Light the Reign (The Forgotten: Book 3) (6 page)

Frustrated, she tried another approach. She
followed the tendril of magic that existed between her and the
child due to the enchantment to find the baby girl. Though she
couldn’t scry the child directly because of all the wards that had
been erected, she could still ‘see’ the spell since she had put it
on her. She found her much more easily than she expected. It used
to be much harder to find her, as though something had been
blocking her aura, but this time she was ‘there’ almost
instantaneously.

Her initial examination confirmed that the
spell that they had performed to solidify the original using the
fake Dena’ina stone had, as she had feared, failed to complete its
purpose. But it was still in place. So why were the people more
worried about a little winter sickness going around rather than in
a panic over the curse? Grinding her teeth in frustration, she
searched the intricacies of the enchantment for clues how to
strengthen it in other ways, until she came upon something odd.
There were traces of other magic at work here.

The alien presence had a strange reddish
aura, oozing around in the child’s talent like hundreds of worms in
a bowl of mud. That had not been part of the original spell. She
delved deeper and suddenly gasped.

She sat back against the trunk of the tree,
bruising her elbow as it connected roughly in her haste to
withdraw, revolted to be so close to something so vile. She stared
up at the branches of the tree for a moment, catching her breath.
Steeling her courage, she looked again. Two different spells had
entangled themselves within one another and warped into –

Kali’s face suddenly broke into a wide grin.
How fitting
. There had been another spell – a blood-magic
spell – that had been performed at the same time as the curse. The
blood-magic had leaked into the spell that the tribe had put onto
the child and changed it. Instead of spreading sterilization, it
was spreading their own disgusting disease! She laughed out loud.
This was simply delicious. She would never have been able to
convince the rest of the Elders to go along with something like
that, but as an accident…

What a happy, happy accident for her!

CHAPTER 4

“Do you really think it’s a good idea?” Layna
asked Gryffon doubtfully.

“I think we have little choice,” he answered
with a sigh, “it wouldn’t be right not to warn them of the
possibility. I don’t like giving them more fuel than they have
already against us, but if we truly want to unite our countries,
we’ll have to be honest with them. Besides, we need to warn our
people as well, and once we do, there will be no keeping it from
them.”

She nodded. “I can just hear Heinrich
now…”

“Ugh,” Gryffon moaned, “I’d love to know who
voted that particular member onto the Ieldran.”

“And ask them whatever possessed them to do
such a thing?”

“Exactly.”

The two of them strode down the hallways,
hand in hand, to the chambers of the royal mages. The moment they
had discovered that the true curse being spread was the Bricrui,
they had the two sets of mages working together to combine what
they had separately found. They hoped that those working on the
curse would benefit from knowing what it was that it was causing. A
far greater number had been assigned to the curse rather than
working towards a cure for Alina – which caused Layna a twinge of
guilt, but it had been necessary – and hopefully with the fresh
minds looking at the problem, a solution could be found.

She and Gryffon were also working tirelessly
themselves, now that the Council was back in action, but the talent
and the skill of the tribe seemed to simply be beyond their
abilities to counter their enchantment. Luckily, though the mages
working with the Bricrui had not been able to find something to
stop the spread of the awful ailment, by combining the chokeroot
with a spell they had concocted, they had able to slow it down even
farther. Alina was not yet even showing symptoms.

Amelia, Philip, and several others who the
sickness had spread to early on were not faring so well. Layna
currently had people out scouring the countryside for merchants who
might carry more of the curious plant, and as soon as they
contacted the Knights again, she would have them search out
additional patches of it. It was a difficult task, both because
they had to identify it among scores of unfamiliar foliage, and
because it appeared to be rather rare. But given these new
circumstances, this search may have to take precedence over trying
to learn about the tribe. They had been unable to reach the party
of Knights due to the chaotic magic acting up, and Layna was
anxious to speak to them so they could get started. Hopefully,
enough of it would be found in time to save the people who were
farthest along. Though the Knights had just sent a fresh supply for
Alina, more of it was now needed. A lot more. Layna felt horribly
guilty that those she had trusted most with her baby girl might be
paying for their loyalty with their lives.

