The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles) (16 page)

“Do
as he wants. You can ask questions later.”

She
shook her head. “No, I can’t. I won’t watch him die.”

“Please
miss,” the wife begged. “He is ready.”

Hot
tears slid down Tempani’s cheeks as it drizzled outside. She couldn’t watch
someone die. It was too painful as it carried memories of her mother’s murder.
She had been helpless then but not now. She could help this man. They could
make him better.

His
hands reached for hers, but she just stared at them, shaking her head.

“Tempani,”
Colbert hissed. “Do it. You have to.” He grabbed her and pulled her towards the
man and into his withered hands.

As
soon as their hands were clasped, a sense of peace washed over her. Before she
knew what she was doing, she raised their joined hands to her heart and locked
eyes with him. The room they were sitting in had disappeared and they stood
before a looming golden gate.

“I
accept the afterlife. I go to it with love and without fear. Take me
Tritus
,” he muttered before closing his eyes.

“And
you who brings him, do you allow him to accept the afterlife?” A booming male
voice roared in Tempani’s ears. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming
out in pain as she felt her entire being roaring with fire.

“I
allow him to accept the afterlife,” she yelped. Please make the burning stop,
she screamed in her mind. She was not ready for death yet.

“It
shall be,” the voice roared again.

Colbert
watched in amazement as a light radiated from their joint hands and Tempani’s
body grew rigid.

The
old man’s chest rose and dropped once more before his body relaxed and he
slipped away peacefully. Colbert turned, open mouthed, to Tempani, who was
trying unsuccessfully to stand. The pain she felt when she had spoken to the
voice had disappeared, but she was unable to stop shaking.

The
wife continued to weep, but she now felt a sense of relief. Her husband’s
suffering was over, and she had this girl to thank for it. She rushed forward
and fell at Tempani’s feet, wrapping her arms around the frightened girl’s
waist.

“Bless
you my child,” she cried.

Tempani
stood and without a second glance at the other occupants in the room, she fled
to a waiting Mincha, and together they galloped home. Her guard trailed behind
her, trying to keep up. The fear she had felt in the man’s room had vanished,
and she was in a state of tranquility. She knew she had done the right thing.
There was not a shred of doubt in her mind. She had played a part in the man’s
search for peace, and Tempani couldn’t help but feel blessed that she had been
able to help.

She
arrived back at the manor and had an overwhelming desire to be close to her
mother. She knew the right wing was off limits but didn’t think it would hurt
to go up there. She just wanted to feel her presence again, and their new rooms
held no trace of her.

Otto
was at the palace and Chae was out on duty so she wouldn’t get caught. She
reached the top of the stairs and had a quick glance backwards. There was no
one around. She crept over to the door and pushed it open. It gave a little
resistance and then burst open.

Her
mouth gaped as she looked around. If this wing wasn’t in use why was it dusted?
Why could she smell food and the stale stench of brandy? She wandered down the
hall to her old room. It was bare except for a bed. She moved across to
Chae’s
and saw the same thing, except his bed looked like
it had been slept in.

Puzzled
she went to the room that once belonged to her parents. It had been completely
transformed. It now resembled a meeting room of some sort. Gone were the family
portraits and the large bed that many a night had slept all four of them. In
its place was a large table scattered with reports in a code that she had never
seen before. There was a large map of Kamara on the wall, covered in red and
green pins. Next to that was a smaller map that showed only the south. Kalaowin
territory. Tribal names had been marked on there in a precise print.

“What
in the God’s name do you think you’re doing?” Otto screamed as he barged
through the door.

She
stared up at him, bewilderment in her eyes. “What’s going on?” She asked. “What
is all this?”

He
grabbed her arm and forced her to follow him into the corridor. “This wing is
off limits.”

“Is
the king targeting the Kalaowins? You can’t let him!”

“This
is confidential. You had no right to snoop around here.”

“I
wasn’t snooping,” she snapped. “This is my home too, and I can go where I
choose.”

“Not
when I have given orders stating otherwise.”

“Orders?
I’m not one of your men. Has all this time away made you forget you have a
daughter?”

“As
my daughter you should do what you’re told. You were raised to have better
manners.”

“And
what would you know?” She cried. “You sent me away as soon as it all became too
hard. You haven’t been a father for a very long time.”

“Your
mother would be ashamed to hear you speak this way.”

She
glared at him. “It’s not me she’d be ashamed of.”

He
turned from her, unable to stand the anger and pain in her eyes. “Don’t come in
here again.” And then he walked away from her.

Tempani
fled to her room and slammed the door in anger behind her, startling Zadi, who
was sitting quietly by the window, lost in her own thoughts.

 “Isn’t
there mending to be done?” Tempani snapped when Zadi didn’t budge from the
window.

Zadi
stared at her in shock, her brown eyes looking for an explanation from her
mistress. When she did not get one, she bowed her head and scurried away.

Tempani
took Zadi’s place at the window and cried silent tears. Her father had been so
angry he couldn’t even look at her. He had turned away and ordered her out. Why
couldn’t he see that all she wanted was the old Otto back? That she just wanted
him to love her. But he hated her. It was in his eyes in those rare moments
that they looked at one another.

Tempani
ignored the gentle knocking on her door, hoping whoever it was would just leave
her in peace. The knocking grew louder yet she refused to answer the door.

