“Timor,” I said, my voice soothing and sincere, “it could have happened to any of us. I—” I hesitated as I felt a pang of pain in my heart—“I failed to save Garridan. I still have a hard time dealing with that, but deep down, I know there’s nothing I could have done. I don’t doubt that the same is true for you.”
Timor was silent for a moment. “Perhaps,” he muttered. Then he turned from me, looking out over the water, into the horizon.
I tried to think of something to say, but my mind came up blank, and I knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway. Timor was going to have to learn to deal with his trials, the same as all of us. I turned and left to get some rest.
CHAPTER 14
I lay in a soft, luxurious bed. Mirabelle lay next to me, her back to me. Her very presence was enough to sooth my inner demons, to help me sleep better at night. I was sure Mirabelle herself had no idea how much good she had done in my life just by being there.
I smiled down at her, listening to her soft breathing. I rubbed her long, beautiful red hair—she sighed peacefully in her sleep.
I had to tell her, right that moment. I had to tell her how much she meant to me.
I lightly touched her shoulder. “My love?”
She didn’t respond.
“Mirabelle?” I said softly, lightly pulling on her shoulder to turn her over.
She fell onto her back.
I gasped, as I saw the blood trickling from her mouth. Her eyes were lifeless, and her skin felt ice cold and stiff.
“No!” I cried, grabbing her shoulders. “Mirabelle! My love, wake up!”
But she didn’t, and before my eyes, her body began to rapidly decompose in front of me. The purple eyes disappeared, leaving dark, empty eye sockets. Her skin melted away, revealing the white of her bones.
“No …” I sobbed. “I failed you, my love … I’m so sorry …”
My body jerked, shaking me from my horrible dream.
I lay on a cold stone floor, in a dark and deserted hallway of the White Castle. I’d awoken in a cold sweat, my heart beating heavily in my chest. It took me a moment to remember how I’d gotten there.
Then I remembered—I’d gone to find a place to collect my thoughts, someplace I could brood alone. I’d found the hallway and sat against the stone wall, hood over my head. I must have fallen asleep.
The nightmare was vivid in my mind. I remembered the feel of her skin, the horror I felt when I realized she was dead …
But she’s not, I reminded myself.
The thought brought me only the mildest of comforts. She wasn’t dead, but she was being held captive by a madman. It was time to go and free her—how, I had no idea, but I would find a way, even if it cost me my own life.
And if she is dead when I arrive, my mind spoke, no one will be safe. I can assure you that, Marion … Norvin …
I could feel the lightning crackling in my body, the anger surging my powers. I forced myself to relax as best I could, taking long, deep breaths. Then I got up to prepare to leave.
The next morning was a blur. Somehow, it seemed to speed by so fast and take forever to end. As I expected, I got little to no sleep, and as a result I was up and pacing in front of the White Castle before the sun has risen. I knew in my heart that everyone was feeling at least a similar sense of urgency to what I was feeling, but the longer I waited for everyone to be ready, the more it felt like nobody cared. It was making me anxious and very agitated.
Finally, everyone assembled in front of the castle. Iskandor was there, in human form, looking very weak and tired. Derrick and Kirra were getting their gear together; Timor was standing stoically nearby—he had spent the morning shopping for herbs, potions, and other spell components. Aurora was looking at some flowers nearby, the brownies safely in her pouch chattering away. Ceiridwen was fluttering around. Tam was ready, and seemed every bit as anxious as me to be gone—his eyes were darting this way and that, and it looked as if he would jump out of his skin if he saw his shadow.
Then King Baladir emerged from the castle to bid us farewell. As usual, this brought about general feelings of anxiety I usually had, but on this day it was worse because I was anxious to be off.
Baladir approached Derrick first. “You are all free to use horses from the stables. That will hasten your journey.”
Derrick bowed. “Thank you, my king.”
The king then approached me. He hesitated before he spoke. “Aidan … Mirabelle is a great soldier and a better person. I know how important she is to you. May the gods bring her back to your side.”
I really wanted to be angry, or even annoyed that the king would wish me luck in anything. I don’t know what it was, but on this day, his words meant a lot to me.
But I wasn’t quite ready for full forgiveness. “Thank you, Your Highness,” I replied with a slight bow.
I could see that Baladir could hear the sincerity in my voice, and he gave me a small smile as I rose. He turned to address the others. “May the gods bless you all on this journey.”
The others bowed, and then we were off. I turned to Derrick, who smiled lightly and nodded in approval. The others all seemed to be walking too slowly, and soon I had passed them all and was walking in front by myself.
***
The day was nice—the sun was shining warmly and brightly overhead, and Lake Apera was calm and soothing as we rode along it, heading east toward Longchester. We all had our own horses, except for Aurora, who sat behind Derrick on his.
I knew in my heart we were moving at a nice, steady pace, but once again, it seemed too slow for me. The anxiety had lessened slightly now that we were finally moving, but all I could think about was Mirabelle being held captive in a city of Ther-lor. Before I knew it, I was once again ahead of the group, all by myself.
