LEGENDS: Fifteen Tales of Sword and Sorcery

by Colt, K. J.

  ‘I had nothing to lose. But I failed anyway. Queen Toxiv was smart. She sent a letter to my father, warning him that I was going to kill him. So Father sent the next heir, Skelkra, Nallael’s father, my father’s right-hand man, to capture me.’

  ‘Is this Skelkra the chieftain now?’

  ‘Yes.’ She sighed. ‘It’s complicated, and by the time I was with child, I realised that Skelkra has used me to secure our bond. Anyway, I went to Vilseek on Toxiv’s command, but only to warn Father that Skelkra was going to betray him. But I was captured by Skelkra’s men, who were taking me to be executed.’

  ‘Did Skelkra know he had a son?’

  ‘Yes, but he didn’t care. I escaped under the cover of heavy snow and travelled west, and then south down the Senyan Mountain Pass—which is nearly as dangerous as the Death Peaks—to Ayo. I presented myself to a camp of Senyan soldiers, who arrested me and took me before the king. I was barely alive.

  ‘I told the king everything. He thanked me and promised me protection and citizenship in Senya. After a year in Juxon City, I moved to Borrelia, the closest town to Nallael.’

  I released a breath I’d been holding. Klawdia’s story was incredible. She had survived the harshest of elements twice, once with her son, then on her own after being captured by her son’s father.

  Butter whimpered in the corner. I rose from my seat and went to keep my injured protector company, using the time as an excuse to digest her story. Our lives were more entwined than I could ever have imagined. Butter had fought for me, just as Klawdia had fought for her son. That meant Butter loved me, and in return, I would never stop loving him.

  ‘Then King Erageo can’t stop them,’ I said.

  ‘It’s not his fault, his father ruined the kingdom. Most of the Juxon City soldiers were wiped out by the plague. The healers were able to heal any of their wounded soldiers; it gave them the upper hand. With Skelkra ruling, they have thousands of the fiercest warriors you’ve ever seen. My people. Ruxdorians rule through fear.’

  Fear had controlled every aspect of my life. It had controlled my mother and my father, and so they’d kept the truth to themselves.

  I tried to stand up, but my legs failed me, and I fell back down to the ground. The tears were flowing again.

  ‘Harden your heart. Come here and sit,’ Klawdia ordered, but I didn’t like her speaking to me that way. Who was she to tell me what to do?

  ‘Why do you care about me?’ I asked.

  ‘Adenine—’

  Her pitying tone set my blood on fire and the strength returned to my body. I stood, found a chair, and leaned against it. ‘Don’t patronise me! Why are you helping me? Is it money? I’m three weeks from my birthday. Just a child. Quick, sell me now and make your coin.’ This anger was meant for Mother, but when I reached inside my imagination for something calming and safe, there was nothing.

  ‘I…’ She hesitated.

  ‘See, I knew it,’ I spat. ‘You can’t tell me the truth now, can you?’

  When Klawdia didn’t answer, my fear grew. She wasn’t there to help me, or she’d say so. I thought about Butter, injured and alone in the corner. I would be strong for him as he’d been for me. ‘How do I know I can trust you now? My own parents lied to me,’ I said.

  ‘I’ve only spoken truth. It doesn’t matter what you believe.’

  People always claimed to have the truth, and directly after lying, they asked for trust. ‘I’m going,’ I said.

  ‘You’re in danger of reaching a hysterical state. Please stay. Here, drink more wine.’

  I ignored her, went to pet Butter goodbye, and said, ‘Sorry,’ into the dog’s warm ear. How I wished Klawdia had killed the man who’d hurt him.

  The Ruxdorian stood and moved towards me. Then, her breath was on my face and her body blocked any possible exit. ‘Listen to me, Adenine,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Your reckless passions will put you in danger of losing everything you love. You must think.’

  ‘And be as cold as you?’ I asked.

  ‘If need be, yes. Capacia must see you calm to take you seriously.’

  ‘She. Blinded. Me. I don’t care what she thinks.’

  Klawdia took a step back and snorted. She didn’t care about Mother or me; like any Ruxdorian, she was only interested in pleasing herself.

  ‘You still haven’t told me why you’re helping me.’

  Silence.

