She frowned, the punishments for breaking your word was legendary. One month of solid torture, delivered by the Ancients themselves, and at the end of it you would be left in a temple, with scars that would forever brand you a liar. If Marten was truly prepared to go though that for the sake of her honour then perhaps she should consider his offer of coming back to Morendor.
“Marten, you can’t seriously mean that.” Endis replied. “Nothing is that valuable.”
“She is.” Marten insisted.
She pulled back after that, gratefulness and confusion ruling her as she ran deeper into the forest. Then anger, Marten was in possession of one of her greatest secrets. She felt a bubbling heat under her skin, and her palms began to glow like sunlight. In the midst of all the turmoil, some part of her noted that the effect was beautiful, even as the light grew brighter; fuelled by an emotional whirlpool that had been building inside of her.
Then the glow began to cover her.
She yelled out in panic, but the power was out now, and soon her entire body was glowing like the midday desert sun, eventually it stopped conforming to the shape of her body, and began to push outwards. She was literally a glowing beacon now, her presence known to everyone for leagues, she shone so brightly.
It shouldn’t have surprised her when Marten burst out of the trees beside her, followed by Endis.
“What in Ancients name?” Endis yelled.
The bubble of light was expanding rapidly. Romana tried to pull it back in and failed. The heat was becoming comfortable for her; the cocoon of light was pleasing to her senses. For a single piercing instant there was perfection, golden glowing softness protecting her, and healing her emotional hurts, and even the scratches she’d attained from running through the woods.
Marten was bellowing something, she thought hazily, drunk on pleasure. The ground beneath her was becoming scorched, but both of those were meaningless now. Even the sudden appearance of the elven magicians wasn’t surprising to her.
She revelled in it, so did Silver. Both of them were floating through the heavens from the bliss that they were receiving.
A blaring sound came out of nowhere, even as the light was extinguished and the ground rushed up to meet her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
BROKEN WHISPER
She woke on black soil, surrounded by seven faces. The elven magicians looked at her curiously, Endis and Marten with worry, and Katelyn…oh no, Katelyn.
Romana reached for her friend, but Katelyn stepped back in fear.
“Katelyn,” Her voice was rough, scratchy. “Katelyn don’t be scared of me. Please don’t. Katie, please don’t.” She was begging now, but Katelyn just took one step back and then another, until she was running.
It was just as she was going to run after her that Romana realised she was naked and curled in a foetal position that had been protecting her modesty until she’d reached out. Marten handed her a coat, but her strength left with Katelyn and she just lay there like a mad woman. Katelyn had been the only one who’d mattered. All these years, she’d never lived for much else. Sobs began to shake her, and Marten picked her up from the ground, wrapping her in his jacket as he did so and holding her close. “It’s alright.” He whispered softly into her ear. “I have you, and Endis will find her. Just sleep now, okay, it’ll be fine when you wake up.”
She opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn’t possible for her to sleep, only to find herself yawning against his chest and snuggling in to his body heat. “One more person to betray me,” she murmured as she shifted into sleep.
She woke five hours later, back in the palace at Morendor, with Katelyn nowhere to be seen. She found clothes laid out for her and pulled them on before walking to the door and trying to open it.
It was locked.
A horrible fear bubbled up to her and she looked around. She was in a room with no window, no fireplace and a locked door. The only other ornamentation aside from the bed was a large mirror. She found the candles in sealed glass lanterns; the vase on the bedside table was made of wood. And the walls were soundproofed.
She made up the bed and sat on it in a classical lotus position. If she was correct then the triggers of her outburst had been emotions. The only way to stop the power from resurfacing could be to block off all emotions like she had in the Slave Shop.
So that was what she did.
After another five hours of organising feelings for people and slowly and carefully making sure she could erase them, Endis’ voice drifted into the room from behind the mirror.
“Romana?” He asked, clearly concerned.
“Yes your highness.” She replied, her voice emotionless.
“How are you feeling?”
“I appear to be stable.” She replied, sticking to the facts. “No physical trauma appears to have occurred.”
Endis stopped, clearly surprised by her practical evaluation. She could hear the scribbling of quills on paper in the room beyond the mirror and knew that she was getting a full psychological evaluation. Silver knew how to steer through this problem, and soon Romana began receiving mental instructions in her brain.
“Did I hurt anyone?” She asked, already knowing the answer, and touching her voice with panic.
“No, it appears not. Although there were some questions as to why midnight became midday for an hour.”
“And Katelyn?” She forced the words from her teeth, “May I see her soon?”
“You are aware you’re under evaluation before you’re deemed stable enough to see your ward.”
“Of course.” She replied. “My outburst seemed to have been triggered by intense emotion; as a result I have spent the last several hours purging that trigger.”
“Sensible, if a little extreme.”
“I will not allow another unsanctioned outburst to occur, your highness. If you do not mind you have interrupted my process. I will inform you when I wish to speak to you again.”
She resumed her organisation from before as Endis’ shocked silence permeated the room.
