The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3)

by Mackenzie Morgan

  “Maybe not,” Rhianna said. “But those are your only two options.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Later that afternoon, Theresa spotted Hayley walking towards the woods behind the chapel, and she didn’t look happy. By the time Theresa caught up with her, Hayley’s face was splotchy and wet from crying.

  “What’s wrong?” Theresa asked as she slipped her arm round Hayley’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know.” Hayley’s eyes filled with more tears. “I’m just so confused.”

  “About what?”

  “About my life,” Hayley blurted out. “I had it all planned out. I was your assistant, and I was going to be your assistant until I was too old to do it anymore. And then there’s Marcus. I have feelings for him, and I think he has feelings for me, but now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  Theresa frowned. “Is this about your gift?”

  Hayley nodded. “A year ago I wanted that more than anything else in the world. All I’ve ever wanted was to be a Sister of Healing. But now it’ll ruin everything.”

  “All right,” Theresa said as she led Hayley to a big rock. After they sat down, she asked, “What’s it going to ruin?”

  Hayley choked back a sob. “I’ve had so much fun going places with you. I’ve met gnomes, giants, worked in other provinces, lived in a cave! But now it’s over. I won’t be able to do that anymore. I won’t even get to meet Glendymere!”

  Theresa frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because I’ll be a sister, and you’ll have to find someone else to be your assistant. And that person will get to go with you to Rainbow Valley, through the forests of Farowood, and when you handle things for Sister Brena. But it won’t be me!” Hayley dissolved into tears again.

  “You don’t know that. Maybe you’ll be the one Sister Brena sends off to handle things and I’ll be the one left behind.”

  Hayley stabbed at her cheeks with her apron skirt. “But it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be the two of us and Marcus. We made a good team, Theresa. A really good team. I don’t want it to end.” And before Hayley could say anything else, she was crying again.

  “Hayley, you’re right. We are a good team, and when Sister Brena needs a good team, I bet she’ll think of us. But in the meantime, think about what this means for you. You’ll be able to do so much more to help our patients. How many times have you said you’d give anything to be able to close a wound? Well, you did it today. You’ll be able to use your hands to ease pain, settle bad stomachs, soothe a sick child, all those things you’ve wanted to be able to do for so long. This is a time for celebration, not for tears.” When Hayley didn’t respond, Theresa asked, “Have you talked to Marcus about this yet?”

  Hayley shook her head and stared at the ground. “I haven’t seen him. He left while I was talking to Sister Agnes.”

  “Then why do you think this will cause trouble between the two of you?”

  Hayley sniffed, sighed, and then shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, but I think I might love him. And sisters don’t marry. They have to make a choice, the Sisterhood or a family. You can’t have both. Aides can marry, assistants can marry, but sisters can’t.”

  Theresa frowned. “We can’t marry?”

  Hayley shook her head. “How could we? We go where we’re sent, and you can’t do that if you’ve got a husband and children.”

  “No one’s ever mentioned that detail to me. Surely sisters have married before.”

  “Not while they’re sisters. They have to turn in their pendants if they do.”

  “But no one can take your gift away from you. The power to heal will always be with you, no matter whether you’re wearing a pendant or not. You can still help people.”

  “But without the pendant, you’re not protected.”

  Theresa frowned. “Protected from what?”

  “I don’t know, bad people, I guess.” Hayley twisted her hands in her apron and kept her eyes glued to the ground.

  “Hayley, have you ever been threatened?”

  “No, but I wasn’t a sister either.”

  “What makes you think you’re in more danger now?”

  “They give sisters dragon flame pendants to protect them. If sisters weren’t in danger, why would they bother to give them the pendants?”

  “I think the reason Glendymere made the pendants is sisters sometimes have to travel, and since they often travel alone, they don’t have anyone with them to help them fight off bandits or slavers.”

  “See? We travel alone, so we’re in danger. We need the pendants. We can’t risk giving them up, so we can’t get married.”

