The Last of Her Line

by Valerie Veden

  We went around the altar in the palace temple and the runes lit one after the other, all of them unknown to me but full of hidden power and promise. Stuttering, I said my vows and my future husband said his, his voice oddly familiar. Later, as we were left alone and he took off his mask, I gathered the reason of that.

  "What does it mean, Mervin?" I asked softly, afraid to give him away.

  "Sshh, my little princess," he told me with his rare smile. "Hush. Everything is as it must be." He kissed me. His lips tasted like mint...

  Chapter 8.

  The morning began too early and oddly, with knocking.

  "Are you decent, Princess?" Mervin asked from behind the door.

  "No. Wait." I murmured, trying to brush my hair.

  "Five minutes, Riel. Put something on and hurry." Mervin said, and I heard him going away. How could it be possible to look decent in five minutes' time? The ladies-in-waiting in the royal palace spent at least half an hour dressing me up.

  I sighed, feeling disheartened. Who was I going to impress with my looks? Mervin? He had seen me both smudgy after the lab experiments and in the most beautiful outfits. Besides, I had nothing proper to put on. The clothes in the wardrobe could be suitable for a daughter from a modest Noble House, but not for a princess.

  I chose a blue plain dress with lacing in the front and braided my slightly brushed hair. That was the only coiffure which I had time for.

  Mervin waited in the corridor. He looked me over, nodded and turned around, making a gesture for me to follow. But something wasn't right. In his expression and in his behavior I felt heavy tension, almost fear. That was odd for Mervin. Never before had I noticed such an emotion in him. He had been angry, spiteful and sarcastic. He had been hateful but he had never been afraid.

  "Mervin, what has happened?" I asked his retreating back. The answer was silence. Mervin's favorite habit - if you didn't like the question, pretend that you didn't hear it.

  Before I could come up with the idea for a new inquiry that wouldn't be ignored, we arrived at our destination. It was a great hall with a high ceiling and tapestries hanging on all the walls, depicting the constellations of the eastern night sky. The east had been the place of origin of Mervin's ancestors. Upon a closer look I saw the tapestries were quite old and a bit ragged.

  A few dozen columns of green marble supported the dome. I looked up at the ceiling, made from fine crystal. The sunlight came through lavishly refracted and shimmering with different colors.

  "Riel," Mervin said softly, to attract my attention.

  We weren't alone. At the column opposite of us, I saw a tall dark-haired man and a boy, both unknown to me.

  When they came closer, I noticed the man's bright blue eyes, piercing and merciless. A shiver of sudden fear rippled down my back. I didn't like the way the stranger was looking at me.

  "Is that she?" The man's voice carried mocking gentleness that made me recall Kamir at his worst. Such intonations from my brother meant that somebody was going to suffer.

  "Yes, this is Riel Shorall, the king's youngest child," Mervin answered calmly. Still, I felt his growing tension.

  I looked at the stranger, trying to understand who he was. Not a vampire, and not an el'Tuan. Maybe one of the shyfters? Or was he a powerful human sorcerer? The sorcerer part was clear. Even with my blocked Gift I felt a tremendous aura of power around the man. It was as if he had tamed a hurricane and held the leash tightly. Even Father wasn't that powerful.

  "The last offspring of the damned House," the stranger stared at me through narrowed eyes, then raised his hand and took my chin, turning my head to the light as if I were a slave to evaluate before buying.

  I jerked back, boiling with sudden rage, my fists clenched. I wasn't a toy to play with!

  The stranger noticed my anger and smiled evilly. His eyes changed their color, turning into black wells, pulling me in. Some part of me recognized that he meant to break my will, break the inner core of my Self. If he succeeded, I, Riel Shorall, would be no more. Just an empty shell would be left.

  I drew in a sobbing breath and tried to break free from the power of his spell, tried to look away but couldn’t. I had the same success as a rabbit trying to escape the embrace of a constrictor.

  Poor rabbit.

  Poor me.

