Chapter Thirty-Two
Prince Kellen sighed as he flopped down on the sandy shore. The exiled half-breed was at the castle; the Aquarian could feel it in his bones. Even more so, he could feel the call of the other's essence, his aqua, and Kellen was sure that the half-breed could feel his, even more strongly.
`He is the only hope I have to warn Link, I must put aside prejudices,' the prince scolded himself, using his overworked arms to pull himself out of the tide's reach. The prince began crawling towards the grassy plain, unable to stop the groans of pain that hissed from his throat.
Lance bounced the Night Orb from hand to hand, as though attempting to juggle it. The sailor seemed oblivious of his shoulder wound, which was deep but not serious. It didn't seem to faze him at all. Link sighed and leaned heavily against the makeshift bench, which provided a back for his seat on the floor, watching his friend. Something about that guard was still bothering him, but for the life of him, he could not think of what.
"Something on your mind?" asked the sailor, not taking his eyes from Shadeius's black ball. Link couldn't resist sarcasm as he replied,
"What could possibly be on my mind, knowing that Ontharn lays in ashes, King Viru with Tophetian troops is just outside the castle walls, and that we've no chance of getting reinforcements for at least a week?" Lance dropped the orb and it rolled away slowly, unharmed.
"No harm in asking," he replied dolefully. Link sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's just--" He made a helpless motion with his hands. "I can't think right now, and sure as hellfire can't sleep." Lance was about to reply, but he stopped and cocked his head, as though listening to something Link could not hear. "...What is it?"
"Link," the sailor said in a queerly flat tone, "I have to go to the shore east of here. Now." The Hero of Time stood up almost too fast to maintain balance.
"Why?" Lance hesitated, narrowing his eyes.
"I... hear something calling for me."
"What?" The nineteen-year-old restrained himself from madly shaking his friend. "What are you talking about?"
"It's... it's from the sea," responded the dark-blue-haired Kreyan unhappily. "I have to go. I..."
"The Aquarians?" Link asked.
"Yes! I just have to go. Now. I need to get past the Tophetians."
"The Tophetians aren't at the eastern wall; you can slip down and go. But why? Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nay, nay," the sailor said briskly, adopting a southern sea accent once more, " `tis a job for one man alone. `Sides, yer needed here, matey, and `tis here you'll stay."
"If it's the Aquarians, won't they kill you on sight?" Link did not want his friend to go to possible death.
"Perhaps, but this... `tis different, so it is." Lance stood up and tipped off a jaunty salute as he began jogging towards the east wing's exit. "I'll be back afore dawn, I swear it."
"Lance--!" Link called, exasperated, but his friend was already gone from the Great Hall. "Dammit." The Hero of Time looked down at the floor, trying to gather his galloping emotions, and noticed the Night Orb. `Might as ask the queen if she'll let us use this. It may be all we have to depend on.' He bent down and picked it up with one hand, then strode off to the queen's chambers.
Ceifeiro's fingers hovered tentatively over the door's silver handle; was Queen Eloisa even in her chambers? What if she was not, and he was caught searching around? The idea did not appeal greatly to him, but there was only one way to find out.
He grasped the handle, turned it carefully, and opened the door slowly, peering inside the widening rift. The queen was at her vanity mirror, her long brown hair traveling down her back. She turned her head at the noise of the door, and looked at him somewhat quizzically.
"Oh? What news do you bring, guard?" inquired the queen, shifting her whole body to face him. Ceifeiro bowed deeply as he entered and replied,
"I have come to report to you, Highness, that you will be accompanying me on a short trip, out of this castle."
"...Whatever for?" Her face had darkened with suspicion.
"The Hero of Time's orders, Your Majesty. He does not believe this castle is the safest location for you." The best part of his act was that none of it was truly a lie, which made it all the better. Queen Eloisa nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Very well, how shall I--" Before she could finish, Ceifeiro took three long paces towards her and snatched her thin wrist. "Oh!"
