Derrick smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. “He’s growing up so fast.”
“Shut up,” I said with a grin. I turned back to Iskandor. “Are you up for this?”
Iskandor looked me in the eye. “I’m ready.”
I was glad to hear it, but suddenly, everything started swirling around me again. I saw Derrick try to catch me, but he was too late.
CHAPTER 13
I woke up to find two tiny men standing on my chest.
“Nope, him not dead,” Mishap said, then he stretched his hand out to Tandem.
Tandem sighed and put something in Mishap’s hand. “Damn it.” Then, knowing he said something he probably shouldn’t have, he quickly changed his tune. “I mean, I’m glad you’re alright, Aidan. You dying wouldn’t have been any fun to deal with.”
“I’ll bet,” I mumbled. “What was the wager?”
“Me bet two grass seeds you still alive,” Mishap replied. “Me win.”
I frowned at them. “What do you guys do with grass seeds?”
Tandem looked at me as if I had two heads. “Grow grass.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“How are you feeling, Lord Aidan?” A middle-aged healer asked as he approached.
“Well, I woke up to find two brownies standing on my chest, and for a moment, I thought I had died and gone to the Abyss.”
The brownies stood there with their hands on their tiny hips. I smiled at them to let them know I was kidding.
“Other than that, and all due respect, because I know all the healers in Delmar are among the best in the world, but I long for the day when I don’t have to see this place again.”
The healer smiled. “That’s the way all people should think. Fortunately, I have good news—no severe injuries or sickness, just minor starvation and moderate dehydration, plus exhaustion from spell casting. You’ve been semi-conscious at various times, and you ate some soup and drank some water. You’re looking better already.”
That was good news, and I was happy for that, because I could hardly handle any more bad news.
“Soup smell awful,” Mishap said. “Me sick from terrible odor.”
“It has healing herbs in it,” the healer responded.
“Me rather die,” Mishap replied.
“My fingers are crossed on that one,” came Kirra’s voice from the door as she strolled in. Her voice was slightly muffled from the pear she was eating. “Mr. Healer, you need to do something about this place—it’s crawling with bugs.”
“A thief is a much bigger problem than bugs,” Tandem said, arms crossed.
“That depends on who you ask,” Kirra responded, then she gestured toward me. She took another bite of her pear. “You’re sure he’s not sick? I think he’s some kind of rare disease or something. You want to check him again?”
“No such luck,” I replied. “Maybe next time.”
Kirra crossed her fingers in front of her. “One can hope.”
“How may I serve you, Lady Kirra?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.
The infamous thief shrugged. “I highly doubt there’s anything useful you can do for me, though I appreciate the offer. I merely came to see how you were doing.”
I smiled. “I appreciate that. I’ll be fine. Look, about before—”
Kirra cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Skrull has dealt with far worse than that. You were distraught.”
I nodded. “Thank you. But that doesn’t excuse what I said to you, what I called you.”
Kirra chuckled. “What, a thief? I am a thief!”
“But you’re far from worthless,” I responded.
Kirra shrugged. “Trust me when I tell you, Aidan, I’ve been called far worse. As I said, you were distraught. Let’s chalk it up to you not being in your right mind and leave it at that.”
I nodded.
Kirra took a couple steps forward and put her hand on my arm. “I know that Prissy Pants and I don’t usually get along, but … you’re my friend, and she means a lot to you, so I’ll help you get her back.”
Coming from the Queen of the Thieves, that really meant a lot. I grabbed hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Lady Mirabelle much prettier than you,” Mishap said, clearly proud to take a shot at Kirra. “Much nicer too.”
“Look where that got her,” Kirra replied in a low voice, then she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Aidan—I spoke without thinking.”
I didn’t respond.
“You and I don’t always get along either,” Kirra went on, “but I’ve always seen you as like a nephew, or a much younger brother. And the rift between you and Mirabelle—that was because you promised to keep my secret. You kept your word even though it caused problems with the woman you love. When we get her back, you have my word that I will tell her the truth.”
