Destiny

by Fiona McIntosh

  The two dozen or so people who had assembled laughed politely, hoping they did not offend this woman who claimed royalty.

  Alyssa nodded a bow and smiled softly. ‘True, indeed. And to let you in on a small secret, King Lorys never did like holding court in the Great Hall. He always said his best meetings were over a glass of wine in his chambers and his best decisions were made on the back of a horse.’

  Now they laughed heartily, all strains of politeness gone. Tor privately marvelled at her ease amongst people, especially strangers. How quickly she had won them over and put their fears and concerns aside.

  His thoughts were disturbed by a woman who bent down before him with a tray. ‘Will you share some food?’ she asked kindly. ‘You must all be tired after your journey.’

  ‘Marya!’ Tor cried, attracting instant attention from all.

  The woman looked stunned. ‘Do we know each other?’

  Tor shook his head with a combination of dismay and pleasure. ‘Not exactly. You are from Twyfford Cross originally?’

  She nodded, confused. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘And you have several sisters.’

  Her eyes became misty. ‘Yes. I have not seen them in many years, of course. But tell me how you can know this.’

  He had everyone’s attention and regretted his outburst now. ‘I was at your bridling, Marya,’ he said softly.

  She looked as though he had slapped her. He watched her fingers tremble and reached to take the tray as she sat down heavily in front of him.

  ‘I have tried not to think on it for a long time. This is my life now. And yet your mentioning it brings it all back so vividly.’ She began to weep.

  Tor turned to Alyssa for help. Without another word said, Alyssa moved from where she sat and was at the woman’s side. Everyone felt suddenly very uncomfortable at hearing Marya’s soft sobs and Tor began to make gentle apologies. No one seemed to feel resentment, though the sadness in the cave was palpable as everyone began to recall their own fate at the hands of Goth and his cruel men.

  Lyam shrugged at Tor’s apology. ‘It happens. A memory…some small reminder. We are scarred in so many different ways beyond the physical. My face—it is nothing to what else I lost. I was forced away from a young wife and three little ones. I have made myself forget them. I have not mentioned them in years until this moment,’ he said, great sadness in his voice. ‘I lost so much over so little. My powers are so weak as to be laughable but not to that cursed wretch, Goth. He found me and punished me.’

  Tor shifted uncomfortably. He still needed to make amends. ‘Marya. It was I who made you unconscious. I could not bear him to hurt you or your family a moment longer. I cast aside your magic because it was not strong enough to hurt them but I knew it would bring terrible hurt to your family.’

  She looked up from Alyssa’s arms. ‘You?’ She strained to remember him, searching his face. ‘The scribe?’ she suddenly said.

  He nodded. ‘I wanted you to live. I hoped you would. The village folk, after…’ He cleared his throat. ‘After they had put you in the cart, the village folk all came up and touched you—each one— to assure you that they would take care of your mother and sisters.’

  She nodded. ‘Thank you for telling me this. They should all be safe then.’

  So little had he brought her, he thought. ‘Marya, we can go back. You can go back, now. You have nothing to fear any more.’

  ‘How can you say this!’ Lyam asked, clearly shocked. ‘We live in constant fear of the inquisitors.’

  Alyssa stepped into the conversation, pouring her calm about her and soothing with her voice.

  ‘Lyam, Marya…all of you, listen to me now.’

  She stood in the centre of the circle in which they sat. ‘Torkyn Gynt speaks the truth. King Lorys disbanded the inquisitors.’ She paused, knowing this would provoke a strong reaction and she was right. People were leaping to their feet and calling out questions. ‘Hear me out, good people, please. We have very good reason for being here, which Tor will explain, but I want you to know that by royal decree no inquisitor roams the Kingdom of Tallinor. Sentients are free to live their lives without punishment for their talents.’

  She watched their expressions change from dismay to surprise. ‘Yes, talents. Lorys married a sentient and came to learn that we are not to be feared. That we are not rampaging sorcerers bent on taking over the world or destroying its people. For most of us our skills have been a burden but Lorys came to understand that these same skills could be put to good use for Tallinor. I give you my solemn word as your former queen and now as the King’s Mother, that he has officially pardoned all sentients and I have his authority to grant you your freedom.’

