Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) Page 18

  “How could this happen?” she asked Gryffon, barely holding back tears. They had all been watching for a new attempt on Phoenix, not looking for an already cast spell. And the illness that had been spreading…no one had been around her for long enough without coming down with it to notice anything unusual. Layna again got the feeling that the sickness was some sort of planned distraction, and she growled under her breath.

  “Now we know what it is,” Gryffon told her soothingly, with his relentless optimism, “and we can find a way to stop it. The good news is that it doesn’t do anything immediately dangerous to the baby’s heath, so that’s something. Also, if the tribe felt the need to get this last stone to solidify the spell, it means that they don’t think that the original spell is strong enough. Which means we can break it. Don’t lose hope yet. We just need to find a cure before Katya gives them the stone.”

  “I suppose,” she conceded, wiping her tears, “but I just feel so…” she didn’t know what word she was looking for. Invaded, violated…She had gotten fairly used to having her every move scrutinized by her peers and her subjects, but having Phoenix be used in a plot because of her position felt so wrong.

  “I know,” her husband said softly, “We just need to take everything one step at a time.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Katya trotted into the forest and was almost immediately surrounded by the Forest Guard. They escorted her to the upper levels, and made straight for the Chamber. The Elders were already assembled there, obviously having been alerted to her approach by the tracking stone they had embedded into her.

  She allowed herself to be led roughly by the arm to stand in front of them. The woman with the braid stood forward.

  “Were you successful?” she asked greedily.

  “Where is Hunter?” Katya demanded, ignoring the question.

  The woman gave a short nod to a man standing to her left and he hurried out of the room. They stood in silence, in a stoic stare-down. A few minutes later, the man returned, dragging Hunter along behind him.

  Katya stepped forward to go to him, but the woman held out her hand, stopping her.

  “Don’t give it to them, Katya,” he said, straining against the hands holding him. “It will let them–” he was cut off as one of the guards drove an elbow into his stomach and another waved a hand, spelling him into silence. Whatever he had been about to tell her would remain unsaid.

  She looked over at the woman with the braid and bared her teeth at her. “Let him go.” She was fairly certain that she could escape herself, but Hunter was without talent of his own and spreading a spell out to encompass both of them would make it too frail to withstand the barrage from all the mages gathered here. He needed to be safely on the ground before she was going to give up the stone.

  “Why don’t I just take the stone from you instead?” the woman moved forward menacingly, not impressed by Katya’s demands.

  Katya smiled again. “That would be unwise,” she told the woman. “I have spelled it so that anyone who tries to take it from me unwillingly will find the experience,” she paused for dramatic effect, raising her eyebrows tauntingly at the woman as she echoed her words, “most unpleasant.”

  The woman looked disgruntled and paused in thought. No doubt she was weighing her options. Eventually there could be no doubt that she would be able to break the enchantment that Katya had placed upon the stone to allow her to use it as leverage, but it would take time. Was killing the two of them worth the inconvenience?

  She apparently decided not, as she waved a hand for Hunter to be taken below. Katya went to the window and watched, waiting until Hunter was alone on the forest floor before turning back to the braided woman.

  “He is released,” the woman stated needlessly, “Now give me the stone.”

  “As you wish,” Katya answered, springing into motion. She launched the stone high in the air, turning on her heel without watching where it was headed. She dove out the window and rolled to the edge of the walkway, putting a foot up over the railing before her brain could register what she was doing.

  Then she jumped.

  *

  Lorcan watched the proceedings from the back corner. The meeting had been called so suddenly that they hadn’t bothered to pay attention to who else had also joined them and Lorcan had taken advantage and slipped in.

  His eyes widened as Katya threw the stone into the air and disappeared out the window. From his spot he saw her roll to a standing position outside on the walkway before jumping clean off. It was a good hundred foot fall or more. He rushed with the crowd of people to the window and looked down. He saw Katya hit the ground lightly in a crouching position, obviously having mastered a falling spell. He let out the breath he’d been holding. Katya took Hunter’s hand, sparking an annoying pang of jealously, and they disappeared into the woods.

  Several of the Forest Guard rushed to the door to go after them, but Kali held up a hand to stop them. Apparently she was not concerned with their escape. Either that or she was confident in their ability to track them with the stone they’d embedded within Katya and would relish the chase and eventual punishment. Lorcan suspected it was the latter.

  She held the stone out in front of her and laughed in triumph. She motioned for the rest of the Elders to begin the preparations. They still had the stones they’d infused with the essences of the powerstones from the other tribes.

  Lorcan looked around for something to stop her with. If she performed the ritual, the people in the Lost Lands would truly become a lost people, with no way to pass on their legacy to their children: For there would be no children. His magic would be no match for the combined power of the Elders.

  The area had already been prepped, the original four stones set around in a star shape for the final spell. She set the last stone on the empty point. Lorcan became frantic. He had to stop this madness!

