Princess of Death (Three Provinces Book 1) (14 page)

“How many in total; how many walking dead do you have?” I implored.

“Thirty-five, and it is one too many. Can you help us?” Adad implored.

“Yes, but not in the way you think. I could go out there and bring death to each Alu, but it would not fix the problem. You have been cursed and until we break it, people will still be refused their final rest. Do you have any idea who could have done this?” Instantly, I could tell by their shared looks, they knew who already. With what I could see from their expressions, I knew too.

I spun to Nergal. “Lilu, your horrible sister did this and you decided not to tell me?” Facing his father, fury in every word, I let them know exactly how I felt about what they had done.

“You have let your sentimental feelings for Lilu affect your judgment and put Bet Pagri in danger; if this abomination is allowed to keep it up, it will turn your home into a Place of Taint within a century and your people the fuel for it.”

“I’m sorry Ereshkigal. My father didn’t want anyone knowing until you got here,” it was a lame excuse but I understood it better than believing he’d deliberately lied by omission.

“She should have been destroyed years ago,” Geshti declared and I agreed with her, whole heartedly.

“Take me to her. Now. We do not have a whole lot of time,” I demanded.

“Fine, you and Nergal can go. I will not allow her to be humiliated further; her mother would roll in her grave.” Adad agreed. Humiliated further? What a crock. Her mom better have been a beautiful Goddess because I got the feeling Lilu had been riding on her coattails her whole life and the ghost of them now.

Nergal took my hand, and the fact that I let him touch me just shows how much I really did like him.  We didn’t speak as we took stairs down into a very traditional dungeon, musty smells and wet dripping sounds greeted us as we walked through a low stone doorway. There was straw all over the ground and moss growing on the walls.

I did enjoy the wet stone and old blood smell a good dungeon had, it made me feel peaceful. I know, I’m twisted, so sue me. It wasn’t as dark as I would have enjoyed, the light was artificial and bright. We passed a few old fashioned torture devices; I made a mental note to check them out later.

The cells were pretty well kept up; iron and magically gated they were more teeny tiny flats rather than cells, which was a disappointment, too much cruel and unusual punishment I guess. Lilu was in a large cell at the end. There were no windows, part of the whole penalty for law breaking.

“Why is there no guard?” I asked.

“Alus hate isolation. The bars will hold her because of the magic but it also keeps her alone and forgotten about,” Nergal said.

“Baby brother, I hear you!” A singsong voice called out to us. Rounding the corner there she was, sitting very ladylike on a bed in the same dress she had been in the last time I saw her, smiling.  Her hair was messy and if possible, she oozed insanity. Her eyes were wide, circling and crazed, but she still emitted an air of lust that was hard to understand.

“Lilu, I need you to tell me how you cursed this place. It is wrong.” I stepped up to the bars. “If you have any love for your family, help us.”

“Help you? You’ll steal everything from me.” She was frowning and the pout made her look years younger than she was.

“Sister, I am begging you, end this foolishness, please.” Nergal couldn’t make himself get any closer to her; I could tell he was afraid, not of her, but of what had to be done about her. I could not fault him for still loving her, but I could blame him if anything else happened to these people.

“Not until you make me your Queen. Make me Queen and all this will stop.”

She was lying, but I didn’t know why. If being Queen was her goal, why wouldn’t she stop the madness after getting what she wanted?

“You have always known I do not desire you. Do not use your sex magic against me it does not work,” Nergal sounded disgusted and I couldn’t blame him, but at least know I knew why she seeped desire into the air.

“You will never figure it out without my help. I’ve covered my tracks too well,” she gloated.

“Don’t be so sure. I’m more powerful than you; you are no match for me,” I countered. She made me want to hit her with all my magic at once, but Nergal might never forgive me.

“I will end all this if you marry me, baby brother,” she practically purred. I saw Nergal hesitate and then shake himself from whatever spell she was trying to weave.

