Summoned (Black Sorcery Trilogy Book 2)

by Lisa E Parry

  “Tried bouncing to the moon, did you?” Oliver asked cheerfully, and I almost crapped myself. “Bit of a risky trick if you ask me.”

  “Shit Oliver! And yes, they are feeling much better, thank you for your concern,” I accused sarcastically. What a wakeup call, Oliver giving me a heart attack! I noticed Warwick was sitting cross-legged at my feet.

  “Jeez, were you two watching me sleep? That’s kinda creepy you guys. Oh, Warwick could you do me a favour please?”

  “Anything.” I did a double take. He looked quite happy and had a little colour to his cheeks. He was no longer a sickly, grey white colour. “Um, eat well, did you?”

  “Absolutely.” He flashed me that winning smile that was so easy to be drawn into.

  “Could you just hold onto my ankles for a sec?” I asked hopefully, and he obliged. Ahh, better! I sighed as his vampiric cold hands brought the temperature down in my swollen ankles. I lay back down and smiled. “That’s good, thanks.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” Oliver said, eyeing Warwick dubiously. He leaned over me, blocking my view of the cloudy sky. He whispered, “I’m onto Stephanie as well.”

  I gasped and looked around. “That was a private conversation, Oliver!” I looked down at Warwick, his eyes were flickering between us. Great, now he knew as well.

  “Hey, I won’t tell anyone. And for your information, neither of you were talking low enough for a vampire not to hear so…” He shrugged. I rolled my eyes.

  “Good morning. Do you think you can walk?” Dorian towered over us. My heart skipped a beat as I took in his appearance. He had a dark stubble on his cheeks and boy was it working for him. I heard Warwick murmur something like, “Oh, please,” then he got up and walked off. No doubt he had heard my heartbeat quicken.

  Dorian nodded to him as he walked by. I took his hands when offered and he lifted me up. I held onto his upper arms until I balanced and then finally let go. I seemed okay, but he still held me up by my waist.

  “Morning Sexy,” I whispered to him and he glanced around to check no one heard. I laughed at his embarrassment. “Can you just plonk me over there by Viola please?” I asked him. Everyone was eating breakfast by a small fire. Of course, Aidan was sitting behind Viola and I smiled at his overprotectiveness. It was cute.

  Dorian helped me to Viola’s side and the King got up so they could both lower me down. “Thanks guys. Good morning your Majesty.” I smiled.

  “Aidan, please,” he requested pleasantly but there were still shadows on his face from the fight last night. It was still haunting him.

  I gave Viola a quick hug. “How are you doing?”

  She didn’t look at me. “Okay I guess. I try not to think about it. I feel like there is a piece of me missing. I can’t defend myself or help others. I hate it.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about helping others. Think of yourself for a change. Cheri has done a good job, I’ll be completely fine by tomorrow.” She didn’t respond. “Look, I know how you feel in wanting to protect others. You know I do. At Henrik’s I held myself responsible for everyone’s safety, and you know what? I knew some of us weren’t going to make it. You have no idea how that ate me up at night, or when I looked into someone’s eyes. I would look at them and think: ‘Are you going to make it out alive? Will I have your death on my hands?’”

  I took her hand; she was finally looking at me but with tears in her eyes. “I felt exactly the same when we were saddling up in the palace stables,” I told her. “All these people here I added to my ‘keep safe collection’. So leave that concern to me okay? Worry about yourself, I will look after you.”

  “I know you’ll look after me. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you.” Tears leaked out of her big eyes and I rested her head on my shoulder.

  “Aidan will be with you as well, don’t forget that. I saw him in action and he looked like a natural born warrior, totally badass. Stick close to him okay?” She nodded.

  After Owen had tended to our horses we climbed back on them. Owen and Dorian helped me up onto Daisy. “She seems pleased to see you,” Owen noticed watching the horse dance a little. “You have taken pretty well to the saddle, Melissa.”

  “Thanks. She and I have an understanding.” I patted Daisy’s neck and she calmed a little.

