Echoes of Fae: Book One of the Divine (21 page)

              “When Melody was wee little lass she sat right here where I am and declared the world unruly and promised to straighten it with love,” Andover told Jennifer. He smiled at his children tenderly. “Thane sat opposite to her and swore his allegiance to her and promised to heal the world while she brought it peace. And my eldest son, of course, wanted to lead.” Alastaf frowned with evident mortification at the statement that did not seem to be a compliment.

              “I wanted to be a soldier,” Alastaf stated shyly. “I have really never been fond of the thought of organizing an entire nation,” the Prypacretine admitted. He watched as his father’s eyes narrowed and they fell into a heartbreaking disquiet. Melody and Thane looked at each other. Melody was surprised. She always thought Alastaf hated her because he felt she threatened his ascension. She had no idea that he did not want to rule. He met her gaze and she could immediately see how his title thrust on him since he was but a babe. Just as Melody was fated to be the Divine, Alastaf had no option in his role as the future Pacretine. Melody suddenly felt akin to him.

              The feast thrown to mark the arrival of their guests and a successful return of the Prapacretine and Pramacretine commenced. Andover continued to tell childhood stories that made the congregation laugh. It would have been a wonderful occasion if Ziodin had been absent. Melody tried hard to avoid the man's eyes but could sense them on her the entire time. Jax was very pale. He kept his gaze glued to the Pramacretine when he was not answering someone. Melody could feel his tension and tried to send him calming Ether. She understood. Jax had to recover from his father’s attack while Callfah pranced around as a good person. Melody only hoped that the elder Callfah did not know his cover was transparent.

The Reunion

              A terrifying scream sounded from the northern corridor of the palace. The feast had ended late and Melody had just gotten to sleep for the first time in days. Jax slept in the floor beside her bed. He was adamant about not leaving her all night. Melody jerked awake and wondered for a few moments whether she had dreamed the scream. She decided not to take the chance and dragged herself out of bed; pulling on her trousers and a loose fitting tunic she was not, certain belonged to her. She looked down at Jax. He did not hear the sound. The Pramacretine tiptoed out of her room in an attempt to let Jax sleep. She placed her Ether again on the door to alert her if someone tried to enter. The young Pramacretine made her way silently down the steps into the main hall of the palace. The floor was very cold and Melody wished she had put on some slippers.

              She looked about some of the lower level rooms where she did not find any open eyes. Melody was uneasy. She stuck her small, angular face into the prison office where guards were supposed to sit. She did not see any guards, which scared her. Melody stifled a gasp when she saw a man standing in the shadow of a flickering candle. Melody took in the scene silently. She knew it was Ziodin the moment she had stuck her nose in, as she felt a fierce rush of evil wash over her. He turned. Melody froze when she realized Ziodin had spotted her, his expression was dark and hard. Melody’s eyes fell to a slumped figure in the floor. Shock overwhelmed her when she saw the guard. A terrible scream bubbled into her throat, but failed to escape. Fear struck Melody's heart, as she knew Ziodin was there to kill her. He strode up to her.

              “Ziodin,” Melody breathed. “What did you do to him?” Melody felt her stomach twist as he tried to pull her in against her will. She fought against his control with her own power. Ziodin growled. Since his Ether could not disable her, he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to the ground.

              “The question is, pretty little
Pramacretine of Agoura,
” Ziodin sneered. “What will I do to you?” He regarded her for a moment; a demeaning look of foul lust temporarily crossed his face. Then he shook his head bitterly. “I do not know why she wants you untouched, but I shall do what she says. Not that I have any choice in the matter. She is the one who gave me my power, when the war ended,” Ziodin divulged. Melody felt her face grow hot with anger and despair. He dragged Melody across the floor by her hair. Melody cried out but Ziodin shook her.

              “Shut up,” Ziodin barked. He dragged Melody up the stairs while the Pramacretine tried to stay on her feet. She clawed at Ziodin's arms but he did not pause.

              “You have been working with her since she began?” Melody choked on her words, causing the last few to be higher pitched and broken up.

              “Yes, my dear, the whole time. It was the lure of immense power. You know what it is like, I know you do,” Ziodin teased. Melody scoffed crossly. Ziodin yanked her hair painfully.

              “I may be powerful, but I am not evil,” Melody spat. Ziodin chuckled.

              “Good and evil are nothing in the wake of gaining power,” He smiled down at her. “This is not about good and evil. Not in this world. It is about where you are in the end. I, for one, do not want to be on the losing hand. That will be where you and your family will be. I want to be powerful, defy death and have my hand in the ruling of the world. Either way, I will succeed, because I have my place and power in this world, far longer than anyone else does. And if luck has it, I will also have this very palace.” Melody found her tongue firmly glued to the roof of her mouth. After a few moments, she managed to speak.

              “What…what has she been doing? What does she want with me? And why do I need to be untouched?” Melody asked all at once, as he pulled her into a room. It was her father's office.

              “You know you are a threat to her. She wishes you to die here so she may gain your Ether. The incantation she will use to gain it requires of you to be a virgin - to be unscathed and pure,” Ziodin said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “I find it unfortunate. How would she even know you are a virgin? How would she know if you are now? You have probably already seduced my son!” He stepped forward and threw her into the floor. Melody looked around and saw her father sitting in his desk chair. She cried out to him and he looked up. The wound in Andover’s forehead bled furiously, covering his face. Melody saw his hands bound to the chair. He looked dazed as if he had just regained consciousness. Melody reached out to him, a sob escaping her throat. Ziodin smacked the Pramacretine across the face. Melody's head struck the floor causing her vision to blur. She watched as Ziodin grinned at her father. Andover growled deep in his throat.

              “Leave her,” Andover snarled. “Do what you will with me but leave my daughter be!”

