Hunt of the Bandham (The Bowl of Souls: Book Three) (26 page)

“E-Ewzad . . . you are beautiful,” she said. And it was true. Gone were the sallow cheeks and sunken eyes. His skin shone with health and his eyes were vibrant and filled with life. His black hair, no longer thin and greasy, was full and flowing. She wanted to touch him.

“Yes, Elise. This is why I cannot be mad at you. No-no, what you did, I understand. It was all a misunderstanding. Yes, a misunderstanding is all it was, yes?” He grinned, showing perfect white teeth.

“B-but my father. You killed him.” Elise remembered the anger and sadness that had poured through her as she had plunged the dagger into his arm. She shook her head and it felt as if a fog was clearing from her mind. She withdrew from him, pulling her hip out from under his hand.

“Me? Oh, my dear Elise, never. It was not I, not I that killed your father. Though he disliked me, I would never have wished him dead, no.”

“Stop it Ewzad.” She didn’t believe him. Ewzad lied. That was his specialty. “Get out of my room. Get out or I will scream for the guards!”

The grin faded from Ewzad’s handsome face and anger flashed in his eyes. ”No-no, dear Elise. I will stay, yes. You cannot order me about. No longer. You must obey me now. The Dark Voice commands it. Yes.”

“No. N- . . .” She withdrew to the far corner of the bed, her blankets pulled up to her chin.

“Yes, you know the Dark Voice, don’t you? He speaks within your head, doesn’t he? Yes, impossible to shut him out, isn’t it? Oh, I know that voice too, sweet Elise.”

“Th-that voice. It isn’t real. It is just my imagination.”

“Oh, it is real, sweet Elise. It is the voice of the Dark Prophet and you belong to him now. You gave yourself to him.”

“No!” she gasped. Ewzad reached for her face, his fingers writhing and she recoiled, realizing that she was sitting right next to him again. When had she moved?

“Tsk-tsk, sweet Elise. Don’t you see? You gave yourself to him when you sacrificed your oldest dearest friend to him with his ceremonial dagger. It would have killed me too if I hadn’t belonged to him already. You see I first heard his voice when I sacrificed my own dear friend. Remember Blem, Elise? He was my first gift to the Dark Prophet.” She shook her head and began to pull away again. Ewzad pressed, “Think back Elise. Think! What were the first words the Dark Voice said to you, hmm?”

She did remember. The moment the dagger had pierced Ewzad’s arm, she had heard it.

“Elise Muldroomon, you are mine,” she whispered.

Ewzad smiled and the Dark Voice spoke again to her.

“
Go with him
.”

“You see Elise, you have no choice, do you? No-no you don’t.” Ewzad rose and stuck out his hand. She pushed her blankets aside and stepped out of bed, clad only in her nightgown. “Now get dressed. We have an errand, don’t we?”

Elise felt his eyes on her as she changed into a proper dress. Then they stepped over the unmoving guard in front of the door and left the room. As they walked through the castle, he ran his hand down, then up her back and across her neck. She ignored the way his fingers slithered through her hair and forced a smile on her face. Maybe this would be okay. Perhaps she could live with his presence now that he had changed. He was handsome now. He even smelled nice. They came to the council room and Ewzad giggled.

He opened the door to a grotesque tableau. Elise’s heart froze in her chest as she saw the councilors dead on their feet, like statues with their lifeblood pooled on the crescent moon table in front of them. The table was completely covered and reflected the scene around it like a scarlet mirror.

She had never liked the old men and the way they had looked down on her, but this? She didn’t run away though. She wasn’t sure why. At this point, she wasn’t even sure that she still moved her own feet.

Soon she looked up upon her brother who stood in front of the throne. He stared out over the council as if presiding over the macabre event. His face was frozen with an enraged expression, almost like he had been the one ordering their executions. Two men stood beside her brother. One unfamiliar fair-faced man in mage robes looked straight ahead with an expressionless gaze. The other, a large man she had met in Ewzad’s castle, gave her a brief look of pity before turning his gaze to the floor.

Ewzad placed something in her hand and she felt the promise of the Dark Prophet’s power surge into her. She looked down to see a dagger much like the one she had stabbed Ewzad with. The blade was covered in a fresh coat of blood.

“Wh-what . . .?”

“Dearest Elise, this is the moment. Yes, the moment that we have planned for since we were children. You will be the queen. Yes, the highest power in the land. Queen Elise Muldroomon. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?”

“No, not like this.” Elise tried to step back, but her feet wouldn’t move. She willed her hand to drop the blade, but her fingers would not open.

“Oh, so sorry Elise. Truly I am. But it is the only way, yes. It was the way that your brother came to rule as well. You see it was he, not I that struck your father down.”

“You lie,” Elise said, though her voice was weak.

“No-no. No, my love. You see, I told poor Andre that I didn’t want to kill your father. I refused for your sake. Yes I did.” Ewzad’s face was pursed with sorrow. “Andre took it upon himself I’m afraid. I knew it when he gave me your father’s ring. ‘I did it, Ewzad. The kingdom is ours now.’ Yes, that is what he told me.”

Elise gazed upon the angry face of her brother and there wasn’t the slightest twitch, not the smallest movement in denial. She knew what her brother was capable of and would not have believed it before. But standing in front of Andre now, what Ewzad said rang true to her. At least in the part of her mind that wasn’t sobbing in horror. How could he have done it? How could Andre have killed their father?

“
Do it
.”

