Destiny Redeemed (5 page)

Every
eye focused on the four guards, large monsters in the shape of men who
otherwise terrified prisoners with merely their stares. Now they cowered in
front of men half their size but with infinitely more power. Each guard stood
silently staring at the chamber’s glossy black marble floor.

The
first words the head councilman spoke set the tone of the proceedings.
“Gentlemen, how did you let the most important prisoner in all of Nil escape? Whose
incompetence is to blame?”

Ryu
knew every person in the chamber believed this question to be unfair. That someone
as powerful as Amon Kalins had been freed from his time in Nil wasn’t a
surprise. That he’d served a year of his sentence was the only surprise. But
someone would have to be sacrificed to continue the judicial facade the Council
required.

The
four guards said little useful in reply to the question. Each one had shared
some pleasure in making the last year of Amon’s life as painful as possible and
the previous night had been no exception. All any of them could truly know was
that when they finally left him for the night, he was in no shape to go
anywhere without help.

“Gentlemen,
look at us,” the head councilman ordered, his tone less angry than officious.
“We need to know everything about Mr. Kalins’ time under your control. For
example, may we assume he was treated to the customary welcome by the other
prisoners?”

The
guards looked up toward those in the upper level of the chamber and nodded
solemnly.

“And
was he treated to any other courtesies by the other prisoners...or you
gentlemen?”                                                               

Ryu
knew the reputation of the guards, but he also knew what they’d done to the
prisoner would bring no reprimand. None of the guards answered the question,
but finally the largest guard, an enormous bald man, said, “Kalins wasn’t liked
by the other prisoners because of who he was.”

“So
it would be fair to say that he would have some distinguishable marks from his
time with you?”

Again,
the same guard answered. “It would.”

“And
what of his last night with you?”

The
guard next to him answered this time. “Wherever he is, he can only see out of
one eye and hobble around, if he can move at all, since his leg’s most likely
broken.” His tone indicated with a sadistic sense of pride that he’d been the
one who delivered the majority of Amon Kalins’ last beating in Nil.

The
more sensitive members of the Council gasped, but the head councilman noted
with pleasure that the man they sought wasn’t as strong as he needed to be to
evade recapture. He finished a note he wrote on the file and waived his hand
thoughtlessly to indicate he was finished questioning the guards.

“We’ll
see you back here later, gentlemen,” he stated cryptically without raising his
eyes from the file.

Ryu
watched the four guards file out of the chamber room and didn’t envy their
fate.  His past dealings with the Council had shown him that they knew little
of the concept of leniency. That he stood in front of them again might convince
some that this was untrue, but he knew better. If they were willing to
reinstate him, they wanted his particular skills to deal with their lost
prisoner.

The
head of the Council stared down at him and pointed to the spot left vacant by
the guards. As he took his place, Ryu’s memories of the last time he stood in
front of the Council flashed through his mind.

“Welcome
back to Nil, Mr. Jansen.”

At
six feet tall, Ryu stood proudly facing the Council but as he nodded, he heard
the oppressive sound of the words pushing down on him. Welcome back to Nil.

When
he’d left, it had been against his wishes but with no regret. He’d known when
he’d failed to capture his assignment that he’d be reprimanded, but he’d never
conceived of them dismissing him. He wouldn’t have done things any differently
given the choice again, though. He’d done what he’d thought was right, and
they’d sacked him.

“I’ll
skip the pleasantries and get to why we brought you here. As you heard from the
interview with those guards, we’ve had an escape.” After a long pause, the
councilman said, “Amon Kalins.”

Ryu
waited for him to explain more about Kalins but heard nothing. Was he supposed
to know who this Kalins was, other than what rumors he’d heard before and what he’d
heard here? Shrugging his shoulders, he let the Council know that the man who
had them all atwitter was no one to him.

“Don’t
be so cavalier, Mr. Jansen. This is your opportunity to come back home.”

