The Knife's Edge (52 page)

Gray was lifted by Karil’s words. “Yes my queen,” the messenger vowed. “And what of the other Great Kingdoms, should I inform them of your return, as well?”

“Not yet,” Karil said slowly, as if weighing her words. “I must wait until we know more. The treachery may run deeper than we expect. What other reports? How fare the elementals?”

“Not good, m’lady. My scouts cannot speak for the dryads or creatures of the wild, but reports say the sprites are all but gone,” stated the messenger.

“Perhaps they do not want to be found?” She questioned.

“No,” replied another abruptly, a strange and different voice full of power. “I can feel it in my blood. Their presence leaves a mark on the threads of magic. They are all dying. It portends ominous evil when magical beings fade from this world.”

Karil spoke again, “Thank you. You may leave,” she ordered. “Remember my words for King Garian, and keep sending your sentinels out. I want to be aware of all that happens here and beyond. Knowledge will be the key to our victory, even if it is bleak. Now go.”

The messenger opened the tent’s flap and bustled past Gray, his scent a mixture of fear and duty. Gray held onto the flows, listening.

“I wish Mura were here,” Karil whispered, softer now.

“Your uncle is with the boy I believe, my queen,” Rydel said.

“The boy is outside, listening to our conversation,” said the deep voice. Gray tensed and loosed the threads.

“Come in, Gray,” Karil called and he entered.

Inside, the tent was even more spacious than it appeared on the outside. He took in the shelves filled with books, with chairs and sitting areas to read. Nearly a dozen elves in green-armor with the same golden trinket as Temian above their hearts leaned over the tables, talking heatedly. But it was not the elves that drew his attention. Beyond the center floor covered in rich purple rugs was a throne, appearing carved from a single tree. There sat Karil, the true image of an elvin queen.

Her brow was drawn down as her silver eyes observed him. Her golden hair was no longer pulled back. Now it flowed down her white gown, while the dress shimmered as if dipped in liquid silver, gracing her slender form like silken water. Rydel had changed as well. He wore a fitted tunic of midnight black with gold trim—flashier than Gray would have expected from him. His silver and black hair fell around his sharp jaw, and his eyes were set upon Gray.

Yet another drew his attention the most and he shifted his gaze from Rydel’s scrutiny. The elf with the deep voice stood behind Karil’s throne. His face was wise with years. He wore a simple moss green robe that matched the color of his hair, and cinched with a belt that appeared woven from vines. Even from this distance, the elf seemed to emanate power.

Gray reminded himself why he was here and strode to the center of the tent. “I apologize for my intrusion. I meant no offense. My curiosity simply got the better of me,” he confessed.

Karil laughed and startled him. He was surprised she could laugh after such dark news. “Don’t be sorry,” the elvin queen said. “I can relate well. My father always told me a curious nature is a good trait if well-tempered. Though Rydel claims mine is not so well-tempered.”

“I have given up on that long ago, my queen,” the elf said.

“And a good thing too, my friend,” Karil replied. “Besides, there was nothing your ears shouldn’t have heard. In fact, perhaps it is better that you did as it should save us time, and allow what I have to say to carry its full weight.”

“May I speak first?”

The queen signaled to the others whose conversation had died, watching the exchange—they took her cue and left the tent, carrying their maps underarm. She motioned for him to speak

“I must leave,” he blurted. Karil’s brows drew down and he continued, “I have a feeling whatever you were about to say was contrary to my decision, but I know now that I must go to Farbs to uncover my past.”

“How do you know what I have to say is contrary?” She asked.

He swallowed, but held fast in his reply, “I don’t, and I’m sorry if I was presumptuous. An elf named Temian mentioned you were waiting for me, and that you needed me. But my decision stands regardless.”

“And this decision of yours, you’ve given it much thought?”

Gray laughed slightly, “For the first time in my life I haven’t… and yet, I know this is what I must do. I feel it in my heart, more strongly than I’ve felt anything before.”

Karil nodded slowly. “I see. I learned from my father that one can always tell a person’s truth not by listening to the words they speak, but by hearing the conviction of their heart.” She smiled, “Yours speaks clearly.”

“Your father was wise.”

“You knew my father?”

“On my way here, the same elf told me about him,” he explained. “He also spoke with the conviction of his heart.”

“You’ve been awake for only a short while and it seems like you’ve heard everything there is to know. Can you tell me something though, your decision to leave, is it only to discover who you are?”

“No,” he answered.

Karil’s eyes widened, then they searched his. “You don’t believe the Knife’s Edge is over do you?”

He was taken aback. “You know of the Knife’s Edge?”

“Bits and pieces.”

“I must find it and I believe I know where to start. Where it all began.”

“Farbs,” she replied. Her silver eyes glowed, and he watched her thoughts churn. “I have only ever heard of prophecy spoken, that its written word cannot be held to page as it vanishes beneath the pen. A book of prophecy is a powerful and dangerous thing. To hold the future in one’s hand could spell disaster or salvation.”

He heard commotion behind him, and Ayva and Darius charged in.

“What’s going on?” Ayva exclaimed.

“Where did you two come from?” Rydel asked crossly.

“We’re going too,” Ayva said. Then she hesitated. “Wherever that may be. We are joining you, Gray.”

Darius joined Gray’s side. “No offense, but it’s getting a tad stale here,” he said as he elbowed Gray’s ribs with a smirk. “Miss me much?” The rogue had changed. His dark blue tunic and fitted black pants looked new. Even his stubble was shaved and his always disheveled hair was slightly more ordered.

Ayva gave Gray’s hand a squeeze, and his mouth worked soundlessly. He didn’t know what to say. At last, he smiled. At another time, he might have fought them, convinced them of the danger,or left under the cover of night. Now, in the end, he was only glad for their company.

