by David Ekrut
“The man Elwin called Father is now a soulless one.” The man pulled a folded parchment from his robes. “On the morrow, the soulless one will return here. He is to be passed to Savant Emmantis.”
“I don’t understand,” Wilton said.
“Take this.”
Wilton took the parchment and stared at it as if he had been handed a snake.
“There are also a small contingent of skeletal warriors bound to the soulkey. These are to go to Emmantis as well. Without those papers, Zeth will not hand them over. Keep them dry and do not attempt to break the seal.”
“Yes, my lord,” Wilton said. But Elwin could see confusion on his face.
“There’s a good lad.” The praise sounded like a master petting his hound.
“What are my orders?” Wilton asked.
“You will march with Emmantis on this city, called Justice, and assist him in taking the castle.”
“Take the castle my lord?”
“You swore your allegiance to the Father,” Fasuri said. “I hope you have not lost your resolve. You would not want to fall under Mordeci’s hand once more. Or would you?”
“I am faithful to the Father. I will do as you command.” Wilton shook his head as he spoke. “I do not wish to disappoint King Bain.”
“No, you do not,” Fasuri’s voice was an icy calm, “You have helped us find the Son of Bain. That will not be forgotten. Although, he did manage to escape. Zeth believes your brother is the one who rescued him. The one you asked me to spare? That will not look good for you.”
“But my lord,” Wilton said, “I told you King Bain could use my brother. He bested a full savant. Surely you can see his worth?”
Fasuri’s smile was cold. “Zeth places the blame on the soulless one, but I see the truth of the matter. His incompetence allowed the son to slip away. We may yet be able to use this brother of yours. I have given the order to take him alive. So long as you do as commanded, those orders will not change.”
Wilton’s face sagged with relief. “Is there any more I can do? Perhaps, I can help you capture them. I have spent time in the Carotid, and I am a skilled tracker. I could—”
“Are you questioning my orders?”
Wilton looked away. “No, Savant Fasuri.”
“I do not need your aid to catch children in the woods. We shall have them soon enough. If they go south or east, they will walk into our waiting armies, and if they travel west to the capital, my emissaries in the city will intercept them. Our trackers will push them north through the forest toward Goldspire. They have to go through the mountains whilst we go around.”
“My lord, did you not say you can track people as a Spirit? Why not just go to Elwin directly?”
“I cannot track him through the shadow realm.” Fasuri’s voice tinged with irritation. “He has learned how to ward himself. If the Life witches have learned the skill, they have taught it to Elwin. That must be why we cannot see him. No matter, this island is ours, or will be soon enough. We will capture them. In the meantime, you have your orders. Do not fail.”
“Yes, my lord,” Wilton said. “I mean, I won’t my lord.”
Fasuri turned while Wilton stammered and left without a backward glance. Wilton stared at the man’s back, his eyes burning with hatred and rage.
Elwin walked over to Wilton,“Why?”
Wilton stood, staring at the door.
Elwin dropped to the ground at Wilton’s feet, “Why would you betray your brother, your father, me? My father is a soulless one because of you.”
Wilton’s face held no emotion. He returned to the fire and sat poking at it.
“I do what I must,” he told the fire. “So much for not being someone’s bait.”
“What?” Elwin said. “You will answer for this, Wilton. Some day you will answer for what you have done.”
“I’m sorry, Elwin,” Wilton sighed. “Keep Feffer safe. Whatever you do, don’t let Fasuri have him. Death would be better.”
Elwin froze.
“Wilton?” Elwin moved between Wilton and the fire, avoiding the iron prod. “Can you see me?”
Wilton through Elwin, not seeing him.
“The Lifebringer save me,” Wilton said. “Please keep Feffer safe.”
The disconnected feeling became stronger. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the distance from his body or the pain in his heart.
Elwin returned to his body, trying to find the words to tell Feffer that his brother had betrayed them all.
Chapter 19
Compromises
Zarah leaned against the rail of her balcony overlooking the courtyard below. The morning’s first light had just touched the courtyard.
A team of men and wagons were readying for departure, and a cohort of soldiers gathered beyond the gate. She shook her head. A single cohort to save the world. Her Vision was clear.
“Elwin needed help,” she said.
Father moved along the side of the contingent and talked with servants and soldiers. It was his third time checking the supplies.
“You must trust your father,” Mother said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced at her mother. Zarah had not heard her approach.
“My Vision,” Zarah said. “It is happening. Elwin was in a bone cage.”
“Feffer saved him,” Mother said, more to herself than to Zarah. “It is possible that the worst of it is behind us.”
“What if Zeth captures them again? Why is the king not sending more men. A hundred soldiers?”
“Zarah,” Mother said, “you must understand. We have enemies on our shores. The Death Element is being used on our people. We cannot leave the castle undefended. Elwin is being chased by a single black savant. A single cohort shall suffice. Several of the men have touched weapons and know how to defend against elementalists.”
