The God-Stone War

Chapter 33

Two days passed relatively uneventfully. I kept Penny and the children hidden away in our private home while I continued to supervise the beginnings of the reconstruction. I still didn’t feel that things were safe enough to expose my family, but there was no sign of any return by the gods.

Karenth still moaned and lamented his fate deep below, in the Ironheart Chamber. His power had been drained away and now was stored in the heavy iron surrounding him, forming an impenetrable prison cell. Later I would need to decide how the power should be used. While the structure and shape of his prison was very different than the God-Stone, the functional purpose was the same. It held his power, and if I didn’t find a way to make regular use of it, he would eventually overload the capacity of the iron, resulting in an explosion of untold proportions.

My best estimation gave me several years before that was a risk however.

I met with Walter, Elaine and George, assigning George to help with the reconstruction of the damaged parts of the Castle. Walter and Elaine I tasked with taking turns keeping watch over the castle and Washbrook. I wanted someone there at all times, ready to reactivate the barrier if the worst should happen and Doron or Millicenth decided to pay a visit.

As they were leaving Elaine paused and looked back, “May I have a private word with you?”

“Certainly,” I agreed, hoping the conversation wouldn’t be too awkward.

Once her father and brother had gone, I shut the door and motioned to her to return to her chair. We had been sitting in one of the small meeting rooms of Castle Cameron. Resuming our seats, I waited to see what she would say.

An uncomfortable silence ensued while she gathered her courage. “I wanted to thank you,” she said finally, “and to apologize.”

I waved my hands as if to deny her words, “No. You have no need to apologize, especially after what you did for my family. Penny saw your acts in the hall. You defended my children as if they were your own.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I stepped across boundaries that were not mine to cross. I let my own selfishness blind me to the fact that what I was doing would harm your family,” she explained. “After what you did, when you healed me, I understood how wrong I was.”

We hadn’t actually spoken yet about the events of that day, so I still had many questions regarding what had occurred after I had lost consciousness. “About that,” I began, “could you describe what happened for me?”

“You gave me what I had always wanted,” she said with a wistful smile.

Myself?

She saw the look on my face and spoke before I could interrupt, “Don’t be egotistical. I meant your gift, for a little while I could hear the voices of the world.”

“If I went that far… why am I still here? You had everything,” I suggested.

Elaine frowned, “Do I seem so shallow, so selfish? I have seen through your eyes now, and I understand better what drives you. I know that my… feelings, may have been wrong, but I am not evil. I cared for Penny, for your family, before… but once I had seen them through your eyes… how could I deny them their father? While you were with me, I didn’t just possess your gift. I also saw them, your wife and family, in the light of your love. I had no other choice than to return you, to restore you, as you had done for me.”

“I should have thought before I said that,” I said, backtracking. “I knew you better than that, or I wouldn’t have gone as far as I did.”

She looked down, “Don’t. Your kindness doesn’t help, and that isn’t what I came to tell you.”

I was puzzled. “So what was it?”

“Before it was over, before I finished, I felt something in your heart, something that was part of you, but was also separate. But when I tried to look at it, to see it more clearly, I could feel it looking back at me, as if it were measuring me,” she said. “It frightened me.”

The only thing she could be relating was the hidden part of myself, the piece that held the secrets I dared not examine. I had never seen it quite as she described, but I knew it immediately. You bear Illeniel’s Doom. The words echoed in my mind, though I wasn’t sure where I had heard them.

“I asked you about this before, and you wouldn’t answer me, but I understand now. That’s where your secrets come from, isn’t it?” she said without beating about the bush.

“Some things,” I agreed. “Not everything, I think, but it’s hard for me to know sometimes. I don’t think it is quite as separate as you suggest. I think it’s just a dark corner of my own mind. I just don’t know how it came to know everything that it does.”

“It knows,” she replied darkly. “It knows how it got there.”

I suppressed the urge to shudder. “Did you learn something from it?”

“No!” she said sharply, “It’s just a feeling, but I’m certain that it knows.”

“You keep saying that as if we were talking about something foreign. I think it’s just another part of my ‘self’. Some sort of bloodline memory perhaps, passed down from my father, but still a part of ‘me’,” I explained.

“You may be right,” answered Elaine, “but I think you should be wary.”

That’s all well and good, but how, do you propose that I be wary of myself, I thought wryly. “I’ll try,” I said placatingly.

That evening I reread Marc’s letter. The more I thought about it, the more anxious I was to see him. Things seemed to have stabilized at home, and I began to worry that if I waited very long it would be too late. I sat down in my study to pen a response letter to him.

Marcus,

My last letter was too short. I omitted most of the recent events here, mostly because I didn’t want to worry you about things you couldn’t fix. Things have calmed down, and I’ve decided to make a trip to Agraden. I’ll catch you up when I see you. It really is too much to write.

Expect me in two or three days.

Mordecai

I folded the small sheet and put it into the box, and then I leaned back and tried to think about how I would explain my reasons to Penny. The more I examined my motives, the more selfish they seemed.

Fifteen minutes later I had given up and I was about to leave my study when I noticed the light flashing on the message box. It was unusual to get such a quick reply. Opening the box I found a small torn piece of parchment, hastily scribbled with a message. It wasn’t in Marcus’ handwriting.

Dear Mordecai,

Please forgive the condition of this note. I had not the time to find a more suitable medium to write upon. My husband is no longer able to respond. His illness has worsened and he is now confined to his bed. He drifts in and out of consciousness, but I will endeavor to make him understand you are on your way.

Sincerely,

Marissa Lancaster

The room seemed to sway around me, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. This can’t be happening. I stood and stared blankly at the wall as a terrible urgency swept over me, and then my paralysis snapped and I found myself moving. Acting almost without thought, I gathered up the things I thought I might need, my staff, my belt and its special pouches, my stylus… then I stopped.

