The Song of Eloh Saga (45 page)

He squatted next to my chair and grabbed my hand. I wanted to squeeze it back, but the headache had sapped most of my energy. I smiled weakly at him.

“In all my years, and I’m an old lady now, I’ve never heard of anyone communing with Eloh. We all pray to her, some of us more than others.” Johna drew her index finger around her chest in a circle and then kissed it, making the sign for Eloh. “But I never thought she’d answer any of us.”

My head shot up and I pushed away the burst of pain. “She’s never spoken to anyone before me?” It was hard to believe Eloh had never communed with anyone before me. Except for Zelor. She’d tried with him, but his madness was too far gone.

“No, child. You are the first, which only reinforces your status as the Prophet and probable savior of our people.”

I grimaced. I was tired of being everything to everyone. I glanced at Mark and he winked at me. A few days ago we’d talked about a life together - a boring life together. It was all I wanted. I’d given everyone everything they needed to see when Krissin made the announcement.

I bent over to help Johna reach the final herb. It had fallen on my slipper. But when I leaned down, a stabbing pain, like a dagger piercing my head, knocked me out.

Chapter Two

I woke to a bitter smell racing through my nose. I coughed, and the copper taste of blood filled my mouth. I tried to open my eyes, but something held them down so tightly that I couldn’t.

Lead weights. They must have placed lead weights on my eyelids.

Images swam around my head. Mark and I kissing in the woods. Ivy glaring at me, her eyes menacing. Krissin twirling in one of her gowns. I couldn’t grab one of them to help me make sense of anything.

I lay still, focused on relaxing my body. Maybe I was too tense and having trouble waking up from a dream. I steadied my thoughts and let myself sense what was going on instead of fighting for it.

“What’s wrong with her? Please tell me you can help her!”

Mark. I’d recognize his voice anywhere. A warm rush swept from my heart throughout my body. If he was here, I was still safe, even if I couldn’t open my eyes.

I tried not to let his tone worry me. In the year I’d known him, he’d never sounded so frantic. I was fine. Just sleeping and having trouble waking. He didn’t need to worry.

“I will do everything I can. You know that.”

Johna. I couldn’t smile, but one bloomed inside me. Of course Johna was still here. She’d help my headache. I trusted her.

“Don’t let her die,” Mark’s voice begged. “Please!”

Die? I wasn’t dying, just sleeping. I struggled to open my eyes. Something, or someone, held them down. I wanted to tell him I loved him, but my mouth wouldn’t open either. My tongue fell to the back of my mouth and gagged me. I fought against it, but I couldn’t control any part of my body.

I coughed and my mouth wrenched open. Blood spewed out and passed over my lips. My eyelids fluttered, yet remained tightly closed. I wanted to scream, but the pain in my head wouldn’t let me go, wouldn’t let me live.

“I don’t know if I can do anymore,” Johna said.

No!
I screamed inside.
Save me!

“Something’s not right. She’s not responding to anything I do for her. It’s as if there’s something stopping me.”

I wanted to yell at them to help me, not to let me go, but I couldn’t do anything. Trapped inside my body, I struggled against myself. I imagined squeezing my hands into fists and fighting against whatever held me captive, but I was helpless. Nothing worked.

“We know she’s not blocked, or you would have found that long ago.” Johna’s voice drifted in and out of focus, so close, and then so far away.

“We don’t know that,” Mark said.

You’ve never read me!

“I’ve never read her. I can’t invade her mind like that, not without her permission.”

Do it!

“You have to, boy. There is nothing left to help her and she’s fading too fast. Get your gift inside her head now before we lose her.”

I felt a tiny push in my mind, similar to the day Nemison probed me last year. The day he’d confirmed my gift and formally acknowledged me as the next prophet.

Then a rush swept through my mind, taking my breath away. I felt Mark’s mind inside mine, his essence looking for something. I didn’t know if anything was in there for him to find, but I didn’t interfere.

The pain ignited again. Something wasn’t right. Even Zelor didn’t deteriorate this quickly. I opened myself completely to him.

