“Thank you,” said Colin.
Catrina nodded in agreement, excited to venture out into this foreign world. Colin could not help but smile. Her happiness so easily transferred to him.
“Let us adjourn for now. Kanda and Arnon, take some time to get you and your young companions settled. We meet in the great hall for a feast this evening.”
“I’ll show you where to go,” said Kay. “You’re set up right next to us.”
“Lovely,” replied Kanda.
“I don’t know as I’ve ever had the honor to stay in such a breathtaking place,” Kay added. “If I’d ever known what your home looked like before now, well, I just don’t know how you ever left!”
And while this place was home, and Kanda missed it in many ways, the outside world had become her home as well. After time here, she always itched to go back.
They walked toward the edge of the village, nearing a grove of trees. They grew so tall Colin had a hard time finding the tops. A light breeze kissed his skin, and he breathed in the warmth. He had forgotten what sunlight felt like. How comforting it could be. It would be nice to live where it was warm and sunny all year round, he decided. Except maybe for Christmas. Snow would be nice that one day of the year.
This place was a good place. Everything about it was serene, peaceful, and calm. This is the type of place he wanted to live in all the time. It allowed him to think, without chaos wrapping itself around his thoughts. He held Catrina’s hand but they did not speak. She took in their surroundings with keen curiosity.
Colin sighed. Not deeply. Not sadly. Just inquisitively. When the group stopped to chat with someone, Catrina took him aside.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure how to explain it.”
She waited patiently for him to try.
He leaned his back against a tree trunk, taking in the vast, colorful landscape.
“I think it’s just that everyone belongs somewhere. Even if that place isn’t as amazing as this place, or run by trustworthy people, they all belong somewhere. I don’t.”
“Does this worry you?”
“No. Not worry. But I want to know where I came from. Who’s my mother? My father? Where do I belong?”
“We will just have to find out,” she decided. “Are you sure you’re up to this battle that’s coming, Colin?” Her words were bold and to the point.
He looked down at his feet and back up again. “I have no idea. Right now at this moment, I’d say yes. There’s something about this place that’s very soothing.”
“I agree. It’s quite spectacular.”
“I guess I’m just realizing that there is so much about Arnon and Kanda, and the Jendayas for that matter, that I don’t know. And now this person, Amelia, has some crazy plan to return magic to the world and somehow I, and or Meghan, are a part of that plan. I may not have a choice in being ready. I might have to join whether I want to, or not.”
Catrina worried for a moment that Colin might panic and start to lose control again. But he took deep breaths and remained calm.
“This place is good for you,” she smiled. “It’s like there’s something in the air that just sends out good vibes.” She cocked her head for a moment, thinking. “I think you should just ask them. Your uncle, and Kanda. Whatever it is you want to know. They’ll either answer you or not, and if there’s still questions you need answered once this battle is over, we’ll find those answers too.”
“Just ask. I suppose that always works, huh.”
“So far everyone has been very open and agreeable. Even considering...” she didn’t say it, but he knew she meant even after his little incident of blowing up Kanda’s house.
“Ask, it is then. I’ll wait until we get settled. Sounds like we may be here for a few days. Everyone’s moving again,” he pointed out.
They rejoined the group and shortly, stopped next to two medium sized dome houses. Kay pointed to the one on the left, which was hers and Milo’s abode, but they stepped inside the one on the right expecting it to be much like the one they had been in earlier. But it was not. It was much larger inside. Much larger than the outside appeared to be.
“This is like the magic the Svoda used to make the inside of their wagons so much bigger than they were,” said Colin, captivated.
At the far back wall was a stone fireplace, made from evenly cut stones. A long table lined up alongside it. On the right side of the room was an open door; an inviting warm mist plumed through it. There were numerous spare bedrooms, the ceilings trimmed with flowering vines that crept from room to room, draping each room in magnificent color. Colin thought it was sort of like the house and its surroundings were one, each a part of the other.
“Colin,” called out Catrina.
“What is it?” he asked, leaving one of the bedrooms and hurrying to her side. She was standing at the door with the warming mist, her eyes wide.
“Wow,” he muttered. He stepped inside. Everyone followed.
“It is amazing,” said Kay, sounding giddy. “I’ve seen a few of these now and each one is just a little different, and equally breathtaking.”
It wasn’t a real room, in the sense that it did not have floors or a ceiling, at least that could be seen by the naked eye. It was more like a mini tropical oasis inside a house. A bird chirped nearby, its wings fluttering as it flew overhead. It landed on a large bobbing leaf that was growing out of a pool of water. A waterfall at the back of the pool splashed into the water, shooting mists towards them. Colin wanted to strip off all his clothes and jump in.
Troubles? Questions?
What troubles? What questions?
He wanted to stay here forever.
CHAPTER 11
“They are nowhere to be found,” said Colton Fahlbush to Amelia Cobb. “Milo and Kay Jendaya have vanished.”
“What do you mean, vanished?” Amelia questioned.
“They are gone. No longer in the encampment.”
She blew out a breath, stood up from her desk, and paced the room, not believing what she was hearing. “Any messages left behind?”
