“So you really have a mark?” he asked, this time the emotion behind his words was fear.
“I really do,” she agreed, moving her hair out of the way and facing away from him so he could see where the scar covering it was. He moved away almost imperceptibly.
“The Dena’ina are using what you just did to try and convince people that the Dark King’s ancestors aren’t all like him.” He said it as a statement, but there was a question behind his words.
Well, how many people did I kill as an assassin for Karl? She wondered, pondering her own morality. But is that on my conscience or his? And did I not fall in love with the man trying to take over the world? Out loud she said firmly, “Queen Layna of Gelendan has the mark…and she is the most non-evil person I have ever met. Having the mark does not mean you are necessarily like the Dark King.” But it doesn’t mean I don’t have some of his traits too…the voice in the back of her head added. She ignored it. She was comfortable with who she was.
Ever since finding Hunter once again, she held on to the memories of who she had been before the priests had taken her and allowed her to be corrupted by Karl. Still, she didn’t think that her actions were the best ones to be comparing all of the marked to…
“Did the Three really talk to her in her head?”
“They did,” Katya answered simply. They both fell silent for a long moment.
“I don’t think you’re an evil person either,” Lorcan told her and she smiled. He glanced at the ground for a while. His eyes flitted up to meet hers, then dropped. “Gareth was a really important man, until…”
“Until they made him throw his wife and daughter out of the tribe?”
“Yes,” he bobbed his head up and down. “I’ve been doing a ton of research on our histories, and after finding out that he was somehow connected to the incident, I started looking him up too. He did a lot for all the tribes, and was one of the only tribesmen who bothered to keep in touch with the others. But then after…” he shrugged his shoulder to the side and widened his eyes to indicate the event again, “…he started speaking out against the practice of exiling children. He disappeared for a while, I think looking for you, and Kali really started to take over. He eventually returned, but was different. Then, when the incident happened, he blew the stone straight out of the statue’s hand in anger. I had thought that it was because he was upset with the Dena’ina, but now understand that it was what Kali was doing that he disapproved of. He got so worked up about it that he began to have problems with his heart and the other Elders stripped him of his position and suggested that he spend the remainder of his days with the infirm.”
“Is that why he was there,” Katya stated more than asked. Privately, she speculated that perhaps the other Elders were what had caused Gareth’s ailing health. She wouldn’t be surprised in the least, given what they were capable of.
Someone tapped on the door and Katya called out that they were free to come in. The door opened and the leader of the Dena’ina stood in the doorway. He glanced over at Lorcan, who stared resolutely down at the ground.
“No one will be blaming you, young man,” he told Lorcan with sympathy in his voice. “We understand that the lies you have been told will take some time to undo.” He turned to Katya, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Katya answered, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed to prove her point. The spot on her torso where the knife had penetrated tugged painfully, but she ignored it, using her years of neutral expressions to keep it from showing on her face.
“That is excellent to hear,” he clapped his hands together, “I want to first off thank you for saving my life.” His eyes darted to Lorcan almost imperceptibly and Lorcan looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than here, but the man was standing directly in his path to the door. “But unfortunately, I have another request for you.”
Katya raised her brow quizzically.
“Being Gareth’s daughter has caused more of a stir than we had anticipated. He was very well loved before he fell ill. It seems that his views on the practice of exiling the marked, and on the dealings of the Elders in general, greatly changed after throwing his own child out. You.” The Dena’ina leader paused and studied her for a moment. “Having the things that he was trying to get people to believe about the marked and the dealings of the Elders confirmed by another source has made them all take a second look at him. Even though his ‘illness’ caused him to become crotchety and the people tended to avoid his presence, it seems that their respect for him has not diminished. The fact that he aided you seems to have made an impression on them. Therefore, I believe that your words may help to convince the people. The Elders are currently being gathered and we will formally ask them to explain what they’ve done in front of everyone.” He paused and looked to Lorcan, obviously debating whether or not to add something more in front of a member of the Myaamia and Katya nodded her head to him. “They do not know the extent to which we will confront them and we hope that the surprise will expose their true intentions to the rest of their people.”
Lorcan looked up, meeting the man’s eye in surprise and concern. But it was concern over what the Elders had been doing, not for wanting to warn them.
“Lorcan’s been suspicious of their activity for some time,” Katya said of the young man proudly, “he is the one responsible for allowing us to warn the King and Queen about the danger that their daughter posed.”
“Is he now,” the leader asked, standing a bit straighter and giving Lorcan an appraising look.
“Which is why I probably should have thought twice before believing what they said about you,” the boy mumbled, “I already knew what kind of lies they were capable of…”
“Sometimes our heart speaks louder than our head, young man, it is not your fault that you couldn’t hear above its cacophony of its emotions.” The man paused a moment, looking thoughtful. “Many of the younger people here seemed not to be very surprised with the dealings of the Elders. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?” He gave Lorcan a knowing look who resolutely wouldn’t meet his eye. He seemed to be warring between being proud of what he had done and worried that he would get in trouble for it. The Dena’ina let the matter drop, and he rested a hand on Lorcan’s shoulder. “I met your parents once,” he said after a moment in this position, removing his hand as he did so and putting it to his chin in thought. “They were good people. Misguided, but they were only doing what they thought was right. I am very sorry for your loss.”
