by Derek Barton
The crowd erupted again moved by the accounting. The gavel came down, this time by Captain Ruessard.
The queen regarded her son who had sat still and unresponsive through the soldier’s entire depiction. Taihven remained solemn and detached.
He must have felt her eyes upon him — he shifted and locked stares with her. However, there was no malice in his eyes. Queen Demetryce was taken aback by the glint of compassion he was showing towards her.
She then stood, "That will be all for today. I ask that the court to be cleared so that we of the High Court Panel can discuss and deliberate in private."
The crowd growled and even booed her words.
She bristled, but was stopped from replying by Letandra. “Before we break for deliberations, I would ask that the court indulge my request to hear from Prince Taihven himself.”
The queen defeated by majority opinion, plopped heavily into her chair.
Letandra asked, “Prince Taihven, can you give us more details to the events of that day?”
After a long pause, he spoke from his chair.
“I am sorry for the many things we have discussed today. I am also sorry for the delay my actions may have caused us.”
Taihven stopped as the crowd grew louder with surprise and confusion. He held up one hand trying to settle them.
“Queen Demetryce, Lady Magistrate Letandra and the others here today, I confess. I take full accounting for the damages to Charners Hall. I also confess that for many years, I have been a source of disgrace to the royal court of Wyvernshield and even to my own family."
He pulled himself up from his chair and leaned on the crutches to face the citizens in the court. “You see, no other time in my life have my thoughts been so clear. No other time in my life have I felt so certain to my path and direction.”
The audience hushed.
"My malady was hidden, but has always been whispered about and the only aspect that many saw in me. I was held back and even sometimes forced into absence.”
Letandra coughed into her hand, trying to warn him, but he ignored it. “While as hard as it has been on me, I do not hold any grudge. I am not angry nor seek apology. It was who I was. A pathetic joke. A weakness. But now… with our enemies surrounding our lands and raiding our homes, my father lost to guide us, now... I am not a threat and I am not your enemy.” He locked eyes again with Queen Demetryce.
“I have the keys to the questions that lock us behind our own doors. I know who our enemy really is and why this is happening to us. Our enemy is not these beasts, these Viestrahl. Our enemy is a man named Auste Cros’seau.”
The queen screamed and broke the gavel on the desk. “You dare to lie!”
“No, mother! My mother, my queen, my family. I speak the truth.” He answered her with no tone or emotion in his words, his back still to her.
“The Cros’seau family was banished and sen—” Captain Ruessard injected.
“—Auste Cros’seau, Bareth Cros’seau's son, survived and has lived to return for his payment in blood. I know this and by this court’s witness, I will make him answer for the deaths of our King Haedrec and all the lives he has cut short!”
Queen Demetryce fell back again into her throne chair, fumbling for words.
“Taihven, stop this!” Letandra pleaded.
“I repeat. I am not your enemy, mother. I have never intended to be your enemy. But, I understand your hate now.”
He threw the hood back and scratched at his bandages. The words CHILD OF RAPE were revealed.
Guards near the door and the High Court table stepped forward, pointing long spears at him.
He raised his hands halfway, and said, “I am not a trueborn Artadeus. My mother was another unfortunate victim to the Cros’seau’s attempted takeover and… I am the result.” He pointed to the scarred words on his face and brow. “Auste carved this onto my face to shame me. But he never knew that every day my mother looked at me, she already saw these words.”
“You told him — You did this!!” Demetryce screeched in horror at Letandra.
“No! I neve—” she tried to answer.
“—I know this as Auste himself revealed this to me and my true origin. You see Auste has sought revenge against the throne and this family since his family's exile seventeen years ago. He is the one who has gathered and led the Viestrahl. He is the one who has taught them our war tactics. He wants to break the Artadeus Throne and set the good lands of Tayneva to the torch.”
Queen Demetryce cut short her tirade as she stared at him in disbelief. Taihven had never before shown such strength and core confidence. She could see the affect of his speech on the crowd.
He still had his back to her. "My absence was due to this exiled noble's son. My malady was a facet to this murderer's plan. I have no real proof to show any of you and I have no way to gain your trust. Yes, I am young and I have done truly insane actions. I have been dangerous. However, I stand before you no longer the threat. Auste has lost his hold on me and now I am in full command of my mind. So now, I stand before you as your loyal servant."
Taihven returned his gaze upon his mother and sister for a moment.
"I am but a force for your hand to wield now. I am not here to take your throne. I am here only to protect all of you if I can. Auste has come back and he is more powerful than his father ever hoped to be. He is crazed with vengeance and will never stop — he has worked seventeen years, my entire life, to get back to Tayneva and he will use whatever means to take it. This new magic and power I wield I gained in just a few weeks in his world. He has been there for seventeen years — just think about what we are all up against." With that, Taihven went back to his chair, exhausted from his speech.
“We cannot delay much more and I do not wish to further distract you by these proceedings. Please take me now to my room and make your decisions, but do it today as Auste has not given us any time to debate."
