Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (20 page)

They marched under the cover of a spell to one of the houses they’d passed on the street, which now appeared much larger, and more solid than it had looked before.

Inside the building, the furnishing reminded Memory of Roen’s home, with rich items in a small space, but these had not been well cared for. Dust lingered and mixed with a sweet smell of mildew.

They came to a room on the second floor laid out for meetings with mismatched chairs surrounding a wide square table.

“Summon Lucan,” Hayes told Waylan.

“The others too?”

“Not yet, better not all be in the same place too soon.” Hayes turned his gaze onto Memory.

Eloryn had walked with him through the house, telling him as much as she could of how she’d gotten here. He had no news for her of Alward, or any interest, as far as Memory could see. What little Eloryn had told him about Memory made Hayes’s bottom eyelid twitch.

Lucan arrived. His back had the hunch of someone who tried not to be too tall and he clutched a thick tome with loose pages to his chest. He was younger than the others, more comparable to Thayl’s age, but not at all comparable in looks.

“The heir, truly we’ve found her?” he asked, his voice friendly and eager.

“Almost entirely certain,” Hayes said, indicating Eloryn. “Leave the minutes book, we’ll call council shortly.”

Lucan stood motionless, staring at the Princess.

Hayes cleared his throat. “And bring us some refreshments. The heir has had a hard journey.”

Lucan nodded, pushed the tome onto the table and slipped back out of the room.

Hayes, Waylan, and three more even older men, matching grey and bearded, sat across the table from Eloryn, Roen and Memory. Memory shifted in her seat.

“Thank you for coming to us,” Waylan started with a sincere smile.

“Although you should have come much earlier. You may have saved yourself some hardship from Pellaine’s follies,” Hayes said. “We had heard from him, once or twice through the years. We suspected he had the heir with him, but he kept his location secret from us for some reason.”

I wonder why,
Memory thought. She shuddered to think what Eloryn would have been like if raised by these men.

Eloryn only nodded to them, politely stunned.

“Regardless, she’s here now. This will mean big changes. Something to rouse the resistance. Finally, a return to rightful rule!” Waylan pounded the table enthusiastically.

Eloryn stuttered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here for that. I only hoped you could help re-unite me with Alward. If anyone had the power to save him from his imprisonment, I hoped it would be the Wizards’ Council.”

Hayes shook his head and furrowed his brow, but the sympathy looked insincere. “Your Highness, I apologize, but we cannot risk ourselves for just one man. Not when your presence has given us some hope for the future. You must put him out of your mind. He’s no longer your concern or ours.”

“But he is my family.”

“Are you the child born of Queen Loredanna and King Edmund Maellan, or do you deceive us? You have a responsibility to Avall and its people that is greater than Pellaine’s fate.”

Eloryn nodded, her eyes glossy. Memory snorted air through her nose, anger in her rising. She glared down the table at Roen who stared blankly at the wall opposite, the thinness of his lips showing the tension otherwise kept hidden.

Waylan spoke more kindly. “Thayl is like poison to this land. Since his rule we’ve seen the fae leaving or causing more trouble across Avall. They were never such trouble with Maellan blood on the throne. Maellan blood signed the Pact. The fae honor that.”

Hayes locked his gaze on Eloryn like a hawk onto a mouse. “Your Highness, for the sake of Avall, will you forget Pellaine and begin work toward your rightful path?”

Eloryn bowed her head.

Memory bolted to her feet. “Quit it already! Can’t you see she’s been through enough?”

“Ah yes.” Hayes looked at her like he would a smudge on the wall that he was too arrogant to clean. “You’re not needed here. You should leave.”

Eloryn rose to her feet next to Memory. “Memory is with me. I had hoped someone here could help her with her problem.”

“Her problem is not ours, or yours. Respectfully, Highness, you need to grow up and start dealing with issues of greater importance,” Hayes said, moving calmly to his feet, his voice rising only a little, but still threatening.

“Fine. Let’s start talking about whose problems are whose, shall we?” Memory snapped back. “Like who caused all your issues with Thayl in the first place? Wasn’t it you wizards who made the Queen marry someone other than him? They were in love, and you knew it.”