"I, for one, think you will be much safer in the company of King Viru. Or perhaps not, but we shall see." His thick Dinesenese accent permeated through his speech, and the Queen of Selinta stared at him aghast. Before she could scream for help, "the reaper" jerked her to the floor with the other. Retrieving a dagger from his belt, he dealt her a swift blow to the face with the hilt and growled, "No trouble now, or I shall bring you to King Viru one piece at a time."
Lance ran swiftly under the cover of darkness, his only thought focusing on the sound of his heart in his ears. Behind him Castle Dythia began to shrink away, until it was only the size of a child's toy playhouse. He never believed a body could run so fast, but the terrible urgency scraped away all other feeling for anything else; he could only think of getting to the person (or persons) calling him.
About half an hour after he had left the castle, he could see the shore, yet it was still a fair distance away.
`I should be there afore another hour passes,' the sailor thought to himself, ignoring his tiring muscles.
Link drew his sword, but dared not move any closer. The Night Orb fell from his right hand as he steadied himself, praying the soldier would not slay the queen. Eloisa was sobbing fitfully, but hardly making a sound. Ceifeiro pinned the dagger at her throat, drawing a faint line of blood.
"Don't come closer, if you value her life," hissed the Dinesenese fighter, edging away from Link. "Put down your sword, or I kill her!" The Hero of Time hesitated, then saw the horrified expression on the queen's face, and dropped it. The Master Sword clattered morosely on the marble floor. "There's a good fellow..."
"You..." Link squinted at Ceifeiro's face. "You're Ceifeiro!"
"That I am," snapped the ex-mercenary, "now, Link, you shall take me to the main gate. Do not try any tricks if you wish to keep the queen alive."
`I should have known,' Link berated himself, backing up slowly so that he could keep an eye on the fighter and hostage. `Gods alive, if she dies...'
"Link, did you--" Miyako stopped when she saw Ceifeiro and the queen. "What--"
"Hush!" snapped "the reaper," adjusting his grip around Eloisa's midsection. "Safe passage to the main gates, or I will kill her."
"Miyako, get away from here," Link uttered, not taking his eyes off the pair. He would not send her to the gates; no, the guards could open them, and he did not want her in the line of fire. There was sure to be fighting.
"Link..."
"Go. I'm not letting the queen be killed."
"But--"
"Just go," he repeated. The red-haired Kreyan walked quickly away, throwing a glance at them over her shoulder a few times.
"I would not have had us meet in this fashion, but there seemed to be no other choice," Ceifeiro stated, surprising Link. They were advancing slowly towards the castle's portcullis. The guards were noticing them, and began running towards them. "Stay back!" He shouted in a roar that commanded obedience. The guards halted, then looked to Link for confirmation.
"Do what he says, and get those gates open!"
"But Link, the Tophetians--" Miles began. Eloisa screamed as Ceifeiro pressed the dagger harder against her delicate throat. Blood was trickling down faster now, and Eloisa's face had gone deathly pale.
"Just do it, gods damn you!" Link shouted, feeling frustration brush bitter fingers against his heart. The guards hesitated again, then moved to do what he asked.
Lance fell to his knees by the prone figure and tried to catch his breath. His heart trip-hammered wildly in his chest, a caged animal gone mad. He put a hand to his sternum and panted sharply. He couldn't think; he could only feel the metallic taste of something awful in his mouth, the fire raging on the insides of his legs, the unsatisfied need for air.
"Gods," he wheezed when he caught enough breath several minutes later. The sailor found nothing better to say, so he said it again. "Gods!" The figure's hand fluttered weakly.
"...You.... you're the...." Prince Kellen forced himself up on one arm to look at the person kneeling next to him. "It's... you're..."
"Lanceton Untille, at your service, matey." He gulped in air and coughed several times, and breathed deeply. "You rang?"
"Even at a time... this.... you...." Kellen closed his eyes for several moments. The poison crawled with slow, evil legs through his veins. Would the pain never end? "Make jokes...." The prince shook his head weakly. "Forget that. I'm Prince Kellen of the Aquarians." He managed to sit upright, though queasiness swam through his head. "And you're... you're the half-breed, the exile?"
