“Save it,” Elric pressed the box into Sels’s hands and forcefully closed Sels’s numb fingers around it. “You have your secrets, I have mine. What the Queen doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Frankly, I don’t care what you do with your little savage.”
Sels nodded, still in shock.
“I’ve been experimenting with metal. After seeing the Yaka use it in battle against us so effectively, I know it was the right thing to do. This box,” he tapped Sels’s fist, “contains a small chunk of the rarest type, star-metal.”
“Why give this to me?” Sels finally managed to work words out of his mouth, although he still felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
Elric chuckled. “Do you know what metal does?”
A memory came to him, of his Mother’s strongest spells getting pulled out of the air and sucked into the sword of an invading Yaka. He nodded. “It negates magic.”
“No, no,” Elric tapped a finger on the box then on Sels’s chest, “It absorbs it, changes it. Open the box.”
Sels held up his hand and unclenched his fingers. He was shivering violently in the cold now, although Elric seemed unaffected by the chill. The lid flipped up easily, revealing a dull gray, uneven chunk of rock and a blast of moon magic so powerful Sels cried out in surprise. It swirled up from inside the box, pounding against his veins and filling him with warmth. Only his practice of the last few nights allowed him to keep control of the waves of power that flooded through him. He opened his second sight. So much magic was concentrated in the stone it was like looking directly into the sun.
Elric reached over and flipped the lid shut. The magic vanished as fast as it had come, cutting Sels off so abruptly that he dropped over backwards, feeling like he was a puppet whose strings had been cut.
“What...was that...?” Sels gasped, clawing his way back to his feet.
“As I said, that stone stores moon magic and turns the rays of the sun into something you can use.”
“And the box?” Sels panted, barely able to breathe. Without the pulsing heat from the box the icy wind cut right through his sodden silks again.
“Spelled to keep the magic contained and hidden.” Elric smiled at him, clasping his shoulder. “It is my gift to you, my son. Our secret.”
Sels stumbled into the maze, clutching the magic box tight to his chest. He was steps into the maze before he realized he’d forgotten his lantern back at the training circle. But he refused to go back for it; to face Elric again. He’d been wandering this maze since he was a sprout, its twists and turns were as familiar to him as his own room.
Set throughout were small gardens decorated with patios, benches, and gazebos. Two turns and a moment of walking brought him to the closest of those. He stumbled over a couple of loose cobblestones in the dark, but dared not reach out to feel his way forward, lest he prick himself on the deadly thorns of the hedge walls.
Still shivering he gratefully sank onto the stone bench and cracked open the box, just a sliver, letting a quick burst of magic to warm him. He tightly shut and latched the box after, setting it carefully in his lap while he took a meditative pose that Sesay had taught him. He waited for his mind to quiet before he reached out mentally to Arara. Despite his best efforts she didn’t respond to him, but he could still feel her pain as a dull ache in his rear in the phantom sensation of a tail. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, and through the bond Sels got a glimpse of a dark street and a hooded companion walking at her side.
Sels remained on the bench, alternating between doing his best to lessen Arara’s pain through the bond and occasionally cracking open the box holding the metal to warm him. By the time that Arara responded to him Sels was shivering violently and suddenly aware that he was dangerously cold. The magic might have been warming his soul and blood with its singing power, but as he took stock of his stiff limbs and aching hands that refused to work properly he realized it hadn’t really been providing him with any real warmth. As he stumbled his way through the maze it felt like he was walking with bricks on the end of his legs instead of feet.
Sels emerged from the maze as dawn broke the horizon. He was met at the door to the palace by a concerned looking Jegeran guard.
“Your Highness?” the guard said, cocking one ear as he took in the sodden and shivering prince.
“C-c-c-old,” Sels forced out through clacking teeth.
The guard lifted his chin, and swung open the door behind him. Warm air puffed out, taunting Sels as he shuffled slowly towards its tantalizing warmth. Inside, he collapsed to kneel directly in front of the closest heating pod.
The box and its precious cargo dropped out of his stiff, frozen hands and skittered across the floor. The top popped open and the star-metal piece tumbled free, bouncing erratically across the hall before rolling to a stop at the paws of the guard who had let Sels in. A burst of Moon magic licked at Sels’s tattered senses and he barely got control in time to stop his hands from bursting into flame. Oddly, after the initial flare, the steam of magic from the thing slowed to a trickle.
Curse Elric for giving him the thing. Now the guard would report to his mother, and Sels would get a lecture about how the laws applied to everyone. Worst of all she’d ask where he got it, but if he confessed then Elric would tell the queen about his part in the escape of the Yaka. Sels groaned and sunk down to lie on the floor.
“Sire,” the guard’s eyes flicked across the metal shard, then to Sels. “Are you injured? Shall I fetch the healer?”
“No,” Sels shook his head, almost more than he could manage. The guard obviously hadn’t realized what Sels had just dropped, but if they summoned a healer now, with the shard out of its warded box, they’d catch him for sure. Arms trembling with effort Sels pulled himself across the hall and wrapped a hand around the metal. It was cold to his touch and its irregular edges dug into his palm.
