by Cathi Shaw
His words reeked of lies to Kiara.
“He didn’t seem paranoid when I stayed with him all day yesterday and last night,” she pointed out, sure that Omen was hiding something.
“Didn’t he? Remember how he reacted when I came to the door?” Kiara reluctantly thought back to Teague’s extreme reaction to Omen’s visit. She’d put it down to the fact that he was feeling terrorized by Omen but could it be something else? Doubt slivered its way into her mind.
Omen staggered over to a chair and lowered himself into it. He looked up at Kiara pleadingly, “Try to understand. What the Draíodóir did to his mind was extreme. It isn’t his fault he’s acting the way he is. The Draíodóir recognized what Teague was from the moment they laid hands on him.”
“And what precisely is Teague?” Kiara asked suspiciously, remembering Thia’s story of the Underground and how they had insisted Teague was more than just a Draíodóir.
Omen pressed his lips together. “A Marked One and a Draíodóir. That makes him very powerful and useful to the Draíodóir brotherhood.”
So Omen didn’t know about the People and the fact that Teague was also a Halfling. She kept her mouth shut, waiting to see where Omen was going with this, her distrust of him still strong.
“The Draíodóir have woven complex ties throughout Teague’s mind to keep him connected to them. They are desperate to retain control of him.” He paused and seemed to be searching for words. “Try to imagine Teague’s mind as a field that has been filled with hidden traps and obstacles. At every step there is the danger that a new trap will be sprung and Teague will be lost. The Draíodóir philosophy is that if one of their own is captured by outsiders, they would rather destroy his mind than risk having others privy to their secrets.”
Kiara remembered how Thia had described the spell that Teague had fallen under in the cave. It had been based on the same philosophy. What he was saying was true but Kiara couldn’t help thinking that Omen was weaving his tale with strategically placed slivers of truth amid an abundance of manipulative lies.
“Are you suggesting that Teague is under some kind of Draíodóirian spell?”
Omen nodded running with his story. “A terrible spell. This one is destroying Teague as you know him.” He sighed. “You’re right in a sense. What Teague did here was partially my own fault. You see, weeks ago I helped Teague construct a mental wall against the Draíodóir. We could not risk having them discover the Refuge.”
Kiara tilted her head thoughtfully. She knew that Teague’s mind link with the Draíodóir was dangerous. That was one of the reasons they’d come straight to the Refuge when they left Séreméla. They had hoped that Omen would be able to help Teague learn a way to resist the Draíodóir voices in his head.
“So how is what happened partially your fault?” she asked wondering where he was going with his story.
“The wall Teague constructed seemed to have worked. And I think it still is working as we’ve had no indication that the Draíodóir have discovered where we are. But what I didn’t suspect was that the Draíodóir may have laid another trap in Teague’s mind. Perhaps it has something to do with how long he’s been out of contact with them. Whatever it is, I noticed that Teague started behaving irrationally about three weeks ago. And he’s become steadily worse. When I arrived yesterday I was hoping to work with him to see if we could somehow override whatever spell the Draíodóir have left in his mind. But you turned me away,” he paused, “I’m not blaming you, Kiara. You’ve known Teague longer than I have and it makes sense that you would take his word over my own. I admit I did come back while you were in the training rooms this morning and Teague and the little girl were playing a game. But when Teague saw me he became agitated. Seeing that I wasn’t getting anywhere with him, I left. I never imagined he would harm the child.” He looked down at Deanna’s body sorrowfully.
Kiara stared at Omen. Her instincts told her that he wasn’t telling the whole truth even if his story did make sense. Kiara couldn’t shake the suspicion that Omen was a well-rehearsed liar. She made a decision.
“Teague has been under a spell like this before,” she began cautiously.
His eyes flickered with interest that he quickly tried to hide.
“My sister, Thia, said he fell into a coma when he was injured Underground. The People were not able to bring him out of it and the only way she could contact him was through the dreamwalks.” Kiara paused as she remembered Teague’s certainty that Omen had cast a spell on him making him unable to sleep. “Did you do something to Teague hindering his ability to sleep?”
