***
The heat coupled with her untended injury made her head sick, so Caelfel didn't bother to concern herself with time. ?Eventually, the fortress came into sight, and the admiral ushered all of his men inside after she and Lisiek had entered first. ?They lingered in the outside courtyard while Grimault began ordering the sentries for watch.
"Let me know as soon as you see him." ?Then he took several guards with him as he led Lisiek and Caelfel into the palace.
No one had touched her since the first night Grimault had ordered the guard to beat her. ?Now that they were at their destination, Caelfel was apprehensive on what they would do to her now. ?Lisiek still kept her bow on him at all times, so Caelfel spent most of her time glaring at him. ?But once they were in the main hall with a throne at its end, Lisiek removed the bow from his back and hung it on the wall above the throne.
"Lisiek, can you set the wall for scrying?" Grimault asked, settling himself onto the throne. ?Caelfel remained standing, preferring to be as far away from Lisiek as the leash allowed. ?He took them to the side wall where Caelfel noticed jagged crystals lined the corners.
"He would need to have something that would connect us."
"The girl, of course," Grimault said impatiently. ?Caelfel desperately wanted to know what they were talking about but she still refused to speak to either of them.
Lisiek turned to her, and Caelfel suddenly found herself frozen as soon as their eyes met. ?She felt the cold, blue fire of his aura pulsing around her skin, and it kept her motionless.
And then with a simple flick of his wrist, he threw her against the scrying wall. ?The blue light ignited the wall and it sent electric shocks coursing through her veins. ?Caelfel felt like screaming, and she probably did, but was unable to hear herself over the crackling pain that hazed her mind.
But in the center of her brow, she felt a vibrating light. ?She focused on it, and something else flooded her vision.
It was Feraan riding through the desert at breakneck speed. ?Caelfel noticed the amulet around his neck that was outlined in Lisiek's aura. ?Feraan seemed to see something as well, for he stopped riding and approached them.
Caelfel heard Grimault's voice first through the electrifying fog. ?"I knew you would come. ?We are waiting for you."
"It seems as though you have taken great measures to find me."
"Then you should not be so hard to find."
"Release the she-elf, and I will come to you willingly and without a fight."
Caelfel's jaw clenched as she desperately longed to disagree with Feraan's proposed plan.
Grimault remained unconvinced. ?"Come now, Feraan. ?Do not underestimate my intelligence and expect me to take such a risk."
"I give you my word," Feraan said, angling his gaze.
"I'm not going to gamble anything I've done thus far on that. ?Do not keep me waiting, Feraan, but you would probably appreciate if we keep this conversation short-"
"Show her to me!" Feraan demanded with a strong voice. ?"I want to see her condition."
"I'm afraid she's preoccupied at the moment. ?I meant it when I said you would appreciate a brief conversation."
"Grimault-"
"Do you sense a familiarity with our connection? ?Or have you not even been intimate with her?" ?Caelfel did not see Grimault but she heard his footsteps and felt his presence grow closer. ?"How special is she to even draw the wandering elf from hiding in a wasted attempt to save her? ?How can you rescue her when you cannot even protect her own life force that is supplying the energy for our conversation?"
And Caelfel felt the drain as her muscles weakened and gaping holes disrupted her vision. ?It made the image of Feraan shimmer slightly.
Then Caelfel felt something against her cheek where Grimault pressed two fingers against her face. ?The touch brought another vision, a premonition that unmistakably detailed the desert princeling murdering Feraan.
This is what the Blind Seer has shown me, Grimault whispered in her mind. ?Caelfel blinked, rapidly losing strength, and the faint movement caused Feraan to fade from her vision.
Grimault laughed, and it was an odd choking noise she suppressed from her attention. ?She focused on Lisiek's magic instead and was somehow able to briefly reroute it so that she was able to speak to Feraan herself.
"Don't come here! ?If you do, he will kill you!" ?Her strength had waned so much that Caelfel had to scream to reach Feraan.
"I don't care," was the cold response Caelfel heard from him before collapsing.
Archer of the Lake Page 31