“Do it, dearest Elise,” Ewzad whispered. His hand rested on her lower back and she once again felt that odd throbbing hunger awaken within her. “You will be queen and I will be, at first, your loyal protector and advisor, then your husband. My army will protect our people. We will rid our kingdom of a few pesky nuisances and then our power will be complete. The Dark Prophet has promised this to me. When he rises to power, our kingdom will be-!”

Ewzad stopped abruptly as Elise stepped back from her brother, leaving the handle of the blade protruding from his chest. A dark swirl leached from the hilt and entered Andre Muldroomon’s body. She imagined that she saw it pull something out of him, before the dark swirl dissipated altogether.

“
It is sealed
,” said the Dark Voice. “
You are queen
.”

Ewzad ended the paralyzation spell on the room and all of the bodies collapsed. A squeal of joy pierced his lips and as he cavorted and danced about the corpses, Elise stared down at her brother’s face. Andre was no longer angry. His eyes stared forward blankly as if he had lost something. She wondered how she should feel at that moment. Why wasn’t she crying? Where was the regret? Where was the sorrow? Ewzad stepped over Andre’s body and sat on the throne.

“Yes-yes-yes! Elise, our union will be the height of Dremaldria’s power. We will rule! Yes! We will conquer. And there will be an heir,” Ewzad promised. His squirming fingers reached for her and she didn’t pull away this time. Elise Muldroomon stepped up to the throne and fell into his snakelike embrace. “Oh yes . . . that I am most sure of.”

Faldon the Fierce moved down the corridor with quick strides, grumbling to himself. The news that the Battle Academy Council had received that morning was greatly disruptive to his plans.

He was so preoccupied that he didn’t register that he was being followed until he had nearly reached his classroom. Then the scuff of a boot pricked his ear and his old habits kicked in. His well-trained mind processed the information. Two people were walking behind him, and by the sound of their footsteps, one was quite a bit lighter than the other. He glanced over his shoulder. When he saw who it was, a grin widened his face.

“Why Locksher, my friend! I haven’t seen you in years. Not since that trouble with the vampire in Razbeck.”

“Yes, that was a nasty business wasn’t it? Good to see you, Faldon.” The wizard smiled and shook his hand. He had aged very little since the last time Faldon had seen him, though the graying hair at his temples had widened a bit. His companion, though . . . Locksher noticed Faldon’s gaze shift to the stunningly beautiful woman at his side. “Oh, Faldon the Fierce, this is my assistant, Mage Vannya. She is one of your son’s friends from the
Mage
School
.”

“A pleasure, miss,” Faldon said, giving a slight bow. She was quite striking. Long blond hair, full lips, fair skin . . . he was impressed with his son’s taste in friends. “I am leaving on a mission first thing in the morning, but both of you should come to the house for dinner this evening. Darlan will want to hear all about what Justan’s been up to. We rarely hear from him.”

“That would be wonderful,” Vannya said, beaming. “I would love to meet her.”

The mage’s smile was arresting and her voice had a pleasant alto tone that spoke of vocal training. Faldon was sure that in his younger days, he would have had been quite smitten. He turned back to the wizard.

“So, it looks like the two of you have just arrived,” Faldon said, gesturing at their travelers robes still dusty from the road. “What brings you to the academy?”

“I am actually here on an errand on your son’s behalf,” Locksher explained. We are investigating his encounter with the Scralag. I need to inspect the area in which he met the creature. The problem is that the hills have been declared off limits. The guards quite rudely refused to allow us in without council permission. We have been trying to see someone since we arrived this morning, but the council has been in session all day.”

“I see. Sorry to keep you waiting. We’ve been busy discussing what to do about the current disaster in Dremald,” Faldon explained. “I am glad that you’re here, though. That issue with the Scralag has bothered me ever since it happened. I will make sure you get the permissions you need. Unfortunately, I’m on my way to another meeting and I’m already running late as it is. It will have to wait until afterwards.”

“Ugh,” Vannya grumbled. “We have been waiting so long already.”

“I hate to ask you to wait around here. Why don’t you go and see to your lodging? By the time you get back, I should be ready to help you.”

“One moment, Faldon,” Locksher said. The wizard had one eyebrow raised, and Faldon remembered that look to mean that the wizard was curious about something. “You mentioned something about a disaster in Dremald? I am afraid that we have been on the road for over two weeks trying to get here. We haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Really? I’m surprised. I would think the streets would be crazy with gossip by now. You always seem to know everything before anyone else.” Faldon hesitated. His students were waiting for him. An idea came to him and he gave Locksher a thoughtful look. “It’s quite complicated . . . I’ll tell you what, come along with me. I need to pass the news along to my students anyway. No need to explain it twice. Besides, you might have some insight that could be of help to our mission.”

“Of course.” Locksher bowed. “Happy to be of assistance, my friend.”

“Follow me then. It’s just around the corner,” Faldon said and he took them to the classroom.

Battle
Academy
classrooms looked much like most of the classrooms at the
Mage
School
. The walls were plainly adorned except for charts here or there. Rows of chairs and tables crowded the floor, and students were lounging and talking while waiting for the teacher to arrive. That was where the similarities ended though.

Unlike
Mage
School
students, the moment Faldon entered the room, these students stood at attention. They were also armed to the teeth. Faldon walked past them and stood behind his desk at the front of the classroom.

“Go on, sit.” Faldon said and waited for the students to settle back into their seats. Even after they did so, the students didn’t relax, but remained straight backed and focused. He gestured at Locksher and Vannya, noting that the male students had already taken notice of the mage. “This is Locksher, the Wizard of Mysteries from the
Mage
School
, and this is his assistant, the mage Vannya. I have authorized them to sit in on this meeting.”