The Song of Eloh Saga

by Megg Jensen

  I absorbed the information. Of course she would be right. Johna, the woman who took me in and hid me when Kandek’s army tore the countryside apart looking for me, told me no one understood my gift the previous time someone had manifested it. People had studied it for years hoping to make sense of it, but no one had ever succeeded. Then they found me and knew without a doubt that I was the Prophet, the one they had been waiting for. So far I’d yet to use my gift in any useful way. How could I save our people with so little knowledge of what I might be able to do?

  My stomach turned and I clenched my hands. No matter how worried I was, I couldn’t let Krissin see. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. From what she said, she needed me as much as I needed her. We would have to find a way to tolerate each other.

  Chapter Two

  “Your rooms, milady,” the slave girl said, her eyes not meeting mine and her bald head shining from the sunlight streaming through the window. I couldn’t bear to meet her eyes either. As far as this poor girl knew I was Malborn along with the rest of them. She couldn’t know I was Serenian like her or it could compromise everything Nemison had set up here. My heart broke a little seeing the swan brand on the back of her head. Even though Krissin ruled, she must have kept the branding going as part of the ruse.

  “There is a change of clothes and a warm bath waiting for you behind the curtain.” The slave girl moved slowly, quietly, as if she were afraid of disturbing me. I’d seen this behavior a million times before. She wanted to be invisible and she was good at it. Unfortunately I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. Watching her was unnerving. I used to be her; I was the servant doing the bidding of any nobleperson who beckoned. Even though I’d worked deep in the bowels of the kitchen, away from windows, there were many times I was stopped in the hall or asked to run errands inside the castle. Few were kind, most treated me like I was less than human. “Will you be serving me?”

  She nodded, not meeting my eyes. I placed my hand under her chin, raising it up so she could look at me. Still, her eyes refused to meet mine.

  “If you wish, milady, you can request me and I will attend you. My name is Alia.”

  “Thank you, Alia,” I said. “I appreciate your gentle manner, but if you are to serve me, there’s one thing you must do.”

  Her muscles tightened up, her shoulders hunching up towards her ears. I could only imagine how she assumed I’d treat her. Her submission unnerved me. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.

  “I want you to look me in the eyes and I want you to smile,” I said. As Alia looked at me, I saw her blue eyes, so much like Ella’s. The corners of her obedient lips turned upwards but there was no genuine emotion behind it. Soon, I hoped, soon I could give her something to be happy about.

  I had to find a way to free everyone before more children grew up so cynical and broken.

  “Will that be all, milady?” she asked through her fake smile. The ridiculousness of it all was the last straw. I broke into laughter at the pained expression on her face. Alia’s eyes looked into mine, genuinely curious for the first time. The corners of her mouth twitched, almost a real smile, as she backed away to the door.

  “Please ring if you need anything.” Alia pointed to a rope attached to a bell hanging near my bed and another by a desk.

  She turned on her heel and rushed out the door, but not before raising her hand to her mouth to cover a giggle. I smiled again, hoping that Alia could become my friend instead of my servant.

  I glanced around the room, surprised by the luxury of it all. Stuffed damask chairs with fabric dyed in colors I could have only dreamed of before today flanked the windows. Bookcases lined the walls, filled with more tomes than I could read in a lifetime. And the bed, oh Eloh, the bed.

  Due to my confinement in the Northern Kingdom I’d never been in a bedroom where the noblewomen stayed on visits. I’d heard about canopy beds, but I’d never seen one and it was more beautiful than I’d been told. The four wooden posts soared up to the high ceiling, draped by light netting, the bottom sweeping the floor. I wanted to jump into it, like a little girl might, but I didn’t after I saw what was lying on it.

  A dress, a beautiful silken gown unlike anything I’ve ever worn, one much more appropriate for the warm weather and infinitely cleaner than what I wore now. I glanced back at the curtain, knowing that my warm bath awaited me. Unable to wait a moment longer, I stripped off my dirty clothes and wig and slid into the water.

