Chartile: Prophecy (33 page)

Inside, Jayson, Jack, Leo and Piper sat on
the floor staring out the large bay window in Valin’s bedroom. They
had been concentrating all of their will at the sky for hours and
into the growing storm cell that now hung above the manor.

Dimitri stood close by watching. There was
something about Valin he couldn’t trust. He refused to let his
guard down while Valin was anywhere near Piper. He didn’t know what
had transpired between them earlier that morning, but whatever it
had been, there was an unease in Piper Dimitri could sense all the
way from Tutaria, and he didn’t like it.

The abrupt down pour of rain against the
glass broke Leo’s concentration and he looked up at the candelabra
burning low across the room from them.

“
Guys,” he whispered. “I
think it’s probably close to time.”

Piper glanced at the candles and nodded her
agreement. “The storm is strong enough to hold its own for a
while.”

They rose from the floor, stiff and sore and
rubbing at their aching muscles. Valin, who had been sitting at his
desk, stood and offered a helping hand to Piper. She took it and
smiled her thanks warmly at him. Dimitri rushed in, shoving a piece
of bread into her hand.

“
You need to replenish
your strength,” he said. Piper smiled and kissed his
cheek.

Within a few hours, the sky was pitch black.
No moon or stars could be seen through the thick torrent of cloud
cover that swirled and beat down upon Cannondole. The townsfolk had
long since taken refuge in their homes, and great plumes of smoke
could be seen pouring from the chimneys as they tried to stay warm.
The soldiers were not so fortunate. Their fire pits were flooded,
as were their tents and boots. They were miserable, and hunkered
down beneath what blankets they could find. Even the makeshift
lean-tos they had erected at the edge of the forest leaked, and the
torches would not light. Leo smiled as he surveyed the scene out a
back kitchen window.

“
Brilliant idea,” Jack
said, patting his friend on the back.

Leo smiled. “Thanks. I just figured we might
as well use the magic we’ve been taught, ya know?”

“
It was a very good idea,”
said Valar, handing the boys their packs. They were newly laden
with clean clothes, food, flint and their stolen tabards for when
they reached the palace.

“
Of course it was!” said
Jayson joining them. He was dressed for travelling, like the
others, a heavy hood and woolen cloak trailing behind him. “It’s
Leo.”

“
Hey, is Valin okay?” Jack
asked Valar. “He seemed, I don’t know, kind of uneasy about us
using our magic.”

Valar sighed and laid a hand on Jack’s
shoulder. “You must understand, magic is still outlawed and feared
by most. The very man who changed the way we think of magic now
resides as the soul of Princess Taraniz. We were all once peaceful,
the Elves, Dwarves, Merfolk, Humans, even Dragons. Then, Noraedin
decided to use his magic for ill, influencing the way we all
thought of ourselves and our powers. Neighbors turned on each
other. Brothers killed brothers out of greed and power. Chartile
has never completely recovered from the wrongs you are working to
make right.”

“
So, no pressure,” said
Jayson. Valar surprised them and laughed a deep, hearty chortle,
his eyes brimming with tears.

“
What did we miss?”
Dimitri asked sternly as he and Piper joined the group.

“
Just Valar laughing at
the pressures of society on young kids these days,” said Jayson
waving his hand nonchalantly.

“
Are we ready, then?”
Valin asked, pushing his way to the front of the group. He cast a
nervous glance at the sky above. “They will be changing the watch
in ten minutes. We need to leave before the new guards come. Their
eyes will be fresher, and less weary. The current guards have been
in your storm for the past several hours.”

They all nodded, and hoisted their packs
onto their shoulders. Dimitri grabbed Piper’s hand and squeezed it
hard, not letting go.

“
Let us hurry,” said
Valin, and he rushed out the back door. The group of friends stood
watching his back for several moments before Jayson took off after
him. Jack and Leo followed suit, pulling their hoods up against the
pouring rain. Piper made to follow, but Valar called to
her.

