“Not a light cast by candles, lantern, or torch,” Octiva said, her eyes closed in thought.
“But by sorcery.”
“Yes.” Octiva opened her eyes.
“Strange. Sphere in shape, but would not yield to sword or blade.”
Octiva nodded. “As told by Marion and Zykeiah.”
“Do you find them false?” Zoë could not keep the sharpness from her tone.
Octiva replied as if she had not heard it. “I believe it is the work of magick. I have witnessed Lady Sarah’s spheres, and they can destroy rock, such as that of the holding cells.”
“Sarah? No, she didn’t do this. What Marion described is different from her work.” Zoë shook her head and went to the food tray. She picked up a shelled egg and bit into it. “Is it an ancient magick? One denied to us?” Zoë glanced over to the elder. The egg tasted like paste in her mouth.
“Manola has traveled many kingdoms and engaged with all manner of things.” Octiva gestured to the tray. “Eat. You will need your strength.”
“What of Akub?”
“Injured in the battle.” Octiva folded her arms across her thin chest. “You still suspect her.”
“Love is a strong, motivating emotion. I am sure Zykeiah would argue that point. Manola and Akub had once been lovers.”
“As did Zykeiah and Akub,” Octiva countered, her face becoming somber.
Zoë slammed her fist down, knocking over items on her tray. “Why do you insist on protecting her?”
Octiva folded her arms into her bell sleeves, and with a small smile, said, “It is as you said, your highness. Love is a powerful motivator.”
With that, Octiva left the chambers.
* * *
Downstairs in Zykeiah’s quarters, all the minister knights gathered.
“Manola has escaped,” Zykeiah explained gently, as if softening the words would somehow cushion their impact. Perhaps she just couldn’t believe it. None of them had fully recovered. She struggled to breathe, her ribs wrapped tight.
“Akub….” Kalah growled, his finger pointing at Zykeiah. “She helped her! This is her doing.”
“We don’t have time for this. Each minute that passes is a gift to our enemy,” Zykeiah wheezed.
With one angry glance back at her, he huffed.
Marion stepped into the outer room’s center. “This is everyone?”
Kalah didn’t meet his stare. “Amana is unwell.”
“She’s not a minister, and based on her history with Manola, she shouldn’t be with us,” Zykeiah pointed out.
Kalah made a face.
“I’ve sent the palace guards out in search parties, through the village, and out into the forest. She won’t get too far. Someone will see her,” Marion said.
“That is what I fear,” Zykeiah said. “What of Akub? The elder?”
“Octiva’s protecting the queen, and Akub is with her.” Marion paced as he spoke, but once he passed Sarah, he stopped.
“The Devourer should be in a holding cell,” Kalah pointed out. “She could’ve freed her.”
Marion shook his head. “She could have, but she did not.”
Zykeiah knew it would come to this if Manola escaped. She didn’t blame Kalah for his words. The ministers would believe what they wanted, and any argument from her would warrant only a hollow defense despite Akub’s valor last evening and today. What to believe?
She watched Sarah’s response. Where did she stand?
“Not this again,” Sarah snapped.
“Do you think I would have allowed her to proceed without warning through the castle if we knew she’d betray us?” Marion explained to Kalah in a slow, deliberate manner reminiscent of a parent to a child.
Zykeiah coughed. “Just last evening, she defeated Manola. She didn’t help her escape.”
“You can’t know that, Zy! She led that demon here.” Kalah threw his hands up in frustration.
Zykeiah grunted and straightened to her full height as she walked up to him. “I do know. She spent the entire evening in my quarters.”
Kalah flinched, his mouth worked, until finally anger pushed his words forth. “She never left?”
Zykeiah met his stony glare. “No.”
“You swear it?”
“I’ve already given my answer.” Zykeiah turned on her booted heel and stalked back to her chair. She eased herself into it, wincing as she did so. “Marion, we discussed this.”
Kalah swore. “She’s woven her magick around you. Enchanted you!”
