Born to Magic: Tales of Nevaeh: Volume I Page 22

  “Sit,” Atir said when she released Areenna. “And tell me how your journey has been.”

  They ate, Areenna and Mikaal answering Atir’s questions until the Queen fell silent. Then, looking at her two guests, she said, “Ever since the council, I have carried a sense of discord—of an evil not yet made clear to me. Five days ago this feeling became more intense and I set a block upon Aldimor. The sorceress hunts you even now does she not?”

  “She does,” Areenna replied. “She has set wraiths on our trail, which is why we took the river route and came the long way here.”

  “The water hides your scent, well done. The block will remain until you are in the outlands, near the Landing for the Island.”

  “But the strength it takes to maintain such a block…”

  “Is nothing. When you understand your powers, you will know its strengths and weaknesses as well as your own. It takes little energy to maintain the block when nothing attacks it.”

  Atir lifted a forkful of food but halted it a few inches before her mouth. “And you, young heir, how has this journey affected you?” she asked, before daintily sliding the fork into her mouth. Her probing eyes were locked on his.

  Mikaal met her gaze. “It is an adventure,” he replied noncommittally.

  “A dangerous one.”

  “Yes, My Lady, it appears such is the case,” he broke eye contact and lifted a glass of wine. “But an adventure none-the-less.”

  Atir frowned momentarily, then smiled. “Beware your attitude, Prince Mikaal, it could very well bring about your death.”

  And then her probe struck, quick and clean. He blocked it easily, without as much as a blink of an eyelid.

  She watched him for several long seconds before saying, “I have heard from Enaid. Your mother has been worried and because she could not find a sense of you anywhere she sent a message to learn if you had arrived.”

  They fell silent for the rest of the meal. When the plates were taken away, Atir turned to Mikaal. “I need time alone with Areenna—women’s talk, you understand?”

  Mikaal gave a low laugh, having expected exactly this to happen. “I do. Thank you for the meal; it was exceptional. I’ll bid you ladies a good night.” He ignored Atir’s questioning eyebrows as he stood. Be careful, he said silently to Areenna.

  “Leave us now, attend to the duties I cannot,” Atir ordered her daughter.

  Laira rose and bowed her head to her mother and Areenna. “Allow me to show you to your quarters, Mikaal.”

  When the door closed behind them, Atir focused her full attention on Areenna. “Would you care tell me the reason Enaid sent her son with you? Besides the fact such is not done, and she is risking his life.”

  “I know,” Areenna replied, her voice soft, Mikaal’s warning rife in her thoughts. “And yes, such a thing is not done when a woman goes for the final training, but in this she was adamant. She saw something—a foretelling she believes requires Mikaal to be with me.”

  “Has anything happened on this journey to prove this?”

  So much, she thought. “We were attacked in Morvene. She sent a large, poisonous snuck. If it were not for Mikaal…” It was true, she reasoned. Charka would not have been there if Mikaal had not.

  Atir nodded. “Make certain he does not go to the Island. He must wait for you on the Landing.”

  Unable to bring the lie to her lips, she nodded.

  “He has a powerful block,” Atir stated. “How is Mikaal so protected?”

  “It is Enaid—” Areenna began.

  “Stop. I will not tolerate a lie. Enaid is powerful. More powerful than I, but this is not of her creation. I know her well, Areenna. We are sisters in heart. We schooled together and trained together often. Her mother and mine were sisters. I know her signature. I know everything about her. This is not her work. Nor, do I think it to be yours. There is no possibility for her protection within Aldimor right now. Not with the blocking I have set about the dominion.”

  Before she could answer, she felt Mikaal join her. Be careful. “My lady, I would rather not speak than lie to you. It is not my way—it is not our way. I have promised Enaid I would speak to no one about this.”

  Atir reached across the table and grasped both of Areenna’s hands. She gripped them tightly and stared deeply into the younger woman’s eyes. “Know you the danger of what is to come?”

