“I told no one of my plans. It was a spur of the moment decision. I just went. Anyway, right now there are more important things to discuss.”
“There is nothing more important at this point in time than explaining why you risked yourself that way. It’s unlike you to act so irrationally just to prove a point.” Araton sounds bewildered.
I keep my eyes glued to Blay, no longer caring if he tells all of them my secret. It doesn’t matter now; he’s hurt because of me. He acted irrationally in a failed attempt to find information that would somehow help me. It wasn’t worth it. I’m not worth it.
“It doesn’t matter why, all I know is that they were prepared, not by much, but enough to know someone was coming and act defensively. I had no chance of slipping in unnoticed.” Blay’s voice is stronger now, the Jalooniem is already working.
My eyes watch as his gaping wounds slowly merge back together, it will take time, but he will heal, although he will be left with scars proving his stupidity.
“How is that possible?” Ellestra voices what they all want to know.
I know, deep down I’ve always known. It’s the only possible reality that makes sense. Though they don’t know – why is that?
“There has to be some kind of barrier that alerts them that we are coming. Next time I will be better prepared, I will take only the trusted few and find that barrier and destroy it.”
“You will do no such thing.” Karadese’s face hardens into an expression I certainly wouldn’t mess with, but one look at Blay’s taunt lips, his eyes narrowed with blatant resolve and I know wholeheartedly that nothing Karadese or Araton say will persuade him to give up on his goal and I know I have to stop him, whatever it takes.
“It’s you,” I say looking Blay in the eyes, the truth making my tone hollow. “It’s because of you that they know when Prytora is going to attack. They can sense you, feel you, just the same way I can.”
“What are you talking about?” Blay’s tone is wary, not comprehending my admission. I can’t blame him, I don’t understand it either. All I know is it’s the truth; it’s the only thing that makes sense.
“There’s something about you, you’re different to everyone else here.” I try to hold my voice steady, not backing down while everyone looks at me as if I’ve gone insane.
“I’ve known it from the first moment I met you. It’s the reason I acted defensively, why I tried to attack you. Your presence reminds me too much of….”
“I think you are being overdramatic, Rayna.” Karadese interrupts, snapping with enough force to stop me from continuing. “And right now with Blay’s injuries, we certainly don’t need unwarranted conspiracy theories.”
Blay narrows his eyes, taking in his mother’s suddenly cool demeanour.
“Me? You’re saying I’m the reason they know we are going to attack? I’m the mole?”
“Not a mole,” I don’t know how to convince him, to make him see that going back there is not only futile, it’s also idiotic.
“When did they start anticipating your attacks? It hasn’t always been that way has it? I bet it’s only been in the last few years, since you have joined the fight in person, right?”
Blay nods, his face unreadable.
“It’s you, Blay, your presence. They will always know you’re coming, whether you’ve got an army or it’s just you. They have a way of sensing each other, sensing….”
Oh my god. My chest explodes in pain while my brain unravels the truth, and I stand here, stock-still trying to comprehend the catastrophic consequences of this possible revelation.
They can sense their own, feel their own kind. That’s how I can sense them because I’m changing, turning into their kind – I already know that, I might still be trying to deny it but it’s there nonetheless.
But Blay is Blay, a Prytorian Prince, how can I sense him? How can they sense him if he’s Prytorian?
My eyes dart to Karadese and I can clearly see the horror etched into her face as her mouth hangs agape, forming words that never escape.
She knows. She knows the truth.
Araton steps in effectively shutting down my confession and taking the heat off of Karadese.
“I’ve had enough of this nonsense and considering my already waning patience with children making stupid decisions today, I’m certainly in no mind to continue such a ridiculous notion.”
“Father,” Blay goes to interrupt, wincing as he pushes himself to a sitting position, ripping open his wounds as he moves too quickly.
“Enough, Blay.” Araton snaps. “You will rest and heal. We will discuss your actions at another time. Until then I want everyone to give Blay some privacy, go on, out now.”
I try to stay, to stand tough but Araton is herding us from the room, leaving no chance to slip by and return to Blay’s bedside. Not that I would know what to say even if I did.
“Father, wait. This is important.”
Araton goes to refuse, but the moment he sees Blay’s serious expression he stops, his shoulders rigid, waiting for Blay to drop the next bombshell.
I peer around Calasis’s shoulder, confused as to what is happening. I heard the serious edge to Blay’s tone, much the same as when he first woke, eager to tell us something yet constantly interrupted and then waylaid from my confession.
His eyes lock onto mine and I know whatever he has to say isn’t going to be good. Inwardly I brace myself for the news I don’t want to hear.
“I wasn’t on Zantron for long before they jumped me so I don’t know the full details, but while I was there I heard something, something that Rayna needs to know.”
“What?” my voice is strong even though I’m unravelling inside.
“The second in command wants you back,” Blay’s eyes flash to my wrist then back again, giving me an unspoken clue as to why Garvien wants me so badly. “And since they can’t get past our barrier, they’ve decided to flush you out the only way they know how.”
My blood runs cold as he utters the next unimaginable words - words that will ultimately seal my fate.
