In All of Infinity (11 page)

He walked away, hearing the screams of his
adversary. If there was anything great about being evil, having the
ability to torture one’s enemies in such a fashion was definitely
it. He wondered who else had a snake trying to sneak into his hole
before he could and realized there were many. After all, Reverie
was the owner of the most beautiful breasts and supple legs in
Peniolea. He would have her even if it meant destroying his own
army.

“Thomas!” He looked at the magic ball and
saw his queen’s face. “I will not have you acting foolishly. If you
make love to her, what we have worked for all this time would have
been for nothing. Do you understand?”

“I understand, my queen. I only wish you
would let me touch her,” he said with a frown. “I’m not like a
normal man. I could control my urge to go any further…”

“No. You don’t know how powerful she is
during the phase of her late teens. If evil consumes her before the
Black Moon, everything we’ve been working for will disappear. Do
you want good to reign? Well, don’t touch her. If good or neutral
power touches her, it doesn’t matter in the slightest. She is good.
How many times have we gone through this? You know how I hate
repeating myself. It gives me such a headache.”

He watched Luella roll her eyes, which were
dark like her mother’s. She was a raven-haired beauty like her
mother, but there wasn’t an ounce of pity in her heart. Thomas
recalled a time when the mother had driven off a family of elves
when she had the option to kill them. Luella slaughtered the entire
family merely days after she killed her mother.

“I’m sorry, my queen, for causing you to
have such a headache.”

“If only my mother’s spirit hadn’t drifted
away when I murdered her…” she said with a sigh. “Well, anyway, I
didn’t reveal myself to hear about your desire for that girl. I
came to warn you. I have sources who say that there is a form of
good coming to Peniolea. Be on the lookout, and, for all things
evil, fight your desires for that girl. If you don’t, I may have to
do something… that I don’t want to do.”

Thomas crossed one arm across his chest to
the opposite shoulder and bowed his head. It was a modification of
the bow of her mother’s, except hers crossed on the other side.
When her image disappeared from the ball, he snapped his fingers
and the curtains drew aside to reveal the world on both sides of
him. He glanced at the large dark canopy bed ahead of him, forced
the image of Reverie from his mind, and then walked towards the set
of windows to his left.

As he looked down towards the town, he
imagined that everyone there knew who he was. They would all attack
the castle with torches and pitchforks, and then slay him without
as much as a thought. It was a way to remind him of what Luella
could take away, should she decide to reveal who he was. He was
demon on his father’s side and human on his mother’s, such was why
he could go from being one or another easily. Luella had the power,
though, to forever make him a demon. He didn’t want that. He wanted
to fit in, to find someone who loved him, to have a child or two of
his own. There were no beautiful women who were part demon such as
he was, but there were plenty mortal women who were.

Thomas heard movement behind him and turned
to see one of the servants standing with her hand on one of the
doorknobs. He smiled and raised his head, wanting her to go on with
what she was going to say.

“My lord, there’s been a disruption at the
marketplace,” she said quietly. He knew that, if he didn’t have
excellent hearing, he would be unable to hear her. All the servants
were quiet and afraid of him, which was as they should be.

“What sort of disruption? Is it something
out of the ordinary? You know I don’t handle petty disruptions,” he
said with a frown.

Instead of waiting for her reply, he looked
towards the town again. If the commotion had been unordinary, he
would have sensed something. He hadn’t. Or was his judgment clouded
by his adoration for Reverie? He couldn’t recall a time when he
didn’t love her. When she’d been put under his supervision, he’d
found her smile charming, her laugh enjoyable, and her body
tempting. He still found them the same, even though he wished he’d
known her when she was a lover of learning. She was nothing but an
empty shell now.

Suddenly, he realized who always could sneak
around under his nose: Windrew, his half brother on his mother’s
side. He was older, part wizard, and detested his younger brother
if only for whom he was. Thomas realized Windrew didn’t know of
Reverie’s existence. If he did, finding her would be his next step,
because she possessed a power far greater than anyone alive. Who,
then, was asking questions about her? Could he have met someone
else who knew of Reverie? He didn’t know.

The servant spoke again. “Sir, it is an
uncommon disruption. The man who reported it said that there was a
man at the marketplace who was looking for someone who goes by the
name of Reverie Reagan. He said that you told everyone to report
anyone who knows that name or asks about it, and that he will be
rewarded.”

Thomas continued looking at the town,
wondering how he could have missed someone besides Windrew sneaking
into Peniolea. The very scent of good made him queasy. Had his
brother used some sort of spell to prevent him from sensing good?
He didn’t know. He felt as if he hardly knew anything that was
going on, though he’d dedicated his life to the end of all
good.

Thomas dismissed the girl with a wave of his
hand, but not before he sized her up. She would do fine to appease
his appetite for flesh this evening. There was a reason he took in
female servants, and he knew they understood the reason. Despite
that, he doubted they knew who he was beneath his skin, which was
why they often tempted him.

He had business to tend to now, and that
started with going to market.

***

“This is madness!”

Windrew began pacing back and forth, his
arms crossed in front of him, letting his long dark hair cascade
all about his shoulders. He was a handsome man, possessed the body
that his younger brother often craved, but one could tell they were
related by their eyes. They were dark, able to observe every detail
in one glance, and gave the impression they could see the very
depths of someone’s soul. Windrew, who was a wizard of the second
order, had powers that would always remain stronger than his half
brother. After all, he was firstborn.

He was standing in his cave home beside the
Regado Sea, the breeze of which wafted through the opening and met
his nostrils. He loved the sea. When he was a child, he often went
there with his parents. His mother, Cailah, who was considered the
most beautiful woman in the entire Cathene Continent, would throw
her head back and let the wind blow through her blonde hair. She
would smile lovingly at her husband, Darough, and Windrew could
sense the adoration they had for one another. It was a love that
would forever last, even when Uschar, a demon prince, slay Darough
and bedded Cailah.