“
Wait,” he said and laid a
hand on her shoulder. He pulled it back, and looked at her
sadly.

Piper stopped, looking at him confused.
Dimitri peered over his shoulder, watching as the figures of the
boys and Valin disappeared further into the darkness. “In case I
never get the chance to say this again, your father loved you, and
he regretted every day that he sent you away. He died knowing you
were alive, and that alone made him happy. Please, be careful.”
Valar hugged her tightly, stunning the girl, until she hugged him
back.

“
Come, we are losing
them,” said Dimitri and reached to grab Piper’s hand
again.

“
Take care of her,” Valar
said to him, and they disappeared into the rain.

Still holding her hand tightly in his,
Dimitri led Piper in the direction he had last seen Valin and the
boys. His eyes were more adjusted to the dark having spent so much
time in the dim light of the Dwarvik mountains. With their heads
bent against the storm, they found their way to the small party,
now taking refuge behind a large tree at the edge of the
forest.

“
I thought we had lost
you,” Valin said to Piper.

“
We’re fine,” said Dimitri
curtly above the roar of the storm. “What is the plan
now?”

There was a small shelter area some fifty
yards. Two soldiers huddled inside, their cloaks pulled up against
the storm.

“
There is a small trail
the soldiers use for hunting just past their shelter there. If we
had a diversion—”

“
Leave it to me,” said
Piper. She stepped from behind Dimitri who had been shielding her
from much of Valin’s view. She leaned her back against the tree and
closed her eyes, whispering quietly to herself. Valin glanced
nervously at her, and scanned the darkness with an uncomfortable
twitch. They heard movement in the boughs of the tree above them,
and a sudden rush of wind sent a slosh of water pouring down on the
shelter, collapsing it.

The soldier’s shouts were audible, even from
the distance from which they stood. Jack, Leo and Jayson stifled
laughs as curses and insults were heard over the down pour of the
rain. Piper continued to concentrate. Then, the soldiers gave a
different cry, and fled from the shelter, away from the party
hiding in the shadows. Piper’s eyes fluttered, and she slid down
the tree. Valin caught her, and much to Dimitri’s displeasure,
lifted her in his arms with the same ease as he could have.

“
Come,” Valin whispered,
and took off toward the now empty shelter.

As Valin had described, a small trail led
from the point of the lean-to into the forest. They left the path
after nearly a half mile, relying only on the eyes of Valin to lead
the way. They pushed through the brush and brambles with difficulty
until Valin stopped. Piper stirred in his arms, raising a hand to
her forehead.

Valin set her gently on the ground, and
Dimitri rushed to her side, pushing them all aside.

“
Piper,” he said, both
lovingly and accusing. “What did you do?”

Her eyes were still closed, but a smile
began to creep across her face.

“
Skunk,” she
whispered.

“
A skunk?” asked Jayson,
and he, Jack and Leo began laughing.

“
Awesome,” said Leo
through tiny snorts of laughter.

“
No, it is not awesome,”
chided Dimitri. Even in the darkness, the boys could feel his
glare. “The manipulation of the elements and weather is child’s
play compared to the energy and skill involved to control a complex
being such as an animal and bend its will against instinct and
nature. It is practically impossible.”

“
She must be very
powerful,” said Valin, a tinge of fear in his voice.

“
Yes,” Dimitri snapped.
“She is, but that does not mean she needs coddled.”

Jayson rushed forward and stood between the
two, or what he guessed was as close to between them as he could
find in the darkness. “Okay, okay. Let’s just try to move on. We
have a long way to go.”

“
We should not venture
further with Piper in such a condition,” Valin replied, and nodded
toward Piper who still lay on the ground before them.

“
Then I will carry her,”
Dimitri answered, the anger in his voice continuing to rise. “I
have done it before.”

“
I can walk,” said Piper
weakly, and she attempted to push herself onto her elbows. “Just
give me a moment.”

“
You are in no such state,
my lady,” said Valin, kneeling before her. “You truly should
rest.”

