Magika [Completed]

Chapter 23

"This?" Eriani said, as though she'd been handed something mediocre. Her gaze raked over Aldeheid. "And here I thought I'd raised Mellidius as a man of standards."

Kemah cleared his throat loudly and opened his mouth to speak but Aldeheid beat him to it.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But at least he is a man of tact."

Kitaya couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, so she hid it behind a fit of fake coughs. It seemed she was rubbing off on him. Which would make her partly responsible if Eriani decided to rip his head from his shoulders. She took his hand and pulled him down to the mat.

Eriani narrowed her eyes at them both. "I see Kitaya neglected to tell you whose company you're in."

Kitaya rolled her eyes as Eriani brandished the gaudy ring on her marked hand. "He's from the far north Eriani. He doesn't know anything about us."

"Then allow me to give him a proper introduction. I am Eriani, Queen of the Nation of Lions."

Aldeheid gaped. "Kitten, you're royalty? And Mellidius too? Why didn't he ever tell me?"

Kitaya took a gulp of wine before answering. "Because this is earth, and our titles mean nothing here. The humans have their own royalty." She wasn't one to flaunt her title. Even in Magika. The most it could earn her was envious scowls or fake respect.

Kitten," Eriani repeated, wrinkling her nose. "You allow him to demean you so?"

She shrugged and they lapsed into silence. An uncomfortable soul-sucking silence. The kind of silence where everyone had something to say but no one wanted to speak. Only the clinks of their cutlery served to fill the void left behind.

"Kitaya. Where are you headed next?" Kemah asked.

"Across the water. To Aiisha." A chilling silence fell over the room. There was something out there in the water. They all knew that, and they'd put off seeing what it was for long enough.

His eyes flicked to Aldeheid before settling on her again. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?" Aldeheid drew his brows together. "Is there something you need to tell me, kitten?"

"In time." If she told him everything, he'd ask questions, want to get involved. Back when she'd been as lost and hopeless as him, she'd jumped at any opportunity to make herself useful. To be relevant. There was no doubt in her mind Aldeheid would do the same, and that was not something she could subject her conscience to.

Kemah shrugged and heaved a sigh. "Very well, I trust your, judgment and your strength. Are you prepared?"

"I am. He isn't." She looked towards Eriani. "The enchantment on his armour is nearly burnt out."

Eriani was silent for a long moment before she nodded.

Kemah placed a hand on his magician's shoulder, and one bright flash later, he was a heavy cape of midnight blue.

Good, Kitaya thought. With an enchantment from Eriani, Aldeheid would be better protected from whatever was waiting for them out on the sea.

"Hold still." Eriani told him. Her marked hand was extended. Magic thickened the air as she began reciting the spell. The ancient words rolled off her tongue like thunder, and the room became warm. When the spell reached its crescendo, runes danced across the surface of Aldeheid's gear.

Watching Eriani spellcast was always a spectacle. Her strength was evident each word she spoke and every wave of magic that crashed through the room. And that was only an enchantment. Kitaya had seen what she could do otherwise and counted herself fortunate that the Konian Queen was her altori.

"Give me the sword," Eriani said when she was through with the enchantment.

Aldeheid took it from his belt and placed it in her waiting hands. "Is there something I should know? Are we in danger?"

"Not so long as you're with me, angel eyes." She gave him a smile that she hoped was reassuring.

"Where are the gems?" Eriani asked, cutting in.

"I... don't know what you're talking about..."

She turned the hilt towards him. "The lion's eyes are missing."

Indeed there was nothing in the eye sockets, but Kitaya had thought that was normal. Why would Mellidius give him the sword but not the stones? To make some cryptic, metaphoric point perhaps -- that would be very much like him.

"The enchantment in the stones is stronger than that of the blade. Without them, the sword is nothing." She gave it back to him. "I supposed Mellidius still has them."

Aldeheid looked down at the lion's head pommel. "Do you know where he is?"

Another bright flash lit up the room as Kemah returned to his normal form. "The last time we saw Mellidius was a in Kon, twenty-five years ago." He grimaced and picked up his tankard of ale. "He told us what happened to Shara. Haven't seen him or heard from him since."

"And why did nobody tell me?" Kitaya asked, narrowing her eyes at them both. "I had to find out from a stranger."

Eriani's face contorted into an expression of rage but Kitaya remained unfazed, even as the air seemed to crackle between them. "This would have never happened if you all had listened to me." Her voice was quiet, yet held the foreboding quality of violent wind and booming thunder. "I told you all when you left Kon, when you left Magika, to stay together."

Kitaya scoffed. "Mellidius is his own man, and the last time I checked, I was neither his caretaker not his altori. He was your golden boy. If anything, this happened because your teachings weren't enough."

"You will not sit there and speak to me with such disrespect!" Eriani slammed her fist on the stone table.

"Fine." She rose to her feet. "Angel eyes, we have a boat to catch. Eriani, Kemah, I hope you both have a safe trip home."

And with that, Kitaya walked out of the room and the house, not stopping until she reached the back yard, where Alvere and Kaza had made themselves at home. She didn't realize she was being followed until she felt Kemah's presence at her side.

"She hates me."

"Eriani does not hate you, child. She worries about you. As do I." He gave her a look that held both disappointment and sadness. "You disappear for decades at a time, no one can see or hear from you, no one knows if you're alive or dead. It's almost as though you've forgotten about us."

Kitaya let his words sink in. She had been isolating herself from everyone else more and more as of late. But it wasn't because she didn't care. She'd been absorbed with the thin spaces and all the dangers that came with them. Still, that wasn't an excuse to neglect her family, or her home.

"You're right," she finally conceded. "I'll try to make time to come home. Take a break for a bit."

"Nothing would make me happier."

They fell silent and stared out at the sea. It was flat and calm, welcoming even. But Kitaya knew there was something sinister lurking beyond its illusion of tranquility. She'd felt it when she entered the city.

"This Aldeheid fellow. What's his story?" Kemah asked. "And why is he travelling with you?"

Kitaya shrugged. "He got kicked out of the Bastion. He wanted to look for Mellidius but... I'm taking him to Aiisha. Maybe Gebarro can find something for him to do."

"Ah, guiding lost souls, are we?" He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Good luck out there. May the gods favour you."