Windrew tried to keep from thinking about
the life him and his mother led after Darough was murdered. He
threatened revenge, but he never got the chance to do anything
about what happened. Uschar was murdered by another father’s son
that was older than Windrew by almost a decade. He knew the man
well, had served beside him since he was seventeen, and was more or
less his right arm. Captain Mcquay often requested his services as
a wizard and as a healer, traits he’d acquired from his parents.
The younger man always accepted the request with heart, even when
the odds were stacked against them.

Windrew was now going after his half
brother, Thomas. He couldn’t understand at first why he wouldn’t
use his real name instead of the one Cailah was forced to give him.
He then realized the name ‘Thomas’ was to prevent him from being
attacked so easily. Windrew had created many spells to prevent
Thomas, or Helicale, from ever detecting his presence. They had all
worked successfully, but they wouldn’t be beneficial in the
slightest if his accomplice kept asking questions about some
unknown by the name Reverie Reagan.

Windrew looked at the man kneeled before him
on the floor, then looked at the two guards standing on either side
of him. He laced his hands behind his back and shook his head at
the man. Man? He was still a child with wild ideas and trying to
live his fantasies. He didn’t understand the severity of what he’d
done, but Windrew was curious to find out if he’d discovered
anything.

“You may go,” he told the guards.

He watched them go, and saw a figure from
beside the wall pursue them. The figure was that of his wife,
Anekaya. She was trying to remain invisible, undetectable, but her
shadow gave her away. He could tell by how svelte her silhouette
was that the body couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else. Windrew
further knew why she was here: she wanted him to pass judgment.
After all, when someone asked for Reverie Reagan, who no one was
sure was an actual person, that particular someone was asking for
trouble. Anekaya must have realized that he wasn’t going to do
anything to the younger man.

Windrew turned back to the rule breaker,
gestured for him to rise. He knew that this boy wasn’t from the
Cathene Continent the first time he’d ever met him. He further knew
that the boy was on a mission to find someone. Windrew had heard
him mention her name, Reverie, on more than one occasion. At first,
the wizard had doubted the mortal, and was only just realizing
Reverie was, indeed, a human. When he’d asked about Reverie Reagan
only last week, he could tell by the looks on people’s faces that
they knew what he was talking about. Windrew needed more
information.

“What did you discover, Isaac?”

Isaac smiled. “She’s obviously alive.”

“Do you have a picture of this girl? I know
you said it’s been four years, but perhaps she hasn’t changed all
that much,” Windrew stated, doubting his own words. “I could have a
portal set up for you, so that you can go back to your world and
obtain it if you don’t have it with you.”

Isaac smiled. He had a picture of Reverie.
It was taken only weeks before her disappearance, when she was
celebrating her birthday party. She was smiling and her hair was
up, her eyes full of laughter. She was the reason he pushed on when
he felt as if he couldn’t take a step further.

If it took an entire lifetime, he would find
her because he regretted not being there for her the day she
disappeared. He avoided her, drove another direction when he saw
her running in the rain. Although he’d tried to save her, he should
never have left her side in the first place. The darkness within
his soul, left there by that strange woman in black, still remained
with one part of his heart belonging solely to Reverie. He had to
find her.

Isaac retrieved the picture from his pocket
and handed it to Windrew. There were several creases in the
picture, from having undergone everything from bad weather to
battles that seemed as if they would never end. She’d been with him
that entire time, even when his friends thought he was crazy for
thinking so. He’d fallen asleep here and there, staring up at the
ceiling or at the stars with her on his mind. He remembered her
love for books, the way she embraced nature with all that she was,
the moments of silence when they stared at each other, and how
nervous she was that day when she apologized. When he recalled her
rambling, he couldn’t stop smiling. She was wonderful.

Windrew looked from the picture to Isaac.
“May I borrow this for a minute? I promise that I won’t hurt it in
anyway. As a matter of fact, I’ll give it back to you as good as
new.”

Isaac hesitated, gulped. “Sure.”

Windrew nodded, thanked him, and started
towards the opening of the cave. Isaac followed, wondering what the
wizard was going to do with the picture. He didn’t ask aloud, but
he found his heart beating heavily in his chest. Was he ever going
to see the picture again? Was he ever going to see Reverie again?
He didn’t know, but at least the picture always gave him hope.

When he exited the cave, Windrew looked
towards the beach below him, realizing his soldiers were waiting
for orders. He’d called them out this morning to speak with them,
and he now knew who it was about: Reverie Reagan. He said a few
words to the picture and the creases disappeared; then he said some
more and a ghost of the image floated towards the sky. He
transformed it so that it was larger, and handed the original back
to Isaac.

“Has anyone seen this girl?” he inquired the
crowd. “She is important in what is taking place in Peniolea. I
want the entire kingdom turned over until we find this girl. If you
find her, do not do anything. Await my orders. You are
dismissed.”

Before he could turn around, he heard
someone call his name. He looked down and saw a man with bright
orange red hair. Windrew could tell by this man’s expression what
he was about to say, so he turned and looked at Isaac. The younger
man knew as well and he was smiling.

The man shakily stated, “I’ve seen this
girl.”

***

Reverie paced the floor of her bedroom,
contemplating what she should wear for the evening’s banquet, which
had been mentioned in detail by her father in his last letter. The
blue dress would go with her eyes, but then there was the pale
brown dress made of foreign silk that went well with her hair. She
thought about how others would receive her in each, knowing the
gentlemen would like her no matter what she did or didn’t wear. She
laughed when she recalled her brief encounter with Otis near the
river.