Across Time: Book Two

A/N: Nope, there are no G & V interludes in this chapter, either. Sorry about that. I have a lot of plot to get out without creating a tiny little eleventh chapter (I refuse to create an epilogue for this) so you'll have to wait just a little while. I promise there's one in chapter ten.

Chapter 9

There were two stoic guards in the hall, one on either side of the double doors. The men wore thick armor of brown leather than covered them from neck to ankle. On their heads was nothing more than inch-wide leather headbands decorated with the emerald dyed  feathers of their rank as personal guards to the lord. On their feet were sturdy leather boots made from the same hide as the body armor. An ornate short sword hung at the left side of both men.

"State your business," the guard on the right intoned. Even though both Marci and Yori were well known it would not do to be lax during this time of fear and uncertainty. One slip could cause Wilch is life.

"He summoned us," Marci answered, completely unintimidated. "I honor my lord so that he may protect me from evil."

"Without his favor we are nothing," the guard replied in turn, completing the ritual. He nodded once to her then to Yori. "You may enter."

"Thank you." She pulled open one of the heavy wooden doors just wide enough for her larger companion to squeeze through and crossed the threshold.

A thick carpet of greens and golds covered the wooden floor in the middle of the small sitting room. It had been a gift from the Weaver's Circle at the most recent Spring celebration. The fourth outpost, and the small town nearby, had never been so prosperous and many owed their good fortune to Wilch's economic proposals. If he had not drawn up trade agreements with several neighboring settlements a few families would have not survived the harsh winter. Mi'ihen's citizens were craftsmen and women (and occasionally gatherers), not farmers or hunters.

A comfortable sofa was placed before a cold stone fireplace that, during the winter months, was exquisite to sit by. A lovingly polished antique end table from his mother's childhood home flanked the tan sofa on both sides. It was here that Wilch sat waiting, looking far older and more worn than his true age of fifty-three.

"Was your mission successful?" he asked, getting directly to the point as was his way. The warm look that softened his face ran contrary to his abrupt tone. "Will Biran help?"

"She sure will." March dropped down to sit beside him as Yori hovered on the opposite site. "Iliza was sent as per your request. Is she truly the best chance we have?"

"Yes, my child. Iliza's trained in ancient arts that have been lost to us. She is also aware of the newer treatments. All our own doctors have been able to do is somewhat determine where the sickness has settled. They can still neither identify nor treat." He closed his eyes as if trying to block out the truth of his own words.

"Still?" Yori asked. "They still have no treatment? It's been nearly a month since Bethany was dispatched!"

Wilch's eyes opened once more and the aggrieved onyx orbs focused first on the man he had come to call his son, then on the woman he considered his daughter. "Now that you have safely brought her to me, there is hope." He smiled. "Were you aware that not a single one of the ill has perished?"

"No. Is it really true?" Marci asked excitedly. Then she frowned. "Something more is wrong. All had symptoms of the swamp plague and those alone were known to kill within two weeks. A body can't take high fever and ceaseless coughing indefinitely."

"The prophecy," Wilch said quietly. "Whoever caused this is prolonging it for a hidden purpose. They suffer in a constant state of agony between the time that the sleeping potion wears off and the herbalists have gathered more nightweed. I would put them out of their misery if I knew for certain that their illness is incurable." He cursed vehemently and angrily scrubbed away helpless tears with the back of his hand. "My people need me and I cannot help them!"

Marci and Yori felt their hearts break at the sight. Without a word, they both wrapped their arms around their lord and held him close. To comfort themselves, they imagined the many ways of killing those responsible after a cure was found.

***

The Tower was exactly that: a tower on the west side of the castle. It was the home to over a hundred guards while the rest lived in the village with their families. On the east side were the slightly larger rooms of the respected judging by some of the adornments of its residents. Iliza was more than a little surprised to find that Kelen lived in such an environment.

"Excuse me," she said to the next person she saw after finally abandoning her solo search. "Can you tell me where Kelen lives?"

The slight young man's eyebrow rose in disbelief. "You're looking for the Dark One? Really?"

Not at all in the mood, she glared at him. "Yes."