“We should be with them,” Zarah said.
“We have been over this,” Mother said. “If we leave now, the Guardians will hunt Elwin. Let us not forget that I am as much on trial now as Elwin. I must give testimony on Elwin’s behalf.”
“Can I not go with Father?” Zarah asked.
“We can move faster flying than your father and the team of wagons on foot. We will catch him long before they reach Goldspire. After the trial.”
“But Mother …,” Zarah began.
“That is final,” Mother said. “If you argue with me further, you will stay here when I leave. Remember what your father said, you are to obey without question. Is that understood?”
Zarah felt her cheeks flush. She wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. Anger, she decided. She hated when her mother had that tone. She wasn’t a child anymore. She tried not to grit her teeth when she said, “Yes Mother,” but she did not succeed.
“Find me when your father departs,” Mother said. “We need to continue working on your mask.”
Her mother left her on the balcony.
She had always wanted to learn to mask her taming. Until this morning, Mother had said she was not ready. In truth, her mother had not thought she was mature enough, and she hated proving her right more than anything.
The memory of that morning was too fresh in her mind.
After Father informed the king of her Vision, he returned to his and Mother’s bed chamber. They dismissed Zarah to discuss the king’s word.
Zarah had strolled onto her balcony. If they had left the balcony doors open, she could not have been blamed for hearing them. But, of course they had closed the glass doors. She had not practiced Eavesdropping in some time, and it seemed as good a time as any.
It was several dozen paces, but she had Eavesdropped further than that distance before. She opened her essence to Air and focused on the balcony doors, feeling the vibrations bounce off the glass from inside. Taming Air, she felt the vibrations form words.
“… Not it,” Father said. “She is too young.”
Mother’s voice was patient. “I was younger than her, when I went on my first adventure.”
“And what happened on that adventure?”
“We found an artifact of power,” Mother said.
“Not that,” he said. “You killed people.”
“They were Death bound,” Mother said.
“But you killed people,” he said. “Don’t you remember what it felt like?”
“And I have killed more since, during the battles with Bain’s army in Alcoa,” Mother said. “I will likely kill again before the war is done.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“I struggled with it,” she said. “It is never easy to end the life of another, even one that has dedicated his soul to the Seeker.”
“Do you want her to go through that?” he said.
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Evil must be defeated. It is the life that He has chosen for her.”
“But what if something happens to her?”
“You and I will be there, as well as Tharu and Hulen, and a small contingent of the White Hand,” Mother said. “She is strong enough. There are few that could survive her lightning hurl. And her veil is improving. Only masters in Air can find her attempts at stealth. She has yet to learn how to mask certain abilities from other elementalists. In truth, I had avoided teaching her this trick, so that I could always know when she is eavesdropping.”
Zarah’s heart fluttered, and she stopped taming the Air, immediately releasing her unused power. Then, she ran into her room and jumped onto her bed. She forced her breathing to slow and played with her hair, as if she was bored.
The door to her room opened, without so much as a knock. Her parents entered the room and stood beside her bed. She continued to play with the ends of her hair, twisting it in her fingers.
“Well,” her mother said, “I have been trying to convince your father that you are ready for this journey. Now, I am not so sure.”
“I needed to know what was taking so long,” Zarah said. “I am worried about Elwin. Well, I am not worried about him. I’m worried about the kingdom. We need to do something.”
“That does not give you an excuse to eavesdrop on your father and me,” she said. “Give me one good reason that I should let you come with us to Goldspire.”
“I could have another Vision,” Zarah said. “And I won’t be able to tell you.”
“Linadria is here,” Mother said. “You could tell her of any Vision you have. She will be my voice in the council, while I am away. She is the only elementalist left to defend the castle. Perhaps, I should make you stay here so that our city is more secure. That is my first duty as High Counselor. ”
“If Elwin dies, none of that will matter,” Zarah said. “You know I can help.”
Father’s arms were crossed, and he stared down at her. Mother had a similar posture.
She saw her error. Brute force would not work on them today, but maybe it wasn’t too late. Zarah bit her bottom lip and looked to her father. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried over my friend,” Zarah said. “Please, let me help Elwin.”
Her mother looked to her father. “The choice is yours, Zaak.”
He gave Mother a look that Zarah could not read. His brow scrunched and his lips frowned. Then he looked to Zarah and said. “Once the trial is done, you can come. But you will obey your mother and me as if your were one of my new recruits. Is that clear?”
“After the trial?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, “after the trial. New recruits don’t get to ask questions. Understand?”
She bit her lip. “Yes, Father.”
Mother sat on the edge of her bed. “You and I still have matters to discuss.”
“And I have final preparations to make,” Father said. “The wagons wait my inspection below.”
“Be safe, my love.”
“You as well,” he said. Then, he left, closing the door behind him.
“Now,” Mother said. “We have a few things to discuss.”
“Oh,” Zarah said. “I need to prepare for the journey then.”
