2,320 Years Ago
It took Jha’dor only a day and a half to arrive back home on second morning after having left the Arcosian Palace. He was not sure how, but the Trial of Power had not only given him the ability to control fire, but it had also changed his draconic form as well. He was larger and far stronger than what he had been previously, and he knew it was why he had been able to fly so fast back home.
If only he knew how to work with fire. He could feel the energy pulsing within him, begging to be released, he just…didn’t know how to do it.
In the late afternoon sun on the first day he had fled the Arcosian Palace, he had stopped by Arlinn Lake to view himself in its clear waters before he passed it completely.
He hadn’t seen his Draconic form before taking on the Trial of Power, so when he viewed himself it was the first time he was truly seeing what he looked like, and even though he knew that he was different he could still point out details on himself that he hadn’t felt before the second Trial. Moving a clawed hand over his arms he noticed that his scales were more rigid and harder than before; his tail and wings were also longer and wider, with his spikes standing substantially more prominent along his back. But by far the most unsettling part of this new transformation was the blood red gem imbedded in his chest. He knew it had become a part of him during the Trial by Power, he just had never heard of that happening before.
Perhaps it’s a side effect of having gone through both Trials, he mused.
He glanced to Olinar where he had deposited him for the stop and he winced to see how lay. Olinar lay limply on his bed, his arms and legs now splayed out, and his head had rolled unnaturally to one side.
It shouldn’t have turned out like this. You should be the one with the powers of an Drahli Elementalist, not me.
Why… why hadn’t he told anyone he was dying? Why had Olinar made his death wish be for Jha’dor to take his spot? He had already planned to leave home once they had made it back. Olinar would have been announced as their father’s official heir. During the celebrations he had hoped to make his escape and leave forever. The only two who had known about his plan had been Olinar, and their Uncle Claudus.
Now that plan was over. Finished. And the worst bit? He had no idea how King Allumin would react to Olinar’s death, leaving him only Jha’dor as his heir.
Shaking his head he grabbed Olinar’s bed and took off again. He would never be king, at least not while his father had any say about it. What he really wanted was to leave, to escape. But he still wasn’t sure what to expect from having gone through two Trials this since he had never heard of it happening before. Either way, I will need to head home. Father will want to hear of his precious Heir’s demise.
Snarling, he accidentally let out a puff of smoke as he flew to Vengoluth Castle. He’ll need to be careful not to burn anything else to the ground either. He had burned the forest near the Aras Mountains out of anger at losing his brother, but he couldn’t let himself do something like that again.
Now that he was thinking it, he needed to be careful how he presented all of this to Father. If not careful he was sure the King would blame him for Olinar’s death, then he would be in worse trouble than just a beating like he had received so many times before from his father’s hands.
When home finally came into view on that second morning, the rising sun from the East fell across Vengoluth Castle, casting it in sharp relief where it stood among the mountains of Cragnolith. One of the largest mountain ranges that ran from east to west, blocking most of the cold weather from the Frostlands south.
The smooth white castle walls of Vengoluth stood in stark contrast to the grey and brown mountains it stood on. Although not sitting on the highest peak, its four great towers, each one a representation of the four great houses of the Drahl people, were almost enough to rival the mountain.
For a moment, Jha’dor felt peace seeing his home. Home meant safety. Home meant comfort. Well... It used to mean those things, back before his mother died. Back when things were normal and right in the world.
Gritting his teeth, Jha’dor forced himself to focus on the present and on not dropping his brother. He needed to lower him safely without damaging it any more than he had. Not that it mattered since he was already dead, but he didn’t want Olinar’s body to be battered more than it needed to be.
Fortunately for him all Drahl castles were built with shifters in mind, and he glided straight to the landing space at the front of the palace gates where they had made the walkway big enough to accommodate dragon shifters. Setting Olinar and his stolen bed down gently, Jha’dor watched as the palace guards came rushing through the gate.
“Someone get High King Allumin,” one of the guards called out, and Jha’dor recognized him as Utgarn, a captain in his father’s army. He was pleased to be back home with those that he knew, until the soldiers all turned their weapons at him. “And while you’re at it let him know that we have a large rogue Drahl and possible murderer, too,” Utgarn added his eyes glancing down at the prone body of Olinar.