  “More than I want,” she replied.

  “Trust me,” Atir whispered.

  “Always, My Lady,” Areenna replied. “Trust is not the issue. My promise is.”

  Atir released her hands and nodded. “There is much I do not understand, least of all your traveling companion to the Island. The risks put upon you are considerable.”

  “I know.”

  “And you are young to be going, but when the call comes…” She paused to study Areenna once again. “Very well, my trust you have gained. And Enaid is deeply concerned. Her message was itself unusual. I will send word you two are safe.”

  “My thanks.”

  “What route will you take to the Island?”

  “I am not sure, My Lady. Mikaal has maps. He will choose the route.”

  “We will go over the route in the morning.” Atir took in breath and wiped her hand across her eyes. “It is time, come here and kneel.”

  Areenna went to the Queen and she knelt before her.

  Atir leaned forward and placed a hand on each side of Areenna’s head, bending forward until her mouth was a hair’s breadth from her skin. “Be strong, woman, hold strong and accept what is given. You must contain the gift, hold it to you and not allow it to escape.”

  She began a soft chant and on the final word a surge of power drilled into Areenna’s head. It settled deep into her brain and then began to travel her body like an eightleg weaving its web.

  Areenna’s body stiffened with the first jolt of power and, as the force of it drove through every cell in her body, each muscle began to vibrate in turn. “Hold, child, hold strong,” whispered Atir in a gentle voice. “Let it roam, let it go freely, fight it not. Contain it you must.”

  Areenna had no idea of how long it lasted, but when it was over, she collapsed on the floor and lay there for several minutes while, Mikaal’s gentle, silent presence and hidden powers helped her to contain the gift.

  When her muscles relaxed, she raised her head. “Thank you,” she whispered, for the gift was among the most vital a woman could have, and few women were ever fortunate enough to contain it.

  “Be wise in how you use this gift. Be not afraid to use it, but do not waste it upon those who are not worthy, and such will be a difficult task,” she said as she helped Areenna up.

  Standing, Areenna took a deep breath and smiled at Atir. “Thank you.”

  “How do you feel toward Mikaal?” Atir questioned.

  Puzzled, Areenna shrugged. “In what way?”

  “In all ways. What think you of him?”

  Before answering, Areenna pushed Mikaal from her, cutting the connection she had allowed during the gifting. She saw Atir react to something, but ignored it. “I’m not sure what you mean. He is a good companion. He is smart and strong and has already protected me from harm.”

  Atir’s response was slow as she studied Areenna. “There is nothing else?”

  “What else could there be?” she asked, puzzled.

  Atir shook her head. “I’m not sure, but he is with you for more than simple protection. Why would Enaid and Roth risk the heir’s life by having him accompany you on a woman’s mission?”

  “The only risks are on the road and he is well trained and strong. There are not many who could best him.”

  “Not many men perhaps, but a woman…a sorceress of power? That is another story.” She stood and paced the chamber for a moment before turning back to Areenna. “He is also headstrong. You must make certain he does not go to the Island, he cannot follow you there or all will be lost.”

  “I understand.”

  “And when
you step foot in that place, be thoughtful and watchful. Mind everything, hear what may be said, and seek through the words to the meaning. Remember, it is not the words spoken, but the meaning behind them. This was your final gift. The first, who was it from?”

  “Layra.”

  “Ah…Truth was it?” At Areenna’s nod Atir said, “Use it well, keep it to the front with every person and thing on the Island.”

  Person and thing. The words echoed in Areenna’s mind.

  “And Ilsraeth, she gifted you as well, did she not?”

  “The hiding, it is difficult.”

  Atir seemed not to hear her. Her eyes went vacant for several seconds until she refocused on Areenna. In that instant her eyes widened. “Truth, the hiding and…” She looked Areenna up and down and then said, “How strong are you, child? How powerful have you become?”

