The Last of Her Line

by Valerie Veden

  Chapter 7

  The world was changing. Each breath, each heartbeat, each moment slipping by made the world a little different.

  Sometimes, you could wake up and understand life was beautiful, its every day a priceless gift. Sometimes you could begin smiling before opening your eyes, feeling the quiet happiness warming from inside.

  I couldn’t honestly say that such “sometime” happened to me often, but that day it certainly did. Smiling, I opened my eyes. There was an iridescent dome of the ceiling above me, with rays of each and every color imaginable. For a while, still not fully awake, I enjoyed the sudden show, then turned to the side and froze in the middle of the movement.

  There was a man next to me, black hair hiding his face, one of his arms stretching out to me, lightly touching.

  I brushed his hair aside to reveal his features. Did I know him? Yes, I did.

  The man opened his eyes. For a few moments, we were looking at each other, then he gave me a tiny smile.

  “Good morning, Raisha.”

  That name.

  That was my name, a nickname from my childhood. Few people could remember it now. Perhaps he was the last one.

  Mervin.

  “Good morning to you, too.”

  I recalled everything, including how we ended up here, in this strange place, in the same bed.

  Flushing, I drew the blanket higher to my shoulders, though that action made little sense. My thoughts galloped, and Mervin’s silent smile didn’t help at all. Well, he had taken the advantage of the situation.

  Or was it I who had taken the advantage? I had wanted him, and my memory loss had made me forget about the proper behavior. Still, while I hadn’t exactly understood what was going on, he understood everything perfectly well. Not that I felt sorry about the fact itself.

  I stopped this line of thoughts and looked into my inner self. Beside the fact that our intimacy made me whole again, there was another change, one I couldn’t identify yet.

  I draped myself into the blanket and stepped on the icy floor. Icy in the direct meaning of the word: its half-transparent cover was created out of real ice, unpleasant under my bare feet but, luckily, not prone to melting into pools of water. Beneath the floor, I saw shadows moving, the dark outlines of other inhabitants of this strange place.

  Mervin didn’t mind my initiative to explore the surroundings; he just sat up on the bed, completely at ease about his nakedness, having no care that I was torn between the desire to eye him up and down shamelessly and my shyness.

  I made a wide circle around the room with its snow-white walls covered by a changing pattern of light-blue and dark-blue spots and with full absence of any windows and returned to the bed, the only piece of furniture here. The bed’s strong magic residue revealed its power-turned-matter nature. To think of it, my blanket was of the same origin. Exact details were hazy in my memory, but Mervin had probably created these things.

  I sat down on the bed and said, firmly, “So, it is decided.”

  “What is?” Mervin raised his brow, schooling his face into an innocently curious expression. I looked at him square in the face and I didn’t flush; perhaps a little, but it didn’t count.

  “We shall get married upon our return home.” I elaborated.

  Mervin’s expression became serious.

  “Is that your decision?”

  “Yes.”

  I looked at him, waiting for objections. There was nothing unusual for a woman to make a matrimonial offer first, but the man had a right to refuse.

  Mervin shook his head and his one phrase made me recall our situation with a painful bang.

  “It will be the Lord Dragon’s decision. Our wishes don’t matter.”

  “But that will be good for him, too.” I said. “As my husband, you’ll get the lawful claim to Shorall throne.”

  “Are you sure Karos wants to restore the country as a whole?” Mervin said slowly. “It would contradict his previous decision to break it into several territories.”

  “Then what? He isn’t going to make us a part of his dominion officially, is he?” I asked perplexedly.

  Mervin shook his head.

  “No, not at all. He’s going to give the kingdom, the former kingdom of Shorall, to the Island Empire of your uncle. The former kingdom of Shorall will be a new Empire province or a few provinces, probably.”

  “But it is… it is not possible!” Dozens of arguments were ready to burst out of me. For one, my people would never accept such a yoke. Still, there was no point in telling that to Mervin; he knew everything even better than I did.

