The Song of Eloh Saga (49 page)

“I know,” I said. “I just don’t feel like sleeping. It’s not like I won’t have plenty of time to do that soon enough.”

I thought Mark would laugh, but he only pulled me closer. “I’m scared too, but I have to trust in Johna. She will pull you out if anything threatens you.”

“I know. It’s still scary.”

“Of course it is.” He kissed me on the head. “With that block, there’s nothing else we can do. The war won’t even have a chance if they know you’re alive.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“I’m the last person on the planet who wants this to happen, Reychel. You know that. I just don’t see another way out. Do you?”

I shook my head, trying to push away the thought that I was only hours from death.

Chapter Eight

As I sat down in the coffin, a chill rushed through my veins. I repeated the same words in my head.
I’m not really dying. I’m not really dying. I’m not really dying.

Johna promised me it would feel just like going to sleep. No pain, no fear, no regret. I’d simply drink the tea and within a moment I’d be gone. Dead. No, asleep, but dead to the rest of the world. I twisted the ring around my finger. Before porting back to the castle, Mark presented it to me. He’d slipped it on my finger without a word. I felt bad I didn’t have one for him, but everything had moved so quickly. I had barely been able to breathe.

Now I wouldn’t be breathing. Johna told me I would only appear to be without breath, just that it would be shallow. The only way to know would be if the lightest linen was placed directly on my lips. Not even the proximity of human skin could detect my breath. But hopefully no one would get that close.

The plan was to have me in the coffin, open casket, and be shown to everyone in a parade. Krissin thought it would stoke the fires of rebellion, convincing even more men to join the war effort, even though I’d told them days ago that they could stay home if they wanted to. My words had mattered then, but now, as a martyr, Krissin could convince them to join us. I wasn’t happy about it, but I knew I couldn’t stop her. She’d go ahead with her plan whether I liked it or not.

I briefly considered faking drinking the tea and then popping up in my coffin and declaring my defeat against death as a miracle, but that would undermine everything. I couldn’t hurt the war effort because I knew the freedom of every Serenian was at stake.

The gifted army Alia belonged to wouldn’t stop. They had to be defeated and Krissin’s army could do that. She was our only hope against the enemy. I didn’t want anyone to die, but if my death could help save lives, I was more than willing to drink Johna’s concoction.

Mark and Nemison stood in the corner of my chamber and whispered. I wanted to know what they were talking about, but if they wanted me to know, they would tell me. They obviously had no interest in including me. Mark glanced over his shoulder in my direction and smiled.

It was uncomfortable, not because of everything that had happened to us last night, but because of the coffin. Every time he met my gaze, his eyes flickered to the marble box. He couldn’t stand to see me in it, that much was clear, but, like me, he wasn’t going to argue. We’d finally proved how we felt about each other. Being bonded by Nemison had been no small feat. We’d be together now until death - real death, not the hoax we were about to pull.

Johna mixed up my death potion, tossing in herbs I didn’t recognize, then crushing them in the mortar with a pestle. The tiny crunching echoed in the mostly silent room. No one wanted to talk directly about what we were doing. We played our roles the way we were supposed to, without comment. Even Nemison, who always had an opinion about the way things should go, held his tongue against Krissin’s plan. He had taught his daughter well, recognizing the gravity of the deception we were about to undertake.

If this doesn’t work, Ace will have to keep me from killing Krissin, Johna, and Nemison.

I started and looked around. Mark’s eyes narrowed at my surprised glance.

“Did you say something?” I asked him.

“Not out loud. What did you hear?”

“Um...” I wasn’t sure I wanted to repeat what I thought I’d heard. It must have been my imagination. “Nothing.”

Nemison clapped Mark’s shoulder and laughed. “The bond is taking effect. You should be able to hear each other’s most intense thoughts.”

“Will Reychel hear me while she’s...” Mark paused. I knew he almost said dead.

Nemison shook his head, his white hair flopping over his forehead. “No, but once she wakes up, the connection will come back to life. You should both feel it immediately. In fact, you should practice now, before Reychel has Johna’s tea.”

I looked into Mark’s eyes.
Can you hear me?