"You might say that." In the darkness, Kellen could have sworn that Lance was trying to stifle a smile.
"I met... your friend, Link."
"Aye..."
"He's... he's in terrible danger, he mustn't travel by sea, my..." The Prince of the Aquarians floundered for words, his head pounding with pain. "By the fish of the sea, I can't... I can't see straight anymore..." Kellen gripped his face with both hands. "Listen to me, I've not much time. He will know what I am talking about. My brother, Venoli, has poisoned me, and I... I'm dying. My people, the people of the seas, they will not prosper under his rule. He wants what I gave to Link to protect, and I fear... I fear a great danger. He... My brother... he has changed. For the worse." The prince clutched at his chest then, his face contorting horribly under the moon's glow, and Lance reached out to steady him. "Would I could... change everything... make it so... the people would not hunt you... You came..."
"You are my prince, even if I'm only half-Aquarian," Lance reminded him softly. Kellen's head jerked twice sharply in a negative movement.
"No, I would... change everything.... the laws to hunt... you.... people like you. I understood... when the goddesses came to me, they told me, `He will set your people free, this Hero, and save all that you have lost.' Venoli... he's going to find and kill Link. He mustn't let my brother have what I have him, at all costs. Tell him this." Kellen put a hand to his mouth and slobbered up blood. He wiped it distastefully on the ground and spat.
"The castle, it's not far off," Lance said hesitatingly. He would no doubt be the last person the prince ever saw. Kellen shook his head painfully, and winced.
"No, I won't make it. I spent the last coin of my life... swimming here. I..." The prince stopped and spat up more blood. "I should have taken the precaution to have myself guarded, but the people... it would not be good for the people..." Kellen looked up at Lance, his eyes shining hotly with fever and death. "You must tell Link, that if he does leave by water, he must not travel with you. You will attract my brother's attention." Lance stiffened slightly at that; he couldn't travel with his friend, Link? "You must understand..." More coughing, more blood. "...the Temple of Life, we felt it, we /feel/ it, decaying. It's... almost gone. The Daughter of a God has fallen..."
"Daughter of a God?" Lance repeated.
"Yes....." Kellen put a hand to his throat and swallowed painfully. "Didn't you know.... the Selintans called their monarchs gods...."
"You mean Cheyanna, then, but she's dead," the sailor said, slightly confused.
"Whatever it is, the evils begun in all our hearts. My brother... he was too weak to resist." The prince coughed again, and things thicker than blood came up. "This is my final word. I will go to my death, but it will not be in peace. Please, tell him all that I said." The Aquarian royalty reached sluggishly into his sodden breast pocket and pulled out a silver medallion, and handed it to the sailor. "Also... tell Link to save my people from my brother... My people will know you speaks truth with this..." Lance accepted the medallion silently. "Lance... For all the prejudice we held against you and other half-breeds.... I'm sorry. Your mother... she.... she... was.... my aunt... I never wanted... to hate you..." Lance blinked; he had not known his mother was related to royalty; she had never told his father.
"I--" Kellen waved for him to be silent.
"That makes you and I cousins," the prince whispered, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed again. "And that means... if you stop Venoli... you will be Prince of the Aquarians..."
"Me?" Not in all his wildest dreams had he ever imagined being Prince of the very civilization that made him an exile of the sea.
"Yes, Lance, don't rebuff this.... Venoli is evil, and he.... he'll try to stop you..." Kellen closed his eyes as his body convulsed. "I don't have a lot of time left... You and Link both, save my people... Venoli wants to destroy anything that sails on the water... and make... make trade impossible... Can I trust... you to... stop him?"
"Of course," promised the dark-blue-haired Kreyan. "I'll stop your brother." Prince Kellen nodded. His chest hitched, he gasped, then collapsed forward.
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Now that's what I like to read about; more Lance! *hugs Lance plushie* He's my favorite character, besides Link of course. ^_^ I think it's because I've always wanted a friend like him; so cheerful and altruistic.... Ah well... Please review, much appreciated, Faithful Reader.
