by C S Vass
“Then they’re fools,” Maeyori said.
“Fools who will break their pact with you,” Martin said.
“Help us,” Fiona said. “Give us weapons to fight off this foe, and I promise that whoever will take the throne will respect the pact you made with Duke Redfire. You will remain here unbothered for as long as you wish!”
“There is only one,” Maeyori said. “The Duke’s own daughter, Sandra Redfire. She must win her father’s seat, and come to see us.”
That gave Fiona pause. Sandra Redfire wasn’t exactly her friend. She had made outrageous accusations towards Fiona, and done everything in her power to make her time in Sun Circle hell. But then she thought of Rodrick, of all the prisoners locked in some Vaentysh cell. It was a small price to pay.
“Done,” Fiona said. “Help us and I will fight to ensure that Sandra Redfire becomes the next ruler of Haygarden.”
Raesha, who had been silent throughout the meeting finally found her voice. “Great spell crafters,” she said. “Can we trust ones such as these? They came here in possession of your sacred silver, and who knows what treachery lay in their hearts?”
“They came to return it,” Maeyori said.
“Besides,” Maeyumi added. Should they betray us we will crush them. Your aid will come, humans. For now, we will send you to the last free place in the city, the school Clearwater. Await our assistance there. We will send you help.”
Without so much as another word Maeyori squatted in the dirt and traced a circle large enough for them all to stand in with her finger. She stood over it, and sung a beautiful chaotic note that resounded throughout the entire wood. Slowly, the dirt became muddy, then clear, before turning into the smooth water of a pond.
“Step in,” Maeyori said. “This will take you where you must go. Await our aid, we will not fail you.”
Heart soaring Fiona bowed her head. “Thank you. We won’t disappoint you.” She could hardly believe it. They had succeeded in winning help from the twins. Everything was going to be alright! They were going to fight, and she was going to finally save Rodrick.
“Quickly child,” Maeyumi said. “Time is essential.”
Taking Martin by the hand Fiona stepped into the cool water and felt her body evaporate. The world inverted. Up became down. When she regained her senses she saw a scruffy black beard underneath a pair of off-grey eyes.
“What a strange pair of trout!” Donyo Brownwater said, smiling.
Chapter Seventeen
Slowly, Fiona gathered her thoughts and managed to begin to comprehend where she was. The familiar stone tiles and green drapes of Clearwater surrounded her. She realized that she was in the basement, in the student bathhouse. Martin was coughing and sputtering besides her.
Fiona stood up, dripping wet from the bath she had magically appeared in. Immediately she noticed a painting of a forest that hung on the wall…a painting of the Moonwood, she slowly realized.
“Were you successful?” a young vibrant voice asked. Fiona looked to see Shifter’s shadowy form.
“Yes,” Fiona said. “Help is coming. What’s going on here?”
“Well done!” Donyo said. “Stay here. I’ll get Helena.”
“What’s been happening?” Martin asked.
“Nothing good,” rasped a much older voice. Fiona turned and to her surprise she saw Professor Musty standing in the corner. The old man looked positively irate as he scratched at his goatee with liver-spotted hands. “The Vaentysh bastards have us surrounded. No respect, none at all, the scalawags.”
Fiona could not believe that she was actually finding some comfort in seeing Professor Musty, but she would have been happy to see just about anyone against the Vaentysh Boys at that moment.
“I never imagined things would happen so quickly,” Shifter said. The secret-keeper appeared to favor a much younger demeanor now, practically downright giddy. Shifter let out a laugh of nervous energy and bounced around the room.
“Pipe down boy,” Musty rasped. “I can’t hear myself think.
“I’m not a boy,” Shifter said.
“Yeh told me not five minutes ago that yeh’r not a girl,” Musty said, exasperated.
Shifter merely laughed at that. “Things are going to be very different from here on out, Fiona,” the secret-keeper said. “I don’t know what will happen, but nothing is going to be the same after today. There’s going to be a fight.”
