by Lawrence, J.
“Don’t you tell em I spilled it…” He made a show of trying to move fast with his limping twisted form. “I din’t say nuttin, Clist! I swears it.” He called ahead pretending the old excrement covered bird keeper was just up a bit further. Pigeons cooed and flapped wings, stirring the stink, dust, and tiny feathers in the air.
She bowled forward, deeper into the aerie, intent on reaching Clist before he did. Darla was a plump one and it took her a bit to negotiate through the cramped place. He took his time. Once she made it all the way to the back, she turned with her pudgy fists on her hips and rounded on him. She was angry, ready to pounce on the little wretch that tricked her into climbing through the dirty space.
“I don’t know what kind of game you’re up to, but when the guards hear you were back here, you’re gonna get yours. Maybe they’ll finally turn you out in the cold.” She went on… looming closer and over him. “Serves you right. I don’t see why they keep feeding you anyway… useless cripple.”
“Darla.” He said with that stupid voice he used. He straightened his neck and let his face relax.
Her eyes widened a bit.
Then, he uncurled his hand, smiling as he flourished it out like it had been healed by magic.
“Stupid, Darla.” Crafty was more the tone of his voice as he feigned surprise at his perfectly good hand. He untwisted his leg until his foot faced forward again.
“I will always remember you, Darla. The little girl who liked to throw rocks at the useless cripple.” He let the threat enter his deep smooth baritone.
When he completed the transformation she looked dumbfounded. By the time that she finally realized she was in danger, it was too late. The look on her face, a mixture of bewilderment and horror, as he effortlessly strangled the light out of her eyes, was exquisite.
He stared hungrily at the whirling teeth protruding from his palms. It took every ounce of his control not to feed. Soon, if his masters did what he expected they would, he would be free of this place.
He would, at last, have his fill again. He would be free to feed at will.
Chapter 17
Bargain
“It’s a shame you were busy being the Caller last night. I missed you at the gate race. I would have dusted you.” Even though the sun hung in bright blue sky overhead it was still so cold that his taunts came out in puffs of frosty mist.
“Caller indeed.” Thaniel wanted to say but decided to bite his lip instead. He couldn’t shake free of the feeling that there was going to be some serious fallout from what happened in that damnable chamber. When the iron grate slammed shut and sealed the dra away from its beloved sky, the beast had turned its gaze on him, as if accusing him of an unforgivable betrayal. Last night those solid blue orbs haunted his dreams.
“Tristan bet on you.” Thaniel shrugged further into his cloak. He didn’t argue, letting him literally have his moment in the sun. The truth was that Thaniel won the gate race three years in a row by a wide margin, and if anything had changed, he was even faster this year.
“Tristan?” Jorel cupped a hand over his eyes and stared up at the tower with a grin, as if he somehow expected to be able to see the soldier up there through the glare.
“He said you won him a bunch of coin.” Thaniel glanced up at the monstrous towers that Tristan commanded.
Thaniel’s eyes flickered to the left where Elycia had migrated into the group. She hadn’t once even turned her face to look at him. He would have recognized how the brilliant morning sun caught in every one of her curls from the other side of the hold. To have her so close to him and yet feel how she deliberately ignored him was an agony worse than anything that the dra could have inflicted. Who could blame her though for not wanting anything to do with him? Not only did she watch him light up the stupid dra door thing, she had actually been there when he called the dra. To make matters worse, as if that were possible, Lisella Ontar proclaimed her his eternal kiss in front of everyone. After they dragged her out of the kitchens, the way she looked at him made him feel like he was the monster that needed to be chained up.
Thaniel set his jaw and willed his eyes dry. There was one good thing that had come from it all. In a magnanimous gesture Lisella Ontar set Elycia, the Caller’s Festival Kiss, free as well. Thaniel braved a quivering smile at that. He would endure the dra and even losing Elycia a thousand times over again rather than leave her to Keriim’s hand.