Prince Kellen sighed as he flopped down on the sandy shore. The exiled half-breed was at the castle; the Aquarian could feel it in his bones. Even more so, he could feel the call of the other's essence, his aqua, and Kellen was sure that the half-breed could feel his, even more strongly.
`He is the only hope I have to warn Link, I must put aside prejudices,' the prince scolded himself, using his overworked arms to pull himself out of the tide's reach. The prince began crawling towards the grassy plain, unable to stop the groans of pain that hissed from his throat.
Lance bounced the Night Orb from hand to hand, as though attempting to juggle it. The sailor seemed oblivious of his shoulder wound, which was deep but not serious. It didn't seem to faze him at all. Link sighed and leaned heavily against the makeshift bench, which provided a back for his seat on the floor, watching his friend. Something about that guard was still bothering him, but for the life of him, he could not think of what.
"Something on your mind?" asked the sailor, not taking his eyes from Shadeius's black ball. Link couldn't resist sarcasm as he replied,
"What could possibly be on my mind, knowing that Ontharn lays in ashes, King Viru with Tophetian troops is just outside the castle walls, and that we've no chance of getting reinforcements for at least a week?" Lance dropped the orb and it rolled away slowly, unharmed.
"No harm in asking," he replied dolefully. Link sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's just--" He made a helpless motion with his hands. "I can't think right now, and sure as hellfire can't sleep." Lance was about to reply, but he stopped and cocked his head, as though listening to something Link could not hear. "...What is it?"
"Link," the sailor said in a queerly flat tone, "I have to go to the shore east of here. Now." The Hero of Time stood up almost too fast to maintain balance.
"Why?" Lance hesitated, narrowing his eyes.
"I... hear something calling for me."
"What?" The nineteen-year-old restrained himself from madly shaking his friend. "What are you talking about?"
"It's... it's from the sea," responded the dark-blue-haired Kreyan unhappily. "I have to go. I..."
"The Aquarians?" Link asked.
"Yes! I just have to go. Now. I need to get past the Tophetians."
"The Tophetians aren't at the eastern wall; you can slip down and go. But why? Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nay, nay," the sailor said briskly, adopting a southern sea accent once more, " `tis a job for one man alone. `Sides, yer needed here, matey, and `tis here you'll stay."
"If it's the Aquarians, won't they kill you on sight?" Link did not want his friend to go to possible death.
"Perhaps, but this... `tis different, so it is." Lance stood up and tipped off a jaunty salute as he began jogging towards the east wing's exit. "I'll be back afore dawn, I swear it."
"Lance--!" Link called, exasperated, but his friend was already gone from the Great Hall. "Dammit." The Hero of Time looked down at the floor, trying to gather his galloping emotions, and noticed the Night Orb. `Might as ask the queen if she'll let us use this. It may be all we have to depend on.' He bent down and picked it up with one hand, then strode off to the queen's chambers.
Ceifeiro's fingers hovered tentatively over the door's silver handle; was Queen Eloisa even in her chambers? What if she was not, and he was caught searching around? The idea did not appeal greatly to him, but there was only one way to find out.
He grasped the handle, turned it carefully, and opened the door slowly, peering inside the widening rift. The queen was at her vanity mirror, her long brown hair traveling down her back. She turned her head at the noise of the door, and looked at him somewhat quizzically.
"Oh? What news do you bring, guard?" inquired the queen, shifting her whole body to face him. Ceifeiro bowed deeply as he entered and replied,
"I have come to report to you, Highness, that you will be accompanying me on a short trip, out of this castle."
"...Whatever for?" Her face had darkened with suspicion.
"The Hero of Time's orders, Your Majesty. He does not believe this castle is the safest location for you." The best part of his act was that none of it was truly a lie, which made it all the better. Queen Eloisa nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Very well, how shall I--" Before she could finish, Ceifeiro took three long paces towards her and snatched her thin wrist. "Oh!"