“Well, are we ready for one?” Martin asked.
“No,” Musty said grumpily. “But we’ll give 'em hell anyway.”
“Fiona,” Shifter said. The secret-keeper tugged her arm. “There’s something you have to do before we continue with preparations. Come on.”
“Where are you going?” Martin asked as Shifter pulled her towards the door.
“Don’t worry,” Shifter said. “We’ll be back soon.” He tugged again, urgently. Wondering what was in store for her now Fiona allowed the secret-keeper to pull her down the hall.
A quiet tenseness settled over the school as they moved through it. It felt as if the entire building lay on a taught bowstring, and at any moment it would snap.
“There isn’t much time,” Shifter said. “But we have to do this. I need you to see. Consider it me keeping my promise.”
“Shifter whatever this is, are you sure we can’t wait until after I meet with Fiercewind. Downcastle’s men could storm the place at any moment.”
“He won’t. Not yet anyway. We have some time.”
Fiona was about to ask him how he could know that, but they abruptly stopped outside of a large cedar door that led to a classroom.
“This is it,” Shifter said. “We’re here. Go ahead, open it. This part is just for you. I’ll be waiting out here.”
Her chest filled with nervous energy. Fiona pulled the great door open. For a moment she thought it was just a normal classroom filled with the glow of red and orange light from the setting sun through great eye-like windows. But then, she saw him.
He was staring out the window, thick brown hair braided with golden threads spilled over his broad shoulders. When he turned his tired forest green eyes matched her own. She shuddered, and felt as though her body was hit by a crashing wave as her knees trembled. Rodrick was alive.
“Fiona,” he said. His voice seemed to pull her out from underneath icy waters. In an instant she threw herself into his arms as if she were a child. She finally had him back.
“I’m so glad that you’re ok,” she sobbed. “I did everything I could to find you. I didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s alright, it’s alright,” he said gently. “Everything is fine. I’m back now.”
“What happened?” she asked. “Where did they take you? Are the others okay? How did you escape?” The questions poured out of her one after the other as quickly as the tears fell form her eyes.
Rodrick held her tightly. “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you tremendously. I never thought your life would be interrupted. I never intended for you to miss school, much less be summoned by the Duke to Sun Circle. Old fool.”
“It’s ok,” Fiona said. She felt some semblance of control coming back to her body, and cleared her throat. “Sandra will make for a much better ruler. Now that you’re back, we can fight against Downcastle. We can teach the Vaentysh Boys a harsh lesson for everything that they’ve done, and begin to undo all of this madness.”
“Slow down, slow down,” Rodrick said, his hands in a pacifying position. “It does us no good to be reckless Fiona. Things are complicated.”
“Where are the Brightbows?” Fiona asked, choosing not to hear him. “Are they here at Clearwater. We’ll need them for the fight. I was surprised they didn’t show up to the riots. You do know about the riots that happened earlier this week, right? Rodrick, so much has happened. Tell me, where have you been? It was the Vaentysh Boys that took you, wasn’t it?”
Rodrick placed two firm hands on her shoulders. “That’s not exactly slowing down,” he said. “Take a
deep breath Fiona. First of all, yes, it was the Vaentysh Boys that kidnapped me. I never imagined they’d attempt such a thing.”
“I tried to stop them,” Fiona said. “I chased you through the streets for half the night, but a soundmage interfered before I could reach you.”
“Yes, and I wish you wouldn’t have,” Rodrick said. “Thank the gods that everything turned out ok, but you could have been seriously injured, or worse.”
It dawned on her that while they were discussing these things Lawrence Downcastle could be surrounding them with soundmages ready to blast Clearwater straight off the face of Haygarden.
“Rodrick, we need to start preparing the defenses. I went to the Moonwood, I spoke with the twins. They’re going to help us!”
“What?” Rodrick shouted. “His face changed from red to white and back again. “You went down to the Moonwood? You met Maeyori and Maeyumi?”
