Chartile: Prophecy (26 page)

The little girl staring back at Jayson held
the same scared yet hungry look in her eyes that Jessica had her
first few years at Cranbrook. His heart dropped a little at the
thought of his sister and family. He pushed his feelings aside, and
knelt down as Jack had to the girl’s level.

“
I have a little sister at
home. She’s a little older than you, but she loves piggy-back
rides. Would you like a piggy-back ride?” The girl’s face lit up
and she nodded her head. Jayson smiled and removed his quiver so
she had room to climb on. “You’re gunna need to hold tight to that
bow now,” he said.

“
I will,” the little girl
whispered in his ear. She clasped her hands around Jayson’s neck
and held the bow between them. The wood pushed into his throat. He
gently adjusted the bow and slung his quiver into the crook of his
arm.

Jayson trudged down the winding corridors of
the mountain, trying not to take notice of the bow that choked him
or the quiver that beat into his shins. He found himself at the
large double doors of the Crystal Quarter, and squatted down again
to let the little girl climb off. He saw Gemari flitting between
the little clusters of people, handing them blankets. He called to
her, and she bowed as she approached.

“
Jayson,” said Gemari.
“Where is Jack? And Leo?”

“
He’s back in the Ruby
Quarter,” said Jayson and Gemari blushed slightly. Hey, we found
this little girl by herself. I think she might be lost.” The girl
clung to Jayson, hiding her face behind his legs.

“
What is your name, dear
one?” Gemari asked. Her voice was soft and quiet as she wrapped a
blanket around the little girl’s shoulders.

“
Lynden,” the girl
whispered through the fingers of her free hand, her other still
clutching Jayson’s bow.

“
Lynden?” said a woman
from behind Gemari. She was dressed in a gown that must have
weighed at least ten pounds with all the rubies that had been sewn
into it. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, held in place
with a very large ruby comb, and her lips were painted bright red.
She rushed to the girl, nearly pushing Jayson over in her haste.
“Is your mother Lynhldr?” she asked.

The child looked at Jayson who nodded for
her to answer. The girl nodded in reply, and the woman grabbed the
child away from between Gemari and Jayson. The bow dropped from the
little girl’s hands as she stumbled into the woman’s grasp.

“
Oh, you poor dear! We
have all been so worried about you!” the woman said, stroking the
little girl’s matted hair.

“
Do you know this child?”
Gemari asked. Her tone sounded more like her sister, as did the
look she gave the woman.

“
Her family was murdered
and dragged off by those horrible Black Diamonds several weeks ago
during the altercation at the home of Lynhldr. She must have
escaped. You poor thing. Have you been living on your own all this
time?”

“
Aerndis?” said another
woman behind the first. She was not as magnificently garbed as the
first woman, but her clothes still held small touches of flashing
red gems. The first woman held Lynden close to her side as she
stood to address the newcomer. “Is everything alright?”

“
Yes, Aeris,” said Aerndis
curtly. “Lynden of Lynhldr has been found. I will take care of
her.”

“
Are you sure she has no
other family?” Gemari asked. Jayson crossed his arms and joined
Gemari in staring at the women in disbelief. He was impressed at
Gemari’s continued tact.

“
No, the Black Diamonds
killed them all. She is the same age as my son. I can care for her
now,” said Aerndis.

“
The Black Diamonds did no
such thing!” Aeris’ hands fluttered in the air before her. “It was
our soldiers who had orders to kill them. My hasana told me
himself!”

“
You and your hasana are
Diamond sympathizers! Of course you would believe such lies. You
are no longer any sister of mine!”

“
My lady,” Aeris turned to
Gemari. “I have not yet been blessed with a daughter. I knew the
family from which this child came. I can care for
Lynden.”

It may have been his lack of food and sleep
the last several hours, or the simple mindless bickering that set
him off. Looking back, Jayson wasn’t sure. But, in that moment, all
he could see was his parents arguing over what was best for
Jessica. She stood between them, clutching at his mother’s legs as
Lynden was now, unable to say what she desired, nor even asked.

