Lilloh didn't answer; instead she covered her face with her hands and shook her head as if she had just uncovered something terrible.
Bending down to the shaken young woman, Khuan whispered kindly to her in a language I didn't understand. She nodded as if in agreement. Raising her head, Lilloh looked at me, then at the bear, then at me again.
I didn't need more to comprehend what Lilloh wanted me to do. She wanted me to touch the beast. For some irrational reason, I was afraid to do so. I hesitated. I even contemplated the idea of refusing. I can walk away. This affair is not my problem. This thought was so seductive to me I almost agreed to it. But something stopped me. Maybe it was my love for the truth and for problem solving. Maybe it was for Eva. Or maybe I just wanted to know why I was afraid to touch this dead animal. Frankly, I didn't know which one was the strongest persuasion . . . and that surprised me a little. Filling my lungs in one deep breath, I leaned forward and placed my hands squarely on the bear's forehead. At once, all the hairs on my body stood up.
The tingling of magic was there . . . just as I had feared. Maybe that was why I didn't want to touch the bear, I thought. Oh, but there was more, there was something else under the tingling, something was trapped inside this magic whirlwind. Grinding my teeth, I focused all my effort on piercing this spinning magic shell. Finally, I broke through the shell, and as I did, a strange sense of calm invaded me. I could now detect what was trapped inside the magic circle. It was a lovely shimmering essence, as fragile and as vaporous as the thin plume of smoke one gets after blowing out a candle. I tried concentrating my mind on it, but it was fading too quickly and the magic encircling it was becoming too strong. I had to pull back for fear of fainting.
This was no ordinary bear. I had known that for a while, yet there was more to this animal than just the fact that it was enchanted. I couldn't put my finger on it though. I probed the creature's head with swift little pokes. I didn't want my hands to linger too long on its pelt. I wanted to remain in control of myself.
While I was busy examining the animal, I noted that Khuan and Lilloh were busy examining me, as if I was more intriguing to them than the bear. Ignoring their intense scrutiny of my person, I continued my inspection of this animal. When my hands glided over the bear's ear, my fingertips bumped against something hard and pointy. I tried to see what it was, but couldn't because the bear's head was twisted to the side, partly covering that ear. Taking handfuls of fur, I pulled on the bear's head with all my might. It was too heavy; I couldn't move it.
Khuan then came to help. And once he added his strength to mine, the head finally rolled to the side exposing its ear.
Upon seeing that ear, my breath stayed caught in my throat. The bear wore a blue diamond earring. Thalia's earring.
"No! That's impossible!" I said. I rubbed my eyes, hoping I was wrong and that the earring would disappear. It didn't. Resigned, I slowly extended my hand toward the bear's head and plucked the earring from its ear.
Nestled in the middle of my palm, the sparkling jewel glimmered in the sunlight like a crystallized drop of water. There was no doubt in my mind; this was the other earring I had given her. I closed my fist around the blue diamond and stared at the dead bear. How did one put earrings on a bear? This didn't make any sense. I didn't understand.
Yes you do, a small voice whispered in my mind. You know all to well what this means . . . or could mean. I touched the bear again. The beautiful shimmering essence was almost gone now, her essence, Thalia's essence. My inner voice was right; I knew what the earring meant. I knew the answer, but thinking about it was too painful because . . . because—I sighed and closed my eyes—because I didn't want to, because it meant that by killing the bear we'd killed a princess. NO! This is insane. This is exactly the kind of thoughts my crazy brothers had. I will not become like them. I refuse to.
"I want no part of this!" I declared, then stood up and left the cemetery.
Chapter Eighteen
I ran all the way back to the castle, then went straight for my rooms. I spoke to no one along the way, purposely ignoring all questions thrown at me. I wanted to forget what had just happened; I wanted to bury it in the darkest corner of my mind to never recall it ever again. Sadly, it wasn't to happen. That fact became clear the moment Khuan appeared around the corridor's bend ahead of me.
Alarmed, I stopped my trotting. The sound of another's footsteps coming to a halt nearby reached my ears. Damn! Someone was behind me. I didn't question who it was—I knew perfectly well who it was. I peeked over my shoulder. And of course, there was Lilloh, blocking my exit. Trapped between those two, I had no other choice than to ready myself for combat.