Great, now they thought he was the enemy.
Backing up away from them, Jha’dor tucked in his wings and lowered his head to show he meant them no harm. It had been the signal that he had been taught and shown in his training before going to the Arcosian’s for the Trials.
“Hold,” Utgarn called to his men. “Shifter, change back into your human form so that we may speak with you.”
Jha’dor nodded so they knew he understood and began to shift back. It was an odd sensation as he watched the world seemingly grow larger around him. The landing area before the gate went from barely fitting his mass to being able to have him lay multiple times across the road. When he had finished shifting and was standing alone, a headache hit him, and he suddenly felt lightheaded.
It must be the shifter’s curse, he thought hazily as he fell to his hands and knees. It was the after effect of changing into such a large and powerful creature for a long period of time. But that didn’t make any sense, he had only been a dragon for barely a day. The shifter’s curse shouldn’t have affected him at all. Should it?
Then his Uncle’s voice came to him hazily through the mist in his mind. “Don’t remain shifted for more than a few hours at most. If you transform into your human form regularly then the curse won’t affect you as harshly in the end.”
He had been scorching stupid! How had he forgotten that rule? Exhaustion set in even more and the world began to grow cloudy. He heard shouting around him as the guards closed in. He thought he heard Utgarn call out his name, but he wasn’t sure. Stupid foggy brain, he thought as the world went black.
Jha’dor felt two things at once. The first was that he could feel himself enveloped in lush blankets and bedding. Was he in his bed? It sure felt like it. The second thing was that his head felt like it was going to split open any second and was that shouting in the background?
Opening his eyes, Jha’dor immediately wished he hadn’t. Sunlight strong and harsh filtered through windows which only intensified his headache. Damnation, why didn’t anyone think to shut the curtains?
Blinking sore eyes, he could tell that he was in his room. His lavish four poster bed lay in the center of his room with a writing desk and chair across from the door. But around his room were shelves upon shelves of stones and gems that either he had collected himself or had been given to him by Olinar. A pang rent through him at the thought of Olinar no longer being around to enjoy his collection with him. Fresh tears dotted the corner of his eyes only to be wiped away when he heard voices from outside his room.
“I don’t care what you say I need to talk to my son.”
It was his father, High King Allumin. Great, just perfect. He collapses with a splitting headache and his father wants to rip out the truth of what happened out of him.
“And I told you your majesty,” came another male voice sternly, and Jha’dor recognized it as his healer and Uncle, Claudus, “that your son is still recovering from the shifter’s curse. Until he has had enough time to rest, he won’t be in any position to answer your questions properly.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” his father countered. “Even if Jha’dor had been idiotic enough to remain shifted from Aras to here, the curse shouldn’t have affected him for two whole days!”
“That is what I have been trying to tell you,” Claudus said his voice echoing closer now. “This is not normal, and we need to tread carefully. If we push him too hard then it’s possible you could lose a second son.”
The silence that followed sent a chill through Jha’dor. Had he really been that close to dying? Had going through the second Trial changed him that much?
“I don’t care,” King Allumin said, his voice ripping through Jha’dor like an icy knife. “I need answers now.”
There was a cry of pain from Claudus, and a second later Jha’dor’s bedroom door burst open, revealing his father. King Allumin was not an active man, but that didn’t stop him from being an imposing figure as he filled the doorway with his bulk. On his head rested a circlet of silvery gold that matched his graying hair. Dark gray eyes over a deep gray beard scanned the room until they landed on Jha’dor.
“I’m here, Father,” Jha’dor said sitting up. “I heard you wish to speak with me.”
“Do not patronize me, boy,” King Allumin said in a low growl. He paused as his eyes looked him over. “He doesn’t seem to be suffering at all,” he called back to Uncle Claudus.
“Perhaps some of us just recover better after a night out,” Jha’dor commented.
King Allumin’s face darkened, and Jha’dor knew he had messed up. He had never spoken that way to his father before, why was he doing so now? If he kept going at this rate he was going to see himself beaten to a pulp.
“Don’t test me, boy. I am not in the mood, nor have the patience for your games. Now tell me why I shouldn’t have you thrown into prison. Tell me why my son is dead.”
