Midnight Quest

by Honor Raconteur

  She had done the impossible.

  “Wifey, be you crying?” The question was redundant as he raised a hand and gently wiped the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

  She felt like her heart would burst. Catching his hand, she pressed her cheek into his palm and assured him softly, “Tears of joy.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  They left Rounsefell early the next morning. Chantel protested this, saying that it wouldn’t hurt anything to rest for a day, but a gnawing sense of foreboding in the pit of Jewel’s stomach wouldn’t allow her to rest. Very soon something would go terribly wrong. She knew it with absolute certainty even though she had no proof.

  Chantel, well able to sense the condition that the barrier was in, didn’t argue with her too much. She understood Jewel’s worries all too well. Even if Jewel left this very minute, it would take her a solid two weeks of traveling to reach Denzbane. And even after she arrived, it would take another day to re-dedicate the crystal and even more time after that to recharge the crystal. It would be an uphill battle to get every crystal fully charged and the barrier back to full strength. In fact, it might well take a year’s worth of consistent work to reach that point.

  So Chantel hugged her hard, made sure the party had enough supplies, and wished them a safe journey with only a token protest.

  They travelled northeast for several days on the main highway, heading directly for Zarraga. The trade city sat on the crossway of the Honorvar and the Hatton River and reaching it would be the hardest part of the journey—not because of any geographical challenges, but simply because of the amount of traffic. This was trade season and every merchant worth his salt would be on the highway with a caravan at this point. Zarraga was the hub for trade, so everything went there eventually. Their pace slowed to a crawl just because of the amount of traffic. Still, if they went any other route it would add days of travel. Frustrating as it was, this route was the most direct.

  Being sensible people, they didn’t even try to find an inn in Zarraga. In fact, aside from lingering for a few hours to buy some supplies, they didn’t really stay in the city at all. Sarvell led them to a small village outside of the city’s limits that hosted a decent inn. (And the inn keeper greeted him by name, which Jewel didn’t find surprising at all.)

  The inn’s beds were far too comfortable for her. Especially with Rialt wrapped comfortably around her back, and Bortonor sleeping at the foot of the bed, she remained nice and warm throughout the night. Jewel found it a trial just to bring her mind to a semi-conscious state. Perhaps the weeks of travel were finally catching up with her. Before leaving Belthain, she had had no experience with travel, after all. It wasn’t just riding a horse—the constant source of new stimuli that she had to process and interact with also sapped her strength. Jewel couldn’t wait until she was home in Denzbane again.

  Stretching slightly, she tried to roll out of bed, only to be caught short by Rialt’s encompassing arm. “Rialt…let me up.”

  “Lovenanty, wife,” he grumbled in a voice thick with sleep, “even the birds be no properly awake at this hour.”

  “Eh?” she paused in her efforts to free herself. “Is it really that early?”

  “Eh, it be,” he answered with a long sigh. “So be a good wife and stay in bed.”

  She snorted. “Do you mean be a good wife, or be a good pillow?”

  “That be what I said.”

  Well, as long as her role in this relationship had been properly established… Shaking her head, she rolled back into her previous position. But still, if it truly was early, then why had she woken up? The room had no noise in it, aside from Rialt and Bortonor’s breathing. There weren’t any sounds from outside or next door. The fire in the room had burned down at some point to mere embers, as she could barely detect any outside heat in the air, but Rialt and Bortonor kept her warm enough that she shouldn’t have awakened due to the chill of morning.

  After all of these weeks of traveling, she should still be sound asleep…so why had her brain so rudely jerked her into the waking world? Even now, she had absolutely no temptation to go back to sleep.

  “Jewel,” Rialt had a note of forced patience in his voice, “why be you no sleeping?”

  “I have no idea,” she admitted in frank puzzlement. “I’m just awake. I can’t think of anything that’s wrong…” In a split second it hit her. It wasn’t what she could hear or sense that had awoken her.

  But the absence of something she had always felt.