“You’re mother, Rayna. They’ve gone to Earth to kidnap your mother.”
Chapter Eighteen
I don’t stop as the angst screams behind me grow distant, there’s no point, nothing that they can say will ease the rising fear escalating in my gut. Nor can I stand there and let them console me, to make plans for a rescue that will take far too long to execute. All I can do is run; follow my feet as they seem to know where to go even if my mind hasn’t caught on yet.
I hadn’t planned for this possibility. Never once had it even entered my mind. I thought by staying away, Mum would be safe. Safe from me, but not safe from the one being in the world who will stop at nothing to reap his revenge on me and everyone that I love.
Ever since waking up in that cage I have made bad choices. I might have been strong, brave in a way, to sit there and endure the nightmares unfolding in front of me and still somehow remain fractionally sane. I might have fought with all the stubborn strength I had buried inside of me and I might have even survived, but what does any of that matter now?
Now that I have awoken questions inside of Blay, brought a whole new fear to Karadese’s surface and now put my mother in danger – all for what? My survival? I am only one person, a person who has watched her mother suffer before and refuses to witness her anguish again.
I’ve got to stop Garvien, get to Mum before he does. He doesn’t know who she is, that much I’m sure of. The thing about staying mute for the entire time of my capture is that I’m certain I never uttered a word about my mother, or where to find her.
I’m sure it won’t take him long to figure it out. All he has to do is return to where I was kidnapped, disguised as his human self, and ask around about the girls who have been missing for weeks.
He’s smart and cunning - a deadly combination in a vicious beast. That’s why I have to move fast, beat him before he gets a chance to destroy my mother like he wants to destroy me. If Garvien wants me, h
e can have me, but he’s not taking Mum down with him.
The armoury door slams against the wall, sending mortar into the air as I push through, my sight already set on what I’ve come for.
I don’t know if it will work, hell at this stage I’m just clutching at straws, but I have to do something, I refuse to sit by and let someone else clean up my mess.
I hear the footsteps pounding behind me just as I reach the little box in the corner, the one that holds Blay’s special bag of teleportation powder.
Ripping it open, I dump the pink, soft dust into my palm, closing my eyes for just a second to visualise where I want to go, praying to any and all Gods to let this work, before throwing it into the air, the particles combining together to form a billowy, shadowed outline right in front of me.
“Rayna stop!” Zaneth shouts, rounding the corner into the armoury just as I step through into the unknown.
Within a second I’m back in the woods, standing outside the door to my mysterious, little, abandoned cottage, the sky casting the soft orange glow of a magnificent sunset down upon me.
Throwing open the door I race into the tiny kitchen, immediately searching for the little jars of powder that have been stored here for, who knows, how long.
Clutching the jars, I’m careful not to drop them as memories from the potion book I had read in the library come flooding back in.
I knew I had seen the ingredients somewhere before, it just took me a while to figure out where, and now that I do remember I can use them to make the planet transportation potion – hopefully I won’t epically mess up and land on Mars.
“Rayna, what are you doing?” Zaneth pushes through the door, stopping mid-stride when he sees my little collection of powders.
“I’m going home.”
I pull open a draw, dragging out a bowl, knife and spoon, my brow furrowed as I try to recall the exact directions for the potion I’m pinning all of my hopes on.
“Planet jumps are solely prohibited,” he growls, taking a step towards me. “You will come back to the castle with me now.”
I hear it in his voice, knowing what he’s going to do before he even attempts to do it. He wants to stop me, he has been ordered to protect me, it’s his job after all, and allowing me to return to Earth where my tormenter lurks isn’t exactly going to help his cause.
I don’t have time for this, to appease these people, not when my mother’s life hangs in the balance. I react on instinct. For the first time in so long, I know what I have to do and nothing they say will stop me.
Blay will be furious. Too bad.
Reaching for the knife I spin around, holding the cold, sharp blade to my throat. My hand trembles, slicing through enough skin to draw blood, the trickle oozing down my neck and stopping Zaneth in his tracks.
“Rayna, what are you doing?” his voice is calm but his eyes belie his dismay.
“Your job is to protect me right?”
He nods, never once taking his eyes off the blade which sinks deeper into my flesh with every word I speak.
“Well, then you have two choices. Help me get back to Earth, allow me to get my mother out of there and bring us all back here, where it is safe, and your job will be a whole lot easier.” I swallow, the sting of the wound finally entering my mind. “Or I slit my throat through and through. I die. You fail. It won’t matter to me because if I don’t make it back in time to save my mum, then she’s dead and I won’t be able to survive that.”
He finally looks away, his eyes scanning the jars, a muscle throbbing in his jaw as he thinks through the possibilities.
“I’ll take you back to the castle, they can do a planet jump there, you can take guards with you and it will be a whole lot safer.”
I shake my head, wincing as the knife slices fresh skin.
“No, not happening. The moment I return to the castle they will lock me up in my room and never let me out. Blay will never allow me to return to Earth when Garvien wants me so badly.”
Zaneth’s face reddens right up to tint his shaved head, his anger at my truth finally getting to him.
