Curse and Whisper

by A J Gala

  “Don’t force me to be the bad guy! That’s not fair!” He shook his head and sniffled. “If I’m going to kill you, I’ll snap your neck in person.”

  “Aleth, what if I don’t wake up? I have children, I have a family—”

  He watched her crumple to the ground and succumb to hysterics. Surely this had not been the point of Talora’s interference. Aleth looked away.

  “I hope you’re not depending on me for solace.” But she was too much of a mess to respond. “Gods dammit, Adeska.”

  He sat down across from her, unsure how to proceed. She had always been the most affectionate of them all, hugging and holding and patting anyone within arm’s reach.

  “Okay, stop. Tal thinks there’s something I should tell you.”

  Adeska gasped for a breath, fighting to calm herself. “W-what?”

  “I think I got something from Father. Something from his oracle sight. Maybe.”

  She sobered almost instantly. “A vision?”

  “Not exactly. I don’t remember ever having it for the first time. It’s just something that I know. Like a vision that I inherited, maybe.”

  “Oh no. It’s about Tizzy, isn’t it?” She hiccupped.

  “How—”

  “I have one too. I’m not an oracle like he was, but I’ve had a vision. Maybe all of us have had one, and we just don’t talk about it. Does Tizzy know?”

  “No. I could never tell her what she’ll do.”

  She looked at him and cocked her head. “Wait, what have you seen?”

  “There’s a town somewhere on the lake.” He combed back his hair and hung his head. “She’s going to kill them all. I don’t know when, I don’t know why, but she will. She’ll stand amidst the bodies with cold, black eyes, staring off into the distance. That’s how Father’s visions worked, right? There’s no changing them?”

  “I don’t know how they work. I wish I did, but he didn’t like to talk about them. After everything that’s happened to all of us, everything he must have known about our futures, I guess I don’t blame him.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Something far more innocent than yours, thankfully. It looks like she meets someone. A man with long hair and a wolfish smile. A waxing moon is glowing behind some clouds. He points up to the sky and tells her the story of the Red Dragon Star, and they both laugh. It seemed so nice… I always wondered if something like that would really happen to her.”

  He hated that it made his heart hurt. “Should we try to stop the visions?”

  “I don’t know. It’s like you said. Maybe they don’t work like that. It could be fate, or it could be just a warning. Do you think she’s met the man in my vision yet?”

  He hoped not. “I don’t think so. It’s no one I know, at least.” After a deep breath, he decided his nerves had settled, and he sat next to her. He found a stone and threw it into the pond. “He couldn’t change them.”

  “Do you mean—”

  “Father. He couldn’t change anything.”

  “How do you know?”

  He scoffed. “Did you ever notice the way he looked at me? He knew what was going to happen to me. I bet he saw it all. He always tried to smile when he looked at me, but he never could. Because he knew there was nothing he could do about it.”

  “Then there’s no changing it. She’s going to kill those people in your vision. What do we do?”

  “What can we do?” He folded his arms over his knees and sighed. “She hasn’t done anything yet. Maybe it’ll be okay.”

  “Aleth, do you really believe that after what you just said?”

  “What do you expect me to do?” He threw his arms out. “Am I supposed to kill her? For something she hasn’t even done? This could all be bullshit anyway! What about your vision? She hasn’t met anyone. She hates people!”

  “If she does, if she meets that man, then I guess you’ll know whether or not it’s bullshit, won’t you? And then we—” She stopped herself and stared at the ground. “And then you have to decide what to do from there.”

  “You really think you’re going to die, huh?”

  Off in the distance, a plum dropped to the ground. Adeska rubbed her legs for warmth and tried to remember what happened before she had lost consciousness. Everything had gone so wrong, and Alor had seen it all.

  “I don’t know. Something’s happened to me since I’ve been like this. I feel different. I’m not so tired, but I feel lost and angry, like I’m farther away from my body than I’ve ever been. I expect any day now my cord will snap, and I’ll be stuck here forever. I’ll never wake up. I suppose I deserve it.”