“
We cannot rest this close
yet to the edge of the forest!” Dimitri nearly shouted, and Leo
hushed him sharply.

“
We have little choice,
seeing as our future Queen has gravely exhausted herself,” replied
Valin.

Dimitri pushed Jayson aside and charged at
Valin. Jack caught Jayson as he stumbled back.

“
I told you, I will carry
her,” seethed Dimitri, his face inches from Valin’s.

“
You treat her with little
care or respect. She needs rest, and bouncing in the arms of some
idiot half dwarf is not sufficient.”

“
Stop it!” Piper said
feebly, but her voice was drowned out by the continued arguments of
Dimitri and Valin.

“
I can handle your insults
for myself, but Piper is not the delicate flower you seem to think
she is. Do not try to treat her as such! You know nothing of her!”
Dimitri pushed Valin, and he slammed into the tree behind
him.

Valin bounced back as if the tree were made
of rubber, and puffed himself up against Dimitri’s bulk.

“
Perhaps you have been
treating her wrong all these years. A flower, no, but she is a lady
worthy of adoration and care!”

“
I care more about her
than you will ever know!” Dimitri whispered coldly before throwing
himself at Valin once more.

It took several minutes for Jack, Leo and
Jayson to pull the two apart. Eventually, it was seeing Piper push
herself from the ground and stand with her hands on her hips before
them that finally ended the argument.

“
I agree we should move
deeper into the forest,” she said. “If for no other reason than to
put some distance between us and Cannondole.” She straightened her
traveling clothes and hoisted her pack back onto her shoulder.
Dimitri pushed Jayson and Leo off him, and turned to Valin with a
glare and half smirk. Piper glared back at Dimitri. “I am not
concerned about getting our bearing straight. We will worry about
that when it is light out.” She stepped between Dimitri and Valin
and began walking deeper into the darkness.

“
As you wish, my lady,”
said Valin, shrugging Jack off him and following after
her.

They continued on for another half hour, but
it was growing more difficult by the minute. Like the darkness of
the mountain, the forest was so thick in places, they could barely
see the back of the person in front of them, and had resorted to
creating a chain in order not to become lost. When Jayson tripped
and fell, sprawling on the ground, and Leo and Jack tripped and
fell over him for the third time, they decided to give up for the
night.

They found three large trees standing close
together, and climbed into the branches to sleep as best as they
could. Though they had rope to keep them from falling, they did not
rest well. There was a mix of gratitude and annoyance when the
first rays of sun peeked through the canopy above them. They ate
their breakfast as they walked, chewing in silence, unsure how to
break the uncomfortable tension that had not yet subsided. Jayson,
Jack and Leo hoped their journey to the palace would not take long.
Fighting against an army of trained soldiers had to be easier than
being in the middle of whatever was going on between Piper, Dimitri
and Valin.



Piper sat awake the next morning as the
dawning sun cast rays like spotlights through the tree tops to the
forest floor below. She and Jack had been on watch, but the poor
boy had fallen asleep shortly after Dimitri and Leo were relieved
from their duty. She had let him sleep, welcoming the solitude. She
hadn’t realized how much she missed her time alone.

She quietly climbed down the tree she shared
with Jack, and walked some distance away into a patch of wild
flowers. She could see the petals begin to open as the sun hit
them, and their aroma was sweet and relaxing. She sat down in the
very center of the little patch of flowers, and let their scent
calm her mind.

She glanced at the others, still asleep in
the boughs of the trees, and pulled a small box from her pack.
Cautiously she opened it and touched the brilliant sapphire gem
with gentle fingers. It reminded her of the trinkets her Gran would
bring home from her excursions to the dwarves. She missed Gran
desperately. Once Piper found her, Gran would know what to do about
being Queen. And what to do about Valin and Dimitri. Perhaps Piper
would ask Gran to be her advisor, and that would solve
everything.

“
What’s that?” asked a
voice behind Piper. She jumped and reached instinctually to her
boot for a knife. “It’s me,” said Dimitri as she turned to
him.