“A bunch of coin, huh?” Jorel beamed at that. Then he dug a knuckle into Thaniel’s shoulder. “I definitely would have dusted you. Too bad I’m not going to be around to appreciate all that gratitude.” As a reward for winning the gate race Jorel was also granted his freedom.
Thaniel just nodded. He still had a hard time believing what he had to do to gain his own freedom. Every time he thought of it, those two azure orbs stared back at him from his mind’s eye.
“Hey, is that Elycia?” Jorel bobbed up on his toes. He was already taller than most of the other people there, child or not. “It is her. Thaniel, you lucky boob.” Jorel grabbed him by the arm.
“Don’t.” He already knew what Jorel would do next.
“Elycia!” Jorel called out, waving.
She turned with a strained smile and waved back. Jorel gestured down at Thaniel with both hands like he was pointing out something she didn’t want to miss. He could imagine the sly grin on Jorel’s face without even looking up at his friend.
He probably should have told him. Guilt wiggled in his gut, like it really was something Jorel should get to decide. After all, who would really want anything to do with him if they knew what he had done? Yet, Irkhir couldn’t have made it plainer. The ceremony was off limits. One word about it would cost him his tongue. Thaniel noticed that even though every soldier of the First had witnessed the calling, not one of them talked about it. In fact, that morning he had heard a number of them dance around the subject, making the event seem little more than some ritual, instead of the real thing. He wondered why it had been kept secret. Something didn’t seem right about it all. But then again… Who cared? He was leaving. And by the looks of things a whole bunch of them were. Jorel probably wouldn’t even believe him anyway. Who would? It was like a bedtime story meant to scare children into their covers.
“Look who I’ve got.” He called out to Elycia, elbowing Thaniel sharply in the ribs and whispering through the side of his lips, “You can’t be a booby for the rest of your life. Now’s your chance…”
Thaniel sheepishly risked a glance. She was already turning back around, but not fast enough that their eyes didn’t catch for just the barest of moments. Fear, regret, apology, guilt. He thought he saw all of them. But he didn’t see any inkling of what had been there yesterday on the stairs, when she had the ice blossom in her hair, and his heart in the light of her eyes.
Thaniel swallowed back the same lump that had formed for the millionth time since he laid eyes on her just yesterday morning. Jorel must have caught a whiff of how she really felt, because things got uneasily quiet. At least he didn’t say anything more to embarrass him.
Of all people to be of any help, it was Lisella Ontar appearing on her balcony rescuing him from further shame. Apparently the Ontar was still in a good mood over her dra, although Thaniel couldn’t possibly understand why a sane person would want one. Was it possible that it was some sort of talisman, bringing good luck or something? The beast had surely brought some beautiful weather with it. Come to think of it, Thaniel couldn’t remember seeing the sky this blue over Ontar Hold, ever.
“Each of you will be freed as proclaimed.” The announcement sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd. Thaniel apparently wasn’t the only one to doubt that the Ontar would actually set any of them free.
“However,” she continued, “we still have a hold to run. Leaving Ontar Hold is not as easy as you might think. The Anwarian wilderness is not a place for the old or weak. I do intend to keep my word as best I can. If you are deemed too old or feeble for the journey you may a
ppoint someone else to go in your stead, with our approval, of course.”
The hold gate opened, emptying its armored contents. Two lines of crimson regaled guards, axes at the ready. The men halted on either side of the group of slaves. Irkhir, crimson cape flowing behind him, walked out of the gate last and headed straight toward them. He removed his wolf shaped helmet and one by one picked out the old and those he deemed too weak for the arduous trip ahead. Thaniel’s heart dropped when he pulled Elycia out with the rest of them.
“Others, strong enough for the journey south, will need to be here a little longer,” she continued unapologetically, “only until we can have you replaced of course. You understand that the hold must still function.”
Silence stretched as the truth set in.
“Caller.” Lisella Ontar didn’t use his name.
“Yes, my Mistress.” He answered, expecting the worst. He had to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun off the frozen masonry tower.
“Caller, you have done what I asked. As of now you are free, as agreed.”
