Kara (21 page)

“They are.” Hambone grunted, annoyed by the
pompous man ignoring him. “Answer my question.”

Ynob stared at Hambone, the look of delight
gone from his face. He swallowed his bite before answering. “Yes,
according to the journal, that actually happened.”

“So Kara is in danger now?” Hambone’s tone
became serious.

“Well, as she was captured by this Katrena,
I’d say she is in some peril.”

Hambone stood and approached the wizard.
“From the necklace. Is Kara in danger because of the necklace she
wears, wizard?” He stared hard down at the man. Anger began to boil
inside him.

Ynob took a moment, disgust upon his face.
“I’m here to help you and you are being very rude. Maybe I need to
leave.” The wizard started to stand, but Hambone was too close to
him to permit him to properly stand. He fell back into his
seat.

“This is not me being rude. You had a chance
to help Kara when she was right in front of you. You didn’t. You
threw her out because you were scared.”

“I was not.”

The dwarc’s nostrils flared, his eyes
narrowed.

Fear skirted across Ynob’s face. “Well, I
wasn’t afraid.” It came out in a puny voice.

Hambone breathed in deeply, before speaking
again. “So, answer me. Is Kara in danger from the necklace?”

Silence passed. Dante and Snow looked on,
waiting. Grace hovered.

“I believe Rose’s soul is still trapped in
that necklace. I also think it wants out.”

Chapter Seventeen

Kara sat, stunned, waiting in the pew of the
huge church. This was the first time she’d been there. It was
massive, compared to the small chapel she usually attended with her
father and mother.

Thoughts of family brought tears to her eyes.
She was homesick and wanted to be done with this adventure. If only
her mother could be here, with her arms wrapped around her, her
father right by her side telling her everything was going to be
okay.

Katrena had put an illusion on her, which
kept her in a limited binding spell. The religious and the pilgrims
could see her in the pew, but all they saw was an elderly lady in
mourning. Kara’s own tears added to the convincing illusion.

The elf also disguised herself. She wore the
habit cloak of the religious order of women. This attire helped
cover her ears and dark skin that instantly made her recognizable
as an outside race.

Earlier, when the elf released a messenger
raven, Kara assumed it was being sent to the king. The bird
squawked as it flew into the air and disappeared among the palace
walls.

And so they waited. Kara watched,
immobilized, from her pew. Katrena lingered close enough to keep an
eye on her prize.

A soft warmth radiated from her chest where
the necklace hung. Katrena had forgotten all about the necklace
while getting ready for her rendezvous at the church. Kara too had
forgotten about the thing until now.

Kara.

What?
If she could have swung her head
to look around, she would have done so. Someone had called her
name. The binding spell even prevented her from answering back with
her voice.

Be calm.

Calmness was the last thing on her mind.
Katrena passed by, again, briefly checking on Kara before walking
up the aisle. Katrena wasn’t telling her these things. Who was,
then?

You lived through my memories.

My dream?
Kara answered with her
mind.

My memories from before. Rose.

What was happening to her? Was she going
crazy? Kara knew she had to be. The Territories had done this to
her. Some magic spell was allowing her to hear voices in her
head.

No, not crazy. I can help.

Tears trickled down Kara’s cheeks. She missed
her family, and now her mind was hearing voices. All Kara could do
was hope, pray, and wait for a miracle to happen. She wanted
answers, but who would give them to her? The king? Her parents?
Katrena?

The voice spoke to her one more time.
I am
real. Trapped in the necklace. But I will save you.

***

Kreitan watched from the balcony of the
church. His hand caressed the mahogany box with loving care. The
trap was in place and now he needed the squirrel to enter it. His
contact would be here any moment now. Euphoria claimed she had the
necklace with her. And the girl, but he didn’t care about her now.
The necklace was all he, and Euphoria, wanted.

The church held its normal crowd today.
Pilgrims from other lands marveled over the largest worship house
in the realm. Members of the religious order went about their daily
servitude duties, and local countrymen offered their alms.