"Are you his girlfriend?" he grinned. "We have a bet going that he's either gay or dead." Before he could blink, Iliza had him by the collar and up against the wall.

"Look," she growled, "I don't have time to waste with you. Tell me where Kelen is before you find yourself with several broken bones!"

"You two are made for each other," he muttered. "Take this hall to the end. He's the last one on the left."

"Thank you," she said as she released him. "Have a nice day." With a look back to be sure she wasn't following, the young guard quickly headed downstairs.

A few of the doors along the hall were ajar, but Kelen's was firmly closed. She even had a feeling it was locked despite the fact that he could probably take down any intruder. She knocked on the door. "Kelen, it's Iliza. I want to speak with you for a moment." There was no sound or movement behind the door so she figured that either he was out or just had no desire to see her. Just as she decided to give up, the door was unlocked and opened a crack. She stepped into Kelen's home and was completely surprised.

'He's got really good taste,' she noted silently. His main room was decorated in striking red and serious black. Near the door were two chairs upholstered in a soft crimson fabric with a small table between them. Across the room she saw a black screen patterned with exotic red birds in flight that, apparently, separated his bedroom from the rest. Kelen stepped from behind the screen and indicated that she have a seat. Once away from the door she noticed his sword mounted above it.

"You wished to see me?" he asked while intently staring at her. Iliza stared just as intently back. While he still wore his armor, the cowl was gone. Chin-length raven hair hung before strangely soft brown eyes.

"Um, yes." The speech she'd previously prepared suddenly became unusable. "I-I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior. I realize now that it was uncalled for."

Tilting his head to one side, he assessed her seriousness. "I'm aware of what they say about me behind my back," Kelen said, "and some of it I cannot refute, but you are the first to ever apologize." To her amazement, he smiled. It was little more than a brief upturning of the corners of his mouth, but it still happened.

"Sen is a really good judge of character," she mumbled. Slowly, she offered her hand to him. "Can we put this behind us? One day I would even like us to be friends."

Two steps forward and Kelen's larger hand was grasping her own briefly. It was warm and soft -- like his eyes. What she saw on the surface was only the beginning, it seemed.

"One day," he agreed. Then he half-turned to face the door as an out-of-place sound registered in his mind. Before Iliza could even ask what was wrong, Kelen was opening the door.

"Eavesdroppers," he said and his voice was tinged with faint amusement.

Kilan and Sen tumbled into his home, the teenager landing heavily atop his mate. They both flushed in moderate embarrassment. "Hi," Sen said brightly after a moment. "Would you like to buy a yearly subscription?"

"Of what?" Iliza asked, on the verge of laughter.

"Of whatever you want."

Kelen shook his head very slightly at the picture the two made on the floor. "Are you the 'back up'?"

"She didn't request us," Sen said hastily before all of Iliza's work was undone in a few short seconds. "I just wanted to know what was going on so bad..." He rose to his feet and pulled Kilan up with him.

The earnest look on his face caused Kelen's lips to twitch again. "We are leaving," he announced. "My lord should debrief me as soon as possible. The others have already gone ahead?"

Iliza nodded once. "Yes. I would have accompanied them, but I wanted to clear the air before things became worse."

He retrieved his sword and buckled it on as his doorway was vacated. Iliza started to move past him and he caught her sleeve. "Thank you," he said so softly that, for a moment, she thought her mind was playing tricks.

He locked the door to his room with a heavy brass key he wore hidden inside his armor and joined his companions with a brisk stride. The three of them noticed that he was without his cowl but chose to say nothing.

Kelen very nearly smiled as he thought of budding friendships and knew in his heart that there would be no need to hide any longer.

***

"Hello, Wilch," Iliza said warmly as they entered the Chamber of Life. Knowing that the guards would never allow strangers into his private bedchambers, they met in the formal place of gathering. The Lord of Mi'ihen did know that it was sound advice in such dangerous times, but couldn't help but be a little irritated.

