by M. D. Grimm
Elder Kyller started first, asking for a detailed account of the duel. Without inflection, Olyvre spoke. He recounted everything the way I remembered it: the start of the duel, to his leap off the cliff after his daughter, and everything in between. He told everyone gathered about my magickally-induced rockslide to the ground, to Aishe appearing next to him, asking if he was all right. Then the elders backtracked to when Elorn came to Olyvre’s house, to when Olyvre was taken by force.
“I’d just come into the house to check on Lyli when I heard horses and the wheels of a carriage. I thought someone might be lost. We don’t often have wealthy travelers come down that lane, and by the look of the carriage, I knew the occupant was nobility.” Olyvre paused for breath, then continued, his voice as blank as his eyes. “I didn’t know the mage at the time, but it was Elder Elorn. He stepped out of the carriage and demanded to know if I was Olyvre Freydsson. I told him I was. He insisted I come with him. I told him I couldn’t. I was very confused. I told him I had a daughter to care for and a farm to manage. Why was I to come with him? He told me I was leaving with him one way or another. I pushed Lyli in the house and tried to shut the door. I wanted to get word to Morgorth but didn’t know how I would manage it. Before I could form any plan, Elorn pushed his way into our home, and all I remember is a bright blue light. When I woke up I was on a cliff with Lyli, and I learned my brother and Elorn would duel.”
I glanced at Elorn. His face turned whiter and whiter during the account, his lips so thin and tight as to be invisible. His arms trembled. My gaze tracked over to Dyrc to see him also paling, his eyes wide in disbelief. He must have felt my gaze because his eyes met mine.
I couldn’t resist. I winked.
His face turned red in a finger snap and he bared his teeth. I waited, wondering if he would actually attack me. He only glared, hatred pouring out of him like sweat. I would have to kill him before he killed me. I would enjoy that. I lifted my chin and turned back to my brother.
Not all the elders were able to keep their expressions blank. Disgust and insult flitted over a few, while others looked angered or shocked. When Olyvre told us everything in such an emotionless voice, it all became stark, the truth unvarnished and inevitable. It took some time, then Olyvre was done, all the questions of the elders answered succinctly. Master Ulezander removed the spell. Olyvre blinked, coming out of the trance. He gripped his head and staggered slightly. Master Ulezander held his arm until he found his balance.
“Thank you, Olyvre. Please resume your position.”
Olyvre nodded and walked back. I could see he remembered everything he said, his shoulders slumped, his feet shuffling over the stone floor. He sought my gaze again. He smiled slightly, his eyes questioning if he did all right. My smile was genuine and I nodded. He looked relieved.
Elder Elorn said nothing. The elders stared at him, expressions hard. The room was silent, tense. Every eye was on Elder Elorn, many accusatory, many incredulous. Those gathered felt betrayed. He had been honored and respected. He’d been an elder, a law maker, one of the Hand, the dispensers of justice and death. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Elorn knew it was over for him. When cornered, how would he react? What desperate move would he try?
“Aishe of the Ravena tribe,” Elder Kyller said into the silence. “If you would please step forward.”
Our gazes met and Aishe gave me a fast smile. Then he strutted forward and held his chin high, his shoulders back. Master Ulezander showed no expression as he repeated the spell. Soon Aishe’s lively eyes went vacant. I swallowed hard. His vulnerability hit me harder than Olyvre’s had, especially after the panic over the crystal. Despite my confident words, I had no idea how this would play out, not really.
Just as my brother did, I searched for reassurance. My gaze tracked to Master Ulezander. His hard blue eyes met mine for a second. A heartbeat. My chest loosened and I breathed easier. Aishe’s retelling of the duel was nearly identical to Olyvre’s. Then they asked him about my search for my father. They covered the same ground I spoke about yesterday. His accounts matched mine. Thankfully, Master Ulezander managed to steer the conversation away from certain aspects of the search, keeping Matylde and Lorelei’s existence a secret. It confirmed my mentor had obviously kept Matylde’s involvement with Lazur a secret from the council. As a former sorcerer herself, she could still be brought up on charges for the power she’d stolen in her life and the spells cast on others. Even though she was paying for such vices now, as a blind invalid, her sole provider her daughter. I was greatly thankful to Uzzie for keeping them out of this circus.
