Son of Corse (The Raven Chronicles Book 2) (17 page)

              Arwenna glanced at Senyan, the same elf she’d seen so many years before. The one he’d had before she’d bound him to Corse. His chest moved as his new lungs forced him to breathe without magic.

              Nodding, she pleaded with Joss, “It worked. Don’t go…”

              He looked into her eyes, the love he felt for her reflected in them. “Now you’re safe.”

              The smoke rose, taking his life with it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

T
he table was set. Arwenna draped her shawl across her shoulders. Fall had arrived, and the few crops she had were harvested just in time. Y’Dürkie and Hugh had brought several clan members with them to help with getting things in order for the winter.

              “I still vish you vould vinter vith the clan, Arvenna.”

              Arwenna sighed. She and Y’Dürkie had been over this several times in the months following Joss’ death. “No, Y’Dürkie. This is our home. I won’t abandon it.”

              Y’Dürkie muttered under her breath, “Very vell, but at least let one of the younger warriors stay vith you. I do not like this creature ve have seen at the edge of the forest. He does not seem friendly.”

              Shaking her head, Arwenna kept her voice firm. “Krilln is one of Lexi’s followers. If I can’t trust him, I can’t trust her. There’s a reason why he’s here. He’ll be leaving as soon as his counterpart arrives.”

              “Counterpart? I do not understand, Arvenna. Is there somethink I should know?”

              Arwenna kept her arms crossed over her chest, her voice firm. “You felt it necessary to keep what Joss planned from me. If you can have secrets, so can I.”

              Her sister looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “He asked us to, Arvenna. He vas afraid you vould try to stop him. He vas not entirely sure it vould kill him.”

              She turned her gaze back to the edge of the wood bordering the stable. The small figure lurking there crouched in the shadows. They were both waiting now.

              “Arvenna, vhy did you put out an extra plate at the table?  There are only ten of us, not eleven.”

              She kept her eyes glued to Krilln’s still figure, waiting for some sign. “There will be eleven of us tonight, Y’Dürkie.” She caught sight of another figure, outlined in blue, approaching Krilln.  Her voice trembled, “In fact, he’s here now.”

              Slowly, Arwenna moved towards the wood. Krilln stood and embraced the stranger. The glow transferred from one to the other.

              Knowing Y’Dürkie was watching, Arwenna waited impatiently as Joss stepped out of the forest and into her arms.

* * * * *

              Hours later, after the feasting was over and the clansfolk had retired to their tents, Arwenna sat on Joss’ lap in their house. She knew Y’Dürkie was brimming with unasked questions. She’d been able to hold her off until now, when it was just the four of them. Sera and Hala, worn out from the day’s activities, slept in the next room.

              “Okay, sister. I know you’ve been dying to ask some questions.”

              “I do not know how…you vere dead, Joss!” Y’Dürkie’s voice bordered on wonder.

              “When you were all hunting the dragon, Senyan started trying to use me to make Arwenna abandon the quest. This infuriated Lexi. Hauk owed her big time, you see, since she’d found Arwenna in that private hell Bohrs had stashed her in.” Joss’ voice reverberated in her ear as Arwenna snuggled her head closer to his chest.

              “I know that part. You agreed to vorship Lexi and came back to us in the cave.”

              She felt him nod. “True, but there’s a price that must be paid to resurrect someone. When Hauk brought Arwenna back, Silas paid it willingly. He wasn’t happy about being used to hide her from Hauk. He felt he owed a rather large debt.” Joss paused, taking a deep breath. “Lexi and Hauk argued for some time. She wanted to bring me back with more than just the ability to burn off the curse.  Hauk wasn’t willing to let me go that easily.  He didn’t mind me following Lexi. I’d been at best an indifferent cleric of His to begin with. It was that there wasn’t enough of a price being paid.”

              “So, we compromised. I’d have the ability to burn off the curse, but I had to agree to do so with Senyan if I ever got the chance. He’d been infected for so long, the likelihood that it would kill me again was very high. Some of the lore that’s built up in Lexi’s followers is that She has a pair of disciples. One is the Summer King, the other is the Winter King. Krilln is the Winter King. From now until Spring, he’ll be off helping Lexi do whatever needs doing with the fairies. Come Spring, he and I exchange places.”

