A Soldier's Life - 384 - A Life For A Life

Chapter 384: A Life For A Life

I almost didn’t say anything. I didn’t know the implications of their awareness of Karina and the girls being otherworlders. “Can I give her a healing potion?” I said in English, stepping closer. The potion should replace some of Karina’s lost blood and prevent her from passing out, which she looked very close to doing.

Matron Lucette cocked her head, mildly surprised at me but replied in accented English, “Are you from Gesedmuria?”

“No, somewhere much further away,” I said pointedly.

She nodded slowly and cocked her head to the children and Karina and I nodded in unspoken confirmation. “Why did you not seek me out with them?”

I continued in English as our conversation drew the attention of other curious matrons. “I did not arrive on Desia with them. I have been here longer. They came here seeking your help,” I stressed.

Lucette suddenly looked tired, her age showing as wrinkles seemed to manifest. “Yes, so I have been informed. If I had an audience with everyone who requested it the moment they asked, I would have no time to attend to my duties for the Blind Raven.” She looked directly at Lexi, who cowered back under her gaze. “However, it looks like these strangers were telling the truth.” She let out a long sigh. “You can give her a potion.” Matron Lucette had a rapid conversation with Matron Sien before I was allowed to approach and produced two lesser healing potions. Karina quickly consumed both. 

As I knelt to administer the vials, Lexi and Evie crowded under me for protection like ducklings under a mother goose’s wings. Evie’s tears had dried up, but her eyes were red. Lexi looked like she hadn’t slept in days and was leaning heavily into me.

Matron Lucette stood over us as Karina’s complexion improved. “I will grant their audience now, but they will remain bound and under the watch of the Lunar Light tribesmen.” She gestured to five men in dark blue leathers with the common curved blade used among the tribal warriors. They came forward and lifted Karina under the arms. She still looked dazed. Seeing my concern, Lucette explained. “She is mentally subdued, it will wear off in a few minutes.”

As they practically carried her away, Matron Lucette spoke to me, “Are you coming? I don’t think the young ones would come without you.”

“What about Anika?” I asked, causing Evie to grip me tighter.

The Matron looked over at the body, “Whatever burial rites she requires will be met. You have my word.” I looked back at her dead eyes and realized I knew so little about her. Maybe Karina would know, but she had her own problems.

Locating Blaze in the crowd, I signaled him to stand watch, which meant he should follow us and wait outside whichever residence we went to. The excitement in the plaza had died down, and most of the crowd had dispersed. The adventurers and Kaede were being taken in another direction as I followed the blue-clad warriors dragging Karina.

It was not a far walk, but the number of eyes on us was disturbing. Evie and Lexi remained close to me until we reached one of the large, identical stone buildings. Chiseled into the gray stone on either side of the massive iron oak door were ravens without eyes. 

I was surprised when Lucette opened the door herself, the hinges of the thick door silent as it swung gracefully open. The smell of strong incense hit me as the air rushed out. Dim glowstones lined the passage going deep into the fortification. That is what this was—a very defensible bastion. The long hallway had murder slits in the walls and celling, and the only visible archway to another room was nearly a hundred feet down the wide corridor.

I paused, but two of the Lunar light warriors were behind us. They stopped, unconcerned, but were clearly not going to let us leave. The fading, echoing footfalls of the matron and others carrying Karina had me follow, but I was already running scenarios in my head about how I could kill all five warriors in the quickest amount of time.

At the very end of the hallway, a narrow stairway led up, and it seemed that the warriors needed Lucette for directions. After two tight turns, we entered a massive room filled with natural light from the windows and worn off-white marble flooring. People of all ages and genders were operating large frame looms throughout the chamber. I guessed the yarn was wool as we crossed the chamber under their curious gazes. Lucette entered a room and we all followed.

A modern-looking office was beyond, featuring a polished wood desk and numerous chairs. Karina was deposited a little unkindly in one of the chairs. “You can wait outside,” she said to the warrior, who looked dubious. “Boy, do you see any windows! Where do you think she is going?” They reluctantly left, and Lucette motioned for me to close the door and cut off the sound of the workroom beyond.

“You lied to them. There is a window right there,” I said in English and gestured at the wall. My earth speak had told me an illusion covered the space, but even I could feel the breeze.

Lucette chuckled, “You are an observant one, are you? Yes, it helps keep the office cool when the sun is positioned. Their fault for not checking.” Karina groaned slightly, and I moved to help her from falling out of the chair. I directed the girls to sit on the cushioned bench along the wall under an elaborate painting of a green dragon in flight. The scales seemed to be made of flakes of emerald.

“So, you are from Earth?” I asked while awkwardly waiting for Karina to become lucid.

Lucette smirked, then her aged face became haunted as she remembered. “Originally from Norwich, England. I was outside of Amsterdam in the summer of 1945 when I was brought here. I was serving as a nurse in a hospital for Canadian soldiers and some civilians. We all arrived together in the mountains north of here. The first night was the hardest—half of us died from the cold.”

“You look good for your age,” I complimented her. “Are there any others left?” I asked, sitting between the girls to comfort them.

She waved her hand, but did blush slightly, “A small spell form allowed me to hold on to my youth, but eventually time takes us all.” Her voice got slightly heavy, “As for the others I came with, those that got out of the mountains, most went east, and I never heard from them again. I was taken in with six others by the Blind Raven tribe, and I am the only one who remains.” There was so much more to the story than those few words. “And you?”

I felt I had to tell her something, but I didn’t want to reveal too much. “I am from the United States. I arrived a few years ago in the Telhian Empire. I was swept into the legion and eventually escaped.”

