by A. Wrighton
Through her window, the sun started its descent casting shadows about her like gray fingers itching to nestle her face. Soon, the Lythgorian High Runics would arrive for a formal negotiation and alliance. And, he still had no answer from Creitall. Alaister had to leave soon. He should have left an hour ago, but he could not leave without checking on Kalyna. He traced her soft face with his fingers relaxing in the warmth her breath gave his hands, and as the moments past, he remained.
In the rawest sense, he was hers and she his. They had shed blood together in battle – there was no closer bond for a Dragonic. The concept settled Alaister and steeled his nerves unlike prayer or ale could. Surprisingly, he found a peacefulness in it all. He closed his eyes. Relaxed.
“Alaister?”
His eyes flashed open to find Kalyna a breath from his face, staring at him in bewildered awe. “Yes, Kaly.”
“You’re alright?”
“Yes,” He stammered, a smile lurking beneath. “Thanks to you.”
“Of course.”
Alaister clenched onto Kalyna’s hands; his grip was firm and dared to be obeyed. “No, really Kal. Thank you,” he said.
“It was Jaxin’s idea.”
“I heard.”
“Is he—”
“He’s fine.”
“No,” she said abruptly. “I know that. Where is he though?”
Alaister shook his head mesmerized by her assured declaration. “The canyon I’d imagine. Kal… Kaly…”
Kalyna scooted closer to Alaister. Her copper eyes possessed an unusual mottling of orange and steel blue flecks in them that Alaister had never noticed before. She stared at him only long enough to smile and bury her head under his chin with an embracing hug. He struggled to react to her.
“Your heart—”
“Is fine,” Alaister finished.
“It sounds different.”
“You’re half asleep, Kaly.” He laughed and kissed her forehead. “Get back to dreaming. I have to go to Knall before the Lythgorian High Runics land and—”
Kalyna jerked up. “They’re actually coming here?”
“Aye.” He watched her toil over the implications. He had not seen her as visibly conflicted with one exception. “Kal, I am sorry about what I said before—”
“Do not speak of it. It only makes me—”
“Kal. Kaly, I—”
“I know. Please just leave it at that. I know.” She paused and nodded softly. “And, know that I do too.”
Their lips met and savored what was almost lost. Alaister did not repel when her lips grew overly warm; he pressed harder and lost his hands in a tangle of long hair. When they did break, they stared in silent reverie for what they knew could not be outside the Den walls – yet.
There were steps to be taken. People to win over.
“Knall,” Alaister sighed.
“I’m coming with you.”
Alaister started to protest, but Kalyna was already upright and behind the washroom's dividing panel, behind which she expertly stepped into her white gown and fidgeted close a black corset.
He sighed and gathered her green cloak. “Hurry up, then...”
“Jaxin is on the Ledge waiting,” Kalyna said as she emerged.
Alaister looked at Kalyna slightly dejected and amused. He had assumed, or deeply known, the same truth as well. He had never been so certain of a fact before, and how he came to the conclusion was aside. A sense of primal impatience had washed over him the moment Kalyna first mentioned Jaxin. And, Alaister craved the open air – he yearned for a chase. He knew, beyond doubt, that Jaxin did too and, from her uneasy pacing and frequent window checking, Kalyna felt it as well.
“You sense it, don’t you?” he asked.
Kalyna froze at his unusual forwardness. “I should’ve expected it really. I have it with Arwen.”
“Have what, Kaly?”
“A link – a bond. I can sense her moods…her thoughts… her needs. And now, Jaxin and—”
“And me,” Alaister rocked back on his heels. “I feel it too.”
They stared at each other in awkwardly matched silence.
“So, I guess there’ll be no more breaking rules without you knowing right away?”
Alaister smiled and laughed.
“It’s weird but exhilarating, isn’t it?” Kalyna asked.
“Yes and—”
“Odd,” Kalyna finished.
They met in a smile, giggling at their newfound perceptions until a roar pierced the morning sky. Jaxin. Their gazes snapped to the Mounting Ledge.
