Keepers of the Crown Read online

  Tyron paused as if to check the sorrow seeping into his expression. In a grave tone, he rumbled on. “That, Camaria, is why the rebels despise you. They believe you are a Spirit Follower, and they hate you because they see your mother in you. The mother that most of them never even saw.”

  Cam’s eyes flitted up to meet Tyron’s, and she straightened. She often noticed that Tyron looked upon her in a way diverging from most people. Her father beheld her much the same. They both saw her mother. She remembered that she had died in Gnosi. “Did Riah see her die? He would have been quite young,” she thought.

  “Was it the Gnosi leader who ordered them to be slaughtered?” she asked aloud.

  Tyron gave a slight shrug. “I would assume so, but we do not know for certain.”

  “I suppose the Gnosi leader at the time made the people believe that my mother was something she wasn’t.”

  Tyron confirmed this with another nod. “He accused her of attempting to mislead students of Gnosi away from using magic. He proclaimed that she did not have Gnosi’s best interest at heart.”

  A foreign sort of ache filled Cam at these words. It wasn’t the bursting ache in her chest she would have felt for someone she knew and loved, but a distant sort of ache for someone she had never known as she should have. A part of her felt taken...stolen. Cam realized another prudent reason for joining the Seekers. Risk of death at the hands of rebels seemed far less. Tyron seemed to read her thoughts. “Pray, Camaria, that they do no harm to your family.”

  Cam stood, her mouth hanging open, realizing for the first time that, although her life may be safe from the hands of the rebels, those she loved back home may not be. Peter, Owen, Cole, Ira, Lia, Adria, Mista, Amelia, and others crossed her mind. There was much still left that could be taken from her. Tyron was moving. Quietly. Stealthy. His hand was reaching inside his cloak. He pulled out something small. Something leather and worn. A book. He extended it towards Cam. “Your mother’s writings. On why she left us. On where she went and whom she met.”

  Cam’s breath caught in her throat. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the book. She held it delicately in her hands and traced her fingertips over its worn surface. “H-how did you come to have this?”

  “Amelia,” Tyron said quietly, “gave it to me after I discovered that she was gone. Dead. Forever. ‘I already know everything that is in there. I bear those words on my heart,’ she had told me.” Tyron’s lips lifted in a small, sad smile. “And now...it belongs to you. It is rightfully yours.”

  He folded his hands over hers for a brief moment before departing from the main deck.

  Cam, mouth hanging open, wondered, “But...why did you never give it to my father?” Then she knew.

  Tyron Ardor had loved her mother.

  Hourslater, Cam huddled against the ship’s side, a blanket

  wrapped around her. She dozed off, her eyelids drooping before she heard soft footsteps approaching. “Woah.” The surprised sound emerged into the stillness of the night. Cam opened her eyes and squinted up at Riah who stood over her. He released a shaky laugh and raked a hand through his thick, dark hair.

  “Almost didn’t see you there,” he remarked, bending down. Cam did not reply but observed his rather disheveled appearance. “Couldn't sleep, really,” he clarified. Instead of leaving Cam, he lowered himself to sit beside her and spread his legs before him. “This boat...it's so much bigger than the little ones we would take down the river at...home.”

  When Riah said “home”, it didn’t carry any warmth that shouldhavebeen associatedwiththeword. “Icouldnavigatethis though. This ship,” he said as he waved his hand around.

  Riah’s words faded as if he was just now noticing Cam’s sudden stiffness. “Hope you don’t mind me being here, but I want to talk. To you.” Cam turned her gaze to meet his. “I was hoping that I may ask for a chance at friendship.”

  “And what response do you wish?” “One where you assure me there is a chance, even if it may be small.”

  Silence rangbetween them for a briefmoment. “Howcan you expect me to form a friendship with one who has caused much grief among my allies?” Cam’s voice was quiet, one she fought to keep steady.

  “I didn’t mean to,” he added. “I didn’t mean to do anything harmful to anyone. I was forced, Cam. You don’t know my father. He…” Riah trailed off, his eyes wide and distant. “I guess I just want forgiveness.”

