Raven's Hand (20 page)

Upon entering the room, Radden found before
him a purple carpet with gold embroidery leading from the door to
the dais where sat a throne of gold cushioned in that same royal
purple. Queen Evelyn—though her title was actually Mistress of
House Rainier—sat upon that royal throne, staring at Radden as he
made his approach along the carpet. She remained statue still, only
her eyes following his progress.

Radden bowed to her before the dais, dropping
to one knee. Evelyn did not wait for him to brook his complaint.
Instead, she immediately took command of the exchange, catching
Radden somewhat by surprise.

“You have come to beg for the life of your
son,” Evelyn said matter-of-factly.

Radden stammered only for a moment. “My
Queen, should I
beg
for Killian’s life when he has committed
no crime? Unless, of course, saving the prince’s bond from certain
death at the hands of the Cindermen has lately become a crime. My
son fought bravely against the enemies of House Rainier in the
interests of the royal family. I confess myself perplexed by his
arrest.”

Evelyn’s face grew a little harder at that
point. “Then allow me to enlighten you,” she said.

Radden swallowed against the gathering lump
in his throat in expectation.

“Your son, while displaying great courage
against the Cindermen, also overstepped his bounds by attempting to
run away with my son’s Bright Lady and bond,” Evelyn explained.
“Before you attempt to persuade me that this was simply his way of
taking the young woman out of harm’s way, I will inform you of the
fact that my bodyguard, Kane, witnessed your son kissing Raven just
prior to my guards seizing him on charges of sedition against House
Rainier.”

Radden stammered. If what Evelyn was telling
him was true, there might be no saving his son from the block. How
had this happened? Surely, Killian would not have dared to do such
a thing. Still, he could not accuse the queen of lying about the
matter, either. To do so would see his entire family, possibly even
his extended family, beheaded along with Killian.

“Majesty,” he said finally, “I know my son.
There must be some logical explanation for all of this.”

Evelyn flashed him a sly smile then. “Yes, I
believe there is a very logical explanation. The boy became
fascinated with a very beautiful young woman that he risked his
life to rescue from the Cindermen. In the heat of the moment,
perhaps, he lost his head and thought about what it might be like
to be with such a creature. He further forgot himself and actually
committed the brazen act, kissing the girl in the hope that she
might fall in love with him, possibly even run away with him while
they had the chance away from prying eyes.”

Radden began to sweat as Mistress Evelyn
continued. This was not going well, not at all. He had hoped to
appeal to her sense of reason; to clear up a simple
misunderstanding. Surely, Shalindra had not notified him of
Killian’s arrest in vain. Surely, there was still some way to save
his only son.

Evelyn finally paused to allow her words and
their weight to sink into Radden’s mind.

Radden dropped his head. “My Queen, I beg
your mercy for Killian. He is only a foolish boy. Is there nothing
I can do to save him?”

Evelyn stood then and turned herself to leave
the dais by way of the private door behind the throne. Two royal
guards waited for her there to attend to her. She paused as the
door was opened by one of the soldiers, turning her head back to
Radden. He had watched her go with mounting hopelessness.

“You can pray to your dead god that my son’s
bonding with the young Daughter of Eliam goes exactly as planned,”
she said. “Only when my son is bonded and ready to assume the
throne of his father will I find myself in a merciful mood. Until
that time, you may remain as my guest, or go to your home and await
my decision. For your faithful service to House Rainier, over the
years, I will leave the choice up to you.”

Evelyn proceeded through the door, one of her
guards following after. The other soldier remained in the throne
room, shutting the door after the queen and her escort. Radden
stood, turning from the throne toward the doors he had entered by.
He had to find Shalindra in order to know what Eliam expected of
him. Surely, his God could stop this before it was too late. But
how to find the priestess? He could not leave the palace while
Killian’s fate remained undecided.

A servant stood near the doors, waiting for
him. He turned to look back at the door where Evelyn had just left
by. No, he decided. He could not leave his son alone here. He might
never see him again, if he did that.