His last words were barely audible as he rolled from his seat and collapsed onto the floor.
#9
Taihven woke to the rap of a soft knock. It was faint, but he recognized Letandra’s rap immediately. He rose up on his elbows as she came in the door opposite the bed that he was laying in. The prince had fresh bandages now, but his head swam and throbbed from a strong headache.
“Are you up for a visit?” She asked him, concern all over her face. She was dressed in a brown wrap and tan leather pants. Her hair pulled to one side in a braid.
He nodded and patted a spot on the bed with his good arm. Letandra came around the right side and lowered down onto the bed. “I really missed you. I was so worried that I would not get back or maybe not in time to stop Auste.” He smiled and looked her over. “The change in you fits you well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Command and rule comes naturally to you. You were always so strong, Lennie.” Taihven remarked.
“You should see yourself. When you get on a roll — wow! Yesterday was…”
“Did I overstep?”
She shook her head, “Far from it. You are all that anyone can talk about. That speech turned things around a lot. Mother, well Mother is livid, but I think she is scared too. No decisions were made. For now, it is best you remain in the infirmary and heal. You are technically still on house arrest.”
Silence fell between them and he felt uncomfortable. “Uh… Letandra, did you put me in that cellar pit?”
“Yes, I had too. I found you last week, but you attacked me while in your episode. You nearly buried us by bringing down the loft!”
“Were you hurt?”
She shook her head again. More silence.
“It still is great to see you again.” She said and laughed. “A lot has happened here since the last time you called me Lennie. How is the Mending coming?”
He gave a heavy sigh, “Slow. Too slow. I need to heal faster. I have to be ready for him. Can you tell me what is going on now?”
She turned from him and walke
d over to a small table with a pitcher of water. She poured a cup.
Taihven pleaded his case. “Look, I understand that I am asking for a lot. And the whole city is resting on your shoulders. But, I am not insane; never was. I will not be having any more episodes. Well, episodes where I am not in control.”
She faced him again. “What exactly does that mean? You have to realize that we cannot simply take your word on this. I love you, little brother, but I cannot lose my focus and must concentrate on preparations for the Horde Ma—”
“—This was all a part of his plan. My episodes were just a facet of this complex takeover. Auste Cros’seau was using this power to take me over and using it as a way to find his way back to our plane.”
She remained motionless by the table and just drank from her cup. His words did not move her.
“I know. Sorry, I am not a good storyteller and I am not making much sense to you. But before I go on I just want you to look in my eyes and see the truth in them once more.” Even before his plea was done he saw her shut down. If she was not convinced then no one would be.
“Come here, please.” He begged her.
She returned at his side and he clasped her hands in his.
“You see… a mistake was made. A terrible mistake that has festered and now has come back twofold upon us. We have to stop what Father put into motion.” She again faced away from him and blinked away tears. Her grief for their father was fresh for her too.
“After the coup attempt by the Cros'seaus, a trial was held and the family had been publicly banished into exile. That is the story written in every history book. But, Letandra, the sentence was handed down, but never carried out. What they did was far crueler than any exile. Father had them secretly taken by the Beleardea.” Letandra gasped at the whispered name and looked back at him over her shoulder.
“Auste watched as his parents and his older sister were bled out. With this blood ritual and other dark arts, the children were put into metal prisons called Soul Renders. These cubes have kept them imprisoned in complete darkness and sustained them so they did not need to eat or drink water. They were meant to live in the cubes for eternity. Live in the black insanity of a metal box. The Beleardea then sent the boxes to an unknown plane of existence.”
“That is horrible! They were just children.”
Taihven did not answer.
Letandra then confessed, “I found out, you know. I mean, I learned of the rape. Found out that morning of Charner’s Hall fire.”
The revelation shocked him. It made sense however in retrospect. The stress and anxiety from his parents and sibling had bothered him that night, but then the mystery was forgotten when he was thrown in the dungeon cell.
“I had hoped Father never knew, but… he must have. Why else would he have gone to such depths in his vengeance? And now you know too why she has always been so hard on you.”
“Either way, it was his act of revenge that has caused all of this death. Auste somehow discovered a power to go into the In-Between and could manipulate others of our reality with this power. Like what happened with Taliah.”
Taihven paused, seeing if his words were sinking in with her. He could not tell for sure. “Auste was connected to me because of our shared biology and thus, he had a powerful connection back to Tayneva. He has spent all of my life bringing me to his world in order to track and build up the powers to get here. Done all this in order to take what he feels we have stolen from him and his family. After he somehow found a way to manipulate the Viestrahl and conned them into believing he is some long lost god of theirs, he intends on bringing this army—”
"—They are here. Tayneva is already overrun and the castle is completely surrounded by thousands."
"My god! They'll starve us out by summer's end."
"That is why I am here. I need all the information I can in order to decide what our next move might be."