Jayson reached down and scooped Lynden away
from the women.

“
If you’re going to stand
there and act like children, then neither of you should be raising
one,” he spat. “The Black Diamonds are our allies now, and whatever
happened in the past needs to stay there. I’ll take care of her if
I have to. At least I’ve got more sense to find out what she
wants.” He picked up his bow, handed it back to Lynden, and slung
her onto his back again.

“
No, wait!” Aeris called
after him. “I am sorry. You are right. Sister, please, no more of
this. Our King is correct. Lynden, would you like to come with me
and get something to eat?”

“
I am sure you will fit
into my son’s clothes until we can find you something,” said
Aerndis.

Jayson looked at Gemari who nodded.
Reluctantly, he let Lynden climb from his back. She handed the bow
back to him and smiled.

“
Thank you, sir king sir,
for saving me,” she whispered, and took Aeris’s outstretched hand.
Jayson and Gemari watched them go as Leo and Jack joined them from
their final sweep of the Ruby Quarter with the other guard
patrols.

Gemari shook her head and sighed.

“
This has to stop,” she
said, more to herself than anyone in particular.

“
What?” asked Jack. He
leaned on his staff, exhaustion finally catching up with
him.

“
It does not truly matter
if the Diamonds are made a Quarter or not. There has always been a
rivalry from Quarter to Quarter. Ruby, Topaz, Citrine. We need
proper unification. The rights of our men are only the first step.
If we are to succeed and grow as a people, we must
change.”

She turned away from the women as the
disappeared into the crowd. Her face was hard and distant. She
looked at Jack and her eyes softened. “You have opened my eyes to
ideas I never thought possible. I see things so differently now. I
believe in you. All of you. My Kings.”

She reached out a hand to Jack. He took it,
and tried to lift her knuckles to his lips. But Gemari squeezed his
hand and shook it. She smiled at them, and wandered back into the
crowd to continue handing out blankets.

“
You sure know how to pick
‘em, Jack,” said Jayson shaking his head. “Your girlfriend’s a
piece of work.”

“
She’s not my girlfriend!”
Jack said through clenched teeth. “It’s not allowed.”

“
You never know, if Gemari
keeps this up,” Leo said staring after the princess. “I don’t know
if this is considered a wrong or not, but we’ve had some major
influence here, and Gemari’s eventually going do something about
it.”



The boys were exhausted by the time they
were finally ordered to rest by Frejah. They didn’t even bother to
change their clothes. They fell into their beds and were asleep
almost instantly, their weapons haphazardly strewn around the
common area.

Dimitri found Piper leaning against a wall
in the Cobalt Quarter. She had fallen asleep with her sword still
clutched in her hand. He smiled and brushed a strand of hair from
her face. Piper jumped awake, smacking the heavy hilt of her blade
between Dimitri’s legs. She gasped as Dimitri doubled over.

“
Oh, Dimitri! Oh, I am so
sorry!”

“
It’s alright,” he
breathed through clenched teeth. Piper stifled a giggle as he stood
straight again. “This arrived for you,” he said, his voice still
strained. He handed her a small, rolled piece of parchment that had
been tied to a carrier bird. It read noCalnoden.

“
It was sent to Nefiri.
She believes it is Valar’s handwriting, so she had me bring it to
you. Does it mean anything to you?”

Piper stared at the writing for several
moments, her brow furrowed.

“
Are you sure this is
meant for me?” she finally asked. “This does not make any
sense.”

Dimitri shrugged. “Nefiri did not say much.
I believe she regrets dismissing me. Still, I will not give her the
satisfaction of groveling back to her. Certainly not if she makes
me choose between you or her.”

Piper crossed her arms and sighed, twiddling
the parchment between her fingers. “Dimitri, she is your mother.
You need to forgive her.”

“
No,” said Dimitri firmly.
“She dismissed me. If she wishes me back in her life, she will come
to me.”

