did the Queen do that to you?”
Emeric knew he could not lie to her now. She already knew the truth of what had happened to him.
“Yes.” He replied softly. “I went to her chamber to kill her and she attacked me.”
“With a torch?” Rhada asked, wondering how a small torch could inflict so much damage.
“No.” Emeric shook his head, shuddering at the memory of the naked Queen, conjuring fire from her open palms and throwing it at him.
“She was a witch- a witch that could create flame with her bare hands and control it with her mind.” Even in the darkness, Emeric could see Rhada tense at this news.
“A servant of Amag’mar.” She whispered in fear, as though saying it out loud would make the Lord of Death appear before them.
“Yes.” Emeric replied with the same whisper Rhada had spoken in. “But she got what she deserved; after the damage to my face had been done.”
Rhada looked into his good eye and he could finally see what the rest of the realm saw in her. Her gaze was intense and terrifying. Her eyes could paralyze a man where he stood, but her gaze was also beautiful. Her gray eyes held him captive and no matter how hard he tried, he could not look away. Those eyes could be the death of me.
Emeric shook his head and closed his eye. Do not be a fool! He scolded himself. When he looked back to Rhada, she was looking to him with concern but after a moment, her eyes relaxed and she said; “that explains the King’s strange behavior.”
“What do you mean?” Emeric asked, truly curious.
“Before Lord Ivran beheaded him, the King went mad. They dueled and the King had the upper hand. He was about to kill Lord Ivran when all of a sudden, he dropped his sword and fell to his knees and began begging for his life.”
Emeric scoffed. “The man must have come to his senses and realized even if he killed Lord Ivran, he would not be leaving the castle alive.”
Rhada nodded in agreement. “That is what I thought too but it did not make sense to me. That was very unlikely behavior for King Firion. Even in the face of death he would have killed Lord Ivran just out of spite. If you killed the Queen, then her spell over him would have been broken.”
Emeric tensed as this news washed over him. The King was under the Queen’s spell all these years? The fault was not his. It was the Queen who wanted to destroy the realm. She was the real enemy.
Emeric began to shake all over and he knelt back in the dirt before Rhada. He placed his hands on her shoulders and spoke with an unintended urgency. “If the King was under the Queen’s spell, then perhaps you were as well!” Emeric could not explain his desire to save Rhada but he felt a sudden joy in the knowledge that perhaps she was not to blame for her crimes.
She gazed at him curiously and asked; “what are you saying?”
“I am saying that if you tell me, right here and now, you had been mind-melded by that witch, it would mean you are innocent and I can convince Lord Ivran to set you free!” Rhada’s eyes turned up at his words and suddenly filled with a brightness they had not possessed before. She stared at him for several moments in silent thought. Then just as quickly as the light in her eyes appeared, it disappeared entirely and she looked down in sadness.
“No, Emeric, I was not under the witch’s spell.”
Emeric tightened his grip on her shoulders, wondering what would possess her to deny the possibility.
“Perhaps you did not know you were under her spell?” He asked hopefully.
“I have been mind-melded before.” She replied with anger. “There is no mistaking the feeling of it.” Suddenly, her eyes filled with rage as she spoke. “Everything I did, I did of my own accord.”
Emeric released his grip on her shoulders and stood. He turned his gaze away from her in disappointment and saw, in the dirt, the venison steak he had been feeding to her. He realized that in his excitement, he had dropped it and there was no chance of her finishing it now.
He sighed and turned away from her, unable to look the High Protector in the eyes any longer. He wondered why he had been so eager to save her and the only reason he could come up with was to repay her for saving him.
She deserves this fate. He tried to remind himself. Do not pity her.
“Then there is nothing I can do for you.” He said and he walked away hastily, wanting to leave her behind as quickly as possible.
The farther from Rhada he walked the more lethargic and light his steps became, as though his feet objected to leaving behind the trodden prisoner. His head was swimming and his heart beat furiously inside his chest. He wanted so desperately to turn and look at her; to rush back to her and… and what? There was something about Rhada that had grabbed hold of him and refused to let go- something he could not admit, even to himself.
She is evil! He scolded himself. But as the firelight of the camp became brighter, he was reminded of the Queen’s fire.
The Queen was the evil one. Not even the King had been capable of such malice. He turned his head slightly and peered at Rhada’s silhouette with the corner of his eye. She was looking up to the stars again, perhaps crying once more now that he was not in her presence.
There is not an evil bone in that woman’s body. He could not deny the truth. He knew the look and feel of evil; it was the cause of all the pain in his world. But it did not reside within Rhada.
As he approached Lord Ivran and caught a glimpse of the smile his friend bestowed upon him, he found he could not return the gesture. His heart felt black and cold- full of regret. They were making a terrible mistake, but there was no way Emeric could tell that to Lord Ivran. And so long as Rhada denied the truth of her innocence, Emeric would forever be shrouded in a cloud of guilt.
