Chosen (14 page)

The students recognized most of the work as being from the Blasted Lands. The wealth displayed here was enough to make some of them feel a little ill. Kaelin stared at the beautiful decorations with a dreamy look on her face, picturing them in her own lavish palace. Keera looked around at the opulence with a disgusted look on her face, wondering why one woman needed to have so much stuff. Saemus wondered at the history of each piece, who made it, where it originated. Gwen stayed near the center of the corridor, terrified that her rolling gait would cause her to stumble into a table, knocking over one of the precious vases or sculptures. “You are most fortunate. You are to be allowed to converse with her Grace while she entertains in her Enchanted Pools. Oh, most fortunate indeed!” The little man gushed. He stayed one step ahead of the group, head turned slightly to address them.

The walk seemed endless. The halls were silent as the group hurried through unoccupied parts of the palace. The surf echoed as it crashed on the rocks hundreds of feet below.

The servant turned down another hallway and stopped before a set of mahogany doors, highly polished. He lifted the brass knocker, let it fall, and stepped back. The doors opened, making absolutely no sound as they swung outward.

The man moved aside and bowed deeply, indicating the five should enter the room. Brok thanked him and walked through the doorway.

The room consisted of several different pools of water, separated by marble walkways. The water in each pool was a different color: pale pink, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, white, black, violet. On the far side of the room, a group of people stood in the green pool.

And standing on the walkway in front of the green pool, wearing nothing but a white loincloth, was Jon Stone.

He was reciting one of Astra's best loved tales, that of the brave Lady Arie. His voice echoed in the room, seeming to fill every space. Brok recognized magic. The boy had learned how to perform spells without using the spoken word. There was a strange element to the
magic that Brok could not identify. His brow furrowed in puzzlement. It was familiar somehow, and the memory of it teased like a lover's touch.

The people in the water squealed in delight. Then they exited the green pool, walked across the walkway, and entered the black pool.

Jon continued the saga of the Lady Arie. The story was taking a dark turn. The Barbarian horde was attacking and the Lady Arie was mustering forces to meet the attack.

Brok's eyes widened as the people in the pool cried out in fright and terror. They shivered and thrashed in the water, almost as if they could feel the horror that Lady Arie had felt at seeing the army attacking her homeland. They groped for one another and huddled together.

Jon was somehow using a spell that allowed one to experience what the hero of the story was feeling, placing the listener inside the story. Each pool provided different sensations: touch, sight, and sound, all with the intention of allowing the folk inside the water a most unique storytelling experience.

There's something off about the magic the boy is using. Think, old man!

Brok became aware of the sudden silence. He looked back towards the black pool. Jon had spotted them and had stopped speaking. Though he tried hard to school his features to stillness, a flicker of recognition and emotion passed across Jon's face.

“Ah, I have visitors! How delightful!” A slender woman emerged from the black pool. A male servant draped her nude body with a white robe. She glided across the walkway to an elegant padded chair, placed at the front of the room. She lounged and reached out her slender arm to take a golden goblet full of wine. The male servant brushed out her damp, chestnut hair. The guests exited the pool and retired to an antechamber to await the Queen.

Queen Cheye, the first of her name, blessed Light of Siswae, was a stunningly beautiful woman. She oozed grace and poise. She had green eyes and lush, pouty, red lips. For all her beauty and sensuous allure, there was also an aura of power surrounding her. Gwen despaired of ever getting Jon out of her clutches. “Most humble greetings to the light of Siswae, if it please you.” Brok prostrated himself in front of the queen. The other four quickly followed suit.

“You are a Mystic.” She glanced with obvious disdain at his shabby robes. “What brings you to the capitol city of Siswae?” She gave Brok a hard look.

“We have heard of these magnificent pools, even in our small village, and we wished to gaze upon them. These young people under my tutelage,” Brok indicated the four kneeling to either side of him. “They were eager to see more of the world beyond their tiny village. You see—”

“Stop.” Queen Cheye fixed Brok with a cold, hard stare. “Your pathetic attempt at lying has failed.” She took a long sip of wine, her eyes glued to his over the rim of the goblet.