  Areenna shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Then you’d best learn because I… I was with you several nights ago. You were on the hidden road were you not?” She weaved her hands before Areenna and a glowing misty vision of the old road, ‘the highway’ with its walls of trees and roof of branches above flickered in the air between them.

  “I was,” Areenna said.

  “You saw her.”

  Areenna held Atir’s eyes. “I did.”

  “You are she,” Atir whispered.

  “She? I don’t understand.”

  Atir placed a hand on her shoulder. “You will,” she whispered, echoing the very words Enaid had spoken to her in Tolemac.

  “Is that all anyone can say?” Areenna snapped, pulling out from under Atir’s hand and losing the ability to keep calm. “I will what? All I have heard is how I am going to the Island to face something that will either kill me or make me stronger. And then I am told I will be powerful, but no one is willing to tell me what they know.”

  Atir smiled. Her eyes glowed with humor. “The ways of women are something hard, and sometimes strange.”

  “Oh, that’s even better than ‘you will’,” Areenna snapped sarcastically. “I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t understand what I will do on the Island. I do not even understand why I am going there in the first place other than it is what women of power do.”

  “Afraid? Atir asked. “Are you frightened by what you might find there?”

  “How can I be afraid if I know not what to fear? No I am not afraid of the Island, or of the trip there. What I am afraid of is that the next time someone tells me ‘you will’, I will do something to them to make certain those word are never uttered again.” At that, she slammed hands together in emphasis and the large window behind Atir shattered and blew outward.

  Both women turned to look at the window then at each other. Peals of laughter rolled from Atir’s lips. The queen fought to contain herself in order to catch her breath, but failed. Finally, holding her hands defensively in front of her, she said, “I promise I won’t say it again.” And then she wrapped her arms around her abdomen and began to laugh again.

  Seconds later Mikaal and a dozen palace guards burst into the room to find Atir still laughing and Areenna staring with an even more puzzled look at her hands.

  <><><>

  Sitting together in Areenna’s chambers, Mikaal had her go over what had happened when she’d shut him off. She explained everything that followed, but after she told him about the hand clap, she said, “I have no idea how it happened.”

  “You were angry, perhaps it was your anger.”

  “Do you think this is the first time in my life I’ve been angry?”

  “That level of anger?” Mikaal asked. “It caught me as well. I could feel it through the walls.”

  “But I set nothing, called no formula, I just clapped my hands and the window shattered.”

  Mikaal shrugged. “Perhaps the anger was the formula,” he said jokingly.

  “It’s not funny. It could be dangerous. And there is more to it.”

  “Then you’ll have to learn what it is. What else happened?”

  “Nothing. She was testing me, and I think she senses something about you. You will have to be wary. I doubt she’ll find your abilities favorable.”

  “I will be careful. We should leave in the morning. Tell me about the gift, for this one is yours alone. I could not assimilate it.”

  “Because it is completely female in nature. It is for healing, but how to use it remains to be seen. And from what I gathered speaking with Atir, you mother had a plan in sending me for these gifts.”

  “A plan? In what way?”

  Areenna shrugged. “I know not, but I trust her. We will learn why when we are supposed to.”

  “You are good with that?” he asked, his voice unusually sharp.

  She drew slightly back. “Why would I not be good with that?”

  “You don’t feel manipulated?”

  A gentle smile filled with understanding grew on her lips. “Manipulated? Oh, Mikaal, no. You must not seek to hold reign over everything. There is a purpose to what your mother is doing—a purpose we will discover when the time is right, or when we need it the most. You must relinquish your need for control. Only then will you gain it.”

  “It is not control I look for, it is answers.”

  “Is it? You think answers will clear your understanding and allow you to master what happens. It’s the way a man reacts, not so for a woman. Trust is hard to give, especially when you do not know what will result from the giving. But having faith in another is what will make you stronger. ”

  Was it control stopping him from giving blind trust, even to his mother? Or was it something else? Mikaal wondered.

  “Let this go. We need rest if we are to be on the move tomorrow,” she whispered.

