Wait…Roald can't die, what about his ring??
Well, although the ring was powerful enough to make Roald immortal in the desert (seventy years after the present), it isn't strong enough to do that now. The ring became powerful over time; it wasn't always that way. In the time of Tortall that Roald and Kaprice are in right now, it isn't quite strong enough. And as a result, none of the people who wear the ring are immortal.
Is Numair the bad mage? How about Roald, could he have been the mage?
Nope.
Will Roald come back as an angel/guardian sort of thing?
Nope.
How can you kill Roald!!! Do you enjoy playing with our emotions?! I don't want to read this story anymore!
I'm sorry you feel that way. But my story goes as it goes. I will not manipulate it so that it better suits myself or any reader. I am merely the writer: I create the characters and pick the time and place. And then I put the story in motion. Once that it is done, the story creates itself; the characters will act as they will. If I try to interfere, the flow of the story will be broken and it will no longer be as it was. In other words, it would be ruined. And although Roald does come back in this chapter (if the title is any clue), the next time a male lead dies (or female for that matter), they might not be brought back. It all depends on the story and the characters who shape it. As the writer, I try to write down what happens to the best of my ability. Nothing more.
Didn't Thorn's staff…die in your other fic? Wasn't it the one that killed Asianna? How could it be back now?
It isn't. Thorn has a new one.
What about the baby Thorn was supposed to look after? Where'd it go?
The child is now five years old. She is being taken care of by people in the palace in Corus. In addition, Evin and Thorn had their own child. He is a little toddler of three years.
Does Roald…err…the other one, remember Kaprice?
What's there to remember? He's the Roald of the past, he hasn't met Kaprice yet. He can't remember something that he never knew of in the first place.
Wait, is that guy (the one Kaprice saw in the forest) important?
Yes.
How'd you get italics and bold into your bio?
here's how to make things in your profile italicized/bolded. Put a I and then put the stuff you want in italics here. And when your finished, put a /I. And that last thing will end the italics. If u want it bold, put a b and then put the text u want bold here and then put a /b. hope that helps.
23. Another Chance
Keladry of Mindelan
Kaprice struggled against her and Dom desperately.
"No! You're lying! Stop, let go of me!"
Kel glanced over her shoulder at Roald's body. In a matter of moments, his body had gone from unrecognizably black and charred, to a pile of gray ashes huddled amongst limp clothes.
Kel loosened her grip and glanced at Dom. "We might as well let go of her now. The worst has passed."
Dom nodded wordlessly and released Kaprice.
Kaprice hurried past the two of them and approached Roald's ashes.
Kel winced when she heard Kaprice's sharp intake of breath.
"No, Roald…"
Kaprice glanced up at Kel and Dom. Dom flinched when he saw Kaprice's gaze, for her green eyes were horribly haunted.
"Kaprice, I --" Kel started to say quietly.
"No," Kaprice said, her voice sharp.
"No?" Kel frowned.
But Kaprice was beyond Kel. Beyond Dom. Beyond any human present.
Kaprice suddenly threw her head up toward the night sky and screamed. All those who were on Demon's Hill heard it and froze. The absolute rage and pain the scream contained made even the specters pause.
And when Kaprice spoke, her words echoed through the air.
"That's it. I quit."
And in a blaze of silver light, she disappeared.
~*~*~*~
Kaprice
Kaprice was standing in a misty fog again. But this time, she wasn't surprised and uncertain.
She was furious.
"Daughter? What are you--"
"Damn you, I'm not your damned daughter!"
The fog separated to reveal a calm, unruffled Mother Goddess. "Kaprice," she said serenely. "Why are you here?"
"Didn't you hear?" she glowered. "I quit."
A short silence followed Kaprice's statement.
"Did you hear me? I quit! I will not do this any more!"
"What goes here?" another voice stepped into the conversation.
A man whom she did not know stopped at the Goddess's side. He wore shiny armor and held a huge, imposing sword at his side.
"Who's this?" Kaprice asked scathingly. "Another one of you pesky gods, I suppose?"
The man gave her an intimidating glare. At least, it would have been intimidating if she hadn't been so angry herself.
"Oh, hold you're temper, Mithros," someone else cackled. "The girl has a right to be angry after all."
An old hag appeared by Mithros' side. She grinned broadly at Kaprice, showing off her gapped teeth.
"A right to be angry, but not disrespectful," Mithros said sharply in return.
