While Lace is beginning a new novel right now, I'm currently on chapter 12. So this will be my editing motivation. ^_^ First novel I've ever edited, actually. *glances apologetically at DoE* Don't fear, dear DoE, don't fear... your time will come.
So, without further adieu, chapter 1! =D
(1740 words)
Chapter 1
Grave news
“The destruction in Niluin was no
accident,” said Hrail. “Algoth brought this about with the magic butterflies.”
Krinen gaped. “What is this you say,
brother? Has the vault been compromised?”
The two men stood in the gatehouse of
the small fortress. It is true: calling it a castle, stronghold, or fortress
was more of a joke for them. More like an inn, it was! But the walls extended
past the perimeters of the building, encompassing the entire village. They were
sturdy walls.
Krinen took a sip of his cider and
lifted pale green eyes to those of his brother-in-law. There was worry in his
gaze, and something deeper than worry. Fear.
“Sit down,” he said, motioning to the
empty seat and setting his mug down on the wooden table. The guard room was his
living room, with a hallway leading off to the kitchen and bedrooms. The man
spent most of his time here, as gatekeeper. Not a bad job to have, really. Many
a quiet afternoon he spent playing with his children or dreaming with his wife;
drawing up ideas and plans and diagrams, crafts and art, splendid tales of
imagination… and more.
This guard room also served as dining
room, and the half of the room closest to the door on the gate’s side of the
house was not carpeted like the rest; but the far wall was full of bookshelves
and works of creativity.
Hrail ran his hand through his dark
hair and sighed, removing his belt and scabbard. He hung them up on a hook
located on the wall after the bookshelf wall, near where a fireplace crackled
and chuckled quietly to itself. Then he took the seat wearily. “Yes, the vault
has been compromised. Doubly compromised.
The jar of butterflies, the sword, the poison! Yes, he has them all. But worse
than that, he also has the scroll. His last rebellion was bad enough, with
merely the three magics. What will he be able to accomplish now that he has the
scroll as well? What a blow this will be to my sister... and to us all.”
“Tell on,” said the gatekeeper gravely.
“Algoth acquired his magic just a week
ago. You’ll remember that Lilisha and I chose the strong vault in Village
Central when we locked these objects away. Village Central...” Hrail repeated,
as if it bore some significance.
Krinen rapped his fingers on the table,
waiting for his friend to continue. He hadn’t told all he knew, that was clear.
“In his party there were three youths,
two children, and another old enemy.” Hrail explained, “A duke in his usurped
kingdom, a lad from Niluin, his niece and nephew, the son of Earvin, and... one
other.”
“Yes?” said the gatekeeper. “Yes, who
is this one other?”
“Has Lilisha never told you who Algoth
is?” he asked softly.
The gatekeeper bit his lip. “It… it has
never come up before. I didn’t know he was… someone with additional identity of
any concern to us.”
“For a long time, he hasn’t been.”
After adding an extra log, he returned to his seat. “But that has now changed.
His niece and nephew are the children of his wife’s brother. But there was a
third young woman with them. His own daughter, raised by his sister.”
Krinen nodded, taking in the
information.
“He didn’t know that, though. He
believed that she was taken in by an innkeeper. Having no desire to care for a
wee child after his wife’s death, he merely kept an eye on her from a distance.
But now that she is older… he has revealed himself to her and taken her from
the boarding school where she now resides.”
“And she agreed to his dark schemes?”
the man frowned.
“Yes, perhaps he thinks so. But it’s
all an act on her part. She is an upright young woman. Short brown hair. Stern
of face, firm and decisive. Slow to open her mouth, and always purposeful in
speech. Finished the traditional education and went off to boarding school to
study legends and history not two months ago.”
Krinen merely stared, unblinking, at
Hrail’s face. What was he saying?
Hrail nodded. “Algoth’s full identity
was never of any concern, until now. He is my brother. He is Lilisha’s brother.
He is your brother-in-law. He is Ammay’s father.”
The fire crackled, a lone voice in a
room suddenly grown unnaturally quiet. It was several moments before either
spoke again.
“Ammay,” Krinen gasped at last, “My
little girl…” he rose abruptly and stepped to the carpeted side of the room.
There, he paced back and forth. His mind swept over the past 16 years, as if
caressing each memory and looking at it with new eyes. “We have fled from the coming destruction brewing in Shryuin,” he
heard Hrail’s voice, 16 years ago, the first time they had met; in this very
gatehouse. “This is my sister, Lilisha,
and our niece… Ammay.” The infant was not even a year old yet. By the time
she was 2, Lilisha and Krinen were married; and she had a family. Two siblings
were to follow. And always they had lived here, in the peaceful northern
kingdom of Malthire. Krinen grinned as he watched his children grow, skimming
over many happy memories.