  For the first time in days, I relaxed as I eased into the tub. Laying my head against the back of the copper basin, I allowed every muscle in my body to relax. I felt the water lap over my arms. Knowing it would cool sooner rather than later, I grabbed a washcloth and began the task of removing the last few days’ worth of dirt.

  The grass stain on my elbow from sleeping on the forest floor while Mark kept watch, the dirt on my feet from running through the filthy dungeons, the sweat from my hair from being trapped beneath a wig for too many hours. I felt the anxiety wash away, replaced by a glimmer of hope. I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the water, relishing the warmth. But Mark’s face invaded my thoughts and a chill ran down my spine. I wouldn’t think of him. He was leagues away now, and I had to concentrate on learning more about my gift.

  I stood and let the water drip off of me into the metal tub. I reached for a towel and wrapped it around myself as my door banged open. Grateful for the curtain separating me from the intruder, I called out, “Alia, is that you?”

  “No, it’s not.” An unfriendly male voice called back. “Dry off and get dressed. Your presence is required immediately by the ruling council. I’ll be waiting outside the door.”

  The door slammed again, nearly as loud as the beating of my heart. I’d been given only a few moments of peace, but I was still grateful. Hopefully I could steal a few more later.

  I squeezed the remaining water in my hair and placed the wig back on top. It was probably crooked; it always was. I rushed over to the bed and pulled on the clean under things and shimmied into the dress. I turned to the mirror and checked my wig. Of course it was lopsided, a problem I’d dealt with since the first time I put one on. I righted it, making sure none of my real hair poked out.

  I slid my feet into the slippers waiting on the floor next to the bed and I ran to the door and opened it. An older man leaned against the wall, looking at me as if he’d been studying me for minutes rather than seconds. He reached out and stroked my hair.

  “Hmm,” he said. “Just got out of the bath and your hair is totally dry. That won’t do unless you have a good explanation.”

  I sucked in a breath of air. Here less than an hour and already I already gave away my secret. I leveled my eyes and gazed up into his.

  “I tied it up, good sir. Didn’t want it to get wet,” I said, flicking his hand away from my hair.

  He laughed and his eyes sparkled. I knew better than to trust anyone so quickly, but I couldn’t help myself. His was the first friendly face I’d seen since arriving.

  “A good save. But next time don’t gasp. It might lead more suspicious people to wonder what you’re hiding. Luckily I already know.” He winked at me and my stomach flipped in fear. Only moments out of my room and I’d given my identity away. I wasn’t prepared for all of this intrigue.

  “It’s okay. I know everything.” He patted my shoulder and I relaxed again. “Nemison is a good friend of mine. We’ve been looking forward to your arrival for days. I still find it amusing you stood up to him and refused to leave until you’d helped your people. Few people stand up to Nemison without suffering consequences.”

  We walked down the bright hallway. I squinted my eyes, still not totally used to unfiltered sunlight.

  “So it’s true,” he said. “I can see the sun bothers you. Not surprising for someone who has so rarely seen it.”

  Tired of being watched and judged by a stranger, I asked, “Do you have a name?”

  He laugh
ed again, as he stopped and bowed to me.

  “That I do,” he said. “My name is Reese. I’m a member of the ruling council, born to Malborn parents but I sympathize with you Serenians. I am also gifted. Like you, I am not a full-blooded Serenian but I still manifested in early childhood. I must have had a Serenian ancestor. It’s not unheard of for masters to have affairs with their slaves, but it’s against the law for Malborn to mate with Serenians. The few of us who are like me hide from prying eyes. Nemison discovered and trained me. He also taught me the danger of revealing myself to my people. I owe him my life.”

  Reese held out his arm and I placed my hand on his as I’d seen ladies do countless times at home.

  “Who am I going to meet?” I asked.

  “The rest of the ruling council. Krissin is our leader but there are two others. We make all of the decisions for the good of the land of Serenia, not for the good of the Malborn people. It’s time everyone learns to get along.” His eyes narrowed. “Even if we have to force them.”

