by Ben Alderson
I’d never moved so quickly. The moment Marthil closed the door, I was up, unbuckling the trunk and throwing the lid open. Inside, laid out on plush red silk, were folded black garments. Lifting the first up I recognized it as a uniform a soldier would wear. A black jacket of metal and leather layered in stiff plates of armor. This was not a custom for a feast, this was a statement of war. Within was a pair of black trousers and boots, all of which blended into one another as I tried them on.
The need to know if Nyah was okay was overwhelming, so I threw the uniform on. Not once had she tried to connect with me after I’d left, which unsettled my nerves. Not that I would’ve answered, but her persistence was at least a sign she was conscious, alive.
In my rush, I left for the door. Marthil surprised me, leaning up against the wall adjacent to my room, eyes dull and bored. She looked up from her nails and regarded me from boot to shoulders.
“Handsome,” she said. “No wonder you have a prince falling at your feet.”
And there the real Marthil had returned with a malice infested expression and voice thick with disdain. She reached past me and pulled my door closed. “Ready?”
“For what?” I replied as Marthil looked me up and down.
“Our guests?”
Guests?
Marthil nodded, leaning in close to me but screwing her nose in displeasure.
“You stink like muck,” she said. “Gordex would have both our throats if you arrive smelling like that.”
I raised an arm, inhaling what Marthil had. No wonder she was so offended.
“And in your new uniform!” Marthil scolded. “I will go ahead and tell them of your tardiness. Someone will come and collect you shortly, but you better wash straight away.”
I didn’t have a chance to question her on the meal, nor did I want to. Marthil turned and left, picking the long skirt of her dress up as she moved through the corridor. I was left with the shadowbeings who guarded my room. Not wanting to be under there gaze a moment later, I ran for the bathrooms. It’d been days since I’d last cleaned myself.
Questions about the feast and guests rattled through my mind, but only one thing was clear to me. If Nyah was going to be there, I might have a chance to communicate with her. My want to tell her about the message I had received urged me on. The sooner I got to her, the better.
THE STREAM OF water was freezing. It chilled me to my bones, sharpening my senses as it washed days of dirt from my body. I needed to be ready for anything, clear minded and prepared to fight, just like Nyah had been. Already so much has been lost, and I was not prepared for anything else to be taken from my control. My magick was no longer my own, Gordex made sure of that. But my will was mine and mine alone. He could not have that.
I picked the uniform from the damp floor and got changed before the large, gilded mirror in the washroom. Standing before the mirror I fixed my hair, quickly pulling it back into the tight bun and gathering any lose stands into a messy style. This was me, the me from home. I might not have felt the same as I used to, for so much had changed for the boy who looked back in the reflection I hardly recognized.
“Here, let me help,” a voice called out behind me.
My gaze snapped to the boy in the reflection, stood feet behind me.
“I thought my threat resonated with you?” I replied, fixing the last strands into place before turning for Petrer. “Or do you need a reminder as to why I have asked you to leave me alone?”
“Pardon my intrusion, Zac.” Petrer bowed his head, ignoring my threat. “But I was asked to collect you by the Druid himself, since you’ve kept us all waiting longer than we care to wait,” Petrer droned, eyes trailing me from head to toe. “Now I have seen you, I am glad I came up. Truly. It gives me a moment to admire you. You look delectable.”
I wanted to slice his tongue from his mouth as he ran it across his lips until they glistened with spit. His hungry gaze fueled my desire to hurt him.
“Leave me, Petrer, turn around and go.” I kept my tone still and tempered. “I can find my own way to the Druid.”
“This desire to turn me away only urges me on more. You are wasting energy.” He smiled. “Energy you could rid with other means.”
Petrer took two strides forward, hands on hips and trouble in his gaze.
I took equal steps back until the mirror’s cold kiss touched my back.
“I also have ideas, but I can honestly say they would be different from what you imagine.”
“Please, entertain me. Tell me more.” Petrer pushed on.
“Why tell you when I can show you?” I replied, licking my own lips and narrowing my gaze on him.
Petrer released a labored breath. “You do things to me. I worry words would fail me if I tried to explain.”
He was close now, walking straight into my trap.
I smiled a devilish grin as the darkness bubbled deep in me. It could sense its will to escape.
“Is that right?” I said, voice tipped with innocence. Petrer was so close, his breath tickled my lips. His gaze flickered between my own, my mouth, my body. I could see what he wanted, and I used it against him.
“Finally,” he breathed. “It was only a matter of time till you wanted this again. I gave you the distance you asked for, and now you are mine. You remember that I’m good for you.”
“Hmm,” I said, trying not to scratch my nails up the glass mirror behind me. “Would you like me to reveal what occupies my thoughts?”
Petrer giggled, looking up through his dark lashes. “Do I really need to answer that? You know my answer.”
His hungry gaze was enough proof that he wanted me to spill my secrets. His mouth was parted as he breathed excitedly.
“First,” I said, raising a hand and calling forth my magick. The darkness shot across every inch of my body, taking a hold of my muscles, blood and mind. “I’m going take every morsel of breath from your body until you turn blue. Until your body burns with starvation and your consciousness titters over the edge of pain.”
