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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:07:29 GMT -5
“Oh Raythor, do humans kiss when they’re friends?” Ross said in a high girly voice. He laughed. “Is there a single girl here who doesn’t go all stupid when ever they look at you?” “It’s my fame. Girls love it.” Raythor said. “Raythor!” Anella said, but she was smiling. He grinned back and Ross sighed loudly. “Speaking of fame, I can’t believe they found the Karian Killer innocent.” Kylara said, voice coming through the opposite wall. “Well, he is innocent.” Alice pointed out lightly, which started an entire discussion on the subject. Markus turned away from the conversation and went to where Laura was kneeling, by Roland’s side. Roland was just staring brokenly ahead of him and sitting on the ground with his back against the wall. “I wonder if my whole family is dead…” He said gloomily. “Maybe this is why my father wanted me gone. Maybe he knew.” “I’m sure they didn’t kill the women and children.” Laura said soothingly. “Your mother and sister are fine.” “If they bring them here, we can get them to Everglade with you.” Markus said, trying to sound cheerful. “It’s no use. We knew it was coming. Caltha is destroying itself and it’s my fault, my father’s fault, my grandfather’s…” Roland said listlessly. “Nothing I do matters anymore. We’ve failed. It’s over…all over.” “It’s not over,” Laura said. “Stay with me, Roland, don’t give up. You’re one of us now.” Roland turned to her, meeting her eyes and adopting a very strange smile. “I am one of you now, aren’t I?”
****
“Blade,” Firelight said, laughing, “There’s a bird sitting on your head.” “I’m aware of that.” Blade said, flicking his ear. “I just don’t know why.” The bird flitted off his head and changed back into Dasher. “Now that’s just plain weird.” Theo said, blinking. “Sorry, I had to get your attention.” Dasher said, panting. “And what, the flashing light wouldn’t have been good enough for us?” “Yes Theo, you’re too classy. Everyone else has been arrested and a bloody revolution has started.” “Wait to ruin a moment.” “Then we’d better get them out.” Blade said, running a few feet and taking off into the air. Firelight and Dasher followed and Theo loped desperately after them. “Hey guys! Come on, I can’t fly!” Theo called after them, but they were long gone. He ran even faster, trying to keep up. He knew they didn’t have much time.
****
“Blade,” Anella said, startled when the shadow prince’s face appeared at the window. “Finally,” Rose declared loudly. “Being a prisoner is so boring.”
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:07:44 GMT -5
“Which would be the least of our worries,” Ross nearly yelled back. “You had better both be quiet or they’ll come down here and kill us.” Markus shouted. Everyone else in his cell stared at him. “Sorry, I’m just sick of being locked up.” “Markus,” Dasher said, suddenly at the window, “Which cell do you want opened first?” “This one, we have to get Roland free as quickly as possible.” Markus said. He ran his hand through his hair with a slight sigh. “Stand back then. Firelight!” “Here I am,” She said. Her visage replaced Dasher’s at the window. Firelight’s symbol lit up and weak flames came from her mouth, slightly melting the bars. Then she whipped around and slashed through them with her tail, keeping at it until it was big enough for the humans to fit through. “You’re up, Theo.” “You’re all just lucky I caught up.” Theo said from the ground. The leaf on his forehead flashed and vines grew from the earth and snaked up the wall to the window. “We’re free, Roland.” Laura said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t care…” Roland said blankly. “Come on sweetie, you’re going to get through this. I know it seems bad now…” She hesitated. When he didn’t move, she helped him up. Markus and Ketra knelt and cupped their hands. Roland stopped fighting and let himself get boosted out the window, where he started down the vines. “Laura, come on sweetheart.” Markus beckoned. “Are you going to go last?” She asked. “Yes, I was planning on it.” “Markus…” “The faster you get out, the faster I do.” The prince said. Laura sighed and she climbed out, followed by Rose. Ketra wavered before stepping into her brother’s hands. “Come on, Ketra. There are only four cells. I’ll be out of here before anything happens.” Markus assured her. Ketra bent and hugged him and then let herself be lifted out. Markus stood up and put his hand against the wall. He heard the clang that meant Firelight or Blade was slashing the bars, then murmured voices and various scrapping sounds. It seemed like an eternity before the next set of clangs, and even longer for the final cell. “Markus,” Dasher said finally. What she said next was obscured by the sound of pounding feet. Markus’s eyes opened wide. “Hurry!” The light princess said. For a moment, he reached up. Then he shook his head. “Once they see you’re gone, you’ll need a head start.” Markus said. He lowered his arms and stood straight, refusing to move. “I’ll stall them for as long as I can.” “Markus don’t be stupid!” “Go!” He insisted. “Come on!” Dasher hovered there a spilt second longer, before she flew away. He could hear her shouting to the others, and in the confusion he knew they would have traveled quite a distance before they realized he was gone.
