The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy,Donald

  It was obvious that her shadow was certainly following Tareina, but he wasn't sure why. Word had reached him that the illness spreading through the castle had killed a few who worked in the gardens. Moreover, the flowers had been culled from the castle halls and were to blame. No mention of poison had leaked to the population or those working in the castle, but Caldrefan's spies brought word that the king and his closest aides had figured out that the flowers had become poisonous to the touch.

  Since the master was gone, Karlaan could intercept any reports from the shadows Caldrefan employed. They seemed to believe that he was the one to report to in the city while Caldrefan traveled. Karlaan did what he could to send messengers to the master's final destination he had been given as well making him the center of knowledge coming from the shadows. He didn't doubt that some of the power had to have come from Caldrefan.

  After several minutes, Porin left the girl and moved to another man who had been praying for a long time, but who managed to look around as if hoping someone would come ask him why. There were those who gave obvious signs and those who were simply faking their prayers just waiting to call on the brothers for the help they sought. Not everyone believed a god would answer their prayers and they looked to the men who served the god instead.

  Tareina never even looked towards him when she rose to leave. No looks over the shoulder followed either, but the man watching her rose to follow her again. Karlaan could feel a bit of disappointment even though the shadow did his best to show nothing. It might have been his own feelings overwriting what he had seen, but it mattered little to him.

  Eventually Porin returned and placed a folded piece of paper in his hand without being obvious about it.

  "The pretty young lady asked me to give this to you after she had left."

  His look questioned Karlaan, but silence remained between them.

  "Thank you, Porin, I think that I will read it somewhere quiet," he answered after a time and walked towards the hall leading to the side rooms where the brothers had their rooms for sleeping.

  Using the room Caldrefan used for solitude and receiving his shadows reports, Karlaan unfolded the paper to read the message. It wasn't completely surprising in its content, but perhaps it should have been.

  Tareina wrote that Needaly had died and others had as well. It also said that she had been interviewed and been asked if the temple had been involved. While she didn't directly accuse him, the note asked if they could meet somewhere that wouldn't bring the brothers into this matter.

  She apparently didn't believe that they had been involved. This was between him and her. Karlaan assumed that enough was known that Tareina worried that his fertilizer might be the cause, but she must not believe that he had given Needaly a poison that would kill anyone with enough contact to the plants. He had shown them both kindnesses; so the girl doubted that he had done it on purpose and was protecting him from the men following her. At least, Tareina would protect him as long as she believed that it was an accident anyway.

  Karlaan wondered if he should do something to silence the girl for good. The assassins would probably kill for him, but he hated to do such a thing. For one, she was a good sex partner. Tareina was in love with him, at least he was pretty sure of that. It was likely, since she had done so much to avoid bringing attention to him directly.

  If he could manipulate her enough to keep that bond, there was also the possibility that he might be able to use her in the future as he had Needaly. Karlaan hadn't decided his next move just yet. Doing too much too fast would certainly bring more men snooping around and Caldrefan wouldn't like that. That there were men following Tareina already meant that someone suspected the Brothers of the Blood.

  Letting out a sigh, Karlaan figured that he would have to see Tareina soon, but what should he do with her? The young man noted the peace and quiet of Caldrefan's sanctuary. Left with just his thought, Karlaan worked to figure out his next plan.

  At first Annalicia had missed Xerese. There wasn't that much to do to get ready to sail for the lady of Malaiy. The captain and sailors took on supplies paid for by the crown of Southwall. While her ship was the transport and Anna was taking the battle mage as a favor, King Alain had been more than generous in covering any expenses needed. A small chest of coins would fund any other supplies while they were gone as long as the Sea Dragon could find a place to trade.

  While she missed her cousin, it was a time to get to know not only Darius but her cousins Elias and Darterian. The latter was coming along on the journey to use a special compass designed by her grandfather to track the immortal man that was their quest. It would search for him based off of energy or genetic material left behind thanks to Southwall's museum of the Grimnal's ancient possessions.

  The king and much of North continent revered Gerid Aramathea, though not as a god. Darius received the same kind of respect and had been elevated to mythic proportions as well, but he was still here to set any errant beliefs straight. The legend of the giant who had liberated the ancient kingdoms from the high king who had brought both the gargoyles and dragons to this world to fight for him, seemed too big to be true to Annalicia; but no matter the truth of his deeds, they would try to find him now.

  With little to do, Annalicia had often gone down to the ship or shopped in the upper city to pass the time. They couldn't assume to chart a course or set up any plans for the ship aside from taking on supplies since they didn't know where this compass would lead them.

  A week after Xerese had left, the Sea Dragon set out following a red dot on a green crystal set in the apparatus that could follow an ancient trail. It had been almost two centuries since the immortal had left the mainland aboard a ship meant to discover what had happened to their allies. Some of those allies had been island nations in the middle of the area most affected by the Cataclysm.

  Darterian and Sebastian took turns using their magic to make the compass work and they continued to head southeast. Several days after leaving Hala a storm drove them to shelter in the harbor of an unchartered island. The morning after, she led one of the parties which had gone ashore. Sebastian chased after something the compass said was there. His team, some of whom were the wizards which had been with him for the tournament, was joined by others that seemed at odds with the young mage.

