by David Wind
His hands slipped around her, drew her to him, pressed her flesh to his. His mouth sought hers; one hand went to her head. The instant his fingers touched her head, her body arched as if shot with electricity.
Her mind filled with a vision of the Master, his handsome face and powerful body. He took her as his mate, consuming her with his needs, and then, very carefully, laid her on the ground and bent over her.
All consciousness fled as the Master began the process of making her into the most powerful dark Woman of Power in the world: into a slave who would die before allowing harm to come to him. Turning her into a sorceress who would not stop, ever, until she completed every mission charged to her.
<><><>
“You must be starving,” Enaid assumed, watching Areenna and Mikaal devour the food placed before them. Areenna looked up from her plate to smile at Enaid. “We ran out of food this morning, but could not stop to hunt or cook. Time is passing too quickly.”
“The training grounds overflow,” Mikaal said to his father. “But with farmers and merchants, not soldiers.”
“With Nevaens. Nothing more is needed. They will fight and die to keep Nevaeh out of The Masters’ hands. They learn quickly because they must.”
Mikaal nodded. “And the other domains?”
“All are alerted,” Roth said.
“What preparations are being made?”
Roth studied his son, recognizing how much the past months had changed Mikaal from the young and carefree prince to a seasoned warrior. “I’ve spent too many hours thinking on that very subject. With the amount of ghazi coming, I don’t know if we can prepare.” Roth nodded toward Areenna. “If they arrive as you say they will, we do not have enough time to train everyone and have not enough experienced fighters to protect three domains from simultaneous attacks. I believe, if we face them when they land, our people will be slaughtered.”
Mikaal straightened in his chair. His brow furrowed as he digested Roth’s words. “But to let them take those domains unopposed would be—”
“—smart,” Roth finished. “We know not, with any certainty, which domains remain loyal, as all profess loyalty.”
“Aldimor and Northcrom will remain loyal. Of Llawnroc and Fainhall, I know not,” Enaid said, glancing from face to face, but ending at Areenna. “What say you?”
Areenna pushed her plate away, and leaned her elbows on the table. Clasping her hands together, she rested her chin lightly on steepled fingertips. “I believe you are right.” Then she looked at Roth. “As I believe you are right, as well. But Llawnroc? I do not see Yermon aligning with The Masters. Not after what happened at council, last year.”
Azil is a weak queen, Enaid admitted silently to Areenna. She looked from Areenna to Mikaal. “Tell us about Lessig. What happened?”
You explain, came Mikaal’s thought.
Areenna gave them a detailed report and, when she finished, Enaid and Roth remained silent.
Finally, Roth said, “You are certain she has become Afzaleem?”
“As certain as I can be without having seen her since that night. When she disappeared, the Master took her. I sensed him when he did. It was as if he were taunting me. She is gone. Nothing of Eneri remains, of that I am certain. If she was not Afzaleem that night, she is now.”
“She is powerful?”
Areenna closed her eyes and thought back to that night, and then to the words of The Speaker of The Eight. Slowly, Areenna nodded. “Even more so than the Black…than she was.”
Roth and Enaid exchanged glances and then Roth said, “Speculation is pointless. Unless we have certainty to deal with, we cannot take chances.” He stood. “Come walk with me, Mikaal.”
Go, Areenna encouraged silently, when she sensed his hesitation.
Alone, Enaid turned to Areenna. You are saddened by the circumstances. It was not a question.
Areenna’s breath caught. She shook her head. “You speak of Lessig, of Eneri.”
“I do,” Enaid replied aloud, sensing Areenna’s need for privacy. “It is beyond your control. And it is not your fault.”
Areenna’s brow furrowed. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I know you. I know how you think, how you feel, how you… care.”
“Eneri was not there, only Lessig.”
“She wanted you to see her. She wanted you to know who she used to be.”
Areenna shook her head. No, it was the Master. He wanted me to know.
