The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One' (21 page)

‘
Let go of
the magic my dear,’
she heard Varan’s voice in her head
comforting and peaceful and gradually as she released the power she
began to cry, soft silent tears.

In the ether,
Gideon became aware of the darkness behind and around him, he could
feel the existence of souls, lost souls all rushing toward the
disturbance he had inadvertently created, a beacon in the
darkness.

‘
Where am
I?’
He asked, still feeling the presence of others,
‘am I
truly dead; is this then the start of my journey?’

‘
It could
be, if you wished it so.’
He turned toward the beautiful soft
voice, a young girl stood next to him, she looked as solid and
alive as anyone he had ever known.

I’m
dreaming,
he told himself, knowing the people in the scene
below him were the live ones and he was dead. The girl, younger
than he was himself was tiny, golden blonde hair fell from her head
to past her waist and her eyes were like the deepest pools of clear
blue water he had ever seen.

‘
Do I know
yer?’
He asked,
‘yer do remind me of … someone…’
he
added and looking into her eyes, was instantly reminded of the last
set of beautiful blue eyes he had almost fallen into, in that
particular dream he had been holding his unfinished carving and
standing with his grandfather.

The girl before
him was wearing a long white and blue robe that seemed to float,
giving the gown a dreamlike quality, the gown was a similar robe to
the one the old man had worn, only a different shade. The blue of
her gown made her eyes sparkle and at her neck, she wore a pendant,
a silver amulet holding a piece of crystal that reflected the many
colours thrown up by his body far below. Something about the
crystal necklace seemed familiar and instinctively he put his hand
to his chest where his own crystal hung against his skin. Noticing
the movement, she smiled warmly at him. Looking down once more, he
was surprised to see how far they had risen away from the people
below him.

‘
I didn’t
say g’bye,’
he said wistfully as he glimpsed Mayan.

‘
You did not
say goodbye,’
the young girl corrected Gideon’s speech with a
smile, as she reached out to stroke his face. Her fingers were cool
and insubstantial like gossamer butterfly wings as they brushed his
cheek. Gideon smiled at her.

‘
Somehow, I
know I know yer,’
he said, as his attention was drawn back
toward his fiancée far below.

‘
Tell your
father, ‘thank you,’
the lady said as Gideon began to drift
back slowly toward his body.

‘
Who are
yer?’
He whispered as he began to thin and fade.

‘
I love you
Gideon, I have always loved you,’
he thought he heard as the
world went black once more.

As Mayan
watched, her twin and Gideon’s father skilfully tied the box gently
between two horses and she felt helpless and alone.

‘Oh Gideon…’
she whispered, her voice full of sorrow.

‘It will be all
right my dear,’ Sonal said placing his arm around her and hoping he
was telling the truth. He looked over to his brother who was
comforting Lemba.

‘I’m not sure
how strong you’re magic is, or if you have sufficient control,’
Varen said as he entreated Lemba not to attempt using her magic
again. ‘Looking through the ether is not usually too hazardous but
it can be extremely dangerous, especially if you don’t know what
you’re doing. Stay away from it Lemba, at least until we can teach
you how to control it.’ Lemba smiled in agreement remembering how
badly frightened she had been by the pull of the power inside her
and the way it had cleaved toward Gideon as he lay inside the box.
At that moment she had felt as if her very soul belonged in his
keeping, an idea that she found most unpleasant, she did not intend
to lose herself now, not now she had her Jed.

As the company
moved on once more, Varan began to sing softly, occasionally Sonal
joined in but for the most part the group remained silent, each
holding their own counsel.

Jed was
conscious of Lemba holding him fast as she sat behind him, he loved
and wanted her deeply but as each stride of the horse took him
further away from Devilly and the slave pens, his guilt mounted,
they were free whilst his family and their friends were captives.
Toby, he thought silently renewing his vow.
Toby you will pay
for each and every hurt they suffer.

