Jess nodded her understanding. “Of course. Now let us proceed then to the stone that was not here the last time I had visited, having only manifested in a dream I had the other night, the Faerie Queen herself leading me through the maze and asking if I liked the addition.”
“And what did you say?” Lord Killen asked curiously.
Jess grinned. "I said it was beautiful, just like her. She laughed and said she was merely returning that which had been put into her safekeeping long ago."
“Fascinating!”
Jess nodded. "There was so much more I wanted to ask her, and of course that was when I woke up."
17
As if in a trance, Rulia slowly approached the shimmering stone Jess led them to, glowing with ever greater intensity along with Rulia's key as the two approached. The light became so bright it was as if the rose cathedral itself was being lit by the noonday sun, Jess blinking her eyes fiercely as she heard Rulia gasp and cry out.
Instantly, Jess was racing to her lover’s side, catching Rulia as she collapsed, the blazing light slowly dimming to a far more manageable brilliance, and Jess gasped in awe, seeing what appeared to be a shield of purest mithril encased within the glowing translucent stone.
Slowly, Rulia shook off her daze, staring forlornly at the priceless artifact still trapped within the inner layer of stone.
“I don’t understand it. The Shield of the First Paladin. My key! Bloody hells, my key was supposed to free it!”
Shaking in sudden exhaustion and despair, Rulia began to bang upon the utterly impenetrable stone, screaming bitter curses even as Jess held her tight.
"Stop it! Rulia, you are going to hurt yourself. It is as hard as diamond, and resilient as steel. Even I can sense that. Do not break your wrists over such folly."
Rulia seethed, glaring at the stone. “My key is gone,” she said bitterly. “Something is wrong. Something must be wrong! We must have missed some important step, some sacred ritual needed to open the innermost layer of the damn thing!”
Jess gazed solemnly at her friend. “Take a deep breath, my love. Focus. Were there any further instructions? Any clue regarding what to do once you used the key?”
Rulia frowned, patting her person. "By the black abyss! Where is that manuscript? Lord Killen?"
The man looked almost suspiciously at Jess before giving an abrupt shake of his head. "We are at the heart of your power, Lady Calenbry, and the gods above know your mother could have sent for ten score troops by now. If you are somehow having jest with us, it is in the poorest taste, and there is little enough we can do. I pray by justice you truly are a friend to the woman you claim to love."
Jess rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m the secret evil serpent in your midst! Sent to seduce you, give you warm clothes, get you past homicidal guards, and for my grand finale, trick you with magical translucent stones.” She frowned at a suddenly abashed Lord Killen. “Could you please stop this silliness and just hand me the manuscript? Thank you.” She gave the spymaster the smallest of nods before handing the manuscript to Rulia.
“All right, dear one. Let us consult your text. Show me what it says about this key.”
Rulia flashed Jess a grin that was almost apologetic. “I am sorry, sweet one. It is just that we are so close! And we have gone through so much to get here. To think that the key to my country, I mean my family's salvation lies so close but utterly out of our grasp. I can't tell you how my heart races, even now."
Jess blinked, reading over the lines Rulia pointed to her.
“My lady, it is in old Runic. Would you care for my assistance?” Lord Killen humbly offered, almost as if it were an apology of sorts.
Jess gave a distracted shake of her head. “No need. I can sense its meaning clear enough.” She blinked, immediately directing Rulia’s attention to a specific line. “Right here, Rulia. What does it say?”
Rulia’s gazed at the line of spidery script carefully, as if translating it in her mind. “And only in the moment when the key has unlocked all hesitation, proving the worth of the supplicants, shall the Truth be revealed, and the paladin freed from her slumber to shield the supplicant in her greatest time of need.”
Jess gazed thoughtfully at the translucent block and what lay within. "All right. Mithril shield, sighted. Key, sighted. Truth. Hmm..." She blinked, gazing at her mirror with a soft chuckle. "Angels above, it's right in my hand!"
With a look of fierce triumph, she banged the spike handle of the Faerie mirror as hard as she could upon the stone surface, braced for its abrupt shattering, left blinking in some surprise as the mirror sprung out of her hand, flying across the rose-laden inner cathedral.
