Wizard's Call

by Luna Lais

  Perjak looked at the talisman. He had heard of them of course and knew Tobias had one, but he had never seen it. "Yes" was his only reply. The only reply he was allowed to make per the agreement even though Perjak knew the meaning Tobias sought was different to the meaning the talisman had now.

  Tobias thought for a few moments on how to ask his next question. He knew by oath Perjak could only give a yes or no answer. He had written the oath. He did not want others opinions of current events to interfere with what he knew or influence his decisions. "Is the library still behind those trees?"

  "No" Perjak whispered reverently knowing the importance of the answer.

  Tobias was getting hopeful again. He could feel it building inside of him. He forced it down thinking he couldn't take disappointment if it found him again. "Did it get torn down for farm land or to build another structure.

  "No" was the response.

  "Was it destroyed?" Tobias tried to hide the excitement in his voice.

  "Yes" Perjak answered knowing that if the signs were right Tobias would be leaving the mountain soon. He was hopeful for Tobias and the world, but hated knowing he had committed his granddaughter to the task.

  "Are there five children?"

  Perjak was not sure how to answer that. "Yes and No"

  Tobias could only stare at the Perjak. Had events move along so fast. "Is the Princess dead at the hand of her own people?"

  "Yes" Perjak cried in anguish. He did not know what the signs were, they were never shared. Only Tobias knew them.

  Tobias didn't know why, but he had to ask on final question. His heart had to know even if destiny didn't. "Is Clarissa still alive?"

  The question brought tears to the old man's eyes. He reached into the pocket in his pants and pulled out an old piece of parchment yellowed by age. It was a letter still sealed with wax. "No " he said sadly handing him the note. "She instructed me to give this to you if you ever asked.

  Tobias felt the sadness of Clarissa's death envelop him. He took the letter and placed it in the folds of his robes. He would read it in private where he could mourn her loss. Tobias had to ask another question since Clarissa was gone. "Do you know the other two?"

  "No, we haven't found them." Perjak knew by the rules he should not had said the last, but he did not want Tobias to think that he had been slacking his duties. Tobias hadn't really been listening to the answer. He had always hoped Clarissa would have been one of the other two, despite what had originally made him believe she wasn't.

  "Is it time?" Perjak asked. Tobias shook his head. "Not yet, but soon. Soon the children will return home."

  Perjak smiled he knew what that meant it was part of the oath.

  "I will need Kale's help. Will she be prepared?"

  "She will," Perjak said smiling. "She will honor her family and you."

  Tobias turned and begin heading for the stream. "Have her drink the life so she can prepare the death as soon as you return", he called over his shoulder as he walked. "I will be leaving the mountains before winter has fully taken it hold to them."

  At his words Perjak's heart crumbled. Had he known he could have spared Early.

  * * *

  My Dearest Tobias,

  I did it! I found my destiny. I found my life. I pray that you will find yours. Please do not grieve over my death. Like you I welcomed it and lived well past the twilight of my life. I wish you the happiness that I found. Love and children, my dream. It was more than I imagined.

  Please do not feel I forgot you or the love we shared. You were my first love, if only the fates would have allowed us to be together in this life. Know that I was happy and please do not dwell on what might have been.

  While time did not allow me to be yours, I spent the last part of my life making sure you would have a chance for happiness too. The book is where it should be. Keep destiny in your heart and it will reward you.

  Eternally yours,

  Clarrisa

  Tobias read the letter again. She had found her happiness that's what should have mattered. He knew they would never be together, but knowing she found happiness in another mans arms did not make him feel better. If only destiny would have linked them. For the longest time he was sure it had. The fates were cruel. Not just in love, but in life. Not only was he truly alone in the world, but now instead of one link he had to find two. The task seemed more impossible than ever. On the continent it would have been easier, but trapped in this hell it would be almost impossible.

  Perhaps he could handle the task until he arrived on the continent. Once he was there everything would be easier. He lay down on his little bed. The best thing about leaving the cave would be leaving the bed behind. Every morning he awoke with a backache that reminded him of how old he was getting. He blew out the candle on the table and drifted to sleep thinking of Rorgrim and the soft beds of the castle.

  * * *

  Kale's brown eyes were wide with curiosity as she looked at the tiny bottle her grandfather had place in her hands before going to bed for the evening. She sat it on the dinning table in front of the fire. Unlike her grandfather she believed one should use caution where magic was concerned.