He had emphasized the word with enough venom in his tone that Jha’dor cringed and looked away. Why did he have to provoke Allumin like that? He knew better than to make him angry.
“Well?” the king snapped, taking a step forward that made Jha’dor flinch.
“He lied to us about how his health was actually doing,” he said in a rush. “As soon as we started travelling, I could tell he was getting worse, but he kept insisting that he was fine and that he would get better just as the healer said he would once he became a Drahli.”
“Then why didn’t he get better?” Allumin yelled. He slammed a fist onto one of the posts holding up the curtains of Jha’dor’s four poster bed, smashing the wood and breaking it off completely. “If the Trial was successful then he should’ve healed. Why did you come back with dead?”
Fear had risen up inside of Jha’dor like he hadn’t felt in months, and he scooted to the edge of the bed, ready in case he needed to make for the door. Hoping that the King didn’t notice his movement he said, “He died before he could go through the Trial. I doubt he could’ve lived through it even if he had made it that long. He breathed his last in my arms.”
“Gaaah,” the king yelled. Turning away he picked up the largest piece of Jha’dor’s bed post and began swinging it around, smashing one of the shelves that held Jha’dor’s rock collection and sending them flying to the floor where geodes, sapphires, and rubies shattered into thousands of fragments. Jha’dor couldn’t move.
This was it; Father was going to come for him next. Soon High King Allumin would have no heirs.
The King smashed another shelf and Jha’dor inched closer to the door, placing the wall against his back. Twenty-four years old and he still cowered beneath his father’s wrath like a scared child.
“That was over four days ago!” King Allumin raged, kicking a rock across the room. “Why didn’t you come straight home? What was so important that you had to stay there longer before bringing him home? Did he die before your Trial started? Is that why you didn’t leave straightaway?”
“No he didn’t die before my Trial, it was after,” he said, cautiously.
“Then why didn’t you come back sooner?” the King asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Jha’dor paused. Did his father not know? After thinking about it he remembered that he had passed out before he could talk to someone, and explain what had happened. No one at Vengoluth would have know since none of them had been with him at the Arcosian Palace. He opened his mouth to explain but stopped when he saw Claudus in the doorway. His black beard waggling a little from him shaking his head not to reply . Did he…
“Well?” the king snapped, stepping forward and swinging the piece of wood up high, ready and poised to strike.
Jha’dor instinctively cowered, raising his arms over his head. “I’m sorry, father. I didn’t feel fit to fly out after Olinar died. I needed the time to rest and to grieve at his passing before taking the journey home.”
King Allumin looked like he wanted to beat Jha’dor senseless anyway. Fear spiked through Jha’dor and he felt something begin to form within. A kind of power or energy that he didn’t recognize.
The king roared again as he threw the pulverized bed post in Jha’dor’s direction. Jha’dor raised his hand to block the wood but was too slow and… and in a flash of red the wood bounced off something invisible and clattered to the floor instead. Glancing to his father, he checked to see if the king had noticed the oddity. Allumin hadn’t even bothered to see if his throw had permanently injured his son or not as he stomped out of the room. Cursing under his breath, his steps and muttering faded slowly into the hall. “Don’t bother leaving your room. I will send for you later to discuss your failures!” his voice shouted from down the corridor.
Slowly, Jha’dor stood straighter against the wall, but winced as the healer stepped into the room, worried that it was his father coming back.
“And I thought you were the dull one of the family,” Claudus said, rubbing his right shoulder and arm. He closed the door behind him and looked Jha’dor up and down. Despite being one of their best healers in Vengoluth, Claudus also happened to be Jha’dor’s half uncle. A bastard son of the previous Drahl King. “Well at least you escaped getting hurt. I thought for sure that that bed post was going to knock you out cold,” Claudus said, stepping close and lowering his voice.
“Me too,” Jha’dor said, looking down at his hands.
“Does anyone else know that you have gone through both Trials?” Claudus asked, his gaze unwavering.
Jha’dor gaped at his uncle for a moment but realized that as his healer his uncle must’ve seen the crystal embedded in his chest. “Yes, actually. I was discovered right at the end of the second Trial and I had to flee before they caught me.”
