by Tenaya Jayne
Forest closed her eyes, placing her head in her hands.
"Forest?"
"I'm nothing more than an experiment? Created for the sole purpose of data collection?"
"Yes."
She stood up abruptly, her chair skittering across the floor behind her. "You have no heart!" she shouted. "Why couldn't you have lied to me? I always believed it was nothing more than shame on your part. I was the product of a secret affair you had to hide to reach your political ambitions. That would have been so much better. I thought you knew nothing about my life, but I was wrong. You have notes! Pages! Files! Don't you?!"
Rahaxeris pointed a long sharp finger at the chair behind her. The chair slid across the floor, back to its original position. "Please sit back down. There is more I need to tell you."
Forest turned and brought her foot down on the seat, splintering the wood. His expression remained stoic as he pointed at the broken chair, repairing it instantly. Forest's eyebrows shot up as she regarded the chair, shocked momentarily out of her pain. "Will I ever be able to do that?"
A smile broke across his face. "Perhaps. Please sit back down."
Forest sat, building walls quickly around her heart, and looked at the floor again. "What happened to the other hybrid children?"
"Destroyed. Most deemed unsuccessful."
Forest cringed away from him.
"Yes. You're right, Forest. I'm a monster."
"Why was I allowed to live?" she asked.
"My instincts told me you would be a successful product. The whole experiment provided no surprises, except one…I never anticipated I would love my child."
Forest lifted her eyes.
"Your mother told you, I named you, on the day you were born?"
"Yes."
"And that I never saw you again?"
Forest nodded.
"That was a lie. I saw you. Many times. I rocked you to sleep every night until you were two. But I had to cease all contact. It was becoming dangerous for me. My position in the Rune-dy was shaky. I couldn't let the others know how I felt about you. They questioned my decision to father you myself as it was. Menjel called for your destruction. I convinced my fellow priests to allow you to live so we could see how your gifts might mature as you became an adult. They all agreed so long as there was no interference in your life. Simply observe and nothing more."
Forest grated her teeth together, pushing back tears. "You know everything about me, don't you?"
"I know the events of your life, but I don't know how you feel or what you think. I want to."
"Then you must know about Leith." Humiliation slammed down on her.
Rahaxeris stood up abruptly and strode to the window. His shoulders shook as he braced the frame with his hands. "I'm so sorry, Forest. I thought I was doing the right thing by sending you to the Academy. Once I saw the mistake, it was too late for me to undo it. I'd fought so hard against the other priests to get you in there…After…after you caught Leith's attention, Menjel morbidly wanted to know what the outcome would be. It was then I knew I had to do something. I began planning to take over the Rune-dy.
"I've done unspeakable things, Forest. Things I hope you never learn about. But I achieved my goal of becoming High Priest."
"Wow," Forest said acidly, "that's terrific. I'm gratified you could do the things you set out to do. All the while leaving me a slave."
"Maybe I chose the wrong path. But I'm here now to fix things. I had to become High Priest to make a better world for you. That's the only reason I've done all this."
"Fix things!" Forest spat. "How are you going to fix things?"
Rahaxeris turned to face her. "I am the High Priest of the Rune-dy. I have more power than any person or government in Regia. And you're my daughter. And now the world will know it." He strode back to his chair and sat down. "I have two gifts for you," he said, pulling the green stone necklace and the key from his robes. He reached out and placed both in her palm.
"I've done fine on my own. I don't think I want people to know I'm the monster's daughter. I'll figure things out on my own." Forest lifted her hand to throw the necklace and key but he was too fast for her. Rahaxeris caught her hand and gently folded her fingers over the gifts.
"I understand. But please just hold on to these for a while and think about what I'm offering you."
Forest looked down at her clasped hand and curiosity got the better of her. "Just what are you offering me, exactly?"
"This is your birthright." He pulled the necklace out of her grasp and held it up. "A title, created uniquely for you. All you have to do is accept it. I know of your political ambitions, now you can surpass even your wildest dreams. If you accept, you will be Hailemarris. Supreme judge."
It was as though he were speaking a foreign language. Her mind couldn't process his words. There was just too much happening to her too fast. She moved past it, deciding she could think about it all alone, later.
"And this key?"
"That key opens the door to your captive enemy. You may dispatch him any time you wish, or I will happily do the honors if you don't want to."
A lump rose in Forest's throat. "Leith? Leith is here? In the castle?"
"Yes. And you might consider keeping the information to yourself until you're prepared to kill him, otherwise your mate might tear the castle down stone by stone, trying to get him first."
Forest stared at her hand, shaking. Her lungs refusing to fill completely when she breathed.
"It's all right," he said gently. "Take your time. Consider what you want to do. I will support you no matter what you decide. And if you want to talk to me again, I'll be here."
