Shadows of Lela

by Tessonja Odette

  Tessonja Odette

  Shadows of Lela

  Copyright © Tessonja Odette, 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Cover illustration by Merilliza Chan

  First edition

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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  Contents

  Dedication

  Exile

  Poems

  The Quest

  Second Life

  Turmoil

  A Dark Path

  An Unwanted Ally

  The Cave

  Goodbyes

  The Hunt

  The Other Hunt

  Glimpse

  Bloodshed

  Convergence

  Proposition

  Assistance

  Companions

  Answers

  Morkai

  Plans

  Stranger

  Harbinger

  Dark Words

  Power

  Confession

  Apology

  Interlude

  Forest People

  Tomas

  Ancestors

  War

  Centerpointe Rock

  Battle

  Victory

  Fate

  Sacrifice

  Renewal

  What about Mareleau?

  Veil of Mist

  Thank you

  About Tessonja

  Dedication

  To Dustin—my alpha reader, my love, my biggest fan, reacher of tall things, and opener of jars.

  To Nova—my sunshine, my baby bear, my goofball. ALWAYS follow your dreams.

  1

  Exile

  Coralaine

  I felt her screams before they left her mouth.

  A pain that was not my own invaded my body, flooding my senses with ripples of terror. I sat upright in my bed and rubbed sleep from my eyes, trying to separate myself from the intrusion. The sharpness in my abdomen and pressure between my thighs were not the sensations a ten-year-old girl like myself should have.

  Linette! The realization sent me running from my bed. No. Please no. It’s too early for the baby.

  Another scream reverberated through my mind, so much louder and clearer than before. I fell to my knees and put my hands over my ears in an impossible attempt to drown out the sound. I took a deep breath and forced the sound to recede until I was left with nothing more than a sharp ache behind my eyes. My vision blurred as I stood and fled, half-blind and nearly naked in my shift, down the hall.

  I ignored the next scream, yet couldn’t help but double over with the rekindled fire in my abdomen. I bit my lip, and tears pricked my eyes. Still I forced myself onward, stumbling through the empty corridors of Ridine Castle until I found myself in Linette’s room. Empty. I knew where to go next.

  The pain grew stronger as I neared the birthing chamber, and I had no doubt I would find her there. My heart sank.

  I opened the door to a scene of grim-faced queensmaids surrounding the birthing bed. Linette’s pain still burned inside me, yet I managed to keep my composure as I pushed my way past the melancholy women to my sister’s side.

  “What’s wrong?” I demanded of the queensmaids, ashamed of how small my voice sounded.

  “You shouldn’t be here, sweet princess,” said one of the maids, laying a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “This is no place for a young lady. You should return to your bed.”

  I shot her a defiant stare, and not another word of reproach was made.

  I turned my attention to Linette, quivering and pale upon the bed, auburn hair soaked with sweat, head lolling from side to side as she mumbled and moaned. Her frail, white hands twisted in the bloodstained sheets as she gripped them with all her strength. The midwives were in an anxious flurry at the foot of the bed. This was much worse than last time.

  I clutched my abdomen, the pain almost impossible to endure. I wanted to run away. I wanted to free myself from her agony. Yet I remained at her side, still as stone, feeling each spasm as if it were my own.

  My eyelids fluttered as waves of pain rose and subsided, over and over, tearing through us both for an endless time. Hours passed. Or was it days? I knew nothing but agony.

  Until finally, the torture was over.

  Linette lay still. I touched her lightly on the shoulder and she slowly opened her eyes, blinking into the light of the room. She took in the faces around her. When her eyes locked on mine, she pulled her lips into a small smile. I tried to mirror her but could manage no more than pressing my lips into a tight line. No matter what I told myself, I couldn’t shake the nagging fear that the danger was yet to pass.

  “My little sister,” Linette whispered and reached a trembling hand toward mine.

  A sob escaped my throat as I grasped her cold fingers. “Sister.”

  Linette may not have been of my blood, but she was my sister in every other significance of the word. In the five years since she had married my brother, we’d grown close—close enough for her to fill a portion of the hole in my heart left by my parents’ deaths. How could I bear it if she left me too?

  “My baby?” Linette’s brows furrowed as she lifted her head and tried to look over my shoulder.

  I turned to the downcast midwives; they shook their heads, confirming what I already knew. Tears streamed down my face as I delivered the news with a solemn shake of my head.

  My heart broke alongside Linette’s as I watched the anguish pass over her face. Helpless, I could do nothing but witness the storm of her emotions flooding my consciousness. What use is this curse of mine if I can’t help anyone with it?

  I prayed for her emotional turmoil to subside so I could be free from it myself, but when it finally did, I realized it could only mean one thing; her fight was over. She was slipping away.

  Linette’s hand fell limp from my grasp. “Get the king!” I shouted at the sobbing maids. “Now!”

