The Cypher Wheel

by Alison Pensy

  Faedra held out her hand, accepting the keys. “Thank you. I appreciate you having the faith in me to try it.”

  The king gave her the subtlest of smiles. “You have saved this realm twice now. I am proud to call you my daughter.”

  Before Faedra could respond, her father had turned and was marching towards the exit, making it quite clear he wanted nothing more to do with her plan. He stopped and spoke to the guards on the way out. Faedra thought it was probably to give them permission to let her and Faen walk out with the prisoner.

  Faedra turned back to her Guardian who was waiting patiently. She tempered her emotions, unsure of how she would react upon seeing Vivianna again. She could tell herself until she was blue in the face that it was only Vivianna's body, a mere shell, that was housing an innocent woman. She tried to convince herself that the woman standing behind bars just a few feet away was not the person who had wanted her dead since she was a baby.

  She closed her eyes and breathed in a deep cleansing breath. A second later she felt the comforting weight of warm hands on her shoulders. Faen’s eyes burrowed deep into her soul when Faedra opened her eyes and looked up into their warm fathomless depths.

  “You can do this, Faedra,” he whispered, sensing her inner struggle.

  Faedra responded with a faltering smile, took another deep breath and nodded.

  “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  ***

  “I wonder how Faedra and Faen are doing,” Alyssa pondered.

  “Better than us, I hope,” Etyran replied. He scrubbed his face and raked his hands through his dark blonde hair. “How could I have let this happen?” He slammed his open palm against the wrought iron bars that were holding them captive.

  Alyssa flinched at his outburst but couldn't tear her eyes away as he started pacing back and forth in front of the iron bars of the cell they'd been thrown into.

  “It wasn't your fault,” Alyssa said, after a moment of silence.

  “Of course, it was my fault,” Etyran snarled. “How could I be so bloody arrogant to assume that Arawn wouldn't be able to see me? It stands to reason he would have figured out a spell to uncover our kind. He's had you to study long enough, for crying out loud.”

  Alyssa averted her gaze. Looking at the straw-covered stone of their stale smelling cell was preferable to witnessing the rage that burned in Etyran's eyes. She was no stranger to the dungeons, having been down there on many occasions to keep Allora company. But she'd never had the misfortune of appreciating the place from the other side of the bars. Now she was terrified what Arawn had in store for her for betraying him. She'd heard all too often Allora's cries for mercy. She visibly shuddered at the thought.

  Warm arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. She looked up to see Etyran sitting next to her, his eyes now filled with concern.

  “I'm sorry,” he said, his voice much softer now. “I didn't mean to scare you. I just get a bit...passionate sometimes.”

  She gave Etyran a pensive smile. “It's not you that scares me.” A single tear came loose from her glistening eyes and rolled down her cheek. She'd always tried to play the tough girl, and, to a certain extent, she was fairly good at it. But now, wondering what Arawn would do to her, was shaking her resolve to the core.

  Alyssa heard a low carnal growl escape from deep in Etyran's throat. He wiped away the tear with his thumb. “I'll not let that monster near you.”

  Noble words, she thought, but Alyssa knew the monster much better than Etyran. She'd managed to stay under his anger radar since the time she woke up in a strange bedchamber in this very castle. Torn from the life she once knew, to live a life she wanted nothing more than to forget. That was, until Etyran wrestled her to the floor a couple of nights ago.

  She quickly realized that the best way to stay alive in Arawn's captivity was to do what he instructed. Nothing more, nothing less. She wasn't proud of herself, but it had kept her alive and, for the most part, unharmed until she could figure out a way to escape his clutches. One of the things she hated most about herself was how she lulled Allora into trusting her. Alyssa had been sent down here time and again on the pretense of befriending the Lady and her daughter, Skylar. When Arawn's harsher tactics didn't work on Todmus's wife, he thought a softer approach might. That's where Alyssa came in. It was her job to come down here and try to glean information from Lady Allora by becoming her friend. But there was a problem… Allora was so kind and sweet to the Lightbender, even after everything she had endured, Alyssa had grown to love the Lady. It got to the point where she almost couldn't face herself in the mirror.

