"Time´s End (Chapter 6)" by Nicoline Badenhorst

Chapter VI

They had ridden well into dusk when Arlon called a halt and rode up angrily to Lanouri. “Are you out of your mind? Are you intending to ride on through the night? Can’t you see what you’re doing to Tyleen?”

“I’d like to see you camping here!” Lanouri replied angrily, pointing to the marshy land the forest had given way to during the day.

“No problem- I can change that.” Arlon set to performing some of his ridiculous movements that initiated the use of magic, but Lanouri fell like a wildcat into his arms.

“Don’t you dare!” she hissed. “You won’t defile these lands!”

“Then provide us with firm grounds. We’re not moving a step further tonight,” Arlon snarled.

“Stop fighting, you two.” Iand squeezed his horse between the two and looked from one to the other. “If you’d forget your petty rivalries, you’d notice that there is firm ground about twenty paces from here. Now let’s get moving.”

Lanouri whirled around to stare into the fading light at the place Iand had pointed to. Sure enough, the ground looked firmer there. The two servants had already set their horses to a light canter, so that when the rest of them arrived, Tyleen’s tent already stood, and Arlon’s was half-rigged.

“When you gather wood, make sure you first show it to me,” Lanouri commanded.

“Why? Scared someone might burn one of your valued ‘artefacts’?” Arlon mocked.

Lanouri glared at him. “Have you forgotten where we are? We’re in the middle of the sacred lands. Unless you want to blow us all up, I’d suggest you be very careful what you say or do here!”

“Alright, alright. Cool down. Servants, you heard the princess,” Arlon hissed.

Ten minutes later- Arlon’s tent was rigged and Lanouri had set up camp for herself, Mae and Iand, muttering irritably about stuffy, cumbersome tents when the weather was so fine- the servants came back with an armful of firewood each. Lanouri sorted it by no criteria Iand could discern and gave back about two-thirds of the original amount. “These are in order.”

“What is wrong with the other wood?” one of the servants mumbled, taking care to keep his gaze downcast.

“What’s your name?” Lanouri asked in the Confederation tongue, lifting his face until she could see into his eyes.

“Dern, my princess.”

“Well, Dern. This wood here is so-called live wood. When it is burned, it explodes, releasing its spirit to the air, where it causes havoc by poisoning the breath of all living things, until it has spent its anger. This is why even the Marin do not venture here, and this is the reason why we forbid your people to come here.”

“Thank you, my princess.” Both the servants had visibly paled at Lanouri’s description and now hurried to finish their task of providing broth to their masters.

“How do you make out which is which?” Iand asked curiously. Having brought his translator in the intention of acquiring yet another language, he had been able to follow the discourse.

“Here, take these and compare them. Every Marin has an instinct for the nature of the wood, but since you have never made contact with this sort of thing, I don’t expect you to have a feeling for it.” Lanouri handed him two pieces of wood, one of which was from the dangerous pile.

Iand shrugged. “No use.”

Lanouri sighed. “Try to bind contact with the wood as you did with me.”

Iand stared at the wood in his hands, willing himself to feel the difference in them. “Still nothing.”

Lanouri took one piece from him and slipped her hand into his. “Here, I’ll help you.”

A jolt of uncalled-for excitement coursed through Iand as he felt the small, worked hand in his, but abruptly cooled down when he remembered Lanouri’s disappointment when Robin hadn’t turned up. Instead, he tried to concentrate on the wood in Lanouri’s hand. It felt cool by comparison to that in his hand. Suddenly, the wood became unbearably hot, writhing to be free of his grasp. Frightened, he dropped it.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have lowered the barrier that much,” Lanouri whispered.

“Is this what you feel when you touch this wood?” Iand whispered back.

“Yes.”

“Then I understand your reaction. This is horrible.”

“No. It’s just life that tries to protect itself. You wouldn’t be any different if you were locked up, forced to be inanimate, though you once used to be free to dance and sing.” There was an unaccustomed sadness in her voice.

“You mean to say...?” Iand inquired.

“That there is a live soul locked up in this wood. It is all we can do to honour it that we do not kill it.”

“How could this happen?”

Lanouri nodded towards the fire, where Mae and the two servants were sitting, the latter huddled together against some unseen threat. Iand and Lanouri sat down opposite them, next to Mae, and Lanouri began to tell her story, for the benefit of the servants in Confederate.

“About five hundred years ago, humans and non-humans lived in peace with each other, the good with the good, and evil allied with evil, for both are not limited to humans or non-humans. But there were others, who were jealous of the harmony and peace these people had, and before long, they initiated a war between humans and non-humans, what later on became known as the great wars that caused the end of the old world with all its mysteries and threats. This world was so different to ours that I have no words to describe it, but with that we shall not concern ourselves. It is with the wars that we shall concern ourselves.” At that, Lanouri paused and stared into the flames of the fire. A trick of the light made her eyes take on the colour of a starry midnight sky and Iand was filled with a sudden grief.

