The Forgotten King (Korin's Journal) (56 page)

Sal’ smiled through misted eyes.  “Thank you, Korin.  Once this is all over, I don’t plan on returning to the Academy for any longer than it takes to retrieve Telis.  I have no desire to see my father ever again.  These past weeks have ripped away any shred of respect I still had for him.”

Upon my questioning gaze, Sal’ moved forward with her explanation.  “After leaving the Academy, the plan was to set up a base outside of Gualain, never to actually enter the war.  We were to offer healing and monetary support to refugees fleeing the fighting.  However, we came across a sprawling camp of Josuan and Naolim soldiers several miles from the Gualainian border. 

“They’d suffered major losses in their attempts to enter the kingdom.  We set up camp within theirs, and I met with several of their military leaders.  I learned so much about how dire things had truly become.  That night, the camp was ambushed by Gualainian forces, including two eldrhims.  Despite my squadron’s best efforts, hundreds died.

“That’s when I decided I had to do more.  I couldn’t simply follow my father’s command when so many were fighting and dying.  Those of my
squadron who’d hoped for the easy way out, however, contacted my father through a Communication Stone, cowardly requesting to be pulled back.  My father granted them their request; we were to return immediately.”  Sal’s pouty lips pulled into a sneer.  “He couldn’t risk losing his means of keeping the Grand Wizard title in the Fellway name.” 

Sal’s body shivered, her eyes brimming with tears.  I pulled her close, tears threatening my own eyes as I felt her pain.

“Sal’ . . .” 

Sal’ raised her hand, silencing me.  “I’m sure deep down, he has love for me.  But that love has
never
come first.  I pity him for that.  Still, he is a great Grand Wizard, if not a good father.”

Sal’ wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a shuddering breath.  “Those who wanted to fight stayed, while the others used the excuse of my father’s orders to return to the Academy, even if I wasn’t with them.  I made sure they took all of our Communication Stones so that my father would have no means of reaching me.  Then, with those of the squadron who remained and a few hundred soldiers, we marched into Gualain. 

“Several battles were fought as we crossed the border, and many died, but we pressed on.  We gained intelligence that King Lemweir was holing up in his castle in Bherin—”  Sal’ stopped abruptly as I jerked back from her.  “Are you okay?”

No, I wasn’t.  Her words had rekindled the tempestuous, tortuous swarm of emotions that accompanied the association of my father’s name with the war.  I was able to nod silently and lean back against her, though.  Her eyes belied her doubt in my response, but she graciously went back into her story.

“Bherin became our target—King Lemweir, to be more precise.  According to Menar’s accusations, I figured that Raijom had to somehow be in league with him.”

“You could say that,” I cut in.  Sal’s eyebrows rose in question, but I gestured for her to continue. 

Sal’s stern gaze made me think she wasn’t going to budge until I confessed what I knew, but her expression softened, and she continued.  “During our march, we came within sight of Terafall.  Those damned Gualainian forces drew us into battle here, using the innocent residents as a shield of sorts.  They had no disinclination in killing any and everyone to lure us in.  They knew we’d be handicapped by a compulsion to protect the town’s residents.  They were right.  If not for Til’ arriving with the dragons when he did, all would’ve been lost.

“Even if we hadn’t attempted to save the townsfolk, we had little chance against them.  Those glowing stones . . . the wizards and zombies . . .
”  Sal’ trailed off, her eyes vacantly staring ahead.

“I was trying to lead those children you saw to safety, but the battle had grown too thick.  We fell back to that house, thinking we could defend it.”  Sal’ smiled and tightened her grip around me.  “We saved them.”

I squeezed Sal’ back, my heart aching for all she’d had to endure, at what she would still have to endure by going to Bherin.  “You truly are amazing,” I whispered with my lips pressed into her hair. 

“Nearly half my men would disagree with you,” Sal’ retorted, a profound sense of gloom woven through her words.  “Half of the Wizard Guard squadron that stayed with me is dead, Korin. 
Half.  All dead because of me.”

I grabbed Sal’s shoulders and turned her towards me.  Her eyes held so much pain in their arctic blue depths—pain that cut into me as if it were my own. 
Pain that she didn’t deserve to suffer.

“Sal’, they chose to fight.  They chose to follow you despite having the chance to return to the Academy.  They knew what they were getting into.  They were willing to sacrifice their lives to end this war.  And how many others have lived because of them? 
Because of you?  Don’t think for even a single moment that you are to blame.  The blame rests with . . . with the one who started this war.”  I couldn’t bring myself to name my father, though I knew it would soon be my turn to reveal everything to Sal’. 

