Chapter Eight

He Had to Go

~*~

 

 

 

Kelvaran awoke in a soft bed, with a vague memory of being hauled out of the dungeon and dragged up through the keep. He sat up and tried to get his bearings.

A young maid was in the room, lighting the gas lamps in the wall, already having lit several candles. She had laid a meal out on a small table.

“Thank you,” Kelvaran said, and she jumped.

“The Madame says you are to bathe and eat,” the maid said.

Kelvaran heard water running through an open door on the far wall.

“There are clothes there.”

She pointed to a stack of folded clothing at the foot of the bed, then knocked at the bedroom door to be let out.

There were guards in the hallway, of course.

He ate first. He couldn't be sure how long he'd been here, and didn't remember any food in the dungeon.

After washing, he threw on the clean shirt and emerged from the bathroom to find Yilina waiting for him.

She sat at the foot of the bed, her hair loose and flowing in waves over a black velvet wrapper, its front open enough to display one long, pale leg. Kelvaran's watch, which had been a gift from her all those years ago, hung on a chain around her neck, and one hand toyed with it absently.

“Do you like your room?” she asked.

“Am I to stay free of the dungeon now?”

“If you behave.”

“You're not afraid I'll portal away?”

“You could have done so from the dungeon,” she stated. “You said you wanted to be here with me. If that's true, then you won't leave. If you do... I'll find you again.”

Kelvaran approached her, but only to grab the trousers from the bed beside her. He began to pull them on, and Yilina kicked them out of his hands onto the floor.

“You don't need those,” she said with a sly smile.

Her leg still extended, she slid her toes under the hem of the shirt above his knee.

Kelvaran froze. He hadn't thought that she would cooperate so soon.

He had once been deeply in love with Yilina Vysda before she had betrayed him, before she'd become Gorvan's creature and seemingly lost her mind, so when he'd first formulated this plan, there had been no reason for him to have any qualms about it.

But now... some things had changed.

He felt something tugging at the back of his chest, as if his heart were trying to pull him out of this room.

He looked at his watch dangling from Yilina's finger, imagining what might be heard from it on the other end of the transmitter, then fixed Yilina with a deliberately skeptical expression.

“I thought you were getting married,” he said coldly.

“I'm not married yet,” she answered, her voice tinged with indecency.

She leaned forward and grasped his shirt to pull him toward her.

Kelvaran placed one knee on the edge of the bed and leaned down over her.

“What happens to me when you are?” he asked.

Yilina gave a soft sound of frustration.

“Can't we think about that later?” she said as she slid her hands to the sides of his waist. “You said you wanted me, Kel. Here I am.”

She lay back onto the bed, pulling him along with her, and Kelvaran steeled his resolve, reminding himself that this was, after all, the plan.

He brought his mouth down hard over hers as she laced her fingers through his hair to pull him even deeper into the kiss.

Then she pushed at him and backed away up the length of the bed.

Kelvaran followed at a crawl over her, their eyes locked in a smoldering gaze, until her head rested on the pillows. He slid a hand to the belt of her wrapper, but hesitated there.

“Don't marry him,” he said, forcing all the desolation he could muster into it.

“What, should I marry you?” she said with scornful lightness.

“Yes.”

“Abrizhen is the Prince Heir of Devratha,” Yilina reminded him. “You, on the other hand, are a fugitive traitor to our country. Oh, decisions, decisions.”

“I'm not a traitor.”

“Then why did you run away?”

“I was just... scared,” he said, feigning a bit of contrition. “I was no threat to Halany, but I thought he might want to get rid of me anyway.”

“So what's changed?”

Kelvaran gazed deeply into Yilina's bright blue eyes.

“I missed you too much, Yilina. A life without you isn't worth saving anyway.”

As he said this, a strange heat flushed through his chest, and his forehead broke into a sweat. He breathed deeply in a bit of a shock. He didn't think he'd feel anything for her anymore. Could she really still affect him so?

