The Forgotten King (Korin's Journal) (16 page)

The rock’s magic didn’t allow me time to dwell on Backstabber’s fate.  I turned to the tussle between the other two brigands.  The brigand I’d stabbed was on the ground, the other straddling him and pummeling his face with his fists.  I mechanically stumbled over to where they fought and punched the man doing the pummeling as hard as I could in the back of his head.  He fell over, unconscious.  The brigand he’d been beating muttered incoherently through a mouth full of blood and broken teeth, his face a bloody, ruined mess.  He didn’t look as if he’d be getting up anytime soon.

Before I could appreciate the fact that the four men who had come after me were all out of the fight, my legs started back towards the road.  I couldn’t comprehend why until an arrow zipped past my face, close enough that the fletching sliced across my cheek.  Kait’ had commanded me to attack all the brigands.  I’d followed that order with the four men behind me.  That still left the bowman and the brigand leader for me to attack.  My legs were taking me towards them. 

My natural instincts for survival, coupled with my orders, sent me into a sprint towards the bowman.  I could just barely make him out with my eyesight blurry from pain.  Despite my pain and weakness, I darted side to side in an attempt to keep the bowman from having a clear shot at me.  The next thing I knew, I was upon him.

He let an arrow fly as I reached him.  The arrow caught my cloak, twisting me to the side as it ripped through the cloth.  Amazingly, I kept to my feet and reached out to grab his bow, my intention being to rip the weapon away from him.  Instead, the bow remained firmly grasped in one of his hands while his other cracked into my jaw, sending me reeling backwards onto my ass.   The bowman already had another arrow nocked and aimed directly at me.  He released the bowstring. 

My eyes squeezed shut, anticipating the feel of an arrow ripping through my body and ending my life.  Instead, I heard a grunt followed by a soft thud and the crackle of dead leaves.  I warily opened one eye and saw the bowman’s body lying on the ground, the arrow that had been meant for me jutting out from his chest.  The man gasped for breath as he vainly tried to pull the arrow from his body. 

Kait’ stood behind the man, holding one of her spheres of metal in her outstretched hand.  She’d apparently drawn the loosed arrow’s point towards it, keeping the bowman between the two.

Rising to my feet, my legs took me to the downed bowman.  I gave him a swift kick to his ribs as he lay there dying.  It disgusted me to attack the dying man, but I was in too much pain to concentrate on doing anything but strictly follow Kait’s orders. 

While the bowman continued to choke and groan, I walked over to where the brigand leader lay dead and drove my foot into the side of his head.  My task fulfilled, I let weakness and pain take over and collapsed to the ground.  Tears ran down my cheeks from pain—both physical and emotional—and frustration.  Though I felt like the men had gotten what they deserved given what they’d planned to do to Kait’, I was sickened that one of them was possibly dead by my own hand and by my complete lack of control in the situation.

“Well done,” Kait’ lauded as she stepped up behind me.

“Why?” I asked through clenched teeth.

Kait’ stepped in front of me and crouched to meet my eyes.  I would’ve given anything to punch the grin off her face.  No matter how I’d been raised, I didn’t think I’d have any problem breaking Kait’s nose if the rock in my chest would’ve allowed me to.

“Simply a test to see if I was right about you,” she explained.  “All of the others had to prove themselves, and you’re no different.  We don’t need to waste our time on dead weight.”

I shut my eyes tightly to rid my view of Kait’s self-satisfied face, tears still dripping down my cheeks.  “Why did you save me then?” I asked.  “That arrow was meant for me, and you stopped it.”

“Two reasons,” she began, rising to her feet.  “Follow me now.” 

My body responded to her command.  If not for the rock in my chest, I wouldn’t have been able to muster the strength to rise on my own. 

“First,” she began as we headed towards where I’d fought the brigands, “I owed you a little assistance after giving you the ellifil.  With your body being so unused to it, you experienced a much more severe crash when the effects wore off.  Since you still did so well after the crash, I decided you’d earned some help.” 

