Shadowed

by Tara Jadestone

  One of them approached me first, his voice familiar as he shouted my name in worry. The cell suddenly brightened, and he came running to me. He whispered something and the chains that held me for so long broke away. I fell against him as he embraced me. I could see the tears in his eyes.

  I know those eyes, I thought, those kind, gentle, and fatherly eyes.

  “Tiran?” I whispered, bringing my fingers to brush against his cheek. Is it really him?

  He smiled a little and lifted me off the ground. He shouted something over his shoulder to the others that had come with him, but I took no heed. Resting my head against his chest, I closed my eyes, assured that I would no longer need to fear the Dark Mages’ return.

  ****

  When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on a low bed. It was not as soft nor was it purple like the one I had become used to, but it was still comfortable to lay in.

  Sitting beside me was Tiran. He was leaning forward on his knees, elbows bent to place his hands over most of his face. I wanted to smile at the worry creases on his forehead. He drew up seeing that I was awake.

  “How are you feeling, Mel?” His words sounded too loud to my ears. My time spent in silence must have adjusted my hearing.

  “Not very well to be truthful,” I replied. My chest felt sore as if it had been torn apart, and a cold, burning sensation to lingered.

  The noonday sunlight lit up the entire room, bouncing off the glass-paneled windows that ran along the walls. It created moving patterns along its dark wood beams of the ceiling and row of identical beds beside mine.

  Tiran laid a hand on my forehead.

  “We healed you with magic. Your scars, your pain, it should have all left,” he replied, withdrawing his hand. “Perhaps there are some things magic cannot heal,” he whispered.

  There was silence for some time. Then memory flooded in: the kidnapping, the mirror, the ransom…my torture.

  “How long has it been since I…was gone?” I asked, trying to keep my thoughts away from my last moments as a prisoner. Tiran took a steady breath.

  “It has been a little longer than a fortnight,” he answered, “since Her Ladyship last made contact with you.”

  I felt my jaw drop. It took Selenah more than two weeks to decide it was time to save me?

  “It was not as if we gave up,” Tiran added, laying a gentle hand on my shoulder. His eyes were set gravely on mine. “It was difficult to locate your whereabouts. The passing days were arduous ones, for all of us.” He looked at me with slightly knitted eyebrows and a frown– the look of a concerned friend. It brought me out of my anger and I forced a smile.

  “Then I am glad to be back,” I said. He nodded, giving me a small smile in return. I paused a moment before asking, “How long have I been here?”

  “Just the past night,” he answered.

  “So where is Selenah?”

  Tiran hesitated, looking away from me. “Your sister has yet to return.” His voice was low. “But there are dozens of Royal Guards stationed around to help locate her.” At my silence, he continued in a hopeful tone. “The Captain is searching for her as we speak, so there is no doubt will find her unharmed, soon.”

  I thought about what he had just told me. “You should not have come,” I finally said. Tiran looked taken aback by my statement, mouth open to protest my words. “It was a trap– all of it was,” I continued. “Did Selenah not realized it, or you? The Shadow Reaper knew she would come for me. He told me so.”

  I did not add the part that I had grown accustomed to my cell and because Selenah had come for me, it had been ripped away.

  Tiran was silent and looked away.

  “It may be too late,” I whispered. “The Shadow Reaper was ready–”

  “We cannot lose hope,” Tiran said quickly. “She is the child prophesized...” Tiran now seemed unsure of the situation. He turned to look at me and said, “I must go speak with the others now. Rest well.” He stood up and briskly walked out, a hand on his sword’s hilt.

  I sighed and sank back into the pillow. Was it wrong of me that some small part of me did not want to return? Or that I was not so troubled that Selenah had not yet come back?

  Closing my eyes, I let fatigue overcome me.

  ****

  The nurse was kind and helped me to regain my strength. Her son Rern, who was seven, helped as well. My time here was vastly different from that of the Shadow Reaper’s keep. And while I enjoyed the princess-like care I had received there, the days I spent with Rern and his mother was just as caring.

