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

by Fran Jacobs

  I took another sip of water and let my gaze drift, as carelessly as I could, towards Davn. He was now talking with my mother and didn't seem to notice that I was looking his way. I sighed to myself. I could have just imagined the look, I knew that. And if I hadn't, then it was likely he had been smirking at me because he had heard what had happened to me the day before, in the practise yard. But a part of me had doubts. Something was going on and I couldn't help but feel that Davn knew all about it, and if it was something that he found amusing, then I knew that, whatever it was, I wasn't going to like it one bit.

  ***

  "I would like to start tonight by trying to help you to have a vision," Mayrila said, once I had made myself comfortable.

  "What!" I stared at her, and nearly choked on my wine. The idea terrified me, that she would deliberately bring out one of those nightmare images in me. "No!"

  "Candale, I need to know what happens to you when you have a vision. I need to see what the warning signs are and what triggers them, so that I can then try and help you to learn some sort of control. This is something that I do have to see for myself. I can't rely on your version of it, because what you see, and feel, may be very different from what I, and my gifts, can sense is happening to you. I'm sorry, there is no other way."

  I swallowed tightly and drained the wine in my glass, before nodding. "All right," I said, in a tight voice, feeling my body break out in a cold sweat at the very idea of it. "I-if you think we have no other choice ..."

  "We don't," she said, firmly. She got to her feet. "I'll be back in a moment. Please, have some more wine if it will help you to relax."

  As soon as she had left the room I did just that. The very idea of it terrified me. At least when a vision hit me, I had no real time to prepare, to think about what I might see, but now I did have that opportunity and I was afraid of what I might be forced to witness this time. More burnings, torture perhaps, the actual act of sacrifice? I didn't know and I was frightened to find out.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?" Trellany asked. "You look terrified and I know how badly visions affect you. Are you sure that you want to force one to come about?"

  I gulped down the wine in my glass and nodded. "I-I don't think I have much of a choice," I said. "I need to find a way to control them, to stop them interrupting my life, to prevent them hitting during a-a ball or a banquet ... If Mayrila thinks this is necessary, so that she can help me to do that, then I have to trust her judgement on this. She's here to help me, after all."

  Trellany's eyes narrowed but she nodded. "All right," she said. "But if you want to stop at any moment, if you change your mind about this, just say so. No one can force you to do anything that you don't want to, Candale."

  "Thank you," I said.

  A moment later Mayrila returned carrying a small vial, an iron tripod and a bowl of water. "This is amyris," she said. "It's a herb that will relax your muscles, but also stimulate your mind. I'm hoping it may help trigger something."

  "Hoping?" I whispered. "You're not sure?"

  "No," Mayrila said. "I'm afraid not. I doubt there are many people who would know how to trigger a vision, if anyone at all. It isn't something that most seers have a use for, after all."

  "No," I said. "I guess not."

  We watched in silence as Mayrila set up the tripod over a burning candle close to me. She placed the bowl of water on top and added a couple of drops of the amyris to it. "Can you extinguish the lanterns please?" she asked, without looking over her shoulder to see whether or not her order would be obeyed. Trellany did as she asked, her face grey like stone. Soon the room was dark with only the flickering candle for light. "Relax," Mayrila told me, brushing at my curls. I unconsciously pulled away. I didn't want this woman touching me the way that Silnia did. Mayrila smiled coldly, and moved to sit down on her chair again, smoothing her skirts over her knees. "Relax," Mayrila told me again, "and breathe in the scent. Just let your body feel heavy, close your eyes, and try to forget that we're all here looking at you."

  "I don't want to fall asleep again," I said. "That wouldn't help."

  "No," Mayrila agreed. "So, relax your body but try and keep your mind awake. Think about how it felt when you had a vision and try and reach out for one, as you breathe in the scent."

  "It's very woody," I told her. "Strong, reminds me of a forest."

  "Yes," Mayrila said softly. "Don't mind that."

  I sank back into the chair and Mayrila drew the same blanket from the previous evening up around me. I felt warm and comfortable and the soft scent of the amyris filled my senses with its earthy perfume. It made me feel as though I was outside, in a forest, or at least, somewhere with trees. It was a pleasant smell, less pungent than the lavender, and somehow more real, fresh and gentle...