“I have already had your travel clothes packed and placed on the wagon,” she said. “When we depart, I want to carry as little as possible.”
“What do you mean,” Zarah said. “Father has only just said that I could go.”
Her mother actually giggled. “I knew he would come around. Had you eavesdropped on us sooner, perhaps he would have come around even faster.”
Zarah’s jaw dropped. “You wanted me to eavesdrop?”
“One day you will understand,” her mother said. “I wanted your father to feel that it was his decision for you to come. Men feel better when they feel like they are in control.”
Zarah didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Mother said. “He was never good at telling you no. And I believe you are ready for this. Well, almost. There are a few talents you still need. The time may soon come that you need to hide from other elementalists. I am going to show you how to mask your taming. If your flow is too great, the mask will not work. It is a subtle trick, and it does not work for every talent. Do as I do …”
Mother had spent the hours until first light showing her how to mask her taming. When a servant came with a summons from the king, Mother had left her on the balcony to train on her own.
Instead of practicing, she had busied herself by watching the courtyard.
She continued to watch the wagons being checked and loaded. Hulen stood at the procession’s lead, talking with Tharu.
Even at this distance, she could hear the dwarf’s booming laughter. Hulen’s whisper was a normal man’s talking voice. His laugh could wake the dragons. The dwarf’s torso was as thick as a redwood. His height was not a foot more than he was wide. His long red hair wove into his braided beard. The axe strapped to his back had a blade as wide as he and almost as tall. For longer than Zarah had lived, Hulen had been the emissary for Dargaitha, the dwarven city to the south.
Before the Shadow Wars, his people had called the Island Nations, Enthkarre, meaning many islands. After the Shadow Wars, dwarves fought the humans for control of the islands. The war had lasted just short of a century. Dwarven memories were longer than their life-spans, and their life-spans were much longer than a human’s. Ten generations to a human was a single generation to a dwarf.
Forging a peace with the long-lived race had taken a special man. Brannon Mendlewar the Just was born into a nation at battle. He was a renowned as a tactician, winning every battle he had fought. He succeeded in pushing the dwarves back into the mountains.
Rather than pursuing them into their caves, Mendlewar had forged a peace with the dwarves. He had given the entire southern mountains to them as part of the Dargaitha nation and allowed an emissary to sit on the White Council to have a voice in the ruling of the lands. Any actions involving the dwarves required the voice of the emissary. After the Dwarven Treatise, Mendlewar was declared Brannon Justice, king of the Isles of Justice.
After the lords and ladies who had declared fealty to Mendlewar had died, the inheriting lords and ladies began to plot for power. The War of Houses only lasted four years. The entire northern isles had risen to defeat Justice and lost.
Although Mendlewar had won the war, he had given the northern isles to his loyal lords and ladies. The Kinging Ceremony had lasted a tenday. The traitors watched as Mendlewar dubbed his allies kings and queens of the northern islands. Then Mendlewar had executed the traitors with the knowledge that he would have given them their islands had they but asked.
Zarah sighed. Justice had not known war since the War of Houses.
Even though Justice had been at war for a year, Zarah had not felt the cost of the war until now. Before
now, war had been a thing in history books.
All of those people in Benedict and Bentonville had died at the hands of a black savant. How many more would die?
“We need to reach Elwin.”
She did not know how, but saving the country bumpkin would fix things. Her Visions never lied.
Zarah had always known Elwin was special. She could sense his purity and his power. He had a gift like none other she had seen. When Zarah was young, her mother had trained other elementalists with minor power. Since coming into her power, Zarah had surpassed all of them.
Three years she had trained her essence. Every year she could draw more of the Elements into her essence than the previous year. Mother had been training her own essence for more then two decades. Upon coming into his power, Elwin was more powerful than the two of them together.
And part of her hated him for it. Why him?
She could close her eyes and see his mystic, blue orbs smiling at her. They would make games out of training. Fly and seek was her favorite. Each would take turns, giving chase to the other. He was faster, and she knew he was holding back, but he would slow down to let her catch him. The idiot. His cheerful laughter would fill her ears as she caught him.
The memory sent a chill down her spine and made goose pimples rise on her arms. She rubbed at them furiously. What was wrong with her? She was no besotted fool.
Zarah looked up in time to see the last wagon of the procession clear the inner gates. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she had not noticed them depart.
Something like hope fluttered in her midsection.
“Help is on its way, Elwin,” she said. “Help is on its way.”
Elwin’s left shoulder still throbbed, so he sat up slowly. Feffer had yet to rouse. How would he ever tell him Wilton had brought the black savants to Benedict? He shook his head. There would be time to figure it out while they traveled. They needed to be on their way.
Elwin placed a hand on his sleeping companion and gave him a gentle shake.
Feffer sat straight up. “Get away from me! Don’t … Oh. Sorry Elwin.”
The motion made Elwin jostle his shoulder, and pain shot down his arm.