Fifteen minutes later and the door burst open with a bang. She didn’t open her eyes, instead choosing to pretend to be too deep in meditation to hear. The door slammed shut again, and there was the sound of a key in the lock.
“Marten, it isn’t safe. Let her do this, it may save lives.” Endis insisted.
“The hell I’m going to sit back and watch her turn into a robot!” Marten yelled back, and she heard him stalk to the bed.
She heard the rustle of fabric, and the squeaking of the bed springs under their combined weight. Then his arms came around her and dragged her backwards, hugging her to him.
He hoped to break her safety measures with fear, well, he could try. It would, after all, be an excellent test of her purging.
He held her silently down for a few minutes, his hand stroking over her hair. When that didn’t work, he moved onto a different strategy, Katelyn.
“Katelyn’s been asking for you.” He began. “Once we explained what had really happened she calmed straight down, now she just wants to see you.” He paused to let his words take effect. “I know you’re not that deep in meditation Romy.” He informed her, “My beast’s telling me that you’re right there.”
“It would be prudent for you to remain silent so that I can ensure everyone’s safety from my mood swings.” She replied.
“Well I’m not in a prudent kind of mood.” He replied, pulling her closer to his chest. “Do you know what else the animal’s telling me? It’s telling me that you’re in pain, and it’s so bad that you want to cripple yourself to make it stop. I can make it stop, without the pain.”
“Aside from being able to teach me control of these powers, I see no way that you can aid me in this.” Romana informed him.
“Exactly, which is why I just sent for someone to teach you. Now stop this!”
“You cannot force me.”
“Oh yes I can.” He replied “I know exactly what to do to make everything you ju
st buried come back to the surface.”
“Don’t…” She insisted, and it was a broken whisper.
“I have to.” He replied “I can’t lose you when I just got you here.”
Then, gently, slowly, he pulled back the hair he’d been stroking and bit her neck.
She went limp instantly, but this time she didn’t fight because this time there was no pain. But as Marten pumped more of the venom into her, every thought, every emotion that she had just forced herself to erase flooded back like a dam had broken. But she was forced to relive each one of them.
Fear, pain, anger, happiness, joy. Her hands began to heat, and she couldn’t shove Marten away. Light shone into her field of vision, and to her surprise Marten…purred?”
“It’s alright, you won’t hurt me,” He told her, his upper and lower fangs never leaving her neck. “This is supposed to happen.”
“Marten! Get the hell out of there!” Endis yelled. “She’ll kill you without realising what she’s doing!”
“No she won’t!” Marten yelled back, even as his fangs disengaged and he hugged her closer. “Romana, you’re not burning me, see?” He moved her hands to where she could see them and put his own hand over it. “See, we’re fine.”
Before she could process what she was seeing, the glow began to spread over Marten as well, but this wasn’t bad, she realised, this was shielding him. Even paralysed the magic knew how to protect.
But she couldn’t have stopped the ball of light erupting around them if she’d tried. Although this time she could feel Marten next to her, a life line preventing her from getting lost to the power she’d been entranced by before.
As the paralysis stopped, and the pool of emotions feeding the magic drained, the glow faded, leaving her unconscious once more.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
AWAY FROM THE RISING SUN
Sorceress. The word hissed through her mind. Enchantress. The malevolent voice whispered. Answer me wytchling.
What? Romana replied, knowing this was a dream. How often did voices talk to you from inside your mind in the real world? Still, it was an annoying dream. She wanted to sleep. I’m tired, let me sleep.
A light shone down on her, the only light in this place. She seemed to be in a black void of nothing. She couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, could only think and float in space.
Laughter in her mind, the tone off for some reason, an echo where there was no sound. Suddenly she was standing, and in front of her was a hooded man, his entire body clinging to the shadow like nothing she’d ever seen. He smelled of snakes, like a pit of vipers, but tinged with death, she realised as the scent permeated the room.
Who are you? She asked.
I am many things. The man replied, and somehow she knew that the man in front of her was the one speaking. Some bad. Some good. But a primal awareness in the back of her mind recognised that in this man’s case bad may overshadow most of the goodness. But you, little sorceress, may call me Kobos. His mental voice made all of the ‘s’ sounds into small hisses.
I’m not a sorceress.
Of course you are, Kobos replied, anyone who is half as old as I would be able to sense the power radiating from you. And when it overloads, even mortals can see the devastation you are capable of.
I don’t want to be a sorceress. She replied. I already have enough on my plate.
Yes, being a noble of significant importance will have its downside, but your place is not with those cowards, it is with me.
Why? She asked, although she felt like she was tempting fate to continue to ask that question.
Because I can teach you to use your power, the man paused as if in thought before dropping another bombshell on her. Or you could continue the way you have been and destroy more buildings. You can kill more people until eventually you kill yourself from grief.
Did I kill someone?
I do not know, little one.
I’m not a child. She objected.
You are only two decades into your existence, whereas I have walked from the beginning of time.