  Rern and I raced and played together and sometimes helped his mother with her duties. We would gaze out the window at the clouds or stars when we grew tired of running about. Not once did it cross my mind about Selenah’s whereabouts or if she had returned safely. It was as if I had forgotten her existence.

  It was on my third night recuperating when she finally arrived. Rern and I were on the floor, playing with some colored blocks while his mother napped nearby. I was still in the castle’s Infirmary, though Rern’s mother had said I was fit to leave the day before.

  The door had swung open, causing Rern’s mother to sit up. She looked towards the doorway and immediately curtsied.

  Selenah walked in, dazzling in another of her rich, sumptuous dresses and jeweled accessories. She frowned as she looked me over, seeing that I was adorned in the plain white gown given to me by the Infirmary. Rern immediately jumped away to bow and stand beside his mother.

  I remained on the floor.

  “Mel, what are you doing? You were issued to leave yesterday,” she stated, flipping her hair in annoyance. “Get up, change into another dress, and follow me.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, displeased. I had forgotten what it had been like to be with her. The constant obeying.

  “No.”

  I saw my nurse gawk and Rern hide his face in his mother’s petticoat. Perhaps they had never seen anyone disobey their superior before with such openness as I just did.

  “No?” Selenah echoed, eyes narrowing. “I will not tolerate–”

  “I said no, Selenah.”

  “Mel, not now,” she hissed.

  When I did not respond, she strode over to me and dropped to her knees in a great pool of silk. She then lowered her voice as she spoke.

  “The man who kidnapped you, he did not feed you anything strange did he?” At my raised eyebrows, she shook her head. “No, did he make you repeat words you yourself could not understand?”

  “Like a spell?” I asked. She nodded, biting her lip.

  I thought a moment. “No. Why?”

  She glanced at the nurse and back to me in defeat. “It is no matter. I shall send for someone to take you to the Solstice Palace while I go on ahead.”

  At her change of topics, I contemplated whether or not to force her to speak her true intentions. But I decided not to, as I was more curious because Selenah had mentioned the Solstice Palace before.

  “Why there?” I asked, frowning. “Did you not tell me before it was Queen Isomara’s residence? I hardly doubt the King would want us commoners living in a place meant for his Queen.”

  “It was my suggestion,” Selenah replied. “I believe it is safer we stay there, away from the town. And,” she emphasized, “Queen Isomara was not royalty, either. She was the daughter of a naval captain south of Tenebris.”

  I grunted in response.

  Selenah stood up and turned away, flipping her long hair in doing so. I rolled my eyes but watched her leave. Since Queen Isomara is dead, why would the King agree to have it reinstated then? Does the King believe another queen will take her place?

  Rern looked at me. “The Solstice Palace!” he exclaimed. “It’s bigga than the King’s Castle!” He grinned. “If Melanie goes, I wanna go too! Please Mama!”

  I heard his mother sigh and then look at me. “Good luck, mistress,” was all she said before she scolded Rern and took him away. After returning, she had me fitted into a dress that
she had brought in. “A gift from her Ladyship.”

  The dress itself was beautiful –it was a satin, plum-colored gown embroidered with silver– but I hated that Selenah had given it.

  My escort to the Solstice Palace came soon after I was dressed. He was lively and talkative– the opposite of how I felt. I raised my eyebrows at his presence. This could not be the messenger Selenah was talking about.

  He was dressed finely, wearing a dark blue doublet, white breaches, and tall, black and gold boots. He stood tall and proud with a sword scabbard at his hip. He was perhaps in his mid-twenties, and he looked familiar. His sandy-colored hair...I had seen it somewhere before. But I could not recall where. He was also slim and well-built, so I assumed his weapon was not just for show. He talked enough for the two of us as he led me to a carriage, and about something I did not care to listen to. I was more focused on the infamous four Royal Guards that mounted their steeds around the carriage. I recognized them and they all scowled in my direction. I frowned back.