I pulled out my rapier.
A look of consternation flew across Khuan's face. He raised his hands in front of him, showing me that he was unarmed.
Oddly enough, he wasn't the one that worried me the most: Lilloh was. With her piercing gaze that always seemed imbued with an unnatural intensity, she appeared far more dangerous than her male counterpart, who, to me, seemed to possess a more calm and restrained nature than hers. This woman unnerved me like no other ever had before. That was somewhat troubling. When I glanced at her I thought I saw a similar distrust in her eyes. Apparently we shared the same feeling toward each other. Well, the dirk in her hand was also a clue.
My gaze returned to Khuan. His smooth, high-cheekboned face was impossible to read. And so was his enigmatic little smile. Was it friendly or threatening . . . I couldn't tell.
Khuan flipped his long black hair over his shoulder and took a step in my direction.
I brandished my rapier.
He sighed. "We mean you no harm, Prince Amir. We only want to speak with you."
"You . . . you speak our language," I said, quite shocked.
Smiling sheepishly, Khuan nodded. "Yes—indeed."
"But . . . " A sudden burst of anger filled my belly with fire. I felt tricked. I hated that feeling. I hated tricksters too. I glared at him. "I have nothing to say to you."
"We must talk," insisted Khuan.
"Enough!" I roared. "Let me pass!"
Khuan's gaze then settled on a point behind me. He shook his head no.
I swiftly turned, and jumped back in surprise.
Lilloh had sneaked up on me; she was now close enough to, well, stab me in the back. Hell, the woman was as silent as a cat. I raised my rapier and was relieved when I saw her back away. Fighting a woman didn't appeal to me.
Keeping my eyes on the pair and my back against the wall, I inched my way along the corridor until I judged I had put enough distance between us to risk turning my back on them.
"Prince Amir, you know there is evil in this castle." said Khuan behind me. "I know you can sense it."
"You're wrong! I sense nothing."
"It's unfortunate. That means the last Sorvinkian Princess is condemned to suffer the same fate as her sisters."
This statement brought me to a dead stop. I turned and stared at them, hard.
"Hear us out," Khuan suggested in an extremely reasonable voice, which I thought didn't fit at all his wild appearance. "That's all we ask of you."
I sighed. Feeling resentment at having my hand forced, I reluctantly agreed to listen to what they had to say.
* * *
Seated on the couch adjacent to the fireplace, Khuan and Lilloh were quietly sipping tea in crystal glasses. They seemed totally at ease in my receiving room. I must say I found it rather surprising, because when I stipulated the conditions in which I would agree to speak with them, I was certain that they would refuse to submit to these: my rooms, no weapons—for them—I, evidently, would keep my sword. And lastly Milo would have to be present. No sane person would agree to that, I had thought then. Amazingly, they did, and gladly at that. Khuan, to my dismay, was not carrying any weapon at all. Lilloh, on the other hand, had so many concealed on her person that I lost count after her seventh blade hit the floor. Yet, the most mind-boggling instance was when she pulled ou
t a long swordlike weapon from behind her back. From what I understood, the weapon had been strapped against her spine under her chain mail, its ebony grip perfectly hidden amidst her long, silky black hair.
I eyed the weapon pile she had left by my door. This woman was a walking arsenal. I could hardly believe those were all hers. Not to mention that some of the objects on the floor were totally unknown to me . . . and I knew weapons. I picked up a metal star with four sharpened points.
"To throw," clarified Khuan.
"Ah!" I dropped the star back on the pile. I glanced at Milo. Our eyes met briefly. A nervous energy inhabited Milo's gaze. I could tell he wasn't fond of having these two here. Like me, Milo had been shocked by Lilloh's collection of weapons. Since then, he had kept a close eye on her. Milo's instinct as a trained bodyguard was an asset to me right now. I didn't need to tell him to stay alert, or to be on guard, he just did it by himself. Now if only he could carry a weapon . . . oh well.
