The Kingdom of Eternal Sorrow (The Golden Mage Book 1) (8 page)

“Where exactly have you come from, Allison?” King Diryan asked with an
edge to his voice sharp enough to draw blood.

She instantly shrank back in renew fear at the sudden cold fury and
suspicion that flashed within his eyes.

“Please,” Allison pleaded weakly, “I meant no offense—”

Frowning, Aidric opened his mouth to speak, but a sharp look from the
king instantly silenced him.

“Answer,” King Diryan commanded in a chillingly calm voice, ignoring
her words completely as if she had never spoken them.

“I-I’m from California,” Allison stammered as she forced herself to
form her incoherent thoughts into words.

Now it was King Diryan’s turn to look puzzled, his harshness melting
away almost as quickly as it had appeared. He turned and glanced at first,
Aidric, then Selwyn, and finally at the old man who had not so much as uttered
a single word in Allison’s presence, asking the others the same, silent
question with his eyes. He received the same slight shake of the head in return
from each of them.

“Where exactly is this—Cali-fornya?” the king asked, the name of the
city rolling off his tongue awkwardly.

Allison’s heart sank. She knew there were probably tiny, obscure
countries in the world she had no idea about, but for someone not to know about
a place as well-known as California…

“In America,” she replied, a tinge of desperate hope in her tone.

“I’m afraid that I’m not familiar with the village you call Cali-fornya
or the kingdom of America.”

“I don’t believe we
should
be, Your Majesty,” Aidric said
slowly. “Don’t you see? By her own admission, she is of a place alien to our
knowledge just as the prophecy foretold. We cannot deny it any longer. It is
she. I’m now completely certain of it.”

“Oh?” King Diryan inquired. “And what makes you so certain about her
identity now when you had doubts earlier?”

“The name of her homeland,” Aidric said without hesitation. “You know
as well as everyone else present in this room that I have traveled to the ends
of Seni’s World and back, and I have never heard of the kingdom she speaks of. Before
you ask, let me ease your mind by saying that she is speaking the truth. I took
the chance of darting in quickly to read the information directly from her
mind. The only questions that really remain are how she ended up in the Forest
of Illusions and why did a miniature Mage-field suddenly appear out of nowhere
around her?”

Prophecies?
Allison thought with confusion.
Mage-fields? What
in the world is he talking about?

“Yes, milady,” King Diryan said, turning back to her, “how
did
you end up in our kingdom without being detected by our guards at the
Lamian-Sononese border as being one of the mageborn?”

“I really don’t know!” Allison insisted, clutching anxiously at the
blankets again. “Believe me when I say I don’t know! One minute I’m at a local
park walking with my sister, and the next minute a bright light suddenly
appeared out of nowhere in front of me. A force pulled me inside into a world
of complete madness, and then the next thing I know, I’m lying on my face in a
place so alien to me that I thought the whole thing had been a dream!”

“You journeyed through a portal, no doubt,” Aidric said, “a portal that
could have only been constructed by the will of Seni if there truly are no
mageborn in your world.”

“There’s that name again—Seni,” Allison said. “You keep mentioning his
name. Who is he, or is it a she?”

Aidric and King Diryan exchanged peculiar glances.

“Seni is our divine master,” Aidric answered simply, “our creator, and
I believe it’s by His will that you were brought here as you were. Long ago, a
Seer from the Order of the Providence—those priests gifted with powerful
Foresight abilities—foretold your coming. Ever since, the people of Lamia have
long awaited your coming with much anxiety and fear.”

“Fear? They’re afraid of
me
?” Allison asked incredulously. “Just
who
am I supposed to be?”

Aidric didn’t answer her right away. He exchanged uneasy looks with
King Diryan, who merely shrugged and waved a hand in a gesture of assent. Aidric
nodded slowly, then fixed his gaze on Allison, his unusual, pale-violet eyes
boring so intently into her own that she immediately looked away uncomfortably.

“Can it be so terrible,” Allison said quietly, careful not to meet
those overpowering eyes, “that you hesitate to tell me?”

“Yes, I hesitate to tell you,” came his even reply, “but not because
it’s necessarily terrible. I hesitate because I’m not certain of your reaction
given that you don’t believe that I am a mage.”

