Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles (30 page)

“I will not ask again, Falmarian.”

Nikki looked over to Queen Forsythia, and when she got an approving nod, she indignantly walked out, leaving the Queen alone with the church officials.

“I am told you brought a foreigner to the very gate of the inner sanctum,” The High Priestess stated squarely when the doors sealed shut.

“Yes, he was…”

“Yes or no will do.”

The Queen was as calm as an autumn breeze. “Yes,” she answered honestly.

“I understand that your son created and opened a door in the knot unknown to us, a door through which the daughters of the forest cannot pass.”

“He did not create the door, he…”

“Answer yes or no.”

The Queen looked at her patiently. “Your question requires more than a one word answer.”

Oleander stepped forward, towering over the infirm monarch. “Did you use the powers of the throne to interrogate The Elder, and try to force him to bend to your will?”

“Yes. But, it was necessary, he…”

“Did you allow your husband, a man, to view Milia’s mirror?”

“What he saw was…”

“Yes or no!”

The Queen gently lifted up her teacup and took a sip. “I am under oath as Queen to speak the truth, and the whole truth. That requires more than one word. If you insist on making me perjure myself by speaking half-truths, then I am within my rights to ask you to recuse yourself and appoint another inquisitor in your stead.”

The High Priestess blinked. “Recuse myself? The head of the church?”

The Queen set her cup back down. “You are clearly not as impartial as this inquiry requires. If you are emotionally compromised, you must relinquish to another.”

Oleander scoffed, and looked to her daughters for support, but they had none to give.

“I’m afraid she is correct,” Orlaya agreed. “It would appear that her majesty knows the inquisitional bylaws quite well.”

Oleander exhaled, and seemed to grow smaller. Her steely demeanor fell away, and she looked tired, sad even. “Of course I am not impartial,” she admitted softly. “How could I be? My Queen, how could you do these things?”

Oleander stepped away, and the Queen could see the hurt in her eyes. “Athel, I have known you your whole life. You were our hero. My hero. You were the savior of the forest. How could you defile our holy places like this? How could you bring shame to our island and our goddess?”

The Queen looked at her sympathetically. “I have not betrayed you, Kerria, I am only trying to follow Milia’s will.”

Oleander chuckled darkly. “Milia’s will? What do you know of Milia’s will?”

“Yes, precisely. I do not know Milia’s will. That is why I am trying to discover it. I can’t follow a path that isn’t laid out. I need to know why Milia asked the Elder to withhold what he knows from me. From all of us.”

“If Milia wanted us to know, she would have told us. It is not our place to dwell on that which has been hidden.”

“That may be fine for those of you in the church, but my station requires me to make decisions daily that alter the course of our nation, and to do that effectively and correctly I need information. I need to know why Milia had a companion, and what happened to him, and why we know nothing of him. I must know her will if I am to follow it. I need to know why male trees stopped being born.”

“It doesn’t matter. If Milia wished it to be otherwise, it would have been.”

The Queen tried to sit up, but her strength failed her, and she was forced to lean back, her shoulders trembling. “Your conclusions do not match the evidence, Kerria. You say that it is Milia’s will that men have no magic, that no male trees are to be born, yet a man with magic has been born, and his tree is male.”

Oleander breathed in sharply. “You knew?”

The Queen nodded. “Even without linking, I could feel the whole forest tremble when Trillium awoke.”

Oleander straightened her miter. “You accuse me of conjecture, yet are you not guilty of the same sin? Your child and his tree were born after Milia was brought to the point of death. Is it not just as likely that these are a result of her weakening, and not a product of her will? That this is the work of some external evil, that Milia no longer has the strength to fend off?”

Athel had difficulty maintaining her composure. A little bit of doubt crept past her mask. “Yes,” she said softly. “Yes, I suppose it is possible. That is why I am trying to discover Milia’s will.”

This answer seemed to please the High Priestess, but she pushed further. “And, once her will is known, will you follow it?”

“You would ask your queen that? After I exposed every shameful corner of my heart to you, to everyone, after all I have sacrificed, you would ask me that?”

