Linked

by K. R. Fajardo

  “You are so right,” Mallok winked, smiling to himself as the young girl blushed and ducked back behind her friends.

  “But it doesn’t need fire, fire will destroy it,” one boy boasted loudly.

  “Ahhh, but what is our sun made up of?”

  “Fire,” he answered, slumping back down.

  “And is it not this fire that lights our world and keeps us warm? And without the sun, would life in our world even be possible?”

  “No, your majesty.”

  “But the sun is far away,” a little girl chimed in. “And fire on the planet doesn’t create things, it burns everything it touches.”

  “Yes, it is true that fire burns things,” Mallok replied, turning the branch back into a chunk of wood. He then pressed it between the palms of his hands and concentrated on forcing as much heat into the wood as he could. “But not all things are just burned away with fire,” he continued as he held up a piece of charcoal, “some things can be transformed.”

  “But it’s just charcoal,” a boy laughed.

  “Yes, it is.” Mallok smiled, reclosing his hands around the lump of charcoal. Once again he began reheating and pressing until both his hands were a glowing swirl of red and orange. The children fell silent, mouths agape as they watched the intense heat grow. After a few minutes, he let the heat dissipate and opened his palms to reveal a shiny white crystal.

  “What is it?” Henry asked studying the shiny object.

  “It’s a diamond,” Mallok answered. “A very rare and valuable stone, it’s one of the hardest substances in existence. Nothing can break or scratch a diamond, except another diamond.” Holding out his hand he placed the diamond in Henry’s palm. “Take it home to your mother and tell her I said to make you a ring with it. That way you will always have something to remind you that even fire can be used to make beautiful things.”

  Henry’s grin spread from ear to ear as he and the other kids gathered around the small diamond.

  “That’s enough for today, everyone,” Mrs. Brendall called out. “Class dismissed.” Kids whooped and yelled darting off in different directions to go spend the rest of the day in freedom. Mrs. Brendall turned, attempting to slip away unseen in the chaos.

  “Mrs. Brendall?”

  “Yes, your majesty,” she answered, visibly cringing.

  “Tell me, do you like your position here, Mrs. Brendall?”

  “Of course, your majesty,” she answered, nervously twisting her hands in front of her.

  “Then in the future can we please try to refrain from making our youth feel as if they have nothing to offer?” he asked bluntly. “It is our job as adults to teach and guide them into becoming wise and productive members of society. We do so by encouraging and nurturing each individual and their talents. Not by teaching them that their only purpose in this world is to become a harbinger of death and destruction.”

  “Your majesty, I do apologize,” Mrs. Brendall answered, eyes focused on the ground below. “The boy is just so rowdy and tests my nerves at times. I was angry when I said those things and regretted them immediately. I swear it will not happen again.”

  “Let’s see it doesn’t,” Mallok remarked, walking away. “And go visit with your mother. She probably has some good advice on how to deal with rowdy boys. She did teach Marko, after all, and he turned out fairly well.”

  “Yes, sir, right away.” Mrs. Brendall bowed. “And thank you for your assistance.”

  He waved a hand over his shoulder, smiling. He knew she would be earnest in her promise. Mrs. Brendall had taken over the palace teaching position only recently when her mother decided to retire after nearly fifty years. And though she was every bit as smart and intelligent of a woman as her mother had been, she was still young and lacked some of the finer discipline skills needed to deal with elemental children. But he had no doubt she would succeed in the end and was fairly confident that the lesson she learned today would be one she would not soon forget.

  Rounding a corner to exit the garden, Mallok was met by a familiar face waiting for him in the entry way to the palace. “Marko,” he yelled as he approached, “I met a charming young boy in the garden today, fire elemental, reminds me a lot of you at that age.”

  “Is that so?” Marko grinned. “Has he blown the door off the classroom yet?”

  Mallok laughed, “No, as far as I know you are still the only one to hold that honor. Though I venture to say I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  Ascending the stairs, Mallok passed by the young man and continued down the hall with him following close behind. “Have we heard any news?” he asked, changing the subject to the business at hand.

  “Jericho awaits you upstairs.”

  Frowning, Mallok stopped and turned back to the young man. “How long has he been here?”

  “Just arrived,” Marko answered plainly, fidgeting with the hilt of his sword. A tell-tale sign he had some news he didn’t want to deliver.

  “And?” Mallok frowned.

  “He brought the immortal.” Marko’s fidgeting increased.

  “And the girl, her link?”

  “He did not bring her.”

  Mallok narrowed his gaze. “Our deal was for them both, why would he return with only one?”

  “I think it would be best if Jericho explained that himself,” Marko sighed. “But I will say he looks like shit.”

  Mallok relax his stance and nodded. Together they walked the length of the entryway, then turned and began ascending the stairs. Reaching the top, they turned right down a hall and made their way to the infirmary. Inside Jericho sat in the corner with two other men. Upon seeing him, the three of them stood to great him. “By the stars,” Mallok grimaced as he watched the disheveled crew crawl to their feet. Their bright clothing was filthy and tattered, dark rings masked their eyes, and all three of them sported an assortment of visible cuts and bruises.

  “Your majesty,” Jericho said, bowing the best he could. He moved like a man with a few broken ribs.

  “Where is she?” Mallok’s frown deepened.

  Jericho motioned to the opposite side of the room. He walked slowly across the room, stopping beside a bed. “Are you sure it’s her?” he heard Marko ask behind him.

