by Lisa E Parry
“I did not send this scum,” the King interrupted with distaste. I remembered Cheri telling me that the King had asked for help after I had delivered the message from Anarch. I saw it dawn on Cheri at the same moment.
“Never attack a necromancer, witch,” Anarch said with venom that made Cheri’s face pale. Anarch looked to the King. “We are leaving.” Then he turned to me. “Think over our offer and I shall visit you soon.” His eyes flashed, and he transformed into a sleek-furred black panther. Etheldreda curled a lock of hair around her finger and gave the King an arch glance that spoke volumes before turning on her heel. She walked out with Anarch padding along at her side.
Uncontrolled rage ripped through me at the betrayal. I thought he was a good guy and when the time came I would have helped him when he needed it; but now I was going to live in fear of when he would show his face again. I will be used for ill deeds again! I shouldn’t have come… It’s Henrik all over again! I can’t do it, not again, not again!
I began to shake when I heard someone say my name. I saw Adhelm stand before me and then I slowly lowered myself to the ground. My vision turned green and power burned through me so strongly that green flames burst into life and engulfed me, licking my arms, my body and legs. I slammed the floor with my fist in rage. It came away bloody. I was losing myself to uncontrollable rage…
“Control it!” I shook my head at the voice. I can’t. I wanted to disappear and the flames roaring around me did just that. The air I breathed in became hotter and hotter. I coughed and struggled to breathe in afterwards. Am I losing control?
I needed help. “I can’t! I can’t!!” I couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in my ears and I writhed on the floor in a ball of flames. I was losing myself. How is this happening?
Someone took my arms and shook me, but then the hands slid up and down my arms and I recognised the gesture. Dorian had used it the first time he touched me with deep emotions and told me he loved me. I looked through the flames to see his stone-grey eyes wracked with worry, if not fright. I had never seen that look on his face before and I knew I was frightening him. The magic began to ebb out of me in pulses until the flames died down and sound came back to me. I gripped his shoulders and then he pulled me to him when all the power was gone.
I took in deep gulps of air that burned my throat. Moments passed, and I finally looked around, as though waking from a dream. Only those from my own world now stood around me.
“Dorian, give me your hands,” Viola said in a shaky voice and I looked to see they were burnt to a crisp.
“Oh god!” I said. “Heal them quick!” His hands were black and blistered and his eyes rolled back in his head, but Warwick held him up and Viola began the healing process with an ultraviolet light.
“Heaven above,” the King groaned. I hadn’t seen him, but there he was kneeling close to me with Adhelm at his side.
“I thought we had lost you, my child.” Adhelm said softly. “I’m going to need to train you. Has this happened before?”
I numbly shook my head, “Not this bad.” Aidan’s personal guard flinched when I looked his way. Is everyone going to look at me like that now?
“Cheri, did you ever find out what was in that letter to our Council members from Anarch?” Dayna asked and hugged herself. What letter?
“No.” Cheri replied resolutely. “If the people that letter was addressed to are working for Anarch, then our world is already infiltrated.” She turned away. “If that’s the case, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they have closed the portal permanently behind us.”
“Can they do that? But Anarch will still need to get back to our world somehow. He wants ours as well, right?” Dayna asked. She was disbelieving, and looked ill.
“Anarch has his own way of tearing reality remember? Or I wouldn’t have met him in the first place. And yes, I believe that if we have turncoats then they would close it. Think about it… It’s too easy and I’m a fool. Look around…” Cheri outstretched her hand to include all of us. “We have left our own world poorly protected. They need us there. Anarch posed as a concerned member of this reality in order to get our most powerful people on this side.”
“Surely you wouldn’t leave your own world, taking with you its best protection?” the King asked of Cheri.
“I had no reason to believe that the threat was already in own world your Majesty. Taking care of the problem here would eliminate the need for us back home.” Cheri was beginning to get angry.
“Oh Lord. What are they doing in our absence?” Dayna toyed with her auburn hair.