  She held out her hands and intertwined them with her peers on either side of her. They all began chanting the spell, closing their eyes in concentration. After a few moments, there was a faint glowing as the spell began to work. Lorcan watched as the stone grew brighter and brighter, shedding its light onto the other four stones and causing them to glow with a brilliant white light as well.

  He rushed forward, no plan in mind but knowing that there was no time to waste. He only made it two steps, however, before another spell held him. His feet stuck to the ground. Belatedly he realized that they had formed a protective sphere around them, a spell that would automatically stop any who tried to come into the circle while they were working.

  It was too late.

  The stones combined in a burst of dazzling light which shot out from the center and extended through the roof and into the sky, filling the air with magic.

  Kali’s laughter rang out, the evil undertone nearly palpable.

  Lorcan noticed Slade had also snuck in to observe the scene and was currently staring at Kali with a stony expression. He glanced over and caught Lorcan’s eye. He nodded slowly.

  Slade believed him.

  *

  Layna felt numb. The whole situation was inconceivable. How could they have let this happen to their baby girl? Until it was confirmed, she refused to believe it. The mages who guarded Phoenix were with her baby now, working feverishly to find the enchantment, and Layna was afraid to find out what they had determined. She had been headed towards the nursery to get an update, but abruptly changed her direction. She wasn’t quite ready for the news yet.

  She swept into the Hall of Records instead and laid a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder sitting there. He was hunched over a large tome, his right hand furiously writing notes onto a parchment beside it.

  “How is it coming?” she asked him.

  He looked up, wearing a serious expression. “I’m just about through,” he reported, “but the information is disturbing.”

  “How so?” she asked warily. She had been having him going through the Wordless Book, a tome they had discovered of th
e Order’s which had outlined the bloodline of the Dark King in great detail. They had hoped to be able to get a feel for the scope of how many people this curse would affect. If it targeted only those who had some of the Dark King’s blood, perhaps they could contain the outbreak.

  “The information seems to suggest that nearly every person in Gelendan, and a large portion of Treymayne as well, has some familial connection to the Dark King. If this spell really does target any percentage of the Dark King’s blood, it could potentially sterilize about eighty-five percent of the world-as-we-know-it’s population.”

  Layna was dumbstruck. If Hunter’s information was correct, the curse would begin to spread person to person after being initially exposed. Already baby Phoenix had come into contact with much of the palace staff, and then they had gone home and exposed their families and friends, and who knows how many others. Did it only spread upon contact, or was close proximity enough? They could have a full-blown outbreak already and not even know it. The only symptom was the inability to have children.

  If eighty-five percent of all people suddenly lost the ability to have kids, in fifty years the population would suddenly plummet. Had the tribes known this when they came up with the spell? Maybe it wasn’t just a wish to get rid of the Dark King’s taint, perhaps it was a way to get rid of them all together so that the tribes could take back their homes.

  She closed her eyes. “Thank you, Thomas.” She left the room in a daze, and walked back to where Gryffon was in the nursery to relate the bad news.

  “Gryffon,” she sighed, settling down next to him and stroking a finger across baby Phoenix’s face sadly. To think her precious child could be the cause. “Are you ready for more bad news?”

  “If I say no will you not tell me?” he asked hopefully.

  She humored him with a small smile. “Thomas reports that the scope of the infection could reach almost every person in Gelendan and a large portion of Treymayne as well.”

  Gryffon whistled and looked down at Phoenix. They had already locked down the palace so that hopefully the curse would be contained, but there was no way to know how many had already been affected in the city as well. When the only symptom was not immediately apparent, how could they tell?

  “Where are the mages?” she asked, steeling herself for the conference. The fate of too many people’s lives would be affected by the curse. She had to put her feelings as a mother aside and act like a Queen. She needed to find out what they had learned.

  Gryffon seemed to sense her inner turmoil over this task and he took his time answering, bouncing Phoenix’s tiny hand up and down on his finger. “They are in the spell rooms,” he answered finally.

  Layna gave him a curt nod and turned away, biting her lip to stay in control. She needed to be the Queen. The Queen, she repeated this over and over to herself as she swept down the hallways to the spell rooms.

  She reached the door to the rooms much too quickly and she laid a quivering hand on the handle. Gripping it so tightly that her knuckles turned white, she threw the door open, forcing anger to replace fear to hold herself together for the news.

  Once it was confirmed…

  “What have you determined?” she asked in a voice that was so steady it surprised her. She was better at covering up her emotions that she had thought. Perhaps she’d picked up a thing or two from Katya.

  The mages all looked back at her with wide eyes, none of them speaking. One bit his lip and looked down when she caught his eye.

  “You,” she pointed to the closest one, “Tell me what you’ve learned.”

  He stammered out, “We’ve located the enchantment within her, Your Majesty. There is no doubt that there is indeed some sort of curse upon her.”

  Layna could not stop her intake of breath, which she held for a moment before releasing it in a much-less-regal moan. She felt her eyes beginning to water and her nostrils flared.