“By all of Drahlros’s holy light, what were you thinking?” his uncle said, voice dripping with anger.
“It wasn’t by choice,” Jha’dor said, his own voice rising. “If you want to blame anyone then blame Olinar. He made his dying wish that I would go and take his place in the Trial. Said that he wanted me to have the power to break free from our father.”
“He gave you a death wish?” Claudus asked, his gaze piercing. “He said the proper phrase? He said the words that would seal it under the gods’ laws?”
“Yes, he did,” he snapped. “I was there.”
Claudus grabbed him by the shoulders and Jha’dor saw him wince in pain as he moved his injured arm. “I need you to be absolutely sure. If anything is amiss or if one word is out of place, then we will have nothing that can save you here from your father’s wrath.”
Looking away, Jha’dor tried to think back to two days ago when he had held Olinar in his arms. Had he said the words? Did Olinar have him swear by any of the gods?
Sighing in frustration, he turned back to Claudus and shook his head. “I can’t remember, but… no. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe he did invoke one of the gods in his death wish.”
“Damnation!” Claudus said, and he let go of Jha’dor and began to pace the room. “Did any of the Arcosia, or their soldiers follow you?” Jha’dor shook his head and again Claudus cursed. “Idiot boy. Without that oath we have nothing to save you with. They may not have followed you here, but it’s no secret where you would have gone.”
“What do we do?” Jha’dor asked, trying to think. “Do you think father will be able to keep them back?”
“Jha’dor, there are a few things you have to understand,” Claudus said through gritted teeth. “The way you showed up with Olinar was not inviting to rational thought. You arrived here two days ago unannounced, with your brother dead in your clawed hands and with you passing out in seconds. There are already rumors going around court that you killed him and brought him back here as a show of strength to your father.”
Jha’dor felt his face pale with each second as his uncle’s words hit him like a punch in the gut. “They…they think I killed him?” he asked, suddenly feeling dazed.
Claudus moved him over to the bed and sat him down. “As of right now, yes. Those are the rumors that are floating around while you’ve had your little nap.”
“But… but…” his voice trailed as he looked to his uncle. “It doesn’t make sense. We were close. We were brothers.”
“Which gets us to the main argument of these rumors,” Claudus said, sitting down beside him. “They say you did it for the throne.”
Jha’dor turned sharply toward his uncle.
“I know. I know, that’s the last thing that you want,” his Uncle said, raising his hands placatingly. “But you have to see it from everyone else’s point of view. The royal Heir, destined for the High King’s throne, only to die an early death with his brother showing up with his dead brother with the powers of a Shifter. And if you go telling everyone that you went through the second Trial to become a Drahli then it’ll only harden their accusations against you.”
“But he was lying about his health,” Jha’dor said growing frustrated. Standing up he paced around the room, doing his best to remember his conversation with Olinar. “He said that he had lied about his health getting better and he only did it so he could have me take his place at the Trial.”
Claudus gave him a flat stare.
Sitting back down he dropped his head into his hands, and moaned in despair. “But all of that just makes it look like I really did kill him, doesn’t it?”
“Which is a point in your favor,” Claudus said conversationally.
“How?”
“Well, for anyone who knew the boy would be able to recall that he had a brilliant mind when it came to thinking of immediate solutions to his problems. However, his solutions usually fell apart when his plans were confronted with the consequences of his actions.”
Jha’dor smiled, only to have it fade from his face a second later. “But that still leaves most of the blame with me. I should’ve know to look for something like that, to tie up any loose ends that would leave me hanging.” He paused for a moment before asking, “Claudus, what should I do?”
They sat in silence for a moment, his Uncle staring at him intently before responding.
“Before we can answer that question, do you even know what you have become?”
Now it was his turn to stare at his uncle. “What do you mean? Am I not just a Drahl Shifter with the powers of a Drahli?” he said.
“If you could do only one of those things, then yes I would’ve said you were normal,” Claudus said as he began to stroke his beard with his uninjured hand. “But you are more than just a Shifter or a Drahli. You are both, and that is something that I have never seen before. Honestly, I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.”
“So what if I don’t know what this makes me? I know that I have both the powers of a Shifter and an Elementalist now, but that doesn’t make me anything special,” Jha’dor scoffed.