  Jewel jerked upright in the bed, throwing back the covers and fighting to get out of the bed. “Rialt, we have to move!”

  His soldier’s reflexes had him scrambling out of the bed after her even as he demanded, “What? What be wrong?!”

  “The barrier,” she responded quickly, words almost tripping over each other as she rushed to get out the explanation. “The barrier is gone!”

  “WHAT?!”

  Jewel dove for the saddlebags that she had laid over a chair the night before, yanking out the first clothes that came to hand and changing as quickly as she could manage. “Get the other two awake!”

  Rialt had the door open before she could get the order out. She tracked his movements absently as she dressed, listening through the wall as he banged on the door and then snapped out commands to the two sleeping next door.

  She had three more buttons on her blouse to do by the time he returned, and he imitated her by going straight to his saddlebag and quickly getting dressed. Bortonor, alert to the sudden movement of his people, jumped to the floor and kept pressing anxiously against her. He didn’t understand what was wrong, only felt that his people were upset.

  Jewel spared him a quick pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears before asking Rialt, “Take him outside for a minute. I’ll pack everything.”

  “Back in a moment,” he promised before whistling for the dog.

  Bortonor obediently followed him out of the room. Someone—Chizeld, actually—stepped inside almost immediately after they had left and demanded, “Sure? The barrier is gone?”

  “Gone,” Jewel confirmed, clenching her hands in front of her stomach. She felt like she might either throw up or start shaking soon. Never before had Evard been completely defenseless. The Daath would certainly move on this as soon as they could. How much time did they have? Weeks? How long would it take to amass an army? “Chizeld, the horses.”

  “Sarvell is saddling now,” he assured her. “Pack. Need to leave quick and ride hard.”

  She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves—which didn’t have any noticeable effect—before she whirled around and started packing again at a frantic pace. Chizeld pitched in by putting Rialt’s things back into the bags. This task didn’t take more than a few seconds, as they hadn’t really unpacked anything the night before.

  Rialt’s heavy footsteps bounded back up the stairs, followed by Bortonor’s lighter tread. “Jewel, ready?”

  “Ready,” she confirmed, snatching up her saddlebags.

  “Meet down there,” Chizeld said to them both as he darted out of the room, no doubt getting his own bags.

  She followed Rialt down the stairs as fast her legs would carry her, following him through the inn and to the back, where the stable yard lay. Without any words being exchanged, they mounted and road out at a quick lope, heading for the main highway.

  As soon as they were on the highway, Jewel gathered enough courage to ask, “Rialt, if the Daath noticed right this minute that the barrier was down, how fast could they act?”

  “Three weeks, on the outside. But they would send in scouts and the like by tomorrow.”

  Three weeks…it would take another week just to reach Denzbane. Could she and her sister-priestesses put enough energy into the crystals fast enough to put the barrier back up before then?

  Since the barrier had been given to Evard, it had never once failed or been taken down. This situation had simply never happened before and because of that, Jewel had no way of
even guessing. She couldn’t even be sure why the crystal had not sustained the barrier another three months, as she guessed it would.

  Why had it failed?

  Rialt put an arm around her waist and hugged her tight for a moment. “We will make it, Jewel. We will make it.”

  She prayed to the gods that he was right.

  ~*~*~*~

  They rode hard and fast, switching horses as they needed to, but even then it took two days to reach Belthain. Every muscle in Jewel’s body seemed to ache and she would literally beg to be given a chance to have a hot bath and a proper meal. They had expanded a great deal of energy in order to reach the city this quickly, but Jewel still was tempted to stop just for a few moments and coordinate with Tamarra before continuing on to Ramath. Those few moments of working out a schedule of how to charge the crystals might save them valuable time later.

  They entered the city proper and started weaving their way through the streets. Jewel, for once, knew where they were and where they were going so well that she almost smiled at the familiarity. She tried not to let the idea of staying in a place she knew well sway her decision.

