EPIC: Fourteen Books of Fantasy (72 page)

We stepped through the passageways that led out into the castle grounds. Dusk lingered as wisps of orange and red sprouted from the horizon. We strolled around the side of the castle, and at the back, the ground sloped down to the large lake I could see from my room. I looked up at the castle windows, trying to determine which room was mine.

She moved in front of me and tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder, ‘King Erageo commanded me to allow you to stay one day in Borrelia on our way. This is acceptable to me. He offered me two guards for the trip, one for you and one for Jemely. I suspect she chose her trial in Meligna to be with you, and I hope she will not be trouble.’

I shook my head. ‘She won’t.’

She scanned my face, then continued walking across the grassy stretch. ‘I
am
sorry that you must leave your mother.’

After hearing the way she had spoken in court, I decided she didn’t, and couldn’t,
ever
feel sorry for me.

‘Almost all traces of black are gone from your hair. Your appearance is exotic in the most extreme sense of the word.’

I hadn’t looked in a mirror since coming to the castle, nor did I want to. All I would see is my future, a future where I would be away from mother forever. ‘Why is your hair dark?’ I asked.

Her face lit up. ‘The gold of your hair will not last. We see it like the first bloom of a flower. It beautifies and fades. The gold is a sign that you are ready to heal, even though we know that healer girls can heal from a very young age. It is tradition that they be ready. When you have finished changing from girl to woman, your hair will go back to its original shade. Perhaps when you are eighteen or nineteen. I’m hoping we’ll—’

I cut her off. ‘Do you keep slaves?’

She stopped walking and played with a golden ring. ‘Yes, you would call them that. But they are not mistreated,’ she said eventually.

‘Then we have nothing in common.’

She sniffed. ‘I hoped that, well, I am getting older, and I’m looking for a companion. The life of an ambassador does not suit attachment, and I never had a close friend. While most healers are trained in groups, I would happily train you separately.’

‘Train?’

‘Yes. To become a healer.’

‘To lay with men?’ I asked, showing her I wouldn’t be tricked by her sweet words.

She chuckled. ‘There is more to being a healer than laying with men. There is history you could never have considered. And the act of healing is sacred. We are not whores. We respect the body and treat others’ as we’d treat our own. You know nothing of the Senyan healer culture as the king hoards all literature on the topic, and any knowledge has become hearsay. But yes, one day you will be required to heal men. And that means laying with them.’

I did have an interest in the history of healers, but I held no enthusiasm for using my gifts against my will. ‘Will you
force
me to lay with them?’

The healer laughed. ‘Once you see what your gifts can do, you’ll
want
to lay with men.’ She trailed a fingernail across her jawline as she remembered some delight.

But I cared not for what pleased her, and exhaustion stagnated my thoughts and wit. I looked at the soft green grass that stretched to the boundary wall.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I know you have many other things to think about right now. Just know that your life would be easier under my instruction. Come.’ She turned to lead me back inside.

I scanned my surroundings. There were no soldiers, no guards, no one to keep watch over me. ‘Wait. You can do something for me.’

‘What is it you want?’ she asked, smiling.

‘Where is Jemely kept?’

‘Why, in the prison of course. She is a criminal after all.’

I bit my lip. ‘I want her out of there.’

‘I don’t know if I could…’

‘You want to earn my trust. You want to get to know me better, then get my friend out of the prisons. She will stay with me in my room.’

She regarded me for a moment and nodded. ‘Very well.’ She gestured for me to follow her.

Healer Euka took me back to my room before leaving again to fetch Jemely. She didn’t lock the door. No one locked the door. I was no longer a prisoner. An hour later, Jemely entered the room, and we hugged. She almost squeezed the air from my lungs.

‘Adenine,’ she said, pushing me away so she could see my eyes.

‘You smell,’ I said.

She laughed and punched my arm. ‘Don’t be giving me your cheek, child. No healer is going to talk to me like I’m a piece of scum decaying in their golden toilets. Your shit is the same as mine, you know.’

I laughed for the first time in two days. ‘Fine, at least take a bath. I’ll get the maid to fetch you some clean clothes.’

‘Ask her for something enhancing. There’s some fine soldiers patrolling these grounds.’