  ‘How much, huh? Another two hundred fifty gold? Is that what a heartless warrior asks?’

  ‘Leave,’ she said, and then she went back to her chair and sat.

  So I found my walking stick and left.

  I didn’t stroll back to town. I stalked. My anger swelled and grew like an infested boil. Why? Because Klawdia was following me. She’d told me to leave, and then followed me anyway, which made me furious. I imagined her slinking and darting between trees, trying to fool the silly blind girl, but when I slowed down to listen properly, I heard only rhythmic boot sounds.

  Confident, walking, no hiding or slinking, which made me even angrier.

  I quickened my pace, ignoring her, and wrapped myself up in a bitter blanket of self-righteousness. When I tripped on rocks and collided with fencing and trees, I imagined her smirking and snickering. Would she laugh at my clumsiness? I decided yes. If she could lie to me, then she could mock me behind my back. I stuck my nose in the air, deciding I didn’t care.

  The afternoon had lost all warmth. The town was noisy as it prepared for nightfall, and its racket was like a guiding star. It gave me direction, and I managed to feel proud about finding my own way. Then, my toe caught on an exposed root and I fell to the ground.

  ‘You all right, miss?’ a stranger asked.

  ‘I’m fine.’ I got to my feet, keeping my face down as I brushed dirt off my dress.

  As I reached cobblestone roads, I wondered where I would go first. Mother would be waiting anxiously, wheeling her chair about Mystoria and probably wringing her hands. Well, probably not, but to think of her in fear for my life made me slightly happier. So what if she’d protected me? It didn’t remove the sting of her dishonesty.

  Father must have known about my eyes being stitched. After he’d killed his brother, maybe he’d known he was going to be hanged. What if Mother had thought being an accomplice to Garrad’s murder, she’d be hanged as well? Motherless and fatherless. I’d already be in Meligna. But as a blind girl, I might have stayed in Senya. Oh, Mama, I didn’t know. I felt guilty for all the bad things I’d been thinking about her.

  So many people fighting for me. Did Jemely know I was a healer? Was she forced to risk her life to keep my secret too?

  After asking several people for directions, I arrived at Varago’s front door. I stood there for a moment, my hand shaking on the latch. I deserved answers. I wanted his honesty.

  I turned the doorknob and tried to enter; it was locked. I raised my leg and drove my heel into the middle of the door. Nothing. I kicked over and over until I heard a snapping at the hinges.

  ‘What is it?!’ Varago shouted and flung open the door. ‘What’s the meaning of this, Adenine?’

  ‘Halt! Halt!’ voices shouted behind me, and strong hands grabbed at my arms.

  ‘No, no. All is well, let her go,’ Varago assured the men.

  ‘Are you certain?’ a soldier asked.

  ‘Yes. Yes. I’m sure.’ And different hands pulled me into the house.

  I stood there shaking. I didn’t know what to think.

  ‘What possessed you to do this? I live next to the council building. Do you want to be put in the stocks?’

  ‘Cut this thread off of my eyes,’ I hissed, angrier than ever.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘I said, get this rubbish off of my eyes! I want to see.’

  ‘Now, Adenine—’

  ‘Do it!’ I raised my walking stick into the air, trying to look threatening, when all I felt was childish. But I didn’t care. I needed him to make everything right. ‘Now!’


  ‘I see,’ he said. ‘One moment.’

  He left me there. Wild and angry, I was barely able to make out a conversation in the back room.

  ‘… sorry… emergency… tomorrow…’ Varago said.

  ‘… already paid!’ a woman replied.

  They moved towards the door.

  ‘Sorry. Goodbye,’ Varago said.

  ‘All right, there’s no need to shove,’ the woman snapped.

  As her footsteps moved past me, I realised it was too late to lower my walking stick. Instead, I stood there, holding it high in the air. The lady stopped, harrumphed, then kept walking. A part of me wanted to hit her in an attempt to feel better; it might have worked for a minute. After she left, Varago closed the door behind her.

  ‘Come here, girl. You look positively shaken.’ Varago placed a hand on my shoulder.

  I spun around, and my walking stick swung high and connected with something sensitive—his face? Crack! ‘Don’t touch me,’ I hissed, but inside, I regretted the incident, especially when I heard his laboured breathing. ‘Varago?’

