Chartile: Prophecy (22 page)

“
We’ll work on your magic
a bit more tomorrow,” said Dimitri.

“
You rest today, Jack,”
Piper insisted, and she tussled his wavy hair.

“
Well, we can’t practice
in the armory anymore,” said Jayson. He rolled his blue grey eyes
and crossed his arms. “So bogus. Where are we supposed to go
now?”

“
I think I know a place,”
said Leo.



The air waned from a warm summer to a cool
autumn. The leaves in the surrounding Belirian Forest had begun to
change to shades of gold and ruby red. The ripe scent of a strange
autumn fruit from the trees filled the air, especially at dusk, as
it was now. Five laughing figures entered the Black Diamond’s
central market square from a small door leading to the outside.
Some of the residents who had remained in the mine glared behind
their hoods, and moved their children away. Others saw an
exploitable opportunity to sell their goods and waved as the troupe
passed their carts and stands. Jack took little heed of the
merchants today. He had bought a new leather grip for his bow staff
earlier that day, and was currently deep in conversation with
Jayson.

“
I nearly had you that
time, admit it,” said Jayson as he playfully punched Jack in the
arm. His thick red hair was windblown and stuck up at the
back.

“
As if! My staff was at
your throat, dude! There’s no way you could have gotten that knife
out in time!”

It had been three days since the ordeal in
the armory. Word had spread fast. The boys were unwelcome in nearly
all circles but those with select Black Diamond members whom they
rarely saw except those strangers in the market place. Leo had
shown them the way to the old mines and the secret door outside to
the East side of the mountain. The steep cliff down to the forest
was easily passable via a small path that Leo had not noticed
before. Brande had showed them a small clearing a short distance
into the forest when they had inquired about a place to
practice.

Jack, Leo and Jayson had abandoned their
magical studies for the time being, save for their meditations, and
had focused on refining their combat skills. They had even begun
practicing hand to hand combat with Brande and Kylani’s help.
Dimitri had been against the entire idea of using the Diamond’s
‘lair’ as he called it from the very beginning. He soon found the
Black Diamond’s still held true to most of the traditions of his
people, and his hatred toward them began to subside.

The light of another day faded into a starry
speckled sky. Jayson, Jack, Leo, Piper and Dimitri, exhausted from
the day’s exercises, barely noticed the small knot of people
traipsing towards them up the corridor. Jack flattened himself
against the wall when he finally saw Gemari among them. Her eyes
landed on Jack, and she nearly stopped in her tracks herself. For
her sake, it appeared as little more than a small skip in her step
due to her training. She pulled her shoulders back and bowed low
when she approached the group.

“
Greetings,” she said
softly. Her voice had lost its squeaky quality since the banquet,
and there was a constant forlorn undertone to her once bubbly
personality. She paused, taking a moment to look at each of the
five in turn. “Jack, may I talk with you a moment?”

“
S-sure,” Jack stammered.
Gemari turned to her guards, and nodded. Reluctantly, they
retreated several paces back, each placing a hand on his sword
hilt. Jack looked at his friends, and gulped. They only smirked and
joined the guards down the hall.

“
Gemari, look, I’m sorry.”
Jack began, but the Princess lifted her hand to silence
him.

“
It’s alright, Jack,” she
said smiling. “I wanted to tell you I was sorry. Am sorry, for the
way I have been.”

“
What are you talking
about?” Jack asked. He leaned his staff against the wall and
furrowing his brow at her.

“
I have been involved with
many council meetings ere of late,” she replied, looking at the
floor, “and, there are things that have been discussed.”

“
About us?” Jack asked,
and he nodded toward his friends behind him. Gemari looked into
Jack’s eyes for several long moments. “Gemari, don’t try to be all
formal, and stuff. It’s me. Just spit it out!”

