Elven Blight: A Katrina Baker Novel 02

by D. L. Harrison

  I didn’t fail. I also tried to convince myself that I did well enough, that I wasn’t supposed to change anything else. I failed at that though, I could have handled this so much better.

  I imagined in the timeline that Arella saw coming, after the battle the elves went to bed, only to wake up in the morning with hundreds of them out in the forest, infecting all the trees, and millions of seeds growing into new grubs. They’d have fought and lost over half their population to the poison and twisted magic before they gave up, took their survivors, and migrated somewhere far away to rebuild.

  Who knows what happened to them after that, Arella hadn’t showed me.

  I floated down and landed on the building, as tears ran down my face. It should have been a joyous thing, I’d saved Gwienidd, the heart, and the forest. But… the prince was dead, Princess Edea was being banished, and Princess Ayda would follow. The queen would be alone except for her husband.

  Maybe they could have more children? I wasn’t sure, she was six hundred, which was like forty in human years, even if she looked thirty. Could she have more? No, what I’d done was a good thing, and had saved the elves, but there was very little to celebrate. This was real life.

  I wiped the tears from my eyes and got a hold of myself. I really missed Gerard, and I knew some of those tears were for my own parents, not just for my new friends, Aleisia, Ayda, and Edea. It hoped they’d still be friends when I told them the truth, and that the danger to the kingdom was passed.

  I took a deep breath, and teleported back to the courtyard.

  “… to be banished from Gwienidd, and have until sundown two days hence to be out of the borders of our forest,” the queen finished in that same dead voice.

  Well, thank the goddess for that, at least she’d been banished. I’d been afraid the council might have ordered Edea’s death.

  Edea looked uncertain, but smiled when she saw me. Maybe she’d been looking for me while I was in the city? I hadn’t been gone longer than a few minutes.

  I walked over, “We can go sometime tomorrow, but I have to talk to you in private, with your mother and aunt… and Saida.”

  Ayda shook her head, “Can it wait for morning? My sister is heartbroken and needs… to rest.”

  My throat closed up, and I wanted to cry again. Being a hero was supposed to be a good thing, but this just… sucked. I supposed it was over, and no harm would come from a night’s rest first. The problem was, my judgement was suspect. I really didn’t want to tell them. I finally decided the queen looked fragile enough, and tomorrow might be better.

  I nodded reluctantly, “After breakfast? I suppose Eloen should be there as well, so that should work.”

  Edea nodded, and then surprised me with a hug. I stiffened, and then hugged her back. I was her friend, but with the secret I’d kept I felt like a fraud at the same time. She let me go and the three of them walked off. I was glad to see with the sentence passed, she was free to move about without iron chains. She just needed to be out of the forest in two days, which gave us time.

  Especially since I intended to teleport us.

  Perhaps it was paranoid, but when I got back to the room I closed the shutters, and leaned stuff against it and the door again, before I laid on the bed. My attempted murderer was dead, but sometimes emotions beat out logic. It would be a long time before I would feel safe sleeping without precautions again.

  I stared at the ceiling for a while, random tears in my eyes as I thought about the future for the elven royal family, but life was hard for everyone in one way or another, including mine. They’d get past it, and life would go on. They might even be happy, eventually.

  Gerard, I miss you and love you. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Don’t bother thinking back at me if you can hear this, I can’t hear you.

  I wondered if he heard that. I supposed I’d find out soon. I figured it would take a day or two to get Edea and Ayda settled, and then if Gerard wasn’t back, it would be my turn to follow him. I remembered the inn in Southwater well enough to teleport there…

  Breakfast tasted good, but once again it was rather tense, but this time it was tense with grief. The queen was at least passed the shock of it. But her grief had a long way to go. Ayda and Edea looked a little better, but both obviously hurt for Aleisia. Eloen was… unchanged. The old lady still had a shield up, and a mask on her face. I hoped she had a lot of years left in her, the queen would need her support. Alduin looked sad as well, but there was no shock coming off him, he wasn’t at all surprised by his son’s actions regarding Edea.

