The disquieted land, p.16
The Disquieted Land, page 16
part #5 of The Memory Stone Series
“We’ll be here a few days, I suppose. Four or five, maybe?” he speculated.
“That’s long enough to justify some clean clothes,” Coriae saw no doubt about her assertion.
“Come along with me and we’ll make arrangements for you,” their guide spoke. “My name is Hingis if you need me for anything.”
Theus held Coriae’s hand as the two walked through the palace corridors behind Hingis, until they came to a pair of double doors that were held open by a pair of guards, revealing a corridor beyond. “The Queen has the utmost respect for you. This corridor and all its rooms have been set aside for you. You’ll have guards at the door and a small staff assigned to be available to assist you at all hours.”
“We have an entire corridor?” Coriae asked in disbelief. “What all did you do for this Queen to make her so fond of you?” she asked Theus.
“I’ll tell you later,” Theus assured her.
“Will there be anything else for the time being?” Hingis asked. “I’ll have dinner delivered to you in your suite this evening, since you’ve had a long day of travel, and we’ll arrange a guide to lead you to breakfast in the morning.”
The visitors said thanks, and then entered the domain that had been set aside for them.
“Which room shall we take?” Coriae asked giddily. “You used to live here; what’s the best room?”
“I never lived or even served in this part of the palace,” Theus disagreed. “I don’t know the rooms.”
They spent time touring the sitting rooms and parlors, and the pair of bedrooms.
“You can sleep in here with me tonight,” Coriae declared. “The room and the bed are both impossibly big, and I want to know how to find you in the dark. I’ll get lost otherwise,” she persuaded Theus.
Their dinner arrived soon after, and they enjoyed a fine meal with a bottle of wine, which gave Coriae confidence in the quality of the vineyards of Southsand.
“Just think, your very own friends may have made this food,” Coriae lazily observed when they were finished eating.
“Would you like for me to cook your breakfast in the morning?” Theus laughed.
“No, but you could lead me to an armory in the morning,” she responded.
“I know where there’s an armory,” Theus acknowledged, recollecting the sword work he had practiced with the officers of the Southsand Guard, prior to their deployment in war against Steep Rise. He thought then of the officers, many of whom had ended up moving to Limber to avoid persecution by Donal, and that memory in turn reminded him of Alamice, who had sparred with Coriae in the Limber armories, and had engaged with a physical intimacy with a willing Coriae during their feigned battles, an intimacy that had left Theus uneasy at first, and then jealous.
He suddenly no longer felt as cheerful and comfortable with Coriae as he had before the memory had drawn a dark curtain across his spirit.
“I’m going to go take a walk,” he announced as he stood.
“What? Where? May I join you?” Coriae asked, surprised by the announcement.
“I’m just going to get some fresh air. I won’t be gone long. You stay here and relax,” Theus advised, then abruptly left the room. He walked down the hall and out past the guards and a servant who seemed to be waiting on-call for any needs the visitors might have. He stopped and realized that the sky outside had turned dark, and he didn’t know where he wanted to go, other than to momentarily leave Coriae.
He looked over at the guards, then decided where to go. He willed himself to use his energy to take a fraction of a step through space, to leave the palace interior, then he controlled the air to loft him up to the roof of the palace, and he settled into a perch atop the building, looking out across the darkness of the surrounding city, where a quilt of lines and patches of light revealed the streets that carried the life of the city.
Why did he feel so jealous about Coriae, he asked himself? He knew, and she knew, that something strange had affected their feelings and behavior while in Limber. It was the mysterious force of the north that Crystal had warned them about, an enemy he had done nothing to confront since learning of it.
But was there more to his jealousy, he reflected? Was he still insecure in his relationship with the girl? They’d been together for some time, more than he could remember because of the memories that had been taken from him. But did she love him for who he was, or simply because of what he could do as a white magician?
Coriae had told him stories of their early times together, the times he didn’t remember. She’d met him once in Greenfalls and dismissed him as a servant, casually and without a second thought. Not until he’d lived in her Great Falls home for some length of time, and apparently done a few notable things, had she begun to consider him as more than a house guest.
If he were without his powers, would she still find him desirable, he wondered? He could go back to the suite in the palace and ask her directly. Coriae was a strong woman with a personality that was even stronger; she would tell him the truth, he decided. And he might hear something he didn’t want to hear.
A shooting star flew across the sky, plummeting towards the horizon before it disappeared. It was just such a brief moment of existence, but he still thought of it. And his memory of Coriae and Alamice in their physically-engaged tussles was similar, but a dark streak instead of a bright one – it had happened and was done, but still he thought of it.
He would be better off to remind himself that it was the anomaly, not Coriae’s affection for him. And the dark moment had occurred under a malign influence.
There was no use sitting away from the girl and wounding his own soul with his dramatic imaginings, he decided. He needed to return to his room. He floated his way down to the ground, then re-entered the palace, shocking the guards, who turned pale at Theus’s unconventional departure and arrival, but who said nothing as he passed them to return to his room.