“Jaxin hates waiting, so I suggest we move quickly.”
Kalyna dashed out of her room and sprinted down the corridor. “Catch me if you can, Dragonic!”
CREITALLI PALACE
INNER RING, KNALL CITY, CREITALL
“Your Majesty, if you’d just listen—”
King Alderon Lynde laughed. “Do you have any idea what your presence here could imply, should anyone find you? Have I not suffered enough – have my wife and daughters not suffered enough for you, Alaister Paine?”
Kalyna bit her lip and turned her eyes to the massive and gold-framed walls of the Reception Room. She failed to keep her eyes fixated on something long enough to discern its beauty– her eyes danced from painting, to light fixture, to vase, to flower arrangement, to sofa, to princess, to Queen, and then to the intricately woven and brightly colored floral pattern on the floor rug. In the expansive and lavish room, even Alaister seemed smaller.
“My Lord—”
“Save it, Paine. Be gone and take your whore with you.”
“She is not—”
Kalyna’s eyes jerked to the aging King. From the portrait in the halls, she knew that Alderon Lynde had once been handsome, but the man before her was not the same Alderon as the paintings – unless, he had aged terribly in the months since his daughter’s death. While Alaister felt a flight of pity for him, Kalyna found no deep sympathy for King Lynde’s loss. All suffered because of the Council. Especially her – and Kalyna’s losses far outweighed Alderon’s.
“It’s all right, Alaister,” Kalyna said reaching for his elbow. “Let us leave. He will not have any of it today.”
“Or any day. You think you can just flap in here and have an audience? There are customs, Lass – rules!”
Kalyna froze mid-turn and bit hard on her lip. She fought to control the singe of heat in her skin that she knew reflected as a red ember glow in her eyes. She swallowed, exhaled, and faced the frail King. “I did not know the Creitalli Crown was much for customs and rules, your Majesty, especially when they broke a promise of good faith and honor given to Kai Paine over the welfare and security of a helpless child.”
For once, Alaister did not reprimand Kalyna. Instead, he softly touched her elbow to offer comfort and precaution. He knew how she reacted when upset and he had only seen her upset over trivial matters. Now, the King spoke of her family – or lack thereof. Alaister lingered on her skin relieved to find that she was not burning hot, just warm.
“What did you say, Lass?”
“I said, your Majesty, that if you really did follow customs and rules, you never would have left that child in an orphanage. I know you know what they do to girls in there – you have to – you have three!”
Unnoticed, Queen Carra and Princess Chloe entered the Reception Room and approached. The Queen stood as strong and proud as ever; only her stagnant frown revealed her mood. “Two,” Queen Carra said.
Kalyna curtsied. “Forgive me, your Majesty. I speak in anger.”
“No Lass, you are correct.” The Queen turned to Alaister and afforded a soft smile. “Alaister – it is so good to see you, though you should not have come.”
“I come only with urgent matters on hand, your Highness.”
“And, my husband will hear nothing of it, I am sure.”
“Appears not, your Highness.”
The Queen nodded and approached her husband. She rested her hands on his forearms
and her head on his shoulder. There was a silence that expressed visual and emotional pain between the pair. The Queen looked at Chloe, a colorful fly on the back walls, and whispered in the King’s ear. Alderon grumbled. Queen Carra looked to her middle daughter with pleading eyes.
Chloe approached Alaister and Kalyna and met her father’s stare. “Father, please. Perhaps we should listen. Just let him speak.”
Alderon blinked. “Speak then Paine, but do your best to silence your whore.”
“She – your Majesty – is the reason I am here.”
Chloe noticed first. The same deep flaxen waves she could scarcely place as a real memory danced in front of her on the head of the woman beside Alaister Paine. Chloe had always thought Alaister handsome, but beside the gilded hair of the strange woman, he was princely. They shone together and her copper eyes were eyes Chloe remembered though failed to place. Chloe inched forward and stared further into Kalyna, who blankly stared back, her thin brows arched with curious recognition. Chloe gasped. She was with the golden mane she had loved to run behind when Carissa chased her around the garden.