Omen looked at her steadily. “We were working on a sleep solution. The lack of sleep obviously didn’t help his paranoia. But I couldn’t break that spell.”
Kiara narrowed her eyes. It was clear that Omen was going to blame everything on a Draíodóirian spell. Her gut told her to tread carefully with the information she gave to this man.
“How did Teague recovered from the other spell?” Omen asked casually.
The question was too casual, Kiara sensed. If he thought he was a practiced liar, then he was about to meet his match. She shrugged. “We don’t know. He suddenly woke when they arrived above ground,” Kiara lied. There was no way she was going to tell this man about her sister’s seizures and energy work.
She saw confusion flash across Omen’s face followed by disappointment. She was convinced he was weaving a tale, at least part of the time. Kiara turned to Bellasiel who was instructing the two workers who’d come to take Deanna’s body. Kiara watched as they lifted the remains of the little girl and felt another pang of guilt. She should have taken care of her. Honestly, she’d owed that much to her and instead she’d only hastened her death. Kiara blinked back sudden tears as she thought of the hard life little Deanna had led. The poor girl had witnessed more violence in her short life than anyone should have to. Kiara had hoped to give her a better life. She’d failed her. Now, as she watched them leave with Deanna’s body, she could only ask herself if the little girl wouldn’t have been better off left with her mother in the first place?
She forced her attention to the Elder. She had to focus on Teague now.
“Bellasiel, where did they take Teague?”
Bellasiel turned her to Kiara, her expression grim. “They took him to the lower levels. Kiara, are you sure you want to see him? You do understand that we have to restrain him to protect the other children who are here.”
The fact that Bellasiel was trying to talk her out of seeing Teague just made her desire to see him even stronger.
“Take me to him,” she said grimly.
#
Kiara shouldn’t have been surprised to find the lower levels were actually more akin to dungeons. The walls were rock and it was dark and damp and dingy. As she moved lower into the mines she couldn’t help feeling the oppression of miles of rock and earth above her. She was sure this was not going to be good for Teague in his current state of mind and when she found him it was even worse she had imagined.
The guards who had brought Teague to the lower levels had chained him to the far wall. Kiara was surprised to see that they had already fashioned cells down here. Once again she couldn’t help wondering how long the Refuge had been planned before they came here. Prison cells such as these were not built in mere hours. And why had they even thought to make prison cells part of the Refuge, she wondered, a shiver running down her spine.
Kiara was horrified to find Teague unconscious and hanging by his arms from the chains that were around his wrists. A sob caught in her throat when she saw him.
“Teague!” she called, hoping to wake him. Teague groaned slightly moving his head and Kiara saw fresh bruises and a cut on his lip. Clearly the guards had done more than just bring him down to the dungeons. They had obviously given him a good beating before they chained him up. No doubt if questioned they would say that he had resisted them.
Kiara felt sick to her stomach. She wondered what Caedmon would do when he dis
covered what had happened to his brother. She could only imagine how furious he would be. And she was supposed to look after Teague while he was gone. She’d done a horrible job of that, hadn’t she? Obviously she wasn’t cut out to be the caretaker of anyone. Both Deanna and Teague were proof of that.
After it became clear that Teague was not going to respond to her calls, Kiara left the dungeons and began climbing upward. There was nothing she could do for Teague while he was unconscious. When would Caedmon return? What was the urgent business he needed to attend to? Where had he gone? Had he known how sick Teague really was? And was there any way for her to contact him?
Kiara wondered what she should do. She wasn’t sure whom she could trust anymore. For now she would have to keep her worries and speculations about Teague to herself.
She just hoped Caedmon would return soon.
#
Unfortunately, it was another three days before Caedmon returned to the Refuge. During that time, Kiara had stayed with Teague as much as possible but he was unconscious most of the time. She didn’t know if it was due to the beating he’d suffered or shock from what he’d done. When he did open his eyes, he stared unseeingly across the room, moaning and sobbing. Clearly Teague knew what he had done to Deanna and he was distraught with grief. As much as she tried to calm him down it was to no avail. Finally she left him, sensing that her presence only agitated him more.