Claudus smirked at him and he stood. “Whether you believe yourself special or not is irrelevant now. The next question is what do you think we should be doing?”
The question surprised Jha’dor. “What do you mean, what do I think?”
Claudus just stared at him.
Rolling his eyes at his uncle, Jha’dor took a moment to think about all that they had said. He had broken the law, and not just any law, but Drahlros’s decree that none of his people were to take part in both Trials. Great, just perfect. Without Olinar’s dying wish sealed with an oath to their god he had nothing to save him from either his god’s wrath, the Arcosia or his father. Especially since he didn’t know how his father would react once it was revealed what Jha’dor had done.
“I need to leave,” he said, standing with his uncle. “I can’t stay here unless I want to turn myself over to the Arcosia or my father.”
“Good,” Claudus replied, although he didn’t make any move to leave.
What else was he missing? Ah, right. “I will also need to get a book on being an Elementalist. Now that I have the powers of a Drahli I need to be able to understand what I can do. I think Olinar had one in his room that I can take. After I have the book, I’ll need to leave the kingdom to escape Father. I think I’ll go to our estate in Dalgur. Grandmother is there and—”
“No,” Claudus said, cutting him off. “Don’t go to Dalgur. That’s the first place your father will expect you to go, and the Arcosia will want to check every place that you have a direct connection with.”
“Then where do you expect me to go, Uncle?” Jha’dor demanded. “I don’t have a lot of options and not a lot of time to find one on my own.”
Claudus thought for a moment before saying, “I may have a place for you. Let me grab a few things and I will meet you at the palace gate.”
“Alright.” Jha’dor nodded in understanding. Suddenly, Claudus gripped his arm tightly.
“Whatever you do, do not let your father see you leaving,” he said softly, leaning in close. “If your he catches you then he will see this as a sign of your guilt and will execute you for murder.”
Jha’dor stared at his half uncle for a moment before agreeing. “I will.”
“Look in your brother's room for that book before you leave. It may be of use to you as you travel,” Claudus continued. “Any power over the elements you can master will be of benefit to you and help you on your way. See you at the gate.”
Before Jha’dor could respond, Claudus turned and walked off. With a quick glance into the hall, his uncle hurried off to get whatever it was he was looking for.
Swaying a bit, he stood rooted to the spot until he he resumed gathering things for the long trip.
Fifteen minutes later, Jha’dor stood around the corner from Olinar’s room. Servants flowed in and out of the room like a bee hive as extended members of the royal family grieved over his brother’s death.
Well, this is just scorching fantastic! he thought glumly. Pulling his head from around the corner he wondered how he could get into his brother’s room.
Some of those cousins may already be thinking of him as the murderer, but he didn’t want to face the barrage of questions, glares and mutterings he would have to endure if he went in. But he was running out of time…
Looking around the corner he saw the unmistakable dark hair of his older cousin, Terei, step out of his brother’s room, wearing a blue silk dress. Her long dark hair had been tied in a bun on her head, and she was wiping her eyes with a white cloth, her breathing coming in short gasps. Jha’dor frowned and wished he could comfort her. Out of all his relations she had been his and Olinar’s favorite, and he felt sorry for the pain she must be feeling for the sudden loss she must be feeling.
By Drahlros’s holy light, so am I.
Terei paused for a second before suddenly glancing in his direction. Pulling his head back from around the bend, he prayed she hadn’t seen him. He heard her gentle sobs and held his breath as her footsteps echo down the hall. When all he could hear were the noise coming from the vigil still ongoing in the room he let out his breath.
This was ridiculous. How was it that he hid from his own family when it wouldn’t even matter soon what they would think? He tried lifting a foot to walk over, but his limb wouldn’t respond. There wasn’t anything that was stopping him, not physically anyway. He wanted to move his feet, wanted to go, get the book and head to the gate to meet his uncle. But deep down he felt a pit of worry resting in his stomach.
I’m afraid to see my brother again, he realized, clenching his fists. Ever since he had laid Olinar’s body on the bed from the Arcosian palace he hadn’t truly looked at him. If he walked in there it would be the last time that he would see his brother. Did he really want to do that? Did he want the last moments he would be in his brother’s room to be him stealing?
