Ellenessia's Curse Book 1: The Shadow's Seer

by Fran Jacobs

  "Hmm." I could see from my grandfather's face that he didn't believe me, but I could also tell that he wasn't going to push the issue, that it wasn't the important thing, after all. "Well, this is exactly why I warned you against being led by your curiosity, Candale. Curiosity can only lead you to hear things that hurt." I flinched slightly at his mild rebuke. "I never wanted you to know any of this. I never wanted you to be hurt. Silnia loves you. She considers you her son. I feared, for a while, when Aylara was born, that she would reject you, but she never did. You are her son, as far as she's concerned, as far as anyone is concerned. Telling them that you know this will only hurt them needlessly."

  "I don't want to tell them. I don't want them to know that I know this. I don't want them to know about this at all."

  "Are you afraid Gerian will punish you for spying?"

  I gave him a half smile. "Partly. And that Mother and Aylara will be upset."

  "Gerian will be upset as well, Candale. He does love you."

  "I know."

  "And this isn't going to change anything. Nothing will. You're still my heir, after Gerian, still my grandson, and Silnia is still your mother as far as anyone is concerned. Nothing will change the fact that you're still of my blood and we are still a family. The only one who can let this change anything is you, and I beg you not to make too big a deal of this, to continue with life as you had before you found this out, because if you let it, it will destroy you." I nodded grimly. "Mayrila will be leaving soon and our lives will go on as before. It will be hard, at first, but I'm sure people will just put down any odd behaviour on your behalf as the result of you still feeling unwell and you'll be forgiven. Everything will be all right, Candale." He frowned. "You said ... you said she told you that she thinks you are a prophet?"

  "Yes, sir, the Shadow Seer. She showed me some books, there was a picture in them ..." I trailed off, shivering with a sudden flurry of goosebumps that covered my body.

  "Candale," Sorron sighed. He handed me his cloak, wrapping it around my shoulders before he returned to his seat. "I wish that you had come to my rooms tonight to talk to me about all of this. We could have taken as much time as you needed then."

  I shook my head, clutching the familiar smelling cloak around me. "I'm sorry," I said. "I couldn't wait. I had to talk to you about this. That boy, he looked just like me! And Mayrila said that I was poisoned because someone else thought that I was him, too. Grandfather, do you think she's right? Do you think I could be this Shadow Seer?"

  "I don't know."

  It wasn't what I wanted to hear. "Grandfather-" I began.

  "I don't know, Candale," Sorron interrupted me firmly. "When Mayrila told us this, at your birth, Gerian dismissed it outright as being rubbish. He demanded to see some proof of it, said that it being a family legend wasn't enough, but Mayrila was unable to produce any evidence. Gerian decided to shrug it all off as being nothing more than a story created by a woman who had changed her mind and no longer wanted to part with her only son. I never believed that. Mayrila showed very little interest in you as a baby, never wanted to see you, feed you, never even asked how you were. She just continued to insist that you were this prophet and that she should take care of you because you were going to need her. I found it odd that she wanted to keep you, to look after you as this prophet, but showed no interest in you as a child. It soon became clear to me that she didn't want to look after you, as a mother looks after her son, but as a protector or advisor looks after her charge. That was when I realised that her whole story was probably concocted because she wanted to stay at Court and be appointed your advisor, instead of being sent off into exile as a rich woman, as we had arranged. But that couldn't happen. We couldn't keep her at Court, near you, resembling you so closely as she does, so I gave her a little extra money, a little more land, and sent her on her way. Rather forcefully, I must admit. We didn't hear from her again until now, when I begged her to come and save you, offering her more money, more land, if she would."

  "She saved my life for money?" I whispered.

  "She had you for money, Candale, so why should it surprise you that she would want more?" He reached out and patted my hand. "You have no ties with her, she's nothing to you. Don't let it worry you that money is all that drives her. You're here, you're alive, that's all that matters."

