The Black Shard (19 page)

Though Werrien's words weren't meant to be hurtful, they hit Kristina like a cold slap in her face. She stared blankly at the beam of sunlight piercing through the darkness. "I guess that I haven't even thought that far ahead, but are you saying that even if I wanted to stay here, I couldn't?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"What about Bernovem—could I stay there? I mean, that is if I wanted to?"

"I'm afraid not, and you can't stay in Tezerel or the Yolen-forsaken land, Jalmara, either."

"Do you know why?"

"Kristina!" Werrien stared at her soberly. "It's a total mystery that you were able to come here in the first place, and that you were the one entrusted with the Magic Warble."

"Actually, it's funny you say that because I often wondered if your world was only a figment of my imagination—perhaps it really is," Kristina said softly.

"And I sometimes feel the same—that your being here is only a very long dream that I am having, one from which I haven't awoken yet."

Frustration welled up inside Kristina, but what he was saying about her not being able to stay, even if she wanted to, really wasn't a big surprise to her; after all, up until this point, her life had been always less than mundane, so why would she expect it to go from almost zilch to above and beyond perfect? Disappointment was just the norm for her.

"May I ask you a question," Kristina said, "off the subject?"

"Shoot."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

Werrien's expression turned curious. "That was quite random. Why do you ask?"

Kristina suddenly felt two inches tall.
Why did I ask that?
"I don't know," she said, casting her eyes on the dark water ahead of her.

"I've had quite a few acquaintances but as far as a committed girlfriend—no, I haven't," he answered.

"Aren't there any nice girls in Tezerel?"

"There are many nice girls in Tezerel."

"Do you ever want to get married?"

Finding this question awkward, Werrien frowned. "Do you?" he retaliated.

If I could marry you, yes,
Kristina thought, but she said, "I don't know ... actually, probably not."

"Why not?"

"Most guys are jerks where I'm from." She looked at Werrien again. "Aren't you going to be king someday?"

"I guess that's the plan," he said, throwing a small pebble into the water.

"Well then, don't you want to have a queen to rule with you? I mean, like your parents and Sirus and Navesa."

Werrien was silent for a moment. Then he finally said, "I don't know yet."

"Oh," Kristina said placing her chin on her drawn up knees.

Gazing down at the water, Werrien said, "Because then I'd have to fall in love."

"Don't you want to fall in love?" Kristina felt herself cringing inside for asking this.

"Not really," Werrien said casually.

"Why not?"

Werrien didn't answer. He seemed irritated.

He's probably sick of my questions. Why am I such a blabber mouth?
Kristina thought.

"There isn't going to be a future queen," he suddenly said.

Kristina swallowed. There was uncomfortable silence. Then Werrien finally broke the silence. "I can't marry any girl. She has to have royal blood flowing through her veins, and there is no one like that anywhere in our three lands."

Well, then that would definitely have taken me out of the equation to begin with,
Kristina thought. More uncomfortable silence followed. Then Kristina said, "I'm sorry, Werrien."

"For what?"

"I shouldn't ask so many questions."

Werrien half smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said. Then he reached inside his pocket and took out his closed fist again. He slowly opened it to reveal a necklace with a shimmering, crystal stone attached to it, exactly the same as the one that had taken Kristina home the first time she was in Bernovem. It sparkled vibrantly and reflected pastel blue, green, purple, and pink colors all around them.

Illuminated by the light of the stone, Kristina's blue eyes sparkled. "This brings back memories," she said. "How many of those do you have?"

"One," Werrien said, holding the ends of the necklace in each of his hands. "May I?" he added.

Kristina turned her back toward him, and she lifted her damp hair for him to reach the necklace around her neck. As he was fastening the clasps, she suddenly remembered that when she had arrived back home the first time after leaving Bernovem, she didn't have the necklace on. "It never left Bernovem, did it?" she said.

"It was laying on the rock the moment after you disappeared."

Kristina let her hair fall down over her shoulders. Then she took the glimmering stone in her hand and with her back still facing Werrien, she asked, "So when it turns red, is that when I will go home again?"