  ‘Lower that blasted stick before you hit me again. What troubles you?’

  Scared by my own carelessness, I let go of the stick and it banged on the floor. ‘Please… unstitch my eyes. I know it was you. And I know why. I’ll get a knife and do it myself if you don’t.’

  ‘Come with me.’ He touched my arm.

  I shrugged away from him. He sighed and walked in front of me. I followed him with my arms out so I wouldn’t bump into things. I took small, slow steps forward and ended up in his doctor’s room, which smelled strange and bitter. When he opened a container, a familiar aroma dislodged a forgotten memory. I saw it as clear as day—Mother and Father looked down at me, their faces full of worry. Mother’s eyes watered.

  This is where it happened.

  ‘We really should get Capacia—’

  I cut him off. ‘No. Do it now.’

  ‘I’ll have to put you to sleep.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘If you move, I could injure you.’

  His reasoning seemed sound. My eyes were already sensitive, and I didn’t want to feel him touching them. ‘This is where it happened, isn’t it? You put that cloth over my mouth before bringing me here.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It should be easier for you this time. Bet you’ve had lots of practice since me.’ I was trying to increase any shame that he felt. I wanted him to hate himself as much as I hated… everything.

  His tone was low and gloomy. ‘Healer girls are rare, Adenine. Blinding a girl on purpose is unheard of. You were my first and only.’

  I heard the banging of glass and metal as he fumbled through an assortment of instruments. Then came the pop of a cork and the swish of liquid in a bottle.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked.

  I nodded.

  And when he cupped a cloth over my mouth and nose, the fumes swirled through my head, and my brain hummed. My body grew heavy, and just like three years ago, there was nothing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  SEVERAL PEOPLE MURMURED AROUND ME. I recognised the voices, but couldn’t bring the names to mind. Hazy thoughts floated through my brain like dandelion seeds on an autumn breeze. They were impossible to catch or comprehend.

  A cold cloth pressed against my forehead. The voices grew louder.

  ‘I am not responsible for your mistakes, Capacia. The girl has her own mind now,’ Klawdia said coolly.

  ‘A savage presumes to know better than her own mother? It was my place to tell her.’

  Slowly, I remembered being attacked that afternoon. Butter had been hurt. ‘Where is Butter?’

  ‘See? She longs for her injured loyal dog because you let her wander the streets alone,’ Mother said.

  Varago groaned. Obviously, their argument had begun long before I’d awakened.

  ‘Jemely was supposed to be watching her,’ Klawdia said. ‘I cannot watch the whole town, Capacia. I only have one set of eyes.’

  ‘It’s not my fault. I was only to take her to school and back. You got me workin’ like a horse, too, Capacia,’ Jemely complained. ‘Why was she over on that side of town, anyways?’

  ‘She is friends with Derkal’s boy,’ Klawdia informed them.

  ‘Frooby? The sick boy? Oh no, she isn’t. No sick boy is going to be Adenine’s friend, given how she heals. Did you tell her how the healers heal as well?’ Mother asked.

  ‘Never. I am a mother too, Capacia, and respect your place in her world.’

  My head throbbed, and I tried to sit up.

  ‘Adenine, keep still. The dizziness will pass,’ Varago said.

  ‘How are you, my sweet girl?’ Mother asked.

  ‘Did you do it?’ I croaked.

  ‘Did I do what, dear?’ Mother asked.

  ‘Not you. Varago. Varago, did you do it?’

  ‘No,’ he answered.

  I burst into tears. The hopelessness shattered my insides and broke my spirit. Everything that had been pushing and pulling inside of me surfaced. I lay back down and rolled over onto my side, heaving the contents of my stomach onto the floor. Would I ever see again?

  ‘Fie!’ Jemely exclaimed. ‘Is she well?’

  ‘She’ll be fine. Just a reaction to the sleeping mixture,’ Varago said.

  ‘Wrong,’ Klawdia replied. ‘Adenine is a healer. She does not get sick as we do. This sickness is caused by a weeping heart.’

  ‘Oh, Adenine.’ Mother grabbed my hand, but I pulled away from her.

  ‘How could you?’ I asked, trying to swallow the leftover bile in my throat.

  ‘I love you.’ Mother sobbed.

