Chartile: Prophecy (14 page)

“
So you are the one
filling my baby sister’s head with rebellious ideas.” Her accent
caught in her throat with a menacing rasp. “As my sister’s
retainer, it is my responsibility to keep her from such dangers,
but I can see why she fancies you so.” Dimitri nearly choked on his
pearl wine, and both Gemari and Jack blushed scarlet.

“
My lady,” Jack stammered,
“I…I simply wish to help your sister attain what will make her most
happy. She seems to believe you would be far more acquainted to her
role than she. Might I inquire as to your interest in such
a…uh…venture?”

The group quieted and stared at Jack with
varying degrees of awe.

“
Goodness, Jack,” said
Piper. “May I take you on as my head advisor?” She laughed,
hiccupped, and took another drink.

“
Gemari may be young,”
Ketari continued. The side grin that had tugged at the corner of
her mouth vanished, “but she is the rightful Princess and heir. She
may have much to learn, but it is the way of things. And I will be
here to guide her. It is my duty.” Ketari nodded, and Gemari smiled
at her adoringly.

“
So, you have absolutely
no interest in being the Princess?” asked Jayson, “Even if Gemari
were willing to just give it to you?”

“
I do not see how this can
be done,” Ketari said frowning. “Gemari is Princess, not I. Your
customs must be written in the clouds that they can be changed with
the direction of the wind! I appreciate your concern for my
sister’s happiness, but I can assure you, she is where she is
destined to be.”

“
And what of Orctkar?”
asked Jack.

“
What of him?” Ketari
asked. It was hard for Jack to imagine the young woman’s tone could
be more serious and sinister. Gemari stood behind Ketari, and shook
her head vivaciously. “They are friends. You would not imply the
Princess has been having romantic relationships, would
you?”

Gemari’s eyes widened and she continued to
shake her head.

“
As if,” said Jayson.
“But, let’s say she did like him, or someone else. As Queen or
Empress, she can’t get married. That’s so not fair. Doesn’t
everyone deserve to be happy, and find true love and all that
stuff?”

“
No.” Ketari turned on her
heel and glided away, leaving everyone to stare at her back until
she faded into the crowd.

“
I see what you mean about
her,” Jack murmured turning back to his friends.

“
Jack, you nearly ruined
it all!” Gemari shrieked, and gave Jack a shove.

Jack took a step back. “I’m sorry! What did
I say?”

“
Orctkar! Everyone knows
we are only friends.”

“
I’m sorry, Gemari. I’m
really not that good at this stuff, honest!”

“
Oh! Look! There he is!”
As quickly as she had angered, Gemari’s voice brightened back into
its high pitched sweetness. She pointed to a doorway in the far
corner of the room where a boy could be seen standing and speaking
with someone. They couldn’t make out his face, but he seemed to be
slightly older than Gemari with a muscular physique nearly as
strong as Dimitri’s.

“
He works in the
kitchens,” said Gemari. “Come! Please meet him. He is my best
friend!” She pulled on Jack’s arm, leading him through the crowd.
Jack turned wide eyed to his friends and mouthed help me. Jayson,
Dimitri and Piper stifled laughs as they followed.

They walked across the room, the crowd
parting before them. Princess Gemari had to stop often to bow to
the elders. She hurried through the throng as quickly as she could,
pulling Jack behind her as she went. Jayson attempted to grab as
much food as he could along the way, but there were too many elders
between him and the tables that lined the walls for it to be of any
real success. He dared not interrupt the half intoxicated Dwarvik
women in the middle of their gossip.

“
Hello, Orctkar,” said
Gemari sweetly, and tapped the boy on the shoulder. He turned
sharply, pushing a pretty young girl behind him, who took off into
the kitchens. Gemari was mid bow when she stopped. She stood,
trying to peer around Orctkar’s shoulder into the kitchens beyond.
“Who was that?” she asked, her voice dropping its sweet demeanor
and sounding almost exactly like her sister’s. Jack tried to back
away, but was blocked by Piper, Dimitri and Jayson. They stood
shoulder to shoulder behind him, sipping pearl wine and eating
stuffed mushrooms.

