Lia seemed to read my mind. When I first met you, in the king’s throne room, when you reached out for me, your barriers were fragile, like walls crumbling from old age. I didn’t think about it at the time - there was too much else going on - but now it seems to me that they might have been influenced by whatever the sorcerer poisoned you with. I could see his hold over you, grabbing you from behind, never letting you see his influence, but never letting you go either. Maybe this stopped you from questioning him. But unless he tells you the truth, we can only speculate.
I nodded, wondering whether I would ever find out. It was unlikely that Lassadar would just tell me. He probably wouldn’t even meet me, let alone admit that he had poisoned me. Still, I made a mental note to figure it out. Along with finding out what had happened to Oisín. I had tried to reach out for him, like I usually did, but there was nothing but silence. It was as if he had disappeared from this world. Although somehow, I was sure that had he died, I would have known. No, that was not a topic I wanted to think about. The peryton had to be alive.
How long have I been sick for? I asked Lia, who had sat down beside me once more, to distract myself.
A few days maybe. I’m not sure. A guy snuck into here after a day or so and gave me a pill for you to swallow. At first, I didn’t want to give it to you but you were so ill. He mumbled something about candles-
“Jon,” I exclaimed aloud, regretting it instantly as my throat began to burn. He’s a healer I spent a lot of time with. I can’t believe he actually came.
He seemed very scared and ran off as soon as I’d given you the pill. Soon after they took me away for questioning, and - well, let’s just say, they weren’t all that gentle. I must have blacked out myself at some point. Her thought-voice was laced with pain.
Did they hurt you? A protectiveness welled up in me that felt very unfamiliar, but… good. What did they want to know? Did you find out what are they planning to do to us? A thousand questions were whirling around in my mind.
They asked me how I managed to enter the King’s chambers, where I got the information about the secret passage. That sorcerer, Lassadar, was particularly interested in that. He is powerful, but I have my own ways of protecting myself from his mental grip. It wasn’t easy, but he didn’t get any information from me. I cannot afford to have him know the identity of our informant. But I’m sure they’ll try again. Next time, I will be weaker, and they won’t stop until they know the truth. I fear that at some point, I will be unable to conceal it from them. And once they know, I will be worthless. They will kill me; my body will be thrown down into the earth and I will never join my ancestors’ treesong. My soul will perish, unable to find its way back to Nythea. Even though I did not understand all that she was telling me, I could feel her sadness behind her thoughts.
And yes, they did hurt me. But it could have been a lot worse. And we K’tuin heal fast, soon there will be no traces left of their doing. And what about you? What does the King want from you? Why hasn’t he killed you already? I’m sorry to be so frank, but after you helped me, they will see you as a threat, too. And people that oppose the King don’t seem to live long in this country. She gave me a questioning look, but when I did not reply, she stretched her arms and legs and shot a longing glance towards the small window.
I stayed silent, unable to answer her question. I had no idea why I was still alive, it wasn’t logical. I didn’t know why Lassadar had taught me for the last few months and then discarded me like this. Hadn’t I been his protégé, his favoured student? Even though I knew it was wrong, that this feeling might have only been due to being poisoned, I was still feeling left alone by the King’s aide. He had helped me, I had wanted to help him, wanted to do well for him, but suddenly I was sitting in a prison cell with a strange woman. Again, my life had changed within a tiny moment, and there was nothing I could do against it. I was confused and didn’t know whether to believe what my mind was telling me. If Oisín was right and Lassadar had deceived me all this time, how could I ever trust my own thoughts again? And were they truly my own even now, or was he in there still, like a leech that doesn’t leave its prey even after it has filled its slimy, disgusting body with blood.
A knock against the bars ripped me from my thoughts. A face I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to see again was leering at me.
“What do you want, Dyllon?” I spat, barely containing the urge to try and hit him through the bars like a crazed, caged animal.
He smiled at me with cold eyes. “I just wanted to check on my prize. You see, Master Lor promised me I could spend some time before your execution. You look shocked, dear? You didn’t know you were going to burn?”
“No, I didn’t know I once counted a monster among my friends.” I glared at him. If only I had access to my magic. He wouldn’t smile then. He’d run away screaming, if I let him. Which I wouldn’t. He’d suffer, like he had made me suffer.
Lia had got up and put an arm around my shoulders. Knowing that she was there helped me relax a tiny bit. This time, I wasn’t alone with the creep. Looking at him now, I could see no trace of the friend I had once had. Gone was the cheeky smile, the friendly crinkles around his eyes. In his place was a stranger who was staring at me with a hungry, cruel look.
“Maybe I can persuade the sorcerer to let you stay with me a bit longer before you’re executed. Wouldn’t you like that?” This time I spat in his direction.
He frowned. “Luckily it won’t matter what condition you’ll be in when you arrive at the pyre. I’ll have some fun with you, I promise. And if you don’t lift your curse, I’ll just have to find other ways to get pleasure from you.” I cringed, not wanting to imagine what kind of things he was thinking of.