Petrer’s expression melted from hunger to confusion.
“Then, just as your mind begins to protect you from the pain that I cause, I will flood every inch of that vile body until it cannot hold the air I supply you. I’ll not stop until your lungs crack under pressure. That is exactly how I want to expend my energy.”
It took a moment for my words to register on Petrer’s face, then his snarl was a warning of his next action. Lightning fast he reached for my face, spit linking his open mouth as he roared in anger. His extended hands called out for me, reaching straight for my exposed neck. But I didn’t stop him, not until the last possible moment. I wanted him to think he was winning, to believe he was always in the control over me. Then I would watch the realization that it was over sink into his wide, dark eyes.
I pushed out my hands, already swirling with the air that longed for my control. As the tips of his revolting fingers grazed my skin, I forced every ounce of strength I owned behind my magick. The strength of power sent Petrer flying across the room in a blur of panicked limbs. He cracked into the wall, sliding down to the floor. Crumpled in on himself, Petrer choked out.
I couldn’t help but smile as the pain creased across Petrer’s once desirable face. A face I now only ever wanted to see with this new expression.
“Listen, Petrer, and do it carefully,” I said, pushing more magick into my air and holding him in place like a bug beneath pins. “You’ll never again step foot near me, look at me, think of me. Because this will seem like pleasure compared to what it is I do to you next. That is a promise. Cause me any discomfort from this moment forward, and I will be sure to make you feel it tenfold in return.”
He tried to call out, but I rendered him silent by the hurricane that roared around him. My winds ripped across my room, tangling my sheets and slamming the furniture into one another. I could see the silver stings of magick. Heart Magick. This was my mark, and it was gorgeous.
“Do you understand me?” My
voice rained across the room, lifted by my air.
Even if he wanted to nod, reply, agree, I wouldn’t let him. It was a game to me now. I was in control; I was the master.
I almost laughed when a single tear leaked from his right eye and rolled down his flushed cheek. The feeling was strange and alien to me.
There was something calling to me in the pits of my stomach, a light that tried to cut through the dark that powered my magick. But I ignored it. It was no longer welcome.
Stop, it sang.
This is not you, stop.
Petrer tried to open his mouth, whether to plead or speak, I couldn’t tell. His face was changing color, his eyes rolling toward his hairline.
I laxed on my power and willed for my air to retreat, letting his helpless body slump to the ground.
“Petrer,” I called from above him, faltering over my own words from the sudden depletion of energy. “I think it is time for us to go, isn’t it? As you have said, I’ve kept them waiting long enough.”
He didn’t say anything. He only looked at me with fearful eyes and a disheveled appearance.
“Come now,” I said, moving for the door and stepping over the clothes that my wind had scattered across the floor. “Lead the way.”
PETRER WALKED STEPS ahead of me the entire way to the banquet.
Every now and then he would peer over his shoulder, face pale and eyes unblinking, as if he expected me to lash out again. In truth, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Each step I took I was becoming more myself, realizing my actions were not in my control. Even thinking about what I’d done seemed hazy, as if a darkness was acting for me and burying me deep as a spectator.
But I didn’t want to dwell on it. Regardless if I was in control or not, my message was true. I wanted Petrer to stay away, to cease his hungry stares and fleeting touches. From the fear that rolled off of him, I was certain my message had been received.
I missed Hadrian. The feeling had become overwhelming as my mind returned from the dark control. Only did I want him close to me like that. I longed for his touch. Hungered for it. How long did I have to go through this punishment to finally return to him?
We paced around the dark palace, past the crumbled walls and dirtied, covered pavements. Shadowbeings filtered past us with jaws open and arms hanging by their sides. I flinched from them, uncomfortable when one got too close.
It was common to see them patrolling the palace. Just their presence was enough to make my skin crawl.
Looking around, I didn’t recognize where we’d walked to. I’d not been to this part of the palace before, but from the painted portraits of the queen and her family, I guessed I had made it to her personal dwellings.
The corridors were not exposed to the outside as the majority of the palace but kept enclosed by the towering walls lined with red silk curtains and the plush matching carpets that muffled our footfall.
Muffled voices pricked my awareness.
We were getting close.
Petrer straightened his back and held his chin high as we rounded a corner. We walked towards the set of closed doors and stopped. Petrer would never let anyone see him in this state I’d just witnessed.
His pride was stronger than his ability to fear.
“I do hate waiting, truly. I have done it enough over the past moons.”
Gordex’s words leaked through the crack in the partially opened door as Petrer reached out and pushed them open.
“My apologies, Druid,” Petrer replied, bowing his head and stepping aside for me to enter. “It is my own fault we are late.”
Petrer’s comment surprised me. I walked past him, eyeing him cautiously but he didn’t once look up.
Gordex laid his dark gaze upon me and stood from his chair. He opened his arms wide in a strange welcome. “My how marvelous you look, Zacriah. I see my gift reached you. Thank you for wearing it, my solider. And for you, Petrer, next time do not keep me waiting. I understand your infatuation with Zacriah is overwhelming but keep it for moments when I am not forced to wait.”
