The Crown of Stones: Magic-Scars

by C. L. Schneider

  Five fucking years.

  How can it be five years?

  Malaq cleared his throat. “So…”

  With a grunt, I sunk into my chair and guzzled more wine.

  He tried to make conversation. “Did you ever find Reth?”

  “I found lots of Reths.”

  His responding scowl was less effective with one eye. “Where?”

  “Exactly where I thought he’d be.”

  Malaq snatched the bottle again. He paused with his mouth at the rim. “And?”

  “He figured out it was me. We fought. He killed the body I was in.”

  Malaq stopped drinking. “No ill effects?”

  “Just one. It took a while to get back. Evidently, a long while.”

  “Well, you’re here now. I for one am glad for it.” He passed the bottle back.

  I took a drink and tilted it at him. “Your turn.”

  Malaq stretched out his long frame. He crossed his boots at the ankles, making himself comfortable. “About a week after you left, Draken’s forces stormed the camp. I imagine there would have been no survivors. But when he discovered Neela’s body, my brother called off his attack. He took her and his troops and left. Sienn was hurt, but she still managed to evacuate everyone.”

  “They came here?”

  “Yes. I took the Rellans on my staff. Some became guards. Everyone else went into hiding. We tried to go on for a while. I didn’t want to believe it was over. I thought we could recruit more. I thought you’d come back. But your father…” Malaq left off with a single pained head shake.

  “He marched on Langor with his spelled army?”

  “Just like Jarryd thought he would. Jem used no magic in his attack. Many saw it as a statement. That Draken wasn’t worth the energy. In the end, it didn’t matter. The bulk of Draken’s forces had already set sail for Doratae. They couldn’t get back in time, and he couldn’t hold Darkhorne without them. So he fled here.”

  “Draken sought sanctuary in Kabri?”

  “He had no other option. He got word to his ships. They went wide around Langor and came in on Rella’s southern shore. Their numbers were less than expected. But my kingdom had a modest force of men and for a while, together, we did all right.”

  It was strange hearing Malaq talk about Rella as his. Not to mention fighting alongside his brother. “Where do you stand now?”

  “At the end. We kept Jem busy as long as we could, attacking him from the rear, dividing his resources, trying to keep him out of Darkhorne. But all we did was draw things out. When the keep fell, Jem took control of the forge. He instructed the blacksmiths to build war machines I’d never seen the likes of before. With them, his men moved like a flood across Rella. They decimated everything; villages, roads, crops. Entire forests were destroyed. Jem flattened everything so he could expand his dominion.”

  I wanted to know more about Jem’s weapons, but I had other concerns. “You haven’t mentioned Jillyan or Krillos.”

  Malaq heaved a tired sigh. “As you can guess, neither of them wanted to hide. They packed up and left Kabri within a day or two. They did some damage for a while, sabotaging your father’s efforts as they headed west.”

  “What was west?”

  “You. They wouldn’t believe you were dead. Your last known position was smack in enemy territory, but they didn’t care. Krillos said you made him a promise once, and he aimed to return the favor. I don’t have the details of their capture. Only that they were tried for treason against the Emperor and sentenced to death.”

  Shock had me shouting. “Treason?”

  “Jem ordered a public execution. They were thrown off the wall and—”

  “Stop,” I broke in; hearing the snap of their necks in my mind. I heard their last strangled gasps. Saw their dark eyes bulging. Their sagging limbs dangling. Time would have turned their swarthy skin gray and putrid as their bodies were left to rot against the hornblende wall. Until the coyotes came and tore their flesh away.

  I wondered if any of the bones I saw belonged to them.

  “Are you all right?” Malaq said.

  Clearing my clogged throat, I rubbed the pain from my face. “Go on.”

  “Shortly after, Jarryd was spotted in a Rellan village. We tried to get to him, but Jem’s patrols picked him up first. His execution followed.”

  “No. Jarryd is alive. I swear to you, Malaq. I can feel it.”

