The Song of Eloh Saga (57 page)

“Fine,” I said. “Better than fine, in fact. How much has Krissin told you?”

“She told me you were alive only minutes ago. But I didn’t even know you were here!” He turned back to Krissin. “How could you keep this from me? Reychel is my wife! I had every right to know she was alive.”

He stared at me with that familiar gaze I’d taken for granted so many times. I could tell he wanted to take me in his arms and never let me go, but he held back. It could have been the injury or it could be that he didn’t quite believe I was real yet.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. His muscles bulged and a shiver raced through my body. I’d missed him so much more than I realized. The only thought in my head was directing me to forget my pain and leap into his arms. Instead, I held tightly to him, anchoring myself. Alia’s spark-free eyes still haunted me. It wouldn’t be long before she knew I was gone.

“Mark, we didn’t want anyone to know. Krissin has only known since last night that I could escape my confinement. We decided together,” I tossed a look of solidarity at Krissin. “It was better for no one to know until I could gather information. I’ve done it all a day early, and now we can take back our land.”

Glad the pain had subsided, I pushed myself to standing. I had to make them stop looking at me as if I was the same old Reychel who needed help from everyone. For once I would be the driving force and they would take me seriously. I couldn’t do that from the floor.

“Alia’s entire gifted army is at my father’s castle, my castle now, awaiting her orders. Her plan was to execute me and the emperor, who by the way is her father, at the same time. Her gifted army was going to disperse across the land and force people to watch our executions. In one swipe, she would destroy the hope not only of the Serenians, but also the loyal Malborn. Her gifted army will rule the entire country.”

“She’s an idiot,” Krissin said.

“But a smart idiot,” Nemison interjected. “Take down everyone at once. Create confusion. It’s a brilliant plan. Too bad Reychel figured it all out and found a way to stop her.” He winked at me and I smiled back. Finally I’d done something useful.

“I haven’t stopped her yet. If we’re going to win, we all have to be in this together,” I said.

“That’s right,” Krissin said. “Father, can you gather every gifted person you know? In thirty minutes we need to be ready to open hundreds of portals to the Northern Kingdom and capture Alia’s gifted army before they know Reychel is gone. If Alia discovers Reychel’s escaped, our entire plan will unravel.”

Before Krissin had finished, Nemison had already put out the call. He stood still, his chin in the air and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. I’d seen him do this once before and I knew he was communicating with other gifted people. Suddenly lights flashed outside the windows. Everyone but Nemison ran to see what had happened.

In the courtyard, hundreds of portals were opening and people of all ages stepped through. They greeted each other with slaps on the back and hugs.

“How were they all able to come here?” I asked after noticing Nemison had joined us at the window. “I thought you had to be somewhere once before if you wanted to open a portal.”

“Oh, I tried a little idea I’ve been tinkering with for a while. I thought perhaps I could link up my gift with theirs, giving their minds the suggestion they’d been here before.” He chuckled. “I’m glad it worked and they didn’t end up stuck in the mountains.”

“We have to take Alia by surprise,” Krissin said, pacing the room. “Using my father’s technique, we should be able to get everyone to arrive at Kandek’s castle at the same time. Then we need to hunt down and neutralize every single one of their gifted army.”

“But if we can’t see the spark in their eyes, how will we know who’s gifted and who isn’t?” Johna asked.

“We won’t.” Mark wrapped his arm securely around my waist. My head still felt a bit woozy and I wanted to be as close to him as possible.

“He’s right,” Krissin said, shaking her head. “We won’t know so we will have to trap everyone there and test them. We can designate a certain number of our people to set up a force field around the castle so no one can leave.”

“Who’s to say they won’t fight back? There could be a lot of bloodshed. Our people aren’t trained to use their gifts to fight. They are. I don’t want to lose anyone,” Johna said.

“Look, no one wants war,” Krissin said. “Believe it or not, I don’t want it either. I’m frankly getting a little tired of planning battles all the time. I’d rather spend my time sorting through fabrics and having dresses made. But I can never get to that point unless we end this. Now is our best chance.”

