Guardian_Rise of the Nature Walker Page 2

  Two

  Tairn had taken a step too far this time and feared that no haven would be safe; no apology would ever be enough. There was nowhere to run – not this time. The Rajah of Qatu’anari was dead. She thought of Gin, the sister that Tairn’s own older sister Nelenie had never been, her mentor and, at times, surrogate mother… Gin would never forgive her once Taeben told Gin who had charmed Kazhmere. Kazhmere… How could she have taken advantage of the Qatu Princess that way? At least it would be quite clear that she had been charmed and she would not be held accountable for her actions. This was not something SHE had wanted, not at all. This was all Taeben’s doing. Amends would be made somehow, Tairn resolved. She felt the wizard pressing into her mind but the high elf ignored him, resolving that she would do whatever she could to make this right.

  Oh, you’ve already done plenty to make this right. Which, if you remember, is NOT what I asked you to do at all.”

  “Taeben?” she whispered, unwilling to turn around to see if he was actually behind her or speaking directly into her mind. He did not need to be there to see and hear her through the bond he had forced into her mind.

  Master! Why do I continually need to remind you of that fact? You will call me Master. You have disappointed me, Tairn. You have not done what I asked.”

  “Master?” she said aloud, confused. “I charmed Kahzi as you asked, I gave her the mission as you instructed.”

  The Rajah lives, Tairneanach. He is with the wood elf, which displeases me greatly. You will try again; I will return with more instructions. Until then, I will be watching, my Pet. This will be your last chance to obey me and fix what you have done. Do not let me down again.

  Tairn glanced up and down the hallway, hating that Taeben could see through her eyes. She had only ended up a short distance from where she had left Kazhmere, but had been unable to drop her invisibility spell because of the guards that seemed to swarm around the throne room. At first, she thought that had meant that Kazhmere had fulfilled her mission, but apparently not. Wringing her slender hands, Tairn ducked into a doorway as a clatter arose in the foyer that led to the throne room. She refreshed the invisibility magic that kept her hidden, and then peeked out and spotted Sath and Gin picking themselves up off the floor and ducking into an alcove directly across from her. She held her breath and listened.

  “Okay, tell me everything you remember, Sath,” Gin asked, keeping a safe distance from him. “We will sort this out, but you have to talk to me.”

  “I was waiting for the petitioners to come today when Kahzi came into the throne room,” he began slowly. “She was dressed in her full battle armor and had called her magical tiger to her side as though ready for a fight. She did not say anything at first; she just…stared at me. I repeatedly asked her what was wrong, but she remained silent. She locked the door behind her, gave her tiger a command, and it attacked. My tiger intercepted to protect me, but I called it off because I couldn’t believe…I mean, she was my sister, Gin.”

  “I know, Sath, keep going. You need to tell me everything if we are to figure out what happened,” Gin said as gently as she could.

  His voice was wavering, but after a moment, he continued. “I couldn’t believe she was doing this. We fought, I dispatched her tiger, and then she attacked me herself. I asked her why, repeatedly, but she still did not answer. The guards tried to intervene but I dismissed them, I mean it was just Kazhi… I slowed her down with magic and then attempted to knock her unconscious because she just kept coming at me. She fell and hit her head on the desk, which knocked her helmet off, leaving her head unprotected. Then…” Again, Sath paused a moment, gathering his thoughts. Gin had no doubt that he was re-living the scene in his mind, and she ached for him as well as for Kazhmere, but there was no way to fix this if she did not have the full story. She reached out to touch his arm, to encourage him to keep going, but her hand hung in midair. “Then, as I was holding her, thinking I’d knocked her out, she came to and said something about her mistress. Her mistress commanded it. That is all she said; her mistress commanded it. I was not paying attention to her movements because that was such a strange thing for her to say, and then I felt a sharp pain in my back and…I let her go. I didn’t mean to hurt her, I just dropped her, but my shoulder hurt so badly… She fell, Gin, she fell without her helmet on and hit her head on the floor. It hit so hard and then…and then there was so much blood and things got really dark and cold and…and then you were there.” The Qatu turned his back on her and strode away, placing both his palms on a counter where a banker worked during the day. “That’s what I remember,” he said.