The hag just laughed. She suddenly looked over her shoulder and snorted. "Why don't you all stop lurking in the shadows and come out now? I think the girl's had enough of our games."
And one by one, the gods stepped out of the fog and joined the others.
Only after a couple dozen gods had appeared, did they stop.
"Is this…is this all of you?" Kaprice said in surprise.
"There are still more human gods. And animal gods. And insect gods."
"But there are…there are so many of you. Why didn't you do something to stop the Devastation?" Kaprice's anger had dissipated, leaving her in a cloud of hurt and heartache.
"We did do something. We surrendered our power to you," the Goddess said gently.
Kaprice shook her head. "You picked the wrong person. You surrendered your power to the wrong person."
"Roald didn't think that," the Graveyard Hag said sharply.
Kaprice gave a bitter laugh. "And look where Roald is now."
"Where is he?" the Hag asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nowhere! He's dead!"
"But he was only trying to save you. If given the opportunity, he would have probably just repeated his actions."
"Then he shouldn't have tried to save me!"
"Oh? He was supposed to just let you die? And with you let your power, the hope for a changed future, die also?"
"Damn you and your power! That's all you gods ever think about!" Kaprice glowered. Then she dropped her gaze and shook her head. "I shouldn't have interfered. I should have just stepped back, instead of --"
"Instead of stepping in and saving Sir Keladry of Mindelan from certain death?" the Mother Goddess finished for her softly.
Kaprice closed her eyes and didn't reply.
"Kaprice, we understand how hard this is for you, but you mustn't give up--"
"No," Kaprice interrupted forcefully. "I can't do this. I can't." She couldn't and she wouldn't. Not alone.
As if reading her mind, the Goddess asked, "Does Roald mean so much to you?"
Kaprice glanced up at that and met the Goddess' eyes, the same green eyes that were her own. "Yes."
"What would your desert tribe be saying about you now," the Hag cackled, "if they knew you were so dependent on this young prince?"
"They'll say whatever they want to say. They have been for all my life," Kaprice said coolly.
The Goddess glanced at Mithros expectantly.
Mithros stared back at the black haired woman with a frown.
"Well?" the Goddess finally demanded with exasperation.
"Well what?"
Then the god's eyes narrowed as he realized what the Goddess was silently trying to tell him with her eyes.
The frown on his face grew a tad wider. "Are you sure about this?"
The Goddess just gave him a serene smile.
"Very well," Mithros consented. He held up a hand in front of him and focused his gaze on it. Within the palm of his hand, a tiny silver speck appeared. It was about the size of a fingernail.
The Goddess gently took the little speck from his hand, cupping it in her own. Then she carefully lobbed it into the air towards Kaprice.
"Be wary, Kaprice. We will not be so generous as we are now in the future."
Kaprice stood still, her uncertain gaze on the silver speck that came toward her. And then, as gentle as a glittering snowflake, it landed on her forehead.
Immense cold suddenly washed over her body. No, wait, it wasn't cold. Or heat. It was more of a void of everything. Sight. Hearing. Smell. Sensation. She couldn't see anything; she couldn't seem to breathe. And she couldn't even remember how to move her arm or blink her eyes.
But then she felt it. The power inside her was moving; she felt it contorting and stretching, completely out of control.
What did the Gods do to me?
The speck the gods had thrown at her was trying to her own power. No wait, it wasn't. But then what was it doing?
The speck was pushing out her own power in an insistent, stubborn manner.
What it is that you want me to do? she asked it silently, opening herself up to it's movements.
The speck showed her, and she did her best to copy its movements with her own power. Only after she had finished did the foreign influence fade away.
And then, just as quickly as it had come, the void was gone, and she stood, arms wrapped around herself, gasping from breath.
It was the noise that told her that she was no longer where she had been moments ago. She glanced up and looked around, finding, in her amazement, the Tortallan encampment.
Where did the gods go? Why am I suddenly…
A very clear image suddenly settled in front of her. Keladry of Mindelan was struggling against four specters on Demon's Hill. And Kaprice was once again hit with the sudden thought: I can't let her die.
But Kaprice was able to stay the impulse to transport immediately to her side this time. And during her moment's hesitation, she was able to figure out what was going on.
That little speck that the Goddess had thrown at me. It had shown me how to manipulate my magic so that I could go back into the past again.
The Goddess…the gods have given me another chance.
And Kaprice wasn't about to waste it.
