Pledged

by Gwynneth White

  “Including this?” He curved his arm around her and pulled her into him. Before she knew what was happening his mouth closed over hers. But what shocked her even more was the intensity of her returning kiss. She slid her arms around his waist and pulled herself into him until every part of her was pressed hard against him.

  Secretly wishing they were kissing on this moonlit night, Erin and Seth moved away to give them some privacy, and sat on the wall in stilted silence.

  In the background Erin heard Stephanie say, “Sophia. This is stupid. You don’t need to be a genius to figure what Marlthas will do to you and your Family if he hears about this.”

  Her words had the desired effect. Sophia quickly pulled away. “I trust you have no intention of telling your father and uncle about this, Jared.”

  “Why would I do that, Sophia? After all, I’m here too. Or haven’t you noticed?”

  Erin turned to read Jared’s expression. He was smiling as he pulled Sophia back into his embrace. Although Sophia knew she should resist him, somehow she couldn’t muster the will. She buried her face into his shoulder and murmured, “Jared, somehow – and I don’t know why – but somehow I believe I can trust you.”

  Jared bent down to kiss her just as the scuffle of footsteps reached them. He pushed her away and whispered, “Go to your room and I’ll come to you.” Before she could reply he slipped down the stairs, leaving her doubly abandoned and confused.

  * * *

  Neither Erin nor Seth had wanted to follow Sophia to her room; but here they were, watching candlelight flicker across Sophia’s troubled face as she paced back and forth waiting for Jared. He wasn’t long in coming. At his gentle knock, Sophia took a deep breath, wiped her hands on her dress, and cracked open the door. “Jared?”

  “It’s me.” He pushed the door open, just wide enough to allow him to slide into the room, then closed it by easing his back against it. His arms opened to embrace her; then he let them fall to his side. She had changed out of her black gown and was now wearing a brown, sack-like dress that had been washed way too many times. Her hair was pulled back from her face into a severe ponytail. “You look charming. You shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble.” He reached up to loosen her hair, but she pulled her head away.

  “I didn’t invite you here.”

  “Not in words, no,” he agreed, giving her a quizzical look. “But sometimes body language shouts louder than any pretty speech.” He reached again for her hair ribbon, and this time she didn’t resist. Encouraged, he ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re very beautiful, however much you might try to hide it behind brown rags. But I think you know that.”

  She said nothing. He tilted her face up to kiss her, but before their lips could meet, she jerked her head away. “Does anyone know you’re here?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I thought you trusted me.”

  “The guards at the top of the stairs. What about them?”

  “Taken care of. Any more questions?”

  She moved away from him and sat on the edge of her bed. “Marlthas said he’ll kill my parents and probably half my Family if I haven’t . . .” she paused, searching for the harshest words in her vocabulary to describe her predicament, “if I haven’t persuaded Caleb to impregnate me by the end of the month.”

  Jared’s jaw set in a hard line. “One month! That’s cruel. But not unlike him to make threats.”

  “And that’s all you can say?” Sophia rubbed her arms, needing comfort. “Why did I expect more? After all, you’re just a Shenayan. Same as him.”

  “No, Sophia! I’m not just a Shenayan!” With a single stride Jared was at her bed, sitting next to her. “Did you ever meet a girl named Talitha? An Ammarod. You must have because I sent her and her newborn to Norin for safety.”

  Erin looked at Seth in surprise. “So Jared was the Shenayan officer who helped deliver Elizabeth!”

  “Must be. Maybe I’m wrong about him.”

  Even Sophia hesitated, surprised by Jared’s claim. He took her hand, turned it over and kissed her wrist. Just like he’d done in the Mists of Time. “Sophia, we both know why you’re here . . .”

  Sophia snatched her hand back, eyes blazing. “Yes, Jared. And what chance do I have of achieving that goal if Caleb won’t touch me. Unless, of course, you were thinking of fathering that child. After all, I’m just about married to you – thanks to what you did this morning.”

