The Song of Eloh Saga

by Megg Jensen

  “But that wasn’t the worst of it.” He paused and took a deep breath. “The executioner missed.”

  “What?” I gasped. I’d never heard this story.

  “Oh, he hit him with the axe, but he missed the man’s neck. He had to go for a second swing. The crowd went wild, cheering. You would have thought the executioner did it on purpose. Maybe he did, as a lesson.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to see that.” I wanted to reach out, put my arms around him, but that would only lead to something we shouldn’t do. Not yet. Not until I had everything sorted out.

  “But the setup has always stayed the same,” he said, continuing as if he hadn’t just told the most horrifying story. Bryden had amazing control, something I hoped I could learn soon enough. “King Rotlar usually sits on a throne set in the middle of the dais. The person who is beheaded is not far in front of him, but far enough to be outside of the blood splatter zone. He likes to be close at the beheadings, to ensure they go off without a hitch. I think it makes him feel more powerful. Then the crowds are allowed to gather in the square and watch.”

  I closed my eyes, trying to imagine the scene. All I saw was the Dalagan men with the beads in their hair, staring into the distance. But theirs was a hanging, Mags faced a different fate.

  “How can I get close enough to rescue Mags?”

  “If I use my magic to knock down the executioner, the king and his guards, you can free her. Then both of you can escape. You don’t have to kill anyone.”

  “You’re going to help me?” I was stunned. Kellan wouldn’t help me. He’d encouraged me but refused any direct involvement. Yet Bryden, with his bum leg, wanted to help. “But you can’t run away with us. If we get away, how will you keep up?”

  Bryden shook his head. “What’s important is that you and Mags get away. Let me take care of myself. I’d do anything to save you. Let me do this for you.”

  “They’ll kill you.”

  “Not if they don’t know it was me helping you. If I can hide they may think you did it all yourself. I can keep you in my sight the whole time, but make sure they don’t see me.”

  “I could use my magic too,” I insisted. “You don’t have to put yourself in danger for me.”

  Bryden shook his head. “No, you don’t have control yet and you can’t count on yourself to even make the magic work. I can’t rely on my body to cooperate just like you can’t rely on your magic. Neither of us can do it without the other. We’re a team, Lianne.”

  I thought for a moment. It could work. But we’d forgotten one important person.

  “Trevin,” I said. “We can’t leave Trevin behind. Mags would never leave without him and I can’t trust Albree to help us. She’d turn us in.”

  “Do you know anyone else who can help us?”

  I thought for a moment. The only other ally I had was Kellan. No one else knew my plan. I couldn’t trust anyone else.

  “Don’t say Kellan,” Bryden warned. “It has nothing to do with any relationship you have with him. I just don’t trust him. I haven’t for years and I don’t want you to trust him either.”

  “But he’s been helping me plan to save Mags this whole time.”

  “And yet you had no plan other than to kill the king. We can do it without killing him. All we need to do is get Mags and Trevin away from here. Who cares if the king lives or not? What you should ask yourself is why Kellan wants him dead.”

  I opened my mouth to explain, but then closed it. Bryden had a good point. Why did Kellan want the king dead? It wouldn’t help our people, I could see that now. What it would do is start another war, with me being the one responsible.

  “I know you don’t trust him, but you don’t think he was setting me up, do you?” I asked. It was nearly impossible for me to believe. All those nights we spent together, all the times he held me in his arms. Was it all to convince me to do something I would never have considered before my Awakening? Maybe it was all a lie.

  Bryden didn’t answer.

  “Do you?” I pressed. I had to know what he was thinking or if he knew anything.

  “I don’t know anything for sure,” he said, “but something isn’t right, Lianne.”

  I’d forgotten how Kellan had urged me to kill the king before I found out about Mags’ fate. How he’d encouraged me after she was sentenced. How he said he couldn’t help me, but urged me to go ahead on my own.