****
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:08:34 GMT -5
Lila’s hands trembled as she lifted the key to the lock. If she did this, she could be killed. She probably would be killed. But she couldn’t let him die, no, not after everything he’d done for her. Markus had been there waiting when the guards came, and everyone else had been gone. By the time they could get a word out of him, the Royalty of Everglade was too far gone for any action to be taken that night. Markus had been thrown in a much deeper dungeon and left there. Lila had heard them whispering that that’d hang him tomorrow. So… so she had no choice. Amaria hadn’t wanted this; at least she could say that. But Amaria was gone, so was Gregory and she didn’t know if she’d ever see them again. All that remained was Gervase, and he’d begin to take an interest in her. “Lila?” Markus said. She smiled weakly, moving behind him and cutting him free. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” “I can’t let them hurt you. I owe you my mother’s life.” Lila said. “She barely needs me anymore.” Markus walked into the hallway and she timidly followed. He headed down the stairs and into the now vacant cells. He glanced back at Lila. “What’s going to happen to you?” He asked. She shifted. “I don’t know… if they find out, I’m dead…” “Come with me.” Markus said. He held out his hand. Lila didn’t know what to do. Then she thought about it. Gervase and death or… Markus. She took his hand and he helped her up on the window sill, and they both escaped into the night.
****
“They found him innocent?” Kenetari said, clearly amused. “Why?” “I don’t know.” Maya said with a shrug. “I guess they find him to be a symbol of revolution or something. And he had two family members show, some aunt and his wife.” “It’s because you left that dagger behind when you killed them.” Lydrion said blankly. “Wife?” Kenetari said, briefly glancing at her husband. “Who was his wife?” “Uh… you know, a girl like his age. She had hair… and stuff.” “Maya, think hard.” Lydrion said. She grinned. “You know, the girl I almost killed two years ago. That Raythor was mooning over.” “Anella…” Kenetari said. Maya bowed in an over exaggerated manner and left the room. “Do you think he really married her?” Lydrion asked. Kenetari shook her head. “No… but he must want to.” She got up, clutching the base of her sword, and started pacing. “Calthans are so stupid.” “Just kill him, Ken. I’ll kill him. He’s the one who’s making you this way.” “I have to kill her first.” “Kenetari…” Lydrion said. He knew full well that she was getting close to her indiscriminant violence mode. He leaned into the next room and signaled for Maya to get out of the house, which she gladly did. Then he moved in front of Ava. “Damn him, damn him, damn him…” Kenetari said, still pacing furiously.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:09:05 GMT -5
“Kenetari,” He said, grabbing her somewhat roughly and kissing her. She stopped moving. “You’ve been losing control a lot lately, eventually kissing you won’t work anymore. We both know that you could hurt me when that happens. So tell me the truth, is the black thing back?” She nodded. “What does it want this time?” “My brother…” Kenetari said. “But it’s not as easy this time.” “Nothing is ever easy.” Lydrion started, but she just started kissing him and he was more than happy to let her forget.
Chapter Twenty Stay together
“We’ve got to go back for him.” Laura said. It was about the two hundredth time she’d said it, and they were at a complete standstill in the middle of no where. “What the heck are we going to do now? We’re totally unarmed in the middle of a war.” Dione said. “We’ll steal some weapons when we go back for Markus.” Kylara said. “If this is a full blown revolution, the laws aren’t going to apply anyway.” Laura smiled at her and she gave her a sympathetic look. “We are fugitives now,” Rose said. “They can’t execute us twice.” “Don’t you think once would probably do it? Just curious.” Ross said. “That wasn’t my-” Rose said, but then she screamed. A black horse nearly crashed into her. “I’m sorry.” Markus said, sliding off Eclipse’s back. Laura threw her arms around him, already crying. “Markus, how…?” “Well, Lila saved me and then I stole my own horse and rode pretty much all night.” Markus said. “I’m sorry we didn’t get the other horses.” “We?” “Hello…” Lila said shyly. “Hello, Lila. Thank you so much.” Laura said. Lila glanced away nervously, mumbling a ‘you’re welcome.’ Raythor broke into a smile and they all looked at him funny. “Oh, it’s just…” Raythor said, struggling not to laugh. “She sounded just like Anella.” “Do I really sound like… I mean, no offense Lila… I mean…” Anella turned bright red. So did Lila. He started laughing. “He’s scaring me.” Rose said. “A face like that is not meant to look happy.” “I hate to be the voice of reason here but,” Ross said, “were we planning on sleeping here, on the plains of glorious sand?” “I’m sure Markus has an idea. That’s what we keep him around for.”
