Theran took a step back. “Doing so will break your hand, and we’ve all seen how that worked out.”
“This time Radella is here. She can heal me.” Lorrek gestured to her. “Let me remove you from that prison, and you will be free to move as you will once more.”
For a moment Theran thought about it. It would be nice not having to worry about breaking someone or something every time he touched it. Living like this had isolated him, and he had learned not to take the little things for granted. He missed things as simple as drinking ale without shattering the mug or opening doors without breaking them. He had gotten used to sleeping on the ground or the floor so not to break the bed. He had grown accustomed to this way of living, and he wasn’t sure what he would be like outside this suit. However, he knew one truth, and he shook his head at Lorrek’s offer. “You are sending us to Athorim where Princess Gremina seeks to have her father released, and somewhere out there is a mad man fused with magic beyond our understanding. Unlike you, I have no magic, but this suit gives me an advantage. If I were to come across Rykeldan, I prefer not to be defenseless. So for now, the armor remains.”
Lorrek narrowed his eyes at his brother’s statement, yet he could not argue with it. Instead, he thinned his lips and stepped back. “Very well. However, once this is finished, I will remove you from that suit.”
“So we walk?” Vixen raised her brows.
Theran shrugged as he looked at her. “You may ride if you wish, but it will be at a slower pace than you may prefer.”
“I’m fine.” Vixen grumbled as she set off walking.
“Wait...we’re leaving right now?” Theran called after her, and she hollered back.
“Why not?”
Theran frowned then looked at Lorrek. What was her problem? Lorrek shrugged and turned his attention to the others in the group, leaving Theran to sigh and follow after Vixen. He knew her well enough not to pester her with questions, but she almost seemed to be reverting to her old angry self. What had happened?
While those two set off, Lorrek turned to the others. “I suppose you should all be on your way as well.”
“What about me?” Jaegar raised his hand since Lorrek hadn’t addressed him at all. “I want to help.”
Lorrek regarded the fellow sorcerer. To be honest, he didn’t really know what to do with him, so he shook his head. “Like Prince Kinnard, you are free to do what you will. You may return to Ceraleo or to Athorim. The decision is yours. Your help has been much appreciated, but we can take it from here.”
Jaegar opened his mouth to argue, but then he realized this actually presented an opportunity he hadn’t considered. He knew Vixen’s parents didn’t know she was still alive, and he knew that his own father would like to hear word of her. Since his help wasn’t needed here, he could go and inform them that she was well, so once this entire situation with Rykeldan had been resolved, they could reunite with Vixen. Jaegar doubted Vixen would appreciate him going behind her back to set up such a meeting, but he felt it was important.
He reached his hand out to Lorrek. “I must say, it was an honor to work alongside you, Prince Lorrek of Cuskelom. If you’re ever in Ceraleo, you are welcome.” When Lorrek shook his head, Jaegar stepped closer and lowered his voice so only Lorrek could hear him. “Yet if you threaten Vixen or anyone my family cares about on this side of the ocean, we will hold you accountable.”
Lorrek stepped back and looked at Jaegar then smiled, chuckling, amused by the warning. “I will keep that in mind, Prince Jaegar.”
Satisfied with this, Jaegar bowed his head to him and then magicked away.
Meanwhile Kinnard cleared his throat. “I know where to find some horses. I’ll take you there.” Kinnard nodded. He finally felt useful. All this time tagging along with Lorrek and the others, he wasn’t sure what to do or what was expected of him. Though Talhon was his kingdom for him to inherit, he recognized when a situation was beyond his understanding—as it was with Rykeldan, and he trusted Lorrek’s judgment. Now though, he had the advantage of knowing this land better than anyone else and having the title of ‘prince’ helped as well. He knew a few people who owed him favors, so he moved to lead the way.
“Wait.” Aradin stood his ground as he fixed his eyes on Lorrek. “What are we to do in Serhon once we get there?”