He shook his head.
“The Jendayas have been with me since the beginning. Since before the beginning, before we were banished.” She spoke as if trying to understand her own words. “How long have they been gone?”
“Perhaps a few days, maybe a week. A window had blown open, we assume during that storm that blew through a night ago; it was still not closed this morning, which is what prompted someone to check in on them. We have searched the grounds, questioned neighbors... they are gone.”
“How? How could they do this to us? To me?” she asked no one. “And now, when we’ve worked so hard and come so far.” Her tone was that of complete disbelief.
“I think the bigger question is what do we do, right now? As you say, we are nearing the end, and this is a blow that might be hard for some...” Amelia raised her hand, stopping him.
She needed a moment to think. Other realizations were hitting her. Things making sense, falling into place. This must be the reason she had lost contact with Sebastien; he had not contacted her in weeks. This must be why. Somehow, his parents must have planned this and taken her only connection to the Jacoby twins with them!
She had worried his relationship with the twins might be corrupted, but with his parents in line... and just what was going on at the Svoda island anyway? All contact had been cut off at this point.
She hadn’t heard from her other informant, Ivan, either, and for a much longer time than Sebastien. Why was that? What was happening to make these people no longer want to work for her? Had someone corrupted them all? Or were there more sinister things going on, keeping them from doing so? She let out a disappointed sigh and turned to Colton.
“I should have known,” she told him, her eyes filling with fury. “I should have guessed!”
“What?” he asked.
“Our connection to the twins, Sebastien, the Jendaya’s son, I haven’t heard from hi
m either. I stupidly assumed it was because he could not, not that he did not want to communicate.”
He lifted his eyebrows. This was as big a blow as Kay and Milo defecting.
“His parents were still here,” Amelia continued explaining. “I spoke with Kay and Milo not too long ago. I’ve been busy, but I always make time for my friends. Kay even joined me for coffee a couple weeks ago. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If she was thinking of leaving then, she hid it well. I had no reason to think Sebastien might have abandoned his post.”
“There is no chance he’s still out there, working, just unable to contact you?” Colton asked.
“The timing is...”
Colton nodded in agreement.
Amelia picked up her head, her frown defiant. “You’re right about people’s reactions, Colton. This will be a blow.” She paced for another minute, rubbing her hands together, shaking her head. She stopped, spinning around, a feverish look in her eyes.
“Call an emergency meeting,” she ordered Colton. “In thirty minutes’ time I wish to address everyone. I fear, my dear Colton, that things might have to move along a little faster than we had originally intended.”
A gleam hung in his eye. “I’ll call it right away,” he nodded, and departed with haste.
“And I need to have another little chat with my new young friend,” she mumbled. She left her office, flew down a flight of stairs ignoring the announcement ringing through the air for the emergency meeting, ignoring the stares and greetings of her followers.
“I’ve come too far and worked too hard,” she breathed out. “Nothing will stop me. Nothing will stop me from returning magic. We might not be as ready as I wanted, but it will just have to do. First, I need to take Juliska Blackwell out of power. Then, I need to destroy the Grosvenor, once and for all! Then, I will forge a new world. A better world!”
She strode toward the small prison at the far side of the village.
“Open the gate,” she demanded of the guard. She stepped through unannounced, catching the two prisoners off guard. It was clear which prisoner she wanted to speak to, as her frightening gaze bore into Jae making his hands shake and his cup fall to the ground. She didn’t even bother speaking to him in private.
“I’ve no time for games, Mr. Mochrie. I must know if you have considered my offer.”
Jae breathed out nervously. “Um, yes. I have.”
“And?”
“No. I can’t. I mean, I won’t help you,” he tried to sound confident. “I won’t do anything that might put my friends or family in more danger.”
“Even if it means saving them from a tyrant like Juliska Blackwell? Do you think your family is safe with her? Do you think your friends, Meghan and Colin Jacoby are safe with her?” she asked him impatiently.
“How do you know Meg...” he stopped, pretending he didn’t care. But why did Amelia Cobb know Meghan and Colin? And it didn’t sound like she was aware Colin wasn’t with the Svoda on the island. Jae wasn’t sure about Meghan. Last he’d seen her… he had to erase that look of horror from his mind. Her gaze had pleaded with him not to jump over the cliff. Begged him to think again. But already held the devastation of knowing he wasn’t going to listen.
“I’m sorry,” he tried to speak with conviction. “I can’t do what you want.”
She took in a deep breath as if annoyed by what she had to do next. “Fine,” she spat. “So here’s the deal. There is a way to sever the bond between you and Juliska. And definitely yes, if she finds out you’re still alive she will kill you, or worse, force you back into servitude, but,” she stopped, toying with his curiosity.
Jae tried to not look interested or eager but he could not help but want to know what she was about to say.
“What would you say if I told you there was a cure for your condition?”
“Wh-what?” Jae stuttered.
“There’s a cure?” asked Curtis. “My God, Woman! You have gone insane. Just give it to the boy!”
Amelia raised her arm warning Curtis to choose his words carefully.
