by Tenaya Jayne
"Yes. Do I look all right?"
"Perfect."
"Dad, have you seen Ithiel this morning?" Syrus asked.
"Not in the last hour, but I know he's here somewhere."
"I better go find him." Syrus kissed Forest bracingly. "I'll see you out there."
She watched Syrus absorb into the crowd.
"Come on." Zeren took her by the hand and towed her through the movement, out into the main courtyard.
The newly structured stage loomed before her. Her pulse tripped as she looked out over the size of the gathering crowd. The streets of Paradigm surged with people moving upward toward the castle. In a few minutes, she would stand shoulder to shoulder with Zeren, her father, and the rest of the Rune-dy, and the remaining members of Fortress' high council. The people would finally learn about the new structure of their world and see their combined leaders. There would be trouble and disagreements, skirmishes and dissention, but as Forest looked to the future, she saw only hope.
The gathering crowd packed in, every race mixing and standing together. She raised her head and looked out at them, unafraid and unashamed.
Epilogue
Forest rose with the sunrise. Syrus was already up and had her breakfast waiting. Their mornings weren’t filled with chatter. They both readied for their days of work, touching each other whenever they passed.
So little time had passed in this newness of life, but Forest knew it would hold. Syrus would be with her for the rest of her life, and that alone was all she needed to be happy. They headed out of the house at the same time, Syrus locking the door behind him.
"Have you passed the legislation yet, lifting the ban on human goods?" he asked.
"It goes through next week. Why?"
"Well, Madam Hailemarris, you can't be a law breaker yourself. If anyone ever found out about the stuff in our house, it would cause a scandal."
Forest giggled. "Yeah. You're right. Do you have any new masters coming in today?"
"Tomorrow. Ithiel and I are prepping for them today."
He caught her chin in his hand at the gate and kissed her, looking deeply in her eyes with his new clear sight.
"Don't do that hypnotic stuff with those eyes when I'm leaving for work. It's not fair. Save it for the bedroom tonight."
He chuckled and kissed her again. "Just making sure you haven't grown immune to me."
She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and bit down. He groaned and crushed her against him. "Now you're not playing fair," he accused.
"Just making sure you haven't grown immune to me." She threw his words back at him with a saucy smile.
They passed through the gate and walked off in different directions. "I'll be home in time for S'mores," he called over his shoulder.
"Love you."
"Love you back."
The End
Verdant
The Legends of Regia
Book Three
By
Tenaya Jayne
Prologue
Forest walked through the Onyx Castle's main entrance, a plain file clasped in her hands. She smiled at the security ogres and made her way down to the throne room. She peeked inside. Empty. It seemed like no one was ever in there. The thrones still stood in their usual places, but it was more of a museum now than a functional space.
Zeren was working hard to figure out how to transform the castle into a place that met the needs of the people. His efforts so far had gone largely unnoticed as the people, especially the vampires, had hardly wrapped their heads around the fact that they no longer had a king. But he pressed on, as did all of the new leaders.
Forest smiled to herself as she continued on her mission. She wasn't there to see Zeren, even though she'd have to find him and give him a hug before she went back to work, but she knew the castle was where she was most likely to find Redge. She really hoped the proposal in her hands was good enough to entice him to work for her full-time. If he hesitated or turned her down, she was willing to sweeten the deal in almost any way he wanted, and she wasn't above begging.
In the past months that Forest had come into her position as Hailemarris, Redge had proved, many times over, his usefulness to her as an investigator. She needed him to lead her growing forensics team.
"Hey, Merhl," she called as she spotted the young ogre at the end of the hall. "Is Redge here today?"
Merhl walked up to her and gave a little bow. "A pleasure to see you, lady, as always. Redge is out today. Would you care to see Zeren instead?"
Forest gave him a warm smile. "Do you know where he is?"
"In the memorial chamber, my lady."
Forest frowned. She knew Fortress castle like the back of her hand, but she never spent much time in the Onyx castle, save for the short stint she lived there, but that had been very short. If she had ever set foot in the memorial chamber, she didn't remember it.
"Forgive the imposition, Merhl, but would you escort me there? I've no idea where it is." She stood next to him and took ahold of his massive forearm.
Merhl smiled and blushed under his mottled copper skin. "No imposition."
He led her down a level and through a length of winding halls to an ancient and ornate door.
"Here we are. It is customary to whisper in the memorial chamber out of respect for the dead."
"Thanks for the heads up."
Merhl looked down at her hand still on his arm, focusing on her ring. "Is that…?"
"Yes. It's the End of the Bridge you made special for me. I had the idea of turning it into a ring. Dead useful. I use it all the time. I can't thank you enough."
"I'm happy to have been of service, my lady…and again I'm so sorry for—"
"No more of that, Merhl. It wasn't your fault," she said sternly.
He blushed again and looked at the floor. Forest wondered if he'd ever forgive himself for being victimized and tricked into releasing Leith.
"Thank you." He kissed her hand and walked off with slumped shoulders.