The elders eventually asked what I feared they would. They asked Aishe about the death of my father. It couldn’t be avoided. Knowledge was power and the elders needed all they could get before they made their final decision. It wasn’t just information about the duel they were after, it was the emerald, and I never said exactly how I recovered the emerald from my father.
I felt ill as he recounted, in an emotionless voice, the duel between Lazur and me. I kept my gaze fixed on him even as hundreds of pairs of eyes swung toward me.
“Morgorth used lightning against Lazur,” Aishe said. “But Ellegrech absorbed the blow. Then Lazur hit Morgorth with pure force, sending him spiraling through the air. Lazur then blasted me, and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, my leg was in pain, and Morgorth had just blasted Lazur off him. I ran to him and saw that he held Ellegrech in his hands. I knew the stone was overpowering him. I couldn’t let him use the stone. He would never recover from that. He would never be the same. I stood in front of him even as he tried to approach his father. I told him he didn’t need the stone. He was stronger without it. He resisted, asked me what I knew about the situation. I grabbed his arm and forced him to look at me. His skin glowed with magick, and he told me to get out of his way. I told him I would never step away.”
I shuddered out a breath, Aishe’s words bringing it all back to vivid reality. I relived it all in my dreams. Now I had to relive it in front of eager vultures.
“Morgorth, you don’t need the stone. You’ve never needed the stones. You’re strong without them. You’re stronger if you don’t use them, if you don’t use the emerald. Don’t trust what it’s saying to you, my love. Don’t be like your father, Morgorth. Don’t give in. Don’t surrender who you are.”
Aishe’s words seem to cut through a fog that surrounds my mind, one I don’t know is there. I blink several times, feeling slightly disoriented. But then Ellegrech surges up again, thickening that fog, crooning and promising.
I close my eyes, and tighten my grip on the stone. I still hold his wrist, and I try to push him away. “Just let go of me.”
“Never, Morgorth. I will never let you go.” He hugs me hard despite my magick, my heated body. I feel him tremble. Or is that me? “Morgorth, my heart, let it go. It has no loyalty. The emerald will betray you as it betrayed him. You don’t need it. You never have. Let the emerald go. For me, Morgorth. Let it go.”
His words pound in my mind, doing battle with Ellegrech’s voice. “Who am I, Aishe?” I whisper.
He tightens his hold. “You are Lord Morgorth and my mate, and I need you back.”
“He dropped it,” Aishe said. His words wrenched me from the memory. “He dropped the stone. He overcame its power. Then he walked to his father and he tortured him.”
Aishe’s passionless voice made it all more stark and ugly and raw. I still smelled the blood, the mud, I still remembered Ellegrech’s hold on my mind, her crooning lullabies. Her promises that she would protect me, help me, that I needed her. It was only Aishe, truly only him, that prevented her voice from capturing me completely. For a short moment, she’d been all I could see. I’d called her to me in a moment of desperation and fear, near death as my father strangled me. She’d come. And yet, she hadn’t been my savior that day. Aishe had.
Aishe began to describe the torture, and my most recent dream of that event pounded in my head.
“S
top,” Master Ulezander said. “With respect, elders, we hardly need hear all the details. Suffice to say Morgorth tortured his father before killing him. Is that correct, Aishe?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Good. I believe that concludes our questioning of this witness.” He looked at Elder Kyller.
“I agree, Elder Ulezander.”
Thank the Mother and Hunter.
The other elders agreed, their voices subdued. The knots in my stomach tightened further. I couldn’t resist anymore and looked at them. What I saw shocked me.
Nearly all their eyes appeared somber and haunted. Elder Kyller himself regarded me silently and had since Aishe spoke of my rejection of Ellegrech. I, a mage they considered a villain, the future destroyer of Karishian, the seventh son of a seventh son, had rejected a stone of power. I played by their rules and dealt personal and professional justice to a monster. According to all the evidence before them, I was not at fault. I upheld their laws.
