Spellkeeper
Page 24
“You're right, Hael. You did break him.” Kendrian held his hand toward Ara. “We're too small to carry him. Ara, take him to my house. We'll meet you there. I see the smoke from the chimney so someone is already there. Hurry before his clothing freezes to him.”
Hael helped Kendrian coax the whimpering empath onto the silver dragon's back. As soon as he was secure, the dragon snorted, then ran toward the village. Serida ran close behind.
“Why would he do that?” Hael asked.
Kendrian shook his head. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a jog. “Because I think he knows his magic is killing him.”
“What do you mean?”
“It's the secret my mother won't tell him, the reason she won't seek an older empath to train him. There are no older empaths, at least none old enough and wise enough to give him direction. Little by little, they draw in the pain of the people around them until their hearts can't take any more. They die young and in agony or they seek a life of utter solitude.” Kendrian paused to avoid a large rock in the path. “He is unique. He's a physically-changed dragonbound, which may afford him a slower rate of aging, but the dragonbind has amplified his ability to the point it's killing him faster. Much faster. He seems to have found a way to relieve some of it, but as we just saw, that relief is dangerous. His desperation is going to kill him, and likely soon.”
“Can we help him?” Hael gasped through her words. She was not as fast as the elf and her cold legs were already tired.
“No. I don't know of anyone who can.”
They reached a large dwelling at the edge of the village. Ara sat on the stoop, clucking at a nearly identical silver dragon who blocked the door.
Kendrian helped Tessen slide off Ara's back, then pushed his palm against the second dragon's snout. “Move, Lenna. Now.”
“She's still mad at you, Kendy.” The voice came from behind the dragon, within the glowing warmth of the house.
“This isn't about me. Let us in. Now.”
“Us?”
The dragon Lenna backed into the house, revealing Kemi. Her hair was disheveled and she wore the kind of long shift that elves and humans used as sleep clothes. Hael couldn't tell if she had just woken or if she had been interrupted while settling down to sleep.
“Tessen?” Kemi stepped close to touch the empath's wet sleeve. “What happened?”
“That doesn't matter right now. Which hearth is lit?” Kendrian urged Tessen forward. His eyes were half closed and his legs quaked so violently that he could barely keep from pitching forward.
“Mine.”
“Where's Mom?”
“Working on something in the keep. She won't bother us.” Kemi put an arm around Tessen and dragged him forward. His soaked clothing dripped upon the woven mat that covered the floor. Serida's forked tongue flicked at the water droplets. She tilted her head and sang a low trill.
Hael followed them toward the back of the house. Shivering, she said, “He thinks water helps him when he takes in too many feelings. He tried to get rid of some so he went in the pool.”
Kemi and Kendrian led Tessen to a bed in front of a roaring hearth. Serida growled as she tugged at the fabric at the bottom edge of his pants.
“Tessen, you fool, we need to take your wet clothes off,” Kendrian said as he eased Tessen's jacket sleeve off his shoulder. “Hael, will you find something he can wrap up in? He won't fit in anything we have. Look for a towel or a blanket.” He tossed the jacket onto a chair by the fire. “Quickly, please.”
Hael's shoulders sank as she left the bedroom. This was her fault. She shouldn't have asked Tessen to take in Uldru emotions. She should have been wary herself, not asked him to take on the burden of her people. Now he was wet and frozen and hurting and it was her fault.
Tears fell from her eyes as she searched the main room of the house. There, a large piece of soft, pale fabric. That looked big enough to cover him.
She returned to the bedroom and handed the fabric to Tessen, who now shivered in front of the fire in nothing but his soaked undergarments. She brushed away the tears and said, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked for your help.”
“You need to learn how to say no,” Kemi said. She put a hand on her hip and tilted her head at Tessen. “All of it off. I'm putting you on my bed and you'll just stay cold if you keep the wet things on.”
“You just want to see him–” Kendrian started.
