The Raie'Chaelia (Legend of the Raie'Chaelia, Book One 1)

by Melissa Douthit

  Chalice could feel the anger brewing inside her. She shook her head in exasperation. “So, my family was betrayed by their own people?!”

  “Believe me, those who defected back then woefully regret it now. They had no idea what kind of person Dar’Maalda is. He is ruthless and cruel. The Realm now is a different world than it was under Duquaine. Once, a person could travel unmolested from one end to the other. That is not so anymore.” He examined his pipe again as regret shadowed his face.

  “You know, I’m wondering why the Terravail and the Naeon are not allowed to marry,” Jeremiah said, still dwelling on the subject.

  Ben looked up from his pipe. “Well, officially they could, but traditionally they never have. Originally, I believe it was because the Terravail and the Naeon were not interested in it. Later on, it developed into an unspoken, unwritten law that came to be called the Covenant and marriage between the races became taboo. For that reason, it is very rare to find a mixed couple. It happens maybe once in several hundred years, but even then, those unions rarely produce children.”

  “Why not?” Jeremiah asked, frowning.

  “Because of the nature of the two people. They are both human, but they are vastly different from each other and it has everything to do with Terravailian ability. Because of it, there is a huge gap between the two worlds, not just geographically, but also culturally. They live very different lives. If you have ever been to a city on the west coast, you will see how different it is from the Naeonic villages of the east.”

  All of a sudden, a memory came back to Chalice. An image of white towers with golden spires gleaming in the sunlight formed in her mind. Papa had taken her to Ielieria once when she was five. From the fragments of the memory, the city was very different in every way possible.

  “Also, because of their power, the Terravail have sustained a higher socioeconomic position in the Realm. I’m not implying that it’s right or just because I know there is prejudice on both sides. What I am saying is that it naturally evolved this way. If a Terravailian chooses to marry a Naeon, he or she has to renounce their position, along with their ability, and move to the east. The problem is, because of their nature, the Terravailian will always be pulled back. For reasons I will teach you later, they cannot live without their daieoden.”

  “Can’t the couple live in the west then? Alaenia did.”

  Ben shook his head. “For a Naeon, it is very difficult, almost impossible, to live in the west. Alaenia was a rare case because of Miria. Miria was born in Canton to the Biernas, a Naeonic family.”

  “She was Marie’s sister?” Chalice asked.

  He nodded. “Yes, her twin sister, in fact. Alaenia and Miria were childhood friends. Miria first started showing Terravailian signs when she was young. That can happen. It is also another thing that is very rare, especially if one has a twin that does not. She met Duquaine when she started her training. They fell in love and married. Back then, he was the Duque of Quaine, or more properly, of Iel Quaine. That is where he gets his name.”

  That stirred a memory in Chalice. “The Duque of the Gate? There it is again, Jeremiah! The gate.” That word kept cropping up. She wanted to know why.

  Ben quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “Sebastian taught you Angaulic?”

  “Yeah. Show him your father’s note, Jeremiah.” Jeremiah removed the notebook from his bag and read it slowly to them. Then, he handed it to Ben.

  “So they escaped. Good,” Ben said, reading the note silently in his hand.

  “He tells me I’m supposed to send the message to someone, but I don’t know who.”

  “Don’t worry, you have just done it.”

  “It was you, then?” Jeremiah asked and Ben nodded.

  “Ben, what is the gate?” Chalice asked.

  “The gate is the entrance to Portalis, the portal city to the underground and the Resistance.”

  There was a loud, collective gasp throughout the room. Chalice thought that the word Portalis sounded familiar. Where had she heard that before? Sensing their astonishment, Ben’s eyebrows shot up over his pipe.

  “You didn’t think we were just going to sit back and let Dar’Maalda take over did you? There is a Resistance and he knows about it.”

  “This keeps getting better and better!” Tycho exclaimed, sitting up in his seat. He had taken the ice off of his eye and the injury it had sustained was barely noticeable.