  “We haven’t been able to find much more about it,” the man continued, looking away, “but there is every indication that it is what Hunter has claimed it to be, and furthermore, we’ve confirmed that it is indeed already spreading. It is extremely hard to detect, but we have confirmed that it has reached at least one of her nurses already, Amelia. There is some good news though,” he added hopefully.

  “Which is?”

  “It does appear to take some time to take hold in a person before they can spread it to anyone else. We have been unable to detect it in any of the healers, even though they’ve been in close near-constant contact with her for her sickness, so it seems she’s not yet spreading the curse herself. We think. So that’s something…” he trailed off.

  Layna could not stand to be there any longer. “Thank you,” she choked out, spinning around and out of the room. Her poor baby daughter had the chance of having her own children torn from her. And it was all riding on whether or not Katya returned to the tribe with the stone that would seal her fate. Seal all their fates, Layna reminded herself. Already it had spread to Amelia. No doubt she and Gryffon were already infected, or would be soon. They certainly weren’t going to stop seeing Phoenix because of this. Their dreams of adding another little one to their family were dashed. Along with the dreams of anyone else who had contact with Phoenix.

  She hurried back to the nursery, hoping that Gryffon was still there. She needed him.

  Now.

  As she passed a window, she glanced out just in time to see a bright flash of light extending upwards into the heavens far to the north. A chill ran down her spine. She picked up her skirts and increased her pace, nearly sprinting down the hallway, heedless of all propriety.

  CHAPTER 14

  Katya finally paused and pulled Hunter into a dense section of foliage. She drew out a knife and dug into her arm where the Myaamia had implanted the tracking stone. She hissed out a painful breath and mentally dove into the stream of power, using her talent to sever the roots of magic that bonded it to her. One by one she removed the tendrils of power from her body, destroying the last remnants of the spell in the tiny stone.

  She let out a whoosh of air as she pried the stone totally loose, flipping it out onto the forest floor where it dulled to blend in with the rest of rocks.

  “Ouch,” Hunter commented, having stayed silent throughout the removal.

  “Nothing compared to other things I’ve had to pry off me,” Katya joked.

  Hunter just gave her a concerned look.

  “Are you alright?” she asked him, quickly sealing the cut and wiping away the blood with her sleeve.

  “I’m fine,” he answered, holding out a hand to inspect her arm. “Besides being bored out of my mind waiting in the cell for you to return, I’ll live.” He hesitated a moment before continuing. “There is something that I have to tell you, though.”

  “What is it?”

  “There was another man in the cell with me. His name was Gareth.”

  “He’s alive?” Katya asked excitedly, but the look on Hunter’s face staved off the shout of joy that had bubbled to the surface. She bit her lip awaiting his answer.

  “No,” he told her regretfully, “He didn’t make it. He never even woke from his coma. Lorcan said it wasn’t your father, but he had an arrow wound…I thought you would want to know.”

  Katya was silent. She had already believed him to be dead, so it wasn’t like this was new news, but it still constricted her heart.

  “I also thought you should know about your history: Lorcan said that Gareth, your father, was descended from the Greyclaws, as in Sheila Greyclaw who founded the Myaamia tribe. He seems that he used to be respected within the tribes and was thought of as a great man until the day that he went mad. I suspect that is when he was forced to throw you out and lost your mother as well.”

  “Thank you for telling me,” she stated neutrally, unsure of her own emotions. They stood silently for a moment.

  “So I hate to bring us back to reality,” Hunter said, “But you did just give them the stone that will
solidify the curse on the Princess Phoenix so that everyone with the Dark King’s blood will be sterile.”

  “I just what?”

  “The Myaamia Elders apparently told the tribe that the reason they wanted to take the baby was to cure it from some ailment so that she could start a new age without the taint of the Dark King. What the Elders didn’t tell them was that this ‘ailment’ was any trace of the Dark King’s blood in someone’s veins. Each of the tribes has a piece of a powerstone – like the one they sent you to get from the Dena’ina – which when used together can make any spell virtually indestructible.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Your friend Lorcan has been quite busy. He has been spying on the Elders and reporting back to me. He seems to have taken quite a fancy to you. Do I have a little competition with the young man?” he asked jokingly, but Katya thought she sensed a bit of seriousness.

  She shrugged noncommittally, saying teasingly, “He is pretty helpful. He broke me out of prison, you know. I had to go on a special quest to get you out…”

  “Which just gave my captors the means to ruin a lot of people’s lives.”

  “You’re worth it,” she joked, but when he just continued to stare at her with his big brown eyes, full of concern for all the people, she relented, abandoning her teasing. Sighing, she told him, “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t really give it to them then.”

  He wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean? I saw you hand it to her.”

  “You saw me hand a stone to her,” Katya clarified. She launched into the retelling of her story of the events that had happened with the Dena’ina. Soon she got lost in the memory…

  …As she had been preparing to take the Dena’ina stone, a man had appeared behind her once the fire barrier dissolved.

  “Please,” he beseeched her, “take the stone if you must, but hear what I have to say.”