Gryffon and Layna waited.
One of the Council members suddenly coughed and sat up, coughing more violently as though choking on smoke. They rushed to her side and Layna brought her a glass of water. She took this greedily and drank it down.
“Where am I?” she asked, seeming to be back to normal, and they smiled in relief. It had worked!
*
“Psst,” Lorcan whispered through the cell window, panting hard to catch his breath.
There was some shuffling around inside and then Hunter’s face appeared. “Lorcan,” he greeted him, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” he answered hurriedly, “but I just found out what the Elders are up to.”
“You mean what the curse on the Princess is?”
“Yes,” Lorcan agreed excitedly. “It’s meant to spread itself through the Princess to any that have even a droplet of the Dark King’s blood within them.”
“To do what?” Hunter asked, his voice bordering on impatience.
“To sterilize them,” Lorcan spat out.
He heard a sharp intake of breath from within the cell. “They’re sterilizing people?” Hunter hissed.
“Yes,” Lorcan nodded vigorously, “and it gets worse.”
“How?”
“The stone that they sent Katya after will solidify the spell. They used the essences of the other four stones of the tribes to first perform it, but because we aren’t on good terms with the Dena’ina anymore,” he felt his heart constricting painfully and he fairly growled at the mention of the traitorous tribe, “they could not completely make it irreversible. The five stones were once as one, made by a circle of the most powerful mages of the Dark King’s era in order to survive in the chaotic magic of this place as well as hide them from the Dark King. After the immediate threat was over and the leaders of different factions decided to go their separate ways, the stone was split into five parts so that no one tribe held such a powerful artifact. Each tribe possesses one of these stones to this day.”
“Do you know of the Myaamia’s stone?”
“I didn’t until we found this text,” Lorcan said bitterly, “Yet another piece of information that the Elders are withholding from us.” He returned to his explanation, “The Arrival allowed them to enlist the use of four of the five stones, from each of the tribes who answered the summons, thinking that they were cleansing the child of an ailment. If Katya brings back the final stone, the Elders will be able to complete the curse, making it unbreakable. Every soul in the Lost Lands who holds even the tiniest portion of the Dark King’s blood will be rendered childless.”
Hunter was silent for so long that Lorcan wondered if he was still there. “Hunter?”
“I’m here,” the man answered, his voice drawn.
“Has Gareth woken yet?” he asked, eager for the man to wake to ask for his advice. After what they had learned about his background, he had many questions for the man. Like why he had destroyed the stone in the statue’s hand. Had he known what the Elders had been up to even then? And if so, why hadn’t he done anything about it? Had he known about his parents’ deaths?
“Gareth is gone,” Hunter answered softly.
“What?”
“They took him away earlier today. I think he was dead.”
No, no! That couldn’t be. He needed to get those answers.
“I’m sorry,” Hunter offered his sympathy.
Lorcan had a moment’s silence, sending a prayer to the gods for the old man. Though he had not been able to ignore his more abrasive qualities quite as well as Katya, he had come to think of the old man as a friend since the two of them had helped Katya escape. And since everything he’d recently learned about the man, he suddenly had a lot more respect for him.
He sighed in frustration. “What are we going to do?”
“You said that people don’t know what’s really going on, right?” Hunter asked.
“No, it appears that Kali and the Elders have been lying to us all.” He added bitterly, “Except a select few that apparently believe her misguided views. Like my brother.”
“If people knew would they stop it?”
“I don’t know,” Lorcan sighed, this time in resignation. “I don’t even think that they’d believe me. Raina says that they’re starting to question things, but I don’t think it’s enough yet. I was hoping that Gareth could help with that, but…”
“What did your brother say?”
Lorcan felt his cheeks getting hot in anger once more. He could hardly believe that Slade knew so much and still believed in Kali. “He says that it’s for the greater good, that it really is helping the Lost Ones.”
“Would most others think that way too?”
“I don’t know,” Lorcan repeated, annoyed.
“But if they would, why didn’t Kali invite them into the secret?” Hunter mused.
Lorcan pondered this a moment. That was true. Kali must have at least been concerned over the reception that her plan would get if she had gone to the trouble of making up a lie to cover it up.
“So maybe if you tell people what’s going on they’ll help stop it.”
“Maybe,” Lorcan agreed noncommittally. Discouraged, and not in the mood for Hunter’s questions, he stated shortly, “I have to go.”
Hunter didn’t try to make him stay, and he wandered the walkways aimlessly for a while. There was so much going on that was simply beyond his control. Would people believe him if he told them? Most just thought of him as Slade’s awkward younger brother, always getting himself into trouble. Would they assume that his information was just a cry for attention and brush him off? Could he face the humiliation of being rejected?
Lorcan spent the night in a hammock on the outskirts of the city. He couldn’t face Slade after their confrontation. Not only had Slade lied to him about their parents’ deaths, but he’d also had the information about the Elders all along and had been keeping it from him. And worse, he apparently bought into Kali’s twisted logic whole-heartedly. He felt as though he’d lost a brother too.