  “Yes, your fate teeters between me and my cousin. As things stand, we both have equal claim on you.” He smiled. “So, my love, I’d happily father a child with you. But I can’t see how it would help with the overthrow of Shenaya. I’m not the Shadow Lord, just his cousin. And, as far as I know, only the Shadow Lord’s son will destroy Shenaya. The rest of us are just the supporting cast.”

  Sophia stood up, took a deep breath and started pacing the floor. “Look, Jared, I’m sorry. I know I have . . . led you on. But . . .”

  He reached out and pulled her between his knees. As dangerous as she knew it was, she couldn’t resist holding him. He pulled her closer and kissed her stomach through her dress, turning her legs to jelly. Slowly, his mouth moved up her abdomen.

  Breathless with an infusion of desire and panic, she forced herself to speak. “No, Jared! Listen to me. No matter what happened this morning, I’m Caleb’s wife. The marriage oath says so. And I have to be loyal to him. Surely you can see that all this,” she squeezed his shoulders, “is just pointless.”

  He pulled back from her, his face incredulous. “An arranged marriage to someone you can’t stand, who you’ve only agreed to marry so you can curse him with a son who will probably kill him . . . and you’re saying that you have to be loyal to him? I declare myself confused.”

  “I could never cheat on him. I – I even feel terrible being here with you now.” She almost added, As much as I want you, but she knew that wouldn’t help her cause.

  “So the only way I’ll ever have you–”

  “Is if Caleb refuses to consummate our marriage and renounces his claim on me.”

  “Well! Here’s a challenge I hadn’t anticipated.” He rocked back on the bed, resting on his elbows, staring at her.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s just who and what I am.”

  With one look at her determined face, Jared knew she spoke the truth. “Sophia, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, you may have unwittingly given me a purpose in life that doesn’t just include killing people.” He gently pushed her aside and stood up. “Now I’m going to leave you to sleep.”

  “Sleep? Caleb may be coming.”

  “I very much doubt that Caleb will send for you tonight. And the Pledged I’ve posted outside your door won’t let him anywhere near this room.” Ignoring her frown, he added, “Let’s discuss this in the morning when I’ve had time to think.” He gave her the briefest of kisses and left the room.

  With a moan of despair Sophia collapsed onto her bed.

  Erin turned to Seth. “What’s going on in Jared’s head? Why didn’t he tell her he thinks Caleb will overthrow Marlthas? Or that Marlthas is already involved in a disastrous war, and is therefore unlikely to risk attacking Norin?”

  “Sophia isn’t the only one whose fate is teetering. Jared is poised on a knife-edge. It could go either way.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I can’t tell you more than that. Because that’s all he knows.”

  Erin ran her hands over her face and through her hair. “No doubt our next stop will be Caleb. He’s got to have an opinion on all this.”

  Chapter 15

  THE TEACHER

  Erin was right. Caleb was their next stop. He was sitting on a rock ledge overlooking the lake, stars mistily mirrored on its dark surface. In the distance, they could hear music coming from the Lord’s Hall where the masquerade was still in full swing.

  “He looks so unhappy.”

  “No kidding. I know you don’t like him much after what he did to Talitha. But–”

  A voice, s
poken from the Fourth Dimension, interrupted Seth: “Caleb, you have tormented yourself for many years. But now it’s time you stopped.” It was Gideon.

  Caleb froze; then he stood up, looked towards Seth and Erin, and then over the lake. But he was alone. “Who are you? Show yourself.”

  “My name is Gideon. And we knew each other well. Before your birth.”

  “Gideon?” Caleb’s breath snagged. “You mean the Prophecy-Gideon?”

  “Yes. That Gideon. Allow me to help you to recall the day you first heard my name mentioned in mortality.” As Gideon spoke a vision opened of a cave in the rock wall overlooking the lake. Three young boys were sitting on the floor, looking up at their friend, Phineas. They were the inseparable trio: Caleb, Jared, and Daniel.

  Young Caleb was speaking, his pre-teen voice arrogant and mocking: “Phineas, you’re so dumb. Gideon never existed. You’re just telling us stupid stories. And our Family is the strongest in the whole world. Nothing is ever going to destroy us.” Caleb covered his head with his hands, cringing at the memory. But still his voice continued, “And I’ll be the greatest Overlord ever. No one will ever overthrow me.”