CHAPTER 14
STANDING OUT THE window in the bedchamber, Areenna gazed at the fountain in the center of the courtyard. So many things had happened in the days following their escape from the wormhole; she had not yet dealt with everything. Among them was a constant sensation of a presence hovering near the edge of her mind, which had started in the swamp, but whenever she tried to find it, it fled.
She maintained a hard lock on her emotions, and her mind, knowing that to do anything else could be disastrous. When Enaid asked her about Lessig, about Eneri, she had not let the control slip. Eneri and she were close the few years her cousin had lived with them—or at least she’d believed they had been close
That is the past! Areenna told herself.
She continued to stare at the fountain, to draw its soothing sight, but could not. She was more than aware of how many people pinned their hopes and faith on her, expecting her to accomplish the impossible.
Red-hot anger tore through her, her blood pounded in her veins and arteries: her breathing quickened into a shallow panting. Her abilities flared so fiercely she thought her blood would boil. She screamed, letting her voice carry every bit of her frustration, pouring it outward toward the stars.
Suddenly, she was shaking so hard she couldn’t stand upright. Crashing to the floor, she rolled, screaming, as her anger grew hotter, faster, flowing from every pore until it exploded, as a tree explodes from a lightning hit, casting shards of anger as if they were burning branches.
The chamber’s single window blew outward; the air in the bedchamber blistered the walls. The door of solid acont wood, buckled under the blasting heat, twisting on its hinges, the surface blackening as the unseen flames scorched it.
Outside, the fountain rumbled and water shot skyward in a stream so powerful it reached past the tallest parapet.
“Areenna!” She heard her name through the fog of anger, felt her name, but refused to respond, her rage building beyond any control.
<><><>
The blast hit as Enaid entered her bedchamber. The psychic spike was a nail driven into her head. Areenna! She didn’t know what was happening; only that it involved Areenna.
She fought the undirected anger trying to push her down, turned, and raced down the hallway to Areenna’s chamber. Before she reached the chamber, the door blew open. The thick wood buckled under a blast of heat, ended hanging in the archway by a single hinge. A wave of heat slammed against her. She pushed into it, fighting to get through the doorway, where she saw Areenna on the floor, her body shaking madly, twisting and turning.
She went into the room, sweat suddenly coating her skin.
Areenna… “Areenna!” Areenna’s eyes were open and flared red as Areenna released another blast of uncontrolled rage. Lifted into the air and then thrown back, Enaid slammed into the hallway wall. As she fell, darkness consumed her.
<><><>
Just entering the courtyard, Mikaal and Roth froze in their tracks when the window above them shattered. A moment later, the fountain’s water shot skyward. A strange screeching and unintelligible voice cried into the night.
Roth looked around, “What in th—”
Before Roth could finish, Mikaal staggered under its force. Realizing instantly who was responsible, he turned and ran up the stairway to Areenna’s room. I’m coming, he sent to her. There was no response. Her mind was unreachable, locked behind a solid wall of anger.
Racing through the hallway to her chamber, he tried again to break through her block, but stopped an instant
later when, stunned, he realized something alien held Areenna prisoner within the anger. A dozen feet later, he spotted his mother lying on the floor, unconscious.
“Enaid!” Roth shouted from behind him.
“Take care of her,” Mikaal instructed and, turning into the doorway, he entered and then froze at the sight of Areenna twisting on the floor.
Areenna! There was no response, only the dark and solid block surrounding her mind. He couldn’t reach her and, suddenly, his mind screamed with his loss, and his anger began to build.
Before he lost control. Before that dark force surrounding Areenna could affect him, he stopped trying to reach Areenna and created a block around himself. Then, without conscious effort, used the Staff within him to build a shield of protection around himself and stepped into the room.
Her body was half-floating and half-pounding against the floor. Her rage was growing and he had no idea how to stop it. All he could think of was to reach her and hold her against himself.
