Conspiracy (10 page)

I looked at her in surprise. “Am I that obvious?”

“Not really. But I have been around a long time, and I was human once too. I have the marvelous gift of two different perspectives, human and Elven.”

“Well then, you’re the person I need to talk to right now.” I sighed in relief.

“Michael can be stubborn at times. I see that he cares for you greatly, but he’s always had a hard time making a commitment to one woman. I think his time as ruler of the kingdom will be good for him. He might be ready to settle down soon. This would be good for you, no?”

“Oh, yes, Michael.” I felt horribly guilty. Had it really been only a few short hours since we’d left the Western Realm? So much had happened. Here I was wondering if I was going to marry someone else, and Eimile thought I was pining for Mick.

“Eimile, I need to talk to you about you something.” I proceeded to tell her all about the time spent with Gregor since we’d left the Realm and the latest episode with the vision. She sat quietly, rocking and nodding her head as I spoke.

“My, my… that is some story. As you know, it’s hard to tell what gifts we elves will be given, but the one Gregor has could be a gift or a curse. How difficult would it be to know of things that would happen before they occurred? This does put you in a difficult position.”

“One thing is really bothering me,” I said. “Gregor comes from the Eastern Realm. From the stories I’ve heard, the
Olc
come from there. How is it that there are creatures as vile and corrupt as the
Olc
, and then someone like Gregor, Alisha, or even King Aegir? Is this something that happens to all Eastern Realm elves? Are they all destined to become hideous creatures and evil?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“No, not at all. The Western and Eastern Realms have been at odds for as long as there have been history books. The people of the West don’t believe in violence. We abhor it. Personally, coming from the human world, I can see when violence might be necessary, but the elves of my Realm will never use violence. The elves from the East have always been in love with the fight. They are warriors at heart. Not all of them are evil, but they thrive on brutality.

“Somewhere along the line, a group of Eastern elves became more wicked than ferocious. Slowly, they began to change, and the
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is what they eventually became. Now the
Olc
are trying to take over the Eastern Realm, and it won’t be long before they come for us as well. I fear what will happen unless we band together and stop their attacks, but that is something the Western elves won’t do.” Eimile paused and sat quietly, pondering.

“But back to your question. Gregor is a warrior. He will fight for you and anyone he loves. He’s far from an
Olc,
and I’ve been impressed with him. If you don’t marry him, I might have to take a look.” She winked at me, and I laughed.

“I’m not sure what I’ll do, Eimile.  My time with Michael was wonderful. I felt myself falling for him in a big way. But in the short time I’ve known Gregor, I’ve had some powerful feelings. They’ve overwhelmed me.”

“You don’t have to explain to me, love. Remember, I fell to the charms of an elf in much the same way many years ago. No matter which direction you chose, you won’t regret letting yourself love one of these two men. They’re both worthy of your love.” Eimile’s words were comforting to hear.

For a time, neither of us said more. The cool evening air surrounded us and the dull sound of frogs in the distance soothed my overwrought nerves.

I could hear King Aegir snoring somewhere in the house and the quiet murmur of Gregor’s men from their assigned zones. Alisha and Mallorie had come back while I’d been in my room resting and were in the kitchen finalizing the dinner preparations. I should have been helping, but I didn’t particularly want more icy attitude from Alisha.

Gregor had been gone thirty minutes or more, and I knew he’d be back soon. He was dedicated to his position as the king’s head of security.

I was a little worried about seeing him so soon after our illicit encounter in the kitchen. Just thinking about it made me cringe a bit. I wanted to talk to Reagan, but I needed to sort things through first.

I decided to go for a walk and stretch my legs. I hadn’t had any real exercise in weeks, and I knew my rowing would suffer for it. I turned to ask Eimile if she wanted to join me, but her eyes were closed, so I quietly got up and walked down the steps to the backyard. Our home was surrounded by trees and dusk was settling. I knew I wouldn’t have much time before it was too dark to see anything.