  As his childish voice faded away, Phineas dissolved too, to be replaced by a cruel-faced Defender. “The stranger named Phineas will not be coming back. Ever.” He nodded to Caleb. “Shadow Lord, come. Your father is waiting for you.”

  Again the scene changed, this time revealing the murky space of Marlthas’s office.

  “No!” Caleb pleaded to the unseen Gideon. “Not this.”

  “Watch.”

  Like a Lightning Bird preparing to swoop on its prey, Marlthas was looming over the young Caleb. Still, the dark-haired boy felt more joy than fear. He had not seen his father for almost seven years, had never even been into his office. But here he was, just weeks before he turned thirteen, just weeks before he would Pledge to the great Marlthas. What a privilege and honour this was, to be in the Overlord’s presence! How much he would have to tell the other boys at Pledging Camp!

  “So, Caleb,” Marlthas had said, “How goes your training? Is Phineas Jasper teaching you anything useful?”

  Phineas Jasper! So the Defenders had told his father about their clandestine meetings? Of course they had. How could he have been so naive to think otherwise? Fear took over, driving away young Caleb’s excitement.

  Marlthas smiled. A nasty, cruel smile. “Yes, Caleb, Phineas Jasper. The Outcast whose whore of a mother hid him from us to prevent him ever Pledging. What exactly has he been teaching you in that secret cave?”

  Caleb’s blood turned to ice. How could he say he was learning about the Gideon Prophesy, which said that he, Caleb, could one day rise up and destroy his father? Impossible. What promised to be one of the best days of his life was crashing around him. He cast his eyes down, wishing he were anywhere but here.

  That had only angered Marlthas. “Speak up,” he shouted. “Confirm what Lord Rustus has already told me about the subversion happening in that cave. A crime that you, the Shadow Lord of Shenaya, condone by your silence.”

  “My lord,” Caleb had had no choice but to whisper, “Phineas is teaching us about Gideon and his prophecy.”

  Caleb threw back his head and closed his eyes, refusing to watch as his father beat that twelve-year-old boy. Unable to bear little Caleb’s screams, Erin threw herself at Seth, burying her face in his chest. Seth closed his eyes and rested his chin on her head, trying to drown out the sound of fists on flesh.

  The thuds increased in speed and intensity. Then Marlthas screamed. Seth looked up at the vision. After six years at Pledging Camp, Caleb knew how to fight. He was punching his father’s face, his stomach, his back, anywhere he could make contact. Four Defenders appeared. Caleb woke up twenty-four hours later, lying in a pool of blood on a hard stone floor. Marlthas was standing over him, a sneer on his bruised, battered face. “I have a task for you.”

  Caleb, and Seth and Erin, turned away from the replay of Phineas’s execution, but nothing could dull the thuds of Caleb’s axe hacking away at the bone and sinew in Phineas’s neck.

  Caleb didn’t need to watch to know what came next. For years after, his sleep had been tormented with images of himself carrying Phineas’s bloody head – accusing eyes still in their sockets – to the place where the hyenas and vultures fed: the place on the plain where an Outcast had already thrown the rest of Phineas’s body.

  The vision closed. But Caleb’s mind raced on, spilling his memories out into the ether. His father had never acknowledged him again. From that day forward Jared had been the favoured one, immune to all rules, all restrictions. Free like Caleb could never hope to be. Pledging day came. Caleb had watched Jared and all his friends kneel before Marlthas and swear their allegiance. He had refused. And no amount of beating would ever change that.

  Although divided by time, death and invisibility, Seth, Erin and Caleb sat in silence on the same rock ledge, each wondering why they’d been shown that vision.

  Gideon’s voice broke the silence. “Caleb, I think you’re now ready to listen. Take heed of what my messenger will tell you.”

  A flare of light split the darkness, burning like white fire, forcing Caleb to shield his eyes. Even Seth and Erin, by now used to the shimmer that often heralded a Guardian’s arrival, looked away.

  Sensing the presence of someone sitting next to him, Caleb cracked open his eyes – and a smile as bright as a Guardian’s gleam burst across his face. It was quickly clouded over by doubting fear and guilt. “Phineas!”