  “Riel,” the taheert asked softly, “Why were you present at the audience with Thor?”

  I shook my head wordlessly. I got the idea, but I didn’t want to think about that.

  “It will be a dynastical marriage,” Mervin went on. “A peaceful joining of lands. It will give us the rights of the Empire citizens while your uncle, and then Thor as his successor, will take care to change our views. In three or four generations, no one will dare to think about raiding the Twin Worlds. Our descendants will go to the Empire temples, listen to the Empire priests and pray to the Creator to forgive the crimes of their ancestors.”

  “Is that the Lord Dragon’s plan?” I asked in a low voice.

  “Yes.”

  “Will you agree? Will you give me away?” I looked Mervin in the eyes. He didn’t try to avert his or hide behind his usual cold mask.

  “The Lord Dragon doesn’t need my consent.”

  “But you are my el’ero, you are destined for me!” All this talk about high politics sounded crazy. Alliance with the Empire, me, a future empress, to sweeten my former subjects the bitterness of occupation. No, it was, it had to be, pure madness!

  “Let’s elope!” I jumped to my feet. We could do it right now, could find a free world without either the Kadaries or dragons and let my dear uncle take the kingdom.

  Mervin shook his head again.

  “I can’t. I belong to the Lord Dragon.”

  “What?” I refused to understand that.

  “I gave the magic-bound oath of fealty. Haven’t you ever wondered why the Lord Dragon, with all his paranoia, trusts me? I’m an outlander, born and brought up by his enemies.”

  “But you are a half-blood, and you helped him.” Truly, I had never wondered about that.

  “Riel, the bigger part of my inheritance belongs to the el’Tuans. There was only one shyfter, a woman, in my bloodline, and that happened eight generations back. As for breaking the Barrier, Karos could have done it without my aid. He is much stronger than the Lord Dragon who had ravished our land a thousand years ago. It would have taken Karos from six to twelve months but he was capable of getting through to our world. The fealty oath was one of his terms to which I had agreed.”

  “Why?” That was something I couldn’t understand. Extracting revenge was one thing but giving a binding oath was another. “Did you wish that much to become a governor?”

  “Oh, yes,” Mervin’s mouth curved in a bitter smile. “I have always wished for my country to hate me, for all the other el’Tuans to dream about my death and for the priests to damn my name.”

  The broken mosaic pieces shifted to make a true picture.

  “Why?” I whispered.

  “To save you,” he said simply. “The Lord Dragon didn’t want to agree. The Twin Worlds know your dynasty well: you have ruined too many lives there. Karos was going to destroy all of the Shorall to avoid the mistake his ancestor had made a thousand years ago when he left the youngest prince of Shorall alive.

  “Karos finally promised that you are safe as long as you do nothing to harm him, his family and his people. It’s not about you as a person, but your blood, your magical inheritance, and your future children. The Island Empire has never given the Twin Worlds any trouble; if you marry Thor, your heirs will revere the Lord Dragon. Alliance with the Chaos Adepts will never be restored. There will be no more raids. However, were it me to becom
e your husband, our children would be Shorall no matter the name they carry. My Dark magic, that quirk of nature, aside, the power of your blood is stronger than mine.”

  “But we could move to the Island Empire! We could go to their temples and pray to the Lord the way they do. Our children will never be a threat to the Twin Worlds. The Lord Dragon hates me, not you. He regards you with favor. Or he could let us leave, let us go to a world far away from here. Mervin, is it not possible?”

  He remained silent for a long time, then nodded.

  “I will try to persuade him.”

  There wasn’t much confidence in Mervin’s voice.

  Then his expression changed, and it was my turn to be questioned. “How did you survive the sacrifice? Chaos doesn’t let its prey go.”

  I winced.

  “This time it did.”

  Mervin cupped my face in his hands, making me look straight in his eyes.

  “Did you call her?”

  “Who?” Pretending was pointless but I tried anyway.

  “The Specter.”

