Chartile: Prophecy (36 page)

“
Hello. Do you want to
play a game?” Asked the little blonde in the same distant, echoing
voice.

“
Sure!” said the little
red-haired girl. She reached a hand toward the blonde’s
outstretched one. A beck-and bustled up behind them. She lifted the
little princess from the floor and brushed at her
clothes.

“
My lady!” cried the
woman. “You will dirty your skirts before the banquet tonight! Come
along. Your father is waiting.” She grabbed the girl’s hand and
pulled her away. The little princess looked sadly over her shoulder
at the red-haired girl who waved at her and faded away.

A door opened at the end of the hallway. It
creaked slowly and stopped suddenly. No one stood behind it. No
hand had turned the intricate knob, or pushed it from its frame.
Cautiously, Piper walked toward the door and stopped before a
winding stone stair. She took a step, and dust plumed around her
boots. With her hand still clutching at her sword hilt, she headed
up the stair. Higher and high she climbed. The stair held no
windows, and light from the door below quickly faded. She thought
she was nearly above the treetops when the stair ended at a small
landing and a plain wooden door.

She knew she should have been looking for
Taraniz. She should have been trying to find Gran. But Piper
reached for the handle on the door. The latch clicked loudly, and
dusty cobwebs moved aside as she pushed the door inward.

It was a tiny room, untouched by time for
nearly two decades. Dust covered the little dressing table, the
carved wooden chairs and the four poster canopy bed. Shackles and
chains bound to the wall above the headboard hung innocent and
unmoving. Piper gasped, realizing at once where she was. She turned
to the dressing table and lifted a hair brush with trembling
fingers. She pulled a strand of red hair from its bristles and
blinked tears from her eyes again.

She let her fingers roam over the back of
the chair that sat before the dressing table. Her mother had sat in
that chair, brushing her hair and watching her belly grow –
watching Piper grow. The latch to the window was rusted shut. Piper
could barely see through the glass, but she was well above the
boughs of the trees. She ran a hand over the bedcovers and pinched
the lacey trim between her fingers. The top drawer to the bedside
table sat ajar. The top of the drawer had been nearly wiped clean
of the dust and dirt that sat heavy on the rest of the room. Piper
pulled the drawer open. At the bottom was a small, leather bound
book, slightly brittle and perfectly preserved. She lifted it,
running her hands over every delicate edge, and sat on the bed in a
puff of more dust.

Her hands shook as she opened the book to
the last pages and read her mother’s final words.

“
The time is drawing near
now. I know it has not been long enough, but I can feel it in my
heart. They will be here within the week. Yes, they. I say they
because I know I carry twins. I cannot say how I know this. Perhaps
it is the size of my belly, too many kicks in the night for one
child alone, a mother’s intuition. I pray my babies will grow up
safe and loving, and without magic. This has been like a curse to
me, and I can feel such fighting forces of anger welling up inside
me— and no, it is not the morning sickness. I have told Aramor I
believe I am carrying a boy. We have agreed to call him Taran. If
my first born is a girl, she shall be Taraniz. If my second born is
a boy, I wish him to be named Valon after our friend and advisor,
Valar, whom has never abandoned me, even after all this time. I
care for Aramor, but I can say now that I love Valar, though he
will never know. If my second child is a girl, I wish her to be
named Eva Ruani, for my grandmother and myself. I know my time is
drawing close. My suffering will soon end. I can feel the magic
building in my veins, and I am certain I will never survive to see
the faces of my beautiful children. I will be at peace once
more.”

Tears rolled down Piper’s face. She wiped
them away quickly before they hit the delicate words written across
the page. Valar had said her name was Eva Ruani, but she had not
known it was for her great-grandmother. A knot tightened in the pit
of her stomach, but she pushed it away as she turned the pages,
willing herself to continue reading.

