Rogan shrugged. “Maybe she is downstairs already.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Beck walked over to Airron who was sitting on the side of his bed combing his fingers through his long silver hair. “I need you to get in there, Airron.”
“Now?” he asked.
“Yes. I cannot explain it, but something is wrong. I am worried about Kiernan.”
Airron stood up at once. “Enough said. I’ll do it, but I better shift in here.” Beck, Rogan, and Rory backed up as the air around Airron shimmered with magic. It seemed as though the Elf disappeared into thin air as his tall frame shrank down to the floor, and his mouse form appeared from under the pile of clothes. Rogan growled in his chest and backed away further as he remembered the last time he saw that mouse. Beck held open the door and the mouse scurried out and over to Kiernan’s room.
Turning back inside, Beck sat on the edge of his bed to wait and exhaled deeply to ease the growing apprehension inside of him. Rogan was right there beside him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We will find her Beck. There are any number of places she could be, so do not borrow trouble. We have already bought enough of our own.”
Beck nodded appreciatively to his friend.
Airron was back a few moments later and shifted immediately back into his human form. “She’s not there, but as far as I could tell from my low vantage point, all of her belongings are still in the room.”
“I suggest we go down to the dining room,” said Rogan. “We can ask the innkeeper or some of the guests if they have seen her.”
Not sure what else to do, Beck nodded and followed but, as he suspected would be the case, Kiernan was not downstairs. He argued to his friends that they needed to split up and search the city streets for her and to his great relief they agreed. The more people out actively looking for her, the better chance to find her quickly.
Beck pushed out of the inn and again the smells and noise assailed him. After so many years of exile, he did not think he could ever live in the proximity of so many people. He needed more land around him. He needed earth.
More than a head taller than most of the people on the street, he surveyed every face, building and alleyway he passed. He spoke to the two young grooms whose names, Beck learned, were Seth and Tobias. They had not seen the pretty lady with the green eyes, as they referred to her, but promised to help look. Motivated, no doubt, by the promised gold florin.
Beck searched for an hour. There was simply no sign of Kiernan.
He returned to The Queen’s Lair despondent. Entering the pub, he met up with Airron, Rogan and Rory who had all returned with the same negative results.
“What could have happened to her?” he asked aloud, but to no one in particular. If only I could track her, he thought to himself. If they had been anywhere other than this godforsaken city, he could have.
Airron’s features were pained as he spoke up. “I regret being the one to voice it, Beck, but in my opinion Kiernan would never leave like this. Not voluntarily.” The implication of Airron’s statement hung in the air between them. If not voluntarily, than someone had taken her against her will. His thoughts were naturally running in that direction as well. He just refused to let his mind catch up with them.
“I will not leave without her,” he told them emphatically.
The door to the inn opened, and the Sabers walked in. “Do you have the passes?” Beck asked them.
“Yes,” said Bret Schwan.
“Are they good for tomorrow as well?” Bret said that they were, so the group agreed to continue the search for the missing Kiernan. But, they did not find her that day nor the next.
Beck was sick with worry. He could not eat or sleep, and spent every waking moment pounding the streets, looking for any sign of her passage. At dinner the evening of their third night in Iserport, Rogan said quietly, “We have to continue on, Beck.”
“I will not leave her, Rogan. You know that.”
“I do, but I need to retrieve my pendant and the Dwarves and Elves need to know the island has been invaded. Earthshine is less than five weeks away.”
Earthshine, the phenomenon that happened once a year on the island when night disappeared and there was sunlight for twenty-four hours straight. Most Massans rejoiced during the event and celebrated with all manner of festivity and merriment. By choosing this occurrence as a demand for surrender, Adrian Ravener had turned this joyous occasion of light into something dark. Beck doubted that the Massans would look forward to Earthshine with the same zeal in the future.
If there was a future.
“What do you suggest?” he asked Rogan wearily.