  An older woman named Maura, a research wizard, appeared to want to take control; but the younger man surprised them all by shutting her down. He had been put in charge by the king and no one less, but the wizard had been sent by the guilds and thought her power of magic gave her the right to lead. It had amused Annalicia when his strength of will made Maura, the older wizard, back down; but she wasn't completely content to sick back as time would tell.

  She joined Sebastian and climbed the cliff to search the jungle above the beach. It was a short time later that his three groups returned from the north. Warnings of giant crabs that could damage the ship sent the Sea Dragon south once more, but Sebastian had returned with a prize. A broken sword believed to have been left behind by one of his grandsons after dying on the island had drawn them there.

  A new marking on the compass soon drew them to another island. This one was covered in jungle. At the south end, however, they discovered an abandoned fort grown over with vegetation. While Sebastian led a team into the jungle to discover what had been left behind, since the compass suggested that there were more points to the south; Annalicia waited on the beach as Maura led another team into the ruins of the fort.

  She was a research wizard after all and the chance to discover something like this on another uncharted island was too much of a draw to ignore.

  "These Southwall wizards and their mission are going to wind up getting us all killed," Reynolvan complained to Ivanor loudly enough to be heard. She had a feeling that was the point of speaking so loudly near her. "I don't know why we don't return to the Sea Dragon and leave them all behind."

  Looking at the wizard with annoyance, Annalicia told the older man, "Because we
don't leave friends and allies behind just because we feel inconvenienced, Reynolvan. That is why."

  "My apologies, my lady, I didn't mean to complain," he replied looking remarkably unapologetic despite his words.

  "No, you certainly did mean to complain and then tried to appeal to me by using my title as if that would make up for the insolence."

  "My lady, I..."

  He was cut off by her hand held towards him. "You and the other wizards need to figure out where we stand. If I am the lady you serve, then you should act like it. We are no longer wizards studying in the Malaiy wizards' guild.

  "You exist upon my ship because I allow it. Stop questioning why we aide our allies. That is a simply ridiculous question. The king of Southwall, our ally, and Darius, the High Wizard of Eirdhen, asked us to help Sebastian and his people find the Grimnal. I accepted the task, so accept it and be quiet."

  Reynolvan held his tongue for only a moment as his face reddened both from embarrassment and anger. While he tried to keep his words safe, Annalicia thought he was a failure as the man said, "It is too dangerous, my lady. The elders sent us with you to compete, but I was also told to guard you. You are a member of the royal family and in line to rule should the unforeseeable happen, but it could happen.

  "If you were to die on this mission that shouldn't even be yours to take..."

  Again she halted his argument with her hand and said, "Our ship could be engulfed by a storm between Southwall and Malaiy. Fires and disease could kill us all. Life has danger both easily seen and not. Whether something happens to us or not we will see it through. Now stop complaining."

  Thunder suddenly echoed through the air seeming to come from the far side of the island. Her eyes looked up at a nearly cloudless sky. Air was her element and nothing made such a sound appear possible, yet a second and third crash of thunder rolled across the land.

  Ivanor knelt murmuring a spell. Waiting for the man, Anna and the others looked towards the stone ruins gripped by moss and trees.

  "There is something wrong," Darterian spoke quietly near his cousin. She looked to his elven eyes and noted the worry he expressed.

  "Can you be more specific, cousin?"

  A twist of his lips suggesting an uncomfortable smile preceded his answer of, "I cannot. Like Reynolvan suggested, this island has felt wrong, dangerous even since we found it. Even if the Grimnal left something behind here, I can't imagine that anything important remains. The compass points to the south as well as to this island, so I think he stopped here and left again.

  "Maybe he left for a reason."

  Sighing at his voiced impression of the island, which most had echoed, even if not to her; Annalicia was about to comment when she felt a surge of magic. Noise from the ruins of the nearby abandoned fort carried to them as well.

  "Reynolvan, ready your magic," she ordered knowing the other wizards would be following the order as well. Quickly the young lady followed up her warnings to the wizards by having the marines with them prepare a defense near the longboats on the beach.

  When the team came rushing down the moss covered path, her eyes opened wide as Annalicia spotted what looked like a horde of bushes creeping along behind the team of wizards. Maura with her personal fire wizard, Idenlare, urging her forward, led the other four in a near full run.

  Liam, one of Sebastian's wizards, held the back line with the mage Frell and a fire wizard named Serrena. The final man was Sergeant Kulvayr, another member added to Sebastian's mission, though he had been foisted upon the mage by the king.

  These four appeared more in control of their situation than the research wizard who was supposed to be in charge and Annalicia questioned Liam quickly, "What happened up there? We heard thunder and then I felt the use of magic in the fort."

  Nodding his head, the much taller, blonde haired man answered, "I think Sebastian may have run into trouble with his team. The thunder had to be his use of lightning, though it must have been a powerful bolt from the sound of it.

