Flecks of Gold (41 page)

Kelteon signaled two of his men to lower a rope with a woven seat on the end for Mom to sit on. I yelled down, “Don’t worry, Mom. Sit on the rope chair. It’ll be okay.” I prayed fervently that I was telling the truth.

I heard an uncertain, “Okay,” from below and darted my attention back and forth between Kelteon and the men hauling Mom up out of the well. When her head popped through the opening, I struggled to flash a reassuring smile while keeping one eye trained on Kelteon for any suspicious movements that might be signals.

He stood serenely still until Mom was standing solidly on the other side of the well from me. I moved toward her.

“Stop, Mary. I’m sure you’ll understand, but I must keep you two completely surrounded until our transaction is complete, strictly to prevent anything from disrupting our business agreement, of course.” Half of Kelteon’s archers circled me. The other half surrounded Mom.

“I heard what you agreed to, and I won’t stand for it.” Mom’s voice was furious. “You let my daughter go, and I will stay.”

“I’m afraid you are of no further use to me.” Kelteon signaled his soldiers to herd us forward. I heard Mom sob once before she got control of herself, and I realized that her furious demand had been a mask for desperation. I knew she felt as driven to protect me as I did her. I couldn’t see her. Too many people were corralling around us, blocking my view.

“Don’t worry, Mom. Everything will be okay,” I lied. She didn’t reply.

The trip to the front gates was frustratingly slow due to the difficulty of keeping a perfect formation around me while walking and pointing arrows at my face. I thought with a grim humor that if someone gave these people some gum to chew, they might all be undone. Kelteon strolled behind my circle, and I felt his sharp eyes glued to my back like a chilly breeze. I was sure he was watching closely for any magical moves.

When we reached the stairs to the top of the wall, several soldiers went ahead of me, climbing the steps backward so they could keep the bows aimed at my heart, while some came behind. As soon as we were out of the passageway and onto the wall, they molded themselves around me once more until Kelteon and Mom arrived in a circle of guards.

I couldn’t see over the wall from my position because of the bodies surrounding me and the waist-high stone railing used to protect the defenders of the city from arrows and other projectiles. I wondered briefly if the true citizens of Kerln had even had the chance to use their wall to defend themselves against Kelteon before he and his army took over.

“Lower her over the side,” Kelteon commanded. I tried to look through my captors as the ropes that were used in the well were brought forward and Mom was forced back into the woven seat.

“Mary, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed as she strained to see through her guards and mine. My cheeks were wet, my vision blurry. I tried to wipe my eyes clear so I could keep track of her for as long as possible.

“It’s not your fault, Mom. It’s my choice. Run straight to the king’s camp when you’re on the ground, okay?” I tried to keep my voice steady as she was lowered out of my sight. “Tell them not to try and rescue me. It’s really important that they realize I’ll be a danger to them now.”
If I live
, I added silently.

I turned to Kelteon in helpless anger. “Part of our agreement was that I would get to see my mother make it safely to the king, but I can’t see a thing at this angle or through these people.”

“As you wish. Just remember not to do anything rash. Your mother is still in my bowmen’s range, as are you.”

The soldiers moved closer
en masse
to the wall’s edge, letting me see. Mom was out of the rope seat and moving away from the barrier as quickly as she could with bare feet. Beyond her, a group of about a hundred people were camped out of Kelteon’s range.

They were too far away to distinguish faces, not that I would know anybody but the king, the training general, and Breeohan. But even as I thought of Breeohan, I realized he must have made it to the king in time to warn them not to walk blindly into Kerln

Mom had been pointed out by the group. As she got closer, I saw the men on guard act swiftly. With military precision, they formed a tight line, postures tense with bows at the ready. When Mom saw the hostility of the group, she slowed and put her hands up in the air.

One of the men in line lowered his bow. He must have called something to the other men because all the others followed suit. Then that man began to walk toward Mom. I didn’t need to see his face; I knew that smooth gait. Breeohan approached her and bowed graciously before offering his arm to escort her the rest of the way to the king’s camp. She must have said something as they walked because Breeohan suddenly whipped around to look back at the wall. For a moment I thought he saw me, but then I was dragged back out of sight by one of Kelteon’s soldiers.