Not helping the anxiety was this strange, eerie feeling that we were being watched. I found myself constantly looking all around us, but I never saw any evidence that there was anyone there.
I could hear them whispering behind me. The more I heard them, the more positive I was that they were speaking of me. I ignored it at first, but I finally got annoyed.
Finally, I’d had enough. “Woah,” I said, and the horse stopped. As soon as he did, I jumped off and turned to face the others.
“What?” I said, arms outstretched. “If anyone has anything to say to me, say it right now!”
There was silence, and then Derrick was the first to speak up. “This is a trap, Aidan.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I asked incredulously. “I know it’s a trap! But I don’t care—I will tear that city down around Marion’s ears before I let anything happen to Mirabelle!”
“And we commend you for that, Aidan,” Timor said softly. “But it won’t hurt to discuss strategies in order to keep everyone safe.”
I put my hands on my hips and sighed. “All of you coming along with me … it means the world to me. It really does. But I didn’t ask you to—if anyone doesn’t want to do this, you can go back. No hard feelings. But I’m going in there if I have to go alone.”
“Because that worked out so well last time,” Kirra said bluntly. “Don’t be stupid—no one expects you to go in alone.”
I took a breath before I responded. “Yes, there is a chance we may all die … but isn’t that usually the case? How is this any different than any other time we’ve been in battle?”
“We’ve never walked into an entire city of soulless monsters before,” Derrick replied grimly.
I pondered Derrick’s concerns—not that there was very much to ponder. It was pretty clear we were walking into a death trap.
“You’re right, Derrick,” I replied evenly. “What we’re doing is very dangerous. There is a very good chance we won’t come out alive. If at any time anyone wants to turn back, they may do so. But I have to go.”
“Aidan,” Derrick said as I turned to mount my horse, “I know you love her—”
“That’s not the only reason,” I snapped, cutt
ing him off. I stopped and tried to collect myself, remembering that it was my friends I was talking to. “My father, my uncle, Agatha, Garridan …” Tears blurred my vision as I tried to continue. But a sudden lump in my throat made it very difficult. “Everyone that gets too close to me dies …”
The emotion was too much for me to handle. My knees suddenly weak, I collapsed to the ground, sobbing in fury and anguish. As my head hung, I could see my tears falling from my face, disappearing into the ground. My long, stringy black hair hung over my face, mercifully hiding it from view of the others.
I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.
Moving my head slightly, I could see steel boots standing in front of me. Before I truly knew what I was doing, I pulled myself up to Derrick, who was kneeling beside me, and wrapped my arms around him tightly. My sobs wracked my body.
“I won’t … let it happen … to her …” I managed to gasp.
“It won’t, little brother,” Derrick replied in a low voice. “It won’t …”
***
The next couple days went by uneventfully. The mood of the group was rather somber, almost subdued; it wasn’t the usual comradery I was accustomed to. But given the events we were dealing with and what we were about to walk into (as well as my meltdown), it wasn’t difficult to understand.
Of course, I wasn’t helping the situation either—I had far too much on my mind.
We all sat in separate groups, either silent or speaking in very low voices. Derrick and Kirra sat together, as usual, with Aurora sitting silently nearby, staring at her straw doll. The brownies were sitting next to Aurora, uncharacteristically silent. Timor sat alone, reading from his spellbook. Ceiridwen fluttered this way and that, occasionally landing on my shoulder and sitting there—a quiet show of support. Tam kept to himself, nervously chewing on his nails.
Iskandor, on the other hand, was laying on a bedroll near the fire, resting. This was unusual for him too, but in his weakened state, he needed all the rest he could get. I felt awful for him—he had gotten hurt trying to save me, and not once had he complained about it.
Someday, I’ll pay him back for all he’s done for me …
The biggest part of our problems was not knowing what Marion had in mind for us. The only logical explanation was that he planned to kill us all, perhaps making Mirabelle watch as a way of punishing her. Given Mirabelle’s past with the king, it made sense, though I wasn’t sure what it accomplished in the long run.
But King Marion was a spoiled child who was likely crazy—it follows that he wouldn’t be thinking about the long run.
And what about Norvin? He would be there—what’s his stake in all of this?
Probably just to watch me die.
I looked around at the group. The bottom line was … they were all here for me. I wished I could just leave them behind, go into Longchester alone. But Kirra was right—it didn’t work out so well in Min Lenoras. And I couldn’t—I wouldn’t—leave Mirabelle. I would happily die first before I left her to her fate.
I took one last glance at the group before leaving to try to rest. I’m sorry, everybody … I can’t turn back now.
I tossed and turned for what seemed like forever. Finally, I was just starting to drift off to sleep when I woke with a start at the sounds of shouting in the distance.
I saw bolt upright, my head darting back and forth. The others were fast asleep; they hadn’t heard a thing.
Then I heard the yelling again—now out of my sleepy state, I recognized it immediately.
Kirra.
She wasn’t shouting out of fear or pain—it sounded a lot more like she was arguing.
I sighed. “Damn it …” Seeing no reason to wake the others, I pulled myself up from the tree I had been laying against and set off in search of her.
