The Edge of Nothing_The Lex Chronicles_Book 1

by Crystal Crawford

To Lex’s surprise, a woman stood – he hadn’t noticed her among the archers. Her torso, unlike the men’s, was covered in a fitted leather top nearly the same tone as her skin. “Yes, my king?” she asked.

  “You will be my Heart,” the king answered.

  “Ensuring what you have heard is truth,” she replied.

  Acarius leaned over to Lex. “The hearing ceremony,” he whispered. “The king can make an exception for extenuating circumstances, and allow temporary asylum to one who has been banished, but only if he has two elders among his clan who agree with his decision. In this case, their role will be to ensure his decision is unbiased, since the matter involves family. As I said, it’s sort of a democratic monarchy. He’s the king, but there are procedures for this sort of thing. Even if they side in her favor, it won’t reverse what’s been done. It will only initiate the process.” He paused. “But it’s still a good sign. I half expected him to turn us away, especially with me here.”

  “Why? Did you do something, too?” Lex asked.

  “Oh. Well, I may have been the reason Lytira ran off from her clan as a teenager,” Acarius said. “I don’t think her father likes me much.”

  “What?” Lex asked.

  Lytira silenced them both with a glare before Acarius could answer.

  “We aren’t supposed to talk during the ceremony,” Nigel sat up and whisper-yelled.

  One of the archers turned his arrow on Nigel, who threw his hands back up in the air and draped himself over his donkey’s neck again.

  In front of Lex, Amelia’s head suddenly shot upright.

  The archers leapt to their feet, all arrows turning on Amelia.

  “What– where am–” Amelia stuttered. She looked around in panic, still tied to the horse and unable to move much more than her head.

  Lex reached gently toward her shoulder, and she jumped as he touched her. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s me.”

  She visibly calmed, though her voice cracked as she asked, “What’s happening?”

  “Just be still,” Lex murmured, very aware of the arrows trained on her. “Can I cut her free?” he asked, looking up and raising his hands away from where his replacement sword hung against his saddle – his other one had been left at Alowen.

  The archers turned their gaze to the king, who hesitated a moment. “Who is she?” he asked. “Why is she tied up?”

  There was a rustle in the branches, and one of the archers wordlessly turned and loosed an arrow into the forest. There was a shriek, and something thumped to the ground. The archer calmly replaced his arrow with one from his quiver and aimed it back at Amelia.

  Lytira slid off Mare’s back and moved toward Lex and Amelia’s horse. Some of the archers turned their arrows on her, while the others stayed fixed on Amelia.

  Without waiting for permission, Lytira slid the dagger from her belt and sliced the ropes which held Amelia to the horse.

  Amelia pushed upright, moaning as she moved.

  “Are you alright?” Lex asked.

  Amelia nodded, then went stiff as she finally looked upward and saw the arrows aimed at her.

  “She’s a daughter of power, Father,” Lytira said. “She needs help. That’s why we’re here.”

  The king’s dark skin suddenly seemed a few shades paler. He glanced to the man and woman who had been appointed to help with the ceremony, and they looked as pale as he did. The woman gave a quick nod.

  The king turned away. “Open the gates,” his voice boomed as he strode away, disappearing into the shadows beyond the ledge. The archers lowered their bows and followed him into the branches.

  A moment later the gates swept open, and a group of guards led Lex and the others into Zeriphath.

  Lex noticed all the guards were dressed like the king – shirtless and with leather coverings around their waist which hung to their knees. Each guard’s leather was decorated with seared images, and though each was unique, they all featured some kind of animal. The guards were barefoot, as were all the other people in the city, who were now emerging from doorways all around to watch them pass. The people were dressed the same as the guards, the men shirtless and the women wearing dark leather tops above their waist-coverings, which also had etched symbols and animals on them, every one different. The children, who peeked out from behind the adults all around the clearing, wore leather tops and waist coverings as well, but theirs were empty of etchings. Lex felt eyes on him from every direction as the guards led them further into the city and shut the gates behind them.

  Zeriphath gave the impression of a giant forest clearing turned into a small city. It sprawled out in a massive circle, following the curve of the outer walls, but despite its size there were no streets or sidewalks or any of the typical elements Lex would have expected from a city. The ground was the bare dirt of a forest floor with sprigs of grass growing up in places, and the dwellings the people came out of were essentially multi-story tree-houses, wooden structures built right around the existing trees of the forest, which stood in concentric rings inside the wall of the city. The only clear area was a circular courtyard of packed dirt just inside the gates, which interrupted the ring of trees and created a wide, round community area, wherein stood a large wooden barn, a cloth-tented market space where townspeople seemed to be trading goods across wooden tables, and a towering wooden structure toward the back of the courtyard that reached nearly as high as the treetops around it and seemed to have been carved entirely out of one massive tree. It had a large, open doorway cut into it near the base, and from the rows of glassless windows carved into its height, it appeared to extend several stories before giving up on being a building and becoming a tree again. A natural canopy of overhead branches covered the city in shade, making it noticeably cooler than it had been outside the gates and blocking out much of the sky. Lex looked around in awe, feeling as though he’d just been swallowed by the forest. After so much time on the searing, wide-open sand, it was rather jarring.

