Blinding Beauty (26 page)

“
She’s lovely, isn’t she?” Isa
wasn’t sure how he was doing it, making the scene move and change,
but she felt the ancient power flowing again around her.

The young woman in the scene was
indeed fair, but it was the openness of her face that was most
breathtaking. A kindness lay there, like a refreshing crystal pool
just waiting for a thirsty soul.

“
She is lovely,” Isa heard herself
whisper, in spite of her promise to ignore the wretched man
completely.

“
I met Agatha while on a journey
doing business for my mother,” he said as the scene on the wall
began to change. “In fact, we first saw one another in a tavern,
where my companions and I had stopped to stay for the night. She
was easy to spot, in spite of the crowded room, for girls of her
manner and dress were never found milling about places like
that.”

Mesmerized, Isa watched as an
older man yelled something unintelligible, and Agatha nodded and
darted over to the tavern keep. The old keep nodded and poured her
three mugs of what looked like ale, which Agatha immediately
brought back to the table, keeping her eyes on the floor the whole
time. After she’d handed the loud man the drinks, he gave a raucous
laugh before issuing another order. Again, the girl simply nodded
and half ran out of the ill-lit room.

“
I followed her out to see if she
was in need of assistance.” Brokk spoke again. “When I found her
outside, tending to her father’s horse, however, it was she who
helped me.” He gave a strangled laugh. “Instead of answering my
question, she placed her hand on my head and informed me I had a
fever. And she was right. Within an hour, I was so sick I was
delirious. Days later, by the time I was coherent enough to tell my
companions my name, I was informed that it had been she who had
kept me alive, as my companions knew absolutely nothing of nursing
a dying man back to health.” The wall began to move again, quickly
this time. Summer turned to autumn, which turned to
winter.

“
I sent word to my mother saying I
had found a matter of the utmost importance, and that I needed to
remain gone for a time. Being the good woman she was, I was given
full allowance to remain for as long as I needed. While I was
there, I did odd jobs for whomever needed them, chopping firewood,
bringing in the harvest, even helping the village holy man care for
the chapel. Agatha and I spent every moment together that we could
find.” Brokk gave a sigh, and Isa knew he must be approaching his
unhappy ending. Again, the scene on the wall began to
move.

“
Her father demanded payment for
her hand. The amount was much higher than was expected for young
women of the region, but he had long discovered I came from a high
place, and he was adamant that he get his fair share. Of course, I
had no qualm meeting his payments, using my... gift to bring in
more than he had even demanded. With the rest of the money, I had
planned to hire a coach to bring us back to my home in comfort as
soon as the winter was over. I could travel without trouble in any
weather, but she was made of more delicate stuff.”

Suddenly, the wall stopped moving,
and the scenes of happiness and contentment disappeared. The young
woman with laughing eyes and light brown hair was gone, as was the
younger version of Brokk. Once again, there was just a wall of
glass. Isa sank slowly onto the bed, too distracted to notice
whether it was clean or not.

“
My mother sent word, however,
that I must return at once. There was a matter of urgency that
threatened all the regions, including that of my wife. Because she
had taken to sickliness that winter, I left her with friends,
promising to return for her as soon as possible.”

Isa waited for him to continue,
but instead he stopped. Silently, for the young woman’s sake, Isa
mourned the loss that she knew was coming. Whatever had happened
hadn’t been her fault.

“
What happened?” Isa finally
whispered after a long pause, unable to bear the unspoken any
longer.

“
A plague had begun to ravage the
lands,” he said in a hollow voice. “Not just one or two regions,
but nearly all of the northern lands had been touched. My mother
needed my assistance in deciding what to do.”

“
What to do?”

“
My mother’s power was also a gift
of the Maker’s, as yours is. Her gift was glass, too, but it was
much stronger and more potent than mine.” He paused. “I can show
you better in person later, if you like. For now, I will simply say
that we could have rid the lands of the plague easily. All of them.
But curing the people would have required each land’s regent to
allow us to briefly take control of his lands. Some of the regents
agreed readily. But there were some who would not.”

“
Why would the kings not allow
it?”

“
I’m sorry,” Brokk said politely.
“I forget you are not as old as I am. You see, we didn’t have
kings, or even separate kingdoms in our day. Regents stewarded
different regions, but they all paid respect to my
mother.”

“
Who was your mother?” Uneasiness
returned to Isa’s stomach as she fingered the thick, brown coverlet
of the bed.

“
My mother was the most powerful
enchantress who ever lived. Her name was Sigridur, but the people
knew her as the Glass Queen.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

Legends

It took Isa
a moment to find her voice.

“
So the legends are
true?”

“
If you come out, I will show
you.”

Her common sense screamed for Isa
to stay put. This man, this lying enchanter, had taken her from
everything and everyone she held dear, and was keeping her captive
in a strange glass prison. It felt rather familiar, she thought
bitterly. Must she go through this again?

Still, she hadn’t broken the
Fortress’s curse by sitting in her room and moping, and it didn’t
appear as though the glass wall was going to open again for her to
step back through. If he was so desperate for her to see something
that he thought he needed to abduct her, then she might as well see
it. And a small, childish part of her did want to see if the
legends were true. So without a word, she went to the door and
cautiously opened it, ready to slam it shut if she needed
to.

Brokk stood in the hall. “It’s a
bit cold here.” He gave her a hesitant, almost bashful smile, and
gestured back to the wardrobe in the room. “I think you will be
more comfortable if you’re warm.”

Seeing no reason to argue, Isa
pulled on the fur coat from the wardrobe, and after a deep breath,
left the room.

