A Magic King (21 page)

She fumbled through Dr. Beavesly's memories for the appropriate formal response. "Your greetings are a kindness, Mage Dinal, and I thank you." The words were stilted, spoken in a halting, stuttering way, but he seemed to understand her.

"If you will follow me, I will take you to dinner."

She nodded, appreciating the fact that he spoke slowly, giving her time to translate each word. She hoped it would get easier with time.

As she expected, dinner was in the large cafeteria. What she hadn't expected were the glittering masses of people crammed into the large room all staring at her. If it hadn't been for her determination to live up to her new status, she would have turned tail and run. As it was, she hastily scanned the room, searching for one large, masculine body.

Daken. It seemed like ages before she saw him. He was seated just to the left of the head table, his dark hair and large frame making him stand out like a bull in a china shop. Still, he looked very regal, his expression polite but cold, his distancing mask firmly in place.

She wanted to go straight to him if only to be near him when she faced this excited throng of people, but Dinal lead her to the empty seat in the center of the head table. On her right sat Ginsen and beside him, Kyree. On her left was a short, stocky dwarf with golden eyes, and beside him an elegantly plumed man with bright yellow hair and a pointy face. Another bird-man. She nodded to them all, Dr. Beavesly's memories telling her they were the members of the Council.

The evening went the way of all formal dinners. Ginsen gave introductory comments before a nourishing but rather bland meal was served. She spoke politely, if a bit awkwardly, with the dwarf Silm sitting next to her, who was eager to learn of her land and time. Not seeing any reason to lie, she spoke honestly.

"Mine was a violent home where people forgot how to live peaceably together. Their paranoia caused them to decimate the planet, but for some odd reason, I was saved, brought forward to now to see that such horrors are not repeated."

It was a clear statement of purpose, and she was gratified to see he approved.

"Very appropriate, Oracle. Very learned." He almost sounded surprised.

Later Ginsen caught her eye and expressed his own pleasure with her goals. "I have been speaking with Silm, Oracle. We are pleased that your feelings so closely match our own."

Jane nodded, her gaze wandering as she searched for Daken. Fortunately, he wasn't with them to hear her non-violent platform. He would undoubtedly learn of it soon, but for now, she had enough to deal with.

The polite chit-chat and eager questions continued to absorb her attention, but even so, Jane was never more aware of Daken. All through the meal, she could feel his eyes on her. Whenever she glanced his way, he was staring at her, his eyes steady and cold. It felt as if he were judging her. That tonight was some sort of test which she was probably failing.

Like a dark figure of violence, he lurked always nearby, a constant reminder that no matter what she did, no matter who these people thought she was, he knew the truth. He knew she was a fool from a violent past that could no more lead the world into a peace than a starfish could become a star.

It wasn't until much later, after they adjourned to the central courtyard that she displaced Daken's disturbing presence in her thoughts. And then, he was replaced by something even worse.

She had become quite adept at retrieving bits of information from Dr. Beavesly's memories. He had spent a lot of time in the capitol city, and so there was some bit of information on everyone. Images came to her naturally, usually short scenes, occasionally just a flash or a picture, but always associated with whichever person she greeted at that moment.

She had been smiling at an elderly matron whose eyes were weak from age, when Jane chanced to look up and catch sight of a thick, powerful man strolling across the grounds. He had one arm draped in a fatherly gesture across Steve's shoulders. An image flashed in her mind like lightning, brilliantly illuminated, then gone. She grabbed at it, startled because of the violence of the emotion associated with the memory. Dr. Beavesly's thoughts were usually cold, empty information, rarely colored by any interpretation or feeling.

But this memory was filled with anger and frustration at a ghost's inadequacies.

Still not quite understanding, Jane excused herself from the matron and slowly worked her way through the crowd as she followed the man and Steve. It wasn't until they neared the computer center that she grabbed hold of the memory and saw it in its entirety. Then once she'd caught it, other images flooded past her, inundating her with its horror. By the time she got close enough, she was shaking with rage.

"Just a minute!" Her voice quivered with suppressed anger. Nearby people quieted, turning at the urgency in her voice. It was that lull in conversation that finally caught the man's attention.

She wasted no time, quickly closing the distance between them. She reached out for Steve, but the boy shrank back, trying to slip away from both adults. He might have escaped, except the man, whose name was Borit, kept his meaty grasp on Steve's shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Jane demanded.

The man smiled politely, drawing his heavy jowls up toward pinched eyes that gleamed with the intensity of a bulldog. "I thought to take the boy into the House of Prophesy. He wants to see what all the excitement was about."

"Don't lie to me, you bastard. That's my House of Prophesy there. I know everything that goes on in there. Everything that
went
on in there." She kept her voice low, but it still vibrated with her emotions, carrying her words to everyone.

She felt a hand at her back, large and protective, and she knew without looking that Daken was there, warning her to caution. His voice carried like the gentle rumble of distant thunder, but she heard the implied threat in his voice.

"He's a powerful man, Jane. Don't make a scene over a servant boy."

Jane shrugged off Daken's warning. She didn't fear this man. He was the kind of bully who preyed on the weak. She leaned forward and hauled Steve away from the large man, all the while venting her anger at the thug.

"He's just a child, and you're an evil, depraved beast." That probably wasn't the best choice of words given that half the people here had close ties to one animal or another, but she wasn't in the mood to scrupulously guard her tongue.

She pulled Steve against her in a protective hold. Borit drew himself upright, his face bulging in rage. "How dare you screech at me, woman. I am King Borit of Umbus."

Jane felt her jaw go slack. "My God," she breathed. "You're a healer! That's despicable." She spoke half in English, half in Common, but the meaning was clear enough. All around her were surprised gasps, some in outrage, some in glee.

