by K. J. Nessly
David’s shot hit the bull’s eye, but wasn’t dead center like Jasse’s.
“Not bad,” Jasse acknowledged as he studied the marksmanship. “At least, not bad for a swordsman.”
His fingers were already frozen and David fought the urge to glare at them. He was from a northern region where snow was never seen and he was still struggling to adapt to the cold. “Somehow I don’t think you brought me out here to discuss my archery skills.”
“No,” the older man agreed. “But we have other things to discuss before we reach the real reason for my visit.”
“Such as?” David asked as he released another arrow.
“Oh,” Jasse began as he took aim. “I thought we might discuss the hiccups you encountered so far.” The arrow leapt from the bow and buried itself deep in the heart of his second target.
David shrugged. “We reorganized my shifts to give Luke and Amy a chance at leadership as well as to give Kathryn and I some rest.”
“Who came up with the idea?” Another arrow hit the target dead center.
David released another arrow. “Luke, but Amy contributed to it.”
“What brought this on?”
“We learned early on that two leaders may not be enough. We needed…sub-commanders, if you will, to relieve the pressure put on the leader or the second in case someone was injured.”
“Has it worked?”
David grinned as he finished his last volley. “I’ll let you know. This is our first week on the new system.”
“I’m pleased to see that the Dragons are taking the initiative to look after each other already. There were many families where it took nearly a year to forge such relationships.”
“We were fortunate. Luke was my best friend at the school and Amy was Kathryn’s. They noticed the problem and decided to do something about it.”
“How’s Kathryn settling in?”
“She hasn’t.”
Jasse appeared startled by his blunt reply so David hurried to explain. “For a while it appeared like she was fine but suddenly she closed up even further than before. Recently I’ve found out that there’s a bit of animosity between Kathryn and two other girls. Apparently it’s gotten so bad that Kathryn will disappear into the forest to get some peace. I’m guessing that this is probably the reason for her withdrawal.”
Jasse was frowning into the distance. “What have you done about it?”
“Nothing yet. I heard about this through Amy, and while I trust her I wanted to try and see it for myself before I approached anyone.”
“Wise decision. Have you seen what Amy has?”
David shook his head. “No. The two girls behave themselves around me for the most part and yesterday when we had the opportunity to go into the village, Kathryn bowed out and disappeared for most of the day.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
David hesitated. “While I haven’t personally seen it, everyone I’ve talked to has so I’m confident that I can intervene. I was going to talk to Kathryn yesterday when she got home but—
“But what?”
“She was distracted when she returned late that night, she didn’t even notice me standing in the doorway until I spoke. I decided to wait until whatever was bothering her was resolved.”
Jasse nodded slowly, “That was probably a good idea since Kathryn tends to just react, with force, when startled. She has…excellent reflexes.” David noticed that Jasse absentmindedly rubbed his right shoulder as he spoke. “Will you talk to her today?”
“We’ll see. First I have to find her.”
“Find her?”
“By now Kathryn’s long gone into the forest. No one’s been able to successfully follow her and tracking her is impossible so we just wait for her to return.”
“Water,” Jasse said suddenly.
David looked at him curiously. “Water?”
“Yes,” Jasse nodded. “Water is the one thing that gives Kathryn peace. If there’s a waterfall or river nearby you can bet that’s where she goes.”
“Thank you for the information, I guess I’m going waterfall hunting later.”
“Have you been able to confirm my theory?”
He shook his head, “I haven’t evenseen her use her gift of water control let alone plants. No, I cannot confirm your theory yet, but give it time, we’re all still adjusting.”
Jasse nodded slowly in acquiescence.
“So why did you really come here?” David asked quickly.
The older man smiled at him. “You don’t waste time do you?”
“It’s not mine to waste.”
Jasse looked at him for a long time before finally saying, “You have a new assignment.”
After briefing David on the Dragon’s new assignment, one which entailed determining the location of the hideout of one particularly nasty outlaw band, Jasse went looking for Kathryn. In any other location he would have followed his own advice to David and followed the sound of falling water until he found a glade with a waterfall and pool. However, this was the dead middle of winter in Rima and Jasse knew better than to think that there was any body of water, running or otherwise, that remained unfrozen.
But there was another reason he didn’t need to listen for water to know where the closest waterfall was. He wasn’t sure if he could ever tell the Dragons, but he and Jasmine’s family had been assigned to this very region over thirty years ago. The Dragon’s house had been theirs as well. He knew the immediate layout of the forest surrounding the glade intimately. And he was almost positive he knew where Kathryn spent most of her time.
Focusing on his gift, he searched for her distinctive emotions. He found her, several kilometers away. Exactly where he’d predicted. Sighing he began the long walk to her location. He was short on time, but Jasmine had given him orders not to return without seeing Kathryn first.
He found her in the small glade he remembered fondly. He had Jasmine had wiled away a few afternoons playing in the water and enjoying picnics in this very location. The small frozen waterfall the centerpiece of a winter masterpiece, ice hung everywhere in the glade, and Kathryn and Destiny were enjoying themselves. She was throwing snowballs at Destiny who was easily avoiding them.