He walked to the door and opened it, hesitating before turning back to her. "Remember, monster that I am, I love you. I have from the very first, and nothing matters to me as much as you do."
The door closed behind him, leaving her alone.
Forest walked slowly back to her room in a daze, the key and necklace clasped tightly in her hand. A void inside swallowed everything, leaving her lost and confused. Her emotional nerve endings had stretched too thin and gone comatose in defense. What was she going to do now?
Syrus greeted her when she opened the door but there was nothing but ringing in her ears. Unaware of what he said, she shoved the necklace at him. "Please keep this safe for me."
He followed her to her locker, muttering unintelligible words, while she strapped her sword around her waist. She had to side step him as she went into the closet. Heading straight for the jewelry, Forest grabbed the first necklace she saw with a sturdy looking chain. She removed and tossed the jewel aside, then strung the key on it and fastened it around her neck.
Syrus was still talking to her, waving his hands agitatedly.
"I'm sorry," she said carefully, unable to hear her own voice over the ringing. "I have to go now. I'll be back soon. Don't worry. Don't follow."
She ran from the room into the hall, the ringing fading away. Turning down a corridor, she almost collided with someone blocking her way.
Rahaxeris stood dead center, preventing her from passing. Merhl stood demurely behind him, his eyes turned to the ground.
"Where are you going, Forest?"
"What do you care?! Am I a prisoner now?"
"Hardly." Rahaxeris held out a silvery, End of the Bridge to her. "Tell Merhl where you want to go."
Forest hesitated, not wanting anyone to know where she was going, but the urgent desire to get there superseded. She snatched the End of the Bridge and pocketed it.
"I want to go to the Wolf's Wood."
Rahaxeris stepped to the side as Merhl gave her a little bow and then struck the air. A black portal opened, and Forest ran into it without a backward glance.
Chapter Ten
"Shi!" Forest yelled to the trees, her voice racked with despair.
The portal dumped her a half mile from the Heart. The stinging pull of the Heart's power reached deep inside, shattering her defenses, breaking the wa
lls. She immediately began moving away from it. Running, tears streaming down her cheeks, searching for her surrogate mother.
"Shi!"
A soft wind circled around her. She stopped running. The breeze caressed and soothed, softening the sharp edges of the storm within her. Shi embraced her with the whirlwind before appearing in her corporeal form. "What is it, daughter?" she asked.
Forest wanted to collapse into Shi's arms but of course, she couldn't. Instead, she crumpled to the ground at her feet, unable to articulate the foul truth of who and what she really was. And mercifully she didn't have to; Shi could see everything inside her.
Shi knelt next to her and placed her ghostly hand on the back of Forest's head. "It doesn't matter, Forest. You should have stayed and talked to Syrus."
"I couldn't tell him," Forest cried. "It's not fair to him. None of this is. He shouldn't be with me. He deserves better. A princess."
"He's had one."
Forest's head snapped up. "What?"
Shi smiled. "You two don't know each other very well yet. You're little better than strangers. It's really for him to tell you, but I won't string you along. Syrus was engaged to a noble's daughter before he lost his sight."
Forest's eyes, previously blurred with tears, now blurred with red.
Shi chuckled. "Ah, I see you don't like that. You're jealous and possessive. You should pay attention to that. Don't doubt your love for him."
"It doesn't matter what I feel. He shouldn't be with me. Now more than ever. I'm just an…" The word rose in her throat like vomit. "…experiment."
"And a slave?" Shi prompted.
"Yes. A slave."
Shi touched the chain around Forest's neck. "A slave with the power to free herself. I don't understand why you came to see me before killing Leith."
"I don't know. I can't understand what I'm thinking. Have I lost my senses?"
Shi hesitated as she listened carefully to the tempest of Forest's heart, concern growing stronger by the second. "I'm glad you came to me first."
"What happened to 'you should have stayed and talked to Syrus'?"
"You do need to talk to Syrus. But you need to calm down. You've just suffered a terrible blow, and it has knocked you momentarily stupid. Take the knowledge of your father and your origin like medicine. Don't gag on it. Just take it all in and relax."
Shi felt like a traitor, but she took the only action she could think of; she put Forest into a deep sleep then moved her to a soft, leafy place and caused the flowers to bloom all around her. Not since Forest was a child had Shi felt such reckless self-destruction within her. She reached in and stroked out every good memory she could find in Forest’s sub-conscious, creating a quilted dream of peace, happiness, and feelings of love. She wove the depth of her own love for Forest into the dream, begging it to imbue her with the concrete knowledge that she was worthwhile, that she was loved.