  I nodded, swallowing, but it still wasn't easy to hear. She had said herself that she had had me for money, but it was a different matter to know that she might have just let me die if Sorron hadn't offered her enough to save me. The whole thing was making my skin crawl and did nothing to prove that my father's dislike of her was anything other than justified.

  "While you were resting she came to see me," my grandfather said. "She showed me the books that she showed you, and that was her proof, pictures in a book that she produced. I told her that, in your seventeen years of life, you had yet to speak of a dream that later came true, or have any sort of vision. In short, you had no gifts at all, you were just slightly eccentric and that wasn't proof of anything. Mayrila kept on insisting that you were this Shadow Seer and you were going to need her. I told her to leave me, that I wasn't going to discuss it, and that she wasn't to tell you any of this. Obviously she broke her word!"

  "I went around there to see her. What choice did she have but to tell me?" I clutched the cloak closer around me as I added, sulkily, "Besides, you should have told me."

  "I knew that you would worry about it, just as you are now, and I didn't want you to, not when there isn't anything to worry about!"

  "How can you say that?" I cried. "The boy looks just like me, Grandfather! How can you say that that is nothing to worry about? Besides, she couldn't have known that I was going to grow up to look just like the picture of the Shadow Seer when she told you the story. She can't have known that, she can't have, so ... so I have to be the Seer, don't I? This can't be a coincidence, I have to be the Seer ..."

  "Not necessarily," Sorron said gently. "I agree, it is unlikely to be a coincidence, but that doesn't mean it's exactly how it appears. I think she might have actually forged those pictures to try and convince us that she speaks the truth so she could win herself a position here."

  "But ... but that is such a messy way to do it, Grandfather," I said. "To say that I'm a Seer, to then offer books that prove that, books that perhaps she did fake, all to get a position at Court? There has to be an easier way."

  Sorron shook his head at me. "People are willing to sleep their way into money and power, Candale. You know that. They're willing to blackmail, bribe, even murder those who stand in their way. This may seem a little complicated but if successful she will have more power than she could possibly hope to seduce or bribe for herself. She will have the position as your personal bodyguard and closest advisor. You will, after all, be king one day."

  "Yes," I said, nodding slowly. "Yes, I suppose that's true ..."

  "And she's perfectly capable of such a complex plan to get what she wants. I'm sorry, Dale. I know that is of little comfort to you, but I think it's very likely that this is the motive behind all of this. If it will make you feel any better, I'll ask someone to take a look at these books to see how genuine they might be."

  "Yes," I breathed. "Thank you."

  "But I really don't think you need to worry, Dale. As we both know, you don't have any seer gifts, and what sort of prophet would you be without those gifts?"

  "A bad one," I whispered.

  "Exactly." He grinned at me. "A bad one."

  "But ... but what about the child?"

  "The child you saw in your room?"

  I nodded.

  "I thought we already discussed this, Candale. You admitted that you couldn't be sure of what you saw."

  "But I heard singing! Yesterday, when Mayrila examined me, I heard a child singing ..."

  "When Mayrila examined you?" Sorron's brow creased. "Perhaps she let you hear that, used her gifts somehow. Perhaps that's even why you saw that child. It's possible that
she's so desperate to have us believe that you are this Seer that she will even create strange 'visions' for you to witness."

  "You ... you think that she would do that?"

  "It's possible," Sorron said. "More likely than you suddenly turning out to be this Shadow Seer despite years of having no seer gifts to speak of."

  That was true, but a part of me was still afraid. I couldn't believe that Mayrila would go to such extent to win herself a position at Court, but Sorron did know her better than I did and if he believed that it was a possibility than I just had to accept that. Or, I had to try. "What about what she said about me being poisoned?"

  "Well," Sorron said, "to be honest, I think it's just part of her plan to get a position here at Court. If claiming that you're the Seer, and need her guidance, didn't work, then suggesting you were under some sort of threat might. I haven't found any evidence of her claim yet, but I can't rule it out, not completely. It was a very close call with you and I take any suggestion of a threat against your life seriously."

