The Blaze Ignites (14 page)

“I’ll try to find them then.”

“As you wish. Eat. You’ll feel better. Dinner
is at sunset.”

“Is everyone going to be at dinner?” I asked,
hoping the answer would be
no.

“Yes.”

I sighed. “Okay. Thank you for your time. I’m
sorry to keep you.”

He smiled and bowed. “Not a problem.” Then he
left.

Damn it all! I didn’t want to go to this
feast and let these people feel honored by my presence. I wasn’t
about to mingle with them like some bubble-headed socialite and act
like I wanted to be here! I wanted the maps and I wanted to go.
That was it!

I pressed my lips together and narrowed my
gaze at the open doorway from which Fali had left. Something didn’t
feel right. As the thought crossed my mind, Cairikson walked up to
me and embraced my leg. Uh oh. I sat on my bed and pulled him up
onto my lap. He quickly curled up against me. “I don’t like it
here, Azrel.”

I sighed and shook my head as I looked at the
open doorway again. “Neither do I.” I looked down at him.
“Cairikson, tell me where you went and what you saw.” Some instinct
told me he had a worthwhile story to tell. Maybe he saw something
he might not have understood that could shed some light on this bad
feeling that was like a black cloud resting on my shoulders.

“Well, I left because I had a funny feeling
inside. I just walked around until it led me to a door that was
cracked open. It was dark inside, but I could hear voices talking
even though I stood far away. Salynns have really good ears.” I
smiled. “But before I could get closer to make out what they were
talking about, Fali came from some hallway farther down and started
walking towards me. He smiled at me and said, ‘Hey there,
youngster. You’re a little far from your friend. Come on, I’ll take
you back.’ He’s real nice. He took my hand and we laughed and joked
while we walked.

“Before we came back to this room, he took me
to the kitchen, which Reese was just leaving. ‘What were you doing
in there?’ Fali asked. He sounded funny, a little…suspicious.

“Reese’s tone was no better when he said,
‘Why are you
going
in there?’

“‘I’m bringing our guest some food,’ Fali
told him. ‘She needs something to tide her over until dinner.’
Reese looked at me and bowed, then asked if I was hungry. I said
yes and Fali took me into the kitchen. Reese nearly stepped on
Fali’s heels as he followed closely behind. He didn’t look happy
about Fali going in there, and Fali glared at him, too.

“They both watched each other as they each
prepared a plate, one for me and one for you. I ate mine in the
kitchen. Fali tried to make me more comfortable by talking and
laughing with me. Reese just glared at Fali—he always looks angry.
After I ate, all of us came back here.”

A few things I took note of; a group of
Humounts had gathered in a dark room with a door I’m sure they
meant to close. Reese had been in the kitchen before anyone, and
suspicion clearly surrounded the two Humount Salynns. Fali must
know Reese was up to something.

“Cairikson, I have a bad feeling about this
place. We need to find the others and get out of here without being
noticed, tonight.”

“We can’t leave tonight. You’re expected at
dinner and they’ll know something is wrong if none of you are
there.”

I smiled in spite of myself. A ten-year-old
shouldn’t be smarter than me. “You’re right. After dinner then,
while it’s dark out.”

“That will work.”

I ruffled his hair. “Come on, let’s find the
others.”

I looked at the plate of food waiting for me
and sneered. I liked Fali, but the fact that Reese had been in the
same kitchen as my food made me lose my appetite. I could only hope
Fali had watched him closely enough while he’d made Cairikson’s
food. If something happened to my boy, their heads would roll. I
dumped the plate of food in an old scarf and threw it in the
closet, leaving the empty plate on the bedside table where it would
be found.

As we walked down the hallway, I tried to
think about where Reese would put my most powerful friends—probably
as far away as he could, so I’d be alone. He probably had them
somewhere on the Eastern side of the mountain. South was way too
far to walk, and I doubted he’d put them on the Northern side so
close to where he was working on the maps and probably
plotting.