Rogan stroked the bearded stubble on his chin as he considered. “I will travel ahead to Kondor to search for my pendant and speak to King Rik, and Airron can travel to Sarphia to warn King Jerund. Beck, as is your want, remain here to continue the search for Kiernan and once you find her, we will all meet up in Sarphia to unlock the map to Callyn-Rhe.”
Rory looked annoyed. “And, me?”
Beck waved a hand at him dismissively. “You should go with Airron to Sarphia.”
The fireshifter glowered. “I do not wish to go to Sarphia. I will stay here and help you with the search.”
Beck thought about Kiernan’s words that he was being too casual in his duty. “No, Rory!” he said harshly, standing abruptly and knocking his chair backwards. “You are to go with Airron to Haventhal. Do I make myself clear?”
He felt all of their eyes on him as Rory spit out, “As you wish.”
By the next morning, Beck’s friends were gone, continuing on in their sworn duty. He felt the same pull, but fought it. When he had lost everything he had cared about in this world, Kiernan was the one to see him through the pain. He would not, could not, abandon her now. If he had to tear down this decrepit city brick by brick, that is what he would do.
Kiernan slowly opened her eyes and regretted it immediately. She moaned as a sharp pain exploded in her head and she shut them tight again to stop the throbbing. That one brief glimpse revealed to her that she not in her room at The Queen’s Lair, but in a room filled with white. White walls, white floor and a white coverlet thrown over her body.
She turned over and cradled her head in her arm to stop the pain.
“I can help you,” said a female voice from the corner of the room.
Kiernan flinched at the unexpected voice, but did not lift her head. “Then, help,” she croaked out.
A figure approached her bed, and Kiernan felt the movement of the mattress as it sank under the woman’s weight. “My name is Helenite, and I am a healer.” The woman turned her over and pressed her fingertips to her temples. Kiernan felt a strange tingle and stiffened her body in response.
“What?..”
“Quiet now, and let me complete my work.”
Kiernan relaxed her mind and her body responded in kind. She heard Helenite mumble words that she did not understand. All she knew or cared about was that the pounding in her head was subsiding. When Helenite finished with her ministration, Kiernan sat up gingerly and looked at her. The healer was one of the loveliest women Kiernan had ever seen in her life. She had long chestnut hair pulled back in a single braid and large, brown almond shaped eyes with long eyelashes and full red lips. She was wearing a pale green satin gown that showed a generous amount of bosom.
Kiernan self-consciously ran her fingers through her own tangled hair, feeling extremely dull and frumpy in the woman’s presence. “Where am I?” she questioned with distrust in her voice.
The healer rose from the bed to leave without saying a word.
“Wait!” said Kiernan, grabbing the woman’s arm. “How did I get here? Where are my friends?”
Helenite smiled down at her oddly. “Everything will be made clear in time.”
Kiernan started to get out of bed. “Yes, well time is one thing that I do not have.”
Helenite turned back and put her hands on her shoulders. “Stop that, young lad
y! You must get your rest. You were quite distressed when we found you and now you need to recover.”
Kiernan looked at the woman in puzzlement. “Found me? Helenite, just tell me where I am!”
The healer looked down at her. “You are home, Princess.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Home?”
“Yes, now close your eyes and rest. I will be back for you shortly.”
Kiernan did not want to sleep, but felt her eyes growing heavy, and when she awoke sometime later, she was feeling stronger. From the bed, she again studied her surroundings. It was a very lovely room, if sparse, with a small table by her bedside with basin and pitcher, a bureau with fresh cut flowers, and a wardrobe in the corner. She threw the coverlet off and the cool air that greeted her body caused her to realize with embarrassment that she was naked. With cold pimples covering her body, she padded over to the wardrobe to see if her clothes were inside. There was only one garment in the closet and it was a beautifully-draped, silk ivory gown. Kiernan fingered the luxurious material and gasped. It was identical to the dress her mother was wearing one of the last times Kiernan saw her healthy before she became sick.
Seeing the dress uncapped a well of emotion and the memory of that day.