Hrail’s careful voice called him back
to earth. “How is it with your heart?”
“Shocking.” He sat down on the sofa.
“Very shocking indeed. But it doesn’t smart. She’s my daughter, not his. I love
her, he doesn’t. This changes nothing in my heart; save one thing.”
“And that is?”
“A stronger urge of protection than I
have ever before felt is awakened. She can take care of herself, this I know,
but that doesn't mean she doesn’t need me; and the walls of protection I can
raise around her.”
Hrail nodded. “It is well. What will
you do?”
The gatekeeper grinned. “There’s an
obvious first course of action. We need to discuss this with Lilisha!”
**********
“But… but
how did he break into the vault?” Lilisha was trembling, “And… how do you know
all this??”
“I can’t
tell you yet,” sighed Hrail, “not until a future revision of this draft.
Perhaps then I will be able to give you the good news that I have seen and
spoken with Ammay, and that is how I know of these things.”
Lilisha
nodded in understanding, but threw her arms up in exasperation. “I wish she had
come home. Why didn’t she?”
“Ammay is
very unlike our brother in all save two ways. Appearance and will. She’s on a
mission, Lilisha. We should be glad that she is right where she is, doing what
she can to put a dent in his plans.”
Krinen
coughed, indicating the small nightgown-clad figure in the hallway, and they
both fell silent. “Do you need a cup of water, Liden?” he asked tenderly.
“No,
Father,” said the little boy. “I’m frightened.”
He strode
over and put his arm around his son’s shoulders. “What do you have to be
frightened of?”
“I don’t
know. That’s what scares me. Your voices… I couldn’t sleep, and… I can’t hear
what you’re saying from my room, but the sound of your voices… Oh, Father,
something is wrong! What is it?”
Krinen
nodded gravely. “You’re right, my son. Something is wrong. Do you know what that means?”
The boy
shook his head.
“It means
that we all have an extraordinary opportunity to show great character. To be
brave and strong. Just like day to day life, but amplified. It is in such a
time as this that heroes may end up in legends. Do you understand?”
Liden
nodded, and a dreamy look came into his eyes. “Like stepping into a storybook?”
“Precisely!”
Krinen smiled down fondly and took his son’s hand, leading him back to bed.
When he
returned, the council continued.
Lilisha’s
voice was steady now, and she spoke. “Yet, how did he break into the vault? I
don’t understand. It was sealed with solid rock! And the scroll was in a vault within the vault, locked by a
combination that even I do not know. But they could not have reached it in the
first place. I have the key to the outer door, right here on my-” she reached
for the necklace around her throat, but stopped suddenly.
“What’s
wrong?” asked both men at once.
“The key,
on the necklace… I… I gave it to Ammay.”
Hrail
whistled slowly. “That explains a lot. Did you tell her what it was for…?”
Lilisha
sank onto the sofa on the carpeted side of the room with a sigh. “No… I only
told her that it was a key to great legend, and she must keep it safe; and
someday pass it on to her own child or other worthy keeper. But she’s heard all
the stories. I’m sure she guessed just exactly what it was.”
“She would
not give it to him willingly!” exclaimed Krinen.
“No,”
agreed Hrail, “Not unless to not do so would bring about greater evil.”
Lilisha
sighed. “All true.”
There was a
silence.
“It’s hard
to believe…” Lilisha said, “We worked so hard to bring these three objects to a
place where their power could never be wielded again, and to make sure he never
ever acquired the scroll.”
“More or
less…” her husband agreed. “Never in our time, that is. Never again, until the
land has recovered and they might be used wholesomely once again…”
There was a
silence once again.
“Okay,”
said Lilisha, “I know that this conversation will be much fuller in the second
revision, but there is one more thing I want to talk about. Earvin’s son.
Hrail, I thought Arlion was dead! Duke Soldor murdered him the night of the rebellion.”
Her brother
nodded. “But have you forgotten? Earvin’s wife Krista escaped as well. They
have another son now.”
She nodded
with a sigh. “Earvin was the only one who knew the combination to the inner
vault. He must have ransomed his family’s safety with it.”
“I can’t
blame him,” said Krinen softly, “But what do we do now?”
“The
scroll, the sword, the butterflies, the poison... they must all be returned to
the locked vault, certainly!” said Hrail, “But, I would say, the most important
thing is finding Ammay. She will have more knowledge of recent events, even if
not the background to understand them.”