“Of course we did,” said Hayes. “Thayl had no talent for magic when we chose the Queen’s partner and was never right for the kingdom, I think that is clear. If you had a thought in your head, girl, you’d know marriages for the Maellan line have always been arranged, to preserve a strong magic ability.”

“They were in love, and you destroyed them with that choice,” Memory whispered, the realization hitting her hard. It was true, what Thayl had shown her in her dream. And if it was true, what about everything else?

Eloryn’s face drained to white. “What? How did you-?”

“Just gossip, at the ball,” Memory cut in, looking away.

“So, what of it?” Hayes moved his words slowly, fixing Eloryn in a stare. “You know this is the way of the royal bloodline, your Highness. It is not our fault, but Thayl’s for bearing such villainous vengeance. Calm your guard dog here and show some pretence of your royal heritage, so we can do what is needed for the Kingdom.”

Hayes sat back down. Eloryn looked at Memory, stricken, then nodded and sat down too.

Memory wanted to leap across the table, claw Hayes’ tongue out and ram-

Lucan interrupted her thought, returning to the room carrying a tray of fine silver implements and pots for tea. Probably for the best. Hayes was a bastard, but she needed to start locking down her violent tendencies. If that was who she was before, she wasn’t sure it was who she wanted to be now. She sat down again and satisfied herself with glaring.

Lucan placed the tray on the table in front of Hayes. He began arranging cups and Hayes put his hand out to stop him.

“Call the rest of the council. It’s time we start making some serious plans.”

Lucan straightened back up, as tall as his hunch allowed.

“Actually, I’ll do it. You find the children somewhere to wait, outside the meeting room.”

Memory threw one final glare at Hayes as they left.

Lucan let them into a room across the hall. It was someone’s study, a table piled with parchment lit by a lonely, grimy window. With a shy smile and bow, Lucan left them alone.

“So much for getting some refreshments,” Memory muttered.

Roen’s face hung, pale and unreadable. His hair and shirt still stained with dry blood, he hardly looked alive. “Princess, I’m sorry for bringing you here.”

“It’s my fault, not yours,” said Eloryn. “For not going to Alward right away, for trying to let others do it for me. A fault it’s time I righted.”

Roen shook his head. “Too dangerous.”

“I have to try. No one else will.”

“Lory, how well do you really know Alward? I mean, how much do you really trust about him?” Memory asked.
Do you know it was him who killed your mother? Would you still want to go to him?

“What? He is all I ever had!” Eloryn gasped. “I will go to him. Alone, if I have to.”

Memory and Roen shared glances of matching disapproval, then both agreed to go with her.

“Then we leave here now, and head back to Maerranton, where we last know he was held.”

Eloryn eased the door open and led them out, tiptoeing down the empty hallway. At the top of the stairs they were stopped by a voice.

“Don’t leave, please,” Lucan said.

“We were just going outside for some air. It’s stuffy in here,” said Memory.

“I was listening to what you said. I’m sorry.” He shuffled closer to them. His eyes were pale and watery blue. Kind, if somewhat sad.

“Then you’ll have to let us go, because we won’t stay,” said Eloryn.

“Please, just listen. I know Hayes can be harsh, but you do have friends here. I’m a friend. It’s a miracle you’re still alive, and I’m just happy to keep you that way, not force you into leadership. I could even help you be with Alward again, if you like.”

Memory edged in front of Eloryn and looked the man up and down. “Why?”

“Pellaine... Alward was my friend too. We were invested into the council at the same time, same ages, only months before everything was destroyed. I was not even with the council when the Queen and King were married. All of this trouble, it’s not mine. The council, they’re old, they forget what is real and haven’t much of a life left to change. And no one here takes me seriously.”

“How could you help us?” Roen asked.

Lucan gave a weak, hopeful smile. “They give me all the tasks of book keeping and communications. I keep the Council’s Speaking Mirror. I am in touch with leaders of the resistance in all regions. I know of some within Thayl’s ranks, within his castle, even within his prisons.”