Kiara was outside in the same spot where they’d had their last discussion, when she saw Caedmon coming out up the path to the Refuge. She took a deep breath. Inside joy at seeing him again was warring with dread of having to tell him what had happened in his absence.
She stood to meet him, her eyes drawn to his broad, strong frame. Kiara wanted nothing more than to sink into his embrace but she didn’t think he’d want her anywhere near him when he learned of what she’d let happen.
“Caedmon,” she called, deciding to get it over with. And he quickened his pace reaching to pull her into his arms when he saw who was calling him. He gave her a kiss and laughed. But when Kiara remained stiff in his arms and he pulled back slightly to look down at her face. He let her go immediately when he saw her grim expression. “What’s wrong?”
There was no point in beating around the bush. “It’s Teague,” she admitted.
All trace of humor and happiness was erased from Caedmon’s face. “What happened?” he asked roughly.
Kiara took a deep breath it wasn’t going to be easy telling Caedmon what had happened but she learned a long time ago it was better just to give the full story without trying to gloss over anything, She sat Caedmon down on a rock far enough away from the entrance to the Refuge that no one would overhear what she had to say. And she told him everything that had happened from the moment he left until Teague had been chained up.
“They beat him, Caedmon,” she admitted. “He’s only just regained consciousness in the last few hours but he doesn’t know who I am. He’s distraught most of the time. I think he realizes what he did and, you know Teague, it’s destroying him. But I’m certain it was not his fault.”
Kiara had had more time to analyze what had happened in the last few days and it just didn’t make sense that Teague would suddenly turn on Deanna. Ugly thoughts were starting to eat at Kiara’s mind as she remembered Bellasiel insisting that she stay in the training room that morning and Omen’s attempt to see Teague the day before. In addition, she remembered Bellasiel’s annoyance over the presence of Deanna at the Refuge. Kiara was almost completely convinced that the two of them had devised a plan to have Teague kill the girl. And that meant they would somehow have control over him now. She didn’t know how they did it but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her.
She tried to share her suspicions with Caedmon but she didn’t think she was being very clear as tears choked her words.
Caedmon listened to the whole story in silence but the muscles in his shoulders were bunching and his face was darker when she was done.
“Perhaps when he sees you he will come around,” Kiara said softly tentatively putting her hand on Caedmon’s large arm.
He stood abruptly and stormed into the Refuge. The explosion of movement made Kiara jump before she hurried after him. She knew better than to try to talk Caedmon when he was in this mood.
She wanted Caedmon’s opinion about her suspicions of Bellasiel and Omen but she knew his first concern would be finding his brother and seeing how badly he was injured. She also knew that Caedmon did not believe that Teague had lost his mind. She was sure that he wouldn’t let himself believe that.
She remembered how Teague had been certain that Bellasiel was building her own army of Marked children. Kiara felt a shiver run down her spine as she wondered if they’d been manipulated from the very beginning even before they left Séreméla. They had all believed that Bellasiel was on their side but what if she was a different kind of enemy. She remembered how Meldiron had warned them not to trust anyone. But Meldiron had told them they could trust Bellasiel. Could it be that the Elder prince was wrong when it came to the old healer? Maybe he was correct with his first warning not to trust anyone who was not Marked. And now they not only had the responsibility of looking after Teague but also of protecting the Marked children they brought to the Refuge.
Over the last few days, Kiara had begun to notice how Bellasiel treated the young children almost as if they were objects. She wondered if Bellasiel saw them as just that: a means to achieve her ends. What if Bellasiel was intent on starting some kind of war against enemies that Kiara and the others didn’t even know were against them? But who might those enemies be?
Bellasiel had left Kiara largely alone since the episode with Teague and Deanna. In fact she hadn’t seen Bellasiel in several days now. She felt certain as she followed Caedmon into the depths of the mine that he would not lie as low as she had when he came to dealing with the Elder.
