Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) (13 page)

They had had little news of her homeland, and
Layna fervently hoped that nothing had gotten worse. She had
daydreams of hellhounds running the streets unchecked and the black
robed figures of her dreams murdering screaming villagers as they
tried to escape their evil grasp.

Before long, they reached Endlyfta and they
rode their mounts through the crowded streets towards the
impressive castle in the center of the winding pathways. They
finally reached the last gate to get into the palace grounds and
they were stopped for Gryffon to produce his papers. The process
was hurried along by Echo's presence, as she grew the horn on her
forehead for the meeting.

During their travels, she had been content to
be treated as a horse, and she stayed in the stables of the inns,
choosing not to draw attention to herself by betraying she was more
than just an animal. Back in her element, however, she took full
advantage of the awe that she inspired, and their group was quickly
ushered inside.

Gryffon drafted a message for the Ieldran
which a messenger boy promised to deliver as soon as they were out
of the meeting they had just been called to.

A young woman came to show them to their
quarters in what Gryffon called the barracks.

They didn't look like what Layna would have
imagined as barracks. These were long thin hallways with small
rooms packed in. She would have imagined it as a large room with a
bunch of bunk beds. She was happy with the rooms. The young woman
showed one to her and Aileen, and Gryffon and Charles shared
another. Echo had left them at the gate, apparently having other
matters to attend to.

“Your talent is growing stronger,” Aileen
commented to her as they unloaded what little supplies they had
left into their room.

Layna took out her bedroll and spread it over
one of the straw mattresses that had been provided as their beds.
“I guess so. I've been trying to practice. That horse - Echo - kept
trying to break through my shielding.”

Aileen chuckled. “That sounds like her, the
little imp. Have no doubt she would have if she had really wanted
to break them. I'm sure she was only doing it to force you to try
harder to block things out. It is in everyone's interest that you
are able to withstand any intrusion.”

“Why do you keep insisting I’m so important?
I am just a maid who got mixed up in all of this. I’m not going to
let this mark rule my life, no matter what it tries to tempt me
with, and I can’t possibly be the only one who has it.”

“No, you certainly are not.” Aileen sighed,
“It is unfortunately far too common. However, the number with your
distinct abilities are much fewer. Has it been trying to tempt you
further?”

Layna flinched uncomfortably, she hadn’t
meant to mention that. “I’ve been having more dreams,” she finally
conceded, “where the King keeps trying to convince me to join him
like he did in the tomb.” She refrained from mentioning the burning
sensation in her mark.

“And what do you tell him?” Aileen seemed
tense.

“The same thing I did when we were really
there.”

She relaxed, “I know you don’t believe me
child, but you will be central to the coming conflict. The clash
between good and evil is almost upon us.”

“And who will win?”

Aileen just shrugged. “We shall see.”

*

Nathair was sorely tempted to make Jezebel
physically make the trek herself, but it would be well worth the
effort for this display of his strength. It would be good to
instill fear into the hearts of the people of both Gelendan and
Treymayne.

And hopefully, his mother
.

One of the good-for-nothing council members
had been spreading word that the King was more wrapped up in his
own projects to pay attention to their plight. Unfortunately for
the man, he had been stabbed to death before he had gotten to see
the results of his scheming. Nathair almost smiled until he
continued this thought.
Too bad his plan hadn't died with him.
There were too many who had heard the message and took it to
heart
. It would do them good to see what a strong leader he
was.
And how strongly I could squash those who would oppose
me.

He was annoyed that his order to make the
death seem an accident had gone unheeded, and if he hadn't had
Devon baby-sitting Jezebel, he would have sent him to find out
where the lapse in communication had been. As it was, he was simply
too busy with damage control to worry about how it had all started.
But at least that particular member was a threat no more. He had
definitely been the most ambitious, not including Jezebel, of
course. So Nathair could probably handle the other ones until he
had a free moment to focus on them again.

The capital city seemed to have borne the
brunt of the quake's power, and those larger cities around the
barrier.
Where the barrier had been
. He corrected himself.
As was to be expected, the places with bigger buildings had more
destruction. Luckily, the farmers seemed to have fared fairly well,
and it was a miracle that the grain storehouse here in the capital
had been unharmed by the raging fires that had swept across the
city in the aftermath.

With the plans that he had set in motion
-
yes, plans that
I
came up with and implemented
, he
thought angrily, thinking of the stories spread by the late
councilman - the crisis should be properly contained. Though it
would take some years to rebuild and restock what had been lost,
there should be a minimum of unnecessary deaths.

His thoughts wandered once more to the girl.
That Layna is a commoner. I wonder how many others there are
like us who have escaped the Order's notice simply because they
were common
. All too often the commoners were underestimated
and overlooked for the simple reason that they were common. It was
a fault of his peers that Nathair did not intend to repeat.

There was no reason to discount those who
were not noble simply because of their family name. The God's seed
had been spread far and wide, and had many names now.
Just look
at my beginnings
. He dashed the thought from his mind. No use
pondering old memories now.

He donned his most elaborate robes, and set
the gold-encrusted circlet upon his head. He disliked the
cumbersome crown that the council tried to get him to wear. The
circlet and his own strong presence were more than adequate to
remind whoever he was with that he was King.

Satisfied with his appearance, he strode out
of his suites towards the audience hall. His two body-guards fell
into step behind him, and their familiar mind-touches set him at
ease. Upon the announcement of his arrival, a hush spread over the
crowded room and they rose as one to honor him.

