Chapter 50 #2
“Truly, I did not wish it to be this way.” Stepping around him, the murderer reached for the pendant that had ceased glowing and dropped back down to the bed.
He let out a faint cry as he went to touch it, for a man who should, in theory, not be affected by fire had been burned.
Whereas the pendant’s mark had chosen the one brother and placed itself on his hand, this mark was reversed.
He reached for the pendant, placing it around his neck. “The Gods will not have a say in my fate, Telavandir.” He said to the man who had begun to cease twitching, going increasingly still.
Is this where I am? I looked at the man dying at my feet, gasping for air. The man chosen as the first king by the Primals clutched at his throat, blood oozing from a wound that would not heal. He had been chosen. He had been marked.
The gasping stopped; his chest ceased moving. Televandir was dead. The shortest reign in history.
The flaps to the tent flew open, a group of three men running inside. “Sendiar, the king?” One of the men asked.
The men peered around Sendiar, seeing the corpse of Telavandir strewn about the floor, but similar to the king, he had begun to harden to stone.
“What happened?” Asked another.
Sendiar cleared his throat, “When my father passed moments ago, my brother went into a fit of madness. Rage.” He said all the while feigning sincerity in his voice. “His heartbreak must have overtaken him.”
The men looked suspicious until one gasped, pointing to Sendiar’s hand. “The prophecy! It came to pass.”
The three men dropped to their knees, lowering their heads in respect. Sendiar smiled as he adjusted his stance, standing more stately, refined.
“Come now, stand, each of you.” He gestured for each of them to rise.
As the men gazed around the room, back to his hand, and back to him, the smallest of the group asked. “What…”
“Go on,” Sendiar said.
“What are we to do now, Your Majesty?”
Sendiar paused, looking to see the remnants of his brother fading into the wind. “We shall march on Azmeer. If the prophecy is to be fulfilled, Eldara must be ruled by one king.”
“And what then, Your Majesty?” Another murmured under his breath.
“And then,” he chuckled, if only to himself. “I shall make a visit to Tura.”
Tura? My Tura? It couldn’t be. Tura was old, but she wasn’t this old…she…she couldn’t be.
The guards left Sendiar in the tent as he made his way towards me, removing the pendant from his neck, he placed it down on a desk before smiling to himself and exiting.
What are you made of? I wondered as I made my way towards the pendant. The symbol embedded into it was the one that had appeared in Televandir’s hand, and upside down on Sendiar’s. It was the same one as Addie’s drawing.
I reached for it. Unlike the tent, or the men, or the stones, this I felt. Its etched surface, it’s cool metal. Clasped in my hand, light shone from inside my palm before sand swirled around me once more.
Not again.
Claws dug into my back, tearing me to shreds like the remnants of parchment you wished to dispose of.
My vision swirled, the earth flipped on its axis.
Steady myself, please, Gods, make it stop.
My heart lurched into my stomach as I fell through darkness, light, a storm, before collapsing to the ground.
I was back in the Room of Convergence, my fingers desperate to cling onto the smooth stone, anything to ground me. What the fuck had just happened? What had I just seen?
The mark, the king, the first king? But had Televandir been the first true king of Eldara? Whatever fueled the mark, it chose him, until… Until his brother had murdered him. Tura?
Steadying myself, I reached for the books.
The one with the clasp had pages of notes.
Was it a diary? But the diary of whom? And why had it shown itself to me?
I grabbed the one that Tura had given me.
The Keepers of Time… Keepers… Stonekeepers.
The book must have belonged to a Stonekeeper.
Whoever wrote it was a member of the Eternal Court… but how had Tura managed to get it?
Questions flooded my mind, and despite the late hour, I knew there was someone I needed to speak to. Grabbing the books, I ran from the tower.
I was careful to quicken my pace, to ensure that no one noticed me. I knew where his office was, but it would be only the second time I had visited.
“Magister Illerium, Magister, are you in there?” I knocked on his door until I heard a voice from inside. “Sir, it’s Kadian Taldot. May I come in?”
I was offered a grunt and opened the door. Closing it behind me, I said, “Magister, I’m sorry to barge in like this…”
Gods. I urged my feet faster. Illerium was hunched over, one hand plastered against the wall, the other clutching at his chest. I had seen humans have pains, be forced to stop, their age slowing them down. But a Fae? Never.
“Are you alright?” I ran to meet him. Illerium turned his head to face me before sliding to the floor.
His face was pallid, grayer than the warm hues it had been when he had toured us through Azmeer on that first official day. His hair mere wisps compared to what it had been. Even though he had never been young or spry, he hadn’t been this.
“Magister Illerium.” I launched myself to the floor in an attempt to catch him, managing to get a hand under his head, ensuring it didn’t crack against the hard limestone before gently placing him so that he was seated against the wall.
Mustering what appeared to take all of his strength, Illerium offered a small smile. “Thank you.”
His breathing was labored, sweat lining his brow. “Magister, let me go get someone…” Illerium reached for my wrist, pulling me back downward.
“There is no need. Nothing can be done to stop it. It is time. It is my time.” His voice was soft, resolute.
