Tainted Crown

by Jenn Vakey

  He gave them hope.

  “I know you’ve travelled a long way and you’re exhausted,” he announced. “We’re going to get through this as quickly as possible so we can get you moved to Alkwin where breakfast will be waiting.” People perked up at that, nodding. “Any clothing or personal items you brought are yours to keep. All Healer supplies should be removed and placed in this bag here.” He held up an empty bag, then dropped it onto the ground in front of him. “They belong to the entire community. That’s non-negotiable. In the event that you should ever need treatment, our Healers will make sure you’re well cared for.”

  As I watched, people started to nod. Some began to shift their bags around so they could reach into them, ready to pull out what they had brought. I would have to remember to ask Rhydian later about the bag of supplies I had found in my closet. I guessed that they were only there because I was a Healer, though. Not because I was hoarding them.

  “People who came together will come up here as one,” he went on. No one who isn’t Tainted will be permitted to cross through the archway without a Tainted sponsor. Have all of your bags ready to be searched when you come up. I’m sure you can understand why. Any weapons you were given when leaving Eden are also to be left here with the Healer supplies.”

  I looked over each of the faces when he finished speaking. They all looked harmless enough. No one had any negative reactions to his statements. No one shifted around, or looked like they were trying to hide anything.

  “Let’s have the first group,” he said. He turned back and met my eye, silently telling me to come forward. The rest of our group moved up also, positioning themselves to both watch over the group and to take the bags to search.

  The first group that walked up was a family. A husband and wife, along with their two small children. The youngest didn’t even look old enough to walk yet. It made my heart hurt, watching how she clung to her mother, looking around with a mix of curiosity and fear.

  “Your Highness,” the man said, bowing his head.

  “That’s not necessary here,” Rhydian said kindly. “You can call me Rhydian.”

  The man nodded, giving a cautious smile.

  “Can you each give me your names,” he instructed.

  “Reeve Masters,” the father said. He looked to his wife and nodded. She was far more timid when she said, “Emery Masters. This is our daughter, Bethy.” She ran her hand over the head of the baby in her arms. The child made a cooing sound and dropped her head down onto her mother’s shoulder, her tiny fist shoved into her mouth.

  “And who might you be?” Rhydian asked, looking down to the older child between them. She didn’t look frightened. Not in the way I would have expected. Actually, she was staring up at him in almost a critical way.

  “Are you really the prince?” she asked instead of answering. “My dad said his name was Evran. And our lessons said he was dead.”

  “Isley,” Reeve hissed, grabbing her shoulder. He looked to be torn between the desire to apologize to Rhydian and scold his daughter.

  Rhydian didn’t look bothered in the slightest.

  The corner of his lips quirked in a way similar to the way they did when he was dealing with his sister. Like he was trying to keep from outright laughing. “I am, and it is,” he told her patiently. “Rhydian is my middle name, and it’s what I’ve gone by since I came here four years ago. What can I call you?”

  “He already said it,” she countered, folding her arms. “I’m Isley.”

  A look of fear crossed over both of her parents’ faces, but Rhydian actually chuckled. He glanced back toward me. “She reminds me of you,” he said, then faced them again. At the still wary looks Reeve and Emery had, he explained. “We don’t restrict how people express themselves here. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  They nodded, relief showing.

  “Who has the Tainted ability?” he asked.

  “Isley,” Reeve answered at the same time Isley said, “I do.”

  Rhydian nodded. He didn’t look surprised. “Can you show me what you can do?”

  The girl looked back to her parents for permission. At Reeve’s nod, she faced Rhydian and held her hands up. Fire surrounded them. Several people in the crowd behind them gasped. So did I. Rhydian nodded in an approving way.

  “Dragon based. Very good,” he told the girl, then he faced the adults again. “Do you have any weapons on you?” They both said no. “Do you have any desire or intention of harming the people of Alkwin?” Again, they answered no. “Do you have anything with you that would harm our people or city?” No.

  Rhydian glanced back to me for confirmation. I nodded. They were telling the truth.

  “You’re free to enter,” he said. Aarys and Zaydan handed the bags they had finished searching back to them. “Just wait back here while we finish up.”

  The family moved through the archway and past us. Rhydian motioned toward the crowd for the next to come up. This time it was a single young man. He looked to be around our age. There was dirt smeared on his cheek, and his dark hair was cut short. What caught my attention was the scar that ran half the length of his throat. It was an old injury, but I was struck with the feeling that he was lucky to be alive.

  “What’s your name?” Rhydian asked.

  The man touched the scar, then moved his hand to his lips and shook his head.

  “You can’t speak?” he asked.

  Again, he shook his head.

  “What’s your Tainted ability?”

