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

by Fran Jacobs

  Slowly I lifted my head. The shadowy mass still stood there, only now it seemed to be in the shape of a tall woman, a curvaceous silhouette, clear and yet somehow distorted. I could see the lines of her breasts, the curve of her hips and the dark mass of her hair that whipped and flickered about her. And then there were her eyes, very bright blue, almost glowing, like the stars in the sky, and they were looking at me, speaking to me ...

  "Prince Candale." The voice coming from the door was firm and calm. "I think you should step away from the horses' stalls." The voice broke through the haze of my thoughts, through the hypnotic connection with those dazzling blue orbs and, with it, the mist vanished. I was suddenly aware of myself again, that I was in the stables, and the horses were still rearing and thundering inside their stalls. Midnight was still pounding on his own stall door, so very close to where I was standing, that his panicked breath blew at my hair.

  I gasped, stumbling backwards away from him, pressing myself against the far wall. Trembling I began to edge my way towards the safety of the stable door and the waiting stable-hands, trying to block out the noise of so many steel hooves crashing against fragile wood, so many panicked, desperate gasps for breath.

  And then I was outside again, in the cool, open night air, and I would have collapsed had Trellany not been there to catch me. "Are you all right?" she asked. I nodded, struggling to calm myself. "I called to you, to edge out of the stable quietly and quickly, but you didn't move. I thought that maybe fear had frozen you, so I went to get some help. It was the only thing I could think of to do. I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you-"

  I nodded again. "I-it's all right," I gasped. "It's all right. I-I should have left, but ... but I saw something, in the stable. A woman, made of shadow --"

  "Of shadow? Like the man you saw who attacked you?"

  "No. Not exactly. She was ... she didn't try and hurt me, she didn't do anything, she was just there. I think ... I think that's what scared the horses."

  "Are you sure?" Trellany asked, in a low voice. "I didn't see anything, just the horses rearing and crashing against the stalls."

  "I-I think so," I said. "I'm not sure why I would have imagined something like that."

  "Hmm, well, I think we should leave it for now. Let's get you back inside."

  "Yes," I said. "Yes, I-I think that's a good idea. I-I don't think I will see Mayrila tonight either."

  "No," Trellany agreed. "No, I think it's best you have a rest, after what just happened."

  I nodded, and then turned to Tev and Silver, who were both standing quietly by, watching me with worried eyes. "You ... you're both welcome to join me for supper, if you want?"

  "I'd love to," Teveriel replied, while Silver just looked uncomfortable.

  "I made plans to see Keyla," he said.

  "Oh," I said.

  "But I can change them-"

  "No." I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. Just a little shaken, that's all. Don't cancel your plans, Silver, it's all right."

  "If you're sure ..." He still looked doubtful, something that remained all the way back to my suite, where I finally convinced him that I was all right by pushing him out the room and closing the door on him.

  Over supper I went into detail about what I had seen. I even tried to explain how it had felt different from the shadow that had tried to kill me and counted on my fingers why the two had felt so different. There had been no sound with the mist in the stable, no build up of energy, and there had been both with the shade in White Oaks. But there had been the cloying smell, which had been the only thing to really show that it was there, that and the way the horses were panicking. To me, despite the mist's more vacuous lack of presence, it had been more real than the shadow man and although that shadow man had been there to hurt me, it had not felt evil, not in the same way that the misty form in the stable had. Yet, for all its evilness, it had only touched me, not tried to kill me. It was just very odd.

  When I was done, Trellany was calm and clearly considering what I had said, while Teveriel looked unsettled.

  "It sounds frightening," he said at last.

  "It was, but only because it was so strange. I don't know, I think I'm getting used to seeing strange things. It didn't upset me as much as it would have done a few months ago. I just wish I could understand what's going on, with the child, and now this shadow. I know they're connected. I just wish I knew how and what they want."

  "I wish that I did, too," Teveriel said. "I wish that I could help you with this, but I don't think there is anything anyone can do, except wait and see what happens."