Lorrek gave him a look. “Wait for me, of course.” Then he locked eyes with Mordora and spoke to her with a hardened voice “Remember, do not use your magic. Do you understand? The moment you do, I will know, and you will answer to me. Understood?” As he spoke these words, he bound a loose spell over her magic signature, so if she touched her magic, he would know it.
When Mordora swallowed and nodded, Lorrek gave her a curt nod then shifted his gaze to the still-unconscious Skelton, and gave the others another command. “Wait until he wakes. Be sure he eats something and has something to drink before moving on. I will meet you in Serhon.” Then he turned his attention to Radella and offered his hand. “Shall we?”
She took his hand and nodded, and the two magicked away.
Dustal watched them go, and he crossed his arms, scowling at the place where Lorrek and Radella had just been. “That’s totally unfair.”
“You truly wish to magick away?” Aradin lifted his brows. “You recall what that was like.”
“True.” Dustal sighed loudly. He had no desire to repeat that. He looked at the unconscious Skelton then glimpsed around. “So I suppose we just need to wait until he wakes, eh?”
“Or we get the horses.” Kinnard reminded them. “Considering all Skelton has been through, I doubt he’d be able to magick us anywhere. Dustal, come with me. I will need your help.”
With a groan, Dustal moved to follow the prince of Talhon. He wasn’t happy with it, but at least it was better than just waiting around. He cast Aradin a smirk. “Don’t have too much fun without me!”
“Impossible,” Aradin muttered as lowered himself to the ground and leaned against the wall of the cave. If he had to wait, at least he’d relax while doing so.
While waiting for the others to return, Mordora wrung her hands and looked around. She finally settled on a boulder and stared at the unconscious Skelton. “I don’t know why he even cares about me,” she suddenly broke the silence.
Aradin raised his brows when he heard this, but then he groaned. “If you want to talk about your love life, I’m not really interested. Wrong guy to talk to.”
“But why does he care about me?” Mordora went on as if she hadn’t heard Aradin. “He doesn’t even know me—at least not very well.”
Aradin threw his hands in the air. “Some guys are stupid. They find someone they are drawn to, and they just can’t let her go.”
Mordora paused and gave Aradin a look, considering him for the first time. She didn’t know him at all and had only seen him briefly back when she fled Nirrorm and ran into Theran. For the first time, she regarded him as a fellow human being. “Is there someone you love?”
Immediately Aradin’s face darkened, and he shot her a glare. “We’re not talking about that, and I’m not interested in hearing you pine over him.” He jutted his chin over to Skelton. With that, he crossed his arms, content with the silence that followed.
24
After a while, Kinnard and Dustal returned with several horses and found the situation had not changed, so they all settled in for to wait, not knowing how long it would be.
Kinnard observed those under his immediate command. Dustal seemed most likely to dismiss any orders he would be given if it wasn’t for his brother, and at least Aradin seemed reasonable. Kinnard glanced Mordora’s way. He didn’t like that she had magic. He didn’t care if her recent actions were not her own doing. They had no way to counter her magic until Skelton woke, and even then he wasn’t sure what Skelton could handle.
Thinking of the sorcerer, Kinnard shifted his gaze to the unconscious man, who was completely unfamiliar to him. He hadn’t heard of him until this expedition, and he wasn�
�t sure how powerful Skelton was. To his surprise, he saw Skelton stir. It hadn’t taken him as long as Kinnard had expected. “He wakes,” he alerted the others, and they all gathered around him.
Skelton groaned as he cracked open his eyes. He saw four hazy figures before him, and he blinked to try and make the image clearer, but his head hurt. “Ugh...” He covered his face with his hand. “What...” He coughed when he found his throat was parched. He tried to remember what had happened, but all he recalled was going after Mordora with Adonis. When he thought of Mordora, he looked back at the people in front of him and saw her figure sharpen. He frowned. “What...happened?” Then he looked around him, completely confused as to where he was or how he had gotten there. “Where am I?”
Mordora felt it wasn’t her place to say anything since she had caused so much grief. Instead, she looked at Kinnard.