He nodded.
I’m scared for you. If anything happens...

It won’t.
I gave him a determined looked, but by the laughter it invoked, I guessed my determination looked more like a pouty girl.

She’s so sexy.

My eyes widened and a blush raced across my face.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Mark said. Moments from the night before flashed through my head and my blush only deepened. It wasn’t bad enough that I could feel the heat spread, but I knew Nemison and Johna could see it on me too.

Nemison coughed, relieving the tension. “The link only becomes stronger after your bond is, uh, consummated. It appears you were successful with that last night.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Nemison held his hand up.

“It works, that’s all we need to know. I didn’t bring it up earlier just in case things hadn’t progressed, but it appears the two of you were quite successful.”

Everyone stared at each other, not willing to utter one word. My door burst open and Krissin stormed into the room. For the first time, I was grateful she barged in without knocking.

“What?” She eyed each of us. “What’s going on in here? You all looked like Reychel was walking around naked or something.” She pointed at Mark. “Though if that were the case, I’d expect to see something other than horror on your face.”

“Nothing is going on,” Johna said, saving the day. “We’re preparing for Reychel’s, um, change. Where have you been?”

Krissin glared at all of us. She wasn’t stupid. She knew she’d just missed something. Luckily she hadn’t been there. I would be even more mortified if I had to face her. What Mark and I shared was special. She’d probably spoil it, or, even worse, try to tell us something intimate about her relationship with Ace that none of us wanted to know.

“I have been making funeral preparations. In about a quarter of an hour, I’m going to call an assembly of the people,” she said. “Within a few hours, everyone will know Reychel’s dead. We’ll bring out her body for everyone to see and then we’ll get ready for war. It’ll be epic.”

I flinched. Hearing that about myself wasn’t comforting. Johna patted my arm and tossed me a smile. It didn’t help. My stomach churned at what I was about to do. My body would be carried out for everyone to see, but I wouldn’t be dead. Asleep so deep, even I wouldn’t know what was happening until I woke up.

Then I’d be alone until the war was over, until people had forgotten what I looked like. Johna would help me change my hair, but I’d be damned if I ever cut it again. We would turn my dark hair into spun gold with the help of herbal rinses. Maybe someday I would let it go back to its normal brown, but only if my story became legend. No one would ever be looking for a dead girl. They wouldn’t want to.

If anyone found me alive, it would shatter everything. The illusion would be gone and their fear could return. I wouldn’t have it. If I had to hide out forever, I would do it. Peace was more important than my freedom. I’d lived most of my life in confinement, but with Mark by my side I knew that any life would be worth living. I only had to die first to achieve it.

And come back to life. That was the trickiest part.

I glanced over at Johna, who’d returned to her work at the table. Her arm moved back and forth as she worked the pestle over the herbs she’d scattered in the mortar. The tiny crunch of broken herbs echoed through the silent room. To each of us, this potion meant something different.

To Nemison and Krissin it meant the culmination of everything they’d been working for. Their war, their intrigue, their way. The potion would allow them to use me in a way no one else had ever done. Sure, my father had used my gift as he’d seen fit, but he’d used it for his own personal gain. Now Nemison and Krissin would take my life away from me and use it to further their war ambitions. I had to remind myself that their plans were for the greater good of the Serenian people, not just for their own gain.

Krissin’s eyes bored into mine and a cat-like smile crept across her face. She’d always wanted to put me in my place since I’d arrived. She wanted to exert her full control over me and now she finally had the means to do it. Dead, I was forever her pawn. She could use my image and my name in any way she wanted for the rest of her life, knowing I would never fight back against it. In her mind, she was winning.

But I knew I was the winner. After Johna woke me up, I would finally have my own life.

I glanced back at Johna’s elbows. They had stopped grinding and switched to mixing. Instead of the up-and-down motion, they waved back-and-forth as she stirred the herbs into a cup of warm water.

I gulped, my throat tight as I swallowed. Only a few more minutes and my fate would be sealed. I met Mark’s eyes and he walked to my side. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me to him and enfolded me in his arms. He bent over and his lips touched my ear.

