Tomorrow, Sistina expects all of us to leave, save those who submit to her demands. I, as well as Lady Maria Northbrook, Jean Dailos, Ellis Bookbinder, Zarenya Threadweaver, Sergeant Farris, and Privates Alissa, Evrial, Helia, Lisa, and Skylark are going to submit to her directions. As such, those of us in the military have enclosed our letters of resignation behind this letter, My Queen. We will continue to guard Phynis as best as we are able. I simply ask that you do not hold it against our families, for we came to our decisions on our own.
Sincerely,
Desa Iceheart
Eyes widening in disbelief, Calath quickly shuffled through the other letters, and found that each was precisely what Desa had said they were. After a moment, she spoke softly, strain in her voice. “Captain Desa has resigned, along with several of her subordinates.”
“Why would she do that?” Laila’s poise broke as she looked at Calath in astonishment at the information. “She’s one of the most loyal women I’ve ever known!”
“Essentially, she felt trapped between my orders and her oaths to Phynis. And after Phynis was nearly slain, Desa decided that she would stay and protect her,” Calath replied grimly, slowly shaking her head. “I find this… upsetting.”
“I understand, Your Majesty.” Laila regained her poise, standing at attention as she asked, “What would you have me do?”
“I’m not certain yet. Let me finish the other letters first. I do hope that there is better news in them.” Calath sighed, and opened the next letter.
An hour later, the queen sat back with a frown, considering the letters in front of her.
“The information that we could potentially break all of the brands if we can kill the demon behind them is encouraging, at least,” Laila spoke calmly, a slight smile on her face, but it faded somewhat as she continued. “It is rather unfortunate we don’t know who the demon is, however.”
“Quite. Though the fact we didn’t know that these brands were of demonic origin is worrying. None of our spies have so much as whispered about that possibility,” Calath replied softly. “I wish that we had been able to get more information. Farlon did well in the time he was there, but if he had been able to research longer, it’s possible he could have found a way to identify the way that the brands were made, and neutralize them.”
“Perhaps he would have. Perhaps not, though. The library is thousands of years old, Your Majesty, there is no guarantee that this is part of the ancient records,” Laila reminded Calath gently.
“You may well be right, Laila, but I don’t think we can take that risk. We need the information in the library.” Calath paused for a moment, then sighed and shook her head. “I’d like to send a force to retrieve Phynis and the library, but winter is fast approaching, and we don’t have the soldiers available. I am afraid that it might have to wait until spring.”
“Would you like me to start gathering a force for the task, Your Majesty?” Laila asked.
“Please do,” Calath replied. With a sigh, she shook her head, then paused and quickly corrected herself, looking at Laila. “Laila, I did not mean to prepare a force to attack the dungeon. Desa’s report already made me realize how grave of a mistake that would be. The army is to punch through Kelvanis’ lines, is that clear?”
“Ah, I am afraid I had… misjudged your intentions somewhat,” Laila admitted, pausing to think before asking, “How are we to retrieve them, then?”
“Find someone that Phynis liked and trusts. Ask them to join the force, and see if they can’t convince her to help,” the queen ordered, taking a deep breath. “We need to get the information, and correct my mistakes.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” her guard replied with a bow.
Chapter 13
“Are you sure you want to do this, sir?” Derek asked, obviously worried as he looked at Jared. “I mean, attacking one of the visitors for information seems a little dangerous.”
“It’ll be fine. They’ve come into the side caves before, out of sight of the golem without a problem,” Jared assured the man, smiling reassuringly. Internally, he was screaming about how bad of an idea this was, but the orders compelling him were too deeply ingrained. “And since she’ll know we have no way out, she should tell us what we want to know readily.”
“If you say so, sir,” one of the others, Private Hunter spoke up, her voice dubious but accepting. “Do you really think they’ll visit today?”
