Chartile: Prophecy (38 page)

“
It happened,” Jayson
whimpered. “M—my vision. I didn’t mean—“

“
It’s okay, Jay,” said
Jack calmly as he worked to wipe the blood that had splattered onto
Jayson’s chin. “He’s not in pain anymore.”

“
He didn’t need to die.”
Jayson was still crying, his words almost incomprehensible. “I
didn’t mean to. I didn’t!”

“
We know, Jayson.” Leo
patted his friend on the back. He tried to wipe the blood from
Jayson’s arms, but they were clenched too tightly around his
body.

Jack and Leo hooked their arms under
Jayson’s and pulled him to his feet. Jayson staggered upward,
leaning on his friends for support. He couldn’t take his eyes off
the body of the guard before him.

“
Hey, hey,” said Jack
shaking Jayson by the shoulders. “Look at me. Look at me, Jayson!”
He turned Jayson’s face away from the body. “It was an accident.
You were only defending yourself. We have to keep moving. Piper
could be in trouble.”

It was several minutes before Jayson was
able to take the many deep breaths he needed to control his crying
and heaving. Leo picked up his bow and handed it to Jayson. The boy
clutched it with white knuckles then slung it over his shoulder.
His legs felt like jelly as he walked. Before they rounded the
corner, he dared one last glance at the guard who lay in a pool of
red, sticky blood. He wondered what his name was. Piper had at
least gotten Tathias’s name before he died.



Valin leaned against the wall, listening
intently. He peeked around the corner into the next corridor, but
there was nothing. Dimitri trudged past him, glanced in each
direction then hurried on.

“
Dimitri, we must use more
caution,” said Valin. He hurried forward, attempting to lead the
way.

“
There are no guards here,
Valin,” said Dimitri, “You are wasting time by checking every
opening we pass. We need to find Piper.”

“
We are no good to Piper
if we are captured,” Valin said. His voice strained with the effort
to remain calm.

“
We will not be captured,”
said Dimitri assuredly.

“
How do you know?” asked
Valin coldly. He stepped in front of Dimitri, pressing his hand
into Dimitri’s chest and halting his way. “You are so certain of
yourself, Dimitri. Of everything. How do I know you are not working
for Taraniz?”

Dimitri threw his head back. A smile spread
wide across his face, but he stifled his laugh at the last moment.
Instead, he shook his head and pushed Valin aside. “I am the last
person who would be working for the woman who has tried to kill my
lady for so long.”

“
Your lady? She will not
be your lady when she becomes Queen.”

“
And how do you know? You
are certain of yourself as well that she will choose you over me,”
Dimitri stopped, meeting Valin’s gaze. “After only a few days? For
someone who has no desire for power, you are rather bent on bedding
her. Well, she was mine first.”

“
I have only the desire to
do what is best for the elves of Chartile! For my people!” Valin
cried in a strained whisper. He opened his mouth to speak again,
but closed it and took a deep breath. “This is get us nowhere. We
will know in good time Piper’s decision. We need to find the
circlet.”

“
The circlet? You are not
serious. I am looking for Piper. Where are you leading me?” asked
Dimitri.

“
We need to find the
circlet to defeat Taraniz. It is likely in the royal treasury.”
Valin continued walking, no longer looking at Dimitri.

“
I should have left you in
the library and taken the boys,” muttered Dimitri. “At least they
are concerned for Piper.”

“
Of course I am concerned
for her! Why do you think I am looking for the circlet? As a
trinket to give her?”

“
You seem to have done
fine in that endeavor without the help of the royal treasury,”
Dimitri muttered under his breath, but Valin still heard
him.

“
That necklace was my
mother’s,” Valin whispered coldly. “I gave it to Piper for her to
make the decision for herself.”

“
I know. I heard
everything outside that rickety door of yours,” Dimitri
lied.

It was movement out of the corner of their
eyes that stayed Valin and Dimitri from yet another scuffle. They
turned to see a single guard running for them, his sword drawn and
ready. His eyes were blank, his lips parted in a slack jaw that
gave the dazed impression of sleep walking.

