“What is your name?” He rounded to face Akub.
“Akub.”
“That is a man’s name.” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Then you know it means replaces. I had a twin, but I consumed her before I was born. Thus, I am the one who replaced the other.”
“Akub, the Devourer. That is how I met her,” Zykeiah added.
“The Devourer. You’re the Devourer? Show me the orb!” Marion’s face became hard.
“You won’t bewitch him. Accept your fate. The Circle for you.” Zykeiah gestured to the door again.
“Bewitching?” Marion stepped back and wrapped a hand around his sword’s hilt.
“The Devourer is a magic weaver. When her lips move, it is either a spell or a lie. Be wary that you do not end up mired in her verbal quagmire.”
“I’m not interested in bewitching anyone. The oracle declared that a period of darkness and unrest will happen here, on Veloris. I came here to stop it…” Zykeiah’s heart had closed to her, and the more she spoke, the more pathetic she sounded.
“How do you do it?” Marion asked.
Akub pushed back her sleeves. “The magick in my body is used, called forth, and with vision, I weave what I will.”
“The orb.” Marion held out his other hand.
Akub put her focus on him. She could argue that Zykeiah’s words held no truth, but she wouldn’t. She would have to show her integrity to override Zykeiah’s bitterness and long memory of betrayal. The purplish marks on her hands began to tingle. When the oracle gave visions, it would snatch her consciousness and shove all its warnings into it. When Akub awoke, drained and nauseous, she would have to sort out the blurred and often confusing images.
Even now, Marion’s arrival had been predestined. The oracle had foretold it. Akub could see that now. She shut her eyes and tried to call upon the other words and images from her visit to the oracle. None of the priestesses had been able to help her tease out the clarity she needed. More revelations awaited, but Akub could not parse it out. Her human memory was too weak for the oracle’s power.
“The orb! Let me see it.” Marion stepped closer still. His body held the threat of harm, but not his tone or his face.
Akub expected his outstretched hand to tremble from the echoes of his own soul snatching, but it did not. Instead, he beckoned with his head for her to turn over the very item she could not give to Zykeiah.
“Akub…” Zykeiah’s tone held warning.
“My mother, the queen of Veloris, lies ill. I will not tolerate much more delay.” Marion’s other hand rested on the hilt of the sword.
“Yes, I…I understand.”
Akub removed the sphere and held it up to Marion. He took it and lifted it to eye-level, peering inside.
His gray eyes shifted from the still-darkened orb to her. “Come with me.”
“Marion?” Zykeiah’s facial expression betrayed her confusion.
“You come also.”
Marion gave the orb back to Akub. He turned on his heel and left, leaving her flabbergasted in his wake.
3
Trust Swallowed Whole
Akub followed Marion down a short path that led to the hallway behind the Great Hall. There it forked: one path leading to the Great Hall’s kitchen and the other connected to a spiral staircase. They then walked up the stone staircase. Worn by time, the uneven stairs circled to the second floor.
“I do not know what is wrong with her, but her skin burns. She’s quite weak.” Marion spoke to her over his shoulder, as if conveying an important secret.
The ancient castle managed to hold the cold at bay. So why did she feel so chilly?
Once they reached the top, Akub followed Marion out into yet another hallway. A heady vanilla scent clung to the air. Sweetness and the pinch of burnt wood melded together in the tight corridor. Marion walked a short path to the first arch on the left. Two soldiers stood at attention and nodded in greeting to the heir apparent when he reached them. He pulled back the silver-embellished wire screen with his free hand to enter the queen's chamber.
“Sir, Minister Kalah asked that she not be disturbed,” the guard said with a small bow.
Marion did not pause as he pushed on ahead.
In the queen’s outer room, Akub found another man. He stared into space with dried, salty tear-trails upon his face, his eyes red and watery. Marion passed him, but then turned back again. Frustration on his face made him look hard, but it softened when he peered down at the seated minister.
“Kalah. All will be well.” Marion clapped him on the shoulder.
“Will it?” Kalah’s features contorted into a frown.
Oh yes. The brother, the second-tiered prince, held all hints of anger.