  “No doubt about it,” Jericho answered confidently. “Apparently Jaron had been trying to keep our paths from crossing for months. Then one day we made an unscheduled stop, and lo and behold we witness the pair of them going all at it in the arena. And she kicked his ass. Never seen anything like it in all my life.” Jericho frowned, shaking his head. “I almost backed out on you.”

  “It still doesn’t prove it’s her,” Marko argued.

  Mallok drew in a ragged breath. “It’s definitely her, I would recognize her no matter what mask she wore.” Turning his attention back to Jericho he asked, “What happened?”

  “We underestimated her,” he sighed, moving up beside him.

  Mallok glared at him as if he had lost his mind. “You underestimated her? What, are you completely daft? I told you who you were going after, what the hell did you expect?”

  “It wasn’t her I underestimated.” Jericho shrugged. “It was the girl, her Link.”

  “The Link? But she is just a Terrian.”

  “Yeah, that’s what we thought, too,” Jericho replied. “It was the damnedest thing. Girl sucker punched the guard, hit him square on the head with a chair and knocked him out cold. Then she fed the queen her blood and freed her from the bonds.”

  Mallok’s head snapped to attention. “Did you say the Link fed her own blood to her?”

  Jericho nodded weakly. “Needless to say, she was pissed about the whole kidnapping thing.” Jericho grimaced as he recalled the events. “When we found the two of them, the queen still looked weak, hell she could hardly stand, and since we had drained her completely and she obviously hadn’t fed that much from the girl, we attempted to subdue her.” He paused, rubbing a hand over his battered face. “You can see how that went.”

&
nbsp; “So how did you finally manage to regain control?”

  “We didn’t, lost three men trying. Finally we surrendered and struck up a deal instead.”

  Mallok groaned, running a hand down his face. He knew where this was going. “She agreed to come, if you sent the girl back.”

  “Yep, that was the gist of it. We wouldn’t have gotten even that if it wasn’t for the fact we had already inserted the binding crystal. Once she found out we couldn’t remove it, she agreed to come peacefully in exchange for the girl’s freedom.”

  “You fool,” Marko shouted, clenching his fists angrily. “The girl will tell the other’s what happened. They will come here looking for her!”

  Electrical currents radiated off Marko’s tensed form, forcing Jericho to step away, waving his hands in front of him. “No, we have a Seer in our group with the ability to block. We blocked the girl’s memory so she doesn’t remember anything about her abduction or our camp.”

  Mallok looked down on the sleeping form on the bed. “And how did you get her to sleep?”

  “Part of the negotiation. We agreed to take back the girl, after her memory was wiped, and she agreed to let us down her for the travel. She should wake up in a day or two.”

  It was all too much, but then again he had known it wasn’t going to be simple. Nothing involving her ever was. “Marko, take our guests to eat and shower. They will rest here tonight and in the morning pay them so they can be on their way.”

  “Come along then.” Marko grumbled, motioning for Jericho and his men to follow.

  “Thank you, my lord.” Jericho bowed, then he and his men followed Marko from the room.

  Mallok waited until he was sure he was alone, then moved forward to get a closer look at the woman who had consumed his every waking thought for the last thirty years. Placing a hand to the center of his chest, he could feel the rough edges of the scar hidden beneath his clothes. “What happened to us, Kahjoul?” he sighed. “We could have been so happy together.”

  Reaching down he brushed a stray piece of hair from her face. Despite everything Jericho had described, she appeared fairly unscathed. He wanted so badly to remove her mask, to see her as the woman he had grown to love over the centuries, but he wouldn’t. He made a promise to her long ago, way before Vanteria and Lanoria had existed, and before the division of the races had forced them to be apart, that he would never remove it without her permission. So despite their differences at the moment, he would respect their agreement.

  “Sir,” a guard called from behind him, “the room has been prepared.”

  “Is it how I requested?”

  “Exactly, my lord.”

  “Thank you, Will,” Mallok sighed. “She will be here for a while. I would like to make her as comfortable as possible.”

  “Of course.”

  “And what of the other matter?”

  “The Council members have all been notified you found her and the first of them should arrive within the next few days.”

  Mallok heaved a heavy sigh and moved back toward the door. “Notify the entire kingdom that soon representatives of each race will be in town and will be staying for a while. We need to have all our affairs in order before they arrive.”

  “Of course, right away.” Will bowed as he passed by. “But what do you want me to do with her?”

  Mallok laughed heartily as he continued into the hall. “Get her to that room as soon as you can. Because once she wakes up and finds out the Council is coming she’s going to rip this place to shreds.”

  Will looked back into the room at the sleeping figure. He didn’t understand what the big deal was. She doesn’t look so bad, he thought, tilting his head to the side.

  Almost on cue, Mallok called back, “Don’t be fooled by the pretty face, Will.” He turned, grinning back at the wide-eyed guard. “That woman will eat you alive.”

  About the Author

  K.R. Fajardo (Kelli) is a married mother with 3 children who lives in East Texas and works part-time as an IMC nurse. She loves chocolate, Dr. Pepper, 80’s music, and anything paranormal. Her favorite way to unwind after a long, hard day is to kick up her feet and immerse herself into the fantastical world of a good book. But when her youngest child started school several years ago, Kelli suddenly found herself with a large amount of extra time on her hands for the first time in over fifteen years. For a short time, she considered going back to college and obtaining her master’s degree, but swiftly decided that was not the path for her at the moment. Instead she decided this was the opportunity she had been waiting for to pursue her long time passion in writing, and after a year of hard work and stumbling through the process, she self-published K: The Awakening. Now a member of Anchor Group Publishing, Kelli is excited to continue to pursue her dream and to keep sharing the stories that until now have lived only in her imagination.

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