  The messenger followed me into the carriage and sat opposite me. His talking finally ceased when the carriage began to move, jostling us as we ran through the town road. I gazed out the window at the passing scenery –bricked, thatched-roof homes, running children, and standing vendors– and could not help sigh. I had to accept that my life would forever be in shadow.

  “Everyone is talking about a Royal Wedding,” the messenger prompted, perhaps in an effort to draw me out of my silence.

  “Yes, I suppose they are,” I replied, without even turning to look at him. The city roads and shops were now few, and the blossoming trees had begun to take over. “No doubt my sister will make a magnificent Queen, like Selina the First.” The moment the words escaped my lips, my eyes widened. Does the King plan for Selenah to marry Prince Gareth? Is that why the Solstice Palace is in service again?

  “You do not seem all too happy about it,” he noted in surprise. “You, as her sister, will gain nobility. You will become a Lady –in the sense of nobility, I mean, not that you are not a woman, uh,” he paused a moment to regain his composure and I shook my head. He ran a hand through his hair. “You would have also gain residence in the King’s Castle.”

  What does a messenger like him know about noble ranks and Royal Weddings?

  “Lady,” I mused. “I would rather live my life as a stableman.”

  At least then I would not see or deal with Selenah on a daily basis.

  The messenger gawked at me. I seemed to be getting a lot of that these days. But I did not care. His words made me clench my hands. What is the title of Lady worth when Selenah will reign as Queen? What could nobility do for me when I am forever in her shadow?

  “I do not see why you are surprised, messenger. I am nothing but my sister’s maid, as His Majesty the King once thought me to be. How can I be fit for any title attributed to me for being related to Selenah?”

  He paused before speaking.

  “I am surprised that someone who has endured so much for her Ladyship would wave away such luxury,” he said. I furrowed my brows. What does he mean by that? “And I am no mere messenger, Mistress Melanie. I am Owen, Archduke of Herington, second in line as Heir Successor to the Throne of Tenebris.” He said it with pride, and I expected that he must have puffed his chest whilst saying it.

  But I turned to look at him, eyes wide. He smiled, making my face flush with embarrassment. How could I have mistaken the Archduke for a messenger?

  I muttered a quick apology and turned back to gaze out the window once more. I was sure he was another courtier who must be in love with Selenah. I heaved a mental sigh and shook my head. Did he assume his interest in talking to me would help him get to her?

  “Well, Your Highness, why are you accompanying me to the Solstice Palace then? Should it not be Prince Gareth who takes us to his mother’s home?” I asked, watching the blur of trees whiz by. The Archduke’s face brightened at my asking.

  “Alas, he is not. Gareth has quite a few matters to discuss with his father.” I nodded and glanced away. “For that reason, I am here in his place,” he continued on, despite already having answered my question, “to keep the two of you safe and to see that those who are hired to manage the Palace are–”

  Shouts from outside cut him off and the carriage lurched to a halt. The sounds of hooves were heard, fleeing. I felt my breath leave me. The Archduke drew out his sword as I gripped the edge of my seat. Is it the Shadow Reaper again?

  CHAPTER SIX

  THROUGH THE WOODS

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the Archduke motioned for silence. It was then something broke through the window to my right, showering us in glass. What looked to be a half-rotted arm entered through the opened window, its black-brown flesh dangled from decaying bone. The rest of its foul, skeletal body pressed against the window, obscured by the curtain.

  I screamed as it took hold of my wrist. I tried to pull away, but it continued to pull back with inhumane strength.

  The Archduke’s sword quickly severed the arm from its body, and it fell beside me, unmoving. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me beside him, an arm protectively around me. But the Archduke looked to be afraid as I was; sweat beaded at his temple, and his breathing was fast.

  I held tight to the edges of his suit-coat, trembling. This has to be an attack by the Shadow Reaper.