  Her grandfather had not looked well when he returned. She knew he was ill even though he pretended otherwise. She also knew he would be leaving her soon. Death seemed to surround her lately. First her father, then her brother and now her grandfather. She would not be alone however, she had taken an oath. An oath that meant she may never be lonely. A few months ago she would not have known what that meant, now it weighed heavy on her heart. She was the last of her blood line and she was bound to the service of a stranger until her death at his hands or destiny achieve. Not her destiny, but his. She idly played with a stray brown curl near her ear as she peered at the bottle again. She only knew what drinking it would supposedly do. It was magic, a strong magic. Up until a few months ago she hadn't believed in magic either. Her brother's death had changed her world. Her grandfather had not even given her time to grieve. Instead she was given books to read and a sword to practice with.

  The books were mostly history books. Not just of Calandoria's history, but of the other kingdoms as well. Mostly they were boring and she would have quit except her grandfather seemed to desperately need her to read them all. It was after she finished he told her about Tobias. Tobias her grandfather called him. The man he had sworn his life to protect just like her father and brother. That's when her real training began. She was fitted with armor and given books to read on magic. Magic she would be expected to perform if need be.

  Also placed into her care were the sword with the jeweled hilt and the silver armor. What had surprised her most was that the armor was made for a female. No man could have worn it, it was too small. She was also warned not to put it on. Only the one it was meant for could wear it. Not that it would have fit her either. She was too tall for it to fit properly. The lady destined to wear it was evidently shorter than most. Truthfully she had never seen anything so beautiful.

  Kale brought her attention back to the small bottle. She picked it up and removed the stopper preparing to bring it to her lips. She could smell the liquid that's coloring reminded her of her mother's pearls. She grimaced. It smelled awful. How was she going to drink the whole thing. Then the thought occurred to her that no one had ever drunk a potion like this before. At least know one alive. What if it killed her? It had been made ages ago by a wizard. How long did potion stay good after it was made? She placed the stopper back in the bottle and sat it back on the table. She couldn't do this. She needed a few answers first. In two days Tobias would return with the cart and mules. She would decide then if she would drink the potion or not.

  "Kale" she heard her grandfather's weakened call. She quickly grabbed the bottle and placed it in the pocket of her dress. She would tell her grandfather it was done. She would tell him that she had drunk the vile concoction and everything would be fine. If she did drink it eventually no harm would be done. If she didn't at le
ast he would go to his grave believing his family had done their duty.

  Chapter 41

  "Kiala" Makren shouted as he ran into her room. " Kiala, their back." He said spotting her head over the table by the fire. Apparently she was sitting on the floor in front of the fire. He had startled her when he entered the room without knocking. It had been many weeks since he had been in her room at all, much less entering without knocking first. He had always knocked even when she was ill and he had cared for her.

  Makren stopped when he entered the room enough to see her behind the table. She had obviously just bathed and was now drying her long chestnut hair with the warmth of the fire. She was wrapped only in a blanket. Makren suspected that she wore nothing beneath the blanket. Why would she? She would not have anticipated someone walking into her room without knocking. Suddenly Makren felt like he was intruding. He turned and began walking back towards the door he had left standing open. "I'm sorry" he said quietly. "I wasn't thinking."

  Kiala recovered her shock just as he reached the door. "Makren" her voice halted his steps. He did not turn around. He could not. If he was to win her he could not let her see the desire in his eyes. "Makren wait" he heard her rise from the floor to stand. "Did you say their back?", she asked. Makren could hear the rustle of the blanket as she tightened it around her shoulders.

  "Yes" he moved towards the door. "They have just arrived at the city gates. It will take a few moments for them to arrive at the castle. Darien wants us to see them as soon as they are here."

  "Will you stop a moment." She said desperate to keep him in the room. She hardly ever saw him anymore. With Cate gone as well she had no one. She had nothing to do with her days.

  Again Makren halted his progress to the door. The woman was testing him sorely. He wanted nothing more than to shut the door and take her to him. Knowing no buttons would hamper him made walking through the door that much harder. She would protest, but only for a moment before she gave in to him. He knew that as did she. It would be after the passion was spent and she thought of the consequences of their actions that he would lose her forever. She would leave if she thought she could not deny him. Leave to save him from embarrassment.

  "Makren," her voice was timid. "Are they well?"

  "Yes" he answered softly.

  "Are you well?" She knew she should have let the question go unasked, but she had seen pain in his gray eyes before he turned away.

  "I am well" he said cheerfully trying to sound convincing. "Get dressed and meet us in the sitting room on the second floor. I'll bring you tea." Without any reason to keep him any longer she watched him leave the room. He did not even look at her anymore. How could she live with this pain. It was unbearable living under the same roof with the only person she would ever love, but could never have.

  Makren found Darien sitting in a large chair in front of the fire when he entered the sitting room. He had a look of peace on his face. Not the look of a man facing and army that vastly out numbered his own. Not like a man unable to save his family from dying. Not like a man in love with someone he could never have.

