Broken Stone (24 page)

Emariya found her voice, shoving aside her awe. “What have you done with him? Where’s Torian?”

The Goddess of Yesterday, the one who had addressed her first, spoke: “Did you not come to seek an audience with us?”

“We came to speak to you
together
.” Emariya swallowed hard.

“And you have been granted audience,” the earth-like goddess, the one with flaming hair said, smiling. “Not many are given such an opportunity, child of the soil, daughter of Eltar. Will you turn it away?” Her green eyes gleamed.

“I am most grateful, but confused.” Emariya blinked. If she angered them, they might never help her find where Torian had gone.

“Just as the past can influence the future, his presence can influence your answers. Fear not, he is holding his own council with us, even as we speak with you.”

“But you are here with me?” Emariya glanced around, confused.

“We are everywhere,” the goddess with the gown like the waves of the sea said. “Did you doubt the truth of my sister, the Goddess of Tomorrow’s words?”

The white-clothed Goddess of Tomorrow tipped her head toward her sister, then faced Emariya again. “We are The Three. The Goddesses of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. State your cause, as your prince does in his own consultation. If you prove to be as noble as you would have us believe, when we are done with you, you will be permitted to leave.”

Emariya summoned her courage. “We just—I just want to see my people thrive. But my brother has his own notions of how to lead The Three Corners back to prosperity. He’ll make things worse, not better. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to stand against him, but I’m willing to try. If he weds Torian’s sister, he’ll be even stronger. She is forced to him by the pull.”

“So you wish us to remove it?” Today said.

Emariya cleared her throat. “Yes. I wish you to remove it.” And feared what would happen if they did. No matter what, she was bound to Torian for eternity. Nothing would change that, but would she still love him as she did?

Yesterday cackled. “Mortals aren’t known for having the best judgment in love.”

Could she really argue with that? “Even if we make mistakes, we deserve the chance to chose our own partners, and fall in love without meddling or magic. I’ve heard it said that without what we learn from the wrong ones, we wouldn’t know how to love the right ones.”

Sadness filled the eyes of the opalescent Goddess of Tomorrow’s eyes, as if she knew mortals would never learn.

Aggravation churned like smoke in the fiery gaze of the Goddess of Today. “Tell me, daughter of the soil, do you know the full story of The Split?”

The waves began to ripple faster over the Goddess’s of Yesterday’s scant gown. Her sapphire eyes sparkled. “Of course she does not. In the time it takes us to blink, these selfish humans forget all but that which serves their own purposes. History is lost, but I remember.”

Her sister glided closer. “Tell her, since you remember so well. Blame her not for the fickle nature of those who came before.” She waved her arm in a wide sweeping motion, and the earthen vines coiled around her slender wrist rustled. “My sisters become so entangled in what was and what will be, they sometimes forget what is right before them. Sometimes the present is more easily forgotten.

But who could blame them when my realm is but any one given moment, where theirs stretch infinitely in either direction?”

Was she supposed to answer?

“Very well, I will tell it.” Smoke-like tendrils coalesced around The Goddess of Yesterday, and began to snake toward Emariya.

Her eyelids grew heavy, and for a moment she struggled, trying to force them to remain open. It was a losing fight, and soon she succumbed. The history of her world projected into her mind, like a recovered memory. A slight sensation of overcrowding filled Emariya’s head, as if Yesterday had come inside, like an uninvited guest.

“Once, The Three Corners were not three. Thaelestrar stood as one magnificent, prosperous land.

What you all now refer to as Sheas Harbor served as the capitol, and even then the city was known as Sheas. In a very rare event, the queen gave birth to triplets—identical boys. Even growing up, the princes were overly competitive with each other. Each wanted to be first, and each wanted to rule. But more than that, each wanted to be loved—by their people, and by one beautiful girl.

The first prince, Selwyn, was an accomplished archer and very strong. He was the first of the princes to meet Ciorstan, and perhaps if he hadn’t, The Split would have been just another of my sister’s unfulfilled visions. Alas, he did meet her, and so it goes. Ciorstan was the most beautiful girl Prince Selwyn had ever seen, and as the oldest, he felt sure she would agree to marry him and be his queen. He foresaw them ruling Thaelestrar side by side. Their very meeting itself seemed fated. A renowned hero, the prince had gone hunting and it was only on his return that he found her gathering flowers along the path to the city gates.”