Lia began to laugh. Both Dyllon and I turned to stare at her. She winked at me. “You cursed him? Does that mean he can’t…”
Catching on, I grinned. “Yes, that’s what he says. Imagine him taking a woman to his room: they kiss, undress, she gets flushed and then she looks down and all she sees is…“
“Something hanging,” Lia snickered. “And I bet it’s nothing big either.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I never had the desire to look at it.”
“Stop it, you whores!” Dyllon shouted. We looked at him and broke into laughter again as his face became a shocking shade of red.
Lia turned to him, her smile disappearing and her eyes becoming vacant. “I see…” she sighed in a deep, unfamiliar voice. “I see this human, alone and broken. He will never have another woman. He will be despised. He will be shunned. He will be laughed at. He - “
Dyllon ran. I looked after him, my mind reeling. Loud giggling made me turn around. Lia was bent over, trying to catch her breath between bouts of laughing. “He actually fell for that!”
I joined her laughter. “That was brilliant! I almost believed it myself. Lia, the oracle.” I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Lia,” I whispered. Noticing that we were touching in all sorts of places, I stepped back, slightly uncomfortable. It was just an innocent hug, right?
Lia grinned at me. I was sure she knew what I’d been thinking. But she didn’t say anything. Instead, she sat down on the bench and patted the stone next to her. "Now that this particular entertainment has passed… I don't suppose you know any games that don't need cards or dice?"
Memories of after-show celebrations sprang into my mind: drinking around the large bonfire, playing games with the children, listening to the stories of the adults, and telling my own made up tales. "We could play truth or dare, but there are not a lot of opportunities for dares in this cell."
"How about we do just truths? I say something and you have to guess if it's true or false?"
"Why not. But I start." I grinned. "I was once hit by an axe."
Lia's lips curled into an evil smile. "Can I examine you for scars?"
I blushed and shook my head.
"Then I'll go with false."
"It's true. I was hit by an axe
but only by the hilt – it gave me quite a bruise but the dwarves were so apologetic that they made me their famous rum punch. Everything's better after rum punch." I licked my lips while thinking about it.
“Well, whatever you say, it can’t be as good as my mother’s homemade elderflower gin. Once my brother and I snuck into her pantry and stole a bottle. We both got terribly drunk, and then my brother’s magic became a little too wild. Have you ever seen a drunk tree? Well, until then I hadn’t either. It took the Elders hours to calm down the rampant trees my brother had let loose.” She giggled and I joined in. It was good to laugh after all this time spent in misery. Not that we had left our state of misery yet, but I ignored that thought and focussed on the wide smile on Lia’s face.
"My turn. I've petted a unicorn."
"Definitely false. There are no unicorns."
"Oh well, it was worth a try. I wouldn't be too sure about them not existing though. I mean, most people think perytons only exist in stories, and here you are, bound to a peryton."
My heart sank when I thought of Oisín, chained up in Lassadar's office. "Are there many magical creatures living in Nythea?"
"Mainly nymphs; dryads in the trees and anthousai in the flower meadows. Most of them are quite friendly, but some of the dryads who inhabit ill and damaged trees become darkened, even crazed. My brother has to deal with those quite a lot. Do you have Kelpies here?”
I laughed. "Kelpies? They really exist?"
"Of course, our rivers are full of them. Mischievous little beasts, if you ask me, but some have the power of foresight, so we like to keep them happy. Some of our most important prophecies were told to us by kelpies."
My mind wheeled. Nythea really was a different world from all the places I had visited. I couldn't wait to see it. If we got out of this place alive.
They came for me the next day. Two brutes, heavily armed, their muscles protruding from the gaps between the armour pieces, came to the cell door.
“Stay back,” one of them barked at us. Lia gave me a reassuring smile as if to say that those men could do us no harm. But they could. With a click, the door opened. The two guards stayed outside, glaring at us through the iron bars. Another figure stepped out of the shadows and entered the cell. Lor. Instinctively, I leant back against the cold stone wall. But there was nowhere to hide from the cruel smile that played around his thin lips.
“Get up, girl,” he snarled. His eyes burned with hatred. With my entire body screaming for me to stay where I was, I stood up and crossed the small space between the stone bench and the iron bars with two steps.
“Turn around,” Lor commanded. I did, looking into Lia’s reassuring eyes. She nodded to me. Be strong. Rough hands grabbed my wrists and twisted my arms behind my back. Cold metal touched my skin as Lor forced my hands into manacles. They were too tight, the iron chafed against my bare skin.
They dragged me out of the cell and along a dark corridor. Every few steps, there was a torch on the wall, making shadows dance over the black stone, but in between, there was only darkness. By the time we reached the end of the passage, my naked feet were hurting from all the times I had stumbled. We turned left, into another dark tunnel. On and on we went, the men dragging me, through more corridors, all of them with only torches to illuminate the dark stone. At the beginning, I tried to remember the route we were taking, but soon I gave up. All the passages we traversed looked the same. It was a labyrinth that would make escaping difficult. If we ever managed to get out of our cell.
The tunnel ended in a large cave. Stalactites were hanging from the ceiling. The room was glowing in an eerie blue light, but I couldn’t see where it was coming from. Water was dripping somewhere in the distance; we must have been somewhere inside the mountain Gynt’s Keep was built on.