Oleander looked down sadly, and her disappointment cut Athel deeper than any insult could have. “I’m sorry, it is shameful and rude to ask, but after what you have done, I have no choice but to ask it of you.”

Even without her staff, Athel could feel the High Priestess reading her through the trees. Like little rootlets, she picked at the edges of her heart and mind, surveying what was inside. Rather than resist, Athel opened herself to it, lowering her defenses enough so that the High Priestess could feel her resolve, her determination. Then she went even farther, forcibly drawing the invasion in, impelling the woman to see what she saw, and feel what she felt.

Her whole body trembling, Athel sat up and looked at her accuser with unwavering eyes. “Yes,” she said icily. “Once I am sure I know the will of the Goddess, I will follow it, no matter how unpleasant it may be for me. That is the oath I took when I became Queen, and Forsythians always keep their word.”

The High Priestess withdrew her probe with a gasp, her expression equal measures of satisfaction and shock.

“I had no idea you were in so much pain,” she panted, placing her hand over her heart.

“I will do anything for this forest,” the Queen stated, the fire returning to her weary face. “I would bear ten times this pain if it would save our island.”

Oleander backed away, her expression becoming soft and sympathetic. She searched inside the deep hazel pools of Athel’s eyes. “Your heart really is Wysterian, isn’t it?”

“All accusations to the contrary.”

“I can see clearly that you truly mean to follow Milia’s will once you learn it. Thank you, my Queen. I just needed to see it for myself. This now concludes the inquisitional hearing.”

The High Priestess gave two solemn taps with her staff, and the entire forest breathed a sigh of relief.

Queen Athel lay back, and her fire imploded in on itself. Exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open as she fought to maintain her courtly composure.

Oleander snapped her fingers and her daughters brought a beautiful pearl pot forward, filled with the purest of soil. In it sat Trillium, happily sparkling to himself.

Athel’s mask fell away as it was handed to her, and she looked up at the old woman with the deepest of gratitude. “You spared him.”

Oleander nodded. “For now, yes. Ultimately, his fate is already sealed. Your Spirit Weaver arrived this morning. He will test your son and his tree, and we both know what he will find. He will prove that this is some kind of demonic incursion, or mutant aberration, and they will both be expunged from all records and destroyed, as Milia has decreed.”

Athel introduced herself, and the young tree wrapped his tender leaves lovingly around her finger. Despite her pain, Athel felt so overcome with joy she felt her heart might burst.

Oleander gave a regretful smile. “I may be an Inquisitor, but I am also a mother, and whatever this thing is, it is also your son, and you deserve to spend some time with him, even if only for a little while.”

Athel looked up, sincere thanks in her eyes. “Thank you, Kerria. I know how hard this must have been for you.”

The Black Guard brought forward a kindly old man with a long purple beard. “Hello, my name is Andolf Kummeritas, the eldest of my clan. I came as soon as your summons arrived.”

Athel shifted her weight and took on the role of Queen again. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Master Kummeritas. I trust we can count on your complete confidentiality?”

He bowed reverentially. “We will honor the ancient treaties, as always. Nothing I discover during my readings of your magic will be made known outside of your borders. I swear it by the blood of my people.”

The Queen nodded. Spirit Weavers had always been proud of their fierce neutrality. In times past, that would have been enough to put her mind at ease, but her experience with the Stonemasters made her wary. They too, after all, had always been neutral before this war, and what’s more, the stakes were higher, the life of her sons were on the line.

“I will have the men of my household show you to your quarters. I hope it will not inconvenience you if I ask you to begin immediately. This is a matter of some urgency.”

“Oh, yes, of course.”

“The High Priestess will supply you with the full details.”

Oleander gave the Queen an odd glance as he was led out.

By having me explain the situation and give him his mandate, she clears herself of any future accusation of influencing his divinations to her advantage. She can’t possibly still believe he will rule in her favor, can she?

The High Priestess watched Athel intently as the Black Guard filed out of the room. “Just so we’re clear,” she clarified, “when the Weaver finishes his reading, the church will be taking your sons into custody. If you are truly grateful, then promise me you will not make a scene when that time comes. The church cannot stand another scandal. We need solidarity and faith in this time of war.”