  The words sickened me further, and my gut wrenched with each wave of my despair. I felt all the pain from her dishonesty, from when she’d left me alone for those moments after Father died.

  ‘Adenine, you’re a good girl, and so is Capacia,’ Varago said. ‘Be reasonable. There’s no need to dwell like this. You are in your home, with your family, and we all care about you. Did you want to be taken away to Meligna as a child? It was all we could do.’

  ‘Don’t you be worrying about these idiots,’ Jemely said. ‘Trust yourself. You’re a sturdy girl.’

  Feeling her rough fingers in mine, I squeezed them. Even though I hadn’t always believed it, Jemely had always been on my side.

  ‘Adenine,’ Mother said.

  I turned my head away from her.

  ‘Leave her now. She needs to mourn,’ Klawdia said.

  ‘No. I won’t,’ Mother insisted, sobbing harder. The noise only tightened my muscles and strengthened my detachment from her.

  ‘Yes, leave. Klawdia, Jemely, stay,’ I said.

  I waited until I heard Mother and Varago leave the room. ‘Klawdia,’ I said.

  ‘Yes, Adenine.’

  ‘How long were you really gone to Ruxdor?’

  ‘Four months. I saw my father for the last time back in summer.’

  ‘What did you do then?’

  ‘I investigated Healer Euka’s plans, as I told you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Your mother asked me to.’

  ‘She paid you, didn’t she?’

  Klawdia paused. ‘The price to bribe my informants and to have the ambassador’s escorts killed was a high one.’

  ‘You did what?’ Jemely cried. ‘Have you gone insane? Do you want to start a war?’

  ‘Healer Euka knows it was me. She will not make this a political issue. It will not start a war, but the king will undoubtedly trial me.’

  ‘What now, then?’ Jemely asked.

  ‘Healer Euka will try to convince the mayor that Adenine is a healer.’

  I thought maybe the best thing would be for me to run away. If I left, Healer Euka would leave my family alone, and I could live my life in peace somewhere else. I sat up, and several hands reached out to steady me, but I shooed them away. ‘Jemely, seeing as you’re one of my caretakers now,’ I said bitterly, ‘you will escort me
to Emala’s.’

  ‘What do you plan to do?’ Klawdia asked. ‘I know you are angry, but where your mother will not stop you, I will.’ As the Ruxdorian woman moved closer, I knew her threat was authentic.

  I took a moment to think, but found it difficult in Klawdia’s presence. I could ignore her as well as a rabbit could ignore a wolf. Jemely passed me the soft piece of material Mother had given me a while ago. I swung my legs to the side and dropped to the floor, then tied on the blindfold.

  ‘Go ahead, Klawdia. Stop me.’

  After a long silence, Klawdia finally said, ‘What can she do for you that we can’t?’

  ‘Give me a straight answer.’

  ‘You want to know how healers heal…’ Klawdia said.

  Jemely whispered, ‘Adenine. We’ve already told you we can’t—’

  ‘Then get me my walking stick,’ I said.

  The long, smooth piece of wood was placed into my hand, and I grasped it and turned in Klawdia’s direction. ‘I wanted you to care about me.’

  I hooked my arm in Jemely’s. ‘Let’s go.’

  Mother tried to stop us on the way out by clasping a part of my dress, but I pried her fingers away.

  ‘I forbid it,’ she yelled as Jemely and I stepped out into the night.

  There was nothing she could do or say to stop me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  AT THE MAYOR’S HOUSE, I could hear someone preparing dinner in the kitchen. Jemely knocked on the door, and it creaked open. Hot air swirled around my legs.

  ‘Jemely! This is a surprise. Oh, and I see you have the little forest girl with you. I’m Mrs. Vawdon.’

  ‘How do you do, Mrs. Vawdon? Could I please speak with Emala?’ I asked, using my finest manners.

  ‘Of course you may.’ She chuckled. ‘Good to see you girls focusing on your minds rather than boys. I’ll go fetch her.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I said. As Mrs. Vawdon walked away, I whispered to Jemely, ‘Stay downstairs.’

  ‘Fine. You going to ask Emala about—?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, at least don’t tell her you’re a—’

  ‘Adenine!’ Emala said, her feet pounding down a flight of stairs. She must have skipped the last few, as she landed on the floor with a thud. She ran to me.