“
Greetings, Princess.
Uh…that was Avantria. She is new to the kitchens. I have
been…helping her.”

“
How kind of you to be so
friendly,” said Dimitri. Piper elbowed him and half snorted into
her glass.

“
Orctkar, what is
happening here?” Gemari asked. “The kitchen is no place for a
woman. She cannot possibly work here.”

“
It is nothing! I promise,
Princess!” Orctkar was turning redder by the minute.

“
What do you mean nothing?
Isn’t that what you said about her?” This time, it was Avantria.
She must not have disappeared into the kitchens very far. Jack
tried to back away again, but Jayson pushed him forward again. Jack
stumbled into Gemari, slipping on the smooth stone floor in his
unfamiliar shoes. He reached out, catching Gemari’s arm to steady
himself. Gemari turned to him, and pulled him to her, pressing her
lips to his. Still off balance, Jack had nowhere to go but forward.
He pinned Gemari against the wall, still kissing her. Piper nearly
dropped her drink as her hand clasped to her mouth. Jayson gasped
and tried not to laugh. Dimitri grabbed Piper’s and Jayson’s elbows
on either side of him. He pulled them close to him, keeping their
shoulders together to hide the scene from the view of the
elders.

Gemari pushed Jack away from her. He
stumbled back into Dimitri who caught him, and placed a hand on his
shoulder to keep him from running.

“
Your untrustworthiness to
the Royals and Elders has been noted, Orctkar,” Gemari said. She
turned swiftly, and though completely flushed, looked exactly like
Ketari as she pushed past Jayson and back into the room. Orctkar
tried to run after her, but Jayson stepped in front of
him.

“
Dude, I think you should
just refill the wine, okay?” He said. Orctkar looked into the stern
faces of Princess Gemari’s friends, and turned back toward the
kitchens.

“
Avantria! Wait!” he
called, and the kitchen door closed behind him.

Jack stood frozen, staring at the kitchen
door before him. That wasn’t the way he had imagined his first
kiss. Dimitri pushed a glass of pearl wine into his hand. “Come,
Jack,” he said and placed his arm around Jack’s shoulder. “Believe
me when I say this sort of thing happens more often than any elder
or royal would care to admit. Especially early in their career.
These are the secret matters of state that no one discusses. By the
time you’ve finished that, it will all be over.”

“
It’s all peachy-keen,
jellybean!” said Jayson, who had obviously begun to feel the
effects of the pearl wine. “Let’s go get some food,” he said,
headed for the table piled high with cream cakes.

Chapter Ten

The Black
Diamonds

The gems on Leo’s cuffs dug into his wrists
as his captor twisted his arms behind him. The glint of a sword
hilt caught Leo’s eye. He watched it sway back and forth at the
man’s side. Leo knew if he could get it in his hands, he could
fight his way out and escape. Not that it would do him much good.
He still had no idea where he was. The dwarves knew their mines far
better than he did. They’d have him recaptured in no time. No, Leo
needed to be patient. He needed to bide his time. He needed to
explain his case, find out who these people were and what they
wanted with him. Now he wished he had Jack’s gift of words, or even
Jayson’s sense of humor and wit. He wasn’t so sure logical
reasoning would get him very far with the dwarves.

A horn sounded somewhere, and the activity
in the center square below him ceased. The people below stared up
at the new, pale skinned prisoner they had never seen before. As
one, they all moved quickly to the houses around the perimeter.
Doors slammed shut. Curtains were pulled over windows. Leo wondered
which Quarter he had stumbled into. It wasn’t anything like the
other Quarters he had visited.

For one, these were the first houses he had
seen in the entire mountain. The other Quarters were designed more
like motels. And, he had never seen anything like a village square
before either. The hasanas worked for other merchants who did their
trade and work from the common area at the front of their homes.
Except for the kitchens. Everyone was supplied with basic food
necessities every week. They paid for anything extra or
extravagant. Leo thought it was a good system. No one had to worry
about being hungry. But the few people he glimpsed did look hungry.
They were thin and bony, and their eyes looked sunken in.

