The Cypher Wheel (23 page)

“I do, your majesty. We have been told by a reliable
informant that the sorcerer Arawn performed such a spell to lure
Todmus into a trap. It turns out that Todmus was once ruler of
Drofoz until Arawn stole it from him. He escaped here but not
before his wife and child were captured and imprisoned. We do not
know exactly Arawn's plan, but it would give us the upper hand to
have Allora with us. She knows the realm and Arawn's castle much
better than we.”

“But how is that possible?” the king mused out loud
as he paced behind his desk. “I had the most powerful ward casters
in the realm seal that cell.” He turned to pace in the opposite
direction, took a sharp intake of breath and stopped dead. The
breath he held released slowly through his nose, his lips pursed
together in a tight straight line. He closed his eyes.

“What is it?” Faedra asked.

He opened his eyes to look at his daughter. “I think
I know how he did it. Urgh, how could I be so incompetent?” He
brought his fist down on the desk.

Faedra and Faen exchanged glances.

“The mirror, it must have been the mirror. I didn't
think to have the items inside the cell warded, just the cell
itself.”

“You can do that through a mirror?” Faedra asked
Faen.

“You can do most anything through a mirror,” Faen
answered.

“Really? Well, you learn something new every
day.”

The capricious tone in her voice prompted the king to
swap a questioning glance with Faen.

Faedra noticed. “Look, I can't help what comes out of
my mouth right now. Just ignore the stuff that's inappropriate,
okay?”

“Very well,” the king said, grabbing a bunch of heavy
iron keys from his desk draw.

Faedra chewed on her lip. “There is one more thing,”
she said.

The king looked at her. When she didn't respond
immediately he raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

Faedra thought it best if she just blurted it out. A
bit like ripping off a Band Aid. “Faen asked me to marry him and I,
err, said yes.”

The king looked from his daughter to her Guardian,
regarding him with warm approval, much to Faedra's surprise.

“It was only a matter of time, I suppose,” the king
said. He returned his gaze to his daughter. “He is a fine choice,
my child. You have my full blessing.”

Faedra gave her shoulder a nonchalant shrug. “Well, I
wasn't asking for it, but thanks, anyway.” She instantly averted
her eyes to look at her boots, heat rising in her cheeks. “Sorry,”
she said to the floor.

The king dismissed her faux pas and addressed the
Guardian. “Faen, you will make my daughter a fine consort. It will,
of course, be up to her if she wishes to give you the title of
king.”

Faen inclined his head and followed his gracious
acknowledgment with a bow.

The king held up the keys and gave them a little
shake. “Shall we?” he said as he made his way towards the door.

Faedra's brow was creased as she watched her father
leaving the room and turned to Faen. “What does he mean? It's up to
me if I give you the title of king.” Faen avoided her piercing
gaze. “To do that I'd have to be...” Her eyes widened as she sucked
in sharp breath. “No!” she gasped. “Oh, that is so not happening.”
She turned and called after her departing father who had just
rounded the doorway and disappeared from view. “Father, hold on a
minute.”

She took off after him. Faen followed close on her
heels.

“What did you just say?” Faedra asked, as she caught
up to her father.

“I was merely expressing that when you are queen it
will be your choice if you wish to name Faen king,” the king
explained without breaking stride.

“What? No, uh-uh. That's so not going to happen,”
Faedra blustered.

The king replied with a sideways glance and a rueful
smile. “What? That you will become queen or that you will not name
Faen king?”

Faedra shook her head in confusion. “Wait,” she said,
striding backwards so she could face the man who had just dropped
yet another bombshell on her already crater ridden existence. “No,
you can't do this.”

The king raised a sleek eyebrow.

“Alright then. I can't do it,” Faedra said, panic
written all over her face as she continued walking backwards in
front of him.

Sweat beaded on the king's forehead and he tore his
eyes away from his daughter's and looked around the corridor. “I
have never noticed it be this warm in this part of the castle
before,” he pondered.

Faedra couldn't take anymore.

“Stop!” Faedra put a hand out. Both Faen and the king
came to an abrupt halt.