Despite the somber circumstances, she and
Gryffon had both found it rather exciting that this expedition also
allowed them to start to explore the Plains. Though the primary
mission of the parties would obviously be to gather the chokeroot,
they had also been asked to get samples of other plants they came
across. Ever since Layna had stayed with the healer, Mila, back
when she had escaped from the custody of Lady Jezebel, she had been
very interested in the medicinal properties of plants. She was
excited to someday be able to take the time to examine and
experiment with the foreign flora.

Though magic could work wonders, there was
something to be said for more natural remedies. There would always
be those who would be lacking in their access to magical healing
who these remedies could help. Not to mention that the wildlife
often was more creative than any mage and much could be learned
from it. There were also those instances where it was simply
impossible to do the same with magic: As in the case of the
chokeroot. You could dampen magic with magic, it was true, but
since you needed power to do it…it just wasn’t quite the same
effect. And it definitely didn’t have the same effect on the
Bricrui – they had tried.

When they reached the Council chamber, the
six members and Lady Aria were already there and seated, waiting
for the monarchs to begin. Once she and Gryffon had settled, she
gave a nod and the mirror shimmered before them all.

“We have some unfortunate news to relate to
you,” Gryffon began and all eyes turned towards him expectantly.
“The curse which the Myaamia placed upon us has been discovered to
have been corrupted by another spell. This other spell, apparently
performed at the exact same moment which allowed it to interfere,
was a blood-magic spell.”

The silence which permeated the room was
almost palpable. You could hear a pin drop if anyone had moved even
the slightest bit to dislodge one.

Several moments passed without anyone
commenting, then the room exploded into a cacophony of frenzied
outbreaks.

“How could this have happened?”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“Who is using blood-magic spells?”

“What is the curse spreading now?”

“Is it still contained?”

Gryffon held up his hands and addressed the
last question first, obviously hoping to allay some of the fears
that were bound to arise once the rest of the situation was
revealed. “Yes, we believe the curse is still confined within the
dome. The fact that its true outcome is different than we thought
is irrelevant to this.”

“So what is the outcome?”

Layna took a deep breath. “The last remnants
of the Order – before we were able to weed them all out – were
working on a control spell. Needless to say, this spell involved
blood-magic, and as one might expect, it did not go entirely as
planned. Those who were involved in its casting soon turned into
what has been termed the Bricrui, or Death-bringers by the locals.
Basically, it acts like a disease, eating away at the person’s body
and mind until they become nothing more than a raging beast. This
is what was incorporated into the Forgotten’s curse. Instead of
spreading sterilization to any who has the Dark King’s blood, it
now spreads this affliction.”

“Luckily,” Gryffon put in before the Ieldran
could burst into outcries once more, “we have already been working
to cure it as one of the victims of the experiment is here at the
palace, and we know how to slow its progress. By having the curse
changed in such a way, it has actually made it easier for us to
detect, and we also already now have an idea of what exactly it is
and what might be done to cure it.”

“How could you have let this happen?” One of
the men on the Ieldran demanded. Layna wracked her brain for his
name. Whitcomb, that was it.

“Lord Whitcomb,” she appealed, “without
trying to pass the blame, I must point out that when I was crowned
– something that I did not ask for, and which was thrust upon me
unexpectedly – I was metaphorically thrown into the serpent’s lair.
Lord Telvani was already established as a respected and prominent
member of court. Despite this, I had my reservations about him and
was about to bring these to light when King Gryffon and I were
attacked. Before that, we managed to eradicate every other
stronghold of the Order with the exception of Telvani’s Faithful.
We have accomplished much, and though yes, I too wish that we had
found a way to prevent this from happening, arguing over how it
happened will hardly get us anywhere. We need to concentrate on how
to now stop it.”