I jerked my arm out of his grip, but froze as crossbows swung in my direction.

“I believe I have held up my end of the bargain, Mary. Your turn,” Kelteon said.

Bile rose to my throat. I couldn’t control the shaking that coursed through my body. I shook my head and waited for the blow of an arrow to my heart.

“You wouldn’t be thinking about going back on our bargain now, would you?” Kelteon asked. He nodded to one of his men. An arrow thudded into my thigh and pain shot through me. I struggled not to fall down.

“You may take it out and heal yourself if you like, but the longer you take to give me your permission, the more arrows will riddle your limbs,” he said with the appearance of boredom.

“Kill me then. I’d rather break my word and die than be controlled by you,” I snapped. Mom was safe.
That’s all that matters now
, I thought.

A look of malicious glee replaced his boredom. “Oh, I won’t kill you, but what I will do will make you wish for death, while ever keeping it out of reach. We had a deal, and I intend for you to keep it.” He nodded. An arrow punched through the muscle of my other thigh.

I pulled out both arrows with a gasp and healed myself only to have another rip through my calf. A scream tore out my mouth, and I panted for a few breaths before I could concentrate enough to fix it. I waited for the next arrow to strike.

What happened next was no arrow. I saw the flash of the lacing that Rafan had used to hide the blindfold lacing from my magical sight, but this time there was no blindfold. Instead, pain lanced through my legs in waves of agony. I was burning. I saw my pant legs falling to ash and felt my flesh slowly crisping and melting away. I collapsed to the ground, screaming. The burning intensified, and my world narrowed to agony as my legs seared torturously, long past the point all nerve cells should have been destroyed. It was impossible to think beyond the pain. I tried to form the fire lacing in my head, but the cooking of my muscles shattered the pattern before it was fully constructed.

Finally, hardly thinking of what I said, I shrieked, “I’ll do anything, anything! I give you my permission, please make it stop, make it stop!” My voice broke, and I sobbed silently through a throat gone hoarse. The heat ceased, but my legs still smoked.

“Very good.” Through a haze that extended even to my mind, I saw Kelteon hide the enchantment lacing before he plucked it to life. My world narrowed and squashed, and Kelteon seeped into my mind like freon. Where his mind touched, my will froze, and was replaced by his. I fought for control, but the effort was as effective as pushing a mountain to make it move. In the end I scrambled to hide all that was left of myself, cramming into a small corner of my head. From my hiding place I discovered all I could do was observe through my own eyes as Kelteon directed my magic to heal my legs and then stand. I felt my face smile at Kelteon as his thoughts commanded it. He didn’t even have to speak to order my every move. My will was his.

I
fought to shriek, to run, to make the smile on my face turn to a frown, but I found myself walking over to Kelteon and posing in a flirtatious manner. Kelteon slowly looked me over. My head moved down to survey my pants which were now no more than blackened mini shorts. My legs were smooth and unblemished with no sign that they’d been lumps of burnt flesh only moments before.

You pervert
, I yelled in my mind. All the soldiers that had surrounded me were now ranged along the wall, surveying the king’s camp and pointedly looking away from Kelteon and me. I noticed that one woman soldier didn’t succeed in repressing a shudder, and I wished I could shudder too. But even subconscious physical responses were denied me.

“Come with me. We need to get you better clothing and some shoes. I also have someone I’m sure wishes to see you again,” Kelteon said. He turned, and I watched from the little corner of my mind as my body followed Kelteon down the winding stairs to a building within sight of the wall. The door opened before Kelteon reached it, and we walked through to find Rafan holding the handle. He closed the door behind us. I wished heartily I could spit in Rafan’s face, but I only stopped and stood meekly beside Kelteon.

“I believe you found out that Rafan has been on my side since your, let’s see, second-to-last escape attempt. I thought it would be fun for my two puppets to face each other’s strings, so to speak.”

I struggled to understand Kelteon’s meaning. He looked like a cat who’d succeeded in eating a pet fish from under its owner’s nose.

“It’s been such a pleasure spending so much time with you, Mary,” Kelteon continued, “watching you struggle to understand the machinations of court politics, running to find me in the flesh while never realizing that I was by you at every turn, within Rafan.”