"I'm afraid so," Werrien said softly.

She turned around to face him. "Why don't I leave it off and see what happens?" she suggested with hopeful eyes.

"I can't let you do that."

"Why?"

"You asked me that the first time you were here—remember?"

"Kind of." Kristina sighed.

"Well, I found out from my mother that if you had taken it off, you never would have been able to go back home again."

"How does your mother know that?"

"Rupert Sorsiro and Azaril Crimson actually crafted the necklace, and when Rupert was living at the palace, he explained all there is to know about it to her."

"Why did you have to put it on me right now, then? Couldn't we have waited a little longer to start the process?"

"Unfortunately, the process has already started."

Kristina took the shimmering stone in her hand, and she stared at the pastel colors swirling inside it. "When did it start?"

"On the ship this morning. I checked it and noticed that it went from a colorless transparency to all the colors that are in it now. There is one good thing, though. My mother said that because you have worn it before, it should recognize you, and give you a little more time here than the last time you were here."

"Does the stone have a mind of its own?"

"That I don't know, but I think it's more like it has built up some resistance to you, and that's why it may give you a little more time."

"In other words, it's building up immunity to me, like I'm some kind of bad disease." Kristina looked sad. "Whatever it is, I guess it's good news."

Werrien placed his hand on her shoulder and patted her gently. "Let's just make the best of the time you still have here," he said.

"Okay," Kristina said gloomily.

They sat quietly for a few minutes. Then Werrien reached inside his pocket again and took out the Black Shard. He was just about to stare into it when suddenly, a voice from the other side of the waterfall called out his name.

"That's Elzwur," Werrien said tensely, clasping his hand shut around the Black Shard. "I guess it's time for us to leave."

"Werrien!" Elzwur called out again.

Kristina stood up and quickly jumped in the dark water. When she ascended, she turned to face Werrien and found him staring into the Black Shard again. "What are you seeing this time?" she asked him ... but he didn't answer her.

“W
errien?" Kristina said, but he seemed mesmerized by the Black Shard and he still didn't answer her. "Werrien!" she called out more adamantly. When he didn't respond, she began swimming back to the rock. "If you don't answer me, then I'll just come back up there to see what it is you're so fascinated with."

She reached the rock and was about to climb out, but before she could even get her shoulders out of the water, something that felt like a cold, bony hand grabbed her ankle, clenching it like a vice grip.

Frightened to her core, Kristina screamed. She looked down and saw an old ghoulish-looking woman with greenish-gray skin that was so thin, her veins and bones could be seen through it. She had huge, hollow looking eyes, and her snow-white hair swirled around her head under the dark water. She opened her mouth and revealed a set of jagged teeth, like broken glass.

Desperate to get away from the hag, Kristina tried to grab onto the rock, but it was too slippery, and her hands only slid down it. She could feel fingernails as sharp as daggers pierce into the skin around her ankle.

Hearing Kristina's scream, Werrien snapped out of his stare and hurried over to the edge of the rock. He reached his arm down to try to pull her up, but the gruesome hag pulled even harder on Kristina's ankle—and Kristina's head suddenly disappeared under the dark water. As she descended, Werrien could see her struggling for her life. Without hesitation, he dove into the water and began swimming downward to rescue her. She was already about eight feet below the surface when he finally reached her. He took hold of her arm, and as he did so, Kristina felt the hag release her grip from her ankle. The hag descended into the darkness of the deep.

With his arm tightly gripped around Kristina, Werrien swam up to the surface of the water as fast as he could. Their heads exploded out of the dark pool, and Kristina immediately gagged and coughed up the water she had swallowed. Werrien swam with her back to the rock, where he leaned against it, panting.

"She was ... trying ... to kill me," Kristina said between breaths. Kristina ran her hand over her neck, checking to see if the necklace was still around it. Luckily, it was still there.

"Who was trying to kill you?" Werrien asked.

Kristina looked at Werrien, puzzled. "You've got to be kidding! You had to have seen her!"