“I have another alternative,” I said. “When I woke up from the coma, Alia claimed I’d been severed from my gift.”

“That’s why I couldn’t feel you anymore?” Mark asked. “I thought you were dead. We all believed you were dead.”

“I don’t know what happened. Maybe they did it wrong. I couldn’t feel you anymore either, but I can use my gift. In fact, I can use it just as well as Johna or Nemison. So far, there isn’t anything I can’t do.”

“Visions?” Johna asked.

I hesitated, all of their eyes steady on me. I couldn’t tell them about the horrible visions I’d been having. Maybe once we’d solved the Alia problem, I could ask for their help. For the moment they all believed in me. I couldn’t let them know that I might go crazy. There would be time for that later.

“I’ve had a few visions, but nothing significant.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

“So our bond was gone, but you could still access your gift. That’s odd,” Mark said.

“Very, very odd,” Johna agreed. She looked at me, up and down my whole body. I had no idea what she was looking for, but there wasn’t anything different about me physically. I turned to the side, uncomfortable with her stare. Not one of them noticed the spark was gone from my eyes.

“What is your plan Reychel?” Nemison asked. “Are you suggesting we sever them?”

I nodded. “If we can somehow surround the castle and then use our combined powers to sever everyone inside the castle, then we’d be safe. No more evil gifted army and our problems are solved.”

“Except it’s not that easy,” Nemison said. “It takes quite a bit of power to sever someone. In fact, when it’s done, the offender is trapped inside a ring of at least four other gifted people. They combine their gifts to sever the person. It’s a very draining thing to accomplish. Even with all of our friends in the courtyard, we wouldn’t have enough power to sever everyone in the castle at once.”

“Then we’ll do a combination,” Krissin said. “We’ll surround the castle with a gifted force field. Then we’ll send in a select contingent of people to work in groups, severing them. It’ll take time, but it’s the safest route.”

“What about the people who fight us?” I asked. I’d seen some of them during my captivity. Some would go meekly, probably happy to be out from under Alia’s thumb. But there were others who I knew wouldn’t hesitate to fight, or kill, in an attempt to save themselves.

Krissin’s eyes narrowed and took on a darker tone. “Then we will kill them first.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Not wasting any time, Nemison, Johna, and Krissin hurried outside to fill in the other gifted allies who’d come to fight with. We’d all agreed to keep my presence a secret. Everyone still believed I was dead. We didn’t need the drama of explaining what happened to me in the last few months. Still weak from the wound, I sat down on Krissin’s bed for a breather. I’d need to be up for porting back to the castle and fighting alongside my friends. I refused to be left behind because of a silly flesh wound.

Mark sat next to me, softly and tentatively. Our bond had been cut, but never once did I think he was dead. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he’d felt since the day I took Johna’s herbs and faked my death; the night before we’d been bonded. Even without Nemison’s gifted blessing, Mark and I were always connected.

I’d already loved him with all of my being, even if I was scared and uncertain of our future. How could I be anything but? My life exploded with chaos the day Tania found me in my father’s dungeon and I’d barely had a moment to breathe.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” he whispered into my ear as he nuzzled my hair with his nose. “I didn’t know what to think. Our bond broke, but somehow, I couldn’t let myself fully believe you were gone.”

“I wanted to come to you last night, but Krissin warned me against it. She was afraid too many people would see me and Alia would find out I could use my gift. We were afraid it was too dangerous.”

I snaked my arms around his neck. A slight twinge of pain shot down my arm, but I didn’t give it a second thought. All that mattered holding Mark.

“I hate what the two of you did last night,” he muttered, his lips coming closer to mine. “I hate knowing that I could have held you in my arms all night. The warrior in me understands.”

His lips touched mine, hungry and unapologetic, while his arms pulled me closer. My eyelids closed as I surrendered myself to him. I didn’t need anything else in the world when I was in Mark’s arms. Nothing else mattered. The whole world could melt away as long as he loved me.

He pulled away, our lips relinquishing their grip slowly. “We don’t need a gifted bond, Reychel.”