Jess winced and rubbed her wrist. “Ouch. That didn’t go quite according to plan.” She gave an embarrassed shake of her head, gazing once more at something only she could see. “Yes, I know, Twilight. Impulsive. But damn it, most of the time my hunches work brilliantly!”
Jess looked so ready to pout as Julien anxiously returned her mirror that Rulia couldn’t help but laugh, wiping her tears away even as Jess began laughing right along with her before suddenly kissing her. Lost in the moment, Rulia could feel tender hungers easing away the frustration that had so enveloped her but moments ago.
"I will confess, Jess, I too felt my heart race, when you slammed your mirror upon that stone," Rulia said a timeless moment later, kiss broken, resting comfortably in Jessica's arms. Her beau chuckled softly, nodding in agreement.
“Well, I can think of one other possibility, but it’s even stupider.”
Rulia softly kissed Jessica's lips once more. "What could possibly be stupider than trying to crack a magic faerie rock with a hand mirror?"
"Well, it was a faerie hand mirror," Jess countered before laughing at her own words. "You're right. Not too much could be stupider than that."
Frustration turning to hungers of another sort, Rulia savored the gentle caresses of the girl tasting so sweetly of rosebuds and spice, recalling at that moment the many times Jess had seemed all but carried away by her muse when first they had met at this college, those many months ago.
Jess's playful gaze turned thoughtful. "Come on. One more idea to try."
Gently lifting her lover to her feet and conveniently forgetting to let go of her hand, Jess led Rulia back to the stone they both gazed at in quiet reflection, before Jess rather purposefully placed the mirror upon the stone’s surface.
“Okay. Perhaps we will see a truth now if we look within its surface.” Jess peered intently within. “All I see is that same dizzying swirl.” She gazed gamely at a suddenly nervous Rulia. “Okay, your turn.”
Rulia smiled weakly. “Okay. Here goes nothing.” Taking a deep breath, sensing her companion’s sudden anxiety, she forced herself to gaze within the inky depths of the mirror’s surface.
"Bloody hells," she said breathlessly some moments later, shaking, face taking on a sickly pallor. In truth, she looked ready to vomit.
“Rulia!” Jess cried, even as her lover squeezed Jess’s grip tight.
"Don't break the connection!" Rulia's shaking hand pressed against mirror's surface. To Jess's eyes it rippled like a basin of water.
Rulia's hand slid into the mirror.
18
"By all the gods!" Lord Killen's expression was one of stupefied awe as Rulia pulled free a shimmering shield that sparkled and glowed in the dappled light from above. The image of a tree had been etched upon its surface in exquisite detail, roots sinking deep into the earth, leafy branches piercing the heavens above.
Somehow it brought to mind an ancient tree so vast, one could sense its boughs holding up the very heavens in all their majesty.
Rulia trembled, gazing in wonder at the shield in her hands. The artifact radiated a potency all could sense, as if it were a sacred artifact plucked from the angelic realms above, pristine and perfect, far too precious to be defaced by the pawing grasp of mortal man.
“Never have I seen a thing of such beauty.” Julien’
s voice was filled with awe.
Rulia gazed at the luminescent shield with an expression of bemused wonder, even as she shook with a cold that had seeped into her very soul. Yet the lingering horror of her own flawed soul she had been forced to gaze upon and endure as her hand slipped through the bitterly cold surface of that awful mirror faded away like the gentlest of dreams, soothed as she was by the warm glow of the incredibly beautiful artifact she had somehow pulled free of those perilous depths.
It was a full sized shield as light as any buckler, yet Rulia could sense somehow its terrible potency. No blow from her enemies, no matter how fierce, would jar her grip. No savagely thrown spear would mar its pristine surface, or yank her guard out of true. Even should a knight charge upon his destrier and his lance strike for her heart, it would be he that flies headfirst off his mount, and she that would stand resolute, jarred not in the least by the mighty force of his charging steed.
