He almost laughed. “You know, you don’t have to whisper. If he can hear my thoughts, then he knows exactly what we’re talking about. I’d just feel better knowing who I was bringing to see my father. If any harm comes to him—.” He let his thoughts do the rest and heard a soft chuckle from his rear. Then a disturbing thought hit him. If this was the same man, then he was responsible for everything that came after, including his betrothal to Willow. For, if not for his intercession, she might not exist at all. Was that why he had come looking for them now? Was this preordained?
Pulling up on his reins, he slowed his horse’s pace and let their two companions catch up. Willow realized what was going on and did the same. “You know, there is no secret passage, no real way to sneak you into the castle. My word will only carry so far. You will be challenged before being allowed to see my father.”
Merlin simply nodded, “you’re wrong about the passage, but that matters not. That’s why my young friend here is accompanying us.”
“How is a blind boy, no offense, going to help you bypass our castle’s security? Even if I believe that he’s capable of such a thing, it brings forth the question, what need is there for us?” he pushed.
Jared remained passive, as if not paying attention to anything they were talking about.
“He was born blind, most of his physical abilities absorbed by his sister while in the womb. His body compensated by opening up areas of his brain that are usually closed off to most people. I have limited telepathic skills, mostly the ability to sense moods and read surface thoughts. With great effort, maybe a bit more, but not by much. My friend here, he’s the Beethoven to my chopsticks,” Merlin explained, as if it meant something.
“I’m sorry, what?” he blurted, confused.
“Crap, sorry, old world shit,” the man responded. “Do you remember how well your brother took to the sword? How it flowed in fluid arcs like he’d been training for years, not days? Jared is showing me that memory, locked deep within your mind. It was a born talent, John was a natural, as is my blind friend here. Jared is young, but very gifted in the art of telepathy. With time and training, there is no limit to what he might accomplish.” As Merlin spoke, he expected Jared to respond in some way, to react to Merlin’s words; yet he remained passive. “He’s keeping your Guardians from noting our presence. It’s how we were able to approach you unchallenged; they never knew we were there.”
“That doesn’t explain why you need us,” Willow countered, her eyes betraying the uneasiness she felt.
He sympathized. He did not like having anyone in his head. He had a strong dislike for mind readers. His thoughts were his inner sanctum, the only place he had any real privacy. Apparently, even that had been stripped away as well.
“How do you think your father would react if we showed up without introduction, bypassing the proper channels? As I told you, we can’t afford the Phoenix’s agents to detect our presence. Which is exactly what would happen if we came hurdling through your traditional customs of security. Even then, our conversation would not be a private one. Quite simply, it’s the path of least resistance,” Merlin finished.
He leaned towards the older man. “You said you and my father were friends, surely that would have helped to ease my father’s misgivings?”
“Can you tell me for certain that your father’s memories remain intact? That old age hasn’t stripped them away as his health deteriorates? Does he not randomly start talking about things or to people that aren’t there? I can’t take the chance that his senility is too advanced to recall our former friendship. Getting thrown in the dungeons would please the Phoenix to no end, then her agents could either dispose of us quietly or leave us to watch as Lancaster fell to her hordes,” Merlin told them.
What else could he say?
They were approaching the drawbridge and the Guardians were drawing closer; appearing to still be oblivious to the two strangers riding beside them. They unwittingly kept their distance as they entered the castle grounds, not even pausing to glance their way.
The guards were silent sentries, not a single one nodding or saluting as they rode past. It was as if they weren’t even there. Even the common folk were ignoring them. A wedge was carved through the crowds and he was sure they were unaware of the nudges making them shift aside.
He felt awe at the power being displayed by their blind companion.
The horror of what could happen if it were used for ill floored him. How would they fight an invisible foe? How could they even act if their minds were controlled; if they were turned into mindless zombies? Goosebumps rose on his arms and he prayed he wouldn’t live to regret what he was about to do. He looked over at Jared and saw that blood had begun to trickle from the young boy’s nose.
“Quit thinking of me as a boy, I’m a year older than you. And it’s nothing, I’m fine,” the blindfolded youth declared as he wiped his sleeve across his face, smearing it.
They were near the center of the market and he looked for his bodyguards, but they had disappeared. Suggestions must have been made for them to do so. Merlin’s horse had come to a halt and he yanked on his reins to do the same. “I think it’s time you caught up with your sister,” the older man told their bloodied comrade.
“I can handle this,” Jared spat, his fingers massaging his right temple.
“It’s too much too soon, you’re not ready. It’s okay. You got us this far. I can take it from here,” the older man soothed. “I’m not without powers of my own you know.”
“You need me.” More blood had begun to flow, and the boy’s face was beginning to pale. “Do you want to spend an hour believing you’re a whore from a cheap brothel? Keep calling me a boy and I’ll make it happen!” Jared snapped in undisguised fury.
Merlin dismounted and came to Jared’s side. “Okay, that’s enough. You’re going to turn and ride back the way we came. You don’t need to use your powers anymore, no one will delay your departure. Ride south until you reach the lake and join up with the others, we will be along soon.”