Zadi
crept back out, prepared for another outburst from her mistress. She opened the
door to show Lindow standing there.

“Prince
Nicolass is downstairs,” he said.

Tempani
did not move from the window.

“My
lady,”
Lindow’s
voice was gentle as he crouched beside
her. “If you don’t come down, I’ll have to bring Sir Otto to entertain him.”

Tempani
turned at her father’s name and nodded to Lindow, allowing him to lead her down
the stairs to the drawing room.
           

“Hello,”
said Nic.

She
gazed up at him, tears streaming down her face, and tried to smile. The attempt
only made her cry even more.

“Tempani?”
He asked softly, his voice full of concern. “Are you all
right?”         

She
nodded but couldn’t stop the tears.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Papa
hates me. I knew he didn’t love me, but I never thought he hated me,” she
whimpered.

“He
doesn’t hate you,” he whispered and pulled her against him.

“He
thinks my mother would be ashamed of me. He told me so just
before.”      

“I’m
sure he didn’t mean it,” Nic said and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“You
weren’t there. You don’t know what he said.” She pulled away from him and
planted her hands firmly on her hips.

He
closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Can we not turn this into an
argument?”

“Then
don’t stand there and say he didn’t mean what he said. I know what my father is
like, and when he says something, he means it.”

“I
also know your father, and I know that his temper gets the better of him,” he
said.

“Nic
just go. I want to be by myself right now.”

“No
Tempani. I’m not going to let you push me away whenever you’re upset or angry.
Those are the times you need me most.”

“What
I need is time to myself.”

“Don’t
push me away. You don’t have to do everything on your own. There are people
here who want to help you,” he said and squeezed her hands.

“Just
leave me Nic,” she said, hot tears running down her cheeks.

“I
won’t leave you to cry alone. It’s you and me from now on. It’s time you
understood that.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried over
her father.

—

 “The
Power? I don’t think it wise that we speak of this here,” muttered Darby at
dinner as Tempani recounted the events of the day before to him. She had to
know more about it, and Darby was the only person who could help. He had the
answers to everything.

They
sat huddled together at a table far from the monarchs and her friends. Tempani
didn’t want anyone to know what they were talking about until she fully
understood the situation herself.

“What
is the Power exactly?” She asked, ignoring Darby’s warning.

She
knew she’d heard the word before, but she couldn’t place where.

He
sighed deeply. “Put simply, the Power is a person’s ability to use magic. Not
everybody is blessed with magic so those who do have it are said to have the
Power.”

“Why
isn’t that term used then?”

“The
term was banished when King Raleigh passed away and his son, King
Jedsen
, took over. There was a very powerful sorcerer
called
Stefian
, who loved his Power and everything
that came with it. Word reached him in the capital that a young woman from the
south was defying the law and practicing her magic. There was still the odd
woman practicing but nothing like Serenite. She was even more powerful than
he.”

“She
could send people to
Tritus
,” Tempani said.

Darby
nodded. “He prayed to the Gods to bless him with this gift, but they would not
do so. The God Windel and Goddess Allarah visited him together and told him to
stop praying for a gift he could never be given. For the gift to speak to the
God of the Afterlife, or any God or Goddess, can only belong to someone with
unimaginable depths of Power.”

They
paused briefly as they were served
fruit.       

“
Stefian
kept sending men out to kill her, but they had no
luck. Until Serenite was betrayed by her sweetheart.”

Tempani
gasped.

“He
was a foolish man. Believed in the lies
Stefian
had
spread about her. That she would use her link to the Gods to destroy her
enemies and eventually the kingdom,” he said. “So she was arrested and burned
in the city center.”

“People
really do believe whatever they’re told, don’t they?”

“Some
people say that she wasn’t killed by the flames. The tale is that she was saved
by the Goddess Allarah and felt no pain.”

And
then she remembered. The tale that Mother Chennai had told her. The one with
the prophecy. A strange feeling sat in the pit of her stomach. It unsettled
her.

“Eventually
all the women still practicing were rounded up and killed,” Darby continued.
“King
Jedsen
banned the term ‘Power’ as it was connected
to Serenite. There hasn’t been a sorceress since her, but that’s not to say
there won’t be another
one.”         

“But
girls are still born with magic.”

“Oh
yes.
Stefian
could never have put a stop to that. But
without training, they don’t know how to use it. Or at best they go to the
convent and spend their lives healing people.”

“I
know what you’re thinking Darby, but what happened yesterday does not mean I
have strong magic. I would know if I did.”

“Perhaps.”
Darby raised his head and saw Nic approaching them. “I suggest that you keep
this between the two of us for now. I can’t imagine how your friends would take
the news. Especially Nicolass,” he said quickly. “We will talk more about it
another time. In private.”

“Ah,
Lord Darby! Just the man I was looking for. Father has requested that you join
him in a bottle of our finest brandy to celebrate,” he said.

“Of
course,” Darby said and rushed to the High Table.

Tempani
linked her arm through Nic’s and snuggled against his chest. “And what may I
ask are we celebrating?”

“Father
just received word that my Uncle Hallam will be returning home any day now.
Apparently he left Octivin a number of weeks ago and has been taking his time
to reach Fenella. ‘Taking in the scenery’ he wrote.”

“Well
I can’t wait to meet him,” she said smiling, knowing how much Wimarc’s younger
brother meant to Nic.