Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (18 page)

Syney nodded. "Duty and honor and all that bull."

"Not the answer you wanted, huh?"

"No, no, it was fine. I'm just getting bitter." She stood up and pulled off the dress, not really caring about modesty at the moment.

"Why are you going to the Lycin chapel?"

Syney pulled on the black pants. "Hunter arranged for a memorial service for my parents."

"Your parents?"

"My...um...the Andrews. The...humans who adopted me. They got caught up in the crossfire before we got here."

"I'm so sorry. Would you mind if I attend? I know I didn't know them, but I've seen too much death because of this war."

Syney nodded. This wasn't the first time this Great War had been mentioned, but she hadn't seen any war in the Village—only a scary game of chess. She looked down at her comfy clothes and felt a little better. "All right. Let's go."

Hunter

Hunter closed the door to Syney's room and leaned against it for a moment. He took a few deep breaths. It had been a long day, but that was no excuse for what he almost had done. Syney was trying; all of her questions were infuriating. Her lack of caring about the customs of the Village verged on being rude. She was just so human, and he couldn't seem to get enough of the irksome girl. It was beyond irritating. He huffed and pushed away from the door, then headed down to the chapel. He wasn't sure what she expected from him at times. He gave her the information he could, but she asked so much. Most things he had no place even telling her. But she just kept prodding. In the same breath, however, she held all of the passion and strength of the most powerful Lycin he ever had met. And she was so beautiful—but he should not think of that. He couldn't think like that. Whatever was there had to be buried, steeled over. She couldn't really ask anything else from him, right? What did she expect? For him to open up to her, let himself be seen raw, by a Magic User no less? For him to tell her that he felt the same calmness every time they touched? He knew it wasn't a normal thing to feel, but he had enough sense to keep it to himself. Syney didn't seem to understand that virtue.

He pushed open the heavy wooden doors that led into the Lycin chapel. He gave a nod to Leaf, who stood near the back of the room, speaking quietly to the high Lycin priest, Branch. He took a seat in the middle of the rows and bowed his head. He wasn't going to pray. His mother had stopped attending services
soon after his father had died, when Hunter was very small, so he never had been raised to believe in the gods. This service was more for Syney. She needed a way to say goodbye to her parents. He never had known his father but would have liked a way to say goodbye if he could. He thought of his mother for a while. He hadn't seen her since before they had set off to retrieve Syney. It was right after he had been chosen to be her Protector, actually. He had been filled with mixed emotions. He was grateful to his uncle, Sparrow, who was the head trainer for the Royal Guard, for letting him in on the training sessions when the disgraced should not be there. He felt apprehension about being chosen for the assignment when he knew he should not have been. The queen had been right about that point. No disgraced family member ever had been appointed to a position as Protector or a member the Royal Guard. So what had set him apart? And, of course, his excitement had been the greatest feeling. This was his chance to bring his family out of disgrace. Let whatever had happened in the past be gone, and move on to a new future where he was the royal Protector who guarded the Chosen One, the most powerful Magic User. His mother, at hearing the news, seemed to grow sullen and almost came to tears.

"This is a good thing, Mom," Hunter had said, kneeling in front of his mother and gripping her hands. "I can undo everything that has gone wrong for us over the years. No more shopping only on the far side of the Village. We'll be invited to all of the palace events. No more being on the fringes."

She shook her head, her red hair shaking out in all directions. "It just... feels... I don't know..." She placed a hand on her son's face. "I worry so much about you. Now I'll have even more to worry about."

"You worry too much. I'm not like those hotshot wolves. You know that."

"I raised you right then?"

"Well enough for me to be the Chosen One's Protector."

She sighed and shook her head again. "I can't believe they found her already. It seems like only yesterday..." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be careful. There's a lot of responsibility in this position...more than you may realize." Her voice had turned grave, which sent a shiver down her son's back.

"I know, Mom," Hunter said.

She smiled and shook away some tears. "My boy. All grown up and everything."

Nothing had prepared him for Syney, though. Maybe his mother had been right to worry. He was still lost in his confusing feelings when Syney walked in with her handmaiden. He stood to greet them, but Syney walked right past him. What reason did she have to be angry with him? Infuriating girl! Hunter huffed and followed the girls to the front of the chapel.

Leaf bowed to them and gestured to the Lycin next to him. "This is Branch, our high priest."

Syney smiled at the older man. "Thank you so much for doing this for me."

Branch gave her the same smile he gave to young Lycins, one of joy. "Thank young Hunter. He can be quite persistent."

"I'm beginning to see that," Syney said, glancing toward Hunter for a moment.

"Let's get started then," Branch said, leading the four over to the front row of seats. Hunter and Leaf instinctively sat behind the girls. Branch went to stand behind a small altar, when the door in the back opened. Raine, followed closely by Cass, walked in and joined the four already seated.

"She insisted when I told her," Raine whispered, responding to Hunter's questioning look.

"Time flows just like the Great River of Life. Every day, new life begins just as every day life also ends. We are here to pay a warrior's tribute to Richard and Joyce," Branch began the ritual memorial.