“Would you care for some wine, dear?” Lassadar was sprawled out on a stone throne, somehow looking more regal than the King himself. Shadows were dancing on his face. He was no longer trying to hide the darkness behind his eyes.
“No thanks,” I spat. The sorcerer laughed.
“I can see you missed your last dose. What a pity. You were doing so well.”
Lor snickered behind me. “You did do a rather splendid job with this one, master.”
“Apparently I didn’t control her as tightly as I thought,” Lassadar sighed. “Well, if the carrot doesn’t work, the stick should do it.” He waved his hand and a guard appeared beside the throne. The sorcerer whispered something into the guard’s ear, who bowed and left the cave. Silence fell. My manacles were so tight my arms were starting to tingle from lack of circulation. I could hear Lor breathing behind me; he was so close we almost touched. Disgust welled up within me. It had all started with him, and somehow I knew it would end with him. Lassadar was twiddling his thumbs - yes, he actually twiddled his thumbs. How could he be so nonchalant about what he’d been doing to me, about what he was going to do to me now?
The guard returned, carrying something large in his arms - only when he stepped into the blue light I saw that it was the peryton. He had grown since I had last seen him; he now resembled a medium-sized dog - with the body of a deer, rooster and some other animals thrown into the mix.
Oisín? I sent him a probing mental thought. There was no reply. He didn’t even lift his head. OISÍN! I shouted in my head. Still, no response. Could he not hear me? That hadn’t happened before. He had ignored me a few times, but surely he wouldn’t do it in this situation. I shot him a closer look. His head was leaning heavily on the guard’s arm, and his eyes were half closed. His furry red chest barely moved whenever he took a breath. And now that the guard was coming closer I thought I could see wet patches on his fur and scales. Anger filled me.
They had hurt my peryton.
It hadn’t been enough to kill his mother, now they had hurt Oisín. Without thinking I reached out for my power to lash out at Lassadar and Lor. But there was nothing. When I felt for my reservoir I found it frozen. Thick ice covered the magic. Carefully I extended my mind to touch it but jerked back when freezing ice was thrown back at me. I gasped in shock.
Lassadar only smiled. “You didn’t actually think we’d let you access your powers? If you did then you’re stupider than I thought. Your shackles are spelt, and as long as you’re wearing them you won’t be able to do anything. But if you ask nicely, I might remove them later on.” I must have looked at him dubiously because his smile only grew wider. “With the right incentive, I’m sure you’ll want to put your powers to good use. I thought I could manipulate you enough to help me, but your sympathy for others got in the way before I could weaken your mind enough to get full control. No matter, I’m sure I’m going to enjoy this little inconvenience.”
A sudden shove from behind forced me to my knees. I could feel skin break when I hit the rough stone ground and barely managed to suppress a whimper.
“Your little pet has also been given some jewellery,” Lassadar smirked and pointed at the collar that was now strangling Oisín’s furry neck. He managed to lift his head a little and gave me a defeated look. Rage boiled up in me. “And Lor has been itching to give you yours.”
Without warning, cold metal closed around my neck. Before I could even lift my hands, Lor had collared me. Coldness poured into me where the collar touched my skin, while energy was pulled out of me with every breath I took. I swayed, my vision going blurry for a moment. Was Oisín’s collar doing the same thing to him? No wonder he was so weak.
Slowly the nausea passed and I could see clearly again. Lassadar was staring at me with cold blue eyes.
“You look beautiful, dear.” Lor sniggered from behind me. “Now, let’s get down to business. Lord Lassadar over there has finally allowed me to play with you. He tried it the nice way and you failed. Now we’ll try it the fun way. Fun for me, that is. For you - not so much.”
His hands started to massage my shoulders. I shied away from him but was too weak to even get up from my kneeling position. Lor’s hands wandered down, car
essing the collar, then further down until he reached my breasts. One of his hands slid under my dress and pinched my skin. His sharp fingernails drew lines on my skin. When I tried to move forwards, away from his probing fingers, his other hand slapped my cheek from behind. I whimpered as he squeezed my nipples. Even with Dillon I had never felt so violated.
“Are you ready to listen to Lord Lassadar yet?”
I nodded weakly, looking up to the sorcerer on his throne. He was enjoying this.
“You see, I am dying,” Lassadar sighed dramatically. “I’d rather avoid that. So when a little bird told me of your particular talent, I knew I needed to have you. You’ve proven that you can slow and speed up time, but can you reverse it? I think you can. And I’m sure we can give you enough of an incentive to do so.”
He smiled at Lor.
“You’d have to take my collar off for that,” I smirked, pretending to be a lot braver than I was.
“Clever girl. That’s what the peryton is for. If you even think of attacking me or Lor, he will suffer. Is that understood?”
I nodded, trying desperately to find a loophole. I couldn’t give him what he wanted, but I also couldn’t let him hurt Oisín. I could kill myself, but then there would be nothing to stop them from killing my peryton. But what if I…
“Take off the collar and I’m going to try.”
Heart of Time (Ruined Heart Series Book 1) Page 20