She was setting him free, all by himself. This couldn’t be happening. Guilt washed over him, making the day seem even colder than it was. His eyes darted to Elycia, then to Jorel. He had one chance.
“My Mistress, you gave me Elycia, as my eternal kiss.” He paused, working moisture in his mouth, “Eternal, you said.”
Elycia’s head whirled. Thaniel ignored her glare. Jorel elbowed him and nodded with approval.
“Bout time.” Jorel whispered.
“She is yours. Now take her and go.” Lisella Ontar almost smiled. Did she like that he called her to the cobble on that? Hobb, the hold’s burly blacksmith, had a saying he liked for moments like this. How did it go again?
“Mistress, one more thing…” He intoned.
“Caller, you have the stones of a merchant’s son.” Lisella Ontar actually laughed.
That was it. He imagined Hobb’s gravelly voice calling out to him. Strike while the iron is hot.
“Surely the winner of the gate race is strong enough for the journey. Besides he is just a simple messenger…”
Jorel bristled at that…then the rest of the sentence registered. Hope rippled across his body. His face lifted in supplication.
Lisella Ontar shook her head, about to shut him down, when a scream echoed from right behind Thaniel. Hands pointed up in alarm. People cringed everywhere. Some stumbled to the cobble.
Thaniel flinched. His first thought was that the dra had escaped, and was coming for revenge.
Instead, a body plummeted from the upper towers. It hit the sloping stone walls and cart wheeled, slamming over and over into the masonry with sickening crunches. It smashed on the cobblestone in a pink spray of steamy blood. The crowd surged back.
Irkhir was already moving over to the body, which was little more than a mass of pulverized flesh wrapped in shredded cloth.
“Looks like a seamstress.” He shrugged at the steaming pile adding, “She must have jumped.”
Someone threw up, then another. In moments two more people bent over retching.
“Irkhir, get this cleaned up before it freezes and we have to look at it for the rest of the winter.” Lisella Ontar spun to go, her crimson weave flapping in the air.
Thaniel saw everything slipping away.
“Mistress?” Desperately Thaniel called out through cupped hands.
Then she appeared on the balcony, leaning over the edge of the white parapet, looking a little green herself.
“I kept my end of the bargain.” He said gesturing at Jorel.
Only silence answered him for a few heartbeats.
“A merchant's son… Caller, take your kiss, and the race winner, and go.”
Chapter 18
Cakeling
Bella, the round head cook, regarded Elycia affectionately with a big hug that lifted the girl off the ground. Thaniel and Jorel exchanged a surprised glance. This was hardly the woman who carried a rolling pin like it was a cudgel.
“Cakeling.” Bella purred out her obvious nickname for Elycia before she noticed the two of them. When she did her face wrinkled distastefully, like they had fleas or something. “You had to know she never intended to let everyone go.”
“You’re right. But Thaniel spoke to the Ontar in front of everyone.” Elycia hugged her back.
“He did what?”
“He got her to free all three of us.”
“We can go now.” Jorel chimed in.
“There is a lot more going on here than I obviously know about.” She eyed Thaniel suspiciously.
Thaniel glanced down at her apron strings, searching for the rolling pin. Once he saw that it was still there, he decided it might be better to let Elycia explain. Sometimes keeping a man’s mouth shut was the best course of action. Around Bella it was usually the case.
Elycia did just that. Bella’s eyebrows rose a bit at how he helped her escape from Keriim in the cistern way. Jorel just stood there with his mouth open.
He thought her opinion of him might go up a notch at that, but if it did he couldn’t tell by her stare. The woman was a fortress of dissatisfaction. She already knew about the magical door, of course. Everyone knew about that and had been looking at him funny ever since.
Thankfully Elycia left out the real live dra that nearly ate him. Neither of them had spoken of it. By the way she talked around it, he figured she must have gotten the same keep your mouth shut or I will cut out your tongue speech that Irkhir had given him.