From up on high, Kreitan watched for anything
out of the ordinary. Key men, placed near the exits, weren’t close
enough to intervene, if necessary. He caught movement on his left.
A soldier dropped to one knee next to him and handed Kreitan a
message. The captain unrolled the scrap of paper, attached to the
raven before him. A smile flashed across his face.

“Sir?” There was fear in the soldier’s
voice.

Kreitan nodded to the man and dismissed him.
The beast had been right. The woman was here now, or would be
shortly. How satisfying the day was turning out to be.

His fingers traced the container, longing to
use it. Every time he called forth the captured spirit, it gave him
a surge of power, of invulnerability. And the agony of the victim
was sweet, sweet honey to him. No weapon gave him that thrill. With
the box, he felt so alive. Even executing La’ard had not given him
such a rush.

Kreitan’s mind drifted from his anticipated
task, and his fingers slid along the crate’s hinges. His fingers
slowly forced the lid open a tiny amount. Maybe he could pull a
peasant aside while he waited. Someone to practice on.

The sounds of a disturbance made him close
the box. His hand went to the guardrail and he looked over the edge
to the scene below. A pair of children were running along the pews,
laughing and causing a small ruckus. Kreitan scowled, his trance
broken. Normally, he would have his guard scare the laughter out of
those brats and possibly even kill the parents. Not out of respect
for the church, but because children disturbed Kreitan.

He started to back away from the rail, but
then he noticed something interesting. The two boys ran into a
religious order woman. Rudely, they ran on, but something of the
woman struck him as odd. She proceeded up the aisle towards a
confessional. The boys made a larger commotion and Kreitan let his
attention slip for a moment. When he glanced back, the woman was
gone.

Where…?
He scanned the neighboring
area. Kreitan found no other religious order women anywhere else in
the church. Usually they traveled in small, unified clusters of
other sisters or at least within a crowd of pilgrims. This one had
been alone.

This could be his woman, but he had to play
his cards carefully. She had slipped through his grasp before, had
even broken the bond of his box spirit. He needed to capture her
without conflict or the game would be lost.

Slowly, he moved from the balcony, planning
his next move.

***

“We need to go do something?” Snow paced,
getting impatient with all this talk. The spell had worn off and
she was a little more than irritable.

Ynob took a moment and finished off his tea.
“And what should we be doing?”

“Well gee, I don’t know. Maybe planning a
rescue!”

“And how are you going to get to the human
side?” The wizard asked as he inspected his fingernails.

Snow stopped abruptly. “Um, well. Can’t you
pop us over there? Like poof, one minute we’re here and the next,
over there? Snow grasped for anything that sounded reasonable.

The wizard stared at her. “Pop? Let me see if
I brought my magical popper. Oh it must be in my other robes. Silly
me.” He threw his hands up in mock exasperation.

“
You
know what
I
mean,” Snow
said through gritted teeth, restraining herself from throttling
him.

“And you do not know what I mean.
Teleporting, or popping, as you put it, is very high-end and
specified magic. Distance and location are very key to it. Plus, I
cannot take others with me.”

“Well, I will have to find a way to get to
the human side.” Snow moved toward Ynob threateningly.

“Snow, calm down.” Hambone moved forward so
he could be a barrier in between her and the wizard.

“No, I’m done with talk. If he doesn’t want
to help rescue Kara, then I am going on my own.”

Schunk.
Snow suddenly changed and
bolted out the door. Hambone and Dante watched in amazement and
then glanced toward the wizard. He showed no sign of action.

Schunk
. Dante was next out the door.
“Sis? Come back here!” he hollered.

Hambone again turned towards the wizard. Ynob
appeared unfazed by the exits. “Why did you even come here, if you
weren’t going to help us?”

“Help? I am here to find out about the
necklace.”

Hambone took a step toward the door and then
turned back. “I think you are scared. Scared to go back to the
human side. Scared of this midnight core. Scared of any action. I
feel sorry for you.” And out the door he went.