“So what’s it going to be, Zaneth?”
“You’re going to get us both killed, you know that right?”
“Does that mean you are going to help me?” I hold my breath not daring to move. I don’t want to kill myself, that’s purely a threat, but I will do whatever it takes to convince him I’m serious, I need to leave no doubt in his mind.
Whatever he sees written on my face pushes him to make his final decision and with his nod I lower the knife, wincing as I run the back of my hand across my cut wiping away the blood, already sensing the blue markings lighting up my skin, ready to heal my self-inflicted wound.
“I hope you’ve got a better plan than just showing up unprepared.” Zaneth sidesteps me, reaching for the jars, opening each lid to smell it before carefully pouring differing powders into the bowl.
“Of course I’ve got a plan,” I snap, there’s no way in hell I’m going to admit that I’ve got no clue what I’m doing. Dumb luck got me this far and I’ll ride that baby as far as it will take me.
“How did you even know about this place anyway and why are all these ingredients here? This is all prohibited by anyone outside of the royal guard.”
I watch him sprinkle powders together, stirring them up and forming a concoction similar to what I remember in the book. The ingredients are sparse; I hope there will be enough to get us where I need to go.
“When I ran away from the castle, this is where I came. It’s been nothing but surprises since I walked through that door. I found it by fluke and I’m lucky I did.” As soon as I say it I realise it’s not true, not really anyway. Something had drawn me here, pulled me in like a magnet and I had only too willingly followed the call. Only now I wonder what had drawn me to this little isolated and deserted cottage that has given me so much.
Running my fingertips across the faint pink scar above the bracelet I can’t help but think it was, in fact, the swords which called me here to them, giving me a gift to counteract the curse that riddles me.
“Okay,” Zaneth barks, dragging me out of my mental speculation. “This blend will allow us to bypass the Realms border without triggering the portals defences. When you activate it, make sure you are really focusing on exactly the place you want to go to. Think of specifics, a planet jump isn’t as easy as transporting yourself from inside the same Realm. And it’s got to be someplace outside of buildings, definitely don’t think of inside a house or you will collapse the building when you enter, it’s not like the castle which has been fortified to withstand transportations at any time.” He shoots me a look from the corner of his eyes. “You got that?”
“And this will open a portal to the exact place I’m thinking about?”
He shrugs, and I get the feeling he’s trying to dissuade me while he still has the chance.
“If I made it correctly it will. It’s been a long time since I’ve mixed this particular blend and there’s no telling how old these ingredients are or how effective, so let’s just hope we both get it right.”
I don’t let his lack of optimism discourage me. This needs to be done, and soon. Before I reach for the bowl containing all of my hopes, I hesitate, remembering something Blay said.
“Blay told me a planet jump takes time to set up.” I eye Zaneth suspiciously. Maybe he’s just made another ‘same realm’ teleportation potion, although I don’t see the tell-tale pink powder that filled my hand allowing me to get to where I now stand.
“He lied.” Zaneth stands back, his solid arms folded across an equally solid chest, waiting for me to make up my mind on whether he’s telling the truth or not.
Did Blay really lie to me? I get that he wanted to keep me here longer and pretending that he had to arrange the planet jump did work in his favour. So who should I believe – Blay or Zaneth?
Either way, I have little other options but to put my trust in Zaneth. This is my only chance, all my hopes gr
ound up into a little stone bowl holding the blue-turquoise powder of my mother’s salvation.
Here goes nothing.
I pour half of the smooth powder into my cupped hand, careful not to spill even one granule, the rest I wrap up into a small piece of leather cloth and then push the little bundle deep into the front pocket of my pants, for our return trip. Please let there be a return trip.
Zaneth grabs the knife I had discarded on the bench, adding it to the collection of other weapons that are always strapped to varying parts of his body, steeling himself for what’s to come.
“Have you ever been to Earth before?” I step out of the house and into the coming night, my eyes lingering on the pink treetops below us, thankful when I don’t see a group of warriors below me, ready to drag my butt back to the castle.
“No,” Zaneth grunts, and I get the idea he doesn’t want to rectify that either.
“Well buckle up, Sunshine, cause things are about to get hairy.”
I dredge up every single detail I can remember of my mother’s front yard. The colourful azaleas she planted along the path, trying to brighten up the section for my father’s final trip home from the hospital right before he died. The wooden fence I crashed into while learning to drive Dad’s car. The big old oak tree where I had my tree hut before I fell and broke my leg. The swing seat nestled on the front porch where I had my first kiss. The driveway where I crushed my mother’s soul after I drove off, leaving her behind with the man she chose over me.
Breath leaves my lungs, blowing the powder into the cooling air, while each memory drags me to another place, a different time where sadness and loss controlled every scattered emotion in my overturned life.
“Are you ready?” Zaneth’s voice is soft for the first time, pulling me back into the present and reminding me of what lies ahead.
I don’t need to answer, instead I take the first step into the deathly black hole shimmering in front of us, hoping that he’s kept his word and we will emerge right where I want to be, back at the place I ran from.
Back home.
Paladin Rising (The Paladin's Curse Book 1) Page 18
