The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles) (23 page)

She
thought back over the years. The rain that set in while she shed tears over
Hamalia’s death. The thunder that roared when she was angry. She had done those
things without realizing. What about when she had a nightmare? Now that she was
dreaming again, could her unconscious emotions affect the weather? How was she
to know? She could hardly ask Zadi to sit up each night and watch for a change
in the weather.

What
could she do now that she was aware of her abilities? Could she harness her
power and bend the weather to her will? That would be useful in a fight.

But
she would still have flashes of strong emotion. She wouldn’t be able to stay in
control at all times. Storm clouds could give away her position. A lightening
crash could bring a tree down on her men. She would have to learn to control
her emotions as well as her Power or it wouldn’t be long before her enemies
used it against her.

She
let herself into her room and jumped at the sight of Madoc sitting on her bed,
a defiant look on his face.

“Why
are we still here?”

She
crossed the room and looked out the window, giving herself a moment to gather
her thoughts. “I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Mother Chennai and the
sisters until we arrived. Darby agreed to let me stay and spend some time with
them.” Her voice rose with the lie. 

“I’m
not Nic, Tempani. You can’t just flutter your lashes at me to make me forget
what I want to know.” She gasped at him, but he waved her away. “Don’t look so
surprised. I know your games and more often than not I enjoy our flirtations,
but this time I want the truth,” he demanded. “And I am not leaving this room
until I get it.”

“I’m
not ready to go back yet. It’s too soon after what happened with Nic. And being
there now while he is courting her… it’s just too hard.”

“You
and me, we get on all right, don’t we?” He waited for her to nod. “It’s because
we have a lot in common. And one of the things we have in common is that we
hate being cooped up in a place where we aren’t free to roam around. So if we
need to overcome something, we do it by riding our horses or by doing
something
.
Do you see where I’m heading with this?”

“Yes,”
Tempani mumbled.

“Now
if you don’t tell me what is really going on I’m going to write to Nic or your
father and tell them something is going on. I will tell them that I hear
whispers of women and magic and of prophecies,” he said slowly. “I will also
tell them that Darby’s men-at-arms look like commoners and that they watch
every move you make.”

She
opened her mouth to object, but he held up a hand to silence her.

“Now
if I were your father or the man who loved you that would worry me. And I think
I would send a unit of the King’s Guard to see that you were safe. Are you
catching my drift?”

“You’re
a lot wiser than people give you credit for,” she whispered nervously.

“Spit
it out. Tell me what is going on,” he said. “Because no offence to Mother
Chennai, but I can’t stay here much longer.”

She
wiped her sweaty palms on her shirt and took a deep breath.

“One
woman will come forward to bridge the gap between our two people for she understands
and is the voice of both.

She
will bring forth the freedom of all enslaved as she is bound to them for all
eternity.

She
will bring about the rise of women and lead them into the power they should
possess for not only men should wield magic and strength.

She
will be blessed with the Power and will have the hand of the Goddess on one
shoulder and the hand of the Black and White Woman on the other.

And
the Goddess in a way very few will see shall mark her as The One.

Her
faithful servants - woman, man and beast alike - will aid her, until peace is
found once again across this land.

We
will know when she has arrived, for the strength of her Power will reach the
furthest corner of this great land.

Listen
for her call and follow her to your destiny.”

“That’s
deep Tempani but quit stalling,” he said and clutched his growling stomach.
“Dinner will be served soon.”

“It’s
me. It is my destiny to unite this kingdom,” she said. “We have been fighting amongst
ourselves for far too long, and it’s only going to get worse unless I stop it.
The people we came with are my guard, Zadi and Bhatia, my charges, and Mother
Chennai my guidance.”

“You’re
having me on,” Madoc laughed and stood up. “This is absurd.”

“It’s
true Madoc. I struggled to believe it to begin with, but there is no denying
that I am the one they speak of.
I
have been chosen by the Goddess
Allarah to bring peace to our kingdom.” She knew she must sound absurd. It was
far-fetched, but she needed him to believe.

Madoc
stared at her, lost for words. She watched him sort out the information in his
mind. Trying to make sense of it all. Slowly the look on his face turned to
fear.

“I
will be arrested for helping you. Great Gods Tempani, how could you have put me
in this position?”

“That’s
why I didn’t tell you what we were doing. So you would be free to say you had
no idea what we were up to.”

He
paced back and forth. Like an animal in a cage. “We are breaking the law!” He
cried. “No one will believe I had no idea what was happening. They’ll think I’m
a key member of this conspiracy.”

“Why?
You knew nothing of this!”

“Look
at me Tempani!” He stopped in front of her, his big frame towering over her.
“Have you not wondered why my skin is so dark? I have Kalaowin blood in me also
so do you really think King Wimarc will believe I am an innocent party in all
of this?”

“Then
you should understand why I have to do this!” She cried. “I have to free our
people Madoc. We are hunted. Captured. What we are forced to do, it isn’t
right!”

“King
Wimarc will never free all slaves. The nobles like having them around.”

“Not
all nobles.”

“You
are hardly enough, Tempani.”

“Madoc,
I want you by my side on this. I need you to support me because I honestly
don’t think I’m strong enough to do it on my own. But if you don’t want to take
this on, I’ll understand. It’s a heavy burden to carry, and if we put one foot
wrong, it’ll be ruined.” She gripped his arm. “But whatever you decide, I need
you to keep what we are doing to yourself. If the wrong person catches wind of
this,
we
will be hunted down,” she said, her eyes wide with pure fear.