  Archers were still climbing down wooden ladders built against the city walls, returning to the clearing now that the unexpected visitors were inside the walls. On this side, the stone walls spread upward to the heights of the tree tops, uninterrupted save for door-size openings on either side of the gates, which apparently were how the archers – and the king – had accessed the ledge outside. The archers took up positions around the clearing, though their weapons were lowered.

  The guards led Lex and the others through the clearing and toward the towering building in the back. As they moved inward, Lex felt more and more eyes on him as people continued to emerge from their dwellings. They appeared in doorways and railed porches on all levels of the tree houses, and as Lex looked around, he noticed some of the houses had signs outside, marked in a language he didn’t recognize. Were they names, to identify who lived there? Or did it mean something else? The people stared silently as the group passed, and each face Lex’s gaze landed on seemed either curious, shocked, or upset. I guess they don’t get many visitors, Lex thought. Or maybe it was who the visitors were which had the people on edge. That was an uncomfortable thought, given that Lex and his friends were now literally surrounded by people who didn’t seem to want them there, and with no escape except back into The Fallows.

  In front of him, Lex saw Amelia’s posture tense as she glanced around. He could feel the warm buzz of energy around her again. He leaned forward. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

  She glanced back at him and gave a quick nod, but her face was pinched and nervous. She turned back around, her hands fidgeting with the horse’s mane.

  The guards approached. “Dismount,” one of them said.

  None of the group moved, and Lex saw Acarius glance at Lytira, clearly unhappy with the thought of leaving Mare.

  After a moment, Lytira slid off Mare’s back, and Acarius sighed but followed.

  “Can you stand?” Lex asked Amelia.

  She nodded, and Lex dismounted then reached
up to help Amelia down. Her legs buckled a moment but she caught herself, and gave Lex a shaky smile.

  Guards approached, taking hold of both horses, though Acarius still didn’t look comfortable with the idea. Mare glanced uncertainly at him, but he patted her and she seemed to calm a bit.

  Nigel looked around, then hopped off his donkey and held out the reins. A guard took them, and all three animals were led away toward the massive barn, then around to the back of it rather than through the closed doors on its front.

  Acarius shifted his feet, and Lytira leaned over. “They will not harm her,” she said.

  “I know,” Acarius answered, though his expression didn’t seem quite so certain.

  The guards backed away toward the edges of the clearing and the few people who had been milling in the market area grabbed their things and hurried off into the ring of houses, leaving the five visitors standing alone in the courtyard just in front of the tall tree building.

  The people continued to stare at them from every direction.

  Lex was just beginning to wonder if they were expected to do something when the king appeared in the carved doorway.

  “Come inside,” his voice boomed. He turned and disappeared back into the building.

  The others followed.

  Lex found himself in a large lobby area of a surprisingly-fancy palace, if you could call it that when it was all made from a hollowed-out tree. The floors were laid with smooth, dark stone the same color as the outer walls of the city, and the inside of the tree had been buffed and polished until its wooden walls shone. An ornate, padded throne stood in the center of the lobby, the only thing in the room except for two carved doors revealing staircases winding upward into the tree. The ceiling above them was tall, and also made of wood.

  Acarius leaned over. “This is where the king hears petitions from the people,” he whispered. “Those doors lead up to the other levels. The second floor has dwellings for the king’s advisors and officials, and the third has rooms for honored guests of the king – not that they often get visitors. Everyone else, even the archers and guards, live out among the people. It’s their custom for the warriors to stay out among their families, where they can enjoy normal lives but be ready at a moment’s notice if their protection is needed. The royal family lives in here, though, on the fourth floor… or they did. It’s only the king himself up there, now. But he stays there so he has a clear view of everything within the city and anything approaching outside the wall.”

  “So he saw us coming?” Lex asked, also in a whisper.

  “That would be why all the archers were already up on the wall,” Acarius answered. “They don’t normally have so many out there.”

  The king made his way to the throne and sat upon it, crossing his arms as he faced them. “So,” he said, his eyes on Lytira.

  Lytira opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything the king cut his eyes to Acarius, then back to Lytira. “I thought you and the half-blood were through,” he said flatly.

  “We’re not together, Father,” Lytira answered. “Not in that way. But our paths have merged once more in service of a larger purpose.”

  Lex saw Acarius shift his feet. Poor guy, Lex thought. He didn’t know the history between Acarius and Lytira, but it was clear Acarius still felt something for her.

  The king sighed, then said, “Fine. You said you could explain why you acted as you did at Alowen. So, explain.”

  As he spoke, the man and woman he’d appointed as Ear and Heart appeared through one of the doorways and took their places on either side of the king.

  Now it was Lytira’s turn to fidget. “I’d have thought that was clear now, Father,” she said. She gestured toward Lex and Amelia. “Do you not understand who they are? Or what’s at stake?”

  The king leaned back in his throne and sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Daughter, must you make everything difficult? You know the ceremony. You must declare the intent behind your violation of our laws, and plead for mercy from the elders and your clanspeople.”