  After every time she had visited, Arawn would demand her presence and make her recite their conversation word for word, over and over again. It became apparent, after weeks of visits, that Allora didn’t know anything about Todmus's whereabouts. Either that or Allora had seen through Alyssa's deceit, which made Alyssa feel even worse.

  When Arawn came to realize Allora knew nothing of any importance, he forbade Alyssa from any more visits. He never allowed her anything he thought may give her a fraction of happiness or comfort. That didn't stop the young Lightbender, though. She would still sneak down there, risking a severe beating if she ever got caught, and sit on the cold damp floor and talk with her friend for hours.

  She wondered now if Arawn had known all the time that she was sneaking down to visit with her friend. Had he been testing spells out on her without her knowledge, until he found one that enabled him to see her when she thought she was invisible? Maybe that was his ploy all along, to make sure he would know where she was at all times.

  So much for their plan. Alyssa had entered Arawn's chambers with an air of confidence knowing Etyran was standing right beside her. She cringed when she thought of the outright lies she had told the sorcerer. Not because she had lied, but because he was all the while sitting there with a smug grin plastered across his face knowing the full extent of her deception.

  Now it made perfect sense when they had first entered. His expression had shifted and his eyes flicked to her side. It was just a split second lapse before he resumed his usual indifferent air that, at the time, she had hardly noticed. He played her well, feigning interest in her lies. Leaning forward, chin in hand, elbow resting on the table. Arawn even let her finish her elaborately made-up tale before his face turned an explosive shade of red. He held her and her companion with an invisible force while he summoned the guards and had them both thrown in the dungeon.

  The thing that haunted her the most was his menacing look as he turned the key, locking them in. “I'll deal with you later,” he'd said before whipping around and stomping up the stone steps.

  Alyssa caught herself staring at the spot on the floor just outside the cell door where Arawn's robes had swept a semi-circle in the straw upon his departure. He would come back to punish her, she had no doubt. Even with all of Etyran's good intentions, she was as good as dead and so was he.

  She could hear someone's voice at the edge of her consciousness. Alyssa pulled herself back into the here and now, not sure how long she had been deep in thought. She allowed her gaze to follow the sound back to the handsome face and calming solace of Etyran's eyes.

  “Hello? Is anyone home?” Etyran said, with a quirky smile on his face.

  She couldn't help but return his smile. Even in the dire situation they found themselves in, Etyran made Alyssa smile. It had been a very long time since anyone, especially a man, had made her smile. Just what was it about this roguish character that made her heart quicken? She consoled herself with the fact that if these were indeed her last moments, she knew of no one else she would rather spend them with.

  “Where did you go?” Etyran asked, referring to her drifting off into space.

  “Nowhere worth mentioning,” Alyssa replied.

  “I will not let him hurt you,” Etyran reiterated, his expression resolute.

  Alyssa smiled again. If only he knew the futility of his words. She almost felt sorry for
him at that moment. He had no clue who he was dealing with. Instead, she cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. She noticed his eyes widen in surprise at her gesture. She also noticed her skin tingled where it touched his.

  “Where did you come from? And why do I only get to meet you now?” she whispered.

  They stared at each other for a while, trying to search the others' soul, neither one daring to break the tranquility of the moment.

  “Well, isn't this just all kinds of cozy?” a maleficent voice shattered the silence.

  Alyssa felt Etyran stiffen under her hand a split second before he rose up from the roughhewn bench they were sitting on and planted himself firmly in front of her. A wall of muscle and bulk blocked her view from the tyrant who would have to get past Etyran first. She had to admit, if he was going up against another man, and not the force of evil he was trying to protect her from, she would have no doubt he would win. But he wasn't, and he would lose. Alyssa dropped her head in acceptance of her fate.

  Arawn raked Etyran up and down with a look of disdain. “Oh, how very noble of you, Lightbender,” he said with a sneer.

  “I will not let you hurt her,” Etyran said, standing firm.

  Arawn barked out a humorless laugh before bringing his hand up.

