Runir helped me limp back to the chair and he moved his stool over next to me. I looked at him and saw his eyes were watering. He put his arm around my shoulders to comfort me and I didn't push him away.
“You will be shocked at my request, and even though you have sworn to serve me as a friend and an advisor, I would understand your hesitation to fulfill this order without explanation.
“As you know, Beltor and his wife attempted to conceive for many years and were unsuccessful. When Satina finally became pregnant, my brother was overjoyed. I’m sure you recall that celebration we had when we all heard the news. Shortly after that, my wife became pregnant with Nanos.”
The sound of my mother’s name brought forth more tears. Runir’s arm tightened on my shoulder and I buried my face in his chest to stifle my sobs. Why was the king doing this? I hadn't expected an attack from him. Especially from across the grave. I had always lived with the fear and knowledge that someday someone would uncover my secret, but I had never imagined it would be my loving uncle.
“Let us wait a few minutes. We should have prepared you.” Maerc seemed sincerely concerned about me and I heard him pick up his water and take another gulp.
“Father, perhaps we should do this tomorrow? She’s had a rough few weeks and needs some food, drink, and rest.” Runir’s chest quivered as I pushed my face into it. I was practically sitting in his lap now, but I needed someone to be on my side. And I wanted them to think I was frail. I had learned long ago to leverage the power that came with being underestimated by men.
“She already ate. We need to hear her answers to this letter. I’m still not . . .” Maerc trailed off and I glanced up to catch the tail end of an exchange of looks between the father and son. I pushed myself away from my friend and sat up in my chair, putting some distance between us. Runir wasn’t on my side. He may have been in love with me, but he had always been his father’s son first, and I knew he would do whatever the general asked.
“Please continue. I don’t need a rest. You obviously have a purpose in reading this aloud now since you have disobeyed his last request.” I almost spit the words at him.
“What do you mean?” Runir asked.
“Well. I’m not dead yet, which means your father is disobeying orders. He must have some reason for waiting. Or he just refuses to be a murderer.” I tried not to glare at Runir, but I don’t think I succeeded. This was a fine line I needed to walk.
“Let me finish, girl.” Maerc sighed and looked down at the letter again. I tried not to react to his infuriating insistence on calling me “girl” and waited for him to continue.
“Unfortunately, during the birth, something went wrong. Both the infant and Satina were lost. You never heard of the baby dying, I only found out about it many years later when the midwife told me. I had been under the impression that Nadea was his actual child and that Satina died shortly after her birth. That was what my brother had led me to believe. I confronted him on the conflicting story. As you know, he is a thespian and wordsmith of amazing talent, but he did not fool me. Nadea was not his flesh and blood. She was something else. She was not human.”
Maerc stopped again and leveled a scrutinizing glare at me. I clenched my jaw and tried not to scream. The walls of the tent pushed in on me with resentment. I had always anticipated this revelation. Father had told me we needed to keep my secret and we conspired to ensure no one knew. I wished he had warned me about the king, so I could have planned for this eventuality, or perhaps spoken with the king directly to allay his fears. I nodded to Maerc and he continued.
“When Beltor found out that his wife and child died during the birth, he fled the castle and wandered the peaks of the Teeth for weeks. He told me later that he had gotten lost in melancholy and contemplated suicide. I had always been a little jealous of his relationship with Satina. As you probably suspected, my own marriage is political, and we care little for each other. My younger brother was able to enjoy the freedom to marry whom he loved.
“I digress and apologize. Continuing with my brother’s account: He stumbled upon a strange ruin in the peaks. It was surrounded by trees, and Beltor described it as one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. The structure seemed to grow out of the ground as if it were carved from the earth. The inside was composed of odd stone that felt like iron. He said that there were dozens of stone beds arranged across the floor like caskets. He explored the building and followed the sounds of a baby crying.
“That is where he found Nadea. A small newborn babe left alone on one of the pedestals in the middle of the Teeth Mountains. There wasn’t another human soul within twenty miles, so my brother was puzzled as to how she arrived there. He searched the structure for her parents but didn’t find anyone. The child was hungry, so Beltor did his best to feed it small pieces of the dried meat he carried. Finally, he decided to take the infant back. During the journey he felt as if they were drawn together by a power beyond his understanding. He made her his daughter in the house and lied about her birth.
“Nadea grew and it became apparent that she wasn’t human.
“The girl was amazingly strong and her intellectual development was rapid. She began speaking and walking after a few months. By the time she was two years old she was easily reading all the books in my brother's extensive library.
“It was at this age when I first met Nadea and I was impressed. Nanos, by all accounts a very normal child, could not do more than grunt, cry and make out a few words, while my niece of the same age engaged me in a conversation that was more enjoyable and intelligent than those I had with many of my advisors. I remembered her curiosity and her polite demeanor. Beltor was quite proud of her as you can recall, and I felt more jealousy, though I hated myself for it.