****
“This? This is what the great blue-haired mastermind comes up with?” Rose said, flinging her hands up in the air. “I stand corrected. We keep him around because he looks pretty.”
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:09:20 GMT -5
“It’s a perfectly sound idea.” Dasher said, glancing up at the ceiling of the old castle. “This is a ruin, so obviously nobody lives here and, according to Kylara, it is also ‘haunted’ so the peasants won’t come here.” “I keep telling you Calthans are unreasonably superstitious.” Kylara agreed. “A fact which we can use to our advantage.” “Laura and I are going to search for weapons.” Markus said, frowning slightly. “Rose, would you mind watching Roland?” “No, Laura needs a break.” Rose said. “Ross, how about you come with us?” Laura suggested. “Well…” Ross hesitated, pretending not to be staring at Anella, “Sure, I can’t see why not.” “And Raythor…” “I know I know, anywhere away from Rose.” Raythor said, rolling his eyes. “Thank you,” Markus said, grinning at Laura. “I know you didn’t want them fighting.” Laura replied, squeezing his hand. She, Ross and Markus started off in one direction and everyone else dispersed all over the place. “What are you?” Lila said, jumping when she saw Blade. “An elementist. We’re perfectly harmless, don’t worry.” Blade said. He could almost feel her eyes on his tail. “Think of it as a sword.” “So you are… a good spirit? You’re so dark.” “I try to be.” “You’re a vast improvement upon Theo.” Dasher commented. “There are more of you?” Lila said, now very confused. “And you have genders? By your voices…” “Blade, I do believe it’s time for your long and boring elementist lecture.” Dasher said, giggling and walking off. “It wasn’t me who…” Blade started, but trailed off. He hadn’t explained himself before. Gabriel had done it for him.
****
“I wonder who owned this.” Anella said, taking in everything as she and Raythor walked. “Oh, probably the Karians.” Raythor said dryly. “Back when we originally got the horrible curse on us.” “Sometimes it does seem that way.” She agreed. Then she bit her lip, remembering that she had to tell him. “Raythor?” “What?” “When we were trying to find a living relative, we found out that your mother’s maiden name was Whitestar.” “Whitestar? As in…?” “Sabbath was her brother.” “I guess that explains a lot.” Raythor said. “My mother must have been disowned or something. That’s a pretty sick way to punish her for it on his part, though.” “I’m sorry I told you.”
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:09:40 GMT -5
“You shouldn’t be. It’s not like I remember them at all.” “Do you ever want to?” “Not really.” “Then I’m not going to make you.” “If we really do get married, we probably should never have children. They’ll kill us in our sleep, doubtlessly.” “Why do you say ‘if’?” “Because you’ll change your mind.” “No I won’t.” Anella said. “Besides, it was you or Tallith.” “Oh come on, with that moon trick you could get anyone you want.” “I guess…” “You really have no idea how beautiful you are do you?” He said softly. “I’m really not… it’s just the moonlight.” “I thought you were beautiful the first time I saw you.” “Tallith never says things like that to me.” Anella said. Her smile faded slightly. “Don’t get hurt again.” “For your sake, I’ll try.” “I missed you…” She said, hugging him and burying her face in his chest. “Two years not knowing if you were coming back…not knowing how horrible it was for you…” She let go, drawing away. “I shouldn’t be so silly.” He pulled her back up against him and kissed her gently, holding her face in his hands. “I just wish I didn’t mean this much to you.” Raythor said, meeting her eyes. “Don’t say that, honey.” “Honey?” “Whoops, I’m sorry.” Kylara said. She seemed amused when they both jumped and pulled away from each other. “This is an eerie, eerie coincidence, isn’t it Anella?” Raythor said. Anella nodded mutely, she was much too embarrassed to do anything more. “I must say this isn’t making it easier.” Kylara said, eying Anella’s engagement ring with distaste. “That certainly wasn’t the main reason I asked her.” “What ever would she do if something happened to you, I wonder? You live so very dangerously, and your sister…” She sighed. Anella wanted Kylara’s words not to be her own fears, but they were and Kylara knew it. “Oh well, such is life.” “You know this doesn’t make a difference.” “But it’s a lot of fun.” “What do you want me to say, Kylara?” Raythor said, finally meeting her eyes. She took a step closer to him and his entire body tensed up. She looked a little sad. “You know what I want you to say.” “I won’t lie to you.” “If there was a way I could make it so you didn’t have to, I would find it. I would use it.” “Why do you talk like this is his fault?” Anella said suddenly. “You know how easily he feels guilty.” She put a hand on Raythor’s shoulder and met Kylara’s eyes too.