Chapter Six
If one thing could be said of Rin was that news, any news, traveled fast. Bad news traveled even swifter and although Barradin was sure that the Royal Guardsman knew better than to spread them, he eyed the same two that had been in the room mere days ago when he had spoken to Queen Farina about Rurik's health as he walked through the foyer and into the main hall of the royal family's private wing of the palace.
All of Rin was practically buzzing with the bantered back and forth on whether or not their current King was dying shortly after taking the throne. Mhenlo walked down the hall and smiled upon seeing Duke Barradin, "I have good news…"
"I certainly hope so," muttered Barradin.
"King Rurik is not dying," Mhenlo smiled. "He's just under the weather, so to speak."
"What? Again?" Barradin lifted his brows.
"Given the experiences he's had and the nature of the original injury that put him that way, this is to be expected," Mhenlo drew serious. "However, putting to rest the rumors that have flown all the way to Nolani and even to Ascalon City will be much more difficult than keeping his Royal Majesty in bed long enough to recover from this latest bout of illness."
Barradin sighed, "Don't I know it."
"Might I suggest something for when he is feeling better again?" asked Mhenlo.
With a nod, Barradin gave Mhenlo permission to voice his idea, "Well, your Grace, there are two problems with one common thread—Rurik. It would seem logical that if Rurik was to put his people's fears to rest, and his own, by holding some sort of festival to give the people reason to forget the latest rumor. A reason to celebrate… and there are many reasons to celebrate. He has become our new King, he has a son to carry on his name. Ascalon is larger with New Ascalon to the West, and let us not forget we will be having our first successful harvest since before the Searing this fall."
Mhenlo had a point. The more Barradin though about the more he liked it. "You're right. Since Rurik is too under the weather, I give you permission to organize this."
"Me, your Grace?" Mhenlo shook his head. "Oh, no! I am the last person you want to organize something like this but I do have a suggestion on who would be able to organize something like this…"
Barradin took a breath and released it in a long-suffering sigh, "Really? Who would that be?"
A woman cleared her throat from behind him as Mhenlo pointed, smiling again. Barradin turned as Arya Bladedancer bowed before him. "Your Grace, it is wonderful to find you in good health," she said.
"And you as well," Barradin admitted. "I must ask what happened?"
"Long story short the Guild was caught unaware by another and we were scattered. Many of us didn't make it, some I have been trying to find, others… well… the Gods receive them," she sighed, and Barradin gauged the younger woman.
Arya Bladedancer herself appeared all right, but there were signs to the experienced soldier that she had not escaped unscathed. "Have you seen Akruan?" he asked.
She sighed sadly, "No, I have not. I have not been able to find him. I had assumed he would head here but since no sign of him has been seen I suspect that he is with the Gods now."
"Actually, he is not," pointed out Mhenlo. "He sent us a letter telling us that he thought you might head to New Ascalon and so he was headed there to find you."
"Indeed?" she brightened immediately, then laughed. "Well, well, it seems our paths crossed completely. I trust he's doing well?"
"Well, yes and no," Mhenlo admitted. "He says he was gravely injured and will be in Grooble's Gulch and then heading to New Ascalon after he is well enough to travel himself."
"Oh," the tall woman pondered this for a moment. "Well, that certainly isn't good. And what is this I have been hearing since Grendich that King Rurik is dying?"
"Not true," answered Barradin. "Just under the weather. The stress and the fact that he has not recovered from his, ah, experience in Sorrow's Furnace yet."
"Will he ever?" asked Arya bluntly. "Where is he, anyway?"
"I am right here," answered a tired voice from a doorway beside them that no one had heard open, and they turned to find Rurik leaning nonchalantly against the door frame. "Greetings, Lady Arya Bladedancer. I was under the impression that you may have been dead, and so it gives my heart joy to see you still alive and well."
"As does seeing you, your Majesty," as Arya looked him up and down in concern.
Rurik was not at his best, although he had made an effort to make himself presentable, and she could see dark circles under his eyes and the too pale skin. He looked almost gaunt as if illness had sapped his appetite and ate him away from the inside out. It was little wonder that the rumor mill maintained that he was dying no matter how hard Duke Barradin and the others tried to stamp out said rumors. King Rurik looked as if he was. "I am sorry about Queen Selena," said Arya as she guided the slightly shorter Rurik back into his suite, Barradin behind her.
