by Laura R Cole
*
Lord Telvani searched his reflection in the mirror of Queen Layna’s palace. He had come here to check in on them, but couldn’t draw his attention away from his own concerns. Since yesterday he had had a pounding headache, and he was feeling quite warm to the touch. The more he stared at his eyes, the more he thought he saw flecks of red within them. He was sure of it, he was touched with the Bricrui. It was time to sever the connection.
He would simply have to hope beyond hope that the safeguards he had put into place to protect himself from being implicated in the scandal would be successful. He had blocked out any memories that the six may have of him taking over their minds and any traces of their conscious states watching what he made them do, but emotions were harder to cover. Every time they looked at him, or interacted with him, they would feel the intense hatred he had sensed beneath each of their carefully controlled minds. It wouldn’t matter whether or not they knew what exactly he had done, their opinion of him would be set in stone.
He looked closer, peering at blemishes on his face, wondering if they were the beginnings of sores. He grasped the amulet that hung around his neck, a dragon claw holding an amethyst gem for protection. Hoping that it would have staved off the disease, he had invested in it the day Farthen had broken the news. But it hadn’t worked. Fear raced through his veins on the swift horse of his heartbeat and he felt an ever-growing urge to get to the items that connected him to the Council and destroy them.
He swirled away from the mirror and nearly ran towards the front of the palace, pushing past the servants and drawing strange looks from his guards who fell into hasty step behind him. He didn’t make it past the hallway, however, when he was surrounded by several servants who had apparently been coming to get him. They refused to be pushed out of the way.
“Lord Telvani,” one of them drew his attention, “There has been a riot in the capitol city. It appears that someone tried to break into the prison by blowing a huge hole into the side of it, and succeeded. Several prisoners have escaped and the city is in turmoil. It seems that several people being held there were formerly high ranking members of Queen Layna’s court who have been missing for some time.” Was it his imagination, or did the man’s voice hold an edge of accusation in it?
“And is the city guard quelling this riot?” he asked in annoyance, trying to push past the man.
“They are requesting that we send aid. It also appears that the riot is heading this way. It would be most prudent to send every man we have available to the front wall.”
“Fine,” Telvani waved a hand at him, eager to be out of his company. The man’s tone was irking his already frayed nerves.
The servant shouted orders to others who hurried off, finally leaving Telvani to resume his march towards his destination. Not two minutes later, however, he was stopped by yet another group of servants.
He rounded on these with anger. “What?!” he shouted.
“Lord Telvani, sir,” a woman exclaimed excitedly, only slightly cowed by his tone. “Princess Phoenix has been found!”
His heart sank. They gave him no choice but to follow them back to the monarchs’ suite, already packed full of servants and guards alike. He allowed himself to be pushed forward through the crowd, his mind whirling with possibilities of how her return might help him.
But when he entered the room, he saw to his horror that the King and Queen were awake, the Queen holding her baby possessively. His eyes darted around, searching for the mages and guards loyal to him that he’d stationed here to prevent this very thing. He spotted them in a corner, held within a dome of light by more mages who were most definitely not in his employ. His blood ran cold in his veins. He was finished. He needed to get away now and get rid of the connection while he was still a free man. He tried to back out of the room.
“Ah, Lord Telvani,” the Queen’s voice stung with a dangerous edge. She knew. She knew everything. “How kind of you to join us, I’ve been hearing some very interesting things about what you’ve been up to while we’ve been,” she paused, her gaze drifting towards the bed, “indisposed.”
A commotion sounded behind him and Telvani glanced back over his shoulder. The servant Amelia, who he had thrown into prison when she expressed her doubts with his actions, was being wheeled in on a chair. She glared at him as she passed with eyes rung by deep dark circles, further extenuated by her lackluster complexion, paled without the sun, and her gaunt skin stretched tightly over her high cheekbones. Even the relatively short amount of time in the lower cell seemed to have wreaked havoc on her.
“Hello, Telvani,” she greeted him weakly, with a distinct lack of title.
“Amelia,” he returned, his mood falling further still. The trouble-maker Katrina was pushing her chair over to Layna, who stood over the woman maternally and laid a hand on her. Telvani felt ripples in the power and watched as color rushed back into the woman’s face, returning her to her normal appearance before his very eyes.
When Layna removed her touch, the woman stood from the chair, opening newly intense eyes to glower at him once again. “Telvani may not have been the one to have actually attacked you or stolen the child, but he did take full advantage of your conditions and lied to everyone, saying you were simply ill and still giving him your orders.”
“The country still needed to be run!” Telvani stated, “Surely you can understand that.”
Layna looked at him with one of her intense stares. “Do you know why we called you into the throne room that day?” she surprised him by asking.
“What day?” Telvani replied, confused. So much had happened since…
“The day we were attacked, to me it feels like it was earlier today. I wanted to ask you why you have been freeing prisoners and covering up dealings of the late Order.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered, his fear from that day returning in full combining with his new paranoia.
“I think you do,” insisted Layna, and Gryffon glared at him from beside her.
“I can only imagine what else you’ve been doing without us here to stop you,” the King put in.
“I’ve been trying to help you,” Telvani disagreed, shaking his head vehemently. “Ask anyone, I’ve had search parties out looking for Princess Phoenix, I’ve had mages here round the clock trying to find a way to heal you, to bring you back.” His tone was reaching an embarrassingly high pitch, but he couldn’t help the increasing urge he felt to run away. His forehead felt hot and sweat dripped down his temple.
Telvani moved forward towards Layna to grovel at her feet, as at this point he was not above begging, but when he got close to her a light suddenly flashed around young Phoenix. Everyone’s attention became fully focused on the baby, forming a defensive circle around her. He was pushed roughly out of the way and directly in front of the window.
He only hesitated a split second before hurtling himself out. Broken glass sliced through his arms and legs as he shattered the pane and went tumbling through the air. The ground rushed towards him at blinding speed, and he hastily shouted a spell to slow his descent. It worked not a moment too soon, so that he only wrenched an ankle after having just fallen several stories to the hard ground below.
He took off immediately at a run and was out of the palace gates before anyone could raise the alarm.