He wore the expression of a man who accepted his fate. And I would respect his wishes and stay with him until the end. Few people deserved to die alone.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked, “To make you more comfortable?”
A low laugh left Illerium, “It won’t matter in a few moments, now will it?” He struggled to keep his head held up, his chest rising and falling more rapidly now. “Look at me, Kadian.”
To ease his burden, I placed my hands on the sides of his cheeks, holding it steady. I looked into gray eyes whose color was draining by the second.
“Hm,” he smiled. “I thought so.”
“Sir?”
“Many here have become oblivious to what’s happening in Azmeer, Kadian. I’m sorry that it may be left to you to carry this burden.”
“There are a few of us who remember, sir.” I let go of his face, helping him once more. “Sir, he doesn’t have the mark. Rai doesn’t have the mark. Not the right one.” I whispered.
With his last bit of strength, Illerium raised his head on his own, looked at me, and said, “I have seen the sun rise and set on a thousand faces, but only one casts a shadow worth following.” Illerium reached for my hand and attempted to give it a squeeze before taking one more shallow breath before his hand went limp in mine.
Closing my eyes and steadying my breath, I placed his arm over his chest and shut Illerium’s eyes for the final time. We had been strangers. How was it fair that in his final moments, only I was here? Did he have family in Azmeer? Someone, anyone who should be notified?
I left Illerium propped against the wall, head lolled lifelessly to the side as I made my way to the infirmary, searching for Magister Thorne.
After being informed that Magister Thorne had also succumbed to an unknown illness and guiding a newly appointed magister from the infirmary to where Illerium lay, I eventually made my way back to the House of Shadows, unable to cease running a hand over my face. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK.” I said.
The entryway was quiet as I arrived, per usual, I was the only one here. I’d come to realize that members seldom left their houses if it could be avoided. The novelty of Azmeer had worn off of them, and their prejudice had asserted itself.
“Looks like you’ve had quite the evening,” the door said to me as I approached.
I had no fight left in me.
“Don’t look so glum, the night is just getting started.”
“The night…” My voice caught in my throat, lightning flashed behind my eyes, poison coursed through my veins. Wind blew so strong it forced me to the ground. Gods, please not again.
Salt. Why do I taste salt? The smell, the feel of the sea washed over me. I was cleansed, made anew, and the tug in my chest pulled me forward, screaming.
“I know you.” It whispered to me, “and you know me.” I could feel her, I could sense her.
Lil. I whispered to myself. The feel of her skin against mine, the warmth of her, the acknowledgement my body yearned for, it was there, it was closer than it had ever been.
My soul had been made whole, the parts missing now returned to me. I could sense her. Come back to me.
And then, she was gone.
All the weakness, all the trepidation that I had carried with me these months, vanished. Evaporating like dew on the morning grass. I was stronger, stronger than I had any right to be, but I couldn’t feel her.
“No, no, no!” I shouted as I regained my footing. “Where are you!” I yelled. She had felt so close, so tangible. Like I could have reached out and plucked her from the sky, but now she was gone. Sand, falling through my fingers.
“Now, now, Kadian, why so glum?” The door said in that way that drove me to madness.
I wasn’t sure if it was the loss of her pulsing through me, or the months of frustration, but I pulled my arm back, and punched the center of the door. Hitting it repeatedly, splitting the gem in its center.
Cracks became visible, the sound of it breaking reverberating through the atrium, accompanied by laughter. I fell to my knees, clutching at my hand. It burned. A pain so fierce, I screamed it was unbearable. I was being branded.
My flesh searing as an invisible hand dragged a flaming dagger through my skin. “MAKE IT STOP,” I yelled as I fell to the floor, pulling my hand to my chest, begging and pleading to whichever god would listen, I prayed it would stop.
Minutes passed, perhaps hours, days. I wasn’t sure. I had passed out; the pain had been too much. Opening my eyes, my vision was blurred. I blinked repeatedly until shapes took form. A face hovering over me.
Lil?
No.
She’s beautiful. I thought to myself as I blinked, but she’s not Lil.
I rubbed my eyes. Where am I? Am I dead? Is that how we go? Did I too dissolve from rock? Rock? That’s not my court.
The floor was hot, more scalding than any bath, and the woman’s hand as it touched my face was as hot as a living flame.
“Come now, Kadian. It’s time to wake up.” She gave my face a smack. “I don’t have all day. It’s been far too long since I stretched my legs, and already here I am. Sitting, waiting for a man, or male. What’s the pedantic terminology you beings use these days?”
I pushed myself upward, staring around the room. I was still in the atrium. And the flames in the tripods and the walls burned brighter. Did I hit my head as I fell?
“What happened?” I asked, rubbing my skull, searching for any bumps.
The woman had long flowing hair, a deep auburn, a shade of red we only ever saw in the fall. Her eyes burned gold with red, with smoke beginning to build in the irises.
She gestured with her head down to my hand, and I looked at it. It had not been the door. No. It was something far more ominous, for it was a mark I now readily knew. But one I did not yet understand.
“I had a feeling today was going to be exceptional,” she said. Her voice was one I recognized. Panic surged through me as I looked to the door, where the smoke-filled ruby had shattered, and returned my gaze to her.
“You?”
“All hail the new king.”