by David Wind
Was it possible? If Olrac had been replaced by a look-alike, then his kingdom would be open. There was but one person who might be able to see through the duplication—his brother, Yermon, Duke of Llawnroc: The connection within bloodlines was strong throughout Nevaeh and stronger yet with twin brothers.
Enaid was deeply concerned. Whispered tales from the old days, stories handed down from mothers to daughters for many centuries, told of how such duplication was possible for the depravity from across the sea.
With sudden clarity, Enaid understood Areenna’s vision. Olrac’s brother, Duke Yermon, would know it was an impostor. It was also an accepted fact Duke Yermon would sit Olrac’s throne in the King’s absence.
She found Areenna watching her and, with an imperceptible nod, directed a thought to her. Now you know what the vision meant. The Llawnroc bloodline is strong and even stronger when the brothers are twins. Yermon will see through the deception.
What of my vision of the knife?
I do not know, Enaid responded.
She turned to Roth and leaned into his ear. “There is a great danger here. We must talk privately.”
“We cannot. The council has started,” he reminded her.
“Find a way. We must wait for Yermon to arrive before continuing the council.”
Roth knew his wife would not ask this lightly. Standing, he raised his arms, his palms parallel to the floor and lowered them slowly to ask for silence. When his hands reached the table, the room was quiet.
“I ask the indulgence of the council. An urgent matter has arisen and it must be dealt with immediately.”
He paused to take in the surprise registering on all the faces. “I understand this is an inconvenience, but a necessary one. We will begin again, tomorrow morning. Please avail yourselves of Tolemac’s hospitality. We will see you all at the evening meal.”
With his fading words, confusion rose among all the retinues. Roth stood and, with Enaid and Mikaal following, left the council chamber.
<><><>
While Roth spoke, Areenna heard Enaid’s mind touch again. When we leave, meet us in our chambers. Bring your father.
“That was unexpected,” Nosaj whispered to Areenna.
“But important,” she replied, her voice so low it reached only her father’s ear. “The high king and Enaid want us to meet them in their chamber.”
He started to speak, stopped, and instead favored her with a penetrating look. “Then we should leave.”
They stood and, with her father in the lead, were the first through the door after the high king. Only a few followed. The rest stayed in the council chamber, talking about what had just happened. Outside, Areenna took the lead and brought them to their chambers.
“We should wait a few more minutes. I don’t think Enaid wants us to be seen.”
Her father’s brows knit together. “Enaid did not speak to you. How can you know this?”
She took a breath and, before answering, exhaled slowly. “She told me so…without words.”
His eyes remained locked on hers. His arm rose, his fingers grazed her cheek before he dropped his arm to his side. “You are like your mother. She had the mind touch as well. How much more is there you haven’t told me?”
Before she could respond, there was a knock on their door. Thankful for the interruption, Areenna opened it to find one of Enaid’s maids waiting. “Please come with me.”
The girl took them to the King’s chambers, through an empty side hall passage and to a room where Enaid met them. “Thank you for coming, your Highness,” Enaid said to Nosaj.
“Your majesty,” Nosaj responded with a slight bow of his head.
“Can we dispense with the formalities, Nosaj? We are family.”
Nosaj nodded to his wife’s cousin. “What is happening, Enaid?”
“Come,” she said, “Roth needs your advice.”
Nosaj’s eyebrows rose but he remained silent.
Enaid led them through a short maze of rooms and into Roth’s private chamber. Two of the room’s walls were lined with shelves holding books. A large map was centered on the third wall; each of the ten domains highlighted with varying shades of color. Beneath the map was an ornate, hand-carved desk of deep red wood. A matching chair with burgundy cushions was tucked into the desk. The forth wall was windowed, with a view of Tolemac’s green rolling hills. The floor was covered with a woven rug, and centered in the room was a table of the same red wood as the desk. Six chairs surrounded the table and on the table were goblets and several pitchers. Sconces of illuminating night-moss were spaced evenly on the walls.