Chapter 36
Darkness crept over Rhada like the shadow of a predator just before it attacks, and with it came a howling wind that froze the air around her. She lowered her shoulders and pulled her arms in as tight as she could in an attempt to block the chill from stinging her skin. There was not much she could do to stop the cold with her hands tied tightly behind her back, however. She shuddered as the wind picked up speed and surrounded her with its icy grip.
The storm had blown in earlier that day. They had woken with sunlight and blue skies but the day ended with darkness and thick, heavy clouds that drizzled moisture on their heads. Rhada would have given anything for a cloak, but she would not ask for one, and even if she did, she was certain none would be spared for her. Instead, she sat atop her horse and silently shivered against the cold.
As dusk approached, the rainclouds above thickened, making the skies as black as night. Rhada looked up to them and cursed them under her breath for blocking out the stars. She had hoped to get one last look at them before she was locked away forever, but there was only darkness above and all around her- she was already in prison
.
She lowered her gaze once more and rested her chin on her chest then closed her eyes tight and fought back the tears that were coming. She did not wish to look weak in front of her captors. She could not let it show that they had broken her. She choked back her tears and took in a few calming breaths.
As they drew nearer to the shores of the Shattered Sea, the men grew quieter until none of them spoke at all. The darkness seemed to cast a heavy shadow on the procession, turning their moods sour.
As they trudged on, through darkness and doubt, a thick cloud began to close in around them. Rhada was suddenly reminded of the fog she had encountered in the Forest of the Dead and in Tyos and suddenly, her heart began to beat furiously. Her eyes darted every which way, expecting the Lord of Death himself to emerge from the density of the clouds to claim her once and for all.
“I cannot see anything in this cursed fog!” Hadrian shouted from the lead of the procession. The other men all nodded in agreement and began giving their complaints to those around them. Only one voice was silent until all others had subsided.
“Steady on.” Lord Ivran said calmly. Rhada almost turned her head to look at him but decided his was a face she did not wish to see at that moment.
“Continue straight ahead. The shore is not far.”
And indeed it wasn’t. As Lord Ivran’s words faded into the mist, the distant sound of ocean waves beating against hard sand filled their ears. Rhada raised her eyes to look ahead but still could see nothing but the fog. As she looked up, a strong wind blew in from the east, showering her with the scent of salt water.
“The Shattered Sea is just ahead!” Hadrian shouted. He spun in his saddle to smile back at the men who followed.
All the men around her began cheering in their excitement. She lowered her head once more and closed her eyes, wishing she could drown out the sounds of their voices.
I wish I could drown myself in the sea. She wondered what it would feel like- the pressure of the water closing in, the burning in her lungs, and the final moment when her lungs gave up and pulled in the salt water, desperately trying to take a breath of fresh air. And then darkness. She wanted that darkness- she wished for it to take her.
Damn that Sorceress! Her face began to burn with rage as her thoughts turned to Myranda. I wish I could drown her in the Shattered Sea. She imagined the Sorceress lying face-down in the murky waters- her body gently lapping against the shoreline with each incoming wave. The thought almost made Rhada smile.
“I can see fire!” Hadrian’s voice pulled her from her trance. She looked up and found that she could see it too- a small glowing beacon buried deep within the fog.
“That must be Protector Raibyr’s camp.” Lord Ivran said and he kicked his horse into a gallop. He rushed past Rhada without looking in her direction but her eyes followed him until he disappeared into the mist. The others continued their sluggish gait towards the sea. It wasn’t until Lord Ivran returned with a grin upon his face and a hand anxiously waving them on that they all kicked their horses back to life. They whinnied in objection but raised their heads high and walked just under a trot. Rhada had to squeeze even tighter with her thighs to avoid being thrown from the saddle.
They approached Protector Raibyr’s camp with haste and when Lord Doran ordered his horse to a halt, Rhada’s instinctively followed suit. She was thrust forward with the sudden stop and almost lost her grip. She squeezed as tightly with her thighs as she possibly could until her balance was regained.
“Welcome! Welcome all!” Protector Raibyr, who had been sitting next to his fire, roasting a small bird, said. He turned to Lord Ivran and nodded to him in excitement.
“I was not certain if you would come.” He said and Lord Ivran laughed at Protector Raibyr’s doubt.
“Of course we came.” He replied, as though the very idea of them not making the journey was inconceivable.
“Have you spoken with the warden of Stonehill?” Lord Ivran asked as his men began to dismount. They pulled their packs from their horses and began scouting the area for the best place to pitch their tents. Only Lord Ivran, Lord Doran, Aiduin and Protector Emeric remained at Rhada’s side. They had dismounted as well and surrounded her horse to form a barricade of flesh. She wondered if they feared that she would jump from her horse and run. The idea had crossed her mind.
“Yes, my Lord. I spoke with him yesterday.” Raibyr said. He set a skewer with the half-roasted bird aside and stood up tall in Lord Ivran’s presence.
“And has he prepared accommodations for the prisoner?” Lord Ivran’s voice seemed to crack with fear, as though there was a prison cell in Stonehill that would not be punishment enough for her incarceration.
