I know no one liked Talia dying. I is sorry. But I hope you all won't hold it against me.
Most of my other fanfictions are done, so hopefully I'll have more updates on "A Flame in the Dark." But I'm moving more into the fp.net area, so who knows how things will work out.
Disclaimer: The only characters that belong to me are the ones you haven't heard of in Miss Lackey's books.
~~~~~
Elspeth and Darkwind walked through the old palace, Gwena guiding them with the help of the new Queen's Own Companion, Taliesin. It had only been two hours since the murder, but already so much had changed. The whole thing felt surreal to Elspeth. She couldn't help but think that any minute, she would wake up in the bed that she and Darkwind shared, that Talia and Dirk and Rolan and Ahrhodie would still be alive. But at the same time, she knew that there was no waking up.
They stopped at the threshold to the door, which had been left slightly open, as if someone had left in a hurry. Elspeth hesitated for a moment, and Darkwind caught her hand. "You don't have to go in, ashke," he said gently.
"I know, but I…need to," she said.
He nodded. Elspeth reached out and pushed the door open. Elspeth was almost surprised at how little blood there was. The way Talia had felt before she…died, you'd think that she had been tortured. But there was no blood. Barely anything was misplaced. She took a step forward, but Darkwind held her back, gesturing with a hand to the floor. She looked down and saw a perfect circle burned into the floor. She could see why he had held her back; the circle did not look like it could support someone's weight.
"Devina must have done that," Elspeth whispered, speaking as if she were in a church.
Elspeth spared a moment to hope Devina would be okay. The girl had seriously overworked her Gifts, and had collapsed. The healers were fighting to keep her alive. Gods, we can't lose two Queen's Owns in one day!
She carefully stepped around the burned circle, and Darkwind followed. Now that she was further into the room, she could see that something was slumped against the side of the empty bookcase, hidden from view until now by a chair. Elspeth's heart skipped a beat, but she continued resolutely forward until she was standing in front of Talia's corpse.
Darkwind watched his wife carefully, as he stood an arm length behind her. She was standing stock still, staring at the body of the woman who had been Elspeth's mentor and most trusted friend. Talia's face was contorted in pain. Her body was limp, but her fingers were claw-like, made stiff in death. One of her arms had been cut along the wrist, the blood smeared on it making it look worse than it had been. For a long time Elspeth only stared, but then she spoke.
"She's really dead," she said hollowly. "When we were walking here, I kept thinking that someone would pop out and tell me it was all a joke, that Talia was fine. 'We even got the Death Bell in on it,' that's what I wanted them to say. But she's dead. She's really dead."
Her shoulders started to shake, and Darkwind could see that her legs were going to give out. He stepped forward and caught her. She resisted only slightly, then began sobbing into his shirt. He merely stroked her hair, murmuring consoling words in Tayledras, which he had fallen into naturally.
After what seemed like candlemarks, Elspeth's tears subsided, and she sniffed and pulled away.
"Elspeth, are you all right?" He asked.
"No," she said truthfully, wiping her red eyes with her hands. "But we have to find out what it was that killed Talia. I have a job to do as a Herald-Mage."
"All right. Shall we get started then?" he asked. Elspeth wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffed loudly, then nodded.
"It looks like the murderer cut her with a poisoned blade. I just hope he left it behind, or it will be much harder to find out what killed her."
The pair searched the room, starting around Talia's body, then moving on to the rest of the room. Finally Darkwind shook his head and cursed. "He must have taken it with him."
Elspeth sighed. :Do you have any ideas Gwena?: She asked, wiping her running nose on her sleeve again.
:Not really.: Elspeth Felt her Companion conversing with someone else, probably Taliesin. Her thoughts were confirmed a moment later. :Taliesin says that the man was a mage. You might be able to pick up some magical residue.:
:Good idea.: She relayed this idea to Darkwind, and they both invoked their mage sight. The trail was all around the room. Darkwind followed it out the door. But a few turns later, it simply disappeared. That's strange, Darkwind thought as he came back to himself.
"Darkwind, I found it," said Elspeth. He turned to see her holding a dagger with a blackish green blade.
"Where was it?" he asked.
"It was under the bed frame, next to the wall. It has magical properties."
"What?"
"See for yourself." She handed him the blade.