He was almost to her, each step becoming more difficult as the blasts of heated anger slammed against his shielding.
Hold, Mikaal!
Mikaal paused with the recognition of the voice. Behind him stood Master Jalil, a white shimmering mist surrounded him. Reach into yourself, find the Staff, find Afzal, use the Staff’s power, it is the only way.
How?
You will know. Do it.
Closing his eyes and letting his inner senses guide him, he moved toward Areenna. When he was next to her, he expanded his shield to encompass them both and pulled her madly shaking body into his arms, pressing her tightly to him. He increased his power in an effort to contain the emanations she was releasing. Then he drilled into her mind, forcing himself—like the freesh of the Frozen Mountains—to go against the current.
He clasped her to him; her trembling shook him violently. He dug into himself, into the area where the abilities of the Staff slept. He drew upon those energies, those abilities, and pulled the most important one forth. White cloudlike vapor filled the room and they both breathed it in until it was gone and Areenna’s trembling eased.
It took several more minutes before the shaking ended and Areenna opened her eyes. She stared at Mikaal as if he were a stranger, until her muscles relaxed and Areenna became Areenna again.
<><><>
“It was an attack!” Enaid stood in front of the double window of the library. She looked from Roth, to Mikaal, and then to Areenna, who lay on the long cushioned bench Mikaal had set her on. “He used Lessig to attack Areenna.”
Areenna shook her head and tried to sit up. When she did, her head throbbed painfully. Grimacing, she closed her eyes. I need Gaalrie, she sent to Mikaal.
“How is this possible?” Roth asked as Mikaal strode to the window and opened it.
Seconds later, Gaalrie flew inside and landed on Areenna’s lap. She hugged the giant treygone to her, and a heartbeat later, began to relax under Gaalrie’s soothing gentle warmth.
When Gaalrie settled, Enaid turned to Roth. “I don’t know how.”
Master Jalil spoke, his voice low but strong. “It happened because Areenna made a connection with Lessig when they faced each other in the swamp.”
“We did not face each other. I only followed my senses to her. I was not there, nor did I touch her mind. I only saw her within my mind.”
“And she saw you as well, as did Fasil. Do not underestimate what The Masters can do. Through Lessig, he connected to you. Felt you nothing strange these last days?” Jalil asked, his eyes locked on Areenna.
She nodded. “A sense of something at the edge of my mind. Nothing more.”
“Until tonight. What happened?” the Master asked.
Areenna bent and pressed her lips to Gaalrie’s head. She closed her eyes and thought back. A moment later, she opened her eyes and looked at Jalil. “I was angry.”
Jalil smiled. “Yes, you were. And angry you—“
“—left myself open,” she finished for him and looked at Mikaal. “I did exactly what I taught you to not do.”
Now you know. Now you are aware, Jalil whispered in her mind.
Areenna grasped Mikaal’s hand. I shut you out as well.
No, he did, not you. It will not happen again!
So sure are you?
I am, in you.
“Enough,” Roth snapped. “I’m sitting here watching you. I do not have your ability. Have the courtesy to talk aloud!”
They all turned to him. “Apologies, My L… Solomon” Enaid whispered, and explained what had just gone on. “Now we must decide on what to do.”
Roth chased along the avenues of possibilities until he shook his head and leaned forward. He swept his eyes across each face before he said, “The way I see this is that we have no choice but to find out who they… Fasil and Lessig have seduced from us. The bigger question is how to accomplish this.”
“There is only one way.” Areenna gripped Mikaal’s hand tightly. “I must try to learn with a foreseeing.”
Roth frowned. “You can call up a foreseeing? You can control this?”
Areenna nodded. “They taught me on the Island.”
“Dangerous, Areenna, this can be dangerous,” Jalil warned.
“How so?”
“When you do such, you go to… a different place, a place not part of this reality.”
Roth leaned forward, his hands clasped before him. “An alternate reality? A different plane of existence?”