  Cheri came over to check the progress of my ankles before we left. I scanned the campsite for Stephanie and found her with her head bent in a private conversation with Ethan, her bodyguard. My heart sank when I saw the back of him. He reminded me of Mikey, another guy I had been imprisoned with at Henrik’s. Mikey had been fantastic at altering a person’s memory and had saved my skin in class a number of times. He had died in battle and looking at the back of Ethan now, with his curly black hair, it was easy to mistake him for the friend I’d lost. Ethan’s eyes even shared that same shade of blue.

  Shaking off my melancholy I decided to make sure I knew where Stephanie was at all times and to remember everyone she spoke to.

  Later that day we approached a town Aidan called Velkin. It was fortified and nestled in the valley of the so-called Tregon Mountains. It was quite imposing. Aidan told me that first, the palace had been carved into the mountain rock and then the rest of the city had been built around it, using the same stone from the mountains.

  It was colder up here, and the weather was depressing. Gloominess settled over me and my shoulders slumped. The day had started out cloudy, but it had become even more overcast, with thick dense grey clouds obscuring the sky like an iron blanket. The wind had picked up and it had a cold chill to it. At our midday camp we had dressed in thicker woollen clothing, but my face and hands still felt the chill.

  My mood had plummeted along with the temperature as I had broken out with a few spots, and of course I had no sodding makeup to cover them up. Cheri had rubbed her salve on to my ankles for the ache in them, but I no longer needed it. I could walk without help by now, but it was a good thing we were travelling by horse.

  We were upon the town gates when two guards approached us. They checked some of our saddlebags and Dorian showed them papers that the King must have provided. Dorian seemed to take the role of the party’s leader. He looked terrifying enough and I thought few people would argue with him.

  The city didn’t look as advanced in architecture as Esentia was. The dirt roads were a little muddy and people in general looked a little rough. I suppose you had to be tough to live in the mountains and I was glad we weren’t wearing our finery. Dorian ordered us to dismount and we followed him through the streets to a tavern called ‘The Dragons Claw’. When he disappeared through the front door I felt a little nervous until Warwick stood behind me and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

  “What’s he doing in there?”

  “Finding us lodging,” Dayna confirmed next to me. “We need to stay here tonight as a storm is brewing further north. We can’t carry on until it’s blown over.”

  “A snowstorm or a thunderstorm?” I hoped it was the latter.

  “A thunderstorm.” I saw the same relief in Dayna’s face. Travelling in the snow would have made life utterly miserable. We waited outside with our horses stomping impatiently until Dorian reappeared with a large woman; her hair was dusty blonde and in a scruffy bun. She wore brown clothing and a dirty white apron. Gesturing for us to follow her she took us around the back of the tavern to the stables.

  We were unsaddling our horses when the King placed a hand on my back and I turned a smile on him. “Aidan? You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he paused, and I waited for him to find the words. “What you said to Viola was very considerate; it helped her.”

  “No probs.” I smiled.

  “You can’t take responsibility for everyone here, I won’t let you,” he said resolutely, and I regarded him seriously. His dark blue eyes bore into mine as though to drive the point home. “I understand you would feel that way with what you have been through, but everyone here is my responsibility. I requested your help a
nd you all came. Therefore, you are all under my watch.”

  I was unsure how to take that; he looked serious. Was he admonishing me for wanting to protect everyone? I couldn’t help that. I stepped closer to him and looked him straight in the eye. “Thank you for your concern your Majesty, but if I want to take it upon myself to look after everyone here, to the best of my abilities, then there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I am very powerful and stand a good chance of being able to protect them all.” He looked at me as though he was about to argue so I tried a different approach. I placed a hand on his arm and his features softened. “You are still beating yourself up over Eda. It wasn’t your fault. Let me help you.” He stiffened when I mentioned her name.

  “Are you two coming?” Viola asked.

  “We’ll be there in a sec!” I called, and she nodded before leaving with the others. “I saw it on your face when Viola was taken. Don’t take it all upon yourself, okay?” Now Aidan didn’t know what to say. In the end he looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I’m not used to anyone talking to me like that. You’re right of course. I can’t stop you from feeling responsible. I just wanted to make your life easier.” He shook his blonde head, “You are more like her than you can imagine.” He walked away, and I began to follow. The transition from King to warrior was profound in him. He walked like a military man now, much like Dorian, all traces of that majestic King well under wraps. He spun on the spot suddenly and I jumped, almost bumping into him.