“Cheri, I suggest you go back to the site of the portal and find out for sure if the link has been permanently severed. Do not condemn them until their betrayal is proven.” The King’s voice was level and his manner controlled and calm. “I will have an escort made ready to go with you, and whoever else you choose to take, at dawn. In the meantime, I shall hold council tomorrow and decide on a plan of action in light of recent events. Whatever you discover, come straight to me and I will have an order placed with my guards to let you in.”
They continued to make plans around me. My eyes drifted to Dorian - watching me intently - and I wanted to hug and kiss him better and tell him I was okay. The doubt and worry on my behalf made me feel bad. I couldn’t understand why I had reacted like that. It was anger, pure anger. I might have set the place on fire and killed myself.
Honestly, though, I really wasn’t sure if I was okay. The darkness that was the unstable part of my mind corrupted by black magic had come out of the shadows and shrouded me from the world. What is to become of me? It seemed like a dark part of my mind manifested itself in extreme emotions like anger, disappointment and a sense of betrayal.
“Thank you,” I said to him and he nodded. My lips compressed to a thin line and I looked at his mouth. He understood what I wanted and smiled at me, so I found a little comfort in that. My head fell into my hands.
“I’ll watch over her tonight,” Oliver offered. “If anything happens I can get to you in a matter of seconds,” he said to Adhelm.
Coming back into general conversation I looked at Adhelm, “It’s fine, he’s watched over me before and I would be glad of the company.”
Adhelm gave Oliver a friendly smile. “Not a second too late.” I felt the presence of magic and I recognised it was Adhelm. With astonishment I saw him reach out to grasp Oliver’s shoulder and then shake his hand. His body followed the movement nanoseconds later as mine did when I performed the magic. Oliver just grinned, but no one else even noticed.
Viola took my hand and I saw her glow again as she healed the wound. Looking down I saw I had shattered the pristine marble floor.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” I blurted to the King and I saw him flush when I swore. Bugger, no swearing.
“I will fix it, don’t worry.” Adhelm saved the moment.
“Dorian; I shall escort Melissa back to her room. You return to the barracks and rest. It was a very brave thing you did,” the King commended as he helped me to stand. Worry clenched my stomach. He’s going to have words with me about something. Viola let go of my hand and I thanked her for it. It just looked slightly inflamed now.
Before I left, Nick took me in his arms. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, ever! Do you hear?” His voice shook. All his usual fun-loving attitude was gone, I almost didn’t recognise him, so I just nodded.
Finally, the King gestured towards me, “To your bedchambers now and rest.” By god I needed it.
Chapter 5
I remained silent and waited for Aidan to break the silence. We followed his personal bodyguard in excruciating silence - the tap of our shoes echoed throughout the halls. Whenever I caught a glimpse of him though, his face looked grim. My mind kept returning to the thought that he was not what I had expected. He had taken off the thick, intricate gold chain that had decorated his shoulders and as a result his posture was now casual instead of confidant. His whole persona had changed, like the gold dec
orating his shoulders was actually a heavy constrictive chain. The gold jingled as it swung from his hand as he walked. In our ominously calm surroundings, that jingling noise was beginning to grate on my nerves.
I didn’t want to dwell on what had just happened. The implications… I was now aware that I should be afraid of my temper - of myself. How can I get over this? Fatigue seemed to creep up on me. My bones ached, and muscles protested as I walked, threatening to cramp up. I wanted to curl into a ball and forget where I was. Too far from home was where I was. I sucked in a quick breath to stop the stinging in my eyes.
“You remind me of someone I knew about seven years ago,” he commented whilst looking ahead.
Okay, not what I expected. Thank God, he finally spoke. “Really? Someone good I hope?”