“The wars lasted a hundred years, and both humans and non-humans committed crimes the like of which could serve to ruin a universe. I shall tell you of one battle near the end of the wars, when all hope seemed lost for the faerie and those few humans who had realized the extent of the havoc they had caused and now strived to undo their terrible crimes. It was at this very place, once a meadow through which flowed a clear, sweet river, that that battle took place. You must know that the faerie are powerful beings, but as it is with all power, that power can turn as much against its wielder as against any other. But the humans were not powerless either, and together humans and faerie thought up a plan that, had it worked, might have ended the wars there and then.

The plan was that the allied forces of humans and faerie should release the souls of two thousand warriors from their bodies, for a measured amount of time, enabling them to hide in dormant life. When the approaching enemy army had reached a certain position, the souls would unbind themselves from the dormant life and regain their physical form, enabling them thus to a surprise attack. I cannot tell you what went wrong, but it seems a magician of the other side had locked the souls of a thousand faerie into the trees they had been hiding in, waiting for the moment when a massed attack would cause the enemy to retreat in panic, ridding the land of their befouling presence. The souls remain locked into the trees until today, and even when a tree dies, the soul remains alive, restless and full of wrath against the humans that caused its wretched existence.”

“Lies! All lies,” Tyleen hissed behind them. No one had noticed her coming, and so they all jumped at the sound of her vengeful voice.

Lanouri turned her still starry eyes towards the priestess and said uncommonly quietly: “Tyleen, you know that every word of what I said is true. You ought to go back to sleep. You’ve had a hard day, and there’s more of that to come.”

“So that you may continue with your subverting stories?” Malice glowered openly in her eyes.

Lanouri only smiled sadly. “Then come sit down at the fire and tell us the real story. I’d like to know what they told you at the Temples to make you believe there is only evil left in the Marin and those they seek to protect.”

“No amount of truth can counter the subversion of evil.” With that, Tyleen stalked back into her tent. Lanouri lowered herself back to the ground, hurt shining in eyes like the sound of a broken rose.

As if to herself, she murmured: “Who have you become, Tyleen? What must have happened that the gentle, pretty girl died and left only this bitter woman?”

Dern reached his hand out to her. “Dear princess, they all become like that. ‘tis no place to be for humans, the Temples. They steal the soul, and use it for power.”

“Why do you allow such things to happen?” Lanouri asked, “Why do you allow such men to choose your fate for you?”

Dern only shook his head, carefully choosing his words. “What choice do we have? Our life is not all bad.”

“I don’t understand you... I could never live your life.” She got up and shuffled to her blankets, but turned back at Dern’s voice.

“Everybody has to bear with something that another could not live with. How do you live with the responsibility for a whole people?”

Lanouri smiled her saddest smile yet. “Maybe I don’t,” she whispered and sunk down wearily, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep immediately. The next morning made her feel as though she had been drugged or had not slept at all. Irritably, she muttered to herself while she packed.

Before they departed, Lanouri turned back in her saddle. “For safety’s sake, we should from now on refrain from using each other’s names. We’re nearing faerie land.”

Arlon grimaced. “Names are power, right?”

“Right. You’d do well to show more respect towards other people’s beliefs.” Lanouri’s voice had lost some of its usual sting.

“So we’re going to pay a visit to Hunter’s Retreat, are we?” Arlon inquired further.

Lanouri sighed. “It’s as good a place as any to start”, she replied. She didn’t seem up to talking, so Iand left her in peace and occupied himself with chatting to the servants, something Tyleen looked upon with obvious disdain. Well, he wasn’t going to give her the triumph of speaking to her instead, no matter how he longed to find out more about the ways of the Confederation. After all, the servants could tell him just as much as any of the others could, and maybe more objectively too.

Nearing dusk, Arlon rode up to Lanouri again. “How far are you planning to ride today?” he asked, uncommonly peaceable the whole day long.

“As far as possible. I might be sparing your valuable priestess another day in the saddle that way. I actually understand her- why do you force her to behave like the fragile rose I know she’s not? You make her ride side-saddle and let others do things for her she is perfectly capable of doing by herself. You make her soft and pliable, entirely pitiable.”

“It was entirely her choice.”

“Look what you’ve done to her!” Lanouri cried out. “Instead of giving her backbone, you’re a pain in the backside, instead of making her a powerful person by teaching her values, you give her magic to play around with living things, hurting them before she’s through with them. Is this the way to live? What’s it with you Temple people that you can’t keep whole what you get? Why do you have to break it and bend it to your will? What do you have to object to innocence and pure friendship?”

“A ‘friend’ can stab you in the back when you least expect it,” Arlon snarled.