Akub feared a verbal fight would ensue, so she backed away from the two men. She could tell from the knight’s bleary eyes and clipped tone that he lacked rest. Sleepiness and grief spilled over him, for his hunched shoulders appeared to fold under the pressure as he sought Marion’s attention.
Instead of inciting strife, Marion asked, “Where are you going?”
“How did you…” Kalah faltered and searched for the words. He rubbed his arms and folded them again as if warding off his sorrow.
Marion squatted down in front of him. He grabbed both of Kalah’s shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. “Forgive me if my tone was sharp. All will be well with her. I see your satchel is packed and ready at your feet.”
“I am off to Stocklah, if you want to come with me…” Kalah sounded relieved. He blossomed as his brother’s words sank in.
“We’ve got other matters to attend.” Zykeiah marched farther into the room and put her hands on her hips. “You can’t just go galloping off to the mountains! The queen has been attacked. You’re a minister for goddess’s sake!”
Kalah shot to his feet. “I will go wherever I please, and I don’t need you telling me about who I am.”
Marion positioned himself between them. “Zykeiah’s right. I must attend to Momma. Kalah, you go to Stocklah. There’s no use for you here.”
Akub flinched at the implication. Kalah had no purpose?
Kalah snatched up his satchel and slung it over his shoulder. “I see. Who in the name of Ana is this?”
All of them turned to look at Akub. So much for hiding in the background.
“Forgive me. This is Akub.” Marion’s tone sounded flat.
“The Devourer.” Zykeiah pressed her lips firmly in disapproval.
For the first time since she entered the outer room, Kalah truly saw her. Perhaps as royalty, he had become accustomed to people flitting around. Servants had become backdrops or pieces of furniture. He didn’t see them for they had fallen beneath his notice, parts of the scenery.
Kalah gave her a weary flash of teeth. He rubbed his hands across his scarlet leather pants and bowed in greeting.
“Salamu, Devourer. From what I heard of you, I thought you’d be larger.”
“Reality always disappoints.” Akub met the prince’s bored expression.
“I told you your reputation precedes you,” Zykeiah said to Akub as she pushed past the diminutive Devourer and started for the queen’s bedroom.
“Why is she here?” Kalah grabbed Zykeiah’s arm, stopping her mid-step.
Zykeiah glared at the offending minister knight and the offending hand as if she meant to dissolve it with her gaze.
“Kalah.”
One word held more threat than a thousand armed men.
Kalah peeled his hand off her and mumbled a half-hearted, “I beg your forgiveness.”
Zykeiah snatched her arm free.
Akub didn’t like him. Spoiled prince. The same as every other spoiled prince on each planet and kingdom across the Pixlis Galaxy. He did not distinguish himself from them, and she’d seen many of his ilk. Like those others, Kalah despised women. Akub reflected on how he’d grabbed Zykeiah’s arm, how he planned to leave, abandoning his mother to her fate. The selfish, younger knight hate
d everyone because beneath the polished boots and muscular body, he despised himself and envied his brother, and above all, women. Women wielded power to create life, forge kingdoms, and weave magick.
Kalah adjusted his cloak and cleared his throat. “No matter. You two have it all in hand. I’m off to Stocklah.”
Without another word, he left.
As soon as the screen closed and Kalah’s footsteps faded, Marion turned to Akub with his shoulders sagging. “Come.”
She had no family, and this only affirmed that she’d been spared the agony of blood kin.
Shaking off these thoughts, she focused on the task at hand. The oracle had spoken. And she would obey.
Marion went to two shelves furnished with jars of herbs, toadstools, and other substances that occupied a tiny space in the outer sitting room—his mother’s cabinet. Zykeiah crossed her arms and watched. The knight’s gaze weighed on her.
“Akub, could a cure for the queen be hidden here? I know many treatments, but I don’t know what ails her.”
Akub’s heart pinched. For all her magick weaver powers, she couldn’t help the queen with herbs. “I have no knowledge of apothecary or herbology. My magick comes from within.”
“You have knowledge of death, not life. This I know, Devourer. Still, you are a weaver. Perhaps, you can mend what ails her.” Marion went into the queen’s bedchamber, leaving the outer room.