I was overcome with far too many emotions. “Thank you, Kirra.”
She smiled. “Don’t mention it. You may be unbearable to deal with sometimes, but your heart is always in the right place.”
There was a short silence. “Is there any more word?” I asked.
“More of the same,” she answered. “Mirabelle’s still alive and for the most part, none the worse for wear. I have to admit, these annoying little insects are quite useful. Still hate them though. I tried to shoot one of them from a slingshot into Lake Apera—the one who talks funny. He didn’t like that too much.”
“You try to kill me!” Mishap shouted.
Kirra shrugged. “Perhaps you two cockroaches shouldn’t have put tree sap on the handle of my bow.” The brownies giggled at this. “Besides, that stupid pixie probably would have caught you before you hit the water anyway.” Kirra turned her attention to me. “I think she likes him or something. They’re always hanging around each other and the other brownie is always yelling at the first brownie—ugh, can’t I just step on them?”
“That none of nobody’s business!” Mishap yelled.
“Yeah … we’re handling it internally,” Tandem said, clearly not happy.
“No, Kirra, you cannot,” I replied with a chuckle.
Kirra sighed. “Anyway, Iskandor is recovering too. His wing was badly damaged. When he shifts to human form, he looks the same, but he’s clearly in pain. Little Brainiac says he’ll make a full recovery.”
That was good to hear. Kirra’s nicknames for everyone made me smile a little.
Suddenly, Derrick burst in the door. “Aidan, someone just arrived in the city asking for you. He says he’s from Longchester.”
***
It didn’t take long for me to respond to Derrick’s words. Before I knew it, I was down the stairs and outside the White Castle, Kirra and Derrick close behind. Because I wasn’t fully recovered yet, I got dizzier the faster I moved—but I didn’t care. When I got outside, I saw a crowd (including Iskandor, Timor, Aurora and Ceiridwen, who was floating nearby) congregating on the dirt walkway near the Garden of Rememberance. We headed straight for them. The crowd parted upon seeing us, revealing a man who had clearly seen better days. He was short and bald, his clothes were filthy, and he looked to be very weak, nearly collapsed on the ground. But when he looked up at me, I saw light blue eyes that held a certain strength.
He must have had some strength to travel alone from Longchester to Delmar; on top of it all, he appeared to be starving.
When he saw me, he immediately became hysterical. “Lord Aidan! You must help me! Longchester has been taken over by the Ther-lor—”
He seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating, so I tried to calm him down, despite the fact that I was very anxious to hear what he had to say. “Sir, sir … please try and relax.” As I said that, irony pierced me, as I remember everyone trying to calm me down after Mirabelle had been taken. That hadn’t turned out well either.
I returned my attention to the man, who was still very distraught. “What is your name?”
“Tam, my lord,” the man answered. He was still weari
ng that look of desperation.
“Tam,” I repeated, “please tell me what happened.”
Tam tried to take a few breaths to calm himself down, but it didn’t seem to work. “I have been away from Longchester for quite some time—I am merely a humble trader, and I travel to nearby towns and cities to sell my wares. When I returned home, the gates wouldn’t open. I saw those awful men atop the walls—their skin black as coal, their crimson eyes …” Tam paused for a moment and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to shake off the terrible memory.
“I stood outside those walls,” Tam went on, “trying to figure out what I was going to do. My wife and son are in there …” The man stopped, breaking down into tears.
I glanced at the others—all wore either blank expressions or slight looks of concern. I felt bad for this man, but …
Why had he asked specifically for me?
Ceiridwen floated down and settled herself on Tam’s shoulder, attempting to comfort him. I gave Tam some time to try to compose himself. As I glanced about, my gaze focused on Kirra, who was staring at Tam with an expression that was clearly suspicious. I frowned—what could Kirra possibly be suspicious about? Did she know something I didn’t?
There wasn’t time to figure that out. I knelt next to the distraught Tam. “Tam, you asked for me. What can I do for you?”
