“Take me into your arms, mother of all!”
I heard the gasp of the crowd, and I clenched my hands into fists and bunched my shoulders up. The swing of the axe brushed air against my exposed neck, and the clang of metal upon metal rang out. I opened my eyes when I realized I had not been struck. The brush of air blew past me followed by a second clang of metal.
I stayed still, expecting a trick, as if the moment I turned to look, he would bring the axe down upon my neck.
“Time to go, Maea,” a voice said, and I dared not believe it to be true.
I sat back on my haunches and upturned my head to the axe-man. His hands thinned and elongated. His thick muscles faded, and in their place, a man of lean stature remained. The axe-man pulled back his mask and revealed his face. I was too shocked to register the features. It could not be. Please let this not be a dream. Johai reached out his hand to me. I took it with a trembling hand, and the shackles, still around my wrists, jingled as I did so.
“How—” but there was no time for words. Guards surrounded us, swords drawn, and shouted commands to seize the pair of us.
Over their heads, I caught Adair’s gaze, furious and perhaps a bit relieved. However, that may have been wishful thinking on my part.
Johai wrapped an arm around my waist and urged me back and closer to the cliff face.
“There’s nowhere left to run. They have us surrounded,” I said.
“Trust me,” he replied, and with no other choice, I did.
He took a step in front of me and shielded me with his body. The guards were closing in, moving lazily, confident in their abilities to apprehend us or force us over the cliff’s edge.
Johai closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. It came out like a hiss, then a howl as it grew in intensity. The guards’ hair whipped back as if they were in a gale-force wind. Their sword arms were bent back as if made of reeds, and they struggled to close in. The wind whipped my hair around also, and the spray of the sea dampened my gown.
“Kill him!” Adair shouted over their heads.
“Run,” Johai commanded.
I did, without delay. I skirted the cliff’s edge, searching for a possible escape route. I came up short along a narrow animal trail leading down a wending path to the cliff base. I peered over the side dubiously. The crumbled stone did not appear stable enough to hold my weight let alone Johai’s and mine. At the base, tethered to the sharp rocks, a small boat bobbed on the waves.
I should not have, but I looked over my shoulder. At least half a dozen soldiers were gaining despite Johai’s spell.
Johai pulled up to me, his face strained. “Maea, go!” He grabbed me hard by the arm and steered me towards the crumbling path.
“It’s too steep!” I protested.
“I came up it, you can go down it.”
I had a choice between a quick death by fall or a slow one at the blades of the palace guards. I decided to risk it. I stepped gingerly onto the path. Johai followed, and we went as quickly as we dared. The shouting from up above grew louder, but the guards gained no ground. I wondered if Johai’s wind still held them at bay. Johai’s labored breathing and the sweat shining on his forehead concerned me. It must take tremendous effort to maintain the spell, I thought. The sea soon drowned out all other sound as we approached. I did not dare look anywhere but forward. For if I looked down, I am not certain I could have continued.
My foot slipped as a bit of earth gave out beneath me. The ocean below swayed, and I threw my arms out for balance. Johai shot his arm out just in time, pulling me back to safety. My heart pounded rapidly, and I could feel his labored breathing against my back. Twice today, he saved me. I did not deserve it after everything I had done to him. I owed him more than I could ever hope to repay.
I pushed it from my mind. I would worry about it once we were safe, if we were ever safe again. At the bottom of the cliff, there was a small outcropping. Waves lapped up against it, and on a tether was the boat, little more than a two-person rowboat.
“Get in!” Johai shouted. He kneeled down and gathered water in his cupped hands. Once more, he murmured into the water, the sound akin to a gurgling spring before it grew into a sucking hollow sound. If he could hold back the guards with wind, what could he do with water? I shuddered to think of the continued strain on his body. I took a seat and one of the oars. Johai jumped in after me and undid the tether. He nudged me out of the rowing seat and took both oars in his grip.
Our progress was slow, much too slow. Johai, already weak from his craft, had trouble fighting the waves that crashed over us and filled the bottom of our rowboat. I found a bucket beneath my seat and proceeded to bail out the water that continued to fill our small vessel.
Over my shoulder, I glanced back towards the cliff top. The men had retreated, but I had a feeling that was not the last of them. A few, with crossbows, had made it down to the ledge at the bottom, and one long-shot arrow zoomed dangerously close to Johai’s head, zinging by and ruffling his white hair. We had not gotten far, I was already soaked to the skin, and my long confinement and malnourishment had left me weary. I wondered what his spell did and why he had not used it to ease our passage away from the palace.