“Where to now?” Caedmon asked as he reached the fork in the road that led either to the training grounds or deeper into the mines.
“Here I’ll show you,” Kiara said stepping ahead of him.
They went lower into the mines and she could see Caedmon’s jaw harden as he noticed the moisture on the walls and the dark dank smell that came from the depths. As a former member of the army, Kiara was certain that Caedmon would be familiar with such places. It was a miserable place to put someone. The perfect location for dungeons, perhaps, but Teague did not belong in the dungeon, she was sure of it.
Kiara slowed as she got closer to the cells. She’d been down to visit Teague earlier that morning and he’d been unconscious again. He’d looked worse than when they had first taken him to the dungeons, the bruises on his face blossoming into ugly black and yellow marks. She didn’t know how Caedmon would react when he saw his brother. She’d tried to warn him that Teague was in bad shape.
Caedmon pushed passed her as she halted in the entrance to the dungeons. He strode purposefully toward his brother’s cell.
“Teague,” he called gruffly.
Teague let out a soft moan at the sound of his brother’s voice.
Caedmon tried to open the cell and found that it was locked. He growled in frustration.
“Who has the keys to the cell?” he demanded, his voice dangerously quiet, more dangerous than if he had bellowed.
Kiara shook her head. She didn’t know. “Bellasiel will know who has the keys,” she told him. She was frightened by the rage she saw in his eyes.
Kiara remembered how ruthlessly Caedmon had killed enemies in the past. She was glad that she was not Bellasiel at the moment.
Caedmon strode past her returning to the upper levels with his speed that was inhuman. Kiara found herself running to try to keep up with him. But she soon gave up and contented herself with meeting him at Bellasiel’s office. He had no trouble locating Bellasiel in her office and he burst through her doors without knocking.
“You have some explaining to do,” he growled. “Why is m
y brother locked up and where are the keys to the dungeons?”
Bellasiel merely looked up from some papers almost as if she’d been expecting Caedmon. Kiara was surprised at how unruffled she appeared by Caedmon’s angry words.
“Your brother killed an innocent child,” Bellasiel told him sternly. “He is locked up for everyone’s safety especially that of the Marked children. We can’t take any chances that he might attack again.”
Caedmon was livid. “I do not believe that my brother would kill a child. There had to be extenuating circumstances.”
“Ask Kiara - she was there unlike you. I could ask where you disappeared to, Caedmon. Or if your expedition was successful but perhaps that is for another time.”
Kiara looked at Caedmon wondering what Bellasiel was talking about. Did the Elder know where he had gone? Caedmon hadn’t even told her – how had Bellasiel discovered his destination? Caedmon remained silent, face passive but his dark eyes glinting dangerously.
Bellasiel remained unruffled. “Kiara saw what your brother did. He is a danger to everyone around him. We will be lucky if Omen is able to make it so that the Draíodóir don’t track us here now, thanks to your brother.”
Kiara saw Caedmon’s face darken with rage. She saw him clenching his hands and knew that he was fighting for control over himself. Bellasiel was making him very angry. Kiara wondered if she was purposely provoking him. The Elder seemed to want to push him.
Caedmon stared at Bellasiel. “Even if he is as dangerous as you say he is, you have him chained to a wall. There is no need to lock his cell as well. Unless you’re worried others will get to him. Why is the cell locked?”
Bellasiel did not answer him.
“I want the keys to his cell. If anyone needs to get to Teague they’re going to have to go through me.”
Bellasiel looked up and for a moment Kiara thought she might argue with him. But then Caedmon went on, “Your guards have clearly been taking turns beating the life out of my brother. Is there a reason that you want to beat him down? What is it that Omen is planning to do to him? Do you think I’m stupid? I know the tactics of those who torture their prisoners. I was in the Army or are you forgetting? It is obvious to me that Omen wants my brother weakened before he works on his mind.”