  “So the underground cities still exist then!” Chalice said. “I knew it! I knew Papa wasn’t telling me the truth. He said that he didn’t know when I asked him. Where is this gate?”

  Ben nodded. “Oh yes, they still exist. They are alive and well, in fact. There is a lot Sebastian didn’t tell you and for good reason. It is the same reason why I can’t tell you where the gate is. If someone were listening in on our conversation, it could be disastrous. I will be able to show you where it is someday, but I can only tell you what you need to know for now. There is information that is so secret, we dare not speak of it above ground. Up here, walls have ears. I am risking enough as it is.”

  “Well, wait a minute!” Tycho broke in, apparently ignoring what Ben had just said. “The gate would be located in Quaine. I’m assuming that’s a city somewhere?”

  Chalice shook her head. “No, Tyke, it’s not on my map.”

  Ben looked keenly at Chalice. “Good observation, Chalice. No, you won’t find it on any map that is in print today. The name of the village was changed a long time ago. Long enough that the people’s memory of it has faded and the location has fallen into obscurity. All this time, it has been kept that way. The Duque of Quaine became a title. Your father held that title when he came of age and like all of his predecessors before him, he did not live there. He oversaw the group of people that protect it. Now, even the title has changed and Duquaine kept the name.”

  Concentrating on what he had just said, Chalice realized that something wasn’t adding up. “Wait! If it’s been kept hidden all this time, then there is another reason for the secrecy besides the Resistance.”

  Ben cocked his head and studied her again. “Another very good observation! You are a smart young woman, Chalice, but let’s not talk about it until we get to Portalis, alright?” She nodded. She had assumed that that was where he intended to take them.

  Kirna and Tycho exploded with enthusiasm. “We’re going there?!”

  “Yes, that is the plan. We need to get Jeremiah back to his parents and Chalice needs to begin her training. I think it is necessary for you two to come along as well, for your protection, and because I have taught you too much already. I was hoping to avoid involving you, which is why I didn’t introduce myself right away in the dining room, but when the men attacked, I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I’m glad you did involve us,” Kirna said, looking over at her best friend.

  “Hold on!” Jeremiah protested. “Chalice and I are going to Chainbridge. Our families were taken there and I’m not going to let my brothers or my friends remain captives.”

  They, too, had set out with a plan and he wasn’t willing to change it just because Ben had fallen in with them. He recounted the events of the night Chalice had arrived at the farm and what they had set out to do. After he was done, Tycho sat, gaping in disbelief.

  “Umm, let me get this straight,” he said. “You want to travel all the way to Culmanoq to storm a huge fortress, teeming with trained killers who want us all dead, and then just walk out the front door with hundreds of prisoners? Are you crazy?!”

  Ben shook his head doubtfully. “You’ll never get past the front gate.” Then, he paused, frowning down at his pipe in thought. “But there might be a way. We can talk about it later. Not here. There is a village a day’s ride northeast of here named Cedarwood. It is on the way to Chainbridge. It is a safer place than Woodrock, with less poverty and crime. Granted, no place above ground is safe, but it will still serve us better. I have friends there.”

  Chalice thought about the village and how impo
verished it was. “Ben, why is this village so poor? It is the exact opposite of Canton. I’ve never seen a village like this, even through my entire trip to the Trui’Quirré.”

  “Because of the taxes,” he replied. “You traveled directly east from Canton didn’t you?” She nodded. “Dar’Maalda has a tendency to tax the Naeon heavily. He is very hard on them. However, the villages in that area of the Realm where you traveled, along with Branbury, produce goods that are valuable to him. As long as they make an annual contribution to him, he leaves them alone. Villages on the other side of the Trui’Quirré, to their relief, are protected by the mountains and rarely see a tax collector. It is too far away from the west, for one thing, and too many have died trying to cross the middle passes.”

  Chalice felt a jolt of pride at that. She had done it after all. Ben puffed a ring of smoke and continued: “The coastal villages do, however, receive a less-than-friendly visit every so often from a royal trading vessel, a name of convenience. As you can imagine, they do not visit to trade, just to take. That is why these villages keep a stash of stored goods at all times.”