He looked away, so I could only see the back of his golden head. “Yes, she was.” His voice had changed, and I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Who was I similar to? Another wayward witch who couldn’t be controlled? A witch or sorceress who burned herself to death? Perhaps that was a common thing around here? I began to wonder what the King would know about witches when I noticed the jingling had stopped. He was playing with it in his hands. Only our footsteps now echoed in the strangely empty corridors…
“Before my father died, I was arrogant, argumentative and I refused to take the throne,” he gave a small laugh. “I was difficult, very difficult.” He didn’t seem difficult now and I thought the station of being King suited him nicely. What had changed him?
We approached my door and he sent his red headed guard through first, just in case, and then we followed. On entering, the King approached one of the large ornate mirrors that hung beside the fireplace. He placed a hand on it and then he did the same to the other while his guard checked the balcony. He knows more about magic than meets the eye…
“What changed?” I was dying to know. He was so different to how he had described himself. He looked at me and smiled. Suddenly a young man had taken the place of the heavily burdened monarch. I bet he’s had his fair share of women with a smile like that. I tucked that thought away and turned before he caught any idea of my thoughts from my face, which I had scrunched up. I got the idea he had been a young Prince enjoying his no so serious position with all its benefits.
He leaned on the fireplace, much like Dorian had at our new house, and I knew where my bodyguard had picked up the gesture. “I was sent away to the Witches Guild by royal command. There I was to be given a witch to protect. My father said it would be character building and I would learn the sword. Above all, he said I would learn to put someone else’s life before mine. After all, when I became King I would be responsible for a hell of a lot more than just mine. By the Gods, it worked.” He stopped when his guard nodded to him and lingered at the door after he’d left the room.
“Eda was very different from me and she did show me how to care for others. I fought with her for all her causes, without question and saved her life on several occasions.” I sat on the bed while he spoke. I suppose we had something in common; he had been a bodyguard for a witch. That explained why he could see Oliver. “She showed me the world from a different perspective. She gave me the wisdom of knowing what I could and couldn’t change. I saw the world anew.”
“My father fell ill, and I was called to the throne. I was still reluctant, but Eda talked me into it, telling me all the good I could do with my reign.” Aidan looked down and stamped his foot. I felt for him as my Mom’s words of making the world a better place if I went down the path of sorcery ran through my head. “I was King for three weeks when I was brought the news that she had passed away.”
I gasped, and my hand flew to my mouth. “I’m so sorry.” I stood and walked over to face him, “It wasn’t your fault.” He blamed himself; I saw it on his face.
He brought his fist to his mouth, fingers adorned with no rings. “Yes, it was. I should have denied the throne and handed it over to my cousin - who had been practically groomed for it. She would still be alive, and she would have told me what to do right now.”
“She knew you would be a great King. You know that’s why she pushed you right?” Had I crossed the line? I wasn’t sure, but he regarded me with haunted dark blue eyes.
He breathed out a heavy sigh. “She also had an affinity for taking responsibility for too many lives. That’s what she fought for. Unfortunately…” he looked pointedly at me, “…that’s what got her killed.” I tried to swallow under that meaningful stare, but it got stuck in my throat. I gripped the cool, crisp linen of the bed. He knew I would gladly die saving innocents. He was right. If I could then I would. But it wouldn’t be a bad way to go…
“I shall leave you now. Get some sleep.” He walked to the door.
I rushed to him. “Your Majesty,” I said. He turned - hand on the door handle. I searched his eyes for a moment. I wanted to hug him, to tell him that time would ease his pain. But I was in an alien world and didn’t know how he would take the gesture. My shoulders sagged so I gripped his shoulder instead. “I know. But I won’t change. I can’t.”
“Good night. Be careful.” he said softly and then left my room. I bit my fingernail and stared at the door. How would Dorian react if I were killed because he wasn’t there? I knew it would torture him for the rest of his life - especially because he loved me too. Had Aidan loved Eda? He had definitely been more than inspired by her.
I undressed and lay on the bed in my ‘under garments’- practically another bloody dress too difficult to get out of - wondering how I was going to get to sleep. It was probably midnight here but mid-afternoon back home. There was a darkness inside me, I knew that, but it had revealed its ugly head and everybody had witnessed it. I was so overtaken by power that they had evacuated the ball room. I didn’t want that darkness to consume me. If it did, I wouldn’t know who I was anymore. Even as I pondered on that, fatigue pulled me into a deep sleep.
