Devan Chronicles Series: Books 1-3

by Mark E. Cooper

  Keverin was realistic enough to know that he would never find for himself that which his father had enjoyed for so long. It was too late for regrets now anyway. If he survived this war, he could always adopt a child to be his heir. Yes, he would do that. It was time to give up foolish dreams.

  I have my duty; I need nothing else.

  * * *

  Booom!

  Julia awoke with a start. Looking around in the dim light, she realised she was still in the castle. “Oh my God, this is not happening. Please let it be a dream.”

  Booom!

  The noise came again. It was louder than any thunder she had ever heard. It was coming from nearby. She looked toward the door. The noise hadn’t come from there, but she could hear people running by in the corridor outside. She got out of bed and padded across her bed chamber and into her sitting room. All was well there, so she crossed the room to open the door. Julia looked out into the corridor just in time to snag the arm of a young woman who was running past. She appeared to be a servant of some sort. She was wearing a long dark skirt with a white linen blouse fastened with oval buttons made of wood. What worried Julia though, was the look of terror on her face.

  Booom!

  Dust pattered down as the fortress shook around them. The woman tried to pull away, but Julia held on. “What’s happening?”

  Something toppled with a crash nearby and a woman screamed in fright. The girl continued her struggles, but she couldn’t break Julia’s grip.

  “They’re trying to destroy the gate,” the girl said. “Please let me go, I have to hide!”

  “Who’s trying to break down our gate—where?”

  The woman looked at Julia in disbelief as if wondering where she’d been all her life. Julia felt like yelling she didn’t belong here and didn’t know what in hell was going on. Before Julia could say anything else, the woman answered the question.

  “The Hasians of course! The sorcerers are hurling fireballs at the west gate!”

  The women finally managed to pull her arm free. She fled before Julia could ask anything else. Hasians... sorcerers... she must be hallucinating. It couldn’t be real—it just couldn’t be!

  Julia closed her door and leaned against it feeling tears threaten. She should have been in the gym by now. The games... she had to... and then there was... Jill would think she’d been kidnapped or something.

  “Well I have!”

  Julia tried to think of what to do. Looking about in complete bewilderment, she realised it was all true. She could never have imagined all the details of this place. How did she get here? How would she get out of here?

  Julia wandered into her bedchamber in a daze. Looking about the room her eyes locked upon the huge wardrobe. First things first. She would get dressed then look for answers. With something to occupy her mind, she felt calm returning.

  I can handle this... I think. No, I CAN handle this.

  Looking through the selection of gowns, Julia chose a beautiful green dress of silk. It was embroidered all over and fit her perfectly, though it was more suitable for Napoleon’s Josephine than for a five foot nothing gymnast like her. Another time Julia would have enjoyed playing dress up—there were a couple more gowns that had caught her eye, but there was no time for games. Looking in the mirror, Julia gasped in delight. The dress shimmered in emerald splendour as she moved. She had never worn anything so beautiful. The dress hugged her shape tightly before flaring over her hips. The low neckline showed the rounded swell of her breasts, and she frowned at how much was revealed.

  Julia shrugged her worry away. When in Rome...

  Looking in the bottom of the wardrobe she found the slippers that went with the dress. Thank goodness high heel shoes weren’t in fashion here. The shoes were a bit tight, but she managed. She really needed a half size larger, but they would do for now. Checking herself in the mirror one more time, Julia decided that her short hair didn’t suit the dress, but other than that she looked dressed to kill. It was time to find her victim and get herself some answers.

  Leaving her room, Julia tried to retrace the route Elise used yesterday and was soon lost. Julia was sure that she had followed the same turns, but the door with only one handle still hadn’t materialised after what seemed like hours. Was she walking in circles, or was the castle really that big? Stopping for a minute to take stock, Julia looked both ways along the corridor hoping to see someone, but it was deserted. She would need a map just to find her room again! Further along the corridor, Julia could see by the light of the wall lamps a set of large double doors. Having given up on asking someone, Julia decided to see if any of the rooms had windows from which she could get her bearings. Walking up to the carved doors, she automatically knocked and entered.