  I caught the sudden scent of burning wood, strong and acrid, and heavy, filling my lungs with the bitter taste and black soot. I opened my eyes, but all I could see was Mayrila, standing there, watching me. "I smell burning," I said.

  Mayrila cast a nervous glance over at the candle, and then shook her head. "No," she said. "It's fine."

  "In another room?" I asked.

  "Perhaps." She rose to her feet and disappeared but came back a moment later to shake her head. "And I can't smell anything, just the amyris. Close your eyes, Candale. See what else you can sense."

  I did as she asked me, struggling to reclaim that relaxed state of a moment ago. I returned to it, slowly, but still only the scent of burning wood came to me. I tried to reach further, to draw more of the scent into me, but I only caught a faint scent of something bitter, like burning flesh, or hair.

  Then it was gone completely and all I could smell was the amyris. I opened my eyes again.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "It's gone."

  "Why are you apologising?" Mayrila asked. "You didn't see anything, that isn't your fault. But you did seem to smell something and that is something I can work with." She nodded thoughtfully. "Let me think about this, Candale. Come back tomorrow night and I shall try something different."

  I was beginning to feel as though I was some sort of experiment, that Mayrila was going to practise on me until she found what she was looking for, whether or not I actually liked the experience. I didn't like that idea very much, and I saw Trellany frown and I knew that she shared my sentiments. Still, I needed Mayrila's help, and, as she had said, there wasn't a lot she could do just going from what I had to say, she needed to see it for herself, so if I had to become some sort of experiment, then there was nothing I could do but accept it.

  ***

  Three days later, the diplomats called a meeting. It was the first meeting that they had called themselves and I was confused about what they wanted to discuss. All the topics we had covered at the first meeting had been scheduled into other meetings, spread out throughout their visit, so I didn't know what this could be about. But I had a suspicion that it was something to do with the odd looks I'd been getting since the diplomats had arrived.

  I headed down to the council room, with my guards in tow, as always, and found that everyone was already there, waiting for me. The room went silent when I slid in through the door, almost as though they had been discussing me, and the silence continued as I went to take my seat.

  "What's this about?" I asked nervously.

  It was one of the men, Lylcd, who stepped forward. He was carrying a small picture, painted in oils and surrounded by an oak wood frame, and with a warm smile he presented it to me. It was a picture of a girl, pretty enough, with the same reddish hair as the diplomats, but she wore hers longer and tied up around the top of her head like a crown. She had bright eyes, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, and seemed to be of age with me. I looked at the picture and then handed it back. What was I meant to make of that? Behind me I heard Trellany shift her weight anxiously and when I looked at her, she refused to meet my gaze.

  "She's pretty," I said finally.

  "Yes," Lylcd beamed. "Our King Ryckst's you
ngest daughter, Clyniss. She is seventeen."

  "That's nice," I said, still unsure of where this was going.

  "A virgin," he continued. "Of fine blue blood."

  "Yes," I said slowly. "All right ..."

  "She is pure, religious, a chaste young lady, would make a good match for any man ... Of course, only a certain type of man is suitable for a daughter of a man blessed by the gods. He would have to be noble, pure, powerful ..."

  He trailed off, as though waiting for me to say something, but I didn't, I just looked at him, feeling rather stupid because I still couldn't understand where this was going. I could feel all eyes on me, and a sinking sensation of dread in my stomach, but I couldn't say why.

  "We have been talking," Katlatai said finally, with a withering glance at her companion, "with your nobles, with the servants, we even tried to talk with the bard, who everyone told us was a good friend of yours."

  "Yes," I said. "He is."

  "And we have been asking about you, about your worthiness. We have been assured, countless times, by everyone that we spoke to, that you are a noble young man, pure and worthy --"

  "Pure and worthy?" I repeated.

  "You are a virgin, Prince Candale," Katlatai said. "As is Clyniss. As are all unmarried men and women of Idryan."

