Solomon's Journey

by James Maxstadt

  But the time gave her an opportunity to think, something she felt she hadn’t been doing enough of over the last few days. She reviewed everything that occurred since getting Childress’s message.

  She had been happy on the Southern Seas, in charge of her own ship, exploring the world and turning a healthy profit. The Greenweald and House Whispering Pines only entered her mind occasionally, usually when her height was commented on. It wasn’t that she had a bad childhood; it was that she was different. The trees, that everyone else claimed to be able to feel and communicate with, were silent to her. They were nice, sure, but they were only trees.

  That difference made her stand out, and she had a hard time forming meaningful relationships with anyone. She never knew her father, a rarity in the Greenweald, but got the impression that he was from a lower class. Her mother, who raised her in the best way she could, never wanted to speak of him.

  Her mother died when she was still young, so Jocasta left and never looked back. And when she got her first glimpse of the sea, she knew she’d made the right decision. Then, the message came. Florian was dead, and Celia, lost ever before Florian. Thaddeus, the only remaining member of their line other than her, was missing, presumed dead.

  An alien feeling stole over her. One of familial duty. Her mother had never seen her accomplishments, even if she wouldn’t have totally understood them, or what was so appealing about the shipboard life she’d chosen for herself. Maybe it was that thought, that neither her mother, nor anyone else from the Greenweald, recognized what it was she had done, that drove her to return.

  Or maybe it was simple greed at the thought of running House Whispering Pines the way she wanted. Being in charge of a ship was one thing. Ruling a Great House of the Greenweald, quite another.

  Whatever the reason, she returned and took up the challenge of running the House, only to find constant interference from the pack of fools on the council. Childress included. No, she decided, striding along, she’d done the right thing. They needed to be replaced.

  It was then, though, that things started to fall apart. Whispering Pines had never asserted its rightful place. It bowed to Glittering Birch, which everyone said was only right. Maybe she could have accepted that, if every House did it. Towering Oaks did not. And what was worse, Towering Oaks assumed it had the right to command fealty from Whispering Pines.

  Yes, Florian and Jediah were childhood friends, but it was a lopsided relationship from what she could tell. Jediah spoke and Florian listened.

  No, everything up to that point was as it should be. Jocasta had made hard choices to ensure the continuation of Whispering Pines. And if those plans had solidified her own position, what of it? Fortune favors the bold. Someone needed to do it.

  Her mistake was in abandoning the House and going to Glittering Birch. There was no ally to be gained there, nothing that would help her House stand up to Towering Oaks. Instead, there was only a source of evil that was going to infect them all.

  Somehow, she needed to stop it before it got to Whispering Pines. It might require the complete destruction of Glittering Birch. If that was the case, perhaps she needed to speak with Shireen, find common ground and a way forward that ensured both their Houses a place of prominence. While she still thought Whispering Pines was the best choice to rule the Greenweald going forward, she could tell in the short time she met her that Shireen would never agree to such a thing.

  There were ways to work around it. Maybe not right away, but down the road….

  Jocasta continued to think, her mind running in circles, as she marched through the trees that meant no more to her than any other object.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  She knew something was wrong as soon as she neared the Whispering Pines compound. There were no guards on lookout, nor at the entrance itself. Anyone could walk in from anywhere, with no challenge at all.

  There were no servants, no gardeners, no one out walking the paths. As a matter of fact, the gardens were looking neglected, with weeds sprouting among the flowers.

  It reminded her very much of Glittering Birch.

  The door to the main tree was open, but no one went in or out. She climbed the steps, her hand going to one of her daggers. Inside, she could hear voices.

  “Watched the two of you start out the door and then turn back. We were coming to help when you burned that thing. Guess we weren’t needed.”

  She knew that voice.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think maybe you came just in time.”

  The second voice sounded familiar, also. Not as much as the first one, which was… Darius.

  Jocasta frowned, unsure why her former aide, and member of that secret House, was here. And who was he talking to?

  She refused to stand like a beggar on the steps of her own House. Squaring her shoulders and pushing any lingering doubts to the back of her mind, she entered the tree.

  Darius and Thaddeus sat with their backs against the wall of the entry hall, looking further into the tree.

  “Well,” she said loudly. “Isn’t this cozy.”

  The two men jerked their heads around and scrambled to their feet.

  “Lady Jocasta,” Darius said. “You’re here!”

  “I am. Why are you?”

  “I came looking for you. Instead, I found Thaddeus here.”

  “I see that.” She turned to the other man. “And you? Why are you here?”

  Thaddeus had nowhere near the deferential nature toward her that Darius did.

  “I came home. I needed help. For me and my… friend. You weren’t here, but we found help anyway. Or rather, it found us.”

  She wasn’t getting any answers, and felt her temper beginning to rise.

  “I’m going to ask one more time,” she growled. “And if I don’t get a straight answer…”

  Her hand tightened around the hilt of one of her daggers.

  “We need your help with Subtle Hemlock. My House,” Darius said.

  “Help doing what?”

  “Stopping them from destroying the Greenweald. And probably everything else.”

  Jocasta laughed. “You expect me to believe that?”

