Furrowing his brow, Jarod broke his gaze away for a split second to glance toward the fire where Jericho was standing next to Maya with his hand wrapped around her arm. Infuriated, he broke his attack and went to move in their direction. “Don’t Jarod,” Jaron called, wrapping a hand around his arm, “they are only talking.”
“Then why is he touching her?” he growled, pushing him away as he charged forward yet again.
Rushing around in front of him, Jaron placed both hands on his chest in an attempt to stop him. “He is trying to comfort her, something you should be doing yourself but you are too hard headed to do so,” he snapped. Glancing over his shoulder toward the fire, Jaron watched as Jericho walked away and left Maya standing alone. Seconds later she headed to her bed and settled in for the night.
Feeling Jarod begin to relax beneath his grasp, Jaron released him and moved to stand beside him. “That girl loves you Jarod. The stars only know why, but she does. And there-in lays the biggest difference between what the two of you have and what me and K have.” Looking at Jarod over his shoulder Jaron sighed. “K doesn’t love me Jarod and she never will. Her curse makes her incapable of it. Which is ok, I have accepted the fact that I am of no more importance to her, than the man who held this position before me or even the man before him. She will use me until she needs me no more… or she finds another who interests her more… then she will kill me.”
Jarod frowning looked down at Jaron, “She wouldn’t…”
Laughing weakly Jaron held up his hand interrupting him, “Don’t be a fool brother. We both know that she would.” Staring back toward the fire, Jaron sighed heavily, “Did I ever tell you I met the man that was K’s protector and advisor before me?”
“No.” Jarod spoke quietly. His anger fading as he listened to the sadness in his brother’s voice.
“His name was Zander, and was a good and very honorable man. He served K faithfully for over four centuries. And yet she ended his life without batting an eye, just so that I could take his place.”
Unable to find words to express himself, Jarod remained quiet. “But that girl there,” Jaron continued, nodding toward Maya’s sleeping form, “she loves you Jarod, she would give her life for yours without a second thought, just as I know you would do the same for her.” Jarod opened his mouth to speak, only to be waved silent by Jaron. “I know you are trying to protect her. I understand that you want to keep her safe from the darkness. But I fear in doing so you are only making things more dangerous for the both of you.” Seeing the confused look on Jarod’s face, Jaron continued, “The two of you complete each other Jarod. She brings you peace, and you give her purpose. And without each other you are both lost.”
Pausing, Jaron grabbed Jarod’s arm and forced him to face him. “That girl is the only thing I have ever seen that allows you to control the darkness. In just these few days of not having her by your side, your rage has grown unchecked, and now you are on the verge of a complete breakdown. Meanwhile, Maya over there grows more unsure of herself with each passing day. The strong confident girl that showed up at camp with you, is slowly withering back into the self-conscious, fearful creature I met at the clinic in Vicaris.” Gesturing toward her sleeping form, Jaron continued, “Even now, she is laying there blaming herself for what is happening to you.”
“It’s not her fault.”
“I know that, and you know that, but she doesn’t.” Jaron sighed, “think about it Jarod, what were the last words you spoke to the girl?”
Jarod hung his head in shame, “I kicked her out of the tent and told her I didn’t want her help.”
“Yes, and you also accused her of trying to control you.” Narrowing his eyes, Jaron drove his point home, “You basically accused her of treating you no better than the Shadows.”
Understanding and shock registered in Jarod’s expression. “What?! No, I didn’t mean it like that… i-it’s just I thought I could trust her, but then she went and told you of my condition after I asked her not to.”
“She didn’t tell me Jarod, I figured it out on my own.” Rendered silent by Jaron’s revelation, Jarod stared dumbfounded at his brother, causing Jaron to shake his head in disbelief, “I am a healer and your brother, did you not think I could recognize the signs of withdraw on my own?”
