“I suppose that a case could be made for someone to live a dull life after having walked along a path similar to mine,” Madeline said with a faint smile. “And it certainly would be a different life after all these years, a different challenge.”
“Agreed, but one I’m more than willing to help you adjust to and maybe even enjoy one day,” Carmella promised, believing that she had nearly reached through to her.
“Yes, dull certainly would be different for me,” she replied, eyeing Carmella with a look of utter surrender. “Different, but not better, mind you–and definitely not worth living.” Madeline smiled as she sat upon the sill. “Goodbye, cousin,” she said, allowing her body to fall backward out of the archway and drop into the cool evening air.
“Liney!” Carmella cried, her heart pounding as she rushed to the breezy opening.
She peered over the side just after Madeline’s body had hit the smooth, mossy rocks in the rushing stream below. Carmella hugged the stone sill, trembling as she gazed down in disbelief into the watery green landscape tinted with streaks of the dying sunlight. With an aching heart overwhelmed with grief and emptiness, she slowly buried her head into her arms as a flood of warm tears washed down her face.
“Goodbye, cousin,” she whispered through her heavy sobs, unaware that the pumpkin color was slowly fading on the edges of her wrists.
CHAPTER 110
River and Mountain
“Flee the mountain! Time is running out!”
Nicholas heard the voice of Frist inside his mind as he and Leo followed Mune down the first long flight of stairs. He clutched Vellan’s head cloth with the dagger that had killed him wrapped inside. His heart beat with anticipation that he was about to see Ivy after their long and grueling separation. But when they reached the bottom landing, Leo suddenly succumbed to a fit of pain and nearly fainted. He collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
“Leo!” Nicholas cried, racing to him. With Mune’s assistance, he helped Leo sit up against the wall near the exit, noting with concern his glazed eyes and pale complexion.
“I need to rest,” Leo said, leaning his head back in exhaustion. “This attack was worse than the others.”
“Take all the time you need.” Nicholas set Vellan’s head cloth down as he knelt by Leo’s side, feeling helpless.
“But we must go soon!” Mune quietly urged while fidgeting uncomfortably near the exit. “You said so yourself.”
“We’ll make it.”
Leo, breathing a little easier, looked at Nicholas and shook his head. “Or we might not,” he said, “at least not with me weighing you down.”
“Stop talking like that. We’ve faced far worse than this. Rest another minute and then we’ll take it slower. There’s only one more flight before we reach Ivy’s room.”
Mune glanced at Leo with concern. “And another two flights after that to the southeast exit–and who knows if it’s still guarded.”
“I said we’ll make it!” Nicholas snapped, glaring at Mune. “Have a little faith.”
Leo smiled tiredly, placing a hand on Nicholas’ shoulder. “I know that you’ll make it, but you have to go on without me. It’s the only way this will work.” But before Nicholas could respond, he held up a hand. “Do it for Ivy’s sake.”
Nicholas stood, shaking his head as he moved about the small enclosure like a caged animal. “There has to be another way, Leo. I am not leaving you here.”
Leo sighed, feeling as heavy as the stonework. “I appreciate your loyalty, Nicholas, but you have no choice. And not wishing to be blunt, but in all likelihood I’m going to be dead by dawn. Save the others and yourself while you have the chance.”
“No!”
“I promise to find my way out if I recover my strength, but whatever happens…” Leo went silent, taking a deep breath as he slowly accepted the gravity of the situation.
“Leo…” Nicholas looked at his friend, detecting hopeless resignation in his eyes.
“Tell Megan I love her,” he softly said, recalling their autumn walk through the Citadel fruit orchard and his proposal of marriage among the white snows of winter.
“You can tell her yourself,” he replied, his words beginning to falter. He looked at Mune, desperate for any advice, but Mune merely shrugged and shook his head in reply.
“Nicholas, it’s all right,” Leo said, drawing back his friend’s troubled gaze. “If we can bring this war to an end, then whatever happens to me is a small price to pay.” He indicated Vellan’s head cloth. “Take that and Caldurian’s letter, find the others and leave.”