“Can you tell me what happened to them?” Lorcan asked and Katya suddenly felt out of place within the conversation. She felt as though she was a fifth wheel in an intimate discussion that she had no part of, but neither man nor boy seemed to notice she was there at that moment.
“They came into our camp,” the Dena’ina leader recalled, looking wistfully morose, “under false pretenses; saying that they were there to speak of peace.” He looked down at Lorcan, “You see, my boy, they weren’t the first of the Myaamia to come to our village. There had been many others, all for the purpose of changing our minds about keeping the marked alive. And when that didn’t work, they tried to take matters into their own hands, attempting to kill those we had sworn to protect. We were able to turn most of these away without violence, but your parents…” He paused a moment, collecting his thoughts. “Under the guise of talking of a treaty between our people so that the attacks would end, they made it into the heart of our village. From there, they managed to kill several of the marked and a few who were only defending them before they were subdued.” He said this word softly, and both Katya and Lorcan picked up on the subtle insinuation that this subduing was fatal.
The sincerity in the man’s voice, combined with the intense tone of regret, seemed to convince Lorcan more than anyone else’s confirmation had and he broke down into tears. Inexplicably, he threw his arms around the man.
After a few minutes, he let go, and Katya cleared her throat. “
Well, shall we?” she asked, standing and motioning towards the door.
CHAPTER 3
Layna sat in the throne room talking with Gryffon. His fingers lay gently on hers, moving slightly side to side in a gesture of comfort.
“How is Amelia doing?” Gryffon asked, causing Layna’s thoughts to go down the tangent they had been prone to of late. There had just been too many people falling ill, and Layna was getting rather suspicious of it. She had originally thought that it may have been a secondary attack to distract them from noticing the curse, but now she was beginning to wonder. The overlapping incidences of those they had isolated for possibly being touched by the curse and those who were coming down with the sickness was a coincidence she couldn’t ignore.
“She’s been getting worse; the fever hasn’t let up yet.” She paused, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to create more issues than they already had. “Do you think it’s possible that the enchantment is for some reason doing more than the Myaamia intended? I mean, Amelia was the one who was closest to the baby, and she’s sick. Philip, the guard who frequently watched her is sick. Several other nursery maids are out ill with varying degrees of sickness. I’ve been contemplating the possibility that it weakens the immune system or perhaps because it is buried so deeply within a person is affecting their body’s natural functions, or...” she shrugged.
“I’ve had a similar thought,” Gryffon sighed, “but I didn’t really want to voice it and make it true. If that is the case, we’re dealing with something that could potentially be life-threatening now, not just to the unborn babies of the world.” He paused. “Although, it would make detecting who had contracted it easier.”
“I wish we knew more about the tribes,” Layna lamented. “It’s so frustrating to not know what it is that you’re up against. At least when Jezebel was chasing us we knew she what she wanted.”
“Yes: Us dead. Not exactly better.”
She smiled at him. “But she wasn’t some curse spreading to everyone we know and care about for unknown reasons. I mean, obviously they still hold a grudge against the Dark King, but can they really think we’re to blame for his actions and should be punished for them?” She sighed. “I think I’m going to go visit Amelia, maybe it’ll give me some insight.”
A short while later, Layna was sitting beside Amelia, holding her hand, when Natalya and Alina came in. They were braving the Forgotten’s curse to stay at the palace, as it was the best place for Alina’s condition to be monitored, and Natalya had volunteered to bring food and drink to the sick. Apparently Alina had today decided to join her.
Since they had already blocked off the entrance and exits to the palace in order to contain the Forgotten’s curse, they had decided to consolidate all those showing symptoms of the illness into the great hall as a make-shift infirmary. They had hoped that that way they wouldn’t have two outbreaks on their hands.
“How are you feeling today Miss Amelia?” Natalya asked the old woman sympathetically. The two had hit it off and Amelia smiled at her.
“Oh, can’t complain,” she answered.
Alina wore a slightly concerned expression behind her sister and Layna felt a twinge of guilt. No doubt seeing the ill reminded her of the fate she was currently destined for unless they found a cure to her ailment as well. She had insisted on seeing Lord Telvani in the dungeons before he had finally succumbed to the Bricrui – despite Layna’s attempts to dissuade her – and no doubt his terrifying visage still haunted her. The strange herb that Lord Morven had bought from the merchant near Castle Storm had been keeping the change at bay, but it must be weighing on the young girl’s mind. Especially so as they had recently run out of the plant, and were currently awaiting more from the Knights. At least having something to take for it had made it seem less hopeless. She reached out a hand to squeeze Alina’s. It was ice-cold under her grasp, and the girl jumped at her touch.
“Sorry,” Alina murmured, looking down, then quickly back up to add, “Your Majesty.” Her eyes darted this way and that. “It’s just that…” she looked very much like she wanted to say something, but was unable to put it into words.