Her casual, almost pleased, tone tore at me.  At least two men were dead.  She’d killed both of them and didn’t seem affected in the least. 
“And the second?” I prodded as we approached the brigands lying on the forest floor.  The one with the mangled face was staggering to his feet.  Backstabber was breathing, allaying my fear that I’d killed him. 

Kait’ looked to me, extending her arm to offer me the hilt of a dagger.  “I want you to kill these four men right now.  Start with that one.”  She pointed towards the brigand getting to his feet.

My mind exploded into panic, my heart started crashing against my ribs, and I gasped as if taking the last breath I’d ever take.  I fought the command as hard as I could, but still my hand reached out and grasped the cold metal hilt of the proffered dagger.  I opened my mouth to protest, but Kait’ waved an admonitory finger. 

“Don’t speak until you’re finished,” she ordered with a smirk.

With the dagger in hand, I turned to the brigand with the ruined face who’d finally stood, wavering on his feet. 

“Korin, stop,” Kait’ called from behind me.  My legs locked and I turned, hoping that Kait’ was going to tell me that her order had only been a sick joke, but instead, her lips curved upwards, her eyes narrowing menacingly.  “Make their deaths slow and painful.  Make sure they suffer.”

My throat clenched and my eyes closed as if doing so would protect me from the pain.  I can’t even begin to explain the torrent of tempestuous emotions that inundated my entire being.  Revulsion, anger, panic, fear, sadness, regret, and self-loathing merely topped the mountain.  When my eyelids parted, it was if I were looking through someone else’s eyes.  The eyes of a killer. 

Tears still dripping from my eyes, I started for the unsteady brigand who had regained his feet.  He heard me coming and turned, noticing the bared dagger in my shaking fist.  Weaponless and alone, he tried to flee.  I was faster.  In short order, the man was on the ground, the tendons behind his right knee sliced though with the razor-sharp blade that Kait’ had given me.  I killed
him slowly, making sure he suffered before he finally died.  If his terrified screams and frantic pleas for mercy were any indicator, Kait’s orders had been fulfilled.

My mind has since blocked out most of the next hour of that day.  The next thing I remember is being down on my knees, sobbing while Kait’ smiled down at me. 

My hands and sleeves were covered in sticky, wet blood, and my entire body trembled.  My mind repeatedly replayed the vicious murdering of the four brigands.  The unconscious ones had been woken by my dagger.  They’d been so helpless.  They hadn’t been a threat to us.  They’d all begged for their lives.  And still I’d killed them. 

I may have been able to block out the details of the killings, but I’ll never forget the looks on their faces or the sounds of their screams. 
Never.

I kept thinking about Kait’s story, about how she’d described the day that her soul had died.  I couldn’t help but think that I, too, had experienced the death of my soul

Looking up at Kait’, wracking with sobs and trembling, I was able to loose one coherent word from my lips.  “Why?”

Kait’ crouched down beside me, her smile dropping, replaced by anger.  Actually, make that seething hatred.  “Tell me the truth.  Do you think you’re the first to try to sympathize with my past?  Do you really think you’re the first to try and use me to get out of this?  Huh?”  In all truthfulness, I hadn’t even considered if any others had come up with the same plan.  I’d thought my idea clever. 

I nodded and received an ear-ringing slap in response.  The pain was nothing compared to my headache and inner turmoil.  Still, it caught me off guard and I slumped to my side on the ground.  Unable to care about what happened to me anymore, I just lay there as Kait’ continued.

“Well, you’re not, you blighted bastard.”  Her words came out in a vicious hiss.  “Two others have attempted to dredge up my past for their own benefit.  They’re no longer with us.  If not for the fact that your fighting skills can be of use and that you may lure that Kolarin back to us, you’d share their fate.  I’ve settled for breaking your spirit instead.  You will
never
speak of anything I’ve told you today or try to pull my past out of me again. 
Understand?
”

I nodded slowly.  My sobbing was under control, but tears still flowed.  My life was out of my control.  Everyone I cared about was gone.  I’d just killed four men in cold blood.  And the worst part was that I could do
nothing
about it.