  Cam turned her gaze from the deck to Riah himself. He seemed sincere enough. But innocent…? “What would have happened if he had gone against his father’s will? I hoped for your safety when we fled from Gnosi all that time ago.”

  “We’re traveling together. We’ll be...allies,” she replied shortly. She did not know yet if she could forgive him. He gazed at her for a long moment and finally nodded slowly.

  “Yes, forgiveness will wait,” she told herself.

  There is no such thing as a funeral for me, for my greatest companion, is Death. I woke him when I fell, and together we have waged war against my own realm.”

  -Lucius

  Five

  With bated breath, Cam crouched amidst high grass. The

  ground beneath her was soggy and damp. Pale yellow light tinted the heavy morning fog. Normally, she was not the first to awaken. But images of twisted bones among thorns had pricked her dreams, and thus she had crept out into the marshlands to hunt. Still, the name was a whisper even on the morning wind.

  Terra. A song of hope. A cry of grief. Always there. For the last two days, the Seekers had been venturing through wild fields and were finally entering the swamplands.

  As Cam picked her way across the abandoned wilderness, she was careful not to step on the soggier parts for fear of sinking into the ground. A knife swung from her hip, and her slingshot was clutched in her right hand. Her ears perked to detect the sounds of wildlife. Crows drifted over the tops of high grasses, cawing to one another at intervals. Other than crows, she had only found pesky insects and slithering snakes. The snakes made her shudder. Asillyfear, really, but shecouldn’t help it. Not since a fewyears ago when Fiera’s innocent prank ofplacingonein her bed had forever shaken her.

  Now as she perched silently on the ground, Cam tried to ignore the goosebumps on her skin and the fact that she was filthy from sleeping on the floor for a week. A small animal was emerging: a rabbit emerging from the grass. It was making its way to a puddle of rainwater.

  Thump.

  The animal collapsed to the ground, the stone from her slingshot beside it. “I’m getting better at this hunting thing,” Cam said to herself, a small smile tugging at her lips. Of course, the rabbit was only a few feet away, and she knew that if she was to catch larger animals by surprise, she would need to make the swinging of her weapon far quieter. She could have just as easily thrown her knife towards it, but she enjoyed the feeling of swinging the weapon over her head before releasing the stone.

  Cam had discovered that she disliked hunting for the longest time because the process involved slaying creatures that had never done her harm. Now, the sight of animal blood was the least of disturbing images. The blood wasn’t the same as humans. Or black. Like that of a Shadow Bearer. Swinging the rabbit by its feet, she hauled it over her shoulder, grinning at its unusual weight. This should be enough for breakfast, and there was no doubt that Fiera and Caleb would insist on hunting as well. Cam tread over the soft ground quietly so as not to disturb the rest of the still sleeping wildlife.

  TheSeekers’ camp was assembledon a small island in the middle of what was once a small lake but was now mostly dried up. Cam picked her way across scattered logs and rocks jutting from the algae-infested water. Their shelter was constructed of a large brown canvas tied between two trees and covering a space of ground wide enough for seven sleeping persons. Although not very spacious, it sufficed. At least the ground beneath them was dry.

  Only two were still asleep. Fiera and Caleb were nowhere to be seen and neither were their weapons. Tyron’s ba
ck was to Cam, his raven braid dangling down his back. She saw that his back was straight, his shoulders pushed back, and his legs crossed. He was utterly still. She knew his eyes would be closed too. Meditating on his surroundings, no doubt. Ahab and Riah were still inside the tent, asleep, Cam assumed. Cam liked to remember that nights in these lands were cool, for the days turned humid and distasteful.

  Jezz was poking at a fire while staring gravely into the dancing flames. She ignored Cam until the latter had removed her weapons and tossed the rabbit to her feet. Jezz snatched it up, and Cam fetched a pot.