"Excellent tea," Khuan said in near-perfect Sorvinkian. His mastery of this language was as good as mine, if not slightly better.
"Yes—tea—very excellent," added Lilloh in her light girlish voice, which I thought poorly suited her dangerous nature. Contrary to Khuan, her fractured Sorvinkian left a lot to be desired. She often confused, misused, and over-enunciated words, and at times her accent was so thick that it rendered her speech incomprehensible, forcing me to constantly say, "Pardon—" to have her repeat herself. This, needless to say, infuriated her.
"Emissary Khuan," I began, "your Sorvinkian is beyond reproach. So why did you let everyone in the castle believe you didn't master this language."
Khuan smiled. "People wouldn't speak as freely around us, if they knew we understood what they were saying."
"Isn't it a tad dishonest?"
"Yes, it is. However, Lilloh and I were sent here to learn about these people, about their culture. About the way they think. How can we do this if everyone lies to us? If they knew about our ability to understand them, they would never show us their true faces."
"Hmm . . . " I gave. No matter how I looked at it, he was right. And by having admitted that their stratagem was dishonest, he'd closed the door on that argument. I nodded and changed the subject. "You said you were sent here. By whom?"
"The Emperor Tomi Cho'tang sent us. We are his emissaries and loyal servants." Placing their joined hands under their chins, Khuan and Lilloh bowed in reverence to the emperor.
I snorted. "You, Sir Khuan, I believe are an emissary. But your companion . . . " Sensing Lilloh's piercing gaze on me, I hesitated to continue. The truth was I suspected that she might still have a weapon hidden on her person. Tread lightly, Amir. Insult that woman and you'll discover a knife sticking out of your chest. With this in mind, I continued with prudence. "Your companion is . . . well, not the image one has of an emissary."
Lilloh's dark smoldering eyes narrowed.
My stomach tightened in response.
As if he was sensing a dangerous change in his companion's temper, Khuan patted her hands in a calming manner. "Lilloh and I have been together for years."
"Oh, she's your wife," interjected Milo. "For some reason, I thought she was your sister."
"She's neither," Khuan replied. "We are a shal-galt khos, a shal-galt pair."
I felt a sudden spike of interest. Shal-galt. Lilloh had said that word to me before. "What are shal-galts?"
"The most accurate Sorvinkian translation I can find is seeker."
"Seeker of what?"
Again, I observed the return of that enigmatic little smile on Khuan's lips. "Seeker of truth. Seeker of all that is unworldly and esoteric."
My eyebrows rose and I stared at him in disbelief. "Seeker of ghosts? Are you mocking me?"
"Certainly not. Perhaps I should start over." Khuan set down his tea glass. "Shal-galts are born with the gift, or the curse depending on how one sees it, to sense what most people cannot. It can be the world of spirits, the remnants of magic, or the presence of demons and ghosts. Lilloh and I both possess such a gift. However, being gifted isn't enough to make one an emissary. All shal-galts are trained from a young age, not only to use and master their gifts, but also to be experts in many other disciplines such as combat, diplomacy, medicine, philosophy, and logic, to name a few. No true emissary can efficiently perform his duty without knowledge of those skills. In our culture, shal-galts are highly regarded and are usually at the service of the emperor."
"You mention being a pair. What does that mean?"
"Most shal-galts are born with one gift. They can either sense magic or detect the presence of demons and ghosts. Few can do both. This is why Lilloh and I have been paired together. We complete each other. I can detect demons, spirits, and ghosts, while she can sense magic, spells, and enchantments." Khuan's eyes met mine. "And so can you."
I stayed mute. There was no use denying it anyway.
"The bear," said Lilloh, "It was enchanted—you felt too, yes?"
I did not care for this line of questions. Deciding not to answer, I folded my arms tightly over my chest in a resolute manner.
"You do sense magic, you cannot deny that fact," insisted Khuan.
"I'm hardly the only one," I admitted.
"What do you mean by this?" asked Khuan. He looked quite intrigued by my reply. "Can you explain it further?"
Not seeing any harm in it, I told them about the curse that had decimated my family, and how everyone in the palace had been able to sense it and see its ghostly apparitions, even the servants.
