“Yes. Last night.”
“And?”
“She is well.”
“Her arm?”
“Good,” said Kaia curtly.
Warrin leaned forward and tried to make eye contact with Kaia. She purposely avoided his gaze. “Something bothers you,” he said, sitting back.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“N—”
“Careful! The penalty is mighty here,” he said with a smile. “Do you not trust me?”
“I do.”
“Won’t you tell me what you are thinking of?”
Kaia felt drained. She had been locked in battle all day, attempting, to no avail, to free herself. Why was it that when Pelliab said it, it had such a negative impact on her? She had known that the expedition could end that way, yet his saying it suggested to her that it would end that way. Adding to her uneasiness in the wake of the dream, her conversation with Pelliab had made everything grow darker. She now saw the world in only one color: gloom. “Do you think that fixing the land will be enough?” she asked, at last.
“To lift the curse?”
“Yes.”
“I hope so.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do. Do you?”
“I think that our coming here may have enabled the Marians to start righting some of the wrongs, but what if that still isn’t enough? What if there are some wrongs that simply cannot be righted, no matter how hard we try?”
“Like?”
“Like the actual taking of the Tivmicans’ lives. That can’t be remedied. We have no way to bring them back, to incarnate them once more. They are gone—forever. What if that line, the one given to us by the Utdrendans, wasn’t intended to offer hope but to emphasize that the curse would last for all of time? Will this all have been for naught?”
“I suppose that the adequacy of what is being done here will be determined by the rigidity of the Zavonians’ utterance; in the end, Mar’s freedom will likely depend on that and that alone. Did the utterance make allowances for a less than literal righting of the wrongs? We shall see. Even if these measures prove inadequate, though, no, I don’t believe that this expedition will have been in vain.”
Kaia snapped her head at Warrin.
“It’s not a matter of all or nothing,” said the prince. “Just because we cannot right all of the wrongs does not mean that we shouldn’t do something about the ones that we can fix.”
Kaia angled her body towards Warrin. “And if you should have to live out the rest of your days in Mar?”
“I should not mind it.”
“No?”
“The company is good here,” he said, smiling warmly at Kaia.
“And your family—wouldn’t you miss them?”
“I would be comforted by the knowledge that my loss is greater than theirs; while they lose one person, I lose thousands. And if my sorrow at my loss is as non-profound as I expect it will be, I am sure that they will hardly grieve my absence at all.” Warrin took Kaia’s hand in his. “See, we may end up separated from our families, but we won’t be dispossessed. You and I—and my brothers, Elania, Ani, Aylin, and Pelliab (if he wishes)—are a family now.”
Kaia squeezed Warrin’s hand and relaxed in her seat. A family. She liked the sound of that.
Chapter Nineteen
Pelliab
“If I had only myself to worry about,” thought Pelliab, “I would swallow my fate and turn without complaining. I do not fear the end. I do not fear no longer existing. More than anything, these ideas soothe me, for everything that I adore, everything that I have labored to create, I will soon lose. This I cannot change. At the very least, if I am not here as I presently am, I will not feel the loss in the same manner; I will still feel it, I am sure, yet not for as long—for a few days or weeks, perhaps…as opposed to for the rest of my life. Though, if I were to avoid turning, I doubt that my life should last beyond days or weeks.
“Turning has been my preference, from the moment the process started. I knew, almost instinctively, that I would not stop it. But a new thought has entered my mind after speaking with the Stone girl; what if the curse is lifted and the truth comes out despite my silence…after I am gone? Or, worse, what if a version of the truth—one which absolves all except for me—surfaces? Who will protect my family then? Now, they are safely hidden away—they have managed to get away from Dalcahz—but what if they are found? They cannot hide forever. And what if, because of my absence, it is decided that they should be handed the punishment due to me? No! That cannot happen! Can it? Perhaps not a sanctioned punishment, but are there not other ways to exact payment? Yes. Likely, neither Dero nor Canlia will find a partner to marry, be allowed to buy or build homes, be given a job, be welcomed to enter into business with neighbors…the list is endless. And my precious Nicoleen, what will become of her? What if they accuse her of being a coconspirator?
“Everything that I have done thus far has been to protect them. I cannot have endured all of this only to fail them in the end. Oh, that I had never married! That Nicoleen and I had not borne children! I could have minimized the damage! Stop! Why do I allow my thoughts to be diverted so? It is too late to entertain what could have, or should have, happened.