“What is it?” Layna asked, concern coloring her voice.
“It’s just that I recognize the magic on these people. Is that strange?”
Layna shook her head, “Mages can often recognize the work of others they’ve observed in the past, especially if the other is less powerful than themselves. Perhaps one of the healers who worked with you has also worked in here. Can you determine whose magic it is?” Layna glanced quickly over the crowd of patients with curiosity. Alina’s talent could potentially be quite strong if she was able to recognize another mage’s power at this point in her training; especially since all of the mage healers were fairly strong themselves, and the girl’s talent was likely still being dampened by the remnants of the chokeroot she had been taking.
“Yes,” Alina said hesitantly. She looked down the long row of the sick and Layna recognized the shift in her eyes indicating she was using her other sight – magesight – to see them. When she looked back at Layna, her gaze was suddenly clear and her voice certain. “It’s mine.”
Layna was shocked. “Yours? Why would your magic be on these people? Are you sure?”
“She just said it was,” Natalya interjected, irritated, and coming to stand beside her sister.
“I didn’t mean to imply she wasn’t,” Layna assured her, “I was just surprised. If that is the case…” she trailed off, lost in thought. “Was there any other time that you used magic than under Lord Farthen’s ‘care’?” She used the term very loosely.
Alina shook her head, eyes wide. “But there was…” she started.
Layna waited patiently for her to elaborate, not wanting to demand answers and have her skittishness return.
“What?” Natalya finally asked for her.
Alina still hesitated, but eventually finished the sentence. “There was something odd when Lord Telvani came and performed the actual spell, not just the experiments they had us doing all the time.”
“What was it?” Layna prodded gently.
“Like another spell interfering maybe? I’m not sure, just like a surge of power from somewhere else. Telvani didn’t notice as far as I know, probably assumed it was just more power that I tapped into somehow.”
“But maybe it was more than that…” Layna’s mind connected the dots and her eyes grew wide. She drew back Amelia’s sleeve and examined her arm carefully. They were faint yet, but Layna could just see the beginnings of sores along them. She sucked in her breath.
“What are you thinking?” Amelia asked her urgently, “Because that expression is not comforting.”
“Nothing,” Layna said quickly, not wanting to reveal her suspicions here. “I need to go, I’m sorry Amelia. I’ll come visit you again later.” She kissed the woman on the forehead, ignoring her protests and hurried from the room.
She strode down the hallway quickly, wanting – needing – Gryffon’s reassuring presence. What if her fears were correct? What if the spell the Forgotten had performed to infect baby Phoenix had been done at the same time as the one that Lord Telvani did on the Council and somehow the two spells had intertwined? The symptoms that the people were showing were very similar to those described by Lord Farthen’s notes on what happened to those who had participated in the control spell they were working on. The Bricrui he had called them. The Death-bringers according to the townspeople. And now, instead of only affecting those who had performed the blood-magic ritual, it could be being spread by her baby girl courtesy of the Forgotten’s curse.
Her memory flashed back to when Telvani had escaped; his flight had been possible because when he had come close to Phoenix, something had flared up around her and distracted them. Having the two of them in close proximity might have been what set it off. It was much, much worse than they had thought. They wouldn’t just be dealing with a country of people who would be unable to produce the next generati
on if this thing escaped, they would all be reduced to blood-thirsty raving lunatics before slowly killing each other off.
How she wished it would be simply a few unintended side-effects of the Forgotten’s curse as they had feared, it would have been far better than the truth. Baby Phoenix was spreading the Bricrui to everyone who shared the tiniest portion of the bloodline of the Dark King – nearly everyone.
*
Kali walked with several of the other Elders down to the ground below. Apparently there was some kind of commotion being caused by that no-good Katya and members of the Dena’ina tribe. She was eager to see her people’s reaction to that group. Already she’d heard that young Lorcan had tried to stab one of them. She chuckled to herself. She would have loved to have seen that, but she had been deep in meditation to determine if there were any remnants of the Dena’ina’s stone that could prove useful in the fake. She was still furious at the girl for having brought her the false stone. Though it would make it more difficult for her to exact her revenge against Katya with the Dena’ina present, once she had turned the people against them, this could prove to be very useful to have both within her grasp.
Since the Dena’ina leader had been stupid enough to come himself, they could potentially use him as leverage to gain access into the forbidden parts of their city where they kept the marked ones and the real powerstone. Then, her plans would be back in motion.
She smiled at the man when they had reached the bottom and gave him the customary welcome from one tribe to another. His voice was cold. Kali knew he knew the real events that were going on, and his tone indicated that he’d already discovered that her tribe did not know the truth. He was obviously not happy about it. That was unfortunate, she had hoped he hadn’t realized the lies she’d been spreading, and could have shuffled him off before he spoke with anyone about anything of importance. She needed to shut him up before he leaked his poison to any of the Myaamia. She had gone to great lengths to keep the true purpose of the parties being sent out secret, and she didn’t intend to have all her plans ruined by an old man and the meddlesome woman.
Light the Reign (The Forgotten: Book 3) Page 3