“Shut up, Kendy. Go be useful and put a kettle on for tea.” Kemi picked at a corner of the fabric while Tessen turned around and slid his undergarments down his shaking legs. “This is the table linen. I . . . I suppose it works. Here, I'll tie it around you like a sand priest's vestment.”
Hael wiped another round of tears from her cheeks. “I'm sorry, Tessen. I won't ask you to do anything like that again.”
He gave her a faint smile as he settled on the edge of the bed closest to the hearth. “But Lyssandra will. You're right, Kemi. I need to start saying no, even when it disappoints everyone.”
Kemi tucked a blanket around his legs, then sat on the bed next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “That's their problem, not yours. Whatever you tried to do, never do it again. Please.”
Tessen's face pinched and he looked away. “I didn't realize what I was doing until I was already in the water.” His dragonlike eyes sought Hael's. “This isn't your fault, Hael. I'm okay now. I'm not shaking anymore, see? I just need some hot tea, and then I can go home. You ought to go check on Itrek. He's now in a world he can't yet understand. I can feel him from here. I feel him all the time now.”
“Itrek? What?” Kemi asked, confused.
“I'll tell you in a minute,” Tessen said. He closed his eyes and smiled as the pallor lifted from his skin. “Go, Hael. I'll be all right and so will you. Mistakes are part of learning. You made a mistake with me, but I don't think you made one with Itrek. I know what you're trying to do and I think you'll accomplish it if you're patient and remain true to yourself. Go help Itrek so he can help you.”
Hael offered Ara a pat on the nose and a nuzzle as they passed each other in the main room. The cold outside welcomed a new round of tears. Mistakes were allowed in The Above, but she was determined not to make any more, especially when it came to the kind empath with the fragile soul.
15
Shan
“There is a void in my soul. You've seen me pace in circles, searching for something that doesn't exist. It's a compulsion. My mind says, 'Look for it,' but it refuses to tell me what it is. I know what it is. What he is. And I'll spend the rest of my life looking and never finding him because he's gone.”
Marita eased herself onto the floor and leaned against Shan's back. “Have you told your brother yet?”
Shan stared into the crackling fire. The rough rug beneath him scratched his cheek and arm, but he couldn't summon the energy to roll from his side to his back. “No. I haven't told him about Liantor, either. I don't think he knows. The Guardian has isolated their sanctuary to such an extent that I think his only contact with the rest of the world is me.”
“You think Lyssandra doesn't know her eldest son is dead?” Marita asked. She held her palm toward the fire. The flames sparked green, then cooled to a deep violet as Shan directed his own magic into them.
“I don't know what they know. Something is off with him, but I can't figure out what because all I have are the words he writes. And those have become rare. He hasn't written in the journal for weeks.” Shan held up his hand and the fire sputtered violet smoke. “I don't remember lying down here.”
“You've been back for a couple hours. What's the last thing you do remember?”
Shan searched his mind and found only black. “I . . . I don't know. Time is as much a void as my soul. I remember things that I think happened recently, but I can't piece together the order in which they happened. When did you bring me one of the elevator operator's books to read? I remember you handing it to me, but I don't think I've read it yet.”
“That was a month ago. You read it twice and then asked me to exchange it for another because you liked his writing style.” Marita's fingers paused behind Shan's ear, then continued through the length of his hair.
“I did? I don't remember what it was about,” Shan said. The fire pulsed violet again, then twirled with tiny silver wisps.
“It was a raunchy gay romp through the Diamond Realm countryside. Very risqué. You read some of it aloud to me.” She untangled her fingers from Shan's hair and pressed them against her temples. “And then you told me about your crush on the gray-eyed guard. His name is Raldaerian Brightstar, by the way, and he's something like your fourth cousin. On the Goldtree side, oddly enough, not the Nightshadow or Lightborn.”
Shan cringed and buried his face in his elbow. The tips of his ears grew hot as a blush spread through them. “Sorry.”
