The Ghost, The Dragon, and The Lost King (Fated Chronicles Book 4)

by Humphrey Quinn

  “My freedom?” she jested.

  He hadn’t answered aloud, only grinned.

  She’d never win a battle against him, so it didn’t matter. Even with all he’d taught her in the previous weeks, it would take her a lifetime to get that good. Maybe longer.

  She sat up and shivered. Autumn was here, she could feel it in her bones. And the chill came into the estate and got stuck inside.

  “Nothing a hot bath and a roaring fire can’t take care of.” She hopped up and walked over to the fireplace. She stacked it high with wood and then shot a spray of flames out of her palm catching it afire. It would be toasty by the time she got out of her bath- a vision took her. Her first in months.

  She fell to her knees, soaking it all into her mind.

  It ended a minute later, leaving her dumfounded and speechless.

  She got up off the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.

  She’d just had a vision of a woman believed dead.

  Isabella Crane… late wife of the carriage driver, Ian.

  It made no sense.

  “She’s dead, so why did I just have a vision of her still alive? And about to give birth?”

  Juliska shook her head, puzzled. It’s possible this vision was from the past, and perhaps Isabella was about to have her son, Ivan. Such an odd thing to have a vision of, but Juliska was used to visions that didn’t always make sense right away. She’d just have to wait and see if she had any others to help explain.

  Juliska met Fazendiin in the room he’d set up to train her. But it had changed today. Gone were the tables, tinctures, cauldrons and other things they’d been using. Now, it was a big open space.

  “He really means for us to battle each other.” There were mats lining the walls, but not the floor. She swallowed nervously. A bout of nausea suddenly overcame her and she pressed her hand against her stomach.

  “Are you feeling well this morning?” Fazendiin entered the room.

  “Um, yeah. I’m fine.” She let go of her stomach but it took another minute for the nausea to fully go away. This wasn’t the first time it had happened and she doubted it would be the last. Although she could not figure out exactly what was causing it.

  “Good.” He strode by her, turned to face her and inhaled deeply, readying himself to train Juliska how to duel. He paused for a moment. There was something different in her blood. A faint smell, something new.

  Fazendiin raised a hand and made a motion Juliska did not notice.

  A blink later, she was falling to the floor. But before she hit, Fazendiin snatched her up into his arms and swooped her out of the room. He placed her on a sofa in his study. He noted his mother watching from behind him, from her stained glass prison.

  Fazendiin closed his eyes and placed his palm over Juliska’s body. He stopped, an inquisitive look on his face.

  “An interesting development.”

  He stood and paced around his study. Juliska would not wake until he’d allowed her to. He needed to rethink everything. His move had just been blocked and he needed to reconfigure his strategy.

  Juliska Blackwell was pregnant. No doubt that man she was in love with. Eddy…

  This was not a contingency he had planned for, at least not this soon. It was maybe too soon. And yet, possibly perfect. He glanced back at her.

  Something was off about it though. The pregnancy wasn’t moving forward, almost like it was stuck… in transition…

  “Like her…” he muttered. He glanced up at his mother. “Seems I’ve made a fortuitous faux pas. Or a terrible mistake…” He laughed. His mother did not.

  “No doubt, Son, you’ll just reconfigure your scheme to make it work to your advantage.”

  “You know me so well, Mother.”

  Yes. I do… she thought to herself. Had the moment actually begun? The moment she’d given up her life for? The moment the false prophecy had been created for, knowing her son would not be able to resist the temptation to control it. She dare not hope.

  “It would appear that when I first took Juliska, she had already, or was about to, conceive a child.”

  It was a good thing Aloyna was stuck in stained glass, or her legs might have faltered and she’d have fallen over. Her son had done it, maybe. Taken control of the prophecy of the three immortal children.

  Juliska Blackwell was immortal now. She didn’t know it. It had been done to her when her son had brought her here. The real reason she’d slept for days, not some charm to release her memories. That, her son had timed to his advantage. But it took time for the body to catch up with the immortality. The change was not instant. It took weeks for that kind of power to take over, completely.

  And depending on whether Juliska had already conceived her child before her son had made her immortal, this child could be the first of the three immortal children her son would try to assume control over.

  Aloyna had no living heart, but the pain of it all sliced though her just the same. This poor woman, Juliska’s entire life based on a lie. What her son would do to her… had already done to her… and now to her child… for a moment she was filled with great regret. And doubt. Perhaps this whole idea had been a mistake. So many lives disrupted. Ruined. All for what? To make sure her son did not succeed in his plans.

  He was a patient man, if nothing else. Willing to sit back and let time pass, to wait years for this little girl, Juliska, to grow up. To wait hundreds of years for the perfect combination of events to align; to believe he was in control of this prophecy. That he would actually control the three immortal children… but for now, she could only do as she’d been doing.

  Wait.

  Watch.

  Listen.

  Wait…

  She had to hold tight to her belief that she’d done the right thing. Yes, some would suffer. Some would die. But it was the only way to take her son and the other Grosvenor out of power, permanently. And bring true balance back to the world of magic.