“But maybe Tolapari can help. I’ll wager he’s a far better wizard than Caldurian.”
“Probably, but Tolapari isn’t a true wizard. He doesn’t have the skill or time to undo what’s happened,” Leo reminded him. “Frist and Vellan are the only true wizards either of us knew, but both, unfortunately, are dead. So where does that leave us?”
A chill shot through Nicholas as a sudden thought ignited in his mind. “Both dead? Maybe not.” He reached beneath his shirt and removed the silver amulet that Frist had created before his death. “I’ve carried this for so long that I forget I have it at times.” He hurriedly placed the chain around Leo’s neck and set the amulet in the palm of his hand.
“Nicholas, I can’t take this from you,” he protested.
“I’m giving it to you, Leo, so no argument. Frist told me his gift would lead me to those I seek, preserving life where death and destruction lurk. And whether I realized it or not, it has done both. But this of all places is where we need his help the most.”
“But do you think that–”
“On your feet, and then to the outdoors!”
Nicholas and Mune both noted a flash of surprise upon Leo’s face as color began to return to his cheeks. Strained weariness slowly drained from his features. He looked up, wide-eyed and confused.
“Did you hear that?” he asked. “I think it was Frist’s voice.”
Nicholas smiled. “I didn’t, but I believe you did.”
“What’d he say?” Mune asked anxiously.
“That we should get out of here. And fast.”
“Are you able to go on?” Nicholas asked.
Leo, clutching the amulet, nodded. “I still feel a bit weak, but much better than moments ago. I think I can make it down the next flight. We’ll see from there.”
“Good!” Nicholas replied with renewed hope as he helped him to his feet. “So let’s get going. We’ve lingered here too long.”
“I won’t argue with that,” muttered Mune, signaling for them to follow him down the next flight of stairs.
When they reached the bottom landing, Mune held up a hand, silently indicating for them to wait in the stairwell. He stepped through the archway into the adjoining corridor to assess the way ahead. Nicholas and Leo stood anxiously by, fearing another delay. But a moment later, Mune stuck his head through the opening.
“All clear,” he said. “Even the guards are gone.”
“What?” He and Leo followed Mune into the candlelit corridor, not sure why this unexpected development worried him. His heart nearly skipped a beat when Mune led them to Ivy and Carmella’s rooms. Both doors were ajar.
“Are you sure this is the right level?” Leo whispered.
“Absolutely.” He slowly pushed the first door inward. “Ivy? Are you in here?” When Mune saw no one inside, he repeated the procedure in Carmella’s room with the same disappointing result.
“What’s going on?” Nicholas asked. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know!” he fretfully replied. “This is where they had been staying. This is where I brought them their meals. And when they were allowed to go out under supervision, only one of them went at a time, not both.”
“Could Madeline have come down here?” Leo asked. “Maybe she ordered them to a more secure location–or something worse.”
Mune’s face went pale. “I wouldn’t put anything past that woman at this po
int. The potion Caldurian slipped into her tea has sent her mind reeling.”
“Let’s start searching,” Nicholas said, fearing that all might be lost if they didn’t move immediately. “Tell us where we should go.”
Mune thought for a moment, his mind spinning. “I really don’t know. Vellan’s mountain abode is, well–mountainous. I wasn’t allowed access to all areas. But perhaps we should start by exploring–” He paused, eyeing the others with bewilderment. “Do you feel that?” He spun around and faced eastward, holding out a hand as a cool feathery breeze brushed across his fingertips. Nicholas and Leo also felt it, detecting a scent of fresh springtime in the air.
“It’s coming down from the end of the passage,” Nicholas said, pointing ahead. He noticed a fluttering of the candle flames farther down the corridor. “Is there an exit on this level? Perhaps an open window?”
“None that I know of,” Mune said. He slowly walked down the passageway. “Then again, I’ve never stepped beyond these two doors. Follow me and we’ll find out.”