  "Karos!" a voice came from afar and the horror stepped aside. Only my knees wobbled, blackness blocked my vision and thinking clearly seemed way beyond my current ability.

  "She hasn't done anything." the voice rang with indignation.

  The mist in my mind somewhat cleared and I wondered what exactly I hadn't done. At any rate, the speaker was right. I wasn't among the most active el'Tuans in the world.

  The blackness subsided, letting me see the surroundings again.

  Karos, the name of the black-haired man, I supposed, wasn’t looking at me anymore and had given all his attention to the teenaged boy, whose interference had saved me. The boy was about fifteen years old, tall and slender, with a handsome face.

  "She is a daughter of our enemies, Alex," the man said. "A daughter of those who humiliated and killed our people."

  "I know." Something in the situation mattered to the boy. "But it's not her fault. She is too young to be responsible."

  He turned to me and I noticed the warm hazel color of his eyes along with his kind expression. “How old are you?" he asked.

  "Seventeen." I said.

  "You see, she is almost of my age."

  I risked a glance at Mervin. Even vampires would seem rosy-cheeked peasants in comparison to him now.

  The analytical part of my brain was surprised at my courage. But, truly, it wasn’t courage. Somehow I had stopped being afraid the moment the boy had first spoken. I just knew he wouldn't let Karos kill me or turn into a mindless shell. They argued about my fate, on and on, until Karos gave in and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

  "Fine. If you care so much about those who won't give a damn to save your life -" He held up a hand to stop the boy from speaking.

  "Alex, I have said ‘fine’. We'll do it your way." Then the black-haired sorcerer turned to Mervin. "Do you confirm your request?"

  "Yes." The taheert spoke clearly but the color was still absent in his face.

  "She is yours as I have promised.” For a moment, it seemed as if something alien raised its head from behind a human disguise, something alien and terrible. “But remember, if she brings pain or grief to me, my family or my people, I will personally send both of you to the darkest layer of the Abyss."

  "Yes, my lord," Mervin said quietly.

  Karos turned to the boy, "Time to go, Alex."

  The boy came up to Mervin and gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze.

  "Good luck. Don't mind Uncle, he just likes scaring people." Alex smiled and I was surprised to see the taheert smile back, not out of politeness but with deep sincerity. In all my life, I could remember only a handful of times when such an expression appeared on Mervin's face.

  Karos opened the Portal. Actually, no, the Portals both looked different and emitted a different kind of energy. It must have been the Gate.

  I had never seen the Gates so close before. The eternal Abyss coiled behind its rainbow arc. In the Abyss-between-the-Worlds, el'Tuan souls awaited their next incarnations, and Specters and demons abided there. They said the Abyss seduced those who walked Her paths too often.

  Two silhouettes stepped into the silver mist and the arc of the Gates melted away.

  "Who are they?" I asked when the last sparkles of the Gates' magic had disappeared.

  "Did you not see?" Mervin tried to speak caustically, but it came out tiredly. "Karos Dakaant, the Lord Dragon, and his heir, Alex."

  I looked at him, stunned, then my legs buckled and the floor rushed up to meet me.

  Chapter 9.

  My loss of consciousness scared Mervin, though I didn't know why. He had always called faints “the follies of spoiled maidens.”

  I woke
lying on the bed in my chamber. The taheert, wearing a sorrowful expression, was sitting near my prone body, squeezing my weak hand in his.

  Feeling slightly surprised, I pulled my hand back. Mervin didn't let go. I continued pulling until he finally came to his senses and jerked back with the expression of somebody suddenly burned with fire.

  He stood up swiftly, then just as fast bent down to me, pressing my head to the pillow, and looked me into the eyes with an oddly desperate expression. I hadn't been the shiest girl at the court, but such close attention was embarrassing.

  "Eh... Mervin..." I began. Not an original choice of words, but the taheert gave a start.

  "Raisha," he said, for the first time in my memory using my nickname. His voice sounded unusually hoarse. "Raisha, try to call in the threads."

  "What?" I blinked in surprise. "You have blocked my power."

  "Try it," he repeated.