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:10:00 GMT -5
“It’s no ones fault. It’s not a mistake.” Raythor said, a flare of anger in his voice. He moved, arms winding around Anella’s waist, his lips pressing against hers. Anella started with surprise and so did Kylara. Kylara gritted her teeth and stalked off. “Raythor!” Anella said, turning crimson. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know what else to do.” He turned his face, and she could tell he was still angry. He let go of her, eyes on the floor, clenching his fists at his side. “Maybe she’s right; maybe I shouldn’t be putting you through this.” “No she isn’t, Raythor.” “If I could lose it like that…” “You can’t hurt me. You can’t. I could have reacted the same way” “But you’re not-” “You aren’t either.” Anella said. She put a hand against his cheek, turning his face so that he could look at her. “You two are together?” Another voice said. Both of them froze. “Gabriel?” Raythor said. “It sounds like him, but it can’t be.” Anella answered. Slowly, they both turned their heads. “What?” Gabriel said. “We were at your funeral,” Raythor said. The other boy didn’t seem to notice. Anella gripped Raythor’s hands. “Are you looking for Rose?” She asked, struck by a sudden thought. “Why would I be looking for Rose?” Gabriel asked. Anella drew her sword and Raythor, just blindly trusting her judgment, did too. Gabriel smiled at them weirdly. “He loved her, I’ll remember that.” Gabriel said, but he now had a feminine voice. “What are you?” Raythor asked. A star flashed on Gabriel’s forehead and he was gone. “Great. Pallas had friends.” “Then we have to stay together and warn the others.” Anella said. “Because now if the fake was me, you’d do anything they told you to.”
****
“Markus,” Laura’s voice called. He turned his head. “Laura,” His voice said, from the complete opposite direction. “Ross,” Anella’s beckoned from a third. All three of them didn’t think about it, they just followed the voices. “How’d you get in here, Laura?” Markus asked. “Weren’t you just next to me?” “I saw something in here.” Laura responded. “I guess it was just a trick of the light.” “We should get back to Ross then.” “Come here,” Laura said, beaming at him. He stared at her, wondering why there wasn’t a trace of worry on her face. “Who cut Anella’s arm?” “What are you talking about? Her arm wasn’t injured.” “You’re not Laura, you’re one of them.” Markus said slowly. She raised her eyebrows.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:10:21 GMT -5
“To ask me that question… you knew, somehow.” Laura’s look alike said blankly. “How?” “Because I know Laura,” Markus said, hand hovering over his sheath. “I’ll remember that,” She said. She started her vanishing spell. “You’re Ghost.” He said. She stopped short. “How can you tell? You shouldn’t be able to.” Ghost eyed him warily. “How do you know my name?” “You were the one controlling me. I got your memories too.” He pointed to her ear. “Every time you shift, you retain the scar on your cheek. You can’t change it. She shouldn’t have done that to you.” “Shut up.” Ghost grabbed the front of his shirt, glaring at him menacingly. “I just messed up, that’s all. You shouldn’t remember anything, not if I did it right.” A star appeared on her forehead and Markus’s skin split open in a thousand little cuts. He set his jaw and didn’t scream. She stopped the spell and disappeared.
****
“Markus, what is it?” Laura asked. “Nothing, really.” He replied. “I just wanted to see you alone for a minute, Elaura.” “Elaura?” Laura said. “You’re one of the fake Markus’s!” “He doesn’t call you that.” Markus noted, his voice becoming feminine. With a burst of light, he was gone too.