Allison sighed and raised wary eyes to him again. “Given everything I’ve
experienced today, I shouldn’t doubt what you’ve told me so far. You pretty
much proved it earlier by paralyzing me and then removing my paralysis later
with literally a wave of your hand. I’ve been running it over and over in my
mind, and although it’s completely crazy, the only explanation that makes sense
is that you
are
what you profess to be.”

Aidric moved forward and knelt down at her bedside, and to her alarm, he
gently took her right hand in his. She started to pull away, but he squeezed her
hand more firmly and she instinctually froze. He then held out his free hand,
palm up, and as her eyes darted from their joined hands to his other, a flash of
light suddenly appeared in its center. When the flash cleared, a small, golden
globe of pulsating light rested within the palm of his hand. Allison could only
stare at the ball of light in mute shock.

“Trust me when I say I
am
a mage—as you are as well.”

Allison felt her entire body go rigid as she slowly lifted her eyes to
Aidric’s face.

“W-What?” she stammered in disbelief, her mind still reeling from the
shock of the glowing orb he had produced from thin air.

“Whether you realize it or not, you
are
mageborn, Allison, with
the potential of becoming a very powerful adept-mage,” Aidric said. The orb in
his hand abruptly disappeared, and he lowered it to cover the hand he was
already clasping. “We all believe you to be the mage named in the prophecy I
spoke of earlier, one known as the Golden Mage.
That
is the reason for
our fear. You hold much magical potential within you that we cannot even begin
to guess how much you
are
capable of doing. I am the most powerful mage
in the kingdom, perhaps in all of Seni’s World, and you easily blasted through
my strongest shields and laid me flat with the power of a single mind-scream.”

Allison jerked her hand out of his grasp, her head shaking vigorously
in denial. “I didn’t—I can’t—” she protested weakly, her stomach lurching as if
she was about to become ill. “It isn’t possible—”

“But it is, milady,” Aidric said firmly. “There is no mistaking the
power you have within your hands. Any fool with the slightest inkling of mage
potential could plainly see your potential.”

“You don’t understand,” Allison said in agitation. “I
can’t
be a
mage. Mages are only fantasy where I come from. No one there has the ability to
perform
real
magic that isn’t only clever illusion, least of all
me
.
Sure, we have people who claim to be what we call in my language ‘psychics’ and
‘telekinetics’ who are able to predict the future, read minds, or levitate
objects with the power of their minds, but those kinds of paranormal abilities
have never been proven to actually exist. Now you’re telling me that I can
suddenly work magic!
Real
magic! It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Indeed it doesn’t,” Aidric mused. “I have never known someone to suddenly
manifest mage abilities without being born with the ability in the first place.
Yet, if you are the Golden Mage as we believe, then anything is possible.”

“What made you even think that I’m the one in your prophecy in the
first place?”

“The hue of your hair.”

“My hair?” Allison said in surprise, raising a hand to finger it in
confusion. “What’s wrong with the color of my hair?”

“Your hair is golden,” Aidric explained. “It’s a feature described
specifically in the Prophecy of the Golden Mage. In all of the lands I have
traveled across throughout Seni’s World, I have never seen anyone with hair
that is golden.”

Allison’s brow creased in bewilderment as she took in his words.
He
hasn’t ever seen anyone with blonde hair? How could he not? Unless—

She swallowed hard against the lump of new fear that suddenly formed in
her throat at the direction her thoughts were leading. It was as if a bolt of
lightning had suddenly jarred her awake from her nightmare—into the clutches of
another even more terrifying than the first because this one wasn’t a dream at
all.

“I’m not on Earth any longer, am I?” Allison asked in a flat voice.

A huge gasp instantly brought all eyes onto the king, who was suddenly
staring at Allison with an odd expression, something like bewilderment if he
hadn’t been frowning so severely.

“Your Majesty, what—” Aidric began before King Diryan interrupted,
ignoring Aidric completely.

“Did I hear you correctly, milady?” the king demanded. “Did you imply
that you came from
Earth
?”

“Yes,” Allison answered, her pulse speeding up. “You’ve heard of it?”

“I believe I have,” he replied. The redhead—Selwyn—flashed him a
startled look. “My father once told me a tale when I was but a lad about a
stranger who suddenly stumbled into a tavern in Lepha about 150 years ago. He
was raving like a madman in a strange, fluid language, calling everyone—oh,
what was the word Father used—‘
monsieur
,’ I believe it was.”