I shook my head at her and then pinched my nose encouraging her to take her bath. Really, I didn’t mind. But there were obvious signs of exhaustion on her face, and I knew a bath would make her feel better and relax her for sleep.

Anaya brought us towels and clothes and left to fetch our supper. Jemely dressed in stylish garments that I couldn’t help laughing at. She combed her hair with her fingers and gobbled up the meal that soon followed.

‘The king visited me,’ I told her.

‘What? In here? He better not have been up to any funny business.’

I sniffed. ‘No, but…’ I lowered my voice. ‘He wants me to spy on the healers, and he said he’d get me away from Meligna as soon as he could.’

‘Adenine! You’re all important now, working for the king and all. Don’t you realise?’

I shrugged, but then a troubling thought came to mind.

‘What?’ she asked, seeing the change in my expression.

‘Why did you pick Meligna to be trialled?’

‘Wanted to be close to you, didn’t I? Uncle doesn’t need me for assistant work no more, and I figured you’d need someone to remind you that you ain’t no blue-blooded healer girl. You’re southern Senyan, born and true. High and mighty ain’t our way.’

‘But what if they send you to prison?’

‘Better put in a good word for me then, eh?’ She smiled.

I worried that I didn’t have as much persuasion with Healer Euka as she thought I did.

‘Don’t think about it,’ she said. ‘Let’s get home first. We’ll have a send-off. Strong wine, good food. You’ll see Butter, Capacia, Frooby…’ She stopped when she looked at my face, ‘What is it?’

‘Frooby. I just left him. On the ground, unconscious, outside. I don’t know if he’s all right. I don’t know anything,’ I said, putting my face into my hands.

She rubbed my back. ‘Uncle will look after him.’

I wiped my nose on my sleeve.

Jemely laughed. ‘You’ll have to quit doing that sort of thing if you want to be taken seriously. Proper ladies don’t wipe their noses on their sleeves.’

We talked for many hours, devising plans and schemes for all possible scenarios. For instance, we were certain that Jemely would not live as I did, and if they let her work in the city, she could report to me about the happenings of regulars.

We consoled each other over Klawdia’s banishment, yet we both believed she was invincible and would survive. I told Jemely that the king planned to make sure she lived and wasn’t handed over to the Ruxdor people. While Klawdia couldn’t come into South or North Senya legally, she could still do it illegally. That was her specialty anyway. She was a lawbreaker, free from chains and obligations.

When our minds became sluggish and our words more sound than sense, we lay on the bed. I tried to think about the journey back to Borrelia, but my mind tugged me down and relaxed my resolve. I slept.

Chapter XXXVI

W
E
LEFT
AT
MID
-
MORNING
the next day. Before our departure, I asked a guard if I could see Klawdia, but he informed me she’d already left for Ruxdor. My heart sank, and a longing pressed in my chest. She had been my hero, a loyal companion and friend that I would never forget.

Jemely and I were not permitted to change our clothes before we left. Healer Euka insisted she would not be seen with beggars, only ladies.

‘Citizens of Meligna do not wear rags and tatters,’ she said.

But
I
worried that my bright garments might invite further hatred from the townspeople. Who was I fooling? No longer could I mingle as a common girl. I was a healer and had to get used to the attention it drew.

Healer Euka rode her own silvery mare, while our two appointed royal soldiers rode brown thoroughbreds. Jemely and I doubled up with the men, and the five of us rode our three horses through the gates and out into the main areas of the city.

Healer Euka insisted we take a detour through a different part of the city regardless of our armoured escorts’ advice. We passed city buildings in adequate condition. Most were occupied and seemed the same as the type in Borrelia, built with stone, thatched roofs, and small square windows. Then we turned left and entered an entirely different city. Scorched stonework lay scattered in mounds and ruins. Debris blocked the main road, and only horses could get around the mess. Everything had been reduced to rubble.

Small encampments with clumsily pitched tents housed thin, dirty people who huddled around small fires. The people were desperate to warm the skin that their ripped clothes left uncovered.

‘These houses have yet to be rebuilt from the war of twenty years ago,’ Healer Euka said.