“Manola being free doesn’t bode well for anyone,” Sarah said, suddenly tired of the arguing. She walked over to Kalah. “So cease your whining. We need to move.”
“She’s right,” Marion agreed. “Let’s get going.”
“Split up,” Zykeiah ordered.
“No. You stay here. You’re in no condition to join us.” Marion gestured for her to sit.
“We won’t have to go far. Thousands of souls on the ice planet, but there’s only one Manola would find good enough for her. The queen’s,” Zykeiah advised.
For once Kalah didn’t speak, for which she was thankful. She was in no mood for conversation. They’d just had a battle last evening and again today.
“We’ve already searched the castle, and Mother is protected,” Marion said. Red-rimmed eyes and sprouting new growth along his chin spoke to little sleep or chances for rest. He had new nicks and cuts over the old ones from the previous night along with new bruising.
They all did.
“She may not attack the queen today, but she will be back for her,” Sarah said. “We must find her first,” Marion added.
“Let’s go.” Kalah opened the door.
Marion waited for Sarah to exit prior to him. He glanced back over his battered shoulder. “Get well. We will need your strength.”
Zykeiah sighed. “Go with the goddess.”
As soon as the door closed, it opened again, and in walked the queen.
Zykeiah struggled to her feet, wincing at the sharp pain as she did so. She bent in greeting. “Your highness.”
“Good evening, minister. I’ve come to see how you heal.”
Zykeiah inched back down into the chair. “Slowly. Much too slowly.”
“Your fire always burns so bright and wild. Take the time to recover.” Zoë came to stand by her, but she searched the room, taking it in.
The queen had never come into her quarters before. Unsure, Zykeiah held her breath, waiting for the real reason for the visit.
“Shouldn’t you be with the elder? Manola is free, your highness.” Zykeiah didn’t like the look of this. If Manola chose this time to attack, she would not be able to defend or protect the queen.
Zoë smiled. “I fear nothing and no one. This is my castle. I will come and go as I please, minister.”
Zykeiah frowned. It wasn’t like the queen to openly court danger.
“What can I do for you, your highness?”
“I want to know more about the Devourer.” She walked slowly around the room, near the fireplace, taking in Zykeiah’s décor and personal items.
Zykeiah frowned at her, caught herself. “What do you want to know?”
The queen crossed her arms and turned to her. “Everything.”
16
A Cold Wind Blows
Two days passed in a series of meals, healing, and murmurs of attack. Manola remained free in the Veloris wilderness. Search parties returned empty-handed. Despite her elusiveness, Manola still conjured fear. It blanketed the castle and fed the tension between the Saturn Four merchants and the villagers. People traveled in groups, and the Saturn Four merchants’ numbers dwindled.
Akub retreated to the hushed quiet of the castle’s library. The tapers burned low, their sizzling wax cooling in the evening air, casting long shadows across the stacks of books where Akub stared into the fireplace. The moons’ light streamed through the windows and into the open room, providing some illumination in concert with the candles. The f
ireplace’s flames danced among the wood logs that cast off scents of forest and fire. She sat in a leather chair.
The library smelled like very aged paper and mildew. According to Octiva, the room had recently been opened, having been sealed for many years in order to keep the Antiqk scrolls secured from the rest of the library. The queen feared that someone would come and burn them, and the elder and queen had moved the scrolls to a more secure location. Now open to the ministers and other privileged few, the library remained quiet and isolated.
An ancient bound book lay abandoned on her lap, face up. A hairline crack in the wall allowed a whisper of wind, invisible fingers, to flip through the pages. Akub’s mind whirled around old memories, as worn as the pages of the book, of her life on Saturn Four and her time with Zykeiah. These thoughts starved off deep musings about Manola’s escape. The dilemma weighed deeply upon her breast, pressing against her, forcing her breath to come in short sips as did Octiva’s words. So it has begun.