“I know we don’t. Do you wish we had it back?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we have to worry about it.” He stroked my hair. I closed my eyes and relished the feeling. I’d had hair for so short a time and the sensation of someone touching it was still so new and special. “There’s only one thing that bothers me.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“They claim they severed you and our bond is broken. We also know you’ve been able to access and use your gift in a way you’ve never been able to do before. How is it possible? They cut out one part of you but activated another. I don’t get it.”

“Neither do I.” I ran my hand down his arm, wishing we could be alone for more than just a few minutes. “Maybe they did it wrong.”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense is that you’re wasting our time together by talking.” I crushed my lips on his and pulled myself onto his lap. He snaked his arms around my waist and kissed me. Much better.

His hands toyed with the strings on the back of my dress, but before we could take it any further the door burst open.

“Oh, for Eloh’s sake!” Krissin yelled. I opened one eye and saw she’d thrown her hands over her face. “I do not want to see this. Will you two rip yourselves apart and breathe separately? We have a battle to fight and you’re just playing kissy-face!”

I pulled back from Mark, but didn’t remove myself from his lap. I studied Krissin’s face and noticed something out of character.

“Why is your makeup smeared?” I asked, as a smirk appeared on my face.

“What are you talking about?” Krissin asked. Her cheeks deepened into a dark pink.

Then Ace burst through the doorway, adjusting his jerkin, his hair all askew. A stupid grin played on his face. He reached out and pinched Krissin’s behind as he breezed past her.

“I hear there’s a battle and you might need a good sword?” he asked. “Prophet.” Ace nodded in my direction and winked at Mark.

“Looks to me like you’re already putting your sword to good use.” Mark laughed and squeezed my waist. I rolled my eyes. Boys and their crude remarks. They’d never grow up.

I slipped off Mark’s lap and stood up next to the bed.

“Thanks for coming, Ace. We don’t know what’s going to happen and it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple good swords behind us,” I said.

“That’s what she said,” Ace snorted.

Krissin reached over and grabbed his braid in her fist and tugged. Ace’s chin jutted toward the ceiling and his laugh abruptly stopped. “Are you going to focus now and stop cracking disgusting jokes?” Krissin asked, her voice dripping with honey.

Ace nodded as best as he could while Krissin continued to tug on his braid. “You know, this is why I love you, Krissin.”

“I know,” she said, her voice suddenly husky. She yanked on his braid once more and let him go. “But now isn’t the time. We have to end this war.”

Ace rubbed his neck and shot off a grin at Krissin. “Sorry. I’ve been itching to fight for so long now. I need to get out there and run someone through with my sword.”

“No unnecessary killing,” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “This is important. Only go after the ones who resist. Don’t hurt them unless they attack you. Please.”

“You’re still the same little girl, aren’t you Reychel?” Ace asked.

I glared at him. I’d gotten used to Ace’s attitude and he was a perfect match for Krissin. It amazed me that they hadn’t killed each other yet. I took his comments with a grain of salt and tossed him a dirty glance.

“If growing up requires me to be heartless and cruel, then, yes. I’m happy to remain a child.” I placed the tip of my index finger on his chest and pushed. “Suck on that, sword boy.”

I spun around, like I’d seen Krissin do so many times, and fell into Mark’s arms. His chest shook with laughter.

“That’s what she said,” we all yelled in unison.

For one moment, I thought this was how it should be. Friends should be laughing together and teasing each other, not preparing for battle. But we didn’t have a choice. If we wanted our freedom, we’d have to fight for it.

“How much longer until we leave?” Ace asked.

“As soon as we’re ready.” Krissin smoothed out her dress, the pink taffeta falling to the ground in waves. I couldn’t believe she was going to battle in that. I was still in the navy woolen dress Alia had given me and I didn’t plan to change.

“I’d like to get one of my men from the Sons of Silence to stand with each of gifted weirdoes going through those portals,” Ace said.

“Hey, all three of us are gifted weirdoes.” Mark punched Ace on the arm.

“You think I’m not aware of that?” Ace asked. “Anyway, I figured I’d go with Krissin and you could go with Reychel.”

“Mark is gifted too,” I insisted. “He can fight with his gift as well as the rest of us.”