Zykeiah remained quiet but went into the room. Unable to read her face, Akub followed her lead and remained silent.
Her tarnished reputation preceded her like a ravaged and soiled royal floor runner. It held her fast, despite all her great and noble deeds since the rotations of Solance and the war. People only recalled her savagery, the history. The Devourer, a constant albatross around Akub’s neck.
“I, I…don’t…”
“Come, Devourer. Perhaps you can use your magick for good and be redeemed.” Marion waved her farther into the bedroom.
“I would have thought, sir, that you’d learned your lesson about redemption.” Zykeiah’s words held the sharpness of anger.
They exchanged a look Akub couldn’t read.
The queen’s bedchamber contained a large bed, which had four wooden posts and soft lilac-colored curtains, the same shade as the canopy on her throne. The queen lay in the center of the bed, her forehead dotted with sweat. Her dry lips cracked and blood glimmered in the cracks. Marion moved around the bed, removed his mother's boots, and snatched back the bed’s curtains, tying them with thick cords to the posts. He hurried to unfold the blankets and covered the queen up again with them.
At last, Marion turned to Akub. His face shined with sweat. “Can you heal her?”
“I don’t know what ails her. As I said, my abilities are limited in this area.” Akub clutched the orb in her cloak’s pocket.
“You don’t…” Marion rubbed his sweaty face. “Then why are you here? On Veloris?”
He sat on a handcrafted chest marred by scars and dings and made of a similar wood as the bed. Like his spirit, it had seen sunnier days. Only a sliver of illumination from the outer room spilled into the bedchamber. Across from Akub, a window revealed clouds that blotted out the moon’s silver rays, and no torchlight entered through the room’s two doorways. Shadows hid parts of Marion’s expression from Akub’s gaze. They threatened to swallow him up.
The burden of leadership must be heavy indeed.
Akub enjoyed being a loner. Her time spent following others had left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“I am here because the oracle told me to come.”
When she opened her mouth to say more, Marion silenced her with his hand. The soft creak of the silver wire screen had alerted him, too.
Zykeiah grinned as a woman entered the bedchamber with a look of disapproval and concern on her face. She was all curves and thick curly hair.
“We must talk, Marion. Now!” she whispered.
The tone indicated a relationship only a few had with the minister knight. Akub recalled having seen this same woman dance with Marion in the Great Hall.
“It must wait, Sarah.” Marion waved her off.
“It cannot.” Sarah folded her arms.
Sarah. Priestess. Firecaller. The future queen of Veloris had hardly noticed her. Akub had become used to blending into the surroundings. Her ability to fade was one of her talents, but she had expected more from the savior of Veloris. This woman had defeated Manola. Rescued Marion. Destroyed Valek. Kalah’s words echoed back into her head. I thought she’d be larger.
Akub sucked in a breath of stunned reverence. How could she successfully overcome three of the most powerful Veloris warriors?
Sarah’s face softened as she joined her husband at the queen’s beside. "How is she?"
“She’s neither stirred nor moved from the spot where I laid her. She sleeps, but her skin still burns." Marion huffed in frustration. He kept his gaze on Queen Zoë’s face, as if he could discover her strange illness by looking into her soul.
“It is unlike anything I have ever seen. There is no cough, no outward signs of illness, except that her skin burns.” Marion folded his hands into a tent as if praying to the goddess.
Zykeiah moved her unusually bright gaze from Marion to Akub. She’d been quiet for a long time.
What brews within that beautiful head, Zy?
“Sarah, this is Akub, the Devourer.” Zykeiah jerked her thumb in Akub’s direction.
Sarah spun to face her. “You!”
“Me.” Akub put her hands on her hips.
“Marion wants Akub to heal the queen.” Zykeiah leaned against the doorway. "What say you?"
“Marion, she has an orb!” Sarah raised her hands. They glowed with fire. She’d been radiant in her entry, but now panic exaggerated her fine features.
How did Sarah know about the orb? Some have long believed that the soul snatching orbs called to other weavers. Perhaps she’d been wrong to doubt Sarah’s power. Her palms burned with flames, yet her skin remained unblemished.