  Makren shared the same burdens with his brother. The fact Darien wore the crown and not he did not change the fact that these burdens where theirs to bear. It was his country and his family also. Like Darien the women he most desired he could never have, fate was denying them both. Makren did see the problem with their women as different. If Darien followed his heart the woman he desired would die. The woman Makren loved was just incredible stubborn.

  Shaking his head Makren walked across the room and sat in the chair next to his brother's in front of the fire.

  "Makren" he acknowledged, "Is Kiala on her way?"

  Makren looked to the fire to see if he could find the peace his brother had found, but images Kiala drying her hair before the fire in her chambers was all he saw. "She will be here in a moment," he replied absently.

  "Good," Darien said looking at Makren. His brother looked broken. His brow full of worry, his shoulder tired. "I asked for tea to be brought for her."

  Makren smiled at his brother, "Thank you, I forgot."

  Almost on cue one of the kitchen maids brought in a tray heavy with tea and cakes. She placed it on a long table behind a stuffed sofa and left the room after bowing to each of the men.

  "It's not like you to forget when it comes to Kiala,"

  "I am just preoccupied" he said still gazing at the fire. Darien's chuckle drew a glare from him.

  "Sorry, brother, but usually you are preoccupied with her forgetting all else. Your destined to die come spring, our country is about to be destroyed, and still you remember every detail for her" Darien said explaining his amusement.

  "I still am preoccupied with her" he sighed dejectedly. "She refused to marry me."

  "I see" Darien said in understanding. He had noticed the change in both of them this past month. The whole castle had felt the change. "Is she not in love with you?" Darien knew she was just as he knew his brother loved Kiala. Love was not the obstacle between them.

  "She loves me too much. A little less and with your blessing of course we would already be married."

  Darien still did not understand the issue between them, be he understood what Makren meant. His own heart had been denied more than once by more than one person for the same reason. Darien wished he could tell Makren time would heal the wound, but he was not sure of that anymore.

  "I have found myself on both sides of that argument" he said meeting his brother's gaze.

  "On both sides how?" Makren asked. "How could it be in the best interest of any woman not to be married to the king?"

  "The how and the why are not relevant." Darien said. "What is relevant is that at the time I was so in love I physically hurt. What is more important is that neither time was it the same woman and the love I felt for one paled in the love I found in the other." Darien paused to consider the impact of his next words. Not on Makren, but to himself. Makren was not ready to hear yet. He only said them to remind himself. "You see I am alone. Neither woman the one meant for me. Not because I did not love them, but because they were not the right one for me. It hurt to let them leave to find comfort with another, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that the perfect love is out there waiting to complete me in a way the others could not."

  "You think I should just give up!" Makren said shocked by the suggestion.

  "Never," Darien said quickly. "Any love worth having must to be fought for. I am only saying if you lose the battle the pain will lessen and love will find its way to you again."

  Before Makren could remind his brother that for him time had run out, the door to the room opened. Both men turned to see Kiala walk into the room. The scent of lavender from her bath followed her in. She paused a moment at the intensity of their stares. With a slight blush she moved to the table holding the tea and began pouring a cup. Their eyes followed her movements until she was seated on the sofa. She felt self conscious by there stares. It was obvious they had been discussing her before she entered the room.

  "It is nice to see you Kiala," Darien said breaking the silence of the room. She offered him a little smile before sipping her tea. "Where have you been hiding?"

  "Just following orders my lord. The grounds are now prepared for the arrival of the acumen. I have also organized girls to assist the healers once the fighting begins. One of the smith's agreed to teach several of the boys to young to join the fight how to make arrows and swords. By the time spring arrives your army will be ready. I have also spent several days in the cells below with the acumen, which voluntarily turned themselves in last week. I have already taken three visions. So far none seem of any consequence, but I will have them in a full report to you first thing in the morning. The king will find everything in order according to his command."

  Darien studied her a moment. She was one of his adjutants. Adjutants were closer to him than any other in the kingdom, save his family. He trusted her and valued her opinion more than m
any of the others in his counsel. She took the consequences of their actions very seriously and acted as their conscience. He knew once given her loyalty would never falter. She was almost perfect, almost. "Why do you insist on calling me that?" he asked.

  Kiala search Darien's face looking for any sign of humor. She could feel Makren's eyes on her, but she did not dare a glance in his direction. "Call you what sire?"

  "Lord, King, Sire. Why do you insist with titles despite my decrees?" he asked again. Kiala motioned with her hand around the room. "This is not the council chambers. There we are equals per your decree. Here you are my king and I am only your humble servant, my lord."

  "You are right of course. This is not the council room where we are equals. This is the family room. Here we are family. We do not bear the weight of responsibility in this room only each other." He said smiling at her.