The man nodded and looked thoughtful a
moment. “Perhaps this unfortunate development could be used to our
advantage. Sending the Bricrui to the tribes might make them think
twice about attacking us again. If they don’t realize that their
curse was changed they would think we developed it ourselves. If
they do realize, they will see that we are not to be trifled with.
Plus, it might motivate them to find a way to stop it.”

The murmurs that arose from this statement
took a full two minutes to quiet.

Layna held up her hands. “We must remember
that these are people we are talking about. Not some new weapon of
war that has been developed. I will not condone any such thing.”
She gave the man a stern look, and though he did not argue further,
he did not look convinced either. She felt rather sick to her
stomach. She supposed she could see his point, but…imagining
sending Alina up to the tribe…not to mention the fact that they
still didn’t know enough about what the tribe was. For all they
knew, it was a small group of people – like Telvani in her own
court – who had caused this to happen, and the rest of the people
would be innocents in the battle. They also hadn’t meant for it to
entwine with the blood-magic as it had. While the sterilization of
the original intent was still appalling, it wasn’t quite the same
as sending monsters against them.

“What is this cure you’ve been working on
that has slowed the progress?”

Layna’s eyes were drawn to a normally quiet
man in the back. His slight form and soft voice caused his comments
to often be spoken over, but she was glad that today he had chosen
to speak up. Focusing on the positives in this situation would be
key. “We have combined a rare plant from the Plains with a spell to
halt its progression. It would be most prudent of you to send your
own expeditions into the Plains to retrieve it if you can in
preparation for the worst, or simply to lend us aid. We can show
you how to cleanse the chaotic magic of an area to make it safe to
use the power and also provide drawings of the plant, called
chokeroot.”

“How effective is this plant?” the same
soft-spoken man asked again.

“We can’t be entirely sure as the patient who
it has been used on for the longest is not one who was infected by
the curse, but rather from the original blood-magic spell.”

The man raised an eyebrow at her.

She answered his unspoken question which was
mirrored out loud by several other Ieldran members. “Yes, we have
caught those who were responsible for the original blood-magic. We
believe that we have succeeded in finally taking out the last of
those of the Order dabbling in the forbidden arts.”

“Finally is right,” Heinrich muttered
loudly.

Layna continued as if her next comment had
already been a part of her sentence before his rude remark, “After
centuries of acting in secret behind the backs of the Gelendan
and
Treymayne,” she reminded them all. Though the Order had
not been as wide-spread in Treymayne, it had still been active
within their borders. Mostly passive members who did little more
than harbor the books and pass information, but still involved.
Layna and Gryffon had passed along any information regarding these
that they had come across to the Ieldran and left it up to them to
deal with it how they saw fit.

The rest of the meeting surprisingly went
fairly civilly, given the news they had just dropped in their laps.
Plans were made to put together expeditions into the Plains as she
had suggested. Lady Aria insisted that any chokeroot found by
Treymayne be immediately sent to Gelendan’s aid. This was at first
rejected by several of the Ieldran, but once debated, she won out.
She even refused to take any herself until there was enough for
everyone at the palace.

“How could you in good conscience stockpile a
plant for our own possible future use when it could be used to save
lives now? Besides which,” she pointed out, “the healthier the
mages and healers of the Gelendan palace are, the more likely it
will be that a cure will be found before it gets to the point when
Treymayne would have to worry about it.”

Layna did not bother to correct her that the
healers and mages couldn’t work with the power while taking the
chokeroot; it got her point across nicely. Besides, it
would
keep them healthier if no one else in the palace was turning into
monsters and trying to eat them. But they would have to figure out
a way to continue their work while remaining safe, either by
working with mages outside the dome, or by taking it on and off to
alternately perform spells and research. Layna filed this away for
later contemplation.