The Cost of Betrayal (59 page)

C
ome on,” Tarlak said, rising from the table. “We all need a break. Four nights straight searching for our suddenly vanished killer, it is enough to wear anyone out.” He glanced to where the shadow form of Qurrah had been. “That sure isn’t helping, either.”

“What I need is sleep,” Harruq said.

“A caravan from Mordeina arrived yesterday,” the wizard insisted. “Exotic wines, a few nifty toys, and some new clothes. We can find something for everyone.”

“Let’s go, Harruq,” Aurelia said, nudging her husband in the side. “Or are you afraid of a little shopping?”

“Not much for wine,” Brug muttered, “but I’ll take a chance for some good old Kerish ale snuck in among the bunch.”

“And healing salve for burns,” Haern said. He offered everyone a wink. “They actually feel quite fine. Delysia, you’re a goddess.”

“Only close,” the priestess said, blushing.

“Well, you all can go without me,” Harruq said. “I’m going to take a long, long nap.”

“You don’t want to go?” Aurelia asked, looking offended.

“How many times I got to say the word ‘nap’?”

“Well, fine,” the elf said. “Stay and mope then. I’m going. When do we leave?”

“Right now,” Tarlak said. He took out a brown bag tied with a white string at the top. It jingled when he shook it. “And unless any of you get too crazy, I’ll be buying.”

Haern smiled, and Brug cheered. The mercenaries got up to leave. Only Harruq remaining seated at the table, picking over scraps of his meal. The mercenaries filed out the door, but before she left, Aurelia leaned next to her husband one last time.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” she asked.

“Someone’s got to stay with Aullienna,” he said, meeting her eyes briefly.

“Try to cheer up,” she said, kissing his cheek. “I always need your strength. I’m not as tough as I look.”

He gave her a slight smile and kissed her back.

“I’ll try,” he said.

“Thank you.”

She left to join the others. Harruq waited until the door shut, then stood. He climbed the stairs, one heavy step at a time. Perhaps he was depressed, but he was tired, very tired, and the allure of sleep was a strong one. When he reached the top he paused, took a breath, and stepped inside. Aullienna looked down from her bed, her face devoid of emotion.

“Hey, Aully,” he said, dropping his swords to the ground. He unbuckled his armor, casting it carelessly to the grass. He watched her as he placed his hands in a fist and popped his back. “Sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

The little girl shook her head, still staring at him.

“That’s fine,” he said, lumbering to his bed. “I’ll be napping. Need anything, just wake me, alright?”

She didn’t nod. No surprise, really. He had begun to recognize a few moods. This was her apathetic one. He probably could have stripped naked, set himself on fire, and done a dance before getting a reaction. The half-orc sighed. At least she wasn’t screaming or cowering in fear.

“Nighters,” he said, sliding under the sheets and burying his head into a pillow. He tossed, he turned, and he groaned and sighed. A few more tosses and turns later, he succumbed. His eyes rolled back, his breathing slowed, and precious sleep came.

Aullienna watched him, strangely intrigued. She recognized him, and some part knew him as a protective and loving figure, but she knew this like she knew that a fall would hurt her, or if she tried to eat the grass in the room it would dissolve into nothing in her mouth. Her interest in the sleeping man passed. Boredom came next. All she could remember was this same, bland room. Grass she could not tear. Sky that was always the same, with nothing to see in the clouds. Wind that was always soft.

She climbed down the stairs from her bed, careful to be silent. She didn’t want to wake the sleeping man. When she reached the ground, she paused. The wildness in her eyes ruined an otherwise adorable image of her crouched like a kitten in the grass. When the sleeping man did not move, she crossed over the grass as quick as her tiny legs could go before dashing down the stairs.

She wanted grass that was grass. It didn’t make any sense to her, but few things did, lately. She paused in front of Brug’s room, where the scattered pieces of armor and weapons looked like a wicked forest where the leaves cut skin and the trunks gleamed in the daylight. The little girl giggled. That was what she wanted. Trees. Leaves. A forest.

When she reached the bottom floor of the tower, Aullienna rushed for the door. She stood on her tippy-toes, her tiny fingers slipping around the handle. She more fell than pulled, but her weight was not enough. Angry, she kicked the door, the obstacle to her freedom. No matter how much she stretched, she could not reach high enough. She was trapped inside the stupid, boring tower.

Suddenly, she heard a rattling sound. The door shook, and then with a loud creak, it opened. Chilly air swirled inside. Aullienna beamed. Smells, true smells, filled her nose. Dew, grass, and in the distance, a forest.

The door opened all the way, spilling sunlight into the room. She squinted to see. Before the door, his red eyes gleaming, his black robes flowing in the wind, stood Velixar.

“Where might you be going?” he asked.

In answer, she put a finger to her mouth and shushed him.

“Sleeping man won’t want me to go,” she said.

“But you want to go, don’t you?” She bobbed her head up and down, fascinated with how the stranger’s face kept changing. “I thought so.”