Guilt overtook Jarod as he turned his gaze back to Maya, “But she didn’t say anything when I accused her…”
“Because she didn’t want to come between us.” Jaron said exasperated, “Don’t you see that everything Maya does, she does it because she thinks it is what is best for you. She does everything she can to try and help you, and all you do is keep pushing her away.”
Furrowing his brow, Jarod sighed. “I suppose I should apologize to her.”
Jaron smiled and patted him on the back, “That and so much more my brother.”
Leaving him to stand alone with his thoughts, Jaron made his way back to the camp and resumed his conversation with Jericho and the others. After a few minutes of considering what Jaron had said, Jarod slowly made his way over to where Maya slept. Standing over her, he watched her chest rise and fall in a comforting pattern. Not wanting to disturb her when she looked so at peace, he took a seat on the ground near her head, and gently brushed a loose piece of hair away from her face.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, watching as she stirred slightly beneath his touch. “And I swear on every star shining in the endless sea of lights above that somehow I will make it right again.”
Chapter 11
The following morning, the group awoke to find Jericho had a surprise waiting for each of them.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Zach protested as he held up a pair of denim pants along with a bright green and gold striped shirt. “This is supposed to make me inconspicuous?”
Pressing a hand over her mouth to prevent a laugh from escaping, Maya watched as the rest of the men surrounding her, held up and studied their own outfits with looks ranging from utter shock to complete disgust.
“First of all, I would much appreciate it if you did not insult my people’s sense of fashion just because your lot lacks any. Secondly, I think in the very least you could thank me for everything that I went through to get you those clothes.” Jericho, acting irritated by their insults, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the pack of massive angry men. However, the wide grin he was doing a poor job of concealing, had Maya convinced he was enjoying this opportunity to torment the males just a little too much. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get those?” Pausing he gestured to the bright pink and orange shirt Jaron held extended before him as if it carried some sort of contagious disease.
“No, nor do we care,” Jarod grumbled, studying his own red and black hooded shirt.
“Well, I am telling you anyway,” Jericho snapped. “Not only did I have to jump for hours to the nearest Wanderer camp. But then I had to spend the rest of the evening negotiating with a woman who I haven’t spoken a single word to since I turned down her proposal of marriage ten years ago.”
“Apparently, she has just as bad taste in men as she does clothing.” Rico, one of Jaron’s men mumbled, as he glared at him over his own purple monstrosity. Maya couldn’t help it, this time a laugh escaped before she could stop it. Luckily the men were too wrapped up in their clothing disasters to pay her any mind.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t just hear that.” Jericho retorted, winking slyly at her, and forcing Maya to stifle another chuckle. “Anyway, I had to spend the entire night kissing that blasted woman’s ass to get you these outfits, not to mention what I had to kiss to keep her from ratting us out to Mallok for a reward.”
“So not only did you waste an entire night getting us ugly ass clothing, but you revealed our location to your enemy and put us all in danger,” Jaron rumbled lowly. “So please, remind me again why we are supposed to trust you.”
“Because you don’t have a choice,” Jericho huffed, waving Jaron off dismissively. “Besides, Nela wo
n’t say anything… she gave me her oath as a Wanderer.”
“And you are certain this plan will work?” Maya interrupted in an attempt to dispel the tension radiating between the men and Jericho.
“Positive. Luckily for us, Wanderer tribes often have large populations of Shifters living amongst them and, by the star’s grace, the males of that species just so happen to have the same unnaturally large stature as your Full-blood males.” Pausing he turned his attention back to Jaron, “Which means, by dressing you up to look like Wanderer Shifters, we should be able to stroll right though the center of down town Lanoria without so much as a questioning glance from the good citizens living there.”
