“Thanks!” I darted back out of the room before the woman could reply, and made my way through to the kitchen and out onto the lawn through the busted wall.
I peered out into the darkness, wondering where the sentry had gotten to. Impatience and frustration were starting to get the better of me, and I stalked out toward the surrounding forest.
Hazel
Low mists wrapped themselves around the tree trunks, making it harder to see what might lie beyond. I was reluctant to travel too deeply into the forests. Their eerie silence still made me feel as if I was being watched, and the dark, unfathomable shapes created by twisting roots and rock formations made my body tense.
I wondered if Abelle would have even bothered to go so far into the woods—what herbs would grow in the constant shade of the dense trees? But she was nowhere else. She had to be around here somewhere.
“Abelle?” I called out into the night.
No reply. I tried a couple more times, but felt like my voice was being drowned by the heavy clusters of trees and dank mists. The only other option I had was to try to use my faulty True Sight skills to see into the forest.
I leaned against the trunk of a tree, closing my eyes briefly to calm myself and summon the energy I needed. I took a few deep breaths, determined to make this work, and reopened my eyes. Trying to follow Tejus’s instructions, I fixed my gaze way ahead in the distance—acting as if the shroud of the forest wasn’t really there, like a curtain I could part and reveal what lay behind it.
It took a while. I could feel perspiration beading on my forehead, and my breaths becoming heavier and more labored as the mental energy took its toll. Even my eyes started to ache, growing dry and uncomfortable. Eventually I was rewarded with a slight wavering of the scene before me, and my sight extended to see past the first cluster of trees, then the second, and then on beyond that. The outlines of objects grew more blurry the further my sight reached, but still just about distinguishable.
Slowly I started to move my head, taking in more of the forest.
Where are you?
I couldn’t see anything other than trees, rocks and thick clusters of undergrowth, none of it stirring. The complete absence of wildlife, and the strange trance-like state that using True Sight created, made me feel totally isolated, like I was the only person left alive in a dead world.
Just when I was about to give up and return to the palace, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I could see the blurry outlines of two figures. I still couldn’t see in color, which made it harder for me to make out who they were. I started to move closer, not wanting to call out just yet—there was something shifty about the way they were moving through the forest, slow and warily, as if they didn’t want to be seen.
Trying not to make a sound, I reached a point where I could make out one of the figures—it was definitely Abelle, the large and slightly rotund silhouette was unmistakable. The second figure was just as tall as Abelle, and dressed in a black robe with the hood entirely covering the sentry’s face.
Acolyte?
They were the only sentries I knew who dressed that way…
I moved even closer, straining to hear their conversation.
“He’ll know!” Abelle was saying to the black hooded figure. “If I give her anymore, or make the dosage stronger, they’ll guess—one of the kitchen workers is already suspicious.”
The hooded figure was silent, his concealed face turning toward Abelle as she seemed to tremble in fear.
Are they talking about me?
Abelle was meant to be helping all the Acolyte-syphoning victims, but as far as I was aware, I was the only one that Abelle was giving remedies to on a regular basis.
“This isn’t a request, Abelle,” the cloaked figure replied. “If you don’t continue to weaken the girl, we will expose you—there will be no doubt as to what you truly are, and who you’ve been working for. I imagine Ashbik would be so very disappointed.”
“Please don’t,” Abelle replied. “I’ve done all that you have asked so far—”
“It is not enough!” the figure hissed.
I now had no doubt whatsoever that the figure was an Acolyte, and presumably Abelle had been working for them all this time—right under our noses.
“Fine! Fine…I will increase the dosage. They are leaving soon—I will slip something in her drink, something more potent.” Abelle hastened to reassure the Acolyte, clutching her robe around her as she started to slowly back away. Clearly she wanted out of the conversation, to be a million miles away from the cloaked figure.
“Make sure you do,” the Acolyte replied. “This is a personal vendetta of Queen Trina’s—if anything were to go wrong, the consequences would be severe.”
“What if Tejus questions me? What do I say?”
“That is not my concern. Say anything you want. It is too late for them all anyway, the entity will rise and their end shall come.”
“Then…then why am I doing this? What difference does it make?” Abelle trembled more obviously now, as if afraid of the wrath her questioning might elicit.
There was a long pause before the Acolyte replied. When he did, it was not with anger, but instead a satisfied purr.
“Queen Trina has particular plans for Hazel.”
My heart seemed to stop beating as my name rolled off the Acolyte’s tongue.
What plans?
Whatever they were, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Backing away silently, I obscured myself behind a thick-trunked tree, no longer able to hear their conversation clearly. A few moments later, the Acolyte took his leave from Abelle.
She hurried back in the direction of the lawn and the palace, moving swiftly for a woman of her size. I started to move toward her, intending to cut her off before she reached the palace.
Pure fury rushed, unchecked, through the veins in my body. Abelle was a traitorous coward, deceiving Ash so completely that he thought of her as a mother-like figure, and fooling the rest of us into thinking she was a kind, saving grace when we needed help the most.