  Mikaal stood and went to the door. Pausing, he said, “We will know her plans soon enough.”

  <><><>

  With the moon in its final descent, and the first light of day not yet showing in the east, the black sorceress’s messenger descended on Dees and settled on the balustrade of the stonework. A servant wrapped in a dark cloak waited. The woman reached out and the dangelore hopped from the railing to her arm and stared into the woman’s eyes. The bird’s red eyes glowed for a moment and then the bird rose into the sky and flew away.

  The woman pulled her dark cloak tight about her and left the upper walkway. She quickly descended to the lower quarters and went to her room, where she removed a long, thin bladed knife from a drawer. Slipping the blade into a fold within her cloak, she picked up a basket of clothing and went to the main living quarters. She stopped at Areenna’s door, where she silently opened it and slipped inside.

  <><><>

  The room was dark, the only sounds those of Mikaal’s own breathing. Although he had fallen asleep shortly after leaving Areenna’s chamber, he was now wide awake and listened for whatever had disturbed his sleep.

  Knowing himself well, he accepted sleep was done for the night. He stared at the ceiling, and decided to practice his sensing. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts free. It happened quicker this time and he began to sense everything around.

  He found little movement within the keep as he explored: a few workers were in the kitchen, beginning their work day; he felt Areenna and knew she was in a deep restful sleep. As he withdrew from her, he sensed someone walking down the hall.

  Thinking it to be a good exercise, he focused on this woman and sensed she was outside his room. When she bypassed his doorway and stopped before Areenna’s, a foul sensation swept through him.

  Deep inside, from where he had discovered his power, a burning arose. It flared powerfully, not with pain, but with urgency.

  Something is wrong. He knew this burning was a warning as surely as he knew he was alive. Throwing off the covers, he leapt out of bed, grabbed his longsword, and pulled his door open even as he sensed the woman slipping into Areenna’s room.

  By the low light of night-moss, he saw a basket filled with clothing placed near Areenna’
s closed door. He walked quietly to the door, opened it, and took two steps into the room.

  The darkness, broken by a few streaks of a hallway light, did not reach into the room beyond where he stood. Frozen to the spot, he remained still while willing his eyes to adjust to the dimness. When they did, he looked around, but was unable to see anything other than shadows. Within him, the burning became intense. The urgency was overwhelming. He knew by the foul emanations filling his head, whoever he’d he sensed in the hall was in the room.

  He recalled his conversation with Areenna about how he had to learn to give up control in order to better use his powers. He exhaled slowly and did exactly the opposite of the action his screaming muscles demanded—he stood dead still and closed his eyes. The heat in the pit of his abdomen spread fiercely through him. He stopped fighting and allowed it freedom. At the same instant he cleared his mind of all thought and slowly began to ‘feel’ the room, searching for whatever might be wrong.

  The beating of Areenna’s heart came clearly to his ears. Its slow and steady rhythm told him she slept; the evenness of her breathing played melody to her heartbeat. He searched on, seeking the other presence he knew was in the room.

  He gripped his sword with both hands and concentrated. A moment later he found the second heartbeat. The instant he did, the woman’s heart began to race madly with the knowledge she’d been discovered. He located the source and moved toward her. When he did, the woman pushed herself from the dark corner and leapt toward where Areenna lay.

  Areenna, he cried in silent warning. She heard him and her eyes opened wide.

  Somehow the darkness evaporated and he was able to see her open eyes and the woman in the cloak holding a long thin knife blade aimed at her heart.

  Mikaal lunged forward in the very instant the woman launched herself. He thrust the tip of his longsword into her chest even as her knife descended toward Areenna.

  At the very instant Mikaal’s sword entered the woman’s chest, Areenna gave vent to a loud, ear-shattering cry and silver white light exploded from her palms. Caught within the flaring release of power, the woman was lifted into the air and flung across the room, her body slamming against the stone wall, the knife clattering along the floor until it came to a stop at Mikaal’s feet.