Darkwind invoked his mage-sight and was surprised and worried to see that it glowed with a bloody red color. He tested the blade with his magic, and immediately recoiled. The poison was a magical substance. This was no natural toxin.
"I've never seen this kind of poison before," he said.
"Nor have I," said Elspeth, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
"I think we need to call a mage meeting," said Darkwind.
))^^((#%#))^^((
Elspeth looked around the room. Along with herself and Darkwind, there was also Treyvan and two mages from Rethwellan, Master Thayerant and Adept Jeffurillson, known by the shorter names Thayer and Jeff. Hydona was looking after her new little ones, and couldn't be here. The two Rethwellians still looked shaken from…Talia's death. The thought caused tears to threaten her eyes. Be strong now, fall apart later, she told herself firmly. They had met in the gryphon's set of rooms, as none of the other rooms would have been able to fit them all and the gryphon comfortably.
"Herald Elspeth?" Asked Thayer, bringing her thoughts to the present. "Why did you call us here?"
"We wanted to see if any of you recognized the poison on this blade." Darkwind said, pulling the dagger our of an old leather sheath he had found in the armory. He handed the poisoned blade to the pair.
Elspeth invoked her mage sight and watched them go over it with their magic. After a few moments they looked up.
"I have never seen anything like this," declared Jeff.
"Nor have I." said Thayer.
"Let me sssee thisss weapon," said Treyvan. Jeff picked up the dagger and passed it to the gryphon, who scanned it with his gift. He hissed suddenly, his crest rising and his pupils dilating.
"Do you know it?" asked Darkwind.
"Yesss," he said. "It isss the poissson frrrom mirrranda thorrrnsss, the sssame poissson that killed the Mage of Sssilence, Urrtho. But I thought it all had been desstroyed in the Grreat Cataclyssm."
"Apparently some of it survived," Elspeth said.
"Is there an antidote?" Darkwind asked.
"That isss why mirrranda isss ssso dangerrrousss. The plant wasss crreated with blood magic by Ma'arrr, and he wasss not one to be kind. Therrre isss no currre." He sounded sorrowful when he spoke the last.
"Star-eyed, I wish everything didn't come back to Ma'ar," said Darkwind. "We finally killed him, and still he haunts us." (A/N: He's like the energizer bunny! He keeps going and going…)
:Ask them about the Li'Kathao.: said Gwena. :Taliesin said that the man talked about them, whoever they are.:
"Does anyone know anything about the Li'Kathao? The murderer said spoke of them." Elspeth asked. Treyvan shook his head, as did Jeff. But Thayer nodded slowly.
"My family immigrated to Rethwellan from Velvar when I was a child. I remember my father telling me stories of the people in the far South called the Li'Kathao, the people of war. They are a warrior people, that live and die by the sword. They are supposed to be lead by a woman, with black hair reaching down to her knees and fierce blue eyes, who steals the heart of any man who looks upon her. It is said in Velvar that when magic is lost to the world, the Li'Kathao will rise and rule all countries, reigning with the fist and the sword until the world is only embers and dust."
"Damn," Elspeth said.
"According to Taliesin, the man said that they were coming. And you said they would only rise to rule when magic has left the world," said Darkwind, frowning. "But magic has not left the world. It has only been spread about evenly since the Cataclysm was averted."
"Trrrue," said Treyvan. "But rrrememberrr, we Adeptsss and Masssterrss have not the powerrr we once held. Forrr a long while, we ssshall be verrry hinderrred in magic. Perrhapsss they sssee now asss theirrr time to act."
Elspeth rubbed her eyes wearily. "Which means we may have a people trying to conquer our allies to the south soon. A people bred for war."
"And not only that," said Thayer. "But it is also said that they have a magic different from ours, and different from the mind-magic."
Darkwind looked troubled. "What kind of magic could that be?" They were all silent for a few moments, then Jeff spoke.
"You realize, of course, that these are wives tales, told to children of Velvar to scare them off to bed. I've heard it before. Be good, or the Li'Kathao will get you. Faugh." He shook his head.
"They may have been stories, but every story has a basis in truth!" said Thayer. "You've lived all your life in the Rethwellan Court. How would you know what is truth and what is moonshine to people who live on the edges of civilization?"
"The basis in truth you speak of probably disappeared decades ago!" Jeff said.
"The Tayledras were considered a myth until very recently." Darkwind said quietly. "Why should it be different with these people?"