  “I don’t know how, Ian. I saw him die.”

  I leaned forward in my chair. “You were there?”

  “I snuck in. I thought maybe…” His shoulders fell in a heavy slump. “I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t help any of them.”

  “What about Lirih? You never tried to look for her?” Malaq’s reply was a vague shrug, and I got terse. “It didn’t bother you she disappeared like that?”

  “Of course it fucking bothered me. You have no idea what it was like— what I went through. I grieved for her, Ian. I grieved for all of you. But that was a long time ago.”

  “Not for me.”

  Shame smoothed the edge from his tone. “I’m sorry. You need time to adjust.”

  “I spent years lying in that damn cave, hibernating like some fucking rabbit while the world went to shit around me. So yeah, Malaq, I’m going to need a minute.” I went back to Lirih. “Are all my father’s executions public?”

  “I know where you’re going. But Lirih wasn’t one of them.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Jem posted the names of the condemned outside on the wall. He wanted people to come and watch. To know his justice was swift. I had someone check the names for a full year. After that…”

  “She could still be out there, Malaq.”

  “Lirih couldn’t have survived this long on her own.”

  “You don’t know that. She’s a smart girl.”

  “Lirih’s dead, Ian. And to be frank, I don’t know why you care.”

  “And I don’t know why you don’t care more. You sit here like some powerless old man in your dark, empty castle, feeling sorry for yourself, while she could be out there somewhere.”

  “You have to understand. I have a wife and three children to look after.”

  “Three? I guess your marriage to Elayna worked out better than you thought.”

  Anger tightened his one good eye. “What do you want from me, Ian? You want me to apologize? To say I betrayed Lirih by falling in love with Elayna?”

  “I don’t begrudge you making a life with Elayna. But if there’s even a chance Lirih is still alive—”

  “There isn’t. Now let it go. You didn’t even know her.” Abruptly, his expression changed. Jealousy darkened his voice. “You son of a bitch. You slept with her.”

  “No, I didn’t fucking sleep with her, Malaq. Lirih’s my goddamn daughter!”

  For several minutes he said nothing. Then, “Why didn’t she tell me?”

  “We thought it would be safer if no one knew.”

  Leaning forward, Malaq sat; staring at the floor, elbows on knees, hands on either side of his head, as he tried to put the scabs back on the old wounds I’d torn open.

  I tried to help him move on. “Eldring?” I waved at the lump of scar tissue on his face. Malaq nodded, and I took a guess. “Here, on the island?”

  “A couple of Kaelish ships came into the harbor. We thought they were trading vessels. They were packed with eldring. They swarmed the city, took the Shinree, and plowed through the rest of us like we were children with wooden sticks.”

  “Is that when Sienn…?”

  “No. Sienn never completely recovered from the head wound she suffered at camp. She was up and about, but there were blackouts and headaches. I begged her to heal herself. Whether she couldn’t or didn’t want to, I don’t know.” Malaq sat up. “The eldring left Sienn behind. Almost like they knew something was wrong. The next day, she collapsed. You’re the first Shinree I’ve seen on the island since we buried her.”

  I had no words. So I dran
k.

  “The eldring made their way across the realms, collecting your kind and delivering them to your father. I don’t know what he’s done with them. Populated his empire? Fed them to the eldring? Who knows? I swear the damn beasts multiply every day. And they sprout up like fucking weeds. It seems like they’re full grown and ready to give us hell almost overnight.”

  Malaq’s words lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, no matter what we do, we can’t cut their numbers. We tried finding their nests and taking out their young, but—”

  “You’re killing eldring children? What the hell, Malaq?”

  “Get that judgment out of your eyes. They’re goddamn, monsters, Ian. It’s them or us. But most of their dens are deep in the mountains. And the ones we found had very few young. I don’t know where the hell they’re coming from.”

  I might, I thought, remembering Jem’s theory of what was on the other two tablets. If they hold the truth of the crown…if they tell of the spells it was used for and he found them…

  No, he can’t be. He can’t be making our people into eldring.