The king's shocked expression turned to Faen, then to
his daughter when he tried to push forward but was held back by an
invisible barrier. Faedra was just relieved she hadn't blown them
both to smithereens.

She likened using her new found powers to one of
those multi-colored biros, the ones that held four different colors
in the chamber. To use a specific color you had to press down the
corresponding tab at the top of the pen, and, voila, your biro
changed from blue to red ink in one click. That's how she was
teaching herself to master the use of her powers, she just wasn't
one hundred percent sure, as yet, which power corresponded to which
color in her internal biro.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she exclaimed, now
that she'd had his full attention.

“Savu talking again?” the king asked at her
outcry.

“No, uh-uh. That was all me.”

The king leveled a reproving look at his
daughter.

“Oh, don't look at me like that. What am I supposed
to say? I can barely manage to run my own life. How do you expect
me to run an entire realm?”

“Faedra, I am not asking you to take over tomorrow,
but the responsibility of this realm will eventually lie on your
shoulders,” the king said. “It is time you started preparing
yourself for that fact.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” Faedra could hear the
pleading in her voice.

“My dear child. I am not
doing
anything. It is
just the way of things.”

“Since when?”

“Since your sister decided she would see the realm
destroyed.”

Faedra's subtle nod conceded he had a good point. Her
country had a monarchy; she knew how this stuff worked...sort
of.

Eyes still pleading she insisted. “But you're going
to live for a long time yet, though, aren't you?”

The king chuckled. “That is my intention.”

“I mean, you guys live for ages, don't you?”

“Yes, my dear. We do.”

“So I won't have to do any realm ruling for a very,
very long time, will I?”

“I hope not.”

Faedra wasn't quite sure how to take that last remark
but decided to let it go. She dropped her head and relaxed her
shoulders a little, huffing out a sigh of relief as she did.

“Now, if you would like to let us free, I believe you
require me to release a prisoner.”

Heat rose in her cheeks and she closed her palm. “Oh,
yes, of course. Sorry.”

“No need, my dear. That is quite a useful power to
have,” the king patted her on the head as he passed.

Faen fell in step beside her as they carried on down
the corridor behind the king.

“When are you guys going to stop dropping bombshells
on me?” Faedra asked him.

He gave her a warm smile and laced his fingers
through hers, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Do not fear,
Faedra. I will be with you every step of the way.”

“Thanks.” She smiled before resting her head on his
shoulder enjoying the feel of it bobbing against his muscles as
they continued towards the dungeons.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Faedra could smell the air change as they made their
way down the stone stairway to the dungeons. It was becoming dank
and musty. When they got to the bottom of the narrow stone
staircase, the king nodded to the guards who stood on either side
of the entrance to the dungeons. A torch burned on both sides of
the archway, but it did little to light up the all-encompassing
gloom that devoured this part of the castle.

The guards acknowledged the king and uncrossed their
weapons, holding them straight to their sides allowing the king,
Faedra, and Faen to pass.

Faedra looked behind her as the king led them deeper
into the belly of the castle. The guards had already crossed their
weapons back in front of the archway. Faedra couldn't imagine that
this dungeon had needed to be used much in Azran; the realm seemed
such a peaceful place. The dungeon, however, was no less
intimidating than the one in Arawn's castle. Thankfully, all the
cells she passed, thus far, were empty.

As they walked further towards the end of the
dungeons, Faedra could feel her father's energy shift. He was
shutting his emotions off as effectively as if he had flicked a
switch or turned a knob. Faedra wondered how much training it had
taken to learn that trick and made a mental note to ask her father
to teach her. If she could shut down her emotions at will, her
power would be a lot more controllable.

The king stopped abruptly just short of the last
cell.

Faedra shivered. She looked up at her father. His
features were as hard as marble; the energy he expelled was frigid.
It was clear that even if another soul did inhabit Vivianna's body,
he had no intention of laying his eyes on her. The pain was too
great.

“This is as far I go,” he said, holding out the keys
for Faedra. “I hope you are right about this. I doubt I need to
remind you how disastrous it could be if you are wrong.”

Faedra held out her hand, accepting the keys. “Thank
you. I appreciate you having the faith in me to try it.”

