Traitor (23 page)

“Is this really you?” I asked suspiciously. “Or are you Paligno wearing this form so you don’t frighten me?”

She smiled. “
He didn’t frighten you before, did he?
”

“Well, no. I suppose not.”

“
Those who are chosen to be Lapiloque are bound to him eternally. Their spirits are joined with his in life and in death. As long as he endures within the stone, I too endure. Our spirits are marked by him, and so they are bound together. So it is for all who are chosen by him.
” She moved closer to me, although I noticed her feet weren’t touching the ground. She reached out a hand to touch my cheek, but I didn’t feel anything more than a strange cold chill on my skin. “
And so it will be for you, too, dulcu
.”

I tried not to let the sad expression on her face distract me from the reason I had come here. I needed help. I needed answers. And as far as I knew, this was the only place left where I might find them. “I understand what I have to do. I have to reclaim the god stone and bring it here to restore the balance and appease Paligno’s curse.”

Her hand fell away from me and she closed her eyes. “
Yes
.”

“And that means I will probably have to kill Hovrid,” I continued. “And I’m guessing he won’t give it up without a fight.”

My mother’s expression became tragic. She lowered her chin, looking away as though she were ashamed. “
No. He certainly won’t. He is not unlike your father,
who was a much different person when he stood where you are now. Ulric’s desires were not selfish when he took the stone. He wanted only to protect those he loved. The man he became afterward was the result of his sin. As you know, touching the god stone is dangerous for one without Paligno’s blessing. The single brush of a finger can drive a person into madness. Even now your father’s mind is still being poisoned by that contact. Hovrid is no different. His obsession cannot be quenched until he feels he possesses it entirely, both physically and spiritually. He won’t stop. He won’t be reasoned with.”

“I want to know what happened. I want to know why you left Luntharda, what kind of secret dealings you had with Sile Derrick, and why—” I hesitated on the most difficult question I’d ever asked anyone. “—why you decided to have a halfbreed child with Ulric.”

“
Only the blood of the traitor and the hands of the speaker can restore the balance. That is the law set forth by Paligno when life was first seeded upon this world. None can overrule it. I knew this the moment the stone was first taken. Only the blood of the traitor, the one who had taken it, could absolve that sin. And only the hands of Lapiloque could touch the stone in order to put it back without being driven insane by it.”
Her words rang clear and firm in the darkness of the chamber. “
I left because there was no other choice. It was by the blessing of fate alone that Sile Derrick came to plead for Ulric’s sin. I could sense the goodness in his soul. I knew he could be trusted. And I knew I would need his help in order to set things right. I’m sure by now you realize that there is nothing Lapiloque can do to heal those afflicted by Paligno’s curse. They are beyond our reach. So in order to stop it from spreading, I had to leave. I had to find Ulric. I needed his blood, and Sile helped me claim it.”

It was a lot to take in. The more she explained, the more I began to feel the storm of confusion finally calming in my mind. Years of what I had thought to be random luck suddenly didn’t seem quite so random anymore. At last, I could breathe easier. I could shake off the feelings of uncertainty and frustration that clouded my thoughts.

“I intended to take you and the stone back to Luntharda to restore the balance. After all, you have your father’s blood. But when you were born with Paligno’s blessing, I realized that the simple plan I had concocted was not what destiny had in store for you. You were meant to be more than I had ever dreamed.”
My mother smiled again with that parental adoration shining in her ghostly eyes. “
I knew my work as Lapiloque was complete. You were the one born to bring peace and balance. You had to survive. So I sought out the help of the only human I knew I could trust to watch over you and guide you until it was time for you to know these things. Sile agreed wholeheartedly. He agreed that he would watch over you from a distance, and then when the time was right, he would prepare you for that moment when your destiny would be realized.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this? Why didn’t you tell me what I was?” I pressed.

Her smile faded a bit. “
Because Hovrid knows there is only one threat to his plan to claim the stone’s power for himself. And that threat is you, dulcu. The one chosen to speak for the stone is the only one who could possibly take it from him and end this war once and for all. It was safest for you to know nothing so that his attention would never be drawn to you before you were old enough to stand against him.”

I stood in silence for a little while, thinking it all over. My questions were answered. I had everything I needed now—except for one last thing. “When you say that my blood will atone for that traitorous sin, what exactly do you mean? Am I going to die?”

My mother’s expression was unreadable. “
I cannot speak for what Paligno will require of you.
”

That wasn’t comforting at all.

I guess she could tell that her answer had made me uneasy, because she reached out to comb her fingers through my short, hacked up hair. Once again, I couldn’t truly feel her touch. To me, it only felt like a cold puff of wind.

“
If you trust nothing else, trust that Paligno chose you deliberately for this task. You are capable just as you are to do what is necessary. Do not fear what you can do, for these gifts were given specifically to you for a purpose. And when the time comes, dulcu, you will be able to face this destiny without regret
.” She smiled affectionately and planted a kiss against my forehead. It made my skin prickle. “
I love you, my son. I am so very proud of the man you have become
.”

Words failed me as I watched her image begin to fade. In a matter of seconds, I was left standing alone again, with nothing but the bones of a dead god to comfort me. I looked back at the skull, fearing it less than before now.

“I will do this. I will end this war and take back what was lost. But in return I want some assurance,” I said to it. I wasn’t sure if Paligno was listening, or if I even had the right to start making demands. Probably not. But he could smite me for my insolence if he wanted to—I was still going to ask. “Enough blood has been spilt. I want your assurance that the lives of my friends, of the people I love, will be spared. Will you grant me that?”