              Hugh cleared his throat. “So, you get to live a normal life for half the year?”

              “Yes and no. There are limits to where Krilln and I can be. He and I agreed that the woods here will be our exchange point. Besides traveling to or from the exchange, he’s got an area in a swamp he calls home. I can be here, hunt in the grove if needed. But I can’t leave and go visit the clan, Almair, or go adventuring with all of you.”

              “Vell, I vill stop askink you to vinter vith us then, Arvenna.” Y’Dürkie spoke quietly. “I can understand vhy you refused now.”

              Joss laid a gentle kiss on Arwenna’s head, “I hate to ask, but what happened after I died?”

              Arwenna drew a deep breath. Anger stirred within her, one she wasn’t sure she could fully control. Abruptly, she disentangled herself from Joss’ embrace and stood. “You’ll have to ask
them,
” she said, bitterness giving her words a venomous edge. “I wasn’t allowed to take part in the decisions.” Before anyone could react, she crossed the room. Grabbing at her cloak hanging on a peg by the door, she walked out into the cool night, letting the door slam behind her.

              She threw the cloak over her shoulders as she stormed towards the small barn. Angry energy coursed through her, begging to be used. Even after all these months, it still stung. That they knew what Joss was going to do, and then put her in a trance, forced her to stay there, out of fear for what she could do if she lost control.

              She undid the latch to the gate, beyond caring if it closed behind her. She needed to hit something, work out her anger without causing damage. Charging into the barn, Arwenna searched for something, anything that she could pummel.

              “You could hit me. I deserve it.”

              Arwenna wheeled around at Joss’ voice. He stood in the doorway, his arms spread wide. “I’m the one you’re mad at, Arwenna. And you have every right to be. Go right ahead.”

              Screaming in rage and frustration, she grabbed the first thing she saw, a shovel, and hurled it towards him. Her aim was off and it clattered against the wall to his right. “Why didn’t you tell me! When you came back, that night in the cave, you said you’d live a normal life! You never told me you had to promise to drain the curse from Senyan! Or that it’d kill you! Or that’d I still lose you for half of my life!” Her legs gave way and she slid down the door to a stall.

              Waves of emotion crashed over her. Relief over having him back with her still warred with the anger of his betrayal. An overwhelming sadness knowing that he’d be leaving her again in just six short months. She buried her face in her hands, giving into the frustrations and strain.

              He sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. The familiar embrace was one of the things she loved about him. They sat there, Joss absently adjusting her cloak around her as she wept.

              “You’re right, you know.” His voice was quiet, reverberating in his chest as her head lay pressed against it. “I should’ve told you. But then you told me about Sera, and you banished Corse. I thought it was all over. I wouldn’t have to be the Summer King until Senyan was free of the curse, and I thought he was dead. By the time Sera was taken, it seemed a bit late to be sharing this with you.” He kissed the top of her head. “When you stayed behind with Corse to save Sera, I lost it. I crawled into several bottles of wine and tried desperately to forget what’d happened, what you might be going through. By the time Barek knocked some sense into me, I knew I’d have to pull the curse out of Senyan if you and Sera were ever going to be safe.”

              Raising her head, Arwenna looked at him. “But why not tell me when we were at the village? Or before the attack?”

              “I was so happy to see you, know you were all right, I couldn’t do it. I’d sworn everyone else to secrecy. If anyone should’ve told you, it was me. Don’t blame Y’Dürkie or Hugh. And it was my idea to give her the trigger word for your trance. She was very worried that you wouldn’t take well to me dying again, if that’s what was going to happen. She remembered what you looked like when Sera was taken. She thought it would be the safest option for everyone, including you.” He reached to wipe away a stray tear off Arwenna’s cheek. “Sera needed one of us to come home to her.”

              “You still should have said something. You’ve regulated me to being the sole parent for half the year, half their lives. How are you going to explain that to Sera? Or our son, when he’s old enough to ask where Daddy has gone?”