“
Monsieur
!” Allison exclaimed. “That’s—” She broke off
helplessly when her excited mind could not find an equivalent word in the
Lamian language, but then finished hastily in English, “—French!”

King Diryan leaned eagerly forward. “You know the language?”

“Yes!” Allison answered excitedly. “At least enough of it to know that ‘
monsieur
’
means ‘sir.’’”

He nodded thoughtfully. “No one in Lepha knew what to make of him. In
the beginning, they thought him possessed by demons and sent him to the village
temple in order for him to be cleansed. Of course, the Senini found nothing of
the sort in him, only a great amount of fear and confusion—much like you. The
Senini sent for a Master Linguist, who implanted the Lephan tongue into his
memory as Zenas has done to you with ours.”

Well, that explains why I’m suddenly fluent in Lamian—sort of
,
she thought dazedly.
That’s one mystery out of a thousand more cleared up,
but…what the heck are Senini? Priests? Exorcists?

“The stranger’s name was Alphonse, if I remember correctly, and he said
he had come from a land named Paris. He also mentioned Earth as you have,
though the word he used was ‘
Terre
.’ He was dressed in clothing similar
to our own in that period, but the fabrics were most peculiar, such as have
never been seen anywhere. My father told me that Lepha still possesses his
garments in their royal archives under spell-lock. They called him
Lans-alamarsk
—the
Phantom Stranger—because he claimed that he had been walking in his world when
he became disoriented and appeared in the village of Toril just like a
phantom.”

“What became of him?” Allison asked eagerly. “Was he able to find a way
to get back home?”

“I’m afraid not, milady,” King Diryan replied apologetically as
Allison’s sudden hope came crashing down. “He lived out his life in Lepha
according to my father.”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Allison had been holding on to the
desperate belief that everything would be all right and her current nightmare
would be just that—a nightmare, but the king’s words suddenly brought reality
crashing down on her.

“You mean—I’m stuck here—permanently?” she asked in a small voice,
uncertain whether or not she wanted to hear the answer.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, shifting uncomfortably under her
watchful, imploring eyes.

It was Aidric that finally broke the heavy silence by answering,
“Allison, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that it is so.”

“But—but—can’t
you
help me?” she pleaded, grabbing his upper arm.
“You’re supposed to be a
mage
. Can’t you—cast a spell or something to
send me back?”

She didn’t want to accept his words—she couldn’t. Accepting her fate
meant that she had to face it, and she was already on the verge of falling
apart. She wanted to believe there was still hope, still a way for her to get
back home to the new life she had struggled so hard to build for herself, but
when she saw the pity in Aidric’s eyes, she knew before he spoke that there was
no hope at all.

“I’m sorry, milady, but I know of no spell that can help you. We can
only open portals between magical planes within our own world, not alternate
worlds. I wouldn’t know where to even begin. Until you appeared, I didn’t
believe it was possible for a portal to be built between worlds. That’s why I
strongly believe that it was Seni that brought you here, that the ancient
Prophecy of the Golden Mage has begun to unfold. It’s the only logical
explanation. I’m sorry, but you must remain here as Seni wills.”

“No,” Allison whispered in a barely audible voice. Then louder, “No—NO!”
Suddenly she was sobbing brokenly into her hands. “Kat, my mom, my friends…I
won’t ever…”

As she sobbed, she was vaguely aware of the sound of clothing
fluttering softly, of Aidric’s presence near her, and then of footsteps echoing
across the marble floor. Only when she heard a door click shut did she raise
her now pounding head from her hands and regard the room with tears still
leaking from her eyes.

Allison froze when she found that Selwyn, King Diryan, and the silent
Zenas were no longer in the room, and only Aidric remained, on his feet again
and staring at her with the oddest expression. Her sniffles immediately stopped
when her gaze met his strange eyes—eyes that were guarded but at the same time,
swimming with secrets. They seemed the very eyes she saw every morning when she
looked into a mirror.

Then without warning, he reached out a deliberate hand and gently
brushed a falling tear from her cheek.

Startled, she shrank away from his touch and whispered, “
Don’t
.”

He pulled his hand away as if it had been slapped, a puzzled expression
forming on his face.