“Our various responsibilities kept my brother and I apart, but we still made a point to see each other and our families twice a year. So I watched the young child grow into a woman. While Nadea was exceptional in every way, I never noticed any cause for concern. It wasn't until recently I learned that when the girl approached puberty, she developed an alarming physical characteristic on her ears. Much like our current enemies, they grew long, and the cartilage came to a sharp point that was easily seen as something alien.
“Once the growth became apparent, my brother and Nadea feared that questions would be asked. They decided that it would be prudent to perform surgery on the ears so that they appeared human."
Maerc paused to look back up at me. Or more precisely, my ears. They were covered by my thick brown hair and I unconsciously brushed the locks away from the left side of my head to expose them. It was a move I practiced thousands of times with my father until he told me it looked natural. We had been so afraid of what would happen if anyone found out I was something different. With two opposing mirrors I could see the area where the operation had left a slight scar. The cut lay on the top helix of each ear, but was difficult to notice unless someone studied the cartilage closely.
I remembered when he had first told me that I was not his natural child. I was devastated. I cried every night for months. The bond we had felt severed, and I no longer felt close to him, the easy comfort and trust we had with each other was gone. I avoided him and the pained, pitying looks he gave me. Finally, I made myself talk to him and we discussed what this revelation meant. I grew to understand why he had kept this important secret from me until I was old enough to handle the information. I realized that he had always known I was not his blood and it had not mattered to him, so I was able to forgive him for the lie and allow myself to trust and love him the way I had before. He was still my father, he still loved me and wanted the best for me.
He told me the entire story, how he had found me, his theories on where I may have come from, and what we both could do together to make sure I cultivated a successful and happy life. It took almost a year for me to accept my heritage and the importance of lying about who I was to everyone I knew and loved.
"We explored the mountains for
months and never came upon the building where he found me," I said at last. "He was so frustrated that he couldn't remember where it was. Perhaps he believed he dreamt of my rescue. But since I was here, it had to have been real." I looked over to Runir and he nodded at me and gave me a half-smile. I felt relieved that he didn't look at me with fear or disgust. The blonde man and I had been friends for so long he seemed like my brother, although I knew he did not look at me as a sister.
I wiped some of the tears from my eyes again and then did the same for my runny nose. While I was surprised by the direction of this attack, I had prepared for something like this to happen eventually. My emotions were more under my control and I began to plan my next steps to ensure I retained stewardship of the army. I could no longer claim royal blood entitled me to be the leader. I quickly ran through what I knew of Nia’s dynastic history and could not recall a precedent for adoption within the royal line.
"So it is true then?" Maerc asked. His eyebrow rose as if he still didn't believe the king's words.
"Yes," I said flatly, wondering for a moment if I should try to lie. Would Maerc believe me now over his late king? It was a fantastic story and I could claim the king was insane or corrupted by someone. I decided it best to simply confirm what my uncle had revealed, lying was exhausting and it was too late to change what the king had done. "Is there more to the king's letter?" Now that I had overcome the shock, I was morbidly intrigued as to why the king wanted me dead. The stoic general nodded and continued.
"When Nadea approached the end of her teen years, she suddenly became interested in the Ancients, the O'Baarni, and the various ruins that explorers had stumbled upon in the forgotten wilderness. I wanted to join her with one of the noble's sons, but my brother convinced me, after many attempts, that she would be more of an asset to Nia if she pursued her interests instead of my political agenda. I canceled my plans for her to marry and she traveled the world doing research. Of course, I sound bitter now, but I let Nanos do the same thing and he chose to stay in Nia, enjoying his privilege and position while contributing nothing to the interests of the kingdom.
“A few years after the girl went on her first exploratory trip, we began to hear rumors of conflict in the Northlands. Six months later, we knew that the Ancients had returned and had somehow harnessed the Northern tribes to their war machine. I never suspected a connection between Nadea and the Ancients. I thought Nadea was my blood, and could not imagine that she would have any other motive than the prosperity of Nia. The impeding war and political dance occupied my time and energy, I did not think often of the duchess. It wasn’t until later that I puzzled out that Nadea’s first excursion had been to the Northlands, and that she did something there to bring the Ancients to our world.”
“That’s fucking bullshit!” I screamed in panic. My heart was beating so fast I wondered if it would jump out of my chest and run away. I started to shiver and felt incredibly nauseous. Bile moved up my throat but I forced it back down and it left a bitter taste of betrayal in my mouth.
“So that is not true?” Runir asked. No. It was more like a plea. He didn’t want the king's accusations to be true.
“No! Why would I bring back Ancients? All of our legends spoke of the horrible atrocities they committed against us. It is--“
“You say us, but you aren’t even human,” Maerc interrupted me. His statement chilled me to the core and filled the room with a stale emptiness. He seemed surprised that the words had left his mouth. The three of us said nothing for a minute.
“I . . .” I began as I wiped back my tears. My head hurt as bad as my chest. “I’ve known you for as long as I’ve been alive, Maerc. Father and I never knew what my exact lineage was. All he would say was that I was a blessing that came to him when he most needed it. I don’t look like the Ancients, except for what my ears would have been.”