  I heard Trellany mutter a comment about how she doubted that, but I wasn't really listening, I was far too embarrassed to care what my guard had to say. I couldn't believe that people had been talking about me like that and that it was now being discussed in front of me, and my father and grandfather!

  "It is nothing to be ashamed of," Katlatai said smoothly.

  "I'm not ashamed," I said, my voice croaking a little as if to betray my lie. "I just don't appreciate my experience or lack of it, being discussed like this. It's no one's business but my own ... I've had offers and I-I'm not completely devoid of intelligence and sense. I do know what it entails. I'm not some innocent little child. I-I just --"

  "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Katlatai repeated. "In fact, it's a good thing."

  "I don't see how it's any 'thing' at all," I gasped, wanting, so desperately, to flee this room, or better yet, to have the ground to just open up and swallow me whole. Why were my grandfather and father just sitting by so quietly, letting them talk about me like this, about private matters that were no one's concern but my own? And why did the diplomats care at all about any of this? What was it to them?

  And then it came to me and I shook my head. "No," I said. "Oh no. You can't surely intend ..." I glanced desperately at my grandfather who refused to meet my gaze.

  "You will like Clyniss when you meet her," Katlatai said. "She's an intelligent girl, and docile like any marriageable woman should be. You two will have a great marriage, have many beautiful children and form a great alliance between our two kingdoms, bringing us closer together."

  "No," I snapped, a little louder now, feeling anger building up in the centre of my belly, my face flushing hot with it now, rather than with embarrassment. "I'm not some horse you can just put out to stud with any mare that you please! I will choose my own bride. I will not be married off like this! I'm not a bartering tool --"

  "Do shut up, Candale," Sorron said suddenly.

  "You knew about this all along, didn't you?" I accused him. "You knew before they had even arrived here that this is what they had planned for me. I can't believe that you would deceive me like this, Grandfather! After all those times that you said I could choose my own bride ..."

  "Perhaps if you hadn't taken so long about it," Sorron said. "Or had shown some vague interest in any of the ladies here at Court, we wouldn't have had to do this."

  My jaw dropped open and I could only stare at him, totally aghast. Sorron rose to his feet, smiling gently at the diplomats while I could feel tears prickling in my eyes at being so completely betrayed like this. He was selling me off. Sorron, my grandfather, was just giving me away like this, as though I, and my feelings, meant nothing and I simply couldn't believe it.

  "We will discuss this further with the boy," Sorron said. "And look forward to meeting Princess Clyniss in due time." He turned to me. "Get up, Candale."

  "No," I snapped at him. "I'm not going to discuss this. I'm not going to let you do this to me."

  "Get up," Gerian said firmly. "You really don't have a choice about this, you know that."

  I still didn't move, not until I saw the look on my grandfather's face. Sorron rarely lost his temper with me, but when he had done so in the past it had always been an unpleasant and, often, painful experience. I could see from the look in his eyes that he was on the verge of that now. I certainly didn't want to push him over the edge, so I got to my feet and reluctantly followed Sorron towards a small adjoining room. As I walked towards it I realised it was the same room where I had told my grandfather I knew about Mayrila being my mother. How apt it was that I should have another painful conversation in the same room.

  As I headed towards it, Katlatai handed me the painting. "Keep it," she said. "I think that it will be good for you to get to know her face." She smiled at me, brightly, as though there was nothing wrong at all, as though my protestations were just the typical outburst of a young man and nothing to be taken seriously or considered important for even a moment. "You will be looking at this face every morning for the rest of your life, in a year or two, you may as well get used to looking at it now."

  My grandfather caught my arm and pulled me though the door to the other room before I had a chance to tell Katlatai exactly what I thought of her and the picture of the girl she had given me.

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  Chapter Thirty

  THE RED LION

  "I can't believe you would do this to me," I shouted, the moment that the door had closed behind us. "That you would go back on your word, your promise to me, that I could choose my own bride, and sell me off like this without even talking to me about it first. And to an Idryan princess, of all people! A passive, magic-hating, religion-obsessed, brood mare! We're going to have nothing in common, she'll probably want to spend all of her time praying. What in Drakan's name sort of life will I have with her?!" No one said anything, just looked at me. I wasn't sure how to react to that. Usually my father had something to say about any outburst that I made and his silence threw me off guard a little. "Is this some sort of punishment, because I ran away to White Oaks?" Still there was nothing, just silence. "Aren't you going to say anything?" I snapped. "Aren't you going to explain this betrayal to me?"