Lucan hurried them down the street to another building that had appeared derelict before, but now revealed itself as solid and lived in. The council were using some very powerful glamour behests to keep themselves hidden.

Fumbling with his keys, Lucan opened the door and invited them into his home.

“Shouldn’t we leave right away? If the rest of the council realize our intentions, they might make us stay.” Eloryn asked.

Lucan replied with a crooked smile. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I doubt they’ll even notice you missing for a while. They’ve called council. They’ll be so wrapped up in debating plans they wouldn’t notice if the house fell in around them. It could be days before they come to anything close to agreement or are likely to call on you again.”

Lucan’s house had been kept cleaner than the building Hayes had taken them to. An aroma of mulling spices awoke Eloryn’s stomach. Lucan sat them in a windowless room he’d made both library and sleeping quarters- the only place with seating enough for all of them. “Just stay here while I speak with my contact, but you are free to leave at any time. If we can find out first where you...” Lucan kept talking as he left the room, his voice trailing down the hall.

Vibrating with nervous energy, Lucan buzzed back in again, bringing them a meal of wild grain porridge and herbal tea. “...exciting. You don’t know what an honor it is that I could aid you in any way. The Maellan heir! Not to mention a chance of being free of those other men. I’m sure you can imagine it hasn’t been fun living in hiding with no one but them...”

“Lucan, please,” Eloryn called to him, stopping him floating out of the room again.

He stood still and blinked a couple of times before smiling with wobbly lips. “Sorry, sorry, I get a bit caught up sometimes. I’m going to try now and contact the resistance member I know who might have had a chance of seeing Alward. I regret, I sincerely apologize, Highness, but please stay here. I must contact him privately or he won’t respond to my summons behest.”

Eloryn nodded and tried to smooth the pace of her heartbeat. The hope she felt was almost too much to bear. Lucan fluttered at the door, hesitating, then closed it behind him.

Left alone in the full but neatly kept library, Eloryn took a deep breath and settled into a leather armchair.

Memory tried to get Roen talking to her. Her mutterings, out of hearing to Eloryn, managed to get the occasional coughed chuckle or bemused half smile from him, but nothing more. It was still more than Eloryn was able.

Roen met her eyes suddenly, and she looked away, embarrassed to have been staring. The atmosphere in this room made her chest tight. It was so much, too much, like Alward’s library at home. Alward, like Lucan, had lovingly filled every space with books for them and their students. From ancient illuminated tomes to newer press printed collections and Alward’s own studies, hand bound and hand written.

The monastery had an extensive library even before Alward arrived. She only had the faintest recollections of the people of the old religion who hid her in her earliest days. Their order valued secrecy on certain subjects, like that of men arriving with motherless children. The old men and women were faded memories by the time she was reading their books.

Eloryn closed her eyes. Leaning back into the armchair, she wondered if those books were still there. After the last of the priests passed away, it was only ever her, Alward, and the books. Often all three together, when she was still small enough to curl up in a chair with Alward and be read to.

I miss him. I miss those books. I even miss the high stone walls.
Eloryn wished she had some token, some belonging of his. It didn’t matter. Soon they would be together again, she just knew it. Maybe then, she could apologize for her error that brought the hunters to them, and hope he forgave her.

“Lory, wake up.”

“No, shush, let her sleep.”

Eloryn opened her eyes to see Memory and Lucan looking down at her.

He grinned, shivering. “Oh, she is awake! Good news, Your Highness, oh better than you could have hoped. Alward is already freed, already on his way here for you!”

Eloryn blinked, worried she really had fallen asleep and was dreaming. “How?”

“The greatest luck. Our man in the resistance was assigned to Alward’s guard after Thayl met with him in Maerranton. He recognized Alward right away and helped him escape first chance he had.”

Eloryn’s head buzzed and her pulse built. She pulled herself up straight in the chair. “He’s coming here, you said? Why would he come here? We were to go to another home on Rhynn island.”