“No, you won’t.” He turned to me.

“Don’t you dare!” she screamed, then coming to her feet in a rush, she threw herself at the bars, hands like claws, wings flapping, reaching for him.

“It does not matter if I do what she says. We are all doomed, she will never help us,” Tired eyes met mine, his sister cursing at him, “she has Hallow Syndrome.”

Chapter 14

Two nights later I was sitting in the garden with Namtar in a large swing and thinking about Nergal’s sister. After his announcement, she’d started to scream and scratch herself into a bloody mess, and they had to sedate her. I’d spent the past 48 hours trying to figure out what could be done about the situation in Bet Pagri.

Nam enjoyed Bet Pagri as much as I did; the people were amazing and friendly. Tonight we were waiting for Nergal and Ekur to join us but before they did I wanted to discuss Lilu with Nam. We hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk, we’d been so busy.

“Hallow Syndrome…. Wow…..I thought that was all but wiped out.” Nam shook his head in amazement

“I know. The last recorded case was what? 150 years ago?” I was still pretty shocked. Hallow Syndrome was so rare and horrible that if you contracted it, the first thing was normally to be studied and documented and second put to death. People who got Hallow Syndrome went crazy and usually in a mass murdering psychotic way.

“They did this to themselves,” Nam said, “had they put her to death when she was diagnosed they would be fine now. I don’t know what they were thinking.”

“That they loved her and they couldn’t bring themselves to kill her,” a new voice entered the garden, Ekur. He came and sat with us.

“They had the execution all set up; there was a party and a feast. Then they were going to feed her a poison made from boiled Knife Shrubs and Sleeping Weeper Willows. She would have slipped into death painless, and peacefully.” He shrugged and settled back into the swing with us, helping to rock it.

“Wow, so what happened?” I asked. Sleeping Weeper Willows were willow trees, and when their bark was boiled it made a sleeping draft and on windy nights the trees sounded like they were crying.
 Mostly found in and around swamps in Adura.

“Her mother was still alive when she was first diagnosed. She didn’t pass away for another ten years. The King could not deny her. So when she saw her daughter, sitting there, not yet in full grip of the illness, tears pooling down her face the Queen convinced him to spare her.” Ekur’s voice was tinged with despair.

“In their defense it was another two years before Lilu began to show major signs of Hallow Syndrome.” Nergal was walking towards us and I felt bad for discussing his family behind his back but the information was important.

“And now she’s become too powerful and too insane to go without a huge fight,” I said the words, but the look on Ekur’s face confirmed them.

“How long has she had it?” Nam had a disapproving look on his face.

“Twenty five years.” I could tell Nergal was beside himself.

“So, she’d be dead now if not for this curse. People with Hallow Syndrome rarely live over twenty years.”  Nam sighed.

“This is a huge mess. I still cannot figure out how she’s fueling this sort of
 hex,” I was fairly distraught about it, I wanted to help Bet Pagri, but nothing I had done so far had worked.

Nergal opened his mouth to say something when there was a commotion at the gates. We all got up to see what was going on. Standing outside the gate was the Adureed I had ridden to my aunt and uncle’s.

“Oh! You could have just left all this at the estate, but thank you so much!” I exclaimed, curious. It seemed to only be two over night bags, one for Nam and myself.

“Did Sarlu pack this and tell you to bring it?”

The Adureed seemed to nod; it made a huffing noise, and nipped my hand as I patted its face.

“Well I am grateful.” I was truly appreciative. Nam unloaded the bags and the Adureed took off, back to the plains where the herd lived.

I opened my bag and squealed, happy. I pulled out a miniature green house that I had brought as a present for Nergal, it was only about four inches wide and five inches tall, holding a single plant in stasis until it could be replanted.

“I’ll take our things to our rooms, you show Nergal his gift.” Nam laughed; he and Ekur left us alone.

“What’s going on Ereshkigal?” Nergal came and peered at what I was holding.

“It is your gift!”