“It’s you, isn’t it?” Chloe asked.
The Queen snapped her eyes to Kalyna and finally surveyed Alaister’s companion. She choked on a gasp and sob as she ran to Kalyna, forgetting propriety and crown. Queen Carra embraced Kalyna and held her fiercely to her chest. “Forgive me,” Carra whispered. “Me and my daughters.”
Words failed. Kalyna did not have an answer. The possibility of one eluded. She merely hugged back until she felt the strength of the Queen’s hug subside, allowing her to step back.
“What is your name, child?”
“Kalyna.”
“Kalyna…?”
“I do not know….”
“Of course. Oh Watcher, I am glad you are still alive.”
“Thank you.”
Alderon stepped closer to Kalyna, inspecting the flaxen hair and proud frame. She was by far taller than his youngest and taller than most women in his realm were. And, she was inexplicably beautiful. Something dangerous flitted about the copper expanse of her eyes and though her smile was genuine, she commanded a spot of awe and fear.
“You found her,” said Alderon.
Alaister nodded. “Yes.”
“She is the one they wrote of? In the Prophecy?”
Kalyna hesitated and opened her mouth to speak, but Alaister silenced her with a gentle squeeze on the forearm. He smiled at Kalyna, then Alderon. “She must be. She’s a Full Moon Runic.”
Chloe was the only Lynde who did not gasp. She cocked her strawberry blonde head to the side and scoffed. “I thought they were… evil,” Chloe said.
Kalyna flinched. “Some were… I am not. I stand with the Rogues.”
“Then, you’re a fool.”
“Alderon!”
“My love, logic demands prominence in this conversation. Paine, I know what you are asking, and we cannot give it. I stand by your foolish Cause in my heart, but I have lost enough. I have suffered enough. I have nothing more to spare for the Cause. Don’t you understand? I have been wiped clean. It is done. Creitall cannot help you, Alaister Paine. See them out, my love. Swiftly now. Watcher keep you and yours, Alaister Paine.”
Alaister remained silently paused until he saluted King Lynde and nodded Kalyna towards the Queen.
Once they entered the green hallway and Chloe shut the doors to Alderon’s view, Queen Lynde spoke.
“Are you really a Full Moon Runic, Kalyna?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“And, you believe in their Cause – you want to help people who stood by and let your Kind be murdered because they realized too late that it was wrong?”
Kalyna swallowed a hard lump in her throat. Alaister could not look at her. He was unsure of her answer, but it was as valid a question as Kalyna could ever be asked. It was exactly what he was asking Kalyna to do. While the Rogues did stand in opposition and stop some of the massacres, they did it late and with little effect. Certainly, it was more than what the people who were able to help, did. They had said nothing. They had all stood and watched the Runics be taken away to slaughter. And now, they asked her to save them – save those souls who did nothing but watch her Kind die.
Kalyna looked out the hall window. She leaned against the frame and tousled the emerald drapes. They were just as heavy and cold as she remembered. She could almost see Mylfina out there again, her magnificent purple chest glistening in the moonlight – Kai’s promise remained transfixed in her memory. “Yes. I have to – it is what is right and just. It is what must be done.”
The Queen nodded before looking over both shoulders. “What I show you is to remain between the Lynde women and the Rogues.” She gestured Alaister and Kalyna to her side before opening a small, hidden door. “Understood?”
Kalyna and Alaister nodded and stepped through the doorway after Chloe. With a final glance behind, the Queen shut the door. The darkness consumed and before the Queen could reach for the unlit wall torch, Kalyna kindled a gentle, blue flame in her palm. Queen Carra’s gasp morphed into a giggle.
Chloe inspected the fire with a quick swipe of her hand. “Beautiful,” Chloe whispered, her grin wide. Kalyna’s fire was hot. Real – it burned like any other fire.
Kalyna nodded and looked to the Queen. She strode forward taking Kalyna’s elbow in hers and guided them through a hard earthen tunnel and around periodic extensions of Mravgoth roots into the passageway.
