The Royal Palace, Cria, Galla
Anna's fingers blazed with the rose pink colour of her Gift as she gently parted the delicate threads of the neighbouring room's wards. It was a time consuming business, but a trick she had done countless times before.
"...let one escape?!" a woman's voice bellowed, making the maid flinch. That was definitely Lady Olga, her mistress and mother to the Earl of Sinjë. She listened on.
"We have the King's body, that is all the people and nobility need to see," he wheedled, muttering placating words to his mother.
"Tell me exactly how you managed to lose one of the King's brats," the old woman said in a dangerously low tone, cutting off her son.
She could hear Earl Dmitri's feet shuffling on the stone as he paced nervously to and fro. "I ordered them shot with crossbows in the cellar of the castle just as you suggested, Mother." Anna's fingers trembled and the threads slipped back into place. Desperately, she parted them again, but it was frustratingly slow work. "...horse missing from the stable and no body."
There was a deafening silence in the neighbouring room for several tense moments. "Allow viewings of the King at the funeral tomorrow, but not the rest." The doe-eyed girl heard the old woman say calmly, though she was clearly fighting the urge to screech at her son again. "You will say the assassin's attack left them in a distressing state."
The maid's heart fluttered in her chest. There was hope! A child of the King yet lived. Anna listened intently to the rest of the conversation, hoping to catch more details of the survivor. The King had fathered two daughters and two sons but she had no idea who had escaped. As the conversation ended, unfortunately rewarding her with no further information, the mousy girl let the magical threads of the wards slip closed again. She had to send her message out immediately.
On the palace rooftop, the young woman wrote her encoded report on spelled parchment, glad for once that her words contained good news. She sent out the silent call for the owl that carried her messages so diligently.
The familiar, ghostly shape swooped out of the night sky and landed next to her, greeting the maid with a soft hoot and regarding her with austere black eyes. "I'm sorry to burden you again so soon, Mistress Owl," Anna murmured, feeling slightly foolish as she spoke. She gently tied her message to the owl's leg and stepped back, straightening as she did so. The snowy owl launched into the night with a graceful spread of wings and the maid watched the creature's beautiful flight.
Suddenly, the owl dropped like a stone and Anna muffled a cry of distress in her sleeve. Peering over the edge of the roof, she saw a guard in blue and silver livery of the palace lowering his longbow. The other guard who stood with him pointed at the roof, at her. Panicked, the maid ducked and half crouched as she ran to the door leading off the roof. Adrenaline rushing through her veins, she ducked into a shadowed alcove and within moments, the palace guards were racing down the hall and onto the roof. Not wasting a moment, Anna hurried down the corridor and back to Lady Olga's rooms.
"Why, my dear, you are breathless!" exclaimed the Lady with apparent concern. The maid froze, staring at the older woman with wide, frightened eyes.
"I...there was a disturbance on the roof and I was caught up in the excitement," Anna said quickly, choosing her words so no truth spell would detect a lie. "I'm sorry, my Lady." She curtsied.
For a brief moment, she saw a cool, assessing look in the old woman's eyes before her kindly mask returned. "You young ones are so excitable," she said cheerfully. "I believe I will retire for the night, Anna. It will be a big day tomorrow with the sad business of my nephew's funeral."
After assisting Lady Olga to dress, the mousy girl sat alone on her cot, her mind working furiously. She was trapped and so very far from Tortall. Her only means of communication had been cut off and she did not doubt security would be even tighter now that the Earl of Sinjë planned to take the throne. Nervous and fearful, Anna fell into troubled dreams.
***
Two weeks later, Goldenlake Keep
Peaceful darkness, oblivion. She liked it there, nothing hurt, no fears, no screaming . But there was a voice that wouldn't let her sink into the darkness, it wouldn't be quiet. It told her stories and spoke about the weather; inane things but they filtered into her peaceful world.
Birds, it took her a while to remember what birds were, but the insistent chittering was more bothersome than the voice. She stirred. It felt like her limbs were weighted with lead, but as she made the effort to move, the noise seemed to increase in volume.
Her eyelids fluttered; the brief, blinding light drew a groan from her throat.
With great effort she opened her eyes, just briefly to see the sunlit room around her in soft focus, before she lost the battle with her eyelids and they snapped shut again. The darkness called to her, comforting and warm in comparison to the harsh world waiting beyond her lids. "No," she said, hearing a croak emit from her parched lips.
Again she opened her eyes; it was less of a struggle now and the room was in focus. A small snoring noise to her left made her jump and with effort she turned her head. Slumped in a comfortable chair next to her cot was ahandsome, dark-haired man. In sleep, his features were relaxed and he looked young, the sunlight catching his face well to make him all the nicer to look at. His clothes were simple, a white shirt that hung loosely and black breeches but the material was of a fine quality.
Spying a glass of water at her bedside, she reached for it. Her hand grasping clumsily at the tumbler and was knocked to the ground with a painfully loud crashing noise. She flopped weakly back down on the bed, exhausted by her efforts and looked down at the spilled drink mournfully before meeting startled sapphire eyes.
"You're awake," the handsome young man said, looking happy. She frowned up at him. He was familiar, but when she tried to speak a dry croak was all that escaped her lips.
The cool rim of a glass was pressed to her lips and she took small sips of the chilled water until it was drawn away. Suddenly, it hit her. He was the voice. "Do I know you?" she asked.
The blue-eyed man shook his head. "I've been caring for you, I'm Jasson." He flashed her a bright smile that made her forget to breathe for a moment. "I need to get Lyle though. He's the head healer here, so he will check you over." And then he was gone, leaving her alone.
