They emerged into an open, swampy area where few trees grew.
“The marsh,” Gilda panted.
From behind, the men’s voices drifted away on the hollow wind that caressed their cheeks.
They ran through the darkness of the marsh until there were scarcely any trees at all. Owen’s chest ached as he thought of Gilda, of the way she had been focused, of how she had been undaunted by killing her leader. How could she be so calm?
He was not sure if he could trust her completely, but when he opened his senses to her energy and found there the fragrance of sweet incense, he knew that he would welcome her company.
Chapter 22
Elian’s blue eyes swept across the pasture to the corn fields. A pang hit his chest as memories of running through such rows of corn in his youth, when his mother was alive and well, cascaded through his mind. Back then, his family had owned a farm outside Alacor, and Elian and his brother, Harlan, would pretend to be soldiers who saved farmers from bandits.
He looked at the dirt, smiling. He wondered what his brother was doing now in Avathon. The last he had heard of him, Harlan was training to become a regional soldier, with no intentions of serving within the Legion’s army. Their father seemed to be prouder of his youngest son than he was of Elian, even though it was Elian who put food on the table for him every night.
Perhaps it was because he’d become a Core Wielder, but his father had never uttered a word against it. How could he, when it gave him money?
“Rose’s mother is ready now,” Rhielle said, limping next to him. “She sends her apologies for the wait. Said that Rose had run off into the fields.”
“It’s all right.” Elian walked with her to the house nestled within the heart of the village. The clouds were drawing in, signaling rain, and he hoped to be well out before they emptied.
The house was filled with the aroma of freshly-baked bread. It was warm and inviting, and Rose’s mother smiled as she offered them a basket of rolls.
“Just came out of the oven,” she said. “Would you care for some?”
Rhielle stepped forward, eyeing Elian.
He smiled at her and nodded. “I’m going to talk with Rose first, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course. You’ll find her in her room, now. I’ve done scolded her for running off so long today.”
“It shouldn’t take long. Thank you.”
He made his way to the room at the end of the hall. The door was cracked, and he hesitated when he heard humming coming from the other side. Clearing his throat, he knocked on the door and opened it slightly.
“Hello. May I come in?” he asked.
Rose froze where she was. She sat at a small oak table painted with red roses and green vines. A fine tea set sat on the top, and a stuffed bear sat beside her with a teacup.
“You’re not in trouble, young one. I’m only here to ask you a few things.”
Rose relaxed at that. “What’s your name?”
“Elian. And you’re Rose?”
“Mm-hmm. Do you want to sit?” She pulled out a small chair.
“Of course.” Elian smiled and sat down carefully. His legs were too long to go under the table, so he sat to the side.
“Would you like some tea, Elian?” she asked. Her blonde pigtail braids had fallen loose, with several strands hanging out. She simply tucked her hair behind her ear and out of her face. Her blue dress was stained with dirt, and her fingernails were far from clean, yet she poured the liquid from the teapot with the grace of a lady at a ball.
Elian smiled at her as she handed him the cup. “Thank you.” He looked down before he took a sip and raised his brows at the yellow contents inside.
Rose leaned over and whispered, “It’s really lemonade, but we’ll pretend it’s tea.”
“Ah, of course. And such splendid tea it is.” He took a drink and his face puckered.
“Sugar?” she asked.
“A bit will do, thank you.” He scooped a bit of sugar and stirred before taking another sip. “Very good.”
“Thank you. I don’t get much visitors for tea parties. I can’t let the boys down the road know, so don’t tell ‘em.”
“I’m good at keeping secrets. In fact, what I’m here for is very secretive. That’s why I needed to talk to you alone. It’s very important I don’t let such information pertaining to my mission out.”
Rose’s hand froze as she drew her cup away. “Mission?”
“Yes. You see, I’m looking for someone who came this way two days ago. His name is Owen. It’s very important that I find him. Do you know where he might have gone?”
“Owen?” Rose bit her lip, and in that a moment Elian knew that this girl could tell he was after him. “I mean, I saw that pretty lady take him on her horse.”
“Ah, well, I’m afraid he got away from the pretty lady.”
“Are you gonna hurt him?”
“No.” Elian suppressed a laugh under his smile. “No, I would never harm him.”
“That’s good. He’s a nice person. He was hungry, so I gave him some food. He was gonna sleep in the barn, but my cousin told on him before he could stay the night. I gave him a good kick in the rear for that.”
“You look like you could hold your own. But even so, it’s important that I know where he might have gone. Did he tell you anything?”
Rose shrugged and looked away. She held a cup up to her bear’s mouth, then drank the lemonade before setting it back down.
Elian looked around the room. It was well kept and tidy, save for the girl’s socks and a few clothes and wooden toys strewn on the rug. Her curtains were pink, and her bed, with its checkered pink and green quilt, looked comfortable. It was obvious she was well looked after, and no doubt well fed. Astran children usually were, as their families received handsome money for every visit a Wielder made to them.
The chair wobbled under his weight and he laid his hands on the table, catching himself. When he looked back, Rose was scooping the sugar out of the bowl and into her cup. Then she took her finger and licked the grains off. She spotted Elian watching her and giggled.