Abelle halted mid-stride, hearing my approach. She glanced over in my direction, her face frozen in shock. I could see her wondering how much, if any, of the conversation I’d heard—not knowing whether to keep running, or stand and face me.
I didn’t give her the opportunity to run.
As soon as I was close enough, I let my hunger consume me, syphoning off Abelle as aggressively as I could. She yelled out in pain, clutching her head, and tried to reverse the effect. I gritted my teeth, knowing that my hunger was stronger—that my power was stronger. The more I sucked her energy, drinking thirstily of what she had to offer, the more she screamed.
Her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell onto the forest floor. I closed the gap between us, grabbing her arm so that I could completely eradicate any energy that might remain. I couldn’t let her get away and return to the Acolytes—better that when I faced Queen Trina she thought I was weak and powerless.
Soon she was a motionless heap, her breathing faint and labored.
I felt sick.
The image before me, Abelle’s crumpled body, reminded me of the nightmares I’d had when I first transformed into a sentry: helpless bodies lying at my feet while I felt all-powerful, bloated with their energy.
Shaking the recollections of the visions away, I hurried back to the palace. I wouldn’t be able to move Abelle on my own—guards would be needed to lift her, and then we could lock her up somewhere, preventing her from having any further contact with the Acolytes.
As I ran toward the kitchen, the first person I saw was Ruby. She watched me, looking surprised to see me running from the direction of the forest. She stopped what she was doing, stepping out into the garden.
“What’s happened?” she asked.
“Abelle…sh-she’s an Acolyte,” I panted, stopping short of entering the kitchen and lowering my head down to my knees to catch my breath.
“What?”
?
??I heard her in the forest. She was trying to weaken me with the potions—some personal vendetta of Queen Trina’s, apparently.”
Ruby groaned.
“Oh, God, this is all my fault…”
“It’s not—not at all. How were we to know? I trusted her as well, so did Ash. We all did!”
Regaining my breath, I stood upright, feeling Abelle’s energy starting to take effect. I felt good—unstoppable and ready for whatever lay ahead. I felt the last vestiges of the dulling effect from the potion start to weaken. About now I would usually be taking my second dose, which meant in a few hours, whatever Abelle had been feeding me would start to drain from my system...hopefully without any withdrawal affects.
“I can’t believe this. Maybe she was the traitor who informed the Acolytes we’d be at the castle? It’s the last person I would have expected!”
“I know,” I replied. “I had my misgivings about Ragnhild, but not her.”
Ruby’s face fell, turning a shade whiter.
“The villagers,” she murmured. “When we first saw them in that barn…do you think she was about to do something to them? Before we arrived?”
I hadn’t even thought about that. I recalled how the villagers had been so afraid, all huddled in the one barn as if they’d been herded there…and Abelle appearing, as if from nowhere, totally unafraid. What had we stopped? Was it the sacrifice that the human children were now paying for?
“It’s entirely possible,” I whispered.
“Where is she now?” Ruby asked.
“She’s back in the forest—she won’t be going anywhere for a while, but we need to get some guards to pick her up and lock her away somewhere safe. I don’t want her getting to Queen Trina.”
“I’ll go and speak to them—and Ash will need to know. Wait here.”
Ruby rushed off through the kitchen doors. I heaved a sigh of relief. I had started to feel the hunger rearing up when faced with Ruby’s potent energy, one hundred times more enticing than Abelle’s had been. I would need to be careful today, surrounded by Benedict and my friends as we marched to the Seraq kingdom. Very careful.
Tejus
The messenger swooped down, landing on the lawn, and swiftly disembarked. His face looked grave.
“What?” I asked impatiently. I had sent him and a few others off to inform the rest of the kingdoms of our plan, and that we would require their assistance. Most of the messengers had taken too long to return… It didn’t bode well.
“I left them deliberating. Corithos has taken over the Hadalix kingdom, unlawfully, but his subjects aren’t voicing any objections. I’m afraid I have no firm answer for you.”
I nodded, dismissing the messenger. Corithos was Hadalix’s son. I had known him as an unruly, spoiled brat who spent most of his time hunting for sport, and had never shown any interest in taking up his father’s throne. I could only hope that the boy had come to his senses, and that his father’s name wouldn’t be shamed in the forthcoming days.
We had only moments before we were due to march on the Seraq kingdom, and I was still waiting to hear whether the Memenion and Thraxus kingdoms would be supporting us. The Demzred kingdom had replied instantly, but the messenger reported that their army was small—they had been hit badly by the earthquake, little of the castle surviving, and King Dellian Demzred, who had failed the first imperial trial by failing to kill his hallucination, was now on his death bed, having fought off an attack by his own mutinous villagers.
“Have you heard from Queen Memenion?” Ash approached, his gaze fixed on the starlit night that would be rapidly approaching dawn.
“Not yet.”
Ash nodded bleakly. We both knew that Queen Memenion would be leading the strongest force, made up of not just her own sentries, but those from the Hellswan kingdom who had needed aid.
“Has Abelle been secured?” I asked.