As we entered the round common of weapons, I
felt as if a blast of freezing winter air had hit me in the face. I
stopped in my tracks. I felt cold eyes on me, like daggers stabbing
my skin. The feeling was everywhere, as if the walls themselves had
horrible glaring eyes. The fine hairs on my arms and back of my
neck stood straight up and I felt chilled. I turned my eyes up to
the balcony level and listened to the silence. My ears were
throbbing with nervous heat, and I felt a fearful tightness in my
chest which nearly forced me to start breathing heavily, though I
kept it slow and steady with effort.

A shadow moved. It was on the balcony just to
my right. Something—or someone, perhaps—peeked just around the bend
of one of the columns. I blinked and it was gone. It was like a
dream. Maybe it was a dream? No, I was fully awake. Suddenly there
was another shadow! It was way to my left, behind another column.
It slowly peeked around the bend and watched me. I blinked once,
but it was still there! I felt my knees start to shake as a long,
skeletal hand slipped around the base of the column. My throat
ached, burned and became tight. I could barely breathe. The hand
then came up towards me and wiggled only its fingers in a taunting
wave of “hello.” What were they? Not Legan’dirs. Humounts messing
with me? It had to be! But what if it wasn’t?

A hand suddenly dropped onto my shoulder! I
screamed, spun, and knocked the hand off me while my other fist
came up and punched whatever it was straight in the face. It
happened so quickly, but when my mind caught up with my reflexes I
saw the person. Both hands were covering his nose and he was
hunched over in pain. When he opened his eyes I nearly collapsed
from relief. I’d recognize those periwinkle eyes anywhere.

“Ortheldo!” I gasped in relief and went to
his aid, pushing him up by his shoulders. I quickly looked behind
me but the shadows were gone. I turned my attention back to
Ortheldo.

“I think you broke my nose, Azrel,” he said
sounding like he was pinching his nose shut.

“Gods, I’m so sorry,” I whispered, resting my
hands on his upper arms. I looked around the common room once more
and then, seeing nothing, I leaned in closer to him. “Is your room
nearby?”

“Yes, and I’m
almost
glad I found
you.”

I laughed softly. “Come on. Lead me to your
room and I’ll…fix it.” I said, for some reason not wanting to say
heal.

He nodded as he turned back down the hall
that Cairikson and I had come from. He led me into the first door
on the right, which opened to a stone staircase. We went up one
floor to another hallway and then to the first door on the right.
The sudden sight of daylight made me stagger back and for a moment
close my eyes, which stung from the unexpected brightness even
though it was still overcast outside. When I was able to open my
eyes again, I first noticed this room was far larger and more
luxurious than my cave. Beautiful light blue carpeting stretched
from one wall to the next. The windows took up the entire wall in
front of me and the bed to my left was twice the size of mine, with
a beautiful thick comforter embroidered with blue and gold
silk.

I looked around in amazement. My room really
was
a dungeon! My bad feeling about his place deepened.
Clearly someone wanted to let me know I was unwanted here, despite
the façade about how glad they were to have me. Why else would they
put such an “esteemed” guest in probably the lowest class rooms
they had in this mountain? The message was clear: “Leave now and
don’t expect us to follow you anywhere.”

When my initial shock passed, I realized that
my entire party was in this room. Rabryn rolled his eyes, placed
his hand over his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the
Gods you’re alright.”

“Goodness!” Meddyn cried, as they all
approached us. “What happened to you?” I guided Ortheldo over to
the bed that stretched out towards the windows and sat him on
it.

“Azrel happened to me,” he said in his
nasally voice and lowered his hands. I cringed and sucked in a
breath through clenched teeth. His hands were filled with blood,
which continued dripping out his nostrils in streams over his mouth
and down his chin. He smiled at me though, his eyes bloodshot and
watery from the break. “But I should have known better than to
sneak up on her from behind.”

I smiled and got on my knees in front of him.
“That’s right, you
should
know better. Especially in
this
place.”

“I told you!” Addredoc cried, and pointed to
Rabryn, who had his tongue in his cheek in a failed attempt to hide
a smile.

I grinned. “You Redians do love the phrase ‘I
told you so.’”

Everyone laughed. It was a really wonderful
sound to hear. “Your brother wasn’t sure if you would feel the
danger about this place that we’ve felt. I told him you would.”

“I’ve not only felt it, I’ve seen it. And
these Humounts pretty much told me how unwanted I am.”