Rhoàld
travelled at the back of the convoy behind them all, not close to
either set of twins and not really knowing Gideon or his father at
all, he felt very much an outsider, even with Lemba, but he could
see his friend was in love with the young soldier and wished the
pair nothing but happiness. He watched her struggle with her newly
returned magic and realised it was as alien to her as his was to
him. Guilt also plagued him as he looked at her, knowing how she
had suffered in the past and knowing his own involvement in that
suffering had been great, he had helped, albeit unwillingly, as
Gath had tortured the child and it was not until he had lost
Bastian that he had actively tried to help her. Before then, he had
been too much of a coward. Again guiltily, he remembered that
Bastian himself used to help her more, even to accompanying her on
her occasional jaunts outside in the city knowing that punishment
would be inevitable should Gath have found out. In his head, he saw
the day that Gath had first seen her, as usual; he had been
standing behind Gath as he entered his bedchamber. Lemba was
giggling with her mother and sister as she helped to change the
bed, he smiled sadly remembering how beautiful she had been even
then and with the sun behind her, she had looked just like Gath’s
daughter.

‘Lemba,’ she
had said, smiling as she corrected the king, ‘Lemba, not Lydia!’ He
remembered how her smile changed after Gath took her tongue and he
shuddered remembering Gath ordering him to help hold her down, he,
together with the filthy dungeon keeper Hackman. How he had held
her fast until he realised her pain and released her, how Gath
ordered him to stand away and watch as Lemba kicked out.

‘Stand over
there, if you can’t hold her still.’ The king had ordered, smiling
coldly and realising that Rhoàld had deliberately released her legs
from their painful hold, thus allowing her the freedom to kick. He
had wanted to stop the king from hurting her but fear had stopped
him, fear his lord’s fury would turn to him, so he had just
watched, watched, as the beautiful happy child became a beautiful,
silent and desperately unhappy young woman. He felt guilt even as
he saw her now, knowing his cowardice had added to her pain
, I
should have tried harder,
he told himself,
instead I just
detached myself from everyone, everyone that is, except
Bastian.
His thoughts turned again to Bastian, the sound of his
voice and the feel of his skin, his face cool and serene as he said
goodbye for the last time and uttered the prayers for Bastian’s
final journey. He closed his eyes as they began to burn with the
hot tears welling up from deep inside him and his heart felt heavy
as he realised Bastian’s features, once so dear were now not quite
as detailed in his memories as they had once been, he choked back a
sob.

‘
Look with
your heart Rhoàld, not with your head,
’ said the voice he
remembered so well. His tears fell as the pain of his loss and of
the past months of loneliness engulfed him; he had felt so isolated
since Bastian’s murder and so very, very alone.

‘
I am here
Rhoàld,’
Bastian said,
‘I am always here, open your eyes and
see me.’
Rhoàld opened his eyes and found he had slipped into
the magic, into the ether; he looked up at Bastian who smiled
warmly at him
. ‘I will always be here,’
he said,
‘you
will need to help Lemba my love,’
Bastian added as he took
Rhoàld’s form into his arms. Rhoàld smiled at his lover, his
insubstantial shape seemed to pass completely through Rhoàld but he
felt the love that was still there.

‘
Lemba will
need you as you will need her.’
Bastian said again, Rhoàld
looked around him in the ether as Bastian spoke and for the second
time in his life he felt the power draw him. His skin itched as the
magic sang and he stared at Gideon’s box, no longer a coffin it
sang with life, colours streaming from it with promise of power and
light. Hundreds of tiny beams where the light slipped through the
holes in the latticework, each one lighting up the dark velvety
nothing, just like bright torches. Behind him, the void was growing
blacker and denser; it felt threatening and evil.

‘
We are
close to the void here, the power and the disturbance at the root
brings the barrier closer. You must go back my love; this is not
safe to linger without an anchor, without a balance.’
Bastian
smiled as Rhoàld looked into his face committing every line and
every expression to memory before falling back into his body.

The horse
snorted as Rhoàld patted its neck, it had been hard to find the way
into the magic but he had done so, he would learn along with Lemba
how to control it, how to make it work for him. Moreover, not in
the way that Gath makes it work, he promised himself
, I must
find the way to achieve a balance,
his thoughts concluded as he
rode along behind the others, happier than he had been in a long,
long time.