“Their visits have been every three to four days, and it’s been three days so far,” Jared explained, nodding toward where the entrance was. “If they don’t visit today, they’ll come by tomorrow. Either way, I want to know more of what’s going on here. I’m tired of sitting here passively.”
“I suppose you’re right, sir. I just hope they don’t get too upset with us,” Derek replied, stretching as he stood. “But I understand what you mean. I’m getting sort of stir crazy here.”
Jared smiled back as he spoke warmly, even as internally, his worry grew. “I totally understand what you mean. It’s why I want to question whoever visits.”
“I’ll do my part, sir,” Derek promised, heading off to work out and keep an eye on the entrance.
Sitting back against the wall, Jared’s anxiety grew slowly. He didn’t want to implicate the soldiers in what was going to happen, but the brand on his arm gave him no choice. It was only now that he realized what Topaz and the other Jewels must have felt when he gave them orders.
At this point, there was nothing he could do. They hadn’t visited, so he couldn’t apologize to them. And he’d probably never get the chance to do so.
“What books is she reading, Ellis?” Zarenya asked, sipping at the tea he’d brought her and nodding in Sistina’s direction.
Looking up from his lunchtime salad, Ellis blinked a couple of times as he processed his mentor’s question. Sistina was sitting at one of the benches, a stack of tomes next to her as she flipped through them, reading with an ease that he couldn’t help but envy. As skilled at reading ancient elven as he’d become, he had far less proficiency with the myriad dialects and older languages that filled the library, while Sistina seemed able to read them effortlessly.
“Ah, I believe that when I looked they were primarily architecture and engineering texts,” he replied after swallowing. It really was an excellent salad, and he looked back to Zarenya as he continued. “A few of them were guides to some of the ancient cities as well, complete with maps.”
“Interesting. I wonder if she’s investigating what other structures could be buried down here with us?” Zarenya mused. “That doesn’t explain the engineering tomes, though.”
“Maybe she’s trying to figure out how to piece together buildings that aren’t mostly intact?” Ellis suggested, spearing a cucumber slice with his fork. “I have to assume that most of the buildings in the city weren’t nearly as solid as the library.”
“That might make sense. We’d have to ask her, but I’d rather not interrupt,” Zarenya replied slowly, then shrugged. “We’ll find out, or we won’t. We’ve got our own job.”
Reminded of the stacks of books they still had to translate and go through, Ellis winced and nodded. “True enough. There’s a lot of work ahead of us.”
Farris hummed softly to herself as she carried the basket of spare clothing, bandages, and a few tools down toward the prison cavern. Normally, one of the other guards would be bringing the basket to the prisoners, but she’d decided that she needed to check on the injured among them and make certain that they were healthy. While they might be prisoners, there was no need to mistreat them. Even if Kelvanis didn’t have the same regard for elven lives, she couldn’t allow herself to fall to their level.
But even so, Farris glanced down to be certain her knife was in its sheath. While she didn’t want to hurt the prisoners and didn’t dare bring a deadlier weapon, it would be foolish to enter the cavern completely unarmed. Reassured by its presence, she smiled as she reached the door, pushing it open with one foot and slip
ping out of the tunnel.
The cave where the prisoners were kept wasn’t enormous, but she saw several of them tending to the garden. Farris’ opinion of them rose slightly when she saw they were actually doing a good job of it, and she nodded to the closest of them.
“Hello! I’ve brought some changes of clothing, gardening tools, bandages, and soap for all of you. Would one of you take the basket?” Farris asked, stepping out from behind the golem and moving toward them.
One of the men nodded, stepping forward with his arms outstretched as he gave a nervous smile. “I’ll take it. New clothing will be a blessing, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, I’m also here to check on all of you. You had a few injured, didn’t you?” Farris asked, handing him the basket and smiling in return. “I just want to make sure you’re all healing well.”
“Oh yes! Most of us are fine, but Earl and Jared are still resting. Jared’s injuries haven’t been healing as well as we’d like, though,” another soldier, one of only two women, volunteered.