  He regretted asking. The more he listened to her, the more his rage came back to suffocate him. The whole endeavor felt like a waste of time.

  “I want to make something clear,” he said. “I don’t care about you.”

  When she looked at him, tears stung her eyes. He did not look back.

  “Do you understand? I don’t care what happens to you. I don’t care if you live or die. You don’t matter to me.”

  “I understand.”

  He hadn’t changed so much, she thought. He still tried to heal by hurting those who’d caused him pain, but despite ten years’ time, he still hadn’t realized it. She fought the urge to smile and instead mustered up more tears, hoping to convince him that he’d broken her heart. Maybe then he would move on from his pain.

  Nothing freed a Hallenar like revenge.

  “You’re going to be alright,” she said. “No matter what happens. I know because Mariette talks about you. She doesn’t know your name, but I can tell it’s you, the things she says. She’s the oracle now.” A sob overcame her. “Follow the signs, Aleth, no matter what. You have to follow the signs. Don’t be like me.”

  He stood up and gazed down at her. She could see contempt still in his eyes.

  “That’s nice. If only I had some parting words of my own for you.”

  The sudden darkness in his voice paralyzed her. Her blood felt like ice as she watched the sky turn black.

  “Aleth?”

  He picked her up by her bodice and threw her in the pond.

  In the darkest hour of the night, down the silent halls of House Hallenar, the infirmary was empty save for one. Adeska opened her eyes and gasped for air.

  Vayven 15, 1144

  The morning was bitter and cold. Allanis watched the town from her balcony, wrapping up in her thickest robe to fight the chill. She’d been there for almost an hour already. The town was awake and lively, but she’d long since lost interest and was now gazing out at nothing.

  Her room felt lonely. Lora and Madame Blanche were running the kitchen and bickering about who to hire as a permanent cook. Tye and his sister Leona had left for the Undina Loch the second they had unpacked in their villa, and their littlest sister Bee was running the halls like the bored thirteen-year-old that she was. Twice already, she’d been caught slipping silverware up her sleeves.

  Allanis could deal with that. It was Lora that she wanted most. She wanted her back in her room, making mornings long and beautiful and lazy. She wanted the woman’s pretty fingers weaving through her hair, making little braids. She wanted to see her lying in bed with a book, wearing nothing but a silk sheet.

  She sighed, grateful there was no one around to see the pink on her cheeks. It was time to come out and face the day. She’d wasted too much time already.

  Then, her door creaked open. Allanis turned and watched Mariette tiptoe in. The toddler’s hand slipped off the doorknob, and the queen hurried over and closed the door behind them.

  “Mari! Good morning, little girl. I’m surprised to see you here. What are you up to?”

  In a stunning display of sass, Mariette rolled her eyes, huffed, and pouted. Allanis felt a speck of the tot’s spit on her chin. She only knew one person with that kind of attitude—but Tizzy was absent.

  “You can’t call someone a little girl,” Mariette said. “Because you are a little girl.�
�

  Allanis was still reeling. “Well, Mari, when you’re the queen, you can call anyone anything you want.”

  “You should call me Little Swan.”

  “And why would I do that?”

  “I’m little for a swan.”

  “Undeniably sound logic, I guess.” She picked the girl up and took her to the balcony. “Look at all of that down there, Mari. That’s the town. That’s all Suradia.”

  “You better not drop me.”

  “Boy, you’re all fire this morning, aren’t you?” She shifted Mariette in her arms. “Heavy too. What have they been feeding you? Ammunition?”

  “What’s that right there?” Mariette pointed down at one of the construction areas. People carried stones to little piles, and masons slapped mortar down and stacked them up to make walls. They were ahead of schedule.

  “That’s going to be barracks for Jurdeir’s knights. That one over there will be for Gavin’s battlemages. And all those places at the wall are new guard towers. What do you think?”

  She shrugged. “It’s good.”

  “What’d you come here for, anyway? Are you hungry?”