“What do you mean?” Thrawyn asked.

“My bedroom? It might fit in
a corner
of this room. It has no windows, no carpet, no silk quilt. It’s a
dungeon. Awfully odd accommodations for the supposed ‘guest of
honor’ don’t you think?”

“Indeed.”

I looked at Cairikson, who sat on the bed
next to Ortheldo. “Why don’t you tell them what you heard and saw?”
I looked up at the others. “His experience was even better still.”
All of them turned their attention to Cairikson as he got to his
knees and started explaining the incident with Fali and Reese.

I looked back at Ortheldo and cringed again
at the site of his purple, swollen, bleeding nose. “I’m so sorry I
hit you,” I whispered so as not to interrupt Cairikson.

“It’s okay.” He tried to whisper, but sounded
goofy with his nose closed off. I giggled softly. He rolled his
eyes, but smiled. “Will you please fix me so I can sound
normal?”

I had to bite my lower lip to keep from
laughing out loud at how ridiculous he sounded. “I’m sorry,” I
whispered in hysterics. “I’m not laughing at you.”

He was still smiling. “Yes you are.”

I quietly laughed until I was finally able to
suck in a breath and hold it. Then I placed my hand over his nose
and let my hand become consumed with white fire. After a moment it
went away and I removed my hand.

Once again I was looking into the handsome
face of my friend as he smiled at me. “Thanks.”

I grinned. “My pleasure.”

Then the thought of the place we were in and
those creepy shadows watching me suddenly overwhelmed me. In this
hateful land, I needed to feel safe. I needed Ortheldo’s arms
around me. I swallowed back my tears. “Ortheldo?”

Concern and sympathy washed over his face.
“What is it, Azrel?” he whispered softly. He rested the back of his
knuckles against my cheek.

I swallowed my pride and looked into his
lovely eyes, ones that had hypnotized me for the past sixteen
years, even when I couldn’t look into them every day. “Could you
please hold me for a moment?” I asked rather pathetically. I didn’t
care—I needed him. Only in his arms did I feel safe.

“Oh Gods,” he whispered and pulled me into
his embrace. The feeling of safety immediately washed over me in a
giant wave of relief. “Any time you need, Azrel,” he whispered in
my ear. “You don’t even have to ask.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and held him close to
me. Somehow, some way, I’d lived on without him for nine years. The
sudden realization of what a loss that had been to me made me press
myself closer to him. How had I ever managed without him? How? I
mentally shook my head. I might never know. He responded to my
stronger embrace by holding me tighter in return and petting the
length of my hair.

Cairikson stopped talking a moment later, and
I reluctantly pulled away from Ortheldo, wiping my hands over my
cheeks to make sure no tears had fallen. “So did Reese stick you
all in here together or what?”

“No,” Rabryn said and walked over to the bed.
He picked Cairikson up and sat down next to Ortheldo, putting
Cairikson in his lap. “He stuck Addredoc in here.”

My brows dropped. “Addredoc?”

Rabryn nodded. “Everyone else was scattered
around the mountain.”

Addredoc stepped forward. “After he told me
how close your room was to mine, I went around the mountain looking
for everyone else. All of us were already looking for you, so it
took us a while to regroup.”

I smirked at my brother. “I thought you could
feel my presence no matter where I am or how far apart we are.”

He gave me a playful glare and then a half
smile before he looked at Cairikson in his lap. “I was too
exhausted to focus. I couldn’t feel you as strongly.”

“After we all gathered, we came back here and
fell asleep,” Addredoc finished.

I nodded. “I fell asleep right away too.”

“We were all tired,” Rabryn said. “I
am
concerned about those shadows you and Cairikson saw a
moment ago, though.”

I looked at the little Salynn boy sitting in
his lap. “You saw them too?”

Cairikson nodded with his head against my
brother’s chest. “I was scared.”

“Me too.” I looked at the others, “I don’t
know what they were, but they were not friendly by any means. We
need to get out of here,
soon
.”

“We need those maps,” Addredoc said. “Before
we decide anything, you have to take note that you have not been
harmed. When—and if—this supposed danger gets too close to you,
then we’ll leave.”