The young man, he emphasized, looked like he was about to fall off his horse.
The rebellion in Jared’s face hadn’t slipped, but it wasn’t as intense as before. He swayed in his saddle and Tristan jumped down to help catch him if he fell. “This needs to happen, you don’t know how important—,” Jared began, then fell silent, his words dying out from mere exhaustion.
“I’ll make it happen,” he promised, the sudden concern surprisingly genuine. Whatever was driving the youth to push himself this far, it had to be worth it.
Merlin walked over to his mount and began mumbling in the horse’s ear. It grunted in response and the older man smiled. He grabbed his reins and tied them to Jared’s saddle, then began whispering to the other horse as well. He could speak to animals? “They are as intelligent as you or I, just less vocal about it,” Merlin muttered over his shoulder. “They will take you where you need to go. Please take it easy and get some rest when you get there. I never should have pushed you like this. I’m sorry.” He then reached out and patted Jared’s leg.
The blindfold was soaked with sweat; the youth too exhausted to argue further. Willow had retrieved a napkin from their picnic basket and handed it over. He wearily accepted it and applied it to his nose, then softly nudged his horse’s flanks. His mount turned and slowly began walking towards the castle’s gates, Merlin’s own horse following at its side.
“You’re right, he is dangerous, and powerful. But as you can see, power comes at a price and it never fails to exact a toll,” Merlin told them, watching as Jared disappeared into the crowd.
The newly exposed trio remained in the intersection for a few minutes, reflecting on their changes in circumstances. “So, what do we do now?” Willow interjected, her dislike for silence obviously intact.
Merlin turned and held his staff out to the elf, “hold onto this for me.” Willow took it with slight hesitation. When her fingers wrapped around the staff a change came across
her face and he was instantly concerned for her safety. “It’s not going to hurt her,” the older man tried to comfort, but the young prince wasn’t too sure he believed that.
“No really, I’m fine. It’s just warm to the touch, that’s all,” Willow assured him, looking less nervous now as she forced a smile.
He turned back to say something to their remaining companion and was surprised to see that the man had disappeared. In his place was a black and brown German shepherd, eyes looking at them expectantly. “Lajeer? How’d you get out here? Where’s Merlin?” The dog barked in response. Lajeer had been in the family for almost a decade now, and he knew for certain that he left the dog in the kennels before he left.
“Tristan,” Willow called, drawing his attention.
“What? Did you see where he went?” he asked in confusion.
“Merlin is the dog.” Her eyes danced, obviously fascinated.
The canine barked again, then started to whine as his head turned and looked in the direction of the distant keep. A mindreading shapeshifter; was his day going to get any weirder? Letting out a long sigh, he moved forward and pulled Dancer along as they resumed their journey home. How the hell was he going to explain all this to his father? Or worse, his brother?
They walked past the market stalls and he became aware that they were no longer being ignored by the public. Many parted as he passed, but he caught sight of quite a few accompanying sneers amongst the crowds. Someone nudged him from behind and he almost lost his footing. He held tightly to his horse’s reins and tried to keep himself upright.
The dog at his feet growled at the drunkard that pushed past and the man flinched with fear.
“Move along,” one of his Guardians commanded, putting himself between them. “You all right, Sire?” the elf probed, facing him after the drunkard turned and stumbled off. His name was Preik. He and Windel, the other elf stepping into view, were sent by Bordin years before to train with the Guardians. They would serve as his personal bodyguards when he took his place as Bordin’s heir.
“I’m fine,” he answered gruffly. “Where did you guys come from?”
“We’ve been here the whole time,” Windel replied from over his shoulder. “If I may, Sire? You do know that elves spend years mastering the art of blocking people from their minds?” He reached down and stroked Merlin behind the ears. “Best not to change again until we’re in the king’s chambers,” he told the dog, who whined but was obviously enjoying the attention.
Willow was eyeing them with a newfound respect, “how long have you known?”
Preik smirked, “we sensed their presence when the boy touched our minds. We let him believe we were ignorant, but we used our thoughts to conceal our movements as we did our duty and watched over you. Had we sensed anything untoward, you can be sure we’d have been there in an instant. Traveling with an orc though, dangerous in times like this,” he finished, looking at the dog once more.
“A what?” he uttered, thrown off guard.
Do not judge hastily, a voice spoke within his mind. Merlin’s eyes were boring into him, ears twitching.
“But an—?” he began.
“Sire, do not speak further, you do not want to draw unwanted attention,” Windel advised, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He became aware of his surroundings and the eyes watching them closely. They didn’t appear to be in earshot, but he couldn’t take a chance. Speaking of an orc in the vicinity of the castle might start a panic. “Noted.”
How can I know your intentions are good when you travel with a minion of darkness? he directed at the shapeshifting canine.
He was so focused on hearing an answer that he never saw the man approaching from his right. The elven bodyguards were saying something to Willow; distracted by whatever they were discussing and hadn’t noticed the assassin either as the man suddenly bellowed, “the Phoenix sends her regards!”