Her mother was standing in front of her mirror twirling to get a view from every angle of the silk ivory gown she wore. “How do I look, Keke?” she asked a young. Kiernan.
“Lovely, Maman,” the little girl replied.
“Do you really think so?” her mother asked again, nervously biting her lower lip.
“Yes, Maman. Father always thinks you look beautiful.”
At the mention of her father, her mother’s face grew melancholic. “He is a great man, Keke, remember that always.”
“I will, Maman.”
She looked at Kiernan through the reflection in the mirror. “But, you must never discuss your magic with him.”
“I know, Maman. I will never tell anyone. I want to stay here with you.”
The Queen walked over and reached for her daughter’s hands. “I want you to stay with me, too, darling.” She smiled. “And I promise, someday soon you will be wearing a beautiful gown like this and just like a child’s tale, your young Prince will ride up and sweep you away.” She picked Kiernan up into the air and whirled her around the room, the young girl giggling in delight.
But, it had never turned out as her mother had promised and never would. Her mother was dead. End of tale.
A tear slipped from her eye and she hastily swept it away, and slammed the wardrobe shut just as the door to her room opened. It was Helenite.
The healer looked at Kiernan with a raised eyebrow. “As Princess, you are probably used to a handmaid, but we dress ourselves here.”
Kiernan blushed. “No…. no, I do not need help. I was just looking for my dress.”
“It is being laundered. You can wear the one in the wardrobe. It is your size.”
Kiernan opened the wardrobe door again and stared at the gown wistfully for a moment. Finally, she removed the dress and stepped into it under the watchful eye of the reticent healer. She had to admit that the cool silk felt nice against her skin. The comfort of fresh clothes felt like an indulgence after so many days traveling.
Helenite nodded in approval once Kiernan was dressed. “Follow me,” she said and walked out of the white room. She led the way silently down a short corridor filled with beautiful, colorful tapestries depicting various scenes of battle. They were eerily realistic and Kiernan even thought she could detect movement in one of them out of the corner of her eye.
Helenite swayed seductively as she walked ahead of Kiernan, the gown flowing attractively around her hips and legs. Who is this woman? There was no doubt in Kiernan’s mind that she was able to command magic, but how was that possible? She had always been led to believe that the other lands in Massa were chaste of magic, that only the Magical Kingdom of Pyraan harbored people with the ability. So, who was this magical woman in front of her? Was she a shifter? Additionally, who was the rogue bodyshifter who killed Titus? Were her suspicions also correct in that the now deceased Sully was a mindshifter?
Kiernan had many questions, but bit them back, realizing she would have to wait. Helenite said everything would be made clear. But when? She had to get back to Beck and the others.
Wherever she was, it was an extremely large and opulent dwelling. The corridor they traveled led to a four-story antechamber with a marble fountain in the center depicting a figure of a laughing young woman capturing in her hands the water that gushed up from the basin below. Something about the fountain was vaguely familiar to Kiernan, but she could not immediately place why that was so.
As in her room, the décor was white. The floor a stunning white marble with a faint blue vein of color and glistening crystals running throughout. The marble was soothingly cool beneath her soft sandals, and she vaguely wondered how such a large quantity of the rare rock could have been obtained for this residence as the only quarries were found in the most southern tip of Deepstone. She could only imagine the kind of person it would take to have convinced the fiercely protective Dwarves to part with their precious commodity.
Helenite skirted the fountain and crossed the large hall to double wooden doors located beneath a grand staircase. She threw the doors open wide and ushered Kiernan inside. A loud voice boomed from the center of the room and startled her. “Welcome, Princess!”
Applause from every direction greeted Kiernan as she glanced hesitantly around a large, circular chamber surrounded by the same four stories as the outer foyer. Hundreds of women stared down at Kiernan from balconies edging each floor. Every woman present wore her hair in the same braided style as Helenite, and each gown was more eerily exquisite than the next.
A lone petite figure stood in the middle of the cavernous room. Helenite gestured for Kiernan to approach the figure and then melted away into one of the side aisles that led to a stairway to the balconies.