Tam looked at me with red, tear-filled eyes. “King Marion appeared on the wall,” he said, sniffling. “He told me to seek you out in Delmar, that he had something you wanted. He’s requesting the presence of you and your companions at your earliest possible convenience. He says he intends to keep Lady Mirabelle alive until you arrive, but …” he hesitated before finishing, “plans could change.”
Those final words ignited the fires of rage inside me. I was ready to leave right then and there. “Someone get this man something to eat and drink.” I looked at the others. “We leave within the hour.”
Iskandor was instantly in front of me. He was clearly in agony, but he was doing his best to hide it. “Aidan, calm down and think reasonably. You’re still recovering—it will do you no favors to arrive in Longchester at half strength. This man also needs rest before we can begin our journey.”
I stopped, once again glancing at the others. I could tell by the look on Derrick’s face that he felt horrible for me—he knew that Mirabelle being held captive in Longchester was eating me alive, that I wanted nothing more than to get her away from King Marion’s nefarious grasp.
“So be it,” I said in a low voice. “We’ll leave in the morning.”
“Wait, Aidan,” Kirra said, suddenly next to me with her hand on my shoulder. She spoke in low tones. “Something’s not right about this.”
“Like what?” I asked, incredulous and frustrated. “Do you actually think he’s lying? He looks pretty distraught to me.”
“I don’t know,” Kirra admitted after some hesitation. “Just … we need to keep an eye on him. I don’t trust him.”
“Duly noted,” I replied in a haughty tone. Kirra didn’t seem to have anything else to add, so I left the crowd of people and stormed off into the city.
***
There was only one destination for me at the moment. The place where Mirabelle and I had fallen in love. The place where, time and again, we had spent time together looking out over Lake Apera, just enjoying each other’s company.
I stood upon the southern walls of Delmar, wishing she was here with me now. More than anything else, I just wanted her to be safe. Other than that, I had plenty enough to worry about with Sirak and the Ther-lor—knowing that she was being held captive somewhere, suffering, was just too much to bear.
One could rightly say that being captured and tortured was part of the job, an occupational hazard. But Mirabelle was no mere damsel in distress—this was probably the first time in her life where she was truly vulnerable. She wouldn’t be dealing with it well.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. Hang on, my love. I’m coming.
“Aidan.”
Startled, I hurriedly wiped the tears from my face.
“There is no need to hide your tears from me, Aidan,” Timor said. “I’d be more concerned if you weren’t crying.”
I blew out a shaky breath. “What can I do for you, Timor?”
“Nothing,” the young wizard answered. “We haven’t had a chance to speak since we returned to Delmar.”
I sighed inwardly. Timor had lived a sheltered life, focused almost entirely on his study of magic. As such, he didn’t have much experience interacting with people, and would likely not realize that at this point in time, I really wanted to be left alone.
But it was not to be, and I wasn’t going to give him a hard time over it. Besides …
“I haven’t thanked you for saving me in Min Lenoras, Timor.”
He was next to me, leaning forward on the wall. “No thanks necessary. You needed help, and I helped. That is all.”
“How did you find out?” I asked.
“I arrived in Delmar the day after you and Iskandor left. The dragon had just returned—he was beside himself with grief. He was saying he never should have let you go.”
And now Iskandor had gotten injured trying to save me … I felt horrible.
“Everyone knew you were gone by that point, and they knew where,” Timor continued. “Iskandor was desperate to go back and save you, but even as mighty as he is, he didn’t know how. King Baladir offered the assistance of the White Army, and I came up with the plan.”
“It was your plan?” I asked. The wizard nodded.
“It was a good plan,” I said.
“Of course,” Timor answered. “I knew what I was doing.”
I smiled inwardly—Timor wasn’t trying to be cocky or arrogant. In his mind, he was just being logical.
“How is Iskandor?” I asked.