“Why are you so afraid of me?” he asked just as softly. “I mean you no
harm; I have
done
you no harm. I only wished to comfort your pain.”

“I—I don’t know,” she replied uneasily, still shrinking away from him
while new tears began to shimmer in her eyes.

“I think you do.”

“Wouldn’t you be frightened if you were in my shoes?” she demanded.

“In your shoes?” he asked, his expression becoming even more perplexed.
“What do you mean—”

“Never mind,” she interrupted with a shaky sigh. “Where did the others
go?”

“I sent them away.”

“Why?”

“I could sense your despair. You may not realize it, but you are broad-sending
your emotions openly, and with my Empathy, they are as clear as though you were
shouting them. I thought that you and I could speak alone for a while without
the pressure of having a king watching your every move and an old man’s
suspicious eyes boring into you. I want you to feel at ease with me, Allison.”

Allison looked away. “I don’t know you at all,” she said softly.

“Too true,” Aidric said with a sigh, but he flashed her an encouraging
smile. “Then I suppose I should begin by telling you about myself and my
kingdom.”

Turning to look at him again, Allison slowly nodded.

Aidric cautiously sat on the edge of the bed beside her and began,
“Once again, I’m the Mage-general of Lamia as well as the king’s personal court
mage. My duty to my kingdom and to Seni is to protect my king and people from
all threats, as well as to guard the Mage-field from those who would abuse it.”

“What’s the Mage-field?” she asked curiously before she could stop
herself.

“It’s the place where adept-mages draw their power,” he explained. “It
lies mostly along the Lamian-Sononese border to the south. It’s not something
that can be seen by normal sight. Only mages that possess Inner-sight can
actually see the energy gathered there. To all others, it is merely a clearing
within the forest.

“No one knows how a Mage-field comes to be formed, but I suspect that
mankind had no hand in their origin. It also serves as the power source to fuel
the Shield spell around the borders of Lamia that has thus far been proven
impenetrable, even to my power, and I’m yet to find another mage my equal.” He
grinned suddenly. “Although, I suspect that your mage abilities will one day
exceed my own. I can’t be certain until you master them completely.”

“I still say that I couldn’t possibly have any mage powers,” Allison
said stubbornly.

“That you do is irrefutable,” Aidric replied with a chuckle. “What do
you think you were doing when you collapsed in the forest?”

She sat up straighter. “You know why I was hearing voices that weren’t
there?”

This was one of the questions that had been plaguing her since the
first time she had awakened in Aidric’s bed. She had assumed that her strange journey
through the light realm had caused her to go temporarily mad, and the voices
had been the product of hallucination. Apparently, that had only been her
wishful thinking.

“You were using the magic of a mind-mage,” he said. “You fully opened
your mind to every thought within our borders, and they all came rushing into your
head at intolerable volumes. Your mind shut down because it could not bear what
you were putting it through, thus, your collapse.”

“Mindreading?” Allison inquired skeptically.

 
“Yes, mindreading,”
Aidric’s voice amusedly said inside her
head.

Allison gasped in shock and pressed her hands against either side of
her head. If not for the fact that his lips never moved when she heard his
voice, she
never
would have believed what had just happened.

“How did you do that?” she demanded in a strangled voice.

The corners of his mouth stretched up.
“Simple,”
she heard
within her mind again.
“I merely reached for the channels into your mind
that are receptive to external thoughts and sent my thoughts through them. Since
you share my ability, you can hear me, although it is not mindreading. It’s one
of the many forms of thought projection. We call it ‘thought-speech’ and those
whose gifts lie in thought-speech, levitation, mind-probing, and mindreading, ‘mind-mages.’
Go ahead, try it. Just concentrate on placing your whole attention on me, and imagine
that an invisible thread links our minds together. Then, just send your thoughts
down that imaginary thread.”

“I can’t do something like that!” Allison said aloud.

 
“Yes you can. Have faith,”
Aidric sent.
“I know what I’m
talking about.”

With a huge dose of trepidation, Allison did as he instructed. She
focused her full attention onto his face, did her best to imagine a line
linking their minds together, and thought as hard as she could,
“CAN YOU
HEAR ME?”
Not particularly clever, but it was all she could think of to
say.

To her surprise, Aidric’s face suddenly contorted into a grimace of
pain, and he grabbed ahold of his head.