  “Yup,” Jeremiah interrupted. “‘A few bushels a day, keeps the tax collector away.’ That’s a saying in Branbury.”

  Ben nodded. “Yes. Anyhow, villages like Woodrock have never been of any particular use to him. Before he came to power, Woodrock was a thriving community of trappers that received frequent visits from the Marchiri who were interested in the fur trade of the east. Over the years, because of taxes, business declined and people began to leave. The ones who have stayed are mostly the poor farmers who have nothing else other than their land, at least for now. Dar’Maalda has given them no mercy, leaving them in abject poverty.” Chalice’s face twisted with a scowl and Ben noticed her expression. “Yes, you are starting to see what kind of a man he is.”

  “I can’t wait to free the people at Chainbridge,” she said. “It will be a slap in his face!” The courage she had felt in Bunejab’s village came back to her. It steadied her resolve.

  “We’re not there yet,” Ben said, smiling. He was impressed with her spirit. “We will be soon, although I will have to change my original plan. Even the best plans must change if it becomes necessary.”

  Jeremiah noticed Bunejab on the bed. It struck him that he had been silent through the entire discussion, not even asking one question.

  “You knew about all of this, didn’t you, Bunejab?” Bunejab nodded at Jeremiah with a wide smile. Jeremiah turned to Ben. “How did he know to bring us here? And how did you even know Canton and Branbury were attacked?”

  “Did my grandfather send you a pigeon?” Chalice asked as the memory of Papa running to the birdcage flashed in her mind. “It was the last thing I saw him do.”

  “Yes. I was on my way to Canton. I was coming to collect you, to begin your training. Once I received the message from Sebastian, I realized that I had to change my course and head toward the Auramont Vale.”

  “What did his message say exactly?”

  “It said that Dar’Maalda had found out about the prophecy and sent his men to raid the village, looking for you. The village was burning, so Sebastian sent you to Nathaniel’s farm, where he thought you would be safe, I’m sure. Then, Nathaniel would have shown you the book to teach you about your family. In the note, he mentions that he also sent the same message to Nathaniel. Here. You can read it yourself.”

  He handed her the letter. She recognized the cursive writing immediately. An emotion stirred inside and she felt the lump in her throat again. Now she understood what Jeremiah must have felt that night he found the letter from his father. Papa’s note read:

  He knows. They are here. Do not come. The village is burning. I’m sending the child to Nathaniel in Branbury. He still has the book. Sending him a message as well.

  “Can I keep this?” she asked.

  “Certainly,” he said, understanding her wish. At the moment, it was the only thing she had of her family. “I sent a letter to Bunejab, asking him to make sure that you arrived and to report back to me. After I received his return message explaining what had occurred in Branbury, I realized that the letter for Nathaniel must have been intercepted. So I sent Bunejab another pigeon telling him to see you safely here and to not reveal anything until I found you. I wanted to make sure that no word of this leaked out or fell upon unsafe ears.”

  Chalice shook her head in frustration. “You know, Ben, what is ironic about all of this is that Dar’Maalda isn’t even looking for me.”

  Ben arched an eyebrow. “What makes you say that? Of course, he is.”

  Jeremiah intervened. “No, she’s right. The morning we saw the Draaquans, Vlaad yelled to one of the men, ‘the Fierian wants him alive.’ They also said they were looking for him when we saw them in the forest. Remember, Chalice?”

  “Yeah, I do. Ben, are you sure that Dar’Maalda found out about the prophecy? Maybe he’s looking for someone else.”

  Ben puffed his pipe and stared at the fire in concentration. “No, it’s almost certainly you,” he said, finally. “From the network of informants we have working in the white palace in Ielieria, we know that he learned about a child of Duquaine and Alaenia in Canton who can defeat him. The fact that he is looking for a young man is interesting. That tells us that he didn’t read the prophecy. He must have heard about it some other way, probably through his spies.”