  There was uproar in the cave. Shock, despair, elation all mixed into one loud rage of voices. She let it peter out until all eyes looked at her expectantly.

  ‘There are no guards outside this valley. We can lead you to freedom from here—if that’s what you wish. Perhaps some people in your community have been born here and grow happily here. They may not choose to leave but for those of you with families or a desire to return home, well…we will help you to find your way back.’

  Tor could see that Alyssa was close to breaking down now. She was fulfilling Lorys’s final wish for her—that she find her people and free them.

  Lyam was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘No guards? For how long?’

  Alyssa shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But the inquisitors have been stamped out for several years…since their chief, Almyd Goth,’ her voice had hardened now just saying his name, ‘was captured and put on trial for his sins.’ She did not detail those sins.

  This brought a fresh wave of cries and alarm.

  She implored them to hear her out and when she had quiet again, she continued. ‘Goth was found guilty and sentenced to death by burning, but he escaped with a cunning companion and has been on the run from the Crown ever since.’

  ‘Had you never thought to escape?’ Saxon asked, in some wonderment that people could accept imprisonment so readily.

  ‘What was the point in fighting back? We are just peasants most of us—ordinary people. And anyway, they would persecute our loved ones if we did. We remained humble to save our families’ lives, not ours,’ Marya answered.

  Lyam interjected now. ‘We were brought here and left alone. We assumed there were guards somewhere. But to tell you the truth, finding our way out seemed impossible. Several of our people tried and we presumed either got lost or died at the hands of guards. We could not risk any more of us. And our lives here haven’t been so bad. They’ve left us to ourselves and we’ve built some semblance of normality here which is more than tolerable. It is a good life. Safe from persecution. We were not to know the persecutors were no longer out there to hunt us down otherwise perhaps more of us would have tried to leave.’ He shrugged and others murmured their agreement.

  Alyssa held her hand up for quiet. ‘The King’s final private message, which I’m told he sent on the night he died, was for me to find my own people. I did not understand his communication at first but now I know he meant all of you…the sentient ones. He wanted me to ensure your freedom.’ She stumbled slightly on her next words but composed herself quickly. ‘Lorys sought your forgiveness. He regretted deeply that his reign was tainted with your persecution.’

  A strained silence filled the cave at these last words. Forgiveness. Could it ever be given, Tor wondered?

  It was Lyam’s turn to clear his throat. He glanced around at the eyes which watched him closely. He hoped he spoke for all of them when he turned and addressed the former queen. ‘Your majesty. I’m not sure we can ever recover from the pain and loss, the humiliation and despair which we have suffered. But none of us, I’m sure, have lost our ability…no, our desire to look for the good in people. Lorys is dead you tell us and his son sits on the throne now. Hopefully he is a good man…a more tolerant man than his father; perhaps even more broad-minded and prepared to accept that as sentien
ts we are just as loyal to our Crown as the non-empowered.’ He saw Alyssa nod, desperate for them all to accept her words as true. ‘We gain nothing by matching hate with hate. As a people we can only grow and go forwards by tolerance and acceptance of all walks of life.’ He cast a final quick glance around the cave to ensure he was reading the mood correctly and that he was expressing the sentiments of all the people gathered.

  ‘We accept your gracious apology. We may not necessarily bestow our forgiveness but, your majesty, we do gladly take our freedom and acknowledge your claim that we have our own place in Tallinese society.’

  People began to clap. The applause resounded throughout the cavernous space and Tor stood to put his arms around Alyssa and Marya, both of whom were hugging each other. Saxon, Themesius and Figgis joined in the cheering. Gidyon stood a little apart, perhaps still in awe of his mother’s commanding presence.

  Tor cast to him. She may be ailing and fragile but she’s amazing don’t you think?

  Gidyon grinned back. Light! I feel proud to call myself her son.

