The Black Shard (24 page)

Dargin chuckled. "Come now, Elzwur. You should know that there's no need to worry about poisonous spiders. Hasn't been a trace of one since Sentiz disappeared. Anyhow, I'm glad that you're here. I need your help organizing some of the king's itinerary for Tezerel tomorrow."

"Yes, of course," Elzwur said, and he followed Dargin into the servant's cabin.

F
or a few minutes, Kristina stayed where she was, crouched behind the narrow ladder. Her legs trembled slightly from having to sit still for so long. She wondered what the object was that now lay somewhere on the floor in the dark hall.
Why did Elzwur chuckle, seeming so fascinated with it? And why did he lie to Dargin, telling him he saw a spider instead of what it was he dropped? Whatever that thing was, it's obviously something he doesn't want Dargin to know about—or perhaps anybody, for that matter.

Kristina stood up and made her way out from behind the ladder to King Warren's door. Then, not thinking that she might interrupt Werrien and his father's discussion, she raised her closed fist to knock on the door—but just before her knuckles touched it, she heard Werrien speak, and she slowly lowered her hand.

"There's just got to be a way," Werrien said.

"Son, there's another thing that I haven't told you yet," King Warren said.

At least I'm not the only one keeping secrets,
Werrien thought.

"Apparently, Kristina was not the first one chosen to come here from another world."

"Really!" Werrien's tone had a sharp edge to it. "Why have you kept this from me?"

"Let's just say that the information came from the one I couldn't trust."

"Then how do you know if it's even true?"

There was a short pause. Kristina had her ear on the door, the way Elzwur had had his only a few minutes earlier.
Come on! Tell him. I can't stand here much longer,
she thought.

"Rupert is the one who gave me the information," King Warren said.

"Well, then," Werrien chuckled sarcastically, "we both know that his word is worthless."

"You're right, Werrien! There's a real good chance that what he told me isn't true, but even if there is the slightest chance that it is ..." he let out a discontented sigh, "it would be best to not even take the chance."

Kristina flinched, for she heard Dargin's squeaky laugh from the other side of the servant's cabin door.

"Was he also given a crystal to take him back to where he had come from?" Werrien asked his father.

"Yes, but he decided that he wanted to stay in Tezerel, and so, he took it off, hoping that removing the crystal would enable him to stay indefinitely." Looking worn out, King Warren stared blankly at the table.

"So, what happened?" Werrien asked anxiously.

"Apparently, when he took it off, everything was fine."

"That's good."

King Warren's eyes shifted from the table to Werrien. "At first, anyway," he said.

Kristina heard footsteps on the other side of the servant's cabin door and then she saw the doorknob make a quick twist to the left. She swallowed nervously; her throat was dry, like it was coated in chalk powder. She was expecting the door to open, but it didn't; instead, the knob slowly turned back to its original position. Relieved, she let out a sigh and then quickly made her way back behind the ladder. She crouched down and leaned her head against the outer wall of the king's cabin. Besides the sound of her heart pulsating in her ears, she could hear King Warren and Werrien talking again—this time the voices were clearer than when she had stood at the door.
They must be directly on the other side of this wall,
she thought.

"Father, tell me what happened to the previous chosen one!" Werrien demanded. But it seemed that King Warren was reluctant to share this information.

"Okay, Werrien, give me a minute. I'm trying to get the story straight in my head. It's been such a long time since I've heard it." King Warren crossed his arms across his chest, and then he began. "It's been said that after Margah—that was the chosen one's name—took off his crystal, he anticipated that something terrible would happen to him—and to the gnomes, dwarfs and fairies—but when nothing did, Margah was filled with relief as well as joy, and so were all the dwellers of Tezerel."

"Why were the gnomes, dwarfs, and fairies so happy?"

"They wanted him to stay because he was said to have been a very kind fellow, and also very handy to have around."

"How so?"

"Well, he was a skilled archer, and he was known to have protected the gnomes and dwarfs when they faced many dangerous situations."

Werrien looked puzzled. "What kind of dangerous situations did the dwarfs and gnomes face back then? I've been led to believe that before Sentiz, there were no villains or traitors, and I know that the gnomes, dwarfs, and fairies get along well with the animals of all our lands, so the animals wouldn't have caused them harm."

The king wrinkled his brow and thought about it. "I don't know," he finally said, slightly flustered. "It's just what Rupert told me. He also said that the dwarfs, gnomes, and fairies adored the chosen one, probably because they were fascinated with someone from a different world who was able to actually live here." The king sighed again and then nervously ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.

"What are you not telling me?" Werrien said suspiciously.

"I'm afraid to say that this story doesn't have a happy ending. Not too long after Margah took off his crystal, the majority of the inhabitants of Tezerel began to get very ill, with chills and flu like symptoms and then they developed horrible sores on their bodies."

"Did they consume the fairy blossom to get rid of the illness?"

"Back then, there was no fairy blossom. The magic herb only came into existence after the fact. It was said to have been the answer to the people who humbled themselves before Yolen, when all hope for healing of the disgusting plague was gone. When the sores had spread from their heads to their toes, the inhabitants cried out to Yolen, and soon after, the fairy blossom began to grow. Did I ever tell you how the magic herb got its name?"

"No," Werrien said, only half paying attention—his mind swarming with multiple thoughts.

"An ill fairy with a diseased wing fell from flight and landed in a patch of the blossoms. As soon as the blossom's pollen coated her wings her wings healed instantly."