She took a deep breath, then replied very
quickly, “Nefiri has dismissed Dimitri from her service because of
his involvement with you, and your connection to the Black
Diamonds. I do not agree with this, and I am finding myself siding
more often with the Diamonds. Jack, this goes against everything I
have been brought up to believe, and I do not know what to do!” She
blinked the tears from her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks.
Jack reached toward her. He wanted to brush the invisible tears
from her cheek. He wasn’t sure if he liked the new or old Gemari
better, but he couldn’t deny he had feelings for her. Instead, he
placed his hand on her shoulder, and she looked back into his
face.

“
Talk to Isla,” Jack said,
“If she gets banished after this is all over, the dwarves will need
a strong leader. You can do it, Gemari.”

She smiled at him and nodded. “I have. She
and Princess Faeridae have both been ever so kind and patient with
me. I suppose I was still just so confused. I do not understand
why, but… you seem to make everything much clearer for me. Thank
you, Jack.”

Jack reached for Gemari’s hand, and bent to
kiss it. She stared at him with wide eyes, and he heard her breath
catch in her throat as he released her hand. They locked eyes
again, then Gemari bowed to him and continued down the corridor.
Jack watched her go, a strange smile on his face as he did so. He
didn’t notice his friends join him until Jayson slapped him on the
back.

“
Twitterpated, my friend.
This, right here, is called twitterpated.” Jayson
grinned.

“
I see,” said Dimitri with
a chuckle.

The sound of Dimitri’s voice brought Jack to
again. “What did you say?” he asked. His friends laughed and they
continued toward the Emerald Quarter.

The halls were surprisingly empty as they
trudged back to Piper, and now Dimitri’s, rooms. They each took
turns at the wash basin, scrubbing away the sweat and grime of the
day, before tearing into the left over fruit from their lunch
earlier that day.

“
When’s Valar getting
here, anyway?” Jayson asked through a mouthful of food.

“
He should arrive any
moment,” said Piper. Though she had appreciated all of his
assistance, Valar had been a bit overbearing at times. She had
enjoyed his absence these past few days. Rather begrudgingly, Valar
had rescheduled their meeting from earlier in the week to today. A
messenger had sent word for him to return to his son’s estate, and
he had left immediately.

“
Any idea what this is
about?” Leo asked. He wiped fruit juice from his chin then dove in
for me.

“
I do not know,” said
Piper.

They sat in silence for nearly ten minutes,
chewing their food and relaxing. Dimitri used magic to play with
the flames in the hollowed out stone pillar beneath the wash basin,
much to everyone’s amusement.

There was a sharp knock on the door that
sent the fruit juice from Jayson’s bite shoot across the room and
land on Jack’s shirt. Piper rose from her chair and opened the door
to a smiling and rosy faced Valar.

“
Hello, my Queen,” he
said, and bowed to her in the proper elven fashion with one hand
behind his back and the other across his waist. Piper’s shoulders
dropped. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“
Hello, Valar,” she said
in a warning tone. The man entered the room, taking no notice. He
bowed to each of the boys before taking a seat in Piper’s
chair.

“
We need to teach him what
a hand shake is,” Jayson whispered to Leo.

Piper closed the door and latched the extra
chain. Dimitri uncrossed his legs as she rejoined them, and she sat
on his lap, leaning against the corner of the fainting sofa. Valar
blinked at them and stammered for a moment before continuing.

“
Well, I…So, uh…I have
asked you here today to discuss, um, I have information regarding
the upcoming battle that may be to our advantage.”

“
Do you have any news of
Gran, first?” Piper interrupted.

“
I am sorry, my lady, no,”
said Valar shaking his head. “But I am sure she is perfectly safe.
Your grandmother had many friends in the palace. Even if she is a
prisoner, I am sure she is being well cared for.”

“
As well cared for as
prisoners are,” Dimitri murmured.

“
Yes, well, if we are
successful, that will be of little consequence. We can free Kaytah
and all will be well again!” Valar rubbed his hands together and
beamed with forced confidence. “Now, onto the matter at hand! It
has come to my attention that there is a great probability Taraniz
will not be at the battle on the Plains.”

