Of Heroes And Villains (Book 4) (21 page)

“Stones?” Talia asked. “There are more of them?”

“Five in total,” he said, placing the stone on the table. “I wouldn’t be telling you this if I wasn’t stepping out on faith a little bit here. I may not know everything about the stones, but from what I’ve skimmed through in your history, all of you guys destroyed yours a few years back. That means, if a Kingdom was in possession of these five, they can continue their lineage and no one else could unless they allowed it. I don’t know how many generations it will take for the abilities to water down and die, but this prevents that. Eventually, that Kingdom with all five stones would be able to have warriors of great power, while everyone else would be at their mercy.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Catherine said, but Hakin just gave her a smirk.

“The Quietus have a lot of dried blood on their hands, your Highness. We don’t need more. Now, maybe it was just by chance that I survived and countless others didn’t, but I don’t think trying to take over the world is the answer. There were plenty of Quietus that would do exactly what I just outlined, but I’m not looking for that. I just want a warm place to stay and a hot plate of food on the table. I’m simple, and I think the Quietus people should be that way too. I figure that we could be the enforcers of the Four Kingdoms. We’re strong and skilled. Maybe our jobs could be to keep things in line once our trust has been earned.”

“So these stones…what do you think we should do with them?”

“The Quietus will hold onto them for now, only for a year or two while we gather our strength, and then we can hand them off to you to do what you like.”

“Why the wait?”

“You confirmed my suspicions earlier. Your people, and those of the other Kingdoms—they all hate us, and there’s not much stopping them from killing us all completely in our sleep—“

“—we would never let that—“

“—you don’t know that,” Hakin interrupted. “You have a couple of rogue Sages on the loose. What if they try to take us down because we refused their offer? No, the stones must stay with us for now. It’s our only defense.”

“It doesn’t make sense though,” James spoke up. “Why would the Allayans run away just by seeing the stones? If they’re from our Kingdom, then they would know that we destroyed the five stones long ago. As you know, we advertise our history openly, and I would think that anyone trying to cause a coup would cover all their bases. No, something doesn’t add up. If I was to turn on Allay, and I saw those stones, I would either think they were fake, or I would take them for myself. I would know that they had little power outside of a carrier’s body.”

“That’s what happened though,” Hakin said. The room fell silent. He looked to the Sages one by one. “Are you saying that I’m lying? After all I’ve just told you? I didn’t have to reveal this stone at all. I could have accepted your hospitality and secretly continued our lineage.”

“We’re not saying you’re lying,” Catherine butt in. “We’re just saying that your story has some holes. Something is very wrong here. Still, I’m not sure if we should just have you hold onto those stones. Like you said, those stones were the only reason the rogue Sages backed off, but no one would be fooled around here. Everyone around here knows how little defense they actually provide. Your smokescreen is worthless here.”

“So we actually have no defense?
Everyone
knows about them?”

“No defense from them whatsoever,” she said solemnly.

“And what would you have me do then? Just give the stones to you in exchange for protection?”

“We would have the Quietus protected regardless, but I also think the stones would be safest in our possession.”

“We had them for nearly five years.”

“And that is only because you were out in the proverbial wilderness. Are you willing to go back out there in order to keep those stones with you?”

“You know that I’m not.”

“And even if you were willing to, I couldn’t in good conscience allow it. Those Sages you encountered—even if they aren’t from here, they will surely find out the truth eventually. They would go back and retrieve the stones from you, and this time, they would not hold back.”

“Be careful, Your Highness,” Hakin said. “Your true colors are starting to show.”

“We just want what’s best for everyone,” Catherine said, her face softening. “And that means handing over the stones for safe keeping.”

“What do you plan on doing with them? Destroying them?”

Catherine didn’t respond. She just stared back at him. When no answer came forward, James leaned over and looked at her. She bit her lip as Hakin nodded in understanding.

“Ah, I see,” he said. “That’s what I thought.”

“What is it, Katie?” James asked her, but she kept her stone gaze on Hakin.