  “Oh, and the ‘natural born warrior’ comment…” He turned a genuine smile on me. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. ‘Badass’? - I suspect that is a complimentary term?” I spluttered, much to his amusement, and felt relieved when he left for the tavern door. My face was aflame.

  We walked through the door, Aidan after me, and the owner came over to us. “The rest of yer party are over there. You two took yer time didn’t yer?” She took in Aidan with an appreciative glance and then said to me, quite loudly, “Mind you, I would’ve had him in the stables an all, witch’s code or not.” She smiled then sucked her breath in to squeeze back behind the bar.

  Aidan burst out laughing and my embarrassment piqued further to excruciating. We joined the others who, having heard, didn’t even try to hide their amusement at my stormy glare, though Viola was the only one laughing out loud. I sat down beside Dorian who gave me a knowing look: finding the notion just as hilarious, but holding it back.

  The owner came over to us with a dirty tray of ales and placed them in front of each of us. I look suspiciously at my grubby mug, but hey I had to try it right? It would be part of the experience. I took a sip and coughed: the syrupy substance stung as it slid sluggishly down my throat. “What the hell is that?”

  The men laughed but the women eyed theirs warily after my reaction. “Drink it!” I said jokingly to Viola and Dayna. Dayna took a quick swig and had the same reaction as me. Laughter broke out and I finally had a good look around this place.

  There was a huge fireplace with an ugly pig roasting on a spit. The fire crackled and the glorious heat began to seep through my cold damp clothes. The light was subdued, and I noticed with disgust it was because the windows were grimy. The bar was pretty wide, and I thought that might be to keep rowdy drunks at bay from those serving drinks. There wasn’t a great many other people in the place. We took up two round tables pushed together and there were six others occupying smaller tables. Three men sat together speaking quietly but the other three were all at separate tables. One of them had his face and head hidden under swathes of burnt-looking black rags. How can he see through that? Creepy.

  Aidan spoke up. “We are going to get supplies so the rest of you can have a wander around. Stay close to each other and make sure you have a warrior with you at all times. Anarch has eyes and ears everywhere, so trust no one.” He leaned in and the rest of us automatically leaned forwards in our chairs. “This isn’t a safe city in any case; it’s full of bounty hunters and cut-throats so it’s imperative you stay together and don’t draw attention to yourselves.”

  Yup, that got my bowels going. I suddenly turned suspicious eyes on those in the room and crossed my arms over my stomach.

  “Cheri, if you and Neil would come with me, Dorian, Stephanie and Ethan as well. Everyone else stay together. Viola, you too,” he added a little more softly. Dorian gave me a confident nod before the group headed out into the street. A wholly unwelcome blast of icy air swept in. Of course, Viola would go with them, he had to play the part of her warrior and Stephanie had clocked the most hours in this world so she knew how things operated.

  I looked to my remaining party which was comprised of Dayna, Owen, Warwick, Adhelm and Oliver, who had finally appeared. I wondered if Aidan left his sorcerer with us to babysit. In all honesty I was glad he was with us. He was the only one looking chipper. He smiled that grandfatherly smile and somehow that put us all at ease; except for Warwick, who was the only one looking around with interest. Of course, he had nothing to worry about. If someone attacked him they’d end up wishing they’d never been born. I wondered how it would feel to be nigh on indestructible. Warwick regarded me curiously; I hadn’t realised I’d been watching him.

  “I wouldn’t even think about it.” Adhelm looked pointedly at me. Can he read my mind? He knew what Warwick was, so he must have been addressing my thought. Damn it.

  “I was just wondering,” I said in my defence.

  “Am I missing something?” Dayna looked between us.