“
Valar came to visit me
today. It was so good to see him again. He had been away visiting
Duke Ewan in the Rushing Reeds province. We talked about our
childhood today. We reminisced about the times we played in the
stables and trees as children. What I wouldn’t give now to be
picking wildflowers again or climbing a tree. No, not trees, for I
have lived too long and too high with nothing more than the birds
and boughs for company. But I could not help myself. I could not
bear the loneliness any longer. He smiled so warmly, so genuine to
me. I kissed him. Damn myself! Aramor, my husband, my king, has
abandoned me, and I only long for some kind of comfort. I kissed
him, and he kissed me. I had not expected it, and it frightened me.
I cried. I told him I loved him, that I think I have always loved
him. He said so too, and then he left. He left me. Just as everyone
else I have ever loved has left me. I am alone again, with nothing
more than these stone walls for company. If this is the way my life
shall forever be, then I will leave them too. If my children do not
kill me tonight, for I can feel the discomfort of child birth
paining me as I write this, then I shall do it myself. I will not
be left alone again, and all those who ever loved me will know my
pain.”

Piper slammed the book shut. Her tears were
gone, replaced with a hot anger that rose inside her. Even if
Aramor had not sent her away, she never would have known the love
of her birth mother. Runa would have left her, the same way
everyone had left the Queen in her tiny tower prison. Runa would
have selfishly taken her own life than live to love her children.
Piper threw the book on the floor. It slid the length of the room
and stopped in the open door way. A pair of embroidered shoes
stepped forward, and long, delicate fingers lifted the book from
the ground. Piper stood, her hand flying to her sword hilt. The
figure pressed the book to her chest in a lovingly.

“
Hello, dear sister.” The
voice was calm and sweet.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sisters

“
There should not be
guards in this area,” Valin whispered. They had reached the edge of
the elven palace. Valin had recognized the outlying gardens, and
abruptly halted their way when he saw two guards on patrol. They
doubled back behind several Belirian trees, and peered out
cautiously at the guards beyond.

“
They must know she is
here,” Dimitri said. His tone spoke of worry, but his face was set
hard.

“
How are we supposed to
get in now?” Jayson asked.

Valin pulled the tabards from his pack. He
handed one to each of them, explaining which lord and area he
represented.

“
Piper would have gone to
the dungeons looking for Kaytah first,” said Dimitri.

“
If she did, that way’s
probably less guarded now. They aren’t going to put more guards in
places she’s already been,” said Leo.

“
But if she didn’t go
there first,” Jack whispered, “It could be crawling with soldiers
waiting for her to look for Gran.”

“
I believe it is our best
chance to begin,” Dimitri replied. They nodded and followed close
behind Valin.

They skirted around the same area Piper had
followed. Dimitri pointed out a similar set of footprints to those
they had been following. They ducked behind the butterfly bushes
and nearly tripped over the bodies of Piper’s victims. Jack and Leo
looked sick. Jayson couldn’t look at the men at all.

“
This must be Piper’s
handy work.” Jack’s face was ghostly white as he spoke.

“
She killed her own
people,” Valin murmured, closing the eyes of one of the
men.

“
She likely had no
choice,” Dimitri said in defense.

“
She could have just
knocked them unconscious instead.” Leo was as pale as Jack. The
shock of what Piper had done washed over him with a wave of
unease.

“
We don’t know what
happened,” Jayson snapped, “We weren’t there. We can’t blame
her.”

Jack and Leo exchanged looks and nodded.
Valin and Dimitri still appeared uneasy.

“
Come, then,” said Valin,
and they crept toward the dungeon door.

Jack, Leo and Jayson gagged as the stench of
the dungeons hit them when Valin opened the door. They pulled their
tabards over their noses and coughed.

“
You are squires of some
of the greatest lords of Chartile,” said Valin, his eyes narrowed
in distain. “Remove your tabards in that manner.”

“
We can’t help it,” Jayson
choked.