Shock and outrage displayed on the wizard’s
face. No one ever talked to him in such a manner before in his
life.

Grace twittered something to Ynob, as she too
went to follow the group.

“You agree? What kind of nonsense is this?”
He stood now. “I don’t have to stay here and take this.”

The sprite circled around and came almost
nose-to-nose with wizard. Her sprite-speak was slow and determined.
A hint of red colored her aura as she told the wizard off. She
quickly departed after having her say.

Ynob remained, holding back his words. He
stared at the door for a long while and then walked around the
room. The anger had drained from him, his spirit crushed.

He too made his way out of the house, closing
the door behind him.

***

Katrena had been too concerned about her
binding spell on Kara to be paying attention to her own
surroundings when the boys ran into her. She felt her disguise
spell shimmer momentarily, but it did not break. Her composure
remained. There was a throwing dagger with their names on it, but
she suppressed the urge, took in a deep breath. Maybe if all came
out favorably she would find the two boys and teach them a
lesson.

As she made her way up the aisle, Katrena
glanced toward the old woman, Kara. Tears glittered in her eyes,
which made the dark elf feel no remorse. The church had its usual
contingency of people, but she had not spotted Kreitan yet. It was
possible that he was already in the meeting place, but she wasn’t
sure. Something about the church felt different to her but she
could not quite figure it out.
Had the captain planned a
trap?
She would have to be on her guard.

Quickly, she ducked inside the usual
confessional. Before ever rendezvousing with Kreitan the first
time, she’d scouted out the best meeting places and discovered this
confessional had a secret door on the penitent side. Katrena had
used it twice before to escape the captain. She expected to use it
this time too.

She knew Kreitan had power issues, and he
really hated being subservient to a woman. Katrena, on the other
hand, loved this flaw in him. She did her best to anger him during
their meetings, which is why she had to escape the one time when he
attacked her with a mind wraith. It was only because of a momentary
slip-up on the captain’s part that she was able to escape.

Someone entered the other side of the
confessional. Was it her contact or just a human sinner? She
waited. Silence answered her. A rising alarm sang in her mind,
making her scalp prickle with danger. Katrena’s instincts told her
to run, while her pride said she was ready for anything. She
waited.

“Hello, my dear. I see you received my note.”
Kreitan chuckled.

Katrena crinkled her eyes, distracted by a
little ball that rolled to her side from the prayer ledge. It
rolled to the edge and fell, landing at her feet with a small
shatter.

“Ta-ta for now.” A laugh came from the
captain.

Katrena looked down at the broken ball. Tufts
of green vapor rose and wafted under her nose. Her eyes widened
with recognition.
Sleeping venom.

Katrena felt her skin begin to tingle and
then numb. The venom smoke surrounded her, the air now polluted
with the gas. She reached for the secret latch but her fingers
fumbled. Trying again, they wouldn’t respond. The muscles were
asleep. Tiny pinpricks danced throughout her body, absorbing
all.

The door to the confessional sprang open;
Kreitan’s legs straddled the threshold. Her legs gave out beneath
her, and Katrena felt herself slide to the floor. His
self-satisfied smirk was the last thing she saw. Sleep claimed
her.

***

Kara watched the guards surround the
confessional. She was pretty sure Katrena had gone in there. Who
else would cause this much commotion in church? It was hard to see
from where she sat. Soon pilgrims gathered to see what was going
on.

A man dressed in black came out of the
confessional, his face held a smile. Kara gasped. It was the same
man she’d seen at her house torturing her father. What was he doing
here? Had he arranged for Kara’s kidnapping?

Two guards carried Katrena’s limp form down
the aisle. Was she dead? Were they coming to grab her next? The
rest of the guard followed, save for the man in black who stood and
looked over the church. Was he searching for her?

He locked eyes with Kara, but she quickly
looked away. Kreitan stared at her for what seemed to be an
eternity. Then his boots were clicking and hissing down the aisle,
following his men.