  "We were waiting for you to stop your childish ranting," my father said dryly, as he sat down by the crackling fire. "Do you think you're done now?"

  "'Childish ranting?'" I began angrily. "Don't you think I have a right --?"

  "Enough," Sorron snapped, interrupting me. "Candale, we have no intention of marrying you to Clyniss, or any other woman, for that matter. Who you wed will be your choice, as we promised you."

  I stared at him in confusion. "Then why --?"

  "It was a ruse," my father said, calmly crossing one leg over the other.

  "What?"

  "You know that mages pass through Idryan every year on their way to Kyerania," my father continued.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Have you ever thought about why they make that journey? Forcing your grandfather and I to try, every year, to find some solution with the Idryans to ensure that their journey through is safe, that they're not arrested and don't come to any harm?"

  I shook my head. "I hadn't thought about it," I said quietly.

  "You hadn't thought about it?" my father said, sarcastically. "The curious prince, who wonders about everything, hasn't ever wondered about this?"

  "Gerian," Sorron said, in a warning tone of voice. "This isn't helping." He turned to me. "Candale, while you were in White Oaks, did none of the mages ever mention 'field training' to you?"

  "Silver did," I said, glancing at him, "but only as we were leaving."

 
"What did he tell you that it entailed?"

  "That after they leave White Oaks they go and help farmers with their cattle, or go to sea to control the weather for ships, that sort of thing."

  "Ah, yes, well that does happen, for a few mages, but the majority go to Kyerania for their field training. As you know it's a small, but wealthy kingdom, and has its fair share of problems from brigands in its vast forests, and border disputes with Drasa. Our mages, once they've left White Oaks, head south to Kyerania, for a year, to practise their skills by defending the forests or keeping the borders safe. When the year is up, they're meant to return to Carnia, bringing with them any Kyeranians they discovered with the gift to be trained in White Oaks. It's not an official arrangement, which is probably why you didn't know anything about it, but it has become somewhat of a tradition and we do encourage it."

  "Only the Idryans make it very difficult," my father continued. "Our mages face hostility in the towns and villages, even outright attacks, and they run the risk of being arrested, imprisoned and perhaps even put to death, if they're unable to prove that they are Carnian. Thankfully, that doesn't happen very often and, so far, our mages have managed to prove their nationality and have been sent back, but the fear of it is still enough to put people off making the journey through more times than they have to. It has gotten to the point where many choose to remain in Kyerania and train those with the gift there, instead of attempting to make their way back home. Our school is becoming nothing but a place to train mages to help them and that cannot be allowed to continue."

  "Why doesn't Kyerania have its own mage school?" I asked.

  "Because the kingdom is too small. It just wouldn't have enough students to make it worthwhile. Mages are a rarity as it is, even more so in a small kingdom. Even White Oaks has less than a half dozen new arrivals every year and that includes the Kyeranians who do come north to learn their skills."

  "As you know, we have tried to reach a compromise with Idryan for years, to make this journey easier on our mages," Sorron said. "We want them to be given some sort of warrant that will clearly identify them as our people, which will give them free passage through Idryan, so that they're no longer arrested and sent back and make sure that they're protected from harm, by the law, in towns and villages. The Idryans want our mages to stop passing through their lands altogether, something which has become more pressing for them the last few years, as our mages seem to have taken the law into their own hands and are now stopping to free those Idryans with magic who have been sentenced to death. And, although I can understand this, their practise is abhorrent, it can't be tolerated because we can't be seen to be getting involved with another kingdom's law and religious beliefs. Idryan is now threatening to remove its protection from Carnian mages and, if that happens, they will no longer be sent back, but put to death, like any Idryan found with magic. This would mean that our mages would no longer be able to travel to Kyerania, which would jeopardise our relationship with them and the safety of their kingdom itself."