Lanouri’s eyes flashed dangerously, becoming the colour of a night rose for the first time since Tyleen had left, four years ago. “Like you did?”

“Don’t you use your skills on me, princess!”

“Oh, now we’re scared, are we? Afraid I’ll turn into your greatest fear, right hand of the Master? Yes, I have power of my own, and it is thanks to a loving upbringing that I do not use it against you now.”

They yanked their horses to a halt- staring at each other in blind hatred.

“Cowardice is what I call that. Go on, try killing me, I’d love to see you fail!”

“So, you wish a demonstration of what I can do?” Her voice was almost sweet now, but it was a sweetness that tried to mask bitterness.

She closed her eyes, concentrated for a moment. All around them, nature was hushed into an awed, shocked silence. The tension in the air grew further, reached a peak- and shattered with an almost audible sound. Lanouri’s eyes snapped open again, her gaze bore into Arlon, who looked about confusedly. Slowly, surely, inexorably, he became translucent.

“What have you done?” he mouthed, in horror, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Life is such a fragile thing, don’t you think?” Lanouri asked innocently, ignoring his question. Suddenly, there was violence in her eyes, abysmally dark and deep, turning them into pools of icy blackness, the like of which no ordinary human being could endure. “What I have done, you want to know? What I’ve been wanting to do at every turn, every time you betrayed me, hurt me. I erase you from this world.” Her eyes turned the colour of a midnight sky for a second before she closed them. The man on the horse regained his substance in a flash. “Arlon, remember. I have the power to change reality to my mind. Do not, never again challenge me as you did now. I might be only too willing to relinquish my hold on these powers.” Her voice was cold, lifeless, but the expression on her face was worse- somewhere between fury, pain and helplessness.

She turned Aure around and cantered off, leaving the party behind, stunned.

“What happened?” Mae asked. “She used the magic, didn’t she? Even though she must not?”

Iand nodded, then remembered that Mae could not see it. Voice broken and somehow raw, he rasped: “Yes.” He still stared at where Lanouri had vanished from sight, detached from the group, not only by distance, but also by heritage. He had just witnessed the first real display of magic in his life. Somehow, it figured. He should have known that this girl was something special from the moment she had dared confront a group of armed men on her own. He should have noticed the changing colour of her eyes, should have taken heed of the small signs that showed she couldn’t just be any ordinary girl. But a tiny part of his mind still did not want to accept the existence of magic. How could that be possible? What made it work? Why did it work? It couldn’t work. It just had to be a very well made deception. It just had to be.

Tyleen dismounted, deciding to take charge since no one else seemed willing or able to do so themselves. “Servants, set up camp. We shall wait for the princess here.”

She walked over to Mae and helped her down with for her unusual tenderness, then called Iand to them: “Come on, sit with us, while we wait for the princess to sort out her confusion. Until that time, we shall talk.”

They were silent for a time- an awkward silence, borne both out of their unfamiliarity with each other and the impact of what had just happened. Finally, Tyleen ventured: “This is something we often witness in the Temples- with so many talented people living so close to each other, every little dispute flares up and becomes a potential hazard.”

“But not Lan... the princess I mean!” Mae exclaimed. “She’s always had her powers under control! She’d never hurt anyone... I don’t understand...”

“Ah, poor girl,” Tyleen sighed sagely, “there is much you do not know of the princess. She has lost her way, and nobody was there to help her control her power. She should have come with me. The Temples would have taught her the discipline she needs, and she would have led a more useful life than she does now.”

Mae flared up unexpectedly: “And leave her people? You cannot honestly have asked that of her! How should she be happy, knowing it must be based on the pain of the Marin? She is the only one left. She is needed here! She’d never abandon her duty to her people! She isn’t a traitor. She is the princess.”

“Another heir could have been found.”

“It bloody well couldn’t! We want her, and only her! She’s loved here, there she’d only be one of hundreds, enslaved, snared by the foulness of your magic.”

Tyleen’s voice was sad. “I wish you’d stop thinking so badly of the Temples. We only try our best to save the people. All we want is to keep them safe.”

“Ah, but of course you’re entitled to prejudice, aren’t you? Everybody else is prejudiced towards you, but you are just as bad. You turn everyone’s words just the way you want to, priestess,” Mae accused. “You have no measure of the pain you caused the princess. You have no place to complain of prejudice, nor do you have any right to demand her friendship. I know you, priestess. You are the kind who made me blind.”

Dern approached them cautiously, docilely. “Mistress, could you tell which wood is safe to use?”

“I have no idea. Ask the master,” Tyleen snapped.

Dern looked at Iand, who shrugged. He had kept well clear of the argument that had ensued between the women, curious to know what they were referring to, but not stupid enough to ask.