“Come,” encouraged the figure with her hands outstretched to Kiernan as soon as the applause died down. “My precious gem, you are home at last.”
Annoyed with the lack of answers, and feeling like she had no other choice, Kiernan moved toward the woman and asked, “What is going on here? Why are you holding me prisoner?”
The woman appeared to be twenty years older than Helenite, a thick braid of graying hair lying over one shoulder. The diminutive figure nodded in greeting. “I am Gemini and these,” she said loudly and swept her arms around the room, “are more of my precious gems. Gems, this is the Princess Kiernan Grace Everard, and she is the newest candidate for our coven.”
Coven?
Again, the women clapped.
Kiernan looked around and then back to Gemini. “Look,” she said in an urgent whisper. “I do not know how I came to be here, but I must leave at once.”
Gemini peered at her closely and then reached out to touch her face. “You look so much like your mother.”
Kiernan drew back from the touch. “You knew my mother?”
Gemini smiled kindly. “Yes, and I know you as well. You have been here before.” Without giving Kiernan a chance to respond, the woman stepped around her and once again addressed the audience. “As you all know, my Gems, it typically takes months of careful study to determine a woman’s stone. It is an intimate and personal bonding and many factors weigh into the decision before the appropriate placement can take place. A woman’s personality, physicality, magical prowess, and desire all play a key role in the selection.”
Excited murmurs drifted through the chamber.
“Knowing what I do of Kiernan, there can only be one suitable stone. I am pleased to pronounce that our newest Gem will train with…. Citrine!”
A woman with red hair let out an animated shout, and the women around her offered their congratulations.
“Kiernan’s Friend of the Coven Ceremony will be held next month.”
Kiernan glared at the older woman. “Now, wait a
just a minute…”
Gemini lifted her hands. “Thank you all for coming out to greet Kiernan. You may now go back to your duties.” Kiernan watched as the lovely mob dispersed.
Gemini reached for Kiernan’s hand. “Come. We have much to discuss. We can retire now to my rooms for a private conversation. Are you hungry?” she asked.
Kiernan pulled her hand away forcefully. “No! I am not hungry.” She tilted her neck to expose her athame. “There has been talk here that I do not understand, but I am a shifter and if you do not release me at once, I will have no choice but to subject you to my magic.”
Gemini just stared at her a moment before she answered. “No.”
“No?”
“This is your home now, Princess, and the sooner you get used to that idea, the better.”
Kiernan distantly heard the murmur of Gemini’s spell a moment before she hit the ground.
Chapter 20
LAND OF THE DWARVES
Luck was with Rogan when he boarded the ferry at Iserport with Gage Gregaros. The port legionnaires gave King Maximus’ Decree of Purpose a hard look, but ultimately permitted them passage. As they had hoped, the soldiers did not recognize Gage as one of the Royal Guard, but Rogan heard the Saber mumble under his breath that the whole lot needed a stout reminder of Iserlohn’s chain of command.
It took the better part of the day for the ferry under the power of long sweeping oars by four, muscled oarsmen to reach Deeport. Beneath a clear blue sky and the gentle rock of the boat on the waves of Lake Traverse, Rogan looked out over the expanse of water at his first glimpse of the homeland he left behind twelve years ago. Nicknamed the Land of Stone, the entire city was carved out of the sandstone cliffs of southern Massa, and the Dwarves’ penchant for and skill in architecture, sculpting and ceramics was recognizable even from his location out on the water.
A slat on the ferry creaked behind him, and he turned. It was Gage.
“How does she look, shifter?”
“Gorgeous,” said Rogan in awe, looking back toward land, “simply gorgeous.” Everywhere he looked, from the stone docks to the surrounding streets, he saw Dwarves. So many Dwarves! Even though several Dwarven families lived in Pyraan, it was not anywhere near the quantity he saw before him now.
Island Shifters: Book 01 - An Oath of the Blood Page 22