“So,” he said, downing the rest of his cup. “About Owen. Did he say where he was headed? I’d love to know so I can help him. He may very well go hungry if we don’t find him. Or worse, wild animals could get to him. If I find him first, I can feed him some of your mother’s rolls.”
“But you want to arrest him.”
Elian furrowed his brow. “I don’t want to arrest him. I want to look after him. He’s very important.”
“Well, if you don’t hurt him . . . He told me he was going to Covehaven. If you find him, will you take him some rolls?”
“Of course.” Elian nodded at her. “Thank you, Rose. You’ve been a tremendous help to me today. And I thank you for the tea. It was the best I’ve ever had.”
“You’re welcome, Elian.” She bowed her head.
Elian sighed and got to his feet. “Farewell, then, good lady. Should I find Owen, I will treat him with fine respect and make sure no harm comes to him.”
“Thank you. Good day, sir.” As he reached the door, Rose called, “Oh, and thank you for playing with me.”
“You’re welcome, Rose.”
The Core Wielder’s tower was tall and wide but housed only four rooms on four floors. The first held the office and two iron-barred cells, the second the mess hall and kitchen, the third the sleeping quarters, and the fourth the board room, where they held meetings. There were only four towers in all of Milarc, but this one was the closest to Alacor, where the council masters dwelled in the citadel.
There were not many guards at the southeastern tower. According to the current ledger, there were only two marked Astrans in the area who Legion guards visited every month. Core Wielders did not usually start visiting marked Astran children until the children were around seven or eight, and sometimes as old as ten.
Elian made his way up the spiral stairs to a balcony on the third floor. The balcony its
elf was wide and overlooked the land to the south, the same direction Owen had escaped to. He was on the young man’s heels. He could feel it.
With his Core gone, he would have to rely on Rhielle’s. She had not been officially promoted as a Wielder, but as his apprentice, she had a smaller Core to train with. Hers would be harder to use to find a glow, but it was possible. It did not help that Amias would tell him nothing of the youth’s Astran heritage, nor of the other man with him. Since his capture, Amias had guarded his words well.
A slight ache ran through Elian’s chest as he thought of Amias. It had been harder than he’d thought it would be to bring the man in. His ex-brother of the Core had killed the high scholar who had been there for nearly seventy years and had helped many Wielders and Legion workers in their studying. Elder Auran would no doubt want Amias hanged as a message not to betray the Legion, but Elian needed Amias for his mission. He knew more about Owen and the places he might be going than anyone else. Part of him wished the man would cooperate so he could use that to waive any charges the Legion masters brought against him.
Elian pushed the thought away and looked ahead.
“If I were an Astran crossing the country, where else would I go but the border?” he asked himself. He pulled out his destroyed Core and turned it around in his hand. “How in the blazes did he do this?” He glanced ahead, past the trees.
He had to find him. He had to know.
Leaving the balcony, Elian walked down to the mess hall, where he found Rhielle sitting at a table, a mug of ale in her hand. The only other person in the room was the cook.
“How’s your leg?” Elian asked her. Her first run-in with Amias had landed her a fall from her mare, and then Owen had attacked her and she’d suffered another blow to the same area.
“Forgot it was injured.”
“You’re still limping.”
“It’s fine.” She did not look up at him.
“What is it?”
“You really want to let Lou take Amias to Alacor?”
“Yes, I do. I don’t think you understand.”
“Oh, yeah?” She tipped her mug back and forth on the table. “You could send Lou after Owen instead.”
“Funny, Elle. You sound like you don’t care if he gets away. He’s an Astran. He must be brought in to be marked.”
“I get it.”
“Do you? Because you seem bent on making a good impression rather than supporting the brotherhood.” Elian sat across from her, his intent stare making her narrow her eyes. “I know bringing in Amias would help your instatement as a full-fledged Wielder, but bringing in someone like Owen could possibly help you more. The Elder will see your dedication as strength. I shouldn’t have to say this to you.”
“Right. That’s what it is. Sorry. I guess I let it go to my head.” She took a swig from her cup.
He stared at her for a long moment. Taking the jug on the table, Elian poured some ale into an empty mug and took a long gulp. When he looked down, he sighed heavily, his shoulders dropping.
“Something’s on your mind,” Rhielle said. “It’s a good time to spill it.”
Elian ran a hand over his face and propped his chin in his palm, his spirit dampening. He took the ruined Core from his pouch and placed it between them.
“For nearly a month now, that has been dead weight in my pocket.” The cook rummaged in the back room, out of earshot, but Elian still kept his voice low. “At the last Cleansing, we didn’t find the Starborn child.”
“I remember.”
“But I didn’t tell you this. Elder Auran was able to extract her power into my Core.” He looked at the place where Owen’s dagger had sliced into the device. Alacor’s greatest inventors had placed many parts into the device, all of it broken now, just like the girl in the ritual room.
He could hear Anna screaming, her wails bouncing off the walls of the chamber room. He could hear Elder Auran chanting, could see the blood everywhere. He remembered picking up her limp body and carrying her out of the chamber, and on his way back up through the tunnel, he’d looked down at her face, hoping she would wake.
