Author's Notes: Here's some action at last. For those of you who have been waiting for some action/adventure (as I promised in my genre classification), here it is. Hope it's good enough...
Disclaimer: Most of the settings, background are Mercedes Lackey's. Only some characters belong to me, like Kerri, Zarien, Liritia...
Chapter 7 Dark, Mysterious and Evil?
;As she made her way towards a deserted path off the main garden, Kerrayrlia's thoughts resembled that of a whirldwind. She could feel Zarien's eyes on her; imagined that his intense gaze caressed her back... She resisted the urge to turn back to look at him. That would certainly be very out of character for her. But then, she had been acting out of character since she arrived at the party. Or more precisely, she had been acting that way since Zarien came to fetch her for the party.
Could it have been due to what 'Ritia told me before the party? Am I acting strangely because I feel wary of Zarien? After thinking through all her actions, she decided that that was not the case. Indeed, from what she could gather from her actions, what she felt was the very opposite of wariness.
Kerrayrlia's feet carried her automatically along a side path of gravel and stones as her mind analysed even her smallest gesture. On the left side of the path was the stone walls of the mansion, while the right side was bordered by dark bushes. The oppressive setting certainly suited her feeling of being lost and hemmed in. She thought back to her feelings when she found that Zarien was almost celibate; it had been a mixture of surprise and…what? Relief? Now, why would I feel relief to known that an acquaintance does not have a girlfriend? What does it matter to me?
As she continued down the poorly lit path, she pondered the question. She thought of her out-of-character elation when Zarien had praised her supposed beauty. I'm not one to be flattered just by a compliment, but why did I feel so pleased at Zarien's praise? I should know better than to believe it. Males between the age of fifteen and sixty never tell the truth. Then, it dawned on her. Or rather, the knowledge hit her with the force of a Companion running at full speed.
She almost exclaimed out loud at that realization! Only years of masking her feelings allowed her to remain quiet. Bright Havens, I'm attracted to Zarien! Frantically, she tried to dismiss the notion, trying to find evidence to deny it. But the more she forced herself to recall, the more memories served to confirm the fact. She realized that she had been acting strangely around Zarien for quite some time, and had been letting more of her mask slip each time. And just now in the Palace garden, he even managed to get me laughing at something other than music.
Kerrayrlia almost groaned out loud. She did not need a new complication in her already messed up life. Furthermore, there was no indication that Zarien felt the same way about her as she did him. I'm not going to make a fool of myself by telling him about my feelings. Nor am I going to get my heart broken that way. I think I will just ignore these feelings…hopefully, this is just an infatuation, and will go away soon…
She startled a little as she rounded a dark corner into a dimly lit grove. The small, circular grove was surrounded by tall rose bushes around her height. At the far end, she caught sight of three shadowy figures sprawn on the many stone benches in various states of relaxation. Immediately, she shrank back into the shadows and turned to go. She had no wish to interact with any human at that moment.
That changed speedily as she heard a loud low husky voice sneer, "Don't worry, cousin. You can be rest assured that my father will be able to provide you with the mages you need." Kerrayrlia froze. She sneaked back to the corner stealthily. Mages? There haven't been any mages in Valdemar since Herald-Mage Vanyel died fifteen years ago…
"I'm not worried about whether your father can keep his side of the bargain, cousin. I'm sure that your resourceful father will find a way. Rather, I am concerned about the quality of mages that he might provide." The voice was cold, yet silky, the sort of voice that reminded Kerrayrlia of a reptile. She shivered slightly and leaned against the wall near the pathway. Whatever this mysterious person is planning, it can't be good. I'd better stay and see what I can do.
