Chapter Five

Jaden

 

Night had fallen on the harbor, shrouding the steady waves in darkness under a clouded, stormy sky. Despite the heaviness of the air and the lack of wind, Jaden shivered, the dull rocking of the anchored ship bringing a wave of nausea.

He was on his knees, surrounded by the Dragon’s cult members who stood in a neat circle on the deck. Fifteen were here tonight, wearing hooded cloaks. For theatrics, perhaps. Or to intimidate him. It was working.

Jaden could see their demons; animal forms clinging to their masters. A coyote, a big raven, a cat-sized scorpion, a hyena…

Abruptly they bowed in unison, like a rehearsed choreography. The dark grey clouds loomed thicker than ever overhead, and thunder roared, but the rain still didn’t come. Jaden tensed as he looked up at the man coming out onto the deck, his heavy steps on wooden planks seeming to echo in the silence.

The Dragon was cloaked, gloved and masked, all in fine black clothing. Two horse-sized reptiles flanked him, with wide folded wings and claws; creatures of myths, usually only mentioned in stories. Their scales were black and their eyes dark red. The leader of the cult took place within the circle, facing Jaden.

“Rise,” he said in a smooth voice.

The bowing forms straightened at once. Jaden swallowed uneasily under the scrutiny of the man who called himself the Dragon. His mask had slits for the eyes, but the skin there was all drawn in black kohl, making his blue irises stand out in contrast.

“I have been told you wanted to serve me,” he said to Jaden behind the mask.

His hesitation lasted only a second. He had no choice.

“I do.”

They started chanting, all but the Dragon, who simply bore into Jaden with his pale eyes. With a shudder Jaden wondered if it really was kohl around those eyes, or if he was so covered in the markings that his skin was black like this all over. They chanted in low voices, of the other world, of demons, souls and contracts"his knowledge of the Etreoni language being yet incomplete, he couldn’t understand all of it.

It suddenly felt to Jaden as though someone had splashed him with a bucket of icy water. His mind scrambling to make sense of it, he figured the downpour must have started. But he wasn’t wet, just frozen to the core. And the cult was gone, the stanchions with the torches were gone, all was silence.

An unsettling feeling of vast emptiness overcame him. He was still on his knees, but now beneath him was a white platform giving off faint light. And all around, nothing but darkness, save for a myriad flecks of light"were those stars?

Why did he feel so cold?

Jaden’s eyes caught something, a flash of black flames. A demon, approaching?

Someone"something"was on the platform with him.

Those black flames… something odd about them, he realized. They were static, like a painting.

Dark eyes emerged from the darkness, watching him, and a smile baring fangs; all teeth pointed and sharp. Did the Dragon have such teeth, was that why he hid behind a mask? 

No, this wasn’t the Dragon. Though he couldn’t explain how he knew.

But then it was gone, all of it.

Rain was pouring. Thunder roared and lightning pierced the sky like a spear in the distance. Jaden lay sprawled on his back, teeth chattering, completely soaked. The wind had picked up with the storm, and the ship rocked from side to side. How much time had passed? It had seemed to Jaden only a minute…

One cult member remained on deck. He came to Jaden, torch alight; no doubt keeping it aflame with magic.

Jaden recognized Chevris, the one with the hyena demon. Jaden placed a hand over his eyes to shield them from the rain.

“What happened?”

The black mage hesitated. His brown hair spilled from the hood, water drizzling steadily from the tips.

“You have to leave. The ceremony failed.”

The word rang across his thoughts. Failed his sister. Failed Matt.

“You’re lucky he’s letting you live,” Chevris said. “You’ve made him waste his time. Go back to Fellera, northerner. Never come back.”

 

***

 

Jaden woke up, fists clenching at the blankets. The sound of water being poured in a copper tub had him looking up. The buckets seemed too heavy for the maid, yet she made it work.

“My apologies for waking you, my lord,” she said. “The queen would like for you to join her for breakfast in her private gardens, should you find yourself well enough.”