Of course, I got no answer.

“Araxie will lead you on the safest path back to the boundary of your kingdom.” King Erandur gestured to the map of Luntharda that was embroidered onto a large silk tapestry. He’d spread it out on the floor so that Jace and I could get a better look while we put together our plans.

Until then, I hadn’t realized how many cities the gray elves actually had in this jungle. It just seemed so wild and untamed when we went exploring every morning. The jungle itself was vast, and there were no clear-cut roads or paths anywhere—well, unless you were as good at finding your way through the trees as Araxie was. But scattered across the map, marked by different symbols, were the positions of a dozen or more large cities throughout the vast woodland.

We were sitting in the makeshift royal wing of the temple where Erandur and Araxie lived. They had made it as nice as possible, furnishing it in the gray elf style with furs and colorful woven rugs on the floor. We were leaning against silk, feather-stuffed cushions as we studied the map by the light of oil lamps.

“Where will you go once you are back in your own territory?” the king asked.

“Not directly to Halfax.” I glanced sideways at Jace to make sure he was listening. “We’re going to need some help, and I know where to get it. We’ll make for Barrowton. My dragon tells me the city is all but abandoned now, and I can reunite with him there. Then we will head straight for Mithangol to regroup and finalize our plan. During that time, you’ll need to muster what forces you can and prepare for our return. It’ll be a quick turnaround. Do you think you can manage it?”

The king nodded. He seemed confident, if not a little anxious about this whole idea. Granted, he wasn’t used to my level of crazy when it came to wild rescues.

Jace sat beside me, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. We’d been here close to three months now, and he had definitely taken on a different attitude about the gray elves—especially when it came to Araxie. Of course, I could tell he was trying not to show it, but I caught him looking at her often. When he did, his usually fierce wolf-like gaze softened and there was something almost desperate in his eyes.

Unfortunately for him, she didn’t appear to be on the same page. Or if she was, she was a lot better at hiding it. Her comments to him were still derisive and sarcastic for the most part. She still looked at him coldly, even if she did act a slightly more tolerant of his presence. I still hadn’t heard her say his name once, though.

I didn’t really blame her. He had killed three of her family members, after all. A few months of training and sizing each other up didn’t even come close to making up for that. But I still couldn’t ignore the change in Jace. He’d begun wearing gray elf clothes rather than his Maldobarian ones. He was hungry to learn their ways and had even started trying to speak their language fairly well—almost as well as I could.

“It will take three days to reach the boundary nearest to Barrowton,” Araxie said grimly. “It would be much faster to climb to the top of the canopy and hail your dragon from there to pick you up.”

I shook my head. “I can’t risk being seen. Mavrik tells me the dragonriders at Northwatch are running frequent patrols along the border. I’m sure by now most everyone thinks Jace and I are dead, so they must be anticipating a retaliation attack. We need to use that to our advantage, keep their eye focused here, so we can keep a low profile and do our work within Maldobar. At least if we make it to Barrowton, we can fly along the mountains and stay hidden.”

“We can’t spare any warriors to help escort us. It will have to be the three of us.” She frowned harder at the map. “All the other forces will have to rally here and prepare for your return.”

“Four, if you’ll permit,” Kiran spoke suddenly. He was standing in the doorway watching us with a determined look on his face.

Erandur was grinning like he found the warrior’s courage amusing. “You’re awfully young to be asking for such a thing. Have you even taken a mate yet?”

Kiran stiffened and I saw him clench his teeth slightly. “No. But I have already been to the human lands once. I know the way.”

“I suppose if you are volunteering, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to go. But I will let Araxie have final say,” the king said as he glanced at his daughter.

She never looked up from the map. “If that’s what he wants.”

“It is.” Kiran sounded more determined than ever.

“Then I’ll permit it, so long as you don’t slow us down.”

We went back to plotting our course out of the jungle. It was going to be a hard trek. We would have to pass through a grove of the greevwood trees and the ruins of the elves’ royal city. Neither were places Araxie seemed thrilled about going, but she advised that this would be the safest course.

“How did you make it here so quickly before? When you first captured us?” Jace piped up as we all took one last look at the map.

The princess scoffed at his question like it was a dumb thing to ask. “How fast do you think we got here?”

“It didn’t feel like three days,” he countered.

She rolled her eyes at him. “It was two. We are able to move faster when there are more warriors to guard the formation. We carried you in shifts. But human legs are slower and more easily fatigued.”

“Why don’t we use shrikes?” I was getting curious now.

“It is too dangerous. Paligno’s curse has spread further here than in your kingdom. Many of our mounts have already been infected, that’s why we cannot allow them to dwell among us in the village anymore. In battle it is less of a concern.” She hesitated and gave a sudden, bitter glance in Jace’s direction. “We all assume we are going to our deaths, anyway.”

Erandur began folding up the tapestry, sliding it to the side as if to end the subject there. I was grateful for that. “You should leave first thing in the morning,” he suggested. “I will have supplies readied for you.”

“When I have the stone and begin heading your way, I will send word. Even if Hovrid is dead, it’s likely some of the men who are still loyal to his guise as the King of Maldobar will be chasing us.” I reached out a hand across the space between us to shake his.

He grasped it firmly and smiled. “We will be waiting for you at the boundary, Lapiloque. Araxie and I will rally as many to our cause as possible.”

A strange silence settled over us as we sat together, feeling the weight of what was about to transpire. Erandur seemed to be the most optimistic out of all of us. Araxie, Jace, and Kiran all wore similar expressions of focused concern.