  "I know," I said. And sighed.

  "How are your sessions with Mayrila?" Tev asked me a little later. We had brandy in our hands by then, Trellany had long since gone to bed, and the fire was stoked up to such a degree that the room was very warm, almost heady. I felt sleepy, dozing in my chair and Teveriel's face was red with the heat and with the alcohol he'd drank. He was slumped against the arm of the chair, his eyes only half open.

  "I had a prophecy," I said. "Of a red lion."

  "What was it like? Did it hurt?"

  "No, it was fairly uneventful."

  "So ... she is all right with you?"

  "Fine." I yawned sleepily and forced myself to sit up properly in my chair. "Although I'm not sure how she will feel about me missing tonight's session."

  "She's here to help you, but you needed a rest. She will just have to understand."

  "But she's here to do me a favour. I should have at least gone and told her myself that I needed to rest."

  "You can explain and grovel away tomorrow," Teveriel said sleepily. "It doesn't matter now."

  "No," I agreed. I had finished my brandy and I got to my feet to pour myself another glass. "Would you like some more?"

  "No, thank you," Teveriel said, with a yawn. "Unless you want me to sleep here on your lovely chair tonight, snoring away!"

  "It's very comfortable," I said, "and you're more than welcome."

  He gave me an odd look and then shook his head. "The gossip would be atrocious, Dale, and not what you need, especially with those diplomats here, courting you as they are." He yawned again. "I should go ..."

  "Well, before you do, there's something that I want to ask you, if that's all right? You just reminded me of it."

  "All right."

  I returned to my seat and sat down, nursing the brandy glass between my fingers. "If I were to whistle a tune that I'd heard, could you tell me what it is?"

  "Probably. I might even be able to tell you what kingdom and what historical period it came from as well."

  "You can do that?"

  Tev fastened his green eyed gaze on me. "I know my music, Dale," he said, seriously. "And different periods of time favoured different sort of instruments, different patterns of chords. It's the same with each kingdom, they all have a different idea of what sounds good." He gave a shrug. "It's not so easy with just a tune being whistled, granted, but I can try." He sighed, wistfully. "My master, now, he was really good at that sort of thing. We earned many a free meal and bed for the night, just because he could recognise a tune by the opening bars of it, whistled or hummed, no matter how drunkenly."

  "Your master sounds interesting."

  "He was," Teveriel said. "But he's not important right now. Whistle this tune."

  He was watching me, a little impatiently, so I pursed my lips and tried to whistle the tune Mayrila had whistled so causally. It was a little awkward at first, remembering the tune and imitating it, but after a couple of false starts I more or less got it right.

  Teveriel closed his eyes, his brow creased and he thought in silence for a moment. I heard him whistling the tune himself, quietly, under his breath, and then he shook his head. "I really have no idea, Candale. Where did you hear that?" I didn't answer and his eyes opened. "Was it Mayrila?"

  "Yes. She was whistling it and it seemed really familiar to me, but I don't know where, or why," I said. "She said she had heard a child singing
it, but it doesn't sound like any child's song that I know."

  "You can't trust anything that woman says, Dale. She's a liar."

  "Perhaps, but I can't very well question her on a Truth Stone about the origin of this tune, Tev."

  "No? Personally I think that woman should be strapped to a Truth Stone permanently, because you'll never be sure of her otherwise." I didn't say anything and then he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry. Brandy and tiredness brings out the bitterness in me. All I can say is, it doesn't sound like any child's song that I've ever heard either. Yes, it has a simplicity to it, but it doesn't have the structure of any of the children's songs that I recognise, both traditional and more modern tunes. It could be foreign, there is that possibility, so I can't rule out what Mayrila said about it, but I definitely don't recognise it." I nodded, disappointed. "What are you going to do now?"

  "About the tune?" He nodded. "There isn't a lot that I can do. If you don't know what it is, I don't think anyone else will. And you might be right, Mayrila might be lying, she might know more than she's saying, but people lie, and I can't keep asking her about it. She might get angry and decide to leave Carnia Castle. I need her help too much for that."