"Adept Jeff, may I remind you that this is the only lead we have?" Elspeth said coldly. "If you have another explanation, feel free to speak. Otherwise withhold your criticism."
"I was only saying…" the Master muttered.
The meeting was quickly finished up, and the mages went their separate ways. Treyvan asked if he could hold onto the blade, to study it. He didn't think the poison was purely the toxin from miranda thorns.
Elspeth rubbed her face tiredly as they walked back to their room. "I'd like to just lie down and cry for the next week, but I need to speak with my mother and Kero about this. The Queen needs to be informed about any possible threat to her country."
"I will go look in the Library for anything about these Li'Kathao. Maybe there is some record of their existence," Darkwind stopped, and caught her hand. "When you are done speaking with your mother and Lady Kerowyn, you can always come get me. You don't have to be alone in your grief. I knew her as well."
For the first time, Elspeth could see the pain in his eyes, and she knew then that Talia's death had been a big blow to him too. Talia had always been behind their relationship, Talia had been the first one to trust in him on the council, and Talia had been his wife's best friend.
"I'm so sorry, Darkwind," Elspeth said, giving him a hug, a few tears falling despite her. "I haven't even thought of what you are going through."
"Ashke, it's all right," he said. "I understand. Go speak with your mother."
Elspeth smiled, albeit a watery one, and kissed him lightly. "Hopefully it won't take very long." She kissed him once more, then walked toward her mother's apartments.
Darkwind walked on to their own apartments, deciding to spend a little time with Vree before he locked himself in the musty library. It surprised him how much he had taken to reading. As a scout he hadn't much time for it, and during his time as a mage, both before and after, he had been too busy working magic. But now that he was little more useful than a Journeyman, he had gained much more time for reading.
The large window in their room was thrown open to the warm summer air. Vree was sitting on a perch, sunning himself, but he cocked one eye open at Darkwind's approach.
:?: the bird inquired. :Where Elspeth?:
:Speaking with her mother.: Darkwind said, coming to the bird's perch and offering his arm. Vree sidled onto his wrist gently, and Darkwind lifted his hand so the bird could hop onto his shoulder.
:Darkwind sad?: Vree asked.
:Yes.:
:Why?:
Darkwind struggled to convey death to the bird. :Because a person went away.:
:Like Dawnfire went away?: asked Vree.
Darkwind was a little surprised by how easily is bondmate has grasped the concept he had been trying to convey. :Yes. Like Dawnfire.:
Vree nibbled Darkwind's fingers. :Vree won't go away. Vree stay with Darkwind.:
Darkwind smiled sadly. :I know.:
~~~~~
Okay, that was a slightly depressing chapter, but I felt that I needed to do this stuff before we go back to Devina. And don't worry. She's not dead. Where would my story be without her?
Reader Response
Cerulean Sky: I'm glad you won't hurt me. And I believe I spoke with you about the Rolan thing. Hope you are enjoying the story!
RonethDragon Tiamat: I made it so sad because it is sad. And I was crying writing it, so yeah. And thank you for the compliment.
Herald Mistylenna: Geeze, did I make everyone cry...?
Fireblade: Hmm… interesting coincidence. I haven't read that story. I have yet to get to it.
DARKMEW13: ….You don't believe in periods in your reviews, do you?
kitten: I hope I didn't! It's hard for me to keep track. I have too many stories.
Stee: Well, Rolan was actually a fairly new Queen's Own. The Queen's Own before Talia, Talamir, had another Queen's Own Companion whose name was Taver, but he was killed in the Tedrel Wars. They really needed Talamir, so they kept him alive until Rolan could get to the front line. And Rolan didn't Choose Devina because of his unusually strong Bond with Talia. I hope that clears things up a bit.
WolfChild: Oh, okay. Thanks.
LeopardDance: All right, all right, calm down. That will be later. But I promise, I will give her a cat. And I didn't kill everyone…
DreamKeeper: *Completely blank look* What…? Taliesin…come..back?? Wha?? E-mail me and 'splain to me; elven_spider@yahoo.com
Song Blade: Because I hadn't updated yet, that's why!
Linda: I think you were in a weird mood, Lindy.
Thank you all for reading my story, and for reviewing it. Remember, I'll acknowledge you in my review response, even if all you said is, "Great job."
Ciao!