“What did she do now?” Jasse asked dryly.
Kathryn turned to look at him and grinned. “Nothing. It’s our new game: Avoid getting hit.”
Jasse glanced at the eagle who was lazily sliding out of the way of each snowball that Kathryn lobbed at her. “I think she’s showing off,” he said finally.
She laughed. “I think so too, but for some reason Destiny likes it.”
“We’ll examine the mystery that is your bird some other time,” he said. “I don’t believe you even said hello to me this morning,” Jasse chided.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled and said hello. Jasse laughed and embraced her, despite the fact she was dripping large drops of water from her clothes and hair. She’d obviously been playing in the snow for a while. “You’ll never change, will you?”
“That depends on the sort of change that’s expected of me,” She replied as she searched in her bag for a treat for Destiny.
Jasse cut to the chase. “I’ve just come from talking with David.”
“I know,” she replied. “You’re archery isn’t half bad.” She found a small piece of jerky and tossed it at Destiny who swooped down to catch it.
“He told me some interesting things,” he said slowly.
“I’ll bet he did,” she muttered running her hair through some cloth to dry the ends.
He waited for her to elaborate and when she didn’t asked, “Care to talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about?” She finished drying her hair and searched for a brush to tame it.
Jasse sighed. “Kathryn, you can’t be as unfeeling as you make yourself out to be.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are not a rock.”
“Natalie would disagree with you on that,�
�� Kathryn replied softly, remembering the older girl’s tirade.
“Have you made any attempt to get to know the rest of the Dragons?”
“I know them as well as I care to,” she replied.
“Blast it, Kathryn!” Jasse exclaimed angrily. “You can’t go through life alone. You need help.”
Surprised as she was by this uncharacteristic outburst, she replied quickly…and forcefully. “I tried!” She returned hotly. “And all I got for my attempts was more trouble.”
“Have you told David?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Kathryn was silent for a moment, finally she said softly, “I’m sorry I failed you.”
Jasse started. “Failed me?” He brushed some snow off a stump, sat down, and worked his shoulder muscles to ease some of the kinks that settled in from his long walk. He returned his eyes to Kathryn with a questioning look.
“I couldn’t handle learning to live in a family. I’ve failed everybody.”
Jasse could hear the defeat in her voice and he relented a bit. He knew that what he had asked of Kathryn went against everything she believed in and that reaching out first went against every survival instinct she had. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I asked a lot of you and had impossible expectations. I will still say that you need to ask for help in this.”
Kathryn frowned slightly. “What is it with people telling me that?”
“Telling you what?”
“That I need their help.”
“Who’s told you that?”
She threw her brush back into her bag, “You, Jasmine, Arianna, David to some extent, some stranger who called himself Elyon—
Jasse sat up straight. “Elyon!”
Kathryn paused. “You’ve heard of him?” she asked slowly.
“Only in whispers,” Jasse replied. “But what I have heard says that he’s a powerful king, an ally of our King Darin…a miracle worker,” he added the last two words in a whisper. “Some say that he’s the last great sorcerer left alive.”
“So, I guess he’s not some crazy lost soul wandering the woods?”
Jasse looked at her in shock. “Please tell me that you didn’t call him that to his face.”
“Of course not.”
They were silent a few moments before Jasse stood. “I have to leave,” he told her reluctantly, wishing they could finish this conversation. “But if Elyon ever appears to you again—
“Alert the council?” Kathryn asked dryly.
Jasse shook his head. “No, Kathryn— trust him. Listen to him.”
Kathryn watched Jasse disappear into the forest, thinking over all he had said. Wonderful. Today she’d managed to anger Lord Jasse, something she’d never seen happen before, and learn that she’d practically insulted a visiting king, or wizard, to his face. Oh, yes. Life was just wonderful.
As she packed up the rest of her stuff she became aware that she wasn’t alone…again. No doubt David had followed Jasse to discover where she went every day. Why couldn’t anyone in this blasted kingdom leave her alone? She was tired of pretending.
She turned to face David, accusations ready but they died before they were spoken.
Seeing her startled face, Elyon smiled. “I told you we would meet again.”
“I didn’t think it would be this soon,” she managed after a few moments of awkward silence.
“You didn’t think it would be ever,” he corrected with a twinkle in his eye.
Kathryn began to feel uncomfortable. “I really wasn’t sure what to think.”
“Don’t try to lie to yourself, Kathryn,” Elyon admonished. “You understood exactly what you wanted to see, not what you did see.”
“There’s a difference?” she asked stiffly.
“There’s a great difference. As a Guardian, you know this to be true.”
Unfortunately she did. As she’d lain in bed last night, she’d come to the conclusion that Elyon had been one of the gifted, but not chosen to be a Guardian, individuals she’d heard about. Yes, she owed him her life, but had believed that she would never see him again. There were a few more moments of silence as Elyon walked over to a snow covered log and sat down. “Will you join me?” he asked as he motioned to the log.