“And the others you arrived with?” she said as she relaxed in her chair, studying me. Her light blue eyes seemed to stare through me, but I did not detect any spell forms even with my aether sight.

“I never met them,” I said and she looked confused and was about to ask another question when Karina spoke, interrupting us.

“Is Anika alive?” Her speech was strained, like her brain was having trouble putting the words to her lips.

“I apologize child, but she did not live through the aetheric lightning,” Matron Lucette said consolingly.

“Avenged?” Karina asked, regaining more control.

“Unlikely. The mage and two more adventurers are already on a skiff at the docks. They have sought sanctuary with an Esenhem captain and, after the inquiry into this morning’s happenings, nothing is likely to be done,” Lucette intoned regretfully.

“What is going to happen?” I asked. “To Karina, Evie, and Lexi,” I indicated each one, remembering when a face had a name, it humanized them.

Lucette stood up, walked to a shelf, and pulled down a thick, leather-bound tome. She placed it gently on her desk. “The laws of the Shiunyuet have not changed much in five hundred years, but they are simple and have kept the peace.”

She slowly paged through the book, studying each thick page. “There is not much I can do for you. The adventurer you killed was a member of the Lunar Light Tribe. Their Matron, Petra, will decide your fate,” Lucette said dully.

Karina did not seem concerned as she leaned forward. “What is the likely outcome?” 

“A life for a life,” Lucette said plainly. She tapped the page she had stopped at. Karina was aware enough to be stunned.

“They killed Anika,” Evie interrupted. “They already took a life!”

Lucette sighed, “Child, when it comes to outsiders in the Shiunyuet, balancing the scales is decided by the tribe offended. Although Jurian left the Shiunyuet when he was old enough to hold a sword, the blood of his clan still runs through him, and he was not an exile.” Lucette turned to Karina, some pity in her eyes. “Jurian is the grandson of Matron Petra. She is wise and discerning, but in the end, the boy’s father may have her ear and decide your fate. It was clear you were the one who struck the killing blow on Jurian.”

There was a heavy silence in the room. I was unsure how lucid Karina had been during the investigation around her. “Can you…can you send us back to Earth?” Karina whispered.

Lucette pursed her lips. “If I could have returned to Earth, don’t you think I would have already?”

“Nanko said…” Karina started to say, and a vein popped on Lucette’s forehead.

“My wastrel son will tell you anything you want to hear for enough silver. How much did you pay him?” Lucette asked with a clenched jaw.

Karina was not deterred, finishing her sentence, “Nanko said you talked with others who travelled freely between the worlds with the help of faeries.”

Lucette’s eyes seemed to dart back and forth as she tried to remember details from long ago. “Oh, you poor child. I did talk to otherworlders who sought my counsel in my house. We discussed many things in his company. But he must be thinking of the fairy tales!” 

Lucette’s pitying gaze told me Karina was about to be crushed. “When Nanko was a child, I told him about how fairies, leprechauns, and mermaids brought magic to Ireland. It was all an attempt to get him to bed—” she paused in thought, “but the fey creatures may know something we do not. Having lived here for a lifetime, I believe the myths of Earth have a thread of truth,” she conceded.

“What can we do to save Karina?” I interrupted.

“Nothing. It is not my decision, and I will respect whatever Petra wishes. I will not intercede.” She tapped the book like it explained it. “Any tribe would happily take the otherworlder children in,” she smiled at them, but Lexi and Evie cringed. They were smart enough to know what was going on.

“Can you do anything besides heal, Lexi?” Lucette asked in a pleasant motherly tone.

“You do not need to answer,” I said, getting a frown from Lucette.

Matron Lucette seemed calm. “They are otherworlders. Very few children survive the process, but everyone will know their aether cores are awakened.”

“What?” I asked.

“The process of coming here forces your aether core awake, as I am sure you are all aware. Your incredible strength,” she said, looking at Karina. Your healing,” she said to Lexi. And whatever gifts you have unlocked,” she nodded to Evie reassuringly. Her eyes brushed over me but did not linger. I was getting the impression that Matron Lucette was trying to win us over, with the prize being the children.

“What do you know about the process? The process of how we were brought here?” Karina asked. I didn’t know if she was grasping at straws, stalling for time, or still hoping there was a way back. I had told her everything I knew.

Lucette sighed. “Very little. The aether from the ley lines pools around the dungeons and triggers an event. Those who come here and survive have powerful affinities. It is much easier for an otherworlder to imprint their first spell form. That is only because the newly awakened core is more susceptible to the will of the person.” Once again, she looked at Evie, probably assuming she had also imprinted a spell form.

“What about the rare affinities? Do we all have them?” I asked.

Lucette gave a small smile, “The empirical classification of the Telhian Mage College—rare magics.” She tittered, amused.  “The Telhian mages just classified the frequency they each manifested in humans—but yes, all otherworlders—no matter their race, have some affinity in worlds, convergence, space, time, and displacement.” She smiled knowingly, “But they rarely pass them onto their children. So it is likely the process of coming here—and their core awakening during the process—that gives them the affinity.”

A knock at the door interrupted us. Matron Lucette stood and walked slowly to the door. She opened it slowly, and one of the Silent Moon tribesmen in their blue-dyed leathers stood there.

He nodded respectfully. “Matron, our Matron has arrived in the city. She has asked the otherworlder who killed her grandson to be brought before her to hear her judgment.”

Even though it was not my fate being decided, my blood chilled.

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