“
Coward,” said Jayson.
“She’s totally afraid, isn’t she?”

“
Over confident and
self-preserving, in my opinion,” replied Valar. “I believe we can
use this to our advantage.” He paused for dramatics, and his eyes
darted from one face to the next. “If Taraniz remains at the
palace, she will not be heavily guarded, if at all as I hear of
late. We can gain access to the palace with little to no resistance
in order to kill her.”

“
Or capture her,” Leo
added.

“
Yes, or capture her.”
Valar corrected himself with a strained smile. “However, if Taraniz
is at the battle of the Plains, we will still be able to infiltrate
the palace and find the royal orenite circlet which we can use
against her at a later time.”

“
You mean, the one they
used on Duke Noraedin?” Leo asked. “Why hasn’t anyone tried to use
it on her before?”

“
It is hidden away, or so
my sources tell me. If the circlet is truly still in possession of
the royal family, it would be within the royal treasury. And since
most of her army will be at the Plains, it should be
unguarded.”

“
So, you want us to kill
Taraniz with a piece of jewelry instead of a sword because that’s
so much better.” said Jack. “I thought we agreed we would try to
help her first. What difference does it make how she’s killed? It’s
still murdering someone.”

“
Jack, you don’t
understand what she has done,” said Piper.

“
Piper, we know she’s done
some pretty uncool stuff,” said Jayson. “But, we said we didn’t
want to… murder someone if it could be avoided.”

“
The circlet was used many
centuries ago to destroy the magic of the royals at their
coronation. Yes, at times it did mean their death, but often it
simply dispelled their magical abilities and they were unharmed
otherwise. If Taraniz agrees to surrender, we can use the circlet
on her to ensure she can never use magic again. A willing advocate
has a far greater chance of surviving the magic of the circlet than
one who has it forced upon them,” said Valar.

Silence hung in the air between them.
Jayson, Jack and Leo all felt very uneasy. Their stomachs twisted
in knots. Leo’s palms were sweaty, and Jack cracked his knuckles
anxiously. Piper feared she had little choice but to face the fact
that she would very soon be sitting on the Elven throne. The
thought made her own stomach drop, and she squeezed Dimitri’s hand
unconsciously.

“
How is your magic
training coming along?” Valar asked to break the quiet.

“
Uh, slow but, uh,
steady,” said Jayson with a shrug.

“
Excellent. I’m sure you
will need some degree of magic against Taraniz. If she is the
reincarnated soul of Duke Noraedin, you are dealing with very
powerful magic indeed.”

“
It is not wise to grind
stone against the same stone,” said Dimitri flatly. “If we put
Piper on the throne by using magic, she will have a difficult time
winning over her people.”

“
We are not using magic to
put her on the throne, Dimitri,” Valar said, his voice curt and he
glared harshly at the young man.

“
No, but the dwarves
haven’t exactly welcomed our magic with open arms, either. And if
the elves hate magic as much as you’ve said, they’ll like it even
less,” said Leo. “We need to be careful, is all.”

“
Indeed,” said Valar
nodding. “I, unfortunately, have no other news. Will you agree with
my plan, then?”

They looked at each other in turn, feeling
more uncomfortable by the minute, and less like they had a
choice.

“
Yes,” said Piper
quietly.

“
Yeah, sure.” Jayson
shrugged.

“
I guess so,” said Leo.
Dimitri and Jack nodded.

“
Good. I have made
arrangements for you to meet my son, Valin, in the town of
Cannondole. You will leave with the Dwarvik troops so as not to
rouse suspicion, and get away under cover of night once camp has
been set. We can discuss this in more detail when the time draws
nearer. I suppose I shall take my leave of you now.” He rose
stiffly from the chair, and the others got to their feet as well.
“Thank you. Truly, I do sincerely thank you. We will celebrate our
victories very soon. I guarantee it.” He bowed to them and headed
for the door.

Three figures stood in the hallway just
beyond, one poised ready to ring the little bell, and Valar nearly
walked into them.