“Yes, my Lord. Daren is the warden’s name and I have explained to him your wishes for the prisoner.” Rhada suddenly wished they would not speak of her as though she were not there. But, she realized, I have no desire to speak with any of them.
Suddenly, the men grew silent and they all turned their heads at once to stare at her. She felt like a fool, sitting atop her horse with the eyes of her captors now watching her. She stared back, allowing her gaze to fall on Lord Ivran and she hardened her eyes when they met his.
“Good.” Lord Ivran said without releasing her from his steely gaze.
“Should we tie her up somewhere for the night?” Protector Raibyr asked.
“No.” Lord Ivran replied. He turned his eyes back to Raibyr before continuing. “We will take her across the strait tonight.”
“Tonight?” Raibyr’s voice was riddled with fear. Rhada noticed the other men tense at these words and she too could feel her body stiffen.
Just then, the wind began to howl and rage against their camp. Any tents that were being pitched were suddenly tossed and scattered into the darkness. The men began to shout in anger and tried to run after them but most were lost to the fog. Rhada felt a shudder run through her body as the cold penetrated her flesh. The waters of the Shattered Sea began to beat furiously against the shoreline, as though Lord Ivran’s suggestion they cross the strait that night had angered them. Protector Emeric and Lord Doran both shivered in the cold and turned their wary eyes to the black sea.
Protector Raibyr grasped at the collar of his cloak and pulled it in tight against his neck, trying to block out the cold wind.
“But, my Lord, there is only one small skiff and against these surges, it would be a treacherous pass.”
Lord Ivran began stroking at his beard as he considered Raibyr’s warning. He turned and looked out to the black sea, the white caps of the breaking waves barely visible through the dense fog. He stood motionless for several moments, watching the Shattered Sea as though he expected it to give him permission to sail across it. Then he suddenly turned and his eyes fell upon Rhada once again. She stiffened at the glower he directed at her and she suddenly realized he did not care if they should all die in the raging waters that night- he would try to get her across nonetheless. She wondered what made him decide he could not wait until morning- that one more night with her in their company was too much for him to bear.
“Protector Emeric, Lord Doran,” the two men turned to Lord Ivran when their names were called, “fetch Hadrian and Protector Thomelin. The five of us shall escort the prisoner across the strait. I have seen fouler waters than this. We will not be beaten by the waves.” It seemed to Rhada that Lord Ivran’s companions did not share in his enthusiasm.
Lord Doran and Protector Emeric reluctantly trudged off into the darkness of their camp to find Hadrian and Protector Thomelin. Lord Ivran tapped Aiduin on the shoulder and gestured over to Rhada. The two men stepped up to her horse and held their hands out for her.
A brief moment came where the wind stopped howling and the fog broke just enough for Rhada to see the tree line of the Forest of Shadows. She turned her gaze to the men setting up camp. Not one of them remained on horseback. She looked back to the forest longingly, knowing that she would not be able to kick her horse into a run. With her
hands tied, she would not be able to retain her balance in the saddle.
The fog thickened once again, blocking the distant tree line from her sight and any glimmer of hope fled. She turned back to Lord Ivran, who stood at her horse’s side, waiting for her to fall into his arms. She could think of no one else she was less willing to allow touching her but she had no choice in the matter.
With an angry sigh and a heavy heart, Rhada released her tight grip on the saddle and slowly let herself slide to the side. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her the rest of the way down. They did not help her land on her feet but instead, let her fall to the ground, her shoulder hitting harshly against the nearly frozen dirt and rocks. She closed her eyes and ignored the pain as she lay at Lord Ivran and Aiduin’s feet.
It was Protector Emeric who leaned down and lifted her off the ground when he returned, with Hadrian and Protector Thomelin following dutifully behind. He lifted her by the shoulders and helped her stand solidly on her feet.
As Rhada stood, she turned her eyes upward to meet Protector Emeric’s gaze. She suddenly remembered what he had told her- that he would convince Lord Ivran to set her free if she confessed that she had been mind-melded. If I said that I had- that all these years I have been under the Queen’s spell- would Lord Ivran really let me go? She had her doubts and as she looked into Emeric’s one good eye, she knew she could not lie to him.
My honor is costing me my freedom. She lowered her eyes in shame as Emeric’s gaze hardened.
“Protector Raibyr!” Lord Ivran shouted. All eyes turned to him. “Lead us to the boat.”
Raibyr nodded and began walking towards the sea. The five men began to follow and Emeric pulled Rhada along next to him with a firm grip.
The fog thickened the closer to the water they got and when they reached the boat, they nearly tripped over it, not being able to see it until it was practically under their feet.
Protector Emeric pulled Rhada forward and held tightly to her arm as she stepped into the skiff. There were three planks running along the width of the boat and it was on the center one that Emeric made her sit. He took the seat next to her and finally let go of her arm. He turned his gaze away from her, apparently not wishing to see her, and focused on Lord Ivran.
Rise of Darkness (The Watchers Book 2) Page 36