  Thaddeus shook his head and then sank back down against the wall.

  “Take your time,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Go look around. See what our House has become. If you want everything to be like this, do nothing. But when you’re ready to stop being such an arrogant ass, let us know.”

  She glared at him, ready to pull a knife and put it into his eye. Instead, she calmed her breathing. Without even moving from the spot she could see what he was talking about.

  The tree was strangely empty. No servants, no council members, no families, nothing. Just as outside. Dust lay on furniture and the floor. Cobwebs swayed in invisible breezes in corners.

  She was wrong again. She couldn’t stop whatever was happening to Glittering Birch from coming here. Whatever it was, it was already present.

  “What do we need to do?” she asked.

  Chapter 68

  “We need to get back to Subtle Hemlock,” Darius said. “I can bring you there, or Thaddeus and Melanie can, as soon as Willow is done with her.”

  “There are others here with you?” Jocasta asked.

  “Yes. Well, Melanie came with Thaddeus, but she’s hurt. Pretty badly, actually. So Willow— I’m sure you’ve heard of her— is working with her right now, and…”

  Jocasta held up her hand to stop him.

  Darius was babbling and he didn’t understand why. Jocasta had always unnerved him, even when he was sure she was completely unaware of who he was and what he was doing. Then, she knew. Just like that, she figured it out. Darius didn’t think he’d been careless, but maybe he had.

  Maybe that was why Malachi had done to him what he had. Letting him know in an underhanded way that Darius had wasted all that time posing as a doorman in Whispering Pines, waiting for the right opportunity.

  Or, more likely, Malachi was simply a sadi
stic bastard and enjoyed taking the opportunity to inflict pain.

  The fact remained that Jocasta saw through his charade and was impervious to Darius getting into her mind. Even now, as she stared at him, he tried, just a little, to get a peek at her thoughts. It was useless. It was like his probe slid off a wall made of ice.

  “Tell me what we need to do,” Jocasta said. “I don’t need a big song-and-dance or who’s-who.”

  “Yes.” Darius took a deep breath. “Subtle Hemlock is ruled over by Malachi. He’s the strongest magic-user I’ve ever heard of. Maybe that’s ever been.”

  Behind him, still sitting against the wall, Thaddeus snorted.

  “He’s got his fingers in everything and spies in every House,” Darius continue, “with the exception of Towering Oaks. He’s terrified of Solomon. He put me in place here when Florian was still alive, waiting for the right moment.”

  “And I was that moment?” Jocasta said quietly.

  “Yes,” Darius said again, “but maybe not for the reason you think. I saw that you were alone. You were different from the rest of the Folk. I … well, I used that. To get closer, gain your confidence and turn your thoughts more and more against Towering Oaks.”

  “You were in my mind?” Jocasta’s voice took on a dangerous edge, her hand tightened even further around the hilt of her dagger.

  “No! Not that I didn’t try, I’ll admit that. I couldn’t get in, though. You have an ability to keep me out. Melanie, too, from what I gather, and, even if it pains me to say so, she’s stronger than I am.”

  He turned to Thaddeus for confirmation, but the other man seemed to be barely paying attention.

  “Anyway,” he continued, “you saw through me. I’m not even sure how. Malachi didn’t like that, and he punished me for it. Willow was able to undo what he did, and now, finally, I’m free. Which is good, because his plan is—”

  “To destroy the Greenweald,” Jocasta interrupted. “You’ve said. He started with Glittering Birch, didn’t he?”

  Darius nodded. “Bragnold first. I was supposed to turn him, slightly, to our control. Before I was placed here. But … I messed it up.”

  “Obviously,” Jocasta said. “The man is a vegetable. For that alone you should be killed.”

  Darius swallowed hard.

  “I’ve done worse,” he said. “At least that one was an accident. You have to understand, Malachi is persuasive. He makes you believe that his plans are for the good of everyone in Subtle Hemlock. We’ll all benefit, and our House will grow stronger.”

  He stopped, unsure of where to go from there.

  “It’s all lies.” The voice was from behind him. Thaddeus spoke from where he was sitting. “It’s all so much crap. Malachi isn’t interested in fairness, or even simple profit. Those things I could understand. He wants to burn it all down because he feels like he wasn’t given a fair share in life not being born to a good family. At least that’s what he says. I think he’s just crazy.”

  Darius nodded in agreement. “Exactly. What he’s doing now has nothing to do with the betterment of House Subtle Hemlock. Only with the downfall of everything else. It started with Soul Gaunts. He got rid of one House entirely, and in the process damaged Towering Oaks and Glittering Birch badly. The only thing that stopped it from being worse was Solomon returning with that sword of his, and Jediah’s sacrifice. I don’t think Malachi saw those coming, but it didn’t matter. He was still able to use that as a foothold in Glittering Birch.”

  “To do what?” Jocasta asked.

  “Not sure, really. He said something about friends who will help destroy the Greenweald, then he’ll turn on them and…”

  “Friends.” Jocasta laughed. “Is that what he calls those things?”

  “I don’t think he’s referring to those weird people in the bright clothes,” Thaddeus put in. “I think he’s talking about someone behind them.”

  “Someone not from around here,” Jocasta said.