****
“Anella, I thought you were with Raythor.” Ross said. “He was boring me,” Anella told him, yawning. “Did the three of you find any weapons yet? Where are Markus and Laura?” “They’re in the hall somewhere.” “Oh,” Anella said. Then she smiled coquettishly. “You’re right about Raythor. I rushed it. I should have known there was someone else out there for me.” “Huh?” “It’s you, silly. Nothing would be too fast with you.” Anella said, “I know that you’re in love with me.” She yanked him up against her and kissed him. “Oh…my…” Anella came into the room, blushing instantly. “Great, the fake you is cheating on me.” Raythor said. “With her own cousin.” “Then who am I kissing?” Ross demanded, wrenching back. The fake Anella giggled. “That was really fun. My name is Twilight!” “You just made out with a dog girl,” Raythor said, grinning. “Nice job.” “She kissed me!” Ross protested. “What and that didn’t scream ‘this is not Anella’ to you? How long have you known her, three weeks?” “You must be the real Anella.” Twilight said cheerfully. “I look just like you, don’t you think? I don’t act like you, though. I wanted to see if I could fool him anyway.”
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:10:43 GMT -5
“Um…” Anella said. It felt awkward to be having a conversation with herself. The boys were too busy arguing to notice either of them. “You’re not much like me…” “Well, watch this.” Twilight said, switching back to Anella’s voice. “I love you, R-” Both boys looked at her with confusion. Then, realizing what was going on, they looked back at the real Anella. “Ross,” Laura said, coming in with Markus, “There’s an ele-” “I know!” Ross said emphatically. “Laura, there are two Anella’s.” Markus said. She looked at him slightly despairingly. “Which is the real one?” She said, turning to Raythor. “I am.” Twilight said instantly. “She is,” Ross and Raythor said, indicating Anella. Twilight giggled, and flashed her star. For a moment, they were all blinded. When the light faded, there were four Anellas. “Oh boy…” Markus said, blinking. “Raythor, which one is she?” Laura asked. Raythor looked up and down the row of Anellas and shook his head. “I have no idea… they’re all identical.” “You know me, don’t you darling?” One of them said. “Ok, that’s not her.” “She has a nick in her ear.” Markus said, pointing to the one on the very left. “Then it’s one of those two.” Ross said, squinting. They both regarded him mutely. Raythor sighed. “Where did we first kiss?” He asked, wincing slightly. One of the Anella’s turned completely red and the other one said: “Inside.” “It’s that one.” Laura, Markus and Ross said. The other three disappeared and Anella breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry.” Raythor said. “It’s fine. Really.” Anella said. She smiled a little. “Is that what you guys were doing that night on the-” Ross started, but Laura stepped on his foot. “Whoops.” Laura said. “Sorry, that was an accident.” “I’ll bet it was.” “You know if we keep using this method, eventually Archer and Kenetari are going to find out every little detail of our lives that they didn’t know already.” Raythor said. “And now they know that Anella and I are together, which is exactly what I didn’t want.” “We need something that we can remember, but random enough for them not to figure out.” Markus agreed. “Colors, letters and numbers,” Anella said, without thinking. “For awhile, we use ones that connect to us, like Markus and blue and Raythor and the number eleven. Then we just say anything that comes to mind, to confuse them.” “So we run into the room yelling ‘purple’ and wait for someone to sat ‘twenty-three’ or ‘w’?” Ross said skeptically.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:11:18 GMT -5
“That’s perfect.” Markus said. “They’ll be so busy trying to figure out the system that it will take them awhile to realize that there isn’t one.” “It’s brilliant.” Raythor said with a nod, looking at her with quasi-adoration without realizing it. Anella hoped desperately she wasn’t blushing and said: “It’s nothing; they’ll figure it out soon enough.” “I guess we’d better stay together from now on.” Ross said, frowning at all of them.