The Prince of Talhon crouched before Skelton so that he was eye-level with him. “I am Prince Kinnard of Talhon. You are in a forest cave in Talhon, and we were given strict instructions by Prince Lorrek of Cuskelom to take you to the Field of Statues in Serhon once you have recovered.”
“Recovered...from what?” Skelton furrowed his brows as he finally pushed himself up and sat against the wall of the cave. Memories eased back to him, but they were still blurry. “What happened?” He gestured to Mordora. “I remember trying to find you.”
She lowered her gaze, ashamed.
However, before she could speak, Dustal spoke up. “Apparently she went mad for power! Something about a magical bracelet, and she started turning everyone into stone...” He trailed off when he saw her slowly turn her glare upon him.
The mention of turning people into stone jogged a memory, and Skelton suddenly sat up—only to bow his head and close his eyes as dizziness washed over him. Once it passed, he lifted his gaze once more and locked eyes with Mordora. “You turned my brother into a statue.”
Everyone stepped back from Mordora and Skelton, having no desire to be caught in the crossfires of their confrontation.
Mordora stared at Skelton—eyes wide with hurt. She wanted to claim it wasn’t her, that she hadn’t been in charge of her own actions. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t mean to hurt him. She was just confused, and they got in the way. They wouldn’t leave her alone, even when she begged them too. But all of this sounded like she was blaming them, so instead she bowed her head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Skelton wasn’t expecting an apology from her. This wasn’t the Mordora he knew. Where was her fiery personality? None of this made sense, and his head hurt the more he thought about it. He groaned and pushed himself even more into a sitting position.
“Easy.” Kinnard stepped forward with a canister of water and offered it to Skelton. “You’ve been through a lot. You need to rest. Once you have recovered, Prince Lorrek wants us to go to the Field of Statues in Serhon and wait for him there.”
Accepting the canister, Skelton drank and sighed as the cool water refreshed his throat. Nodding his thanks to Kinnard, he handed the canister back to him and furrowed his brows. “Where’s my brother? Adonis?”
Everyone looked at Mordora for an answer, and she lowered her gaze. She remembered Skelton and Adonis confronting her in the woods, and she warned them to stay back, but they wouldn’t listen. She had blasted Adonis with her magic and watched him turn to stone before her eyes, and she turned to Skelton, horrified by what she had done, but determined to be left alone. “Leave me alone!” She had shouted at him as she struck him with magic, but it was different this time—a different kind of spell. She couldn’t explain it, couldn’t explain what she had done. All she knew was that she magicked away soon thereafter.
Now she lifted her gaze back to Skelton and bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” And she backed away, feeling as though she was causing more problems than fixing them.
“Mordora, wait!” Skelton hollered after her, but she didn’t listen. Grumbling under his breath, he struggled to stand.
“Careful!” Kinnard and Aradin reached out to support him, yet Skelton yanked away from them and glared at them.
“Let. Me. Go.” When they stepped back, Skelton slowly made his way out of the cave. “Mordora!”
He soon caught up with her a little ways from where camp had been set up. She sat on a log with her back toward him, staring into the darkness of the woods. He grunted as he drew near to her and lowered himself onto the log beside her.
As he sat there, he reflected on when he first had met Mordora. Inecha had summoned his brother and him to Cuskelom to escort Mordora to Athorim, where she sought to persuade King Caleth to go to Serhon and persuade King Roskelem to join forces against Countess Verddra who had overthrown Mordora’s home of Nirrorm. When they arrived in Caleth’s court, one of the first people to greet Mordora was her own brother, Moren, but it had been a short visit, and so much had happened since then.
He looked at her. “When was the last time you saw your brother?”
Mordora sat hunched over by all the guilt and responsibility she bore, but she lifted her gaze to stare deep into the darkness of the forest, narrowing her eyes as she thought back to answer Skelton’s question. As the answer came to her, she turned her face to look at him. “When you and Adonis took me to Athorim to speak with King Caleth.” Then she looked back to the darkness. “I have no idea where he is now, and I don’t know if I have the courage to face him.”
“Why not?”