              Joss scratched his head, a sheepish grin on his face. “You have to understand, Arwenna, I didn’t know you were pregnant when I originally agreed to Lexi and Hauk’s terms. And I’ve spent the last several months trying to….” He paused, his eyes going wide. “Wait a minute, are you saying….”

              “Next spring, about a month before you go back. I wanted to tell you as soon as you came out of the forest, but not in front of Y’Dürkie and the other clansfolk.”

              Joss rose, holding out a hand to help her up. She wrapped her arms around him, the anger gone. She smiled at him, “No more secrets between us, though. Agreed?”

              He chuckled, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, “Agreed. Can we go back inside now? I didn’t hear much after you ran out other than they had to put you in a trance and burned Barek’s body where he died.”

              Arwenna nodded, “I suppose so. There’s not much left to tell, though. Mialee volunteered to care for Senyan and took him to some isolated cabin. She’s always loved him. Perhaps he’ll love her in return one day.”

              Together, they walked back into the house.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“
M
ama, who is that” Sera asked calmly, her small arm stretched towards the woods.

              Arwenna glanced out the window. The figure moved enough that she could recognize him before blending back into the woods. Her heart sank.
Not yet. The equinox isn’t until tomorrow
, she pleaded silently.

              Turning back to her daughter, she forced a smile onto her face. “That’s Krilln, Sera. He’s here to talk to Papa.” She wiped her hands on a towel. “Why don’t we go see if Liam is ready for his nap while Papa talks with him?”

              Sera ran ahead into the living room. “Papa! Papa! You have a visitor!”

              Joss raised his head from the bundle in his arms, “Shh! Your brother’s sleeping. We don’t want to wake him yet.”

              Arwenna leaned down and took their son from Joss’ arms. “I’ll put him down for a bit. Krilln’s here.” She saw a shadow cross Joss’ face.

              He rose, “Sera, stay inside for a few minutes until I know what he wants.” He lowered his voice, “I’ll see what’s going on. The transition isn’t until tomorrow night.” Giving Arwenna a kiss, he went outside.

              Arwenna put Liam down in his cradle, then watched from the window in the bedroom as Joss and Krilln spoke at the edge of the woods. Their conversation was brief. Judging from the look on his face, Joss hadn’t liked what he heard.

              She sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to find her. Whatever was going on, he’d tell her but not in front of Sera. There were years yet for her to discover who her parents were, what they’d done.

              When he opened the door, Arwenna took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She was prepared for him to go, but her instincts told her it was something else. He sat next to her.

              “Mialee gave birth to a son two weeks ago,” Joss said. “Lexi’s not sure who the father is. Or what he was.”

              The news took Arwenna by surprise. “It has to be Senyan’s, right? It can’t belong to Corse…you pulled the curse out of her, healed her of his influence. And Senyan’s been cured, as well. It can’t be….” Her own words sounded hollow in her ears.

              “We can hope the child is normal, Arwenna, but Lexi isn’t certain. There’s a small chance he’s as much Corse’s son as you are Hauk’s daughter. We’ll have to wait and see.” His voice was heavy.

              Slowly, she shook her head. “We can’t wait, Joss. We need to know now. If it really is Corse’s son, we need to act now before it grows up.” She stood, crossing the room to a storage chest.

              Her movements quickened as she pulled a pack from the trunk and tossed it on the bed.

              “Arwenna? What are you doing?”

              “What does it look like?” she said, rummaging through another chest for clean clothing. “I’m packing. I’ll take Sera and Liam to the clan for safekeeping, then I’ll go deal with this.”

              Confusion tinged Joss’ voice, “Deal with what?”

              She stopped, looking at Joss. “If this creature is Corse’s offspring, we need to deal with it now, before it gains any strength or powers.”

              Joss grabbed her arm as she reached for another garment. “Arwenna, you can’t just kill an innocent child!”

              Angrily, she pulled away from his grasp. “Innocent? If it’s the Son of Corse, it won’t be anything close to that! It’s a monstrosity and we’ll be saving lives by killing it now!”

