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Lady Shang Keladry
Sorrel Rowan
Chapter Fourteen: True Malice
Kel - April, two months after the battle. Somewhere unknown.
I was standing in a workshop, but no one could see me. There were four people in the workshop, one was only barely visible through a magical fire, she was somewhere else. Kel couldn�t even make out who she was. Blayce - how do I know his name? - was walking around muttering, tweaking this and adjusting that. His man at arms walked in, carrying an unconscious child.
�Ah, Stenmun, put her over there - you know the routine as well as I by now,� he commanded with a high giggle. Disgust threatened to overwhelm Kel as she watched the impassive man put a young blond child onto a table and tie her down.
Blayce turned to the fire - now blazing white hot. �Hello my sweet, what shall we do today?� with another high giggle that made bile rise in Kel�s throat.
Kel wanted to stop it, wanted to scream, wanted to look away, but something held her in place as Stenmun made vertical cuts along the child�s wrists, the blood draining into vials. Speaking a language that sounded like murder, Blayce dipped a hand into the blood, another into the fire.
Kel prayed his hand would melt off, white power wrapping itself around him, slowly changing to black, a void of colour. As the magic streamed out of the blaze, the figure beyond it writhed in agony.
When he brought his hand out, for a moment she thought her prayers had been answered, it seemed to be smoking. Then the grey mist that clung to his hand flew off into the darkness of the workshop, and an awful clunking sound could be heard as metallic footsteps came forward�
All the while, the forgotten child slowly lay dying, feeling her soul slip away numbly, the poppy taking effect at last.
Fort Mastiff - April
Kel woke up, shaking, sweat dripping from her forehead and tears pouring from her eyes. Just a dream, just another of those gods curse it dreams�.
But that was what scared her, the dreams seemed real. Not like other nightmare�s of darkness and pain that had plagued her, she knew where they came from - her own past haunting her present.
The children changed, sometimes the figure wouldn�t be there; a gold box with white power in it would be instead. But Blayce, Stenmun, the knife, blood and machine would all be there, every single time.
Also there was a cry, a cry for help - she could almost make it out, but not quite. When she had told Numair, he had gotten very worked up and flew off at his top speed to the palace library for this or that book.
The dream haunted her every few nights, but what haunted Kel was what if it wasn�t a dream?
April. Scanran Palace.
The darkness receded and everything swam into view, the elegant room, it�s four poster bed, lined with natural fabrics. Jodai had ordered all the furs taken away and other fabrics brought in, she hated fur trading, but told Maggur it irritated her skin.
Opening her eyes with a groan, she winced at the brightness. A tall figure immediately got up and closed the drapes. He came back, sat down and took her hand. Eye�s adjusting, she saw it was Maggur, the conflict she had seen so often now gone from his eyes, only concern remaining. Trying to sit up, she realised she couldn�t, her arms were too weak. Giving in, she muttered, �I fainted again, great.�
A gentle arm slipped around her shoulders and pulled her into sitting position. �No luck yet?� Jodai asked, hating the weak sound in her voice.
�No, love, none,� Maggur replied with a sigh. �They can�t be far off now. If I ever find the people that put this on you -�
�You won�t,� Jodai interrupted quietly. �They were my father�s men, and the Tortallans killed them when they were kidnapping me. There�s nothing you can do,� she said gently. �I know they�re trying to find it, but it�s just �frustrating. I hate feeling helpless.�
�They�ll find it, don�t worry. I put Blayce to work on it last week,� Maggur said firmly, but their was a flash of pain in his eyes. Jodai was actually surprised, Blayce was the best war mage Maggur had. If he was told to work on the antidote� she didn�t want to finish the thought, it would confuse her too much.
�They�ll find it.� Maggur stood up, keeping her hand in his. Then, regardless of the servants and healers present, he bent down and kissed her. �Get some rest, listen to the healers and don�t try to stretch yourself too soon, okay love?�
She nodded with a smile as he walked out of her chambers. The others present appeared astonished. They can�t be more confused than me, Jodai thought. I�m falling for the man I�ll probably have to kill, and he has a split personality.
Jodai had only fainted twice before in the previous two months, but each time she woke up completely drained of her Gift and exhausted. It took her a month to recover - she was only just allowed to stay up for the entire day when it had happened again.
The healers knew what was wrong, but had no idea how to fix it. The binding potion that made her Giftless was draining her Gift, and taking more than it should - slightly tapping her life force each time, and so it was like an instant burn out.
Jodai had been totally Giftless since her second day in the palace, when she had gone to lunch and fainted.
They were trying to find a way to modify it, or even simply to take it off, but they weren�t even close, and Jodai knew it. She also didn�t know how long her body could hold out under the strain - each �attack� was taking more out of her than the last.
She had been ready to sleep again. Even talking to him had drained her what little energy she had left. Going to his own quarters, he knew he should sleep. He had stayed up all of the previous night, keeping vigil with her - he owed her that at least. He knew that there was more to it than that, but he refused to allow his mind to consider it - it hurt to much.
He knew what sleep would mean, what would happen, but he had no choice, his legs were folding even now as he slumped in a chair.
It was black, deeper than night. No stars were visible to guide the traveller. That was all right, he would have understood if the gods had turned their faces away from him, he wouldn�t blame them either.
He felt the presence behind him, the undiluted malice of it. �When will she be required again?� he said, turning to face him.
�Two weeks.�
Always economical with words, his patron. Or his jailor. The line was blurring between the two. The what he said registered - and he was stunned speechless for a moment.
�That�s too soon, she won�t have time to recover! It�ll kill her!�
�Her life, or death, is of no importance to me.�
�It is to me!�
�I believe you require a lesson in obedience,� the voice said, colder than any Scanran winter.
His screams echoed off of non existent walls.
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