The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (37 page)

“You wrote it?” Gen. Crandal asked.

“Most of it. I had the patrol leaders write up what they found and heard while they were searching for the captives. Those reports are in there, too.”

“Good,” Gen. Crandal said as he started walking towards the boat. “Myron, Alek, and I are going back to Milhaven as soon as we get back to Rochdale. We’ll take the report with us and bring it back tomorrow night, when we pick Marcus up.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Thursday evening, shortly after Sari and Taelor left, Theresa told Hayley she was going to turn in early. She wanted to talk to Glendymere without anyone else around.

Theresa waited in her room until she heard the door to Hayley’s room shut. Then she waited another hour to give Hayley time to fall asleep. After she felt sure she wouldn’t be missed, she slipped out of her room and made her way through the tunnels to the door that led to Glendymere’s chamber. She clanged the flying dragon against the iron shield five times and waited for Glendymere to answer.

“Theresa, my dear,”
he said after a couple of minutes.
“Did I forget you were coming by this evening?”

“No, I didn’t tell anyone I was coming. I wanted to speak with you privately. Should I come back some other time?”
she asked before she opened the door.

“Not at all,”
Glendymere answered.
“Come on in. I’m in my chamber.”

A few minutes later Theresa walked into Glendymere’s sleeping chamber and sat down on the side of the stone basin.

“What can I do for you?”

“I have some questions.” Theresa fingered her pendant. “About the pendant.”

Glendymere tilted his head.
“You’re afraid of it.”

Theresa thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “I guess I am.”

“Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I’m not sure how it works and I’m afraid of setting it off by accident. What triggers it? What makes it attack? And how do I stop it?”

“Your pendant is linked to you. Only your desire can cause it to flare.”

“You mean I have to want it to spark?”

Glendymere nodded.

“But the one time it did spark, I wasn’t thinking about my pendant at all. I was pretending to be angry, but I was scared. I thought the bounty hunters were going to kill us.”

“Fear triggered it. Fear causes a desire to be protected, and the pendant fills that need by flaring up. The intensity of your fear determines how strongly the pendant reacts, even to the point of destroying the source of your fear.”

“So anger doesn’t cause it to react?”

“Not on its own.”

“But Sister Evelyne told me I should have marked the bounty hunters. If the pendant acts on its own, how would I have done that?”

“By wanting it to strike. Fear causes an unconscious desire. What Sister Evelyne was referring to is the conscious desire to strike. You have to want to mark someone and picture the scar where you want it. Then the pendant will follow your wishes.”

Theresa shivered. “I can’t imagine doing that to someone.”

“I hope you never have to. It’s not something to be taken lightly, and in all the years the sisters have worn those pendants, there hasn’t been one case of a sister abusing that power. Healing hands are a gift, but the knowledge that goes with it must be learned. The desire to care for others has to be strong to make a woman go through all that preparation. Sisters want to help. They don’t harm without good reason.”

Theresa couldn’t help but think of Gerry and those poison mushrooms.

Glendymere picked up her thoughts.
“That was unfortunate. But even with all the harm she caused, she never marked anyone.”

Theresa shook her head. “I still find it a very scary thing to have the power to do that.”

“Imagine how Myron feels.”

“I have, and all I can say is I’m glad it’s him and not me,” Theresa said. “I do have one more question. Suppose a sister marks someone and then finds out she was wrong, that the person wasn’t responsible for whatever made the sister mark him in the first place. Is there any way to correct that kind of mistake?”

Glendymere shook his head.
“The scar from my flame can never be removed.”

Theresa sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

“You worry too much, Theresa. Chances are very good you’ll go through your whole life and that pendant will never do more than spark. But it’s there if you need it, and you’re smart enough to know when you need it.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After Kevin picked Marcus up Friday evening, Gen. Crandal met them in Kevin’s office.

“So, did you find out anything interesting?” Gen. Crandal asked.