She bent forward and kissed the side of his head. “Don't be. A crush is just your appreciation for someone appealing. I know you'll always be loyal to me. And no matter what men and women I find visually or intellectually appealing, I assure you I will aways be loyal to you.”
His right hip screamed as he rolled onto his back to look up at her. He reflexively pulled his knee toward his chest, but that only made the pain worse. “Shit. Now I know what part of me was mutilated this time.”
Her fingers fluttered across his brow. “Where? I don't want to touch it by accident.”
“Here.” Shan pointed at his hip and gasped as fire spread through his leg. “Shitting gods, this burns. What the hell did he do to me?”
“Let me see.”
Marita gently rolled Shan onto his side. With careful movements she lifted his tunic and eased his pants down his legs.
Watch the fire, watch the flames. Breathe and don't scream, Shan repeated to himself as the pain crashed into him like waves in a storm.
“You have a dressing on here. It's stuck. I'll be right back. I'm going to get my med kit and some water to loosen up the dried blood.” Marita stood and left Shan to stare into the flames.
Alone. He was alone now, if only for a moment, and hopelessness crept into his mind and wrapped his chest in a barbed snare. Maybe it was better, at least for Marita, if Shan became truly alone. He would have nothing and no one, but she would be free of him.
“Marita?” he called, his voice pinched.
“Yes?” Her bare feet padded against the floor as she returned to him.
Without looking, he reached back and pressed a hand against the small swell of her belly. “I need you to promise me something.”
“It depends on what it is. You've asked things of me before that I couldn't allow, especially right after Nylian brings you back like this.”
He already knew she wouldn't agree, but he still had to ask. “This is a plea for the future, not for now. After the baby is born, and after it's big enough and strong enough, I want you to take our child from here. I want you to raise him away from Anthora, away from me. Raise him as a forest elf and teach him how to survive. I'd ask you to do it now, but it's winter and it will be too late for you to travel once it warms.”
Marita sighed as she wet the gauze covering his hip. “I'm not going to do that, Shan. We stay with you, and if you can't leave, neither can we. And I think the baby is a she, not a he. Just a dream suspicion, not a guarantee. Divination doesn't work well enough on this matter to bother with it.” She continued to dribble water over the dressing as she picked at it. “I can feel her right now, fluttering around like a little butterfly. I think you'll be able to feel her on the outside soon. I know this is the pain speaking for you, and I've come to expect it, but I don't want you to ask this of me again. The answer will always be no.”
“I just want you both to be safe.” Shan yelped as the dressing pulled free.
“There isn't a single place in this world that is safe, so we might as well stay here.” She held in a gasp as she looked down at Shan's hip. “Oh, my love . . . no wonder you're in agony.”
Shan breathed heavily as the pain became an inferno. “What did he do? I can't move to look.”
“Yes, don't move.” Glass clinked as she dug in her med kit. “Scarification, extensive. He filled in that entire bare area on your hip and everything between the spells on your thigh. You are missing large strips of flesh, and what remains is freshly tattooed.”
“What is it? Anything recognizable?”
Marita swallowed, then pressed something cool and soothing over Shan's wound. “It's a dragon.”
“Is it Lumin?”
“I think so. Black and blue runes where he had patterning. Bulbous tail tip.” She set something green and glowing on her palm and blew over it and onto his wounds. The inferno cooled to a simmer. “The margins are precise and it doesn't look like it will become infected. I'll put healing balm on you and redress it now. Do you think you can move to the bed once I'm done? It will be more comfortable for you.”
“I don't mind the floor,” Shan said. The pain pulsed as she covered his wounds.
“But I do. I want to hold you and it's getting harder for me to get up and down from the floor.” She tugged at his pants, removing them completely from his shaking legs.
“Bed it is. What are you doing?”
“No point in you wearing these when it's just going to hurt you to pull them down to use the toilet.”
“Makes more sense than undressing me to seduce me. I'm not in the mood for that at the moment.” Shan held his right leg straight as he slowly struggled upright.