I walked the perimeter of the house, making the loop in about five minutes. Pushing my hands in my pockets, I discovered the weapon Gregor had given me earlier. I hadn’t really had time to look at it in detail, or maybe I just didn’t want to. Thinking of actually sticking a piece of metal into anyone, even an
Olc
, made me shudder. Maybe I
was
more suited to Mick. I wasn’t fond of violence either; I left that to my older sister.

On my third loop, I saw the light from the back door glow brightly and then dim again. Someone had exited the house and I could vaguely make out the figure of Alisha as she walked toward the woods. She was probably looking for Gregor. I had started to wonder where he was as well, but I wasn’t about to go searching for him.

After all that had just transpired, I was curious to see what Alisha would do when she found him, and to be honest, what
he
would do. Was he a player who would give Alisha the same pick-up line he had given me? That vision seemed pretty real to me, but who knew what Gregor was really like? Perhaps he had been able to create the vision for my benefit. Who knew the limit of Elven powers?

I looked around, but no one was nearby, so I headed into the woods myself, taking a circular path to intercept Alisha’s route. I followed behind her quietly as she headed deeper into the trees. The darkness was almost complete now, especially with the overhang of branches in all directions. Suddenly, she came to a stop, and I could see her standing still, looking around as if she was waiting for someone. I quickly hid behind a thick oak tree, glad of its concealing trunk. After about a minute, I could hear two people quietly talking and I strained to see who the second person might be. It was almost impossible to make out, but the voice was a man’s, and Alisha’s whispered voice trickled through the leaves faintly. The only man it could be was Gregor, and I really didn’t want to get caught spying. Carefully, I backed away and headed back for the house, moving more cautiously as the night deepened.

It was stupid to feel anything other than relief. Gregor was a complication I didn’t need. I had been wondering what to do about having two great men in my life, and now I knew that only one was really worth my time.

As I arrived on the outskirts of our yard, I paused, collecting myself before returning to the others. A tear slipped down my cheek and I brushed it away.
Don’t be ridiculous, Heather! He’s totally not worth it.

Eimile was still in the rocking chair, and it was about time for dinner. I thought I’d go wake her, but as I moved closer, I saw a figure emerge from the shadowed wall and move toward her. At first, I thought it was one of Gregor’s men, but as the light from the porch flickered on, the
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’s form stood out in harsh relief against the light. Eimile still slept peacefully, unaware of the extreme danger. My hand clenched against the weapon in my pocket and I pulled it out, triggering the small button that extended the mechanism. I knew I couldn’t make it there in time, but she only had seconds. With all my desire, I wanted to be on that porch, shoving this blade into the
Olc
that was threatening Eimile.

In the next instant, I looked down at my fist and at the weapon that was buried deep in the body of the
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. His eyes locked on mine in surprise and I gave a little scream as I pulled my hand back, stepping away. Eimile woke and looked up in horror as the
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’s body fell across her lap and then to the floor with a thud. I gasped and dropped the weapon on the porch and stumbled down the stairs to the grass where I threw up. Eimile took it all in within seconds and came after me, pulling me to my feet.

Through the fog in my head, I heard my name shouted, and then realized that Gregor was standing next to me. He looked around, taking in the body of the dead
Olc
and the blood on my hands. He gathered me in his arms and I heard Eimile say, “Hurry, we must warn the others. If he was here, there will be more.”

Gregor nodded. “Heather, stay right with me. We need to check on the king and queen.” He picked up my weapon from the porch, handed it to me, and we went through the back door. The three of us stayed in a tight cluster as we first entered the kitchen. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to think that I had just killed a man. An
Olc
. A feeling of nausea swept through my body again and I gagged.

Suddenly, there was a scream from the king and queen’s room, and we ran toward the sound. As we entered, I saw Mallorie cowering in a corner with an
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advancing toward her. The king lay in a pool of blood on the bed. Gregor quickly went to the
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and
slammed his hands on his chest. The dark elf seemed to freeze on the spot. In the hesitation, Gregor swung his weapon down in an arc and pierced him through the chest. The
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fell, still frozen in some sort of rigor mortis, and bounced on the floor.