She filled her in on everything else though, even the strange tower arches and the glowing dais. Then she told her about their kiss, and reminded her Lisella had proclaimed her his eternal kiss in front of the entire hold.
“That’s what I thought. He didn’t even ask you properly.” Bella shot him a disparaging look, probably already ascertaining the answer from her eyes before she asked.
“I didn’t do it.” He stammered, and then suddenly looked up at Elycia, “Not that I wouldn’t… I…”
Thaniel shifted from one foot to the other as the uncomfortable silence stretched. To be fair, it wasn’t his fault that Lisella Ontar proclaimed her his eternal kiss. Now that it was done all the proclamations of him having nothing to do with it weren’t ever going to be believed by anyone, least of all the hard eyed and bulbous nosed Bella.
“It’s a little too late for that.” Elycia’s lips twisted a bit, her nose wrinkling.
“Yes, well. The salt’s in the batter. No changing it now, Cakeling.” Bella patted her on the cheek and smiled encouragingly. The gentle tone of her manner would have never betrayed what she did next. The rotund woman turned on him, fast as a viper, and snatched him right off his feet.
“Not right a man doesn’t even ask boy.” Now this was the Bella he knew well. “You better take care of her, or I’ll find you no matter where…” Both the threat and the question were plain in her eyes at the same time.
Thaniel cringed. The answer to that really hadn’t come to him yet. Ontar Hold was all he had known for so long. He had dreamed of home for seven years but in truth nothing was really there for him anymore. With everyone dead or gone, someone must have taken over the farm years ago. He couldn’t just show up and ask for it back. Besides, he had no idea exactly where home was anymore. Even the name of the nearby town was lost to him long ago. Nothing but faint memories of a small dirt square and a ring of stones.
“Anywhere but here.” It was all he could come up with, but he blurted it with as much defiance as he could muster, for someone whose heels were just suddenly set back on the ground.
“Sounds good to me.” Jorel added, scrubbing fingers through his hair. “I’ve had enough of this hole.” It was his favorite term for Ontar Hold.
Bella didn’t look pleased with either of them.
“Navillus.” Elycia announced suddenly, stepping back from the glaring Bella and into the daylight.
“Navillus?” Bella looked from her to him and shook her head.
Elycia was standing in full sun with a determined expression in her eyes. For a moment Thaniel forgot all about Bella’s glares and even her rolling pin. The unusually warm rays of sunshine seemed at home in Elycia’s curls, as if the Creator had made the sun for that purpose alone… Thaniel had heard traders talk about far away Navillus. It was as warm and bright as Ontar was cold and gray. He imagined her twirling in the sun… her hair aglow…
There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that he would see her home, no matter what it took.
Bella regarded her first with searching eyes. Then the big woman leveled a frigid glare in his direction. Thaniel refused to squirm.
“Well then, you have a long road ahead of you.” Bella smoothed her apron, and with a grunt, commandeered two storehouse hands and a stable boy she saw walking by. Bella didn’t wait two seconds to see her instructions carried out and there wasn’t a person in the hold that didn’t know it. The three boys sprang into motion understanding without being told that their dinner was at stake.
Thaniel couldn’t help but grin. It didn’t matter to him that Navillus was very far away. Truth be told, he’d go anywhere that either of them wanted. Of course he preferred to never see another picture, carving, or anything at all resembling a dra. But other than that, he would be fine wherever they were.
Jorel shrugged, also wisely keeping his mouth shut. Before they knew it sacks of provisions were being strapped to an old cart no one was likely to miss. The big woman patted a sinewy ox as it was yoked in place, and murmured something inaudible in the beast’s twitching ear.
“You need to hurry. Samial Harkanin’s wagon is heading down the pass. Best to travel in numbers as long as you can…” Bella paused to glare at one of the boys, who obviously wasn’t working fast enough by her standards. He doubled his effort in a heartbeat. “He knows the way to Navillus. He left two hours ago, but he’ll stop at the first keep.” She sniffed, taking her eyes off her slacker, and added, “He lives for dinner.”