The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles)

by Bridie Blake

  Her wise eyes assessed the younger girl and after a moment she nodded. “Of course.”

  “Tempani.” Nic joined them. “Please listen to me. You need to grieve. You’re not thinking clearly.”

  “My mind has never been clearer,” she said. “You promised to not stand in my path. I know how to lead this.”

  He sighed. “At least come and see Teddy. He could do with a friend.”

  She baulked at his suggestion. “I need to find Keer and Nika. I have to check the perimeter and enhance the enchantments on this camp.”

  “Please.”

  She shook her head. “Maybe later. I really need to go.”

  He frowned as she stalked off. She needed to deal with her grief before anything else. If she didn’t, it would consume her, and she would be headed for a certain death. There was only so many times he could tell her. He also had Teddy to focus on.

  Nic tried to hold back his tears as he entered the tent. His brother’s body was so small and fragile as he lay under the blankets. The room was dark, with only a small candle beside his bed.

  He sat beside him and gripped his hand between his. Teddy’s eyes, once so full of life, were now just a blank stare. His lips were pressed together firmly as he turned away from his brother.

  “How are you feeling?”

  There was no response.

  “Can I get you anything? Do you want me to try and send word to mother?”

  “No, she can’t see me like this,” he snapped.

  “She loves you Teddy. Nothing will change that.”

  Teddy’s body shook as he cried.

  “Teddy,” he whispered.

  “No.”

  Nic reach out his hand and patted Teddy’s hair in the way he’d seen his mother do it many times before.

  “She should have let me die,” he muttered. “I did nothing to help as they… What they did, it was horrible. And I have to see that for the rest of my life. He made sure that was the last thing I ever saw.”

  “I wish there was something I could do. I wish I could take the images from you and bear them myself.”

  “And I wish I was dead.”

  “Please don’t say that,” he urged. “Please.”

  “I deserve it.”

  “No.”

  “I’m being punished for father. I knew,” he wept. “I knew he was planning to kill him, and I did nothing. Nothing!”

  “This was an act of sorcery not the hand of our God.”

  “They should have killed me. I deserve to die.”

  “Teddy,” he pleaded.

  “Leave me,” he whispered.

  Nic leaned across and pressed his lips to Teddy’s forehead. With a sigh he rose and left the tent. His heart ached for his brother. He had been carrying this guilt with him and had no one to turn to. He thought back to that night he had begged Teddy to let him help. He shouldn’t have taken no for an answer. He should have stayed until Teddy confessed what he knew. He had failed him as a brother but that would stop now.

  He squinted against the bright sun as he glanced around the campsite in search of his wife. Surely she’d finished checking the perimeter now. He knew she was probably the only person who could comfort Teddy.

  “She’s training,” Chae said when Nic approached him.

  Nic shook his head.

  “Give her time.”

  —

  Tempani stood in the entrance to Teddy’s tent and watched him sleep. He was restless. He tossed and turned as he muttered to himself. She flinched when he called out Chennai’s name. And Lord Ricton’s.

  She walked away, letting the flap close behind her, and felt the anger bubbling again. Lord Ricton did it. Hallam had sat in the palace and sent his sorcerer to do his dirty work. He had blinded Teddy. He had allowed the daughters of the Gods to be raped. Tortured. Murdered. She couldn’t understand how a human being could be capable of such atrocities. How did people have that much hatred inside them that they could do that?

  She would make them pay. Each person that was there that day would feel what it was like to be tortured. And she would be the one to do it. Hallam and Ricton were top of her list. They would meet the most gruesome of ends.

  She saw Nic watching her. He wanted her to grieve. To cry over the pointless deaths. She didn’t have time to grieve. Now was the time to act and lead this rebellion. She needed this anger to fuel her. If she let herself start grieving now she didn’t think she’d be able to stop. Why couldn’t he see that?

  He wanted her to talk to Teddy, but she couldn’t. How could she face a man who was like a brother to her and tell him that she had failed him? She hadn’t been there to protect him. Teddy, who had the purest heart she knew, was now blind. He was attacked and forced to watch as all around him people died. How could she apologize for not being there to stop that? She was off being happy, meeting her family and getting married while people suffered. She would never forgive herself. Every day until her death she would hate herself for failing them. She did not deserve happiness anymore, and she definitely didn’t deserve Teddy as a friend. He would be better off without her. Knowing her had brought nothing but pain and despair.

  —

  “They’re blaming the Kalaowins,” Otto said. “They have told everyone that it was the Uhli tribe that attacked the convent.”

  Eriluz hissed and spat on the ground.

  “It’s so they can say they killed the Uhli tribe in retaliation. It doesn’t matter to them that the Uhli tribe was slaughtered before the convent was attacked,” Otto explained. “They will start trying to round up the tribes.”

  “We need to fight now,” said Madoc.

  “Send word to the city. I want every man, woman and child to know what took place here,” Otto said. “The earthquake may have been her doing, but they need to understand why.”

  “Do we let them come back with us?” Keane asked. “Won’t that draw attention to our cause?”