The entire world came to a grinding halt.
He heard the dog at his feet growl and watched as Preik’s and Windel’s bodies began to turn. Willow’s hand instinctively reached for her amulet. A few feet away, a large man had appeared and was pointing a flintlock at him. He was broad shouldered and had a long-jagged scar on the right side of his pitted face. There was a loud bang and a cloud of smoke billowed from the barrel of the pistol.
People screamed, yet he could still hear the hurried whispers of his betrothed. She was invoking her magic.
Sharp pain exploded in his chest and his body was involuntarily thrown backward.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Merlin leap at the man’s throat.
Magic burst from Willow’s outstretched hands and hit the torso of the assassin, flinging him back across the town square.
Preik had fallen to the ground in a botched attempt to intercept the bullet ripping through his body.
Windel had turned to try and catch him but missed.
He struck the cobblestones of the town square with a thud and heard the snap in his wrist before it added its voice to his agony. His vision blurred, and he felt his head begin to swim. Shadows were closing in as the life began to pour out of the gunshot wound in his chest. “So cold,” he moaned, his face starting to grow numb.
Someone was yanking on his good arm to turn him over.
“Tristan!” he heard his beloved cry as his eyes slipped shut.
Then the darkness swallowed him.
Chapter 5
Clouds of Darkness
I
Tuskar padded to her side, his hair bristling at the sight of her companions. He distrusted Reyna’s scent and she had to agree with his judgment; she didn’t care much for her either. The boy looked like a true innocent while his sister—she shook her head.
She didn’t understand why those two were so important. A blind telepath and his over-protective mercenary sister? They claimed allegiance to no one and she doubted that they could be trusted. Yet the mage had invited them with open arms and given them a place in their group; with no misgivings whatsoever. She was not so easily won over and would keep an eye on them until they gave her a reason not to. She sensed that would be a long time coming.
Surprisingly, she was more at ease with the orc joining their crusade than those two. Reyna was pacing back and forth next to the lake, eyes darting towards the castle in the distance. She was probably trying to decide if she should defy her orders and go after them.
Let her try.
Tuskar growled in agreement, then nudged her with his snout, trying to get her attention.
She glanced down at him. No, I’ll be fine. Go get something to eat, she told him through their telepathic link. The bond between them was so strong they could sense each other’s thoughts and emotions from miles away.
She’d been born with the ability to speak to animals, which was not a common trait amongst the elves, even those who’d practiced magic their entire lives. It had freaked her mother out when she was younger, and she smiled at the flashes of distant memories of her childhood. After all, that was all she had left of her mother, and not a day went by that she didn’t miss her.
Her mother had been a maid in Griedlok’s palace long before giving birth to her. As a child, Kylee would see her off to work every morning, then spend the day at a neighbor’s until she returned later that evening. It was on one of those babysitting visits that she made a startling discovery, she could speak to her neighbor’s dog.
He told her his true name was Aener, after his grandfather. Not Lazo, as the farmer had taken to calling him. She had tried telling the farmer’s wife what she had learned but was ignored and brushed off. Hurt that she couldn’t share her new abilities, she had retreated back to the barn and spent the evening talking to her newfound friend instead.
From that moment on, the two of them were inseparable; establishing a friendship stronger than that of any of the local children she was forced to play with. The other children laughed and jeered when they saw her talking to the dog, not believing that she
was actually having a two-sided conversation. The laughter never lasted long; as Aener would step between them and growl, sending the panicked kids packing; she never missed their presence one bit.
Then her mother came home from work one night and in a frenzy, packed their things hastily, and dragged her protesting daughter from their home with a tight grip on her upper arm. They were on the road south an hour later; the castle and kingdom she’d grown up in being left behind with no explanation or signs of a reason why.
Aener had tried to follow but her mother kept shooing him away, until finally, she looked back to find the road empty and her best friend gone from her life forever. Crying, she had resisted her mother’s tugging, and almost got her arm pulled out of the socket in the process.
The reasons for their departure might not have been readily made available that cold and rainy March night, but it hadn’t taken long for her to discover the reason for her mother’s erratic behavior; she was pregnant.
They had traveled south to her uncle’s farmstead; far beyond the reach of Griedlok and anyone that might have been looking for them. It was in a less populated area and there were far less children to shun her; not that she went looking or craved their attention anyway. Instead, she found new friends in the large variety of livestock her uncle kept and had endless cornfields to play with them in. Lost in her new surroundings, she had eventually forgotten Aener and threw herself into helping the farmer maintaining his farm.
Her uncle didn’t complain, it was an extra set of hands he considered paid for by the food she and her mother were consuming. He thought her odd but learned to appreciate how well the animals could be herded with her assistance. She didn’t dare admit that she could talk to them, fears of how he’d react ensuring her silence. Her uncle was human and ignorant in the ways of magic and elven culture. He never would have understood and would likely punish her for lying to him. She could understand what they were saying, but all anyone else heard were bahs and snorts. It was not an experience that could be shared.
The New Age Saga Box Set Page 11