“I’m sorry Nadea. I spoke out. I . . .” the general paused and looked at his son. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. This letter isn’t helping anything.” He set it down and leaned back in his chair and cupped his face in his hands.
“You did travel to the Northlands though?” Runir asked. I gazed at him through the tears. His eyes bore concern and I realized he didn’t want me to say yes.
“Yes, I did. Father and I heard news of another temple similar to the one where I had been found. We had never located the one in the Teeth Mountains. I went to the Northlands to see if I might find it and perhaps some hints as to my own origin.” My memory drifted back to five years ago. The Northlands were an unforgiving land of endless snow, rocky peaks of ice, and sharp cliffs. I could still hear the scream of the winds and feel the pain of coldness as it tried to claim my body.
“Did you find it?” Runir probed deeper.
“Yes. It was empty though, and half-buried in ice. It was similar to what my father described. The walls were made of smooth rock that seemed like fossilized wood. Inside were long stone beds. I didn’t know exactly how they worked, I still don’t, but they are able to transport people across time. We found Kaiyer on a similar pedestal in the Vanlourn temple.”
Kaiyer’s resting place was different from the four others I had discovered. His shrine was more of a small, smooth sphere concealed deep in the earth, like a seed planted into the soil. The others had been larger. Where Kaiyer’s contained hundreds of stone pedestals, his had only a single bench, as if it were crafted just for him.
“The king mentions him later in the letter, but we have spoken enough for the day. I think you need to rest, Nadea. We can continue this tomorrow morning,” Maerc said. Concern touched the corners of his eyes and mouth. It gave me hope that he wouldn't order my death. At least not today.
“Finish,” I told him. I felt as if the worst part of this interrogation was over. They knew my secret and I could not change that. I was curious about the rest of the king’s message.
“Very well.” Maerc looked down to the letter on the desk and then continued.
“Nadea explored several other areas of the world; she was gone for a whole year when she went to Astical. When she came back, she convinced her father and I that she knew where the O’Baarni was located. She was confident he had been imprisoned by the Ancients thousands of years ago. It was a theory she had told me about a few times before, but now she seemed almost possessed by the desire to journey to Vanlourn.
“Nadea claimed that the only way that the O’Baarni could be awoken was through a series of phrases she had found in a book. There were only two people in the kingdom who could speak the language. I’m sure you know the rest.
“I never believed she would be successful in bringing back the O’Baarni. The man is dead now so it matters little if he was or was not this mythical hero. What does matter is that a night ago I received another letter from the empress. It arrived by messenger crow and was brought to me by Nanos.”
“Now this is starting to make sense,” I interrupted. Anger rose in my stomach again. No. it wasn’t anger. It was rage. I wanted to claw Nanos’s face off of his skull and show it to him while the fucker bled to death. He must have set up this whole affair to discredit me in case his coup failed. Maerc nodded before he continued.
“In the letter, the empress told us that Nadea was one of her agents and she had several more moles in the kingdom. I didn’t want to believe it, but the empress was able to pinpoint the exact dates that the duchess investigated the ruins. Apparently, she helped the empress perform a magical rite that allowed her people to come back from whatever place they lurked.”
“This is ridiculous. Nanos is the traitor. He knew exactly when I was leaving to do each exploration and he has been working with the empress from the beginning. He either forged the letter the king is speaking of or he asked the empress to send it on his behalf.” I looked at Runir for support and saw him nod. His face was blank though, and I couldn’t tell if he agreed with me or if he was just acknowledging my statement.
“There is a little left,” Maerc said.
<
br /> “Please continue.”
“The letter the empress gave me was probably a distraction. I do not want to believe that Nadea is a traitor.” The breath left my chest again with a relieved sigh. Runir's father paused to look at me. His mouth made a half-smile.
“However, there are many holes in her story that make me consider the possibility. What did she do at the various ruins she visited? How did she know where to locate Kaiyer? Where did she come from? Why did the empress specifically write to me about her? These are questions I can’t answer now, but if I live through this siege I intend to find out. If I die during this war, then you must ask them for me or force my brother to give you the answers. He is blinded by love for the girl and would never dream of her being malicious.
“If Nanos, Beltor, and I are dead by the time you read this, I fear she might seize control. Nadea cannot be allowed to rule the Kingdom of Nia if she does not have a valid explanation of these events. The people still believe she is of the royal bloodline, and beloved as she is, they will rally behind her if you attempt to expose her secret.
“Find Nadea, ask her these questions, and kill her if she tries to evade them. Make it clear you know the truth of her history. Then rescue my daughter.
“I am sorry my friend. It is a horrible burden I have placed on your shoulders. I have always loved you as if you were my brother and trust you to resurrect the kingdom if the worst has transpired.”
“Then he signed it. It is his handwriting,” Maerc said finally.
“Nanos organized this. He must have influenced his father. The letter also said the king didn’t believe that I was a traitor. I am not. I love Nia and have only tried to do what I can to protect us from the Ancients. You both have known me for my whole life.” I looked back and forth from Runir to his father.
The Destroyer Book 2 Page 17