The king gave her the subtlest of smiles. “You have
saved this realm twice now. I am proud to call you my
daughter.”

Before Faedra could respond, her father had turned
and was marching towards the exit, making it quite clear he wanted
nothing more to do with her plan. He stopped and spoke to the
guards on the way out. Faedra thought it was probably to give them
permission to let her and Faen walk out with the prisoner.

Faedra turned back to her Guardian who was waiting
patiently. She tempered her emotions, unsure of how she would react
upon seeing Vivianna again. She could tell herself until she was
blue in the face that it was only Vivianna's body, a mere shell,
that was housing an innocent woman. She tried to convince herself
that the woman standing behind bars just a few feet away was not
the person who had wanted her dead since she was a baby.

She closed her eyes and breathed in a deep cleansing
breath. A second later she felt the comforting weight of warm hands
on her shoulders. Faen’s eyes burrowed deep into her soul when
Faedra opened her eyes and looked up into their warm fathomless
depths.

“You can do this, Faedra,” he whispered, sensing her
inner struggle.

Faedra responded with a faltering smile, took another
deep breath and nodded.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

***

“I wonder how Faedra and Faen are doing,” Alyssa
pondered.

“Better than us, I hope,” Etyran replied. He scrubbed
his face and raked his hands through his dark blonde hair. “How
could I have let this happen?” He slammed his open palm against the
wrought iron bars that were holding them captive.

Alyssa flinched at his outburst but couldn't tear her
eyes away as he started pacing back and forth in front of the iron
bars of the cell they'd been thrown into.

“It wasn't your fault,” Alyssa said, after a moment
of silence.

“Of course, it was my fault,” Etyran snarled. “How
could I be so bloody arrogant to assume that Arawn wouldn't be able
to see me? It stands to reason he would have figured out a spell to
uncover our kind. He's had you to study long enough, for crying out
loud.”

Alyssa averted her gaze. Looking at the straw-covered
stone of their stale smelling cell was preferable to witnessing the
rage that burned in Etyran's eyes. She was no stranger to the
dungeons, having been down there on many occasions to keep Allora
company. But she'd never had the misfortune of appreciating the
place from the other side of the bars. Now she was terrified what
Arawn had in store for her for betraying him. She'd heard all too
often Allora's cries for mercy. She visibly shuddered at the
thought.

Warm arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders.
She looked up to see Etyran sitting next to her, his eyes now
filled with concern.

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice much softer now. “I
didn't mean to scare you. I just get a bit...passionate
sometimes.”

She gave Etyran a pensive smile. “It's not you that
scares me.” A single tear came loose from her glistening eyes and
rolled down her cheek. She'd always tried to play the tough girl,
and, to a certain extent, she was fairly good at it. But now,
wondering what Arawn would do to her, was shaking her resolve to
the core.

Alyssa heard a low carnal growl escape from deep in
Etyran's throat. He wiped away the tear with his thumb. “I'll not
let that monster near you.”

Noble words, she thought, but Alyssa knew the monster
much better than Etyran. She'd managed to stay under his anger
radar since the time she woke up in a strange bedchamber in this
very castle. Torn from the life she once knew, to live a life she
wanted nothing more than to forget. That was, until Etyran wrestled
her to the floor a couple of nights ago.

She quickly realized that the best way to stay alive
in Arawn's captivity was to do what he instructed. Nothing more,
nothing less. She wasn't proud of herself, but it had kept her
alive and, for the most part, unharmed until she could figure out a
way to escape his clutches. One of the things she hated most about
herself was how she lulled Allora into trusting her. Alyssa had
been sent down here time and again on the pretense of befriending
the Lady and her daughter, Skylar. When Arawn's harsher tactics
didn't work on Todmus's wife, he thought a softer approach might.
That's where Alyssa came in. It was her job to come down here and
try to glean information from Lady Allora by becoming her
friend.
But there was a problem… Allora was so kind and
sweet to the Lightbender, even after everything she had endured,
Alyssa had grown to love the Lady. It got to the point where she
almost couldn't face herself in the mirror.