In the time after being thrown out of Ascalon by Adelburn, the then Prince Rurik had made friends with most of her Guild, including herself and Akruan. Few could dare tell Prince Rurik how they felt, or tell him that he was being stupid with himself. Arya had never held anything back and a mutual respect had grown although he still occaisionally cursed at her by calling her a 'mother hen'. He sat down heavily in a chair, gazing out the window. Arya took off her helm and set it down as she slid off the gloves and laid her cloak in the back of another chair. Barradin sat down in another as he thoroughly inspected his king with his eyes. Finally Rurik said, "I… keep dreaming her memories. And recently they have been ones of being trapped, of motion. It's confusing because it is almost as if I can remember bit and pieces of my time under Khilbron… and the more I remember the more I don't want to remember. I don't want to sleep, I don't want to dream. But if dreaming means I see where she is and am able to send that along I must…"
Arya looked over at Mhenlo who shrugged helplessly. "How long has it been since you had a full night of sleep?" asked Arya in concern. "You look as if you haven't slept in a week. The last time I saw you this exhausted was in the Shiverpeaks shortly before Frost Gate."
That only made the frown on Rurik's face deepen. "How so much goes back to then…" he mused.
Arya moved over the fireplace and started a fire and then brought a quilt over from the bed and threw it over his legs. "Arya, you're acting the Mother Hen again," pointed out Rurik, mildly annoyed, but also he sounded amused.
"It's what I do best," said Arya as she sat back down, moving her own things carefully to the floor. "I may as well tell you what you've missed…"
When the false bottom was finally opened and Selena was able to finally look upon the faces of her captors, she was actually rather surprised. Gently she was brought out and the elder man said, "I will take the gag off and untie you but if you make one move to cast upon us any of your magic I will have Izumo sedate you and you will spend the rest of this trip unconscious. Do we have an understanding?"
She nodded her agreement and he untied the gag, then untied her hands and allowed her let the circulation return to her hands by shaking them. "Why?" she asked.
Ise sighed, "We need the funds in order to crush our enemy which has followed us here."
"Ever think that maybe they want to escape the war by coming to Tyria too?" asked Selena, and she did not back down as Ise towered over her.
"No Luxon will ever be a friend of the Kurzicks!" he spat.
"I used to say that of Ascalon and the Charr and now I have one very good friend who is Charr, in fact, I owe him my life many times over. Never discount that peace is possible!" she retorted. "And don't tell me that it's been too long. The Charr and Ascalon fought a vicious war for generations. It was only recently that they decided to actually invade."
For a long moment Ise was quiet, then it was the younger one, Izumo, who said, "She'd get along with the Baron's daughter."
"Silence Izumo," mused Ise. "Let me explain one thing and one thing only, my Lady Queen of Ascalon. If we were to meet at any other time we may have been allies, but unfortunately in this gold and platinum had to take precedence. I am sorry, but I gave my word that I would fulfill my contract and so I shall."
She blinked in surprise at his grim honor, and she pointed out, "But is not filling this word when the reason behind it is not honorable make that word dishonorable?"
Ise sighed before he turned back to her, "In your culture, you may have time to debate the grey area but in mine we cannot afford that luxury. As I said, I am sorry we did not encounter the Ascalons before we did the White Mantle. Izumo, return her to her 'bed', it is time we left."
The other stood up and Selena backed up a step, "Wait a minute, you just brought me out of there. I need to freshen up, perhaps eat something… relieve myself too. That way I can rest or something while you travel. You can't just stick me back in there!"
Ise sighed, "We risk much, but as it would be less than human to at least give you something for the time in there, we shall allow you to refresh yourself. Very well, you have one hour. Izumo will be your guardian during that time."
"Thank you," she said, before she turned. "Given the honor you have at least shown, I will give you honor. I will not try to escape. Once before I allowed myself to be hostage in order to also be Ambassador. Do you accept?"
Ise thought for a moment, "What you ask is more than we bargained for, your Majesty. But, for this journey to our camp, yes. I accept your offer. But understand that it is for our journey to our camp in Northern Kryta only."
"Done," she agreed with a slight bow. "I will then take my temporary leave in order to refresh myself and will finish within the hour as promised."
She went behind a tree, and while Izumo allowed some distance for her privacy, she refreshed herself, and then, while under the pretense of freshening up she began to carve the very basic La Rune family crest into the wood, then, using a long finger nail to slice her palm she laid her bloodied hand on it, murmuring words to a spell. Burned into the wood was now not only the La Rune crest, but also that of Rurik's vanguard.