  When the celebrations finally died down, Lyam asked the question that was on everyone’s lips and Tor had hoped they would ask.

  ‘So what became of the hated Goth? Is he still roaming our Land?’

  It was Tor’s turn to take the floor. ‘That is a tale in itself,’ he said, suggesting they all be seated again. ‘It’s why we have come here today.’

  ‘You have news on his whereabouts?’ someone asked.

  ‘I have more than news,’ he replied, gravely. ‘I have brought him to you.’

  He expected an eruption of voices but was surprised to be greeted by a frigid silence.

  ‘Here?’ Lyam asked. ‘In the valley?’

  Tor nodded. He was about to say more when Lyam suddenly stood.

  ‘The man at the post!’ he cried. ‘That’s Goth! You jest, surely?’

  ‘He does not,’ Alyssa said, calmly. ‘That is the man who destroyed your lives. We have tracked him down and brought him to you for justice.’

  The silence became even heavier now. Their tormentor was at their mercy. How many times had they concocted a fantasy of how they would deal with him should they ever be this lucky?

  ‘Almyd Goth awaits your justice, Lyam. Yours and your people’s. He has been sentenced to death several times over and the victims of his lust for killing are no longer restricted to those who possess minuscule amounts of magical power. He now enjoys killing innocents and most recently killed a friend of mine—a young woman —in a manner so barbaric I will spare you the listening.

  ‘Since hearing that news, I have allowed him to live only this long in order that the sentients he showed nothing but heartless cruelty towards will decide his manner of execution.’

  Alyssa could sense their terror and reluctance to take much joy in this news. ‘We realise this must be a shock for everyone here. Perhaps you would like some time to think on this matter, in private?’

  Lyam nodded, as did most of the gathered.

  Marya stepped forward. ‘I would gladly kill him myself if someone would hand me a blade and give me the permission. I would have no qualms.’

  Alyssa took her hand. ‘I feel the same. He has done me many inhumane injustices which I prefer not to speak of now. All I will say is that Goth cannot live. His King demanded his death. He must die.’

  ‘And what of our King…was he not tainted with our blood as well? Was he not as guilty as Goth?’

  Alyssa felt as though a blade had been plunged into her own heart to hear the accusation that she herself had felt over and again at the palace before she had got to know Lorys and all the goodness in him.

  She paused, not only to gather herself but to make sure she chose the right words. She took a deep, steadying breath.

  ‘Lorys died alone…during a terrible storm, the likes of which I have not seen in years. He was trying to get home to me.’ She tried to smile at them but failed. ‘He had been attacked that day by a flock of ravens.’ Many in the crowd made a warding gesture. ‘Lorys knew he was a marked man. Shrouded by death, I believe he knew it stalked him for his own sin of permitting this terrible sentence to be visited upon people of his realm. His death was tragic but swift. A hand of lightning struck through his body towards the land, pointing one of its fingers directly at him as though in accusation. I saw his corpse—wept many hours over it. The lightning bolt hit his heart, blackening and shrivelling his skin on its journey towards the earth. He paid for his sins.’

  ‘The gods,’ someone murmured.

  She nodded. ‘Yes, indeed. The gods punished my husband for his sins of which I can truly say, he had only two. One was to love me when I did not belong to him. The other was ignorance as far as sentients were concerned; to look aside from Goth’s evil doing. The gods punished him in their way and now you must punish Goth in yours. We will leave you to your deliberations.’

  And with that, Alyssa, former queen of Tallinor, bent graciously to her audience and then stepped regally from the cave with Tor and their retinue following closely behind.

  They had eaten quietly in a separate cave much smaller than the one they had all gathered in. It was Marya’s home which she shared with two other women, both part of the group who were making decisions on Goth’s fate. It impressed all of them that the three women had managed to make a cave comfortable—hand-woven rugs and handcrafted furniture gave it a cosy feel whilst a woven length of fabric, pulled back during the day, provided privacy and shelter from the night’s cold. Marya had brought them food and left.