  “May I have a look at that scar?” Adhelm cut in. He moved next to me and took my hand. Sliding my bracelet up my arm his finger and thumb encircled the purplish shiny scar. My body stiffened. I hated looking at it: whenever I did I thought of imprisonment and every ugly thing I was forced to do. Images shot through my head that I wanted to keep buried. I felt warmth radiate from Adhelm’s touch and I began to sweat. It triggered the memory of the heat that came from it when it released, and then more memories came back to me. They became intense and real. Spells from the book presented themselves: terrible torturing spells… How long had I been shaking? Where am I? I closed my eyes.

  “Stop it! Can’t you see it’s distressing her?” Warwick growled. I looked around hoping not to open my eyes to that small cell with a lumpy mattress and spiders skittering around the corners of the darkened room.

  “Stop!” Oliver yelled.

  Adhelm let go, “I’m sorry, child, I needed to see what has happened to you.”

  “You brought back those awful memories just because you’re curious as to what happened to her?” Warwick was on his feet, and Oliver - I was shocked to see - looked murderous.

  “You go too far,” Dayna said calmly to him, and even Owen scowled at the old man. I snatched my hand back and cradled it after sliding the bracelet back into place.

  Adhelm simply ignored them, but looked at me. “I had to see why you would think about giving up your life.” His eyes were sad and apologetic. “I wanted to check how stable you are.” Everyone settled but looked uncomfortable at his words.

  “I’m not suicidal! So maybe I haven’t gotten over it, that’s fine; it’s just going to take time that’s all. I knew my sanity was at risk when I decided to get everyone out. It was a small price to pay and maybe I am a little unhinged, but I am in control of it.” Just then, I was crushingly aware of the darkness in my mind. The book had corrupted it. It was easy to dismiss when other things were going on, but when my experiences were brought to the surface, then it threatened to overcome all rational thought. Where is Dorian? Suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but here and stood up, looking at the door that Dorian had vacated the room through. Owen and Warwick stood with me.

  “You could have used me instead: I saw nearly everything that happened to her. I can deal with it better than she can; she’s fragile.” Warwick snapped at Adhelm. Anything that wasn’t a vampire was fragile to him.

  “You could’ve asked me. I saw everything.” Oliver exclaimed. The
y hadn’t noticed me move away from the table. While they were still arguing I slipped outside and darted to the right. There was a market on. I decided to mingle - to disappear amongst strangers. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, I chanted in my head. I breathed a little easier with cold fresh air in my lungs - no longer trapped. Adhelm thinks I’m unstable. Where did that fiery anger come from? That’s not me. So I get angry sometimes but that burning anger I’d felt when I discovered whose side Anarch was on was alien to me. How can I control something I don’t understand?

  Despair threatened to engulf me as I moped around, not really looking at anything or paying attention to my alien environment. There was nothing to look at anyway. I didn’t see anyone selling what I would typically see at at home. I had to remember where I was. Looking around in defeat, all I saw were vegetables, cheeses, fruit, materials for clothing and jewellery. I needed a purpose instead of aimlessly wondering around so I decided to look at the jewellery: gold and silver items winked at me from a nearby rickety table.

  I dubiously approached the table and glanced at the gaudy bracelets. An old woman, dressed in so many rags that I couldn’t understand her outfit, smiled at me with gaps in her teeth. “Anything you like witch?” She hunched over the table, her long scraggly grey hair brushing the items.

  My eyes flickered to her. “How do you know I’m a witch?” She hadn’t caught on that I was a sorceress, but whatever; she was close and I sure as hell wasn’t going to correct her.

  She looked at me as though I were being a bit simple. “All witches earn a lot of money and you look very well groomed.”

  I pretended to laugh a little, even though I felt thoroughly uncomfortable, and then tried to look very interested in assessing what her stall had to offer. I couldn’t stay long. I gradually became annoyed as passers-by jostled me around. However, something did catch my eye. It was a little silver charm that could easily attach to my filigree bracelet. It was a dragon running towards me with its wings outstretched ready to pounce into flight. I was drawn to it and without thinking I picked it up to see the detail was remarkable. The claws were pronounced, its webbed wings had creased detail and its face was fierce and snarling at me. It felt warm in my palm.