"I, for one, think you will be much safer in the company of King Viru. Or perhaps not, but we shall see." His thick Dinesenese accent permeated through his speech, and the Queen of Selinta stared at him aghast. Before she could scream for help, "the reaper" jerked her to the floor with the other. Retrieving a dagger from his belt, he dealt her a swift blow to the face with the hilt and growled, "No trouble now, or I shall bring you to King Viru one piece at a time."
Lance ran swiftly under the cover of darkness, his only thought focusing on the sound of his heart in his ears. Behind him Castle Dythia began to shrink away, until it was only the size of a child's toy playhouse. He never believed a body could run so fast, but the terrible urgency scraped away all other feeling for anything else; he could only think of getting to the person (or persons) calling him.
About half an hour after he had left the castle, he could see the shore, yet it was still a fair distance away.
`I should be there afore another hour passes,' the sailor thought to himself, ignoring his tiring muscles.
Link drew his sword, but dared not move any closer. The Night Orb fell from his right hand as he steadied himself, praying the soldier would not slay the queen. Eloisa was sobbing fitfully, but hardly making a sound. Ceifeiro pinned the dagger at her throat, drawing a faint line of blood.
"Don't come closer, if you value her life," hissed the Dinesenese fighter, edging away from Link. "Put down your sword, or I kill her!" The Hero of Time hesitated, then saw the horrified expression on the queen's face, and dropped it. The Master Sword clattered morosely on the marble floor. "There's a good fellow..."
"You..." Link squinted at Ceifeiro's face. "You're Ceifeiro!"
"That I am," snapped the ex-mercenary, "now, Link, you shall take me to the main gate. Do not try any tricks if you wish to keep the queen alive."
`I should have known,' Link berated himself, backing up slowly so that he could keep an eye on the fighter and hostage. `Gods alive, if she dies...'
"Link, did you--" Miyako stopped when she saw Ceifeiro and the queen. "What--"
"Hush!" snapped "the reaper," adjusting his grip around Eloisa's midsection. "Safe passage to the main gates, or I will kill her."
"Miyako, get away from here," Link uttered, not taking his eyes off the pair. He would not send her to the gates; no, the guards could open them, and he did not want her in the line of fire. There was sure to be fighting.
"Link..."
"Go. I'm not letting the queen be killed."
"But--"
"Just go," he repeated. The red-haired Kreyan walked quickly away, throwing a glance at them over her shoulder a few times.
"I would not have had us meet in this fashion, but there seemed to be no other choice," Ceifeiro stated, surprising Link. They were advancing slowly towards the castle's portcullis. The guards were noticing them, and began running towards them. "Stay back!" He shouted in a roar that commanded obedience. The guards halted, then looked to Link for confirmation.
"Do what he says, and get those gates open!"
"But Link, the Tophetians--" Miles began. Eloisa screamed as Ceifeiro pressed the dagger harder against her delicate throat. Blood was trickling down faster now, and Eloisa's face had gone deathly pale.
"Just do it, gods damn you!" Link shouted, feeling frustration brush bitter fingers against his heart. The guards hesitated again, then moved to do what he asked.
Lance fell to his knees by the prone figure and tried to catch his breath. His heart trip-hammered wildly in his chest, a caged animal gone mad. He put a hand to his sternum and panted sharply. He couldn't think; he could only feel the metallic taste of something awful in his mouth, the fire raging on the insides of his legs, the unsatisfied need for air.
"Gods," he wheezed when he caught enough breath several minutes later. The sailor found nothing better to say, so he said it again. "Gods!" The figure's hand fluttered weakly.
"...You.... you're the...." Prince Kellen forced himself up on one arm to look at the person kneeling next to him. "It's... you're..."
"Lanceton Untille, at your service, matey." He gulped in air and coughed several times, and breathed deeply. "You rang?"
"Even at a time... this.... you...." Kellen closed his eyes for several moments. The poison crawled with slow, evil legs through his veins. Would the pain never end? "Make jokes...." The prince shook his head weakly. "Forget that. I'm Prince Kellen of the Aquarians." He managed to sit upright, though queasiness swam through his head. "And you're... you're the half-breed, the exile?"