“You really aren't feeling like yourself right now, are you?” Marita asked. She linked her arm through his and led him toward the bedroom.
Shan inhaled the woodsy scent of Marita's shampoo as he leaned against her. “I can't remember where I've been and I just want to sleep. Can you work a spell on me to make me sleep?”
“Of course I can.” Marita threw the blankets off the bed, then helped Shan onto his side. Once he was settled, she laid down behind him and wrapped him in a green glow. “I will promise you some things. I promise I'll never choose to leave you. I promise I'll always try to ease your pain. I promise I'll guide you toward the light when the shadows threaten to overtake you.”
Tears fell freely from Shan's increasingly heavy eyes. “I love you so much. You deserve better than me.”
She nuzzled the nape of his neck as the glow darkened to evergreen. “But I've chosen you. No regrets, no conditions, just you. Go to sleep, my Shan. Sleep and heal. I love you.”
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. I'm not letting you take him again. Not now. I've had to keep him in a spell sleep for two days now because of what you did to him.”
“I have not come here to take him. I have come to teach him.” Nylian's measured, soft-spoken voice woke Shan fully from what remained of his sleep.
There was a slight pause before Shan heard Marita loose an exaggerated sigh. “Teach him what? How to murder his own family members? He's plenty good at that already.” Another pause, and fingernails tapping on wood. “Yeah, I know what he did to the Nightshadows. I know he teleported us to the Faelands. I know he's your great-grandson even though you've got everyone else here convinced that he's only your great-great nephew by way of your sister. He told me because he trusts me. Just leave us alone. Please. You've done enough damage to my little family. And I'm not talking about the abusive wretches you elevated to power in the Jade Realm. I told you what my brother did to me and you still left him as Duke. Anyone who does that to his own sister should be executed, not promoted.”
“I do not wish harm upon you.” Nylian's voice remained calm, as if he were ordering breakfast rather then being verbally assaulted by Marita.
“Bullshit. You executed your own child and g
randchildren in front of us, in front of your own young children. And barely a tear fell from your eye until Callamia grabbed Lumin. And now Lumin is dead. Because of you. You are a sarding monster, Nylian. Sard off and leave us alone.”
Her defiant fury was magnificent. Shan smiled to himself as he carefully eased himself off the bed. The healing wounds on his hip stung and tugged horribly, but it was almost tolerable. He slipped out of his tunic and into a long nightshirt that fell below his knees, then tiptoed toward the door.
Marita's palm slammed against the wall. “And what have you done with the other Spellkeeper and her family? You told us we could meet them, and it's been months. What have you done to them?”
Nylian's slippered feet scuffed the floor just beyond the closed bedroom door. “Jei Snowberry and her family are safely residing in their own suite. She is just as insubordinate as your Shannon, so I am allowing her time to adjust before she meets you.”
Marita hit the wall again. “Bullshit. You've got her shackled just like him, don't you? You've got her locked away, forced to step only within the bounds of your whims. We are not your toys, Nylian.”
“Nor are you my prisoners,” Nylian replied. His voice grew louder as he returned to the door. “You and Korion Snowberry are free to move about Anthora, or leave it entirely if you desire. The Spellkeepers, however, must remain here for their own safety, and that of the entire kingdom.”
Shan threw open the door to Nylian's unnatural calm and Marita's red-faced rage. She relaxed as she saw him and the boiling heat in her eyes cooled to worry.
“Great. You woke him up,” Marita growled. She reached forward and took Shan's hand. Her voice transitioned to gentle as she squeezed his fingers. “Is it any better?”
“I can walk now, so that's an improvement,” Shan replied. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Nylian, who carried a small copper dragon on his arm. The dragon shook out his wings, then arced his neck to preen his shimmering belly. “Can't you leave us alone for . . . I don't know, forever? You ripped me apart and didn't bother to put me back together this time. And did you have to bring your damned tiny dragon? It's an affront when you know perfectly well that you're the reason I no longer have my Lumin.”