Lucan hesitated just a second. “He knows you’re clever, and that with him gone you would seek us out. He’s coming here for you. I’ll watch for signal of when he arrives. It should be soon. Then we’ll go to meet with him and we can all leave.”

Eloryn’s confusion washed away, and a smile broke across her face, aching unused muscles. She knew Alward would come for her, knew he would escape. He would be there for her again, to look after her.

Next to her, Memory chewed on her fingernails with intense concentration.

“He’ll help you too Mem, don’t worry. He’s so kind, he’ll do whatever he can for you.” Eloryn smiled in divine happiness. “How long, do you think?”

Lucan’s face turned blank. “Oh, well I say I hope soon, but I’m only guessing from the time of his escape. It could be any moment I’m sure, but be comfortable, it may be some wait yet.”

Eloryn nodded, but still got to her feet and began pacing. Anxious joy spread through her.

Memory stole her plush armchair. She curled her legs up into herself and stared at a spot on the wall. Eloryn tried to avoid looking at Roen where he sat across the room on a solid wood bench. A sudden, tangible memory of his lips on hers made her trip in her pacing. Her first and only kiss. She had no idea what it meant or why it happened, and didn’t have the voice to ask. Since then, Roen barely seemed inclined to be within the same room as her. Owain came to her mind, followed by the children she taught. She wondered if they were still there in the village, still safe, or if her very presence in their lives had brought trouble to them as well.

Lucan brought in biscuits and mulled wine, and left them alone again, gone to wait for sign of Alward’s arrival. None of them ate.

Eloryn moved from pacing, to sitting on the bed, to staring at books, to pacing. The others remained still and quiet. In the windowless room it was hard to tell how much time passed. Rain had been pattering against the roof for a while when Lucan’s footsteps thumped up the hall again. She met him at the door.

“He’s here,” he said, wide eyed.

Memory and Roen got quickly to their feet behind Eloryn.

“No no, please, you two should wait. Alward won’t know you. Only the Princess and I should go so he’s not alarmed by strangers.”

“Nah ah, we’re coming too. He’ll see we’re with Lory and know it’s OK,” said Memory.

“No! You don’t understand; he’s careful, he’ll be on guard. We need to explain to him alone first or he might think it’s a trap. He could leave, or attack you. It must only be faces he knows,” said Lucan.

“We won’t be long,” said Eloryn, not wanting anything to risk her chance of reuniting with Alward. “We’ll be back for you right away, and we’ll all leave together.”

Eloryn nodded to Lucan, who bowed her exit in front of him. She looked back and smiled, to see Memory open-mouthed, and Roen frowning.

Lucan strode out of the building with her and down the street toward the square with the wishing well. His steps were long, and she trotted to keep up with him. She didn’t think she could have walked anyway, she was about to burst. She hardly felt the icy rain that fell on her.

Her smile faded as they got closer. She couldn’t see Alward. She’d expected he would stay out of sight, and yet apprehension crept in. The ground was uneven, more footprints than could be explained by their own movements marking the mud. A horse whinnied in the distance. Her excitement curdled.

She slowed her pace, and Lucan turned to see why.

“Something’s not right,” she said.

“Nonsense, come on, don’t you want to see Alward?” Lucan grabbed her elbow and pulled her forward. His hand shook.

“Stop it, please. What are you doing?” Eloryn stumbled. She blinked raindrops from her eyes. He kept his grip tight around her arm, dragging her forward, hurting her. She cried out and tried to pull away. He put his other hand around her mouth, half carrying her into the town square.

Two streaks whistled through the air at them. Her arm stung. She clutched at it, tearing out the tiny metal dart. Lucan reached for his neck, grunting in surprise and dropped her. She fell on her hands and knees.

Eloryn felt the spark inside connecting her to magic close down as it had once before. Her head spun and she fought to stay conscious.

A league of men approached from behind the buildings around them, led by one man, devastatingly handsome with bitter eyes.

“My King, I did it, this is her,” Lucan stuttered.

Thayl bent down, offering Eloryn a hand to help her up. The sadness in his face brought tears to her eyes. “Yes, I can see. It is her daughter. She is like Loredanna reborn.”