  I sat up and tried to call in the Element easiest for me, Fire. A few seconds later, a crimson ball appeared an inch above my outstretched palm. Both Mervin and I stared at it, as if this childish exercise was the greatest magic achievement.

  "Ah..." I began. It seemed eloquence had left me this day.

  "Thank the Creator," murmured Mervin. "He hasn't burned you out."

  "He hasn't what?" But I began to understand.

  "He hasn't destroyed the part of your Self that gives you access to magic," Mervin explained patiently. "I thought that might be the case when you fainted."

  I nodded. There wasn't any need to ask who "he" was.

  "I didn’t know that magic could be burnt out."

  "There are few things dragons can't do," Mervin said quietly.

  Yes, very few, I agreed in my thoughts, recalling the day that had given me the first real knowledge about the Winged Ones.

  *****

  Five years ago...

  My father's kingdom was the biggest on our continent. Our ancestors had ruled it for so long that even its name was the same, Shorall. If there was any other dynasty before ours, the chronicles said nothing about it. Besides, all the duchies on the south-west were Shorall's protectorates, conquered by my great-great-and-so-on-grandfather. He had also built a new capital, blessed Alm-Tiren, where I had been living all my life.

  When I first saw the words "new capital" in the history textbook I wondered where the old one had been. No one had ever mentioned such a place. After I asked the teacher that question, he began muttering something about a climate change and forced migration, then stopped, sighed, gave up on it and said that only His Majesty would be able to explain everything correctly.

  Father was busy. That was his natural condition. He was always doing something important: carrying on negotiations, holding receptions or inspecting this or that province. Unlike in the Island Republic, the king's word was the law in our country, but that didn't mean the absence of different groups and fractions. Each of them tried to pull the blanket of royal favors to themselves and Father, as a talented tailor, had to cut it in the way that was the most satisfying for everybody. One serious mistake could cause discontent among aristos; several in a row meant plots and riots. Fortunately, His Majesty almost never erred.

  This day was devoted to foreign affairs. When I pushed the guard back and peered into the crack of the double doors leading to the small audience hall, I saw Father speaking with the Kadari ambassador.

  Over the past years, the Kadaries had become considered our faithful allies, but I had always felt uneasiness in their presence, almost aversion. I didn’t understand the reason until I learned why all the temples forbade the Kadaries to enter, and why the priests never acknowledged their presence.

  These people had been called the el'Kadaries until they had betrayed the Creator and stabbed him in the back during the last Gods' War. The Creator had been defeated and his enemies, the Chaos Gods, had managed to imprison him. Their victory didn't last, though, as the Creator's firstborn children, called Specters because of their ethereal appearance, had avenged him and sent the Chaos Gods fleeing. The Kadaries hadn't escaped unpunished either: their native world had rejected them. The same thing had happened in all the other worlds where they had tried to settle.

  Since that time, the Kadaries had been living on tiny, lifeless islands floating through the Abyss. There was no sun, no water, no plants or animals. There was nothing apart from lakes and rivers of molten lava. Only the Kadaries' magic allowed them to survive, otherwise the Specters would have destroyed them completely. Now the traitors' offspring flourished, traveling from one world to another, trading goods as well as services, but no one of the faithful added "el" to their name, the part that meant "blessed souls."

  I sighed, unhitched myself from the crack and even apologized to the poor guard who couldn't do his duty and push me away from the door. According to the law, such an act would be considered an attempt on a person of blood royal with predictable consequences for a commoner.

  Father was unavailable, but not everything was lost. I walked purposefully through the palace, searching for a victim, well-versed in history, preferably one of my relatives. The behavior of my teacher showed me that the transference of the capital meant some secret not favorable to the Great House of Shorall. Other el'Tuans, those who knew, could be afraid to tell me about it.

  The results of the search were discouraging. First, I encountered the queen, but she fled me almost immediately, claiming a sudden and strong headache. Alas, Mum knew both me and my long strings of questions all too well.

