Fey 02 - Changeling (41 page)

"But you know this will be all right."

"No," the Shaman said.
 
"I know nothing.
 
I only saw the baby in the firelight.
 
I did not know how deeply you disturbed the waters of the future.
 
I hope you did so with Vision."

Rugar straightened.
 
His heart was pounding.
 
He had Seen nothing, and he should have Seen this.
 
This affected him directly.
 
It affected the family.
 
It affected them all.
 
"I am the best Visionary in the history of the Fey."

"Until Jewel," the Shaman said.
 
"And you killed her."

Nicholas was kneeling.
 
His face was whiter than the linen on his robe, his eyes nothing more than sunken blue bruises.
 
"Matthias killed her," he said.

"Your holy man would not have acted if Rugar had listened to me."
 
The Shaman turned to Rugar.
 
Her entire being radiated power.
 
"I told you that Jewel took the path for peace.
 
I told you to follow her.
 
But your ego brought you to Blue Isle, and your fear forced you to bring the only person whom Rugad would have chosen to take your place on the Black Throne.
 
Fortunately for us, Rugar, your father is still alive.
 
He will not give the Black Throne to Bridge unless nature forces his hand."

"So I can still become Black King," Rugar said.

"See the man who bargains for his future over the body of his dead daughter.
 
No, Rugar," the Shaman said.
 
"Black Kings may lose their Sight, but they never assume the office Blind."

"I'm not Blind," Rugar said.

"You are Blind.
 
If you had Sight, you would have known about this day.
 
It is to my shame that I did not realize how Blind you were.
 
I thought you loved Jewel enough to prevent her death.
 
I did not realize that you didn't even See it."

"Jewel did."
 
Nicholas's voice was soft.
 
"She told me.
 
She first saw me in a Vision.
 
The day we met, she asked me what Orma Lii meant.
 
She pronounced it wrong.
 
Later she told me that I had said that to her in a Vision.
 
I said it to her this afternoon.
 
In my own language, I asked her if she were all right, and I didn't remember.
 
I didn't know."

A tiny light glowed from the Shaman's hand around Nicholas's.
 
He didn't seem to notice, but Rugar did.
 
The Shaman valued the boy.
 
She knew something about him, too.
 
Something she wasn't telling.

"Did Jewel tell you of this Vision, Rugar?"

He didn't answer.
 
The Shaman would block his move to become Black King, and now Jewel was dead.
 
And probably Gift.
 
Rugar's heart twisted.
 
Little Gift who had had a Vision earlier than anyone in history.
 
He would have been so strong.
 

But this baby girl was strong.
 
This Shifter.
 
A child born to Visionary parents had to have Vision.
 
This newborn girl would have Vision and the ability to Shift.
 
That would make her very powerful.

"The new child is a Shape-shifter," Rugar said.
 
"An Islander can't care for a child like that.
 
Let me take her to Shadowlands.
 
She'll be —"

"No," the Shaman said.
 
"You will not touch that child."

"She's my granddaughter.
 
She could be Black Queen someday.
 
I have the right to make certain she will survive her babyhood."

"And so do I."
 
The Shaman let go of Nicholas.
 
She reached across Jewel and grabbed Rugar's hands, placing them on Jewel's forehead.
 
The skin was spongy, the bone gone.
 
"This is what you do, Rugar.
 
This is what you caused.
 
Jewel told you her Vision, didn't she?
 
You ignored it for your ambition, just as you ignored my warnings."

"I told Jewel not to marry the boy," Rugar said.
 
He tried to pull away, but the Shaman was too strong.
 
She held him tightly.
 
"We thought the Vision was about the wedding."

"You should have heeded the Vision, Rugar," the Shaman said.
 
"When did she first have it?"

The spongy mass beneath his hands was caving inward.
 
Jewel's hair brushed against his fingertips.
 
It felt like oily hemp, not like hair at all.

"I don't know," he said.

"She said it was in Nye."
 
Nicholas held his hands over theirs, then slid them back.
 
"Please don't hurt her."

"It's too late for that, child," the Shaman said.
 
"He hurt her when he decided to come here.
 
The Vision in Nye would not have been about a marriage.
 
When did she have it?"

"She said when she was waiting for her father to finish planning the trip with his father."
 
Nicholas clenched his fists and held them to his chest.

Rugar glared at him, then pulled his hands away.
 
They were covered with blood, bone, and flesh.
 
"Why didn't I melt?" he asked.

"Because the poison seeps inward," the Shaman said.
 