  “Your laws are antiquated, Father, and is not ceremony for the sake of ceremony meaningless? You see them standing here before you, a son of prophecy and a daughter of power. I know you can sense what they are; do not attempt to deny it. You know how long we have waited for them, how hard we fought to save Marcus and Jana, believing them our answer, and how devastated the people were when we failed. Now here he stands before you again, and beside him another daughter of power. It is a miracle, Father, and the very words of prophecy come true! Yes, I put our people at risk… to protect him. To save the one meant to save us all. What explanation beyond that do you need?”

  The room fell silent.

  Lex could feel Amelia’s energy humming beside him; she was nervous – he had come to recognize the shift in the frequency of her power, if power was in fact what the hum was. Daughter of power and all the fuss about her seemed to indicate she could do...something. What, exactly, he wasn’t sure. So far it had only seemed to cause her seizures and illness. He glanced over at her, but her eyes were locked on the king and his advisors. Lex turned his gaze back forward as well, feeling as though he were waiting for a sentence to be passed on himself, rather than just Lytira.

  After a moment, the king spoke. “We of the Alliance have never acknowledged such a prophecy, nor do we bend our laws for it.”

  “That’s a lie!” Lytira yelled. “You know mother–”

  “Do not speak to me of your mother!” The king cut her off, his loud voice reverberating off the polished-wood walls. “She spent her dying days filling her head with stories of prophecies, believing they finally gave meaning to her so-called visions! What good did that do any of us?” He paused, and when he continued his voice was softer. “She was ill, Lytira, you know that. She was too apt to cling to the hope that all her visions and the illnesses which struck her night and day without warning or control actually meant something. But you and I, we have always been practical. Now you stand before me, with a story of fulfilled prophecy and heroes reborn, and back together with that half-blood yet denying it to my face. There are many in this world with power.” He nearly spat the word as he glanced at Lex and Amelia. “What I sense in them could mean little… or nothing at all.” His voice grew firmer as he turned back to Lytira. “You broke the customs of our people and exposed your own clan to danger for the sake of an outsider. Because of your actions, a child died, and several of the Alowen clan were injured. And now you have come here, knowing danger may well follow you to this place also. Do you have no further answer for this?”

  Lex glanced over at Lytira, and was shocked to see her stone face had melted into the devastated expression of a rejected child. “No, Father,” she said softly, looking down. “I do not.”

  The advisors on either side of the king leaned in, whispering something, then straightened back up and fixed their gazes forward again.

  The king sighed. “The Heart declares your statements to be truthful, and the Ear has recorded your testimony. But I, the king, am not in agreement. According to the laws of the ceremony, you and your companions are granted sanctuary within our walls until this matter is taken to the clan and decided.” He rose from his throne. “Remain here, and guards will show you to your quarters.” He turned and exited through one of the far doors, the Ear and Heart following behind him.

  Lex dropped his shoulders and let go of the stiff posture he’d been holding. “Whew,” he breathed. “That was… intense.” He turned toward Lytira. “Are you–”

  He stopped. Nigel was already in front of Lytira with her hands in his own wrinkled ones. He whispered something to her, soft enough that Lex couldn’t make it out. Lytira’s face was still devastated, but she nodded at whatever Nigel had said.

  Acarius stood nearby, watching the exchange and looking more helpless than Lex had ever seen him.

  Lex turned to Amelia.
Her face had gone pale, and something about her energy felt strange, a change in the texture of the hum. “Are you okay?” he asked, leaning toward her.

  “What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Amelia gave her head a small shake, then smiled – not very convincingly. “I’m just tired.”

  Lex felt a surge of worry. “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yeah, of course,” she said, and this time her smile was a little more genuine.

  Footsteps sounded outside and the group turned to see four guards entering the building from the courtyard.

  “You will follow us to your quarters,” one of them said.

  Two of the guards moved toward one of the doors which held the stairways, then turned back, clearly waiting for them to follow.

  “Not you,” a third guard said, placing his hand on Amelia’s shoulder. As soon as he touched her, he jerked his hand away and took a full step backward, looking cautious not to get too close again.

  “Wait, why?” Lex asked, stepping toward Amelia.

  “Did the fallen princess not say this one needed help? I have been instructed to take her to see our healers,” the guard answered.

  “Stop calling me that,” Lytira said, looking over. “But yes, she needs help.”

  Lex spun toward Lytira. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  Lytira turned to him. “Do not let my father’s actions discolor your view of our people. Our healers are good and honorable, and the best in the land. They are sworn to only heal, not harm. They will help her.”

  “Really, I’m fine,” said Amelia. “I’ll stay with the rest of you.”

  Lex wanted to agree with her, to say she was better off with the group, but one look at her pale face – which was now covered in a sheen of sweat – forced him to think otherwise. He leaned in toward Amelia. “I trust Lytira. She saved your life, when you had your first attack. She’s protected both of us, for some reason, even when it cost her all of this. If she says they’ll help you, I think maybe you should go. At least let them take a look at you.”

  Amelia’s face changed, suddenly vulnerable. “Attack? I don’t remember anything, or even how I got here. I’m scared, Lex,” she whispered. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”