Murmuring a prayer, she healed the cut in her hand and then, while smoothing out her hair she walked back out from around the tree. While she had given her word of honor not to try to escape, she had not said anything of not giving those of Ascalon or Deldrimor a trail of breadcrumbs to follow.
Someone would be on this well used road between Ascalon and Deldrimor.
Someone would know what that meant and word would spread that she was still alive, and then someone would come for her.
All she needed to do was wait.
Arya looked over at Barradin after she finished her tale of how she had managed to escape back to Ascalon after KSE had fallen. Sometime during the tale, Rurik had fallen asleep in his chair and his head rested on the back of the padded chair. Gently lifting his legs to rest on a stool, Arya motioned for Barradin to follow her. "There," she whispered. "And no trace of a dream to disturb him. You can go back to your suites. I'll stick close to him."
A moment after Barradin and the royal guards had left the room, a shadow unattached itself from the wall. Arya turned to regard him as he looked down on the sleeping King, "This is the man you were speaking of?"
"Yeah, that's Rurik," she sighed as she smoothed his hair, which had been dark but was now almost entirely grey. "Now, you said you could read minds, right? Anyway you can track through his and get that information I was telling you about?"
"The king's mind is a strong one. His sheer stubbornness would present a block, and to bring it down could shatter his mind," the shadow said. "Why do you need to know this so badly?"
"Because he's the only one who ever seen the Isle of Janthir," she answered. "Only he knows the way there, and unfortunately, it is the only way to defeat the White Mantle once and for all. That isn't all. If you can read his mind, then perhaps you can use the Soul Bond between him and Selena to track her location."
"What you ask is dangerous to him. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Arya hesitated, looking down on Rurik's face. The lines of worry had smoothed but dark circles stood out against his pale face. "No, I'm not. But he might be. And a tired mind is easier to break into, is it not?"
The shadow disappeared inside of Rurik and the man spasmed in shock at the sudden intrusion into his very soul and mind. A moan escaped. Rurik opened his eyes and for a moment Arya saw the hurt and disappointment at the perceived betrayal in his hazel eyes. A moment later, his eyes rolled back as he gasped out, "What… have you… done?"
Arya backed into the wall. Fear was an emotion unfamiliar to her but if this worked he would understand.
She hoped.
Rurik felt himself slip into something deeper than sleep after Arya faded from sight. A grey mist surrounded him as he lay on the cold ground. At least, he thought it was the ground. "Where is this?" he wondered aloud.
"Ah… King Rurik of Ascalon… so you escaped me only to again be in my grasp," rasped a voice out of sight but above his head.
He quickly rolled over, his flaming dragon sword in hand and in a crouch. Khilbron, as he was known in life, stood there. Arya had betrayed him and the pain was real and in his heart.
"Amazing how the living has this nasty habit of believing in people when they should not, isn't it?" asked Khilbron.
Rurik held up his sword in defense as he regained his footing. "Leave me alone, Khilbron," Rurik hissed. "Get out of my head."
"But I have been here longer than that precious Soul Bond. Surely you have felt that, though, eh? Why else do you think you always hover on the brink of recovering and then fail to?" Khilbron laughed as the living man faded to be replaced by the hideous lich lord. "I still own you, remember that."
"I might have something to say about that."
Both turned in surprise as the Shadow unattached itself from the wall as it had done in the Rin palace to sink Rurik into the trance that Arya had seen him sink into. Rurik turned from the shadow to Khilbron and back again in confusion, "If he's not the Shadow…?"
"He is not," answered the shadow. "He is as he said, he's been feeding off of your life force and soul, slowing draining it away. What has kept you alive so far is the fact that your wife gave you the link to hers through the Soul Bond. I'd had no idea, Rurik, and I am as surprised at this as you. I wanted to use the Soul Bond to track down Selena to tell Arya where to find her. But this… thing… I found instead and he blocks the way. If you help me I can free you once and for all of him."
"Ha! As if that were possible," Khilbron chided.
Rurik struck at that moment, and the Shadow aided him and the Fiery Dragon sword went from a red fire to a white fire that was too bright to look at directly.
Arya held Rurik down in the chair, trying to keep him from falling out of it at each spasm as he rocked and thrashed in the convulsion that had came on him suddenly. If anything, he looked even closer to death and grey cast to his skin alarmed her greatly. His forehead burned as if in fever. "No…" she whispered. "Please, no… don't die on us now."