“I have to tell Penny.”

Mercifully I was able to reach her without meeting anyone else, particularly my children. I wasn’t sure I could hide the powerful surge of emotions from them just then, and the last thing I wanted to do was frighten them. They’d been through enough recently.

“What?!” she said immediately. I suppose my face had given me away already.

“It’s Marc,” I began, and over the course of the next ten minutes I explained as much as I could, though of necessity my story was far from complete.

“I don’t understand. What did you say is wrong with him?” she interrupted.

Struggling to remain patient, I repeated myself, “It’s an illness called the ‘grey wasting’, an affliction that affects those who have been possessed by one of the gods.”

“And how do you know this again?”

I was moving already, heading for the door. “I have to go, dearest,” I said as I went.

She saw the look and she already knew there would be no dissuading me. “Let me grab a few things. I’ll come with you.”

That made me pause for a moment. Penny’s face was earnest, and the sincerity in her features reminded me again why I had loved her for so long. Sadly I replied, “You can’t.”

“The hell I can’t…” she started, and then Irene woke from her slumber and began to cry. “Dammit!” she exclaimed and then our eyes met again. Hers were filling with tears as she picked up our daughter and began to rock her gently. She had forgotten for a moment, but reality had reminded her quickly enough, our burdens were not so easily neglected.

I took a moment to kiss my wife and run my fingers across Irene’s soft hair, and then I turned away.

“Tell him I love him!” she said urgently as I left. I nodded and after I closed the door I heard her crying gently through the door. Marcus had been her lifelong friend as well, and it wasn’t fair that she had to remain behind.

Gritting my teeth to hold back my own tears I headed to the circle that Walter had created, the one that led to Lancaster. There were a few more people I had to tell.

My arrival in Lancaster was greeted with no fanfare. No one expected me, and the guard at the circle building knew me well enough that he simply waved me on with a courteous bow and a ‘good day’. There had already been considerable traffic between Cameron and Lancaster over the past day or two, as Walter and George traveled back and forth, carrying Lady Thornbear and a variety of news in both directions.

“Where is Roland?” I asked the footman at the door to the main hall. Since James’ elevation to the monarchy the day to day business of handling the duchy had fallen into his younger son’s hands. Traditionally the elder son, Marcus, would have gotten the job, but he had disavowed his inheritance years before. Marc’s sister, Ariadne, was the older of the two remaining children, but tradition meant she would only inherit the title if her younger brother died or was deemed unfit.

Roland was fit enough, though he truly didn’t want the job. Over the past several years he and Ariadne had taken it in turns to manage the day to day affairs, allowing each of them long periods to escape the demands of leadership. Naturally this had led to much discussion about who would eventually succeed their father, not just as Duke (or Duchess), but also as monarch.

“I believe His Highness was last seen at the stables, Your Excellency,” answered the guard promptly and with perfect etiquette. The Lancasters had taken more effort in training their staff in proper graces. At Castle Cameron many of my retainers were a bit fuzzy on the proper forms of address, nor was it really a priority of mine.

I gave the man a nod and followed his advice. Roland loved horses just as much as his father had, or my father, for that matter. I found him quickly enough, brushing down a lovely white palfrey. As a prince of the realm, or a duke’s son, for that matter, he had no need to groom his own horses. He did it simply for the pleasure of the task.

Growing up, Marc’s younger brother had been eight years younger than we were, which meant we hadn’t really been close playmates. Instead, he had looked up to us while for our part we had probably been a bit cruel in trying to leave him out of our games when we could. Looking at him now, I was amazed at how much he looked like my friend. His hair was a darker shade of brown and his eyes a light blue. He was taller and broader across the shoulders than his older brother. In many ways he was more handsome, though he did not possess quite as much charm as Marc; but then few had that.

“Ho, Roland!” I called out, since he seemed unaware of my approach.

He turned and gave me an easy smile, “Mordecai! How goes it?”

“Well,” I answered giving him a quick embrace.

“I did not think to see you out and about again so soon. Lady Thornbear said you were close to death but a few days ago. How is it that you look so hale?” he asked.

“My recovery was speedy thanks to her timely treatment, and Elaine was able to restore me completely once the poison had run its course,” I said succinctly, summarizing an hour’s conversation in one brief sentence. “Is your sister at home?”

“She is not. Father requested her presence in the city two weeks ago. She has been assisting him with the finances of our fair nation. Some of his other ministers proved to be less than trustworthy,” he replied. It was a statement that covered a much larger story I was sure, but I had no time for that either.

I was disappointed, for I had not seen her in almost a year, but I moved on quickly. “I was hoping to catch you both at home, but this simplifies things. I bear ill news of your brother.”

Roland set the brush in his hand down and motioned for one of the grooms to take his place. “Perhaps we should walk outside,” he suggested.

I followed him out. The early afternoon sunshine seemed a stark contrast to the dark news I had to share. “Your brother is dying,” I said, as I embarked upon an intense description of Marc’s situation.

Marc had informed his family of his move but not of his health, so my information was a serious shock to Roland. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to allow him to adjust gradually. “I plan to visit him as quickly as possible; do you want to come with me?” I said at the end.

He looked uncomfortable, “Father left me in charge here…”

“Your seneschal can manage for a while. We can be there within three days and the return will be instant once I construct a circle there.”

“But…”

“This is it Roland. You won’t see him again,” I said bluntly.

He straightened and squared his shoulders before nodding, “Let’s go.”

Taking only the time it required to notify his staff of our departure, we were in Albamarl within half an hour.