He knelt down and put his hands around her. She shivered at his touch.

“Back there is a pretty forest,” the man in black said. “It is a special forest. You see, the faeries live there. Do you want to see them?”

“Promise you won’t tell the sleeping man?” Aullienna asked.

“I promise. Now go play, and watch for the faeries.”

She gave him a shy smile, turned, and then ran around tower. At the sight of the forest, she forgot all about the strange man in black. To her mind, the forest sparkled in purples and reds, a magical place full of adventure. There would be no gibbering goblins in there. Only faeries, beautiful ones with hummingbird wings and sparkling dust marking their trail through the air. She ran, wild, free. Her foot stubbed a rock, and she fell. Her hands scraped against the ground, yet she felt no pain. The forest lost its allure for a brief moment, lost to the mesmerizing view of blood trickling down her palm.

Curious, she licked it. The dirt was nasty, but beneath was a sweet taste that filled her with energy. She ran for the forest.

H
arruq awoke with a need he was immediately angry for not dealing with before he lay down to rest. Grumbling, he staggered out of bed and reached for his chamber pot. As he did, he saw the door was open. He stood there, looking at it, as he thought this should alarm him. Why would a door alarm him? It was open. Did that mean something?

“Aullienna,” he said, much of the drowsiness leaving him. He looked about the room, calling his daughter’s name.

“Aullienna?”

He checked her bed, he checked the corners, he checked underneath everything. She was gone. He screamed her name as he ran down the stairs, all the while telling himself to calm down. The only place she could hurt herself was in Brug’s room, and it wasn’t like he was dumb enough to leave his…

But of course that door was open too. He looked inside.

“You in here, Aullienna?”

He saw nothing and heard nothing. The mess on the floor looked undisturbed, if that was even detectable in that wreck of a room. He bypassed the other closed doors to the bottom floor. His heart stopped when he saw the main door flung wide open.

“You came and got her,” he said, anger flushing into him. “You just came and…”

No. He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t. Perhaps he meant to cure her, if he had even taken her at all. Or maybe she went out on her own. It was possible. Probable. The half-orc bolted outside, immediately wishing he had at least thrown on his cloak. The thin clothing he wore beneath his armor was little comfort against the wind. He looked around the open grass and dirt path leading toward Veldaren. Nothing.

“Where’d you go?” he asked, spinning around. He had no clue how long he’d slept, or how long she had been gone. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours.

“Aullienna!” he screamed, cupping his hands to his mouth. Around the tower he went, scanning all about. When he saw the forest, he felt his stomach churn. If Qurrah had taken her, that was where they were.

“She just wandered in,” he said, desperate to believe. “She just wandered in, that’s all.”

He ran into the forest, repeatedly calling his daughter’s name. Harruq’s former master watched him run from his hiding place.

“I’m sorry, wayward son,” Velixar whispered. “I only do what must be done.”

He had spoken those words many times, but for the first time in ages, they felt hollow to him.

T
he forest was better than she had hoped. Much better. Everything swirled in rainbow colors. The leaves weren’t green. They were orange and red and purple, and every other color, except green. That was boring.

Animals wandered by, saying hello as they passed. She said hello back to every one. Mommy and daddy had raised her to be polite, after all. The little girl had no clue how far into the forest she had gone, but that didn’t matter. The forest was better than that stupid little room. She never wanted to go back. Never ever.

“Run, kitty kitty,” she sang, prancing through the bushes. “Big dog coming, and he’s coming for you!”

She fell into leaves, giggling madly. She dragged her arms and legs across the ground, swimming in the colors. She felt so bubbly, so light, that if she jumped high enough she’d just float into the air and fly away. So she tried. Sadly, she fell back into the leaves, banging down on her knee. She wiped the blood onto her hand and kissed it. Kisses made everything better.

“Aullienna!”

She turned, hearing the voice. It was the sleeping man, except now he wasn’t sleeping. That meant he wanted to take her back to her room. She ran in the opposite direction of his voice. A new sound met her ears, and she so desperately wanted to see what it was. It was a constant rushing sound. It had to be water. She climbed a log, a mountainous obstacle blocking her path. With a cry of victory, she leapt off. The way was clear. She ran to the noise, beaming at a small stream flowing through her forest of magic.

“I see me!” she said, peering down into the water. She waved hello. Herself waved hello back. Both giggled. Then, deep behind her reflection in the water, she saw lights. They were quick and subtle. Every time she jerked her eyes to see, they were gone. Faeries, she thought. The stranger was right!

She reached into the water to grab them, but her hands were too slow.

“Stop moving,” she whined. She reached again, but they zipped deeper. She knelt closer, her concentration complete. A thrill surged through her. She caught one! Aullienna yanked her hand back out, but it was a frog, dull and yellow. It leapt off her hand back to the safety of the water.

Aullienna did not see a frog. She saw a blue pixie beckon after her, leaping into her watery world with a trail of dust tinkling atop the stream. She followed with a smile on her face, for she wished to see the world of faeries.