  The guy held up two fingers, indicating he had two of them. His fingers touched his lips again and he opened his mouth. He blew out an audible breath, then clasped his hands over his ears. I had no idea what he was trying to say, but Rhydian didn’t have the same problem.

  “Banshee scream?” he asked. “Your scream would hurt people?”

  Relief filled the young man’s eyes, and he nodded vigorously. Rhydian nodded himself, then looked out to address the entire crowd.

  “We’re going to need to do a test,” he told them. “Anyone without banshee based abilities needs to cover your ears tightly. It will still be unpleasant, but it won’t last long.”

  There was a flurry of panicked looks as people started to cover their ears. Adults with children pulled them close to their bodies, pressing their tiny hand covered ears into them for added protection. I covered my own, apprehensive myself, and watched as Rhydian motioned to Aarys.

  Aarys pulled in a breath, her fists clenching as she let out a scream.

  Pain sliced through my skull, causing my legs to shake in an attempt to buckle. I could just make out the cries of pain from some of the others. A baby crying.

  The young man facing us didn’t react at all. Neither did two other people standing in the crowd. An older woman and a teenage boy.

  Then it stopped.

  I shook my head, trying to clear the lingering ache that was still here. Several others were doing the same, but it didn’t look like it had seriously injured anyone.

  “I’m sorry for that,” Rhydian said. “We won’t need to do it again. It was enough to confirm everyone here with banshee based abilities.”

  That was a relief. I wasn’t looking forward to ever having to feel that again. It did explain why Aarys had been part of our group, though. That scream of hers could take down any Sentry that tried to attack. They wouldn’t even need to be close to her.

  “You presented young?” Rhydian asked, giving his attention back to the man we were questioning. He nodded. There was a look of sadness there as his fingers absentmindedly touched the scar on his throat. As if knowing I was searching for the connection there, Rhydian glanced back toward me and lowered his voice. “It’s a practice that’s been done, although it’s very rare now. Parents would work with an underground Healer who wouldn’t turn them over to the city to have a child’s voice box removed to prevent them from being able to scream.”

  My stomach turned at the idea. How terrified must a parent have to be
to do such a thing to their child? The rest of these people might have been frightened and fleeing, but he had something so big taken away from him.

  “What’s your other ability?” Rhydian asked, pushing forward.

  He held his hands out in front of him. Unlike Isley, fire didn’t come. Instead, a cloud of glowing orbs filled the air around us. I watched them, fascinated. They danced around, calling to me. I reached out without thinking. I wanted to touch them. To follow them as they ran from me.

  Before my feet could do more than tense under me, though, they vanished. I blinked several times, my head clearing. What had just happened? It felt like everything important going on around me had become so much less so. Like the only thing I really needed to do was follow those lights.

  “Will-o’-the-wisp,” Rhydian said. That made sense. I had a vague understanding of what that was. Ghostly lights that appeared in woods or swamps. “Do you have any weapons on you?” He shook his head. “Do you have any desire or intention of harming the people of Alkwin?” Again, he shook his head. “Do you have anything with you that would harm our people or city?” Another head shake.

  Rhydian met my eye again for an answer. Nothing registered as a lie.

  “You’re free to enter. Please wait with the others.”

  He nodded, taking his bag from Zaydan.

  With each new group that came up to us, my anger toward the Eden government grew. Nearly all of the new Tainted were children or teenagers. Some, like the older woman who had traveled with her husband, had been lucky enough to come into their abilities after the age Eden tested for them. It was easier to stay hidden that way. As for the rest of them, they all were at risk of being killed once the Tainted reached their twentieth year.

  Innocent people.

  It took an hour for us to work through the entire group. No one had lied or come in with the intention of hurting anyone. They had even brought in a dozen extra bags of clothes, as well as several boxes of fruits and varying foods that had been collected for us in Eden.

  Aarys was just starting to explain the rest of the trip back to Alkwin when Rhydian and I caught sight of movement down the path leading toward us. There were two men, with what looked to be a few large bags. He motioned for the others to start moving the group, telling Zaydan to get ready for what could be more supplies coming in.

  “Stay inside the wards,” he said to me as he watched the newcomers approaching. “They’re Sentry, by the looks of them. While I’m glad we have allies there now, it makes it more difficult to know what their intentions are.”

  I chuckled. “Easier when you knew they all wanted to hurt you?”

  Rhydian shot me a sideways glance, his lips twitching. “It did take the guessing out of it.”