  Mariette sighed. “It’s big news. But grown-ups don’t listen.”

  Allanis bent down and set the girl on the ground. “I’ll listen! I promise. I’m a good listener!”

  “Do you think someone else is my dad?”

  Allanis sputtered. “Where did you hear that? Alor probably told you, didn’t he? Poor thing had to hear all of that.”

  “Don’t call him Poor Thing. Call him Big Canary. He’s big for a canary.”

  “Mari, someday when you’re older, we’ll talk about your father. But not right now. It isn’t right. Come here, honey.” She held Mariette tight, but the girl didn’t reciprocate the affection. “You’ll understand later, but for now, no matter what people might tell you, your father loves you, and family isn’t always defined by who you’re related to.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter. Alor is sick, though.”

  “He is? What happened?”

  “Aunt Rori has him. There’s more, but you should catch up first.”

  It worried Allanis that there was more, and it worried her to think what that even meant to a toddler, but she pushed the thought aside and hustled out into the hall with Mariette.

  “Where are they, Mari?”

  “The library. The part in the back no one’s supposed to go to.”

  Allanis stopped. “Lazarus’s study?”

  “It’s cold in there.”

  She snatched the girl up and raced to the library. “He wouldn’t. He didn’t, right? That would be unforgiveable, Mari. Lazarus wouldn’t do something like that in a million years. He isn’t so far gone, is he?”

  “You worry about the wrong person.” She held onto Allanis, but only barely. “Be a goose. Don’t worry about anything. Fly someplace warm, Aunt Alli.”

  She’d never heard the girl talk so much in all her life. The library was on the ground floor, down a quiet hall. Much of her Council was out in the town, and for that, she was thankful. She had a feeling in her gut that whatever had gone wrong would become another secret.

  She swallowed hard and mumbled under her breath. “The wrong person.”

  The library was cold and empty, its books without souls that day. Each step toward the back, toward the small quarters that Lazarus made his own, filled her with dread. She expected to find him but didn’t.

  It was only Rori. Allanis found her in the dim light of daylight coming in from the window, sitting in the doorway. Sniffling and trembling, she rocked a small body in her arms.

  “Rori?” Allanis let Mariette down. The toddler leaned against the doorway, but Allanis’s own feet froze to the ground in fear of what she’d find if she took a step closer.

  “Allanis!” Rori looked up at her sister, her face red and puffy with tears. She tried her hardest to smile. “Good morning. I was just trying to find a good story to read to Alor. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

  “Yeah.” The word was muffled as he said it into her ivory tunic.

  “What’s wrong? Mari said—”

  Rori put a finger to her lips, and Allanis stopped herself.

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She slipped her hand under Alor’s shirt to rub his back. “He’s just a bit tired. He said he hasn’t been sleeping well, and I think being homesick is causing all the trouble.”

  Rori lifted the shirt, and Allanis covered her mouth at the sight. The veins running up the boy’s spine were black.

  “What—” Allanis stuttered, “—what can I do?”

  “I don’t know.” Rori’s eyes brimmed with hot new tears.

  “Ro?” Alor wriggled in her grasp. “Can I have that tea you always make?” His little fists curled around the fabric of her clothes. “I don’t feel good.”

  “Of course you can! We can go—” she hiccupped, “—we’ll go to the kitchen. I’ll make Lora and Madame Blanche leave while I make you a cup. Then I’ll carry you back to our room and read till you’re good and asleep. How does that sound?”

  He didn’t say anything but nodded into her chest, tangled up in her blonde curls.

  “Rori, how—”

  “I don’t know!” she whispered, choking back more tears. “It’s just like this, I don’t know how it happened. And I don’t know if—” She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s next.”

  “The man with three ears.”

  They looked at Mariette. Her big eyes were fixed on Alor but once again were staring right through him, at someone else entirely.

  “You did this,” she said. “You know you did. You better come back and make it right before he comes for you.”

  Allanis wiped her eyes. “Mari, what the hell are you talking about?”