But flowers don’t grow near Sheas Harbor,
Emariya thought.

Silence!
The goddess’s thoughts thundered in Emariya’s mind, reverberating through her very consciousness.
Do not interrupt again. It greatly displeases me
.

Emariya managed to prevent the sharp retort that began to sneak to the forefront of her mind, and swallowed hard.

An amused smile appeared for a fleeting moment, before the goddess’s expression turned solemn again and she continued her tale. “Some said he simply leaned down and plucked her from the ground onto his horse and carried her back to the palace, just as she was plucking the spring flowers. Most agreed he would have cherished her like the most delicate blossom. He would have done anything to make her happy—as long as it didn’t inconvenience him.

“Once back at the palace, Ciorstan met the second prince, Erwyn. What Selwyn didn’t understand was that Ciorstan didn’t want to be kept like a delicate blossom in a glass case, tended to once in a while. Where the prince was content merely to have her to call his own, Ciorstan—lost and overwhelmed in a strange and unfamiliar setting—grew uneasy. She began to question why she’d agreed to come to the palace in the first place. Doubts began to surface, and she started to suspect her mother—an accomplished sorceress—might have sent her to the palace to settle an old grudge.

“The more inattentive Selwyn became, the more Ciorstan sought the truth—all while hoping to find real love with someone who would cherish and delight her.

“Erwyn was more than capable of entertaining her, and giving her more attention than she could ever ask for. A renowned painter and an accomplished dancer, the middle brother charmed all he met, despite his weakness for women and wine. His first glimpse of Ciorstan came when his mother instructed him to paint her official portrait. His brother’s bride-to-be captivated Erwyn almost immediately.

“Ciorstan tried to resist, but eventually Selwyn’s lack of attention combined with Erwyn’s charm, and the two illfated lovers shared one forbidden kiss. Feeling the weight of her guilt, Ciorstan decided to find out if she truly was enchanted by her mother or not. She convinced herself that if she had been spelled and she broke the enchantment, Selwyn wouldn’t insist on marrying her any longer.

“She’d overheard the handmaidens gossiping about the third prince, who spent most of his time in the library. According to rumor, the youngest brother had become quite adept at sorcery. If he couldn’t help her himself, he would likely know who could. It was there, in the vast palace library, that Ciorstan truly fell in love for the first time.

“Her suspicions weren’t unfounded. Her mother had indeed cast a spell upon her, ensuring Selwyn would be infatuated with her any time he saw her. His inattentiveness was born both of neglect on her mother’s part, and the prince’s selfish nature. He no longer felt the effects of the spell when they weren’t in each other’s presence. While the second prince, Erwyn, truly did care for her, Ciorstan’s affections for him stemmed from her hunger for attention in a palace of strangers. She’d wanted so desperately to feel like she had a friend.

“But the third brother, Fidwen, captured her heart immediately.”

Emariya gasped at the third prince’s name. It couldn’t be the same man, could it?

The very same. Shush.

Emariya withered under the goddess’s gaze.

“Fidwen knew he would never be able to keep her for himself against his brothers. Even if he did remove her enchantment, Selwyn would never give up his prize. The most competitive of them all, the crown prince would have murdered his brothers outright before allowing them to have Ciorstan.

Erwyn, while not so rash or violent, was not the type to be dissuaded once he’d set his eyes on a woman, and his feelings for her were genuine, so removing her spell would do no good.

“No one realized just how adept Fidwen had become with his magic during all his years of careful and quiet study within the palace library. It was no feat at all for him to remove the enchantment for Ciorstan.

“Ciorstan couldn’t bear the thought of the kingdom thinking ill of her, or of Fidwen, so he placed a new enchantment around her which would make all the land forget Selwyn had promised to marry her.

Instead, they would think she promised to marry Fidwen. As most of them had never seen her anyway, it wasn’t difficult to remove the knowledge from the memory of most. Only a few would remember the truth.