“He’s just a boy,” Curtis added quietly, before heeding her order. He still had a wife on the outside and Amelia had hinted a few times she was willing to lock her away, somewhere else, if he didn’t cooperate.
Jae didn’t know what to think. A cure... was it really possible? Was she lying just to get whatever she wanted out of him?
“What exactly is it that you want from me?” he asked her timidly.
She smiled. “Just a little help,” she insisted innocently. “You tell me everything you know about the current security on the island, everything you know about what’s happened over the last few years and... and I will need a little personal assistance from you.” The way she said personal assistance made Jae cringe.
“What else could I do for you other than tell you,” he paused, realizing what she meant. “No. That is not going to happen,” he replied darkly. “I already told you I won’t do that.”
“Even if it means your freedom?” she asked him.
“Juliska will know I’m alive if I transform.”
“Yes, but it won’t matter because I can cure you.”
“I won’t let the monster hurt or kill anyone else, ever again.”
“It’s all or nothing Jae. There is no time. You must decide right here and now. I will not give you this option again. Stay here and rot away your pathetic life until the monster cannot be contained and Juliska finds out you’re still alive, or help me and win your freedom. Think hard. This is your life Jae Mochrie.”
Curtis threw her a disappointed glare. “And to think I once thought of you as a friend. A good leader. Someone I cared about deeply. You’ve really gone off the deep end!”
Amelia didn’t bat an eye.
“When did it happen?” Curtis barraged. “When did your simple plans turn into evil intentions?”
“Sometimes there is a price to do what’s right!” she spat back at him. “Sacrifices need to be made.”
“As long as they’re not yours,” Curtis muttered.
Her lips curled and her palm shot up in front of her, a spell releasing against Curtis. It hit him, his body sailing backwards, hitting a tree. He slumped to the ground.
Jae raced over. Curtis was still breathing.
“All you have to do is say yes, Jae, and I will break the bond,” Amelia said, her voice on the edge of frenzied. “You have my word. You help me with my quest and I give you your freedom. A cure. A life.”
He wanted to say yes and nearly let it slip out of his mouth, forcibly biting his tongue to stop himself. What would saying yes mean? More killing? Hurting more people? And who? People that deserved it? People that didn’t? And who was he, or this woman, to decide? If he had learned anything, it was that no one person should have this kind of power.
“No,” he spoke clearly. He looked her in the eyes so there was no question. “No. The answer will always be no. I would just be trading one beast master for another. I will kill myself again before I allow anyone else to force me back into servitude.”
“Have it your way,” Amelia answered with finality.
Footsteps approached hurriedly, coming to a stop just inside the prison door. It was Owen, the young boy and messenger of the seer.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he spoke, out of breath. “Urgent news.” He ignored the prisoners behind her.
“Yes, speak,” she returned unpleasantly.
“Attack. There’s an attack coming!”
“When?” she demanded, stepping closer to the boy.
“Soon.”
She twisted around and took one last glance in Jae’s direction.
“You might just get your wish to die,” she said. “Lock the gate,” she ordered, following Owen back into the village center where all were gathering. As she neared, Colton appeared.
“Everyone should be here.”
“Good,” she answered. “We have new and urgent business to discuss, Colton. Urgent news from
the seer. Time, is something we no longer have.”
She reached into a pocket and removed two short vials, each filled with a thick, rust-colored liquid. A satisfied grin spread across her face. “Time to see if my trade with Fazendiin will pay off,” she mumbled to herself. She looked up at her followers, who eagerly awaited her orders.
“Welcome my friends!” she spoke intensely. “The moment we have worked so long and hard for is upon us. Today, we forge a new world. A better world. Today, at last, we begin.”
CHAPTER 12
Juliska Blackwell inhaled the crisp morning air. Autumn was quickly giving way to winter and a thick layer of frost covered the ground.
She had moved off the main island, taking up residence once again in the stone fort. It had just one road in and out that was lined with sharp barb-like rocks. Juliska stood on her balcony of frosty stone, overlooking her conquest.
“Isn’t it a breathtaking sight?” she asked Pajak, her pet spider. It clanked its glass-like legs together in reply.
A permanent dark cloud kept the main island in near darkness. The echo of the Scratchers’ screeching howls wafted over the ocean waves. “Music to my ears,” she whispered in a flat voice. She watched as her winged beasts flew over the island, keeping watch over her new prisoners. There was no escape for the Svoda. They were finally all hers, to do with as she pleased.
“Excuse me, my Queen,” spoke a gruff voice from behind her. “Your guest has arrived.”
“Thank you, Jenner. You may return to your post,” she told him, letting him know she wished to be alone with her guest. “Ah, my reinforcements are here.”
“Juliska Blackwell,” spoke the Striper leader, KarNavan.
She lowered her head in greeting but did not walk closer.
“You are not alone, I see,” said Juliska.
“This is my second, Ardon. She will be returning to the island with me. If you prefer she can wait with your guard.”
The Spell, The Stones, and The Treasure (Fated Chronicles Book 3) Page 8