  In the next instant Etyran was slammed up against the rough wall of the dungeon cell. The crack of his skull meeting stone made Alyssa's insides turn on themselves.

  “Stop it!” Alyssa cried. “Don't hurt him.” She ran over to where Etyran was still pinned against the wall, his feet dangling a foot from the floor. She turned to Arawn. “I'll tell you anything you want to know.”

  Arawn turned his sneer onto the female Lightbender's stricken expression. The pleading in her eyes was the source of more amusement.

  “Oh, I know you will,” he said.

  Etyran started rasping. Alyssa turned back to see him grab for his throat, looking like he was trying to loosen something from around his neck. His face was turning a nasty shade of red as his eyes started to bulge.

  She turned and ran to the bars and dropped to her knees. “Stop it, I beg you,” she pleaded. “I'll do anything you ask. Just, please, don't hurt him.”

  “No.” The strangled one-syllabled word was all Etyran could squeeze out.

  The expression on Arawn's face turned from amusement to boredom in the blink of an eye. He made a motion with his hand as if throwing something away...hard.

  Alyssa heard another crack and turned just as Etyran crumpled to a heap on the floor. She ran over to his unconscious body and threw herself down beside him. She lifted his head off the ground with care, laying it on her lap. Blood trickled from his temple onto her tunic.

  “Oh, no. Please, don't be dead,” she whispered as she touched his neck, feeling for a pulse. She felt a couple of strong beats just before she was grabbed by her hair and lifted from the floor. Etyran's head fell from her lap as she was dragged away, hitting the stone floor with yet another crack.

  Pain shot through Alyssa's scalp. She grabbed at her hair trying to loosen the tyrant's hold on it, but to no avail. She had been so worried about her new-found friend, she hadn't even noticed the key turn in the clunky iron lock. Her feet skimmed across the floor as her captor dragged her through the cell door. He threw her down on the dirty straw-covered ground while he locked the door. Her hands cupped her scalp like a beanie hat in an attempt to protect herself from being dragged by her hair again.

  It worked. Arawn leaned over and grabbed her by the crook of her raised arm instead.

  He looked back at the cell. “I'll have some fun with you later,” he snarled at Etyran who still lay motionless on the floor. He tugged Alyssa hard and dragged her out of the dungeon. Alyssa looked back on her way up the steps. Her heart splintered as her eyes fell upon the man, still lying prostrate on the floor, blood trickling down his face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “What are you going to do to me?” Alyssa whimpered as she was being dragged up the steps from the dungeon.

  “Oh, something suitably fitting for your level of betrayal,” Arawn replied with obvious glee in his voice.

  He wrenched Alyssa's arm with a sharp tug, dragging her to keep up with him. She felt a twinge in her shoulder and bit her lip to stop from crying out in pain. He was taking the steps two at a time. She was finding it hard to stay by his side so she could avoid having her arm ripped out of its socket. What he had in store for her was bound to be much worse than this, and although she was terror stricken at that moment, she was not about to give him any satisfaction earlier than was necessary.

  When he reached the top step, he picked up his pace even more, his long strides covering the cold flagstone floor much quicker that Alyssa could hope to accomplish without trotting to keep up.

  Without warning, Alyssa came crashing to the floor, having tripped on one of the uneven flagstones, ripping herself from Arawn's grasp, as she did so.

  He whirled around and paced the couple of strides it took to get back to where she was laying on the ground.

  “You stupid little wench,” he spat as he leaned down and grabbed her wrist in a death-grip ready to haul her up off the floor. “Get up, before I kick you all the way down this...What the...?”

  Alyssa looked up just in time to see Arawn's eyes widen in disbelief. He was looking down the corridor where they had just come from. In the next second, she could hear the tinkle of glass. She then saw a bright blue light, and finally, a puff of smoke.

  Alyssa turned her head, as best she could in the position she lay. A small man emerged from the shadows. She looked back to Arawn, who she noticed was no longer moving. What she saw made her suck in a sharp breath.