I knew it wouldn’t change anything. Given time, given distance from the inquiry, they would selectively forget. They would remember my heritage again. Without the obligation of looking into my face every damn day, they would see me as a monster, as someone to watch. For now I was a scrawny, black-clothed dark mage with the support of a mighty elder. I had a troubled past, a horrible upbringing, and the full-throated support of two witnesses, even under a spell. This time I was not the problem. In the future, who could say?
And yet, for the first time ever, I felt a little spark of something, perhaps it was hope, bloom in my chest. Maybe, just maybe, something might change between us. If there was one thing I’d learned as a mage, it was that nothing was impossible.
Master Ulezander reversed the spell. Aishe staggered slightly, and my mentor supported him until he was steady.
“Thank you, Aishe. You may return to your former position.”
He nodded and returned to me. His face was drawn, pale, showing his exhaustion, but he smiled. I returned the smile, although I felt the tightness, the strain of it. To have personal moments exposed like that... such things would be gossiped about for years to come. Mother, give me the strength to endure.
“We shall call a break,” Elder Kyller said as Master Ulezander returned to his seat. “I suggest you all go outside and enjoy the day.”
I noticed, though, that several enforcers walked over and surrounded Elder Elorn as the elders stared at him. It was a clear warning. He wasn’t leaving, and he would be watched like a hawk.
***
I led Aishe away from prying eyes and ears. We walked around the back of the White Tower and toward the forest where Master Ulezander and I had spoken just the other day. It seemed so long ago now.
“We did it!” He hugged me when the shadow of the trees blocked us from view. “We did it! There is no way Elorn is getting away with what he did. No way.”
I hugged him back, my heart racing. I wondered if he would ever forgive me. He pulled away just enough to kiss me, smiling all the while. He was killing me.
“Aishe.” I pulled back.
“What is it?” Instant concern clouded his face. “What is it, love? Did something happen I’m not aware of? I know everything I said and... I’m sorry they made me talk about your father and.... I didn’t want to—”
I covered his mouth with my fingers. I stared hard into his eyes. “I love you. Remember that.”
He frowned. He pushed my fingers away. “What is the matter?”
My breath came rapidly now, and my focus was never stronger. I reached out and gripped the amethyst pendant. A token of our love. And I would use it to my own ends.
I kept looking into his eyes. “I will return home soon. I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
He stared at me in confusion.
My magick flashed up. I thought of the word, activated the spell. The amethyst pendant lit up like a beacon. He started to cry out. It cut off abruptly when he vanished. I teleported him home. I locked him in Geheimnis. I just imprisoned a warrior. A courageous, skilled warrior. I took his choice away and used my magick on him.
Would he forgive me? Probably not. Would he live, hating me? Yes. That was all that mattered. That he live. Geheimnis would protect him. No one could harm him there. Elder Elorn would retaliate. He was a cornered animal, and such creatures lashed out, fought tooth and claw to survive. I had to get Aishe as far away from him as possible.
I hated myself.
My entire body trembled as I bowed my head. Weariness threatened to drag me down. I took careful breaths but they didn’t help. He would be cursing my name about now. Cursing, shouting, probably pounding his fists at the front doors. Grendela would find him, tell him what was going on. She would say this had all been planned. He was stuck until I came home. She would say he was safer there, and her lord commanded her to keep him safe. The gargoyles wouldn’t fly him anywhere, all doors and windows would be barred to him. He was trapped. His rage would combat with his worry. I’d done what I thought best.
My head fell back and I stared at the sky. “Hate me, Aishe. Go ahead and hate me. But you’ll be alive to hate me. I’ll take your hate gladly. Dead, you can’t hate and you can’t love. Dead, you’re no longer with me.”