“Not really,” Marcus answered. “The people who live along the river did notice a new boat in the area, but only one, and not a very large one either. It sounded a lot like the boat people saw near Syrando, but I’m sure there are hundreds of boats that look like that. It was in the area for several days, but no one remembers seeing it after the storm.”

“Did you find any signs of their camp?”

Marcus shook his head. “Nothing.”

“We can’t be sure of anything based on a lack of evidence, but there are similarities.” Kevin turned towards the general. “Do you think we’re dealing with the same crew?”

The general didn’t say anything for a moment, then he nodded. “My instincts tell me yes, but I don’t have anything to base it on. I’d like to go to Pylar’s Point tomorrow and let Lt. Martyn know about the second raid so they can be on the lookout for them, too.”

“Maybe we’ll get luckier this time,” Kevin said.

“If we do, maybe it will lead us to the others,” Gen. Crandal said.

Chapter 33

Saturday, November 2

After the November meeting of the Council of Sorcerers, Rolan sat down at his desk to think. Gwendolyn was up to something, and he needed to figure out what. He knew she had slavers raiding in Camden, but that was nothing new. Her family had been in the slave business forever, and as much as she hated the House of Nordin, she’d been targeting Camden for years. So that wouldn’t explain her good mood, but she was definitely pleased about something. Rolan felt certain whatever it was involved Myron.

Maybe she’d sent assassins after him. Rolan hadn’t heard about anyone new lurking around Milhaven, but he couldn’t remember whether he’d told his assassins to let him know if anyone else showed up or not. Besides, his men were focused on Landis and Taelor. And they’d only been there a few weeks. They wouldn’t know who was new to the area and who wasn’t. Garen would though, if he and his men were still in the neighborhood. They’d been there long enough to know who was new. They could tell him if Gwendolyn had sent any assassins out to get Myron.

Then he remembered he’d ordered Cpt. Yardner to sell their families into slavery. Rolan drummed his fingers on his desk. They probably wouldn’t be in the mood to do him any favors right now. Maybe he’d been a little hasty in that decision. But if Cpt. Yardner could get their families back, Rolan could tell Cpt. Garen he was giving them a chance to redeem themselves. He could even tell them if they carried out their primary orders he’d welcome them back to Trendon and set them up for life. The more he thought about that idea, the more he liked it, so he yelled for one of the pages to find Cpt. Yardner.

Fifteen minutes later, Cpt. Yardner knocked once on Rolan’s door, opened it, and walked in. “You wanted to see me?”

“Do you know what happened to Cpt. Garen’s family?”

“They were sold into slavery, just as you ordered.”

“But do you know who bought them?”

Cpt. Yardner frowned. “We sold them to a slave trader. I imagine he auctioned them off.”

“Can we find out what happened to them? Where they are?”

“I doubt it, but I guess we could try.”

“I want Cpt. Garen to do a couple of things for me, but I’m not sure he’ll follow through on any orders from me right now. He might decide to ignore them, but if I have his family, he’ll do as I say.”

“But you don’t,” Cpt. Yardner said, “and he probably holds you responsible for that.”

“Not if I tell him I’d changed my mind but you’d already sold them without waiting for my final word on the matter.”

“That’s not the way it happened.”

“It’s the way I remember it.” Rolan stared at Cpt. Yardner. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“No, sir, but I do believe you’re mistaken.”

“I don’t think so, and my opinion’s the only one around here that matters.”

Rolan stood and started pacing back and forth behind his desk. “I want you to write a letter to Cpt. Garen and have it hand-delivered. Tell him about your mistake and ask him to honor his position as a captain in the guard by following his orders. Tell him I still want them to try to kill Myron, but I also need to know if anyone else is in the area with the same orders, someone from another province, such as Landoryn. I want any new arrivals checked out. If there’s someone else in the area with orders to get rid of Myron, I want them to feel free to work with them. I don’t care who does the deed as long as it gets done. And tell him once it’s done, they’re welcome to come back to Trendon, and we’ll do whatever we can to recover their families, but if we can’t, we’ll help them begin new ones.”