              “Like how our village was burned by his minions?”

              Joss’ words stopped Arwenna cold. “It’s not like that. I’m not slaughtering families, people who have nothing to do with it besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

              “Arwenna, there’s no proof yet that the child is anything but human in nature. Krilln watched the house for the last month, once he learned that Mialee was pregnant. It’s just the three of them, no visitors coming and going. He’s seen the child from a distance. He’s not seen any kind of mark.”

              “You and I both know the ability comes before the mark, Joss. I was six when I got my visit from Hauk. You didn’t get yours until Lexi brought you back from the grave.”

              She reached for the bag, but Joss put his hand on hers. “I know what you’d do, Arwenna. And it’s not right. Please, don’t do this. Give me tonight at peace with you and the kids. Think on this before you do it. It’s not in you to kill in cold blood.”

              He moved closer to embrace her. Slumping her shoulders, she sighed. “I can’t let this go that easily, Joss. If this thing lives…”

              He silenced her with a single finger to her lips, “I know, it scares me too. I don’t want to have either Sera or Liam threatened by such a creature, but we cannot act until we know for certain. So, let’s have our final night together. Visit Y’Dürkie next week, next month, and talk to her about it. Maybe Tiren will have something to add. But you cannot act out of fear.”

              Arwenna nodded. She didn’t want his last night with them to be contentious. “In a few days, then. Perhaps Tiren will know more.”

* * * * *

              Two weeks later, the wagon lumbered towards the stronghold. Sera and Liam both napped in the back. The trip had taken her longer than normal, but they’d made it. Trying to deal with tired and hungry children as well as horses made her stop more often.

              Wearily, she went through the normal ritual for anyone entering the stronghold. Once the formalities were over, Y’Dürkie rode up to her wagon. “As happy as I am to meet my nephew, Arvenna, I did not expect you here so soon after Joss had left.”

              “He had a message from Lexi just before the transfer between him and Krilln, Y’Dürkie. Let me get inside and the children settled and I’ll tell you. I need to know what if anything Tiren knows.”

              Concern crossed the auburn-maned woman’s face. “I had hoped it vas over at last. From the sound of it, it is not. Let us get you settled, then, and you can tell me everythink.” Whirling her horse around, she led Arwenna’s team into the walled compound.

              Many clansfolk called out greetings as they entered, and others came over to help unload the wagon. Arwenna gathered up Liam while Y’Dürkie scooped Sera up. “Hala vill be happy to see her vhen she is avake. She has been askink Hugh and I all vinter to go visit.”

              Arwenna smiled as they walked towards her home here in the stronghold. “A few more years and they’ll be in fosterage together. After nine years of that, they may need a break from each other.”

              “Vhere vill they spend the last three years, Arvenna? I know ve each get a turn vith them, but then vhere?”

              “I wrote a letter to Frances and Ramberti a short time back, before Liam was born. Their son is within a year of our girls. He’ll join them, and the last three years will be in Almair. By then, he’ll need some formal training to inherit rule from his father, and the girls will be able to get a broader education than we can give them.”

              The inside of the house was bustling with people. Some changed bed linens while others removed dustcloths from the furniture, and a final person was getting the fireplace lit. “This is vhy ve vant you to varn us, Arvenna. The house vould have been ready for you if you had.”

              Arwenna stood off to the side, trying her best to not get into anyone’s way. “There wasn’t time, sister. Once we get settled, I’ll explain more.”

              The door opened and Hala ran inside, followed by Hugh carrying Liam’s cradle on his shoulder. “Where do you want it, Arwenna?”

              “In the bedroom is fine, Hugh. Thank you.”

              Sera stirred in Y’Dürkie’s arms at Hala’s excited cries. The two girls were soon squealing in delight about being together again. Hugh came back into the room and approached Arwenna. Glancing down at the bundle in her arms, he smiled. “He looks like his father. Poor kid.”

              Arwenna reached around his back with one arm and gave him a gentle hug. “Says you. I’m rather fond of how Joss looks.”

              Liam began to wake from the noise in the room. “I’ll take the girls out of here, let you two catch up while you still can.” With a wave of his huge hands, he herded Sera and Hala out of the house.