  “Our plans are no longer secret. Hallam knows what we’re doing so the element of surprise is lost. If people want to join us let them. We need every able fighter possible.”

  “What if they don’t believe us?”

  “You tell them every detail about what you witnessed,” Tempani said as she entered the tent. Her voice was low and filled with rage as she spoke. “You tell them that no nun or priest was spared. That the God’s children were beaten, raped, slaughtered. You tell them that the abbess, a woman who wanted nothing but peace, was stoned to an inch of her death. That a kind, sweet man was forced to watch and now has to relive what he saw each and every day for the rest of his life.”

  “All right,” Yuta gulped.

  “You make them listen. They were happy to believe in a prophecy when it was just that. Now is the time to act. They wanted me to make a change so now they have to help me. I can’t do everything.”

  She turned on her heel and stormed out.

  “What are we going to do about her?” Madoc asked. “She’s hardly able to lead a rebellion at the moment.”

  “She needs time to grieve,” said Nic. “She’s not sleeping. She sits all night planning how she’s going to attack Hallam and Ricton. She wants to make it as painful as possible. I’ve heard her muttering about beheadings and spells she can use.”

  “Her desire for revenge is strong,” Otto pointed out. “If we’re not careful it may take over.”

  “She will control it,” Eriluz said. “Aidis would not have chosen her if she didn’t have the ability to detach.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I know it,” she snapped at Madoc. “You all just make sure you’re ready to follow her.”

  “If she takes after her grandmother, you’re in for an interesting life,” Madoc said and clapped Nic on the shoulder.

  Nic sighed and turned to Otto. “I know you’ve only just patched up your relationship but perhaps you could get through to her. She blames herself. You know what that’s like.”

  Otto frowned, his fac
e a picture of concern. His shoulders slumped as he walked out of the tent and followed his daughter. He knew that if she felt the way he did for all those years and still did feel then it would take a very long time for her to forgive herself. But he didn’t want her to feel the shame he knew so well. What happened wasn’t her fault. Everyone here believed it, and he just had to make sure she did too.

  She was stretching when he found her. Warming up for another practice session. He knew the signs. She would push herself to an inch of her life to atone for what she believed were her mistakes. He had done the same. If it hadn’t been for Darby, he wouldn’t be around now to see his children.

  “Sit,” he ordered. Everyone was tiptoeing around her. They were being kind because that’s what they believed she needed. But he knew his daughter. She was a product of her father after all.

  “Sit,” he said again when she didn’t respond. “You need to hear this.”

  She glared at him but did as she was told.

  “These people were not attacked because of their connection to you,” he said slowly. She looked up at him, anger in her eyes. “Hallam and Ricton want nothing more than for Kamaris to reign supreme in this kingdom. But they couldn’t justify murdering the Kalaowins when they’ve done nothing wrong in the eyes of our neighbors. He will need foreign support going forward. They needed a catalyst. And the death of the kingdom’s holiest people was just that. He can blame it on the Kalaowins. He’s got people who supposedly witnessed it.”

  He sat down beside her, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  “Now he can round up the Kalaowins and kill them. He’ll have the support he needs to handle the situation the way he wants. You can stop it. But not the way you’re going now. I know you want revenge, and by all means you can have it. Kill Hallam. Kill Ricton. But that can’t be your sole focus. You need to lead these people to a victory. Focus on that. Lead by example; otherwise, you’ll be leading them to a certain death.”

  He got to his feet and offered her a hand up, which she ignored.

  “You are the Shiasa now. You must not let your emotions cloud your judgment. You will never be around to protect everyone. But you can teach people to protect themselves. Forgive yourself or more lives will be lost.”

  She watched him walk away. How was she supposed to forgive herself? It wasn’t as easy as telling herself that it wasn’t her fault. Not when she didn’t truly believe that. And she didn’t know how to convince herself that it was true.

  Tilaw trotted over and pushed his head under her arm so she was forced to hug him. He licked her face and looked at her with such innocence and trust in his eyes that she finally felt tears come to hers.

  It wasn’t that she’d refused to allow herself to cry over the loss of her former mentor and friend. She hadn’t been able to. It was as though her tear ducts had dried up. She wanted them to fall, but they wouldn’t. She needed them to. But she was scared what would happen if they did. Would she be able to stop them? She had shown what her emotions could do. Her anger had caused destruction. It would have caused death had it not been for Bhatia. And she had to make sure that she was never a threat to anyone ever again.

  “Promise you’ll stop me if I get out of control again,” Tempani said as she rushed after Bhatia.

  “You won’t lose control again.”

  “Just promise. You’ll do whatever it takes to stop me. Knock me out, hurt me. Kill me. I don’t care. Just stop me. You are the strongest person I know.”

  Bhatia stopped and grabbed Tempani by the shoulders. “You have no clue as to your strength do you? What I felt…. I couldn’t carry that load each day. You will stop yourself.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “I know you can.” Bhatia paused and looked at Tempani with an expression she never thought would ever cross her face. Respect. “I have faith in you.”