  Across the hall, Tairn held her breath. What had gone wrong? Kazhmere was…dead and Gin was about to work out Tairn’s hand in that horrific turn of events. She was almost afraid to listen, but was too terrified to move. Tairn winced as she felt the wizard rage in the back of her mind.

  You ought to leave now, Pet. NOW, TAIRN!

  Master, please, I cannot port now without them seeing me. I just want to listen a bit more, gain more information. I do not want to give us away.

  Fine.

  Gin stood still, her hand over her mouth, processing what Sath had just told her. After a long pause, she spoke. “Sath, who do you think her mistress is? Was Kahzi working for or with anyone in Qatu’anari? Another member of the royal family?” Sath shook his head without turning back to her. “This is what we have to figure out, Sath. Hmmm, do you have any enemies that…”

  Sath looked over his shoulder sharply and glared at Gin, cutting off her sentence with a stare. “Seriously? Did you just ask ME, the Bane of the Forest, the Rajah of Qatu’anari, if I have any enemies?”

  “Fair enough.” Gin rubbed her forehead in frustration. “Clearly she was charmed, and by a female, I’d say, since you said that she mentioned her mistress. But with Anni dead,” she said, falling silent when Sath turned back around, facing away from her. “Sorry. All I was going to say was that she’s the only bard I know that would want to do anything like that to you. Druids and rangers can’t charm Qatu, only lesser cats so the only other kind of magic user that has that ability is…” Her face fell as she realized what had happened. “Oh, no…no…” Gin clapped her hands over her mouth, falling silent.

  Sath turned around to face Gin when she had remained silent for too long. “What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the shocked look on her face.

  “I don’t understand. Why would she… She has no problem with you… No, can’t be,” Gin said under her breath, shaking her head.

  “Can’t be what?” Sath asked. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Tairn,” she said, forgetting that Sath most likely would not remember who she was. “Tairneanach. She is a high elf, a sorceress, and a childhood friend of mine. She was in Fabled a long time ago.” Sath shook his head, and Gin realized that now was not the time to press him. Even if he knew exactly who she was, it would do no good to remind him if she was right. “Nelenie, that Elys and I knew, is her older sister. She was held in the Keep just as I was, used for spell testing.” Her face clouded as Sath gestured that she get to the point. She scowled at him and continued. “I caught up with her recently, and was so thrilled to learn that she was still alive. She said that Ben helped her escape, and that he was trying to make amends for what he had done starting with her. I was just as shocked as you are now when I saw her in the guild hall...what?” Sath was glaring down at her with renewed fire in his teal eyes and holding up a hand for her to stop talking.

  “Ben…you mean TAEBEN was involved?” Sath said, growling low in his chest.

  “In her release from Bellesea, yes.” Gin took a step backward, holding up her hands toward Sath. “I mean, maybe Ben has seen that he has done great wrong. Maybe he is trying to make up for the hurt he’s caused. Maybe he…”

  “Maybe he sent this Tairn to hurt us? Maybe he wants me out of the way so that he can have you all to himself, finally?” Sath finished her sentence, glaring down at her as he ran on
e of his massive hands over the top of his head in frustration. “Your tendency to see the good in EVERYONE, especially those that do not deserve your consideration, NEVER ceases to amaze me, Gin. He didn’t do enough damage on his own the first time to Khujann and me so he is trying again through your little friend. Didn’t think of that, did you?” A horrible question sprang to Sath’s mind and Gin could almost see it burning in his eyes. “And how, pray tell, Gin, did this Tairn get into the palace?” She swallowed hard and took another step backward from him.

  “Sath, this is ridiculous. Tairn would never hurt us. I have known her since we were children. There has to be another explanation.” Gin said, moving quickly toward the entrance to the alcove. Sath closed the distance between them, grabbing her by her shoulders and lifting her off the floor in that all too familiar position until she was eye level with him before pushing her into the wall. “Sath! Put me down!” She kicked the wall, but he growled and drew closer to her. She glared back at him but stopped fighting him. “Please.”