  When we finished, it was time to face the music.

  Aleisia asked, “Edea said you wanted to talk to us?”

  I nodded, “I averted the events in the vision sent by Arelleas.”

  Eloen frowned, “Then why do you sound like you’re telling us bad news.”

  I bit my lip, “Because the event that caused it was your son’s death. It broke the shield spell he had on a warehouse in the city, and released hundreds of grubs, and millions of seeds. I burned them last night, that’s where I disappeared to. I… didn’t make the connection until the last moment, when your son died. I’m sorry.”

  I considered explaining why he’d done it, but on balance I thought to let them decide that on their own. I had no proof, I hadn’t read his mind, and his motivations were speculation on my part. Yes, I was convinced he did it all for the pleasure of butchering his cousin personally, but on balance there was no need to rub salt into the wound.

  Alduin said, “That’s impossible, my son was a lot of things but…” he trailed off.

  Eloen said, “So it’s over?”

  I sighed, “Not quite, there’s one more thing to tidy up. The prince had an accomplice, he had no choice but to find one when the queen ordered him to come get me. He coerced her with twisted reasoning and outright threats. I don’t think she wanted to help him, but she was stuck, what can a servant do against the authority of the prince heir? She’s the one who replaced the grubs the week Vaeril was gone.”

  Eloen asked, “Who?”

  I looked over at the wall sadly, the prince was an evil man, Saida was not. In a way, she was a victim herself, but at the same time she could have went to the queen, or quit her job. Ultimately, she was responsible for her own actions.

  “Well?” I asked her pointedly.

  Saida’s terrified and miserable face tipped off everyone in the room, including the guards who closed in around her.

  “How did you know?”

  I replied, “I wasn’t kidding when I said in this very room two days ago I couldn’t be lied to. You lied to me Saida, when I asked you about the shielded warehouse yesterday.”

  She nodded.

  It was silent for a while after she was taken away.

  Aleisia asked in a low voice, “You knew it was my son yesterday?”

  I nodded regretfully, “Yes, by lunchtime. I regret not telling you immediately, but chose not to at the time because I still didn’t know what set the vision off. Suppose I had told you, and you put him in iron chains. Would that have killed his spell on the warehouse? Would I have realized it then? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t try and make excuses, I feel terrible about what happened last night. At the very least, for putting Edea in danger she shouldn’t have had to face.”

  Alduin got up and stalked out of the room.

  Aleisia sighed, “I forgive you Katrina. You’re young, hopefully you’ll know better next time. If it helps, he’d have died anyway. Forgive me Ayda, but I can’t help but think the way it happened was better, at least I didn’t have to order my own son killed for his treason.”

  That actually helped, though I still felt guilty, I had to agree that if she had to watch her son die either way, it was better than she hadn’t had to order it. Maybe there were no good choices, and I’d somehow been right, and made the least crappy one. I was also ashamed because I wanted to know what would happen for them now, I doubted a half-elf could inherit the throne, especially not a
banished one, but I couldn’t exactly ask the queen if she’d try for another kid.

  I was curious, but I’d have to live with it. I was also heavily emotionally involved, which I guess made me a bad investigator for another reason.

  Edea cleared her throat, “Mom, you should stay here with Aunt Aleisia.”

  Everyone in the room, including me, looked at Edea in surprise. Her emotions were calm and determined. I was also pleasantly surprised she wasn’t mad at me at all.

  Ayda asked, “Why?”

  Edea replied, “Two reasons really. One of those is selfish. Your sister needs you more right now than I do. You’ve watched over me my whole life, and I’m ready to stand on my own. I’ve also been giving it a lot of thought, and want to apprentice to a human witch to learn that aspect of my magic. Witches are nervous around elves, I’ll never get one to accept me if you’re along. Maybe in a few years, when my apprenticeship is finished, I can send word and you can come visit?”