“She’s realizing the error of her ways,” Hakin interrupted for all in the room. “She was young and idealistic, even more so then than she is now. She realizes now that destroying the stones of legend were the equivalent of annihilating entire groups of people. Without them, the Quietus, Allayans, Prattlians, Langorans…they all lose their abilities somewhere down the line, and they just become ordinary. That’s all fine and good, provided that there’s no other stones out there. No other groups of people. Now that she sees that there are other stones, that means there could be other groups of people somewhere. People that could easily come and destroy you all in the future with little resistance.”

“Is that true?” James asked her, but all he could see was a sole tear falling from her eye. She swallowed hard and fought back the wave of emotions flooding over her.

“Will you hand over the stones?” she asked through a cracked voice. Hakin leaned forward.

“No,” he said through a clenched jaw. “Never.”

“Seize him,” Catherine broke down, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand. Zhou was behind Hakin in a second, placing an ordinary sword to the Quietus’ throat.

“Ah, peace,” Hakin spat at her. James nodded to Zhou, and Zhou wrapped an arm around Hakin’s throat. He lifted him from the chair and kicked the seat aside. With Hakin away from the table, Zhou kicked in Hakin’s legs and began dragging him back toward the secret entrance.

“Put him in a cell,” Catherine managed to say, her hand still over her mouth. “One without a secret exit please.” Zhou ushered Hakin out the door and kicked it shut behind him.

“Katie,” James said, standing up to wrap his arms around her. “What are we doing here?”

“We have to have those stones, James,” she said, closing her eyes. “He’s right. I did doom us all. Destroying them was a childish notion.”

“This complicates things,” Talia said, shaking her head. “Even if we retrieve them, what then? What if Languor or Prattle still wants the new set destroyed? Or what if they want them divided between the Kingdoms? Who gets the extra stone? And do we really want to go down this route in the first place?”

“It’s going back to where we came,” James sighed. “One reason the peace works is because we all rely on each other. If everyone has a stone again, everyone will go their separate ways. It could lead to further conflict down the road, especially if anyone decides they want more.”

“We can’t keep this secret either,” Catherine said, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her dress. “Otherwise, the peace is broken from the start.”

“What do we do with Hakin and the other Quietus?” James asked. “He did nothing wrong.”

“We keep him locked up for now,” Catherine sighed. “And his people too. We can’t walk out of this meeting without him. They will know something is wrong and that will stir up trouble. We’ll have to keep them in cells and hidden from the public until we at least retrieve the stones. We have to confirm he’s telling the truth about all of this.”

“The stones would still be in the old Prattle if anywhere,” Talia said. “We can search there. It will have to be a covert operation though. Maker forbid any of the Orders catch wind of what we just learned.”

“They will demand the stones be distributed,” Catherine said, staring off into space. “And the people will be behind them. There will be no way we can work out a plan with the other Kings then. They’ll think we’ve been hiding this, and we can’t let that happen. All it will take is a seed of doubt for this to all spiral out of control. We’ll have to get the stones quickly. James, I want you to go since you’re the strongest. Take a few other Sages from the Academy with you as well. Ones that the three of you can trust. Make them Master Sages.”

“But Catherine, it’s the first day. No one is ready to become a Master Sage.”

“Find some that can be. We need Sages ready for deploy now. We didn’t get any luxuries five years ago, and we were a lot less experienced than they are now. You’ll need a group.”

“I could go alone.”

“No, it’s too dangerous,” Catherine said, turning to look in his eyes. “They could have the stones guarded, or those rogue Sages may return.”

“Where did those stones come from anyway? And the fact that those Sages were scared off by the stones disturbs me,” Talia said. “What are the odds that there are other misplaced Allayans out there from the Stone Era?”

“Hmph,” James scoffed. “About the odds of finding displaced Quietus. Ones that have been living in their enemies’ old home for five years.”

“Whomever these Sages are,” Catherine interjected. “You need backup.”

“Fine,” James said, crossing his arms. “We’ll choose a few.”