Akub didn’t ask, but instead said, "Speak not of the orb. ‘Tis the oracle that brought me to Veloris.”
"She needs to be taken to the Circle and sent back to Saturn Four! We are wasting time, Marion. The queen lies in her bed, close to death.” Zykeiah stalked around the room, her hands punctuating each word.
Sarah nodded. “I agree. The Devourer must leave. We cannot have this wickedness here.”
A common expression for those familiar with the orb’s power. “The orb isn’t wicked, but like all objects, can be used for ill purpose,” Akub said.
Marion interjected. "With Octiva on her way to the Southern Forest to collect herbs and plants for the castle's Greenery, my mother is at the mercy of time. I must do everything I can to save her, including asking one such as the Devourer to assist."
“The Devourer can’t prepare a remedy.” Zykeiah pointed to the shelves in the outer room. “None of us can!”
“Despite my lessons in apothecary, I lack the necessary knowledge to mix a remedy. Octiva would know. She always knows.” Sarah folded her arms. The flames on her hands extinguished. “But Octiva went to the Southern Forest.”
The scar over Zykeiah’s right eye twitched at the news. "Is she with an escort? With the queen close to death? Why?"
"No escort. I don’t know why Octiva didn’t allow any of us to accompany her. Perhaps she didn’t want us to miss the celebration." Marion shrugged.
"Octiva is a servant!" Zykeiah barked, her patience spent. Akub recognized the alarm in Zy’s tone. Zykeiah had been pushed beyond the limits of civility as the feeling of helplessness agitated her.
The emotions filled the tiny space like the thickening of stew in a pot.
“She’s an elder, not just a servant!” Sarah‘s voice rose above the hushed tones.
Queen Zoë groaned.
"Shush. Shush. The queen needs her rest.” Marion stood up and gestured for them to leave the room.
With those words, h
e sat back down beside the bed in a cushioned chair, his eyes back on Queen Zoë’s face.
“Marion.” Zykeiah took a step toward him.
“Leave it for now, Zykeiah.” His darkened.
Zykeiah rolled her eyes. Without speaking another word, she marched from the room. Her boots scattered the herbs and rosemary leaves blanketing the floor, disturbing the essence of peace.
Zykeiah’s temper knew no bounds.
“Sarah, what say you to all of this?” Marion interjected.
Sarah’s green eyes shifted to Akub. “The Devourer must go. Now.” Marion had removed Zykeiah, the only person who could stop her.
"Lady Sarah, the oracle has spoken." Akub took out the orb. “I’m here for the queen.”
“What? Wait! Stop!” Sarah shouted.
Too late.
Akub made her hand sign. “Hold!”
She conjured her magick before Marion could get to his feet. It smacked the large man against the wall, pinning him there. He fought against the invisible hand that pressed him back.
Sarah’s fireball whizzed by her face. “Stop!”
Too slow. No doubt the last two years of peace had cost the lady in terms of precision and speed.
“Same again. Hold!” Akub shouted, and with the orb’s power fueling her own, she sent Sarah sailing through the archway and into the other room. Items crashed as the other woman landed with force.
Wheezing through the act, Akub hurried to the bed and held the orb over the queen’s face.
She closed her eyes and released her hold over the sphere.
“Come forth.”
Its green stream of light levitated the queen’s body in mid-air before releasing it to collapse into a lifeless pile of parts, very much like a sack of potatoes, to the bed. Where the queen’s gray eyes used to be were now empty, blackened sockets.
“No!” roared Marion, his arms flailing, muscles straining to free himself. Grief melted his hardened image. “I will kill you! Devourer, I will kill you!”
“You will thank me,” she whispered to him. “Release.”
This was the only way. The betrayal stung, and Akub pressed her magick like a giant hand against Marion’s chest in increasing measure until he passed out. Not enough to kill him. Her former days drenched in death had long since gone, and the thrill of slaughter had lost its sway. When she released him, he crashed to the floor. The orb’s warmth tickled her palm. She placed it in her pocket, its weight greater than before. Souls such as the queen’s were heavy.
Devourer: A Minister Knight Novel (The Minister Knights Series Book 2) Page 3