“Hand me that box,” Sels pointed to the wooden box which still lay forgotten near the heating pod.
The guard picked it up with an amused snort and handed it to the Prince. Sels replaced the star-metal inside and snapped it closed, making sure to reset the clasp.
“Anything else, Sire?”
Sels sighed, hating himself for asking. “Help me to my rooms.”
To his surprise Sesay waited outside his doors. She took in his muddy silk training clothes and the way he leaned on the guard with an arched eyebrow, then waved off the guard and stepped forward to steady Sels’s elbow.
“Late night?” Sesay said as they made their way inside.
“Elric pushed me hard during lessons last night and I,” Sels over-tired brain was fogged and he struggled to come up with a reason for having stayed in the garden all night. “I sat on a bench to think and I guess I fell asleep.”
“Bad night for it.”
“Yeah, I woke up half frozen,” Sels shook off Sesay’s hand and fell heavily against the wall, using it to keep himself upright as he stumbled towards his sleeping soil. He really should remove his sodden and filthy clothes first, but he couldn’t summon up the energy.
Sesay tisked. “Not just that.”
Sels stopped and closed his eyes. The last thing he needed right now was a lecture from Sesay. Especially as he still held the contraband metal and its protective box.
“What then?”
“Aren’t you wondering why I’m here?”
Sels shook his head, not opening his eyes or turning around. He could tell, she was going to say something gloating.
“One of the Yaka escaped last night. The Queen has moved up the execution to today; high noon in the courtyard.”
Sels’s eyes flew open and he spun around, making sure to hold the box out of Sesay’s view behind his back.
“You and your Sedyu are expected to attend.”
He stared at Sesay in shock. Sesay held her hand towards him palm up. “The Queen said, and I quote, ‘Royals do not shirk responsibilities. Sels and his Yaka will attend, in their best attire, and there will be no disruptions
in the proceedings.’ Is that clear?”
Sels nodded, eyes wide, heart racing.
CHAPTER TEN
EXECUTION
Even with the splint on Arara’s tail ached. Arara curled up on a blanket in the corner while Poy and Niq left to escort the Yaka to the safe place they’d set up. Arara had wanted to go with them, if only to find out where Ottont would be so she could go visit him and ask the questions he’d promised to answer; but Poy had pointed out, rightly, that in her condition she’d only slow them down. Looking at the lightening sky outside, Arara had agreed. They had to get Ottont out of sight before dawn brought with it the Kin and their magic.
Since she’d already been away long enough to be missed, Arara decided to stay here to wait for Roel to wake up and heal her. It would be more suspicious to show back up with a broken tail. With it healed she could just saunter back to the palace and pretend surprise that no one had noted her exit.
She was woken by a jolt of surprise from Sels through their bond. The shooting pain from her tail made it hard to concentrate on Sels, but she got enough to know that she needed to get back to the palace as soon as possible. Just then Roel stumbled into the lobby, rubbing sleep from her eyes and holding the note that Poy had left.
“Arara?” Roel knelt by her and held her hands over the splint, the note crumpled up in one hand. “I can take away the worst of the pain, but my magic isn’t strong enough to heal a break this bad.”
“Just do what you can.”
Arara gasped in relief as Roel’s hands began to glow white, sending a healing wave down through Arara’s tail. A moment later Roel sat back and the light died. As Roel had said Arara’s tail still ached, but it was much better than it had been.
Roel stood. “As soon as you get to the palace have a Healer there fix it properly.”
“I can’t,” Arara said, tearing off the splint. “No one can know that I was hurt.”
“Then you’ll need to leave it splinted if it’s to heal properly."
“I can’t do that either,” Arara said as she got to her back paws and straightened her cloak.
“It could easily get rebroken, or you could lose feeling or movement in the tail. But it doesn’t matter to me what you do,” Roel said with a shrug. She disappeared into the back before Arara could ask her anymore.
Outside the day showed signs of being a hot one. All traces of last night’s storm had vanished; the sky was bright blue, the mud of the road already drying to a cracked glaze.
By the time she’d found a hired carriage to carry her back to the palace the sun was high in the sky and Sels was sending her frantic questions through the bond. Large crowds of people, Kin and Jegera, swarmed the roads, slowing the carriage down to a crawl.
Arara didn’t mind, as she was exhausted and it gave her time to rest and think. The crowd was headed towards the execution of the Yaka, which had been moved forward to that morning. Everyone was speculating about the reason for the change, which Arara gathered meant that they had kept the news about an escape secret.
Sels wanted her to hurry, even if it meant leaving the luxury of the carriage to press onto the palace on foot. It might have been faster, but Arara had been up for almost two days with very little sleep and the healing had left her ravenous and drained. So she stayed in the carriage and napped.
The sun was almost at its zenith when the Kin carriage driver dropped her off at the palace gates. Inside the courtyard the crowd pressed up against a line of guards, who were keeping them back from a raised wooden dais that Kin mages had just finished growing.