The entire castle knew of Manola’s escape and the ensuing search for her whereabouts. The ministers investigated many witnesses’ sightings, but each search ended up fruitless. The woman couldn’t be everywhere. The ministers cautioned the villagers about approaching Manola. Her defense was rage, and she would unleash it on anyone, everyone. When the ministers returned from their search without the sorceress, Akub’s guilt grew more and threatened to devour her.
This evening, as Akub moved through the castle, she heard the hot, cross words from the people strolling behind her. They called her witch, murderer, and, of course, devourer of souls. The servants spoke plainly about how Akub should be put to death for assisting Manola in her escape. Akub’s suspected treachery did not bother her as much as the reality that she hadn’t stopped Manola. Akub thought back to Manola’s eyes during her escape. They were wild and unbalanced. A look most often found amongst forest animals, a cornered kowletta, a caged tiger. The memory raised more chills, and they slipped across Akub’s shoulders and down her back. She tucked the blanket under her legs, curling them around the ottoman, and wished the fire would warm her. Nothing could touch the cold realization that she had brought Manola to the ice planet and that her actions may doom the kingdom.
She adjusted the text on her lap.
She wouldn’t remain steeped in pity. No, she adjusted her position and looked down at the book again. Akub swallowed and refocused. She had to find her, but once they found her, they needed to be able to stop her. Manola had used new magick, but Akub suspected it had an older source. If she could find the source, she may be able to develop a spell to counter it.
“I knew I would find you here amongst your beloved books,” Zykeiah said as she strolled into the room, startling Akub and bumping her from her musings. Now on the mend, the minister stayed close to Akub’s side. She sat down beside her in the other leather chair, her face wrinkled in thought. She winced as she adjusted her position. “Things are tense.”
Akub leaned back in her chair. “There are times when the ancients are silent, even if the villagers are not.”
“Ah. Yes. There have been many rotations since this much excitement has visited Veloris. Surely, your talents are unappreciated. The oracle’s predictions are what guide us now. Seems you were right.”
Akub felt Zykeiah’s hand cover hers, and a calm settled over her. The markings along her hands warmed and illuminated the faintest bit in the low light. Zykeiah glanced down at them, smiling softly, but said nothing. She’d seen Akub’s marking before, as she had been a weaver since a young girl.
With Zykeiah’s love came pain, teeth bared and full of passion. The slow kindling burned and excited Akub. It had only been five days since she arrived on the ice planet, but she remained hopeful and pleased by Zykeiah’s attention. The minister remained cautious but inched closer to Akub each day.
“Yes, but I no longer feel connected to the goddess. I’m no priestess, only a simple magick weaver. If Marion would return the orb…” Akub looked at the fire’s dancing flames. They leapt and flickered, much like her relationship with the goddess.
“Then it is not Manola who troubles your pretty face. By the goddess, there is nothing simple about you, Devourer.” Again it was not a question. She didn’t address the orb.
Akub smiled, despite her sadness, at how well Zykeiah knew her. She also knew the ministers didn’t trust her with orb.
“Your vision is accurate and true,” Akub replied with a squeeze of her hand. “What if I caused all of this, as the people say?”
“You’re doing your part to capture her, to stop her. To err is human, Akub. What we cannot do is remain mired in the mistake. We must rise.”
A thousand thoughts had come and gone since Manola broke out of her prison. And none of those thoughts were worth what Zykeiah meant to her. Zykeiah did not speak further but held her hand firmly in hers as if knowing that words sometimes failed.
Besides, what words could she say that would slice through Akub’s chest and remove the guilt that had taken up residence in her heart? She’d come to save Veloris, but would she cause its demise?
They sat in silence as moments skipped by. The sound of the wind and the fire’s crackle crafted music. Akub allowed her mind to go blank as she closed her eyes. As a magick weaver, she could force others to do her bidding, and oftentimes, conjure the power inside her to cast spells, as she did during her battle with Manola. Despite severing her connection to Manola, at times, she could still feel her presence. Akub concentrated and let all other thoughts slide away as she reached out for Manola.
Nothing. Just a cold emptiness.