  Using force was my last option. He’d opened a wound, one I didn’t feel comfortable exploring now. I wanted, no needed, to know if there was a peaceful way of solving everything. We walked the rest of the way in silence.

  As we wound our way through the halls, I was surprised how few people we encountered. There were no slaves, no nobles, no one but Reese and I.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked.

  “Few are allowed up here,” he answered. “If we put you in a room where people were rushing by all the time, you’d be noticed quickly. News moves fast in a palace with chatty residents and guests.”

  “Not the slaves?” I asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure they gossip too, but at least they’re smart enough to keep it quiet,” he said. “The noblewomen are a completely different lot. They wouldn’t know discretion if it stood naked in front of them!”

  I laughed as we stopped in front of a set of wooden doors. He opened the door on the right and I took a deep breath. We were here. I had to steady myself before entering. Reese gently lowered his arm. I held my fists at my side, pumping them open and closed. I’d had enough trouble with Krissin already; I wanted to make a good impression on the rest of the council.

  Reese walked in ahead of me. “This is Reychel. Our Prophet.”

  A small bout of applause greeted me. Johna, the gifted woman who hid me in her cottage while Kandek’s soldier hunted me, had once told me not to let my guard down for a moment, to pretend I was in complete control even if I didn’t feel that way. I nodded my head a tad to acknowledge the two women. I imitated the noblewomen I’d seen at Kandek’s. I wanted to appear confident; I hoped it worked.

  “This is the Southern Ruling Council.” Reese held out an arm indicating I should offer my hand to them.

  “The Prophet.” A woman in a blue gown stood up from a plush chair. She walked over and took my hand in hers. I felt soft leather on her palms, the sign of a laborer who had retired to easier work. “I’m so pleased to meet you. I can’t believe I’m meeting you. Well, I believed,” she stuttered, “of course I believed you would come, but I did not believe it would be so soon!”

  I smiled, placing my other hand over hers.

  “I can’t wait to learn more about your gift,” she exclaimed. “Oh, sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Hanne, Reese’s wife.”

  “I’m also excited to learn more about my gift,” I said. “I’ve only recently discovered it myself. The visions come on without any prompting. I don’t know how to control it yet.”

  “Fascinating,” Hanne said.

  The second woman, dressed in red, turned on her heel and walked out of the room without a word. The look on her face hadn’t been welcoming, only full of anger. I wondered what I could have done to upset her so soon.

  “Don’t mind Jada. Considering what her father is up to, she isn’t handling your visit well,” Reese said.

  “Her father?” I asked.

  “Gerrold.”

  I shuddered. He’d betrayed me to Ivy. Now I had to work with his daughter.

  Chapter Three

  “Ah, Reychel.” Krissin entered the room, the bottom of her dress billowing as she swept across the floor. “I’m glad to see you had a chance to clean up. You look presentable now.”

  I clenched my fists at my side. This girl, Nemison’s daughter or not, really irritated me. She had no reason to treat me like a child.

  “Have you met everyone?” She waved her hand around the room at Reese and Hanne, but paused when she didn’t see Jada. “Missing someone, are we?”

  “Jada left when Reychel arrived,” Hanne said. “They didn’t get a chance to talk.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Krissin said. “Considering Jada’s father’s was soothed by Reychel’s best friend, Ivy, and used to further her ambitions. I’d hate Reychel too.”

  I ignored Krissin’s comment.

  “I hope with time away from Ivy he’ll be back to normal,” I said. Hanne put her hand on my trembling arm. I guess I wasn’t fooling anyone by ignoring Krissin’s attitude. “Ivy lied to all of us and some people are just more susceptible to her than others. I’m sure Gerrold will recover.”

  I wanted them to believe me, but I didn’t know if he would be okay. I didn’t even know if he’d betrayed me on purpose or because Ivy soothed him. He didn’t like me and he’d made that clear from the first time we met.

  Krissin faced me, a scowl on her mouth.

