“Cosseted.” Halcone expelled the word like a sigh. His knees buckled and he almost fell into a sitting position on the bed. “I wanted to protect you from the world, then I made the same mistake with Kae. I guess you aren’t the only one to blame. Come here.”
Zedane sat down on the bed and leaned against Halcone, who put an arm around Zedane’s shoulder and kissed him on the head.
“Do you know what my time in the Towers was like?” Halcone asked.
Zedane thought about how powerful Halcone was, especially with energy magic—he’d surely have won every duel. “I imagine it would have been pretty sweet for you.”
“I was a huge bully.”
“You?” Halcone was the wisest and most generous person Zedane knew.
“I’m afraid so. It took me a while to grow out of the brash young man who emerged from the Crystal Towers. When I did, I thought I could change things, make it better. The older I get, the more I learn how powerless one truly is.”
“If you are powerless, what are the rest of us?”
Halcone didn’t answer. He just clutched Zedane closer to him. After a brief silence, Zedane spoke again. “I guess there’s no way this can easily disappear.”
“Even if I wanted to, I can’t help you. The High Lord is on his way. He’ll be here soon and will meet with you tomorrow.”
“What will he want?” Zedane asked.
“What would any heartbroken and wronged father want? Satisfaction.”
“Vengeance?” Zedane asked.
“That often amounts to the same thing.”
“Can you do anything?” Zedane asked. If High Lord Relcarian was the most powerful person in the land, then Lord Halcone Florassiv was the second.
“I can do little. I won’t risk a second war between the Desert Palace and the Mountain Kingdom.”
“It couldn’t go that far, could it?”
“A Florassiv prince has killed a Relcarian princess while she was inside the Desert Palace. Centuries of war have begun over much less.”
“But...” Zedane stopped himself. She was just a notan, he’d been thinking, but Halcone didn’t think of her like that. And clearly the High Lord wouldn’t either.
“I’m expecting him soon.” Halcone stood and moved toward the window, then pointed. “There he is. He’s coming now.”
Zedane went to stand beside his father. He shivered when he saw the distant silhouette of an approaching dragon. “Why didn’t he just portal here?”
“He’s making an entrance,” Halcone said. “The world knows that a Florassiv prince killed the Relcarian princess. And the world will know that the High Lord rode his golden dragon to seek satisfaction.”
“So no chance a simple apology is going to satisfy him?”
Zedane didn’t need an answer and Halcone simply patted him on the back. “I’m sorry, son.”
Zedane watched the dragon soar ever closer. The giant wings flapped, black against the shimmering orange orb of the sinking sun, and fear clutched at Zedane’s chest. Death was coming for him on black wings.
Chapter 4
The next day when Avik arrived, Zedane was ready. He hadn’t slept but with time to think, he’d come up with a plan. Avik held open the door and waited for Zedane to walk past, then followed behind.
This is your fault, Zedane thought at her.
Fault, came the return thought. This means what?
Zedane knew better than to try and explain. If yosun didn’t understand a word, it meant that concept was something alien to their way of thinking. Since things were neither bad nor good, they just were, so how could there be fault? How could there be blame?
I see my upcoming death as a bad thing and wish you had tried to prevent it.
Death is inevitable for everyone. How can it be bad?
Zedane shrugged, deciding to give up. No one in history had won an argument with a yosun. He had more important things to win, namely, a duel. The High Lord had been accepted as the most powerful man for centuries, but when had he last been tested? Zedane had taken part in many duels over the last few years, and he sometimes won against the odds.
The odds were certainly against him today, but winning first required belief. That had been one of his dueling instructors' maxims. In the Crystal Towers, they liked maxims. Taking wisdom and distilling it to its simplest form.
At the entrance to the Diamond courtyard, Zedane’s step faltered. A dragon lay before him, its golden scales glittering in the sunlight.
Fear choked at his throat. He had rarely seen a dragon and certainly never one as big. He glanced back at Avik. She raised a wing, gesturing for him to continue around the dragon.