Sleep came to him only hours later, and he was woken by the sun’s light beating down on his face not long after. With a sigh, he pulled himself from the hammock. Eventually he ran out of reasons not to go home and he dragged his feet into the house he shared with Slade. He still hadn’t come to a conclusion about how to tell people about the real goings-on, but had at least decided that it would be best to talk it over with the band and maybe if all of them told people together, they would be taken seriously.
Slade was waiting for him at the table. He watched his entrance in silence. Lorcan trudged over and picked up a breakfast roll and stuffed it in his mouth, avoiding Slade’s piercing gaze.
“Did you tell anyone?” Slade finally asked him.
“No,” Lorcan lied. If Slade thought it was okay for him to lie about their parents and everything else, Lorcan saw no reason to be truthful with him.
“Good.” Slade was silent for a few minutes. “Kali is just trying to do what’s best for the tribes.”
“You have no idea what Kali is doing,” Lorcan shook his head, having totally given up trying to convince him. “I don’t think that sterilizing is even what she had wanted to do, it was just the worst she could get the others to agree to.”
“It’s the only way to ensure that someone like the Dark King doesn’t rise again. She says that someone almost just did. The stories the two strangers told confirmed this. Everyone will be better off.”
Lorcan didn’t bother answering. He shuffled his way into his bedroom and collapsed on his bed, exhausted. He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
*
“Natalya,” Layna knocked on the girl’s door lightly, though it was wide open, and she watched as the girl paused in her play with her sister. Though both of them wore slightly haunted expressions, being back together was obviously very healing for both girls. Natalya had acted much too mature for her age of late while looking for her sister, and L
ayna was glad to see her acting more like the little girl she was.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” she asked, untangling herself from the sprawling arms and legs that she and Alina were wrapped together in and giving her a small curtsey.
“I hate to bother you…” Layna started, hesitant to draw her away from this moment.
“What can I do for you?” the girl asked, her voice taking on the more serious tone.
Layna sighed. “I need to try and get in contact with Hunter. Last we knew, he went back for the woman who helped you get Phoenix free, but he hasn’t returned yet, and we haven’t been able to make contact. We need to know more about the tribes now. There is too much at stake to simply wait for him. None of our expeditions to find them have yielded any success as they seem to have an enchantment protecting them. If he was able to find them again and learn anything more, we need to know.”
“So why do you need me?”
“We had been communicating via a mirror that I enchanted for him, but it appears that for whatever reason he no longer has it. Therefore, I need to contact him without the aid of the mirror. But I don’t know him well enough to be able to sense his presence when I search for him magically. Since you traveled with him, you may be able to detect where he is.”
Natalya stood up straighter. The little girl with the iron will. Layna smiled.
“It would be an honor to help you, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you,” Layna said sincerely, begging their leave of Alina while she stole her sister away for a few moments.
They made their way down to the practice rooms while Layna asked Natalya how Alina was doing. She reported that as far as she could tell, there were no signs of the Bricrui whatsoever as of yet, so that was promising.
When they arrived, Gryffon was already there waiting for them and he greeted them both warmly, Natalya with a fatherly embrace, and a quick kiss for her. They settled themselves around the focus stone.
“What do I have to do?” Natalya asked.
“Just look into the stone and focus all of your attention on Hunter. Try to remember every little detail that you can about him; the way he smelled, the way he moved and talked, what he told you about his life.”
“Alright,” the girl agreed and immediately sat and stared into the stone in front of her, a crease forming at her brow in concentration.
Layna and Gryffon each took one of her hands and held each other’s, forming a circle around the stone. They closed their eyes and let the feelings emanating from the stone wash over them. Layna could feel Natalya’s memories of the man. She could almost smell the slightly horsey, musky smell, hear the gentle deep baritone, and feel the warmth of his hands. She also could feel a rather strong emotion tied to these memories. It seemed Natalya had a bit of a crush on the man.
Once they had the feel of Hunter, she and Gryffon sent out the spell, questing for his signature among all the life-forces out there. They narrowed it down to the path he would have taken to the tribe, following along it at inhuman speeds. Their magic flowed across the land effortlessly, but there was still no sign of him.
They made their way past the edge of Gelendan and out into the Plains. The spell became harder as the wild magic waned and ebbed against it, trying to tempt their tame magic to join its chaos.
They pushed on. Layna started to feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead and she squeezed Gryffon’s hand for support. He squeezed it back and she felt a rush. And suddenly there he was. Gryffon’s hand tightened even more on hers.
They could not call directly into his mind like they could with one another, so instead they tried to nudge his consciousness towards finding something reflective through which they could speak with him.
A few moments later, a man’s face shimmered and appeared on the stone before them. Natalya let out a gasp.
“Natalya?” Hunter asked in surprise and then looked around and spotted Layna and Gryffon, “and Your Majesties.” He bowed his head, one eyebrow raised curiously, but a look of excitement on his face. “How did you find me?” he asked, but interrupted himself before they could answer, “I need to talk to you.”