I imagined grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the source of my pain. Surprisingly, I felt his essence follow mine.

We danced through my mind, through the memories of the two of us kissing. The night we almost gave into our passion. I flushed at my innermost thoughts, knowing he could see everything. I felt naked in front of him, but I didn’t flinch. Mark loved me and I loved him. I had nothing to hide.

His essence leaned into mine, melding with me, every part of us joining together.

A massive stab of pain shot through me, forcing me away from him. His touch in my mind became rough and angry. I hid in a dark, silent corner, not daring to interfere with his anger, or with the pain attacking me.

I coughed again, sending up another wave of blood. Someone wiped my mouth with a cool cloth, but the pain pulled me under again, cutting off all physical sensation.

Mark’s anger swept through my mind, touching every part of me. He didn’t hold back anymore, didn’t treat me gently like when he’d first entered my mind. Now he raced through every part, looking for the one thing that could set me free.

The pain increased, reaching a threshold I didn’t know if I could survive. His anger turned to rage as he threw himself against a wall he’d found tucked in the recesses of my mind. I screamed inside and felt it rip from my body as a wail.

Two strong hands held me down against the bed, long nails digging into my arms. I thrashed against the pain.

Mark hesitated, his essence ceasing its fight. I rested for just a moment, using my mind’s eye to stare at the barrier. It swirled and a blue eye blinked in the middle of it, disappearing as quickly as it came. Someone, or something, was in there, watching me. For a moment, I almost thought I recognized it.

I mustered every ounce of strength I had and whispered one word.

“Please.”

He reared back and struck the wall.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Three

My eyelids opened. The sunlight streamed through my window, stabbing my eyes. I closed them again.

“Reychel?”

Mark grabbed my hand and dropped kisses all over my cheeks.

“You’re awake. Thank Eloh, you’re alive. I thought I killed you.”

“What was it?” My throat rasped and I winced at the pain.

“You were blocked.” He let go of my hand and punched the pillow next to me. It contracted and puffed back out. “Why hadn’t I read you earlier? We would have known sooner and you wouldn’t be lying here in bed on the brink of death.”

I smiled, my lips cracking in multiple spots. “I’m alive. Thanks to you.”

He covered my mouth again, this time slow and gentle, mindful of the dry skin. I pushed on his chest and he sat back up, a quizzical look on his face.

“I want a drink of water. Please?”

“Of course. I’m so stupid. I’ll get you one right now.” Relief flooded his eyes.

“Sit right there. I’ll get it for her.”

I squinted my eyes against the sun and saw Johna off to the side by my water basin. She poured water into a mug and carried it back to me.

“That boy saved your life.” She nodded at Mark and handed me the mug.

Water spilled out the side of the cup, flowing over my chin, but I didn’t care. I was so, so thirsty.

“You’ve been out for three days,” Johna said. “Take it easy on the water. I don’t want you to get sick and heave it all up.”

I stopped drinking and stared at her over the mug. No wonder my throat and lips hurt so much.

“Three days since the headache that caused me to pass out?”

Johna shook her head. “No, child, that was two weeks ago. It’s been three days — ”

“Since Mark broke down the wall?” I looked at Mark, the tears still sat in the corner of his eyes. “I felt it.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

“Neither have I.” It was nothing like the time Nemison looked for my gift when Johna and Mark first suspected who I really was.

Mark cleared his throat. “I’ve never broken down a mental wall before. I didn’t know I could.”

“Thank Eloh you did,” Johna said. She dipped a cloth in water, wrung it out, and placed it on my forehead. I relaxed into the cool sensation. “You very nearly died Reychel. I’ve never seen anyone come back from the brink of death like you did.”

I glanced at Mark and mouthed
Thank you.
He grabbed my free hand, kissing the back of it. His lips felt soft and warm on my skin. Even though I craved the cool sensation of the cloth, I didn’t complain about the contrast. After what we’d been through, I’d never complain about anything Mark did.

“Did you see what was behind it?” I asked. “I was there with Mark every step of the way, but at the moment of impact I lost consciousness again. Did you see anything?”