“Lies, your Grace? I don't—”

“Do you really think me stupid, old man? I noticed the looks shared between you and my new pet.” She smiled at that last word, her lips curving in a sensuous grin. “You share the same accent as well.” She sat forward, all hint at sexual playfulness toward her pet gone. Her eyes blazed green fury.

“I remember the day young Jon was brought to me.” She crooked a finger at Jon Stone and he obediently shuffled to her side. She traced a red-lacquered fingernail down his bare, oiled chest and smiled as he flinched slightly. “Oh he was quite feisty at first, but he soon came to realize that obeying my every whim was most wise. I have spent much time training him in the arts I desire. I have it on very good authority that there's something special about this young man. And as everyone knows, I desire things that are unique and…
special.
”

Brok held his face still as stone.
She can't know his true identity! There's more to this than Jon just being Chosen.

Gwen felt a rush of anger and embarrassment at seeing this lush queen running her fingers over Jon's bare chest. His work in the fields over the years had hardened his muscles. Gwen gulped as she found herself staring at his near-naked body, his skin glistening in the light of the torches. She wanted to claw the queen's eyes out of her head.

“Jon is mine and here he will stay.” She snapped her fingers and three guards appeared from a recessed area behind where she
sat perched on the edge of her chair. “Leave Siswae, never to return. If you are seen anywhere in the city come morning, you will all be killed.”

Two guards grabbed the young villagers, one in each hand, and hauled them roughly to their feet. Kaelin tried not to cry out in terror, else the Queen decide to kill them all immediately. Saemus had to use every ounce of willpower to prevent himself from unleashing his magic on the Queen and her guards. He knew he could never take them all out and one alarm was all it would take for the five from Heart Stone to be surrounded by more guards. The third grabbed Master Brok and smiled as the old man tried to wrench his arm out of the vice-like grip of the elite guard. No one said a word as they were hauled unceremoniously to the front gate. Their horses were already waiting.

“Remember the words of her Grace. Leave the city, or be dead by dawn.” The guards stood with arms crossed over their oiled, muscular chests and stared coldly at the villagers.

Brok's blood boiled with suppressed fury. His eyes blazed as he mounted Midnight. The Chosen climbed on their horses. Brok led them away from the palace at a quick trot. He snarled as he averted his eyes, wishing he were anywhere else so he could glare his wrath at passersby. His anger and frustration threatened to overwhelm him.

He led the students to an inn near the palace. Brok secured two rooms and herded the young people into a private dining room to eat supper and decide on a plan of action.

“Do you think the queen is having us followed and watched?” Saemus asked, his hands steepled under his chin.

Brok harrumphed. “That blasted woman has probably put us from her thoughts completely.” Brok took a large bite of bread slathered with butter and berry jam. “She thinks me servile and weak, leaving the city with my tail between my legs.” His eyes shone like blue steel. “Her arrogance will be her undoing.”

“So you don't intend to leave without Jon?” Gwen felt hope rise in her heart. The sight of him in the loincloth had made the blood rush to her cheeks.
I will
not
leave him here to be man-handled by that woman!

“Dear Spirits, of course not child!” Brok snapped. “But I had to have
Her Grace
thinking us as lowly villagers, scared into obedience. The fact that she sent no guards to make sure we left the city speaks volumes of her absolute surety that her wishes will be obeyed.”

“What do you intend to do? And more importantly, how do we help?” Saemus met Brok's gaze levelly. “You cannot do this alone. You will need our help.”

Brok made to argue and then clamped his mouth shut. He did need help, he knew it, and he knew they knew it. Events were spinning out of his control. He was proposing using four of the Chosen to save the fifth in a daring rescue that could leave them all dead. He tried to think of some way to rescue Jon alone, but could think of none. If there was any hope of rescuing Jon, he would need the help of his students.

“In order to determine exactly where Jon is located, I will need to perform a spell with which you are not familiar.” The other students looked stunned. “The spell involves my spirit leaving my body for a short time. I will be invisible, and can search the castle for Jon. You four will have to keep watch. I will be helpless until my spirit returns.”