As we ventured farther into the poorest parts, I noticed some people were missing limbs, and few had adequate shoes. They roasted dead rats and pigeons over small fires, and cold, starving children begged on the street.

‘Why is it like this?’ I asked, staring in horror.

‘King Erageo saves his money for armies as the war left him defenceless. The surrounding Juxon City farms only produce enough food for the wealthier people. South Senya has no friends. The people of Bivinia refuse to trade with the son of the Wicked King. But it is not his fault. He inherited the country his father destroyed. Without trade, economy, and a properly functioning society, people die.’

I noticed people began to gather around my horse. They fell to their knees, pointing at me and saying, ‘Heal! Heal!’

Guilt overwhelmed me, and I looked away.

‘It’s horrible, isn’t it?’ But Healer Euka felt no pity. Her nose screwed up in disgust. That was how those people affected her.

I reached into my pocket and threw all the money I had—twenty silver pieces—to the ground. The beggars looked up at me, shocked at my generosity. But to my horror, instead of picking up the money, the people began to attack each other. One lady pulled the hair of another. A little girl was knocked to the ground by a man whose skin seemed to hang from his bones.

‘Stop that!’ I yelled, but the people ignored me.

More joined in, and the fight turned into a brawl. People screamed and shouted. One person pointed at me, and they charged at us.

‘Go!’ said the soldier I was clinging to, and we galloped away.

The crowd gave up, and tears formed in my eyes. The scene made me realise the fortune of my birth.

When we found our way back to the cobblestone streets and soundly structured buildings, I noticed the increased presence of soldiers and guards.
They must keep order
. In that part of the city, people smiled and laughed. The markets had fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat, and no one begged for money or food.

‘The king has no money,’ Healer Euka said. The more she pointed out how destitute the kingdom was, the more I hated her. She offered only criticism, no sympathy, no intention to help us or aid in our poverty. She only revelled in her city’s superiority. ‘If we invaded, we would be successful. Everything would be made well again…’

After many had died,
I thought bitterly.

‘…and people would smile. They’d be clean, well fed, happy. But we don’t want to start a war. We don’t want death. We respect King Erageo, and as long as he leads his people in a good direction and cooperates with us, we will leave South Senya untouched. But it seems he is certain to take an unwise route now, and we may have to remove his right to rule. There is a value much greater than tradition, and that is life itself, and this kingdom is dying.’

‘Why don’t you help him?’ I asked.

Healer Euka brought her horse in line with me. ‘Because he will not ask for help. His pride means he will not accept our guidance. Maybe one day, someone will talk sense into him.’ She gave me a knowing look.

I glanced at Jemely, and she stared into the distance. It was not like her to be so quiet, and I wondered about her thoughts. Mother had spoken about Juxon City as a prosperous, magnificent place. Yet Mrs. Moferbury had called it Pilfer’s Paradise. Maybe it was both.

The soldier I rode behind spoke. ‘Most of Juxon does well enough, and we’re getting back on our feet more than before.’ He pointed to the right. ‘See all those houses? People of healthy minds and spirits live there. The poor part is the lowest of low and makes up only a third of the city. It used to be half.’ He sounded irritated. He obviously believed that the city had improved, and I was inclined to believe him.

‘Who said you could talk?’ Healer Euka asked, and the soldier said nothing more.

Outside of the city gates, people lined up to enter. Most appeared to be farmers, hunters, or travellers. People looked at us as we passed. Most scowled at our clothes, but when they saw mine and Healer Euka’s eyes, their mouths dropped open. Children pointed and parents smacked their hands. The adults threw me worried looks, as if I had some sort of power over them. I didn’t like that people feared me.

For a moment, I wished I were blind again.

‘It’ll be eight hours ride from here, faster than in the carriages, and we should be in Borrelia by late afternoon,’ Healer Euka said.

I held on tight as we picked up speed. In front of us were farmlands, ponds, and people selling food, wines, preserves, clothing, and animals from the backs of their carts. Most smiled and seemed happy.

After a few more hours of riding, we came to a tavern and stopped for food and drink. I had never been in one before and liked the warm air and free-flowing conversations. We received many sideways glances, but no one bothered us. We ate in silence. Jemely didn’t finish her food.