“Where are you?” Layna asked, trying to get a peek at his surroundings.
Hunter smiled sardonically. “I am currently being held prisoner by the Myaamia tribe of the Forgotten.”
“You were able to find them again?” Layna asked excitedly.
“Not exactly,” Hunter amended, “They found me. The woman I came to save had already saved herself and was out in the woods when I ran into her. Unfortunately, that’s when the tribe caught up with her.”
“Do you know what they’re up to?”
“I do,” Hunter acknowledged with a sigh, “But you’re not going to like it. While Princess Phoenix was in their custody, they put a spell on her.”
“What?!” Layna exclaimed, her heart racing in her chest. “What kind of spell, how could we not have detected it?” She was feeling frantic.
“It won’t directly hurt her…” Hunter assured her quickly, “But it was designed to sterilize anyone who has the mark of the Dark King, or any who share his bloodline. And it was apparently made to be contagious, just like a disease.”
“Sterilize people?” Gryffon asked incredulously. “Why?”
“They are obsessed with ridding the world of every trace of the Dark King. They even throw out their own children if the mark appears.”
“That’s barbaric!” Layna gasped. “How can we stop it?”
“I don’t know,” Hunter said, “and even worse, they have Katya going after some stone that will make the spell permanent.”
“Wait a second,” Gryffon interjected, “Katya? As in our Katya?”
“Who is ‘your’ Katya?” Hunter asked.
“She’s the one who helped us with King Nathair. We haven’t been adding her name to the official story because she asked us not to, but if it is, she’s more than capable of any task she is set to. If it is her success or failure that will determine ours, we are in trouble indeed.”
“Yes, I believe it may be this same Katya, though we did not have as long as I would have liked to have caught up.”
“Caught up?” Layna asked, momentarily distracted from the crisis.
“Yes, Katya lived with me as a child after her mother died. I had thought her dead after the priests took her.”
“Do you know how long this curse will take to spread?” Gryffon asked.
“I do not,” Hunter said regretfully, “Lorcan said that they’ve been talking about it as though it was a process, and complaining that it was taking so long to take hold. But he wasn’t really sure if it was the actual spreading that they were talking about or simply how long they will have to wait to see the results.”
“They won’t live long enough to see any results!” Layna growled, uncharacteristically violent. When it came to someone threatening her daughter, she wasn’t feeling particularly forgiving.
Gryffon laid a calming hand on her arm, but his eyes blazed with hatred as well.
“Katya doesn’t know what the spell is, or that she’s delivering the stone that will make it permanent,” Hunter added quickly. “They are holding my life over her head to persuade her to help them. But if I can just talk to her for a minute before she gives it to them, I can persuade her my life is not worth it.”
Layna furrowed her brow. She disliked the idea of sacrificing anyone, even in such a dire situation. His words sparked her curiosity. In the time she’d known Katya, though she liked the woman, she hadn’t seemed to be particularly attached to people. It seemed more likely that she would leave a stranger to his own devices and be on her way. What made this man think his life so much more important to her that she would return with the stone?
“You grew up with Katya, you said?” she stated, and the man confirmed it with a nod. He would know about her past, the past that Katya desperately wanted to find. That would be worth delivering the stone to them to preserve. If she knew the truth about what s
he was doing, it might overrule this sentiment…after all, she had killed the man she thought she loved for the good of the world, but…they would need to work quickly. Layna did not want to risk the fate of the kingdom’s unborn children on Hunter being able to convince Katya in time.
“We have been unable to get past an enchantment in order to find the tribe, else we would send someone to rescue you,” Gryffon said, regret in his tone.
“I understand,” the man acknowledged bravely with a bow of his head. “Besides, they have promised to let us go as soon as Katya returns,” he added cynically.
“We will have troops stationed in the forest,” Layna promised, “if you are, by some miracle, able to break out, find one of them and they will protect you from becoming recaptured. And thank you.”
“I’m sorry I did not have better news, Your Majesties.” He bowed his head to them once more. “Good luck.”
“And to you,” Gryffon said and they broke the contact.
Layna and Gryffon walked Natalya silently back to the room she now shared with Alina. Layna expected a barrage of questions from the girl regarding this new information, but she seemed as in shock as Layna felt.
When they made it back to their own suites, she sunk down into a chair, staring straight ahead. She had failed everyone.
“We need to lock down the palace,” Gryffon said slowly, forcing Layna’s mind to wrap around what they had been told. She tore her eyes from the spot on the wall that was becoming burned into her retinas and looked at Gryffon. It just seemed so surreal. After everything that had already happened to them, how could this be?
She shook her head and got a hold on herself. “Yes, yes of course,” she agreed. “We’ll need to make sure anyone that has come into contact with Phoenix or with others who have are contained. We don’t want this spreading any farther than it has already until we know what exactly it is.”
“And we need to set every mage we have on examining her right away to find how we could have missed a curse on her. And, more importantly, how to break it.”
Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) Page 17