Exertion stretched his features, and I feared he would collapse from exhaustion soon. I shivered while watching the shore shrink away, the soldiers melding in with the cliff side. Somehow, we made it past the crest of waves just as the sun began to rise far off on the horizon.
“I think we’re safe…” I began.
“Not… quite…” Johai panted, nodding in the direction south of us, where a single ship was coming up around the coast towards us.
“What are we going to do? There’s no way we can out-row them.”
The ship extended sail, and oars lowered into the water. They were cutting through the water at an impressive speed. In just the time since I had spotted them, they had already halved the distance between us.
“Don’t… worry… not yet…” Johai stopped rowing as he panted and clutched his chest. We rocked back and forth on the water’s surface, sitting ducks awaiting capture.
“We cannot give up now!” I urged Johai, but he had closed his eyes as if meditating. I turned to look at the coming ship, close enough now that I could make out the sailors upon the deck. Had all of this been for naught? I could not hear past the howl of the wind and sea, but I imagined they shouted orders demanding our capture. Then everything changed. The wind grew deathly calm, and the ocean went still.
“Watch,” Johai said, and I felt a prickle of dread creep up my spine.
A wave rose from the still waters, rising higher and higher before taking the form of a fist. The sailors stopped rowing to stare and point. I saw it before it actually happened, and I wanted to look away, but I could not. This fist came down upon the ship with a crack, and it split in two. The sailors scrambled across the deck in an attempt to avoid the crevice the wave had created down the middle. There was no escape, however. The two ends of the ship upturned and folded inward.
The crumbling decks tossed men into the sea. A few clambered onto floating pieces of debris and watched as the ship sank into the ocean. I counted the bobbing heads on the water’s surface, at least thirty of them. Then the water began to churn. It span around until a swirling vortex opened up. Our small vessel rocked in the churning of the sea but did not move. I watched in horror as the men tried and failed to out-swim the sucking vortex until one by one they and all that remained of the ship were carried to the bottom of the sea.
I stared in disbelief at the place where they had been.
“How…?”
“That is the power I possess, Maea.” Johai stared at me. His hair was falling loose, and strands of white blended with his pale face. This power, this monster inside him, it was terrible. So many lives sacrificed for mine? What was I compared to them?
“Why?” I asked, once more staring out at the empty sea.
“This power is only meant for destru
ction.”
I looked him in the eye then. His normally blue eyes were dark as night and endless. In them, I saw the smirking face of the specter. Johai’s hands trembled on the oars. The power was killing him from the inside out. I read the message in his eyes: kill me before it does.
Could I? I knew destiny required it of me, and after seeing the extent of his power, it should have been an easy decision, and yet it was not. I had risked everything, given up my past, to save him, and I was not willing to give him up, not yet.
Johai attempted to take over the oars again, but I pushed him aside, and I rowed. I rowed along the shoreline for perhaps half a mile. It was arduous, and I feared my back and hands would fail, but I continued. No more ships came in pursuit. I think Johai’s point had been made. Adair was ambitious but not reckless by any means. He would not come for us until he was certain he could capture us.
After rowing for a time, Johai took over, and we alternated back and forth until we reached a bay, miles up shore from Keisan. By that time, my hands were blistered and sore. On the sandy coast where we landed, a man waited with three horses.
There was no time to speculate on Johai’s accomplice. A gentle wave rose up and brought us to the shore. I heard Johai mutter the spell under his breath and did not need to wonder how. He helped me from the boat and onto the shore. As we approached, I realized the man waiting for us was Beau, Sabine’s guard. The horses he held tethered reared as we approached, and Beau strained to keep them under control.
“What’s wrong with them?” I asked.
Beau did not answer me and instead tended to the animals, soothing them and murmuring nonsense to calm them. They skittered around, and I looked about to see what had scared them. Johai kneeled in the sand beside the boat and clutched at his skull. He arched his back as if in pain. I ran to his side, but he held up a hand to stop me.
“Don’t come near me.” His voice was not his own, and when he looked at me, I saw the specter’s face overlaying his.
“Johai?” I took another step.
He pressed his palm to his face. “Stay away, Maea.”
I recoiled, but given my resolve to save him, I drew closer despite his commands. I hesitantly pressed my hand against his back. He snatched my wrist and stared up at me through the eyes of the specter. The monster’s message was clear: he is mine.
“I will not give up,” I said.