"Even if she had lived, she would not have had a mind left."

Nicholas made a small cry.
 
Blood ran from Rugar's hands onto his wrists.
 

"You knew, Rugar," the Shaman said.
 
"You knew and you ignored for your own glory."

"But I Saw her, in this palace, holding a baby.
 
It seemed right."
 
He wanted to wipe off his hands, but didn't feel right doing so on the legs of his pants.
 

"It seemed right because you wanted it to seem right.
 
You did not check with me or the other Shamans.
 
And you did not check with your own daughter, the daughter of two Visionaries, to see if her Vision had come yet."
 
The Shaman glared at him.
 
"You killed her, Rugar, as clearly as if you had placed that poison on her yourself."

He shook his head, stood, and backed away.
 
He had been a good father.
 
He had given Jewel what she wanted.
 
She had been a brilliant fighter, a strong person, a good daughter.
 
He had helped her move forward.
 
Bringing her to Blue Isle had been for her own good as well as his own.

"Now, you want the child.
 
Do you have a Vision for her, Rugar?"

He held up his hands.
 
The blood had run past the wrists to his elbows.

"Of course not," the Shaman said.
 
"If you had Seen her, you would have known Jewel was pregnant, and you did not.
 
You didn't think of the child until we tried to save it."

"Jewel Saw her."
 
Nicholas sounded numb.
 
"Jewel Saw her only a few days ago."

"When I decided to come here," the Shaman said.

"She Saw her in the palace."

The Shaman nodded.
 
"This baby shall remain with her father."

"But he can't care for her.
 
Shifters require magic."

"Yes," the Shaman said.
 
"And Vision.
 
And love.
 
Her mother had the Vision.
 
Her father will give her the love."

"And who will provide the magic?"

"Not a Blind man," the Shaman said.

Rugar shook his head.
 
Finally he grabbed a towel from one of the tables and wiped off his hands.
 
The blood had dried between his fingers.
 
He couldn't get it off.
 
"I want the child."

The Shaman stood.
 
"You will not have her.
 
As long as I live, the girl lives here.
 
If I discover that you have stolen her, I will bring her back.
 
If you tamper with her, I will come after you, Rugar."

"And do what?" Rugar said.
 
"I lead this company."

"I am the only one who can challenge your power, Rugar.
 
And I will."

Rugar shook his head, then pointed to the body of his daughter.
 
"You can do nothing to me that hasn't already been done."

"Ah, but I can, Rugar, and I will.
 
I will take my place at the Black King's side, pronounce judgment and execute you if I must."

"You'll lose your powers."

"It is a price I am willing to pay."

Rugar glanced over her shoulder.
 
Mend was holding his granddaughter.
 
The little girl had thick black hair and a delicate face.
 
She would look like Jewel.
 
"The girl is that important?"

"You are that destructive," the Shaman said.
 
"Now get out of this place and do not come back."

Rugar didn't move.
 
"I can bar you from Shadowlands."

"You can," the Shaman said, "but I do not think it wise."

"You won't survive among the Islanders."

"She will," Nicholas stood too.
 
"She will have my protection."

She smiled at him.
 
"Thank you, boy, but I will return to my home.
 
Rugar knows as well as I do that if he banishes the Shaman, the Fey will not follow him.
 
He may be the Leader, but that is only because he has war powers.
 
We do not need war powers here.
 
We need Healers.
 
And Rugar, no matter how talented you are, you cannot heal."

The little girl had her eyes open.
 
They were deep like the Shaman's.
 
The Shaman was right.
 
The Fey would not follow him if they thought he banished the Shaman.
 
But she had not Seen him take Gift.
 
She would not know when he took the new baby either.

Neither would Nicholas.
 
The boy didn't realize that the thing he called a son was no more son to him than the ovens were.
 
No Fey would ever tell him.
 
Fey believed Islanders inferior.
 
Not even the Shaman would tell him because his inability to see proved his inferiority.
 
Once Rugar took the baby, no one would come after her.

Rugar took one last look at Jewel's mutilated body.
 
Then he walked around the Domestics, and headed for the door.

"Rugar," the Shaman said.
 
"Think on your daughter.
 
Before you take any action, remember her."

He stopped, and closed his eyes.
 
Jewel, her thin body warm beside his on the deck of the wedding barge.
 
We beat the Visions, Papa.
 
She had seemed so sure that day, so sure the Vision she saw had been about her wedding, not about her death.
 
But the Visions always win.
 
She didn't know that.