  “Yet you spent years with this Ivy and you seem to be okay. How is that possible? How did you escape her influence? You, who doesn’t know how to use her gift? You, who we are all supposed to bow down to? We’ve been fighting against the Malborn our whole lives to gain back our freedom to use our gifts and then your best friend screws it all up for us. My father and Jada’s are now mixed up in something that will only distract them from our plans.” Krissin’s bitter laugh echoed in the chamber. “What a joke.”

  Reese put an arm around Krissin’s shoulders but she thrust it off.

  “Relax, Krissin,” he said. “This isn’t Reychel’s fault. She’s innocent in all this.”

  Krissin’s hands flew to her face to cover the tears that spilled for the second time today. I still didn’t know if they were real or calculated and I was getting a little tired of trying to figure her out.

  “My father was captured as she ran through the portal.” Krissin pointed at me, her throat choking from the tears that continued to fall.

  Reese and Hanne looked to me. I nodded my head. It was true, but from Krissin’s tone they’d probably think I left him on purpose.

  “Did you try to help him?” Hanne asked.

  “He let go of my hand and I had already stepped in the portal by the time the guards grabbed him. There wasn’t anything I could do,” I said. I didn’t want to relive it, but they deserved answers. They’d been expecting their leader, the man everyone trusted, and instead they got me, a girl who couldn’t control her gift.

  “How long did you hide in the closet before I found you in there?” Krissin demanded.

  “Just a few minutes. I had some kind of reaction to the portal. My stomach was in so much pain.”

  “Yet if you would have opened the door right away, I would have been able to gather the shards of the portal, reassemble it, jump through, and save my father. Instead you stayed on the floor with a tummy ache.” Krissin turned away from me and smacked her hand on the back of a plush upholstered chair. She whirled back, her index finger outstretched and pointed at me. “This is all your fault.”

  “I didn’t know,” I whispered. “I didn’t know that could be done. I could have gone back and helped Nemison?” I fought back tears, real tears, not the fake ones that Krissin spewed.

  My shoulders shook. I couldn’t look at any of them, sure that had I been more knowledgeable I could have helped. If I would have trained with Nemison when he wanted, not on my schedule, maybe I would have learned enough to help him.

  “She didn’t know
, Krissin,” Hanne said. “Leave her alone. Maybe we should decide what to do from here instead of blaming Reychel for something she couldn’t control.”

  “Your father left us in charge,” Reese said. His voice deepened as his eyes bored into Krissin’s. “Stop behaving like a child and listen to us.”

  “Don’t try your tricks on me, old man,” Krissin snarled. “I know your gift and it won’t work.”

  Instinctively I backed away. Krissin told me she was a killer and I didn’t want to get in the middle of a battle between her and Reese.

  Hanne put her arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear. “Ignore them. They fight this way all the time. Krissin’s a spitfire and Reese is the only one who will stand up to her. That’s one of the reasons Nemison chose him for the council.”

  I watched them circle one another, Krissin hurling insults, Reese fielding them back with quips of reason. It was like watching a boxing match but without any physical fighting. It was hard to believe this was normal.

  “And don’t worry when Krissin talks to you like that either,” Hanne continued. “She’s just a girl who speaks her mind. Nemison never stood for her attitude, which is why she projects them on to other people. Poor girl needs an outlet for her anger, a way to calm her gift.”

  “What is it?” I asked. I admitted to being curious.

  Hanne glanced over at Krissin and back at me. “I don’t think I should tell you. It’s Krissin’s to share. I’m sure she’ll tell you at some point.”

  Krissin and Reese glared at each other. I decided I didn’t want to know Krissin’s gift. Not yet.

  “Fine,” Krissin said, giving up. “I’ll give Reychel the benefit of the doubt. For now.”

  She looked around Reese’s body to glare at me. I shivered but hoped it didn’t show. No matter what Hanne said, Krissin still intimidated me. She reminded me too much of Ivy, not the Ivy who’d been my best friend my whole life, but the Ivy who showed her true colors. The Ivy who tried to destroy my life.