“He’ll recover in time,” Timor answered. “The missile tore through the interfemoral membrane of his wing. In dragon form, he won’t be able to fly, of course. In human form, he’ll be weaker than normal due to the injury. It’ll also take him longer to shift from dragon to human and vice versa. I mixed together a concoction of Jewelweed and Aloe Vera leaves to sooth his pain and aid his recovery.”
I nodded in understanding. “Thank you.”
“So … why do we have a child with us?” Timor asked.
“She’s a necromancer. Narissara thought she could be of some help, which she has been.”
“It’s unorthodox, but logical, I suppose. Necromancers are considered evil by nature and aren’t likely to respond to a call for help, which doesn’t happen often.”
“So why didn’t you stick around in Severance?” I asked him.
Timor hesitated before he answered. “I had broken the laws of magic. I knew that walking into the Mage’s Tower and telling the truth would likely result in immediate imprisonment. I tried to lie, but—” He lowered his head sheepishly—“I am not a very good liar. Narissara saw through me immediately, but there seemed to be a bit of compassion on her face—I believe she knew that I had faced some horrible trial to be where I was. But I was afraid that it wouldn’t matter, and so I took the first opportunity to depart as quickly as I could.”
I frowned in thought. “Narissara seems very strong and reasonable. We cleared your story with her—she said to let you know that when you return to the tower, she’ll reinstate you as a mage apprentice. The issue of time travel was resolved due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’.”
“Thank you.” Timor was quiet for a moment. “She is very strong—she’s had to overcome a great deal of adversity herself. In her young adult years, she was very cocky and ambitious. Desperate to prove herself, she orchestrated an accord with a demon to increase her already formidable power.”
“A demon?” I asked, intrigued.
Timor nodded. “There are many types of demons in the world, both living and dead. The ones that are dead seek to cause chaos in the spectral realm or to find a way to reenter the world of t
he living. Some will attempt to possess a living body while others strike deals. Not long after she made the deal with the demon, Narissara realized she had made a terrible mistake. The demon fought for control, but Narrisara fought to keep it suppressed. She confessed her error to the mages. They were displeased, but they assisted her. More than anything else, she fights to keep her emotions in check—if she becomes too angry or emotional, the demon becomes stronger and has a better chance of gaining control of Narissara’s body.”
I nodded in realization. That explains her calm, even demeanor. In a way, I can sympathize with her …
And on the trail of that thought—
Is that what’s wrong with me?
I was suddenly fearful at the idea of a demon living inside me. Is that what the elder dragon did to me? Did it even work that way?
I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I didn’t realize Timor was still talking. He was saying something about Narissara’s husband, a farmer who lived just outside the city of Severance.
“Are you alright, Aidan?” Timor was asking me.
I tried to shake myself out of my confused, fearful stupor. Gods above, I don’t think I’d realized until that moment how much I truly had on my shoulders …
“I need to go get some rest,” I said, suddenly feeling weary. “I feel like my back is going to collapse from all this weight.”
Timor looked confused. “You don’t seem to be any larger than the last time I saw you …”
I smiled inwardly. I didn’t realize how much I missed Timor’s complete obliviousness to sarcasm.
I put my hand in Timor’s shoulder. “It’s good to have you back.”
As I started to walk away, Timor spoke again. “Aidan.”
I stopped and glanced at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“I apologize for what happened.”
I turned to face him and frowned, confused. “Apologize for what?”
“Losing the Rod of Therl to Sirak.”
I sighed inwardly, and it suddenly occurred to me that in Timor’s sheltered life, it was likely that he had never truly failed at anything before. I’m sure he struggled initially when he was learning his magic, but he had probably never been involved in a situation like this before, where failure had truly serious consequences. He had never been depended on to do something important. He was taking his failure at the Battle of Delmar very hard. He hadn’t been the same since the battle; he had become a bit more bitter, more despondent. I felt bad for him—no matter what issues we may have had in the past, I had no doubt of his loyalty and I knew he did the best he could to help us.
The Treachery Of A Weasel Page 14