  “Good morning my dear. May I help you?”

  Julia stopped on the threshold in embarrassment. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m lost and didn’t realise anyone was in here. I don’t want to be a nuisance—I’ll go.”

  “No, it’s all right,” the woman said with a gentle smile. “This old pile of stone can be confusing at times. Please, come in and sit down.”

  Julia closed the doors and sat in a comfortable armchair opposite the imposing woman. Julia tried to study the noble lady without letting it show. She seemed to be in her sixties, with her grey hair piled high on her head. She was a handsome woman, and Julia decided that she would be kindly. She was wearing a grey velvet—called fustian—dress in similar style to the one Julia had chosen to wear, but it was far less revealing. A lace panel in the front reached up to her chin. A rope of gold was displayed to perfection around her neck where it lay upon the lace, and another golden chain encircled her waist fastened with a brooch. She wore matching pendant earrings that hung from her lobes and sparkled in the light coming through the open windows. She looked like a rich and beloved aunt come for a visit.

  “Do I meet with your approval my dear?”

  Julia blushed at being so obvious. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. My name’s Julia Morton. I’m pleased to meet you.”

  “Two names? That is strange. I’ve never heard the like before. My name is Jessica. Where do you come from Julia Morton?”

  Julia smiled weakly. “I don’t know. I mean I know, but I don’t know where it is at the moment... Oh! I don’t know what I mean.”

  Suddenly, Julia felt the tears threatening. She tried to hold them back, but as soon as she felt herself under control, they spilled over and she cried. All she could think of was Jill and the games.

  Stop it! You’ll get to the games. If you could get here, then the reverse is possible too.

  Jessica came over and sat on the arm of her chair. Julia couldn’t help it. She hugged Jessica and cried harder. It was just too much take in. Her parent’s deaths in a car crash, dropping out of college, Robby dumping her... and now this! Her life surely couldn’t get any more messed up.

  “Hush Julia. It will be all right. Hush, hush, hush...” Jessica said rubbing Julia’s back and smoothing her hair out of her eyes.

  Julia pushed away a little and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is the matter with me. I’m not like this usually...” she took the piece of lace Jessica held out to her and dabbed at her eyes. “I must be tired or—”

  “Tears can be healing. I remember when Kevlarin died...” Jessica said faintly.

  “Kevlarin?”

  “My lord husband. Here, I’ll show you.”

  Julia followed Jessica across the room.

  Jessica gestured up at a large portrait on the wall. “This is... was Kevlarin. He entered the Other World almost ten years ago.”

  The portrait was of a much younger and happy seeming Jessica sitting with an older man. Jessica glowed with happiness. Ordinarily Julia would have called Kevlarin brooding, ominous even, but the artist had captured a different feeling. It was love pure and simple. Kevlarin was wearing rich velvets in dark colours as if trying to fade into the background, but the way he was looking at Jessic
a gave him a different aspect altogether. It was as if Jessica’s presence shone a light upon him, one which he could not escape. The adoration in his eyes was obvious. Jessica could only have been twenty or so when the portrait was commissioned, but it wasn’t Jessica’s beauty or the age difference that made her lord husband seem plain. There was something familiar about Kevlarin that Julia couldn’t quite put her finger on, something about the eyes? She shrugged. Whatever it was she couldn’t dredge it up out of the jumble she laughingly called a memory.

  “He is... strong looking,” Julia said lamely.

  Jessica laughed. “You mean plain don’t you? It’s all right, everyone remarked on it at the time. Oh Jessica, you can do sooo much better. Oh Jessica, you should marry Athlone, he’s sooo handsome.”

  “And were they right do you think?” Julia said stifling her laughter.

  “Bah! Kevlarin is beautiful in my eyes and that’s all that matters. Athlone was, and still is by all accounts, a brigand. I wanted nothing to do with him. He married a beauty a while later and I never heard from him again... well not directly. He has caused some trouble for Keverin since then.” Jessica’s eyes shone with her memories and glistened with tears, but they didn’t fall. Jessica was a strong woman.