  “This doesn’t look good,” Chizeld observed aloud.

  Rialt reined in, stopping right in the middle of the street. “What be that?”

  “There, the man in the red uniform,” Chizeld continued. “See? That man was sent to High Priestess of Thornock as an armsman.”

  “And he looks upset,” Sarvell observed.

  The fact that he looked upset didn’t really surprise her. With the barrier down, likely no one was happy at this moment. But she did find it curious that an armsman was away from the priestess he should be guarding and out in the city like this. Unless Tamarra needed to speak with her?

  Over all of the street traffic, Jewel couldn’t begin to discern who was where or if anyone was approaching them. She had to rely on the men for any details. “Can one of you stop him and ask what’s wrong?”

  “Don’t think we need to,” Sarvell answered slowly. “Is it my imagination, or did he look relieved to see us?”

  “Seems that way,” Chizeld agreed, tone bemused. Leather creaked, as if he just stood in his stirrups, and his voice boomed out, “Gourley!”

  “Sir!” a lighter male voice called back. “Urgent news! Must speak with Priestess Jomadd!”

  “With me?” Jewel repeated, not particularly surprised. “I suppose Tamarra would want to ask some questions, but…”

  “We will find out shortly,” Rialt assured her. “The man be making time, he be, getting to us.”

  Rialt proved to be exactly right, as it seemed bare seconds passed before Gourley stood near her right side. He sounded a little out of breath as he quickly said, “Priestess Jomadd, urgent request from Priestess Matthison. Please come to Belthain Order immediately.”

  A deep sense of foreboding settled into the pit of Jewel’s stomach. She didn’t like the sound of this at all. “I will certainly come, but can you tell me what’s wrong?”

  “Yes.” Gourley paused before blurting out in panic, “The Thornock Crystal is missing!”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Jewel strode through the main doors of Belthain’s Order at something close to a run. For once she didn’t need Bortonor or any of her armsmen to guide her. She knew this building better than she knew the back of her own head. While it felt wonderful to be back on familiar ground again, she couldn’t begin to enjoy it.

  How could the crystal just be missing?

  These weren’t some trinkets that could be carelessly misplaced. Even when people had wanted to get rid of them they’d barely been able to move them far from the original resting place. Only the Ramath, with their stubbornness and ingenuity, had managed any sort of distance. But here in Belthain, the task would be especially impossible. The crystal sat in its own room, stone walls surrounding it on all sides, and the crystal’s shrine sat inside Belthain’s Castle complex! It would be a mammoth job to move it and it certainly couldn’t be done in stealth.

  Which really left only one possible culprit.

  “Jewel!”

  Even though she had only met the woman a handful of times, Jewel recognized the voice instantly. She turned instinctively to face the other priestess. “Tamarra.”

  Light footsteps came at a quick pace and then slowed all at once. “I’m so glad Gourley was able to find you. You were tasked with putting the crystals back in place, correct?”

  Jewel gave a quick confirmation, “Yes.”

  “Then maybe you can tell me where my crystal has gone off to.”

  Jewel shook her head even before Tamarra could complete the sentence. “No, I really have no idea. I can’t even fathom how a mortal would be able to move it out of here to begin with.”

  Tamarra quickly picked up on the qualification. “A mortal? You think the gods are responsible for this?”

  “I can think of one especially that is anxious to not have all of the crystals back in place,” Jewel said grimly. “He’s been hounding my footsteps on every leg of this journey. But I didn’t think Cherchez had the power to interfere in Evard.”

  “By ancient decree, that is not possible,” Chizeld confirmed. “No god may interfere in another’s territory.”

  “But that means that the only god who could possibly move the crystal would be Elahandra herself,” Tamarra protested. “And I certainly can’t see her doing that, not after she sent Jewel out!”

  Neither could she. Jewel frowned slightly, letting the possibilities spin in her mind. “Actually, we’re missing the obvious. There is one other god, the god of Thornock, that could do this.”