  “That is not an answer, but here is a better question, DARLIN’, how… did… YOU get into the palace without me knowing?” he said, his deadly teeth clenched. “How did you get past my guards?”

  “I came to the palace to see the Prince,” she said, her voice filled with sorrow. “I wanted to tell Khujann why I wasn’t going to come back and be his tutor anymore. I wanted him to hear it from me, in person.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question!” he roared, shaking her slightly. Gin bit her lip as she again met his gaze, proudly and as fearlessly as she could muster. “How did you get in without my knowing about it? My guards had strict orders to let me know if you approached the city. I would have had them bring you to me – but I was not told you were here. How is that possible? Invisibility spell? Potion?” Sath shook her harder, punctuating each word with a slight shove into the wall behind her. “How is that possible?”

  Gin closed her eyes before she spoke to try to calm herself, and yet her words still came out in a rush. “I had Tairn cast a spell on me that made me appear as a Qatu female, and she and I both are fluent in Qatunari,” she said, wincing at the growl she heard rumbling in Sath’s chest that vibrated up through his arm to the hand that held her. “That’s how. I knew you wouldn’t want me here, and I thought I’d just pop in quickly, see the Prince, and then leave before you knew I’d been there. Tairn did not need an illusion because I was certain it was a wood elf they were on the lookout for, not a high elf like her.” Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she opened them to see rage burning out of control in his teal stare. “Sath, please, put me down…”

  “Tairn was there, near Kazhi, WITH MY SON?” Sath roared. Gin closed her eyes again. “She was rescued by Taeben, Gin. She had contact with the wizard that wants me dead and you don’t think that her willingness to help you SNEAK INTO MY HOME was a coincidence?”

  A tear escaped from Gin’s eye and she wiped it away. “No, I suppose it’s not. Kahzi was in Khuj’s room when we came in. She and Tairn went to have a chat and catch up while I spoke with… Oh, no, no… Mother Sephine forgive me, she was alone with Kahzi…Sath…”

  “RAJAH,” Sath roared at her. “NEVER address me as anything else ever again! I am through with you! Every time I let you into my life, you bring nothing but pain. We are done.” He dropped her in a heap and stormed toward the door that led back into the throne room. She got to her feet and he turned, pointing one clawed finger in her direction. “Don’t follow me,” he warned her, his voice menacing. “I can promise you, darlin', you will not like what happens if you do!”

  Gin stood still, staring after him. How many times before had they been at this exact place? How many times had he said the same thing, ordered her out of his life – or worse? So why did it feel so absolute, so final this time?

  From across the hall, Tairn looked around, horrified at what she had just overheard. There had to be a safer place, but she needed a moment to get herself together before she could remember the spell to send her back to the Great Forest. Still under the invisibility, she shifted away from her hiding place, moving as quickly as she could between a decorative column and one of the cool marble walls. A growl caught her attention and she looked over her shoulder. To her horror, Sath was standing a few feet away from her. The Rajah of Qatu’anari was very still as he sniffed the air. He paused for a moment and then turned his head to look directly at the column. She felt rooted to the spot.

  “I know you’re here, Tairn,” he snarled. “I may not be able to see you, but I can smell you. I will find you and you will pay for the death of my sister.”

  Still hidden, Tairn sank to her knees, saucer-like eyes staring straight ahead in shock. It was true. Kazhmere was dead. What had gone wrong? How had this happened? It seemed that Sath kept his eyes on her hiding place as he walked away, so she stayed put. She watched, horrified, as Sath stalked off toward the city center and then rose, quietly moving toward the alcove where Gin still stood. There would be time to make her peace with Sath and accept punishment for what she had done. Before that, however, there was someone else to whom she had to make amends. She stopped when she heard Gin casting a spell to take her away from the palace, and once the wood elf had faded from view, Tairn cast her own spell to follow.