“You’re younger than Adonis, aren’t you?” When Skelton nodded but gave her a perplexed look, Mordora let out a long sigh as she straightened her posture. “The older sibling always feels responsible for the younger siblings—and protective of them. They feel like they have to set a good example for them, and I’ve failed my brother. I went off on my own, sought power, and all I’ve done is ruin people’s lives.” She shook her head. “That is why I can’t face him.”
“That’s a bunch of hogwash balderdash! You are going to see your brother. Maybe seeing him will set some things right in your mind.” Skelton pushed himself to his feet, feeling a bit more stable now.
Mordora looked at him—both to make sure he wasn’t about to lose his balance, and because she was confused. “Lorrek wants us to go to the Field of Statues and wait for him there.”
“That’s what he wants, yes, but I’ve never been good at following orders. We’re going to Nirrorm...” But a wave of dizziness washed over him, swaying him so much that Mordora stood and grabbed his arm to steady him.
“You, sit.” She pushed him back down onto the log. “You need to recover. We will discuss this later. For now, rest. I’ll see about getting you some food.” With that, she left him alone, and he watched her go.
She had definitely changed. He didn’t know why he cared for her. He hardly knew her, but something about her struck him when they first met, and he had to admit he was smitten. However, he wasn’t sure if this woman was the same Mordora he had chased across the kingdoms. She had changed—for better or for worse, he didn’t know yet. All he knew was she wasn’t trying to kill them anymore, so that was a good thing.
25
Theran lengthened his strides to keep up with Vixen. She was furious. That was nothing new for her, but she always had a reason for her anger. However, he saw no reason for her to be angry right now. She merely returned from Jechorm with Lorrek in this foul mood, and he didn’t understand it.
“Vixen, slow down!”
“Well then, keep up!” She snapped over her shoulder.
He glowered at her as he caught up with her. “What is your problem?”
A thousand answers came to mind, but none of them seemed right. She didn’t want Theran to know the truth. She didn’t want him to know that she had feelings for Lorrek she didn’t understand. She hated those feelings. She hated feelings. They made her feel weak because they confused her and irritated her, and when she was irritated, she looked for something to stab.
She didn’t understand how any of this
could have happened. When did she begin to think of Lorrek differently? When she was married to Loroth, she trusted Lorrek with her husband’s life, and she never hesitated to summon him when Loroth was close to death. She never thought of Lorrek any more than as Loroth’s cousin who could bring Loroth back from the brink of death. When did that change? Or did it? Was she imagining Lorrek as Loroth since they were identical in appearance? She liked to think that she wasn’t—that she knew exactly what she was doing, but the cold way Lorrek turned her away stayed in her mind.
“Vixen!” Theran finally stepped in front of her, forcing her to halt, and she scowled at him. He did not back down. “What is wrong?”
She just glared at him for a long moment before speaking simply, “Your brother’s an idiot.” With that, she moved past him.
Theran considered her words. Who was she talking about? Heldon or Lorrek? He turned back to her and hollered after her, “Which brother?”
“Lorrek!” She didn’t bother to look back at him as she kept walking. Of course she was talking about Lorrek. Who else did Theran think? Honroth was dead. Heldon was currently going to Athorim to see about having Roskelem freed. “Heldon too!” She added as an afterthought.
Theran shook his head and made a fist as he marched after her. He wanted to grab her by the arm to get her to stop and talk, but he didn’t want to break her arm. Instead, he pulled off his helmet, tucked it under his arm and continued after her. “Vixen, what are you talking about?”
Finally she had had enough. Vixen spun around to face Theran and glared up at him. “I am finished with your family!” She saw the confusion flutter across his face, and she nodded. “Yes, I am finished. I married Loroth out of obligation—to save his life. Yes, he proposed to me, but I never gave him an answer until we were captured by my House, and the only reason they didn’t kill him was because I declared that he and I were already married. I gave my word as an Assassin, and that word is never broken, so I stayed with Loroth out of duty!”
The Chronicles of Lorrek Box Set Page 96