She didn’t budge. “I heard something very interesting about you this morning.”
Elyon smiled and looked towards the waterfall. “Really?”
“I was told that you are a king.”
“Partially.”
She waited expectantly for his reply but he gave her none. “Are you?” she prompted finally.
“Am I what?”
Was he playing difficult or was he honestly not paying attention to her words? His gaze was locked on the frozen majesty of the waterfall, as if he could see something she couldn’t. “Are you a king?”
“Of a sort. Among my people I am a Dūta.”
Kathryn felt her brow furrow at the unfamiliar term. “And what, pray tell, is a dūta exactly?”
“A Dūta is many things,” he explained calmly. “I protect my people in times of trouble and give them guidance when they lose their path or need direction. I am an executioner as well as a giver of mercy. But most importantly, I reveal to the people the will of the Ancient One.”
Throughout his speech, Kathryn fought the urge to roll her eyes. “In simpler, and less extravagant terms,” she summarized, “you are a king.” Just wonderful. And one who claimed to be able to contact the world of the spirits. If their history instructors were to be believed, leaders who led at the so-called calling of some spiritual deity were the most disruptive. David was going to love learning the kingdom had another crazy cultic leader wandering around. Even worse, it was someone who had the ear of the king and the Guardian Council.
“Partially,” he agreed.
“Partially?” Now she was sure he was being difficult on purpose. “How can one only be a partial king or sorcerer?”
“I am not only a king, but a servant as well. Which is true of any king.”
“I would love to see you address King Darin as a servant,” she replied sarcastically. “He is most definitely not a servant.” It didn’t escape her notice that he failed to address the second rumor of his identity. “A king is the ruler of his people, he cannot be a servant as well.”
“A king cannot rule his people without putting their needs before his own. In this way, he is their servant,” Elyon told her seriously. He must have seen the confusion on her face for he added. “If you’re willing to trust me and become my friend, there will come a time when it will make sense.”
Where in the kingdom had that come from?! She stared at him in bewilderment. Become his friend? She’d only met the man once before and even then she hadn’t wanted to see him again. And to top it off he was some pious fanatic. Or at least played one for his people. The last thing she needed in her life was someone trying to convince her to believe in a spiritual entity. Kathryn believed in one person, and one person only. Herself.
Then anger and disgust blazed through her veins as the first of his words hit her. Was there some competition throughout the kingdom with a grand prize awaiting the first person to gain her trust? Deciding not to dance around the issue with Elyon like she did with Jasse and David she replied coolly, “I don’t give others my trust.”
“I have noticed.” He turned his gaze on her and motioned towards the log, his eyes not demanding, but asking her to sit. Well that was a first. A king who didn’t command her to obey his every order.
Grudgingly, she moved forward but did not sit, crossing her arms across her chest. Unable to meet his gaze she glanced towards the column of ice that glinted in the sunlight, and he continued. “Your past is a painful one—
His words whipped her head around to pierce his fiery gaze with her frigid one. “How could you know my past?” she demanded sarcastically. “We’ve never met before.”
“No, we haven’t met before,” he agreed patiently, and then he smiled gently.
“But I have been watching you for a long time.” Kathryn felt chills spread throughout her body, but Elyon wasn’t finished. “I know what you endured before you were rescued by Princess Jasmine.”
Kathryn narrowed her eyes. “I doubt that,” she said stonily. “No one knows.” And I’ve worked hard to keep it that way.
Then Elyon began to speak. He spoke quietly of her life with her aunt and uncle before the Blackwoods and the sickness that had killed over half of the village just before she’d become a slave. “Stop!” Kathryn ordered heatedly before he could continue her story after she had been taken to live at Blackwood Manor. The ones of her aunt and uncle’s village were bad enough but it was the Blackwoods that haunted her nightmares nightly. But that may have been because her young mind had blocked out much of what she’d experienced in that village. Now that he had oh-so-kindly ripped the tapestry from the window into those experiences she found herself remembering more than she wanted to.
Surprisingly he did and he waited patiently for her to regain control of her memories. Once they were no longer crowding in and threatening to suffocate her she turned and glared at him. “If you ever tell anyone—”she threatened ominously.
Elyon looked at her kindly. “No, child. Your past is not my story to tell, it is yours…and itmust be told,” he said firmly.
She turned and stared at the frozen water. “Why?” she asked harshly. “It is in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Because until you face your past, you cannot face your future.”
King or not, her patience with his oblique responses snapped. “You speak in riddles!”
“You are a prisoner of your past,” Elyon explained. “Your dreams are plagued by memories and you struggle with your identity. There are trials quickly approaching where you must be sure of yourself, of who you are.”
“And how do you suggest I learn to be sure of myself?” She demanded.
“Embrace your past, learn from it—
“Oh, I’ve learned plenty,” she spat bitterly.
“Learnnew lessons and move on.”