If possible, the man grew larger. He stood straighter, bunching his massive fists, stepping forward until he practically towered over her. Jane refused to cringe, not because of the audience that watched the scene with the anticipation of a crowd at a hanging, but because of the boy literally quivering against her. She'd already used him once for her own ends. This was her chance to help him even if it meant she was about to get herself beaten to a pulp.

She needn't have worried. Even before she could draw breath to excoriate the man further, Daken pushed her aside, placing his own massive bulk between her and King Borit. Thankfully, given her less than peaceable hopes, Ginsen interrupted the growing confrontation, bringing his own brand of calm to the area.

"Oracle, is there something I can assist with?" As he spoke, he pressed his way between the two men while drawing Jane and the shaking boy forward. Daken stepped to the side, but remained firmly between Jane and Borit.

"Yes, Elven Lord." She used his title, making sure he understood this was a formal complaint. She drew a deep breath, taking in the dead silence of the crowd as well as the nervous squirming of the boy who clearly wanted to disappear. Jane wouldn't let him go, wanting him to be here when she got rid of his tormentor.

Although Ginsen spoke in English, Jane spoke in her halting Common, wanting everyone to know the extent of Borit's crimes. "King Borit has been repeatedly molesting this boy. He's been doing it for years, using a back room in the House of Prophesy. He should be punished. But more than that, he must be stopped."

She wouldn't have thought Ginsen's young face could look so grim so fast. It was as though a blight appeared on his skin. Even his eyes dimmed. He looked at Borit, his voice low and sad. "Is this true, King Borit?"

"Of course not, my lord!" sputtered the man.

"Like he'd admit it."

"Be quiet." That was from Daken, though his eyes never left Borit's enraged features.

"The woman is a stranger, my Lord," continued Borit. "She is not one of us and has no understanding of our ways. That she could make such an outrageous accusation only proves the extent of her ignorance."

"Ignorance! It doesn't take a Ph.D. to recognize a brute beating a child into silence before he..." She couldn't speak past the memories surging again in her mind. It was traumatic just knowing about it. How much more hideous had it been for Steve?

Ginsen looked down, his dark eyes focusing on the boy who now stared morosely down at his feet. Jane tried to comfort him, gently squeezing his shoulder, but Steve flinched away, and she let her hand drop though she remained right beside him.

"Steviens, can you talk about this?" Ginsen spoke in a new language, one Dr. Beavesly also knew, but it was much longer before Jane could manage a translation. While she fumbled to understand, everyone stared at the boy, practically climbing over one another to peer into his face.

Jane glanced at Daken. He too watched the boy, then he looked up at her. She expected to draw comfort from his eyes. To feel that he believed her and knew that she was doing the right thing. Instead, she saw recrimination, even anger in his eyes.

Jane was shocked by his betrayal. How could he take the part of a child abuser against her? She was still reeling from the shock when Ginsen spoke. "Oracle, are you sure of what you speak?"

Jane turned away from Daken, firmly closing him off in thought and gesture. "Yes, Elven Lord. I'm positive."

"There is no room for misinterpretation? Could the boy have been willing?" To his credit, she didn't think Ginsen believed it, but had to ask anyway.

"No, Elven Lord. Steve was most unwilling."

"Very well." He nodded and two large mages materialized out of the crowd. One she recognized as the formidable youth who had guarded the doorway when she worked on the computer. The other was equally large, almost bearlike in his proportions with a face to match. They both grabbed Borit's arms and led him away while he sputtered and screamed about her ignorance.

The crowd exploded into a roar of conversation, whispered mutterances and loud exclamations. Jane ignored it all, turning instead to speak to Steve. But the boy was gone. He'd disappeared from the crowd as though he'd never been there. And when she looked up, she saw Daken leaving as well.

"Daken," she called, running after him. He stopped, but his entire stance spoke of anger and outrage. She touched his arm, but he flinched away.

"Please, Daken." She spoke in English, knowing he would understand while most everyone else around them wouldn't. "I need to know what will happen next."

He spun around. "Next, Oracle? Haven't you done enough for one evening?"

She stepped back, still shocked, though no longer surprised by his open enmity. His fists were knotted at his sides, his jaw clenched as though fighting to restrain himself.

Jane returned look for look, her own jaw tightening in the face of his belligerence. "What have I done wrong? He molested a child!"

Daken bent down toward her, his eyes boring tiny holes like silent stingers into her heart. "We will speak of this later, Oracle." He spat out her title, showing her quite clearly what he thought of her actions. And then he left, cutting through the crowd like a knife through water.

Left alone without Daken or the Elven Lord as buffer, Jane quickly became swamped with people eager to quiz her on what just happened, on her abilities in general, and exactly what she could do for them. They were everywhere, speaking in a language that quickly became nonsense to her. Pushing against the tide of bodies, she made her escape, only to end up sitting morosely on the floor of her empty apartment.

At least someone had lit a fire for her. She stared into the dancing flames, her thoughts slipping away to another fire in Dr. Beavesly's memory. The one that turned her world to ashes.

It was another two hours before he came to her. His face was set in taut lines of hostility, though Daken no longer seemed so close to violence. She didn't look up when he entered, never commented on the fact he hadn't knocked. She felt exhausted in mind and body, and she didn't know why. She'd done something good tonight, she told herself. She'd saved a boy from an abuser. And nothing, nothing Daken said to her would change that.

She opened the hostilities with a sarcastic comment. "I suppose you've come to expound upon my many sins."

He returned with his own sally. "How could you know? How? I thought we'd established your obsession with a servant boy is at a minimum awkward for you and harmful to the boy."