The King's Challenge #299, #300 and #301

TKC 299, 300 and 301

The accusation of throne stealing will set Enris off.

I know how much he has avoided being close to it; he left Makaran to deny not only the expectation, but also proximity. My brother has a horror for that kind of rulership. Our father gave his blessing for us to leave our homeworld, having realised Enris in particular required distance.

I step between him and Leffandir. “Let it go,” I tell my brother and then swing around to the Glonu Empress. “And you keep quiet. If you truly know Enris, you will know how untrue your claim is.”

Silence reigns for a few moments before Leffandir says, “Fine, as you say.”

There is a lilt to her words and my eyes narrow in speculation. “But?”

“There was a smoking urn, Iniri, and having heard what Damin says, it can only mean sorcery was in play the night our daughter died.”

Blinking, for I hear her underlying sorrow, I twist back to Enris to stare at him.

“I did not kill the child …”

“Child?” Leffandir hisses.

“Hush; let Enris speak,” I insert softly.

“… but I wished for a way out of a terrible situation,” Enris murmurs. “Did my thoughts cause what happened? I hope not, but having also heard what Damin tells us, I now wonder if Uncle Lorn didn’t step in.”

“Did Lorn know of your relationship?” I ask.

“He knew there was someone, and he was the first to see me after the birth.”

Closing my eyes, I move away. Even a fool will understand, after all that we have learned, our uncle the sorcerer did something about a situation untenable to Makaran rulers.

“I would never hurt a child,” Enris snaps at Leffandir.

“But you call her a ‘child’. She had a name!”

Enris steps back. “It is how I deal with my grief. It gifts distance.”

Leffandir stares at him. “Grief?”

Enris does not reply; I think he is incapable. I glance at Damin to find him watching me instead of the by-play between my brother and Leffandir. “What is it?” I frown at him.

“Souls return,” he murmurs. “That baby girl drew breath …”

“What are you getting at?” Leffandir almost screams.

“She is part Ilfin,” Damin responds equably. “All Ilfin are original souls. Your daughter has or will return.”

Enris looses a fist into the insulation padding. “No more!”

This time the silence is unbroken, for there is now too much emotion in the small chamber. Gennerin, I notice, stares fixedly at his feet. He no doubt understands, as I do, to bring Enris into fury will unleash an unstoppable phenomenon. The Warrior will assume control.

Into the silence there arrives a different sound, something external. How that is possible I cannot say, for this small space isolates sound as well as temperature, but we all hear it. Heads lift and eyes track for direction.

Tap, tap, tap.

Either someone mighty strides on metal legs somewhere beyond, a size and weight that translates into sound despite the insulation … or someone taps on a pipe that feeds directly into this chamber.

Damin moves to the far side of the small space and puts his ear to the padding, as well as one hand splayed. Closing his eyes, he listens intently. No one makes a sound; we wait with bated breath for his announcement.

Tap. tap. Tap.

Kay carefully approaches to lay an ear also. A huge frown mars his features.

Abruptly Damin steps away and in that same moment Kay straightens with alacrity. The two men stare at each other. Without explanation both begin pulling at the insulation material, hands and daggers tearing and cutting.

Enris marches in. “Explain!”

Damin throws a look over his shoulder. “Quiet. Just be quiet.”

The hairs on my arms lift as foreboding assails me. Without thinking it, my hands erupt into multi-hued glows.

“Control it,” Damin whispers. “An Elemental at this point is as dangerous as an angry Warrior.”

His voice is low, and his words barely carry. Swallowing, I force myself into calm. My hands return to normal, although my heartbeat does not. I lay a calming hand on my brother’s forearm.

Tap, tap, tap, tap …

Hauling a slice of padding aside, Damin and Kay reveal the metal walls … and a door.

We all stare at it.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Now the sound is loud. There is someone on the other side of the hidden door. An entrance deliberately sealed? I do not like this.

Damin puts a finger to his lips.

No one dares move, until Damin gestures Mirlin closer. The man moves in, a silent and stealthy tread that has my hair standing up again, and leans his forehead against the exposed metal.

I realise Leffandir and Siri have taken up positions on either side of me, close, and both faces ashen. I realise they hope I will protect them. For Siri it is not so strange, for she knows what I can do, but for Leffandir to seek my protection is decidedly odd. Clearly she knows what I can do as well, but her relying on it is an entirely new sensation. She is vulnerable and suddenly I view her in an entirely different light.

Mirlin steps back, nodding.

Damin instantly lifts a leg and kicks the door inward. A might resonance erupts as metal shudders in the impact. Damin hurtles into the darkness beyond and Mirlin and Kay vanish also. Gennerin marches past us, his face as stone, and Ross follows. They too vanish.