“The girl died,” he said. “I’ve never seen a child die before. Not like that. There aren’t many Astrans left, Rhielle. We’ve weeded out so many, and still we’ve found no Starborn. We brand Astrans and watch them, we frighten their parents, restrict them from living a life of freedom. These children are no more than slaves until they turn thirteen. And if the Elder had it his way, he would Cleanse them even earlier. All for a bloodline.” He took several gulps from his mug.
Rhielle looked down at the table, her face serious. When she glanced up, her brows knitted together, her eyes glossy.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Elian said. “I’m over it. But I can’t help but think this lad might be Starborn. And if we find him and Cleanse him, and his power remains, we’ve just saved hundreds more children from fear and possible death. And so—” He paused and downed the rest of his drink, carefully setting his mug down. “This isn’t about devotion to the Legion masters, or about money. This isn’t some sort of revenge mission. I suspect Owen may be Starborn, and I want him alive.”
Rhielle raised her brows. “What makes you think so?”
“Think about it, Elle. The lad lived in a very remote part of Milarc. Emberton isn’t known to many. Amias knew him and kept him secret. I never heard anyone utter a word about the boy’s presence until I visited that town, and then again when we met with them. He damaged my Core.”
Rhielle shrugged. “That isn’t enough proof. Even if Owen is Starborn, how would that stop the Cleansings?”
“We could push them back.” He met her gaze with intensity. “If we still must Cleanse Astrans, then so be it, but the Legion would have no need to do it so early if we found the Starborn.”
“The descendant of the goddess.” Rhielle crossed her arms, looking deep in thought. “He could be in our grasp.”
“You see why that could work better in your favor? This isn’t about keeping in power. It’s about digging until you’ve found the treasure. That’s why the Legion still exists the way it does in Milarc and Avathon.” He sighed heavily. “I’m not going back to Alacor until I’ve captured him, and I’ll need to use your Core to do so.”
“My Core is weaker than yours was.”
Elian quirked an eyebrow. “Your Core may not hold as much power as the other Wielders’, but the window for finding this lad is closing. Either I use your training Core, or I risk losing him. Now, one last question.” He poured her mug full of more ale. “Are you coming with me, or are you going with Lou?”
Rhielle looked up at him slowly and smirked. She took several gulps from her mug before slamming it down on the table, and then stood without faltering. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Good.” Elian smiled crookedly. “Then we’ll ride to Covehaven. Owen will be heading for the border, but he won’t make it any further than there.”
Chapter 23
The woods opened up into a wide marsh. The partial moonlight revealed several dead trees scattered throughout. In the distance was a ruined house that looked as if the weather had damaged it completely. The ground was soggy and wet, and the wind whistled eerily.
For a while, Owen, Colt, and Gilda were quiet as they walked as a trio. Gilda took the lead to scout the area. She knew the land better than either of the men.
“The marshes,” Colt muttered. “Great. We’ll have to walk the main road if we want out of it, but the marsh is better to keep hidden.”
Owen’s whole body stiffened as he recalled the doomsayer back in Edgewater; the man had gone on about the coasts sinking. From the way the land around him looked, it seemed to have succumbed to an overabundance of rain. He had heard of the marsh in Lower Milarc, but he had never seen it.
“I’ve read about ghouls lingering near marshes,” he said. “Do you think there are any out here?” Owen looked around, but he could not see much beyond the deadened land.
“Ghouls are just another name for queer folk who dabble too much in herbs and poisons.”
Before they went too far, Owen stopped and leaned against a lone, dead tree. “Give me a moment.” He held his side and winced.
“What’s wrong?”
“My ribs are bruised, I think.” He thought of the men burning in the camp. At the time of their escape, his adrenaline had kicked in. He knew only to survive. After running hard for so long, he could not pretend he wasn’t in pain.
“Everything all right?” Gilda called.
“Just need a break,” Colt replied. He pulled a cloth from his bag and dabbed at the dried blood on his face. His eye was black and his lip swollen. “We took a pretty harsh beating back there. You got off pretty easy.”
“Oh?” Gilda said. “I might not have had a noose around my neck, but I did kill someone I was once fond of.”
“My condolences for whatever he put you through, then.” Colt placed a firm hand on Owen’s shoulder and leaned down. “You all right to keep walking?”
Owen nodded, sniffing as he pushed himself away from the tree.
“We should get going before it rains,” Gilda said. “The marsh runs out into some farmlands. Hopefully we can find a place there to pass a night or two.”
“Is there someplace you’d like to go?” Owen came up beside her, holding his side.
“I’m not sure. I am glad to be out of that clan, though.”
“How long were you there?”
“A few years. I was in a situation where I couldn’t leave. Harold made sure of that.”
Colt nodded. “So all you had to do was put a knife in his back and run off? You could have done that when the man was sleeping.”
“I didn’t have a reason to, until now.”
“Why do you say that?” Owen furrowed his brow.
“Because I haven’t met another unmarked Astran before.”
Owen placed a hand on his arm, as if hiding what she already knew. “How did you know I’m not marked?”
Beyond the Core (The Starborn Series Book 1) Page 27