Kait’ stood and walked away.  Several moments later, my shortsword dropped to the ground beside me.  I didn’t move to take it.  The blade was still stained with the Backstabber’s blood.  Instead, I retched on myself.  Overhead, the gray sky let out a peal of rumbling thunder.  It wasn’t long before a cold rain began to pelt me.  I didn’t care.  I couldn’t care.  I just stayed on the ground, my mind mired in misery.

I’m not sure how long I lay unmoving, not even knowing where Kait’ was, but at some point, I heard Eyebrows’s wagon creaking down the road.  I didn’t turn to see it.  Again, I didn’t care.  If they wanted me to get up, they could make me.  For the moment, I just wanted to close my eyes and imagine I was walking down a beach, gazing at the ocean with Sal’ by my side.  No other worries.  Just us.  It almost made me forget my pain.  Almost.

“No.  No, no, no.  What’ve you done?” Briscott’s voice called, his damp, rapid footsteps growing louder through the now soggy leaves. 

“It’s not your place to ask,” Kait replied vituperatively from somewhere to my right.  “He’s alive.  That’s all you need to know.”  I heard her footsteps move towards the cart until they faded to silence.

Then Briscott was crouched in front of me, his face a mask of concern, his hand nervously rubbing at his beard.  His hair was plastered to his head, wet clumps of it splayed across his face.  If the pouring rain was bothering him, he didn’t show it.  He started examining my body again.

“Thank Loranis you’re alive,” he said.  “Once I found out that Vhillin had scouted a brigand group . . . well, I’ve been worried about you all morning.  I should have told you about Kait’s little ‘tests.’  I just . . . I’m sorry.”

I didn’t reply; I just watched the wall of rain sheeting down from above, letting my eyes lose focus until the world was just a curtain of gray, just as it should’ve been.

“Blighted hell, your wound’s just about dehisced.  It’ll need restitching.”

The words meant little to me.  I closed my eyes again, letting the rain distract me from my pain.  It didn’t work.

“Korin, please, say something.”

I opened my eyes to narrowed slits, keeping my face blank of emotion otherwise.  “I killed those men.  She made me.”

Briscott took a deep, shuddering breath.  “You have to stay strong, Korin.  Don’t blighting start acting like the others.  Life is too precious to waste like that.  You hear me?”

If I hadn’t been in such gods-awful pain, I would’ve laughed.  Instead, I stared blankly at nothing and let Briscott continue his evaluation of my physical well-being. 

“Come on, let’s get you up.  We’ve got to get you to the cart.”  Briscott’s friendly tone had been washed away by a tide of sorrow. 

I made no effort to stand.  “Blight it all, Korin.  We have to get you out of this rain.”  I still did
n’t move.  Briscott trudged away.  Shortly after—though it could’ve been an
eternity for all I cared—I was being lifted with two hands under my arms and two around my ankles. 

While I was being loaded onto the cart, I saw Kait’ talking to Eyebrows.  I couldn’t make out their words, but the smiles they cast my way made me ill.  I simply shut my eyes, hoping that maybe I’d be lucky enough that they’d never open again.

Chapter 15

Day 14

Day 14

At least one thing has helped keep my mind off of the tangled mess of concerns that have been plaguing me.  Boakler finally came and confiscated my journal pages—the fake ones.  He didn’t have them for long before he came back to the carriage and actually sat on the bench across from me.  None of my other captors had ever come into the carriage with me.

“Is any of this true?” he had bluntly asked me, clearly skeptical of my written words.

See, in my fake journal entries, I heavily implicated that two of my captors, who I intentionally left unnamed, had been working with me.  I wrote that in return for secrets about “the magic squirrel” and the dragon child, I was given assurance that I’d be set free, though it would be made to look as if I’d escaped.  As Boakler sat before me with narrowed eyes, I had to struggle not to laugh. 

With as straight a face as I could manage, I denied everything, saying that he must’ve misread my words.  That just led to him rereading the journal several times right in front of me in the carriage, his eyes moving back and forth quickly at first, then slowly during subsequent read-throughs.  His last time through, he read the words out loud, punctuating each and every syllable of each and every word. 