“Yes!” Fiona said. “I never imagined such a thing existed. But they promised they would help. I think they’re our last chance agains the Vaentysh Boys. But now that you’re back…we can do this, Rodrick!”
“Fiona,” Rodrick groaned. “Things are more complicated than you seem to realize. Gods, I can’t believe you went to the Moonwood. What were you thinking?” His voice had grown rocky and anger clouded his face. “Always so damn reckless!”
“Reckless?” Fiona asked, anger creeping into her voice. “You’re calling me reckless? How can you say that? The city is all but fallen! The Duke is dead! Am I supposed to twiddle my thumbs and pretend that none of this is happening?”
“You’re supposed to think before you act,” Rodrick said, his voice harsh. “Fiona, this might be hard to hear but Duke Redfire was an incompetent imbecile. He lost his entire duchy and he was running Haygarden into the ground. He surrounded himself with morons and drunks while allowing the Laquathi and Tellosians to encroach on our lands and fill the city with the peasants they didn’t want.”
Fiona blinked. “What are you saying?”
“You met the man Fiona,” Rodrick said. “There’s no way that you could have missed it. He was a total lunatic.”
“Rodrick,” she said. “He was the Duke. I didn’t like him, but…” she was having trouble finding the words.
“He did a good thing. One good thing. Thirty years ago. Ever since then he’s been marching us off a cliff with his ignorance. Don’t you see that?”
There was a terrible coldness creeping through Fiona’s body. She looked at Rodrick as if she had never seen him before. “The Vaentysh Boys have committed serious crimes,” Fiona said. “Crimes against you. You’re talking like they’re your friends.”
“The world is going to look very different soon, Fiona,” Rodrick said. “The old order was one of Tellosian hierarchy. It was one where good and talented people like us were forced to live in shame. We should be living in Sun Circle, respected and honored. Instead they relegated us to the Leaf District, even after everything I did for them. You were humiliated in this very school, every day. These people, they never were going to accept us no matter what we did.”
“You think I care about that?” Fiona asked. Her heart thundered in her chest. “Do you think that I’m some monkey dancing in the streets, waiting for people to clap and throw coins? I don’t need their approval.”
“All the time you’ve spent in Sun Circle and you’ve learned so little, Fiona.” Rodrick shook his head.
Fiona felt a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling that led her to a thought that was so horrible that she couldn’t bring herself to fully face it. But the feeling was not going anywhere. There it was, gnawing at her insides like a parasite. She had to ask.
“Rodrick…were you really kidnapped?”
“I was taken against my will,” Rodrick said. “I never wanted them to do that. The others…they thought I was getting too friendly with Hightower. I told them their bigotry made them blind. Hightower is a noble man, no matter what his origins are. He was a far more capable ruler than the Duke. He proved foolish in the end, but I don’t regret extending a hand of friendship to him.”
She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even breath.
“Fiona, the Vaentysh Boys are not the villains here,” Rodrick said. “It’s time you saw that. We want to create a new Haygarden, one that protects its borders, commands strength in the world, and freely uses the incredible power that flows beneath our city. Is that not our divine right?”
“I don’t know you,” Fiona said. The gnawing feeling was gone and now there was just…nothing. She felt weightless, emotionless. Nothing could touch her now. She thought she might float away.
“That’s not true, Fiona. I’m the same brother I’ve always been to you, and once this is over we can sit down and talk about everything. No one else needs to get hurt. The city is taken. Lawrence Downcastle will transcend the title Duke and become a Vaentysh king. He will restore things to the way they are supposed to be.” Rodrick spoke all of this very quickly, with a fevered look in his green eyes.
“What of the others?” Fiona asked. “Everyone else who was kidnapped? Is it all pretend? Are they working with your Vaentysh friends too?”
“No,” he answered. “They’re all fine, Fiona. Imprisoned, but unharmed. Once we secure the city and are assured they pose no threat I’m certain we can set them free. Fiona…try to understand. I did this all for you.”