  Silently, they filled it with water and placed it over the fire. Jezz workedquickly to skin theanimal’s corpse. Shehanded the skin to Cam and began to cut the meat into smaller pieces. While Jezz cleansed herself, Cam tossed the meat into the now boiling water. They would have rabbit stew for breakfast for the second time. At least it was not fish, which was what they had had ever since boarding their ship in the Royalty Realm. Perhaps Fiera and Caleb would return one of these days with a deer in tow.

  “We can have all this to ourselves if you like,” Jezz said, smirking at Cam. The latter raised a brow. “They’re still asleep and the lovebirds will bring back plenty more meat.”

  “If they’re lucky,” Cam thought to herself. It proved difficult to find food in the marshlands besides fish or wild crow. The rabbit was somewhat of a wonder. Nevertheless, Cam did not object when Jezz took a third of the meat and offered her the same amount. Cam squatted beside her, biting off chunks of the sizzling food. It was well cooked but tasted bland without the seasoning she was used to.

  In hardly any time at all, Jezz had consumed her portion and sat, hands over knees, staring at the water. Cam did not speak to her, for becoming friends seemed unnecessary. “I doubt we’ll see much of each other when we go back,” she thought.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Jezz said finally. She looked over at Cam, her inky eyes penetrating into hers. “About being banished. No one should be told where they can and cannot go.”

  “Well, at least we can agree on one thing,” Cam returned.

  Jezz’s face hardened into a glare which she maintained for a long moment. And then suddenly, her expression softened. “They don’t hate you. The rebels, I mean.” She spoke abruptly as if she was going to add more but decided against it.

  “They see my mother in me. That’s the reason they despise me. I understand that now. Even if most of them are too young to have ever known her. Even I...her daughter never knew her.”

  Jezz poked the blade of a machete into the soft earth, her jaw tightening.

  “Cassia Caddell.”

  The name jolted Cam.

  Jezzknewher mother’s name. Camturned, notbothering to mask her surprise. “I was seven when they killed her,” Jezz explained in a low voice. “Our leader had her nailed to the tree. He made everyone watch.” Cam’s stomach churned. It had been churning more lately. And her head had been spinning more. Spinning more than it had on the ship. But now...she felt too light...

  She had heard the story before. Once when Amelia had told her, another time when her father tearfully retold the account, and lastly, Peter’s vague account where he spoke more of his father than of her mother.

  Jezz’s voice was light as if she were merely mentioning the weather on the day it had happened. “Ma told me to close my eyes. I didn’t though. I wish I had. After the hangings that day, back home, Ma was saying that it was wrong to kill someone like that. Father beat her. He made me watch. Then he told me I was never to let a Spirit Follower rule over me.”

  Jezz’s words dropped like the small rock she now tossed into the water. Cam stared, surprised that she had heard so much. That this near stranger had actually said so many words. Cam held Jezz’s stare for a long moment before asking, “Have you ever let them rule you?”

  Jezz laughed as though what Cam had said was a stupid jest. “I didn’t really have a choice, did I?” She flung her machete to the side, making Cam jump at her sudden movement. “I do have a choice now. Out here in the wilderness, I could run away. I could get up and leave everything behind. Fear has driven me to all my actions so far. I have to make my own decisions…” she trailed off.

  Part of Cam reached out to this broken-spirited woman. “Then leave,” Cam heard herself say.

  For the first time, Jezz attempted to smile, but some other emotion consumed her countenance. “I can’t leave Ahab, andI doubt that hewouldcomewith me.He’s been searchingfor his long-lost brother for some time now, and will eventually want to return to Mirabelle.”

  Cam nodded. Her curiosity of Ahab was further mounted, but another, more pressing question arose. “Wait,” she started, “Gnosi? But you’re from Imber Fel.”

  Jezz shook her head. “I’ve lived in Imber Fel for the past several years, yes, but I came from Gnosi. I left because…” she began to trail off. Then seeming to think better of her answer, she shook her head and simply said. “I had a friend there who made me feel more at home than Gnosi did.”

  Cam mustered a smile. “I’m glad you found that.”

