Blood of the Earth (6 page)

She crouched in the corner stall of a stable behind a stack of hay bales and struggled to calm her breathing, lest it give her away. She’d been running ever since the enemy had come to her country and thrown her quiet little life into turmoil. All she knew now was fear. The kind of fear a small animal must feel when a predator is on the hunt.

In the first days after Zuhl and his terrible, brutish army arrived, Lacy had tried to nurse a righteous anger at the injustice being done to her people. She had tried to hold on to the fierce rage she felt at the idea of evil being done to her family. All of that was gone now.

The world had gone mad and she was lost and alone. At first, she’d had the counsel and protection of Wizard Saul, her father’s court wizard, but he had been possessed by something out of a nightmare and now he was hunting her as well. It was all so beyond her. She was a princess, accustomed to maidservants and fancy dresses. Decisions of importance had always been made by others, and yet her father had entrusted her with the legacy of her family, though she didn’t even know what that was, except that others of great and terrible evil wanted it—and they wanted it badly.

To Lacy, what mattered most was that her father, now almost certainly dead, had entrusted this most important of tasks to her in his hour of greatest need. That he had no one else to burden with the duty didn’t matter. Lacy knew her father loved her. She knew he doted on her and would have done anything for her. What she didn’t know, until it mattered most, was that he believed in her. That simple realization had come upon her in the night like an epiphany.

She would not fail him, no matter what.

She didn’t even know what was in the little box she carried. It was black as night with no markings, keyhole, or hinges. The only clue she had about its contents was learned on the night Wizard Saul had been possessed by a creature he called a shade—the one named Rankosi.

He had demanded that she give him the keystone.

She had no idea what that might be but she knew with terrifying certainty that neither the shade nor Zuhl’s horde could ever be permitted to have it.

Unfortunately, she was alone, in unfamiliar territory, with enemies closing in on her and no one to turn to for help. She almost yelped when the door to the stable opened.

“Lacy,” Rankosi said, “I know you’re in here. It’s only a matter of time before I find you. Come, Child, hand over the bauble and I will let you go—for now.” His voice morphed from cloying and sweet to strained rage. “Come out now! If I have to find you, I will flay the flesh from your bones and make you watch.”

Lacy froze, half deliberately and half from wild panic. She dared not breathe. Straining to listen, she held her breath and remained stock-still. Rankosi stood in the doorway, sniffing the air like a dog.

She heard horses coming up the road, then a muted curse as Rankosi turned to meet the squad of Zuhl’s hunters. All of her enemies were coming to her at once. She inched around the bale of hay and snatched a peek just as Rankosi turned away from the stable to confront the approaching soldiers.

When she heard him begin casting a spell, she made her move. Carefully and quietly, she crept toward the door on the far side of the stable. A few horses rustled as she passed, but Rankosi was too busy with his spell to notice.

As she slipped through the door, she took a quick look across the stable at the possessed man who had once been her protector. All around him, shards of translucent blue force began appearing, slowly at first but then more and more rapidly. They hung in the air, growing in sharpness, until they looked almost solid. With a word and a forceful gesture, the conjured shards darted forward, tearing into the approaching enemy. Men and horses fell to the magical onslaught, leaving only two soldiers still alive out of a dozen.

When Rankosi turned slowly and looked directly at her with a menacing smile, she ran. It was dark and the ground was uneven. She stumbled and faltered, but still she ran with all the strength and abandon of wild terror. She dared not look back for fear that the wizard-turned-demon would be there.

She reached the fence to the paddock and clambered over, daring to glance back only when she was on the far side. Rankosi was walking through the pasture toward her. The two remaining soldiers had fled the wizard’s attack, no doubt to deliver a report about the enemy they had encountered.

More soldiers would be coming.

Lacy raced into the village, winding through the small houses and shops that made up the little community. She didn’t think about where she was going, she just ran, hoping her erratic path would be enough to throw off the shade, but she knew it wouldn’t. It was only through luck and good fortune that she’d managed to stay ahead of it this long.

She rounded a corner and ran headlong into a man in the dark. Stumbling back, she turned to run but stopped when he spoke.

“I’ll help you, if you’ll let me,” he said.

Lacy was desperate and terrified. She didn’t know who this man was. She’d been betrayed by other villagers recently, only barely escaping with her life. She’d lost her horse when she trusted a family that let her sleep in their barn for the night. Once she was bedded down, they told the soldiers where she was. Her recently acquired skill for light sleeping was all that allowed her to escape with her life. That incident had cost her a horse, her saddlebags, and her bedroll. All she had left was her pack and her belt pouch, which held a few silver coins and even less gold.

She looked at the man warily, but then she heard Rankosi in the distance.

“All I want is the keystone, Child,” the shade said into the night.

She nodded urgently to the stranger. He motioned for her to follow. He wound through the village until he came to a little house. A man was waiting there with a horse. The stranger motioned for Lacy to remain in the shadows while he went and talked to the man. He handed over a small purse and the man mounted up and spurred his horse into a gallop through the village.

When the stranger returned to Lacy, he motioned for her to remain silent and to follow him. Behind another house, he pulled open a trapdoor to a cellar and led her into the dark. She followed cautiously, her hand on the hilt of her dagger. Once they reached the base of the stairs, she noticed a low-burning lamp on the far side of the room. He took the lamp and led her through a door before turning up the light.

“We should be safe here,” he said. “I’m Drogan. You would be Lacy Fellenden, yes?”

Her wariness flared. “Who sent you? How do you know who I am?”