  Something else began to tear at the sides of the carriage where the severed corpse had come from. We heard the carriage walls crackle; the wood frames were being torn away from the outside in. The head of a skeleton –with hollowed eyes, a half-fleshless face and protruding broken teeth– came into view, along with hundreds of others like it. I screamed again as they hissed and fought one another to get in through the carriage’s breaking wall. We were trapped.

  The Archduke turned away from the horde and rammed into the other side of the carriage. The already weakened frames easily fell apart. It gave us a glimpse of the freedom on the other side of the road.

  “Jump,” he said, above the hiss of the living corpses, and motioned at the cracked wall. He turned back in time to cut away another skeleton that had managed to crawl in through the window. Over his shoulder, he shouted, “Go now!”

  Letting go of him, I did as he said, tumbling out onto the dirt road. He followed after. Since the skeletons had clustered towards the opening on the other side of the carriage, it left this side free of them.

  We raced into the trees by the road and did not look back. I made sure to keep the Archduke in sight, fearing I would lose him as the dense foliage covered most of my view. The branches and thorn hedges scratched and clawed at my hair and dress and sweat had trickled down my neck.

  After some time of running, the Archduke fell to his knees, holding his chest, and gasped for breath. I managed to reach him, halting as well. He took off his doublet and raked a hand through his sweat-matted hair, glancing my way. His chest was heaving. My fingers fumbled behind my back, trying to untie the laces that restricted my chest from taking deeper breaths– but I could not.

  I blinked rapidly to keep my focus and sank to the ground because of how lightheaded I was. I rested my head against the bark of the tree, my fist curled against my chest.

  I could barely breathe, barely move. The clothes of noblewomen were most assuredly not well-suited for running from a mass of undead.

  Taking notice of what I had been doing, the Archduke walked over and knelt behind me. Still breathing haggardly from his run, he hesitantly tugged on the top strings of the corset for a few moments. As the back peeled away, I immediately felt my chest expand and I exhaled in relief, leaning back into the tree after the Archduke pulled back.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and gratefully took large, refreshing breaths.

  I heard him settle down beside me with a loud sigh. For several moments, a silence reigned between us as we both calmed our racing hearts. But the fear of the skeletons returning kept us both on edge.

  “To b
e quite honest, I have never run this much before in my life,” the Archduke said with a small laugh. I shrugged, having nothing else to say. “Creatures of magic,” he continued with a shake of his head. “Do you have any idea why creatures they would come after us?” he asked.

  Opening my eyes, I scoffed. Is he so dull?

  “Other than me being the sister to the greatest sorceress of all time? No, I do not.”

  When I was met with silence, I feared that I had offended him and could pay a price for doing so. After all, he is a member of the royal family. I turned my head to see that he was staring at me, with a stunned look on his face. I opened my mouth to apologize, but he shook his head and turned away, ears tipped red. I cleared my throat and did the same.

  But his question unnerved me. Why would the Shadow Reaper send a legion of the undead after us when he was powerful enough to take me on his own before? Something must have happened to him with his encounter with Selenah or he was simply playing with us.

  There was a soft neighing in the distance, and it brought the Archduke to his feet. I remained where I was, too tired to do anything else. Not long after the neighs, we could hear the sound of hoofbeats, getting louder as the seconds went by. I inched away from the noise while the Archduke tensed, his sword in hand.

  The horse that trotted towards us had a glossy brown coat and it had to have belonged to the King’s stables: one of its chestnut-colored hind legs had the emblem of our kingdom and above that emblem was a crown.

  I had seen that coat of arms before. It must belong to one of the Royal Guards.

  The Archduke’s shoulder relaxed and he laughed at the sight of the approaching horse as he put away his sword. He steadied the steed and let it go to help me to my feet. Embarrassed, I asked him if he could lace back the strings of my dress back up as I held a hand to my front. He bit back a smile.

  “I will warn you, I know only a knight’s knot,” he said, stepping behind me.

  “It could not be any different than what the maids–”

  I gasped as he pulled on the laces, feeling my chest constrict more than before.