Arara moved up as close as she could to the edge of the crowd. She was significantly shorter than everyone else and try as she might she couldn’t see more than the furry bodies pressing in around her. Finally, a break opened, and she shielded her eyes with one paw to look up. On the balcony Sels stood arm in arm with Sesay, waving at the growing crowd. Recka’s shadowy bulk stood as a silent and unmoving sentinel behind them.
To the screaming and howling delight of the crowd, the Queen made her entrance a few moments later, floating out on the balcony in a swirl of petals and a crashing blast of music. Her magically enhanced voice boomed out over the crowd, reciting a speech about how Jegera and Kin together overcame the invasion. Arara tuned it out with a scowl.
Arara sighed and wondered how Tukura was going to find her. She was going to have to get closer.
“Excuse me, I need through.”
Arara poked the side of the big Jegera who was unintentionally blocking Arara’s every move. He turned, muzzle pulled back to snarl as he looked for who had poked him. When he finally noticed her his expression softened and he moved aside to let Arara through. After a few more moments Arara was stopped by a guard who was keeping others from the platform.
Above them the Queen’s speech was wrapping up. Jegeran guards exited a side door into the courtyard. A line of chained Yaka emerged behind them, blinking up at the bright sun which they hadn’t seen in over a month. The crowd exploded into cheers, drowning out everything Arara had said to the guard.
“One of them escaped!” A cry of alarm went up from the big Jegera, who’d been the first to let her by.
Tukura grabbed her arm and dragged her away, despite Arara’s protests, ignoring the commotion that broke out behind them.
Screams and howls of “Kill it!” “Burn it!” and “Death to all Yaka” followed them all the way inside the palace. Once past the doorway Tukura released Arara’s arm, pushing her into a wall as she stalked away.
“Hurry up,” Tukura growled, not looking back.
Arara trotted after her, doing her best to keep up. They went down the hall and up a set of stairs hidden behind a tapestry; a servant’s stair. Tukura disappeared around the first corner. Panting, Arara pushed her trembling legs, climbing stairs for what felt like an eternity. She collapsed at the top, chest heaving. Tukura’s paw grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to her feet, ripping off her cloak and pannier with a snarl.
“Put those on and get out on the balcony. Now!” Tukura pointed to a new sedyu uniform in Arara’s size that hung from a hook in the corner. Arara rushed to dress, ripping her vest and shorts in her haste. They had been her favorites, made by her mother for her while she was still living in Last Home. Before Arara could reach for them Tukura was thrusting the new uniform vest at her, and roughly shoving her legs through the holes of the shorts. When she pulled the shorts to button the back closed around the base of her tail Arara couldn’t help but let out a little yelp of pain, and turned to nip at Tukura’s paw.
Tukura narrowed her eyes and snarled with such raw ferocity that Arara shrank back and offered Tukura her throat in apology. Tukura put her mouth down, her breath hot on Arara’s neck, and bit her hard enough to draw blood. Arara stayed silent, thoroughly chastised and knowing she had messed up in snapping at Tukura.
While she’d been dressing Arara had heard the roaring cries of the crowd and even felt Sels’s sorrow through the bond, but she hadn’t thought about what it meant. Tukura shoved her out onto the balcony and forcefully pressed her up against the railing, giving Arara a full view of the courtyard. Only then did she realize that they’d already started the executions.
Two Yaka lay
unmoving on the dirt in front of the platform, their limbs splayed and tongues lolling from foamy mouths. A third lay on the platform, writhing around as best she could with chained limbs. Her muzzle was held shut with a tight leather band, foam frothing from her lips. Another moment and she twitched and lay still, prompting the crowd to let out another roar.
Arara wrapped her front paws around the railing, heedless of the gouges her claws made in the wood, as the guards undid the leather strap with a snap. They kicked the dead girl’s corpse away, rolling it off the edge of the platform to land with a thud in the dirt next to the others. Arara swayed, lightheaded; she leaned forward, and promptly puked over the side. Only a thin trail of bile came out of her open muzzle. A paw grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her head back so she had to once again see the executions.
The guards had just finished pouring water from a pitcher down the fourth Yaka’s throat. As he clawed at his neck with cuffed paws they used the leather strap to tie his muzzle closed, to prevent him from throwing up the poison.
Tukura held her there until each and every Yaka lay unmoving in the dirt.
SELS STOOD AT THE RAILING, watching as the guards carried away the last body. Arara had bolted after the last execution to parts unknown, although Sels could still feel her sorrow through the bond. His mother had left soon after that. The majority of the crowd had long ago trickled away, bored once the executions were done.
Sesay had remained behind and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, one hand covering Sels’s as he gripped the railing, an unexpected companion for Sels’s silent vigil.
“Your sedyu-bonded needs you,” Sesay said finally when the mages returned to begin removal of the living wood platform.
“I can’t help her,” Sels shook his head, tears springing unbidden to his eyes. He’d managed to keep them back until now, but his cold and sleepless night was catching up to him. “She partly blames me for this, and I fear she is right.”
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