I’ll try to recall the conversation, just so I can have a record of his stupidity.

~~~~

“So you’re claiming that I am misunderstanding these words that
clearly
state that there is a plot to free you in return for secrets about the magical cargo we carry?” Boakler questioned incredulously, his smug voice filling me with enough anger to quell my urge to laugh.

“I really don’t see how you’re coming to that conclusion,” I answered in faked naiveté.

Boakler snapped the pages taut as he brought them before his face.  “
They assured me that I’d be released two days outside of the Academy, as long as I gave them the secrets they requested.  I couldn’t help but oblige. 
Those are your exact words.  You’re seriously trying to tell me I’m misunderstanding them?”

I kept my guileless face and tone intact.  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Boakler dropped the pages on his lap and began to massage his temples with his eyes closed.  “You had to know we would be taking your pages again.  Why should I even begin to believe your words?  This is just a trick, nothing more.”

With Boakler‘s eyes closed, I took the opportunity to smile, releasing my facial tension built up from holding back my laughter. 
“Exactly.  You should just let it go.”  I had my face schooled back to wide-eyed innocence by the time he opened his eyes again.  If I see Til’ again, I’ll have to let him know that he was the inspiration for my expression.

“You are trying to throw me off, aren’t you?  You want me to think you are lying.”  Boakler’s smugness was seeping back into his words.

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, allowing myself a smirk to reel him into the deception.

“Dammit, Salmaea.
  Which two?  Alix has stronger ties to the laboratory staff, so it must be him.  Who else?  Stemon?  He
has
been acting strangely.  Then again, Jisan has been quick to take the night shift with driving the carriage.  Has he been talking to you then?  Trust me, your plan will not work!”  Boakler stormed out of the carriage, not allowing me to answer.

Once alone, I allowed myself to let out a snicker. 

~~~~

I have to say that I’m proud of my little prank.  It will keep Boakler suspicious of the other three for the remainder of the trip.  Even if he confronts them directly and they deny any wrongdoing, he’ll only be able to take their words with a grain of salt.  He’ll watch over me more closely, but he’ll also try to keep the others close.  Not only will his suspicions of the others create a rift between them all, making the remaining portion of the trip more uncomfortable for them, but it will also take some of their attention away from watching for Korin. 

And now for the more depressing part of this entry.  At this point, I’m not so sure Korin is even coming for me.  I should be happy.  That’s exactly what I want, right?  He will be safer that way. 

We are just days from the Academy, and if he hasn’t reached us yet, I have little hope that he will.  I know it is for the best; Korin can’t stand against the wizards of the Academy.  Besides, I would just be in for more heartache when he learned the truth . . .

Regretfully, I’ve also realized that there’s no way that I can free Max before we get to the Academy.  I’m sure of that now.  But I
will
find a way after we arrive.  Surely I can find someone to help.  If only Saiyre wasn’t such a Hindren-blooded follower of protocol.

No matter what it takes, I will free Max so that he can find Korin.  He’ll be able to help Korin fulfill the prophecy that Raijom is so afraid of, I can help my father with the possible wizard participation in the war, and we can all move on with our lives.  It will hurt—it will hurt me, at least—but it’s what must be done.  I was a fool to think I could . . .

Okay, I’m not going to get down on myself again.  Today was a good day, and I still find myself laughing at Boakler’s stupidity.  I’m glad he’s the one who took my journal.  Ever since we were classmates years ago at the Academy, he’s always treated me with condescension, mostly because of who my father is—the same reason as most. 

I’ve always been seen as some pampered princess who receives preferential treatment because of my father’s position.  If only they knew the pressure, the way I’m treated by him. 

I’m doing it again.  No more.  I’ve fooled my captors, and now I’m going to sit back and enjoy watching the tension swelling between them for the rest of the trip.  I think both Korin and Max would be proud.  Maybe Max has even been able to hear what I did and is laughing himself.  Hopefully I’ll have a little entertainment to keep my mind off of the war, my father, and Korin.  Maybe it’ll keep my mind clear enough to figure out how to free Max once we arrive at the Academy.