“In one of the towers. There’s little we can do against the Acolytes if they choose to rescue her though. Do you think we should take her with us?”
“I’m not sure. I thought so at first. But I doubt they’ll guess we’ve discovered her, and if this sacrifice is going ahead, then their attention will be diverted elsewhere. I think it’s safer to leave her here. Or kill her.”
I knew which option I would have preferred.
“We might need her for information,” Ash replied quickly—too quickly.
I turned to look at him.
“Ash?” I questioned, my rebuke silent.
“I can’t, Tejus,” he replied quietly. “Not till I’ve had an opportunity to question her. I need to know how long it’s been going on for—how long she’s been betraying us all.”
“Betraying you, you mean.”
I tried to keep my temper in check. I understood what he was going through—I had experienced the same rush of conflicting emotions when Varga had been revealed as one of the Acolytes, but then Varga hadn’t directly harmed anyone I’d loved.
“What if it was reversed?” I asked. “What if it was Ruby who had been taking that potion instead of Hazel?”
Ash was silent.
Grinding my teeth in agitation, I started to walk back to the palace. I needed to do something, anything, rather than let my anger at Ash overflow. Combined with my frustration on the lack of support we seemed to be getting from the rest of the kingdoms, my mood was tense and restless. I had already made up my mind as to the consequences Abelle would face if we survived the day—but Ash didn’t need to know that. I only hoped he could see the irony of him questioning me on my ability to end the life of Queen Trina when he was unwilling to do the same with Abelle.
Hazel met me at the door. She jumped back a little at my approach, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked pale, and slightly jittery. Her eyes darted too quickly, surveying the landscape behind me, while seeming hyper-alert to my presence.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, wondering if she would tell me the truth.
“Okay,” she replied, her voice high-pitched.
“Hungry?”
“No—I’m fine.”
“If you can manage to syphon through the door, Abelle is locked in the west tower. You’ll need to be quick though, we’re leaving shortly.”
She nodded her head, then quickly scurried up the main staircase without another word. She must have been starving. I hated seeing her like this—withdrawing from Abelle’s potion would have only made it worse. I cursed the vile woman under my breath. I should have trusted my instincts when it came to the apothecary.
Ragnhild and another guard approached me, waiting for their orders. Ragnhild was another one I wasn’t sure I could trust…but other than the journey to the temple, where he’d lied to Ruby, I had no cause to doubt him. And time was short.
“Ready the bull-horses and the vultures. All but the badly injured will accompany us—if there aren’t enough animals, some will have to walk until we can find more on the journey. Hazel rides alone. Only give the vultures to guards, not ministers—the emperor can have his choice of animal.”
I reeled off the instructions, still deliberating whether or not we should wait for the messenger I sent to the Memenion kingdom to return, but what would be the point? With or without their support, we would be going ahead anyway.
“Anything further, Commander?” Ragnhild asked.
“No—that’s all for now. Meet me out front. I will be riding alongside Hazel.”
The guards turned away.
We rode off in the darkness of the night, following the path that would eventually lead us to the main thoroughfare and then all the way to Queen Trina’s domain. The moon was high, sickly yellow in the star-studded sky, and seemed to be hovering over the Seraq kingdom—an ominous guide to light our way.
“Did you hear from Queen Memenion?” Hazel asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as if she feared disturbing the dark around us.
“No,” I replied. “I have not. I can only hope that the messenger has been detained for som
e reason, and that the queen has not abandoned us.”
As we left the forest that surrounded the path to the palace, we entered flatter land. Some of the fires started by the earthquake had left parts of the earth still in glowing embers, other landmarks completely eradicated, making the landscape appear alien and strange to even the most seasoned travelers of the land.
“Pick up the pace!” I called back to the rest of the riders, galloping on with urgency as I started to see the faint pinkish hue of the rising sun in the distance. I checked to see if Hazel was able to keep up, reassured when I saw her handling the bull-horse with ease—her eyes focused on the distance, her body moving in smooth motion with the rippling muscles of the beast beneath her.
Her dark hair flew out behind her, her face pale but determined. Her fingers clutched the reins, spurring the bull-horse on. She had forgone wearing a robe, and instead wore her human clothes, though the night air must have been cool against her skin. I wondered if her choice of clothing was a symbolic act; that when she faced Queen Trina, it would be as a human—regardless of the powers she now had, regardless of her transformation.
Watching her now, I could see she was a changed creature from the girl I had taken from Murckbeech Island. The girl who had stood in my living quarters, demanding that I told her what I was, deriding my actions and hating me with every fiber of her being for kidnapping her and her friends. She had been brave even then, but now her bravery and her courage had been tempered, like steel to flame.
My heart ached with how much I loved her, but at the same time, pumped cold blood through my veins – the fear that she would come to harm haunted me constantly, driving my already inherent need to control everything completely out of perspective. My one comfort was in knowing that wherever our fates led us in the coming hours, my soul would always be entwined with hers. If my body and mind ceased to be, my love for Hazel would continue to be as sure as the setting of the sun and the rising of the dawn. That part of me, at least, would be immortal.