“Ciorstan insisted the right thing to do would be for them to tell Selwyn themselves. When she and Fidwen found him in the hall of petitioners, Selwyn was misguided enough to order the palace guards to seize his brother as a traitor. Because of the enchantment they were hesitant, thinking he’d perhaps hit his head during his recent hunt.

“Selwyn relied on the only weapon he had—his battle prowess. He moved to attack the brother he saw as weak, but he was unprepared for Fidwen’s magical defenses. Ciorstan begged for mercy, and out of courtesy for her Fidwen spared his brother’s life. The former crown prince, unable to face the shame of being beaten by his weaker brother fled to a far corner of the realm, determined to build his strength so that one day he could return to reclaim his bride. He built a great castle upon a tiny, easily defensible island off the northern coast. He held hope Ciorstan would follow and away from Fidwen’s influence perhaps they would have had a chance. She didn’t and eventually Selwyn Ahlen Roth dropped all ties to his former family, becoming Selwyn Ahlen.

“Seeing that his love had fallen for his brother, Prince Erwyn Roth followed his brother’s example, and fled to an opposite corner of the world. The jolly prince’s smile had faded, and in his sadness he wanted nothing more than a quiet, peaceful place to paint. He too may have thought his absence might make her heart grow fonder, and he probably held out hope she would follow. She never did, of course.

He eventually married, and in the essence of a new beginning, he took his wife’s family name instead.

I believe a few of his paintings may still hang upon the walls of Warren’s Rest today.”

“So the three princes were the founders of the three bloodlines.” Emariya sucked in a sharp breath, realizing she had spoken without meaning to.

Behind the Goddess of Yesterday, the Goddess of Today laughed. “She really cannot help herself.

She has no practice at holding her tongue.”

“Do you understand now, mortal, how your world came to be split in three?”

“I think so... but I don’t understand why the princes chose locations that were so dependent upon each other... or how Fidwen is still alive.”

Yesterday scoffed. “That is because you think small. They were not dependent when the errant princes scattered. We made them so in an effort to drive the land back together.”

Tomorrow smiled, but it was a look of pure sadness. “We knew if the land was not together, the people would risk fighting amongst themselves. First, we stripped the magic from the land, except for those descended directly from the three princes. Had Ciorstan’s mother and Fidwen not seen fit to meddle with the lives of others through magic, the world might never have broken in the first place.

And of course, that magic is more limited than it used to be, and it was intended to be used for the protection of the land and the people—not foolish fancies like conjuring riches or eternal beauty.

Making the lands need resources from each other was our second step. We thought if we made the lands dependent upon each other, they would come back together out of need. Unfortunately the princes’ hatreds ran deeper than their compassion.”

Emariya swallowed hard, afraid of what The Three would say next. She had no doubt the goddesses must have punished the princes. Did she really want to know how?

Emariya steadied herself to hear the rest of The Goddess of Yesterday’s self-congratulatory tale.

Her eyes wandered around the cavern, afraid if she looked at The Three, her disgust might show on her face. As a child, she’d thought of The Three as benevolent beings, keeping watch but never interfering.

Now, she couldn’t help wondering if she were a mere plaything.

Yesterday’s eyes roved over distant memories and she continued her story. “We called Fidwen before us, and while we took his magic and let him keep his bride, we also cursed him with a near-eternal life. To his line, now known as the Roths, we bestowed the knowledge of the mistakes of those who have come before them, so they might learn. While he does not possess the skill himself—he’s lived it after all, so has no need of it—all of his descendants do. Despite his extended life, he didn’t retain the crown. When she came of age it passed to Carah, Ciorstan’s first and only child. She was the first female ruler of Sheas.

“To Selwyn’s line, now the Ahlens, we gave the visions of the future. If Selwyn had been able to see the error of his ways sooner, Ciorstan might never have fallen for his brothers.

“And to Erwyn’s line, now the Warrens, we gifted the ability to influence the earth and elements.

He was already so skilled at putting his own emotions and life into inanimate things, we felt his line would be best suited to being able to speak to what was beyond the surface.