  Julia remembered those nightmare months after her parents died, and envied Jessica that strength.

  “I loved Kevlarin very much,” Jessica went on quietly. “He was older than I as you can see. He was lonely. This pile of stone takes a lot of work to manage. He kept himself busy by building up the fortune. His mother wanted him to marry a girl from Chulym to tie Athione to the masters there, but he resisted.

  “Anyway,” Jessica went on in a more upbeat tone of voice. “His mother had arranged a banquet and invited all the lords. In those days this place was bustling. This lady or that lord would come to visit, and children would be running in the corridors playing. Every day felt like a holiday. This old place feels dead now, but you should have seen it forty years ago before the troubles began.”

  “Then what happened?” Julia asked breaking Jessica’s reverie.

  “Oh well, my parents brought me with them when they came to visit. Kevlarin was there all dressed in black and brooding in the corner. He did it on purpose of course. His mother was livid, but what could she do? He was Lord of Athione in his own right. Most of the ladies were afraid of him for being so big and ugly in their eyes, but I saw something different behind the scowl he wore.”

  Julia listened as Jessica transported her to an Athione of long ago...

  “Excuse me a moment would you?” Jessica said in a distracted voice. “I want to have a word with Lord Kevlarin,”

  Athlone bowed stiffly. “As you wish.”

  Jessica walked away, hardly aware of Athlone’s disgruntlement, and headed directly for Kevlarin. She didn't see her mother's knowing smile or hear the comment she made to her dance partner. Lord Padrig faltered at his consort’s words and looked worriedly toward his daughter. Another whispered comment made him relax suddenly tight shoulders and he concentrated upon his dancing.

  The music was beautiful and the ladies danced gaily with the lords. The hall was decked in bunting and the chandeliers seemed to blaze brighter than the sun. Kevlarin made an ominous figure dressed as he was all in black. It accentuated his strength, though Jessica was sure he didn’t realise just how much.

  “My lord Kevlarin,” Jessica said with a deep curtsy.

  “You have the advantage of me lady,” Kevlarin said with a bow.

  “Yes I have, haven’t I?” She said with a laugh. Kevlarin grumbled something under his breath. It sounded like he wanted to hide in the stables. “Oh don’t do that my lord! We won’t be able to hear the music.”

  “I’m not dancing...” Kevlarin broke off looking sharply at her.

  Jessica grinned and closed her trap. “May I have the pleasure of this dance?”

  “You can’t ask me, I’m supposed to ask you!”

  “Thank you my lord, I accept.”

  Kevlarin looked around for a distraction or some other way to escape, but then he saw his mother heading toward him with a young woman in tow. He inclined his head to Jessica, “You honour me, lady,” he said and quickly led her away from his mother’s determined advance.

  “You haven’t told me your name, my lady,” Kevlarin said as he whirled her around the dance floor.

  Jessica was feeling a little breathless and wished now she had chosen a dress a little less tight. “Jessica—my name I mean,” she said breathing hard but enjoying the giddy feeling that was coming over her.

  “You are a vision come to life Jessica. Where did you come from?”

  “Don’t do that. Every man I’ve ever met says something like that and I’m sick of it! All my friends say I should let Athlone court me—he’s always saying stupid things like that.”

  “I meant no disrespect. I assure you that I meant what I said.”

  Jessica looked up at him in confusion. Did he really mean... ? She was feeling more than a little giddy now. She was having trouble concentrating upon his words.

  “Can we walk outside for a little while Kev? I’m feeling a little giddy.”

  “Of course,” Kevlarin said in sudden concern. “Here, take my arm and I’ll see you safely outside.”

  Jessica walked unsteadily on his arm, but she quickly regained control of herself as the night air refreshed her. They walked slowly around the courtyard. It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear and the stars shone down. She could still hear the music even this far away, and wished Kevlarin would dance with her under the starlight.

  “I’m sorry to be such a bother. I’m feeling much better now.”

  “It was my honour to escort you,” Kevlarin said guiding her steps through the darkness. “You still haven’t told me where you live.”