“
We need to blend in,”
Dimitri replied more empathetic. “You must try. For Piper,” and he
led the way through the open door. Valin gestured for them to
follow. The boys reluctantly lowered the collars of their tabards
and followed close behind. Valin brought up the rear and closed the
door behind them.

They were instantly plunged into darkness.
Many of the torches that had burned when Piper entered hours before
had been taken by soldiers searching the cells and surrounding
areas for the intruder. Dimitri grabbed one of the remaining
torches from its bracket and followed the main corridor past the
cells.

It appeared some of the prisoners had caused
a riot. Dead bodies had been carelessly kicked to the side of the
walk way, and many in the cells were helping each other nurse
wounds to the best of their abilities.

“
Oy! You’re with that red
hair girl, ain’t yeh!” called a voice from a cell behind
them.

They spun around, looking for the voice in
the dark. A man, his left eye puffy and swollen shut, leaned
against the cell door. He spat a mouthful of blood on the floor and
readjusted the arm hanging in a sling. It seemed to have been made
from the bottom half of his tunic.

Valin pulled the pack from his shoulder and
knelt to extract ointment and bandages.

“
You look like you’ve seen
the wrong end of one of them guards’ fists,” said the man, pointing
to the black eye Piper had given Valin the day before.

“
What happened here?”
Valin asked, ignoring the man’s probe and instead dabbed at a cut
on his eyebrow.

“
Some girl came in the
back. Don’t know how she got passed the soldiers outside.” He
shrugged with his good arm and accepted another cloth with ointment
from Valin. He passed it on to a woman behind him with a gash
across her forehead. He put it in her hand, raised it to the wound,
and patted her shoulder before returning to the onlookers outside
his cell. “She asked me some questions about the Princess, then the
soldiers came lookin’ for someone. She said she was Taraniz’s
sister. I had no reason not to believe her.” He shrugged again and
leaned on the cell door. “I told her how to get into the palace,
and then told the others that Taraniz’s sister had come to save us.
They – well, we really – we started making a commotion to distract
the guards.”

“
Where did she escape to?
Where did you tell her to go?” Dimitri reached through the bars and
grabbed the man’s tunic. Valin pulled him away, and Dimitri glared,
wiping his hands on his pants.

The man smiled and spat another mouthful of
blood on the floor. “So it’s true, eh? I wasn’t sure at first, but
any reason to give these damned guards a little hell, and I’m
game.”

“
Where is she?” Dimitri
repeated.

The man backed away from the door a bit, but
still continued to smirk. “Around the corner there. It dead ends.
Pull on the left torch bracket. It takes you to the noble’s
quarters.”

Dimitri took off without a second glance.
Valin grabbed his pack and hurried after him, Leo and Jayson close
on his heels.

“
Thank you,” said Jack.
“We’ll do something to fix all this. I promise!” Jack bowed to the
man and hurried after his friends.

Jack skidded around the corner and watched
Valin pulled the torch bracket at the dead end wall as the stranger
had indicated. The secret door slid aside with a deep grinding
noise, and they hurried through, hands at the ready on their
weapons.

“
This way,” Valin
whispered, and motioned them toward the library.

Dimitri pressed a finger to his lips
emphasizing caution to the boys.

“
Where are we going?”
whispered Leo at Dimitri’s shoulder. Dimitri ignored him and
continued to look side to side, his entire body tense with
anticipation of an attack.

The door to the library was open. Valin
pressed himself against the wall outside the door, breathing
shallow and listening intently. Nothing stirred within, and he
dared a peek around the corner. It was empty.

“
Let’s split up,” said
Dimitri. “We can cover more ground this way.”

“
No!” cried Jayson, and
his voice echoed in the great golden hallway. “We have to stay
together. We promised.”

“
Piper did not heed that
promise, did she?” Dimitri snapped.

Jayson looked at his feet, a lump forming in
his throat.

“
Well, we aren’t splitting
up,” said Jack, standing beside Jayson and placing a hand on his
shoulder.

Dimitri sighed. His shoulders drooped and he
rubbed his forehead.