  I didn’t understand his goals or why he had to use me to accomplish them. Why couldn’t he do it himself? Maybe Bryden was right and I had been a fool to trust him.

  “Until I know exactly why Kellan wants me to kill the king I can’t bring him in on this plan,” I said. “If I can’t trust him, I certainly won’t put Mags and Trevin’s lives in his hands. We need to do this together.”

  “There is one more person who can help us,” Bryden said, “but you’re going to have to talk to Mags tonight.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Trevin’s father. She has to tell you who he is. If he truly loved her, like Mags thinks he did, then he might be willing to help Trevin escape.”

  “She won’t tell me,” I said, shaking my head. “I already tried to find out who he was and she says that part of her life is over.”

  “It’s never over as long as Trevin is in danger. Even if she doesn’t want to save herself, she’ll do anything to save her son. You know it and I know it. You just have to make sure Mags knows it too.”

  Again, Bryden was right. There were only two of us and we needed to be there to save Mags. Neither of us could do it alone, but that meant neither of us could care for Trevin, nor spirit him away. We needed a third partner and Trevin’s father might be the only person willing to help us.

  “I’ll get in and talk to her tonight if they allow me to. And then, well, I’m not sure where I’ll go tonight. I don’t feel right going back to Kellan anymore.”

  Bryden reached out and took my hand. “You can always stay with me. I have my own room at the Bristly Boar Inn.”

  “You do?” Funny how we’d lived in the same town our whole lives and I’d never thought about where Bryden lived in the years after he’d turned me away.

  He nodded. “Last year I moved out of the scriptorium since I was able to support myself. There’s more space and I don’t have to listen to the monks snore all night.”

  I giggled, picturing an old man sleeping with his mouth open, a rolling snort passing over his lips. But then another picture entered my mind, one of Bryden and me in his bed. Shivers raced through my body. All this time I’d slept with Kellan, his arms around me, and never once had I felt this uncontrollable urge. I hadn’t known it could be like this. It excited and scared me at the same time.

  “After I talk to Mags, then,” I said, “I’ll come to you.”

  Bryden’s thumb caressed my hand, making me wish I could forget everything else and jump into his arms.

  “You need to talk to Kellan too,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. “You don’t have to tell him about the plan, but you do have to tell him you’re moving on. I won’t sneak around with you. We’ll either be out in the open or we can’t be together. I won’t live a lie with you, neither of us deserves that.”

  I smiled. Everything with Kellan had always been the opposite of how it was with Bryden. I wished I’d known then how someone else might have treated me. All I wanted was Kellan’s attention, but I only ever had it on his terms. With Bryden, I felt like we were both getting exactly what we wanted.

  “I can do that,” I said. “He’ll be mad, but he needs to understand that I’m not a toy for him to play with. I can make my own decisions.”

  I squeezed Bryden’s hand. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

  He kneeled, put his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

  “Tonight,” he whispered.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I walked back into town and headed straight for the dungeon’s entrance. A guard stood in front, sheltering himself from the setting sun
with his arm. He wasn’t holding his weapon in a steady hand, but based on the width of his shoulders and muscles, I had no interest in trying to fight him. I was skilled, but someone that strong could easily overpower me. The time wasn’t right for a fight and I had to curb my instincts.

  “I’d like to see the queen,” I said, keeping my voice strong and steady. I didn’t want him to question me.

  “You were already here once today, weren’t you? You don’t exactly go unnoticed in this town.” His teeth gleamed as his lips parted. Was it a smile or a threat? I couldn’t tell.

  “I was, but, I forgot something,” I said.

  He looked behind me and side-to-side, his eyes squinting. “Okay, I don’t see anybody. If you can be in and out really quick, I’ll let you in. I always had a soft spot in my heart for the queen and I don’t think she deserves this. If it gives her any peace to see you again tonight, then I’ll allow it.”

  I fought the urge to hug the big brute and instead smiled back at him. “Thank you so, so much.”

  “But be quick. If you aren’t out in a few minutes, before my shift is over, I won’t be here to explain anything to the next guard on duty.”