Jalil nodded and smiled. “Sometimes I forget you are from an earlier time, where science looked at many possibilities. Yes, Solomon, a different plane of existence is a much better explanation. It is a place between the here and now…and what might be. And,” he added, “be warned, The Masters can sense you there. You will need to do this swiftly.”
Mikaal squeezed Areenna’s hand. “We can’t do this now, not after what happened.”
“We have not the luxury of time,” Enaid said. “How do you feel?” she asked Areenna.
“I’ve rested, my strength is back. Mikaal can add to that.”
“No,” Enaid said. “You need to rest. Tomorrow is time enough.”
“We are running out of time,” Areenna worried.
Roth stood. “The hours between now and morning will have no effect on what happens in a month. Rested, you will be stronger and clearer. We wait until morning.”
“Do none of you understand what happened tonight?” She looked at Mikaal, whose eyes showed comprehension. She turned back to Roth.
“I am sorry, Highness,” Areenna said to Roth in an overly soft voice. “I must do this now. I vented my anger because I feel trapped…that I have no will of my own. That everyone decides what I will or won’t do. He…the darkest of them all, Fasil, used that knowledge to attack not just me, but all of us. I will not have him use me! Either you remain with Mikaal and me as I seek out what we need to know, or leave because this will happen with you here or without you.”
Areenna… Mikaal’s thought was of caution.
It will be fine.
All eyes shifted to Roth who stared silently at the woman he’d thought of as a child only a few months earlier. “As you wish, Princess Areenna. As you wish.”
“Thank you.” Sitting cross-legged and drawing Gaalrie tighter with her right hand, she kept her left hand locked within Mikaal’s solid grip. She was neither nervous nor afraid. The anger of an hour before was gone.
Enaid, a precaution. Block us all as I work.
A moment later, Enaid announced aloud, “It is done.”
Mikaal shifted, his eyes roamed Areenna’s face, taking in the gentle plans, the depth of her green eyes and determined set of her mouth. The hand holding hers tingled lightly as it always did whenever their skin touched. Are you ready?
One eyebrow quirked up. Are you? She closed her eyes, turned inward, and sought the area that The Speaker had shown her. It took a while, but she found it and delved within.
In an instant, she was out of
her body and floating above Nevaeh. There was a transcendental freedom: a release of the chains that bound her to the ground. Find them, came a whisper. It took her a moment to realize it was Mikaal.
She pushed and the world changed. She was higher now, her vision obscured by gray-white clouds; below her, the world shuddered and shifted and then, suddenly, everything became clear. She recognized the Palisades at the southwestern tip of Fainhall, which was the very place Ailish had shown her—the place where Master Jalil had escaped from the other Dark Masters.
The sea at the Palisades was choppy. Small boats disgorged the ghazi warriors to the shore. A line of ghazis climbed the Palisades. Above waited no warrior of Fainhall, only more mutated ghazi slaves. She pushed at the part of her that gave her control of the seeing, and was gone.
The next thing she became aware of was being over the wastelands separating Llawnroc from Aldimor, at the southernmost point, where the sea met the shore, west of Aldimore and closer to Llawnroc. She saw no ghazi, only the empty ships of the second fleet. She moved inland, where she found thousands of ghazi, fifty miles from Wort, Llawnroc’s capital. Their camp was huge; thousands upon thousands of ghazi spread across the land like a plague.
Again, no soldiers of Llawnroc were near.
Where is the third fleet? She pushed again, but could not find them, and she tried again, without result. After a half dozen attempts, she knew someone was blocking her. How can someone block a foreseeing?
Come back, she heard Mikaal call.
She held still. Then she pushed once more. As she did, Mikaal’s silent shout turned thunderous. No!
It was too late. A lance of deadly thought, pushed by the darkest power in the world struck the shield around her. It flared red and yellow and it seemed the shield itself was on fire. Withdraw! Came Mikaal’s cry.