“Sorry, my Lord,” Petrer whispered, closing the doors and walking towards Gordex.
Gordex sick joke was wasted upon me. He didn’t know what had happened between us, or did he? A strange glint passed behind his eyes, giving a knowing air to his smile.
“Come sit, my boy.” Gordex signaled to the two free chairs on the long table beside him. I barely looked his way when I spotted our guests. Nyah and Queen Kathine sat on either side of Gordex, golden chains wrapped round their throats.
I flinched away from the throbbing of the gold. It was subtle, pulling on the anger once again. It didn’t invoke pain as it once had. Perhaps now my Heart Magick was free I no longer reacted as I once had.
Queen Kathine’s gazed was pinned my way, whereas Nyah hardly looked up. Her eyes were heavy and lost to the empty plate before her. She looked drained, empty, lost. Bruises covered her exposed arms and crept beneath the collar she wore. The dress she had been put in glittered with green and red jewels. Her hair had been pulled back from her face and secured in a bun, but her expression was anything but put-together.
To her right sat the shell of the boy she had been beginning to love. Jasrov, filled with black shadow and a thoughtless mind. A re-animated body controlled by Gordex’s warped power.
Inside I wanted to scream out when I saw him, but I had to keep calm. I couldn’t act out, for that is what Gordex would want.
I took my seat, biting down hard on the insides of my lips. The harsh taste of copper laced my tongue and reminded me of what I craved for. Just that thought stirred the darkness within me once again. Its presence was larger than ever now.
“Since we are all present, I trust we can enjoy our final meal within this city,” Gordex announced, taking his seat again. He picked up the ivory cloth from the table and folded it in half, placing it into his collar before picking up his silver cutlery from the sides of his empty plate.
Final meal?
As if reading my internal confusion, he looked up and smiled my way, flashing teeth and gum. “Oh yes, my boy, final meal within my city. Since your friend here decided to give up the location I need, we have a short journey ahead of us to claim my final prize. So, eat up. I am going to need you at full strength.”
My face must have melted from one shocked expression to another.
Nyah looked at me, sorrow plastered across her gaunt face. Her lips, cracked and pale, mouthed a simple word my way. Sorry.
I was saved from the awkward silence as the doors opened again, and living servants walked in with trays of food. Given a few moments of relief, I worked to calm my shock and regulate my breathing. News that we were to leave when the note I had received told me to hold off worried me. If Nyah had given up the location, this fight would be over soon. And they needed me to bide time. I had to try.
Once the servants had placed the roasted lump of meat, bowls of boiled potatoes and countless dried vegetables and bread, I was ready to tackle this situation.
“When do we leave?” I asked, calmly.
Gordex paused as he stabbed his fork into a potato and raised it above him. “We leave tomorrow at first light. It is not a short journey to our destination, but the ship I found will make it simpler. It took some blade work to secure the ship, but I have it now.”
Queen Kathine croaked, trying to clear her throat. It was subtle but enough for Gordex to notice. His head snapped to her, his hand following until her cheek stung red. “Quiet!”
Despite the blooming of ruby across her face, she did not stop smiling. Hearing of her people’s rebellion was enough information to fuel her own rebellion with that smile.
“You said it will take a while. Where is it we are going?” I asked, cutting my own meat whilst everyone else around the table did not touch the food. I looked up at Gordex as I placed the forkful in my mouth, my eyes urging an answer. I chewed the lump in my dry mouth. The thought of swallowing turned my stomach.
He reg
arded me silently before answering, “Since when have you taken up an interest in my doings, boy?”
“Since I had no other choice.”
A prideful smile flashed my way, but it didn’t stop the hint of distrust that filled his stare. I needed to know everything in hopes to find a loop hole to create a distraction.
“Where is our adventure taking us next?” My sarcasm cut across the tension between us as I asked again.
“The shores of Morgatis,” Gordex replied.
“Home,” Marthil added from the doorway where she silently lurked. I’d not heard her come in and had no idea for how long she had been listening.
“I believed you had changed your mind about joining us this evening,” Gordex said to Marthil. “Come sit before the food goes cold.”
“Not hungry, but I don’t want to feel like I am missing out, do I?” She sauntered over, walking right behind me and taking a seat at the far end of the table.
Whilst Gordex and Marthil shot comments at each other like hateful siblings, I had a moment to let the news sink in. If Nyah had told the truth and our team was hiding in barren lands of Morgatis, then I was lost to what to do. Images of the destruction Cristilia told me about flooded my mind as they were the only insight I had into that land. Dust and sand, ruins and stone.
A place destroyed by Heart Magick by the Dragori lost to the past.
I needed to know what to expect. And there was only three people within this city who had the knowledge on Morgatis. Knowledge I needed.
I decided to cease my questioning.
Marthil would never speak of the place she hated most. But Cristilia, there was a chance she would speak up. Regardless of what she did to us, she acted out of the hope to save her sister. If I could convince her I was on her side, then maybe she would tell me of Morgatis and the mysteries of the land. There must be something to use against Gordex in his effort to find Emaline.
Something Marthil said registered through my busy mind.
“They’ll expect our arrival.”
Gordex replied with a mouthful, “I count on it.”
