Chartile: Prophecy (20 page)

“
Alright,” said Jack
breaking the quiet. “If we’re your friends, then you’re gunna talk.
That’s what girls need anyway, right? Talking?” The silence that
followed was even more uncomfortable. Jayson and Leo looked at Jack
confused, and Piper refused to look at him at all.

“
That’s what we’re doing,
Jack,” Leo raised his eyebrows at Jack and shrugged.

“
No!” cried Jack. “Isn’t
it obvious she and Dimitri just had a fight or something?” More
silence. “Seriously, am I the only one that notices this
stuff?”

“
Did you guys have a
fight?” Jayson turned to Piper, and Leo punched him in the ribs.
“Hey! I broke that, ya know!”

“
How long are you going to
use that excuse?” Leo rolled his eyes.

“
For as long as I can,”
Jayson whined, and his friends laughed. “Okay, but seriously. Did
you guys fight? Is Dimitri like, your boyfriend or
something?”

“
Dimitri and I have been
friends for many years,” said Piper. “He— he came to me when I was
first banished. He taught me my magic. He wishes to be more than
friends.” Piper continued to study the floor.

“
So?” said Leo shrugging.
“We already thought you guys were. What’s the big deal?”

“
I cannot risk putting my
truest friend in danger because I will be Queen. The Conclave of
Nobles will decide my marriage. Our relationship would be secret
and put him at grave risk.” She rose from the chair and began
pacing the room. “This is ridiculous.” She laughed. “I should not
be discussing this with you.”

Jayson and Leo looked at Jack. They
shrugged, encouraging him to continue what he’d started.

“
Well, I mean, if you guys
are friends, and everyone already thinks you guys are a couple,
wouldn’t that put him in danger anyway?” asked Jack.

Piper whipped around. Her green eyes were
wide and wild. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“
Well, if some group of
people is going to decide who you have to marry, you probably
aren’t really going to love that person, right?” Piper said
nothing. She remained still, her green eyes piercing Jack as he
continued. “And if you really do love Dimitri, regardless of…well…
just regardless of anything you decide… they could still use him
against you.”

“
What are you implying?”
she asked, her eyes narrowing as she carefully calculated Jack’s
words.

“
You’re making this way
crazier than it needs to be,” said Leo, “Either you’re his
girlfriend and then you’re both happy, or you’re not his
girlfriend, and you’re both miserable. People will use him against
you anyway.”

“
So, just suck it up
and…stuff,” Jayson shrugged.

The bell rang at the door. They jumped.
Piper covered the length of the room nearly at a run, and opened
the door. It was Valar. She was both happy and disappointed it was
not Dimitri. She stepped aside to allow him through. He smiled at
seeing the boys already gathered.

“
Fantastic to find you all
here!” Valar beamed a wide smile at them. “I do not believe we have
properly met. I am Valar, head advisor to our late King Aramor, and
now unofficial advisor to Queen Eva Ruani.” He bowed to them in
what the boys presumed was more of the Elven style. They attempted
to return the gesture, but were mostly unsuccessful.

“
I prefer Piper,” she
said, closing the door. She headed for her bedroom and brought out
another chair.

“
Yes, well, names and
titles can be discussed once the battle is won. Speaking of which!
I shall send word immediately for the rest of our group to meet
here at once.” Valar ran to the door and all but ran into Dimitri
in his attempt to call for a messenger. “Dimitri! Wonderful! Now, I
only need to find—”

“
Your meeting will need to
wait, Valar,” said Dimitri.

“
But we cannot delay much
longer,” said the man. “We have little time to prepare.”

“
And I still have to train
these boys how to use their magic. We were delayed yesterday.”
Dimitri looked at Jayson, Jack and Leo. He smiled and winked before
turning back to Valar. “Nefiri wants to move troops to the base of
the mountain in a week. Scouts have reported elven troops gathering
to the south. Brande and Kylani have said this was part of their
plan. The elves will attempt to enter through the abandoned mines
as was planned, but we have a chance to draw away at least half of
their forces before they strike. Oh, I’ll let her explain it later.
The point is, I am taking these three to the temple. You can stay
here and explain things to Piper while we’re gone.”