“Thank you,” he said, throat dry as sand.

She gathered up her empty buckets and left. Jaden kicked off the blanket and stripped out of his clothes, a bit unsteady on his feet, but he managed. He snatched a thick yellow bar of soap from the nightstand and slipped in the bath while it was still warm.

Scrubbing his skin and hair, he found he couldn’t remember the last bit of the trip from Treon to Veicira. He had suffered the worst fever of his life. Everything hurt, his head throbbing like it would burst to splinters. He couldn’t eat without vomiting"which explained the scrawniness, he thought with a grimace.

He noticed the clumsy bandage tied around his left hand. He took it off, seeing that the cut was shallow.

Getting out of the tub, he dried himself with a large white towel the maid had left for him. Being at the castle was quite nice, even in a servant’s room. Compared to Treon’s cheap, spider-infested inns, anything was good.

A brand new pair of boots had been placed at the foot of the bed, and a clean uniform hung from a peg. Jaden hurriedly got dressed. Better not make his sister wait too long. He fastened the belt at his hips but ditched the jerkin, and left the cords of the long-sleeved shirt’s collar untied. He put more effort into lacing his boots after neatly tucking his black trousers inside. Hair still dripping, he set out into the stone halls. Walking fast, ignoring the lofty tapestries that covered the walls, he found his way out of the north wing and into the keep.

The main hall was the fastest way to the east wing. Poor folks gathered here in the hopes of seeing the queen, waiting for hours on end for a brief audience with one of her representatives"if they were lucky. They took numbers and were placed in neat rows like cattle, the castle guards surveying haughtily, arms crossed over their shiny breastplates.

Big and empty on the raised dais, the ornate throne seemingly mocked them all.

Some of the guards were women, Jaden noted. And he saw a maid, tending one of the big hearths, clad in the same grey livery male servants wore.

In spite of his rapid gait some people noticed Jaden, and they whispered.

“The mad queen’s b*****d…”

He clenched his fists.

They think they know everything.

Jaden strode out of the hall like he had hounds chasing him.

Tessa had ordered most of the east wing remade with smarter, modern architecture. Thinner walls and wider windows made for halls flooded in daylight.

Jaden paused before an arched door that had been left open to let the fresh breeze in. A guard patrolling nearby nodded at Jaden and gestured for him to make his way through.

The gardens welcomed him with robins singing and swathes of rose-scented air. A path of big, uneven paved stones led to the ironwork set of table and chairs where Tessa was having her breakfast. The table was in the midst of a circle of trees, the most impressive a weeping willow baring vivid golden leaves.

Tessa already had company; Kitera T’Sherazee, new leader of the castle guards, and Morgan Ellyus, high priest of Fellera. And of course her wolf-dogs, leisurely sprawled under the weeping willow’s shade.

“I’m simply not sure people,” the priest was saying, “even people at court, who love you very much, are quite ready for this, my dear.”

A thick man with greying hair and beard, cloaked in rich violet velvet, Morgan sat facing Tessa and Kitera, slices of fresh fruit and half of a honey cake forgotten in his plate. Jaden’s stomach growled as he realized how starved he was. They hadn’t noticed him yet, though, save for Onyx, the yellow-eyed black dog, who stared at Jaden, his tail sweeping leaves from side to side. 

The priest carried on: “’Tis one thing for women in the guards to wear proper uniforms, but the maids…”

Kitera seemed to tense. Tessa raised a soothing hand from under her thin white shawl.

“My dear Morgan, do you entertain the thought that maids enjoy wearing big heavy skirts whilst on their knees scrubbing the floor, or stocking the hearths with coal? They’re much more comfortable in trousers. They’re quite grateful to me for allowing it.”

“Of course,” Morgan said smoothly, “and you know I’ve nothing but praise for you being such a thoughtful ruler, I was merely suggesting"”

“Enough,” Tessa said, though no anger seeped through her voice. “Jaden,” she tilted her head and smiled at him, “I should like you to come join us.”