A moment after Enaid, Nosaj and Areenna entered the room, Roth and Mikaal joined them. Roth pulled Nosaj into a quick embrace. He released him but held him at arm’s length. A full smile broke his lips. “It is good to see you again, my friend. It has been too long.”
“It has, Sire,” Nosaj responded with his own smile.
“No titles. In this room we are all equals.”
“As you ask…Solomon.”
The name sounded strange in her ears as Areenna studied the byplay between the two men. The name was indeed peculiar, and she found it intriguing. The high king was the only man she had ever known who had two names rather than a single name bounded to a domain. But why would the high king have a domain, since unlike she or her father, all of Nevaeh was his domain? It was said the high king had not been born of a kingly line but rather poor born. No one knew what domain he had been born to; they only knew his strength and intelligence surmounted any bloodline distinction.
“Let us sit so what is happening can be explained.”
While they seated themselves, Enaid poured each two glasses: one of wine and one of water as Nevaen custom dictated. When his wife sat next to him, Roth lifted his wine goblet. “To friends, to family, and to a safe world.”
They raised their glasses—in a tradition started by Roth—and sipped. “A very dangerous situation has arisen.” He turned to Enaid and nodded.
Enaid looked at Areenna. “Areenna had a vision, two days past,” she began, looking from Areenna to Roth and Mikaal. “In this vision she sensed a great danger to Olrac of Llawnroc, and advised, correctly, his brother Yermon to find a way to join Olrac here. Today, with Areenna’s help, we discovered why.”
Enaid paused, took a drink of water, and said, “King Olrac is not the person who attends this council.”
“How is this possible? I have seen him with my own eyes not ten minutes ago!” Mikaal stated.
“The person you see is a duplicate, his visage is controlled by a powerful person, so powerful I could not see through the deception.”
“Duplication is an old wives tale. Even if Olrac is a…ah…duplicate, how can you know this as a fact?” Nosaj questioned carefully.
“Areenna discovered the deception. Your daughter is much more powerful than your wife.”
While all eyes were focused on her, Areenna looked only at her father. “I…I am able to sense people’s minds,” she admitted. “I didn’t know how well until today, when Enaid pushed me to do so. Everyone in the room except for one was open to me. Olrac was completely blocked.”
“Which might mean you just cannot read him,” Mikaal cut in.
Turning to Mikaal, she reached out with her mind for an instant and felt a shock run through her. She inhaled sharply. “You don’t believe that. You feel the same as I, don’t you?”
Enaid and Roth turned to him, Enaid’s eyes as wide as coins. “Mikaal?” she asked, her voice cracking.
Mikaal held her stare for several seconds before slowly nodding. He turned to Areenna. “How?”
“Until just now I didn’t know. I….”
“Is this true?” Roth asked. “Can you sense things?”
Mikaal’s brows furrowed. He looked from his father to his mother. “It started just after my thirteenth birthday. I…I didn’t want anyone knowing.”
Stunned, Enaid stared at her son. She shook her head slowly and turned
to Areenna and Nosaj, and then back at Mikaal. “No one must ever know.” Then she looked directly at the high king. “Solomon, it is because of you.”
“How could you not sense this?” Roth asked his wife.
Enaid shook her head. “It never occurred to me to try. He is male.”
“Is it a male sensitivity like Master Thrumweld?” Nosaj asked.
“No.” Enaid stood and walked behind Mikaal’s chair. She put one hand on Roth’s shoulder, the other on Mikaal’s, and looked at Roth. When he gave a slow nod, Enaid said, “What I am going to tell you is known by only six people. Three of those are in this room. The others are my father, mother, and brother. Should it become known, every effort of the black forces from across the sea—every dark and evil power they possess, every action they take, will be directed against Mikaal and Roth. I do mean every force they can muster, be it physical or dark sorcery. And they have become very, very strong again.”