The man holding Leo’s arms walked him toward
a door at the far side of the mine. It opened, and Leo was blinded
by the bright light of the outdoors. It had been days since he had
seen proper sunlight. Leo stopped and closed his eyes before the
man shoved him out the door.

There was a small ledge with a straight drop
down to the forest below. Leo realized he was at the far eastern
side of the mountain closest to the Belirian Forest. The man pushed
Leo into a cage woven from ropes and branches, and locked the door.
He watched as the man unwound a rope from a nearby rock, and the
cage began to rise and sway as it was lifted up and out over the
sheer drop below.

“
I swear, I didn’t do
anything! I’m really sorry! I just got lost!” Leo exclaimed. He
clutched at the rickety ropes of the cage, and tried in vain to
keep his voice from cracking.

The door to the mountain opened and two men
stepped out onto the ledge. Their curly black beards sparkled in
the sunlight, decorated with tiny black gems. They did not wear the
armor of the Dwarvik guards, but pure black metal and leather. A
realization began to form in Leo’s mind, and he stopped struggling
against his prison. The tallest of the men walked slowly up to the
cage, and gave it a gentle turn. Leo could hear the ropes creaking,
but stayed his hand from grasping at the bars in panic. He had to
show no fear in the face of these adversaries.

“
You look like no elf or
human I have ever seen,” said the man. His voice was deep and
smooth. “Where are you from, and how did you find us?”

Leo swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
“My name is Leo DeHaven. I am not from your world. My friends, Jack
and Jayson, and me, we…we are from another planet, or dimension or
something. We don’t know how we got here. There was this light, and
we woke up here. We met Piper from Outland Post, and she helped us.
We came here with her and Dimitri when Empress Nefiri sent him to
get us. I think she wants to talk about Taraniz, but I don’t know
what that’s got to do with us. I was going to the pre-banquet and I
got lost.” He inhaled again, having spoken the entirety of his
speech in a single breath. “You’re— you’re The Black Diamonds,
aren’t you?”

The dwarf smiled at Leo. “You are observant,
little man. What else do you know that may be of use to me? Speak
well, or you may find yourself meeting not with the elders, but a
rather agonizing end.” He swung the cage away from him and gazed
over the edge of the drop off. Leo watched as the man kicked a
stone over the side. He heard it bounce out of ear shot as his cage
slowly spun.

“
What…what do you want to
know?” Leo couldn’t hide the fear in his voice this
time.

The other man, dressed nearly identical to
the first laughed a hearty, belly laugh. “Oh, haven’t you scared
the lad enough, Kylani? Let him down.”

“
No!” said Kylani. “He may
be a spy for Nefiri or Una.”

“
I’m not! I promise!
Please, let me go! I’ll…I’ll talk to the council on your behalf.
I’m on your side, I swear!”

The two men looked at each other, then at
Leo. Now he’d done it. Leo swallowed and clasped his hand to his
mouth. He had promised to do that which he had sworn he wouldn’t:
interfere in Chartile. Prophecy or no, he reminded himself – and
his friends – constantly that this was not their world. It was not
their battle to fight. But there had been an unspoken promise
between them. Once they had proven the existence of the prophecy,
wouldn’t they try to fulfill it? To right the wrongs of the land?
And even if the prophecy did not exist, if Leo believed in it,
didn’t it give him the responsibility to carry it out
regardless?

Kylani approached Leo, holding the cage in
place. He brought his face so close to Leo’s, the boy could see his
beard and hair were dyed black. “You would do this? Why?”

“
Where I come from,
everyone’s the same. I don’t see why it would be different for
dwarves. Plus, I’m sure you have some great ideas to, like, help
defeat Taraniz, and stuff.”

“
And stuff,” Kylani
repeated. Leo nodded and stared into the man’s dark brown
eyes.

“
Why would we want to
defeat Princess Taraniz, when she has promised us the rights we
desire if we fight for her?” the second man asked from behind
Kylani.

“
Brande! Hush!” Kylani
glared fiercely at the other dwarf.

Leo was quiet. He was sure this was
information that neither Empress Nefiri nor even Dimitri could have
known about. If Taraniz had started infiltrating the dwarves from
the inside, their downfall would be much easier and faster.