Souls of Aredyrah 2 - The Search for the Unnamed One (4 page)

Whyn could be seen seated in a high-backed
chair centered on the dais against the far wall. His blond head was
held high as he waited for Mahon to make his way across the
cavernous room. As Mahon approached, he could not help but notice
the determined expression on Whyn’s boyish face, a look that did
not indicate the emotions of a grieving son, but more like that of
a vengeful one.

Mahon stopped and bowed, his hands firmly at
his sides, his head lowered almost to his knees. “My lord,” he
said. “My condolences for the passing of your father. May the gods
bless Tearia and her King.”

Mahon stared at his feet, waiting for a
response, but for a long while it seemed as though none was coming.
Then Mahon sensed Whyn rise and heard his footsteps as they stepped
down the dais and moved in his direction.

“Rise, Mahon,” Whyn ordered. “We have no time
for condolences. We have duties to attend to.”

Mahon rose and surveyed Whyn’s face. Although
there was no sound of grief in his nephew’s voice, nor any hint of
sorrow in his features, Whyn’s skin seemed paler than usual, and
there were hints of dark circles under his pale blue eyes. Surely
he was hiding his emotions in an attempted display of strength. He
had, after all, been by his father’s side for months. The ordeal
had clearly taken its toll.

“My duty is always to Tearia and her King,”
Mahon said.

“And to her gods,” Whyn added.

“Of course.”

“The Priestess has made a demand of me. I am,
therefore, making it of you.”

“Anything, my lord.”

“I wish for you to post spies at Market
today. And send more into Pobu.”

“Spies are already in place, and have been
for quite some time.”

“Double them,” Whyn said.

“Consider it done. What is it you would have
them seek?”

“The Unnamed One.”

Mahon kept his expression in check. “What do
you wish to know of him?”

“I wish to know that he is dead.”

Mahon felt the blood drain from his face and
hoped Whyn did not notice. “My lord, forgive me, but he is your
brother. Surely your family—”

“He is my brother no longer, just as he is
your nephew no longer. Do I sense from your response that you still
feel loyalty to him?”

“No, of course not.”

“But your loyalty does lie with Brina, as it
always has, and she loves him as her own, an emotion she rarely
spared for me.”

“I do not wish to dispute you,” Mahon said,
“but I know Brina has always loved you equally.”

“While I doubt she maintains much affection
for me, her love for Reiv has always been strong.” Whyn eyed Mahon
suspiciously. “Will your wife’s duty to her renegade nephew hinder
her husband’s duty to his King?”

“No—no, of course not! I will do right by the
Throne as I always have. I am your servant.”

“Then you will send spies throughout the
Market grounds and Pobu today. There can be no obvious display of
arms. You have informants within the Jecta population, do you
not?”

“Yes, Lord. Many. Most are eager to earn a
bit of coin. They have more loyalty to their bellies than to their
friends. That is why there are so many detained Jecta as of late.
You know the rumors about the insurgency.”

“I am well aware. That is another reason to
double our efforts for information within Pobu. Have them find the
Unnamed One and report to you alone. He is to be disposed of only
on your order.”

“On
my
order?”

“Of course. It would not look well for it to
be on mine; people have not forgotten he was both my brother and
king-heir. But once this so-called Unnamed One is disposed of, the
traitorous whispers in our streets will cease. Then we will take
care of the Jecta filth once and for all.”

“What do you have planned for them?” Mahon
asked.

“There is to be a new Purge. The Priestess
has ordered it. The Goddess has ordered it.”

“A new Purge? You mean…”

“You know exactly what I mean. It will take
some time to get the plans sorted out and our forces in shape. The
Guard has grown weak, Mahon. Too weak if we are to be successful in
this endeavor.”

“I have always abided by the expectations of
my King,” Mahon said defensively. “The state of the Guard is, and
always has been, representative of those expectations.”

“Those expectations of which you speak were
those of a weak King. But Tearia has a weak King no longer. Things
are different now; preparations must be made. You will contact your
spies and proceed with your duty.”

Mahon stood speechless, unable to utter a
single syllable as the realization of what was happening scurried
through his mind.