"You might say that." In the darkness, Kellen could have sworn that Lance was trying to stifle a smile.
"I met... your friend, Link."
"Aye..."
"He's... he's in terrible danger, he mustn't travel by sea, my..." The Prince of the Aquarians floundered for words, his head pounding with pain. "By the fish of the sea, I can't... I can't see straight anymore..." Kellen gripped his face with both hands. "Listen to me, I've not much time. He will know what I am talking about. My brother, Venoli, has poisoned me, and I... I'm dying. My people, the people of the seas, they will not prosper under his rule. He wants what I gave to Link to protect, and I fear... I fear a great danger. He... My brother... he has changed. For the worse." The prince clutched at his chest then, his face contorting horribly under the moon's glow, and Lance reached out to steady him. "Would I could... change everything... make it so... the people would not hunt you... You came..."
"You are my prince, even if I'm only half-Aquarian," Lance reminded him softly. Kellen's head jerked twice sharply in a negative movement.
"No, I would... change everything.... the laws to hunt... you.... people like you. I understood... when the goddesses came to me, they told me, `He will set your people free, this Hero, and save all that you have lost.' Venoli... he's going to find and kill Link. He mustn't let my brother have what I have him, at all costs. Tell him this." Kellen put a hand to his mouth and slobbered up blood. He wiped it distastefully on the ground and spat.
"The castle, it's not far off," Lance said hesitatingly. He would no doubt be the last person the prince ever saw. Kellen shook his head painfully, and winced.
"No, I won't make it. I spent the last coin of my life... swimming here. I..." The prince stopped and spat up more blood. "I should have taken the precaution to have myself guarded, but the people... it would not be good for the people..." Kellen looked up at Lance, his eyes shining hotly with fever and death. "You must tell Link, that if he does leave by water, he must not travel with you. You will attract my brother's attention." Lance stiffened slightly at that; he couldn't travel with his friend, Link? "You must understand..." More coughing, more blood. "...the Temple of Life, we felt it, we /feel/ it, decaying. It's... almost gone. The Daughter of a God has fallen..."
"Daughter of a God?" Lance repeated.
"Yes....." Kellen put a hand to his throat and swallowed painfully. "Didn't you know.... the Selintans called their monarchs gods...."
"You mean Cheyanna, then, but she's dead," the sailor said, slightly confused.
"Whatever it is, the evils begun in all our hearts. My brother... he was too weak to resist." The prince coughed again, and things thicker than blood came up. "This is my final word. I will go to my death, but it will not be in peace. Please, tell him all that I said." The Aquarian royalty reached sluggishly into his sodden breast pocket and pulled out a silver medallion, and handed it to the sailor. "Also... tell Link to save my people from my brother... My people will know you speaks truth with this..." Lance accepted the medallion silently. "Lance... For all the prejudice we held against you and other half-breeds.... I'm sorry. Your mother... she.... she... was.... my aunt... I never wanted... to hate you..." Lance blinked; he had not known his mother was related to royalty; she had never told his father.
"I--" Kellen waved for him to be silent.
"That makes you and I cousins," the prince whispered, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed again. "And that means... if you stop Venoli... you will be Prince of the Aquarians..."
"Me?" Not in all his wildest dreams had he ever imagined being Prince of the very civilization that made him an exile of the sea.
"Yes, Lance, don't rebuff this.... Venoli is evil, and he.... he'll try to stop you..." Kellen closed his eyes as his body convulsed. "I don't have a lot of time left... You and Link both, save my people... Venoli wants to destroy anything that sails on the water... and make... make trade impossible... Can I trust... you to... stop him?"
"Of course," promised the dark-blue-haired Kreyan. "I'll stop your brother." Prince Kellen nodded. His chest hitched, he gasped, then collapsed forward.
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Now that's what I like to read about; more Lance! *hugs Lance plushie* He's my favorite character, besides Link of course. ^_^ I think it's because I've always wanted a friend like him; so cheerful and altruistic.... Ah well... Please review, much appreciated, Faithful Reader.