It felt like she blinked, but when she opened her eyes again, an old man with warm, grey eyes was leaning over her. "Decided to join us have you?" the healer said, though not unkindly.
She nodded, blinking up at the aged mage in slight bewilderment. Hovering in the background, Jasson gave her a reassuring smile.
The healer leaned back and held out his index finger. "Grip as hard as you can, my dear." She raised her arm with effort and obediently curled her hand around his finger, it felt weak even to her. The old man nodded to himself and she let go and moved closer to peer into her eyes with his fingertips glowing with Gift. "Pupils reacting well," he murmured mostly to himself, but ended up smiling warmly. "Now, a few questions to check there was no permanent damage done from that knock to the head. Two plus seven?"
"Nine," she replied croakily, accepting another sip of water.
"Where is Corus?" the healer questioned.
"Tortall..."
"Good," the old man said. "What is your name?"
That gave her pause, her name. Her mind scrambled desperately to find it, but it was like trying to hold sand in her fingers, it slipped away elusively. "I..."
The mage's face darkened with worry. "Your name, dear?" he prompted gently.
She shook her head. "I don't know," she muttered, panic rising in her chest. "What's going on? Where am I?"
"Your name is Elena." Jasson supplied helpfully, "We found it inscribed on your locket.
"Elena," she repeated, rolling the name around her mind. Faintly, colourful images rose, but there was nothing clear enough to discern. She frowned in annoyance.
"Is that sparking any memories for you?" the old healer asked.
Elena shook her head. "Nothing clear."
"Where were you born?" he questioned.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't know."
"Do you have any family?"
She shook her head again. "I can't remember," Elena told him, feeling dismayed. It felt as though a large chunk of her was missing.
She felt a warm hand pat her arm reassuringly and opened her eyes to meet the healer's gaze. "It will come back to you, don't push yourself." He bustled away to see to his other patients.
With Jasson's help, she propped herself up with pillows before he perched on the end of her bed. "I can't believe you woke up, I mean I hoped you would... but it has been nearing three weeks."
"You spoke to me, didn't you? While I was out?" Elena asked quietly.
The tips of Jasson's ears went pink. "To help you wake up." He paused for a moment, thinking, and then looked at her intently. "Do you remember what I said?"
She shook her head. "I remember your voice."
The admission seemed to make him brighten. "Are you hungry?"
***
With the help of a female healer, Elena dressed in a light, woollen shirt and breeches. Clothed and fed, she felt a lot less groggy than she had, although her memories still seemed to meander just beyond her grasp.
For the first time, Elena peered into a looking glass and stared into an unfamiliar face. The first thing that grabbed her attention was her green eyes, and then the purple bruises of exhaustion underneath them. Her skin was pale, too pale, and gave her a sickly look. Also, her cheekbones were too prominent to be considered healthy. She brushed her dark brown hair aside to reveal a nasty looking scar. Her fingers traced it, the skin still pink though she could not dredge up anything other than the brief flash of a blade when she tried to recall receiving it. Hurriedly combing her hair over it with her fingers, Elena tried to conceal it. Her nose she could do nothing to hide. There was a definite bend where a break had healed badly which she covered it with her hand self-consciously.
"Lyle says a small walk would do you good, if you feel up to it?" Jasson's voice broke her examination of herself.
She smiled up at him. "If you don't have to help him out with anything else. After all, the ward is very busy at the moment."
Jasson gave her a startled look. "Oh, I'm not a healer."
Elena frowned. "Then why were you looking after me? What do you do then?" she questioned.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "I offered to help out so I could get out of clerk duties. Shall we go for that walk? I can show you the keep."
She accepted his arm to lean on, her strength still depleted. It occurred to her that he had not really answered her question about his job but she didn't push it further. As they walked, Jasson told her about his siblings. He regaled her with the story of him and his younger sisters stealing his father's paperwork and replacing it with dreadful love poetry. And the time his older brother Liam had climbed a tree to prove he could and become stuck. Sometimes he would pause and go silent for an awkward moment before continuing, as if he was editing events.
Their walk took them around the walls of the keep. To the north and west, mountains stood tall, like blue shadows in the distance. "Galla is that way." Jasson pointed west. "With your accent, and the amount of Gallans choosing to move to Tortall, it's probably where you are from."
Elena squinted at the distant mountain range, hoping for a hint of recognition to stir within her, but , to her disappointment, she felt nothing.
Closer to Goldenlake Keep, a rich tapestry of fields stretched below them, some ploughed but others grassy with livestock grazing in them. To the south was a huge lake, bordered by trees on the far side.
Elena leaned against the stone parapet and idly watched a small sailing boat take advantage of the wind to cut a swift path across the lake. "Why is it called Goldenlake?" she asked, since the lake appeared to be a normal colour.
"You can't see it at sunset because the mountains block the sunlight, but I'll show you at sunrise if you like?" Jasson offered, his face was inches from hers and for a brief moment she thought he was going to kiss her.
"I'd love to..." she replied faintly. Jasson grinned and the moment was broken, he guided her back to the healing wing and her ward.
Elena felt as though she had walked for miles when she sat on her cot, her legs felt shaky and weak and her whole body ached.
"Don't worry, your strength will come back once you eat a few good meals and exercise," Jasson comforted, as if he had read her mind.
She sighed and pulled an impatient face before saying unhappily, "I know. I just want to feel better now."
He smiled, his sapphire-blue eyes shining in amusement and opened his mouth to reply when he paused, looking beyond Elena. She turned and saw a tall man standing behind her. He had a lean figure and blinking up into his hazel eyes she saw his hair was brown and cut short. "Glad to see you awake, Lass," he said by way of greeting.