Keenan took a deep breath, "It seems that Zalustus agrees with this foolishness of signs. Anything he, or his father favor, then I oppose. You do not know what kind of monster the man is."
"Yes we do," Derek answered, his thoughts going back to the torture room. "As much as I fear that this is just another deception, I say we do what Cassandra asked us to and go to Saprasia."
"No!" Kara said quickly, causing the three men to jump, Enstorion didn't seem affected by her outburst. "Nathan said the Church has already searched the ruins and found nothing. It's possible that we're the only ones that know about the possibility of Ocklamoor being in Elem. I think we should go there."
"I agree. Our best chance to thwart Zalustus may be by retrieving the shield." Keenan said, "Although I don't know what we're going to do with it once we have it."
"If we can get it," Trestus added. "I agree with Kara though, and if Heather's group can get out of Eled Aminor, then they can go to Saprasia."
Derek was surprised that Trestus and Kara both wanted to go to Elem. Especially since it had to do with the Church and Kara had been rather touchy about that subject lately. He glanced at Enstorion, who had been silent for the entire conversation. "And you? Where do you think we should go?"
Enstorion shrugged. "It does not matter." His tone was mirthful. "I do not believe that we ever could stop the prophecy from coming to fruition. It will either happen or it won't."
Thanks for the worthless input, Derek thought. "All right. Tomorrow morning we'll leave for Elem." He paused and looked around. The others were all watching him, but said nothing. One good thing to come out of meeting this Nathan, he seemed to have got Kara back to her normal self. "Get some sleep, we'll leave early in the morning."
Shortly after sunrise the next morning, Kara and Derek approached the southern edge of the village. Nathan and Leela had been seen walking in the woods on that side. It didn't take long for the two Guardians to find the wildlings, they were looking at a small garden that looked to be doing fai somv> rly well.
Nathan looked up at their approach and smiled. "Good morning." He motioned to the garden, "Leela's just showing me how well our garden's doing."
Derek nodded, a strange thought occurring to him. In the short time that Nathan had been back, he had not been out of Leela's sight. Maybe there a little more than friends? he thought.
Kara, who wore her washed but still ruined dress, held out a bundle of clothes to Leela. "Thank you for letting me borrow these. I don't know how I would have managed without them."
Leela smiled and looked Kara up and down. "Why don't you keep them? I don't think that dress is good anymore."
Kara thanked the other woman and pulled the offered clothes back, even as her cheeks went a little red.
"Have you decided where you're going?" Nathan asked, his tone turning serious.
Derek nodded, feeling reluctant to give away their destination.
"We're going to Elem," Kara said.
"Good," Nathan answered. "Leela is going to accompany you."
"You're going to be our escort to the edge of the forest?" Derek asked pleasantly.
"Yes," Leela answered slowly, "but I'm also going to Elem with you."
"Why?" Derek and Kara said as one.
"Because I asked her to," Nathan answered for her. "We're in momentous times and, whether you believe it or not, the wildlings will have a major part in this upcoming war. It's time for us to begin."
Both Kara and Derek were somewhat taken aback.
"Will you have me?" Leela asked.
There was the briefest of pauses before Derek answered. "We owe you so much and would be pleased if you would accompany us." He reminded himself that he would need to let her know that he was in charge on this little adventure. He put that off until later though, he didn't want to cause any problems before they even left the village.
"Good then." Nathan said and grasped Derek's arm. He then turned to Kara and grasped both her shoulders. "My dear, I know that you have been through so much, but things will get better." He leaned in close and said quietly, "Never confuse the Church of Adel for the god Adel."
Kara nodded but said nothing.
Trestus was busy getting ready for the journey. Despite all the revelations of the previous night, he still found his spirits lifting with the prospect of travelling again. They had been in this little village in the middle of nowhere for too long a time, at least as far as he was concerned. They had lost their horses in the flight from Dahl-Rucka but even the thought of walking the stone highways was more appealing than staying in the village one more night.
He rounded the corner of their shack and stopped dead in his tracks. Karina stood ten feet away, near the bushes that grew along the edge of the village. He quickly pointed a finger at her, "Hold on! By the gods, if so much as a vine slaps at me, you'll regran a near et it. I swear, one way or the other, I'll turn you over my knee."
One of her eyebrows twitched up at that and there was a hint of a smile. "You shouldn't make threats that you can't follow through on," she said, but not angrily.
Trestus held his tongue. He fully intended to back up those threats but at the same time didn't want his words to be the cause of a scuffle. "What do you want?" he demanded.
Karina became more serious, all signs of a smile gone. "I saw Reega this morning. He said that he's back and that you two had settled your disagreements."
Once again, Trestus didn't necessarily agree with that statement but it was close enough for him to keep his mouth shut.
"I wanted to apologize for leaving you tied up in the forest and for accusing you of chasing Reega away."
Trestus' mouth dropped open. First Reega and now Karina. He looked around, half expecting for Zalustus to pop out from behind a tree and start apologizing.
"Anyway, that was all," Karina said and started to turn away.
