9 . 7 . 11
Well, here's the last chapter of the story, barring the epilogue. Enjoy!
A few days had passed, and the palace was still in an uproar over the mysterious arrival of the strange band and the suspected death of the Crown Prince of Grendath. Karl decided to use the hubbub to his advantage.
There were servants "protecting" him around the clock, though he suspected that they were told to keep him in the palace, as no one (except Nre, but they were understandably leaving her alone) was yet sure of his intentions, and they hadn't gotten around to questioning him. It took a bit of conniving, but he eventually evaded them and padded down the echoing hallway. It was deserted, as he'd thought it would be. He could feel his limbs trembling with fatigue, and his fiari instincts screamed for the forest. He quickened his pace, almost able to taste the leaves' scent on his tongue.
How long has it been since I've felt a tree? He wondered, taking a hold of the rusting doorknob. Enough time to completely drain myself of magic, he answered himself, unable to keep a relieved smile off his face as he pushed the door open.
Sarah stood on the other side, hands on her hips and a glare situated firmly on her now-clean face.
"Where are you going?" she said menacingly.
"Oh, you know, I always like walking in the garden in the early hours of the morning," he said snidely. "What do you think I'm doing, girl?"
"Running away, coward," she said, eyes narrowing.
"Brilliant. Remind me to send you a prize when I get back home. Now, if you'd let me through—"
"I'm not moving until you answer some questions. If you want to get past me, you'll have to use some of your magic or something."
Karl, knowing full well that he did not have enough magic to move a glass of water, growled his frustration. He could see the trees past this human blockade, and they were calling to him with voices as familiar as family. Not that he really ever had any.
He took quick stock of his physical capabilities and found them woefully drained as well. He'd borrowed some energy from his endurance for the battle, and was regretting it now; he'd hardly been moving for twenty minutes and his legs were beginning to shake.
Nonetheless, he decided to run at her, and hopefully scare her out of the way. He shouted suddenly and charged, startling the girl enough to shove past the temporarily limp arm that was blocking the door. He began running with all he had for the forest.
Karl, hurry, you have not much life left!
You have borrowed unwisely from your body, little one.
Dodge right, young fiari, she is upon you!
Karl jumped to the right, but his legs gave out and she landed on top of him. Ordinarily, he would have been able to push her off, but he felt like he had just sprinted a mile. She pinned his arms to the ground with her knees and sat on his chest, glowering.
"You'd best tell me what I want to know, or I'll sit here until someone finds us."
Karl struggled to find the energy to keep the rise and fall of his chest even. He was in a bad position, and he knew it. He was running out of magic, fast, and if he ran out of magic—
He decided he didn't much like this new-and-improved Sarah. Food and a good washing had only served to increase her tenacity outrageously.
"Let me—we need—trees," he gasped, feeling absolutely more helpless than he had ever felt before, and he hated it.
"I don't think so," she said coldly. "You'll probably slurp up some magic from in there or something and disappear before I can ask you any questions."
That was exactly what he planned to do, but he tried again.
"I can't—I need magic to talk," he coughed, loathing the girl that held him down so close to the life-giving magic of the forest.
She laughed scornfully.
"I'm sure you can dredge some up from somewhere. Now, tell me everything. What are you? Whose side are you on? Why did you kidnap Dannlin, Carvin, and I? And don't leave anything out."
"Ask Nre!"
"I'm asking you!"
He gave up, deciding to answer all her questions as succinctly as possible so she would just let him go. Hopefully she wouldn't ask for too much explanation; he was feeling very lightheaded already.
Karl closed his eyes, centering the magic in his body to give him the energy to speak clearly, but his throat wouldn't open and he felt strangely empty. There wasn't any magic at all left in him. White began to creep in the edges of his vision. The trees were right, life was leaking out of him.
Well, this is bad, he thought dryly, then tried to send a message to the trees.
Can you—send me—magic? Through the ground?
Even his thoughts were choked.
"Speak, Karl!" Sarah said, glaring at him still.
Murmuring words sprang across his mind that was beginning to fuzz. Then a voice rang clear. Ceralina, the dryad.
What trouble has my young friend brought himself upon this time?
A note of amusement flowed through her words.
Ceralina, please!
I have convinced the flowers to give you magic. They will not give you much, but enough to tell the wise girl what she wants to know and bring you here, if you are brief in your words. Reach out to them, on your left.
Karl stretched his hand left, feeling like he was pushing an anvil across the ground.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, reaching to stay his hand.
He managed to wrap his fingers around a rosebush before she could push him away. Soft voices filled his consciousness as sharp pricks of pain told him several thorns were digging into his hand.
Ceralina had better like him a lot.
I haven't given magic to a half-breed for three hundred years.
Och, how sloppily he takes our generosity!
The magic dribbled into him like a brook trying to slake the thirst of a desert, but he managed to corral it into a ball and unravel it slowly as he spoke.
"I am half fiari, half Shayna's kin. Iain was my owner.