Perhaps it is sleeping. Zedane stayed as far to the edge of the courtyard as he could. The dragon’s tail was wrapped around itself and its head lay on top of the end of it with its eyes closed. Zedane’s legs sped up involuntarily, wanting to get far away from the dragon as quickly as possible.
Its eyes opened and the dragon’s head snaked upward. Zedane froze as the head stopped in front of him, turning it so its eye, the size of a wagon wheel, stared straight into Zedane’s face. The pupils of those eyes slitted, the golden irises elongating into ovals. Zedane had earlier seen death in the shadowed wings and he now saw death in those golden eyes. He wasn’t powerful enough in energy or shield magic to prevent the dragon’s flame from burning him to a crisp.
A pain stabbed into Zedane’s head, and he fell to the ground, screaming.
Then the pain was gone, but his thoughts were not his own. He saw a young girl standing in front of him. It was Kae, the High Lord’s daughter, and she was a child, maybe eight years old. Other than the High Lord, no other human had ever dared approach the dragon so closely uninvited. Kae came nearer. She climbed up on its leg and attempted to scale its back. The dragon shook her off, and she tumbled to the ground. She dusted herself off, grinned up at it. “I will ride you one day,” she said.
I planned to let her. Now she never will. The thoughts blasted across Zedane’s mind.
The remembrances in Zedane’s head shifted, and his own memory rose to the forefront of his mind. The dragon was still in his head though.
Zedane saw the fierce glare in Kae's eyes as he held her aloft in his fist. Even knowing she was powerless before him, she refused to submit even the slightest. Then Zedane watched Kae’s arms spiraling backward as she fell away from his outstretched hand, her brown cloak billowing in the wind.
The dragon pulled away, settling its head on its front feet, and the vivid memories faded. Zedane took a few calming breaths, then looked behind at Avik. Aren’t you supposed to be guiding me to the throne room?
I am. Avik pointed with her wing. The doors are over there.
Shouldn’t that include protecting me?
You are still alive.
Zedane grunted and got back to his feet. Some good you are. He continued past the dragon, who this time didn’t move to stop him.
Zedane knew that dragons communicated via thoughts, but he hadn’t realized that they could break into a mind so brutally. Though, he guessed, considering a dragon could brutalize him in much more permanent ways, perhaps he was getting off lightly. It was clear the dragon was another who had loved the notan.
Zedane still didn’t know Kae, would never know her, but he was beginning to understand how she had gained the love of Halcone in such a short time. And why her father came so swiftly avenge her. Perhaps she was someone who could have become a friend to him, as his father had wanted, if he hadn’t been so stupid. He could only hope he met his own death with the same fierce glare of defiance in his eyes.
He shook his head. Not today. He wasn’t going to die—he was going to win.
Chapter 5
At the doors to the throne room, Zedane glanced behind, hoping for some encouragement from Avik, but she had disappeared.
He was on his own. Just him and the plan he’d dreamed up last night—a plan that seemed much more foolish in daylight. Zedane sunk both
hands into either pocket and pulled out two crystals. One was blue and the size and shape of a sparrow egg, the other reddish and similarly sized though more irregular.
As the sunlight touched the crystals, magic flowed, and he allowed it to fill him. He absorbed as much magic as he could hold, then returned the crystals to his pockets and shoved open the doors. Halcone sat on the throne with a yosun on either side of him. The High Lord, standing in front of Halcone, turned to watch Zedane enter.
Zedane didn’t hesitate. He dashed around the side of the chamber, spitting out a series of blue flames which shot toward the High Lord. Although his energy magic was weak, he could accomplish that much.
The High Lord would either want to duel or order Zedane executed, and Zedane didn’t intend to go down without a fight. Instead, he would take the initiative and attack before the High Lord had a chance to prepare.
Halcone and the two yosun instantly disappeared, and the three of them reappeared on a balcony high above the throne room. The yosun, naturally, would have known that Zedane might attack without warning and been ready for that.