“Searching the entire palace will take all night!” Keera sat back in her chair, fuming. “We were told to be gone by morning!” She couldn't help but be furious at Jon. If he had only stayed in Heart Stone where he belonged, none of them would be facing certain death in attempting his rescue.

Brok frowned at her outburst. “I will need the combined powers of Saemus and Kaelin to aid in the creating of a charm to allow me to locate Jon quickly.” The villagers filed out of the dining room, Brok giving the innkeep a few coins for his trouble, and made their way to the rooms on the second floor. An adjoining door connected the two rooms. Once everyone had had a chance to freshen up, Master Brok and Saemus joined the girls in their room, as it was the larger of the two.

“Fetch me my saddle bag, child.” Kaelin jumped to obey.

Brok opened the bag and drew out Jon's Mystic robes. His hand went into the bag again and came out with his herb box. Brok murmured to himself as he laid out Jon's robes on the floor and
sprinkled them with various herbs and ointments that he pulled from the wooden box. The students watched, fascinated. They recognized most of the herbs that Brok crushed and sprinkled on the garment, but they had never seen them used together in such a fashion before. The smell that arose from the garment was pungent, but not altogether unpleasant.

Brok then reached into his herb box and pulled out a smooth, black stone suspended from a length of rawhide. “This charm is called a Linking charm. It takes the essence of an object and links it to the stone. As the charm gets closer to the essence it is linked to, it gets warm.”

“How is this different than the locator spell you used?” Saemus asked.

“They are similar in many ways.” Brok settled into a cross-legged position. “There are also many important differences.

“First, the Linking charm can only be used if the object of interest is in very close proximity to the stone. The magic does not work over long distances.

“Second, it takes much more power to perform the Linking charm than it does to do the Locator spell. It is for this reason that I require Saemus and Kaelin. I have the power to create the charm but doing so would leave me too weak to do the spell to separate my spirit from my body.

“Third, the Linking charm, when worn by a person performing the Separating spell, will work, though the person's spirit is no longer in their body. It is powerful magic that allows this charm to work for both a live person and a spirit.

“Last, a spirit cannot perform any magic once it has left the body. If I did the Separating spell, I would not be able to perform the Locating spell. The Linking charm will enable me to be in spirit form, and still be able to locate Jon quickly.”

Brok motioned Saemus and Kaelin to come in closer. “I need you to link your powers and allow me to link partway with the two of you. I need to direct your power.”

Saemus and Kaelin clasped hands and linked their power. Neither one could explain exactly how they did it. The other students had tried on numerous occasions to link with the twins
and each other but to no avail. A faint glow radiated from the two astheir powers mingled, suffusing the room with light. Brok placed his hand over theirs and drew on their power to create the Linking charm.

The Chosen let out gasps of wonder as a red-gold aura began to coalesce into a small glowing ball, hovering a few inches above Jon's robes. It slowly ascended until it covered the black stone, dangling in Brok's outstretched hand.

The aura seemed to infuse the black stone, creating red-gold waves on the perfect onyx smoothness.

Saemus and Kaelin sighed as Brok took his hand away from theirs.

“You need to eat and rest so you will be at full strength when I get back.” Brok placed his herb box and Jon's robes back in the saddlebag. He tied the rawhide around his neck, allowing the now black and red-gold stone to slip inside the robes and lay against his bare chest.

“Keera, Gwen, I need you to keep watch while the others rest.”

“What do we do if someone comes? How do we wake you in case of trouble?”

“You can't, child.” Brok looked at Keera with sympathy in his blue eyes. “You four will have to handle anything that arises until my spirit returns to my body.”

“Don't worry, Master Brok.” Gwen grabbed Keera's hand in a fierce grip. “We will be fine. You just hurry and find Jon.”

* * *

Master Brok came back to himself slowly. He yawned and blinked his eyes, trying to get them to focus.

“I think he's back!” Saemus' voice sounded far away to Brok.