She shouldn’t be hard to find … just follow the argument …
Her voice guided me through the trees, away from the clearing we had settled in. As I got closer, I could make out Kirra’s words.
“Show me that message! What did you write? Tell me!”
Then, Tam’s voice, somewhat pleading, but mostly angry. “It’s not your business! Leave me alone!”
“Show me what’s on that parchment, or by the gods, I’ll—”
Kirra had drawn her dagger, had it poised high, about to stab the frightened Tam, who was cowering against a giant boulder. But before she could, I stepped in and grabbed the arm wielding the dagger by the wrist.
Kirra spun around, alarmed. Finding that it was me, she yanked her arm away. “Hey! What are you doing? I wasn’t really going to stab him … yet, anyway.”
I shook my head in confusion. “What’s the matter with you?”
“He’s writing something, and he won’t show me what it is!”
I shrugged slowly, staring at her incredulously. “So …”
She grabbed me by the arm, dragging me away from the bewildered Tam. When she judged that we were far enough away, she faced me with narrow eyes and spoke in a harsh whisper. “He could be a spy, sent here to infiltrate us! Don’t you think it’s odd, that Marion regains control of his country, and suddenly, someone shows up in Delmar, claiming to be from Longchester, telling us that Marion has a message for you?”
“I admit that it seems a bit strange, but nothing about his situation is normal,” I retorted.
“It seems strange because something’s not right!” Kirra fired back. “I am telling you that that man is hiding something!”
“You have no evidence to support your theory, Kirra,” I stated flatly. “You’re terrorizing the poor man for no reason.”
Kirra took a step toward me, practically in my face. “I have my instincts, Aidan. Instincts that have kept me alive for a long time. Don’t you feel it, Aidan? That feeling that we’re being watched?”
I couldn’t deny it—I nodded.
“See?” Kirra held her arms outstretched. “You’re not sure yourself! He could be writing a message to his king, stating that he’s found us!”
“He doesn’t seem like the type to me …” I faltered.
Kirra sighed in exasperation. “Don’t be naïve, Aidan … why, because he seems so innocent? Isn’t that how you’d want to seem, if you were a spy?”
“I’m fully aware of how espionage works, Kirra,” I replied dryly. “He’s given us no reason to believe that he’s that treacherous. Perhaps things are as they are—have you considered that?”
“Perhaps I could sprout four more legs and skitter around like an insect!” Kirra growled. “Mark my words, Aidan … if we don’t do something about this now, we are going to regret it!”
I sighed, knowing there was no chance to calm her down. “Whatever he’s writing doesn’t concern—”
“What goes on here?”
Kirra and I froze in place at Iskandor’s voice.
I turned to face him—Timor was standing next to him, rubbing his eyes.
“Kirra believes that Tam is a spy from Longchester.”
Iskandor frowned, but didn’t respond.
“That doesn’t seem very plausible—” Timor said.
“What would you know?” Kirra asked, not bothering to keep her voice down any longer. “You never had to deal with spies, or anything, for that matter!”
“Kirra, enough,” Derrick mumbled, stumbling sleepily into view.
I decided enough was enough—my brain was overflowing with fear, anger, and far too much information. I walked back over to Tam, who was still crouched in a fetal position against the boulder.
“May I see the parchment?” I asked politely.
Tam stared at me with tear-filled eyes, an expression on his face that was fear mingled with embarrassment. He hesitated, but finally handed the paper over.
“Thank you,” I said, trying to be as nice to the poor man as possible. I opened the parchment, read what was on it, and gave it back to Tam.
“It’s a note for his mother,” I said in a low voice, glaring at Kirra.
Everyone turned to look at the thief, who was clearly enraged, but I could see behind her angry eyes that she was thinking, trying to come up with another solution.
“Oh, no,” Derrick said in the most deadpan voice, “Tam’s mother is going to kill us when we arrive in Longchester. Ahhh.” He waved his hands in the air in a half-hearted attempt to look scared.
“Something else is going on,” Kirra growled.
“Let it go, Kirra,” I said. “I’m going back to get some rest.”
The others mumbled their agreement, and we all went back to camp. Tam came with us. Kirra didn’t follow, and I was too anxious, irritated, and tired to care.
***
The next day was just as quiet at the previous two. Everybody stayed splintered off into their own little groups, not saying anything unless it was necessary. The quiet nature of our journey only added to my anxiety—even talking to Iskandor didn’t seem like much of an option.
Kirra now traveled apart from the rest of the group, her eyes fixed on Tam. Even after the shenanigans of the previous night, she was still convinced that Tam was some sort of spy or assassin or something. I couldn’t figure out what she had against the seemingly harmless merchant, but I finally decided it didn’t matter—I had enough to worry about.
We traveled a little later into the night to get to Longchester as soon as possible. The day had been on the moody side, with low-hanging clouds and a chill in the air, but it hadn’t rained. The night wasn’t much better, but again—at least it wasn’t raining on our heads. There were trees on both sides of the trail, and I knew there was a mountain range nearby, but it couldn’t be seen in the moody darkness.
The Treachery Of A Weasel Page 15