Forest made a mental note to tell her father to send Merhl more commissions. She pushed the heavy door open. Its hinges groaned forebodingly like a sound effect in a movie. Theatrical indeed, she thought as she stepped into the dark, torch-lit room. Stone walls stood in front of her and stretched sideways the length of the room. Names were carved into the stone. Touching sentiments like eulogies celebrated some. There were occasional carvings and likenesses of the deceased. The dancing firelight gave the carved faces a lifelike movement.
"Zeren?" She tried to keep her voice down.
"I'm back here," his voice came over the wall.
Forest moved to the end of the wall and found another row and then another before finding her father-in-law. Zeren was looking hard at a bare spot, thumping his finger against his lips. He looked up and beamed at her.
"Hey, there's my girl. I wasn't expecting to see you today… Oh dear, did I miss a meeting?"
Forest chuckled. "Don't worry. You didn't miss anything. I just stopped by to see Redge."
Zeren narrowed his eyes at her and glanced at the file in her hand. "What are you up to?"
"I was going to offer him a job."
Zeren groaned. "Not Redge! You've already taken too many of my staff. He'll never accept, just wait and see."
"Care to wager on it?"
He snorted. "No, thank you."
He held his arms out for her. Forest laid her cheek against his chest as he hugged her tight.
"I've never been in here. What are you contemplating so hard?"
"Oh, this is the memorial wall for all the past queens. I assume Christiana is still alive, wherever she is, but she may as well be dead…and being as unpopular as she was, well, I think if I don't put her up soon, I never will and I don't know who else would go to the trouble…and she was the queen after all. I don't figure on gushing, just something simple and to the point." He shrugged. "I feel obligated. It doesn't offend you, does it?"
Forest shook her head. "No. I wouldn't h
ave Syrus if it weren't for her. I can honor her memory for that, if nothing else."
Zeren patted her shoulder. "Would you look at some of the other ones and give me an idea whose I might copy? In size and style, I mean."
"I can look for a few minutes, but I need to get back to work before long."
"Thanks." He turned back to the blank space and resumed thumping his finger against his lips.
Forest wandered down the wall, looking at the dead queens’ memorials. It was easy to pick out the ones who were loved. And the ones who were hated.
The torchlight glinted off something shiny at the end, drawing Forest's attention. The memorial was carved in great detail. A twisted crown of branches with an inlaid iridescent stone in the center crowned the head of the woman. The similarity of the face to one she held dear, was striking. Then she read the inscription, her mind stumbling.
Queen Shi. My only and forever love. My true queen. No one could ever compare to you. When I die, may my soul find yours again. –King Leramiun
"What the fraz?" Forest mumbled, reading the inscription over again.
"Find anything interesting?" Zeren asked.
"That's an understatement."
"Huh?"
Forest pulled her smart phone out of her pocket and took a picture of the memorial. "I'm sorry, I've got to go. Something's come up."
Forest rushed out of the memorial chamber and turned her ring into her palm, so the End of the Bridge rested in her hand, thinking of the wolf's wood, as a portal opened for her. Forest landed flat on her feet in the wood, the portal closing behind her.
She waited, giving Shi a moment to notice her presence and read what was in her mind. Forest sighed when Shi didn't come out and address her.
"Lucy, you've got some 'splaining to do," she called up through the branches of the trees in a decent impression of Desi Arnaz. "It's a helluva thing to find out you've been deceived for so many years, by someone you love…come on, Shi. Come out and talk to me. I'm not leaving until you do."
Forest walked a little. Shi remained quiet. "There's a real twist in the plot of the history you told me. Something major you left out. I've got a picture of a queen's memorial, inscribed by the hand of King Leramiun. Want to see it?"
Shi appeared right in front of her, an aghast look on her face. Forest pulled her phone out and held it up for Shi to see. Shi came closer, looking at it intently.
"Funny how you told me about the crimes of the evil King Leramiun, and how much you hate him, never once did you tell me you were mated to him. That's quite a juicy detail to leave out…I mean, what the hell, Shi!" Forest yelled. "You were the queen! How did you end up mated to the vampire king who killed your entire race? I thought you hated him!"
Shi's eyes moved from the small screen onto Forest's face. Her eyes widened as ghost tears pooled on her eyelids, and her bottom lip quivered.
"I…hate, yes," Shi said breathlessly. "But only because I loved him so much." Shi shook her head and cast her eyes to the ground. "I can't talk about it." She pressed her hand against her chest. "It hurts so much…even now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth, but I felt if I never said the words aloud, I could convince myself reality wasn't real. The lie was for my benefit, not yours."
For a moment she looked closely at the picture again before gasping and turning away.
"You didn't know about the memorial, did you?" Forest asked.
Shi shook her head. "No…I didn't know."
"The carving is not that good of a likeness. I could tell it was you, but…well you saw the picture."
Shi turned back to face Forest. She held her twig-like arms up. "I didn't look quite as I do now when I was alive. The likeness is accurate."
Forest's mouth fell open. "What did you look like? Show me."
Shi shook her head. "Be content with the picture."
"No way! You've got to show me! You've got to tell me what really happened."
Shi walked away. Forest followed. "I don't think I can. I haven't the courage to say the words."