Mark shook his head. “I didn’t. Just a black essence. It dissipated before I had a chance to figure out what it was or where it came from.”

“Alia?” I asked. She had been the slave assigned to me when I first came to the Southern Kingdom. She’d proved her treachery when she revealed her plans to use a gifted army she’d built against us. Spending far too much time alone with me, she could have easily planted the block in my mind and I never would have known.

“Probably,” Mark said, “or someone who works with her.”

“We’ll find her,” Johna said. “Mark filled us in on everything while you were unconscious.”

“Us?” I asked.

“Yes, Reychel, us.”

I sat up and looked around the room. Nemison stood in the corner, his arms folded across a long woolen cape.

“Aren’t you hot?” I asked. If I hadn’t just recovered from the headache of the century I would have smacked myself on the forehead. It was a stupid question at a time like this.

Nemison chuckled. “No, I’m not. I’m able to use my gift to keep me cool and I prefer to wear this cape all the time. Any more pertinent questions?”

I took a deep breath. Without meaning to, I’d dispelled the tension and I had a much more important question to ask him. “Why didn’t you see the block when you probed me last summer?”

He sighed and walked to my bedside. He clapped Mark on the shoulder, motioning for him to get off his chair. Mark stood up and Nemison sat in his place.

“When I probed you back at Johna’s cottage, I wasn’t looking for a block. All I wanted to do was set your gift free. Entering someone’s mind is a violation, one that can never be undone. It leaves a mark on you forever. I only did what I had to do and nothing more.”

“So we don’t know how long it’s been there?” I asked.

Nemison shook his head. “It’s possible it’s recent. When did the headaches start?”

“When I came here, to the Southern Kingdom. I’d never had one before then. Well, I had, but not that bad.”

“Then it’s possible Alia did this to you,” he said.

The first day Alia served me, she’d also discovered I was the Prophet. That’s the same day the headaches started.

“But why? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just kill me rather than setting something in my head?”

“We don’t know why, Reychel,” Johna said. “We may never know. But for now, until we know for sure that it’s safe, you won’t be allowed to participate in any strategy sessions for the war. It’s quite possible that wasn’t just a block, but that someone was spying on us.”

My door swung open.

“Finally you’re awake.” Krissin kept up her tradition of never knocking. Her blonde hair flew behind her as she breezed into my chambers. “We have a problem. I need you Reychel. Can you get up yet?”

Chapter Four

I pushed my back against the headboard, struggling to sit up. I held my chin high and looked like I had some control over the situation. If there was one thing I’d learned about Krissin it was that I couldn’t show any weakness around her or she’d never respect me. We’d spent the last couple weeks fighting and she’d only given an inch with me when I argued with her. It was the only way I could make her listen to me.

Krissin tapped her foot while looking me up and down. No one else spoke a word.

“I just woke up from a coma.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Krissin waved her hand in the air. “Now you’re awake. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s time to get back to work.”

“Krissin, we discussed this,” Nemison said. “You are not to share anything with Reychel. We don’t know if we’re being monitored.”

Krissin rolled her eyes. “This has nothing to do with the war. I need her opinion on a dress.”

“A dress?” Laughter poured out of me faster than I’d coughed up blood a few days ago. “You want my opinion on a dress? Are you kidding?”

Krissin’s lower lip stuck out just a tad. She had really perfected the poor little girl routine, but I knew better. So did everyone else in my chambers. Johna meandered back over to the table, fidgeting with her wares.

Krissin leaned in closer to me and whispered, “Just in case someone is listening. I need you to play along.”

“Of course I’m not kidding.” Krissin stretched back up and her gaze fixated on her father and then moved to Mark. Neither made a movement. She turned back to me. “Didn’t they tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Nemison had the nerve to walk away, whistling.

“Mark?”

“I don’t want anything to do with this dress.” Mark sauntered over to the window and stood next to Nemison. “Nice day out there, isn’t it?”

I huffed and laid my gaze on Krissin. “What is this about?”

“Why, only the most important thing to happen to the Southern Kingdom since the last ruler died.”