  “Just wait. That bird won’t stay in the water forever.”

  “The swan?”

  Rori gasped. “No, the crane! Allanis, she means a crane!”

  Before Allanis could collect her thoughts, she caught a glimpse of Lazarus in the library, approaching the study with haste. She was almost relieved to see him.

  “What are you all doing in there? That’s no place for children!”

  “Lazarus, get over here!” Allanis hissed. “Family meeting, right now!”

  He quickened his step. When he came to the doorway, he sensed an aura that tried to push him out. It was the same one he’d sensed on Alor the night Tye had brought him back, but it was stronger now and clung to the air like disease.

  “What is it?” Rori asked. “Why’d you stop?”

  “How is Alor feeling?”

  The boy’s attempt at words came out a whimper. There was no energy left to talk. Rori pet his hair, and he could feel every follicle like a tiny pinprick.

  “You feel warm,” she said. “Must be a fever. You’ll be okay, Alor.”

  “Cover his ears, Rori.”

  She looked up at him. Despite a stalwart expression, he always had a way of letting something slip in his eyes, and this time it was fear. She did as she was told, planting a kiss on Alor’s crown.

  Lazarus ran his fingers across his beard, trying to say it, to spit it out. He let out a sharp breath. “It’s daemonic.”

  “Then she was right.” Allanis felt Mariette’s eyes on her. “It was him. It was Rhett.”

  “No. I don’t understand,” Rori said. “How could Rhett do this? He’s been gone! Who’s to say it wasn’t another daemonologist hiding out in town?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Rhett wouldn’t do this! He’s an awful person, I know it, I know all the other things he’s done, but this? He wouldn’t do whatever it is he does to a child! A baby!”

  “After Athen and Isa’s account from just two days ago, we know he’s around.” Allanis fidgeted with her hands. “We know he’s here, and we know he’s up to something.”

  “Alor was gone for a day!” Rori cried. “A day! How could they have found each other?”

  “Let him hear us now, Rori.” Lazarus fo
lded his arms. “I have to ask him something.”

  She didn’t want to. He was just a boy, she thought. He didn’t deserve any of this. But she removed her hands and turned him around on her lap. Wearily, he looked up at the eldest Hallenar.

  “Good morning, Alor. I know you’re tired, but I need to know what happened when you ran off.” He knelt down. “Can you tell me?”

  Alor shook his head.

  “It’s okay,” Mariette said to him. “You can tell them now.”

  “But he said—”

  “Who, Alor?” Lazarus asked.

  “I think he’s going to hurt me if I say anything.”

  Allanis shook, breathing a sigh into her hands. “Gods, this is like Aleth all over again.”

  “Did he tell you that, Alor?” Lazarus put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Tell me if that’s what he said because I won’t let him get away with it.”

  “He said he was a lord.” Alor swallowed. His throat was scratchy. “And he said he knew the queen. I thought he was nice at first, but he wasn’t. He gave me a pet and then kicked me out.”

  “Kicked you out of where?” Allanis asked.

  Alor shrugged. “It was really nice. An inn? The walls were white. And there were a lot of people there, and they liked to make music and dance.”

  “The Clarinet.” Allanis balled up her fists. “And Ravina said that’s where she’s seen Rhett staying.”

  Lazarus materialized his staff, and it hummed softly with the red energy of the Hell Planes. Alor felt the thing on his back itching and writhing, and he turned into Rori’s chest again and bit his tongue. He had to be quiet. If he made too much noise, the thing would get angry.

  “What the hell is that?” Rori gasped.

  The Malauris turned solid and showed its form, squelching and screeching as Lazarus pulled it off the boy’s back.

  “I can’t believe he’d really fucking do it.” Disappointment filled him like lead. “It’s a Malauris. A listening daemon. It can’t survive without a host, and it’s been—” he stared at the patterns on Alor’s skin, “—it’s been feeding off him this whole time.”

  He threw the daemon on the ground, and it convulsed, melted, and dried to dust.