  "So you don't think I should fear another attack?"

  "We haven't yet proved there was a first attack, Dale, so no, I don't think you should worry unnecessarily." His voice became softer, became that comforting tone that I recognised from my childhood, the one that had told me that there were no monsters in my closet, or demons under my bed. "I know you're afraid. I can understand that, but I won't let her hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you. And if Mayrila is right about the threat against your life, we will find out and we will handle it, so, please, try not to concern yourself with this. Trust me. I will take care of it."

  "Yes." I nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

  "Now, why don't you go and spend some time with your sister and Kal? That will help to take your mind off it all and I know that they'd like to see you."

  "Yes," I said, slowly untangling myself from his cloak.

  "It will be all right, Candale."

  "Yes," I said again, but I didn't believe him.

  I walked slowly back to my suite in a sort of daze, going over what Sorron had said to me. It made sense, I couldn't deny that, but somehow it didn't feel right. And that left me with the chilling realisation that, if Sorron was wrong about Mayrila fabricating the story and forging the books, then the only alternative was that she was telling the truth. I was this Shadow Seer. But I wasn't ready to accept that either and it left me feeling hollow and uncertain of myself and of everything around me.

  By the time I drew near to my chambers I was exhausted, my limbs were heavy and I could barely stand. With everything else going on, it was easy to forget how ill I had been, but the sudden weakness in my body was a sharp reminder.

  Only the feeling of exhaustion vanished as I reached my rooms and found Teveriel standing outside my suite, waiting for me.

  "You!" I cried. "You set me up, didn't you? You and Mayrila, you set me up! Is this why you've come here now, to report back to her? Or have you come to try and convince me to believe her lies?"

  "No," the bard said, shaking his head. "No! I ... I came to see you, to try and apologise for what happened, for my part in all of this. I had hoped to see you before you saw Mayrila but ... No, Sire, please believe me, I have no part in any of this. She used me, lied to me, manipulated me ..."

  "Why should I believe you?" I asked him. "Why should I believe anything you say?"

  "There is no reason why you should," he said. "No reason at all, but, please, at least let me tell you my side of it before you pass judgement on me, before you reveal my actions to the king, if you haven't already. Please?"

  For a moment I could only look at him. He looked a state. His honey hair was dishevelled and there were bags under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept. He seemed so different from the man who had come to me in the corridor, that perfectly dressed, calm and collected stranger. I knew that it could be an act, that, perhaps, he wanted me to feel sorry for him so that I would forgive him. The gods knew I wouldn't have been able to see through it if it was - I didn't have my grandfather's ability to spot when a man was lying to me - but as I looked at him, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and believe that his misery was genuine. And, as I was curious about what his explanation was for his part in it all, I nodded. "All right," I said. "I'll let you explain."

  His sigh of relief was all too audible as he nodded. "Thank you."

  In my room I gestured for him to sit down while I went to pour us both a glass of wine. My head was still reeling and it was hard to sort everything out and know what to make of it all. I needed something to take the edge off, to make it less painful, and wine seemed to be the obvious choice.

  When the wine was poured, I handed a goblet to Teveriel, who took it carefully, with a nervous look, and I sat opposite him, curling up on my couch. "All right," I said. "Explain all of this to me, from the beginning."

  Teveriel took a deep gulp of wine. His hands were shaking and he couldn't meet my eyes. "I ... I met Mayrila in a tavern in Carnia Town, just after she had healed you," he said. "I knew who she was instantly, everyone in the tavern did. After what she did for you, saving your life where the healers had failed, she had become famous and it was an honour for me that such a hero was even talking to me. She told me that she had heard me play, that she thought I was talented and that I deserved to play at the Summer Dance here in the castle. I laughed at that, said that I would love to but I doubted anyone would give me a chance, being an unknown. She offered to help me out, get me an audience with the king, if I would do her a favour in return. I was so blinded by that promise, that I never thought to ask what her favour would be, I just agreed to it instantly." He took another deep sip of wine.