  Theresa shook her head. “Hayley, I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve only run into bandits once. They were after a gold coin they saw someone give me for holding a clinic.”

  Hayley looked over at Theresa with big eyes. “You never told me about that. What happened?”

  Theresa laughed. “Not much of anything. I was with some other people and we chased them away.”

  “They ran because you had a pendant.”

  “No, they ran because we shot back. But my point is if you give up your pendant to be with Marcus, you won’t be traveling alone. You’ll have a sorcerer to protect you if anything happens. He’s already proven that.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Hayley shifted her focus back to the ground. “He wouldn’t want to marry a sister anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “He just wouldn’t.”

  “You don’t know that. You haven’t even talked to him yet.”

  “I wish,” Hayley whispered. “I wish things had stayed the way they were.”

  Theresa leaned over and hugged her. “Life’s not like that, Hayley. Things change. Sometimes for the best, sometimes not. We don’t know which way this one’s going to go yet.” Then Theresa stood up and shook the dirt off her skirt. “But for now, I’d like a cup of coffee. Let’s go back to the kitchen and make some.” She took a step and pulled Hayley’s hand with her. “Come on. Let’s head back.”

  After Hayley finally stood up, Theresa said, “I wonder who your training sister will be.”

  Hayley’s eyes opened wide, and for the first time that afternoon, there was a hint of excitement in them. “I hope it’s you. Or Sister Agnes. I don’t know what I’ll do if Sister Brena sends me somewhere else. It would be so scary to have to travel by myself. Do you think Myron would take me? Would you ask him to?”

  Theresa laughed. “If Sister Brena sends you anywhere, I’ll get him to take you, and I’ll make him take me wherever you are at least once a week to visit. And I’ll bring Marcus. How’s that?”

  “Better, but I’d still rather stay here. And I’d still rather be your assistant than a sister.”

  “That’ll change. You’ll see.”

  “I doubt it,” Hayley said. “I’ve got a question.”

  “Yes?”

  “What happened this afternoon? Why did that man shoot Marcus? What did Marcus do?”

  “Not a thing other than be a sorcerer,” Theresa answered. “I’m not sure I’ve got the whole story, but I was in the room when they questioned him. No one told me to keep it quiet, so let me tell you what he said.” Then, while they made a fresh pot of coffee and drank a few cups, she told Hayley everything she’d heard.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After all the work was done and Marcus was in for the night, he knocked on the open door to Kevin’s office. Kevin looked up from the messages he’d been going through and motioned Marcus in. “How’s your shoulder?”

  “A little stiff, but other than that, it’s fine.”

  “I’m sure Theresa’s got something that would help. Why don’t you go see her?”

  Marcus sighed. “If it’s still stiff tomorrow morning I might.”

  “Problem?”

  “I’m not sure. Something’s bothering Hayley but she won’t tell me what it is.”

  “You mean other than having you shot in front of her?”

  Marcus shook his head. �
��That’s not it. She wasn’t happy about that, but this is different. I think it has to do with her hands, with her power showing up.”

  “Well, that can be quite a shock if you’re not expecting it. Don’t most of the sisters find out they have healing hands while they’re in their teens? I imagine it came as a bit of a surprise to her at this point.”

  “But I get the feeling it wasn’t a good surprise. She’s told me more than once she’s wanted to be a sister all of her life, but she was going to have to settle for being an assistant. She should be happy about this, but she isn’t.”

  “Is this just Hayley being Hayley? She’s not exactly brimming over with self-confidence. Maybe she’s scared.”

  Marcus thought for a moment. “Maybe, but I think it’s something else. She seemed sad this evening, like she’s losing her best friend or something.”

  “In a way, she may be. If she’s a sister, she and Theresa may be sent in different directions. And then there’s you. You’re here, in Milhaven. If she’s a sister, she may be given a chapel somewhere else. That may be on her mind, too.”