  Malaq interrupted my anxious thoughts. “Jem repaired the crown, though it’s weaker than before. Rumor has it he uses it sparingly. Most of the time he keeps it locked in his palace.”

  “My father has a palace?”

  “He has it all, from shore to shore. The whole of Mirra’kelan has his stamp now. Everything except this city, this castle. Honestly, I don’t why he hasn’t finished us off. He just leaves us here, letting us perish slowly, going mad from fear. Always wondering, always waiting for the final blow. I wish it would come already.”

  “If that was true, you would have surrendered by now.”

  “Which should I give him first, Ian? My wife? My children? I’d sooner slit their throats myself.”

  “The throat you should be cutting is Draken’s.”

  “Draken hasn’t been a problem for a long time.”

  “Really? Why’s that?”

  “Not long after Draken came here, Reth permanently blocked their link. I don’t know how, but they say he’s bound with another so his loss isn’t as great. For my brother, these last few years have been a slow death. I’ve watched him deteriorate day after day, suffering from the separation, and a return to the madness you cast on him. He barely knows me. Most of the time he sits in his room, staring out the window.”

  “He’s still here?” Outrage surpassed shock and my voice shot up. “Draken kept your wife locked in a shit hole for years, Malaq. How could you ask Elayna to sleep under the same roof with him? How can you pity him knowing what he did to her? What he did to Jarryd—to me? What the hell has happened to you?”

  I thought he would hit me. Then the door creaked open, and Malaq blasted out of his chair. One hand on his sword, he motioned with the other for me to be still. Peering into the gloom of the doorway, he waited; listening to the soft, faint footsteps.

  As the sounds drew near, Malaq’s expression relaxed. He sheathed his sword. “What are you doing in here? Where did you get the key?”

  I turned in my chair. A young, brown haired boy was tottering toward us. Barefoot, in a crumpled nightshirt, rubbing his half-closed eyes with little fists, he padded over in front of Malaq, and yawned.

  Malaq looked down at him. “I asked you a question.”

  The boy looked up. “I took it from the pocket of mother’s dressing gown.”

  “You stole it?” Malaq said sternly.

  “I borrowed it,” the boy replied.

  I laughed, and Malaq slid me a glance. “Did you wake her?” he asked the boy.

  “No, Papa.”

  “And your sisters?”

  “They’re still sleeping.”

  “As you should be.”

  “I wanted to see you. I had a bad dream.”

  “Ah.” He put a hand on the boy’s head and turned it in my direction. “This is my friend. Can you say hello?”

  Obeying, the boy walked over. The shape of his face and his skin color was all Rellan, but in the light of the fire I could see a bit of Arullan in him. It was mostly apparent around his sleepy eyes. Dark blue in color and brimming with spirit, they gazed at me with a painfully familiar intensity.

  “Did you paint your face?” he said.

  His straightforwardness was familiar too. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  “Will it come off?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I like it,” he decided. “It makes you look different.”

  “That it does.”

  “I didn’t know Papa had a friend.”

  “I’ve been gone a while.”

  “Are you going to stay with us?”

  “Maybe.”

  “If you need a place to sleep you can have my bed.”

  I smiled. “You’re very kind…” I glanced at Malaq for his name.

  “We call him Kane,” he replied proudly.

  My throat tight, I nodded in approval. “Kane. That’s a good name,” I told the boy. “A strong name.”

  “My Papa says so.” He scrunched up his tiny nose. “Do you have a name?”

  “I do. But I’d rather hear about your dream. I’m kind of an expert.”

  “Really?” He gave me a wide-eyed grin. Just as quick, disappointment wiped the expression away. “I don’t remember it anymore.”

  “I’m glad.” I put a hand on his head. “If it comes back you let me know. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he smiled.

  “Back to bed with you,” Malaq ordered. “Say good night.”

  The boy rushed up and threw his arms around me. “Goodnight, Papa’s friend.”

  I held him tight a moment. “Goodnight, Kane.”