  Ayda sighed, and shared a look with her sister, “Alright, I agree with both reasons,” she looked at me, “You’ll take care of her?”

  I replied, “I’ll make sure she finds a good teacher, and stay in touch if she wants to, yes.”

  Considering how busy my goddess kept me, I wasn’t sure how often I could drop in on her, but I really did want to keep in touch and grow closer as friends.

  Edea said, “I should go pack,” and got up and left the room.

  Aleisia said, “Thank you for helping Katrina, if you hadn’t come we’d be in the middle of a nightmare right now. It… it wasn’t a happy end exactly, but I owe you, and your welcome here if you ever want to visit in the future.”

  I nodded, “It was my pleasure to get to know you all. I guess I should go pack too, I’ll be waiting by the stables.”

  Eloen cleared her throat, “Just one more thing.”

  I asked, “Yes?”

  Eloen grinned at me, “You thought it was me for a while, didn’t you?”

  I sighed as I blushed, canny old lady…

  Chapter Eighteen

  I decided it would be nice to ride for an hour. Mostly because I thought Stormy might mutiny if we didn’t. She was way too excited to get on the road and run, if I teleported her straight to the stables in the city she’d have kicked me.

  So Edea and I rode a little over an hour for Stormy to get some exercise and work out some of that emotion before I pulled up on the reigns.

  Edea asked, “Something wrong?”

  I shook my head, “No, but I’ve been holding out on you, we’re not going to ride the whole way. Hold your horse steady okay? Oh, and pull up your hood, I want to make it to Danielle before the king finds out there’s an elf in the city.”

  She nodded nervously, pulled up her hood, and I teleported us straight to the stables by the inn I stayed at that first night. I thought it was wiser than using the king’s stables. I was just a guest, and the other reason was obvious.

  Edea’s startled shriek made me smile, and I tossed a couple of copper coins to the stableman.

  “We’ll be back for them by the end of the day.”

  We grabbed our saddlebags, and she gawked all the way to the temple. I couldn’t blame her, it wasn’t too long ago that I was doing the same thing. I also saw her nose wrinkle more than once, but she was too polite to say anything.

  I really shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. I’d think I would be used to the fact I worshipped a goddess that actually spoke to those that worked for her, and were connected to her through her magic. But it still surprised me when we walked in, and Rebecca was standing there waiting for us.

  “Katrina, good to see you. Princess Edea, a pleasure. Please follow me, Danielle is expecting you both.”

  I muttered, “I think she loves to startle people.”

  Rebecca giggled and looked back at me with mock innocence.

  Edea shook her head, “What exactly did you do to us?”

  “Umm, it’s called teleportation. Instantly moving from one place to another. I think human mages can do it too, the stronger ones anyway. I can only go to a place I’ve already been.”

  Which was growing thanks to my ride from Southwater to shadow castle above Jendas, and my latest trip to Gwienidd. Except for the Dwarven mountains, and Chilik, I could teleport all over the continent. At least the major roads, towns, and cities, there was plenty of land to learn still.

  She led us around the sanctuary again, one of these days I’d actually go inside that room. We got to the back door and she led us partly toward the inner sanctum, but went through another door which looked like a lounge area and meeting room all rolled up into one.

  Danielle rose off the couch with a smile, “Welcome back Katrina, well done on your mission, I know it couldn’t have been easy. Princess Edea, you’re welcome in the house of Arella, please both of you, take a seat.

  We sat down on the couch, and I said, “Do you know why we’re here?”

  Danielle laughed, “Yes, and it was a good plan to avoid the king, that man will do anything to get more magic users, and getting an elf-witch would be a coup.”

  Edea asked, “Is he bad?”

  Danielle shook her head, “No, just incorrigible when it comes to gaining power to protect his kingdom. Don’t make any promises if you ever meet him, and you should be fine. Of course, I’m nearly as bad, have you ever thought about serving Arella? Just imagine it, elf-witch-cleric.”

  Edea frowned, and Danielle laughed.