  She hurried off, and Tempani frowned. That was the closest Bhatia would probably ever come to telling her that she liked her. And in doing that Tempani believed that Bhatia would be there to stop her if something ever happened.

  Tempani stood on the outskirts of the camp, watching as people went about their tasks. They trained, they cleaned, they cooked. Life continued. Tragedy had touched all of their lives. They had lost one of their tribes and had to bury the bodies of the realm’s spiritual leaders. But they picked themselves up and pushed on. And she had to do the same thing. Yet there was still something she had to do, and it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

  His tent was dark as he lay there motionless. Nic was already seated there, holding his brother’s hand. She crept in and took Teddy’s other hand in hers. He moved his head to face her. His blank stare was like a knife to the heart. She stepped backwards, her hand rising to her mouth in despair.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You should have let me die.”

  “No,” she cried. “You are meant to live. You are meant to be with me.” She looked over at Nic. “With us.”

  “I don’t want to be here,” he whispered. “I don’t deserve to live when I could not save them.”

  “There was nothing you could do,” she urged. “You were attacked too. You were bound and beaten. They wanted you to suffer but don’t let them defeat you. You’re stronger than they are.”

  He moved away from her. “I’m weak. That’s why they chose me to watch.”

  “Well you prove them wrong then. You show them that they can’t win,” said Nic.

  “They’ve won. I’ve lost my sight. I will never see the good in people again.” His body shook with anger. “I’ve lost my faith.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek. She climbed into the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around his rigid body. “Then I will believe for the both of us.” And finally she wept for the lives lost, Kalaowin and Kamari. And she cried for the friend who had survived.

  ~13~

  AND NOW WE FIGHT

  They came in droves. First the tribes. One after the other. Each pledging their allegiance and fighters to their new leader. Then came the women, who followed her call and fell to their knees before her, opening their minds to her teachings. And lastly the common born who were strong enough to fight. Their numbers were few but their commitment was fierce.

  Those who wanted to yield a weapon joined the group of fighters training with Madoc, Otto, Nic, Chae, Nika and Keer, Reeta supervising from the sidelines. Those who yielded magic were taught by Tempani, Eriluz, and Freloha. It was not only women who joined this group but common born men who had been denied the use of their powers beyond simple healing techniques. Dahlia gathered a small group of followers who shared her passion for healing and worked with Eriluz each night.

  As the group swelled, the enchantments around the camp were strengthened. More guards were sent to the perimeters, and lookouts were dispatched further afield. If the enemy came, they would be prepared.

  Tempani watched them all with a steely gaze. She had expected her heart to swell with pride when she finally united the people, but it didn’t. They were united for the cause but that was as far as it went.

  The Kamaris eyed the Kalaowins with apprehension that bordered on fear. The Kalaowins watched their white kin with mistrust. She had hoped that by mixing the blood of the trainers the tensions would be eased but once training finished, the Kamaris moved to the east of the camp and the Kalaowins to the west. Housed in the middle were Tempani and her Kamari husband and their mixed bag of friends.

  She frowned as she watched the fighters practice their last move and then wander off to their respective camps.

  “It’ll take time,” Nic said as he joined her, panting from his training session. “We can’t force people to co-exist. Over time we’ll prove to them that there is nothing to fear.”

  She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m tired of having to prove everything. For once can’t people just believe what they’re told?”

  He stifled a
laugh as he kissed the top of her head. “Isn’t one of the reasons we’re fighting because people have just believed what they’ve been told?”

  She turned around to face him, putting her arms around his neck. “When did you get so smart?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. “When I realized my looks would only get me so far.”

  “You mean you’re not just a pretty face?” She reached up and kissed him.

  “I’m much more than a pretty face,” he whispered, his voice deep as his mouth inched closer to her ear. “Perhaps tonight I’ll show you how much more.”

  “Or you could show me now,” she said and stepped away, pulling him by the hand.

  He laughed and pulled her back to him, happy to see her behaving more like herself. “I’m afraid we need to sit down with your father and Madoc and talk strategy.”

  She groaned and kissed him swiftly. “A ruler’s work is never done.”

  “Not with such an enormous task ahead of us.” He grabbed her hand and led her towards the meeting tent.

  They would strike the city in four days. That was two days before Hallam was planning to hold his coronation. They would not allow a crown to sit upon his head. Tempani was restless though. She wanted to launch the attack now. She didn’t understand the need to wait.

  “We need more time to train these people,” Otto explained. “These commoners have never fought before. Not properly. We need to be sure that they know what they’re doing.”

  “If someone is running at them with their sword raised, they’ll know. Their instincts will kick in, and they’ll fight back,” she argued.

  “And they will be slain before they even raise their weapon. Give us a few more days with them, and we’ll be ready.”

  “Am I in charge of this or not?”

  Otto frowned at her. “One thing a good ruler needs to do is listen to the people they surround themselves with.”

  “Fine,” she snapped. “But if one of you even thinks about suggesting I stay safe and not fight alongside my people then I will blast you out of my way.”

  “We wouldn’t dream of it,” said Madoc. “You will lead the charge. But you will also be protected. Heavily.”