We stared at one another, the specter and I. For a moment, I thought I heard the sound of his hollow laughter ringing through my ears. Johai relaxed his grip and then slumped onto the ground in an exhausted heap. Beau came over to us, his expression unreadable.
“We should go. They will be sending a search party soon.”
I helped Johai to his feet, and we ambled over to the tethered horses, which pawed at the ground but otherwise were willing to let us mount.
I barely felt as if I could stand let alone ride, but we had no choice. Johai helped me into the saddle, and he withdrew quickly as if he feared my touch. He swung into his own saddle, and I could not help but wonder what was going on in his head. I knew without him telling me that the monster within him had gained a strong foothold on his soul. He had risked his life to save me and with it, I feared, a measure of his humanity.
I realized also that in order to save him, I would need to learn much more about the monster that dwelled within him. There was no time to chase this thought. Though Adair had not sent another ship after us, I knew he did not mean to give up. Adair did not like to lose.
Beau led our group up and out of the bay by a narrow track up a sloping cliff side. I rode in the middle while Johai took the rear. My horse galloped up the rise, and at the top, I pulled back on the reins to survey the city of Keisan far off in the distance, lit orange with the rising sun. This was not the last I would see of it, I was sure. I turned back to Johai, who sagged in the saddle.
I feared what the future held in store for us because if I did not succeed in finding the answers to save him, I would have to choose between his life, the man who had risked it all for me, and that of every living person.
To be continued
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About The Author
Nicolette is a native San Diegan with a passion for the world of make believe. From a young age, Nicolette was telling stories whether it be writing plays for her friends to act out or making a series of children’s books that her mother still likes drag out to embarrass her with in front of company. She still lives in her imagination but in reality she resides in San Diego with her husband, children, a couple cats, and an old dog. She loves reading, attempting arts and crafts, and cooking. Connect with her at her her website, on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Cast of Characters
Cast of Characters
House Florett
Damara Florett—Dowager Duchess of House Florett; Maea’s Foster Mother; Mother of Layton Florett
Johai—Companion to Damara
Maea—Unofficial heir to House of Diranel; diviner
Hilliard—Head guard to Damara Florett
Layton Florett—Duke of Florett
Earvin—a guard in Damara’s household
The Royal Family
Dallen Raleban—King of Danhad; wed to Idella Raleban
Idella Raleban—Queen of Danhad; wed to Dallen Raleban of House Florett
Sarelle Raleban—Princess of Danhad; daughter of Dallen and Idella; political hostage in Neaux
Florian Ilore—Princess of Danhad; Sister to Dallen Raleban; wife of Duke Ilore
Duke Ilore—Husband to Florian Ilore; Father of Adair Raleban; (deceased)
Adair Raleban—Prince of Danhad; Son of Florian and Duke Ilore; Duke of House Ilore; heir to the throne
Edalene Ilore—Princess of Danhad; Daughter of Florian Ilore
Garrison Slatone—Prince of Danhad; Duke of Slatone; brother of Dallen Raleban and Florian Ilore; (deceased)
Members of the Twelve Great Houses
Algernon Magdale—Duke of House Magdale; former advisor to the King
Mikel Wodell—Duke of House Wodell; Husband to Isabelle Wodell; maintainer of Blackthorn
Isabelle Wodell—Duchess of House Wodell
Count Braun—Count of Braun (House Nanore)
Lady Braun—Daughter of Count Braun
Lord Thelron—Lord of Thelron (House Quince)
Odette Thelron—Daughter of Lord Thelron; lady in waiting to Sabine De’ Aux
Vian Thelron—Daughter of Lord Thelron; lady in waiting to Sabine De’ Aux
Princess Sabine’s Household
Sabine D’ Aux—Princess of Neaux; political hostage
Beau—Sabine’s De’ Aux’s guard
Lord Amelle—Neaux Ambassador to Danhad
Jerauch
Johen Malchor—Jerauchian Ambassador to Danhad
Great Lady Hana—Daughter of the Jerauchian regent; High Priest to the order of Mrawa
Others
Gareth—Court Magiker and healer
Jon Sixton—Son of a merchant; heir to house Sixton
Darton—Head guard to Idella Raleban
Torello—A prison guard
The Twelve Great Houses
House of Raleban—Royal house
House of Ilore
House of Slatone
House of Florett
House of Wodell
House of Sixton
House of Magdale
House of Nanore
House of Quince
House of Delonty
House of Hiloth
House of Tantorell
House of Diranel—former 13th house
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Diviner's Prophecy Page 26