Placing an arm around my shoulder he held me to him, “you didn’t have to bring me anything.”

“You gave me a gift, I am just returning the favor,” I lifted my head to meet his lips as he kissed me briefly.

“I take it there is a plant in that thing?” He poked the greenhouse with a finger.

“Yes. Where do you want it planted?”

“What kind of plant is it?”

“A flower.” I didn’t want to reveal the surprise just yet.

“Follow me.” He took my hand and we walked to the very back of Bet Pagri, far from the last building, it took a while and I was curious every step. There were still Alus around, children playing, people going about their daily lives, but as we got closer to the wall they seemed to thin out.

My eyes widened as we reached the farthest corner of the grounds and I saw there was a beautiful flower garden. Not huge, but lovely and well cared for.

“Lilu got her love of flora from our mother,” his voice was quiet as we entered the garden. I was careful to stay on the cobblestone path. I had no idea which flowers were planted and Adura plants can be beautiful, but deadly.

“This is her garden?” I asked.

“It is Bet Pagri’s garden, but yes, my mother started it. Now several other females tend it religiously.”

I took a deep breath, it smelled like a harmonious bouquet of rich earth and floral tones. I’d never seen such a beautiful flower garden before. It was hard to keep so many different types of flowers together, there are several cannibal flowers in Audra, many did not get along with others well.

“How do you keep them all here?”  I touched the petal of a Scentless Black Rose, harmless but beautiful.

“Magic.” He smiled and we walked around a small bend, moonlight glistened off of everything, we sat on a stone bench near a square of land that looked ready for planting.

“Here,” I shoved the greenhouse into his hand as I sat.

His smile got bigger as he opened it and pulled out a pot with three small Lullaby Lilies. They were closed and looked a little wilted. As he touched the soft dark petal a crease appeared between his eyes.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“A Stasis Spell. I couldn’t have them singing during our journey. I would have had to stop and feed them every hour.” I took the pot from him and bent down in the fresh tilled dirt near the bench, I said a Word and the ground opened. I pulled the flowers from their temporary home and put them in the good soil.

I stroked their petals gently and it was as if they awoke. They straightened up and the petals opened releasing a sensuous scent into the air.  Deep blue, all three seemed to take a breath and a sullen, melodic song issued from their cores.

“That’s enough of that.” Nergal had kneeled down with me, anticipating, he’d pricked his finger and gave each bloom a small drop of blood. Their harmonies stopped and they went back to looking like beautiful flowers and nothing more.

“Thank you my best beloved one,” He kissed my cheek, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I’d noticed something strange.

There was magic, a faint pulsing line of magic, it was pale purple and had twisted itself around a tiny Lonely Lilac plant. Lonely Lilacs were quite boring, almost normal looking. It was called a Lonely Lilac because, while the smell was still the sweet wonderful aroma I loved, if you breathed in too much or too deep it caused a bout of severe depression.

“Do you see that?” I asked Nergal pointing. I was surprised I could even see it, usually magic isn’t so obvious.

“See what?” He looked at me, questioningly.

“Use your magic, and look at the lilac bush.” I told him, slightly annoyed. He was quiet for a few seconds, concentrating.

“Oh, what is that?” He straightened, helping me up. We went over to the bush; I leaned down and sniffed a flower.

I fell back, landing on the ground as I was assaulted with magic, it felt heady like strong wine and I could taste despair, illness and insanity in my mouth, heavy like blood. Shaking my head I willed the power away from me and sent it back into the coils around the flowers.

“Ereshkigal, are you ok?” Nergal was by my side, his arms around me, pulling me into a standing position.

“Yes, but smelling that flower gave me a rush of magic, made me feel…really powerful,” I said, haltingly.

“Did you keep the extra magic?” he asked.

“No way. It felt tainted somehow, sick. It felt like…” Trailing off, my eyes widened in recognition, “like your sister!”

“My sister?” He didn’t understand.