  The others had finished their meal and had decided to explore the valley with Cloot as a guide. Tor appreciated the time this gave him with Alyssa.

  ‘You were marvellous,’ he said.

  She looked embarrassed. ‘Was I?’

  ‘Every bit a queen.’ He took her hand and kissed it.

  ‘I’m not sure I can honestly say I’ve ever felt like one. I’ve always believed I was some sort of pretender.’ She shook her head. ‘I still do.’

  ‘No, Alyssa. If Lorys was alive I think Tallinor would now be seeing its finest ever times. Nyria…’ he thought carefully first before saying, ‘well, she deferred to Lorys. They came from similar backgrounds and, as much as she had a conscience and loved her people, she was still a privileged soul who could never really appreciate how devastating the inquisitors were to those same people. She hated Goth for sure, but for other reasons. But you brought to Lorys’s reign his true conscience. You are sentient. You are from that same group who had suffered at the hands of Goth and the power he wrought. No.’

  He shook his head. ‘Far from pretender, my love. Your were Tallinor’s best queen, albeit short-lived. You would have made important changes…and you still can, through your son.’

  She leaned over and kissed him very briefly and then she sighed. ‘I don’t think I shall see him again.’

  She tried to smile but her eyes carried such a depth of grief that Tor felt a flash of alarm.

  ‘What could you mean by that?’ he asked.

  She moved to sit within the circle of his arms. ‘I don’t understand it either. It’s a vague but very real feeling—I sense that my time is done.’

  Now Tor moved. Swiftly. He was kneeling in front of her and took her by the shoulders. ‘You must not think like this. Of all of us, you will survive this. You will go on.’ He had never felt such intense fear as he did now.

  Now she did smile, fully and in love with the man who held her. ‘I love you, Tor. I always have, but you are a terrible liar. You’ve never been capable of guile.’

  His voice had dropped to a whisper. ‘This is not guile. I believe it.’

  ‘Then this is good for all of us. But I do not feel the same way. I sense something dark and evil approaching. But it is directed at me alone.’

  Tor pulled her close. He was shocked. ‘No! Alyssa you’re fearful because of Goth and all that we have yet to do. It is unnerving and I understand how easy it is to frighten yourse
lf.’

  She pushed away from him. She said nothing for a moment but stared into his remarkably blue eyes. She had not focused on them so intently for years. Alyssa realised she had forgotten how devastatingly bright they were. Truly the eyes of a god. And the line of his jaw: strong and suddenly no trace of that boyishness about him any more. He was a powerful-looking man. She touched his lower cheek and felt the stubble of a beard. She loved Tor shaved—it showed off his striking looks— but still she rather liked the rough feel of short, tough hair against her fingers.

  Tor felt his mind swimming. Alyssa looked as though she was fixing his face in her mind for the last time.

  Alyssa! Stop it!

  Why? she asked dreamily. I don’t want to forget your face this time. I did for a while when I thought you were dead. Not this time though. I want to take it with me where I am going.

  Please, he cried. Please stop this now. I don’t understand what you mean. Where are you going?

  I have to face her, Tor.

  Who?

  Xantia.

  Tor was stunned. He thought that was the name Gidyon had been about to say earlier but he had dismissed it, not wanting to probe his son for more information. But it was true. Xantia was the person Alyssa feared.

  But why? How can she hurt you?

  Alyssa came out of her dreamlike state. Her look was now hard, unyielding. ‘Not me. My daughter. And I will not permit it.’

  ‘How do you know she hurts Lauryn? How can you know that she is even near her?’ he asked, fully confused.

  ‘Because she baits me. She invades my dreams and laughs at me. She is calling me, Tor. And I must go. She has my daughter at her mercy.’

  Tor tried to rationalise with her. ‘These are nightmares only.’

  ‘Stop! You believe your dreams and your visions from Lys. I know what I am seeing in mine. It is real. I feel it in the pit of my stomach. All my instincts tell me she is not so much in danger from Orlac as from the company he keeps.’