  "I was introduced to King Sorron and Prince Gerian a couple of days later. The meeting was strained. They were polite, but seemed distant. I remember that at the time I felt uncomfortable by it all and thought it a little odd that they would be so cold towards a woman who had claimed to be an honoured guest here, but I put my feelings down to my imagination and nervousness at the whole affair. After all, who was I to know how a king and prince were to behave towards anyone, honoured or not? But then, at the Dance, the other musicians told me that anyone could have an audience with the king, if they attended one of Princess Silnia's open auditions. And ... and then I was moved to the Middle Table, after my performance at the Dance was so well received, and found that Mayrila was also seated there. That was when I realised that she had been lying to me from the start. She had lied about my needing her help to see the king and about her influence with the Royal Family. She would never have been seated so far from them if she truly were an honoured guest. I could see then that she had manipulated me, tricked me, by appealing to my greed with her flattering words, and all because of this favour she wanted me to do for her. A favour I still didn't know anything about.

  "And then she came to me ..." He set the wine glass down on the floor, tangled his long, slim fingers together nervously in his lap, and took a deep breath. I sat there, watching him, my own goblet of wine clutched tightly in my fingers, waiting for him to continue with his story and, when he did, his voice was shaking. "She told me what she wanted me to do, that I was to take you to overhear a conversation she was planning between herself, Prince Gerian and King Sorron. I refused straight away. Told her I wanted no part in any of it, that she had lied to me and because of that I owed her nothing. She told me she hadn't lied, she had simply promised to get me an audience with the king, in exchange for a favour, and she had done that. It wasn't her fault that I hadn't known that I could have simply done it myself. She told me that a deal was a deal, that I couldn't go back on my word. I told her that I didn't care, that I had no intention of betraying my king. And that was when she told me that your life was in danger." He lifted his head to look at me and I could see tears shining in his eyes. "She told me everything then, Prince Candale. That she was your mother and that she believed you were a prophet."

  "She told you that as well?" I interrupted. "That she beli
eves I'm a prophet?"

  Teveriel nodded very slowly. "But only to try and convince me that she was telling the truth, that you were in danger. I still didn't believe her, even when she showed me the pictures in her books. I still don't believe her even now, but she pointed out that it doesn't matter whether I believe you are this Seer or not, only that others do and that your life is in danger because of it. Then she told me it was more traitorous to stand back and do nothing, when I knew your life was in danger, than it was to mislead you and help you to spy on the king so that you could learn about this danger. I had no answer for that and reluctantly I agreed to do what she asked. She told me about the hidden door-"

  "Yes," I interjected. "I wondered how you knew about that but didn't know that I don't have a whipping boy."

  Teveriel squirmed. "Yes ... anyway, she told me about the door and gave me a story to tell you about an ancestor of yours, so that you wouldn't get suspicious. She told me what day and time I should bring you by and then she left me. After that I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of doing what she had asked, but at the same time I was afraid that she might be right and if I didn't do what she wanted then something might happen to you and it would be my fault for not helping her to warn you. I changed my mind about it constantly, even up to the moment when I walked to your suite to meet you. On the way I passed Prince Gerian and he asked me to distract you from the very meeting I was meant to take you to spy on. And then I encountered you ... I was completely torn, Prince Candale. I knew if you were caught spying, Mayrila would know that I had gone back on my word to her and Prince Gerian would know that I hadn't distracted you as I had promised. You were resolute in your decision to spy and I didn't know what else to do. So I went with you and that's it, really ..."

  He trailed off, sat back in his chair, head bowed over his tightly entwined fingers. He looked very miserable and I didn't blame him for that. He had been stuck between keeping his word to Mayrila and doing what my father, the prince, had asked of him. And then, of course, there had been me, determined to spy on them all.