At the same moment in the east field, William and Brendan stood by their grandfather’s corpse. They stared defiantly at Meegs who threatened to make them drink from the Drusala River. As Brendan looked at the enemy soldiers surrounding them, most on foot and some atop horses, he knew there was no way to escape such a fate except by death itself. And as he had already experienced death once, he feared only for his brother, saddened at the rich and wonderful years ahead that William would never experience. But for the sake of Montavia, he could never allow themselves to fall under Vellan’s spell. He inched his fingers toward the hilt of his sword. Meegs, though, noted the movement of his hand and smiled.
“So, young prince, are you having second thoughts about surrendering? I can tell by the helpless look in your eyes that you would rather die than drink from the river and become Vellan’s servant. But how mistaken you are, sir. And you’ll realize your error as you serve our great leader, no doubt thanking me in the end.”
“Guess again!” William jumped in. “My brother and I will kill you or die in the attempt before stepping anywhere near the Drusala.”
“Really?” Meegs discreetly motioned to one of his captains standing behind the siblings as the sounds of distant warfare filled the air like rolling thunder.
“Count on it!”
But before he and Brendan reached their swords, two soldiers grabbed their arms from behind and held them securely upon silent orders from their captain. Meegs chuckled, pleased with the result.
“Bind them tightly!” he said. The soldiers quickly wrapped lengths of thin rope around their wrists.
“Leave my brother alone!” Brendan cried.
Meegs stood in front of the two princes, studying their pained expressions. “The helplessness in your eyes has been replaced by fear,” he said. “But moments from now that fear will be washed away and replaced with a glorious devotion to Vellan so fulfilling that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.”
“I think you’re confusing devotion with delusion,” Brendan replied, eyeing Meegs as a faint smile formed upon his lips.
“Why are you smiling?” he snapped, his jovial mood souring.
“Because I am encouraged by what I see in your eyes,” Brendan said as a sense of serenity enveloped him. William noted his brother’s sudden calm demeanor as he looked at him askance, bewildered by his statement.
“I exhibit neither fear nor helplessness!” Meegs insisted.
“You don’t,” Brendan agreed. “Instead, I see hope reflected in your eyes. Exactly what my grandfather saw just before he died.”
Meegs, his face wrinkled with contempt, took a step back at what he perceived was Brendan’s insolence. William looked on with continued confusion.
“What are you talking about?” he whispered to his brother.
Brendan cracked a smile. “Take a look behind you, Will.”
Prince William turned around and glanced to the east, the line of snowcapped mountaintops bathed in a luminous white light rising from beneath the horizon. His eyes widened in delight when he noted the dual rims of the full Fox and Bear moons beginning to inch above the skyline side by side, one larger than the other, but each lunar orb defined with a crisp, sharp edge and bathed in a lustrous glow.
“A sign of good fortune if I’ve ever seen one!” He stared at the twin moonrises in awe along with Meegs and the other soldiers.
“A sign of good fortune? Hardly!” Meegs said with contempt. “Just an old superstition people cling to when the full moons happen to rise together. Or in your case, prince, merely wishful thinking.”
Suddenly, everyone felt a faint rumbling underfoot which grew louder in the northwest. They shifted their eyes toward the distant orchards and fields situated above Del Norác. One of the soldiers upon a horse clearly saw what was transpiring and swallowed hard. “Or is it?”
Even Meegs appeared shaken when he turned and saw a large contingent of allied forces on horseback galloping at them with raised swords edged with the last rays of the setting sun and the glow of the rising moons. What unnerved him most were the determined figures of King Cedric and Tolapari leading the thunderous charge with unrestrained fury, striking down any of Vellan’s troops in their path. Meegs hurriedly consulted with his captains.
“Form your lines and fend them off!” he ordered. “Except for you, Daxen. Grab twenty men and accompany me to the riverbank with those two.” He pointed a bony finger at William and Brendan, bound and under guard. “No one is going to stop me from delivering to Vellan two of the finest prizes from today’s fight. Now move!”