  The sounds of the crowd behind us had disappeared by the time the two men reached us. They weren’t dressed in the same black clothes the ones I had encountered yesterday had been. I could still see what Rhydian had been saying, though. They had similar builds. It was hard to distinguish when compared to the people from Alkwin, but I could tell the difference after we had worked our way through the crowd of new arrivals. Most of them weren’t as physically fit as these guys were. The people of Alkwin trained to fight. From what Rhydian had said, only the Sentry did in Eden.

  “Good morning,” Rhydian said as they neared. His tone was cordial, but I could tell he was ready for anything.

  Both men looked to him and bowed their heads. “Prince Evran,” they greeted in unison. They straightened, dropping the bags down at their feet. There were three large bags, big enough to easily fit four or five of the ones the others had carried in them. They looked to be packed full.

  “We’ve brought you supplies from Eden,” the taller of the two said. He was around Dallin’s age, where the other was only a little older than we were. “Healer supplies, clothing, and food.”

  “Is there anything in those bags that would harm the people of Alkwin?” I asked before Rhydian could.

  The older man chuckled, giving me a friendly smile. I watched him carefully after what we learned yesterday, but there was no sign of malice there. He didn’t appear to recognize me at all. “No. The people have been collecting what they can to help out.”

  I smiled back. He was lying.

  “Are all of the Healer supplies safe?”

  “Yes,” he answered with a nod.

  I shifted my gaze to the younger man. Unlike his friend, he was watching me with a curious look. Either the older man really hadn’t recognized me, or he was much better at hiding his reactions. Because I was fairly certain this other one knew exactly who I was.

  “Are all of the Healer supplies safe?” I asked him

  “Of course.”

  They were telling the truth.

  “Is there anything harmful about the clothing?”

  Both men answered no as I looked to them.

  Again, they were telling the truth. That only left one thing.

  “Is the food going to harm anyone?”

  “No,” the older man asked.

  I didn’t bother asking his companion. Not when I knew he was lying.

  “Is there anything other than those things in the bags?”

  Both men were looking at me strangely at this point. Maybe even a little annoyed. In turn, though, they both answered no.

  I turned to face Rhydian, meeting his eye without saying a word. I didn’t need to. I could tell with just that one look that he knew exactly what I had been doing. My reasoning. If I was correct, he even knew what I had learned.

  He gave me a small nod of approval, then faced the Sentry again. “Thank you, gentlemen,” he said. “You can leave the bags there.”

  They nodded and stepped away from them before turning and starting back the way they had come. They began muttering quietly to themselves. Probably questioning what had just happened. When the younger one glanced back for a moment to look at me again, though, I considered that they might be talking about who I was. Knowing I was the girl their king was looking for.

  Rhydian and I stood where we were until they were out of sight.

  “The food has been tampered with,” I stated. “As far as either of them know, the clothes and Healer supplies are fine. There also isn’t anything else in the bags.”

  “Good work,” he said. He stepped forward, walking cautiously toward the bags. I followed.

  We each took a bag, pulling them open. The one in front of me was filled with clothes. Unlike the stuff the new people had brought in, everything looked to be new. Each item was individually packaged, with sizes ranging from small children to adult marked on them.

  Rhydian’s bag, which had the Healer supplies, looked to be the same. Everything was sealed.

  “Noella can check all of this in the lab,” he said, shifting things around to ensure there wasn’t anything else hidden in the bag that the Sentry hadn’t known about. “We’ll also make sure all of the clothing is washed well before we hand it out. Just in case.”

  He reached over and opened the bag of food, groaning. It was full. What a waste.

  “I’m going to take this out into the woods,” he said, grabbing the handles and standing. “I don’t want to risk someone finding it and thinking it’s safe to eat. Wait here, then we’ll carry these back to the hovercraft.”

  I closed the other two bags and watched him disappear into the woods lining the path. It had been a successful trip. The little trap the Eden government had set had even given us a fair amount of extra clothing that would come in handy with winter approaching. I could only assume they had willingly given us so many Healer supplies as a way of lulling us into false security when it came to the food.

  The sound of a branch cracking a few moments later put me instantly on alert. Rhydian was out in the woods, but that didn’t seem to be where the sound had come from. Though I couldn’t be certain, it sounded like it had come from behind me. From the opposite side he had gone into.

  My hands moved as if on instinct, re
aching back and pulling the bastons from my back as I turn to face the noise. Branches shifted, the sounds growing louder. Then I wasn’t alone.

  A man dressed in black sprung out onto the path. He had a weapon in hand, already raised and ready to attack as he charged me.

  I didn’t think, just reacted. My baston swung up and met his attack at the same time as the other I was gripping sliced through the air and slammed into his ribs. He grunted and took a half step back before advancing again. I was ready.

  I had no idea how I was doing it, but I was. I met him strike for strike. Twisting and dodging. And as my body flowed, so did my thoughts.