  “Sorry Edea, I shouldn’t tease. Truthfully the gods don’t choose those that have other magic, except in the case of racial magic like the elves. You’re witch magic makes it a bit more sticky.”

  Edea asked, “Do you know why that is?”

  Danielle nodded, “Sort of. From what I understand the gods have an agreement not to claim anyone with magic, excepting as I said the natural races. That way none of them will have an unfair advantage on the ground so to speak. Your elven magic may be natural to you, but the witch power blended with it from your human side is by chance and random. But that just means you can’t serve her as a cleric or paladin, it doesn’t mean you can’t worship her and live by her standards. Sorry, I didn’t meet you to talk you into anything, but to help Katrina help you.”

  Edea said, “I understand. So you can help me?”

  Danielle said, “There’s a witch about two miles northwest of Southwater, who would be happy to take you in. Although, she won’t act like it at first, you’ll have to prove to her that you really want this and won’t quit. Her name is Stephanie, but she goes by Steph. You’ll have to meet her alone, but Katrina can wait for word either way in Southwater.”

  Edea looked intimidated and determined at the same time, she turned to me, “When can we go?”

  I replied, “I have two stores to stop at, maybe after lunch?”

  Danielle said, “If you stay in the city for a few hours, keep your hood up. No one will attack you or anything, but you’ll get embroiled in politics if word reaches certain ears before you leave.”

  Edea sighed, “I understand.”

  Danielle smiled, “Don’t worry, it won’t be nearly as bad in Southwater, at most you’ll have to make nice with the mage in charge at some point. There’s also a lot of forest. The only real issue is Chilik’s raids.”

  Edea smiled, “Thank you, and Arelleas as well.”

  Well, that was relatively painless. When she got her hood up, we headed for the stores I needed to visit. I promised myself I wouldn’t wait, even if it meant not seeing Gerard another couple of hours, I would follow through on it.

  The first one was in the Merchant quarter by the bank, the mage store. We crossed the major intersection and kept going. When we walked in I looked around curiously, there were a lot of things in here I didn’t understand, but they had explanations. It would take me all day to read them all, the shop was stuffed floor to ceiling with shelves and display cases.

  There was a tall skinny man behind the desk
in the back.

  He raised an eyebrow, “Can I help you ladies?”

  I nodded, “Do you sell an enchantment that can detect changes in magic, and wake a person up?”

  He frowned, “I could design one, why do you need something like that?”

  I explained I couldn’t sense a mage, witch, or elf behind a general magic shield, and that I was almost assassinated by one.

  He chewed his bottom lip for a moment, “I may be able to design a charm that detects a magical shield, and notifies you which should wake you up. If you just detect magic, all sorts of things could set it off, you said you only need the general all-purpose magic shield right? That should make it easier to make as well. Did you need anything else?”

  I asked, “Do you have communication enchantments?”

  He shook his head, “No.”

  I frowned, “Could you make one?”

  He nodded, “Yes, but it wouldn’t help you.”

  He reached over and picked up a crystal ball, I had to hold back a giggle.

  He said, “We use these to communicate, the enchantment is already in the device, but it takes a large amount of magic to get it to work. It’s exhausting too, which is why it cost so much to send messages to other towns through a mage. I could make you an enchantment, and charge you fifty gold for a diamond the size of a walnut, but it still wouldn’t work longer than a few minutes before it ate through all the magic.”

  I nodded, “I see, so it’s only feasible for a mage to use. Thanks anyway, for the explanation. How soon can you have the other ready?”

  He put the crystal ball down, and said, “Two days. Call it twenty gold?”

  I smiled, “Why don’t we save a lot of time for both of us, and settle on ten?”

  He sighed, “It’s not like I was busy, but you’ve got a deal. The charge should last a few months, detecting is very cheap magic wise, the recharge if you come here to me will be half a silver. Anywhere else would be a silver.”

  I nodded, “Done. Do I give you half now? Or when it’s done?”