“Thank you, Korin,” Sal’ replied softly, dropping her gaze.  “I just wish that the strength I showed my men was still with me.”

I tilted Sal’s chin up with my finger.  “That strength
is
still
with you, Sal’.  Sometimes, letting down the walls we build in times like these, thereby baring our weaknesses, is necessary so we don’t forget to feel.”

Sal’ sniffled and giggled at the same time.  “That’s a pretty deep thought, Korin.”

“I guess a certain magic talking wizard squirrel has rubbed off on me a bit,” I replied with a shrug. 

Sal’ wiped at her eyes with one hand, stifiling a yawn with other.  “I guess it’s your turn now.”

“Sal’, we need some rest, and you look about ready to fall over.”

“No, I’m too worked up to sleep, no matter what my body and mind have to say.  We have time yet before full nightfall, and I won’t be getting any rest until you tell me what you’ve been through.”  Sal’ put a hand to my cheek. 

I swallowed, a pang of dread settling in my stomach.  Sal’ deserved to know the truth.  Yet, how would she react once she discovered that the king she’d planned to attack was possibly my father? 

Pushing aside my trepidation, I began.  I told Sal’ about everything: escaping from Galius, my enslavement, befriending Briscott, freeing Max, and all that Max had revealed to me.  Recalling the events shot emotional and—in the case of recounting the rock being driven into my chest—physical pain through me.  Having Sal’ pressed against my side at least softened that pain. 

When I finished, Sal’ leaned back and stared at me, tears rolling down her cheeks.  She placed her hand on my chest, right over where the scar was under my shirt.  Her fingertips curled forward, as if trying to hold me in place.

“It’s
all my fault,” Sal’ whispered, drawing in ragged breaths. 

I placed my hand over hers.  “What do you mean?”

Sal’ tightly closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, exhaling sharply through her nose.  Tears continued to leak from the slits between her eyelids.  “You were coming after me when all of this happened.  It’s all because of me.  If you’d never met me, then . . . Korin, I—”  Sal’ threw her arms around me, burying her face in my shoulder as her body heaved with wracking sobs.

“No, Sal’,” I began, putting one hand on her back and the other behind her head, holding her close, “don’t you dare think that.  If I’d never met you, I would probably be Galius’s slave right now.  If I hadn’t gone to the Wizard Academy for you and Max, I may have never learned as much as I have about the rocks, about what is truly happening in Gualain.  Without you, I probably wouldn’t even be here to try to stop Raijom or . . . or my father.”

Sal’ squeezed her arms even tighter around me.  “Your father . . . Korin, I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her.  “I’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with this.  It still hurts, but I will do what I have to do.  Max maintains that there is something more to all this, that I shouldn’t simply give up hope of my father’s innocence.”

Sal’ sniffed, her sobbing receding.  “Korin, maybe Max is right.”  Sal’ grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed reassuringly.  “Whatever happens, though, I’ll be there to help you get through it.” 

I forced a smile.  “Thank you, Sal’.”

We sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the warmth of the kiln and each other.

“So,” Sal’ began, piercing the hush that had fallen over us, “you’re the heir to the Prime Sovereign of Paigea. 
Pretty heavy responsibility for a farmer.”

I laughed, and this time my smile wasn’t forced.  “Yeah, it seems so.”

“I can’t believe there are other lands out there.”  Sal’s eyes lit up as she spoke.  “Who knows how big the world is if there are lands beyond the storms.  And if Paigea is instead a world separate from our own, there could be an infinite number of worlds in existence.”

I smiled again, taken in by Sal’s wonderment.  At that moment, holding each other as we sat on the mattress, I felt more at ease than I had in some time.  Unfortunately, I knew it couldn’t last.  In a matter of hours, we’d be off to Bherin, possibly to our deaths.

I pulled my arm from around Sal’ and stretched with a yawn.  After the day’s action, the comfort of the mattress, the room’s warmth, and Sal’s soothing presence, I realized that I may actually get some sleep.  “It’s getting late.  We really do need to get some rest, Sal’.” 

“Yeah,” Sal’ replied distractedly.  She rose from the mattress and reached down, starting to pull off her robe. 

I was taken back to the night we’d spent at the entrance of Nansunic’s Temple in Urdale.  “Sal’, we can’t sleep here,” I said, remembering how she’d told me then that wizards didn’t sleep in their robes.  “We need to get back to Max and the others before . . .” 

My voice petered out as Sal’ exposed the full length of her toned legs, revealing that she wore nothing underneath.  I followed the rise of her robe, unable to blink.  Her coy smile emptied my head of all thought.  I had to lean forward with my arms across my lap to hide my . . . enthusiasm.

