Kingdom's Vice Series: Journey to Alleria ( #1 2014) #Wattys2015

Chapter Eighteen

Faeore mumbles things past the door every now and then. She talks about The Light, and how the Sapphire Tree spreads the energy throughout the kingdom. She tells me I need to visit the tree again, to “recharge” myself and keep close to it until it shines in my favour. I have no interest in light of any kind right now; all I want is the luxuries of home. Here I have plenty, but not of equal amount to Bardhelm.

I know Uncle is near the door when his footsteps stop. Faeore speaks to him.

‘A’noree flenaw qeynar,’

He pauses. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes.’ She replies. ‘I told you before. The vision hasn’t changed, not in the slightest. She’s refusing the Light’s energy. Without the light, darkness will hold her prisoner.’

He sighs. ‘What can be done to help her?’

She mimics his sigh and says, ‘I’m afraid that’s up to her.’ She clicks her tongue, ‘How is he?’

I can hear him throw back his robe, ‘He’s coping I suppose, as well as any Kennah-born might. The cell will hold him, I have a guard on watch every hour of the day.’

‘Has he said anything?’

Their footsteps start up again, in sync as always. ‘Just her name. Nothing more.’

~.~.~.~

I lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. It’s the same ivory that Bardhelm’s city is named after. It’s a beautiful colour, though—pure, spotless and free of stains. But, the stains that tarnish Bardhelm cannot be seen by the ordinary eye, they linger beneath the surface. There is an abundance of everything, everything except for true love and purity.

Alleria is the closest I’ve ever been to paradise. I see why the people love the Sapphire Tree—it’s illumination does something inside of you; it makes your heart feel calm, at ease, and it seems to make all the weights of the world suddenly seem weightless. But, I cannot allow myself to feel that cleansing that they can afford. The Light doesn’t shine on me anymore, I don’t think it ever did. I think of Alec sometimes, but the thoughts I have generally linger on his punishment and the fact that my mother is dead because of him. All other memories of us mean nothing anymore. It was all a mask, a distraction from the truth.

~.~.~.~

A loud knock at the door breaks me out of my thoughts. A shoot up and open the door, my robe flowing behind me like a sheer blanket. A guard stands there, unarmed. His robe is of silver, the kind that shows the reflection of all who look upon it.

‘The King requests your presence in the Dungeon,’ he tells me in a firm voice.

I nod and pull my robe over me as I slip out of the room and follow him down the hall. All I hear is the sound of our footsteps, clanking against the marble floors, out of sync. The guard says nothing at all, he just leads me down endless halls and down a flight or two of stairs, until he stops before a gate.

I stare at him with a frown.

‘I can go no further,’ he says, before turning on his heel and marching off. My eyes follow him down the hallway and up the stairs. I look forward at the gate, and through the bars, I see dirty blue hair and calloused hands.

I swallow. ‘This is a trick,’ I whisper to myself, under my breath.

I hear a chuckle. ‘Nice to see you too,’ Alec scoffs, his head in his hands as he sits curled up, his back against the wall.

I bite my lips shut. Anything I say can and most likely will be used against me at some point in time. And, so I shall wait for when that day comes. I feel it again: that presence that something or someone is behind me.

‘Is this your idea of trying to lure me out of my room?’ I ask, not turning around. I can feel him pacing the length of the hall, circling me.

His breath is cold and smells of wine. ‘Does it surprise you?’

I shake my head, ‘No, it doesn’t.’

‘I brought you here in order for you to release him.’

My lips open in confusion and shock: a toxic mixture. ‘What?’

‘You must let him go, Skaya. The longer you stay here, the longer you linger in the darkness, the harder it becomes to see The Light.’

I’m sick of all this talk of Light and guidance and finding my way home. This isn’t home, it never was and I’m starting to think it may never be. ‘You always talk about The Light and The Dark like they’re living things!’ I snap, ‘They’re not real, they’re fairytales, stories!’

He smiles when he stops in front of me and his eyes meet mine. ‘I’d rather believe in a fairytale than nothing at all, wouldn’t you? There was a time when you read all the stories, all the fairytales, and you believed them.’ He says in a gentle voice.

‘I did,’ I reply, ‘But...’

‘But what?’ he cuts me off. He knows what I’m looking for: an excuse to run away. The truth is, I’m nothing like what my heritage tells me I am. I’m selfish, I’m proud, and at times, I’m a coward too. I accused Alec of being a coward, and yet I am a coward.

I say nothing at all. I have no defence now. My walls are down.

‘I’ll leave the two of you.’ Uncle says, turning his back to leave, ‘Should you need anything, I will be just down the end of the hall.’

‘Wait!’ I exclaim, grabbing his arm, ‘I don’t want to be alone with him.’ I say in a weak, fragile voice.

He smiles and pulls his arm away. He touches my cheek with his fingertips and rests his forehead on mine for a moment. ‘He is bound in chains of silver.’ He whispers, ‘There is nothing he can do, not in here. He cannot escape these walls.’

Then I am alone, but not alone enough.

~.~.~.~

It’s like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room. I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t even see straight. This is killing me silently.

‘You look like hell,’ I manage to scoff as I kneel down so we’re looking eye to eye.

‘Don’t patronize me,’ he snaps back, ‘You should’ve seen me before you left me bleeding. I liked my face a lot better then.’ He laughs, ‘Mind you, you don’t look much better as far as vanity is concerned.’

I shake my head and glare at him. ‘Vanity was never my vice,’

‘Oh, that’s right,’ he says sarcastically, acting like he didn’t even know, ‘I forgot you were just a greedy Ureich!’

I lunge forward and grip the bars, so our faces are just centimetres apart. ‘Say it in Meyn so I can understand you, coward!’ I hiss.

‘Greedy dog!’ he yells back, his knuckles turning white with rage. The chains around his wrists leave a visible mark on his skin. He shakes his head and foreign curse words spew out of his mouth in a long string. ‘You attacked me before I even had a chance to explain.’ He says.

I stand up and look down on him. ‘There’s no need to explain. My mother’s dead and you killed her. It’s that simple.’

He hauls himself to his feet, with effort and moans as he tries to untangle his chains. ‘No, it isn’t.’ He tells me in a grim voice. ‘There’s more to this than you know, a history you know nothing about.’

‘Fine,’ I say, gritting my teeth, ‘We have a while down here and it’s not like you have anywhere to go. So tell me,’

He sighed, and retreated back to the corner where he could curl up.