Turning back to the waiting servant, he said,
“Might I be allowed to wait upon the queen’s decision regarding my
son here at the palace?”

“Yes, sir,” the younger woman said. “Come
with me and we’ll see that you are made comfortable, until Mistress
Evelyn sends again for you.”

“Thank you,” Radden said with a slight bow of
his head.

The servant allowed him through the double
doors and then closed them behind. She proceeded to lead him from
the chamber vestibule toward another wing of the palace. Radden
didn’t know what to expect, but he began his vigil of prayer
silently even while walking toward the place where he would wait on
the fate of his son.

I woke hours before, when servants came to
bathe me. At first, I had supposed that my cell had been completely
cleaned after the battle between myself and Evelyn and her hired
assassin, Kane. However, upon closer inspection, I came to realize
that this was simply another chamber like that one.

When the queen’s servants came to me, I
roused from my soft bed, immediately seeking to escape. However,
Kane was there also, standing just beyond the threshold. He and the
Malkind spirit inhabiting his mortal body would be more than enough
to keep me prisoner here, as the queen required.

Though the servants whispered as much, when
they were with me in my room, I already knew what was coming next.
The purpose for my being here at all—the bonding—must have been
completed as soon as possible. This is the reason that they had
come to prepare me. This was the reason why Mistress Evelyn kept me
alive now.

When the servants came to dress me in the
shimmering gown that would serve for the coming ceremony, Kane was
there again. He waited beyond the door while I was made ready. I
considered my options. How could I escape? How could I find my love
within this palace and make him safe from Evelyn’s threats?

“I’ve come to escort you to the temple,” he
said. “We don’t want any performances like we had earlier, now do
we?”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“After all,” he interrupted, “Killian is
depending upon your cooperation in order to keep his head.”

I closed my mouth again. The plans for escape
formulating in my head evaporated on the instant. I stammered a
moment before answering.

“If anything happens to him—” I began.

“Then it will be lethal and entirely your
fault Bright Lady,” he interrupted. “Now, you will accompany me
without incident to the temple. You will give your blood according
to the ritual and become the bond slave of Prince Nathan.” He
smiled brightly then. “All this you will do without reservation
because you desire to keep that young man alive.”

“Is that a guarantee that Killian will not be
harmed, if I cooperate?”

“It is my understanding that the queen
intends him no harm, as long as the bonding is completed as
planned,” he explained. “And that is entirely up to you.”

I attempted to relax, allowing all of the
pent up tension in my limbs to flow away. The mounting energy
subsided within me. I was in control. There would be no outburst;
not as long as Killian was safeguarded by my obedience to Evelyn’s
demands.

I loved him. I had loved Killian before I
knew he was a real man, before I even knew his true name. He had
always been more than a mere dream.

He had only come into danger because of me,
but now I could save his life. All I had to do was make myself
willing to give him up and become the bond slave to the new king of
the realm. My desires had to be sacrificed so that Killian could
live.

He would go on without me. My dreams of a
life with him would be forfeit. As brief as it had been, we would
never touch each other again. My hand would never again be held in
his. Our lips had come together once, but nevermore.

No doubt, he would one day forget all about
me. He would move on with his life outside the walls of this
palace. Another woman would capture his heart. He would love her
and she would bare him children. It would be as it must be, but
always he would be mine within my heart.

Tears ran hot down my cheeks. I could not
stop them and had no desire to. Kane grinned at this.

“I will do as Mistress Evelyn commands,” I
said.

When we arrived at the temple, I was somewhat
surprised to find how simple the chamber was. There was no costly
array, only alabaster blocks creating a circular room no more than
fifty feet across. It seemed to me that this room was completely
out of place within the palace.

At the center of this chamber a pedestal sat.
However, upon closer inspection, I found that it was actually a
laver of some sort. What appeared to be glass reflected the lamp
light cast from sconces that encircled us. Only when its surface
shimmered did I realize the glass was actually an almost perfectly
still pool of water.