From the moment she stepped out
the door, Isa knew she would be forever changed, if by nothing
else, by the place itself. She had never dreamed such an edifice
could exist. And yet, the longer she turned in circles, staring up
at the vaulted blue arches and the ethereal light that seemed to be
part of the glass itself, she immediately couldn’t imagine a world
without it.

They were standing in a hallway
nearly wide enough across to fit three large beds. Her room stood
at the far end of the hallway. The other end of the hallway was so
distant it was impossible to make out, and the ceiling above them
was high enough that its details were fuzzy. Even so, she could
make out that every single wall, beam, and corner was made of the
same frosty blue glass as she had found in the bedroom. Even though
she stood on a dark purple velvet silver edged rug that looked to
run the length the entire hall, she could feel the hard glass
beneath it.

“
Where are we?” she
breathed.

“
This is my home.” He raised his
hands, palms up, in a simple, happy shrug. “Its true name is Galdur
Gler, but like my mother’s true name, it was never used. It was
simply called the Glass Castle.”

“
How did such a place become
forgotten?” Isa stopped turning in circles to stare at
him.

“
That depends on what you’ve
heard.” The slightest shadow of unease crossed his face.

But Isa shook her head. “I really
don’t know many stories, to tell the truth. Mostly,” she paused and
tried to remember the nights when traveling bards would come to
Soudain, and tell frightening stories to the children in the
firelight. “Everyone claims that there was an old queen once who
lived in a glass palace, but that she died unexpectedly. Some said
she had contracted the plague, while others said she died of a
broken heart when her husband passed.” Isa shook her head. “The
other children and I mostly made up adventures about the palace and
the queen’s knights.”

At this, Brokk’s shoulders
relaxed, and his welcome smile returned. He began to walk down the
hall, motioning for Isa to join him. She did so, but they didn’t
speak, and for a few moments, all she could hear were the swishing
sounds of their long, fur coats and the sounds of their boots’
muffled taps on the rug. Isa tried to memorize all of the details
around her. Still, neither all the intricate curves in the glass
molding, nor all of the fine lines in the ornately carved walls,
could distract her from the one question she needed answered most.
She stopped walking and stood as straight as she could.

“
Why did you bring me here?” How
she wished she could sound as calm and collected as Ever always
did! “And why did you use your power on me in the practice
room?”

“
For that,” Brokk sighed, not
meeting her eyes, “I’m sorry. Honestly, if there had been any other
way, I would have taken it instead.” Isa steeled herself,
determined not to allow his sorrow to sway her good judgment. He
drew a breath before speaking again. “I needed your
help.”

“
That doesn’t answer my question
about the practice room.”

“
I hope I didn’t frighten you too
much there. I merely meant to test your sensitivity to my power. I
never meant for you to fall.”

“
You could have just asked!” Isa
knew she was taking a chance with such sharp words, as he was an
enchanter of sorts, and, it seemed, a very powerful one. But the
annoyance of being taken against her will for the second time in
one year was too much. Walking, against her will, down great,
silent halls of an enchanted citadel was too fresh, too familiar
for her to feel comfortable. And she was not going to fall in love
with her captor this time.

“
Please forgive me for being
frank, my dear, but your husband is a bit... overprotective. He
never would have allowed me to discuss my problem with you.” Brokk
finally met her eyes and held her gaze. “You know that.”

Isa just turned and continued
walking down the hall faster than he had been going. To her
annoyance, however, he kept up unusually well for an old
man.

“
Please, listen first, then make
your judgment!” His words, louder than any she’d heard him speak
before, echoed up and down the hall. He stopped. “I have been
searching for someone like you for two hundred years.”

Isa came to a halt. “What
for?”

He didn’t answer at first, just
studied her. As he did, Isa realized, he looked much different than
the servant she’d first met in the practice room at Rafael’s
palace. He stood straight, his bearing very much as regal as
Ever’s. Though his hair was still silver, it seemed less unruly
than before, and his eyes suddenly flashed with a
determination.

“
I told you that my mother called
me back here from the cottage I shared with my wife. When I
arrived, my mother brought me in to her meeting room immediately.
That was when the regents of each region turned to my mother to ask
what they should do about the sickness. As soon as I arrived, my
mother and I worked day and night until we found a way to heal
those who suffered.”

Curiosity overtook her once again.
“What did you find?”

To Isa’s surprise, he put his hand
in the pocket of his robe and drew out a small goblet. He held it
out, so Isa took it, carefully turning it over in her hands. The
entire goblet was made of a purple frosted glass, much like berries
caught in an unexpected freeze.

“
All they had to do was drink from
the goblet. They could drink anything from it to be
healed.”

“
What went wrong?”

“
My mother and I were given much
power, but there were limits to even our abilities. For our goblet
to work, my mother asked that the regents of the different lands
allow us to visit their lands personally, to serve the cure
ourselves. Since there were no kings, only regents, it should have
been simple. And yet,” he sighed, “she gave them the choice
anyway.”

As he said this, he motioned for
her to follow him again. They came to the end of the hallway, where
the walls opened up into the largest room Isa had ever seen. Their
path had become a bridge that hung suspended above the center of
the room. Curved railings, much like glass branches of ivy,
bordered each side of the walkway. One staircase spiraled down from
the right, and one from the left, each on the opposite side of the
path. In this room, the ceilings continued to vault up into soaring
arches, but between the thick glass beams which lifted the lofty
ceiling, giant, colorful windows painted the distant floors below.
The windows themselves had to be at least the height of the throne
room in the Fortress. Each one depicted a scene, though the scenes
were too complicated for Isa to comprehend at just a glance. She
would have needed hours of study to see what they truly
meant.