  Fazendiin stood over Juliska’s unconscious body peering down at her like a child who’d just stolen a piece of candy.

  “What to do, what to do?” he pondered. “And why is the pregnancy on pause? It must have something to do with the time of conception and when I made her immortal.” He stood and paced around the room, wondering how long it would take the pregnancy to get out of this stuck position and move forward. He wondered what would happen to the child, immortal or not, stuck in a stasis like this.

  And if the pregnancy survived and moved forward, how would he be able to tell if this child was immortal? If it was, he needed this child to live. If it was not, well regardless, he could not allow Juliska to keep this child.

  “But I’ll have to do it just right…” Already, the outlines and variables of a dirty scheme unraveled in his mind. How to use this pregnancy to his advantage, to affirm Juliska Blackwell as his.

  He could not rush this.

  And it meant keeping her around longer than he’d first thought to.

  But he needed more time.

  More time to see if the pregnancy moved forward. More time to figure out the best way to get the child out of Juliska’s care and exactly where he needed the child to be.

  She would not realize she was pregnant for some time yet, he didn’t think.

  His sense of smell was keen and practiced. Hers was not.

  And at this point, although she should easily be around upwards of eight to ten weeks pregnant, her body was acting like the moment had just occurred. He wondered if the entire pregnancy would stay so slow. Or if it would suddenly kick in like a normal pregnancy. And just why the process of making her immortal had created this strange side effect.

  It shocked him, that even after all his long years of life and planning, that unexpected things like this still caught him off guard. But it’s also what made him different from the others like him. He rolled with it. Changed with it. Accepted and adjusted his plans accordingly. The greatest plans will always go awry. The key was to strategize all over again,
fast. Accept the new normal and go with it.

  But what to do with Juliska now? He didn’t want to chance losing the child, so dueling was out of the question.

  He snapped his fingers and Juliska’s eyes fluttered open. She sat up slowly.

  “How did I get here?”

  “You fainted. I carried you here.”

  “I fainted?”

  “Yes. How are you feeling?”

  “I was feeling fine right until… until I guess I fainted.”

  “And now?”

  “Okay. A little tired. I don’t know why.”

  He eyed her with a stern, but incredulous look.

  “I have been burning the candle at both ends,” she admitted. “Almost literally, practicing everything in Firemancer’s Pocket Guide.”

  “I have the burnt candle stubs to prove it,” he jested with a tight grin.

  She sat up and got her feet onto the floor. A wave of dizziness swept through her head, but cleared a second later.

  “I think we will postpone,” said Fazendiin. “At least for any sort of combat or battle training. Just until you feel recharged again. Perhaps I’m pushing you a little fast. We can slow down. There’s plenty of time.”

  She nodded. Being tired wasn’t something she was used to. But she’d never trained as hard before either.

  “You’ve learned a lot these last few weeks, Juliska. Take a few days. We will continue then.”

  “Okay. I think I’ll go lie down. My head feels a little hazy still.” She made her way to her room and fell onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling. “What a wuss… can’t keep up with a man hundreds of years older than me.”

  Even disappointed in herself, she fell asleep, deeply. She didn’t wake for hours, nearly dinner time. She sat up and noticed a tray sitting on her bedtable. The food was cold now. And at some point Fazendiin had brought her a pot of tea. She hadn’t even heard him come in. But she felt much better now. Perhaps she did just need a little rest.

  She chuckled darkly. “I bet Fazendiin doesn’t need to worry about getting tired or needing rest. Or getting sick. Must be nice to be immortal…”

  She wondered what exactly that really meant. To be immortal.

  Did he just heal if injured? Did he ever get sick? If someone tried to kill him, would it take time to come back to life? If someone for example, cut off his head, would he die? Or keep living. She imagined the man carrying around his head… it wasn’t a pretty picture.

  A wave of rumbles in her stomach got her attention. “I’m so hungry.” Which was good to feel now that all the nausea had subsided. She went down to the kitchen, surprised to find the caretaker, Basil, there. He was delivering freshly picked vegetables from the garden.

  “Oh hello, Miss. Feeling better?”

  “Oh, um, yes thanks.”

  “He told me you’d fainted. Was worried I think.”

  “Right…”

  “Oh he likes you, Miss. You may have come here on strange terms, but he does care for you. He wants to see you do well in this life.”

  “Basil, can I ask you something?” she ignored his comment.

  “Sure. Sure.”

  “You’re obviously not immortal…”

  “No.”

  “Is that by choice? Was it ever offered to you?”

  Basil took a moment to answer. “Yes. It was offered. I turned it down.”

  “Why? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “Just not interested. I think I’ve lived long enough. Immortality just doesn’t suit me. Living forever…” he shrugged.

  She let out a humored exhale. “Yeah, I suppose it’s not for everyone.”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, just got curious I guess.”

  “I take it you’ve never been sick before.”

  She eyed him, surprised by his statement.

  “Nothing like realizing one’s mortality like getting sick for the first time. Although, I’d say you look mighty healthy to me.”