The Chamber of Life was a circular room that had no windows as it was located in an interior section of the castle. It was carved from the core of an old tree, one that had stood in the Great Forest for millennia. Some say that it had been planted on the boundary between the countries of  Silveer and Broden for peace after the legendary Wasteful War of One-Hundred Years. "For as long as this tree thrives so shall the Treaty of Senshaw." Never again had a war been fought between the two nations.

Her old friend's mouth smiled but his eyes did not alight. "It's always nice to see you but the circumstances are lacking." He pushed himself out of the ornately carved chair on the raised dais as if he had aged a thousand years. Forest creatures danced in fanciful abandon amongst lush vegetation in the carvings on the chair. Wilch began to pace from one end of the room to the other.

"I will explain to you the situation as I know it. Once said it cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, be repeated to any of the citizens. Mass panic would help no one."

"I understand," she said. "You have our full confidence."

Wilch rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Exactly twenty-three days ago, one of my guards didn't show up for his shift. Davir, the man on duty before him, asked his shiftmate and Borais' to stay and keep watch while he went to his friend's home. Bor is one of the few guards that has a home outside the castle while still single." The lord could remember waking up the morning of that day utterly relaxed and reluctant to rise. He figured that another few hours in bed couldn't hurt anything and had promptly rolled over, falling asleep once more.

The young man had run faster then ever before to his Borais' home, deathly afraid of what he would find. It wasn't like Bor to shirk his duty. His small, one person home was nestled in a small tree above another "bachelor pad" and it looked quiet and quite empty.

"He heard a sound not unlike that of a hurt puppy. In an instant, Davir was entering Borais' home. The other young man was--" Wilch swallowed hard and forced himself to continue despite the pain of remembering. "-- deathly pale and his skin radiated unnatural heat that explained the sweat on his skin. Yet his teeth chattered as chills, along with coughs, wracked his body. Davir kneeled beside his huddled form on the pallet and wept."

"Bor? What happened to you? How long have you been this way?" He pulled his friend's weak body upward so that he half reclined against his own body. The intensity of the heat radiating off him was frightening.

He tried to speak and was interrupted by coughing. Borais shuddered uncontrollably as spasms shook his body and could not force a word from his sore throat.

Deathly afraid, Davir carefully leaned him against the wall and ran out onto the rope bridge walkway and called for help. When, after several minutes of waiting for a reply, the young man finally noticed how silent it was in this section of town. No children played on the forest floor, no neighbors visited to pass the time. He could hear nothing but the faint wind whistling in the trees and the calls of birds.

"Hello?" Davir called as he paid a worried visit to Borais' nearest neighbor, Vilian. The old woman was the chief weaver and the keeper of all the ancient knowledge of the Mi'ihen people. "Is everything okay?" Receiving no response, Davir opened the door to the cozy home and asked the spirits to forgive him for trespassing.

"Was she-?" Sen broke off as his voice cracked.

"No," said Wilch. "Saiya-jin are strong even at old age. Mistress Vilian wasn't dead but neither was she conscious. We still haven't been able to rouse her."

Silently they processed this until  Sen gently prompted the lord. "What happened next?"

"Davir had begged and pleaded with my personal guards but he could not pass. He'd screamed for me repeatedly until his voice broke and grew hoarse, but no sound could penetrate the thick wooden cocoon that surrounded me. Finally, his spirit crushed, he went elsewhere for help.

"Our new doctor and her apprentices were roused and urged frantically to come. Davir painted a description of an epidemic rightfully so; a full third of Mi'ihen's population was ill. After further investigation, Jesa ruled out an airborne virus simply because only one section of the town's people are sick."

Iliza tapped her finger against the side of her face thoughtfully. "You have no idea what this is."

"Perhaps you could do a few tests and enlighten us."

"Are you sure that Jesa won't mind? This is her turf I'm intruding upon." The woman rolled her eyes when Wilch only shrugged. "Nevermind, I'll ask her myself. Lead on."

 

A/N #2: I have writer's block on chapter ten (seriously!). I'm about a third of the way finished and hope to be completely finished by mid-February. After that I will begin to rewrite what I've already written since I think my prose could use polishing. I'll also be taking a break to write a little more to Just a Nightmare before starting book three.