Gregor lunged toward the bed and checked the king. “Damn, damn, damn!” he shouted as he picked the king up. Aegir was no small man, but Gregor lifted him with ease, yelling to us, “Come closer to me and I’ll sift us to a healer.”

We all stood by Gregor, putting a hand on his arms, and suddenly we were in a large, open room and people were running toward us to help. Gregor laid the king on a bed while two men went to work on him.

Mallorie was crying hysterically and tried to get closer to the king, but Eimile held her back, murmuring words of comfort. Suddenly, she turned to Gregor. “What about Alisha? She went for a walk on the grounds. We have to find her!”

“Wasn’t she with you, Gregor?” I asked.

“No, I arrived just in time to see you sift to the
Olc
and kill him.” Gregor looked at me appraisingly. “It seems you’ve been holding out on me, Heather.”

I was stunned and Gregor could see than I was confused. “I
sifted
?”

“I saw you. You didn’t know you were doing it?”

“Of course not. I’ve been holding nothing back from you, Gregor. That was the first time something like that has happened. If I did, I’m as surprised as you. But I did see Alisha walking in the woods and she met someone. I assumed it was you.”

“I’ll sift back and get her, and find out what happened to my men,” Gregor said.

Eimile spoke up before he could leave. “Gregor, where are we?”

I had assumed we were in the Eastern Realm, forgetting that it was being held by rebel forces. Gregor hesitated. “I’ll explain everything when I get back. Please trust me, and I’ll return as quickly as I can.”

Eimile nodded in agreement, and with one last look at me, Gregor was gone.

Our attention turned to the king. The healers stood on either side of the bed, their hands on his body. It was apparent from their faces that the job they were attempting was taxing their limits. Sweat beaded on their brows, and the man closest to me was shaking. After a few minutes, they opened their eyes, and after a glance at each other, they removed their hands. The king lay lifeless on the bed.

Mallorie watched as they pulled a sheet over his face and she ran to the closest healer. “Please, isn’t there anything more you can do? He’s the king of the Eastern Realm! Surely you have more healers?”

“No, my lady. He was gone before he arrived here. We were attempting to find his spirit, but his soul is gone.”

Mallorie cried on Eimile’s shoulder as mother held daughter in a loving embrace. They had just reunited after sixty years, but the tragedy of the moment removed any barriers that might have existed.

I stood by awkwardly until I heard a familiar voice. “
Heather!”

I turned to see Reagan rushing toward me down the hallway. I ran to her, hugging her tightly.  “King Aegir is dead, Reagan. There was an attack on the cabin and Gregor returned just in time to save us, but by then it was too late for the king.”

Reagan took in the scene of Mallorie and Eimile standing by the shrouded figure and pulled me to the hallway. “Let’s give them some time together. There’s a lot going on right now, and I think the best thing for us to do is take a walk.”

“A walk?” I was surprised that Reagan didn’t want to be in the action as usual.

“Believe me, Heather. This house is about to be rocked and lifelong beliefs shattered. As the only humans here, I say we just remove ourselves for a while.”

“I have a few revelations of my own.”

Chapter Eleven

The Southern Realm

King Orleon would not live to see the Realms united, but today was a momentous occasion. In the grand chambers of the Southern Realm, located immediately behind the royal residence, he presided over a gathering of current and future rulers of the Eastern and Western Realms.

The other major event that had taken place earlier that morning was the reunion of Queen Mallorie and her son, Antonio Castillo. Tony had been four months old when agents of King Aegir had placed the boy with the Castillo family in New Mexico. Neither Elven parent had seen their son since that time. The first meeting had been brief and rather formal, quite unlike the reunion between Mallorie and her mother. Tony knew nothing of his parents and much less of his Elven heritage, so meeting his birth mother produced no visible emotion.

Queen Mallorie still didn’t accept that she was in the Southern Realm. Her husband, King Aegir, had been killed in the
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attack on the cabin and her daughter, Alisha, had been kidnapped—or so she thought. Heather’s private conversation with Gregor about Alisha’s secret meeting in the forest with one of the attackers had not been relayed to Mallorie—at least until they could determine if the girl had left of her own free will or actually been kidnapped.