  Jezz was shaking her head, features still grim. “Glista turned out to be a traitor.” Cam bristled at these words. She remembered Glista’s capture of her and Peter. Her cold eyes as she licked Spirit Follower blood of her own blade. The memory broke, however, as a shout arose from over the foggy expanse of water.

  “Who wants breakfast?” a voice exclaimed. Fiera and Caleb emerged from the massively overgrown grass, one holding three fish and the other a quail. “Oh good, you’ve got a fire started,” Caleb said. He peered into the pot where the remaining rabbit was overcooking in the boiling water.

  “I’m not hungry,” Jezz stated. She rose and bounded across the lake. For a second, Cam started to follow her, to ask her more about what she knew of the riots. She restrained, however, and assisted the others with food preparations.

  At midday, Jezz returned just as they had cleared camp and prepared to mount their horses. They followed whatever dry ground they could find and traveled east, Tyron in the lead. Fiera and Cam rode in the back just a little ways behind their company.

  “I’ve been wondering about Tyron,” Fiera said at last, her voice low.

  Cam, who had been staring blankly ahead for some time, turned. “What of him?”

  Fiera shrugged. “I don’t know. Something along thelines of: how does he know so much about where we are going, and why is he here? It would make more sense that he would want to beback amonghis people. He’s never struck meas someonewho likes dealing in others’ affairs.”

  “But it's not just ‘others’ affairs. The missing magic concerns him too. I find we are the same in that way. Hesitant to deal in dangerous matters until it affects us and those we care about.”

  Fiera’s eyes narrowed as she began to understand. “Makes sense. But still, it makes me wonder who he does it for. He has his people and all, but family...Kane and Khatara...”

  Cam stiffened at the names. The son and daughter of Tyron Ardor, his only children, slain. The daughter killed in her sleep by the Shadow Bearer who had been haunting Mirabelle since Cam’s election as a Royal. And Kane...he had taken the arrow meant for Fiera. The arrow that might as well have come from Silva’s own bow.

  Everything insideofher coiled. Shehadn’t thought about them for a long time. Not with all the others, they had lost. Silence passed between them until Fiera asked suddenly, “Are you quite alright?”

  Cam whipped her head to her sister, her hands tightening on the reigns. “I’m fine, Fiera. Just tired.” And she was tired. But she was also dizzy. And sometimes her vision...it would blur. Cam shook her head as if she could rid herself of the symptoms. But they persisted.

  The Seekers continued to travel mile after mile until a silver moon slipped into the sky, and they approached dry land on the brink of a massive forest. They assembled camp near the treeline and collected water from the edges of the marshlands.

  Cam greatly desire
d to bathe, but Fiera warned her otherwise, saying leeches and eels infested the water. Long after the setting of the sun, the seven of them assembled around the fire. The time was not as Cam had expected. They did not share stories of previous adventures as they had done the previous evening. The only ones really up to talking were Fiera and Caleb. The rest of the company sat in stony silence.

  Ever since arriving in the marshlands Cam had felt an uneasy presence. Evil lurked in the heart of the very air and water. She pulled her knees up to her chest and huddled near the warm embers.

  “Riotsand stolen magic, no big deal,” Peter muttered to

  himself. He leaned into the table, pressing his elbows to the wood and burying his hands in tousels of dark hair. “Except that the nation’s stability depends on positive outcomes of the incidents, and there are merely two people here to deal with it.” He paused, his mind growing silent, and then thought, “And who knows what's happening to Cam right now.”

  He released a long, exasperated sigh, wishing he could be back in the Black Mountains, working under the fortress' roof and mending old weapons as he had done besides Cole for over a decade. But he was drawn back to the present shortly, for Saffira entered the room.

  Although he had not looked up, he heard the click of her boots across the marble floors. She had been out in the realm for the past several days in the brilliant sun. Peter paled in comparison, having stayed indoors, sorting through the evidence of stolen magic which was comprised of bits of parchment sprawled with news from the other realms.