They pulled their swords, shoulder to
shoulder, and waited for the charging man to come within range.
When the guard was ten feet from them, Dimitri charged and caught
the man’s arm in his own. He swung him to the ground, pinning the
guard’s arms behind his back.

“
Dimitri, no!” Valin moved
behind him.

“
Kill the strangers! Kill
them!” wailed the guard over and over as he struggled against
Dimitri’s grasp.

“
Where is Taraniz?”
Dimitri demanded. He held his belt knife to the man’s
throat.

“
Dimitri, what are you
doing?” asked Valin panicked. He attempted to pull Dimitri off the
soldier. Dimitri raised his hand and shot a small fire ball at
Valin. He narrowly dodged the flame and watched as the fire ball
dissipated a few feet away. Dimitri glared at him and returned the
knife to the guard’s throat.

“
Where. Is. Taraniz?”
Dimitri asked again through gritted teeth. “Tell me, or that fire
ball will find its way down your throat, next.” The knife cut into
the man’s neck and chin. He gasped, and blinked several times. His
eyes lost their dull, glassy stare, and his pupils shrank as he
became aware of himself once more.

“
What has happened?” he
asked desperately, his voice no longer gruff.

“
Do not play with me!”
shouted Dimitri.

“
Dimitri, I believe he was
under some… influence—”

“
Silence!” Dimitri cut
Valin short. The knife began to redden with heat, and the man
screamed in pain. “Where is she?” Dimitri demanded once
more.

“
I know not! I know not!”
said the guard. “Please! I did not intend – she has us
all!”

“
What do you mean?” Valin
asked more kindly.

“
No! No coddling!” Dimitri
screamed, and the man fought to remain still against the pain of
the burning blade at his throat.

“
I swear, I do not know
where she is!” he said.

“
Then you are of no use to
me.” Dimitri kicked the man in his stomach. The guard stared up at
his captor and watched as Dimitri reached a hand toward his chest,
the air in front of his palm moving like heat on stone. The guard
clasped his hands to his throat, gasping for air.

“
Dimitri, stop!” Valin
shrieked. Dimitri glared at him then released the guard from his
torture.

“
Tell me where Taraniz
is,” he said again

The man gasped for breath and tried to sit
up. Dimitri slammed his boot into his chest, pinning him to the
floor.

“
The throne room!” he
cried in desperation.

Dimitri smirked. “You lie,” he whispered
and, without hesitation, sliced the man across his throat.

Valin pushed Dimitri away. He did not care
if the half-dwarf barbarian used his magic on him. He was stunned
at what he had just witnessed and terrified for Piper.

“
You did not have to kill
him!” Valin cried. He knelt beside the guard, a single tear
trickling down his face, and he pressed the guard’s gambeson to his
bleeding throat.

“
We cannot risk him
informing someone we were here,” said Dimitri, wiping the man’s
blood from his knife onto his own pant leg.

Valin watched as the man gave one last
gurgling breath, then rose and pointed his sword at Dimitri. “You
are nothing more than an outlaw,” he spat. “Only the Destined may
use magic. You have killed an innocent man with it! This is why it
was forbidden in the first place!”

Dimitri calmly pushed Valin’s sword tip to
the side and took a step toward him. His eyes raged with panic and
fear, though his face and voice remained calm.

“
Perhaps you should
reconsider whom you are placing on the throne, then.” He turned and
walked away, continuing his quest to find Piper.

Valin hurried after him, still attempting to
find a promising room in which to locate Duke Noraedin’s circlet.
They passed hall after hall. The carved tree pillars growing
thicker around as they walked deeper into the heart of the palace.
Valin no longer tried to check for passersby as Dimitri was now
leading the way.

A breeze moved through the passage way,
though no open windows were anywhere near them. Dimitri stopped and
turned to face the wind. Valin nearly ran into him. He looked
around franticly, trying to see what had made Dimitri halt.