  A flurry of commotion erupted behind me. It took only a few moments to summon a red-eyed King Dimetreus. His face was slack as he entered the room, and a moan escaped his throat as he fell to his knees at his queen’s side.

  I quickly backed out of the room, gasping for air as I choked on the suffocating emotions. I took flight down the hallway, stopping only when I felt like I could breathe freely again.

  I fell to my knees and shouted into my hands. My anguish dissipated into a wail as I pounded my fists on the stone floor beneath me. I cried for the loss of my mother and father. I cried for Linette and the three children she’d tried so hard to bring into this world. I cried for the burden I carried, knowing all of this was happening, and being helpless to stop any of it.

  “Now, now, child, that’s enough of that,” said a voice behind me, startling me from my grief.

  I turned and glared into the pale, long, scowling face of my enemy. My sorrow hardened into hate. “What are you doing here, Morkai?”

  “You act as if I don’t live here too.” He looked down at me with a self-satisfied grin.

  I stood and faced Morkai with balled fists. “How dare you come near Linette’s birthing chamber? I know you are responsible for this.”

  “Coralaine!” came my brother’s shout from down
the hall. “How could you say such a thing?”

  I could barely meet his eyes as I faced him. The pain on his face was enough for me to know Linette was gone. I hung my head and muttered a tearful apology.

  “Come now, Dimetreus, she is just upset. I take no offense.”

  I clenched my teeth, hearing the double effect of Morkai’s voice. The voice my brother heard was genuine and caring, but I could hear his true voice and it was full of mocking and malice.

  “He has no right to be here,” I whispered.

  “He has every right. Morkai is one of the most powerful mages in all of Lela. Whom else would I want here at a time like this?”

  My head snapped up and I stared at my brother with wide eyes. “You invited him here? To Linette’s birthing chambers?”

  “He was trying to save her, Coralaine.”

  “It’s true. I gave her a healing tonic and placed every protective spell around her that I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” Morkai rested his hand on my brother’s shoulder in what appeared to be a comforting gesture. But I recognized the influence of control flowing from his palm.

  Heat flooded my body, a fire I could not ignore. My muscles tensed, quivering from my shoulders to my toes. “Was it the same tonic you’d been slipping Linette in her drink every night?”

  “That was for fertility,” Dimetreus said, “to bring us a son.”

  I ignored my brother, my eyes locked on Morkai. “Or was it the same tonic you put into my parents’ cups every night before they died?”

  Dimetreus’ shadow fell over me as he took a forbidding step between me and Morkai. “I don’t like what you are implying. If I hear another word of disrespect from you, I will throw you out of this castle forever.”

  “But he murdered our parents!”

  “That’s a lie.”

  “He’s killed every child you’ve ever conceived!”

  “Enough.” Dimetreus’ face began to redden. That should have been enough to quiet me, yet the fire still burned within.

  “He murdered your wife, and you invited him here!”

  “Not another word, Coralaine.”

  “You might as well have just killed her yourself!”

  Dimetreus raised his hand and sent it hard across my face.

  After a moment of stunned silence, I placed a palm on my cheek and glared at my brother through a pool of tears. I knew I had crossed the line, but I never expected Dimetreus would strike me.

  “You will get out. You will never return here.” Dimetreus’ voice held a cold, sharp, unfamiliar edge. His eyes were hard and black; I could barely make out the green that used to shine so brightly.

  “Dimi,” I whispered.

  “You have disrespected me, and I am not only your brother but your king. You have disgraced the name of our deceased parents with your lies. The queen is just moments dead, and already you speak evil of her.”

  “Please, Dimi. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t ever want to hear another word from your mouth. Get out and don’t come back. You are hereby banished from Ridine Castle, stripped of your name. You are no longer Princess Coralaine of Kero. You are nobody. You are dead to me. Your memory will be buried with the queen.”

  I stood frozen, staring at my brother, looking at the face that had become a stranger’s. My brother is dead to me too.

  Morkai grinned at me over my brother’s shoulder, jubilant with triumph. A shiver ran down my spine as I understood the full and incredible strength of his powers. I had underestimated him. Tears stung my eyes; my hands clenched into fists. I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, run, or plead.

  I chose to run.

  2

  Poems

  Teryn

  My hands were sweating.

  I kept them busy behind my back, folding and unfolding the small piece of paper within them. The paper bore the most important words I would ever say, words that would bring about an avalanche of events that would change my life forever. Who knew a simple poem could hold such power?

  But that’s not why I was sweating. At that moment, I had no idea where my poem would ultimately lead me. It was simply a declaration of love to the most beautiful woman in all of Lela. Considering the large number of other princes surrounding me with the same intentions as my own, I had every right to be sweating.

  It was the Spring Festival at Verlot Palace, where Princess Mareleau of Sele would be presented to a public audience for the first time in two years. She was now sixteen and ready to marry. Her portrait had been sent far and wide, along with invitations to compete for her hand at the Spring Festival. Here I was, preparing to do just that.