  “Yes! Yes, I did. It was better than dying on the altar.” I sighed. “But she didn’t come.”

  “Didn’t she?”

  “No, she didn’t!” I jerked my head, making him take his hands away. “You can see perfectly well that I am still me and not anybody else.”

  “Then how did you escape?”

  “I don’t know. Not in the slightest. Stop questioning me!”

  The taheert shook his head, still in doubts.

  A few hours later, we stood at the outer gates dressed in the same white clothes as the other habitants of this place.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I admired the icy beauty of Her Lost Brothers. It was their island floating in the Abyss Mervin had chosen as our temporary shelter.

  “We’ll be home soon,” Mervin looked grim, getting ready, I supposed, for the explanation to give the Lord Dragon.

  Before we left, the Lost Brothers had confirmed the Specter’s absence. I was glad to hear that. At least, I tried to convince myself of that.

  Chapter 8

  Home. My second return to my own world. The first time I had almost turned into a vessel for a Specter, the second, into a sacrifice for the Chaos Gods. It seemed as if mighty immortal creatures pulled at me like naughty children pulling at a favorite toy. If that continued long enough, a strict parent would come to resolve their quarrel and…

  I shook my head, stopping my too vivid imagination. No, I had absolutely no wish to meet an entity even mightier and scarier.

  Mervin brought us to his chamber, and the Lord Dragon appeared there just a few minutes after our arrival. He shot me an intense look, frowned and visibly darkened, but said nothing. I could have been a favorite toy for other mighty beings, but for the Lord Dragon, I was nothing but a walking, talking problem.

  They left, while I, alone and anxious, paced the room, feeling myself a remarkably useless creature. A few hours later, the Lord Dragon summoned me.

  I stood in front of him with my hands locked together to stop them from trembling while the Lord Dragon sat on a chair, his posture similar to the one Father had during his audiences with those who had gone out of favor.

  “You bring one problem after another,” the Lord Dragon said. “Though I have expected nothing else from the beginning.”

  I had to keep silent and show my deep regret about…about what, I wasn’t sure yet, not that it mattered.

  “One Shorall was more than enough, but not for you, it seemed. Congratulations.” He added sourly and I looked at him, frightened. Was he serious?

  Yes, he was serious.

  I felt my face flush. What a fool I was! One easy spell, one short phrase before that and no unexpected surprises. Yet I hadn’t said that. It wasn’t Mervin’s fault either; the spell belonged to females. So that was the change in my magic I had felt in the morning.

  “Such a clever act from you, Princess,” the Lord Dragon went on, “such a subtle backing of the humble request from my loyal governor. If I refuse your union, it will break two loving hearts and leave the unborn baby fatherless. Or am I wrong? Perhaps, I have missed something from your prepared speech, Princess?”

  I swallowed hard and shook my head. All my bravery disappeared. While we were in the Abyss, I had thought I was ready to withstand any threat to be with the one I love. Yet the only thing I could do now was to look down on the floor and fiddle with the lace of my sleeves.

  “Did Mervin tell you about my plans to give your kingdom over to the Island Empire?” the Lord Dragon asked.

  “Yes.” My voice sounded almost inaudible to my own ears.

  “The dynastical marriage was the only way of convergence the former subjects of your father could have accepted. But the war will continue, Princess, because of your whim, and thousands of lives will be lost.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “But what am I talking about?” his voice became cruelly mocking. “Of course, the daughter of Shorall knows that her happiness, that fulfillment of her wishes is much more important than the suffering and deaths of others, even if the others are also the el’Tuans.”

  I wanted to say something in my defense but couldn’t find any words. The Lord Dragon stopped speaking but I felt his eyes on me like a heavy weight.

  “Go,” he said finally. “I will decide what to do with you.”

  I bowed and left.

  Mervin came neither that day nor during the next several. Instead, Thor turned up at the end of the week.

  “You look beautiful, my dear cousin.” The prince was courteous and polite.