“
Dimitri,” said Piper’s
voice in his mind. “I’m in the tower… the library…
Dimitri…”

The voice trailed off to a whisper. Dimitri
turned on the spot, looking at the ceiling and walls like a cat
hunting a fly.

“
What is it?” Valin asked.
He feared more magic was afoot, and knew it could only mean
trouble.

“
Dimitri, help me,”
whispered the voice in his mind again.

Dimitri took off, running full out, back up
the corridor the way they had come. Valin called after him, but to
no avail. Torn between letting this love-crazed young man
eventually kill himself with his dark magic, and attempting to stay
together for Piper’s sake, Valin ran after Dimitri, his foot falls
echoing loudly in the grand halls of the palace.

They skidded around the corner into the
noble’s wing minutes later. Valin stopped when he saw the body of
the soldier, and the pool of blood that had begun to solidify
around the man Jayson had killed. Fear filled his heart for the
safety of the returned kings, and, ignoring Dimitri, he flew past
the man into the library.

Dimitri rattled every door in the hall. He
used his magic to move the mechanisms of the locks for some of the
more promising looking doors, but they only opened into small
living chambers for the visiting nobility.

The last door at the end of the hall caught
his eye. It stood open by several inches. He raced for it,
wrenching it open, and leapt up the stone steps to the tower above.
The door at the top was open. The broken mirror of the dressing
table was the first thing he saw as he approached the door. His
heart began to race faster, and he felt his stomach drop.

“
Dimitri!” called a voice,
and this time he heard it aloud.

“
Piper!” he called back,
racing into the room. Piper was chained to a dusty four poster bed.
She struggled against her bonds, but her face brightened when she
saw him. “I’m here. I’m here,” Dimitri said and ran to
her.

“
I did not know if it
would work! Oh, Dimitri! I’m sorry. Forgive me! I love you!” she
said, and tears ran down her face. “Taraniz. She used her magic to
hold me here. But… She is over taken. She is not evil, Dimitri! We
have to save her!”

Dimitri reached out with his magic, but
pulled back almost immediately. There was an unfamiliar magic in
these bonds for certain, and it pained him from the inside out.
Bracing himself, he reached for the magic, willing it to take
refuge in his body. When he felt the last of the energy drain from
the chains, he forced it toward the ground, and one of the stones
broke into tiny fragments at his feet. His face was beaded with
sweat. He turned back to the chains, his hands now shaking from the
residual pain still coursing through him. The metal shackles around
Piper’s wrists began to bend and morph. She gasped as the metal dug
into her wrists.

“
Hold on,” Dimitri
whispered to her and the cuffs broke free.

Piper sat up and wrapped her arms around
Dimitri’s neck, kissing him fiercely.

“
I’m sorry I left. It was
always you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said through her
kisses.

Dimitri held her close, the warmth of her
body was the most comforting thing to him. He kissed the top of her
head then suddenly held her at arm’s length.

“
What do you mean Taraniz
is over taken?”

“
Noraedin,” she said. “It
is as we feared. She cannot control him. But it is not her fault!
Dimitri, he has her now. She is not herself.”

“
Piper, where did she
go?”

Piper looked at the door and her body went
numb. The color drained from her face as realization swept over
her.

“
The boys,” she whispered,
and leapt from the bed.



Jack and Leo walked as quietly as they
could, one on either side of Jayson. They had already been attacked
by two more groups of palace guards and were glad for their magical
training as Jayson was now unable to fight. He crouched on the
ground, holding his head between his knees as his friends formed a
protective circle around him.

They wandered the empty corridors, weapons
at the ready for another attack.

“
She has to know we’re
here,” said Jack. “That has to be why the guards have started
coming after us.”

“
I think you’re right,”
said Leo. “We need to find Piper. I think it has to be the four of
us together.”

“
Yeah,” said Jayson. His
voice was dry and shaky, but it was the first time he had spoken
since the incident. They stopped, and looked at him with
concern.