Cpt. Yardner’s eyes opened wide. “You do realize you can’t replace a man’s wife and children, don’t you?”

“I don’t see why not. If they kill Myron, they can have any woman they desire. I’ll see to it. They can have more than one if they want. Meanwhile, see what you can do about finding their families. You might be right about them preferring the ones they had. But be sure they know if Myron’s eliminated, they get to choose who they want.” Rolan flipped his hand towards the door and turned towards the window.

After Cpt. Yardner left, Rolan began pacing again. He hoped whatever Gwendolyn was up to wasn’t going to mess up his plans. His goals were simple. Get rid of Landis. Get rid of Taelor. And get rid of Myron so Damien will become Master Sorcerer. Then he could get hold of that key to the other world. Damien would let him use it just for the asking. Rolan was sure of it.

Rolan sat back down in his chair and smiled. He could come and go as he chose, have anything he wanted, do whatever he pleased, and no one would be able to stop him. From what he’d overheard, he’d be the only sorcerer around. And there were no dragons there. As long as he was on that other world, he’d be invincible.

But he had to get there first, and that meant he had to get the key, which meant Gwendolyn could never become Master Sorcerer. If that was what she was planning, he’d have to find some way to stop her, even if it meant he had to get rid of her.

Chapter 34

A Piece of the Puzzle

When Kevin and Chris returned to the castle after the council meeting, Chris said, “Well, that was interesting.”

“How?” Kevin asked. “Nothing happened.”

“That’s what I mean. It felt like the calm before the storm.”

Kevin laughed. “What storm?”

“The one brewing over in the corner after the meeting. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice Rolan and Gwendolyn.”

“I saw them, but there’s no telling what they were talking about. Maybe there’s a shortage of something in Landoryn and Gwendolyn was working out a trade.”

Chris shook his head. “They were talking about you. I saw Rolan say Myron at one point.”

“You’re being paranoid.”

“Maybe so, but you should be paranoid, too. After all, those two are trying to kill you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do, and what’s more, you do, too.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Saturday afternoon, Kevin picked Theresa and Hayley up in Rainbow Valley and took them back to Milhaven. Then he asked Theresa to go for a walk with him. When they were out of sight of the chapel, he took Theresa’s hand, turned his key, and a couple of moments later, they were on the beach of Federation Isle.

As they walked along the beach, Theresa asked, “What’s the occasion?”

“I want to talk to you for a minute, and I don’t want to be overheard.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is. Have you or Hayley ever met Landis or Rhianna?”

“I have, but it’s been a while. Hayley hasn’t though. Why?”

“I need to keep their location a secret, but everyone in Milhaven knows you and Hayley go to Rainbow Valley all the time.”

“True, but that name’s not on any map. Blalick calls it that because his mother did, and we do because he did. No one else has any idea where it is. Hayley doesn’t even know.”

“She knows it’s near Glendymere.”

Theresa thought for a moment. “She knows I met Glendymere while I was living there, but I’m not sure she realizes how close by he is.”

“She knows the giants live there, and everyone on Terah knows giants take care of dragons. That’s what gave us away with Blalick.”

“You’re right,” Theresa said. “But how many humans know where he lives?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know if any of the seated sorcerers know, but they may.”

“Okay,” Theresa said. “She may realize he’s around there somewhere. But she’s never met Landis. I’m not sure any of us have even mentioned her name around Hayley.”

“But she has met Taelor.”

Theresa nodded. “She sees him every time we go, but I’ve told her not to mention anything about him to anyone.” Then she frowned. “What’s this all about?”

“Landis and Rhianna will be in Milhaven Monday. I don’t know that Rolan has anyone here looking for her, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. And the information about her whereabouts would be worth quite a bit to Rolan. If his men realize that either of you know something, they might try to find out what it is. They’d be gentle with you, but Hayley doesn’t have a pendant. They might get rough with her.”