  “Are you sure?” Personally, I had great doubts that gray shadows under the eyes and puffed eyelids, the result of several sleepless nights and long periods of crying, could beautify anybody.

  “Well, no.” My cousin agreed, settling in the chair. “Actually, you look terrible.”

  “I know.” I gazed out the window. It had been raining for a few days, but this day the falling water had a strong residue of magic. I wondered who was its source. The Lord Dragon? Some el’Tuans? The Kadaries? Probably not the Kadaries, though. After my kidnapping, Quein had been put on a tight lockdown.

  “Why have you come?” I turned to my cousin again.

  He sighed.

  “To talk to you, and to say goodbye. Should I feel sorry, I wonder, that we aren’t to be married?”

  “You shouldn’t.” I said. “I would have made you unhappy.”

  Thor nodded, thoughtful, then asked, “Why Mervin? Why have you chosen him?”

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “It’s fate, I suppose.”

  “Fate?”

  “He’s my el’ero.”

  “The Lord Dragon hasn’t told me that.”

  I shrugged.

  “Perhaps he doesn’t know, or, like Mervin, considers that an old superstition.”

  “Are you joking?” Thor’s eyebrows shot up. “Mervin refuses to accept he’s your el’ero?”

  “‘Priests’ fairytales’,” I repeated the taheert’s words.

  The prince didn’t say anything, just shook his head incredulously.

  “Do you know where he is?” I asked.

  Thor nodded.

  “The Lord Dragon gave him some task and sent him away.”

  At my questioning look, he spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

  “I have no idea what and where. But you can take your chances and ask Karos.”

  Yes, I could. Was this piece of information worth meeting the Lord Dragon again?

  “I will wait,” I said. “It’s not something I can change now.”

  Thor nodded, made a movement as if to get to his feet, but remained sitting.

  “If the Lord Dragon agrees, and if you want to, Father and I will be happy for you to visit or move in. You can take Mervin, if you wish so.”

  “Thank you, Thor.”

  He looked at me, biting his lower lip.

  “I won’t dare to oppose
the Lord Dragon’s will, little cousin, but if I can, I will try to help.”

  I reached out and squeezed his hand gratefully. Smiling sadly, he raised my hand to his lips, kissed my knuckles and let go.

  Time stretched, each day seemed made out of a thousand. Thor had returned home, the Lord Dragon was busy and Mervin still absent.

  No one explained to me what was going on, but I was allowed out of my room and the el’Tuans around me talked a lot about the war preparations.

  Ten days had passed before Mervin returned. He hugged me, and then continued holding me in a tight embrace.

  “I worried about you.” He finally said.

  I smiled, holding back tears of relief.

  “I did, too. What will happen now?”

  “The war,” Mervin pulled away from me, but one of his hands cupped my face, caressing lightly. “The Kadaries have almost finished the Gate of Belhel.”

  “What is it?” I have never heard of such a thing.

  “A multilayered spell to connect all of their separate Gates to be opened into our world. Only the Lord Dragon’s Shield can withstand its power, but I’m not sure he will finish it in time.”

  “Can’t the Kadaries attack us without this new Gate? Can’t they just open the usual Gates to stream here?” I asked.

  “Luckily for us, no. One Gate can let in a maximum of a hundred warriors, and our world can take no more than a hundred Gates out of the Abyss; then the space around us would curve inward and no Gates would open for a few weeks, enough time for us to kill all the first wave invaders. No, the Kadaries will wait for Belhel.”

  Mervin stopped speaking and averted his eyes for a second.

  “I asked Karos to send you to the Twin Worlds.”

  “What?” I pushed him away, feeling betrayed.

  “You will be safe there,” Mervin looked at me pleadingly. “Raisha, they kidnapped you once, they will try again.”

  “Why would they?”

  “The same reason. They promised you to their gods, but the sacrifice wasn’t finished. You are the last of the Shorall line, your own magic level notwithstanding. Your death would release a huge amount of energy and would give the Kadaries the Chaos Gods’ blessing. Do you really think they won’t try again?”