The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (14 page)

Helen was
also getting ready with the help of Saren, who was the only person
Helen would see, only because she had lost her niece and they could
comfort each other. When she was ready, they went down to the main
hall to wait for Henkot and Delsani.

It was not
long before they came, and they all walked to the front doors
together. When they stepped outside there were what looked like
giant teardrops with wings. The teardrops were on solid, stubby
legs that looked as though they were made of glass. The wings were
like wings of an insect and were folded back.

Helen had
seen these things in Cayer-Huld the Wizard City. They were
transport for people going long distances. She was trying to
remember what John said they were.

“
Are you
okay, Helen?” asked Saren.

“
I was trying
to think of what John called those things,” said Helen pointing to
the tears.

“
The
y’re tear-flies,” said
Saren.

Helen nodded.
“That’s right.”

“
Are you sure
you’re all right, Helen?” asked Henkot, concerned.

“
I’m fine,”
replied the woman. “Now can we go?”

“
Yes, Helen’s
right. It’s time to go,” said Delsani.

Saren and
Henkot had already agreed Saren would go with Helen, but to their
surprise, Helen sat in the same tear-fly as Delsani. And when
everyone was ready, the openings that they had went though closed
up in front of them, and the wings of the tear-flies unfolded and
started to flap rapidly. They took off from the ground and were on
their way to the Wizard City.

Helen cast
her mind back to when she first went in a tear-fly. It was also the
first time that she had been to the city, and she did not like the
idea of going for a flying lesson in a giant tear. John assured her
that it was the safest way to travel and that when it took off, her
fear would pass and she would feel and be safe. She remembered that
John was right for, as soon as the opening closed, she felt the
safest she had ever felt in her life, just as she did in the
tear-fly she was in at that moment.

Helen knew
that Delsani blamed himself for what had happened at Kealhal and
especially for what happened to John
, for
he was one that told and assured John that they could not fail, and
John trusted him with his life.

“
I don’t
blame you,” said Helen lightly. “I blame him.”

“
Him?”
repeated Delsani.

“
Ulicoth,”
said Helen. “He was the one that set us all up. He’s the one that
killed John,” she sobbed.

“
I’m so
sorry, Helen. The truth is that we were too willing to jump in and
bring John back. We didn’t check everything as we should have. We
were so arrogant we didn’t even see the simple things that would
have shown us the truth. Therefore, I blame myself, because I, at
least, should have kept a clear head,” said Delsani
truthfully.

“
He has to
pay for what he did,” Helen continued as though Delsani had said
nothing.

“
The
re is only one person who can
bring him to justice,” said Delsani.

Helen put her
hand gently on her tummy and nodded. “I know, but I don’t want him
to get hurt. He’s all I have left of John,” the woman said. “Is
that selfish?”

“
Don’t be
silly. It‘s good that you care for him so much to think of his
well-being even before his birth. It’s only natural,” said
Delsani.

They had now
reached the city’s tall grey wooden Gates. To Helen, the gates
looked different than before, for when she was last there. The
gates were bright and welcoming, but now they looked cold and
consumed with death itself.

The service
was long, and Helen did not stay any longer then she had to, and
that was fine with Jaucal and Delsani. For they thought it best
that Helen should not stay out in the open, for they feared that
there could be another attempt on her life.

Bacnil feared
this also, and it was he that told Helen that no one would be
offended if she left. Saren and Henkot had decided to stay behind
and said that they would see their Queen as soon as they got back.
And at that, Helen and Delsani went back to the Towers of
Telian.

After the
service most of the Men, and Elves went back to their own cities.
And for the remaining few, a party was held, for as the grieving
service ended, it was customary to throw a grieving party to
celebrate the lives of their fallen friends and kin. However, most
of the men wanted to grieve in their own way, and off they went,
though King Bacnil and a few of his friends stayed, including his
cousin Hadnim, against all advice, for he was still badly wounded
at that time. The only reason he stayed was so that he could
properly thank the Wizard who saved him from Kilamen’s
attack.

Back at the
towers, Helen and Delsani were in the main hall. Some of John’s
belongings were now there. Helen was staring straight at the
display case deep in memories of their time in that place together.
“I want him to grow up here,” she said.

Delsani was
not surprised by those words. “I’ve already talked the Grand Wizard
and he agrees with me that it would be best for the both of you to
return to the Normal World and raise him there. It’s completely
your choice.”

“
I don’t
know,” said Helen.

“
He’s your
son, so it is really up to you though, I would urge you to consider
what I have just said. And remember that Ulicoth knows that your
son exists. He won’t stop until he kills you and the
child.”

Helen stood
mesmerized, staring at the display case again.

Then she
looked up and said, “If he grows up in the Normal World, will you
train him there?”

“
No, I think
it would be best not to tell him about this world or who he really
is.”

Helen looked
confused by the Wizard’s words. “Why? I mean, if he won’t know who
he really is. Then how will we prepare him to fight?”

“
When he
turns sixteen, I’ll explain everything to him as I did to you and
John, and the four year gap should be enough for him to learn
enough magic at the college. But you mustn’t tell him the truth no
matter what happens, you understand?”

“
Not really,
but I won’t tell him. When should I go?”

“
Don’t worry.
We’re not going to throw you out. You are still our Queen. You can
leave as soon as you feel ready. But I would feel better knowing
that you were safely hidden away.”

Helen merely nodded.

“
I know his
name -”

“
No,”
Helen interrupted, “I don’t
want to know. I want to feel like there’s at least one thing that I
can do.”