  "Not everyone lies," Teveriel said. "I don't and especially not to you, not after what happened the first time that we met. I could never lie to you again, after that."

  "I don't lie to you, either," I said awkwardly.

  "Good," he said, with a smile. "I'm very glad to hear that."

  Return to Contents

  * * *

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  TOUCHED

  The next day, after lunch, I had my first sitting with the Court Painter, Alew. Although I wasn't looking forward to posing, I was glad to escape the Great Hall. News of what had happened in the stable had reached everyone the night before and that morning, before breakfast, I'd been inundated with questions about it from courtiers and my concerned family. By lunch time the courtiers had grown bored and moved onto something else. But my mother was still fussing over me and my father and grandfather had decided that an inquiry into the whole thing was necessary. I had felt extremely uncomfortable, sitting there, listening to them talk about how the inquiry would be handled, and what could have caused the situation in the first place, knowing full well what had caused it and that any inquiry would show up nothing, and I was only too glad to escape.

  I hadn't met Alew yet, but he was easy to find, in his studio, which, apparently, he rarely left. It was his apprentice, a young, pretty girl of about thirteen, who let me into his suite. The main room was simple and efficient. The curtains were all pulled back, the windows were spotless, to maximise the light. There were no items of comfort, plush chairs or couches, no drinks cabinet and little in the way of decoration. In fact, there was nothing in the room at all that might distract him from his work; just a simple table, which held the tools of his trade, and canvases of current and finished projects, and one rather hard chair.

  The man himself was dressed in a similar style to Tev, neatly and in the height of fashion. His golden hair was elegantly styled and his clothes dripped with lace around the neck and wrists, that I was sure had to get into his oil paints. He wasn't very tall, was slight of build, and had a set of blue eyes that were dominating, as they peered out from his pointed, drawn face.

  "My assistant will show you into the room I have set up for you," Alew told me. "Get changed, make yourself comfortable and then I'll be in."

  "Changed?" I asked.

  "Clothes have been left you," Alew said, somewhat distracted as he started to clean up after the painting he'd been working on when I came in. "Please, go in."

  "This way, Sire," the assistant said politely, leaving me no choice but to follow and be led into a second room where everything had been prepared. An easel, with a blank canvas, was already set up, with a pallet of oil paints and brushes close by. A dark piece of purple satin had been hung across a screen with the folds neatly arranged and a large wooden chair, with carved arms and high back, stood in front it. To one side there was a vase of white roses on a small, circular wooden table.

  Clothes lay draped over the arm of the chair, a dark blue doublet, embroidered in gold, black brocade breeches and a black shirt, complete with irritating lace at the cuffs and neck. I frowned irritably.

  "Please," the assistant said nervously, trying to sound older and more capable than she clearly was, "Get changed."

  "Who brought these in for me?"

  "Princess Silnia," I was told. "She wants you to look your best for the painting."

  "Rather than your usual untidy self," Trellany said, with a smile.

  "Go away," I told her. "I'm not going to change with you standing there."

  She grinned at me, gave a sarcastic bow and ushered the anxious little assistant out of the room. Milan and Breskarn didn't move, just stood still, arms folded, looking at me. Silver gave a shrug and then did the same, with an amused grin on his face. I just sighed and started to get changed. As I had feared, the clothes itched. I sighed again. This wasn't going to be a pleasant afternoon.

  A few minutes later Alew entered and immediately got me settled in the chair. While he was arranging my unruly hair, Trellany and Milan slipped away, leaving Breskarn and Silver to keep an eye on me.

  "Where are they going?" I asked.

  "To town," Breskarn replied. "They kept watch all morning, so it's only fair that they have some time off now and I take over."

  "I don't get any time off," I pointed out.

  "No," Breskarn agreed. "But I'm sure if there were three Prince Candales then you would."

  "Quiet," Alew barked, "and look this way."