"Wait! I don't understand," Trestus said, and he definitely looked confused. "You spend the entire time that I'm here acting like I'm your worst enemy, and then when I'm leaving you show up and apologize. Why? Why do that?"
Karina turned back to face him and considered her words carefully. "I do not like normal people and I have good reason not to. But as normal people go, you're not too bad." She paused momentarily, "If you ever come back this way," she paused again, almost as if she was going to be sick. "If you ever come this way again, you will be welcome here."
Trestus watched the woman walk away as he thought furiously. What? As long as he lived and breathed, he would never understand women. Probably just inviting me back so that she can make my life miserable again.
Chapter 23
Rough hands seized Heather and pulled her from the table. Her head rolled to the side and she fought hard to hold it up, but she lost. She seemed unable to control her arms, legs, or anything else for that matter. Her eyes were open but she couldn't discern what it was she was looking at. Something dark seemed to be moving past her and she thought for a moment that she was lying on her back and staring up at the night sky. But that couldn't be right unless the sky was spinning. She tried to shake her head to clear it, but nothing happened.
Straining hard she tried to remember what happened. It took several moments but at last she remembered the prison cells in Eled Aminor. The week of waiting came back to her, as well as the distress of the king's arrival.
She stared at the darkness, trying to make the moving darkness take shape. Just then they passed under a torch and the floor was lit up. She wasn't on her back, she was being carried along in the castle. Actually it was more like being drug along in the castle. The moving darkness was the stone tiles of the hallway.
Trying hard, she managed to lift her head and look around her. Her head moved upwards, barely. An enormou at av heights pain ran through her head and shoulders and immediately she let her head drop back down. A low moan escaped her and one of the guards laughed.
A kinder voice, not the voice of the guards who carried her, spoke from somewhe
re behind them. "Take it easy girl or you'll hurt yourself."
Heather didn't recognize the voice, and as there wasn't anything else she could do, she decided to take the man's advice. There wasn't a whole lot that she could do anyway. Her mind was beginning to clear and she remembered the interrogation room and the two men with the king. The sorcerer and the magician. Try as she might, she couldn't remember what they had done to her. She knew it involved some kind of combination of sorcery with magic but that was all she knew.
The guards stopped moving and Heather groaned again as her body was jerked to a stop. Her body hurt all over. With a start, she realized that she was actually getting feeling in her arms and legs. It was just a tingling feeling but it was better than no feeling at all.
There was a sound, and Heather was still concentrating on the tingling sensation, and it took a moment for noise to register. It was the sound of bolts being drawn back and then a heavy door being drug open. She knew that sound. She had heard it plenty over the last week. It was the sound of the prison cell door being opened.
Moments later the guards drug her into a cell and dropped her on a bed. She just managed to turn her head slightly and realized it was the same bed that she had spent the last week sleeping on. She closed her eyes, not really caring if she fell asleep or died, either was preferable to staying awake.
Heather's eyes popped open and she groaned. The tingling in her arms and legs was now a dull ache. She rolled over onto her back and gasped. She could move again but it hurt like hell to do so.
She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, could have been moments or it could have been hours. There was no way to tell.
The only other cell that was occupied was Dagan's. The old man was standing beside the door to his cell, staring out.
Heather opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she realized what had awoken her. It was the bolts being drawn on the cell door again.
The door was yanked open and five men entered. Four were guards and they carried Cassandra and Mikela. They dumped the women on their beds and left. Heather recognized the fifth man as the king's sorcerer.
"If you've hurt them, I swear there is no place where you'll be able to hide from me," Dagan said. His tone made Heather start. She knew him as a grumpy old man. Intelligent, and perhaps dangerous, since he was a sorcerer, but now he sounded like a man that could rip someone apart with his bare hands.
"They'll be fine." Agminion answered. "A little sore but no permanent injuries."
"What did you do?" Dagan asked in that same low voice, nearly a snarl.
Agminion moved closer to Dagan's cell. "Peace, old man. We used my sorcery along with magic to get the truth out of them. It didn't hurt them, although it does leave a person completely exhausted. Within an hour they'll be able to move, although they probably won't want to."
Heather pushed herself up to a somewhaly. ser to t sitting position and another groan escaped her.
Both men turned to look at her.
"See," Agminion said, motioning towards her. "Already they start to come out of it."
Dagan no longer appeared furious, instead he looked confused. "You used sorcery with magic?" he repeated quietly.
Agminion didn't reply. Instead he turned and walked from the room.
"Heather," Dagan said quickly, the concern was obvious in his voice. "Are you okay?"
"I'm not sure," Heather replied. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat there rubbing her neck. She wondered if Agminion was telling the truth as she couldn't remember the first thing about what had happened.
In short order, guards delivered Atock, Enton, and Aaron to their cells, where they too moaned and groaned on their beds.
Feeling better with each passing moment, Heather finally felt good enough to climb to her feet, although she used the cell bars for support. She was still standing there, leaning against the bars, when the door opened again and in walked King Stennis. He was followed closely by Agminion.
The King stopped in the small walkway between the cells and stood there for a moment watching them. Agminion placed a small stool next to the King who promptly sat down on it.
