The Star Of Saree (GODS OF THE FOREVER SEA Book 3)

by A. J. STRICKLER

Kia wore a simple white gown; her long silky hair had been washed, and now lay perfectly on her shoulders. The tips of her ears poked through the hair just enough that Kian could see them and be reminded of the elven half of his heritage. Her green eyes were still sunken and her cheeks drawn from her long captivity.

  She had been pacing when they walked in. As they entered, her gaze fixed on them. Kian had forgotten how beautiful his mother truly was. Even half-starved, her fine features sat perfectly on her face.

  Tavantis seated himself on a divan and Kian sat on its arm. Neither of them had spoken much to Kia since Shiavaka had returned them to the tower. She had slept a whole day, then they thought it best to let her collect herself before they came to her. Tavantis had brought her food and she had eaten and bathed, then slept again. Now to Kian’s eye, their mother seemed more troubled than anything. He was almost afraid to hear what she had to say.

  Kia looked from one to the other, as if appraising them.

  “My precious boys, what has the world done to you?” There was pity in her voice. “A notorious sorcerer with a nasty reputation, and a red-handed slayer of men. It is not what I wanted for either of you.”

  Tavantis’s brows furrowed. “How is it you know anything about us?”

  “The Beast, he taunted me with your bloody exploits, showing me visions of the terrible things the two of you have done. He knew it would hurt me to see how far you had fallen from what you were meant to be.”

  “What does any of that mean, Mother?” Tavantis said hotly. “We are what this world made us. I am unashamed of my deeds or any acts I have committed. Kian may wallow in a sea of self-loathing, but I do not. We are aware of our so-called failings. What I want to know is how it is you became the Star of Saree? Was that a detail of your life you forgot to mention to us?”

  Kia wrung her hands. “I am not truly the Star, at least not yet, and the Beast knew this. It is why he didn’t fear to keep me as his captive. The ceremony that would have bestowed that power was never completed.”

  The mage crossed his arms. “You speak as if we know about any of this elven gibberish. Start from the beginning, and leave nothing out. I will know if you are lying.”

  Kian could hear the resentment in his brother’s voice. There was a pain in Tavantis’s heart where their mother was concerned, whether the mage would admit it or not.

  Kia went on. “You don’t know anything because it all happened long before you were born.”

  “Damn it, you’re still speaking in riddles. Just tell us, Mother. Perhaps I won’t judge you as harshly as it seems you’ve judged us,” Tavantis chided.

  “You are free now, Mother. Don’t be afraid to tell us your tale,” Kian said softly.

  “Then I should start with who I am.” She smoothed her gown and raised her chin. “I am Kiandria Celebrindal, daughter of Prince Tavandar, granddaughter to the last elven king, Tathar Celebrindal.”

  Tavantis glanced up at Kian, the two exchanging a look of skepticism. The wizard leaned forward and rubbed at the brand on his face. “Well, you seem spry for an elven woman near a thousand, and you appear no older than Kian or I. How do you explain that, Mother, or should I say Your Highness?”

  “The magic the elven archmages put inside me has kept me from aging,” Kia said, ignoring her son’s barb.

  “Go on. If what you say is true, I think this may shed some light on a few things I have pondered,” Tavantis said, stretching back on the divan.

  “Very well, son, but I must start from the beginning.” She closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath. “The Reaper had killed my father and destroyed every army we sent against him. Our defenses were few and everyone knew the war was lost. It was only a matter of time before the death god launched an attack against Sarval, the last city of my people. My grandfather called what remained of his wizards together for council. Together, they devised a plan to create a weapon of magic so powerful, it could destroy the so-called death god and his evil kin.

  “What the Beast told Shiavaka about the Star was true. The great elven wizards drew power from our world itself and fused it with the very essence of their magic, half of them sacrificing their very lives in a last frantic gamble to save our race. The king insisted that only one of royal blood be charged with the responsibility of such a great power. He was aged and frail, and there was only one other of our line that remained.”