Morgan rose from his chair. “I must be going to your cousins’ morning lessons,” he informed Tessa and excused himself.

Jaden took his place, unable to quit staring at the trays of food.

“Please,” Tessa waved a hand, “take whatever you like.”

“Thank you.”

Picking up a clean plate, Jaden stuffed it full, and immediately started eating.

The apples were so fresh, the bread still slightly warm, the cheese very fine and the honey cakes as sweet as he remembered from when he was a child"those rare times his mother let him eat them.

Kitera laughed softly.

“You sure are doing better,” she said.

Jaden managed to slow down.

“I apologize, I was… very hungry.”

He became aware of Tessa studying him. The morning sunlight slanting through the trees cast leaf-shaped shadows across her pale skin. Her long curls cascaded down her arms, rustled by the wind. She was twenty seven years old, but looked much younger. Like she would never grow old. Their mother had been like that too. Not a wrinkle marring her smooth skin.

“What do you remember?” Tessa asked, forcing him out of his thoughts.

“I got sick,” Jaden said. “I couldn’t eat, I could hardly sleep, when I did sleep I had nightmares"”

“That isn’t what I meant,” Tessa said, a tinge of annoyance in her tone.

Of course. How silly of him to think his sister would actually worry about the state of his health.

“Asking about the Dragon and his cult in Treon was easy,” Jaden explained. “Black magic isn’t banned there anymore. I got around to meeting some cult members, but they were careful. They gave fake names at first. Asked me a lot of questions. I learned the language as best I could.”

 “And?” Tessa prompted.

Kitera leaned forward, listening.

A faint sigh escaped him. “I’m afraid I don’t have much useful information to give you. I wish I did. But their meeting places change all the time. The first time was the attic of an inn. The last time was… the harbor. They took me to a ship. I’ve no idea where their headquarters might be, if they even have such a place.”

“What of the black mage who killed my father during the war?”

 “That man is long dead,” Jaden replied, perhaps too harshly. “I put an arrow through him. Right after he attacked the king. Have you not read the battle reports?”

“I thought,” Tessa said, “perhaps he was still alive. Archers sometimes miss their targets.”

Jaden held her gaze. “I don’t miss.”

Kitera raised a brow at that.

Jaden leaned back in his chair. “I can write you a report,” he said to Tessa, “with the names of each cult member and a description"a description of their demons, as well. Their powers, what I saw them do. Each meeting’s location. What I heard them speak of; they intend to carry on fighting alongside the Azurians...”

“Did you see the man called the Dragon?” Tessa asked, blue eyes intent.

A shiver ran down Jaden’s spine.

“Yes, briefly. He was masked, though. He had blue eyes. I didn’t see anything else, not even the color of his skin. He spoke Etreoni, like all the others, but…”

“But what?” Tessa demanded.

“I thought he had an Azurian accent.”

“You shall write that report,” Tessa said, “and you’ll do it quickly. I have another assignment for you as soon as you’re finished. Kitera, fetch some parchment and ink please.”

“Right away,” Kitera said quietly, rising from her chair. 

Jaden’s eyes didn’t leave his sister. “Another assignment? I just got back. What of… What about Matt?”

You promised.

“I assure you I’m doing everything that I can,” Tessa said carefully. “But black magic is illegal here, and I can’t be lenient.”

Jaden banged his hands on the table, startling her. “Gods’ sakes, Tessa, Matt only used magic so he could come to war with us. I’ve told you, his eyes were getting worse. Against the enemy, he couldn’t have"”

“There is no excuse for using black magic, Jaden.”

 “Can I at least see him?” he asked.

“Not right now, I’m afraid. This new assignment is very important, it cannot wait. Should you succeed in this, Mattias will be released. You have my word.”

Your word means nothing.

 “What’s the assignment?”