The King's Challenge #281 and #282

TKC 281 and 282

The heart does as the heart sees fit. I cannot blame Leffandir for her efforts to again see the man she loves, but my logical mind has to deny the way she went about it.

Shrugging, I thus move away from the woman. “Bring her with us,” I say to Damin. “We will not be attacked while she is in our care.”

The man I love lifts an eyebrow. “Care?” he repeats.

“We need her to call the Glonu off,” Commander Gennerin murmurs. “She can send them all home.”

Hefting his rucksack and hauling the Empress up, Damin heads to the trapdoor. “Fine,” he mutters under his breath. He shoves her at the hole; she goes down without protest.

Watching that, I understand Leffandir hopes, by remaining in our company, to stand before Enris again. I wonder just what exactly their relationship entailed in the past. I admit, I am curious; I actually desire to be a witness at the reconciliation.

Gennerin clears his throat and gestures towards the trapdoor. I precede him to it and we go down. Gennerin pulls the door over the opening, plunging us into darkness. Below, however, light flickers. The torches affixed to Ilfin uniforms have been switched on.

Damin already strides into the darker region, firmly holding Leffandir and forcing her to be our guide. He is going the wrong way. She is taking him to the antechamber where stairs await. She intends to try for the pinnacle.

I do not call him back. Instead I turn to Gennerin. “Place the charges in the circle …” I point to an opening in the tunnel behind us. “There is the access to the foundations. Set the timing for one hour, and then return to the shuttle.”

He eyes me. “I have the clearest feeling you are not coming with us.”

I jut my chin out into the direction Damin vanishes into. “I will see that part of this done. Gennerin, wait until the explosion before taking to the skies.” I point to Marian. “She may need to finish it off.”

“What is your intention?”

“We will summon a flyer from the pinnacle. Have no fear, it will come for Leffandir and thus for us. Be sure to evacuate the whole of Arc after the Spire comes down.”

He is expressionless. “Lady, what is your intention?”

Sighing, I pat his upper arm. “I do not yet know, but I sense something must be done up there before I can leave. We shall meet again in the presence of my father.” Determined, I move away, striding into the darkness after Damin and Leffandir. I do not greet any one; I simply go. Time is now of the essence.

Gennerin will see it done. I trust him.

Swiftly I catch up to the two. Damin’s torchlight is a white beam piercing the dust-ridden gloom ahead. He no longer holds Leffandir, but walks behind her, slightly to one side for his light to go forth uninterrupted. He glances at me as I fall in alongside.

“Do not trust her. This is not just about love,” he mutters. “The woman we see here is also a slaver master and trader, and she has no conscience.”

“Then it isn’t love that drives her to Enris. Once, maybe, but now it is more.”

“Revenge,” Damin puts in. “She wants to make him suffer as he made her suffer.”

“How did Enris make her suffer?”

“Apparently there was a child born of their union. The presence of this daughter opened Enris’ eyes to who he was sleeping with.” Damin lifts a shoulder. “The girl was neither Glonu nor Ilfin and was not a combination either. She was conceived when Leffandir was already standing with one foot in the ethereal spaces and emerged as a half entity. Half physical, half ghost.”

By the stars. “What did Enris do?”

“He killed the girl …”

“… and Leffandir,” I whisper. “That was the day she became fully ethereal.”