Kaprice focused on teleporting again, but this time she did not jump to Kel's side.
She went, instead, to Dom's.
Dom was just finishing off with a specter when she appeared. Kaprice stepped forward, completely ignorant of the fact that her leg no longer ached with pain the specter's earlier touch had invoked, and grabbed his arm.
His mouth dropped open at her sudden appearance. "Kaprice?"
"Quickly, Kel's in trouble!"
"Where?"
Kaprice quickly pointed him in the right direction, and then he was off. Kaprice stepped back and watched, her breath trapped tightly in her chest.
I hope this isn't just another mistake…
Her breath came out in a whoosh when she realized that both Kel and Dom were going to be all right. Dom, with his superior fighting skills, had been able to dispose of the specters with more dexterity than Kaprice would ever have.
But then her breath got caught in her chest again when someone grabbed her from behind.
"Kaprice!"
Kaprice sagged against Roald's chest. "Gods, Roald! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Roald hair was wild; his eyes glittered with anxiety. "Kaprice, you really shouldn't be out here." He sheathed an ash covered sword but kept his medallion tightly in the other. "It's not safe."
But it's not safe for you either!
But Kaprice held her tongue and let Roald lead her to a horse which would take her back down to the forest encampment. She watched him silently as she let him pull on her hand.
Finally, he stopped to turn back towards her. "What is it? What's wrong?"
She tightened her grasp around his hand, staring silently into his face.
"Kaprice?"
She gave a silent sigh. You have absolutely no idea…
She shook her head. "I can handle the horse from here. You go back to Demon's Hill."
But even as she said the words, her hand refused to let his go.
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss onto her knuckles. "I'm needed out there. Especially with my ability to go invisible. I have to go."
She reached up to press a kiss onto his cheek. "Just don't die on me, all right?"
Her fingers, cold with the night air, relaxed their hold on Roald's hand and let him go.
~*~*~*~
Finished with watching, the Goddess dipped a finger into the small pond and let Kaprice's image shimmered away.
"A stubborn wench," the Hag observed aloud.
"That she is," the Goddess agreed quietly with a nod.
Mithros was still looking into the now clear pond, a look of amusement on his face. "She is odd, even for a mortal. She is quick to anger, but forgets about her grudges just as quickly as she gets them. She can be as fierce and bold as a dragon in one moment, but be weak and lack determination in the next."
"In other words," the Hag snorted, "she's unpredictable."
"Very much so," Mithros nodded.
"It only adds to her charm," the Goddess said reflectively.
All three gods then settled into a meditative silence, each one lost in one's own thoughts.
~*~*~*~
Kaprice peeked out from behind her tent flap and glanced around.
The battle with the specters had ended just under an hour ago. There were still several more hours until dawn. The men had returned to their tents, exhausted. They needed to get their rest, for they would have to fight the battle with the specters against during the next night.
Kaprice pulled the tent flap back, being extra careful with her small, lit candle, and tiptoed over to the next tent over.
To Roald's.
She quietly snuck into his tent.
Roald, to her great relief, had survived the night. If she ever met with the gods again, she would have to remember to thank them.
Kaprice paused at the head of his tent and listened. Roald's soft, rhythmic breathing filled the air.
He was asleep.
After carefully placing the candle down on the ground, she kneeled down beside Roald. She waited, wanting to make sure he was fully asleep before doing anything.
Once she was certain, she reached for his hand.
Roald had one of his hands out, over the blanket that covered him. But it wasn't the hand that she wanted.
Carefully, she lifted the corner of his blanket back until she revealed his other hand.
The hand with the mage's ring.
Delicately, she reached for the ring and started to slide it off Roald's finger.
And then she jumped when Roald's hand suddenly lifted and entwined its fingers around her own.
She slowly lifted her gaze and met Roald's very wide awake one.
His blue eyes glinted with amusement in the candle light.
"How long have you been awake?" she whispered.
"Since the moment you stepped into my tent."
Kaprice just shook her head.
"What are you doing, Kaprice?" Roald asked, his voice tender.
"I was just--just--"
"Trying to steal my ring?"
She glanced away, flustered. "As I told you before, there is no need for you to wear it now. I can wear it instead. It brings you so much pain, Roald. I only wanted to ease some of it."
"You already have." Roald scooted over to the side and lifted his blanket while pulling gently on her hand. "Come, Kaprice. Why don't you blow out your candle and join me under the blanket, where it's warm?"