“Nobody leaves this room, unless it is me,” ordered Nikali.
There were two doors that lead out of the first room of Marina’s quarters. Nikali chose the left doorway.
The door led to a grand closet. Typically Marina’s clothing would have been on display, but since her exile things were thrown about. Many of the clothes were in shreds in an attempt to make a rope for escape.
Nikali went to the next room. It was the bath. The beautiful marble floor was covered in dirt and debris. Pieces were chipped off of every decorative design and structure.
Finally, Nikali arrived in the third room, the bedroom. Even more debris covered the floor. Nikali walked around. There was still no sign of Marina, but the truth was coming to light.
Marina was gone. Left in her place was a hole in the floor. It led straight to the next floor. Nikali could look straight down to the floor below him. There were tools left behind. Somebody had cut through the ceiling and helped Marina escape.
Instinctively, Nikali rushed to the window. He looked out at the entire city of Eluan. He couldn’t feel them. With his powers waned, Nikali could do nothing. There was no sign of Marina. She had escaped.
Chapter 49
By the morning, the city was back to its normal operations. Myrus soldiers remained stationed outside the walls protecting its citizens and its newest treasure, Abigail.
Seres made sure that Abigail and Grifith were cared for as soon as they entered into the city. Their carriage was brought to the medical wing of the Senate House. Seres was excited to see both of the patients were in much better condition than when the Myrus army set out from Jemn. He gave them the rest of the afternoon to rest and would see them the next day.
Well rested, Seres made his way to visit with Abigail for what felt like the first time. He needed to be careful with the situation. Seres had yet to learn what Abigail knew about the revolution or her role in it. The freedom fighters Seres was in touch with were vague in that manner.
Abigail needed to be brought into the fold slowly. She needed to be brought in under Seres’ guidance.
She needed to be present to talk to Seres.
Abigail’s room was empty. Her bed was left with a huddle of blankets. Her fresh clothes were untouched. Grifith was gone as well. His cot was nicely put together. The only evidence of his presence was the left over wrappers of bread and cheese that were brought to him the night before.
Seres fumed with anger. He had been careful to let Abigail have her space, but still keep an eye on her. His soldiers had failed. There would be swift punishment for their shortcomings. But first Seres had to find out where Abigail went.
Abigail walked through the streets of Myrus with her face carefully covered by a hood and robe. She could not believe the foolish bravery she had when her memory was faded. Never would she have imagined traveling so candidly before. She was always careful with who she traveled with, who she talked to, who she could really show her face to. It was not like that when she was simply Farrah. She was unashamed of her orange eyes and the history they brought with them.
Not so, anymore. With the return of Abigail’s memories came the return of her trepidations and distrust for many of the people around her. There was once a time not too long ago when Eluan citizens were hunting down any Prial survivor and hanging them in the public square. It hadn’t happened in many years, but those people were still around.
At first, Abigail kept her head down as she walked. She didn’t want anybody to see her. Alexus taught her when she first came into his care how to walk amongst a crowd of people and go unnoticed. It was her greatest gift he told her.
She always kept those teachings in mind when she was out in public, but something was different now. Nobody looked in her direction. Nobody paid any attention to Abigail as she walked past them. They simply did not care about a woman with her head down.
It was a sense of freedom that Abigail had never had in a long time, if truly ever. She removed her hood. The wind brushed against her hair and Abigail felt the cool morning breeze against the back of her neck. Still nobody paid her any attention.
Memories flash in her head again. She tried to use her arcan again, but something was blocking her. She remembered using them so easily just weeks ago. She knew how to do some of the most amazing things with arcan, things she had never known before living in Eluan. The incident with the Tamor Blood on the Tcher Islands must have opened up something dormant in her memories, but that was the one thing still locked away. Her memories going on the brink and her recovery opened a crack in her head that lay just at the tip of her tongue.
Alexus never taught her how to use arcan. It was something farther back. Something before Eluan. Something that Abigail had not thought about or even remembered for the majority of her life. Something from Prial, and her mother.
She pushed her thoughts aside for the moment. Abigail knew forcing the issue would never make her recall her memories. She was going to have to let it come out naturally. She had more concerning matters approaching. Her destination was up ahead.
Abigail’s followers were camped out in a shanty town near the north side of Myrus where many of the workers and new refugees in Myrus lived. Tents and makeshift cabins spread out across rubble and burnt debris of Myrus’ former glory. While much of the city was being worked on by the men that lived in the shanty towns, the shanty towns themselves had barely been touched. Some rebuilding was sparsely started in random spots, but quickly abandoned when the workers of these personal projects were too tired at the end of the day from their actual tasks in the city.
Abigail looked at every face that she walked by. She did not see anybody familiar, but every face looked like they were in need of help. She wanted to stop and touch every one of them. She wanted to heal them of their pain and suffering, but Abigail was hesitant. It wasn’t as easy as it had been when she was Farrah. She knew she could heal people, but she no longer knew exactly how. Her powers were coming back to her slowly. For now she could only continue on.