“Theus? Where did you go? Did you go to visit Torella? Are you going to rekindle your romance with her?” Coriae asked as soon as she caught sight of him re-entering the bedroom.
“What? No, I didn’t even think about her,” Theus replied, startled to be put on the defensive.
“Theus, if you want to leave me to rejoin your lover, I know you can. You’re the most powerful man on earth. But I know that you are the most honorable and kind man I’ve met as well – it’s all part of why I love you so much. If you’re going to leave me,” she paused, and her eyes teared up, “please just tell me now, honestly.”
“Leave you?” Theus repeated in astonishment. “I don’t want to leave you. I have been asking myself if you really love me – if you’d care for me if I wasn’t the white magician that I have become.”
“Theus! Of course! I fell in love with you before you became a magician – I wish you could remember.” Coriae replied. “Power and noble birth and money, none of those mean enough to me to choose to marry the wrong person.”
She chuckled. “You can ask Klermie (ex-fiancé),” she gave a wry, twisted smile.
Theus felt his heart flip. His moment of melancholy doubt ended. There was no reason to guess or second-guess. He only needed to have faith and accept. Coriae had given him no reason to doubt.
“I don’t have any other lover, here or elsewhere. You are my only one,” he breathed deeply in relief, then walked over and silently embraced and kissed Coriae passionately, putting an end to the conversation.
Chapter 13
Over the next few days, Theus and Coriae wandered around the city and the nation of Southsand, visiting places Theus knew, and more often, places he had not seen during his time in the land. They saw waterfalls in the mountains and castles guarding rivers, as well as markets and temples and other notable locations.
They also dined with the Queen and with Letta more often than not, sometimes alone and sometimes in larger groups. Theus met with many of the members of the Council that had appointed Citrice to be the queen, and they privately marveled to Theus about the unexpected success of the choice, while he pondered anew the value of having a magician assigned to a monarch’s court.
A large farewell dinner filled the final evening that the couple was in Southsand, giving Coriae another chance to wear an elegant gown, an appearance that made the officers of the guard marvel at the versatility of the woman who they had battled with in the armory on many mornings. Theus had the chance to raise a toast to the success of the Queen.
“And in return for your kind words,” Citrice returned the toast, “I will say that if you hadn’t appeared with such a beautiful – and I’m told, formidable – fiancé, we would have discussed with you our need for a royal consort in Southsand!” she made Theus turn pale, as Coriae giggled and squeezed his thigh under the table they sat at.
The next morning the guests ate breakfast and said goodbye to their hosts, then Theus carried them north along the coast, until they arrived back in Steep Rise by walking in through the city gates.
“I never had to play any music in Southsand,” Theus observed to Coriae as they strolled in the direction of the palace, climbing steps as they rose towards the upper levels of the hillside. “I would have guessed that Southsand was the city where there would be the greatest need for using the magic of the music to calm people’s emotions.
“But it wasn’t. It’s the only place that hasn’t seemed to need it. I just don’t understand,” he shook his head in confusion.
“It’s the only city that has a magician at court to help the monarch,” Coriae reminded him of the idea that he had begun to believe in.
“Maybe I need to create more magicians,” Theus agreed, then ended the conversation as they reached the palace gates and were admitted entrance.
The reunion with Forgon and Amelia was warm and friendly.
“It has been so good to be home again and to be finally recognized as the princess once more,” Amelia informed them blissfully.
“The palace intrigue seems to have greatly settled, to have virtually disappeared,” Forgon added.
The four visitors were treated to a state dinner with Amory and Krabel and several other nobles that night, and Theus observed that Amory was treated with more respect, while he did not hesitate to turn to Krabel and Redford for advice or consent when he seemed undecided about a matter.
“The Council and the nobles have been much more accommodative since you performed your magical music,” Redford observed to Theus. “We’ve gotten some changes approved and everyone is willing to talk and listen to one another’s opinions.”
“I hope it lasts a good long while,” Theus offered.
“So do I, lad; So do I,” the bodyguard agreed.
Two days later, the foursome of visitors was ready to depart and make their way back to Great Forks.
“Remember little brother, you can always ask me to come if you need help,” Amelia took delight in teasing her older brother. “And I’ll bring Theus along if you ever to send for me – he’ll be your help!”
There were hugs and handshakes all around.
“You have saved my grand-daughter, and I can never thank you enough,” Krabel told Theus.
“I’ll have all the thanks I need if Colline raises her to be a healthy and happy girl,” Theus politely replied, and then it was time to go.
The circle of hosts watched as the four visitors gathered in a tight bunch, and Theus minutely adjusted the direction he faced to his satisfaction for establishing their trajectory. Then, just as he began to move his leg muscles, Coriae suddenly sneezed, her body convulsing and twisting the direction Theus faced, just before the foursome of visitor disappeared.
“That is most amazing,” one of the courtiers commented.
“It’s amazing to watch, and even more amazing to experience,” Redford nodded in agreement. “It’s fast and easy for the passenger.”