  I nodded and slipped in the doorway, which he opened slightly for me. I ran down the dirty hallway, searching for Mags’ cell. Fifth door on the right, I remembered from my earlier visit. I was glad I paid attention.

  “Mags,” I whispered through the tiny window with bars. The straw crunched and I hoped she heard me. “Mags,” I whispered a little louder this time.

  “Lianne? Is that you?” A yawn enfolded her words. She’d been sleeping, but I didn’t care. I needed to talk to her now.

  “I only have a couple minutes and I need to ask you something. It’s really important. Come closer to the door.”

  The straw crackled again, popping faster as she scurried toward me.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I need to know who Trevin’s father is,” I whispered. “If there is any chance he’ll help us tomorrow, you have to tell me. He may be the only person who can rescue Trevin while I rescue you.”

  “Lianne,” she said, sighing. “I can’t tell you.”

  “You have to,” I insisted. “He may be our only ally. You have to tell me.”

  Mags silence overwhelmed me. It was a simple question with a simple answer. She needed to share with me quickly or I’d be caught.

  “It’s Aric.”

  “Aric?” I gasped. “Kellan’s father? But he’s so old.”

  Mags’ laugh, so strange in its juxtaposition to the dungeon, rang out in the hallway.

  “Don’t forget I’m a few years older than you and he took in Kellan when he was a young man himself. Yes, he’s older than me, but he’s the kindest man I’ve ever met.”

  I had to concede that. Aric never hesitated to help me. The more I thought about it, I wondered why I hadn’t considered it before. He’d been interested in why Mags was imprisoned, a little too interested.

  “I know he’ll help us,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay? Try not to worry. I have everything under control.”

  “I trust you Lianne,” Mags said. She stuck her fingers between the bars, a ribbon hanging from them. “Take this to Aric. He’ll know I told you the truth.”

  I touched my fingertips to hers and slid the ribbon into my palm.

  “Get some sleep,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I turned and ran back down the dark hallway. After a quick knock on the door, I heard the hinges groan as the guard opened the door.

  “Thank you,” I told him again.

  “I hope you got what you needed,” he said.

  I nodded before turning and running off into the town.

  I hurried through the spreading darkness to Aric and Kellan’s home, my head still spinning with the news that Aric was Trevin’s mystery father. He was older than her by a good fifteen years, but because of his position he was very fit. I could see why Mags would feel an attraction to him and he’d been alone since his first wife died at a young age. I wondered how their love developed so quickly. I chuckled. Who was I to question the speed after my new feelings for Bryden?

  The dirt kicked up from my scurrying feet. I stopped running, knowing it would draw too much attention, but I walked as quickly as I could. I hoped to get to Aric before Kellan was home from cleaning up after practice. I’d promised Bryden I’d talk to Kellan, and I meant to keep that promise, but I had to talk to Aric first, and alone. If Kellan couldn’t be trusted, then Aric needed to know that too.

  I slipped behind the house and through the window into Kellan’s room. The bed I’d lain in for the last few weeks didn’t call to me like it used to. I didn’t even want to touch it, knowing what I could have done with Kellan. I couldn’t imagine it now. All I could see was Bryden when I closed my eyes.

  I slipped through the doorway and into the kitchen. Aric sat at the table, nursing a mug. From the smell, it was mead. I wasn’t sure if inebriation was a good or bad idea for this conversation.

  “Aric,” I said, catching my breath and sitting down at the table across from him. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  He looked up at me, tears in his eyes. He slid his hand across the table, grasping mine tightly.

  “I’ll listen to anything you need to tell me, but at the moment my heart is aching. I’m a warrior, I have been my whole life, and I’ve learned to control my emotions. But there are times when I need to let go. I’m losing someone important to me and even though I lost her once before, I don’t know if I can do it again.”