The shadowy room faded to be replaced with light that was too bright. Rurik shaded his eyes and felt himself sinking. When he opened his eyes next he had to blink in surprise as he sat up slowly. He was in Ascalon, Drascir, to be exact. He got out of the bed, and as he leaned against the windowsill in his room, he held up a hand to his head.
He knew he had been dreaming but he couldn't remember what the dream had been about. He just remembered a vague horror that sank into his very soul, and a deep, deep pain.
A knock on his door alerted him to the fact that he had slept in a bit but as it was his rest day, he was not actually expecting anyone. "Come in," he called as he pulled his tunic over his head.
His younger brother—why did he feel that there was something pulling at the back of his mind?—walked in and asked him, "Have you seen my fishing tackle?"
Rurik shook his head as his brother grabbed his arm and pulled him out, laughing, "Oh come on, then help me find it!"
They ran, slowing to a walk when they were by the library, then running full tilt to the outside. Rurik looked around and followed his brother to the lake.
When they got there, Rurik suddenly realized why everything had seemed off. The people were all Charr, and the lake from his childhood was one of tar… and the green lands were burnt.
Rurik turned, suddenly the grown man again instead of the boy barely into his teens, looking on the ruins of Drascir that were slanted as he remembered the last time he had seen Drascir when he had to walk through their ruins in order to free captives and there they had found the mouthpiece of the Horn of Doric.
Another dizzy spell overtook him and he closed his eyes as it seemed to wash out into a bright white, then black.
Mhenlo looked over the stricken King as Barradin and few of the other lords watched. He looked up at Arya who seemed as pale and shaken as the rest of them, "What happened before this? How did he seem?"
"He looked exhausted," answered Barradin. "Arya and I were trying to make him feel better by telling him that we were sure we could find the Queen, but when I left he looked as if he was sleeping peacefully… finally."
Mhenlo looked up at Arya, "I wasn't asked the Duke, I was asking you, Lady Arya. You were the last one with him before this. How was he?"
"He was as the Duke said," she lied, secretly hoping that the Shadow hadn't betrayed them. "One minute he was sleeping and the next he began to convulse. I don't know why."
Pressing his lips into a thin line, Mhenlo said, "I'm afraid this is beyond my knowledge. The sages are looking into the libraries to see if there is any precedent of a similar illness, and, more importantly, if there is a remedy. Now, he needs rest. Unfortunately all I can do is keep him comfortable and hope he fights it off himself, which he is, by the way. He doesn't want to give up. I can sense it…"
The other lords left, murmuring as they did so, although Duke Barradin stayed, as did Arya Bladedancer. Mhenlo straightened up and said, "Arya, while I admire your discretion, but could you please tell us the truth this time?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, "I met this creature not far from Grendich. He… she… or it… said that for a price he could find me the Queen by using the shared link through the Soul Bond to actually read where she is."
Barradin took a breath but Mhenlo put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Wait. Let her finish."
With a nod from Barradin, Arya explained, "So I came here. I wanted to see if the rumors were true and I was horrified to learn that Selena was missing. All I could see was how Rurik reacted when Althea went missing happening all over again, only this time with disasterous results. So I accepted the Shadow's offer and allowed it to follow me by living in my Shadow. You see, that's the only way it can travel is in shadow, but my companions would only travel by day and so it could not travel any other way. Not to mention it needed host to hold it to this plane."
"And so you gave it Rurik," Barradin growled. "Gods, woman, this goes far, far beyond any mistake."
"Wait," said Mhenlo. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't the full story?"
"Well, after Barradin left I allowed the Shadow to enter Rurik, only, the King put up a fight and ended up as you see him now. That's all I know about it, I swear!"
Mhenlo thought for a moment, "I have heard of such creatures. The only solace is that not all are evil, or harmful. Some require a living host to merely allow them to finish some unfinished business and once that is done they allow themselves to travel into the Rift."
"That's what it claimed," Arya cheered immediately. "It wanted to travel to the Rift but to do that it said it had to finish something. And he needed Prince Rurik to do that."
"'Prince Rurik?'" asked both Mhenlo and Barradin in surprise, and Mhenlo said, "Prince, not King?"
"I am thinking that our Shadow died before King Adelburn did," mused Arya. "A long time before. It mentioned you, Duke Barradin, rather fondly."
For a moment Barradin was silent. Then he sat down, rubbing his face with one hand. "You're quite sure it said that?"
"With my whole soul," swore Arya again. "It did not say much else than that."
As if answering all their questions, Rurik moaned one name that added to Barradin's sorrow, "Althea…"