  Malaq took the boy’s hand. As he walked Kane out, I got up and paced around. I couldn’t sit. My mind was bouncing, going over all the horrible things that had happened in my absence—and what I could have done to stop them.

  Malaq came back. “Sorry for the interruption.”

  “No, I’m glad for it. He’s a fine boy. Will you ever tell him about Jarryd?”

  “Elayna and I planned to when he’s older. But I’m not sure we have the luxury of waiting. I don’t want Kane to die not knowing who he came from.”

  “He won’t. I’m not going to let anything more happen to your family.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “You have something in mind?”

  Malaq didn’t hesitate. “Obliterate it. Sink your father and his goddamn empire back under the ground and bury them—all of them. Kael. Langor. Destroy it all. It’s the only way. Because there’s nothing more I can do. Our food stores are all but gone. I have nothing to fight with. Nothing to defend but what’s inside these walls.”

  Defeat wasn’t something I’d ever thought to see on Malaq Roarke. I was about to tell him to snap the hell out of it, when I heard a voice. It was barely a murmur, too faint even to understand. “Who else is in here?” I said.

  “No one. I locked the door when Kane left.”

  “Are you sure?” I heard it again. “There.”

  Malaq listened a moment. He shook his head.

  The noise repeated, and I slid my weapon out. “You can’t hear that?”

  “You should get some rest. You’ve had quite a blow. And quite a bit of wine.”

  “You think I’m hallucinating?”

  “You do have a history of it.”

  I flashed him a nasty smile. “I’m going to take a look.” I was in mid-stride when an abrupt surge of energy shot through me. Strength and adrenaline poured into my arms and legs. It spread, invigorating my entire body in the blink of an eye. It was a sensation I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

  After it, came something else I’d been without for years; the feel of a clear-cut emotion that wasn’t mine. Urgency thundered over me. A voice said, “Nef’taali…”

  I spun around. It was reflex only. I knew he wasn’t here.

&n
bsp; And then I knew: neither am I.

  From the moment I left the ruins, I’d rationalized everything—the condition of the camp, the bodies on my father’s wall, the changes to the castle. I’d accepted Malaq’s version of the last five years because nothing else made sense.

  Except it was only one version. It wasn’t mine.

  I slid my sword away. “I have to go.”

  Malaq’s one eye widened. “Go? You said you were going to help.” Desperation deepened his voice. “You said you were going to protect my family.”

  “I will. Just not this way. Not here. I have to go back.”

  “Back where?”

  “I’m not supposed to be here, Malaq. Not yet.”

  “Ian, what the hell are you talking about?”

  I put my hands on his arms and looked him in the eye. “When Varos died, I drifted. But I didn’t drift for five years. I came forward five years.”

  His brow tightened. Slowly, it loosened as he understood. “Are you saying all this is an oracle spell? That this moment, right now, is the future?”

  “One possible future. It’s the only explanation.”

  “It’s a crazy explanation.” He yanked out of my hold. “I get you’re upset. But inventing something like this? Where would you even get such an idea?”

  “Jarryd. He’s with me right now. Not now here. Not in this time,” I said, making Malaq shake his head. “He’s with me five years ago in that cave. He’s trying to bring me out of the spell. That’s how I can sense him. That’s why our link feels so strained. It’s stretched over time.”

  “Gods…” Malaq shook his head. “You’ve lost it.”

  “No. I can go back. I can go back to where I’m supposed to be. I can stop all of this: Reth’s invasion, the executions. None of it has happened. None of it is real.”

  “What about me, Ian? What about my family?” Malaq’s anger came on quick. “You can’t tell me the last five years of my life haven’t been real.”

  My exhilaration withered. “This is only one possible reality, Malaq. One future that evolved without me.”

  “Then…if you go back, all this goes away? My daughters go away?”

  I didn’t have to say it. Malaq knew the answer. I saw it on his damaged face as his pained gaze drifted. “I don’t understand. How could this have happened?”