              Arwenna moved through the rapidly thinning throng of people in the house to the bedroom and put Liam down in his cradle. His small face puckered slightly, then he let out a contented sigh and fell into a deep sleep.

              When she returned to the main room, it was empty except for her friend. Settling into a chair, she started tugging at her boots.

              “Vas it hard to vatch Joss leave?”

              Arwenna sighed, “Yes. But not for the reasons I thought it would be.” She paused, drawing in a ragged breath.
"Mialee's had a son," she said quietly. She kept her eyes fixed on the fire eating hungrily at the logs.

              "Really? Vell, I vill have to send her a gift! Vould she like some furs for his bed, or should ve have Hugh make him some armor?" Y’Dürkie’s voice was light, happy.

              "I don't know who the father is, and that concerns me." Arwenna absently rubbed at the palm of her hand with her thumb. 

              "Is it not Senyan's child? Even if she has found another to varm her bed, is it anything to concern you?" Puzzlement tinged her sister's voice.

              Sighing, Arwenna kept herself from looking Y’Dürkie in the face. "Senyan was cursed for so long, and Mialee herself had her mind taken over by Corse. If it's actually his Son.... I can't take that risk, Y’Dürkie. For Sera and Liam's sake, I can't. What we've all sacrificed to rid this world of his evil cannot be in vain."

              The crackle and pop of the fire echoed in the silence. Finally, Y’Dürkie spoke, "You vould not harm the child, Arvenna. He is an innocent babe." 

              Staring at her palm, she traced a small circle with the finger of her other hand. The skin was unmarred, but she still remembered the stake that had been driven into it. She'd been
through so much trying to stop Corse, trying to fix the wrong
she'd done to Senyan. "Far better for me to kill it now than let it grow into its' power. It’d be a demigod, able to cause havoc without a direct source of power. And, with Corse dead, nothing on this world would be able to keep it in check. I would be saving thousands from misery and death." Her voice was almost a whisper.

              In a flash, Y’Dürkie was on her knees in front of her. She forced Arwenna to raise her head and face her. "You vould not murder a babe. It is not in you, Arvenna. Your own Father vould forbid you from doing so. He did not grant you this much power for you to abuse it in such a vay! Your own mother did not die vhen your village vas raided so you could do the very same think to another!"

              Arwenna placed one palm against Y’Dürkie’s cheek, "But it may keep Hala alive, and fighting her own demons instead of ours."

              Y’Dürkie shook her head,
the disbelief transparent on her face.
“The child is still innocent, Arvenna. Ve cannot know vhat he vill grow up to become.”

              “But what if it’s not innocent? Corse wanted a Son. So much so that he kidnapped my daughter with the intention of raising her to believe she was doing a great thing by giving him a child. Any child of his would turn this world into a living nightmare!” She rose from the chair, no longer able to sit still. The room felt too small. The fire did little to chase off the chill that now surrounded her. Could she really kill a child, one scarcely older than her own son?

              Tears streamed unchecked down her face as she shifted her gaze to the fire again. But she didn’t see the logs burning within. Images of her home, Joss’ home, and everyone that had died that night overlapped the flames.

              The gentle caress of Y’Dürkie’s calloused hands brought her focus back to the woman in the room with her. “If you are certain, then ve vill do vhat must be done. But you must be sure, Sister. And I vill not let you do this alone.”

              Arwenna felt a piece of the burden fall from her heart. The idea of killing a child still weighed heavily on her, but at least she knew she wasn’t going to be alone when she did it. “Thank you,” she whispered.

              Y’Dürkie spoke. “I vill let Hugh and Grandmother know. Vill ve be leavink in the morning, or do you need a day to rest?”

              Her breath left her in a long exhale. “Tomorrow would be better, I think. We won’t be on the road for more than a week, but there’s no reason to delay things if we don’t have to.”

              Arwenna slumped back into the chair, her body collapsing under the tension she’d had kept pent up. After all the death, betrayals, and destruction of her lifetime, maybe her children would be able to live in a world with one less threat.