  “We have met before, my lord. My father is Padrig,” she said wondering if he would remember her.

  Kevlarin frowned. “Lord Padrig? I don’t recall ever meeting Padrig’s daughter.”

  “I was only eight at the time Kev,” Jessica said with a chuckle.

  Daylight dawned and he gaped. “You... you can’t be! What ever happened to that mutt?”

  Jessica laughed. She called her dog Lord Growley because he would always growl and bark at any stranger who came too close to her. “Lord Growley is not a mutt I’ll have you know. He is a noble beast!”

  Kevlarin boomed a laugh across the courtyard. “My apologies to the honourable Lord Growley, but he did bite me first.”

  “Only because he was protecting his lady,” she said grinning.

  Kevlarin stopped laughing abruptly and raised Jessica’s hand for a kiss. “I can understand his need to protect you.”

  The kiss made Jessica all tingly, and she wanted him to do it again on her lips, but he very properly escorted her back to the dance. Kevlarin danced beautifully. The night progressed with him glaring at anyone even attempting to come between them.

  Jessica was well pleased.

  “And what happened then Jessica?” Julia said breaking the mood that had come over her new friend.

  “What?” Jessica said blinking in confusion. “Oh, Julia I’m sorry. I was lost in the past there for a moment,” she sounded sad to be back. “Well... the next day we went riding together; the next hawking, and the day after that my father informed Kevlarin that we were leaving for home. Kevlarin said he would escort us, and he did all the way to the castle, but afterwards, instead of leaving he camped outside the gate. When my father came outside the next day, Kevlarin asked him for my hand in marriage.”

  “And your father said yes of course?” Julia said eagerly.

  “He said no!” Jessica said with a laugh. “I was outraged I can tell you. Father, I said, I love Kevlarin and if you don’t go out there and tell him that you’ve changed your mind, I’ll go. He wouldn’t have that of course. He was the master of his own castle. He asked Kevlarin to come up and stay a while. The next day we were marr
ied by the priest in one of our villages.”

  Julia chuckled. “A master of his castle but not of his daughter!”

  They both laughed. Jessica brought her a glass of wine, and Julia sipped it occasionally while telling her about Earth.

  “No, we don’t use magic at all,” Julia said. “Everyone knows magic is all tricks and illusion...” she frowned, “At least it is on my world. We use technology to do the things you described. Any one can fly where I come from. We use jet planes—big metal birds that hundreds of people can sit inside of to travel anywhere in the world.”

  Jessica shook her head gently in wonder. “That is truly amazing. To think that something so marvellous can be done... but is it possible your world does have magic? You see, we believe that magic comes from the God. It is His power to bestow. Surely He made your world as he did ours.”

  “In the Bible, that’s my faith’s holy book, it says God made the world in six days. I can see just by looking around me that your people and mine are the same. I believe God did make both our worlds. As for magic, we have stories of mages, but that’s all they are. Why is this so important to you?”

  “I will tell you why.”

  Julia turned to find the man she had landed on just entering the room. Mathius was hiding behind him.

  “Though I cannot imagine how anyone could sleep through the noise, you should know that we are under attack. Athione will likely fall in the next day or so—”

  Mathius gasped in protest, but the man ignored him and continued.

  “—and most here will die. If you had been who you were supposed to be we might have prevented it!”

  Before Julia could think of a reply, Jessica bounced to her feet in outrage. “How dare you! Lord you may be, but you don’t rule here! You burst in unannounced and think to insult my guest—I’ll not have it! If you don’t apologise I will have you barred from the women’s quarter!”

  Julia nodded to herself. So this was Jessica’s son lord Keverin. Trust her to use the only lord for miles around for her landing mat. Julia watched the confrontation with interest. The lord was easily a foot and more taller than Jessica was, and he was heavily muscled, but the way Jessica stood toe to toe with him made her appear the larger. Julia could see his resemblance to Kevlarin now that he stood before her. He was struggling to hold his temper and was clenching his bandaged hands. They were bleeding. The injury must be recent.