“Jared… he’s the Adjudicator, correct? The one who got mauled by the golem?” Farris asked, her brows furrowing as she considered what she remembered. “He had cracked ribs, torn muscles, and a broken arm, so I’m not surprised. What about Earl?”
“Yes, that’s Jared. Earl took an arrow in the leg, and it hasn’t healed well,” the woman explained.
“Well, let’s take a look at Earl first. If it was just an arrow, it could be infected,” Farris directed, smiling slightly as she added, “I should be able to deal with any infection, though. I just want to get it done sooner than later.”
“Thank you. He’s resting in this cave over here.” The soldier smiled in relief, leading the way to one of the side caverns.
Laying in the cavern was a stocky, bearded human, his upper thigh swathed in bandages. The dark-haired man shifted, then blinked as he spoke, his voice deep. “Hunter? Who’s this?”
“I’m Farris Skyblessed. I’m a healer, and here to check on your leg. With your permission, of course?” Farris paused, waiting for his reply as he looked at the woman.
Hunter nodded to him. “She said she was here to check on our injuries, and thought yours sounded like they were more urgent.”
“In that case, sure, Miss Farris. My leg’s been bothering me, and it’s just not healing right,” Earl told her, wincing in pain as he shifted.
“Of course, Earl. Just one minute, and I’ll see what I can do,” Farris assured him with a smile.
Closing her eyes, Farris murmured the words of a spell, reaching up to touch her eyelids with the fingers of one hand. Feeling the magic take hold, she opened her eyes and looked down at Earl.
Farris wasn’t looking at the purely material world anymore, instead choosing to see life itself, leaving everything else hazy. The golden glow of life energy pulsed through the man’s veins, dimmed to an almost muddy hue by the frailties of flesh. It took practice to learn what the different hues of golden light meant, and Farris mentally shook her head as she saw the pulsing of his heart. The man would likely never be old, not with a heart that was prone to failure. Making note of the other minor problems, she instead focused on his leg and winced slightly.
A faint greenish hue to the muddy gold pervaded the flesh around the injury, indicating an infection of some kind. At least it told Farris what the problem was, and she let out a sigh, letting her sight fade as she explained, “Your injury is infected. I can purge the infection and speed the healing for you, but even so, it will be a few days before I would care to allow you to walk.”
“Dammit. I was afraid of that.” Earl let out a deep breath and asked, “So, what do I need to do?”
“Just relax and let me work,” Farris told him, kneeling next to the man and pulling more heavily on her mana as she chose the spell that she wanted to use. Taking a deep breath, she began to chant the words, weaving the spell quickly and carefully.
Earl let out a soft hiss of pain as the spell forced the infection out of the wound and into the bandages, staining them a red hue. Farris quickly undid the bandages, sliding them aside to where they could see the open puncture wound for a moment before the second part of her spell activated. The wound rapidly began to close and heal. In mere moments, it looked like it had been healing for a week, and Farris smiled as the spell came to an end.
“There. Eat well for at least a week, and don’t over-exert yourself. Don’t walk until tomorrow at the earliest, either,” Farris cautioned Earl, frowning at the bandages. “I’ll dispose of these. Hunter, was it? Do you have one of the baskets from the other days that I can use?”
“Uh, yes, of course. Just give me a minute,” Hunter replied, obviously surprised. She seemed to have been thinking hard about something, but she turned and jogged out of the cave.
“Damn. That feels much better, thank you,” Earl spoke in wonderment, looking at the injury.
“You’re welcome, Earl,” Farris told him, smiling slightly at the praise.
“I have to ask, though, why does your healing work differently than the priests? Most of them, they just instantly heal wounds or the like,” Earl asked, looking up at her. “Yours seemed slower for some reason.”