“
I think I would like to
join you,” said Piper eagerly. She swallowed and replied more
cautiously, “I could always brush up on my own skills.”

“
I have meetings for the
rest of the day,” Valar replied in defeat. “We must promise to meet
tomorrow morning before any other training. What good is training
without a plan?”

“
Agreed,” said Dimitri.
“We will meet here after sunrise.”

Valar nodded. “Until tomorrow then.” He
bowed to Piper in the Elven fashion and swept past Dimitri, his
elven robes billowing behind him.

“
Geez, is he always like
that?” asked Jayson.

“
No,” said Dimitri, “I
believe he is excited for something to finally go according to plan
after so long.” They laughed as Dimitri led them down the winding
tunnels and halls.

They passed the healer’s quarters and
entered an area they had never been before. The room was as large
as the Crystal Quarter room, possibly bigger. Two of the four walls
faced outward and held huge slates of stained glass that filled the
chamber with a rainbow of colors. There were pews, much like a
cathedral, but they faced toward the center in a spiraling circle,
broken only by the small aisle that ran from the great double
entrance doors to a stone altar in the middle. Jayson, Jack, Leo
and Piper stopped mid-step, and Dimitri nearly ran into them.

“
The Hall of Rashiri is
one of our greatest accomplishments. The Tutarian palace likes to
boast about its grand architecture. Mount Kelsii was originally
founded for trade, not for politics, so it lacks much of the
splendor that Tutaria holds.” Dimitri beamed proudly. “This is our
masterpiece.”

He led them around the perimeter of the
great spiral, and headed toward one of the many rooms off the main
area. Clouds of billowing incense filled the room. Four plush
cushions were placed on the floor and faced a large copper bowl
that held a crackling fire.

Dimitri closed the door behind them, and
walked to the rear of the room. He pulled an extra pillow from a
cupboard and handed it to Piper.

“
Are you sure you want to
do this?” he whispered to her. “I know you said you would
never—”

Piper smiled at him and cupped his chin in
her hand. “I can’t be afraid anymore,” she said, and sat on her
cushion beside Jack.

Dimitri pulled a tiny key from the pouch on
his belt and moved to the other side of the fire bowl. “The first
thing you need to understand about magic,” he said and began
removing his orenite cuffs, “is that everyone has it. Most people
simply do not realize they do, and there are certainly varying
degrees in the amount of skill one has. Magic is nothing more than
the manipulation of the energy around you. However, you need to
learn to manipulate the energy within yourself before you can
attempt to manipulate the world around you. To do this, you must
attain a greater sense of self awareness and deep concentration.
You must discover your fears and rise above them, your faults and
accept them, your dreams and make them so. You must do all of this
to understand who you truly are. When you know yourself, then you
can know how to change your own energies. Once you have learned to
manipulate the self, you can begin to study and manipulate the
world around you.” He pulled out a small drum and held it between
his feet. “I am going to walk you through a reflection exercise. It
is a practice our elders use to keep balance amongst their three
understandings. Please, close your eyes, and listen to the sound of
my voice. Breathe deeply. Relax. Follow wherever your mind leads
you.”

The drum pounded like a pulsating heart, and
their own hearts began keeping time with it, slow and steady.
Dimitri’s voice was distant. They could barely hear him. They sat
in the trance-like state for what felt like hours. The smoke from
incense swirled about them, and the fire before them made the room
stifling hot. At first, they fidgeted, unsure of what to do.
Occasionally, one of the boys opened an eye to peek at his
neighbors. They half expected to see each other surrounded in a
light or floating a few inches off their pillow. This, however,
never occurred. They relaxed. Every muscle in their bodies released
its tension, and their breathing slowed. They no longer fought the
smoke and incense, but breathed it in, welcoming.