Still not completely convinced, the men debated with Jericho for quite a bit longer, but in the end he won. Finally convinced there was no other way, Jaron and the others begrudgingly changed into their preselected attire, though not without continuing to voice their unhappiness of situation. Surprisingly, Jarod complied without much protest at all. Of course that could have been because all he really did was pull off his leather jacket, and replace it with the hooded shirt, since the pants Jericho had provided him proved to be unsurprisingly too small. Anyhow, after their monochromatic group had all finally changed into their rainbow of hodge-podge colors and patterns, they took a few moments to reiterate the day’s plan. Once they all felt confident they had their cover story down, they drank a bit of formula to keep their hunger at bay, packed up, then headed north toward the capital city.
As it had in the days prior, their travel went fairly smooth. It was around mid-afternoon before they came across their first obstacle; a tiny farming village. The small community was set in the center of miles upon miles of lush vegetable fields, where dozens of men and women worked, tending to and picking various vegetables. At first glance, Maya’s heart clenched, reminded of the slave driven farming village back in Vanteria, where starving Full-bloods labored in horrid conditions to tend fields of food that they had been brainwashed to believe they could not eat.
But it didn’t take Maya long to figure out that the fields here in Lanoria were different. For everywhere she looked, healthy workers laughed and sang as they used their varied gifts to complete the day’s work. Fascinated by their powers, Maya watched as the Elemental men and women manipulated large areas of dirt with the mere wave of their hands, while others transported water from a nearby spring back to the fields where it was used to moisten the ground around the growing crops. “That’s so amazing.”
“Aye, and these are the low level Elementals.” Jericho whispered back to her, “I’ve heard rumors that an upper level earth Elemental can crush a man using the very ground beneath his feet and the water ones can kill by drawing out the moisture from the blood of their enemies.”
As her imagination filled with images of a mighty army of men who could kill a man with the wave of a hand, Maya frowned. Choosing not to dwell too much on what chance her small group stood against men with such power, she shook her head, and refocused her attention on the encroaching village.
“Big guy, you might want to make use of that hood and keep your head low.” Jericho mentioned as they neared, “Even for a Shifter you are huge… not to mention those eyes of yours are a dead giveaway.”
Jarod grumbled something lowly, but did as he was told. Fearing how he was going to react to all the new stimulation, Maya fell back a few steps to stay within reach of him, making sure not to get close enough to anger him. After the way he had been treating her since camp, she honestly expected him to pull away from her immediately, so when he instead inched closer to her reach, she was happily shocked. Unable to control the slight smile that curved her lips, Maya dropped her head and kept her eyes forward. The last thing she wanted to do was push her luck.
With everyone as prepared as they were going to be, Jericho led the wary group right into the heart of the village and down the main street packed with people. And though Maya and the others had their serious doubts if Jericho’s plans would really succeed, they followed him in wordlessly. And much to their delight and relief; everything Jericho predicted turned out to be true. With little more than a side glance from a couple of villagers, they all walked straight through the village, to the other side.
The rest of the morning passed just as uneventfully and the sun began to set on the horizon. Having successfully passed through several more, small villages without any problems, Jaron and the others confidence, as well as their hope of actually being able to make it to the castle uninhibited was beginning to build.
“The town ahead is Fridricks. Though it is only slightly larger than the other towns we have already come through, it is nothing like the others.” Jericho began as the next town came into view. “Because it is a mining town and the source of much of Lanoria’s gold, patrols maintain a constant presence here. Now mind you, most of them are mainly low-to-mid level Elementals; usually new recruits who weren’t strong enough to join the main army, but they are patrols none the less.”
“Can we just go around it?” Jaron asked not caring much for the idea of taking a stroll through a patrol infested village.
“Unfortunately, no. The mines border the town all along the edges and you can guess what would happen if you tried to take a short cut through there. And going around the mines would add at least another day to your traveling time.” Jericho paused as Jaron groaned his discontent. “I also need to warn you that the citizens living here tend to be a little more wary of strangers… especially Wanderers.”
“Oh, that’s great.” Zach mumbled sarcastically. “Is there any good news you would like to share?”
“Only that most of the men, including a large portion of the patrols, should still be in the mines a bit longer, so with any luck we should run mainly into women and children. Just do like you did in the other villages, and we all should be fine.”