Zedane sped all the way around to the front of the throne room where he had a better view of the High Lord. Despite being several hundred years old, his face was unlined. A large gold ring pierced his right ear. A crimson cloak flowed around his shoulders, flaring out behind him where it touched the ground. His black hair was pulled tight and knotted into a bun at the base of his head. An indication, if any was needed, that the High Lord had arrived intending to duel.
The blue flames fizzled out as they touched a shield in front of the High Lord. Zedane had expected that; they were meant as a distraction. He knew he wasn’t going to win with energy magic.
Zedane fired another two blue flames, aiming these high so they arched up above the High Lord’s head. Zedane then charged straight at the High Lord, using all his speed. From previous duels, Zedane knew that, against those powerful with shield and energy magic, he needed to get close fast.
The High Lord didn’t even glance upward. He waved his arm in a wide arc and Zedane crashed straight into an invisible wall, rebounding hard. The moment Zedane hit the ground, he scrambled backward. Dizzy, he only barely managed to hold his balance. His breath came in sharp gasps and pain spiked through his side. The blue flames he’d fired hit a shield above the High Lord’s head and fizzled out like the other energy magic he’d used.
“Did you think to fool me with a child’s trick, boy?” The High Lord strode forward.
Zedane wobbled as he backed away, his hand touching the side of his face. He blinked hard, trying to force the wooziness out of his head.
“Do you think right is on your side in this duel?” the High Lord asked. “Do you think you deserve to escape punishment for killing an innocent child?”
Zedane knew not to engage the High Lord. From experience, those who goaded their opponents lost more often than not unless they provoked a reaction. Words were a distraction. Zedane scanned the throne room, looking for something he could use. He needed to figure out how to leverage his strength and his speed. To gain time, he sped away, arcing back toward the entrance. His legs tangled under him and he went crashing into the ground. Skin ripped from his forearms as he skidded across the floor. The High Lord must have tripped him up with a low invisible barrier. Zedane had never seen that used before in a duel. He stood, but before he got fully upright, he was knocked to his left, then hit again from the other side.
The High Lord’s control of his shield magic was incredible, creating invisible clubs that slashed at him from all angles. Zedane tried to use his speed to get away, but it just caused it to hurt even more when he crashed into a barrier. He tried his shield magic, but the strikes from the High Lord’s magic bashed straight through his shields as if they weren’t there.
Zedane battled on until his body gave out on him and collapsed to the floor. He looked up to see the High Lord standing several paces in front of him.
“How did Kae feel when you used your magic on her?” the High Lord asked. “Was she powerless before you? Did you want to squash her like a bug?”
Zedane tried to get up, fell, then he rose again. Pain stabbed through his chest with every breath, and he was seeing double. He shook his head to clear it. The magic that had surged through him earlier had faded to a trickle. He wasn’t ready to give up yet though. The High Lord’s pride could be his downfall. Zedane had seen it before: the powerful magic user who goaded his weakened opponent and ultimately lost.
He saw the throne over to his left and sped toward it, grabbing its armrest and—only half-pretending—leaned on it to keep him upright. The High Lord, his hands folded behind his back, walked after Zedane, his crimson cloak flowing along the ground behind him.
“I went up to the top of that tower,” the High Lord said. “I dropped Kae’s childhood doll over the edge and counted the number of heartbeats it took until it smashed to the ground. For six heartbeats Kae fell. Six heartbeats in which she knew she was going to die. Did you wonder what she was thinking in those moments? Did she feel despair? Sorrow? Hatred? Was she seeing your ugly face, or remembering happier times?”
Zedane, barely able to stand, waited until the High Lord was just ten paces away, then he summoned the remains of his magic, the remains of his willpower, the remains of his strength. He lifted the throne and threw it.
It flew true, straight at the High Lord. A spark of hope flared within Zedane, then the High Lord dashed to the side so the throne missed him. He then reached out, used his strength to grab the throne and placed it gently on the floor.