  “You,” Kian whispered.

  “Yes. All our people’s hopes were placed in my charge. The fate of the elven race was placed in my hands alone. In the coming weeks, I was filled with all the power the mages could bring to bear, even Saree itself offered up its magic to me. All that was left to do was perform the final ceremony that would unleash the enchantments inside me to wield as I saw fit, but as the Reaper and his Red Handed drew near, I became afraid. I was just a girl and had little courage, and the thought of facing the fearsome Lord of Death drained me of my resolve.

  “I fled the city, betraying everyone I loved and everyone who had entrusted me to save them from the Army of Desolation… I betrayed Saree itself.

  “Gildor was sent after me with some of the royal guard, but I eluded them. I hid in the mountains as the last city of the elves burned and my people were put to the sword. For countless years, I stayed in hiding, living alone with the guilt and shame that plagued my soul.”

  “You knew Gildor?” Kian asked.

  “Yes, son. He was my friend centuries before you ever heard his name.”

  “Don’t interrupt her, Kian. Let her finish this sordid tale,” Tavantis snapped. “I am fascinated to hear how it concludes.”

  “You’re right, son. It is time I confess to all the sins of my past. It was wrong to keep the truth from you in the first place. I thought a simpler account of my life would be easier for the both of you to live with. If I would have known how things were going to turn out, I would have been honest about who and what I was long ago.”

  “Well, you weren’t, so what happened next?” Tavantis said, gesturing for her to go on.

  “Over the endless years, the world forgot about me and I watched as my once noble race dwindled into a pathetic existence. Even the dark gods themselves disappeared from the lands of Saree. It took mankind little time to devise a new god to take their place, and the Church swept through our war-torn world with a new message of hope and peace, offered at the point of a sword.

  “I ventured out from time to time, coming down from the mountains to see how Saree had changed, but the new Church had little tolerance for anyone that wasn’t human. So as the centuries passed, I remained alone, until I met your father.”

  Kia smiled sadly. Kian thought the story must have stirred memories of the man who had sired him and Tavantis.

  “I was scared of him at first. He was human and it was his savage race that had destroyed my people. He came to my little home every day for months, bringing me small gifts or flowers before I would even speak to him. Once I did, I found he was kind and considerate, nothing like the human barbarians I remembered at all, and I came to love him more than you will ever know.”

  “Who was he?” Kian asked.

  “His name was Favian Cardan, and he was a better man than I ever deserved. In time, I became pregnant with the two of you. It was he who talked me into rejoining the world. His love took me away from my self-imposed solitude and made me live again. I packed my things and set out with him for the Wild Lands. He planned to build us a home there. In the open country, we could live in peace without the cruel eyes of intolerance and bigotry to disturb our joy. We were both very happy, but before any of it came to pass, he died.”

  “How?” Kian asked quietly. It was clear the memory of his father’s death still hurt her.

  “I will not speak of that…not ever,” she said, her voice full of emotion. She wiped a tear from her eye and went on. “I was alone again, and heavy with twins the world would see as atrocities. I tried to find a home for us, but you came too soon. That is when the women
of the Heavenly Hole found me, and you know the rest.”

  “No, I don’t think we do, Mother,” Tavantis said. “You have lied to us all this time, at least now speak the whole truth.”

  Kia’s jaw tightened and the arrogance of her nobility leaked out. “You want the truth. With your father dead, all I could think of was how I hated the world that had taken the man I loved away from me. My guilt returned and it ate at my soul like wild beast. I was a whore with no honor, a wretched coward unable to take back the terrible misdeeds of her past. I had lain with a human and bore two sons that his world and mine would despise. I wanted to go back and change it all, but there was nothing I could do.

  “I had lost hope till Elu passed through Thieves Port. He recognized me and told me that Gildor still lived, and that a movement had begun in Sylonia. Some of the elves had grown tired of their fate and planned to build an army and take back what was rightfully theirs. They planned to establish a new elven kingdom in Sylonia.