“This tunnel has existed long before I came to live here,” Queen Carra said. “I believe it was the craftings of either a frightened or bored soul. Regardless, it will serve our purpose.”
“Your Highness?” Alaister asked, breaking his thought-flowing silence.
“Alderon grieves. He doesn’t know what he speaks of – and while some of what he has said is quite true – you must know the Creitalli Crown believes in the Rogues and their Cause. While we cannot support you publically, know that you will always have Sanctuary here. This tunnel is known only by my girls, myself, and now you. Use it as you will, but smartly. I entrust you both with this knowledge.”
“Thank you, your Highness.”
“Thank you,” Kalyna said hesitantly.
Carra smiled before taking Alaister’s shoulders in her frail hands. Her grip was unusually strong, motherly. “I must also tell you that should – no – when others align with the Rogues publicly, we will answer the call. We have no defenses aside from the Council’s and cannot take that risk without promise of support. Provide us with that through allies and we will make our stand. The Council relies on us for commerce, Alaister. They will fall without us, but for now, we cannot stand without them.”
“Try Pyran,” Chloe said.
Alaister looked at Chloe, whose face had grown older since his visit a short while prior. She was fiercely pert and sweepingly majestic like her mother, and a little more toughened up than her sisters. Chloe was a force waiting to be recognized – just waiting to be reckoned with.
Chloe nodded at Alaister’s blank face. “Try Pyran. They have the naval ships and the hatred. At least they can act upon it.”
Queen Carra sent a scalding look to her daughter before squeezing Alaister’s shoulder with a comforting touch. “I’ll send a note to Queen Maille, but I cannot promise a welcome reception, Alaister.”
“You are doing more than I could ask or hope for.”
“I owe it to your father… and you.”
“Thank you, your Highness.”
Queen Carra rose to her tiptoes and kissed Alaister’s forehead, as she had since he was a toddler playing with her daughters in the garden. She then turned to Kalyna, who entertained Chloe at the tunnel’s dead end with a flaring flame in her palm. The girls noticed the Queen’s attentive gaze and faced her. Chloe shrugged sheepishly, slinking back towards her mother’s side.
“Words cannot express how deeply sorry I am for anything that may have befallen you Kalyna—”
“Please,
your Highness—”
“You must know that if I could do it again – even if it could not bring back my darling Carissa – I would have kept you so near, darling girl. Never again will I betray those who have never betrayed me and mine. Wind with you – both.” The Queen pushed at a black slab of rock at the tunnel’s end. There was a soft rumble as a door shifted out of the wall, allowing sunlight to slither into the tunnel. “Chloe, lead them the rest of the way. Show them the shadows, and for Listener’s sake, come back immediately after.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Pleased, Carra nodded, took a nearby torch, and lit it from Kalyna’s palm before disappearing back up the tunnel. They watched until she was nothing more than a shiver in the shadows.
“Here’s to not being noticed,” Chloe said as she pushed outside the tunnel and into the sunlight, Kalyna and Alaister following close behind. They emerged in the Mravgoth-flooded Swamps atop a mostly dry piece of land that wobbled and bobbed in the water.
“You’re in the Truskeele Swamp.”
“I know this… I used to play here!”
Chloe half-frowned but nodded, the weight of why Kalyna knew the area punishing her shoulders and heart. “Then, this will be easy. You go east – no longer than a few minutes and you will find a circle of old trees. Turn south and walk until you can walk no further. You can summon your Beast there. Do not contact my parents, Alaister – They are being watched and their hands are tied. But, should you need Creitall… I will leave my window and eyes open. The re-entry latch is beneath the berry bush.” Chloe pointed to the bramble-consumed shrub to her right. With an eager grin, Chloe marched eastward. “Come. I’ll show you.”
Alaister jogged after her quick pace, Kalyna in tow, and gently stopped the Princess’ forward movement. “Chloe, I cannot ask you—”
“No, but I can tell you.”
“Chloe…”
“Not today, Alaister Paine. Today, you will listen to me.”
Kalyna hid a smile.