Ryu
blanched at the idea that Nil would ever be anything like a home. But he knew
what the head councilman meant. Finding this Kalins would return his life to
him. With forced humility, he accepted that the Council could make things much
better for him if he did as they wanted. His exile from his job as a bounty
hunter hadn’t been easy. Unlike in the movies when a character makes a choice
that goes against the powers that be and has to live with the consequences, he
hadn’t retired to the country to sanctimoniously reflect on just how right he’d
been. The last year had been hell, and he’d do just about anything to regain
even part of the life he’d once had.

He
focused his eyes on the Council above. “What do I need to know?”

The
councilman grinned in satisfaction. “Amon Kalins is a powerful Aeveren. An
ancient. He had the power to travel through time, and may have had other,
lesser powers. He was stripped of these powers, of course, when he was here,
but we must now assume he has regained them or will shortly. He’s responsible
for the deaths of any number of Aeveren. We have no doubt he will murder again,
if he feels it serves his purposes.”

Happy
to hear a break in the laundry list of negatives for his new assignment, Ryu
hoped to hear something that would aid him.

“Those
are the bad things, Mr. Jansen. Let’s call them challenges. Now for the good.
He’s injured, and because we sent an edict to the healers forbidding them to
help him, he’s in bad shape.”

A
small murmuring sound among a few of the Council members followed the head
Council member’s discussion of the points in Ryu’s favor. He’d hoped for more
than the aftereffects of the sadistic behavior of the guards. “Any chance he’d
go to a human for help?” Ryu knew that just because he had no problem with
humans didn’t mean Kalins didn’t.

“We
would know if he did. Our sorcerers have no sign of him, which means his
friends from the Soren are probably involved. He’s been known to have a magickian
of theirs with him on occasion.”

Crazy
motherfuckers.

It
had been years since he’d had an assignment that involved that group. Human
haters every one of them, they sought to dominate and enslave them.

“How’d
he get out?”

Ryu
knew instantly that he’d overstepped his bounds by asking, but the anger
quickly melted away from the head councilman’s face and he answered, “He has a Sidhe
who’s his slave. It’s likely he helped him.”

A
tempuster.  Those maniacal bastards from the Soren. And a Sidhe.  At least this
job will be interesting.

“Anything
else I should know?”

“Kalins
has three lifetimes left. I want them spent in Nil.”

From
behind him, Ryu heard footsteps and turned to see a council page with a box for
him.

“Mr.
Jansen, the tools you’re being given will help you catch Amon Kalins. But know
this: you’re being recalled because he’s the most powerful prisoner we had in
Nil, and we need you to be the man you used to be. Ruthless. We want him alive,
but we don’t care what shape he’s in. Complete this job and you’ll have your
pick of local councils. Fail and you’ll return to what you’ve been for the past
year.”

Before
he could answer, the council members and their entourage left the chamber. Ryu
looked down in curiosity at the container he’d been given. Opening it, he found
what he’d need—a talisman to travel through time and a knife he knew by the
acrid smell rising from the box was coated with Anjer, a poison deadly to the Sidhe.
As he looked at Kalins’ prisoner photo, he hummed.

This
one will be a challenge.

*

Thea
couldn’t believe the name she’d just heard.  “Oh no...Amon Kalins?” Full of
fear, she quickly backed away further from Amon. Fully awake, the knowledge of
what she’d done terrified her.

“Don’t
be afraid. I won’t hurt you. And thank you for helping me during the night.”

“No,
this can’t be. None of this happened.”

“Thea,
relax. Nothing happened between us. All you did was heal me,” Amon said calmly.

“Oh,
my God! You know my name?”

Amon
looked at her, obviously confused at her reaction to what was natural behavior
for healers. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Putting
her head in her hands, she sobbed, “Yes, I did. Something very wrong.”

Gethen
came in and seeing Thea crying, looked at Amon curiously. “What happened?”

Shaking
his head, he said, “I don’t know. She says she did something wrong.”

Both
men stood waiting for Thea to explain. Before she could clear up what was
becoming a very confusing situation, Markku appeared in the doorway, much to
Gethen’s displeasure.

“I told you to
stay downstairs.”