  Arawn was stock still, frozen to the spot, his furious eyes still glaring down the corridor towards the dungeons. For a second, Alyssa held her breath, not daring to move, in case she be the one to set him in motion again. When he was still static a moment later, she hesitantly lifted her other hand and prodded his cheek with her finger. His skin was still pliable. For a moment, she wondered if it would be solid as stone. He certainly looked like a carved statue.

  After she'd gotten over the initial shock that her aggressor was frozen to the spot, her brain kicked in and told her to get out of his grasp as fast as possible. Alyssa tried to pull her wrist free only to find it was stuck fast in Arawn's unyielding grip. Cringing, she reached up with her free hand and peeled each individual finger back from where they were crushing her skin. Her eyes didn't leave his face the entire time. Her heart pounded within her ribcage at the thought he may unfreeze at any second and her fate would be sealed once more.

  Arawn's grip left choleric red marks around her wrist; she absentmindedly rubbed her skin as she sat upright and turned to the person who had just saved her.

  “Who are you?” Alyssa asked the ruddy faced man.

  “No time for that now,” he replied, walking towards her and Arawn. “That spell is not going to keep him under for long. We have a few minutes, at best. Now, I need to free my wife and child.” He reached the sorcerer and unhooked the ring of keys from his belt.

  Alyssa's eyes widened as she comprehended who the little man was. “You're Todmus.”

  Todmus looked back at the Lightbender and winked before turning and marching towards the dungeons.

  “Wait,” Alyssa called after him. “Allora's not down there.”

  Todmus stopped on the top step and turned. “Do you know where she is?”

  Alyssa hesitated for a second, took a deep breath and answered as best she could. “Well, her body is with the ovates in the hidden cave.”

  All color drained from Todmus's face and Alyssa realized how that must have sounded.

  “Oh! She's not dead,” she said quickly. “Arawn switched her body with Vivianna's.”

  That garnered her a creased brow from the dwarf.

  “Vivianna is in Allora's body in the ovate's cave, and Allora is in Vivianna's body in the castle dungeons in Azran.” She still
wasn't entirely sure she was making any sense. It sounded crazy even to her and she'd seen it with her own eyes.

  “And my daughter, Skylar?”

  “She was safe last time I saw her. She is with Allora… I mean Vivianna.”

  “Then we must make haste,” Todmus said striding away from the dungeons.

  “No, wait,” Alyssa said again.

  Todmus stopped and sighed, his expression strained.

  “We have to help my friend. He's still down there,” she looked towards the dungeons. “And he's badly hurt. Please, you have to help me.”

  Alyssa pushed herself up from the floor and dusted herself down. Todmus noticed the blood on her tunic and took a step towards her. “You are bleeding, miss. Where are you hurt?”

  “It's not mine, it's Etyran's!” Alyssa sped off towards the dungeons, taking the steps two at a time.

  “Etyran is here? What is Etyran doing here?” Todmus called after her, his short strides inhibiting him from keeping up with her.

  “It's a long story.” Alyssa's voice echoed up the stairwell. “I'll explain everything once we get Etyran and get out of here.”

  When they reached the bottom of the steps, Etyran was still sprawled out unconscious on the cell floor. Todmus fumbled with the keys, taking two attempts to find the right one to open the wrought iron door.

  Alyssa burst through the door and fell to her knees beside Etyran. She leaned over and positioned her ear just above his mouth. Todmus stood watching, concern plastered over his features.

  “Thank the Goddess, he's still breathing,” Alyssa said to Todmus.

  Etyran let out a weak groan on an exhale of breath.

  “Etyran, it's me, Alyssa. Can you hear me? Todmus is here and we're going to get you out.” She looked back at Todmus. “Can you help me get him to his feet?”

  Todmus raised his eyebrows. He was half the size of the hulking Lightbender laid out on the floor. Nevertheless, he positioned himself on the other side of Etyran.

  “Etyran, if you can hear me, we really need your help right now,” Alyssa pleaded, after her and Todmus's attempts to get him off the floor were proving fruitless. They had managed to get him into a sitting position, but it became as plain as the nose on one's face, that they were not going to be able to lift him any further.