“
That’s
fine,” said Delsani.

Then Helen
remembered the letter John gave her before he left. “Delsani, John
gave me a letter to open only if he didn’t survive. I’ve only just
remembered. I put it in the chest at the end of the bed in my
room.”

Helen stared
at the
Wizard with an uncertain look on
her face. She opened her mouth to say something but before the
words could pass her lips Delsani said, “‘I know that it’s hard to
think that the last thing that you will see of John will be only
words on a page. But he wouldn’t have given it to you if he thought
that you couldn’t be strong enough to read it.”

“
I’ve already
read the letter, it was just after you p –” Helen broke off,
looking tearful and feeling stupid. “I’m sorry I’m not usually like
this,” she said sorrowful.

“
You’ve
nothing to be sorry for, Helen. You’ve lost your husband. And you
must face the fact that you will have to raise your child without
him,” said Delsani.

Helen said
nothing at first. Then, “The letter just told me that he loved me
and that he would always be with me. There were other things too,
things that the Grand Wizad should see. It’s just information on
where curtain things are. Nothing really important”

“
I see. I’ll
let Jaucal know. Would you like to go to the main dining room to
have something to eat?” asked Delsani, changing the subject. He
felt that what John had written was probably for her alone, and if
there was anything that she needed to tell him, she would do it in
her own time.

“
No, I don’t
think I could sit in there. I hate it when people stare at me. It
makes me feel like a freak. But I could go for something to eat in
my room.”

“
Of course,”
said Delsani, glad that she was willing to eat, though little did
he know she had done nothing but eat since Saren first visited her.
Though he would soon find that out when they got to the room. Helen
sat down on the one of the armchairs next to the window and sank
down as far as it would allow.

Delsani took
the notebook that was sitting on the bedside table and sat on the
bed, and when he moved his feet under the bed, he heard the clatter
of the plates, cups, goblets, glasses and bowls that Helen had
horded under the bed. Delsani slid off of the bed on to his knees,
looked under as if to confirm with his eyes what he had heard with
his ears. He laughed after seeing the mess she had left, which was
the last thing that Helen had expected. He looked at her with a
smile on his thin lips and said. “If I had known that you were
looking for something to collect as a hobby, I would have suggested
something that didn’t smell as bad.”

“
I’m sorry.
It’s just that I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room until
today, and I didn’t want to bother you with something as stupid as
dirty plates. I mean, with everything that you’ve had to think
about and do. I didn’t think –” She stopped, not knowing what else
to say.

Delsani’s
smile widened, and he took out his wand, pointed it at the bed and
said, “Clennos,” A light came from under the bed, and the smell
disappeared. Then the Wizard waved the wand, and there was another
light, and then there seemed to be movement coming from under the
bed. To Helen it sounded like the dishes moving around and, true
enough, one of the plates pushed its way out from behind the
overhanging bed clothes. And to Helen’s surprise, it had legs and
was now so clean that it sparkled as it walked to the door. Then
the other dishes began to find their way out from under the bed.
They, too, were sparkling clean and were walking to the
door.

“
Are you all
right Helen? You look as though you have never seen a plate with
feet before,” said Delsani sarcastically.

“
Oh, very
funny,” laughed Helen.

Delsani
laughed. “It’s good to see a smile back on your face.”

“
It’s good to
feel a smile back on my face,” said Helen wearily.

Delsani sat
back on the bed with the note pad still in his hand. He held his
wand over the small page of parchment on the pad and the wand
turned into a white quill as Helen sank back down onto the
armchair. “What would you like to eat?” he asked.

After Helen
looked up from her third plate of Norkgilop steak, she was still
feeling hungry. “Are you going to eat that?” she asked Delsani, who
had not even touched the steak that was on the plate he had resting
on his lap.

“
No,” said
Delsani, as he handed the plate over. “I prefer not to eat those
poor creatures.”

“
The
n why order
it?”

“
I ordered it
in case you still felt hungry, and I was just waiting to see if I
had to send it back.”

But Helen had
hardly heard his reply; for she was too busy enjoying the steak,
which she was already halfway through. “I don’t know what’s wrong
with me. I can’t stop eating.”

“
Helen, I
think that I would be more concerned if you weren’t eating,” said
the Wizard looking, surprised at the speed she had engulfed her
food. For in no time at all the Queen had finished the steak. She
put her plate on top of the others on the floor and gulped down the
last of her Gusjat juice. She looked over the rim of her mug while
nervously rubbing its handle with her thumb and said in a humble
voice, “I don’t think that I can go back to my normal life just
yet. I mean all the questions and rumors that will surface about
John’s death. I don’t think I’m ready to face that yet. Maybe in
another little while, I might be ready, if that’s all
right?”

This did not
surprise Delsani
. He had thought Helen
might have wanted to stay a little longer. “As I said before, it is
up to you to decide when you want to go. But is that the real
reason? If so, you don’t need to worry, for I can make it so that
they will believe whatever story you wish to tell them, with the
permission of the Grand Wizard and Council of course.”

“
You’re
right, that’s not the real reason,” said Helen. “The truth is that
I don’t want to believe John is ...”

“
Dead,”
Delsani said.

Helen nodded.
“I know it must seem silly that I can’t even say it. But I can’t
help thinking that maybe you were wrong, no offence intended.”
Helen stared at the Wizard for a second to see his reaction. And
when he did not seem to be offended she continued. “I mean I can’t
help feeling that John could still be alive.”