  I shot Breskarn a quick glance, a swift roll of my eyes, before Alew seized my chin with his long thin fingers and turned my face towards the front, holding it at a slight angle and tilting it just a little. Then, when he was satisfied that my face and hair were to his requirements, he started to organise the folds of my tunic. "Aren't you just doing the preliminary sketches today?" I asked.

  "Yes," he said, "but everything has to be right. Now please, be quiet."

  So I sat there, feeling a little abashed, while Alew finished arranging me. Then he headed over to his easel and art supplies and set to work.

  And I stared out the window, watched the rain fall, and willed time to go swiftly past.

  ***

  A sharp flash of pain in my upper arm brought me back to my senses. I rubbed at it, before I realised where I was and what I was doing, and blinking, I found Trellany standing over me. And Alew. "Time to go," Trellany told me.

  "Did you pinch me?"

  "Three times," she said. "I think you were asleep."

  "With his eyes open?" Alew asked incredulously. Trellany shot him a hard glance, and he squirmed and turned away. "Yes," he muttered. "Yes, sleeping, of course." I watched him walk back over to his art supplies and begin to clear up before I switched my gaze back to Trellany.

  "You weren't aware of me?" she asked in a whisper. I shook my head. "I called your name four times."

  "I didn't do it on purpose," I said. "It just happens."

  "I know," she said sadly. She turned away from me, stooping to pick up my discarded clothes from earlier. "Come on. It will be time for supper soon." As we left the room her voice dropped to whisper to me. "I think that we will have to talk to Mayrila about getting on with helping you with your 'ailments'. Now that you've been able to have a vision on demand, it's time that we dealt with them before it becomes a real problem. People are already talking about your mood swings, following what happened in the courtyard," I flushed at the memory of that, "and, although Alew won't talk about what just happened, his assistant is a different matter. I did manage to shoo her out the way today, but I'm not sure if we will always be that lucky."

  "I'm sure you can scare her silent if she does see something," I said. "Or perhaps she will put it down to my famous eccentricities."

  "Children don't understand
eccentricities," Trellany told me. "Children recognise things that make people different and use and exploit it. And telling a child not to do something, will usually lead them to do it out of spite. No, Candale, you have to learn to control this, sooner rather than later."

  "But we don't even know if she can help me, not really. She's just the best chance I have."

  "Hmm," Trellany murmured. "Then I'd better stand by, ready to pinch you if you start to look as though you're slipping away again."

  "Thank you," I said dryly. My arm still throbbed a little. I think she forgot how strong she actually was.

  "You're welcome," Trellany said brightly.

  Unfortunately, Trellany had spoken too soon about my having visions on demand. That evening, after Mayrila told me off for not having come to our session the night before, she decided to help me to have another vision, so that we could make sure it hadn't been an accident or luck when it had happened before. So I went through the process again, a little less nervously this time, reaching the state of a trance with only a little coaxing, but no vision followed, no prophecy, nothing, just the smell of the amyris.

  We tried again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, for five days, but still nothing happened. Mayrila then decided that it had just been coincidence when I had had my prophecy before and decided we had to try something new. This meant that she was even further away from helping me to control my ailments, something she was convinced was connected to my awakening gifts. This didn't give me very much comfort as, for a second time, I had drifted away while Alew had been painting me, only to come back to my senses and find his apprentice staring at me, her finger in her mouth. Still, there was nothing that I could do but shrug it off and pretend that it didn't worry me and go along with Mayrila and her next idea, which was to question me, as well as any torturer might, and take notes.

  She wanted to know how my visions had felt, what I heard, if anything, what exactly I had seen, how long did I think they lasted, both the time before it, and then during it. She wanted to know what I had eaten, and done, on the occasions when the visions and prophecy had hit, and on that one occasion when I'd heard those voices talking. Then she questioned me about more personal things, my appetite, sleeping habits, whether any of my bodily functions might have changed, and I sat there, with a bright red face, and told her everything that I never wanted to tell anyone, especially her.