  Kamir, who usually didn't mind spending a couple of hours with his little sister, appeared to be genuinely busy.

  "I have an important meeting," he said on the way to the stables. "Ask me whatever you want in two days."

  I wasn't able to wait for two long days. When I was curious about something, that feeling demanded an urgent fulfillment. Even a trifling question seemed terribly important.

  I discovered Renard on the training field, but the combat magic teacher didn't let him go. Apparently, my brother was going to take part in a tourney. I had already known Sedd had gone to his principality last week, muttering something unpleasant about sly stewards with bottomless pockets. The last of the brothers left was Miyo, but his knowledge in history was abysmal.

  I was ready to accept defeat – but for that one day only. The next day I would get my answers.

  Upon my return through the palace park, I spotted Mervin. He sat in a shadowed summerhouse, with legs outstretched in front of him on a bench, engrossed in reading.

  Trying to stay unnoticed, I snuck up closer. Mervin had stolen Renard's battle magic guide from the Twin Worlds. My second brother had at first been irritating to all of us, showing off his unique find, and then had whined the whole last week, complaining about the book's disappearance before he had finished reading it.

  "It's a great day today, isn't it, Mervin?" I asked cheerfully in the taheert's left ear. His reaction was disappointing. Mervin closed the book calmly and turned to me.

  "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you, Princess?"

  I sighed. And here I had hoped he would give a start and try to hide the book or, even better, jump as other courtiers had done after similar sudden greetings.

  "You were so engrossed in reading that I became envious." I grabbed the binding of the book and pulled. Mervin, looking unperturbed, gave it to me. No, it wasn't interesting at all! The first thought that came to my mind was to blackmail the taheert with the book, stolen from my brother, but it quickly lost its appeal. I smoothed out my skirts and sat down next to Mervin.

  "You know history well, don't you?"

  My involuntary companion raised his thin brow in surprise.

  "Quite well, yes."

  I tilted my head to the side, eyeing him with interest. I had just got a new idea, and liked it more and more with each passing second. If Mervin knew the answer to my question, his version was going to be different from the king's. Of course, I was still going to get Father's side
of the story, but later.

  "Tell me about the former capital."

  "What exactly?" Mervin's black eyes looked at me with amusement. The taheert was definitely having fun.

  "Tell me why it stopped being the capital," I elaborated patiently.

  "I'm afraid it's a long and boring story, inappropriate for the ears of such a young lady." Mervin's expression mimicked that of a polite courtier but the tone was more suitable for speaking with a toddler.

  "I am twelve!" For some unclear reason I couldn't get angry with the taheert. Any other el'Tuan, with the grudging exception of my parents, would have received an unpleasant magical reminder for such words. I hated being told that there were things I was too young to know. But Mervin's presence had always awoken in me a desire to prove my maturity and prudence.

  "So, about the former capital," I reminded. "What made my ancestors forgo it?"

  Mervin's lips curved into a hint of a dry smile.

  "Forgo it? I suppose it's very easy to forgo something that doesn't exist."

  I frowned and demanded, “Explain it.”

  "Will the princess prefer to see for herself?" Mervin asked softly with a strange glint in his eyes.

  "See for myself? Do you mean –" I stopped. The taheert couldn't have offered what I thought he had, could he?

  "Yes, Your Highness, see for yourself."

  Swallowing hard, I nodded but still almost jumped when Mervin touched his fingertips to my temples and said, "My ancestors were there when that happened..."

  The city of Tiren hadn't seen the sunlight for three days. Heavy clouds covered the sky but didn't promise rain. The desert-hot air smelled of burning. Alien magic disrupted our own. We couldn't call in the Water Element from deeper than three feet underground. The wells were drying out and soon only wet sand would be left.

  I stopped at the door of my house and glanced up at the thick purple cloud covering the sky. Nothing was visible, but the pulsing of threads told me that a giant winged shape had just swept over the houses. Every day it descended lower, and every day made it harder for me to keep up the shields against the acid fear its presence brought. When our defense fell, the shadow, circling in the sky, would turn the city into embers.