"I'm not leaving until I get the truth from you. You owe me that. Remember all those years when I was young, and I'd come here, and we'd do nothing but verbally bash vampires? Then for me to learn this."
"You mated your own vampire," Shi threw at her.
"Yeah, so? I didn't try to hide it from you. Was Leramiun your Destined Life Mate?"
"No." Shi stopped walking and looked up through the trees.
Forest crossed her arms and stared at her. Shi glanced down at her then averted her eyes.
"Quit stalling and spill it."
"I can't…I can't."
"I swear, Shi. You start talking or I'm going to sing."
A shudder swept over Shi. "Please don't! This wood has suffered too many crimes as it is without your caterwauling."
"Then talk."
Shi looked at her desperately.
"Suck it up, buttercup. Put your big girl panties on."
"All right, come with me," Shi said resigned.
She wrapped her branchy arms around Forest and swept her up and through the wood to the waterfalls. It wasn't the first time Shi had physically moved her from one side of the wood to the other in her uncanny, ghostly way, but Forest never liked the sensation. Shi dropped her on the sand and walked to the edge of the silvery violet water.
"Look," she said, leaning over the bank.
Forest stood beside her and glanced down. "My, my," she said quietly looking at Shi's reflection. "That's what you looked like when you were alive?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's no wonder you were the queen. Quite the Helen of Troy."
"What?" Shi asked.
Forest smiled at her. "You were gorgeous! I mean, you still are, but you didn't look like a walking tree back then."
Shi half smiled. "No. When I was in my corporeal form, I just looked like an ordinary woman."
Forest looked back at the reflection and snorted. "Yeah, real ordinary. You were breathtaking."
"That's what Ler used to think, too."
"Ler, huh? Okay, you've got to tell me now."
Shi groaned and walked off toward the Heart. Forest watched her from the side of her eye as she kept pace. Shi looked exhausted. She ghosted through the dense foliage of the ribcage while Forest struggled against the overgrowth. The pain of approaching the Heart began to pull in Forest's core.
"Why are we getting so close to the Heart?" Forest asked. "You know I can't stand to approach it."
"I'm taking you to where my memories live…I have to show you. I can't stand to tell you. I'm likely to stretch the truth. I can't tell you in an unbiased way. And this way, you can see Leramiun's memories as well."
The dancing flames of the manifestation dazzled Forest's eyes, as it always did. She was happy to see the flames were not as black as the last time she'd seen them. They were a smoky gray. The leaves of the crystal trees circling the flame chimed in the breeze, a melancholy tune, in line with the Heart's mood. Forest tried not to listen, but the notes sank deep inside her, bringing her mood parallel to the Heart's.
Forest hissed in pain and stopped walking. "I can't get any closer, Shi."
"Just wait here then."
Forest watched Shi move toward the flame with no idea what she was about to do. Shi stopped next to one of the crystal trees and laid her hand on its trunk before bending over and lifting a handful of shadow sand from around the tree's roots. She brought it back to Forest, the grains slipping quickly through her insubstantial fingers.
"Take it, before I lose it all."
Forest cupped her hands under Shi's and caught the sand.
"You want the truth, sniff that."
"What?!"
"Suck the sand up your nose."
"No freakin’ way! You want me to trip out on shadow sand? Have you lost your mind?"
Shi shrugged. "Do it or don't. I don't care. It's the only way you'll get the story out of me."
"How?"
"This sand
has sat, guarded in my roots, for centuries. It holds my memories."
Forest looked at her dubiously for a moment and then over to the crystal tree she took the sand from. "That's you?" she asked, pointing at the tree.
"Yes."
"I thought your tree was farther out. I thought it was the one I fell asleep against as a youth, when you first appeared to me."
"No, that was just where I was resting that day."
Forest looked back at the sand in her hand. "You said I could see Leramiun's memories, too. How is that possible?"
"Because…" Shi closed her eyes, pain clear on her face. "This is where he died."
"What? How did—"
"Stop asking me questions, Forest! Just take the sand."
Forest grimaced at the sand. "Man, I do not want to do this," she whined.
"Suck it up, buttercup," Shi said mockingly.
Forest shot her a dirty look, held a finger to one of her nostrils, and sucked the sand up her nose. For one second, nothing happened, and then she fell on her hands and knees, her head twisting in a knot. The ground shook under her, the surface sliding away, as Forest looked up into a very different wood than the one that had just been. Forest stood up, the Dryads moving around her. She backed up and watched history unfold before her eyes, knowledge of details of the time filling her head like a digital download. The rest manifested before her as though she watched a stage of players.
Chapter 1
The Dryads kept to themselves, aloof and arrogant. They were the chosen children of the Heart. Consecrated to protect and serve the wood and the flame that burned in the center. A race divided into three classes: breeders, warriors, and the Verdant. The Verdant, twenty princess trees circling the heart, existed to minister and commune with the flame, their roots pierced deep into the heart of the world. Protected from all the other races, the Verdant naïvely thought Dryads were alone in the world. The warriors held the perimeter of the wood, fighting off others in their corporeal form, never leaving a survivor to tell of what they encountered.