“But why?” Dean asked, his voice breaking as he choked back tears.
“It is not obvious? I did not help set up the quest, as you all believe. It was all my idea. I planned every detail. It was designed to kill you all off, one by one. Then Sam and Tor had to go and ruin everything by first figuring out what was happening, then finding a way to keep his brothers alive. I had not intended to be facing three of you. I needed a way to get hold of the chain before any of you and making Sam hand it to me seemed the perfect revenge.”
“Now I understand,” Tor said. “It was you who made her have those nightmares. You have been using them to plant ideas in her mind.”
“Well done,” Albian said sarcastically. “Thanks to the spell I placed on her pendant, I have been invading her mind, turning her against you and convincing her I was the only one she could really trust.” He looked down at Sam’s unconscious form. “It seems to have worked well.”
“What?” Dean called out, anger replacing his fear for Sam. “The present I bought her is what was causing her bad dreams?” He looked around the room. “Did any of you know?” Nobody replied. They did not need to.
Albian chuckled. “It seems your friends are not as open and honest as they would have you believe.”
“But how can it have been you?” Dean asked, unable to believe he had been responsible for Sam’s suffering. “I brought that necklace from an old man.”
“Do you really think I do not know how to change my appearance,” Albian said disdainfully.
“But I still do not understand why you had to get rid of Dean,” Dal said.
It was her husband who answered. “He had to make sure it was Sam who went to Orion. Dean could easily have gone in her place and if he had been the one to obtain the chain, there was no way he would have handed it over to Albian.”
“So you have been monitoring our progress from the start,” Brodin observed. “Planting the clues as you needed to. You were in Inden before we arrived so you knew exactly when to place the clue on the statue.”
“But how did you know about my painting?” Patrick demanded. “You have never been to my castle.”
Albian laughed at him. “Whatever makes you think that? I have been there many times. Do you really think your pathetic attempts at security could keep me out? I can go wherever I please without anyone ever knowing where I have been.”
“Why did you say ‘the short and the tall may not be present’ in one of the clues?” Tor asked. “Why did you not want either of them here?”
Albian shrugged. “I had no reason to specifically choose them. I wanted to reduce the number of people I would have to confront at the end and they were the first two to spring to mind.”
“There is one thing I do not understand,” Brodin said. “How did you get the start of the quest set up so quickly? It started only a few days after our father’s death.”
Albian smiled. It was not a happy smile. It was cold and sadistic. “That is easy. I had it set up in advance.”
Cirren frowned at him. “But how did you know when father was going to die? It was so unexpected. Are you trying to say you can see into the future?”
Albian sneered at him. “Of course not, you stupid boy. The answer is much simpler than that.” He could not stop the smile from returning to his face as he spoke the words he knew would enrage the Princes. “I killed him.”
Unable to control himself, Tor lunged forwards. Instinctively, Albian stepped backwards, the door preventing him from moving any further. Before Tor could reach his target, Nosmas grabbed him, pinning his arms to his side. “Think about Sam,” the wizard hissed into his ear.
Albian was shaking as he stepped away from the door. “Now I have the chain, the quest is over. I will be the new King. With no-one of royal blood left to stop me, I will marry your mother and become the rightful ruler of Remeny.” Once more he whispered an unintelligible phrase and this time, when he clicked his fingers, he vanished. One second he was there, the next there was no sign of him.
“So what happens now?” Dean asked.
Brodin surprised him by smiling. “As he said, the quest is over. You get to live the rest of your life however you see fit.”
“But what about you three?” He gestured towards where the three Princes were standing as he spoke.
“Us? I guess we die. Sometime soon the need to kill ourselves or each other will overcome us.”
“There must be something we can do,” Ria protested. “Can we not lock you away until you are no longer a danger to yourselves?”
Tor shook his head. “I do not think that will work. The spell will never go away, not until we are all dead.”
“So it has all been for nothing?” Dean asked angrily. “Sam and I have been dragged away from our homes, the life we had together. We have been put through hell to help you with the quest. We have seen friends die, faced death ourselves and for what? For some bastard to run off with the prize at the end?” He could not help sounding bitter. Nobody answered him.
Silence filled the room. There was nothing left to say. The quest was indeed over. Now all they could do was wait for the Princes to die. Dean looked around him, at the people he had learned to love as more than just friends. Nosmas hugged Quartilla to him, stifling her sobs against his chest. Seth and Dal clung to each other, tears flowing down both of their faces. Patrick held Ellen, her body shaking as she cried while Ria stood alone, staring at Tor, Cirren and Brodin, unaware that tears were flowing down her face. The three Princes looked at each other, defeat and despair evident on their faces.
Unable to contain his grief any longer, Dean pulled Sam’s unresponsive body tightly to him, buried his face into her hair and wept.
“It cannot end like this,” Dal said, her distress evident in her voice. “Whatever happened to ‘they all lived happily ever after’?” She looked at Tor. “I thought that was the way all quests are supposed to end.”
“Sam once asked me who the good guys were as she wanted to make sure she was on the right side, as in books and plays the good guys always win. I told her this was real life not a book.” Tor smiled ruefully. “Unfortunately, it seems that in real life sometimes the good guys lose.”
The quest may be over, but the story is not yet complete. The adventure will conclude in the sequel to Tor’s Quest: The Assassin.
From Trudie:
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The Pendant Page 34