You’re an Ancient. She guessed
No. Was the blunt reply.
What other being can live that long?
The Ancients have succumbed to mortal pleasures more than once, you know. I am the result of a mating between an ancient and a goblin-human halfling. This made me a powerful warlock. I command armies of all races with four others; we were hoping you would join us.
I’m not sure…
Think about it. We would reward you greatly; you would be a queen in your own right with powers like yours.
But what are you—
Shh now. Go back to sleep. We will talk later. Sweet dreams little sorceress.
Suddenly sleeping seemed like a brilliant idea.
She woke up in her own room back at her mansion. A sleeping Marten was still beside her and she disentangled herself from him to walk into the bathroom. It was late afternoon, if she could take a guess and she was starving. Glancing in the mirror she found that she looked like hell. Her face was gaunt, and loosing its colour, and the bite, this time a clean four dots on her neck, stung slightly. Her hair was greasy and she finger combed it as she ran a bath for herself. Relaxing in warm water seemed perfect right about now. Especially after that weird dream, she pulled her robe around her a little tighter and grimaced at the thought.
But elves didn’t dream. So it must have been real.
That thought made her pause as she added soap to the running water. Little sorceress, Kobos had called her. She needed answers, and maybe the place to get that was the sorceress’ colony. If this Kobos was as powerful as he’d said, then surely the folks at the colony would know about him.
She froze at the feeling of hands on her shoulders.
“I heard you were back.” Keenan said. “How are you?”
“In need of help.” She replied. “I’m guessing this place is heavily guarded.”
“Very. It took me an hour to get in.”
“I need you to help me get out.”
“Why?”
“Keenan, I’m a sorceress.” She whispered. “I blew up a good part of the elven forests, at least part of the palace in Morendor, and killed someone sent to kill me all with some freakish light show I can’t control. To top it all of, I’m dreaming of some man who wants to offer me the world if I’ll join his army. I’m scared of myself, and Marten isn’t going to let me go, especially not where I need to go.”
“You want to go to the colony.”
“Yes, alone.”
“What about Katelyn?”
“I’ll say goodbye to her first. Can you come for me tomorrow? If you can get Jayde to me, and a pack, and some swords, I’ll be grateful.”
“You sure you want to do this?”
“I don’t have a choice.” She replied.
“I’ll have it ready for you.” Keenan assured her. “So he marked you again then. Want me to kill him?”
“No. It’ll get blood on the carpet, and I’ll get emotional and blow the entire place to pieces.”
“That bad, huh?” He commented.
“Worse.” She replied. “I’m just trying not to feel at the moment.”
“When will you be coming back?”
“I don’t know if I will. But if you could scatter my trail as well it would be appreciated.”
“You know I’ll need paying for this.”
She nodded and led him through to her dressing room. Pulling open the cupboards containing the jewellery she stepped back. “Take whatever you want.”
Keenan scanned the room with his expert’s eye and selected several good sized jewels and some of the ruby pieces.
“This should cover my services.” He informed her, taking a small drawstring bag from his pocket, putting the jewellery in it and tying it securely to his belt. “At three o’clock tomorrow morning, open the kitchen window, that’ll be the sign that you’re ready.”
“And then what?”
“Seve
ral of my men will get caught trying to get into your mansion, distracting the guards enough that you will be able to slip out. About a league to the west there will be five women all close to your height on horseback, all wearing the same cloak. They’ll give you a cloak, and all of you will travel in several directions. You’ll need to turn the cloak inside out later, which will change the colour. You’ll be travelling cross country, and I’ll have food and water packed to Jayde’s saddle, along with a map and provisions.”
“A league west… that’s right in the middle of the city!”
“Which will make it all the better for people to witness your escape from several different places. You’ll have to reappear from elvenspeed in the marketplace, the horses will be waiting and you’ll all ride to the edge of town together before splitting before the south gate.”
“Thank-you.”
“I’d better go before his highness wake’s up and decides I’m touching his woman.”
“Goodbye.”
He didn’t return her goodbye, but simply nodded before leaving through the window.
She sighed and returned to her bath; slipping into the hot water she pondered her journey tomorrow.
It would be hard, but it would also be worth it. She couldn’t live an existence that could last for centuries and be terrified of feeling anything while she did it.
“Romy?” Katelyn’s voice drifted from her room some half hour later, the barest whisper of a word.
“In here Katelyn.” Romana called, pulling herself from the bath and wrapping herself in a large towel. “What’s wrong sweetie?”
Katelyn walked in, her hair dishevelled and her face muddy, with a long cut on her knee.
“I hurt myself riding Raeburn.” She informed Romana.
“Let me see.” Romana replied, pulling the girl close and looking at the cut. It wasn’t deep or particularly large, but she still made a big show of wiping up the cut and kissing it better. “There, all done. You were so brave.”
“Romana?”
“Yes sweet?”
“Don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She lied, stunned that Katelyn had seen through her so quickly.
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