Piper shook her head. “Did you ever think
that she knows how angry you are, and is trying to give you some
freedom? Perhaps she is waiting for you to forgive her. Nefiri is
not above making mistakes, and she knows this. Dimitri, she is your
mother—”

“
No, she
isn’t.”

“
Well she’s as good as!
And she did a damned good job raising you, if you ask me. The woman
I call my mother did not give birth to me either, in case you have
forgotten. Your stubbornness is going to be the end of you,
Dimitri. I do not understand why you believe you are better than
everyone else lately, but you aren’t.” Piper tossed her messy red
hair and stomped away, leaving Dimitri completely bewildered. It
was twice in two days they had not agreed on the situation at hand,
and it rather unsettled her.

Piper ignored the guards she passed as she
stormed back to her rooms. She slammed the door behind her and
headed straight to her bedroom. She threw her boots against the
stone wall as she undressed and climbed into bed. She lay awake,
staring at the little slip of parchment by candle light. Her body
still buzzed with anger, though it slowly ebbed away in the
flickering light of the soft flame beside her. She ignored Dimitri
as he opened the door and climbed into bed beside her. He hugged
her close to him, and kissed her back and shoulder.

“
I do not want to fight
with you,” he said. Piper set the parchment on the table beside her
and turned to him. It was as close to an apology as she was likely
to get from him.

“
I don’t want to fight
either. Dimitri, you haven’t been yourself lately. I do not
understand what is going on.”

“
I do not know,” he
whispered, and looked at the mattress between them. “I never
imagined things would happen this way. I just want to be with you.
I do not understand why we cannot simply kill Taraniz and be done
with it.”

Piper pulled from his grip. “There is
nothing simple about killing someone, Dimitri. Though, I admit, it
has been weighing heavily on my mind ere of late,” she said.
“Taraniz has done terrible things, and it is my responsibility to
my people to bring her to justice. But…” She turned to stare at the
ceiling, her eyes distant as she became lost in the visions that
played in her mind.

“
But,” Dimitri prompted
quietly.

She looked at him again and replied, “But
she is my sister. A sister I never knew I had. A sister who has not
only been plagued with this curse of magic as I have, but who has
had it affect her more deeply than any of us can understand. Think
of what we could learn from each other. If Gran is dead, Taraniz is
the only family I have left. We need to give her a chance.” Piper
propped herself up on her elbow. Her silhouette stood out against
the candle light behind her. All Dimitri could see was the glint of
her green eyes. “What do you believe will happen when I become
Queen?” she asked. “I know we promised each other we would be
together, but, you do not seem as though you wish to be King.”

“
No, I do not. I could
never be a king. Even if the Elder’s bade it so, it is not the life
for me, Piper.”

“
Then, where does that
leave us?” she asked. She closed her eyes, forcing back the tears
she felt sting her eyes.

“
What do you mean? I
thought this was a simple matter of marriage. You never said
anything about me being King.”

“
No, I did not. I suppose
it was implied. I need to have heirs, and I need someone to help me
make decisions and govern my people.”

“
Piper, I was raised
Dwarvik. I could not help you in the matters of elven state even if
I wanted to.” Dimitri sat up, pulling Piper closer to him. He
clasped his hands around hers and kissed her. “I think you can
guide your people without the help of anyone, and you can certainly
do it better than Taraniz.” Piper rolled her eyes but a smile
escaped her. “I know she is your sister, and I know you worry about
being like her, but you are different. That is why I love you. So,
let us forget that for now. Let me say happy birthday to you
properly.”

Pulled away and sat up. “What?” she
asked.

Dimitri smiled his cocky smile that made
Piper melt. He brushed the hair from her face and answerer, “It is
why I was coming to find you. I overheard the elders discussing the
sun cycles when I retrieved the message from Nefiri. We have been
so busy we have not been watching the moons.” He pulled her toward
him again, and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her fiercely.
“Happy birthday, my darling Queen.”