Then a young boy rushed up to Abigail. He smiled and waved his hand wildly. Abigail waved back. She knew the little boy. He was amongst the followers at Jemn. The boy was originally brought to her with a broken bone from falling out of a tree. Abigail healed it in a night.
“Where have you been?” the boy asked Abigail.
Abigail knelt down to talk to the little boy face to face. “I was sick,” said Abigail. “I’m better now.”
“Good!” said the little boy.
“Where is everybody?” Abigail asked.
The boy pointed to his right as far as he could. “That way. The soldiers brought us here. We started making camp again. I don’t like it. I want to go back to Jemn.”
“Me too,” said Abigail. “But Myrus used to be beautiful. I think we can make it like that again.”
The boy shrugged.
“Can you take me to your family?” Abigail asked.
“I need to get some water,” said the boy, holding up an empty bucket in his hands.
“Then I’ll join you,” said Abigail. “Then we can see the others.”
“Okay,” said the boy.
He took Abigail by the hand and led the way to the well located near the entrance of the shanty town.
Once the boy’s task was complete, he and Abigail made their way back through the shanty town. At the far end of the camp Abigail began to notice familiar set ups. The closer they got the more excited the boy became. His walk turned into a jog and eventually a full run. The water sloshed around the rim of the bucket getting the boy’s shirt wet in the process.
“She’s here! She’s back!” the boy shouted at the top of his lungs. His excitement drew the attention of the people in the area. They turned to watch the boy run and then began to look around to see who he was referring to.
Abigail continued her walk. The boy left her behind, but she didn’t mind. She was not alone for long. Her followers started to notice her approach. They cheered for Abigai
l and rushed up to greet her. Others ran out to spread the word that Abigail had returned.
Before long her followers swarmed Abigail, relieved to have their miracle back. She would have been overwhelmed if she wasn’t used to it by now. They were all asking questions, begging for help. Some were crying tears of joy seeing Abigail again. Others pointed to pain that they needed healed. The journey to Myrus had not been good for everybody.
“There you are!” pierced through the jumbled mess of voices. Abigail looked over to see Grifith pushing his way through the crowd.
“I was looking for you all over the place,” continued Grifith. “I woke up and you were gone. So I shuffled out of there and found the others. Where have you been?”
“I went for a walk,” said Abigail once she was close enough to Grifith to talk casually. “Thank you for coming after me. Thank you all for coming after me.”
Then she gently hugged Grifith afraid that she would hurt his back. Grifith was more than happy to return the hug. And it did not stop with Grifith. The people that surrounded the two started to join in. They wrapped their arms around Abigail and Grifith. The people behind them spread the hug out. Arms overlapped shoulders and backs. The groups’ hug spread through the people and calmed every last one of them.
Abigail didn’t need arcan to feel their connections. She could feel the peace and solidarity that made her followers stronger.
“We found Farrah,” a scout alerted Seres. “She’s at the camp with the people that came in with her.”
“I thought they were being watched,” accused Seres. “How did she slip through the guards?”
“We don’t know,” said the scout. “It wasn’t until she was deep in the camp did anybody notice. The people there started grouping together. They formed a giant huddle. Somebody spotted her in the center of it.”
Seres rubbed the frustration out of his eyes. It was going to be harder now to get Abigail to join him. When she was separated she was vulnerable. When she was with her people she had an army willing to defend her.
“Get my horse ready,” said Seres. “We’re riding out there now.”
Paltro returned inside his tent. He didn’t partake in the mass greeting that followed Abigail’s return. He merely watched in awe as hundreds of people joined in on the group hug. Paltro desperately wanted to, but he had orders from Odessa to keep their distance from the others.
“She’s back,” Paltro told Odessa. Odessa was sitting on the ground working to start a fire for their breakfast. She glared at Paltro when he mentioned Abigail.
“Good,” said Odessa.
“We should go and greet her,” suggested Paltro. “We haven’t had a chance to speak with her since she fell in the battle.”
“She’s fine,” said Odessa. “We don’t need to talk to her.”
“What happened?” Paltro frustratingly finally asked. “You’ve been sulking ever since you left the cabin when the Myrus commander showed up.”
“It is none of your concern.”
“Yes, it is,” argued Paltro. “We’re out here to bring Farrah back with us. I understand she doesn’t want to come yet without her people, but that does not mean that we just stand by and distance ourselves from her. We need to get close to her. We were so close before. We saved her life. She will help us.”
“Maybe we don’t need her help,” said Odessa. “Maybe we don’t even want it. What if we’re wrong? What if she’s not the one Marage prophesied about?”
Paltro grimaced at Odessa’s words. “You’ve seen what she can do. She is powerful. She is the one. I have no doubt in my mind.”
“Well, I have my doubts,” said Odessa.
“What happened in the cabin?” Paltro wanted to know.
Odessa stared back at Paltro. Then she looked at the two other members of their crew. “Get out, the both of you.” She ordered. Her two subordinates did as they were told without questioning her orders.
Paltro stood quiet as the other two members left. They were simple foot soldiers and were not privy to confidential information. Whatever Odessa knew, Paltro automatically knew it was serious.