“Confessing is preferable to turning. My family will benefit more from the former. Certainly they will not escape unscathed; at least they will not be the focus. To whom am I to confess? There are so many people! I will go to King Sol. Yes. He represents the kingdom in its entirety. It is him whom I must see. When? Tomorrow! No. Why wait? I do not know at what rate this affliction will proceed. It has already begun to affect my mouth. It could take from me the ability to speak. Yes, the deed must be done tonight.”
Pelliab exited his tent. It was already dark outside. King Sol has to be in his quarters, thought Pelliab, though not asleep. It is much too early for that. He would need a witness, he decided. The Speaker was the first person who came to mind. She seemed both most trustworthy and least personally involved.
“Aylin,” he called, standing outside of her tent, rubbing his hands together.
She emerged almost immediately. “Yes?”
“I need you to accompany me to King Sol.”
“Me?”
“I know that it is an odd request. Sense will be made of it momentarily. Will you come?”
“Alright.”
Pelliab and Aylin walked to the center of the camp, blind to Kaia, who had overheard their exchange and was tailing them.
“We wish to speak to King Sol,” said Pelliab to one of the guards. “Inform him that Pelliab the kingsman and Aylin the Speaker request that entrance be granted.”
Kaia positioned herself along one of the tent’s sides and stared up above, pretending to take an interest in the constellations. She was close enough to hear what was being said, yet not too close so as to incur the wrath of the guards.
The pair was allowed to enter the tent.
“Will His Highness consent to meet with us in private?” asked Pelliab.
“Of course,” answered King Sol. “Winfred, leave us. There. Your face looks grave, Pelliab. What brings you two here?”
“I offer you a trade.”
“You have something of interest to me?”
“Yes.”
“And what would that be?”
“Knowledge. I have not been forthcoming about what I know, about what really happened here ten years ago.”
“I don’t understand. What happened here is common knowledge.”
“The lie is common knowledge. The truth few are privy to.”
“And you purport to be one of the few?”
“Yes.”
“What are you trying to do, Pelliab?”
“To help you. All that you have to do in return is give me your word that you will do everything in your power to ensure that—if the curse is lifted—my family is not harmed. For once I tell you what I wish to tell you, I will have committed treason, and I fear that my family will be persec
uted. With me, however, I hold you to no promises; you may do as you please.”
“I am intrigued.”
“Do you accept my condition?”
King Sol held his hands in front of his face; each finger touched its counterpart. “I do.”
“Aylin is witness to our agreement.”
“Proceed.”
“Ten years ago, I, accompanied by a man who went by the name of Lothar Lorken, left Darlbent and ventured to the town of Eyne here in Mar. Lothar and I had been given very specific instructions by King Robert. We were to join King Richard’s procession as he passed the town on his way to Tivmica, taking care to blend in with the rest of the Marians. When we arrived in Tivmica, we were to lie in wait until the perfect moment arrived, and arrive it did.
“On the fourth day of festivities, Lothar and I emptied the contents of several vials—all of which we had been given by King Robert—into the pots containing the evening’s meal. It took effect slowly. The Marians and Tivmicans alike felt their eyes grow heavy, then their arms and their legs; they all attributed it to their long, activity-filled day. It was decided that they would retire for the night and resume their celebration the following day.
“Lothar and I waited for the potion to take full effect. Periodically, we’d pop our heads into tents, pretending to be lost. After a while, those inside the tents stopped responding, and we knew that it was time. We ventured into Tivmica and seized several weapons. We then returned to the Marians’ camp, and I went into each tent, grabbed the children, and took them to Lothar. He had me lay the kids in a line. Lothar…he then used the Tivmicans’ knives to slice the children’s throats as they slept. When we finished, Lothar suggested that it would be best if we took the kids’ bodies and moved them further into the campsite, to ensure that the Marians stumbled upon them first and not the Tivmicans. So we did. We scattered the bodies, planting on them the Tivmicans’ weapons. We finished our task before the sun was in the sky. We knew what would happen, or what King Robert hoped would happen; the Marians were to wake up and, thinking that the Tivmicans had slaughtered their children, attack their friends without warning, ushering the curse. We, of course, were long gone when that happened—having darted into Greyland in the middle of the night and, from there, made our way back to Darlbent via ship.”
“You have gone mad.”
“You don’t believe me? Why would I invent this?”
“This is King Robert’s doing, isn’t it? He ordered you to tell me what you have. And I worried about the sons!”
“No!”
“He wishes to incite a war once this curse is lifted! He is armed and ready, waiting for us to attack so that he may finally have grounds to bring Mar under his control!”