  “You may be right, but if that’s what’s bothering her, I can’t do much about it.” Marcus sighed and shook his head. “That’s tomorrow’s headache. The reason I came by was to ask you a question.”

  Kevin nodded.

  “That man, Saryn, said someone told him we’d be there for lunch. Who could have told him? How did they find out?”

  Kevin waited. He knew Marcus had come to the same conclusion he had, but he wanted Marcus to say it.

  “Whoever told him was at breakfast, wasn’t he? Right here, in the castle,” Marcus said. “There wasn’t anyone in the dining room I haven’t known for months. Someone I see every day sent that man out to kill us.”

  “We don’t know that for sure. It’s possible someone who was in there mentioned it to the wrong person. Or maybe someone found the note you sent Hayley. She wasn’t at the chapel this morning, was she?”

  Marcus shook his head. “She’d already left by the time Brandon got there.”

  “I’m sure he gave the note to someone, maybe Theresa, maybe Sister Agnes, maybe one of the aides. And maybe that person laid it down somewhere and it got picked up by the wrong person.”

  “But Saryn said the man was a spy.”

  Kevin nodded. “True, but Saryn didn’t know how the spy got his information. He said he figured he worked here, not that he knew it. Anyway, I’m not at all convinced it was someone from the dining room.”

  “Why not?”

  “Saryn didn’t know Rhianna was an elf.”

  Marcus thought for a moment. “You’re right. He said he wouldn’t have tried it if he’d known.” Then he frowned. “That’s not something you’d leave out.”

  “Which is why I don’t think our spy was in the dining room this morning.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Marcus hadn’t been gone half an hour when Darrell knocked on Kevin’s door. “We need to talk,” Darrell said as he sat down.

  Kevin nodded and set the message he was writing to the side.

  “I talked with Alek about what happened today, and I can’t think of anything he could have done differently. He protected his charge.”

  “I agree.”

  “Why didn’t you warn him?”

  “I didn’t think there was anything to warn him about. I figured she’d be in and out before anyone noticed she was here. My mistake, not his.”

  Darrell nodded. “Now the question becomes how did they find out? Alek said the decision was made at breakfast while he was saddling the horses, so he doesn’t have any leads.”

  “Talk to Elin. She was with them at breakfast, and she gave Chris a pretty long list of people who were in the dining room, but I don’t think any of them talked to Saryn.”

  Again, Darrell nodded. “Because Saryn didn’t know about Rhianna.”

  “Right.”

  “So I need to talk to all of them and find out who they talked to, where they went, and so on. I’ve also got to find out what happened to the note Brandon took to the chapel.”

  “Do you really think you can figure out who the spy is?”

  Darrell shrugged. “If I can narrow it down to a manageable list, Saryn may recognize his voice.”

  “You think he’ll help us?”

  “Help us? No. Get even? Yes. He’s already thinking the only reason he’s locked up is no one bothered to tell him there was an elf with her.”

  Kevin frowned. “He’s locked up because he tried to kill someone.”

  “I was speaking from his perspective. Like he said, if he’d known she had a sorcerer and an elf with her, he wouldn’t have tried it. And if he hadn’t tried it, he wouldn’t have gotten caught. Therefore he’s locked up because of bad intelligence, and whose fault is that? Not his.”

  “I guess you’re going to help him come to this conclusion?”

  “If necessary, but with what he said today, I think he’ll come to it all by himself. So I’d like to get started on that short list. Would it be okay for me to talk to Elin now?”

  “She’s gone for the day, but if Ariel’s out there, ask him to find out if she’ll come back for a few minutes. I’m sure she will.”

  Darrell nodded as he stood up. “I want to talk to Marcus too, while everything’s fresh in his mind. Tomorrow I’ll talk to everyone the two of them give me and see where that leads. Who knows? By tomorrow night, I may have a lead on our spy.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After Darrell left the office, Chris walked in and shut the door. “Long day.”

  “It has been that,” Kevin answered.