My eyes remained dry. I didn’t have a right to tears. I’d knowingly betrayed him, and I would suffer the consequences of that. I stayed where I was and continued to look at the sky. Time passed, the sun moved. I heard footsteps behind me, footsteps of slippered feet. I knew who it was.
“Morgorth?”
“Elissya,” I said hoarsely.
“Where’s Aishe?”
I didn’t answer. She stepped in front of me. I continued to stare at the sky.
“Morgorth?”
I shook my head. She held out her arms, obviously intent on hugging me. I held up a hand instantly, fending her off. She froze. I lowered my head and something in my eyes made her take a step back. Then another.
“Stay away from me, Elissya. For your own sake. Stay away.”
She frowned. “I’ll give you space for now, you pig-headed ass. But don’t think I’ll stay away for long. I love you. You can’t change that.”
She spun around and left. I watched her, my heart twisting. She would be safer far away from me. I was poison, and I only hurt the ones I loved. I returned to my contemplation of the sky. More time passed. Then I noticed mages returning to the Tower. With weary, resigned steps I walked back.
Chapter Eight
Aishe
The boygles overpowered me despite my strength, skill, and advantage of height. I’d appeared on the landing outside Geheimnis’s front doors and, at first, could only stand there, frozen in shock. The teleportation left me breathless, and to find myself abruptly home made my head spin. Even as the knowledge of what Morgorth had done crashed down upon my head, the large doors swung open and the entire clan of boygles appeared, led by Grendela. They were small but fierce, and dragged me bodily into Geheimnis. The doors swung shut behind me, booming with an ominous finality that shook me to the core.
“Unhand me!” I wrenched away from them and the boygles backed away. Heaving in breath, I could barely form words. “Grendela, what is going on?”
“My lord commanded you be locked in Geheimnis until his return,” she said, tonelessly.
“He said what?”
Grendela waved both hands and the boygles dispersed, returning to their occupations before my arrival. Soon it was just the two of us.
“All doors and windows are barred,” she said. “The gargoyles will not take you anywhere and neither will my clan obey any commands you make to leave. My lord stressed the importance of keeping you safely inside.”
I could only imagine how he stressed that. An angry laugh welled up, and I let it loose, running my fingers through my hair, shaking my head in disbelief. “He did it. Mother be damned, he did it.” I closed my eyes when they began to burn. Small feet scuffed across carpet, and I opened my eyes to watch Grendela leav
e, her duty to inform me fulfilled.
When I was alone, I fell to my knees and clenched my hands into fists. How could he do this to me? How could he betray me like this? How could he see this as justified or right? Did he even care that he had made me his prisoner, the one he claimed to love the most? Had his love for me truly twisted into something selfish and ugly? Was I just his fucking pet?
My entire body tightened, and I screamed in impotent rage, my voice echoing off the walls.
Time passed and I remained sitting on the floor. I remembered the look in his eyes right before he transported me here. They’d been dark and haunted with regret, grief, the knowledge he was doing something against my will. He knew he was taking my choices away, but he’d done it anyway. Somehow, that made it worse. Would he continue to do that? Would he do things he considered for my own good, with no thought to what I wanted?
He continually told me I would go home after I gave my statement. I argued with him about it. I told him no. Now look at me.
I lifted my eyes, wet with scalding tears. What once was home had become a prison. All I had was Morgorth, and he’d betrayed me. He used his powers against me like I always feared he would. Now what would happen to us?
I closed my eyes tightly. “Dammit, Morgorth. How could you?”
Anger rose up once again and swallowed up grief, and I was on my feet, pounding up the stairs, punching the walls. I barely felt the pain as I lashed out at inanimate objects, detesting my impotence. I was more furious with Morgorth than I’d ever been in my life. I paced the hallways and yanked down some of his paintings, hurling them to the floor. I tried every damn window, and my actions only proved Grendela’s words: barred and imprisoned.
I was going to use him for target practice. As soon as he got home, I was going to shoot arrows at him and watch him dance. I wanted to slap him, punch him in his arrogant mage face. I pulled at my hair. Mother and Hunter! What if something was happening to him this instant? What if...what if, what if!