So, although Kerrayrlia disliked eavesdropping, she plastered herself to the wall and stayed there. The shadows in the darkened garden seemed to leap and dance menacingly as, for the first time in a long while, Kerrayrlia felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her, followed by a small after taste of fear. She could feel it instinctively; those men were dangerous, they would not hesitate to get rid of her if they found out that she had privvy to their plans. A small animalistic part of her, concerned more with self-preservation than anything else, screamed for her to escape immediately, yet her calm, logical mind immediately quashed that instinct. If those people were planning something with evil intent, she had to stop them. Kerrayrlia did not know where this thought came from, but she did not question it either. Quieting her racing heart, she stilled to listen. The first person had started to speak again. "Be rest assured that the mages whom my father hired are all the best. These mages are the ones who escaped from Karse into Rethwellan; they must have had a certain degree of power in order to do that, dear cousin." The tone of the person implied that any fool would have been able to deduce that.
The silky voice hissed so softly that Kerrayrlia had to strain to hear it. "A note of warning, my cousin. Neither you nor your father are irreplaceable. If you anger me, you may find yourselves in an uncompromising situation." There was a loud thud. It sounded like someone had leapt up from the stone benches onto the hard clay that the grove was paved with. Kerrayrlia was willing to bet her harp that it was the person who had been threatened.
Just when Kerrayrlia thought that things were going to be interesting however, a third voice interrupted. This voice was quite different from the previous two. Where the two voices before had been contemptuous, this voice was diffident and oily. "Please, my lords, calm down. Queen Jisa is shrewd and intelligent and the King is no fool either. If my lords are to succeed in your brilliant plans, we must be careful. I'm sure that no one wants this partnership to end in ruin. Please."
Kerrayrlia could just imagine the third person's placating gesture that accompanied his words. Lords, what a flatterer that person is. His status must be lower than that of the other two. In Kerrayrlia's experience, one did not waste time flattering subordinates; flattery was usually reserved for one's superiors.
Yet, the first person immediately sat down, as evidenced by the thump on the stone bench. It seemed that the person did not want to risk angering the third speaker. Kerrayrlia's confusion at this was immediately resolved when the chilly voice resumed the conversation. "Of course, Baron Monthallen. For the sake of our greater goals, I'm willing to put aside personal differences. But tell me, how much gold can you provide for our cause?"
The third person addressed as Baron Monthallen then named a sum that nearly made Kerrayrlia's eyes pop out. How could any single person posses such a large amount of money? Her eyes bulged out further as Baron Monthallen continued. "I'm willing to provide all this money and more as long as my role in this is not revealed and I receive the benefits you promised; half of them upfront and the other half after the Queen has been…disposed of." The second person laughed coldly. "I always keep my promises, Baron. And I'm willing to add in a bonus if the Queen dies in the process."
Kerrayrlia stared blankly at the starry skies, wondering if her hearing was impaired. They are planning to dispose of the Queen? Great gods, what have I stumbled into? Another thought struck her as she recovered slowly from her shock. She was in great danger. She had no doubt of what those men would do to her if they found that she had been listening to their secret conversation. Anyone capable of laughing while planning cold-blooded murder would not hesitate to kill a young Bardic Trainee. A single word to describe the person crept into her mind: Evil.
Kerrayrlia started to step forward from the wall slowly. She had managed to steal away from the dark corner, sneaking off back in the direction where she had come from, when she suddenly stiffened and froze in mid-step . Standing in her way was a huge, shadowy figure. The figure hissed, "Not so fast, little girl. Don't you know that eavesdropping is impolite?"
Eyes widened in terror, Kerrayrlia took two steps back involuntarily. Nervous sweat was dripping down her face and plastered her fringe into her eyes. As she raised her hand to brush the fringe away from her face, the shadowy figure lunged at her.
Unable to see clearly in the gloom, she blindly tried to sidestep the attack, but tripped and fell sideways. Thud! A sliver of pain crept up her right arm. Although the earth she landed on was soft enough to cushion most of the impact of her fall, but it did not prevent her from feeling the blinding agony lancing through her limb. Trying to get up, she was disposed of the notion by the kick the shadowy figure aimed at her…