The darkness gave way to a hazy image that
formed before Piper. She faced three doors, and they opened as one
before her. Behind the first lay a golden crown. The second
revealed a world with unrestrained magic. Here, Piper saw herself
as the leader of her people, guiding them into an age of fortune
and happiness. The last door opened to Dimitri. He smiled that
brilliant smile, and held out his hand to her. Your fears, your
faults, your dreams, she heard his voice in her mind.

Leo stared into the mouth of a cave. A lion
slept peacefully at its center. He could wake the lion, risking his
life and the lives of those faceless people who accompanied him. He
could find a formidable ally in the lion if he kept his cool. He
could also walk away. He gripped the sword hilt in his hand so
tight, his knuckles turned white. He didn’t know if he had become
the leader everyone thought he was, or if he was still playing a
game. He knew he would have to decide soon as he watched the lion
begin to stir.

Jack could hear the drum beating in his
ears. It was like the pounding of broken glass shattering against a
wall…his bedroom wall. His father stood above him, both afraid and
dangerous. “Help me,” his father said, then turned to smash the
lamp beside Jack’s bed. Jack reached out for his father. Mr.
Mitchel slammed his fist into the wall, and Jack retreated back to
the far side of his bed. “Leave me! I don’t need anyone!” his
father screamed, and turned to race out of the room. Jack was
frozen where he sat.

Jayson knelt on the floor. A sword lay on
the ground before him, covered in blood. Blood drenched his hands,
and pooled around the gaping wound of the man he had just killed.
The blood on his hands oozed down his arms, a warm, thick trickle,
dripping onto his legs. It was spreading fast, covering his entire
body. He grabbed his head, and hunched to curl into a ball. But the
blood continued to spread. It covered his hair, down his head,
tickling his temples and stinging his eyes. He screamed. He tried
to run, but the pool of blood was too slick. He fell and felt the
warm, sticky blood seep through his shirt. He screamed, but he
could not hear.

The drumming stopped, and everyone jumped.
Jayson sat in a cold sweat. His breathing came in short, shallow
breaths and he clenched his hands into white knuckled fists.

“
Jayson,” Dimitri called
gently to him. The boy’s eyes shot open. He looked at his trembling
hands. They were free of blood. He wiped the sweat that poured down
his face with his shirt and attempted to slow his
breathing.

“
You alright, Jay?” Leo
asked. Jayson did not answer.

Dimitri approached him, and placed his hands
on Jayson’s shoulders. A cool wave of calm surrounded Jayson and
pushed itself into the far reaches of his mind. He began to relax.
Dimitri looked at him with raised eyebrows. Jayson nodded.

“
I want you each to
practice this meditation every night before you sleep, and every
morning when you wake. Practice it until you can find that place of
calm focus in an instant.” he paused. “Then, we shall move on.”
Dimitri leaned the drum back against the wall.

“
Really?” asked Jack.
“That was it?” The experience hadn’t been as exciting as he had
hoped.

“
What if it takes us too
long?” Leo protested. “We don’t have a lot of time to learn this.
The army moves out in, what, two weeks, maybe a little more? That
can’t be enough time.”

“
I do not believe you will
have any problems,” said Dimitri. “Come, we shall break for a time.
I want to show you to the armory.” He extinguished the incense in
the sand of the thurible, but left the fire burning low. “You can
spend your free time training there.” He led them out of the room
and back up the temple aisle. Jayson lagged behind. He stared at
his feet as he walked, and kept looking at his hands. Piper doubled
back to walk with him as they emerged into the stone halls once
more.

“
Jayson, are you sure you
are well?” she asked. “May I ask what you saw?”

Jayson was silent for a long while as they
walked. He slowed his pace, and attempted to put some distance
between himself and his friends. “I— I killed someone. I don’t know
who he was. I was covered in his blood, completely covered. I tried
to scream, but I couldn’t make any noise. I don’t think I realized
it ‘til now, but… Piper, I could kill someone. I could kill a lot
of people. Even if they agree with Taraniz, they still have
families and lives and souls and stuff. I don’t know if I can do
this anymore. I know I told Leo that we all needed to grow up. I
said we need to be the people everyone expects us to be, but…”