The canvas wall
flapped in the wind and pushed at Darnel’s back as Toby gave his
report to Gath, he thought the obnoxious man looked uncomfortable
and could not believe the change in him. The sergeant’s hair seemed
greyer and his skin had weathered leaving his complexion sallow,
almost old. When Toby had insulted him outside the king’s chambers,
he had believed the man to be not much older than he was himself
but now, going by the wrinkles alone the man looked to be nearer
his thirties. He could hear them talking about Gideon again and
could see Gath’s anger as he questioned Toby about his inability to
capture the boy.
Who is this Gideon?
Darnel thought, knowing
King Gath talked of him constantly, often telling him how much he
would like him and what ‘good times’ they would share together.

He shuddered as
he remembered the last good time Gath had shown him, the King had
taken him to the dungeons where guards had grabbed him, holding him
down and tying his limbs to the alter-like arrangement in the
middle of a dingy dirty room with only an oily candle for
light.

The new dungeon
keeper was a huge man who wore a filthy leather hood that
constantly concealed his face but Gath seemed to approve as he
greeted the man as a friend. Although frightened, Darnel knew he
was not going to die; he had a feeling they were going to cut away
his tongue, just as Lemba had once lost hers. For weeks, he had
heard whispers about Lemba and why she never spoke, until finally,
one of the maid’s had spoken to him as she was leaving Gath’s
service to get married.

‘Get away from
here,’ she whispered as she met him in the corridor, ‘Gath will
take your tongue, just as he took Lemba’s,’ she said no more as the
guards approached to escort him to his rooms, just as he was
escorted everywhere he went then. Even when Gath allowed him a
short visit to his little sister, a guard resplendent in his red,
gold and green followed him, he knew then he would never be free,
that Gath would use Ffion, his small defenceless sister against him
if he tried to get away. In the dungeon, Gath had requested oh so
politely that he offer him his tongue, he smiled at Darnel as he
lay on the cold table and bent down to kiss his lips. Darnel,
finally understanding that this was real, turned his face away from
his master.

‘My dear boy, I
cannot have my body slaves conspiring now, can I,’ Gath said still
smiling and leaving Darnel wracking his brains trying to think of a
time he had spoken with Lemba. Then, he remembered with horror his
whispered words of sympathy to her as Gath had tried to make her
speak and the look Gath had thrown his way.

‘Yer majesty,
I’ll not be talking again, I’ll stay silent…please,’ he had begged,
with tears burning in his eyes.

‘My dear one,
if you let me take your tongue it will heal all the faster, I will
be able to heal it for you myself.’ Gath said as he had run a
gentle finger down his cheek. ‘If you fight me, the magic may not
take and you may bleed to death.’ Gath explained it all to him as
if he were a kindly healer.

Darnel thought
of his sister Ffion, working away in the castle kitchens and also
knowing she would be a beauty someday, some man would fall in love
with her and they would marry and get away from here… he mapped out
her life, as he refused to open his mouth and comply with the
king’s vile request.

‘Morgan, show
my body servant what happens to disobedient slaves,’ Gath said to
the hooded dungeon keeper, as a young boy no bigger than Ffion
shuffled into the room, dragged by a chain around his waist. ‘This
child was caught stealing and as you can see, he has already lost
one hand. Sadly…’ continued the king, ‘he has not learnt his lesson
and has been caught stealing again, for justice to be done he
should lose his other hand but I cannot justify burdening the city
with yet another beggar.’ Darnel remembered the boy’s tears rolling
down his face and mixing from the streams of snot from his
nose.

‘Me ma, yer
worship,’ the boy had cried, ‘me ma be dying an’ she needed the
medicine fer ‘er pain,’ he continued as he wiped his face with his
good hand.

‘Well boy
she’ll be joining you all the sooner then, won’t she?’ Gath had
smiled in reply and nodded at the guard holding the youngster. The
guard grabbed the boy’s hair at the top of his head and pulled
back, exposing the dirty throat. The boy screamed as Gath sliced
through the skin and tissue almost severing the child’s head, the
guard holding the boy jumped back as blood spouted in a great gush
across Gath’s robes, the scream cutting off abruptly as the boy
died and his body fell to the floor.