Sighing heavily, he shook his head. This was getting him nowhere; he really should just go to the palace library and find a book on spells from there. But before he could even turn to leave a hand gripped his arm so tightly, he gasped in pain.
“What do you think you’re doing Jha’dor?” Terei hissed in his ear. Hadn’t she gone down the hall the opposite way? He turned and found her glaring at him with puffy red eyes.
“What do you think I’m here for, and weren’t you just walking down the hall?” he countered, hoping to throw her off by a question of his own.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “I was going to, but I saw your head disappear around the corner, and no I don’t have the foggiest idea what you are doing. Not that it matters since you shouldn’t be here. Everyone is convinced that you killed him for the throne.” She paused for a moment before adding, “And why are you dressed up like you're going somewhere?”
Claudus was right, they did all think he had murdered Olinar. He shook his head and ignored her last question. “Why would I kill Olinar for the throne? You know me well enough to know that I would never do something like that to him. Let alone dream of.”
It was a true enough. Only being a few years older than him, Terei had grown up in Vengoluth with Jha’dor and Olinar, and in many ways he had always considered her the sister he never had. It wasn’t until these last eight years that King Allumin had decided that it was time his sons learned more about leadership and had sent them throughout the kingdom to meet with the other Drahl royal houses. As a result of their absence Jha’dor had felt that loss with Terei more than he had with any other family member. He remembered the argument he had had with King Allumin on the day she had gone to the Aras Mountains to perform her own Trial by Power. His father had denied his request to go, so Jha’dor had continued to argue, until he left with a black eye and his pride wounded.
She had come back a Drahli shortly after that.
Terei’s suspicious gazed continued, but she loosened her grip on his arm. “Then what in Tharack’s infernal abyss are you doing here?” she hissed at him. “If anyone else see’s you, they will call the guards after you.”
“I know that,” he said. “I just need to get something from his room.”
Her anger replaced her suspicion and again she tightened her claw-like grip on him. “Your brother is dead and all you can think about is borrowing a book from him? Have you no sense?”
“Terei, I have to do this,” he said, grimacing in pain.
“Why do you have to?” she asked, starting to sound exasperated.
They both froze as they heard more footsteps and Jha’dor pulled her further away from the corner so no one could see she was there with him. “I have to leave,” he whispered. “I don’t want the throne and have never wanted it, but if I stay then the King is going to kill me.”
“Why would—”
“I don’t have time to explain everything,” Jha’dor said cutting her off. “Just trust me when I say that I need Olinar’s Elementalist book.”
She pursed her lips together, but her glare remained. “What book is it, and no lies,” she said pointing a finger under his chin. “I’ve played you too many times in iron crown to know when you're bluffing.”
A rueful smile crept across his face as the last time they had played iron crown against each other flashed across his mind. She had gotten him good. Perhaps he could share this one detail with her. “Alright, I think the book I’m looking for is Fundamentals of Elementalism by Thugin, the Blue.”
She stared at him long enough that Jha’dor worried someone might find him still here. He had already been here longer than he had planned. I should just go and met Claudus at the gate, he thought, but until Terei was willing to let him go he couldn’t leave without making a scene.
“Wait right here,” she said finally. When he nodded his consent she released his arm and moved back towards the bedroom.
He watched her go around the corner and into Olinar’s room. Hearing movement from inside, Jha’dor ducked back around the hallway and placed his forehead against the cool stone wall. Footsteps reached his ears from the opposite end of the hallway from his brother’s room and his eyes widened in worry. Please don’t be father. Please don’t be father!
The steps grew louder until a maid came into view with three other servant women. They were each carrying a bundle of blankets and sheets as they bustled past in such a hurry that they barely bothered him with a glance. Jha'dor waved politely and watched them move through the hall, turn the corner and walk straight into Olinar’s room.
At least it hadn’t been King Allumin.
After the last maid had walked in Terei came out holding a blue leatherbound book, frowning at him and waving him back around the corner, she strolled on over to him. He stepped back, giving her room beside him and waiting until Terei was close enough to talk.
“We need to hurry, they’re about to start Olinar’s procession to the catacombs and King Allumin is supposed to show up any minute,” Terei whispered, glancing around as if the king were going to pop up out of nowhere.