“They’re generally light mages, or have divine blessings that aid in healing magic. I use nature magic in a different way than priests do,” Farris explained. “Theirs is faster and more thorough, but my method requires less mana and is slightly easier to use, though it requires more knowledge of the body.”
“Huh. I suppose that answers the question,” Earl murmured, obviously only barely understanding the explanation. “Thanks, though. I’d hate to have lost my leg.”
“I’m not sure that you would have lost it. I’d just brought more bandages, so the others might have been able to help you fight it off,” Farris replied, frowning. “It could’ve, though.”
“Here’s the basket, Farris.” Hunter came jogging back with an empty basket, which Farris saw had bits of dirt in it. It probably had been being used for harvesting vegetables, come to think of it.
“Thank you, Hunter. I’ll make a note to bring you more baskets next trip,” Farris told the woman, putting the wad of bandages in the basket and taking it. “Now, where’s Jared?”
“This way.” Hunter smiled nervously, adding, “And thank you, we could use the baskets. We use them for storage.”
Farris followed the woman out of the cave and toward another of the small caverns, nodding. “I thought that might be the case. You might be prisoners, but I don’t see any reason to make life harder for you than it has to be.”
“I… thank you, Farris.” Hunter started saying something, then changed her mind, leading the way into the cave, speaking up. “Jared, this is Farris. She’s here to check on your injuries.”
Jared looked up from a makeshift board game with another man, blinking as he saw Farris. He nodded and smiled thinly. “Hello, Farris. I believe you were the one to tend to me after my capture. Thank you.”
“And greetings to you, Jared. You’d be correct on that. How are you feeling?” Farris asked, setting down her basket as she examined the man. His left arm was in a sling, a splint firmly in place, and bandages covered his torso where the ribs had cracked.
“I feel like I got hit by a stone wall,” Jared replied, his voice dry. “But considering that it was a golem, that isn’t far wrong.”
“I suppose not. One moment, and let’s have a look at you.” Farris smiled again, stepping toward him before closing her eyes as she began murmuring her spell.
A rush of movement was Farris’ only warning before two pairs of hands grabbed her and slammed her to the ground, blasting the air from her lungs and interrupting her spell. When Farris opened her eyes, the man who’d been playing the game with Jared and Hunter had grabbed her while she’d been distracted, and they dragged her next to Jared, holding her arms behind her back. Jared calmly pulled the knife from her belt and held it to her throat.
“Now, if you don
’t mind, I have some questions for you.” Jared spoke quietly, almost politely as he looked Farris in the eyes. “Answer, and we’ll let you go unharmed.”
“What do you think you’re doing? There’s no chance of you escaping, even if you took me captive!” Farris protested, the elven woman’s outrage and confusion obvious on her face.
Jared had always thought that dusk elves were attractive. Farris’ nut-brown skin and unusual hazel eyes were beautiful, which made him all the more depressed about what he was going to do. But he couldn’t let on what was going to happen, so instead, he reached down with the knife and eased up the edge of her shirt, revealing the upper edge of a slave brand, this one a silver crest with hints of green and gold to it.
“I’m doing this because I’m frustrated and I want to know what’s going on, Farris. I sincerely doubt you would have answered my questions if I asked politely, so I took a more… proactive approach,” Jared told her, shrugging with one shoulder as he placed the knife against her throat. “You have a slave brand, and one that prevents you from using magic without being directly ordered. Yet you can ignore orders and use magic anyway. How?”
“You crazy… fine!” Farris hissed as the knife pressed against her skin, just barely not breaking the surface. She took a breath before saying, “Sistina claimed the brand somehow, made it so it followed her orders rather than those of anyone from Kelvanis. She can also let me use magic anywhere, though I grow slightly weaker if I’m more than a few miles from the dungeon.”
“And who is Sistina, exactly?” Jared asked, noticing the look that the two soldiers exchanged where Farris couldn’t see.
Spells of Old (Ancient Dreams Book 2) Page 10