Before anyone could decide what to do, Robin rode into the camp. Iand had seen him conferring with the council frequently, but never spoken to him. Secretly, he was relieved to see him- his appearance somehow heralded peace and harmony, something this company desperately needed. The servants, never having seen him, had their hands on their swords immediately, instantly ready to defend their masters. Iand laid a restraining hand on Dern’s arm. “It’s alright. This is a friend.” Reluctantly, Dern let go of the hilt and relaxed.

Robin took one look around the camp, dismounted with graceful movements and addressed Iand: “What has been going on here? Oh, never mind, let’s get a fire going first, there’s always time for explanations later.”

He stepped over to the pile of wood and deftly sorted out the usable pieces. Within a few minutes, he had a fire going and was preparing a hot tea. “Nights turn cold here quickly- nothing better than a tea to warm you up and help you settle down after a long day, eh?” he commented nonchalantly.

Arlon and Tyleen had immediately withdrawn into their tents when Robin appeared, and everyone else was gathered around the fire now, silent, watching Robin’s quick and nimble movements as though there were nothing more interesting in the world. He handed everyone a cup of scalding hot tea and sat down next to Mae. “Now, about that story you owe me...”

Mae filled him in on the happenings with a dispassionate voice, starting at the moment of their departure and concluding with the fight with Tyleen.

“Hm. I see. Well, nothing we can do about the past in the moment. The best option we have is to wait for the princess’ return.” Robin’s pixy-like face furrowed with dark thoughts he did not care to divulge, but his voice was casual, quick to hide his worries.

“What makes you think she will?” Iand inquired. “She could just as well run away.”

“The princess I know would never do that. You don’t know her the way I do. She is a fighter; she’ll stand her ground till the very end,” Robin replied.

“She doesn’t simply submit to anything. She’s never afraid, she always knows what to do,” Mae added. “No, she’ll return, and then all will be well again. She just needs time. It’s all that priest’s fault, after all. He made her angry. He challenged her. She couldn’t just let him do anything he wants to. She is the princess, she must be the one in command, she must not let him undermine her authority.”

“Do not make excuses for her!” Robin flared up suddenly, “the princess is well able to be held liable for her errors, and she shall not be excused from them on account of her station!”

Mae flinched away in shock. Never before had Robin spoken to her like that. Gentle Robin... Her confusion must have shown plainly on her face, for Faya, the other servant, sidled up to Mae and reached out to take her hand understandingly. “You love her very much. It is kind of you to make excuses for her, but she must face the truth of her failure to control her emotions and power. Not we are the ones who judge, not we are the ones who matter; she judges herself and she matters.” She paused. “And do not blame your friend for his harshness; he worries just as much about her as do you.”

* * *

“Indeed, that is interesting. I did not foresee such impact when I advised you of my plan.” The Master’s voice was mellow, dark, soothing to listen to, even if the distance and the stray magic broke it up frequently.

“What do you suggest?” Arlon stared hard at the centre of the circle of candles. The light made his eyes water, and the picture was not good to start off with in any case.

“Has Tyleen already begun converting the blind girl you told me about?”

“Yes, but she loves the princess more than we anticipated. It shall not be easy to convince her of our cause. She has merely gone along to be with her friend, and, of course, to glean what new experience she can. Needless to say, they’ve kept her as freak for the amusement of the court and she is anxious to escape from that. None-the-less, she has stronger resistance to magic than anticipated.”

“It is well. Tell Tyleen she must not attempt using magic against either any longer. If the princess can develop a full resistance, there is no way of knowing the blind girl shall not do so as well. And of you I expect more self-control. Do not risk the enterprise with your petty wars.” Even his reprimand was mild, and Arlon took it easily. The Master was silent for a while, pondering. “Who would have thought that she possesses such power! Not only did she shake the spell... truly, what power!”

Arlon nodded curtly to the Master and snuffed the candles. The flickering image vanished with the light. He sat in the darkness for a while, thinking, musing.

He had not intended enraging Lanouri. He knew very well how much depended on her cooperation, but somehow she’d always had that talent to grate on his nerves. Briefly, he wondered how much she really knew, how much she’d already guessed. But that was secondary. They’d have to find a way to keep her under control; ever since she’d somehow broken the spell and remembered Tyleen’s magical manipulation of her will, she’d been cheeky- downright insufferable, but there was nothing they could do about that. The only relief was that she couldn’t do anything either; if she had reported them, the governess would have fumed, yes, but there was nothing she could have done- any transgression against a priest would immediately result in war, let alone that the laws of Marin were on the side of perpetrators more often than not... ‘If you allow such a thing to happen to you, how can you ask retribution?’ The words resounded in his mind, bitter after all these years.

With an effort, he directed his thoughts to the task at hand. If only he could get a look at Lanouri’s notes! She had given the impression that she had almost solved the riddle, so what did she want at Hunter’s Retreat?