“Do not let your emotions get in the way of
this, Mahon, or you will regret it.”

“Of course not. I will do as you
command.”

“How long do you think it will take to locate
Reiv?” Whyn asked.

“I do not know. I have received no word of
him in weeks, though I have made no inquiries. He was to fade, and
that is what he has done.”

“What of Brina? Has she had contact with
him?”

“No—no, my lord. Not since Reiv was banished
from Tearia. True, she paid him visits when he was still housed
within the walls, but she has had no contact with him since. Her
loyalty lies with you.”

Whyn narrowed his eyes. “How can you be
certain where her loyalties lie, Mahon? She abandoned her loyalty
to you easily enough.”

Fear for Brina’s safety mushroomed in Mahon’s
throat. “I—I give you my word that she has not left the city.”

“I suggest you exercise caution when giving
your word. No one has been able to locate Brina to inform her of my
father’s passing.” Whyn laughed. “And you thought you were the last
to know.”

Mahon felt his breath stall. Gods, where
could she have gone? Surely not to Pobu. She could not have slipped
past the gates so easily. But then again, with the hustle and
bustle of Market preparations…

“I will locate her immediately, my lord.”

Whyn nodded. “You had best get a rein on your
wife, Mahon. I can risk no information reaching Reiv’s ears. If
Brina is found outside the gates, I can only assume she has been
meeting with my brother. Of course, that would make her an
excellent source of information.”

“She has not been meeting him, I assure you,”
Mahon said.

“Your spies must find him without delay,
though I doubt it will be too difficult. Reiv does tend to stand
out, even amongst the dark-hairs of Pobu. I expect a prompt report,
Mahon, and I want to know where Brina has been.”

“It will be done.”

Mahon bowed as Whyn returned to his chair and
slouched upon it.

“Leave me,” Whyn said with a flick of his
hand.

Mahon rose and turned, then walked from the
room as quickly as he was able. He could feel the sweat of fear
beading on his face, just as he could feel the cold grip of
disaster clutching at his chest. Who was that young man he had just
faced? Certainly not the good-hearted nephew he had known for the
past sixteen years. It was as though Whyn was a stranger to him
now. But of even more concern to Mahon was the nagging question of
his own conscience.

Mahon walked out of the palace and into the
glaring light of day, his eyes stinging with barely-suppressed
emotion. There was no chance he could save his faltering marriage
now, and even less that he could save his immortal soul.

BACK TO ToC

Chapter 5: Into the Vortex

D
ayn stormed across
the room, the force of his anger threatening to pull everything not
tied down into it. “How could you have said that to him?” he
shouted. “How could you have been so stupid!”

Alicine took a startled step back. “I—I’m
sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No? Then what did you mean by it exactly?
Didn’t you see the look on Reiv’s face when you came in? Didn’t you
see how happy he was? You would have to have been blind not
to.”

“I wasn’t prepared to see him, that’s
all!”

“Don’t hand me that excuse, Alicine. You knew
full well he would be here to see us today. He told you himself he
would be back for Market.”

“But I didn’t expect to see him looking like
that. I…it caught me off guard. I didn’t know what I was
saying.”

“You knew exactly what you were saying, and
you should have taken back those words right then and there, the
moment you saw how hurt he was by them. But no, you just spewed on
and on.”

“I said I’m sorry. Please, Dayn, don’t be mad
at me.” Alicine placed a hand on his arm and looked up at him with
pleading eyes.

Dayn set his expression hard against her.
“Don’t bother using your tears on me. Maybe it worked in the past,
but not any more. I’m smarter about things now, including your
girlish manipulations.”

Alicine gasped, taken aback by his reproach.
“It’s just this
place
!” she cried.

“No, it’s not this place. It’s you! I’m tired
of your threats to leave. Every time something goes the least bit
wrong it’s ‘this place’, or ‘I’m homesick’, or ‘I don’t belong
here’, or some other excuse. Well, we’re here and we’re staying
here until I say we go. I’m someone who matters now, someone who’s
making a difference—”

“At the risk of your life!”