I awoke to a bright and sunny room. Sunlight streamed in through thin gossamer curtains to the balcony and bird song reached me from where I lay. I sat up and looked around. I had felt a little disorientated at first but then everything came back to me. “Ugh.”
“Morning. Nice to see you didn’t burst into flames during the night.” Oliver floated into view and lay on the huge bed resting his head on his hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Thanks for watching over me,” I said and scratched at my head. I groaned at how messy my hair felt. “Ugh.”
“You look like you’ve been tackled by a bear, I might add.” He grinned, and I tried to smooth it out. Damn it, no hair straighteners! At that thought I needed chocolate. Damn it, no chocolate either! I groaned again and plonked my head in the pillow.
“Adhelm wants to see you when you are up, by the way. He wants to train you so you won’t self-combust again.” My face remained in the pillow. Chocolate, where are you..?
I felt suddenly cold and pulled my face out of the pillow to see my ghost lying beside me. “So, the king has a sad story…”
“Yeah, poor bugger.”
“Must you hug absolutely everyone? I’m surprised he didn’t send the order for your shoulders to be relieved of your head.”
I frowned at him; he’s one to talk. “A hug makes someone feel that they aren’t alone, Oliver. You know that better than anyone. Anyway, what are you whining about? I didn’t hug him!”
“You wanted to.”
I crawled off the soft bed and ambled over the hard, cold stone floor to the wardrobe, tripping over the sheets along the way that had entangled themselves around my ankles. “Where do I wash up around here? Don’t tell me they share a bathroom?” I asked looking around.
“A servant brought in a bowl of water over there.” He pointed to a basin with a towel next to it on a dresser. “They have the baths if you want one, but you would have to share it I’m afraid.” He gave me a devilish smile.
I stared at him in horror. “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. Far too many naked bodies for my idea of decency. I have searched this whole palace and I must say that I didn’t quite know where to look.” This was a problem and I tried not to think about it as I washed and changed into a dress that wasn’t singed.
Bathing problems aside, Oliver guided me through the palace to Adhelm’s chambers. I bit my lip before knocking on the door. I felt nervous now. It opened and Adhelm looked like he hadn’t slept a wink, but he had a ready smile for me all the same.
He stepped outside the room. “Not here, my room is too flammable. Thank you, Oliver, I shall see you again soon?” Oliver nodded and disappeared. I stifled a yawn and followed the sorcerer.
He took me to a massive walled garden where the plants were geometrically planted. It was warm outside, and the sun was out. I wasn’t hot in my dress, but it was pushing it. I was wearing a pale yellow gown with fewer skirts and I was thankful for my choice.
“What time of year is it here?” I asked with curiosity and peered at the flower I hadn’t recognised from yesterday. It looked like a cross between a lily and buttercup. It had a heady potent scent.
“We are well into spring,” he provided as he watched me inspect the flower. It was strange that the weather here was promising a warm summer and yet back home the weather was promising a cold and bitter winter.
I heard shouts and swords clashing so I spun to face Adhelm in alarm, but he just shook his head, “The guards are practicing.” After a sigh of relief, I made a mental note to watch.
“Sit,” he commanded and, so I sat next to him on a stone carving. “Your anger is the problem. You cannot control it and it is obvious that your powers are linked to it. I can understand you helping that elderly Lord, but your temper needs to be addressed. What angered you so?”
No one knew about the deal I had made with Anarch. Could I confide in him? I needed to tell someone, and I felt I could trust him for some unknown reason. After calming down my inner conflict I went with my gut feeling. I took a deep breath and told him about the bargain. I told him everything, from my first encounter with Anarch to my reaction at the banquet and he waited patiently for me to finish. So, there it was, he knew about my relationship with Dorian and so I waited for the verdict. Off with my head?