Minutes later, the group found themselves strolling down the main road into the heart of downtown Fridricks. All around them the streets churned with people, mainly women, who casually perused the many small stores that lined both sides of the road, occasionally stopping to chat with one another about the latest daily gossip. Never more than a few feet away, children too young to attend school, scurried between their mother’s skirts, laughing as they challenged each other to a thrilling game of tag. There were even a few men, many of which looked too old to work the mines, sitting in chairs in front of the various shops; their watchful stares supervising the goings on of their quaint village.
“Everyone looks so content here.” One of the men behind Maya spoke lowly, mirroring her own thoughts.
“As well they should be,” Jericho whispered back. “Of all the lands ruled by Council members, Lanoria is the envy of them all. The land is rich with minerals and excellent for farming. Water is abundant once you get past the desert that makes up its borders. And then of course there is Mallok. Not in all the lands within this area or even in the forbidden zones beyond, is there a king more loved by all his people. Not once in the history of his rule has there ever been an uprising, although they did come close fifty years ago when his people feared Mallok was going to make the White Queen his bride.”
“Wait, he wanted to marry K?” Maya asked, jolting to a stop to keep from colliding with a pack of kids as they darted across the road in front of her without so much as a second glance. Glancing up at Jaron, she could tell from his clenched jaw he was just as surprised by this news as she was.
Furrowing his brow, Jericho studied her reaction closely, before staring up at Jaron. He looked as if he was about to say something, when somewhere in the distance his name was called, “Jericho! Long time no see old friend.”
Searching the distance for the source of his name, Jericho spotted a gangly old man with thinning white hair, comfortably perched on the edge of a large open well that must have been the town’s main water supply. Smiling widely Jericho approached the gentleman with an outstretched hand, “Gof, you old fool. You mean to tell me y
our ancient ass is still alive!”
“Ha, I’ll likely outlive you.” Gof laughed, sporting a wide, toothless grin. “You are the one who takes unnecessary chances with your life, me, I just sit here by my well where it is safe.” Squinting his eyes tightly, Gof turned his attention to the group of Full-bloods standing behind him. “I see you have some new recruits.”
“Yeah. Bringing them out to show them the ropes, you know.” Jericho grinned, “So tell me old man, any new gossip you can share with me and my friends?”
“Ehhh, I got nothing but the same old crap that’s been going on for almost a month.” Gof shrugged, “I wish the Council would go ahead and lock the queen away already so we can move on to new and more important matters.”
A low rumble, sounded from deep inside Jaron, as he moved forward to confront the old man speaking so dismissively of his queen’s life. Thankfully he was caught by the arm by both Jarod and Rico. Sensing the tension radiating off him, Jericho glanced over his shoulder and gave him a slight shake of the head, warning him not to say anything or do anything foolish. Once he was confident Jaron wasn’t going to blow their cover, he then turned his attention back to address Gof, “So tell me, do you know where they are in the trial? Are they close to sentencing her?”
“No. And the woman even confessed!” Gof huffed, “But the crazy fools wants her to tell them the reason why she did it, which of course she won’t do, so now they are waiting for her to get weak enough so that twisted Seer can read her.”
“Cato?” Jaron interrupted, unable to hold his tongue any longer, “They are going to let Cato read her?”
“Yep, that’s what they’re waiting for.” Gof shrugged, “Personally I think it’s ridiculous, I mean she already confessed to the crime, so why waste so much time getting a reason. But then again, I am an old man, so what do I know?”
With his curiosity peaked by all this new information, Jaron desperately wanted to know more. But just before he could ask about the nature of her crime, a young boy carrying a pail suddenly ran up to Gof and presented him with a fresh pastry. Smiling, Gof accepted his offering, “So what will it be today, Herug? Monkey, bird, or perhaps a goat?”
Forsaken (The Shadow Chronicles Book 3) Page 25