  I closed my eyes and went over the poem in my head one more time. I let out a heavy sigh as I finished with every word intact and in perfect order. I just have to read it once, that’s all. But if my voice shook as much as my hands did, I was in deep trouble.

  It didn’t help that I would be first to present my poem. If I was terrible—or even plain good—I would get lost and forgotten after the numerous poems that followed. But if my poem was great—or if I was lucky, amazing—no other poem would compare.

  But amazing? My poem? I didn’t think so. I could only hope the close friendship between Mareleau’s family and my own would be enough to give me an advantage.

  I stared at Mareleau’s empty balcony, lit by the morning sun like a beacon. It was well after third bell and I felt the crisp, spring air beginning to warm—an unwelcome sensation, considering my current temperature.

  I took a cooling breath and turned my attention to King Verdian. The King of Sele stood below Mareleau’s balcony on a raised dais upon the lawn, droning on and on in a long and boring speech that would be a challenge to enjoy on even my least anxious day. My eyes blurred, and my mind wandered once again until I heard, “I would now like to present my daughter!”

  Just like that, my interest returned. The men around me straightened to full attention as King Verdian continued, “It is a great honor to have you witness the beautiful rose that has blossomed right before my eyes. From a tiny, young bud—”

  For the love of Lela, just bring her out already.

  “—I am pleased to see so many young princes here today, eager to win her hand and her love—”

  My heart raced.

  “I now present to you, Princess Mareleau!”

  Complete silence followed as the crowd stared wide-eyed at Mareleau’s empty balcony. Nothing happened.

  “Princess Mareleau!” King Verdian repeated. His face turned red as silent moments passed and the balcony doors remained closed. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was saved from further embarrassment by the slow swing of the double doors.

  The princess stepped out onto the balcony with slow, swaying steps. She was tall and slender with long, willowy limbs and a petite waist. Round, seductive hips and an ivory swell of breasts above her tight bodice added an enticing softness to her frame. Her hair cascaded past her graceful neck down to her waist in rivulets of gold adorned with intricate braids, pearls, and little white rosebuds. She wore a gown of silver and white brocade hemmed with dark blue velvet. Her eyes sparkled like blue sapphires in a porcelain oval of a face. She was perfect in every way.

  Except one.

  Mareleau stood before the balcony rail, arms crossed, hip popped to one side, nose turned up—the epitome of smug. This should have turned me off, I know, but instead I was fascinated. I found her charming and bold, and imagined her yielding that stubborn demeanor just for me. The thought filled me with warmth, a sense of home and romance and everything I’d ever imagined I would want with my future queen. This was the woman I was going to marry. I was sure of it.

  I realized I was being watched, which pulled me from my pleasant thoughts. I turned and met the hard gaze of my twin brother, Larylis. His eyes were pleading; I could almost hear him begging me not to want her. As much as I loved my brother, I knew—we both knew—his desires were useless. I was Prince Teryn, heir to our father’
s throne as ruler of Mena. Larylis was born too late, too small, and too sickly to be named heir. He was not worthy of Mareleau. I was. And I was willing to do anything to have her.

  * * *

  Larylis

  If only I had been born first. If only I had been born strong and healthy. If only I had been chosen as our father’s heir. If only Teryn wasn’t so damn ambitious. If only he didn’t want Mareleau. If only I could accept my fate and let her go.

  So many if only’s, yet if anything had been any other way, if I had been born first, if I had been born healthy, I never would have loved her.

  And I wouldn’t give that up for the world.

  Teryn stared like a man enchanted, eyes fixated on Mareleau standing silently on her balcony. I had hoped beyond hope that he wouldn’t want her. I knew he would find her beautiful; it was impossible not to. But I didn’t want him to desire her. As I studied Teryn’s awe-stricken face, desire was all I saw. He would call it love, I was sure, but he didn’t know what love was. I did.

  “Please, Teryn.”

  Teryn put his hand on my shoulder. His lips were drawn into a frown but there was an excitement behind his eyes. “I’m sorry, brother, but I must.”

  “You must?” My words were drowned by King Verdian’s booming voice.

  “It is now time for the reading of the poems! First to present his poem is Prince Teryn of Mena, Son of King Arlous and Queen Bethaeny.”

  Teryn’s face turned white as his jaw fell open. The hand he’d placed on my shoulder tightened in an iron grip. For a wonderful, selfish moment, I imagined Teryn would remain frozen in fear. But after only a brief hesitation, he took a deep breath, flashed me an apologetic smile, and stepped forward to read his poem:

  “Oh, what beauty shines from my love fair!

  ’Tis greater and beyond any to compare,

  Her eyes, they glisten like the sea so blue,

  She is as sweet as my love is true,

  Her lips are rosebuds, her skin like a dove,

  Her smile is what my dreams are made of,