“They’re holding his funeral today?” Jha’dor asked glaring in the direction of Olinar’s room. How dare they start this without him; he was his twin brother!
“Yes! Jha’dor it’s been two days. Of course they weren’t going to wait any longer. They’re just waiting to start until the High King appears,” Terei said softly. “Do you know where your father is?”
Jha’dor shook his head distractedly, wishing he could go into the room and to yell at all those who had started his funeral without him.
“Where are you planning to go?” Terei asked, drawing his attention back to her as she placed the book into his hands.
“I–what?” he said, momentarily thrown off by her question.
“I can tell you’re going somewhere based how your dressed. You never told me why you’re dressed this way, but it's not hard to guess.” She stopped talking as a servant walked past. Together they waited until the corridor was empty again before she spoke in a whisper. “Tell me where are you going.”
“I don’t really know, exactly,” Jha’dor said slowly as he put the book in his satchel. “Claudus said that he might have an idea but won’t tell me till I meet him at the gate.”
“Then you need to leave, now, before King Allumin finds out what you are doing.”
“I know, I just...” his voice trailed off and he glanced back in the direction of Olinar’s room.
“You still want to be there for him,” she said, her face softening as she reached for his hand.
“I was there for him at the end,” Jha’dor said. A lump formed in his throat, and tears threatened to obscure his vision. “I just wish I could say goodbye one last time.”
Tenderly, Terei placed her other hand on his cheek, and he tell that she had tears in her eyes too. They embraced and Jha’dor let himself cry. Tears fell like they had the day Olinar had died. Like when his mother had passed away, and Jha’dor hated himself for it. But he couldn’t stop himself. The pain and anguish of the last few days came to the forefront, barreling through and over the dam he had erected from when he had been a small child. He wheezed past the pain in his chest and he wished he could stop, to leave and to never come back. But he couldn’t, and he didn’t want too either. Terei’s arms reminded him of times long ago when his mother used to hold him. A time when he felt safe and loved. Now I am alone, he told himself. With Olinar and Mother both gone I really am alone in this world.
Terei gently pushed him away, and, despite his unwillingness to end the moment, he was also grateful since he had not the strength to end it himself.
“You need to go, before he sees you,” Terei said, not bothering to wipe her tears.
Jha’dor chuckled and wiped hers for her.
“Jha’dor?”
Startled, he spun around and found his father, High King Allumin glaring down the hall at him.
Welp, too late.
“What are you doing here?” King Allumin gazed at him incredulously, as if this were the last place he expected to see son.
“Oh, you know, just visiting family,” Jha’dor said, and he felt Terei’s hand still on his arm tugging slightly.
“I thought I told you to stay in your room,” the king said, his voice taking on a menacing quality and as he took a step forward. Jha’dor noticed that six of the royal guard were standing behind his father and took his own step back.
“And I don’t remember hearing that bit. Sorry to have disobeyed you. I’ll just be off then.” Letting Terei pull him around the corner, Jha’dor broke into a run, sprinting with her beside him as they passed Olinar’s room.
“Guards! Guards! Get Jha’dor, and take him to the dungeon, now!”
“Well, that ended poorly,” he huffed, glancing back to see five of the six guards chasing after them.
“Any ideas on how to get away?” Terei asked between breaths. She held her skirts in her fists to keep from tripping over them and could barely keep pace with Jha’dor.
“None, but why do you care? They’re after me, not you.”
Giving him a sideways glance, she grinned mischievously. “I’m not about to let my favorite cousin get in trouble without me.”
Grinning back, he took a right and continued down the corridor, heading straight towards the Palace’s front gate. “Do you remember the game ‘Lizard, Blizzard, Wizard’ that we played as kids?” he asked.
She frowned at first but then rolled her eyes in understanding. “I hated that game,” she said, panting from exhaustion.
Jha’dor’s smile grew wider. “Think you could summon up a storm for me?”
“It wouldn’t be like what we used to pretend, but I’m sure I can whip up something,” she said with a grin. Reaching into a pocket in her dress, she drew out a long silver wand encrusted with rubies. “I was hoping to compare Elementalist tools with Olinar, but I guess this will have to do.”