"Letandra," he started and then hesitated as he struggled with his thoughts. "I know you are still unsure how I can be useful and even if you can believe what I am saying, but I want to prove myself. Can I show you that I am not making stories up? I want to take you to Aberrisc, the Chaos Plane. Just like Auste, I have found not only new powers there, but some very strong allies."
"You know I have not stopped loving you, Taihven. It will never be a day that I do not love you. But mother, she... she has not accepted this change yet. There are still strict orders on your incarceration in here."
"That is fine. I understand. But... we will not even leave the castle."
He gave her a confident smile and then closed his eyes still clutching her hands.
#10
Taihven's chest began to glow as green embers swirled and burst all around them. Letandra flinched and tried to pull back her hands back by reflex. She watched and felt her world swallowed by the embers.
Her brother smiled at her, his eyes reassured her that they were safe and this was intended. In his hands he held onto twin emerald crystals. The energy came out in waves from the crystals and flowed through her. Reality was obscured in a fog that covered everything but her and her little brother.
“It is alright; we will be fine,” he whispered and squeezed his eyes closed.
The fog dissipated barely as the shadowy form of a room formed into view.
He released her hands.
All around her was a chamber of pearl, translucent walls which had no door, but an archway with a ramp leading up to it. Beyond the archway and ramp, she could see an intricate collection of similar rooms and ramps. All of this structure surrounded an interior atrium with a series of huge pillars. In the center of the pillars, seven or so grey-black lizards spewed lightning rays from their bodies at a hovering sphere of energy. She gasped at the overwhelming sight and clutched at Taihven.
“Wh-what is that?” she blurted.
“Shhhh,” he hugged her closer and said softly in her ear, “This is the Home of the Balshazra. They are peaceful and have saved my life many times.”
“Where is this?” she exclaimed, “How did you even get me here?”
“This is just one of the lands in Aberrisc. It was the Balshazra that gave me their gift of creating gates and I even know now how to gate between our two worlds. Now do you see? I gated us here by choice. That was what I meant when I told you that I can now control my episodes. You are in the Chaos Planes, Lady Magistrate.”
The princess broke free of his embrace and straightened her wrap. She then crossed over to the archway and peered out again. There were lizards of all sizes slinking about the circular complex. “Are you saying that our real bodies are still in the infirmary?”
“Yes, it—”
“So, I am in one of your episodes?”
He nodded, “I brought you here so that you could see the truth of my words. And I wanted you to speak with a friend.”
“This place is incredible. I could never imagine this.” She marveled still in the doorway.
In a large pool below the energy sphere, several Balshazra lizards came out of the water and shrunk down in size as they went through the entry ways.
Taihven crossed over to her and took her hand again. He then led her out of the chamber and up a smooth ramp. Three lizards took immediate notice of their intrusion and started toward them. He held up one hand and waved in a friendly gesture. One departed from the other two and went down another ramp. The two kept vigil upon them.
Few minutes passed before a massive reptile and several of his kind arrived before them.
Letandra sensed immediately a powerful presence that surrounded the large creature. It was dressed in a thin red robe and silver chains that hung about its neck. Matching silver jewelry was tied into its long, black frills. It extended his paws. Taihven gripped one and then prompted her to take the other. She was nervous and found it awkward holding the heavy paw which was cold and slick in her tiny hand.
It is our fortune again to see that the Wandering Wolf has found us once more. The be
ast’s head tilted and its blue eyes studied her.
I remember your face, young female. You are Wandering Wolf’s older sibling, yes? We are most humbled to meet you and be at your service. I am known as Akuem’balashas. Akuem may be easier for you. He bobbed his head in greeting at her.
She shot a scared look at Taihven. The creature’s voice spoke inside her head — his mouth never moved.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. They do not need to use their mouths to speak; they use touch and speak inside your mind.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “You will get used to it, promise.”
“I, uh…” She stammered aloud. “Thank you. I am Princess Letandra Artadeus.”
Please be assured we are friends, Princess. I understand that our way of speaking takes time for your kind to accept. You only have to speak your thoughts inside and we will understand.
Akuem, we must head back now as we are under threat as I told you, but it was necessary for me to bring her here. I appreciate your welcome. I will be back soon. Can we speak then of your part in assisting us? Taihven asked and she heard his voice inside her head too. Akuem nodded his head.
Have I gone insane too? The thought popped out and she realized he and Akuem heard it. A slight frown relayed Taihven’s hurt feelings.
You are fine. This is all real! But, we can go back now.
He released his hand from Akuem. Then he removed from a pocket the crystal set which he invoked the greenish fogs that swirled about them. Again he gripped her hands.
This time the castle infirmary appeared within a heartbeat.
Letandra snatched her hands from him as he fell back into the sheets and into the pillows of his bed exhausted. Taihven only watched her as she bolted out and shut the door hard behind her.
She dashed down the hall and made a beeline for her bed chamber.
Letandra spent the rest of the afternoon in thought and indecision. The episode was hard to comprehend and it rocked her sense of true reality.