The Mausoleum
Chapter
One
Merrick
ICY FINGERS OF GRIEF gripped my heart as I ran across the courtyard bricks with a stargazer lily in my hand.
Crisp dawn air filled my lungs. Despite the biting wind, sweat dampened my forehead and heat surged under my skin.
Chest heaving, I slowed onto the road that led to the royal family mausoleum, about a mile from the castle.
The circular tomb towered over the broad plain.
Twelve massive pillars carved from the same gray stone held up the domed ceiling.
Above the entrance a symbol, the Eternal Ring, had been etched.
Six concentric rings, like ripples from a stone dropped in water, representing the six aspects of magic: soil, air, fire, water, light, and dark.
The sentinels painted on the outer wall held out their swords, protecting the royal dead.
I stopped to read the adage from our ancestors etched along the archway of the iron door: Death is only the beginning of our path to what is beyond.
Enter with clarity. Enter with love. Enter to celebrate new life.
I focused on the keyhole and curled my index finger, allowing a kernel of magic to flow through me with a warm, tingling sensation.
The metal door creaked as it swung open.
I took the first step down and swiped at cobwebs.
The scrape of iron meeting stone echoed inside when the door locked behind me.
I stilled as a cold breeze stroked my face like a soft wave of ocean mist, and musty air tickled my nose. Swallowed up by walls built by long gone ancestors, I quickened my breath.
Breathe, Merrick. There are no ghosts in here. Don’t be a coward.
Dust particles danced like butterflies within a shaft of light.
The glass dome overhead not only let in the morning sun, but illuminated the painting of three stunning goddesses—Mothers Nimue, Viviane, and Myneve—on the glass, casting jewel-toned prisms over the caskets.
Their hands interlocked on the hilt, the blade blazing a white fire.
The Eternal Mothers’ flowing dresses and their long silver hair glowed like moonstone against the light.
All former rulers of the Dumonian Empire and their descendants had been buried here. The most recent casket, my mother’s, lay on a raised dais, circled by twelve steps. It had been months since illness had taken her life, but it seemed like only the day before.
I prepared my heart to be crushed again as I climbed the last steps.
“Your favorite, Mother.” I swallowed hard and placed a pink stargazer lily on top of the glass casket over the spot where her hands crossed on her chest. I’d plucked one from the castle garden on my way every time I visited her.
Mother’s face was almost alive. Her closed eyes were coated with teal, her cheeks with rose, and her lips ruby. Small, hammered-gold leaves intertwined with white baby’s breath crowned her forehead and wove through her brunette hair.
She wore a long, alabaster dress, and she looked like a goddess in deep slumber. Regardless of how peaceful she appeared, my heart knotted with gut-wrenching pain.
Through Father’s magic, Mother’s body had been preserved. She would stay beautiful forever and so would the white rose petals scattered inside the casket.
“Mother, I’m here. You look like you’re sleeping.” As my words caught in my throat, I brushed my fingertip over the medallion Mother had given me before she passed away.
Mother almost knocked the water bowl by her bed when she fished something out under her pillow with a trembling hand. “My gift to you. You will need it one day.”
Her fever never relented, even after all the medicine she had taken. The healer couldn’t diagnose her disease or its cause. He’d only said that her illness could be a remnant of the Blood Plague that had killed so many infants the year I was born.
Mother uncurled her fingers, revealing a thin leather braid looped through a six-ringed silver pendant.
“An Eternal Ring?” I cradled the medallion with both hands. The polished metal, cold and smooth to touch, seemed ordinary, but Mother wouldn’t have given it to me if it weren’t special.
“This necklace was passed down within my family. I received it from my mother when she …” Her weary voice stumbled on the final word. “Passed.”
“Nonsense, Mother. You will get better. We just have to calm the fever.” My weak voice faltered in its effort to give her hope as I tied the leather around my neck.
“No.” Mother spoke with more energy than a sick woman should have.
“Listen carefully.” She pulled me closer until my ear rested on her fever-scorched lips.
“The walls have eyes and ears. Be careful what you say. Trust no one, especially your father. Not even your brothers. One of your brothers will betray you. I’ve seen it in dreams. I have a gift of foretelling. No one knows, not even your father.”
I jerked away, bristling at the seeds of distrust she planted. Father, Rodern, and Jediah, the only family I would have after Mother passed. If I couldn’t trust my own family, who could I trust?
Mother was near death and delirious. She had been talking rubbish ever since she became ill, so I played along to give her peace.
“If your heart is worthy and pure, this pendant will help you in dark times,” she said.
I wiped beaded sweat from her forehead with a cloth and placed it back inside a water bowl. “How will it help me?”
“That will depend on you. It works differently for everyone.”
I rubbed a thumb over the ridges of the six rings. In all the years we’d been taught magic, Mother had never once mentioned a pendant. It looked ordinary, though she claimed it wasn’t. But how could I trust what she’d told me in her delirious state of mind?
What was so significant about it?
“Thank you, Mother. I’ll treasure it forever.” I shuddered a quiet breath, trying to remain strong, as her chest rose and fell with much effort. But her gentle smile said she was pleased.
Mother sensed my torment and rested her blazing fingers over my wrist. “It’s okay, Son. It’s what the goddesses wanted of me. Do not weep for me when I’m gone. I will be silently walking beside you, and I will always watch over you. I love you, Merrick. Even when I’m gone, I’ll love you still.”
Her whispered words slammed into my chest, crushing my lungs to leave me breathless. I dropped my head on the mattress and stripped away the man I’d become, down to the small boy for the last time, and let the tears fall.
I opened my eyes as my head rested against the cold, unforgiving glass of my mother’s casket. Rolling back my shoulders, I shoved away the memory.
Trust no one, especially your father. One of your brothers will betray you. I had become a prisoner of those words, always looking behind me.
After I gave Mother a reverent bow, I dashed down the stairs. Morning meal awaited, and Father would be expecting me.
I pushed the door open with a wave of my hand and sprinted out. Then I peered over my shoulder to ensure the door closed. As I admired the ruby-red glow stretching across the endless blue sky, I ran with Mother’s love.
I knew her spirit watched over me. If she could talk, she would say … Run, Merrick. Do not be late. Trust no one.