  “Have you taken Rhianna’s and Landis’s bags out to Wildcat Mountain yet?”

  “No, and I’m not going to tonight. They can manage one night without them.”

  “Have you started thinking about Plan B?”

  “Not yet. I’ll also have to find someone who’ll be willing to train her.”

  Chris nodded. “Any thoughts on who?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Warren?”

  Kevin nodded. “If I can convince him to take her on.”

  “Walnut Springs isn’t that far away. Rolan’s assassins will find her.”

  “I don’t want her to live anywhere in Camden.”

  Chris frowned. “You’re going to ask Warren and Torrey to leave Walnut Springs?”

  “Probably.”

  Chris shook his head. “First you give him Gaynor as an assistant, and then you ask him to pack up and move.”

  Kevin sighed. “Do you have any other ideas?”

  “You could ask Robyn to do it, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “No, I don’t think so. I want to keep him where he is. If something looks fishy, if something happens, he’ll let us know. And right now, Rolan’s leaving his other brothers and sisters alone. I don’t want anything to upset that. I have a feeling they’re working behind the scenes to get things ready for Landis.”

  Chris frowned. “What makes you think that?”

  “Last night, after you’d gone on to our cave, while Rhianna and I were waiting for Robyn to come out, she said Landis remembers Robyn telling her she’d be a powerful sorcerer one day and do good things for Brendolanth. That was one of the things she wanted to talk to him about. She wanted to ask him why he said it.”

  “He was a big brother talking to a kid sister. My brother told me I’d be a millionaire one day.” Chris looked around the room and shrugged. “Look how well that one played out.”

  “I don’t know, Chris. We know he’s in touch with at least one person in Rolan’s castle, and when I tried to get him to let me take him and the rest of his family someplace out of Rolan’s reach, he turned me down. I think she’s the reason. I think either he has a bit of the gift of sight or he knows someone who does. And that’s why I think I need to leave him right where he is.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance to volunteer though.”

  “Maybe
. Guess I should at least let him know about the attack.”

  “Shall I send Brena a message?”

  “Not yet. I’ll let you know.”

  “When are you planning to talk to Warren?”

  “I don’t know. I want to think about it some more. I don’t have to make any decisions until Glendymere says she’s ready, and that’s going to be a while. If she happens to get ready before I’ve got things worked out, I’ll put them in Rainbow Valley until I figure out what to do with them.”

  Chapter 39

  Intruder in the Night

  He crouched in the shadows as the guard made his pass. He’d watched the building for four hours and he felt sure he’d have time to do what he came here to do without getting caught. No one was expecting trouble. No one was expecting him.

  He slid out from behind the tree and sprinted across the yard to the side of the building. While the lone guard circled the back, he crept to the door, opened it just enough to slip inside, and closed it behind him without making a sound.

  As he made his way down the narrow hall, he glanced through the small hole near the top of each door. Every room in the make-shift jail was unoccupied, save one. He grabbed the big iron ring and slid the crossbar out of the bracket on the door frame. He eased the cell door open, fully expecting Saryn to leap up. But he didn’t. He didn’t even blink. Saryn was sound asleep.

  He inched across the room, his muscles bunched, anticipating a fight. But nothing happened. Saryn slept on, like a baby in his crib. When he reached the cot that served as Saryn’s bed, he gingerly touched Saryn’s shoulder. Nothing.

  He nodded. They must have given Saryn something to make him sleep. That explained why there was only one guard on duty. He smiled. That would make his job even easier.

  He placed his hands around Saryn’s throat, but didn’t touch it. Then he took a deep breath, whispered, “Sorry, but it can’t be helped,” and squeezed as hard as he could, pressing his thumbs down on the soft spot right above the sternal notch. He felt the windpipe give under the pressure. At that moment, Saryn’s eyes opened, filled with shock. He saw the moment when Saryn recognized him, and a second later, saw the light go out of Saryn’s eyes. Mission accomplished. Saryn was dead.