  “Yeah. I feel fine now. I think I was just overtired.”

  “Well, whatever you need, you just ask your host. He’s quite a fair man, if I may say so myself. Just ask him…”

  Basil left and Juliska munched on an apple. Perhaps she should test that statement. There was something nagging at the back of her mind, causing her much distress.

  Later after dinner, she caught Fazendiin staring at her.

  “You’ve got something on your mind,” he stated.

  She nodded.

  “Something you want to ask me, but are afraid to.”

  She nodded.

  “You’re not sure where to start…”

  “Are you reading my mind?” she blurted out half-jokingly.

  He laughed. “No. That’s one thing I cannot do. But I think I’m getting to know you well enough to understand you better. So what do you want to ask me?”

  “Okay.” She blew out a breath. “First… and I cannot believe I’m saying this, I’m okay with being here and I understand why you took me…”

  “But…”

  “I think what’s bothering me, what’s making me feel sick, is thinking about the people I left behind. They don’t know I’m okay. It… it’s kind of killing me not being able to let them know I’m okay, and alive. Give them some sort of closure if nothing else.”

  “So you want to contact them?”

  “Yes. I don’t need a response. In fact, I don’t want one. I think that might be more than I can handle seeing as I don’t know if or when I’ll ever see them again. I just don’t want them to worry about me.”

  There. She’d gotten it out there. He either said yes or no, and she wasn’t any worse off for it. And it was true, she was okay with being here so it was time to accept that openly as well.

  “Okay.”

  She shook her head. “Okay? What?”

  “I’ll let you send them a letter. A one-way letter that cannot be traced… for obvious reasons I don’t want anyone to know where I live. But I see no point in keeping them in the dark. I don’t actually wish them ill will, as popular a theory as that is.”

  She looked at him incredulously.

  “I may not agree with all the things they’ve done, but I do appreciate all things magic. I want magic to survive. And I don’t want those you love to suffer.”

  “The Svoda are nice people. They’re not like they once were. You’re not like I thought you were, either.”

  “The world is often much different than we first think. It’s part of why I took you. To let you see the world for all it truly is.”

  “Then why do they live under the belief that you want them dead?”

  “A fear I helped spread.”

  “Why? Why not work together?”

  “Their fear of me, makes them leave me alone. I like my life the way it is. Calm. Quiet. And within my control. I like the simple life.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

  “I also don’t force my beliefs on anyone…”

  “And the Svoda do?”

  “Did they give you choices?” he asked pointedly. “Did you get any say in your life? Just because you were born in a seer’s bloodline, does that mean you must be one? Is that what you want from your life?”

  She didn’t answer right away. She’d never really thought about it. She’d been found by the Svoda and raised by them… they only had one way to live. It was how they survived. How they kept their island a secret. Kept magic a secret. She didn’t know if what Fazendiin said was entirely fair, but he had a point just the same.

  And there was Basil. He’d been in the service of this estate for a long time. And even been offered immortality and turned it down. Fazendiin had a track record for giving people choices. For being fair.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t meaning to make you question things, Juliska. Again with my tactful ways…”

  She looked up at him. “I just never really thought about it is all.”

  “Which is kind of the point. The Svoda don
’t push for open-mindedness or free thinking. Not that their way doesn’t work for them. It just does not work for me. And I don’t see us agreeing anytime soon.”

  So where does this leave me? She kept the thought to herself.

  Her host walked over to a drawer and pulled out two pieces of parchment and handed them to her.

  “I will give you some privacy. There’s one for your family, and one for your… the man you said you were… are… in love with.”

  She took the papers nervously.

  Just holding them in her hand took a heavy weight off her chest.

  “Why are you letting me do this?”

  He shrugged. “You’ve been here long enough to understand why I brought you here. And I do not expect you to just leave your old life behind. I also expect nothing in return from you, other than perhaps one day, you’ll give me the same trust you give them.” He grinned wickedly. “Which isn’t much. You’re like me. You don’t ever truly trust anyone. I did not take you to steal away your life, Juliska. I took you, to give you your life.”

  He saw it in her eyes. That moment of belief in what he said.

  “When you’re finished, we’ll send them off right away.” He left her alone.

  She stared at the parchment unsure what to say.

  She started with her mother.

  Mom.

  I’m so sorry. I cannot imagine what these last months have been like for you. Please know, I’m alive and I’m okay. I cannot say much, but I was given the chance to let you know that I’m all right, and unharmed. I’m being treated well, so please try not to worry. I do not know if, or when, I may return, but I hope the knowledge that I’m safe and unharmed gives you some relief.

  Please do not try to find me, it will be useless.

  Much love, your daughter, Juliska.

  The second letter would be so much harder. There was so much she wanted to say to Eddy. But so little she could.

  Eddy. My Love.

  I hope you are well, although I imagine you are wrought with grief over my sudden departure. Please know how much I miss you. And that even though I do not know if or when I shall ever return to you, that I am alive, safe and unharmed.