Fiona’s demon-pommel sword was in her hand. She aimed the naked steel directly at his heart. “Do not use my name to justify any of this insanity.”
“Put that away,” he growled. His bushy brows were furrowed and his green eyes shone with anger. She couldn’t even recognize him now. He was a stranger. “I’m not going to hurt you, but if you take that sword to me I will embarrass you.”
“You betrayed Haygarden,” she said. “You betrayed me.”
“You know that’s not true,” Rodrick said. “Haygarden betrayed us. But soon Haygarden will cease to be. We will no longer have a city and a duke, but a kingdom a king. Haygarden will be restored to its former glory as Glaedruim. Our Vaentysh traditions will be restored.”
“I’ll stop you. I’ll do it with help from Maeyori and Maeyumi. I’ll do it with every last loyalist in this school.”
“Your school is hardly a defense,” Rodrick said. “I managed to get in easily enough.”
“You won’t get out,” she said. “Put your weapons down, and come with me.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Rodrick snorted. “No one needs to get hurt Fiona. I’ve undergone some terrible ordeals for you, and now we’re at the end.”
The words rang hollow as she heard them. How could it have come to this? Everything she had done to save her brother, while all along it was a total lie. He had betrayed everything that he stood for and disgraced himself. Now she was truly alone. She felt a tear fall from her eye as she realized there was no going back from this moment, and nothing could ever be the same again for her.
“Rodrick,” she said. She felt her heart slip away, deep into a bottomless pit that she never could have imagined was inside her. “You’re not my brother.”
She leapt at him with a surge of wild hatred, sword thrusting forward like a shooting star. He dodged to her left, and kicked her hard in the ribs with his thick leather boot. The blow sent her crashing into the wall, but she hardly felt it.
“Fiona!” he shouted. “Stop! You’re acting crazy.”
She came at him again, swinging her sword in a complex series of arcs made to catch him off-guard. Without drawing his own weapon he gracefully side-stepped each blow. “I’m not going to fight you,” he said.
Seizing her moment Fiona sliced at Rodrick’s hips with a downward slash, and severed his sheathed blade from his side. It’s red-black scabbard and dragon pommel hit the ground with a thunk.
“Take it them,” Rodrick snorted with derision. “It’s of no use to me now. I won’t fight you.”
She didn’t care. The hole that was le
ft inside of her had filled with a poisonous rage and she was no longer able to control it. She moved as if invisible strings pulled her body in accordance with some foreign will.
Fiona felt herself leap into the air, experiencing it as if she were a spectator, and sent a devastated two-handed swing crashing for Rodrick’s skull. He somersaulted away, and her sword hacked into the desk that was behind him. She tugged twice to remove it, and as she turned she felt his balled fist slam into the center of her chest, driving out all the air from her lungs. She fell to her knees, gasping.
“That brought me no joy,” Rodrick said, coldly. With hands as deft as a snake he grabbed her wrist, twisted hard and fast, and a shooting pain up her arm made her hand open. As the demon-pommel sword fell to the ground he kicked it away.
“I can see you’re not ready to accept some of the harsher truths of the world,” Rodrick said. “I understand this is shocking. You’re still my sister, and I love you. We’ll meet again when this was over.”
Nimble as a cat he opened the classroom window and hopped out on the ledge. Quick as she could Fiona grabbed the only item near her, a thick leather-bound book, and chucked it at his head. It missed by a wide margin, and gracefully as a bird expanded on wings of paper as it sailed into the open night.
The look he gave her chilled her to the bone. It was the look of a mad dog. The look of a soulless beast that had sacrificed the last of its humanity on the alter of power to some dark god.
She sat there in shock for several minutes, unmoving. When at last the door opened and Shifter approached she could have sworn that the secret-keeper said something, but through the sobs that racked her body she could not hear what it might have been.
Chapter Eighteen