Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 62: The Silver Lady

"You're going to do something about it, right?" Blaxton rubbed his hands over his stubble of unkept facial hair.

Jeremy raised his eyebrows and rummaged through his pockets trying to find his pack of cigarettes. "I've told you a thousand times, Lord Monatheon, I've already done everything I can. I cast the tracking spell and got nothing. My guess is that Marco is being protected by something ancient that I can't touch. He's being shielded-"

"I need you to find my son!" he yelled, his voice vibrating off the black stone walls of Castle Rock. He paced in front of the chair, in extreme agitation, where the Lord of the North usually sat, his wife sat in the chair to the right of it, her hands folded in her lap elegantly.

Jeremy blew out a cloud of purple smoke. "There's nothing more I can do. I'll talk to my sister, she's the only one who can help you now."

"The Girl Queen is very busy." Rose spoke up quietly. "You need to make sure this is a priority for her."

Jeremy's tone softened as he spoke to the Silver Princess. "Your families were each the first to help her. She will not forget the loyalty each of you have shown to her."

"Thank you." Rose nodded and Jeremy gave a small bow before leaving the room. He could hear Blaxton cursing behind him in the grand hallway. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps following behind him, echoing off the stone walls.

In the blue light of the torches, Rose Monatheon was illuminated. Jeremy stared at her while he took another drag from his cigarette.

"What can I do for you, my lady?" he said dryly.

"Tell me what you know about my son." she said fiercely and Jeremy did not feel inclined to refuse her.

He took another deep breath from his cigarette and flicked the ash off the end. "I don't know anything for sure but I can give you my opinion on the matter." she nodded and he continued, leaning against the wall. "Well, I think Marco didn't act alone. To be honest I don't even think Marco acted on his own accord. It's completely illogical for him to want your son. So either he was coerced or he didn't even know what he was doing."

"You think it wasn't his fault?" she jumped in.

Jeremy shrugged. "I think it doesn't make sense that it would be. Considering I couldn't place a tracking spell on him, he's under some serious protection. Something beyond my capabilities. Which again backs the theory that he isn't alone in this."

"Who could be behind it?"

"Since Akkedis has been here for so long and done such a fine job of abolishing magic, there's very few people capable of doing what is being done right now. I don't know many people in Kalishterya, so right now the only person who is capable of doing this, that we know of, would be Amelia. But there's no way she's behind it." he spoke sort of slowly and quietly, which forced Rose to pay very close attention to each word he spoke.

"I believe the Girl Queen has nothing to do with this." she nodded. "What do I do now?"

Jeremy shrugged and stood up straight. "I'm going to go talk to Al. He's the one person in this kingdom who would be able to give us a list of people with the ability to protect Marco the way they are."

"Then what?" Rose pressed and for the first time since he had arrived in Stone Garden, Jeremy saw true desperation in her eyes. "What happens next?"

"Well then I guess we tell Amelia and she decides how to proceed. But my guess is that she'll form a search party to find each of these people and to find Silvio."

Rose took a step backwards and tugged at her hair. "That will take too long. He could be dead by then."

"He could be dead right now." Jeremy said unfeelingly. "If we rush things, then we miss things and if we miss things then we lose him. We have to take our time and do this properly."

"Time?" she narrowed her eyes. "I will not sit around and wait for the discussions to end. My father is one of the richest people in the kingdom, my husband is one of the most powerful. Surely between them they can find my son?"

"It isn't that simple. I know magic has not been a big part of this kingdom so you don't understand how this works. We need to use magic to find him and we need to find the magician who cast the spell in the first place. We can't just search the kingdom. That won't work even if you look under every rock and every leaf. You won't find him." he said fervently. "You're playing a different game now."

Rose was quiet for a moment. "I may not understand magic, not the kind you're talking about. But you misunderstand me, Jeremy Merlin." she looked at him square in the eye and he had to confess, he'd never seen this side of her in his entire life, and he suspected no one ever had. "I understand what you are saying. And I also understand that all the armies in the world cannot find him. And that is the only reason I will allow the Dellisandro army and the Monatheon one to continue fighting for your sister. ButI am a mother. And I will do whatever it takes to find my child. I will not rest until he is safe and if I have to, I will raze this kingdom to the ground to find him. I will burn cities and I would sleep soundly at night, knowing I did the right thing." she smiled sadly and put a hand on his shoulder. "I truly hope one day you know how it feels to have a child of your own."

Jeremy felt like he'd been hit with a stunning curse. "I-I don't think that's going to happen."

"Why not?" she furrowed her brow. It was so strange, the woman before him was full of kindness and warmth whereas moments ago she had been as cold and hard as the metal she was so aptly named for. In the span of a conversation, Jeremy had seen more of Rose than he ever planned to.

He gave a dry chuckle and raised his cigarette to his mouth. "Because I'm dying."

"I'm sorry to hear that." she said genuinely.

Jeremy shrugged. "It's been a part of my life for a long time now. I mean there was a short period where I thought I was going to make it but that was nothing more than a dream." Rose looked like she was about to offer some advice or some encouragement but he shook his head and flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette again. "I've seen all the doctors there are and they all say the same thing. I'll be dead in a year."

A/N hey everyone! Just wanted to thank you again for still reading and keeping with me through this! We've got so much crazy stuff happening in the story right now and it's just going to get more action packed with the chapters to come! I have to say that I'm really excited for this and I'm so happy you're all here with me! Please keep commenting and letting me know your thoughts on what's going on!