  “Baurthan?” Tamarra asked incredulously. “But why would he even want to?”

  “Now that be the question,” Rialt rumbled. “Jewel, a quick word to herself is in order.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Jewel admitted. She quickly bent her head and offered a prayer. Elahandra, the Thornock crystal is missing.

  It took a moment before Elahandra responded. “It’s WHAT?!”

  It’s missing, Jewel repeated neutrally, although her worry about the situation creeped into her voice. After all, if the Thornock crystal was gone, then the barrier was gone too. They wouldn’t even have a prayer of putting the barrier back up without the central crystal to connect to. And there’s no sign of how it was done. Perhaps Baurthan might know?

  “I’ll ask. Wait right there.” Elahandra’s presence left as quickly as it came.

  Jewel lifted her head. “She’s not sure what happened, but she’s asking her brother.”

  “It is his territory, after all,” Sarvell muttered. “He should know.”

  “Not necessarily.” Tamarra sounded disgruntled. “The downside of having the God of Order as your deity is that he dislikes the chaos that mortals create. I think he ignores us as much as possible.”

  That had actually been one of the reasons why Jewel felt so thankful that Elahandra had chosen her as a priestess. At least that way she had one god that paid some attention to her.

  Even though she stood outside in the hallway, Jewel instantly felt it when Elahandra appeared in the empty crystal room. In fact, the feel of two deities emanated from that room.

  Tamarra let out a low growl. “Now what’s going on?” Without waiting for any answer, she spun about in a swish of skirts and darted for the crystal room.

  Jewel darted right after her, tracking by ear as her armsmen and Bortonor followed on her heels. Still, she only crossed a few dozen feet before skidding to a halt again, just inside the doorway, to avoid running over Tamarra. The other priestess had frozen almost as soon as she entered the room, blocking the doorway.

  “Tamarra? What—” she cut the question off as two voices, raised at an angry level, started firing back and forth.

  “I don’t care if they complained,” Elahandra bit off in an angry hiss, “put it back.”

  “Really, sister, this creation of yours has caused nothing but trouble,” another voice responded laco
nically. He had the tone of a bored aristocrat who was only conversing for the sake of politeness. “I’m doing you a favor.”

  “No, you’re just making my job harder,” Elahandra corrected through gritted teeth. “I’m in charge of keeping all of Evard safe, remember? It’s a little hard to do that when one of the key pieces of my barrier is in your hands. Now put it back!”

  “I don’t know why you insist on keeping this silly barrier of yours. Surely there are more elegant methods. In fact, I think it’s time to revise the whole concept.”

  “What are you—?! Oh don’t you dare drag the whole family here to discuss this!”

  “I told you, I think it’s time to revisit this idea and think of a better solution.”

  “What better solution!” Elahandra demanded. “None of you wanted to—”

  “What be this about?” a new female voice asked. This time, Jewel recognized the new arrival. Juven had arrived. Strange, but perhaps because she had been in the presence of this goddess before, Jewel felt more from her. Elahandra’s presence always had an overtone of light and…a nurturing feeling of affection. Juven seemed quite the opposite—her presence had the overtones of strength and challenge, like a huntress on the trail of fresh game.

  “Our idiot brother has lost his mind, that’s what!” Elahandra snapped.

  Before Juven could respond, another god appeared in the room, one with a mellow tenor voice. “Goodness, Ela, I haven’t seen you this mad in three centuries. Baurt, what did you do?”

  Jewel turned and touched Rialt’s arm to catch his attention. “Who is that?” she whispered.

  It was Chizeld that answered in a quiet tone, “Gostrum, the god of Death.”

  “Be he?” Rialt asked in mild surprise. “He looks more like a school teacher.”

  “The depictions in children’s storybooks far from accurate,” Chizeld assured him dryly. For Jewel’s sake, he leaned near her ear and said, “Gostrum is of average height, long hair in pony tail, with a narrow build.”