Zedane realized that he was a bug trying to defeat a giant. He’d never had the slightest chance. The High Lord lifted a hand and a wall of red energy magic sprung into being above Zedane’s head. “Kneel,” he said.
Zedane wobbled, sweat trickling down his forehead as heat beat at him.
“Kneel,” the High Lord repeated, and the wall of energy lowered further.
Zedane fell to his knees, lowering his gaze to the floor.
The High Lord reached down to a pouch at his belt and pulled out a necklace. He threw it to the ground at Zedane’s feet. “Put that on.”
The necklace had three dark crystals folded into gold threads. A ketac. Zedane had seen criminals wearing them and he knew what they did: they shielded the wearer from using magic.
Zedane felt empty. Empty of magic, empty of strength, empty of hope. He had lost. He reached down, picked up the necklace and clasped it around his neck.
The High Lord let his energy magic dissipate and turned to look up at Halcone on the balcony. “I will take him back to the Mountain Kingdom for execution.”
Chapter 6
Halcone nodded at the yosun to his right, then all three of them disappeared, then reappeared in front of the throne. Halcone sat. The throne was misplaced, facing at an angle toward its own plinth, and a crack ran through the paving stone beneath it.
“You are a smaller man than I thought,” Halcone said.
“Do not anger me. Not now,” the High Lord replied. “The boy deserves no less.”
“So it’s wholly his fault?” Halcone asked.
“Are you going to deny it? We both heard the magistrate’s report. With little provocation, he shoved her to her death.”
“If not him, then someone else would have.”
Zedane shifted on his knees. He hadn’t expected Halcone to defend him.
The High Lord’s eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to Halcone. The yosun on either side moved in closer to the throne. “I sent her here because you promised me you would keep her safe with your new laws. I would think that you’d prefer to blame the boy rather than yourself.”
“I promised nothing. I said I would try.” Halcone didn’t flinch away from the High Lord’s glare. “I find fault with the boy, I find fault with myself and I find fault with you.”
“Me?” The High Lord’s back straightened and he seemed to grow taller. “I was in another part
of the world.”
“You just want to dodge responsibility.”
A heavy stillness hung in the air as the two rulers stared at each other, neither willing to lower their eyes before the other. Zedane had thought Halcone was desperate to avoid antagonizing the High Lord; instead, he seemed ready to provoke war. “Father, you don’t have to do this. I accept my fate,” Zedane said. Bad enough that he was responsible for Kae’s death, he didn’t want to be the cause of a war that would kill countless thousands more.
Halcone raised his palm toward Zedane and gave a slight shake of his head.
“You better explain yourself, old friend.” The High Lord’s voice was low, like the rumble of a distant thunderstorm. “I arrived angry. I don’t think either of us wants me to leave angrier.”
“You raised Kae to be proud,” Halcone said. “Even when you found out that she was a notan, you never tried to rein her in.”
The High Lord shook his head. “I could not. You know what she was like. She wasn’t someone who could be broken.”
“She was spirited and strong and it made her wonderful.” Halcone smiled, his eyes glazing over. “And I truly tried. It wasn’t just for her, I have always felt that magic ruled us more than it should. In the Desert Palace, we have always been less swayed by magical ability than elsewhere. That’s why you sent her here rather than keep her in your own kingdom. You knew what would eventually happen when she challenged the wrong person. Didn’t you?”
The High Lord glared.
“Killing Kae inside the Mountain Kingdom wouldn’t have even been a crime,” Halcone continued. “When I agreed to take Kae on, I adjusted our laws, and tried to change mindsets. It worked to some degree, but I knew the dam would burst at some stage. I never thought it would be my son, but something was going to happen. It was inevitable.”
“Are you saying I should have forced her to lower her eyes to every half-wit with a shred of magical ability?” the High Lord demanded.
“No. You did right by her. Let her soar but accept that it wouldn’t last forever. She wasn’t stupid. She saw how other notans held themselves around others. She knew what she had to do to ensure survival. Instead, she chose to be herself, spirited and bold, accepting the risk.”
The Desert Palace Page 2