“I was sent by a friend to help you escape Zuhl and the creature of darkness that hunts you,” Drogan said. He was a big man, easily over six feet tall, with a barrel chest and broad shoulders. His hair was black as night and his full beard matched it. He wore a long, dark, leather riding coat and a broad-brimmed hat. He took a seat at the little table in the center of the room.

“You might as well get comfortable,” he said. “We should stay here for the night. If my ruse worked, the demon hunting you will be a long way from here when it realizes you’re not the one on the horse.”

“You sent that man on the horse as a decoy?” Lacy asked, hopeful and horrified at the same time.

“It was the only way to throw the demon off your trail,” Drogan said. “I have some experience hunting things from the dark. They don’t let go of a trail until they catch the one making it. By then we’ll be long gone.”

“What about the man on the horse? What will happen to him?”

Drogan shrugged. “That’s less important. You can have the room through there. It has a bar on the door, the bed’s comfortable, and there’s some food, if you’re hungry.”

Lacy was starving. She nodded tightly as she made for the door, giving Drogan a wide berth.

“I’ll be here if you need anything,” he said, gesturing to a pallet covered with straw mats pushed up against the wall.

Before she closed the door, she stopped for a moment and looked at Drogan, trying to size him up. He accepted her scrutiny without affront.

“Thank you,” she said, then closed and barred the door. She made a quick search of the room before helping herself to the bread, cheese, and fruit laid out on the table. She hadn’t eaten a decent meal in days. Once she’d eaten her fill, she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. She didn’t know for sure why he was helping her, but that didn’t matter for now.

For the first time in weeks, Lacy Fellenden felt safe.

***

Phane smiled broadly as he swirled his goblet of dark red wine. He was sitting in his Wizard’s Den, looking through his enchanted mirror into the little room where Lacy slept.

“It seems your agent has been successful in making contact, General,” Phane said.

“Drogan’s a good man, My Prince,” General Hargrove said. “Now that he has the girl, I recommend we send orders for him to kill her and return with her possessions.”

Phane shook his head absently, deep in thought.

“Tempting, General, but ultimately counterproductive,” Phane said. “If I’m correct, and I usually am about these things, the item she carries can only be opened by one of her bloodline and then only while not under duress.

“Have Drogan bring her here, but only through persuasion. He is not to use force or threat against her in any way. We must win her over so that she chooses of her own free will to do as I ask. Only then will I gain my prize.”

“As you wish, My Prince,” General Hargrove said.

“That will be all,” Phane said, as he stared into his goblet, gently swirling his dark red wine.

Chapter 6

Alexander came awake gradually. At first he was only dimly aware of anything at all, then he floated in that half-dream state where he was still asleep but aware at the same time. When he heard the soft crying, he woke with a start.

Chloe buzzed up over his face from the place on his chest where she’d been sitting and looked intently into his eyes. Alexander blinked the sleep away and tried to focus on her.

She clapped and suddenly burst into a ball of scintillating white light, buzzing toward the ceiling.

“You’re awake!” she said out loud.

As Alexander began to come to his senses, he tried to speak but couldn’t make his mouth work, so he thought his question to Chloe.

“What happened?”

“I’m so sorry, My Love,” Chloe said, floating down closer to his face. “I suggested you use fairy dust to combat the taint left behind by the wraithkin’s dagger.”

She landed on his chest and sat down, burying her face in her hands.

“I thought I’d lost you, My Love,” she said in his mind. “You died.” She sobbed into her hands, releasing all of her pent-up fear and worry.

“Died?” he mumbled.

She nodded, her face still buried in her hands.

“You haven’t lost me, Little One,” Alexander said without speaking. “I’m right here.”

He glanced around at his surroundings. From the looks of the stone walls, he was somewhere within Blackstone Keep. He’d recognize the seamless, smooth-cut walls and perfectly straight lines of the Keep’s stonework anywhere. He was lying in a big, four-poster bed with a thick, feather mattress and finely woven linen sheets. The room was large with one closed door to his left and an open door leading to a water closet on the wall opposite the bed. To the right was a series of heavy red curtains that looked like they blocked out the light from at least five arched windows. There was a small table in one corner with four chairs pushed in under it and a set of two comfortable, cushioned chairs next to the bed with a small table separating them.

Isabel was curled up in one of the chairs, sleeping.

“We’ve been so worried, My Love,” Chloe said, after she finished sobbing. “You’ve been unconscious for three days.”

Alexander was suddenly alarmed. There was no telling what might have transpired in the three days he was out. He shook his head; it felt like it was full of cotton. He couldn’t quite make his mind work right.

“What happened?”

“You started shaking violently after you used the fairy dust,” Chloe said, and then started crying again. “I almost killed you, My Love. I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

Alexander almost laughed. “Chloe, there’s nothing to forgive. You were trying to help me.”

She was sobbing into her hands again. Through his bond with her, he could feel the weight of guilt she had taken upon herself.

“Look at me, Little One.”

She sniffed and looked up at him.

“I love you, Chloe. You didn’t hurt me. The wraithkin did. All you tried to do was help me. I don’t blame you for anything and I hope you won’t blame yourself. You don’t deserve that.”

“You mean it?”

“Every word, Little One.”

She swallowed and sniffed again.

Her mood lightened a bit when Alexander smiled at her.

“Now, tell me what happened.”

“After you used the fairy dust, you fell out of your chair and every muscle in your body spasmed at once. You shook for several minutes. Your heart was racing and you stopped breathing. Your mother said it was because the muscles around your lungs weren’t working right.”