CHOSEN (33 page)

He knew Faulkin Yeld, who was next, curled on one side, the brown vest he always wore preserved along with him. Grint Heddly still had the yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. Both men held weapons tightly in hand.

Farthest from the door and his wife, the body of Alurn rested in the center of the oblong room, lying on his side. The crown of the First King was at a slant against a small rock on the floor, fallen from his head in battle. He looked the same. He looked like Adiem.

Dynan stood, and moved to Alurn, looking around the room for the body of his brother, who had died here too. He heard Fadril telling him that Adiem wouldn’t come here. Dynan put a hand to his head, pressing in on his eye and against the pain that exploded behind it. The room spun.

“Dynan?”

Liselle came in, looking first to where Fadril sat near the door, gasping at the sight of her and the children. She made her way carefully across the Temple, avoiding the dead to reach him.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “You’ve been in here a while. Dynan?”

“I’m fine,” he said when he wasn’t and she didn’t believe him, reaching up to wipe away the moisture on his face.

“I don’t think so,” she said, and then slipped her arm around him. “You should come out.”

“I’m all right,” he said, looking down at her while she looked up. He stopped her from wiping away the tears again, and kept her hand in his. “I knew these people, Liselle. I don’t know how, but I met them and there was a terrible struggle to get us all back. I promised them I’d find them again. You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Of course I do,” she said. “I don’t have any reason to doubt you, especially since we’re here and so are they.” She looked down at Alurn and saw the crown. He was wearing the Telaerin crest ring too and her eyes widened. “Is that really Alurn Telaerin?” She looked back at the others. “Polen Forb too? Is he at all like history describes him?”

He wasn’t sure she was being serious, but he nodded. “A little. He was pretty brusque. But amazing with a sword and a decent man. He risked his life for mine.”

“And Alurn? From everything I’ve read about him, it seems he could be completely conceited. Was he?” she asked with a smile.

“No,” Dynan said and then changed his mind. “Yes, a little I guess. Maybe all great leaders have to be and he was that. They all followed him without question. They’ve been waiting here a long time.”

“And now they’re not,” she said and pulled on him. “I really do think you need to come out of here and sit down. You’re shaking.”

“I’m freezing,” Dynan said and smiled when her response to that was to put both arms around him.

“You only just got yourself out of bed and here, you’ve pushed yourself to the very edge of endurance. Probably not the best idea.”

“Well if I fall over my father won’t yell so much.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

“Before he gets here and gets started on it, I want to thank you for coming with me. He isn’t going to be too happy about it, but I’m glad you did.”

“I didn’t think I was going to make it down those stairs.”

“You could have turned back.”

She smiled, looking up at him again, and shook her head. Her eyes lowered for a second, before rising back to his. Her fingers tightened around his own. His breath shortened, standing so close to her. He supposed he could be reading everything wrong, but decided caution didn’t fit the occasion. He leaned, hesitating for another fraction of time, and kissed her.

~*~

Chapter 25

“Awwww. I’m telling.”

Liselle didn’t miss even half a beat. “What was the name of that boy you thought was handsome? Gaden Ahreld, wasn’t it? You said you wanted to—”

“Boy?” Dynan said, playing along and completely serious at the same time. “What boy? You’re too young for boys. Gaden Ahreld? Ali Ahreld’s little brother? I’m going to remember that.”

“You better not!” Shalis said, still peering at them through the narrow opening, but then she looked behind her. “We’re right here, Poppe. Ooo, he’s so mad.”

Shalis hesitated and then slipped through the door, the thought of running to Dynan cut short by the fact of all the dead she was unexpectedly faced with.

“Shalis, no,” Dynan said and left Liselle to reach her.

“There are babies. Who would kill little babies?” she said, backing away from the children she saw and into Dynan. She turned around and buried her face. “Who would do this?”

“A very bad man,” Dynan said and held her. “He can’t hurt them anymore.” He knelt down and waited for her to look. “Did I tell you, I saw mother?”

“You’re crazy.”