"I kidnapped you and Dannlin because you were being chased by Iain as well. (He was upset that you didn't die properly.) As my life's goal is to make Iain's life as difficult as possible, I took it upon myself to ensure as best I could that you would stay safely out of his reach. Carvin had a run-in with a fairy, and the magic from the fairy's foresight that was hanging around him had just come to Iain's notice, so I convinced him to join me and kept him out of Iain's way."
"What foresight?" Sarah interrupted. "And what fairy?"
Karl pursed his lips, realizing how difficult the simple action had become.
"You don't need me for that. Ask Carvin. My magic is waning and I believe I have a question left to answer: I am on nobody's side, because nobody is on my side."
The magic was regrettably used up, and the roses would give him no more.
Ungrateful whelp, using our precious magic to spill his master's secrets.
I think Ceralina has judged wrong about this one.
Sarah stared into his eyes, obviously trying to decide if there was anything else she wanted to know, and judging his trustworthiness.
"That's it. Now, let me go," he said impatiently, though his voice faltered. He did not relish the weakness that had been growing worse as he spoke, since he had let no magic escape to revive his limbs.
"I think the king will want to hear all that, firsthand," she said decisively.
"Insolent girl!" he said, intending it as a shout, though it came out as more of a strangled whisper. He strained for the dryad in his mind, to beg for more assistance, though the thought of begging for anything repulsed him.
Cera—lin—
This was not how he wanted to die. Though, he reflected, it would be quite ironic: strangled by a human girl not twelve feet from the forest. The voices of the trees were blurred and unintelligible. He could hear the cadence of Ceralina's voice, though he couldn't make out any words.
Suddenly, the last muscles that had continued to work, though shaking badly, collapsed; Sarah sank a few inches into his chest. He struggled violently to heave the weight up and take a breath, but the strain was too much. His body had stopped fighting.
He heard Sarah yelling for someone.
In a last ditch effort, he pooled any life from his body and used it to wrench all the magic from the rosebush his bleeding hand was resting limply on. The voices yelled sharply but he ignored them, spreading the magic into his body and hoping it was enough.
He rolled, using a spell to knock Sarah off of him, and scrambled to his feet, then ran at full tilt toward the trees.
Dodge left!
Karl leapt successfully to the left, narrowly missing Sarah's hands. He could feel his limbs protesting the strenuous movement, but he forced them onward, unraveling the ball of magic to keep them moving.
Karl! Behind you!
Someone tackled him, and they rolled forward, tumbling together. They came to a stop and Karl recognized Dannlin's determined face.
He smirked and reached above his head, touching the bark of a smooth birch. An instant later, he'd vanished.
A letter arrived for Carvin the day after Karl left, addressed in his father's lavish handwriting and containing a lengthy missive that clearly communicated the man's frustration that he was unable to come to the palace to see his son firsthand. The Harvest Festival in town was scheduled for that week and, as the lord of the land, Duke Tiroe was beholden to attend.
"A curse on matters of state!" he had written."I want to be there myself and make sure you're alright!"
Carvin had to admit that he was mildly relieved his father did not come. He wanted some time without responsibilities or questions, so he could stay by Nre's side when he could, and think about everything that had happened when he couldn't.
And so, while Nre was greeting her parents, who had just arrived, he stared out the window, watching the beautiful Berensian trees waver outside his window in all their autumn finery. The leaves were a flaming collage of crimson and gold, and the sun reflected the brightness into his eyes. Together, they urged him to smile and celebrate with them, but there was something heavier on his mind. He often pushed it out of his thoughts, but they always returned to it. In the middle of these musings, Faidn walked into the room, and so Carvin spoke.
"I knew it was going to happen."
"What?" Faidn said in confusion, turning to give Carvin an odd look.
He had just come from the kitchens, and his mind was far away from any dark thoughts.
"I knew," Carvin said, looking out his window, "that Cameron was going to die."
"Say wha—?" Faidn choked, now completely focused on Carvin instead of the servant girl that had winked at him over the biscuits. "You couldn't have possibly known."
"That fairy I told you about, the one who got rid of those awful nightmares? She showed me. She showed me exactly how it would happen, and I knew it was true," Carvin said in a low voice, in case anyone was walking by. He just had to say it to someone. The words came of their own accord, each of them tinted with relief as they relieved the awful pressure in his soul that had been building since he saw the vision. "I knew he was going to die, and I knew it was going to happen because the person fighting next to him didn't block a blow for him. I knew it."
The words brought with them the tears of grief he had not allowed himself to shed, and he turned to look at Faidn now, struggling to keep himself together.
"So I didn't tell them. I wanted him to enjoy the time he had left with Nre before he died. He wouldn't have wanted to die because someone said he was going to. He died a hero. And I like to think he died happy."
"So you—you fought beside him," Faidn said, putting the pieces together. "The whole time, except with Iain. You never left his side, did you?"
"No."
"You wanted it to be your fault?"
"I couldn't let it be anyone else's. I had to try to stop it," Carvin said, looking back to the window. "But I was too slow."
"Wow," Faidn said. "I really didn't see that coming."
Carvin was silent. Faidn shifted his feet, then sat in the chair beside his friend.
"Vin?" Faidn said, after a moment's pause. "It's not your fault, you know."