“You’ll be okay,” he whispered and then nibbled my earlobe. “We’re bound to each other. Nothing can come between us except death. Real death. This is just a cup of tea.”

I buried my face into his shoulder, wiping my tears on his shirt. They could reassure me all they wanted, but I was the one making the decision, the one taking all the risk. I pulled back from Mark’s embrace and held my hand out to Johna.

“I’m ready.”

She nodded and picked up the teacup. “It’s ready for you too.”

I detected a slight tremor in the teacup as she walked to my side. She stood still in front of me and yet the tea inside the cup still moved like tiny waves. Johna was nervous. She should be. She’d admitted she’d never tried this before, but I trusted her.

It would work.

It had to work.

“I love you,” I said to Mark. Then I grabbed the teacup, brought it to my lips, and drank every last drop.

The room spun and the teacup slipped from my hand. Sharp pain rushed through my body, stabbing at my heart. My throat tightened, swelling and constricting. I reached out for Mark, but my arms wouldn’t obey. Instead my legs turned to jelly and I slipped to the floor.

I will come for you.

Mark’s voice echoed in my head as I died.

Chapter Nine

My eyelids fluttered open and darkness thwarted my vision. I couldn’t see anything, only a sliver of light peeked through the draped window. A chill ran over my body, leaving goose bumps in its wake.

I shivered. I hadn’t been this cold since last winter. But winter didn’t come to the Southern Kingdom - it was warm all year long, unlike my childhood home which slept in winter’s grasp for most of the year.

Cool and delicate fingers rested on my arm. I wondered briefly whose fingers they were, but I was surprised to find I didn’t care.

A calm I hadn’t felt in years replaced the pain in my head. I wondered what happened to Mark and Johna, but didn’t care as much as I thought I should. I knew they were close by. Johna had promised she would be here when I woke up.

The person next to me stirred in the near dark. I turned my head and faced her. I was sure it was another woman based on the touch of her fingers. The strangest warmth radiated up my arms. It was something I’d never felt before, but I was sure that I was feeling someone’s gift being used on me. An instinct deep inside awakened, and I could feel, for the first time in my life, my gift radiating through my body too.

Her bald head hung down, and even though my eyes were adjusting to the low light in the room, I couldn’t see if she had a brand on the back of her head. The angle was wrong. Maybe it was Manda, but I thought she was letting her hair grow out now. I squinted, trying to figure out if I recognized her. Maybe Johna needed a break and asked someone else to sit with me until she could come back.

I peeled my lips apart, as if they’d been shut for months. I gasped for air and coughed. It felt like someone had dragged sharp fingernails down my throat. How long had I been out?

The girl’s head rose and her eyes met mine. I wanted to jerk back, but I couldn’t, I was still too weak. Her blue eyes shone, her spark igniting when she saw I was awake. Her fingers, still on my arm, radiated a now-familiar heat.

“No,” I croaked. My voice broke into a thousand pieces. “Don’t touch me. Get your hands off of me.”

“Reychel, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. You have to trust me. Just listen to what I have to say before they come in here and find out you’re awake. Please. Do you know who I am?”

I wanted to shake her fingers off my arm, but I was too weak. The warmth spread across my body and I relaxed my back into the firm mattress. “No,” I whimpered. I knew exactly who she was, but I wanted her to stop. It was too late, Ivy’s soothing had already spread throughout me. I couldn’t fight her. I didn’t have the strength or the will.

“It’s okay. I promise.” Her eyes darted back and forth, from me to the door over her shoulder. It remained closed. “I’m here to help you.”

I snorted, in place of the laughter that bubbled inside me. Ivy? Help me? What a joke. She’d nearly destroyed me with her plot to marry my father and gain her own power and prestige. The last time I’d seen her, she’d been dragged off to the dungeon in her wedding gown. My father had said he would deal with her. Obviously his way of dealing was to set her free.

“Where am I?” I couldn’t believe Johna was on the other side of that door. She’d never let Ivy near me. Not in a million years. Something had happened, something horrible. I expected fear to grip my heart, but Ivy’s soothing left me calm. Not uncaring, but immune to panic.