“I give you my word, and I thank you for showing mercy to my family. It will not be forgotten,” the Queen said smoothly.

As soon as they let him, Alder hobbled in and returned to his wife’s side.

“How are you, Athi?” he whispered, dabbing the sweat from her forehead.

Alone for just a moment, her defenses came crashing down.

“It hurts,” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “It hurts so bad. I just want it to stop. It hurts so bad I feel like I could die from it.”

Alder hugged her as hard as he dared, but their moment was short lived. The royal guard were coming back in, and after them would follow the court officials. Stealing a quick kiss, the two of them took a moment to introduce themselves to Trillium, and for the second time since they were married, they experienced the quiet joy of meeting their child for the first time.

Out in the corridor, High Priestess Oleander found the woman she was looking for among the throng of people. “Sister Caladium Lotebush, may I have a moment of your time?”

“Of course, High Priestess,” she said, bowing with her tray of medicinal herbs.

“I had no idea the Queen’s condition had deteriorated so quickly. Why have you not taken her to Deutzia to be healed?”

“We tried that, but I’m afraid Deutzia is in as bad a shape as she is. Whatever dark magic blights our trees, seems to have spilled through the Queen into her Ma’iltri’ia.”

Oleander took a moment to absorb the information, concern on her face. “What progress have you and your family made removing the spikes?”

“We have managed to stop the spread of the blight on the spiked trees, but this void magic is strange to us, we have been unable to heal it entirely. Progress is slow, but it is coming.”

“In the meantime, the pain the Queen is feeling through the link is clearly devastating her health.”

“Perhaps we should stop Queen Forsythia from linking with the forest in the meantime,” Nikki opined as she walked up.

The two Wysterians eyed her harshly for butting in to their conversation.

Nikki stood up straight and dug in her heels. “Look, I know I am not welcome here, but I also have a vested interest in the Queen’s health. You may not see it like I do, but day in and day out, she is the only thing holding the Alliance together. Without her it would fly apart.”

The two of them shot her daggers with their eyes.

“So,” Nikki said, withstanding their ire and taking out her quill. “What can we do to help her?”

“You can start by not wasting our time with ignorant suggestions.”

“Why? Wouldn’t removing herself from the link stop the pain?”

“She isn’t linked right now,” Oleander huffed.

“She isn’t?”

“No, she hasn’t linked for days,” Sister Lotebush explained. “In her weakened state she couldn’t even if she tried. Yet the pain is still flowing directly into her from every blighted tree, even when she is asleep. Last night I had to put her into a temporary coma just to give her body a few hours of rest.”

“Perhaps you should have let her rest longer,” Nikki suggested.

“Use watermaple two nights in a row? That really would kill her.”

“Some foreign dark art is at work here,” Oleander stated, looking right at Nikki. “I believe that this may be the purpose of those blasted spikes to begin with. To rob us of our unity. We must remove them.”

“That is extraordinarily dangerous,” Lotebush warned.

“More dangerous than leaving the queen in a state of constant, excruciating pain?”

“Possibly, yes. This is void magic. Until I have done more tests I can’t know what effect removing the spikes will have. It might very well kill the queen unless it is done in a safe way. I need time to find one.”

“We are running out of time. The forest must have a queen, and right now she cannot even link, much less maintain the harmony of the forest. The will of the matrons is already breaking down.”

Nikki taped her quill against her chin. “Perhaps we are going about this the wrong way. We know that no new trees have been spiked since the branded men were taken into custody.”

“Yes, not a single one.”

“That means that amongst those men is our culprit.”

“Or culprits.”

“Yes, either way, once we identify him or them, we can find out from him how to remove the spikes.”

Sister Lotebush nodded. “Obviously they are not going to confess, so we have our best Treesingers doing deep invasive readings on each of those men. But, with the link breaking down, it is more difficult than it would normally be. Nevertheless, it should only be a matter of time before they find the guilty one.”