Yilina smiled cheerlessly.

“For a man of so few words, you certainly can have a way with them sometimes,” she said.

“Yilina,” he whispered.

He pulled one shoulder of her wrapper aside and lowered his head to kiss the bend of her neck.

Yilina arched toward him and grabbed at his hair again, pulling him back to her mouth.

As he raised his head again, though, he found that his eyes wouldn't quite focus on her face. He blinked a few times, then rubbed at one eye before closing both altogether.

His body began to feel heavy.

Yilina pushed him over onto his back, then draped herself over him and leaned her face down close to his, whispering something incomprehensible.

“Yilina?”

“Did you enjoy your dinner?” she said into his ear.

“Yilina, what have you done to me?” Kelvaran demanded, fighting a quickly rising panic, but now struggling to stay awake.

“Oh, my love,” Yilina said with a light laugh. “I have murdered you, of course. Did you really think I wouldn't?”

 

~~~*~~~

 

Although the enormity of the University Archive project was quite daunting, Kazia had made great headway over the past days, flying through some of the less damaged Artifacts.

She had felt a certain lightness after revealing her true nature to the Queen.

Inaissa accepted what she'd heard with compassion and, rather than unease, a keen interest to know an Empath as there were not many in the world anymore, not that anyone knew of.

For the first time, Kazia began to feel as if she might be comfortable here in Elisaen for the long term.

She looked up from her work as Tamyn opened the door after a short knock, and she greeted him with a broad smile.

“Lady Kazia, Mistress Amelys would like to see you,” Tamyn said.

“I'll come soon,” Kazia replied. “I should be finished here momentarily.”

“I think you should hurry,” Tamyn said, and Kazia noticed a certain amount of trepidation in his mood. “There's been a lot of activity around the government quarters today, and Mistress Amelys seemed a bit out of sorts.”

Kazia dropped what she was doing and rose, pulling off her apron.

“I'm coming,” she said, and went into the hall with him.

“Don't wait for me,” Tamyn told her. “I'll just slow you down.”

Kazia rushed through the hallway and down the stairs, almost tripping a few times in her haste, until she reached Amelys' rooms. She knocked briefly, then entered without awaiting a reply.

The office was dark.

“Mistress?” Kazia called, making her way into the sitting room.

She felt the cloud of sorrow as she entered.

Amelys sat in near darkness, only a single lamp lit on the table beside her.

“I'm here,” Kazia said, taking the other chair beside the table.

Through the dimly lit space came an audible sigh.

“Kelvaran is dead,” Amelys said calmly.

Kazia stared blankly at her, cold gripping her heart.

“It was heard over the transmitter, and confirmed by our operatives in Valesk.”

“How did they confirm?” Kazia asked, her voice contained, but trembling. “Did they see him?”

“Word is spreading through the nobility of Valesk. It is the news of the day. Madame Yilina Vysda is being celebrated for eliminating him.”

“Yilina...” Kazia whispered.

“I can't speak of it now, Kazia,” Amelys said. “I'll need some time.”

Kazia stared unseeing across the room at the cold fireplace, then shook herself and rose to lay a fire in it. When small flames began to lick around the logs she went back to her seat.

“I dreamed of him last night,” she said. “I think. I didn't see him. There was a house, and it was on fire. I felt him there.”

“I am so sorry, Kazia,” Amelys said, her tears coming now. “You were right. We should have listened to you.”

“No,” Kazia protested. “He had to go. What kind of man would he be if he didn't? He knew that others were already there, risking their lives, and that his was no more valuable than theirs.”

Amelys regarded her for a long moment.

“You have become such a fine young woman, Kazia,” she said at last. “And Kel had become such a fine young man. I am sick to my heart for the future that cannot be now.”

“None of us can know what the future holds,” Kazia said. “We all can only do our best, and to give all that we can.”

~~~*~~~