  From his study deep within Alynatalos, Taeben watched Tairn begin casting her spell, and then smiled as she said aloud the destination, Fabled Halls. He knew she was headed to make peace with his Ginny. A voice whispered in the back of his mind, speaking the language of the dragons and taking Taeben completely by surprise. He was too distracted by Tairn and Gin, clearly.

  You will follow the high elf. She will lead you to our prize, Wizard. You will bring Ginolwenye to me.

  Permission to ask a question, Master?

  Granted.

  Why is she so important to you, Master? Why this wood elf among all the others? What makes her special?

  She is a Guardian, Wizard. It is in her blood, in her ancestry.

  I do not understand, Master.

  You do not have to understand, Wizard. You have only to bring her to me. You will not fail me again.

  Taeben grimaced. “Yes, Master,” he whispered, then turned his attention back to the great hall through the mind of his bonded servant, Tairneanach. The irony was not lost on him where his situation was concerned - Master Taanyth had been in his mind ever since he was “rescued” from Bellesea by the Fabled Ones. The Father Dragon had been guiding him, teaching him about how to use the bond originally taught to him by Salynth, in the Western Tower. The dragons only performed this bond - forbidden by the races since the time of the Forest Wars - and only those to whom the skill had been taught ever used it. Taeben knew that Taanyth could see and hear everything that he did and said, just as he could with Tairn. It was a necessary evil. This would lead him to the spell that he needed to see his plan to fruition, even if it did mean having to deal with Gin again. Gin. Taeben smiled as Taanyth stirred. He knew exactly how to get her to come with him to his Master and maybe, just maybe, have her back under his control. “A pleasant diversion, if nothing else,” he murmured as he focused on Tairn’s mind.

  Tairn pushed open the great stone door and walked quietly into the great hall. Gin was nowhere to be seen. How had she managed to arrive before Gin? The high elf closed the door behind her and walked into the great room, standing in the center of the stone circle on the floor. “She will understand,” Tairn said aloud, trying to calm her frazzled nerves. “She knows what Ben is like, what he is capable of doing.” She paced around the circle, as she had seen Gin do many times when Tairn was younger and Gin was mentoring a younger guild member with studies. Her hands were clasped behind her back, to keep them from shaking as much as anything. “She knows him, better than I do, and she knows…”

  Gin’s voice came from the balcony. “I do know, Tairn,” she said. The high elf froze in her tracks, and then backed up, hands falling slack at her sides as she looked up toward the
source of the voice…toward Gin. “I know how Ben thinks. I know his heart - or at least I thought I did. I know how he fights. I know that to him, winning is everything, and nothing will stand in his way if he has his eye set on a prize.” She walked slowly down the grand staircase to the stone circle on the floor in front of Tairn and looked up at the high elf, who trembled under Gin’s gaze. “I know because I was his prize for so long. I also know that for the entire time I was with him I NEVER did anything to hurt another person, not even Ben himself, at least not consciously. I never fought back. I took all that hurt, took more than I thought I could ever take…”

  Tairn let out an anguished cry and fell to her knees. “We can’t all be as good and pure as you are, Gin,” she wailed as she placed her hands on her knees, palms up in supplication. “I was weak, I wanted to be free of that prison, and I was willing to do anything to have that freedom. I cannot apologize for that. I will not.”

  The wood elf knelt in front of her longtime friend, and then gently placed her hands in Tairn’s. “I know that, Tairn, I do,” she said. “I did not tell you that because I think I am better than you are. I told you that because I want you to know how deeply under his control I was - and I know that he is probably listening to us now, as he has been ever since you found me here, hasn’t he?” A puzzle piece fell into place in her mind and she frowned. “That’s why I don’t hear him anymore, or sense his presence in the back of my mind, isn’t it? He is not strong enough to occupy more than one mind at a time, and he is in yours, isn’t he?”

  Taeben thundered in her mind, but Tairn nodded. “You must hate me.”

  “No,” Gin replied, a sad smile crossing her features. “I could never hate you. I have been where you are and in worse situations. But Tairn, you must understand that Sath may not be as understanding. You might give him a wide berth, Tairn at least until he has calmed down a bit. Let me talk to him first, and help you make things right with him.”