“I really did. She asked me about you and she knew how fearless you are before I could tell her. She knew how beautiful you are.” He looked up and saw his father at the door, blazing mad, but listening. “You look just like her. You have her same spirit too. Do you know how lucky we all are to have you here and see her in you? It’s amazing. She doesn’t like it so much that you go out to the cliffs though, so maybe you ought to stop.”

“You’re just making that up,” Shalis said and tossed her head, looking back over her shoulder at their father, who knew Dynan was making that part up too. Ambrose came and stood over them in silence. “You’re trying to soften him up.”

“She wants you to be safe, so you’ll grow up and meet boys...later. That Lady over there is your ancestor, and she looks just like mother and just like you too. She was fearless and brave and you don’t need to be afraid for her. She’s safe and she’s with her children.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” Dynan said and looked up at his father again.

“Shalis, go wait with Melgan,” Ambrose said. “You’re lucky he can’t fit through the door. The next time you want to go off on some half-brained expedition, leave her out of it.”

“He didn’t know we were following him,” Shalis said and tugged on his hand. “Don’t be mad, Poppe. Look who he found.”

Ambrose didn’t acknowledge the plea but stared her down until she obeyed him.

“Who are the rest of them, Dynan?” she asked as she walked by Polen.

“Shalis go in the other room – now.” Ambrose didn’t have to glance at Liselle before she was on her way after Shalis.

The silence was broken only by the muted voices from the other side of the cracked door. Dynan could hear Melgan having a stern conversation with Liselle and he wanted to go out to her rescue, but then she didn’t need it.

“Would you rather I let him come down here by himself, Captain?” she asked. Dynan smiled when Melgan didn’t respond.

He was about to try and stand up, having gotten down on his knees for Shalis, but a heavy weariness came over him, making him want to curl up on the floor and sleep.

“So is this the end of it?” his father asked, but when Dynan glanced up at him, he was looking down at the body of Alurn. When Ambrose nodded like he was getting an answer, Dynan started looking around for someone else in the tomb.

“Is it?” Ambrose asked again and walked over taking off his cloak that he draped over Dynan’s shoulders.

“I had to...” Dynan said but couldn’t get the rest of it out.

“See that they are buried,” Ambrose finished for him.

“You know, don’t you? You know what happened.”

“I know,” his father said, crouching down beside him and tucking the cloak around him, “that you were nearly killed by a group of madmen—”

“They meant to, but didn’t get the chance. They would have,” Dynan said, seeing the three men for a moment, but then they went away. “There was someone else. He looked a lot like Alurn. Black hair, but he had gray eyes.”

“Really?” Ambrose said, an edge to his voice, and again he wasn’t looking at Dynan. “Is that true?”

“I had to do something, Pop,” Dynan said, and meant to get up. He put his hands on the floor to push and felt something under his finger. “It’s not his fault, the guy with the gray eyes. He ended up helping me, I think, and he did something to my memory. Maybe it was too horrible to keep. It’s all right. I know enough that it won’t drive me crazy wondering.”

“You know too much,” Ambrose said, and stood over him.

“Then he’ll make it stop,” Dynan said, leaning down to blow the dust and grime away from the thing on the floor.

It was a small crystal ball held in the claws of some large raptor and he thought of a dragon immediately, only there was no such thing.

“I trust him, Pop. I don’t know his name anymore, but he helped me once. It’ll be all right.”

“Dynan—”

“Really, it will be,” he said and picked up the orb. It was strange that no sign of age touched the piece, as if it had only just been hand wrought. The chain that used to hold it was all but disintegrated. Dynan looked to Alurn and saw his hand outstretched and a piece of the chain wound through his fingers.

“We need to go,” Ambrose said. “Get you out of this cold.”

Dynan realized that the chill in his bones had lessened so he wasn’t shaking anymore. He looked at the claw-enclosed orb in his hand wondering at its significance when he saw that there was another one just like it not far from Polen Forb. Its chain was in about the same state, tarnished and weakened to the point it wouldn’t hold. Dynan left the chain, but picked up the orb. His father followed him and stood over him again.

“What is that? You shouldn’t touch anything.”