Carvin half-turned his face, and Faidn saw a few tears escape his eyes.
"I know, Fai," he said, sounding tired. "Do you think… I should have warned him?
"He wouldn't have wanted to know," Faidn said firmly. "You did the right thing."
Carvin nodded, then grabbed Faidn in a tight hug, letting more tears fall onto his friend's shoulder. Faidn gripped him back, slightly awkwardly.
"Thanks, Faidn," Carvin said, brushing the tears away as he released his friend.
Faidn grinned briefly.
"Don't thank me. You're the hero. I wouldn't have been able to keep that quiet. Now, get yourself sorted or they're going to think we've turned ourselves into a fine pair of women, bawlin' and huggin'."
Faidn shuddered. Carvin let loose a laugh, shaking his head.
"Fai, you always know the right thing to say, don't you?"
Faidn shrugged.
"I guess it's a gift?"
Over the next few months, everything slowly began to ease its way back to a state of semi-normality. A funeral was held for Cameron a few days after the King and Queen returned to the palace, giving the Berensians enough time to travel up to Grendath. Mel then returned to the West Wood and was not heard from again.
Rose, Dannlin, and Sarah were offered passage back to Ellespeth if they desired, or positions as nobles for their heroic action in battle. They refused both, beseeching Nre for positions as servants in the palace. They pleaded that they had no idea how to be nobles.
All they really wanted was someplace safe to stay, and a job that they could do. Gloria hesitantly granted their strange request, after much urging from Nre, but she made sure that they received the best rooms in the servants' quarters, and were paid plush salaries.
Thomas, meanwhile, tried to call off the Nre and Carvin's marriage, now that the danger was well past, but the paperwork had been processed too far to change.
Carvin, who had fallen farther into love with the princess, began to truly court Nre in a desperate attempt to win her affections.
"Can't you do anything?" Gloria asked, picking up the letter Thomas had just put down on his desk and scanning it for any loopholes.
"If I could, I'd be doing it," Thomas said in frustration, massaging his forehead. "But it's already passed through the three committees that approve noble marriages, and it's in the official record books."
Gloria read as much in the regretful letter she currently held.
"Oh, dear," she sighed, putting the letter down herself and facing Thomas. "Well, at least there's no time constraint."
"What the devil does that have to do with anything?" Thomas said, looking down at her like she'd lost her mind.
"Haven't you been watching them at all these past months?" Gloria said, unable to fully mask a grin. "Carvin is completely taken with her. It won't be long before Nre falls for him, too. Mark my words. For example: do you know what she told me yesterday?"
Thomas didn't look terribly convinced that Gloria knew what she was talking about, but he shook his head and shrugged.
"How should I know?" he said impudently.
She poked him in the nose before continuing.
"She used her last wish."
Thomas was all of a sudden very interested.
"What did she wish for?"
Gloria grinned.
"She takes after her father, with her craftiness. She wished that her second daughter would have an enchanting voice."
Thomas had to laugh.
"What a vixen. She just got three wishes in one."
"I believe this proves my point: she obviously thinks highly of Carvin. I'd give her a few months at most."
"And what makes you such an expert?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well, I've fallen in love once, too," she said, smiling.
"Mm, have you?" Thomas asked.
"Madly," she replied, brushing her hand along his clean-shaven jaw.
"What a coincidence," Thomas said with a look of mock surprise.
They were close enough now that she could hear his low murmur quite clearly. He lifted his hand and brushed a curl of hair from her neck.
"Why's that?" she asked, and her voice was just a bit breathless.
"I'm in love right now," he replied, and then he kissed her.
Annnd, Karl steals the spotlight for the majority of the last chapter. How typical. Opinions?
Captain: Carvin really is a sweetheart. That's why I love him so much. -smile- Haha, of course Karl is your favorite. He is an interesting fellow. I'm rather glad there are readers like you to pay his little details close attention. It makes me happy as an author. I hope your questions are answered here, and if not, fire away! I tried to cover everything, but I'm not sure I succeeded.
Eva: That wasn't quite the end. This is the end. How could I end it without wrapping up Thomas and Gloria's relationship? That would be silly. Yeah, and here's that "strange scene" you mentioned. I liked it, despite its probably being one of the "strange magical things" you didn't seem so keen on. -grin- As for the wishes — well, fairies aren't notorious for being fair. You should know that by now. Hah. Thanks for the little points; I'll try to remember to fix them. Lois really is pretty great. I like her. -hug- Carvin and Faidn are both about 17-18 in this story, so he is still a teenager. I did leave out the archery lesson, because I couldn't find a good place to fit it in, and it didn't seem to work as I was rewriting. If you know of a good place for it to go, tell me; I'd love to have it in, because I like the bonding moment myself.
Mazzie: I was sad that you didn't review either, haha. Yeah, sometimes people don't get to die nobly, no matter how much they deserve it. Sad day. You teared up? Aw. I'm glad you liked Carvin and Nre so much. Carvin is pretty sweet. Are you looking forward to something new? Look out for the Ficathon story. I'll be posting the first chapter on the 12th, Lord willing. -grin-
Reviewers get coffee ice cream!