As most of the troops fell in line and advanced toward King Cedric’s approaching storm, Meegs, Daxen and twenty other soldiers surrounded William and Brendan and ushered them toward the river flowing silently in the near distance. The anxiety upon Meegs’ face underscored his uncertainty in the success of his plan.
“You’ll be dead before we ever reach the water,” William said as he and Brendan struggled to slow their progress across the field. “Don’t you realize that?”
“Then you will die alongside me!” Meegs shouted.
“And we’ll be happy to do so,” Brendan taunted.
Suddenly the clattering of swords and guttural shouts of the opposing forces exploded upon the field in the opposite direction. The agitated neighing of horses punctuated a multitude of scattered battles that broke out both on foot and from the saddle, each one unfolding in the shimmering moonlight. Meegs, having seen enough, desperately pointed to the river and urged his men forward.
“There’s no time to lose. Run!” he cried out, bitter that his advantage had quickly dissipated when he was on the verge of demonstrating to Vellan his full worth and ingenuity. “Move your feet!” he shouted to his captives.
“Try and make us,” William muttered. He dug his heels into the grass, resisting every step of the way much to his brother’s pride.
As Meegs angrily pushed them along from behind while surrounded by a contingent of soldiers, he kept peering over his shoulder to gage the enemy’s progress. But his protective circle blocked any good view of the conflict.
“I can’t see what’s going on!” he complained to no one in particular. “Someone give me a report! Daxen, what’s happening?”
“The fighting has escalated behind us!” he shouted after maneuvering to the perimeter of their shadowy, moving mass. “Our men are battling bravely despite the overwhelming numbers against them, but–”
“But what?” Meegs sputtered. “What do you see?”
“Trouble!” Daxen eased his way back into the group toward Meegs. “Over a dozen men on horses have broken off from the main force and are heading our way, sir! They are heavily armed.”
With a slight turn of his head, Brendan could see the fear and disappointment on Meegs’ face at the coming onslaught. And even though the prince knew that he and his brother might be killed in the ensuing clash, he couldn’t help but smile that Meegs’ plan wa
s about to be disrupted in a most spectacular fashion.
“So much for getting any accolades from Vellan,” he said. “Then again, the wizard had no idea that you were planning this abysmal failure. It, like you, will die unnoticed.”
“Shut up!” Meegs shouted, resisting the effort to slay Prince Brendan right there.
“Your time is over,” William piped up. “That’s the cold, hard truth.”
“You know nothing!” Meegs snapped. “Keep your mouth closed before I stuff a wad of grass inside and seal it.” He leaned in closely between the brothers and dug his fingers into their shoulders as they drew nearer to the river. “Before things end here, and even if I die in the process, I promise that both of you will become servants of Vellan even if I have to pick you up and fling you into the Drusala myself. You will have your eyes opened before the day is done, and that, my friends, is the cold, hard truth!”
But seconds after he uttered those words, the protective ring of soldiers surrounding him began to lose its cohesiveness like a collapsing soap bubble, breaking away in several directions as the deafening sound of thundering steeds drew nearer on either side. Meegs’ troops suddenly found themselves engaged in several skirmishes with the swift horsemen weaving about them like a swarm of hornets, their stinging swords finding their foes with ease and making quick work of each one.
“Guess again,” Brendan said as Meegs was suddenly exposed in the growing moonlight to the battle raging around him. But he refused to give up.
“It’s not over!” he sputtered, grabbing William and Brendan by the arms and trying to pull them toward the river flowing only a few yards away.
But the sibling princes resisted and held their ground despite their bonds. Working together, they dropped to the ground as Meegs had a tight hold on them, causing him to topple over and land hard upon his shoulder. He grunted in pain but quickly shrugged off his injury and jumped to his feet. He unsheathed his sword as William and Brendan struggled to sit up in the grass. When they saw Meegs standing over them with a weapon in hand, their blood ran cold, realizing that he had abandoned his plan to take them to the river. Meegs was about to kill them here, oblivious of the fighting swirling about him.
Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy) Page 177