Heather was the only one on her feet, but both Cassandra and Mikela had twisted their heads to see the king from where they lay. The three men were still oblivious to their surroundings.
The King smiled as he watched Heather wobble. "I'm glad to see the effects are already wearing off."
Heather felt better but her mind was still struggling to discern what was happening. The King's comment seemed out of place. "So what now?" Heather asked. "Does Myrus get his way?"
The smile disappeared from the King's face. "Uh, no," he answered quietly. "We believe that you were telling the truth."
"As we told you from the start," Heather said rather emphatically.
The King cocked his head to one side, looking confused. "Yes, I believe you. You broke into my vault and stole a priceless copy of the Kelcer prophecy. I also believe that because of you, someone else was able to steal the helmet of Ashteroth."
Heather grimaced. She hadn't thought of it like that. She had been focusing on the fact that they hadn't stolen the helmet.
"Just for breaking into the vault," the King continued, "I could have you put to death. In addition you stole from me and helped others do the same."
"So is that your decision?" Heather asked.
The King sighed deeply. "As much as I want to, I fear that I cannot pass that sentence on you."
Hope tried to swell within Heather, but she wouldn't let it. Things sounded too good and she was waiting for the bad news.
"You see," the King began, "I understand something of the times we live in. This Flaranthlas of yours has Ossendar and he bears a striking resemblance to manwon'"0" width=y parts of the Kelcer prophecy." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "None of you seem to believe that he is capable of the horrible things in the prophecy, although many of you are fearful of exactly what he will do."
Letting go of the bars, Heather moved back and sat down on the edge of the bed. Where is the old man going with this? she thought.
"You did provide me with some interesting information though," the King continued. "I have never heard of this Prince Zalustus, but I find him," another brief pause, "intriguing."
"Why?" Heather asked quickly.
"Don't you see?" the King asked. "This Zalustus, who we've never heard of, tries to capture Fort Mul-Dune. A fort that has never fallen before. What would he have done then? Marched on Telur?" The King shook his head. "I think he wanted to take Mul-Dune because the prophecy says the restorer of the Dragon Order will be the conqueror of Mul-Dune."
Dagan, who was still standing next to his cell door, began rubbing his beard. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to be the conqueror of Mul-Dune? He doesn't fit the prophecy."
"I agree," the King said, turning slightly to better see Dagan. "But I do not know much about this man. Perhaps he believes he does fit the prophecy."
"Wait," Heather began slowly. Her mind still seemed slow and she fought to make her thoughts coherent. "Flare has Ossendar."
"Yes," the King agreed. "But the prophecy does not say the 'next' person to wield Ossendar will restore the Order. What it says is that the person who restores the Order will wield Ossendar."
"So you think he wants to be the one to restore the Order?" Dagan asked, still looking puzzled.
The King shrugged. "From what you told me, he is much more the monster than your friend Flare." The king grinned again, "And Zalustus has shown an interest in the Kelcer signs. He attacked Mul-Dune, was there when Flaranthlas retrieved Ossendar, and now we suspect that one of his men stole the helmet of Ashteroth."
Heather followed the King's logic and it sort of made sense to her. Could Zalustus be the monster that Kelcer had seen?
"The Kelcer prophecy has been in my family for many generations," the King said after a brief moment of silence, "and my family has spent many years studyi
ng it. I would like to tell you a theory of my grandfather's. I've never given it a whole lot of thought, probably because the old man was a little out of his mind, but it might just be pertinent." He paused to take a deep breath, "You see, my grandfather struggled to understand all the apparent contradictions of the prophecy."
Heather snorted. The King's grandfather wasn't the only one who struggled with the prophecy. Generations had fought those same battles in the two millennia since it was written.
"My grandfather thought that perhaps some of the contradictions could be explained by the prophecy being about two men. One good and one bad. The two men struggling to restore the Order, with the fate of the world in the balance."
"I've never heard of anyone putting a theory like that out for debate." Dagan said.
"Well of course not." The King responded a little huffily. "It would have been madness to do so. Wouldn't it? The Church would have destroyed anyone saying that or any kingdom that allowed such talk to flourish." The King shrugged, "We kept grandfather put away."
"So you're saying that you think Flare is the good one and Zalustus is the bad one, and they're both trying to restore the Order?" Heather asked, trying to make sense out of the old man's story. It was unlike any theory that she had ever heard and it went against all the belief and teaching on Kelcer.
"I'm not saying any such thing. I'm actually just telling you a theory which might explain all the difficulties."
"For nearly a hundred years after the prophecy was written, it was not viewed in the same way as it is now." Dagan said. "I've not heard a theory like King Stennis's but there wasn't the fear associated with Kelcer like there is today."
The King studied Dagan for several moments, "You know a lot about history. How is it you know so much about Kelcer without ever having seen it in the original form?"
Dagan winced. He had said too much, but it probably didn't matter much now. "When I was in Telur, I was part of a secretive group of people. A group that was not scared witless by Kelcer. Many of us believed that the Church had done a great disservice by twisting the prophecy into what it is today."
Valley of the Ancients: Book Three of the Restoration Series Page 25