“It’s my choice. Mine! Not yours, not our
parents’, not Brina’s, not anyone’s but mine. Now, as for Reiv, I
want him in my life, even if he wants to pierce and tattoo every
part of his body and have a hundred Shell Seeker wives and
children. All that matters is that he’s happy. But that’s your
problem with him, isn’t it? That he’s found happiness without you.
Well, I won’t sit back and see you hurt him.”

“I never said I wanted to hurt him!” she
shouted.

“Then grow up and stop behaving like a
spoiled girl who is too much of a child to know what kisses can
lead to!”

Alicine’s hand flew to her mouth. “I can’t
believe you said that.”

“I’m not stupid, little sister. You wanted
Reiv to kiss you that night, didn’t you? I remember how you always
looked at him, how ever since the first day we met him you couldn’t
take your eyes off of him. Did you think I didn’t see it, or that
he didn’t? I’m not saying his touching you was right, but you were
just as wrong. What do you expect him to do? Stay away from us
forever? Or would you rather he come back and pine for a girl who
made it perfectly clear she can’t wait to leave this place and him
behind forever? Reiv has a life to live, Alicine, and if he finds
someone else, then you’ll have to accept it and put your petty
jealousies aside.”

“How
dare
you say those words to
me!”

“Well, it was time they were said!”

Alicine straightened her spine, clearly
primed to launch the defense working in her mind, but a rap at the
door stopped her short.

Dayn turned his eyes toward the portal, then
flashed them back to her. “You’d better hope it’s him!” But when he
swung open the door, his emotions were a mixture of disappointment
and delight. Though it was not Reiv as he had hoped, it proved to
be the next best thing.

“Brina…Jensa!” he exclaimed. He would have
loved to hug them both right then and there, not only for joy, but
also for the need to grab hold of someone. Brina, however, did not
hold back her feelings at all. She wrapped an arm around his
shoulders, squeezing him tight.

“Son, I have been counting the minutes until
this moment.” Her eyes gleamed as she stepped back and looked him
up and down affectionately.

“Come in, come in,” Dayn said. “Alicine and I
were just having a, uh…conversation.”

“Yes, we could hear it all the way up the
path,” Jensa said. She scanned the room. “Where’s Reiv? I left him
at the door not long ago. He came in, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he was here,” Dayn said, “but he
left.”

Brina became suddenly alert. “What do you
mean, left? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know where he went. He was upset
and—”

“Upset? Why was he upset? Did you discuss the
issue in question?”

“I didn’t get a chance to.” Dayn glared in
Alicine’s direction.

Brina turned her attention to Alicine. “There
was a fight between you?” she asked. “Alicine…was there a
fight?”

“I said some things I shouldn’t have and he
left, that’s all,” Alicine said.

Brina’s mouth compressed as she removed a
long bundle from beneath her cloak and leaned it hastily in the
corner. “I have to find him,” she said as she moved to the
door.

“No, Brina, you stay,” Jensa said. “I know my
way around Pobu better than you, and you don’t need to be seen
wandering around. Dayn, will you come with me? There are places a
woman shouldn’t go alone.”

Dayn moved toward her, then looked at Brina
and nodded. “We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

He shot Alicine a scowl, but said not a word
to her, and walked out with Jensa, slamming the door behind
him.

Brina stared at the door momentarily, lost in
thought, then turned and made her way past Alicine to the kitchen
table.

“Come. Sit with me,” she said, motioning
Alicine over.

Alicine took her place on the bench across
from Brina, struggling to look anywhere but at the woman’s
concerned face. The realization of her own role in Reiv’s
disappearance left a guilty taste in her mouth. “I’m sorry I
angered Reiv and caused him to storm off like that,” she said. “But
I’m sure he’ll be fine. He can take care of himself. He’s certainly
proved
that
on a number of occasions.” She attempted a
laugh, but it sounded feeble.

“Yes, let us hope so,” Brina said. She
lowered her face and paused as though debating whether or not to
continue, then leaned in and raised her eyes to drive her point
home. “Alicine, Reiv is in danger. He should not be out alone.”