And that incredible boon was but the barest whisper of its power, Rulia understood even as she hugged Jess close, crying her love and gratitude in her friend's arms, realizing that here, at last, lay the hope and salvation for her entire kingdom. For she held within her grasp an artifact, a beacon, that would ward their home from all threats with the power of its summons.
Jessica's affectionate gaze left Rulia suddenly dizzy with hope. A hope that one day soon their kingdoms would be at peace once more, and that they could at last be together. Free of the need for pretense and deception, able to cherish one another with no one to judge them and no obligation or nightmare to come between them.
The very thought filled her with joy.
Almost shyly, Rulia gazed up into Jessica's beautiful blue eyes. “Do you want to hold it, Jess?” Refusing even to abide her companions sudden hisses, Lord Killen’s desperate, uncouth remark suggesting that this whole thing had been a clever ruse, that Jess herself wanted the artifact.
Rulia was about to bark her outrage at her loyal spymaster, even as Jess’s reactions surprised both of them.
Tearing herself abruptly free of Rulia's gentle caress, Jess gazed upon the glowing artifact with an expression akin to terror.
“By the gods, no! I have no desire to touch that shield. I know as well as any soul how utterly unworthy I am of such a thing,” she said, forcing a laugh to relieve the sudden tension, and Rulia felt a sharp twinge of alarm. Never once had she seen her supremely confident lover look at anything with naked fear before. “Besides, you know I favor the longsword, Rulia. Both hands on the blade.”
Rulia shook away her hurt, genuinely puzzled by Jess's reaction. "Jess, why wouldn't you want to hold this treasure? By the gods, if you think you are queen of this garden now, imagine your power with a divine artifact at your disposal! She smiled archly at her shocked looking friend. "Besides. You and I both know the longsword can be used quite proficiently with shield or buckler, even if the arming sword is just a bit more balanced for one handed play."
Yet still Jess shook her head with firm resolve, gazing upon the artifact with a look that bordered on dread. “Saints above, just keep it away from me!” Jess took a deep, shuddering breath. “I didn't think... I didn't understand until just now. I dare not even touch that shield.”
Jess backed as far away from the wondrous magical shield as she could.
Julien gazed at Jess in confusion. “Are you saying this shield signifies your doom?” He shook his head in despair. “Now is when you call your guards to have away with us, isn’t it?”
Rulia squeezed her eyes shut even as she forced herself to grip the shield with fierce resolve, sword hand on her hilt, though she didn’t have the heart to draw it. “No, no, no! I refuse to believe you went to all this trouble just to trap us, just to betray us now, Jessica! What I saw in your eyes when we made love... Please, Jess. I adore you with all my heart."
Rulia gave a bitter shake of her head. "The mirror said there would be a price to pay. It warned me that the shield would be the rift that can never be repaired. Well, to hell with that! I say we are stronger than anything that would separate us! Yes, I chose the shield, Jess. I must, for the sake of the land I love. But by Heaven's grace, I won't believe that any artifact can tear our love apart, Jess. Fight it! Fight fate and destiny and all that would separate us. I love you, Jess, don't you understand that?"
She could feel her cheeks flush hot to even hear herself say it aloud. “Just please, please don’t oppose us. We need this artifact! Our people will perish by the thousands without it! I swear to you, my dear Jess, I would never use it against you. Just please, please don’t oppose us!”
Yet Jess continued to gaze at the brilliantly shimmering mithril shield with a look of growing horror, trembling as her back pressed against the massive structure of rosebushes that seemed to be rustling in restless sympathy with its master. Rulia felt her guts clench with despair as Jess refused to say a single word to assuage their growing fears, to lay low that treacherous serpent of betrayal that even now they feared would soon be hissing among them.
Grimly, Lord Killen pulled out several of his poison coated throwing blades. “My lady, I fear it is that most horrid of times. Forgive us for what we must do.”
“Stop, you mad fool!” Rulia cried out in sudden alarm, even as the inner sanctum erupted in a fierce whirlwind of rose petals, all three of them crying out in panicked confusion as their vision was reduced to nothing, the swirling petals blinding and disorienting them completely before the storm abruptly stopped, settling to the ground but moments later, as if the mad swirl of rose petals had never been.