  “I quickly offered to do anything I could to help. Desperate to clear my conscience, I offered Kian to him to train. I thought if he could become the new Sunblade, it would help my people overlook Kian’s mixed blood and forgive my betrayal. You too Tavantis were to be taken to Sylonia to learn the ways of the elven mages. Gildor and Elu both knew that even though the two of you were of dual heritage, the power in my blood coursed through your veins. You both would have been great assets to the cause, and redemption for me.”

  “Sylonia already belongs to the elves,” Tavantis said.

  “No, we dwell there but it is not our kingdom. It is where the Reaper and his humans left our race to die,” Kia said, her voice rising.

  “So you sending me away, that was all part of some plan?” Kian asked.

  “Yes, you would have been told once you were ready, but before any of it could come to pass, Tavantis’s thirst for power inadvertently allowed my imprisonment by the Beast. And because of my captor’s cruelty, I now know it was you, son, who poisoned Elu and you that murdered Gildor, all out of some misguided quest for vengeance against your brother,” she said, shaking her head at Tavantis.

  “So now you lay the elves’ fate at my feet, because I did away with two old men?” the wizard asked.

  “No, it is my lies that have caused all of it. I know now I am the reason you are what you are. We must look past the mistakes of yesterday. I thought I lost my chance at salvation, but now fate has led you both back to me and your hands have set me free. Fate has seen to it that I can go home, and do my best to set things right.”

  Tavantis chuckled ironically. “So we fought the God of Evil so you could run back to Sylonia?”

  “It is my destiny. I should have never tried to escape it.”

  Tavantis was silent for a moment. Kian knew his brother’s keen mind was assessing all that their mother had said. “Very well. Before you go, I want you to tell us about the man you claim is our brother.”

  Kian recognized the subtle change in his brother’s voice. Their mother was no longer speaking to her son, now Kia spoke to the Dark One.

  “The Beast held me prisoner for a long time trying to find a way to use me against his wicked kin. During my captivity, he made two children with me, thinking to use the magic in my blood to create powerful warriors that would do his bidding. You saw your brother Ruin, and he has a sister named Sin. They are twins, just as you are. The Beast has twisted and corrupted their minds. Both are cruel and malicious.”

  Tavantis came to his feet. “Well, it seems you have a new family. I will be sure to take steps not to come between you.”

  Kia snatched a dagger from Tavantis’s belt. “You make light of what that monster did to me?” She dragged the dagger across her palm and held it up so they could see the black blood that dripped from the shallow wound.

  “This is what the union with the Beast cost me. I share the same blood as those who all but destroyed my race.”

  Tavantis casually took the dagger from her. “I don’t believe I care.”

  Kian watched his twin stalk from the room and slam the door behind him.

  His mother tried to hold back a sob, but failed miserably. He moved to her and touched her cheek. “When I left the mountains, all I could think of was coming back to you. Once you were everything to me, Mother, but now I find that all your stories were lies.”

  “What will you do?” she whimpered.

  “You are right. I am a killer. The path I have taken stripped me of much of my compassion, darkness swirls around my heart now. It is an evil that cannot be fully contained. I have lost my soul, and the little love I have left I share with few, but I will try to find some for you.”

  She threw her arms around him. He could feel her tears on his face, just like all those years ago when they had parted on the wharf. He gently pushed her back. “Tavantis does not like me much and takes little stock in what I say, but I will speak to him.”

  “He has always been different. Even as a child, he was stubborn and…unstable. I will give him time, but I fear his heart is black. I believe we may have lost him.”

  “What will you do now?” Kian asked.

  “I will return to Sylonia and see if they will let me rejoin them. If possible, I will complete the ritual. After that, I cannot say.”

  “I will escort you there, if you wish.”

  “I would enjoy that a great deal, son, but you could never…”

  “I know the elves will never tolerate me. They believe I am an abomination.”

  “They are wrong, Kian. You have just lost your way, son.”

  “No, Mother. Your people are right.”