  “Caleb! It’s so good to be with you again.”

  “Even after everything I did?” Caleb asked, unable to meet Phineas’s eyes.

  “A thousand stampeding buffalo could not have kept me away today.” Phineas wrapped his arm around Caleb’s shoulder, giving him a tight squeeze.

  “Are you what a . . . a ghost looks like?” But Caleb’s face again betrayed his doubt; for the Phineas sitting next to him felt warm and solid. Alive.

  “Don’t insult me, Caleb,” Phineas chided. “I am no disembodied Gefallen. If it’s ghosts you want, then you had best call back your friend, Lucien.”

  Seth and Erin noticed Phineas glance up. Following his eyes, they saw Lucien and hundreds of Gefallen beating at a bubble of light the Guardian had dropped over them to protect Caleb from their demonic influence.

  Unaware of the secret world around him, Caleb frowned. “Lucien?”

  “Yes, Lucien. Reuel’s son. He took you to the battlefield where he showed you that over-dramatised vision of the Lightning Bird. And he owns the voice you sometimes hear in your head.”

  “How do you know about the voice in my head?”

  “Because Lucien took my place after you made it clear you wanted no help from me or the other Guardians.” Phineas did his best to force a stern expression. “That foolish decision left you prey to the Gefallen, Caleb. Remember Reuel’s supporters? The Gefallen? I told you about them when you were a boy”

  “When you showed me – us – that incredible Stone? The one with all the moving pictures?”

  “The diamond Seer-Stone containing the history of Shenaya.” Phineas smiled. “Yes, that was the one.”

  “I remember. I remember everything. Like it was yesterday.” Caleb smiled in wonder, overwhelmed that he was talking to a dead man, and not just any dead man – Phineas!

  “I’ve missed our chats too,” Phineas said, reading his thoughts.

  “What happened to that diamond after I . . . after everything?”

  “After you killed me?” Phineas fixed his eyes on Caleb. “My dearest friend, I know who you blame for my death; but it wasn’t so. Neither you nor Jared were responsible for my execution.” As Caleb’s face hardened to granite, Phineas pleaded, “Listen, Caleb. It was Marlthas who demanded my death. You were a child acting on instructions that would have killed you to disobey. My life was done. Yours was just starting. It ended the way it was supposed to.”

  Caleb studied his chewed finger
nails, saying nothing. Finally he asked, “And Jared? What excuses can you make for him?”

  “It was Rustus who told your father about our lessons. Not Jared.”

  “I know. But who told Rustus? It had to be Jared because no one else knew. And Daniel would never talk.”

  “Rustus may have spent a great deal of time at Pledging Camp, Caleb, but that didn’t mean it was Jared who told him.”

  “I wish I could believe you.”

  Phineas gave Caleb another squeeze. “Rustus doesn’t need living spies to tell him what people are doing, Caleb. The dead take care of that for him.” He paused. “The moment I started teaching you boys about the prophecy, I knew Rustus’s allies would betray me . . . betray us.”

  “So why did you do it?” Caleb demanded. “If you hadn’t, none of it would have happened.”

  “I was Custodian of the Seer-Stone. It was my responsibility to teach you boys – especially you – regardless of the consequences.”

  “Regardless of the consequences?”

  “Yes, Caleb. The message of Gideon’s Prophecy is that important.” Phineas placed his hands on his barrel chest and waited for his calming influence to sooth Caleb’s hurt and fury.

  It took a few moments before Caleb was ready to speak. “You haven’t answered my original question.”

  Phineas chuckled. “The ‘where is the Stone now?’ question? Well Caleb, let’s see what happens over the next few days. If you choose wisely, the Stone will be yours to cherish.”

  Caleb shot a troubled look at Phineas. “And if I make the wrong choice?”

  “Then the current Custodian, to whom I gave the Stone before my death, will keep it until the next Shadow Lord – your son – has need of it. And in case you are wondering, that Custodian does not live here in the Fortress.”

  “So it’s true. About that son . . . Sophia’s son?”

  “A son needs a father. If you consummate your marriage to Sophia then he will be your son too.”