“Hey,
Amon! You look much better. Must be her,” he said. “Wish I could say the same.”
As he spoke, he lifted his bandaged hand to show him his injury from where she’d
bit him earlier.

Markku’s
voice sent terror through her, and she began to back around the side of the bed
in fear. Seeing her move from him, he threatened, “Not so brave now, huh? Don’t
worry. I’ll pay you back for this, healer.”

The
last word came out in a hiss and Thea backed up into the dresser, knocking over
the glass bottles that sat on its top. As they crashed to the floor, Amon shot
Markku a nasty look and roared, “Enough!”

Thea
froze in fear and saw Markku and Gethen stand quietly, obviously used to Amon’s
temper.

“Gethen,
please get him downstairs.”

Then
turning to Markku, Amon warned, “Don’t threaten her again.”

“Sure,
but I came up here to tell you something. They’ve sent out a bounty hunter to
take you back.”

Gethen’s
face grew ashen, and he turned in fear to Amon.

Smiling,
Amon shook his head. “Not to worry, Gethen. I’m getting stronger by the minute,
thanks to Thea here, and as soon as my powers return, we can go anywhere and
anytime we want and the Council will never catch me.”

Gethen
seemed to be calmed for the moment, and Amon turned to Markku. “I want you to
find out everything you can about this bounty hunter and let Gethen know when
you do.”

“Sure,
Amon,” Markku replied obsequiously as Gethen pushed him out of the room. Alone
again with her, Amon turned his face toward her, as she stood still cowering
near the dresser.

Thea
watched the man in front of her with fear, but there was something else too,
something she’d never experienced before as a healer. She didn’t just feel
sympathetic for him, didn’t want to merely make his pain go away. She felt
drawn to him, and not only on a physical level. She could understand that after
resting her head on his hard body. He was more masculine than anyone she’d ever
met. Even after what had obviously been repeated beatings, he seemed stronger
than any man could be. So her physical attraction she understood.

But
there was something else. After only a few hours near him, she realized with
sadness that she’d miss him when he released her. But why? She knew little
about him, and what she knew wasn’t good. He was Amon Kalins, the escaped
prisoner from Nil. She’d been warned, as all other Aeveren healers had, not to
help him in any way. She hadn’t had a choice, though. His wretched man had
kidnapped her from her home and when she saw him suffering before her, nature
had taken over. Healing him had never been a choice but a need.

“Thea,
don’t be afraid. I told you I wouldn’t let any harm come to you, and I won’t.
You’re safe as long as you’re with me.”

The
tone of his deep voice was softer now, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
She remained fearful, her fingers tightly gripping the drawer handle behind her.

“You’re
Amon Kalins...” she squeaked out as her voice failed her.  The hard surface of
the dresser pressed against her back when she attempted to take another step
back away from him.

“Yes.”

“The
escaped prisoner from Nil.”

“Yes.”

Thea’s
body relaxed almost against her will. Each affirmation should have made her
fear for her safety all the more, but it didn’t. Something in his voice soothed
her.

“And
you’re a tempuster?” This the Council hadn’t mentioned in its edict to healers.

“Yes.”

In
all her lifetimes, she’d never met any Aeveren with the power of time travel.
Amon Kalins must be a very powerful man, she realized.

“Is
it my ability that frightens you?” he asked in a voice she was sure was
intended to put her at ease.

Thea
thought about this for a moment and answered in a small voice, “No.”

His
being a tempuster was probably the least frightening aspect of him. The truth
was she was most frightened of how much she already liked him. She shouldn’t.
She knew this. But something about him called to her.

“Then
my being a prisoner from Nil?”

Thea
drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not supposed to help you.”

“Why?
You’re a healer. It’s your gift. Why would you be banned from healing someone
who needs your help?”

Thea
was ashamed to admit that she’d never considered this question, not when she
was ordered not to heal him nor all the other times those who dictated her
power ordered her not to help another in need. How many times had she followed
edicts and watched half-breeds or full blooded Aeveren suffer needlessly for
breaking one of the many rules of their world?