“Remember who sent me here! It was the Utdrendans who named me, not King Robert.”
“As if that negates the rest.”
“Had this been King Robert’s will, my family wouldn’t need protecting!”
“A false request to lend a sense of credibility to your fabrication.”
“Listen! The Utdrendans named me because without my revelation, it would have been impossible for Mar to ever know freedom. You could have done all that you wanted to the land. There would have remained a wrong to be righted—the slanderous accusations made against the innocent Tivmicans. King Robert wouldn’t have unveiled the truth, nor would have Lothar—who has been dead now for several years. It had to be me.”
King Sol approached Pelliab and locked eyes with the kingsman. “There is a simple way to determine if what you say is true,” he said slowly.
“Ten years ago, Lothar and I complied with King Robert’s orders to produce false evidence against the Tivmicans so that the Marians might attack them,” said Pelliab. He said it again, and again, and again…
The kingsman showed no signs.
“You are a barbarically vicious man,” interrupted King Sol.
“Do not forget your promise. My family is blameless.”
“Guards!”
Two men entered the tent.
“Have Pelliab delivered to Enbeck’s dungeon. I want a minimum of ten guards to accompany him. No harm is to come to him. Do you understand? None! He is to be handled as carefully as one would handle a sheet of glass, and not a syllable of what has been discussed here tonight—for surely you overheard—is to be repeated. When you arrive at Enbeck, the reason for his arrest is not to be disclosed. Simply notify the gaolers that all of Pelliab’s needs are to be met and that he is to be allowed to send me—and only me—messages, should he need to.
“Aylin, I ask that you travel with Pelliab as well, to ensure his safety; I will require that every evening you send me a flird, informing me of your whereabouts and the distance travelled. You are all to leave tonight.”
“You treat me more like a prized possession than a prisoner,” said Pelliab.
“For your family’s sake, you may prove useful to me yet; your king still believes you to be loyal to him. Now, take your leave. Guards, send Winfred in on your way out.”
The tent shook a bit as people moved about.
“How much did you overhear?” asked King Sol, when he was alone with his advisor.
“Of what, sire?”
“Of what Pelliab had to say.”
“Well, I did not venture too far from the tent, in case I was requested.”
“You overheard it all?”
The king’s advisor hesitated.
“Winfred!”
“Yes, sire.”
“Did anyone else?”
“The guards, of course.”
“Anybody else?”
“I do not think so. Nearly all are in their tents.”
“Good.”
“You will keep this from your people?”
“No. I wait only for Pelliab to be out of their reach. After that, I will reveal all, and we, as a kingdom, will prepare.”
“For what, sire?”
A cynical smile spread across King Sol’s face.
***
Kaia scampered away from the tent and ran to the perimeter line. She thought of picking up a tinlisit and running into the forest. She knew that she couldn’t; the line would be left unsecured. In a fit of fury, she threw herself down and clawed at the grass. At last she had her answer, at quite the hefty price, though.
Stephan was real, she realized. The dreams were real. Nothing else was as it seemed. Kaia struggled for air. He was real! He was my…my…oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! I am not Kaia Stone! My family isn’t…and the Atalileve never…but how cruel! I am nothing more than an unintentional impostor! Kaia sat up and passed her forearm over her face; her hands were shaking. I am—what was it that she, the woman in the black field, called me? Rena? No. Renla? Ruthena? Rue…Ruelena? Kaia repeated the last name aloud. Yes, that’s it. My name is Ruelena. I am…a Marian.
Dearest Reader,
I want to extend a sincere ‘thank you’ for accompanying Kaia to the Kingdom of Mar. It means so much to me, and I am grateful beyond words that you would take the time to look at my writing.
As a token of my appreciation, I would like to offer you the chance to win a copy of book two in the Hawk of Stone duology. To be entered in the drawing, simply subscribe to my blog: https://jessthestoryteller.wordpress.com/. (On the aforementioned site, you’ll also find games and exclusive content regarding the sequel!)
If you enjoyed Capering on Glass Bridges, I ask that you please consider visiting my book’s Amazon page and writing a review; it can be as short or as long as you please. The importance of reviews cannot be overstated, for they play a pivotal role in helping authors gain visibility and increase readership.
Once again, thank you! I eagerly look forward to sharing more of Kaia’s story with you.
Affectionately yours,
Jessica
&nbs
p;
Capering on Glass Bridges (The Hawk of Stone Duology, Book 1) Page 19