All eyes rested on Areenna and Nosaj, waiting. Nosaj was the first to nod. Areenna was unable to do so. Not because she was weighing her options; rather, because she was too stunned to think clearly even though she’d heard, saw and had taken in everything.
“Areenna,” her father said gently.
Areenna blinked then nodded. “I am sorry, I…”
“It is fine, I understand,” Enaid assured her. She stepped from behind Mikaal’s chair to her own, but did not sit. Some of her long, raven hair fell across her face. Brushing the hair back absently, she said, “I had always wondered if something like this was possible. Deep inside, I knew it was, but I could never be certain. Our people, all of the people in Nevaeh, follow the same growth. Men have been granted the abilities of both internal and physical strength; women have mental abilities beyond the normal. My husband once explained the abilities the women of Nevaeh have is called paranormal. We have these abilities because of the Old Ones and of what is called radiation, and of what happened to our world thousands of years ago. A few men, like Master Thrumweld of The School, have sensitivity to a woman’s power. Still, there has never been a man who has been gifted with a woman’s paranormal abilities.”
Enaid looked at her husband, a gentle smile shadowing her lips. “But there has not been a man like Solomon Roth in three thousand years.”
Nosaj looked at Roth but remained silent as the high queen continued. “My husband is the last of the ‘Old Ones’. The legends were true, and my husband has returned to our world.”
Enaid watched shock spread across both Nosaj and Areenna’s faces. She saw Areenna grasp her father’s hand and squeeze it to anchor him in reality. She waited until they both visibly relaxed. Yet, she read well the deep wariness behind Nosaj’s eyes and knew he, of all the rulers of Nevaeh’s domains, would have the most open mind. It was why his wife had loved him. And Enaid’s cousin had been a very wise woman.
“Nosaj?”
At his name, Areenna’s father finally shook himself free of his surprise. “How is this even remotely possible without anyone knowing?”
“It was necessary. How would you react if Solomon walked into your throne room and declared himself to be an Old One?”
“I would believe him insane,” Nosaj said honestly. “I would exile him to the Blue Desert.”
“Of course you would. He would have been banished to the borderlands and labeled misfit and Nevaeh would still have ten realms battling each other’s borders, being tricked like thoughtless animals into keeping everything as it has been for centuries—stagnant.”
“Yes,” Nosaj agreed.
“Exactly! And if you—or any king—had done so, Nevaeh would never have become united. In fact, the ten dominions would have grown weaker and weaker until the dark circle conquered us once and for all and turned us as mindless as the mutated minions they rule across the sea.”
Nosaj looked down at the hand his daughter held. He raised it to his lips and kissed the soft skin before releasing it. He looked at Roth and said, “I still don’t understand how this is possible. Your strength is equal to any man’s. It is known the ‘Old Ones’ were not strong physically and they preferred to fight with machines they could control from great distances.”
“You speak truly. I am not as strong as you.”
“Then how could you have defeated us? You fought all of the Kings. You overpowered each of us.”
Roth’s eyes danced with humor. “Were you to challenge a huge acont tree with your sword, who would win? Would it be you or the tree?”
Nosaj’s brows knitted together as he worked out the riddle. Then he too smiled. “The tree, of course. My sword might damage it, but I would tire long before I could cut it down.”
“Exactly. It was not my physical strength, but the strength of my armor. The material of my armor is made of a special metal. In my time, the metal was used to build ships, and these ships had to withstand anything. This metal was used to build the ship that carried me into space—up toward the stars.”
Nosaj looked puzzled. “I…”
“Nosaj, I will explain all when the time is right; today is not that time. Will you trust me until I can fully explain?”
Nosaj looked at Areenna and then back at Roth. “You have been my king for many years. We have bled together in battle. Why would I not trust you?”