Elzwur called out Werrien's name again, this time sounding closer than before.

Werrien ignored him again. "Seen who?" he asked Kristina, stress written all over his face.

"How could you have not seen her? She was glowing, with her ghost-white hair flowing around her ugly head."

"Are you hurt?" Werrien asked, seeming to overlook what she had just said.

Kristina nodded and fought back tears. "The hag stuck her hook-nails in my ankle."

Werrien climbed back up on the rock, and then helped Kristina back up as well. "Let's take a look at your ankle," he said.

Trembling, Kristina sat down on the cool, damp rock and stretched her legs out in front of her. Her left ankle, the one that the hag had latched onto, was very red, with tiny but deep cuts that oozed blood all around it.

As Werrien stared at Kristina's leg, a confused expression came upon his face. There was a thin, dark bluish-green weed stuck on her shin. He took it off and examined it. "Throttle vine?" he said.

"What type of vine?" Kristina said between sniffles.

"This is throttle vine, a flesh-eating water weed that latches onto its prey and then strangles it in order to eat it." He examined it more closely. "Really weird—the only place that this has ever been found growing was in the swamps on Jalmara, and that was many years ago. It supposedly went extinct when the land became too cold."

"Werrien!" Kristina said distraughtly. "It wasn't a weed that grabbed me—it was a disgusting old hag."

Werrien hadn't seen a trace of an old hag, so he had a hard time believing Kristina, but he didn't want to upset her more. He embraced her to comfort her.

"We need to get going or Elzwur might attempt swimming over here," he said.

As they made their way to the other side of the waterfall, Werrien stayed very close to Kristina, making sure nothing bad would happen to her again. Then, once on the other side, Kristina quickly swam to the rock where they had eaten, and hastily, she climbed up on it. Werrien did the same and promptly went to the sack he had brought along. He took out a small, dark bottle and went to aid Kristina.

"I only wish that you would believe what I saw attack me," Kristina said softly.

Werrien opened the bottle and poured its light pink liquid onto her wounds. As soon as it hit her skin, the wounds disappeared.

"Thank goodness for fairy blossom," Kristina said, starting to feel a little better. But she still had a gloomy expression on her face, and Werrien could tell that she was still dwelling on what she thought had attacked her.

"Maybe she disappeared before I could see her," Werrien suggested, although he still believed that it was only the throttle vine that had wrapped itself around her ankle.

"But Werrien, she was
there,
as plain as day," Kristina said.

"Wer-ri-en!" Elzwur's voice could be heard calling out again.

"Over here, by the water pool," Werrien called back as he packed away the lunch utensils. He took the orchid necklace he had made earlier for Kristina and placed it around her neck.

"It still smells good," Kristina said.

"And it covers the other necklace, so no one will know about it except for you and me."

Kristina was glad, because she was in no mood to explain anything about the necklace to Hester and Davina, who she was sure would be jealous of it. "By the way, how are Hester and Davina getting back home?" she asked Werrien.

"They will be given the same stones that took them home the first time they were here."

"I guess that make sense," Kristina said. Then a curious look enveloped her face. "You know something?" she said.

"What?"

"I just realized that Graham Kepler was the only one who hasn't come back to Bernovem this time."

"Hm ... You're right. How sad," Werrien said sarcastically.

"No kidding," Kristina agreed.

Elzwur was walking on the trail that led to Werrien and Kristina. Hester and Davina were lagging along behind him. Elzwur looked sweaty and irritated—sweaty because he was dressed too warmly in a long-sleeved shirt that was buttoned high up on his neck and topped by a stiff jacket. He wore knickers that came down to the top of his shin-high black boots. "Your Highness; where have you been?" he said, seeming exasperated. "We've been searching a long time for you two." He made sure he gave Kristina his famous sourpuss frown.

Hester and Davina plopped themselves down on the rock where Werrien and Kristina had eaten lunch.

With a fairly sunburned, perturbed face, Hester looked up at Kristina and said, "So you got to go swimming, while Davina and I had to trudge through the massive jungle, looking for you?"