Chapter Eleven
Confusion and rage vibrated through Syrus. He felt too much. His heart pulled in too many directions. Forest had left him without a word as to where she was going. She gave him a weird amulet and told him to take care of it! What in the hell was that about? He could feel she was in no physical danger, but oh! The heartbreak she was suffering! He had to know what was going on. Why did his love feel such black emotions?
The pulsing red sphere of rage began to solidify in his chest. Not yet. He pushed it down. First, he would find the blackguard who claimed to be her father, give him the shakedown of his life, and then decide about kicking his unnatural ass.
Syrus rang the infernal bell and waited for a servant to arrive. The door had barely creaked open when Syrus barked to the person behind it the order that he wanted to see Redge immediately. He needed his wingman.
"Come in!" Syrus bellowed when a knock came to the door.
Redge entered the room. Syrus embraced him roughly, instantly feeling steadier with his best friend back with him. "Man, it's good to see you, Redge."
"You too, my lord. You've got to catch me up. There's madness going round this place." Redge was usually more reserved.
"I will. You need to catch me up, too. There's just too damn much going on. My father gave me the gist of what was happening in the war but not the details, and I'm dying to know all about it, but now I've got a personal crisis on my hands. I need your help."
"Whatever I can do. Is Forest all right?"
"What do you know?!" Syrus demanded grabbing Redge by the front of his shirt.
"What? What do I know about what?!"
"Forest! Where is she?!"
Redge tried to ease Syrus back. "I'll tell you everything I know. It will be easier if you let go."
Syrus checked himself. He hadn't meant to grab Redge. "I'm sorry." He stepped back. "She's got me going crazy."
Redge straightened his shirt, the hint of a smile on his mouth. "I see that. Maybe we should sit down. You're going to need to practice your self-control while I talk."
Syrus had never put so much of his mage power into holding himself still as he did while Redge told him about all that happened after he was imprisoned by Christiana.
"I swear to you, I did my best to protect Forest from the queen. And I searched for you day and night, knowing you were still in the castle, trapped. I finally got one of the ogres to talk, but then Christiana began sending assassins to kill Forest. I intercepted a few. She caught wind of what I was doing, and she sent me to the front lines. Her minions ambushed me in the hall and threw me into a portal before I could blink an eye. I guess I'm lucky she didn't kill me."
Syrus took a deep breath. "I'm glad you're okay. You did your best for Forest. I appreciate it."
"I'm surprised she survived such an onslaught."
"Oh, she can take care of herself," Syrus said with pride. "Petite little kickass…I love her so much."
Redge smirked. He could never consider Syrus weak or pathetic, but man was he whipped. Redge was amazed as Syrus told him all about his journey to Maxcarion and everything that happened with Forest. Equally, Syrus was amazed to learn that Philippe was dead and the war was practically over before it began.
"So now, this Rune-dy shows up, takes over, and Zeren hardly bats an eye." Redge shook his head. “Oh, and Dracula is back."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Just this morning, and now he's whispering some insanity that the Rune-dy ambushed him as soon as he crossed the castle's threshold but let him go because he got Leith instead."
Syrus jumped to his feet. "Leith?!"
"That's what Dracula said. Said the High Priest wanted his blood and that Leith is more than likely dead or in the grips of torture right now.” Redge's eyebrows shot up. He'd never seen Syrus look so bloodthirsty. “Obviously, this means something to you."
"Come on!" Syrus ran out the door.
Redge followed on Syrus’ heels as he rushed through the halls, shoving aside anyone who got in his way.
RAHAXERIS!" Syrus bellowed. "RAHAXERIS! ANSWER ME!"
There was no answer. They continued to run down to the ground floor of the castle. Syrus burst through the doors into the throne room. It was empty except for security. He stopped in the center of the room, a tornado holding still.
Redge spotted Merhl standing against the wall. "Let me see what I can find out," he said to Syrus before turning to the ogre. "Merhl?"
The ogre brought his eyes up from the floor.
"Is Rahaxeris still in the castle?"
Merhl turned his eyes back to the ground. "I am unsure, sir."
Redge crossed his arms over his chest, recognizing the lie. "I understand everything has changed in the castle. It's confusing for all of us, Merhl. But you are still subject to the crown, are you not?"
Merhl hesitated, shifting his feet. "I don't know, sir. I think so."
"Prince Syrus needs your help. He needs to speak to Rahaxeris. It's urgent. He must learn the fate of his kinsman, Leith."
Merhl's eyes darted up for a second then settled back to the flo
or.
"He's in the castle, isn't he?"
"Vladien's son is being held in the castle under arrest. No one can open the door to his cell except the one who has the key."
"Wanna' bet? Show us the way," Syrus ordered.
Merhl's eyes lifted to Syrus, unmistakable fear clouding them. Twisting his deformed hands, he bowed. "Yes, Your Highness."