  Chalice looked a question at him and he explained: “He has spies that infiltrate almost every village in the east. He knows that members of the Resistance are hiding here. In any case, it seems he knows that there is a young person who is a threat to him, but he doesn’t know who it is. And Sebastian’s note only says: ‘the child.’ I’m assuming the letter to Nathaniel said the same thing.”

  Ben smiled wryly, examining his pipe in thought. “Naturally, he would believe this person a man. In his twisted worldview, only a man could be strong enough. To find out that he is being challenged by a young woman will be the greatest insult to him. We must keep this a secret as well. This can work to our advantage.”

  Chalice liked this idea. The less Dar’Maalda knew about her, the better. “Ben,” she said. “Why have you been waiting for me for so long? I’ve been in Canton this whole time. You could have easily come for me a long time ago.”

  “No, I could not have. You cannot be trained until you come of age. In the Terravailian world, that is when you turn eighteen. And your training will be different than the others. With you, we will really be testing our knowledge of Terravailian power. You are eighteen now, I presume.”

  “Yes, but unlike what you said about Queen Miria, I haven’t shown any signs of possessing special powers. I would know, wouldn’t I? And I certainly don’t have a daieoden. So, I must not be Terravailian, only Naeon, like my mother.”

  Chalice was still trying to find a way around it. She didn’t want to accept her place in the Terravailian world. By this time, Jeremiah had risen to stretch his legs and was standing by the window. He stared out of it silently and she wondered what he was thinking.

  Ben shook his head. “You were raised as a Naeon, Chalice, but you do not yet know what it means to be Terravailian. The fact is that you are both. That is what your prophecy means: ‘Born of the blood by one half.’ You are the only known mixed-blood that is alive today, probably the only one that has ever lived. Can you imagine what kind of reaction that might elicit from the people? So you can see why I’ve waited this long to come for you and why we have kept you a secret. Not just because of who you are, but also because of what you are. You are the Raie’Chaelia, the True Princess of Ielieria, and the only known Terravailian-Naeon to exist. It is a fact. At some point, you will have to accept it.”

  Finally, she sighed and nodded.

  “This is so cool! My best friend is a princess!” Kirna exclaimed.

  “No. It’s not, Kirna. I don’t want to be a Terravailian Princess.”

  “Why not?”

  Chalice flitted a glance
out of the corner of her eye at Jeremiah. He was still at the window. Looking down at the Delphaline in her lap, she fingered the symbols etched into its brown leather cover.

  “Because,” she said quietly. “Just because.”

  “You can choose, Chalice,” Ben said, noticing her reluctance. “You can choose not to fulfill your prophecy. If you want, you can walk away from it. It is written in the Delphaline.” At this, Jeremiah turned away from the window and listened sharply.

  “Yeah, I know, the freedom to choose,” Chalice said. Kirna looked confused and Chalice showed her the small passage at the beginning of the book.

  “You know,” Ben continued, “there have been those who have chosen another path and events of the world still progressed in the proper direction without them, or at least, we assume. We can never know what would have happened.”

  And that was it. She knew. Really, she had known since Branbury. She had to choose. It was a choice between the love of her life and her duty to the people. How heartbreaking life could be. It was almost a cruel joke. She stared at the floor in thought.

  “It’s a hard decision to make, I know,” Ben said, mistaking her melancholy. “The passage doesn’t say that you will live through it, only that you will find and return your father. So, I will give you time to think about it. Maybe it is a good thing that we are going to Chainbridge. There, you will be able to see firsthand what you are facing.”

  He paused to stare at her for a moment. “If you do choose your prophecy, then we can begin your training.” He stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Think on it.” Then, he turned to the others. “We have an early start tomorrow. So I think it is time to retire for the night. Kirna, Tycho, I want you two to meet us at dawn at the inn’s stable, saddled and ready to go.” They stood up and nodded. “And be sure to speak of this to no one! Do not tell your cousin why you are leaving or who you are leaving with. I say that for his protection. The less he knows, the better. Remember, there are spies everywhere. Take care riding back to the farm tonight.”