Karil took in all three. “Then this is where our paths diverge. Perhaps when you discover what you seek, Gray, our causes will unite again. The Great Kingdoms are the lifeblood of this land, and they must not fall. We will need you all before the end.”

“We will be there,” he replied. “I cannot abandon a friend.”

“I nearly forgot. Ayva, I have something for you.” Karil reached behind her throne.

Ayva looked startled. Slant rays of light found their way through the tent’s roof and lit her shiny auburn hair. He looked away, noticing the quiet elf watching him.

“Yes, my queen?” Ayva asked.

Karil bestowed the covered bundle in Ayva’s open hands. “In a journey filled with darkness, you were a beacon of light. This item has been passed down to my mother, a prophet, whose simple smile and constant wisdom was always a guiding light. Go ahead, open it,” the queen ushered.

Ayva threw back the wrapping to unveil a silver dagger, the blade the length of her hand. Eyeing Karil as if she would snatch it back, Ayva lifted it to the light. It gleamed as if it held the brightness of a white sun. “Thank you,” she said, breathless. “It is a king’s gift.”

“A queen’s,” Karil teased and turned to Darius. Gray saw the rogue step back, his expression suddenly innocent. “And you Darius, come forth,” she commanded.

The rogue stepped forward.

“For you, Darius, the most loyal of friends, I have saved a trinket of my father’s crown. It is a mark of great prestige. It would please me greatly for you to have it. It may serve you in your journeys to come, especially amongst those who are loyal to me.” She placed it in his hand.

“It will not leave my sight. Thank you,” he said, holding the trinket tightly in his fist.

“For you Gray, I have only words. You travel in a world unlike anything you have seen before. I must ask—do you know the way?”

“I… do not,” he admitted.

“Rydel will give you a map and directions, but be careful. You may have been born here, but since you have forgotten your past, this world is wholly new to you, and it is a world full of surprises to even the wisest. Farhaven is both beautiful and unpredictable, and you must always be vigilant.

“Furthermore, Farbs does not welcome outsiders. You may enter with your mark,” she said, looking to his wrist, “But Ayva and Darius will be treated as outsiders, and by law, they will be forbidden to enter Farbs. Beware, for the penalty of trespassing is death. And lastly, beware the red moon. Trust each other. Till next we meet, dear Gray.”

Gray bowed his head low. “Until then, my queen.” And with Ayva and Darius at his side he moved to leave.

Darius leaned in, whispering beneath his breath, “What in the light did I just get myself into, and is it too late to back out?”

“Hush you fool,” Ayva whispered back, her hands fawning her silver dagger. Gray laughed as he pulled back the tent’s flap and entered the midday sun.

* * *

Karil watched the tent flap close behind them.

“You just let them go?” Rydel broke rank, striding to stand where only the King was allowed. Absent of a true King, she thought the implacable elf seemed a fine substitute—and truthfully, sharing the heavy weight of rule was a welcome notion. “What was I supposed to do?” she asked.

“All this time we’ve waited for him. What if he dies?”

“He is beyond our control now, Rydel.”

“Still, I don’t think you should have let him go.” There was odd mixture of anger and frustration in Rydel’s voice.

Karil knew where he was coming from, but she remained calm and replied, “My dear friend, you heard his heart as well as I did, I could not change his mind. Even if I could, would that be the ally we want? A young man in chains at our beck and call? I hardly imagine that is how the prophecy intended his role.”

Rydel growled and crossed his arms, “This war is about more than just him.”

“You are right. Events now are far grander than any one person, yet he is not just anyone.”

His brows narrowed, “What are you not telling me?”

Karil looked away. “There was a part of the prophecy I did not tell him or you either.”

“The Queen has secrets?” Jiryn, the tall elf behind her said in his confident tone, “It seems you really are assuming the mantle of a queen and quickly. Your mother always held more than enough secrets from me.”

“What does a healer know about this?” Rydel snapped at Jiryn. He touched Karil’s shoulder and bent to her, “I was there when your mother passed away, what could she have told you that I did not hear?”

Karil couldn’t explain it—she had awoken with the prophecy in her head this morning. From everything she knew that wasn’t the way prophecy worked. Prophets were born once a millennium and instilled with the power at birth. Why now? Still, there they had been, words of prophecy. She spoke softly into the vast tent, and her words melded with the magic in the air,

“The Arbiter will ride upon desert winds,

To hidden truths within black walls,

To bring the false king down,

And dance upon the Edge.”

Her eyes looked beyond the canvas walls to where she knew Gray would be receiving his new gift, and riding off to his destiny with his friends at his side, “This is our battle, and Gray has his. I predict this is only the beginning for all of us.”

Made for a King

G
RAY ENTERED THE LIGHT OF DAY
and there stood Mura. He leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. Without pause, Gray vaulted towards the man, lifting him from the ground. “Mura! Light, am I glad to see you.”

The hermit laughed, and then grumbled. “Settle down boy, you’re going to open your wound.”

Gray felt a sharp twinge in his belly as he put him down.

Mura clapped him on the shoulder. “Fool boy. I didn’t carry you all the way here for nothing! And you were heavy I might add,” he said as he knuckled the small of his back.

“You carried me all the way here?”

“Well, I had some help,” Mura said and looked in Darius’ direction. “I thought you’d at least want to stick around and try to part some elves of their coin,” he said to Darius. “I hear they have gold and gems, not tin like the Shining City.”

Darius shrugged. “Gambling isn’t everything,” he said, though he looked pained by the admission. “Besides, it’ll calm down here soon, and where this party seems to be going is towards war, and that’s not my sort of party. Not to mention, these two wouldn’t get very far without me.”

Ayva bristled, “Only because we can’t lose you, even though we try.”