              “I cannot do that, great Pacretine, she is my target. Not you,” Ziodin replied happily. “The Blood Witch requires her Ether. I will deliver her alive but I doubt she will remain that way.”  

              “Please,” Melody began to plead carefully. “Please, since I am to die, tell me why she has been so very quiet up to now. Please tell me why it took her so long to get me. Why has she stayed in shadows and not turned the world upside down with her power? If she is so great, then why would I be able to be any kind of obstacle?”

              “You are a Pramacretine. You are a warrior and a scholar. You are everything a mighty Macretine should be and a leader against any great evil. Just like Serendipity. It is no great surprise that you should fail, it is sad that you will take so many down with you.” He fingered the crown on Andover's head gently in his gloved hands. “She had not found the one the Prophecy spoke of until only recently. She knew nothing of you, besides your fate as Macretine of Agoura. Even the Blood Witch Rovingae could not deny your fate in this nation. She set out to stop that, but she decided to take it slow. You were young. There was no reason to rush into your death, since you were no threat to her as a child. That is, until she found out what you are. The Divine is a great threat to her, indeed.

              “Unfortunately, she felt that even if she were to begin her own search, her powers are not great enough to fight the whole alliance of Agoura alone. She must have your blood to face such an immense battle. That is why she has been quiet. To bring herself to the attention of more than mere local authorities would cause her plans to fall through. We could not have that,” Ziodin explained. He was proud to know Rovingae's plans and enjoyed sharing them. Melody felt her head swimming. How could her blood bring Rovingae to greater power? She jumped when Ziodin laughed, his loud voice hurting her inside. As if he read her mind, he spoke.

              “You of all people, you the notorious scholar do not understand her meaning upon your sacrifice? The legend says, their blood did spill, the blood of the innocent, the blood of the damned, and the blood of heroes did fall upon that pool. From this pool, a dry, unhappy young woman drank, to find only that her womb filled with the spawn of a bloody war. The evils of death and battle took the young mother’s life, giving the creature born of her loins’ life and power unsurpassed by all but that of one other: The Divine,' Ziodin quoted. He glared at her condescendingly. “Your blood spills like all of the other blood that fed her, since her birth. She took the blood from the pool. She took the blood and life of her mother. She took the blood of all of those mighty sacrifices she has made throughout these hidden years. The blood is where she replenishes her Ether. With your blood, her power will truly be unsurpassed. She will take over this world you know and all will bow to her whim,” Ziodin finished with a flourish of wicked exaltation, the gleam in his eyes made Melody sick in her stomach.

              The Conjurer turned to Andover and chanted an incantation over him. The Pacretine slumped in his chair until it fell into the floor. Ziodin knelt and picked up Andover's crown and placed it on his own head. Melody cried out. She did not know what happened to her father, what Ether Ziodin had used on him. The Pramacretine felt as if her body wanted to expel all it had seen and learned. Suddenly an idea flickered to life in her mind. She quickly shut away the recognition she felt. In only a moment, she began to play out her idea. She held herself together and ignored her father's body in the floor. As she stood and straightened, she knew what she could do to distract Ziodin. He had made it clear. Melody had learned much of bad men in the recent past.

              The young Pramacretine of Agoura turned and shut the door, twisted the lock and smiled. The Conjurer stared at her cautiously. He gave her space and Melody could sense his tension rising. He did not know what she was planning. Melody approached him slowly, placing her hand on his shoulder. She pulled herself up onto her Father’s desk and sat her body right beside Ziodin. Her blue dress hung loosely on her slight frame.

              “Why would it matter if I were pure, if the blood is for an evil being anyway?” Melody asked, deftly masking her anger with a husky voice she knew would affect the Conjurer. “After all, she would not know who did it,” Melody purred. She forced her hand to trail around Ziodin's back seductively. Immediately, Ziodin had closed his eyes and readied his body for her. Melody pressed his form to her own and grimaced out across the room so he could not see it. She began to untie her gown, which was already far too large. Once her breasts were nearly free, she knew the man was distracted enough for her to play out her plan.

              In a flash, her hands had grasped his thick, graying hair in an iron grip and she pulled his head back with great force. The Pramacretine wrapped her legs around his torso in an iron grip. She felt Ethereal fire begin to surge up from the earth, into her veins, through her incandescent eyes and into Ziodin's. She heard him gasp, a look of wild terror and realization all too late overwhelmed his wicked face. The light from her gaze engulfed Ziodin's face. The conjurer bucked and kicked but Melody held tight to his head. After a few moments, he cried out and fell in a heap on the floor. Melody probed him with her Ether, making sure his heart had stopped completely. Her own heart was beating out of her chest and she bent over away from the corpse to vomit painfully on the floor. She hyperventilated and began to cry from the adrenaline coursing through her. Melody scrambled to her father. He had a pulse but it was very faint.

              Melody stumbled to the door. Her hands did not want to work and her vision was blurred. She struggled against the doorknob but could not figure it out. Melody slumped against the wall and screams just spilled out of her. Time passed slowly. Melody tried to clean the vomit but could only use her own discarded clothes. She covered it with her robes, which left her only in her nightgown. Thane and Jax burst in together, quickly followed by half of the guard. Jax gasped and cried out when he saw his father in the floor. He dove down to Melody and frantically inspected her face. She had a busted lip but that seemed to be the worst of it. She stared at him, her tears blurring his face.

              Thane saw Melody's gown was torn and he growled.

              “Are you alright?” Thane asked, confused. Melody looked down at her bare chest. She let out a small cry and tried to lace it. Her hands shook so much so she could not manage it. She began to scratch at her skin frantically. Thane gently moved her hands away and tied the front of her gown for her. He left her to aid their father.