Rulia blinked, seeing Julien and Lord Killen both utterly bound by fiercely twisting serpentine-like rose vines and she gasped in horror, afraid her beloved companions would be dealt with as had the mercenaries that had tried so hard to trap and kill Rulia and her friends but days earlier, falling prey to vines that had strangled and consumed those men alive.
“Please, Jess! I beg of you, do not kill them!”
Jess gazed solemnly at Rulia, her blade held effortlessly to a shaking Killen’s neck.
"Don't be a damn fool," Jess said to the man utterly encased in vines, even as she resheathed her blade. "You are in the heart of my Domain. The very center of my power. The Dawn you know and love is beyond any direction your compass can point to, Killen."
Her sigh was almost pitying. "Not even an army of men searching all the days of their lives could find us here, in this most sacred of spots, lest the Grace of Faerie or myself led them here. If I willed it, you would wander these rose laden corridors forever, never to escape without my leave." She shook her head in disappointment. "Did you truly think for even a second that you could best me here?"
The sad little smile she favored Rulia with near broke her heart.
"I was never a threat to you, Rulia, for all that I know who you are and where you come from. Your promise not to strike out at my people, my country, was all I needed to hear." Her bitter smile cut Rulia to the quick. "You know what I was trained for, Rulia. I was blooded less than a year after donning the mantle of Squire. And as just as the killing was, as much as I revel in blood and battle when high on fury or wine, the screams of those men, those slavers, haunts me to this day. And the final cries of dozens upon dozens of such men who have perished to lance, saber, and mace from a score of such missions jolts me from sleep far more often than even Mother knows, now that I no longer numb my soul with brandy, or escape within the mad living dream of the Delver. Even those knights we took down together, Rulia. Only one was truly evil. The deaths of the others are yet one more burden upon my soul."
Gently, Jess brushed back a lock of Rulia's hair. Rulia refused to tremble at her lover's touch, even as the true depth of Jess's power shook her to her core. "As furiously as I would fight to protect my home, I think my king's hunger for conquest at the expense of thousands of innocent lives is as horrific as you do. I couldn't bear to lead the charge against conscripts who were nothing more than frightened men or boys only wanting to p
rotect their homeland, no matter how savage my armsmaster trained me to be."
Jess sighed. "I can only imagine how much Eloquin would loathe me at this moment. And do you know what? I hardly give a damn. Keep your shield, Rulia. I've done everything in my power to make sure you could recover it, after all."
With that, Jess abruptly drew her dagger, ignoring their cries as she pricked first Lord Killen, then Julien, and finally a stunned Rulia who did not even fight her as Jess gently took her hand and lanced her smallest finger.
She kissed Rulia on the cheek before letting go of her, and Rulia felt suddenly heartbroken, as if it would be the last time she would ever be kissed by this girl she adored, having betrayed her trust so terribly. "Jess, please, I'm sorry…"
Jess abruptly held up her hand, muttering strange words that somehow twisted and warped through the very air, causing Rulia to blink madly, suddenly losing all sense of place and time, feeling Jess had finished speaking before she had even begun, odd echoes of her chant resonating strangely within her mind.
Rulia could hear Julien and Lord Killen retching shortly thereafter, an abrupt wave of Jessica’s hand instantly freeing them of the vines.
Rulia, however, had never taken her eyes off Jess, gazing in wonder as she saw four perfect drops of blood spin slowly in the air as Jess rotated her other hand, faster and faster in a brilliant swirl of pulsating color, before coming to rest on a trio of vine shoots she had apparently plucked from the rose bushes all about.
As the drops caressed the thorns, the tiny vines turned a brilliant crimson hue, entwining about themselves of their own accord, and within seconds Jess held three perfectly formed vine rings, complete with thorns and the tiniest crimson rose in the center of each.
Solemnly, she handed them to all three, utterly ignoring Lord Killen's fumbled attempts at an apology.
Gods of Shadow and Flame Page 15