Evelyn and Prince Nathan awaited us inside.
They stood beside the pedestal and its pool of dark water. Nathan
was dressed in a robe of white linen with white breeches. He was a
handsome young man, but I had no desire to look at him. Next to
him, his mother waited with her silver Malkind wand in her right
hand. Nathan held a bejeweled, golden goblet.

Kane paused at the entrance to the temple,
gesturing for me to approach the queen and the prince. I had the
feeling that perhaps Kane was not welcome at this ceremony.
Possibly, it was because he was not of royal blood. Surely, it
could have nothing to do with the fact that he was possessed by a
Malkind spirit. After all, this was a place where the Malkind were
worshipped.

“Come here, child,” Evelyn said to me.

I approached as I was bidden. I was doing my
very best to obey, knowing that Killian’s life depended upon how I
behaved at this crucial time. Should Evelyn and her son be
disappointed, my love would surely die by her command. With Kane
nearby, I would be powerless to stop that from happening.

I joined them at the pedestal, not knowing
exactly what was meant happen now. The procedure for bonding had
never actually been explained to us growing up at the abbey. We had
been taught a somewhat romanticized version, but by the time girls
reached the age nearing maturity, none of us believed it anymore. A
slave was a slave, after all.

“Your right arm,” she said to me.

As I proffered my bare arm toward the pool,
Prince Nathan dipped the bejeweled goblet into the water. He
brought the cup out and set it beneath my arm on the lip of the
pedestal. After hearing Kane’s admonition, I had already guessed
what would now be added to that water.

Evelyn lifted her wand, placing the tip of it
on my wrist. This was almost certainly going to be painful. I
noticed that Nathan was not offering his flesh in this ceremony,
but then it was my power which he intended to take in, not vice
versa.

Instead, the prince removed a sword from a
polished scabbard at his side. The blade was beautiful and even
appeared to be slightly luminescent in the half light of this bare
chamber. I recognized the weapon as being the same used by Killian
to stop Kane’s attack in the alley. It had even rebounded the
Malkind’s energies back at the assassin, knocking him from his
horse. Like me, the blessed blade would constitute a binding
between the Malkind worshippers and Eliam’s creation.

I could not say that I understood why Eliam
allowed the Malkind and their followers such liberty and power in
this world. After all, he is the creator of all things. Why did he
not simply destroy them all and allow his children to reign here
instead?

Evelyn began speaking in a tongue I was not
familiar with. Nathan placed the sword into the pool. It stood out
of the water with the pommel straight up.

The queen closed her eyes, and the runes of
her wand began to glow with power. She dragged the tip of her
silver wand across my wrist, opening an incision there. The pain
was blinding. This was not merely a bloodletting. It felt like
something sucking the life from my very soul.

Evelyn gripped my arm tighter as I feebly
attempted to pull away. My blood flowed into the chalice, turning
the water within a murky red. Evelyn pulled my arm further out over
the pool itself. Nathan took the cup into his hands, as my blood
continued to flow out of the wound Evelyn had made into the water
of the pool. It swirled around the blade like a living thing.

The sword glowed brighter now. It began to
lift out of the pool, floating into the air, blade down toward the
center of the pedestal, water cascading in rivulets down the steel.
Somehow, my blood was a part of this, possibly even causing this to
happen.

Nathan smiled broadly at the result of the
ritual while his mother continued her liturgy. My blood continued
to flow. I felt faint and weak in my legs. The strength of Evelyn’s
arm may have been the only thing holding me up now.

Evelyn suddenly opened her eyes, looking at
her son. “Drink her power into your body, my son!”

The prince obeyed, eagerly tipping the
chalice containing the sacred water and my blood to his lips. He
gulped down the contents greedily, like some thirsting traveler
crawling out of the Northern Desert. I saw Killian in my mind’s
eye. He was beaten and bruised, lying upon the floor of a dungeon
cell deep beneath us in the depths of the royal palace.