“Thank you,” Roth said simply. “Let me explain about the armor. The metal is strong enough to resist any sword blow. Inside the armor is padding, which absorbs the shock of a sword blow. When I fought, I was able to outwait my opponent. Tire him to the point where he could barely lift his sword. Was that not so when we fought eighteen years ago?”
Nosaj nodded again. “So it was endurance which defeated me. I always wondered why not a single drop of blood was ever spilled when you fought all of us.”
“Why would I maim or kill those who are needed to protect and oversee our world?” Roth fell silent. He reached past his wife to grasp Mikaal’s shoulder. “For now we must forget what we have discovered about Mikaal. No one must know, or his life could be forfeit. The people would think it black sorcery.”
“Which I will never allow,” Enaid declared. “How strong are you?” she asked her son.
“I don’t know. The only time I can experiment is when I’m alone, which has been almost impossible, as you well know.” His words were an explosion of frustration.
“Then we must find out, and soon. But before we do that, we need a plan of action to unmask this duplicate and find Olrac before it’s too late.” With that Enaid turned to Roth. What think you my liege?”
“We must send a messenger to Yermon to warn him.”
Areenna drew in a breath. Her fingers curled into her palms. She looked from the high king to Enaid. “It must be me.”
“No,” Nosaj said quickly.
“Yes, Father. Yermon is coming because of what I told him. Would he believe or trust a messenger who tells him his brother is not his brother?”
“She is right,” Roth said.
“I know,” Nosaj said.
A moment later the sharp cry of a treygone came through the open windows of the chamber as Gaalrie came to rest on the outer sill. Areenna looked fondly at the giant bird and sent her a command to find Yermon.
An instant later the treygone was airborne. “I need to change into riding clothes.”
“As do I,” Mikaal stated, standing at the same time as Areenna. “It makes sense. People will think it strange for a king’s daughter to go riding alone. The two of us going together will not raise suspicions.”
Areenna nodded. “Mikaal is right.”
“So be it,” Roth said. “We will send a small guard detail.” Before Areenna could protest, Roth added. “They will go out ten minutes after you leave. It will not be connected. I am concerned about what you might find on the road. Go now.”
CHAPTER 6
THEY RODE SLOWLY through the gates of Tolemac, as if going for nothing more than an afternoon ride. Prince Mikaal led the way, his large blue, almost black
coated kraal prancing handsomely forward while Areenna’s smaller mount glided effortlessly next to him.
Many a head turned to watch the pair ride from the city. More than one lady sighed at the prince’s passing. The same could be said about the young men and Areenna, but before anyone could point a finger, the men averted their eyes. Such was the way of the land. Coveting royalty was not something done lightly.
But neither Areenna nor Mikaal were aware of the glances cast their way for they had a much heavier matter on their minds. Three hundred yards after the soldiers guarding the outer gates had saluted their prince, both Areenna and Mikaal urged their kraals forward.
“Have you their location?” Mikaal asked as soon as they turned the first bend and disappeared from the soldiers’ view.
“Just. Duke Yermon is two miles north, but something…I’m not sure what, something is not right.”
Mikaal started to speak, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand. Closing her eyes, Areenna concentrated on Gaalrie, pushing her thoughts toward the giant bird in an effort to clear their foggy communication—it was as if something dark and hidden and powerful was trying to block her.
What could cause such a thing?
Pushing her mind hard, she focused on Gaalrie and broke through the mental barrier. A moment later she was able to see through her treygone’s eyes, and watched the duke and his men galloping toward Tolemac. They rode frantically and she felt the visceral fear her treygone sensed emanating from the riders. She knew there was little time left to save the duke when something dark and shimmering appeared behind the riders.
As if struck by lightning, Areenna understood what chased the duke. “We must move fast, now!” she shouted to Mikaal, pressing her heels hard into Hero’s side while also sending the kraal a mental command.
Behind her, Mikaal reacted instantly. Leaning forward, he urged his mount on while at the same time futilely shouting, “What is it?”