“It’s been said that Manola may not have survived the forest. If she did, it would be a pathetic existence outside the kingdom. She could eek out an existence in the forests, ostracized from the castle, and she’d never reach the queen,” Zykeiah said.
Akub opened her eyes and turned to look at the minister. “Manola is undead. The weather couldn’t kill her. Few things can.”
“No, not the weather, but there are other things that live beyond the castle and the village. There truly was no way to tell whether she survived.” Zykeiah’s voice carried softly over the crackling of the fire. “We searched last night and found footprints that led to the river, but after that, nothing. With the approaching storm, those will be lost. Another group will go out in the morn.”
“The river?”
“The Capolla River. It’s said to be warm throughout rotation, never freezing. Beyond that is the Land of Lundlei. No one goes there. Ever.”
“Why not?”
“Because other things exist there. No one comes back from there. If she’s gone there, she may well be undead no more.”
Akub sighed, but it failed to hide her growing anxiousness. Layered beneath the damp grief lay a slow-boiling anger. It stayed with her each day.
“We must confirm her demise. Manola’s a danger, as you well know. She isn’t going to just live her life as a hermit on the other side of the river. She wants the queen’s soul, and she won’t stop until she gets it, or we stop her.”
“We remain valiant and diligent. We will stop Manola.” Zykeiah’s face had become more ashen as the conversation continued.
Akub folded her arms across her chest, withdrawing her hand from Zykeiah. Beside her, Zykeiah seemed focused on something that only she could see, and she wondered if Zykeiah was thinking about Manola. Daydreaming of how the kowlettas would tear into her body, ripping it limb from limb, or how the frost would crystallize the tears on her face and make her sparkle in death.
Or perhaps that had been Akub’s daydream. Still, the importance of finding Manola could not be overlooked. It seemed the Minister Knights of Souls wanted to allow the ice planet’s climate to claim her, or the dangers of Lundlei. Akub had known Manola too long to write her off so easily.
“The ministers are going to keep searching until they find her.” Akub’s stomach tightened.
Zykeiah scratched her afro, and her strange
eyes glowed in the low light. “Search parties are set to continue for the next couple of days, a minister-led party along with several palace guards.”
“You cannot give up.”
“No one is giving up.”
“We must find her.” Akub heard the sharpness in her tone. “I know the castle’s resources are limited.”
“Indeed, but we will keep searching. After the first frost announcing winter’s arrival, she is in the hands of Ana.” Zykeiah patted Akub’s knee.
“That is far away. The Warming Season has only just commenced.” Akub didn’t know how the weather worked on the ice planet; perhaps the colder season came early. The entire planet was nothing but snow and ice anyway.
“Yes, but if it takes that long to discover her, then it does. The Land of Lundlei is not known to us. Venturing into it will be slow going,” Zykeiah explained.
“Then we go in search of her.” Akub met Zykeiah’s gaze.
“Yes.”
* * *
Manola’s feet fell noiselessly as she walked across the frozen landscape, through ankle deep snow and across the slick patches of ice. Occasionally she stepped on a sharp piece of debris and slipped. She bit her lip in pain as to not cry out. Her twisted ankle hurt. So rushed to flee, she didn’t get to change clothes or gather gear. Now, she remained stuck stomping through the deep snow. This is their Warming Season. She cursed. Once in a small clearing, she had to stop running for a little while. Her feet’s agony forced her to halt. She had run off from what some called the servants’ path. She avoided the villagers as best she could the last two days. People would betray her location. Despite being persuasive, she knew timing meant everything.
Her hair free, its curls floated on the breeze amongst the snowflakes, for it had begun to snow again. She struggled to quell her desire to roar in frustration. Akub caused this. Ahead, she heard the currents of the Capolla River, rushing over stones, smoothing them out with time as its sander. From what she remembered of the ice planet, this river was relatively close to the castle, but what lay on the other side, in the Land of Lundlei, the land of the ancients, she knew not.
Devourer: A Minister Knight Novel (The Minister Knights Series Book 2) Page 12