"And so the herb was named fairy blossom," Werrien said impatiently, finishing his father's story. "Did the fairy blossom heal the the inhabitants of Tezerel?" Werrien was adamant with his questioning.

"It did heal a great number of them but not all of them. Some of the gnomes and dwarfs became bitter, and they blamed Yolen for their calamity. For these ungrateful ones, the blossoms had no healing effect. Their bodies began to contort, and they developed hunched backs as well as hideous facial features."

"Zelbocks," Werrien said. "So that's how they came into being."

"So legend has it," King Warren said. "I should actually say, so the beginning section of the Book of Prophecy has it."

"And of course, the beginning section of the Book of Prophecy just happens to be conveniently missing," Werrien added.

"Unfortunately so."

"What happened to ... what did you say his name was?"

"Margah? He supposedly developed the sores as well."

"Did the fairy blossom heal him?"

"Apparently a gnome woman prepared it in a tea for Margah, but when she brought it to the dwarf's home where he was staying, the dwarf said that Margah had disappeared. After that, he was never seen again."

Werrien looked curiously at his father. "This all sounds really strange."

"Supposedly, it's also written in the Book of Prophecy that once Margah saw what he had caused by taking off the crystal and going against the law of Yolen, he was extremely guilt-ridden. Supposedly, his guilt consumed him, and so he went to the Indra River to drown himself, but while lamenting near its bank, he transformed into a tree." King Warren's blue eyes widened. "Do you remember that large, lumpy tree with its dark, entwining roots exposed above the ground? The one by the Indra River?" he asked his son.

"You mean Old Warts?"

"Yes. That's the name that you gave it when you were very young." A brief smile came to King Warren's face as he thought of Werrien as a small child. Then the smile faded into his former worrisome look. "Old Warts is Margah."

For a short time there was silence. Kristina assumed Werrien was soaking in all he had just learned.

"What I still don't understand is why was there a curse for Margah taking off the crystal to begin with?" Werrien said.

"That I don't know, but what I do know is that the wizards gained their knowledge and wisdom from Yolen and were instructed by the Great Spirit to craft the crystal necklace, bracelet, or whatever the chosen one was given at the time, to take him back to where he originally came from. The wizards must have told Margah that something terrible would happen to him if he took his crystal off."

With her head still leaning against the outer wall of King Warren's cabin and pounding from what she suspected must be an intense migraine headache—the kind her mother sometimes complained about—Kristina envisioned her body covered in open, oozing sores. The enthusiasm she had previously had to tell Werrien about her visions and dreams now drained from her, like water through a sieve. Now, all she wanted to do was go to her cabin, stick her head under her pillow, and try to forget all she had just heard, which seemed even worse to her than the gruesome hag and the other frightful sights she had seen.

Suddenly, the ship began to move and it listed left, causing Kristina to slide away from the wall. Then it listed back to the right—and the shimmering gold object that Elzwur had dropped came sliding across the floor, directly to her. She stared at it, puzzled, and wondered,
Where have I seen that before?
It had an intricate design inside it. She picked it up just before
THE KRISTINA
listed again, back to the left, this time sending Kristina sliding into the wall behind the ladder. With the strange object clutched in her hand, she stood up and quickly made her way back up the ladder and out the door to the main deck.

It was very windy outside, and the ship was sailing robustly into the Sicapif Sea. Kristina struggled to walk against the strong, warm wind, which made her dress cling to her body. The crew had gone back to their jobs of sailing the ship, and Kristina could see and hear some of them below the mast, shouting out orders to others high on the mast. Only a few took notice of her—with fascinated eyes, they watched her walk across the deck back to her cabin. When she reached the bottom of the ladder that led down to the next lower deck, she was unexpectedly greeted by an annoyed voice.

"I think that it's time we had a little talk," the voice said.

Stricken with fear, Kristina spun around quickly and viewed the dark silhouette of a girl standing in the darkest corner of the hallway.

"Hester?" Kristina said. "Why'd you have to scare me like that?"

"Why do you have to be the center of attention wherever you go?" Hester snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Kristina said, feeling very annoyed by Hester's accusations.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Hester staggered, but then placed her hand on the wall behind her to steady herself. "Not only do you have Werrien under your spell, but now you're trying to entrance Heerzek as well." She leaned her back against the wall, tilted her head back, and stared up at the ceiling.

Hester is acting strange,
Kristina thought ... and then she remembered when she had watched the trio play music; the majority of the crew was drinking out of large mugs. She put two and two together.

"Hester, have you been drinking alcohol?" Kristina asked.

Hester snapped her head down and leered at Kristina. "That's none of your business!" she said as she wobbled a little.

"Then why is it that you can hardly stand?"

"Why don't you quit avoiding the subject," Hester hissed.

Defensively, Kristina crossed her arms and shook her head. "I'm not
even
going to take the time to deal with this," she said, forcing herself to speak calmly. "I have a crushing headache, and I'm going to bed."

"I'm surprised you didn't get lover boy to carry you down here again," Hester said, followed by a hiccup.

"You're pathetic," Kristina said, and she turned and proceeded to her cabin.

Infuriated, Hester stomped after Kristina, took hold of her arm, and spun her around. Kristina yanked her arm out of Hester's grip.

"Heerzek told me what you're hiding under that
lovely
orchid necklace!" Hester said. She grabbed the flowers and yanked them from Kristina's neck. Along with the orchid necklace, Kristina felt the chain that held the crystal stone around her neck snap as well. The stone slipped off the chain and fell to the floor.

Shocked, Kristina stood frozen with her mouth agape as she watched the stone fall to the floor at her feet.