In the case of the party that had just departed from Steep Rise, it turned out not to be as easy as expected. Coriae’s sneeze and the resulting, subtle repositioning of Theus’s line of departure mean that when his energy-assisted step took place, it left the four travelers momentarily dangling in the air above the passing waves of the ocean’s surface. And then a moment later they plunged down into the cool water and were swamped by the waves.
“Theus!” their carrier heard his name shouted and gargled by all three of the others as the exhausted magician struggled to support himself and keep his head in the air. He was stunned, panicked, and confused as salty water filled his mouth and stung his eyes.
He thrust his arms and lifted his head into the air, taking a breath and then called on his own reserves of energy to stop stroking, letting him instinctively press his wrists together so that the pair of metallic cuffs clanged against one another, and he held the contact while he called on the energy within the talismans.
An upthrust of water lifted the foursome out of the ocean and tumbled them into the air, then kept them suspended in a frothy, foamy, column where they bounced on top of the surface of the water. All four drew in deep draughts of air, and Theus began to scan the horizon.
He spotted a shoreline several hundred yards to the east. “Hold on to me!” he shouted as he extended his hands towards Coriae. She tumbled herself across the bouncing surface of the raised water and crashed into him, holding tightly, while Forgon grabbed Amelia with one hand and maneuvered himself towards Theus with the other.
Theus only had moments of energy available he believed. Even though he was using the energy of the cuffs, he felt himself suffering from the amount of his own energy that he had already used and the stress it had imposed on his body.
“Hold on tight!” he urged the others, and he changed the course of the water currents to begin to press the small group towards the shoreline, moving at a slow pace that he tried to increase, though the additional use of higher amounts of the energy that resided in the cuffs. The speed increased, but so did his discomfort, and he began to twitch as his nervous system overloaded with signals and sensations.
“I can’t go much,” he gasped the words out. “Further,” he finished his warning as the watery carriage sped towards the land.
“Theus? What’s happening?” Coriae asked urgently as the height of their watery ride began to diminish, but Theus didn’t answer, as he passed out from the pain and exhaustion he felt.
Chapter 14
When Theus awoke, he found that he was wearing only his briefest underclothes, and he laid atop a prickly patch of straw and grasses in a shady spot. He heard the sound of the surf crashing nearby, as well as murmurs of conversation nearby.
He sat up and moaned from the horrific headache that struck, making him lean forward and hold his head in his hands.
“I heard Theus,” he heard Coriae’s voice, and after a momentary approach of the sound of feet walking on brittle grass, he felt her hands on his shoulders.
“Theus, are you okay?” she asked.
“Pain,” he barely managed to utter the word.
“How can I help?” she asked softly.
Theus didn’t know. He wanted to shake his head, but he knew the movement would hurt. “Let me rest,” he whispered.
“I will,” Coriae gently stroked his hair, a comforting gesture. “I’m so sorry this happened,” she unnecessarily apologized for her sneeze.
Theus slowly moved his hand and fumbled to find hers, then squeezed it gently to tell her there was no need for an apology.
“How long will he be hurt?” Forgon asked Coriae sometime later when the three healthy survivors sat together a short distance away from Theus. All were in their underthings, while their clothes lay on the sandy beach and dried in the hot sunlight.
“I don’t know,” his sister shrugged. “It may just be a few hours of rest, or it could be more. I don’t understand the ways of his magic; I just know he’s incredible.”
“This looks a lot like the land where Theus and I walked to Exlive after we were stranded,” Amelia commented. “I think I remember some of the plants we ate. I’m going to go pick some for us while we wait.” She rose to her feet and walked down to the beach to put her dress back on, then began to wander among the dunes, looking for leaves and stems that seemed familiar.
Amelia provided food for herself, Coriae, and Forgon for the next day and a half, while Theus remained curled up in a fetal position, unconscious and occasionally moaning in pain, as Coriae remained close to him, stroking his head while wearing a worried expression on her face. When he awoke the next afternoon, he remained pain-ridden, but able to speak. He asked for Amelia.
“Do you remember the plants we picked to treat our sunburn?” he asked, happening to rely upon the same shared experience that Amelia had, the memory of their trip across the land.
“I do,” Amelia happily whispered.
“Please go find as much as you can, and bring it back here to me,” Theus directed.
Forgon went out with Amelia to help her hunt and harvest, while a guilt stricken Coriae remained with Theus.
“I’m so sorry I did this to you,” she repeated tearfully.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Theus tried to put her at ease. He was feeling better, though he was fearful of the pain he would feel if he tried to exercise his energy. “I’ll be better with treatment,” he assured her.
When Amelia and Forgon returned, Theus sent them out to find another plant, and he set Coriae to work in the meantime, opening the stalks of the pain-relieving plant that had been brought in, and then spreading the gooey sap on every part of his skin, and particularly rubbing it into his scalp. When the second ingredient was collected, Theus asked the others to roast the leaves and then spread the ashes atop his skin. Within minutes, the gray mixture of ashes and sap turned red, and Theus sat up.
“I’m much better now, thank you everyone,” he told the other three who were watching him closely. He began to brush at the dried red dust that covered him.