“I
need to be by myself right now. I’m sorry, Tempani, but I don’t know what to
think of all this,” he muttered and pulled free of her grasp.

She
of all people understood how difficult it was to believe so she left him to his
thoughts and went to the infirmary to see if she would be of any use. She
worried that if she went to her room and allowed herself a moment to think she
would fall apart. She had wanted to tell him but now that it was out she was
worried he would run. And it would all be over.

—

Madoc
lay on his bed, his feet dangling off the edge, and ignored his growling
stomach. Food can wait, he thought. He had more important things on his mind
now. He kept hoping Tempani would walk into his room and tell him she was
playing with him and they would now be returning to the palace. But that wasn’t
going to happen. He knew that.

He
knew what she was planning to do was wrong. It was treason. There was no way
she was getting out of this alive. And if he were to help he would face the
same fate. And Darby. Why was Darby allowing her to do this when he knew what
would happen?

“Because
it is her choice,” Darby said when Madoc confronted him. “She is The One we
speak of, but at any point she could have refused it and she chose not to.”

“Of
course she would choose not to when her mind is filled with stories of heroism
and dreams of what Kamara should be like. But that’s not reality.” Madoc kicked
Darby’s bed. “She will be killed, and it will be on your hands.”

“I
thought you of all people would understand why she is doing this. Or have you
forgotten everything that happened to your mother?”

Madoc
clenched his fist and turned on Darby. “Don’t ever say that.”

Darby
stepped forward and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “It’s not your
fault, Madoc. You need to let go of all this guilt.”

“If
I hadn’t written to Dinah…”

“Then
you never would’ve found out the truth,” Darby whispered and steered Madoc to a
chair. He collapsed onto it and buried his face in his hands, tears swimming in
his eyes.

The
truth. Madoc wasn’t sure if he ever should have known the truth. It would have
saved him so much heartache if he had gone on believing that his parents were
who they said they were. But they weren’t, and Madoc still struggled to come to
terms with that.

 “Don’t
judge us too harshly for what we are doing. To us it is the right thing to do,”
said Darby.

Madoc
nodded and returned to his room. He took out some parchment and found his ink.
He knew what he must do. For him it was the right thing. He finished his letter
and handed it to the messenger. Then he did something he’d needed to do for
years. He told his story to a sympathetic ear.

Madoc
swallowed the lump in his throat and sat beside Tempani.

“I
killed my mother,” he whispered. “Not directly, but my actions caused her
death.”

Tempani
reached over and gripped his hand, willing him to continue.

“Did
you know my mother is barren?” He asked. “The seemingly perfect Lady Dinah has
one major flaw. It broke her heart. My father’s too. It shamed the great Lord
Perci
of Pina to have no son to pass his legacy onto. Like
most noblemen, he had an eye for the ladies. He would take anyone into his bed.
Even a Kalaowin.”

“Who
was she?”

“A
half-blood slave.
Uhana
,” he breathed her name with
such adoration in his voice that it sent a chill down her spine. “She was so
young when she conceived me. Not even fourteen.”

“She
must have been so scared.”

“My
parents moved her into the manor and away from prying eyes. I’m led to believe
mother was good to her,” he said. “Gave her everything she needed. But when I
was born she was tossed back out. Forced to work in the fields and forbidden
from coming near me.”

“And
no one guessed you weren’t Dinah’s?”

He
shook his head. “She loved me as her own. So who would question them?”

“But
your skin,” she said. “You’re not overly dark, but there is a trace.”

“Too
much time in the sun,” he laughed sadly. “That was their excuse.”

Tempani
sighed. “What of
Uhana
?”

“It
was strange. Everywhere I went on our estate I sensed someone watching me. And
when I looked up there she was. Staring at me so openly. She didn’t try to hide
it. I was a child with no tact. I asked my parents who the lady was, and next
thing I knew she was gone. Sold to another estate.”

He
stood up and paced the room. His hands clasped behind his back to stop the
trembling. “When I started my page training at the palace, I started to see her
again. She was working there, in the kitchens. It was as though the Goddess
willed it. But each time I tried to approach her, she ran away. And then I did
something that I would live to regret for the rest of my life.”

Tempani
bit her lip as she watched the anguish take over his face.

“I
wrote to mother and told her the woman was back. They arrived at the palace not
too long after and had
Uhana
arrested. They claimed
she had tried to steal me when I was a boy. They wanted her executed.”

“But
it wasn’t true!”

“Father
is one of the wealthiest nobles. What he wants, he gets,” he said bitterly.

“And
that is what I’m trying to change. People should be given a fair trial. No
matter what the
color
of their skin or how much money
they have.” She sighed and shook her head. “What happened next?”

“She
escaped her cell. I don’t even want to think of what she had to do to bribe the
guard on duty.” He shivered. “She broke into my room and told me everything.
Her Kamari was excellent. She’d practiced for years so one day she could talk
to me. Tell me the truth.”

“So
why did she not tell you before?” Tempani asked. “Why did she run away when you
tried talking to her?”

“She
feared for her life. Father threatened to kill her if she ever spoke the
truth.”

“And
only when she was facing death did she spill the truth,” Tempani said sadly.

“Her
last words to me ring as clear in my mind as they did that day. ‘Be proud of
your skin, my boy, and fight the chains that have me. We choose our own death,’”
he recited. “She ran to the balcony and threw herself over. She left this life
on her terms and unafraid of death.”