She slowed a little as she began to murmur words under her breath and Jha’dor recognized it as the language of Power. The rubies in the silver wand began to glow with a red light and when they came to an intersection of corridors she and Jha’dor skidded to a halt as the guards ran down the hall after them. “—korok tel’lëk kreth,” she said in a rush and the light from the wand released a swath of fire towards the soldiers.
All five of the men stopped surprise as the hall erupted into flames, stopping their progress. A couple of them raised their hands to ward off the heat of the fire while the rest ran back down the hall.
Jha’dor gaped at the display of power his cousin had unleashed. That’s something I have got to try for myself when I get the chance.
“I never got the grasp of making the flames wider,” Terei said, placing the wand back into her pocket. “But I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing.”
“I’m not complaining,” Jha’dor said raising his hands in acceptance. “If it works, it works.”
She smiled, then nodded down the hall. “We better get going. My flames won’t last long, and they’ll back soon follow us.” Together they ran down the hall and away towards the Palace gate.
They didn’t run into other guards along the way, but Jha’dor kept his eyes peeled for any more trouble. Soon they were running through the gate to the platform where he had collapsed two days ago after carrying Olinar’s body, and there stood Claudus waiting for them as they came jogging to his side, his eyebrows raised in a questioning way at Terei’s person.
“Acquired another straggler I see,” his uncle said.
“Just...an interested party…who wants…to make sure… Jha’dor gets away… safely,” she panted, clutching her side.
“Why are you both in such a rush?”
“It’s Allumin…he knows… about me leaving,” Jha’dor said between breaths, feeling nearly as winded as Terei looked.
That wiped the smile from Claudus’s face and he raised a hand to Jha’dor holding a rolled-up parchment. “Inside is instructions on where you are to go and who you are to meet. Don’t open this until you are well away from Vengoluth castle.”
“But what about you and Terei? I can’t just leave you two like this.”
Claudus grimaced. “And what makes you think I can’t hold my own against your father? I may be the palace healer, but that does not make me indispensable, or weak.”
“Then what about you?” Jha’dor said, pointing the rolled parchment he had taken at Terei. “I just can’t leave you to face him.”
Terei moved her hands from holding her sides to placing them on her hips, her chest still heaving as she worked to calm her breathing. “And what makes you think I need protection? I am the High King’s only niece after all. He wouldn’t dare do something to me and risk a fight with my father.”
He looked back and forth between the two of them. “Are you sure neither of you want to come?”
“Just go,” Terei said rolling her eyes and waving him off. “We’d just slow you down, and if we are caught there isn’t a whole lot to keep us from getting into trouble for helping you than if we stayed here.”
She was right, he realized. King Allumin had always gotten along well with his brother Aslamb. He may fight and argue with him over Terei’s stunt, but Uncle Aslamb knew how to handle his older brother and his temper tantrums. Plus, it helped that he was a better Drahli Elementalist than High King Allumin. Jha’dor nodded and stuck the parchment Claudus had given him into his pack.
“Remember, don’t open that until you are far away from here,” his uncle said, gripping his shoulder tightly. “And we will pray that you make it safely there.”
“JHA’DOR!” They all spun towards the gate to find High King Allumin there, his face enraged as he stomped after him, his fists glowing red with fire. “Don’t move another step!” he called out.
“That’s you’re queue to go, son,” Claudus said softly. “Quickly, before his stops you.”
Without saying goodbye, Jha’dor turned and high tailed it as fast as he could down the imperial walkway. Far behind he heard his father cursing and shouting at him to stop. There was a loud bang, then a thud, but he didn’t dare turn back to see what had happened. Up ahead the road turned with the curvature of the mountainside, and he knew it was his take off point. Another few blasts sounded behind him and fire shot past his head, but he didn’t slow down. Just like he had done back at the Arcosia Castle, he leaped off the edge of the road and Shifted into his dragon form in the air, while his clothes and satchel melded in with the rest of his body.
When he had gone far enough from the castle he glanced back and saw the High King had fallen to the ground. He was still on his side, yelling to Claudus and Terei as some of the soldiers came and hurried to his side. Not wishing to stick around any longer, Jha’dor pointed himself northwards and flew as hard as he could.