“Wizards do more with their robes off than sleep,” Sal’ purred.  Sal’ pulled the robe off over her head, standing fully exposed before me, her soft, milky skin highlighted by the kiln’s glow. 

Warmth blossomed across my cheeks.  My mouth moved, but no sound emerged.  My heart slammed against my ribs as if trying to escape to get a better view.

“This could be our last night together, so let’s make it one to remember.”  Sal’ leaned down, putting a hand behind my head, and drew me into a deep kiss, our tongues intertwining. 

I reached my hands around her back, slowly sliding them down her smooth skin.  My breathing and my heartbeat sped with passion.  Sal’ pushed me back against the mattress with her body, her naked breasts pressing enticingly against my chest.  She reached down, unbuckling my belt.

We continued to kiss as Sal’ rolled my body on top of hers.  I broke away from her delicate lips to pull my clothes off.  Sal’s hand immediately went to the scar on my chest. 

“Korin,” she whispered, tracing my scar with her finger. 

“It’s okay,” I assured her.

She simply smiled in response and pulled me closer, once again bringing her lips to mine.  She wrapped her legs around me and drew us together as one.

Chapter 50

To Kiss and Not Even Have to Tell

Some time later—I kind of lost all sense of the hours and the number of times Sal’ and I had been intimate—we made our way to the house.  We were both all smiles and giggles, almost as if children again . . . or very drunk.  We probably could’ve illuminated our path through the town with the glow of our happiness, but Sal’ conjured a ball of light above her hand anyway. 

Soldiers and wizards patrolled the streets, but there was no sign of attack yet.  After the terrors the town had seen, I was glad to see that no lives were currently being lost and that everyone was getting a chance to rest their bodies.  I was also glad because if an attack had come during my time with Sal’, Max would’ve never let me hear the end of it.

The ruined town was just a blurry backdrop as we made our way down the street.  Only the beautiful woman hanging on my arm, the woman I loved more than anything, was truly in focus.  Sal’ made no pretense of propriety as she held tightly onto me.  I suppose she’d decided that even if she lost some of her hard-earned respect due to what the other wizards would see as adultery, so be it.

By the time we entered the house, the fire in the hearth had dwindled to smoldering embers.  Til’, Briscott, and Ithan were nothing more than blanket-covered lumps on the floor.  Max was curled up close enough to the dying fire that a stray spark could’ve easily given him a rude awakening.  The bed had been left unoccupied, as I’d planned. 

I pointed to the bed and pressed gently against the small of Sal’s back.  Sal’ nodded and tiptoed across the room as I went to stoke the fire.  Grabbing the poker leaning against the stone hearth, I crouched down to stir the embers.  Max let out a heavy breath, opening one eye.

“You are pretty good at worrying an old man,” Max muttered tiredly.  “I have not slept a single wink.  I hope that whatever you were doing was worth it.”

I couldn’t stop the broad grin that stretched from one ear to the other.  “Yeah, it was.”

“Oh,” Max replied turning his head toward Sal’.  “Does this mean you are going to mysteriously disappear in the morning?” 

“Very funny,” I retorted sarcastically.

Max gave me a slight smile before resting his head on the floor and shutting his eyes once again.

I shook my head and placed another log on the stoked flame.  I then made my way to the bed, climbing under the covers beside Sal’.  “I love you,” I whispered, brushing strands of wavy hair from her face.

“I love you too,” Sal’ replied, pressing forward to kiss me.

“Thank you for tonight,” I whispered, meaning it for more than just the physical actions between us.  We’d shared something special, something beyond the physical. 

“Hey, why are you two so happy?” Til’s voice suddenly questioned shrilly.  I lifted my head to see the Kolarin sitting up on the floor.  “We were worried about you, but Max convinced us you were okay and that we should sleep.  I’ve been having trouble sleeping, though.  Where were you?  Were you making preparations?  With the way you two are smiling . . .”  Realization settled on his face, and he broke into an impish grin.  “Ha!  I knew it was just a matter of time.”

Even in the dim light of the fire, I could tell that Sal’s face had flared into a nice shade of crimson.

I looked back to the smiling Kolarin.  “Go to sleep, Til’.”

“I think you two are the ones who need to rest,” Til’ responded knowingly with an exaggerated wink. 

“Go to sleep, Til’,” Sal’ and I returned in unison.

Til’ laughed and continued talking.  I looked to Sal’ and rolled my eyes.  Sal’ laughed, pulling me in for another kiss before turning on her side and resting her head on my shoulder.  She draped one arm across my stomach.

I could still hear Til’s voice as the most restful sleep I’d ever had took hold.