The service was short—all life and flowing rivers. Hunter guessed it was meant to be symbolic and spiritual, but to him it was just words, and old words at that. Old gods, old rituals, old world. A slight shaking of Syney's shoulders pulled Hunter out of his bitter thoughts. She bowed her head slightly as her whole body shook with sobs. He suppressed the urge to reach out and try to help soothe some of her pain. But that kind of gesture, especially in front of the others, would earn him a pretty big reprimand, and he was in no position to have any more said against him. He felt a little more at ease when Noelle slowly put an arm around Syney. Syney's head rolled to lay on Noelle's shoulder.

Once the service ended, Branch bowed to them and headed off to the priests' room behind the altar. Syney took a couple of jagged breaths and stood up. She gave them all a small smile, as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Thank you all for coming. It means a lot that I have some...friends here already."

"You have a whole palace of friends," Cass said, placing a reassuring hand on Syney's arm.

Syney and Hunter both scoffed quietly and looked at each other. She smiled a little brighter and mouthed, "Thank you."

Hunter nodded.

"There's just one last thing," Leaf said, bringing forth a bottle filled with green liquid. "For Lycins the afterlife is a place called Valhalla. All warriors are welcome to join the gods there. It is customary to offer a toast up to Oldin, the keeper of Valhalla, to let him know that the incoming souls are welcome," he explained, as Raine grabbed a set of small metal cups for them. "You are supposed to offer up their good deeds, to show their worth."

Syney nodded. "OK, um,.. They bandaged my knees when I was clumsy enough to fall, which was frequent. They had the patience of saints and allowed me to make my own mistakes, which was also often." She paused, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"They took in a young girl, a baby even, and raised her as their own, with no malice or selfishness," Leaf said.

"They were very loving and wanted nothing but the best for their daughter," Cass said with a smile.

Syney nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Hunter raised his cup, letting the words fall out of his mouth, not double-thinking them or else he would remain silent. "They raised our savior and instilled in her the passion and strength needed to save our peoples." He looked over and met Syney's gaze. She didn't say anything, but her eyes said volumes. Everything he was feeling she was as well. It was all right there.

"To Richard and Joyce. May Oldin invite them in with open arms," Leaf said, lifting his cup high.

They all raised their cups and followed the Lycins' moves of downing the liquid. The three men seemed unfazed by the burning and heat of the liquor. The girls, however, all choked and gagged.

"Oh, my goddess!" Noelle breathed.

"That is horrible," Cass barely got out.

"Whoa! Now that'll put hair on my chest," Syney said with a cough. She looked up at five pairs of eyes on her, all giving her a questioning bemused look. "Oh, that's a human saying—one I'm guessing you all don't know, and now I sound like an idiot." She let out a small laugh. "Thank you all again for coming."

Cass gave her a hug and headed out of the chapel with Raine in tow.

"Do you need me for anything?" Noelle asked.

"Oh, no. I'm going to go to bed and sleep for days, or at least until you wake me up for these tests in the morning," Syney said.

Noelle bid her goodbyes and headed out.

"I'll walk you to your room," Hunter said, gesturing toward the door.

Syney nodded.

"Can I have a moment before you go?" Leaf asked Syney.

She nodded and turned to Hunter. "Can you give us a second?"

He gave her an odd look but nodded. What did she want with Leaf? He stepped away but, taking advantage of Syney's lack of knowledge of Lycins, stayed within hearing distance. He caught a glance from Syney and almost laughed. She really needed to learn about the Village and its inhabitants or she might get herself into trouble.

"I wanted to really welcome you here. I think the genuine welcome might have been lost when you got here. I want you to know that there are many, many people who are overjoyed that you are here," Leaf said.

"Thank you. That means a lot," Syney said.

Leaf glanced over and met Hunter's gaze. "Don't give him too much grief. This is a hard job on a good day, and this was not a good day, per se."

"Oh, no. I don't mean to be a pain. I'm really not used to the power structure here. I guess I keep stepping out of line."

"It'll be a learning experience. But let him help you, and listen to what he says."

Syney nodded. "I can try." She paused. "So do you know why his family was cast out?"

Leaf didn't look at Hunter, but Hunter's eyes never left his friend and commander. "I do."

Syney smiled slowly. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Leaf shook his head and returned her smile.

"OK, fair enough. Thank you again for your kind words," Syney said, heading over to Hunter.

Leaf caught Hunter's look again and nodded his goodbye.

"All ready," Syney said, pushing open the heavy wooden door.

Hunter followed her out then took the lead to her room. He had a feeling she wasn't going to leave the subject of his family's status alone. He didn't want her to know the truth. It wasn't his shame, but he still bore the brunt of it. Once at her room, he bid her goodnight and left quickly, feeling the heat of her stare on his back. The only thing he knew for certain anymore was that this girl was going to be the death of him, and there was no way he could live without her. Not a very good outlook on their future.

The First Test—The cliff

The room around Syney suddenly changed. It was no longer the large stone room Queen Mellisandrianna and her guard dog had left her in. She was now outside, at the edge of a large cliff that overlooked a vast desert. Syney knew she hadn't actually left that room, but everything around her felt as if she were outdoors. The air was fresh, and she could almost smell the heat coming from the rocks and sand below her. She wasn't used to this magic stuff, and after five minutes of standing on the cliff, she was more than a little bored. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, so she sat down, her legs dangling over the side of the cliff.