  "After that, the fort seemed to come alive. It was likely an old orc fort, but the inhabitants are all long dead. In their place are these plants that can move. The lightning woke them and they started to try cutting us off before attacking us.

  "I think that they may be intelligent as well. They seemed to know how to move to cut us off, but our magic drove them back enough to make our escape."

  Looking at the man, she noted a tear in his sleeve by his shoulder. Frell and the Sergeant looked to have been scratched by branches along their sleeves as well. Even a couple tears on some of their pants meant these plants hadn't let them escape unscathed.

  "We had better have a look at those scratches to make sure that you all aren't hurt more than you realize," she stated pointing at his shoulder.

  Noticing the tear, Liam looked surprised before remembering, "It got a little tight in the fight. Fire did nothing to them, even though they look like moss and leaves. Ice made them shrink away, but it was both too warm and there is too little moisture up there to create a lot of it."

  Allowing Anna to guide him and the others towards their temporary base camp, which mostly consisted of some large rocks pulled close enough together to sit; Liam sat while she pulled at the cloth looking to see the depth of the cut. There was a little blood, but it seemed like little more than a scratch to her eyes.

  "Your healers might be able to make it go away with a little magic, but we can bandage it and clean the skin in the mean time," she stated with a smile.

  The man returned her gesture with one of his own. He was actually fairly attractive, Anna thought. He was closer to her age than the wizards who had come with from Malaiy. Sebastian's entire team was young, except for those added later. It was nice to be able to speak with younger wizards and some were also women, but Annalicia still felt separated from them. Part of that was from the continual overbearing attention from Reynolvan and the others.

  "I wonder what Collin and Bas will say when they here that a lady tended my wounds?" Liam joked.

  Annalicia managed a smile, but felt the disapproval of the Malaiyan wizards watching as she checked on the returning team. Even Liam's words helped remind her of their differences. It was hard to think who she would find that would be enough like her to understand the wizard who was also royalty. Both parts of her identity made it difficult to relate to other people or to be understood by others as well.

  "I am just another wizard, Liam. They might be more surprised that an air wizard with no healing ability actually tried."

  He laughed and the girl sensed that it was genuine. It was nice to laugh and just be someone that fit in, even if it was for a short time.

  After gathering bandages and soaking some cloths in hot water brought from the ship and heated by magic to speed the process, the young woman checked Liam's scratches again and quickly frowned.

  "Your shirt..." she said pointing to the water wizard's blue tunic. The tear remained, but there was green moss mixed through the threads now as well. Anna didn't recall seeing more than a few green marks when she had looked at his scratches earlier, but it had been less than twenty minutes to prepare the cleaning cloths.

  Liam glanced awkwardly at his shoulder and frowned. "Was it like that a minute ago?"

  A cry from a few yards away drew their attention as Frell lay on the ground shaking. Annalicia moved towards the woman asking the men nearby, "What happened to her?"

  Green moss marked several pieces of her brown falcon's uniform. Her short sleeves revealed scratches on the woman's arms also. Green skin around the cuts from the moss creatures' reaching to grab at her looked like an infection spreading from the cuts as if it had been left unattended for days.

  Fisen, one of her water wizards, looked at the lady in confusion, but answered, "She was sitting waiting for us to clean the cuts when her eyes glazed and she fell over. They didn't appear poisoned or deep, so I am not sure why she is having such a reaction."

  Kneeling to check Frell's pulse at her neck a
way from the wounds, Anna noted an elevated throbbing as well as her awkward breathing patterns. Looking at the woman's clothes, she noted more of the strange moss extending well beyond the cuts and tears. It seemed to be spreading before her eyes.

  Another cry of shock brought her attention to Sergeant Kulvayr. The man was as healthy as any of them one moment and now he too had collapsed. Annalicia ordered quickly, "Get any of their clothes off with the moss on them. Nara might be able to diagnose it when she returns with the others. Maybe Maura can take a look at it as well. She's a research wizard after all."

  The woman mentioned looked shocked by the idea, but Anna moved towards Liam. He had stood looking on his teammates in worry as they both collapsed so oddly. None had received mortal wounds, at least by first glance.

  Anna added a second warning, "Check the rest of the team for that moss. Even their boots might have tracked it with them."

  "What in the world is happening to them?" Liam questioned still looking relatively fine to her. His eyes seemed clear, but sweat was beading his brow. While it might just be from his body responding with worry, Kulvayr had been sweating more when they returned and had actually dried quickly after sitting. Maybe the man had recovered fast, but it could be another symptom of whatever was affecting him.

  Her eyes noted the cut on his shirt and thought that the moss had grown in the few minutes since she had last looked. Another source of green caught her eyes. "Your hands, did you touch the bush men as well?" she asked using one of the terms they had used for their attackers.

  Liam drew back in surprise at the thought before nodding. "When I went to freeze the stone beneath them it drove them back, but one of the creatures grabbed for me as the spell went off. It turned to ice and broke. I didn't notice any scratches..."

  His voice dwindled off as the wizard lifted his hands mimicking his initial movement of an ice spell, but noticed green on his hands and forearms. Some even looked a bit like moss growing out from the skin. "What in the world?"