“What is going on?” Paltro asked once they were alone.
“Farrah is the granddaughter of Aldrin the Ageless,” said Odessa in a low voice. She was afraid just saying the words again would make it more real.
Paltro’s face went from curiosity to shock and anger. “What?”
“Seres told me. She was with Aldrin the night Tcher fell. She escaped somehow.”
“But she is from Prial,” said Paltro, trying to make sense of the new information.
Odessa shrugged. “I know. I don’t fully understand it either. But if it’s true then we have the duty of our people to seek justice.”
“But she’s our savior,” said Paltro.
“Maybe she isn’t,” said Odessa.
“We can’t make that decision,” said Paltro.
“And what if they decide to have Farrah executed and she is our savior? Then we are left with nothing.
“I’ve been debating it in my head since I learned about it. Farrah has done some amazing things since we saw her, and even more before that. These people need her. I saw her sacrifice herself for them. She was practically dead while I was in that cabin watching over her. She used all her power to give her army a fighting chance. That does not sound like an enemy to me. I don’t understand what is going on, and I don’t know what to do, Paltro. If she is in fact the granddaughter of the Ageless then I do not see it. I see nothing of his cruelty in her. We should not try her for his crimes. But it is my duty to bring her home. She is our savior, and our destroyer. She is my savior, but it does not come down to me.”
“What if we just go back?” Paltro asked. His voice was down to a whisper. He dared no one else hear what he had to say. “If we go back with Farrah there is a good chance she is executed. If we return empty handed then we just failed our mission. We tell them Farrah refused to join us.”
“Then they will send another emissary,” said Odessa. “They will not stop until they have their savior.”
“Then what if we didn’t go back?” asked Paltro.
“If we stayed with Farrah we would be betraying all of our people,” said Odessa. “In their eyes we would be joining the enemy. We would be executed along with Farrah.”
Paltro was silent. The weight of their decisions was piling up on them. He now understood Odessa’s hesitation as of late.
“We do not have to decide now,” said Odessa. “We can win Farrah’s favor first. If this can remain a secret then maybe nobody will have to know.”
Francesco de Seres rode on horseback toward the shanty town. He was accompanied by a dozen of his personal guards. The squad charged through the streets with little regard for any of its bystanders. Only once they were outside of the shanty town did Seres call for his men to slow down and enter as peacefully as possibly.
The Myrus command trotted into the shanty town. The workers and the others who were living there looked at Seres and his soldiers with curiosity. Never before had Seres actually been to that part of the city. Shock and confusion started to settle in as unanswered questions started to spread. Why was the leader of Myrus suddenly making an appearance?
The deeper they traveled into the shanty town the harder it was for Seres and the others to advance. The makeshift streets grew crowded with people. The only assurance Seres got out of that was he was headed in the right direction.
The crowd of onlookers and lurkers pressed together to get a closer look at Abigail and her followers. She had retreated into one of the houses that were taken over by her followers. Only Darden and Grifith went in with her. The rest stayed outside waiting for Abigail to come back out and stood guard against any unwanted visitors.
“Move!” Seres demanded, losing his patience. “Make way.”
Seres’ horse pushed along through the crowd. He was disgusted at the people’s manners and disrespect. Any other part of the city would have cleare
d the streets for Seres and his entourage. After much aggravation and scolding Seres came up to the house that Abigail was tucked away in.
The people stared at Seres for a minute. Then they parted ways allowing Seres easy access to the entrance of the small house. Seres dismounted. After he touched the ground he did a quick readjustment of his uniform to make himself more presentable.
The people that were surrounding the house, that Seres recognized, were many of the men that had fought in the battle against Emperor Nikali’s army. He was glad to see there was some respect towards him from those he had saved.
“I am here to see Farrah,” Seres announced. “I have come to officially welcome her to this wonderful city.”
The door opened at the front entrance of the small house. Abigail stood in the doorway. She showed no fear in acknowledging Seres.
Seres bowed his head. “I am glad to see that you have gotten your strength back.”
“Thank you,” said Abigail.
“As the Senator of Myrus I want to welcome you to my city, and offer you room and board at the Senate House. You will be very comfortable there.”
The crowd was silent. They listened to every word Seres said and waited for Abigail to reply.
“Thank you again,” said Abigail. “But I go where my people are. They have found a lovely home here, so this is where I will stay.”
Seres hid his discouragement. “For your protection, Farrah, I humbly suggest you return to the Senate House with me. You are not safe out here.”
“These are not people to fear,” said Abigail.
Seres took a moment to nod his head in understanding. Abigail caught him on his poorly spoken words. “The Emperor’s army is sure to return,” he corrected. “Myrus is well guarded, but I cannot assure your safety with you so far away.”
“My people will protect me as I have protected them,” said Abigail. The crowd cheered for her support.
“I understand that,” said Seres. “But it is dangerous near the outskirts of the city. Your safety is important to me and I’m sure it is important to your people. They can help defend the city and doing so help defend you.”
Eluan Falls: A Whisper of Fate Page 23