“The magic feels like your sister. Come on we have to follow it.” Using my mind I called to Nam to join us. I guess Nergal did the same thing because both Ekur and Namtar showed up within minutes.

They followed me as I began to trace the magic back to its start. It wound through the garden and led to a section of the wall. It seemed to go through the wall but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how I could.

“Here,” Ekur stepped up next to me and placed his hands on a section of the wall. He murmured quietly for a few moments and I felt his power swell around him, then the wall seemed to hum and before my eyes a small stone door appeared.

“Well, aren’t you full of surprises,” I teased him.

“All Alu children grow up knowing of this secret way into the forest. Most do not use it, but sometimes couples sneak out for secret meetings,” Nergal grinned.

We went out the door and all was quiet as we moved through the forest, me in the lead keeping a close eye on the magic as it wound through trees, away from Bet Pagri.

“She must have started this years ago,” Nam commented after about a hour of walking, “the magic cord is thick and well established, yet to the naked eye is nothing, I have to really focus on it.”

“Yes, and it is connected to something,” I agreed.

“I have a bad feeling about where this is taking us,” Nergal said. I looked behind me to see Ekur nod in concurrence.

I decided to let their doom and gloom attitude go. If they didn’t want to share I wouldn’t force them, besides I had to concentrate. Our trek took about another hour and a half, mainly because we stopped and had lunch. What? We had to eat, especially if we were going to come across some big baddie.

We emerged from the forest into a clearing and we groaned collectively. A large four storied building sat in front of us. The magic line plainly linked to it.

“Crap,” Nam said, I could not have expressed it better.

“Your sister has been tapping the Adura Asylum?” The disbelief could be cut with a knife. It was like I was seeing it, but I just could not comprehend.

The Adura Asylum was a fairly new P.O.T., only about twenty years old, but the asylum itself was older. It had started out a normal psychiatric hospital about three hundred years before. Then my family had the brilliant idea of sending anyone considered criminally insane, or harmful to themselves or others, there. It did not matter if they were from Biri, Adura or Nannaru.
 

The staff at the Asylum figured out that being locked up in Adura made people from Biri and Nannaru even crazier and they began to kill each other, violently. Guardsmen were sent in and the rumors state there were walls awash with blood. My family feared it becoming a P.O.T. so most of the non Adurans were evacuated. (At least the ones still alive.) The Healers, however, convinced my grandmother to allow some of the non Aduran patients stay. They thought they could eventually find a way to counteract the effects.

This was taken well by my family, finding a way to let anyone travel between provinces has always been something researched. People were always curious to what allowed Biri residents the ability to travel through all of Salas but prevented Adurans and those from Nannaru. I was certain it was the magic originally set forth by the Great Three, and there was no way to magically or scientifically change it. But to each their own.

However about twenty years ago something went horribly wrong, the Asylum just shut down one day, none of the residents or staff were seen or heard from again. All we knew was if you went in you never came out. The newest of the four P.O.T.s in Adura

The four of us stood there, looking at the building. The windows were blacked out and I knew if I tried to open the door without an invitation the doors wouldn’t budge. Nam and Ekur who had grabbed some supplies before we left, put their things down. I know I wouldn’t want to have to go in there carrying extra crap on my back. We all moved forward together, not really wanting to but knowing we had to.

As we got closer a breeze picked up, icy, and fear shivered and crawled down my spine. I could hear the echoes of screams, and the moaning for help in the wind. The atmosphere was dark, dreary and depressing. Some of my favorite things, but not quite like this.

“The magic leads around back,” Ekur said. Slowly, because who wants to rush into a haunted Asylum, we made our way around back.  There was a door and it looked like it was partially opened.

“It’s too easy.” Nergal put a hand on my arm stopping me.

“My Prince, look at the tracks,” Ekur was bending down examining the ground, “this ground has been tread on and often. I do not think the open door is a trap, I think it has been left opened for a reason.”