  “Mags still loves you too,” I blurted out. His eyes popped open and the tears that had been hovering on the corners of his eyelids fell in a steady stream. “But there’s more you need to know. I plan to rescue Mags tomorrow before she’s executed.”

  “It’s not possible,” he said. “I’ve spent the week in a fog plotting ways to save her and carry her away to safety, but I can’t do it. I can’t fight the whole army. I trained them and I know that alone I’m no match for them.”

  “You don’t have to. Bryden and I have a plan to save Mags.”

  Aric broke out in a peal of laughter. “I’m sorry, sweetie. You’re a great fighter, but you’re no more a match for the army than I am. And Bryden? The boy is crippled! What can he do?”

  I squeezed his hand, still holding mine across the table.

  “You have to trust me that we have a plan. We will succeed. I won’t let my best friend die for something she didn’t do.”

  Aric raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Okay, she did do it, but she’s not a traitor to the kingdom. Her love for you did nothing to harm the king.” I fished around in my pocket for the ribbon she wanted me to give to Aric. “This is for you.”

  I placed the ribbon in his callused hand. It lay limp, its delicateness in stark contrast to the bulging muscles and tendons.

  “I gave this to her,” he said. “We once met accidently on the turret stairs. We didn’t dare to embrace, but instead I laid my forehead on her outstretched arms and put this ribbon in her other hand. We wanted so much to be together, but we couldn’t. It was after, after the one time. It was the last time we showed any affection for each other.”

  “Because then she found out she was pregnant with Trevin,” I prompted.

  “Yes,” he said, with venom in his voice. “The king’s son. The boy he got on her, ending our affair. She wouldn’t see me again after that. I can understand. Why should she want me when she had the king’s third son inside her?”

  His fist closed on the ribbon, his skin turning red as he squeezed harder. I put my other hand on his fist and tilted his chin up toward me. “Trevin isn’t the king’s son.”

  I felt his hand stiffen, and then relax. The ribbon slithered out of his hand to the table, resting between us. “It isn’t true,” he said.

  I nodded my head.

  “But if I had known, I would have come forward. I would have claimed him as m
y own.”

  “Which is exactly what Mags feared,” I said. “She didn’t want you to lose your position. She couldn’t bear the thought of you ending up on the executioner’s block when she could keep everyone alive by keeping her silence. She sacrificed everything because of her love for you.”

  “It wasn’t her decision to make alone,” he growled, pounding his fist on the wooden table. His mug shook and mead spilled on the ribbon. He scrambled for it, lifting the ribbon up and shaking the mead off. He pulled it through two fingers squeezing the rest off. A tiny circle remained behind, turning the spot from red to a dark maroon.

  “If you can rescue Trevin from Albree, we can all escape,” I said. “You and Mags can finally be together.”

  Aric wound the ribbon around his index finger. “All of us?”

  “You, Mags, Trevin, Bryden and me,” I answered.

  “Kellan?” he asked. “What about my other son?”

  I sucked in my breath. What was wrong with me? Kellan was Aric’s adopted son, how could I just assume Aric would go along with our plans that didn’t include Kellan?

  “Aren’t you two together?” he asked. “You've been here every night for the past few weeks, sleeping in the same bed.”

  I hesitated, knowing I needed to tread this line carefully. We needed Aric’s help and with his anger over Mags’ secret I didn’t know if one more surprise would crush his spirit. He was already drunk. I needed him sober and ready to do anything I asked.

  “Bryden and I aren’t together,” I lied. “He’s helping me. We’re both Dalagans; we have to stick together. I couldn’t leave him behind. And of course I meant Kellan. I just assumed you’d know that.”

  I smiled, hoping it was enough to convince a drunken man. My heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t force the lie for much longer.

  “Of course.” He took a swig of his mead and swallowed quickly. “I know you’d never leave Kellan out. He’s a good son. He’s loyal and a great fighter. You’re using him in the plan, right?”

  I nodded. Kellan knew the basics. He knew I was going to save Mags. Even if Aric said something, Kellan wouldn’t know the difference.