“And you’ll have to make it quick. Promote them while you’re already on your way if need be. We need those stones tonight.”

“And what then?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to think some more. But don’t worry, Hakin and his people will be given asylum, and they will be taken care of. The only way that wouldn’t happen is if this has all been a lie from the beginning. The truth will present itself.”

“Am I going?” Talia asked, and Catherine shook her head. “You and Zhou need to stay here in case something happens. Besides, my parents can’t watch the school forever. Zhou, you should go back to the Academy and keep watch. Talia, you’ll be by my side. We’ll call for the Kings to meet. I think we should have a sit down whether we have the stones or not, just to be open and honest.”

“I’ll be quick,” James said. Catherine jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I know you’re tired,” she whispered in his ear. “But I need you to take care of this. You’re the only one that I can trust 100% to get the job done.”

“I’ve never let you down,” he said, hugging her tight. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll keep her safe,” Talia said, nodding toward him. “With my life.”

“I know,” James whispered into Catherine’s hair. He backed away from the Queen, caressed her face, and then gave her a hard kiss. They both prayed that it wouldn’t be their last.

Chapter 16 – Promotions

The students were all walking from the dorms to the dining hall when James appeared. Standing to the side of the passing line, he began pulling some out and having them stand to the side with him. Bastion, Kent and Daisy had been toward the rear, since their dorm room was in the back of the hall, and they watched curiously and silently as they got closer.

After the fourth Sage student was pulled off to the side, Bastion began seeing the pattern emerge. These weren’t average students. They were top of the class in at least one area. Strength, speed, tactics, manifestation and manipulation—each one had a specialty.

When they walked by, Bastion wasn’t surprised to feel a hand placed on his shoulder. He looked up at James with curiosity. Whatever was about to happen, did James really want him on the team? Considering what happened earlier?

Kent and Daisy kept walking, maintaining straight faces. They didn’t know what the Master Sage wanted with Bastion, but they were more than aware of the power their friend possessed. They knew it was only a matter of time before he was taken aside and groomed for greatness. They just didn’t think that it would be the first
day.

Once the line of students was gone, James turned to the seven of them.

“Listen up. What I’m about to say is very important, and I need you to follow my instructions precisely. If you breach my trust, there will be grave repercussions. I’m serious. This concerns the future and safety of the Kingdom.”

The students nodded and waited. James gave a heavy sigh.

“From this point on, you will be considered Master Sages in training. The official title will be given to you when I deem fit. In the meantime, you are to present yourself as trustworthy and obedient. I don’t have time to explain all the details, but if you are ready to serve your Queen and Kingdom, then we can begin right away. Are there any questions so far?”

One student raised her hand and James nodded toward her.

“Yes, Stephanie?”

“Does this mean the Kingdom is in trouble? Is there a new threat?”

“There could be. We’re not sure yet. Quietus, as a matter of fact.” The students began murmuring. The Quietus were thought to be extinct, besides Master James’ half-heritage. “But,” James continued. “There is more to the story than I am telling you. I can brief you on the way to the ruins of Prattle. Bastion, you will have a different mission altogether. I’m going to have to speak to you privately. The rest of you, head back to your dorm rooms and prepare for a long journey.”

They scurried off as Bastion waited patiently.

“I’m not going,” he asked, and James shook his head slowly.

“I’m sorry, but even though you may be the strongest among them, I can’t risk another episode of you losing control, especially if we’re to engage the enemy.”

“Then why was I pulled out of line?”

“I said I would be honest with you,” James said. “The truth is, the students know that you are probably the strongest among them. It would make no sense for me not to include you in this group.”

“So I’m not even a Master Sage in training? I’m a fake?”

“No. You are,” James winced. “But I’m going to have you focus more on what goes on behind the scenes first. You will be accompanying Arimus on a side mission, but you won’t be fighting. I know you want to, but understand that because you’re given this special task, you’ll be given far more information than the others. In a sense, we will be putting more faith in you than anyone else.”