Dynan handed the pieces up to him and heard him pull in a breath. Dynan turned back to Polen while images of him alive played through his mind.

“I told you, old man,” Dynan said to him.

“What?”

“Not you, Pop,” Dynan said and laughed.

“We’re going to leave now,” Ambrose said and meant it.

Dynan agreed this time but again he saw something poking out of the old leather sack that Polen had strapped around him and realized it was a book.

“Dynan, stop. I don’t want you to—”

“You know I studied with the archeology group for the last five years, right?” Dynan said, carefully shifting the flap that was already half open because of the way Pol had fallen. The leather was stiff and didn’t want to move. “I remember that much, don’t you?”

“I remember I had to force you to take the class.”

Dynan pulled the book out kel by kel until he had it in hand. It was frozen too, making the leather brittle, so he took extra care when he lifted the cover to look inside.

The first page was covered in handwriting.

“Fadril Telaerin is one of the most fearless women I’ve ever known,” Dynan read and glanced up at his father who was looking at Fadril and her children.

“She had to have been,” he said.

Dynan nodded to that and carefully set the book down beside Polen, knowing it wouldn’t be possible to take it down the mountain with him. He pushed up to his feet.

“I will see to it that they are properly tended,” Ambrose said. “And soon. I’ll have a team of Medics—”

“You need the Arc Group. Amerin Pern. He’s the expert. He’ll know how to manage with this. And the place has to be guarded.”

“Why do you say that?” Ambrose asked, smirking over Dynan talking about guards.

For an answer, Dynan pointed up and his father followed the gesture. The capstone of the room was the same stone the Throne Room seal was carved from, a kind of rock incalculable in value.

Ambrose grunted at the discovery, and pulled in a breath. “Yes. All right. Speaking of guards.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“It will not,” Ambrose said, and Dynan didn’t look at him, but allowed himself to be steered toward the narrow opening. “Not ever, Dynan. You’re going to swear to me right now that you’ll never leave the Palace again without your guards, once you’re allowed to leave that is,
if
you’re allowed. The guards, by the way, are going to have a conversation with you about it at a time of their choosing, just so you know. I want the oath, vow, whatever you want to call it, right now.”

“I swear I won’t,” Dynan said without hesitation or even regret that his freedom was going to be curbed to such a degree for probably a long time. In the greater scheme of things, his father needed the assurance, and Dynan was happy to give it to him.

“All right then.”

“I really talked to her,” Dynan said, having not shared the conversation with him.

“Who? Fadril? What are you—”

“Mother,” he said. “She was there at the end, when I thought I might not come back. She said she hears you sometimes when you talk to her.”

“Dynan—”

“I was complaining we never get to see you. She said you should cook dinner for us.”

Ambrose didn’t speak for a moment, shocked at first, and there was always everlasting grief behind his eyes, but after a moment he smiled. “She said that?”

“We used to, didn’t we, when we were little?”

“Once a week,” Ambrose said and then he looked at him again. “All right. I’ll cook dinner. I’m not sure you’re going to like it, but I’ll do it.”

“With no one else around, Pop. Just us.”

“Kamien?”

A moment of silence followed that, but Dynan nodded. “If he wants,” he said and Ambrose laughed.

“He might surprise you.”

“I doubt it.”

Ambrose stopped him at the door, and took his hand, putting the two glass orbs into his upturned palm. “It seems you’re meant to have these. Give one to your brother. Show them to Amerin, but you can keep them.”

“Thanks, Pop,” he said and when he glanced through the opening saw Dain huddled on the stairs. Shalis was there too, with Liselle beside her. “So when’s the next Palace Ball?”

~*~

Chapter 26

“Your Majesty.”

Ambrose took a sip of Corrigan, setting the short glass down, and turned to find his attendant holding a bundle in leather wrappings.

“What is it, Thurmond?”

“This was delivered just now, from the High Bishop,” he said, coming in with the package, moving with the measured steps of an aged man. “One of the Temple monks brought it, a young woman, I believe. I noticed from her hands. But no matter, she had all the proper passes to bring it. Xavier cleared her through and there’s this letter from the High Bishop too.”