He swept his gaze over his subjects, and sent
out a magical probe at the same time, analyzing the emotions
swirling throughout the room. He felt wariness, excitement, and
tension. All emotions that were consistent with his proclamation
that he would be performing a powerful display of old magic. There
was some anger - Nathair guessed he had the former councilman to
thank for this - but it was not enough for him to worry about.
There was also a predominant feeling all across the room: Fear.

Good
.

He raised his hands for them to be seated and
bade them welcome. “Greetings, my people. Thank you for joining me
on this historic day. Today will mark the beginning of a new age of
magic. Too long have we squandered our powers for fear of repeating
our dark history. Too long have we lived in the shadow of the past.
And too long have we been isolated from our brothers in Treymayne.
It is time to embrace our talents, and give thanks to the Gods by
using these talents to the fullest and re-unite with our estranged
countrymen!”

This was the cue for the priests in the
ceremony to perform, and they stepped forward dutifully. Before the
Order had realized that he was not the puppet that they thought him
to be, they had set the stage for the Priesthood supporting his
rule, and he had made it impossible for them to take away that
support.

The priest-mages stood forward and called
upon the power, causing a shower of coins to rain down upon the
audience. The people gasped and scrambled around, grabbing at the
coins greedily. When they had quieted down, he continued. “We shall
rebuild our cities with magic, and come back from this disaster
bigger. Better. Stronger!”

The priests flourished their hands once more
and a dais was built before him, in front of the people's very eyes
and seemingly out of thin air. He stepped out onto it proudly,
demonstrating the strength and reality of the structure.

One of the priests was beginning to falter,
Nathair could feel the man's energy fading, and he immediately lent
him his own strength. It wouldn't do for one of the priest-mages to
faint after such a small demonstration of power when he was
promising the people that it could rebuild their city.

Nathair planned to utilize the priest-mages
himself rather than allowing the temple to continue to waste their
powers on performing false miracles and supposed acts of the gods.
The nobles who had paid for training would have to be persuaded to
join his cause by other means. No doubt the promise of advancement
would draw many of them in, and if that didn't work Nathair would
simply have to get more persuasive.

Nathair left a tiny channel open to the
faltering priest, who straightened and did a final little flick of
his wrist to burst flowers into being along the edges. Gasps went
through the crowd again. Though this was little more impressive
than the displays that the priests usually put on for their
religious events, this was something out of the ordinary, and
served to work the people into an excited frenzy.

He stood on the center of the dais, and waved
a hand out over the crowd grandly, swinging it around to rest
behind him where Jezebel stood. At his command she glided forward
to stand to his right, and he presented her to the crowd as well.
“My First Advisor, the Lady Jezebel.” They cheered for her with
fanatical exuberance in their excited state. She had healed
remarkably well, even better than he had thought possible given the
mangled state she had been left in by her hounds.

Nathair looked to his left where he knew that
Karl was sitting. The man hadn't done well in hiding his surprise
at Jezebel's sudden reappearance. He met his eyes and Nathair's
smile broadened.

Karl paled. Nathair could feel the fear
emanating off the man. Nathair had heard that Karl had had another
loss lately as well, and he was looking rather worse for wear with
all the bad luck. It had been good luck for Nathair, however, as it
had been the key to gaining some very vital information about the
Order’s activities.

Nathair turned his attention back to his
prize. “My First Advisor shall be my voice, my emissary, into the
forgotten half of our country. While we rebuild our houses and our
lives at home, she will work to rebuild the relationship between
our two halves.” She smiled, and Nathair had the fleeting thought
that her teeth seemed to be more canine than before. He reached out
to take her hand and led her to the circle of flowers at the tip of
the dais.

Her flowing gown scattered them as she
stepped over, and Devon rushed forward to fulfill his part in this
scene. He gathered the flowers back together, and knelt before the
woman. Nathair thought it was a rather fitting picture of the two
of them.

When they had taken their places, Nathair
raised his hands for silence. He was given it immediately.

He withdrew his probes from the crowds and
severed the channel to the priest. He gathered the power around
himself like a blanket, drawing on the natural streams as well as
taking power from the stones that were embedded into his belt, as
well as the rather large blood-red one that now hung permanently
around his neck. He had replenished their strength last night as he
had prowled the streets to survey the damage to the city with his
own eyes.

The silence was growing heavy over the room,
and Jezebel and Devon stood like statues on the dais. Nathair took
a deep breath and whispered the words of power, throwing his hands
out theatrically. A column of bright blue light burst into being
around Jezebel and Devon and a brilliant white flash blinded him
for a moment as they were transported out of the circle.

The lights dimmed.

The dais was empty.

The crowd was silent for a moment more. Then
they burst into applause. Nathair did not have the strength left to
send another probe to gage their emotions, but the awe on their
faces told him what he needed to know. They respected him, and
perhaps feared him, but most importantly would follow him.
Satisfied, he left the ceremony.

The priests had been instructed to carry on a
festival in celebration of the reawakening of the old magic, and
make it a good one. The sounds of this merriment followed him to
his suite, where he collapsed onto his bed. Just before he fell
into slumber, a voice whispered in his ear, tickling him as the
warm breath passed along his skin.

“Bravo,” his mother's voice mocked him. His
lips twitched, but he was too tired to answer her.

*

Jezebel felt as though her insides were being
pulled out of her, and then all at once stuffed back in. She sucked
in her breath and struggled for control of her gut as her feet
found solid ground once more. It was no longer the wood of the dais
in the audience hall, but rather the soft feel of grass.

As soon as she was able, she opened her eyes
and was pleased by the sight before her. King Nathair said that he
had sent news of her impending arrival, and the people of Treymayne
looked to have paid heed to her importance.