  * * *

  Kian jerked at the horse’s reins, trying to calm the stubborn mare. Tavantis smiled thinly at his brother’s struggle. He had seen many animals balk at the inhuman warrior. Tavantis believed they could sense his twin’s unusual nature. He glanced at his mother some distance away, and she would not even look in his direction. He should have expected nothing else.

  “Will you not come with us?” Kian asked as he finally swung into the saddle.

  “No, I want nothing to do with her. We freed her from the Beast, and that ends my debt to our mother.”

  “So be it,” Kian said, jerking the horse’s head around and galloping away.

  Tavantis watched Kian and his mother as they rode into the forest. He looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes with his hand. For all he had done, nothing had changed.

  The mighty god looked down into the depths of the pit. He could hear the labored grunts and moans as his brother crawled up from the horrors below. The Reaper saw a hand emerge and grasp the edge. He calmly put his heavy, armored foot on his brother’s hand. A brief yelp issued up from the dark hole.

  Peering down, he saw the Beast dangling from the rim of the pit, his face racked with pain. The God of Evil was drenched in sweat and his face was deathly pale. Octavian ground his boot down until his brother cried out again. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “You are an arrogant liar who put us all in danger with your foolish need for revenge. You possessed the Star without telling me, and now you have let it escape.”

  The Beast looked up, his fanged teeth showing. “You still fear the elves, don’t you?”

  The death god reached down and pulled his brother up, slamming him against the chamber’s stonewall. “I fear nothing and if you insist on angering me, I will finish our last fight. This time, I won’t be so merciful.” The Lord of Death carelessly dropped his sickly brother to the floor. “What is wrong with you anyway?”

  “That half-breed, the Slayer, his blood is corrupted by the foul water of the Forever Sea. His blade was wet with it when he struck me. If it hadn’t been diluted, I would be dead.”

  “I have heard of this Slayer. Syann seeks him as her champion.”

  “That thing is immune to our magic, and more dangerous than the Star. He and Shiavaka’s pet Tavantis are both mad, and more powerful than any mortal should ever be. You s
hould destroy them now while you can. If you don’t, I will once I am stronger.”

  Octavian pulled the Beast to his feet. “In time, you can do what you will. For now, leave them be.”

  “No. Look what they have done to me.”

  “Your constant need to feed your own vanity is why you were defeated in the first place. If you would have let your followers dispatch them, you would not be in this state.” Octavian stepped back as the Beast fell to his knees, gagging and body shaking.

  “Asher, you always were of weak constitution. Know your enemy, brother, before you strike. A lesson you should have learned from Father long ago.”

  “I will haunt their shadows and make them wish for death,” the Beast said, black drool leaking from his mouth.

  “Just don’t kill them, not yet.”

  “I don’t understand your interest in those creatures.”

  “You will.”

  * * *

  “It’s there, I can smell it.” Tempest looked to where Pepca pointed. She couldn’t see the stag, but she trusted the queen’s nose. Arrow nocked, she quietly moved forward, careful not to step on any twigs or sticks. The big stag came into sight. Letting her breath out slowly, she fired.

  The arrow struck true. The animal ran a short distance and fell to the ground.

  “A perfect shot,” Pepca said, running ahead to their prize.

  Tempest could see the change in her friend. The wolf was part of Pepca now, and since the coronation, she had grown to be less of a young girl and more of a queen. On their hunts or in the courtyard with the children was the only time she saw Pepca playful and relaxed.

  Her somber mood wasn’t surprising. The young queen’s heart bore many scars—her family, Julian, the atrocities she had committed while in the guise of a monster. Now that Pepca had time to reflect on all that had befallen her, it was a wonder the girl fared as well as she did.

  A cell in the palace’s dungeon had been fitted to hold the wolf beast on the nights of the full moon. Before the company had ridden to Warmark, K’xarr had charged two of his men to aid the queen on those nights the wolf creature appeared. They would see her safely restrained and help Pepca keep her secret.