  “Then it’s someone we need to stop,” a new voice interrupted.

  Melanie had returned, seeming well rested and clean, although there was still a haunted look in her eyes.

  Willow came behind her. The healer gazed impassively at Jocasta as she strode to Darius’s side, her hand taking his. The pleasure that simple gesture brought him ran through his body. Even here, in this half-ruined House, facing such an uncertain future, there was still some good in the world.

  Good that he wasn’t at all sure he deserved to be a part of. He glanced at the woman next to him, returning her half smile. All he could do, he thought, was try to be a better person going forward.

  “Malachi needs to be taken out,” Melanie was saying. “No ifs, ands, or buts. He’s evil. Maybe crazy. Who cares? And we need to stop whatever is going on that’s he’s set into motion, although I don’t know what that really is.”

  “I do,” Jocasta said.

  She moved around to sit on the steps leading to the second level. Up above, there was the sound of someone starting down the stairs, stopping and turning back. Other than that, there was no sign of anyone else around. Darius wondered how many people were even still here, and how many had simply wandered off.

  “There’re these weird gates, full of swirling colors,” Jocasta was saying. “Under the Glittering Birch main tree. Jamshir disappeared into one of them. And one is bigger than the others and it’s from there that this evil … or wrongness … or whatever you want to call it, is coming from.”

  “How do you know that?” Willow asked.

  “It’s easy enough to feel when you’re standing in front of it,” Jocasta said. “It made me sick to the point of losing my breakfast.”

  Darius frowned. He was well aware of Jocasta’s mental fortitude. Whatever was in this gate of hers must be considerable.

  “And there are others?” Thaddeus asked.

  “Yes. And a couple that don’t seem to be active. No colors or anything, just the wall of the chamber behind them.”

  “Where was Jamshir going?” Darius asked, pretty sure that he could guess.

  “Who knows? The gate he went through was black and dark gray.”

  “Wait,” Thaddeus said. “The gates were different colors?”

  “Yeah. The main one, the biggest was a sort of puke yellow and green. There was another that was a muddy brown. The black one Jamshir used, and another that was all different tones of gray.”

  “Gray?” Thaddeus said. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m not blind,” Jocasta sneered.

  “No, you’re not. It didn’t occur to you what those colors were?”

  “They seemed familiar.”

  “Think harder.”

  Darius wasn’t sure what Thaddeus was driving at. Gray and black, well, that could be Subtle Hemlock. While Malachi eschewed most practices of the other Houses, he kept that one, making sure everyone was attired in black, or dark gray at the lightest.

  Which meant…

  “Towering Oaks,” he whispered.

  “What are you talking about?” Jocasta said.

  “The other gate. It leads to Towering Oaks.”

  “And that’s how it’s becoming infected,” Willow added.

  “Wait,” Jocasta said. “That doesn’t make sense. Even if Towering Oaks is going, is it as bad as it is here?”

  “No,” Willow replied. “Not when we left anyway. But it is spreading.”

  “Then why wasn’t there a gate with the greens of this House?” Jocasta asked.

  There was silence for a few moments, then Melanie broke it.

  “Because,” she said. “Those aren’t the only gates.”

  Chapter 69

  “Tea?” Celia said, the disbelief evident in her voice.

  “Tea,” Solomon answered. “You were with the Mar-trollid. Didn’t Yag-Morah make you any while you were there?”

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Then you should know how potent they can be. She gave me this,” he indicated the sack that he se
t on the table, “and told me to use it when the darkness was closing in. Seems like it’s getting pretty dark.”

  “What? You think you drink it and it will stop whatever nastiness is in that mask?”

  Solomon shrugged. “I don’t know. I do know that we need to get into that room, and from what you’ve said, the mask is the key.”

  “I’m not putting that thing on again,” Celia said.

  “And I wouldn’t expect you to. I’ll do it, if need be. But let’s take a look and see if something else presents itself.”

  In truth, he didn’t think it would. Celia was no fool, and she’d grown a great deal since being taken from the Greenweald. If she said that the only way to open that door was by putting the mask on, then that was probably true.

  Only it was also true that she could have missed something. It was no insult to her, everyone missed things at times. Maybe he would see something that she didn’t.

  “We should go now,” he said. “While it’s still light out.”

  “You think we have enough time?” Celia asked.

  “I think so. You know exactly where to go, right? It’s not like we’ll have to spend time searching.”

  “Maybe. But what if the hunters roam the manor during the day?”

  “Why would they do that? You’ve been in there at night and didn’t see any. Why would it be different during the day?”

  Celia looked nonplussed and gave no answer. For the first time, it occurred to Solomon that perhaps she was simply frightened. Maybe she didn’t want to go back into the manor. Maybe she didn’t want to face another hunter, or whatever was behind them.

  And maybe it was more. Maybe she didn’t want to go back to the Greenweald. Back to Whispering Pines where her father no longer was. Facing that was facing the reality of Florian’s death, and, somewhere deep inside her, maybe she didn’t want to do that.

  “I can go on my own, you know,” he said gently. “You told me where the stairs are. It’s a straight shot, so it’s not like I’ll get lost.”