Kelteon turned while Rafan and I stood, unable to do anything but stare at each other, our faces locked in masks of amusement while
my
mind, at least, was anything but. In all the time I’d know Rafan, I’d felt toleration for him, which had turned to loathing the moment I discovered he was working for Kelteon. Now compassion engulfed me. He had been trapped inside his mind as I was now. I wondered what Rafan was really like. I didn’t get a chance to wonder long. There was a knock on the door and Kelteon’s voice distracted me from my musings.

“Come,” he commanded, and the door opened to admit a young man who was panting slightly.

“Someone approaches the gate, my lord. He holds the feathered staff of discussion.” The young man spoke quickly, trying to get his breath back. He must have run all the way from the top of the wall.

“Who comes? The king?” Kelteon demanded impatiently.

The messenger shook his head helplessly. “We weren’t sure.” The man cringed as if waiting for a blow.

“Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll go speak with whoever has been sent. I want you to come too, Mary, but we don’t want to give the king or his men the wrong idea. You, boy, tie her hands behind her back and gag her, then follow us up with an arrow at her back. Be very careful though. If you so much as knick her, your life is forfeit.”

My hands moved obediently behind my back so the messenger could tie them. As he bound my mouth, my expression contorted into one more similar to what I really felt, despair and hopelessness. It appeared Kelteon didn’t want it known that I was now his obedient android.

We moved to the wall and up the stairs at a pace that was quick but unhurried. When we reached the top, Kelteon ordered my body to stop out of sight while he moved forward to confront whoever had approached.

“Ah, Prince Sogran, it’s been far too long,” Kelteon drawled.

“That’s certainly one opinion on the matter,” Sogran yelled up the barrier to Kelteon. “Come, Kelteon, you know why I am here. What will it take to get Mary back? And I want to see her to make sure she is unharmed.”

“You never did have any finesse.” Kelteon grabbed my sleeve and made my body stumble artistically to the wall’s edge. I looked down at the training general, my expression a mask of fear calculated, I’m sure, to anger Sogran. The training general bent his head up and watched with narrowed concentration. He sat comfortably on a horse that held so still under the general’s hand it seemed a statue. In one hand Sogran grasped a tall staff with a multitude of brown feathers tied up and down the wood’s length. The feathers fluttered softly in the breeze, a pointed contrast to the frozen horse and rigid training general.

“There is a crossbow at Mary’s back, and many aimed at you, so don’t try anything gallant. I shall tell you my demands for the princess’s release.”

The little bit that was left of me grabbed onto the word “princess” and gobbled it hungrily. Was I seriously a princess? Was King Verone my dad? I wondered in awe. I’d spent so much time contemplating the possibility but had always thrown it away as foolishness. It’d seemed too unlikely that a king would stoop to living a life as a common American. But he had. It was true. I wanted to jump and yip and dance around, but I could do none of that. My body stayed perfectly still, staring down at the training general with a new mix of confusion added in to the fear. I pulled my thoughts back from my daze to listen to Kelteon’s demands.

“I wish my title reinstated and my status as exile dismissed. I also demand 4,000 shem and control of the lands from Kerln to the border. As my requests do not threaten the safety of the kingdom, I trust the king will grant them to see his daughter returned.”

“There is a problem with your demand, Kelteon. You’ve made a mistake. You found Fiona on Earth, probably through the rumor that the king’s refusal to marry was due to marrying a woman on Earth, but that rumor was only partially true. Yes, he fell in love with a woman from that planet, but he was not the one to get married there. I was. Verone was not the only one on Earth at that time. We made the journey together, and Fiona was not the king’s love—she was mine. Mary is my daughter.”

A stunned silence greeted the end of this speech. Kelteon’s eyes widened in disbelief. I felt like reeling myself, but Kelteon was so preoccupied that my face expressed the same confused fear as before. I felt like I was spinning around in an emotional washing machine. I hadn’t even had time to fully process the thought of King Verone as my dad before I discovered that Kelteon was wrong, and Sogran was really my dad all along. I was finding it hard to keep up, and my emotions sloshed around in a continuous rinse and repeat jumble.