Khuan nodded. "So that is what awoke your gift. A curse this powerful, encompassing over a hundred people, can't be concealed. Others however are so subtle that even the most sensitive of shal-galts cannot detect them."
I shook my head and looked away.
"I see that you're struggling with this," said Khuan. "You cannot escape it. This gift is as much a part of you as your brown eyes."
I shook my head again. "Why should I believe anything you're saying? For all I know, you could be behind everything that happened recently."
I went to a nearby desk and came back with the metal loop I had discovered in the servants' passage. "Is this what you were looking for in the passage leading to the princesses' room," I said, chucking the loop into Lilloh's lap.
The shal-galt pair looked at each other, then looked at me as if they didn't understand what I meant.
"Oh please," I said. "Obviously, you went there to pick up that loop she lost. So there wouldn't be any traces of your presence in that passageway . . . and the princesses' rooms."
Khuan gave me a chagrined look. "Why would we want to harm these young ladies?"
"To get to the king, I suppose. Your people are known as invaders. If the king is distraught and not in his right mind, it might make matters easier for an invading force."
Khuan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Prince Amir, we have an agreement with the king, a pact, one we intend to respect. So it is to our advantage that this kingdom remains stable. And what's happening here threatens this pact." Khuan leaned back in the couch and sighed. "Yes, we were in that passage. But we were there for the same reason as you. We were trying to solve this mystery. As Anchin's emissaries it is our duty to see that the emperor's interests be protected."
Although his explanation made sense, something else remained unexplained. I pointed to Lilloh. "Why did she follow me in the wood that day and attack my friend . . . and me too?"
"I attack nobody!" Lilloh protested vehemently. "If I attack, you dead now."
Oh, I had no trouble believing that.
Lilloh glared at me. "I follow traces in snow like you. Bear and man traces. Then I follow you and smelly prince." Lilloh pinched her small nose with her fingers and stuck out her tongue, as though she could still smell Diego's overwhelming perfume.
"So you admit following us! Tell me why?"
It was Khuan who answered. "Lilloh was curious about you. She insisted that you possesse
d some gift and was determined to prove her point." Khuan paused and cast a sly glance at his companion. "She can be very headstrong, you know."
I would not argue that point. "Why did she kiss me? I don't understand that."
Khuan chuckled behind his hand. "We shal-galts can sense a lot through touch . . . any kind of touch. So why did she choose to kiss you, you've asked? Simply because a kiss is far more disarming than a punch. Generally, one stops struggling when kissed."
That was true. When it happened I was so stunned that I stayed frozen in place like an idiot. Damn! I looked at Khuan. Everything he'd said so far sounded logical—besides that ghost seeker part, that is. Perhaps I could trust him . . . for now. "What did you find about this mystery, Sir Khuan?"
"That something foul is roaming this castle, and I fear it isn't finished doing misdeeds. Let's not fool ourselves; we all know who will be its next victim."
My hands balled into tight fists. "I know. But what am I supposed to do about it. I don't know who's behind this. Do you?"
"Not yet," said Lilloh. "With one more shal-galt we may—"
"Stop right there!" I snapped. "I'm not like you. I'm not a shal-galt. I'm not trained in whatever it is you do."
Lilloh and Khuan exchanged glances. Then Khuan's patient gaze came to rest on me. "Will you permit us to test you, to see what capacities you have and how far they extend?"
A sudden storm of emotion engulfed me. And I found myself stuck in a mix of terror and excitement. I truly feared what I might discover about myself. But for Eva's sake, I urgently needed to know if my capacities could be of any help saving her.
Sitting down in front of Khuan, I asked in a small voice. "What does this testing involve?"
Khuan gave a reassuring smile. "Only your willingness to participate."
"Hmm . . . I feared that much."
* * *
The shal-galt pair led Milo and me on a long promenade through the castle, where I was asked to touch all kinds of things, like walls, doors, and such. It all seemed a bit random to me. And after a long period of this touching exercise, where nothing happened, I began doubting the stability of their minds. Maybe following them was a mistake. Maybe those two were just as crazy as my brother Jafer had been.
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