****
Laura dipped the cloth in water and replaced it on Roland’s forehead. He had gone into shock and developed a slight fever, something which neither she nor Dasher had anticipated. Amidst most of his incoherent babble, he kept mentioning the name Lucy over and over again and he seemed to think Laura was Lucy after awhile. “I love you… can’t keep us apart…” Roland told her, placing his hand tenderly against her cheek. “Lucy…” “Yes, I love you too, darling.” Laura said vaguely, adjusting the rag. “Is he any better?” Markus asked. She shook her head. “No, and now he’s in love with me.” “Really?” “Sort of, he thinks I’m ‘Lucy’.” “Who’s Lucy?” “I have no idea.” “I can take over if you want.” Lila said timidly. They both looked up at her. “I have a little experience in healing. I really don’t mind.” “Maybe that’s a good idea, sweetheart.” Markus said, brow furrowed. Laura hesitantly nodded. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, Lila.” She said. “There really isn’t much to do.” “I’m fine.” Lila assured her. Laura smiled and got up, following Markus out of the room. He kissed her almost immediately when they were out of Lila’s range of vision. She put her arms around his neck but pulled back. “You promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid.” Laura said. “Why did you stay behind? Why did you make me worry like that?” “I couldn’t let anything happen to you.” Markus protested. “Or to any of the others. I’m the one responsible for them, if they were all slaughtered it would have been my fault. Besides, we’ll have to be more careful, if you really are…” “Do you think I’d want to make it back to Everglade a pregnant widow?” “I guess I didn’t think about it that way.” “Imagine me marching into Imperia and telling Audrion ‘Guess what, Markus died but I didn’t and I’m with child’. And then it would probably be a daughter.” She said. He laughed. “Yeah, my father wouldn’t like that. I’ll try to be more concerned with my personal safety from now on, I promise.” “You didn’t promise not to do anything stupid this time.” “That’s because I know I will do something stupid in the near future.” Markus said. Laura leaned her head against his chest, sighing.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:11:35 GMT -5
“Markus…” “I was planning on escaping before they hung me.” “I just don’t want to know. Don’t tell me.” She said. “How did your not-so-secret admirer end up with you?” “She’s the one who set me free, like I said before. If she had stayed she would have been killed. I guess her mother’s ok without her.” “You can’t keep saving her or she’ll never fall out of love with you.” Laura teased. “Hey!” Markus said. “Lila does not have a crush on me… all right, yes she does but she’s not in love with me. It’s just because I’m slightly attractive.” “Slightly attractive?” “You’re biased.” “And yet I talked to every other girl here and a vast majority of them had crushes on you.” “Because I’m a prince.” “Markus…” She pushed his back against the wall and started kissing him. He held her close, wondering where this was coming from but not in a mood to question it. This time they both heard Rose sighing loudly. Laura laughed. “You have the worst timing, Rose. What is it?” “Dasher wants to know if you think there’s anything else physically wrong with Roland.” Rose said, exaggeratedly rolling her eyes. “No,” Laura said, frowning. She put her hands on her hips. “Did he take a turn for the worse?” “I don’t think so.” “Tell her I didn’t see anything, the shock and the fever were all that seemed to be wrong. He might have a history of other illnesses we don’t know about that were brought on by this. I’d better go, Markus.” “That’s fine.” The prince said, smiling at her. “I love you, Laura. Or Lucy. What ever you want to go by now.” “Good night, my prince.” She said, kissing him. Rose made a face. “I’m going to go puke now.”
Chapter Twenty One Fragile
Markus’s ears filled with terrible screams. He kept walking anyway, through the burning village littered with bodies. With every step he took, the destruction around him worsened. His skin burned, but the blue energy came from no where and made the pain stop. Markus found himself heading slowly to a collapsing building at the heart of the city, he knew he had to make it there… “Come with me,” Mercury’s voice enticed from behind him, “leave them to their fate. Come with me.” Markus stared at the flames and his body began heating up again. Behind him was Mercury’s soothing repetition, behind him was cool and safe… He turned and as soon as he did terribly familiar screams filled the air and the burning city collapsed entirely.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:11:52 GMT -5
“Markus, you moron, wake up. You’re glowing like Anella at a full moon.” Rose’s voice cut through Mercury’s and jolted him back to reality. He realized that he was completely drenched and he couldn’t fathom why. “Sorry…” Markus said blankly. Laura’s worried eyes looked down at him too. The whole group had been forced to sleep in the same room, taking up chairs, leaning against the wall, any space at all that they could find. “That’s the second time that’s happened to him,” Laura said. “Was it the same dream?” “It was very similar,” Markus informed her, “but this time you all died in a fire.” “Gee, thanks.” Rose said sarcastically. “I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything.” Laura soothed. “Let’s hope not, or all of us are going to die painfully.” Rose said dryly. “I’ll take this watch,” Markus said, getting up and shaking himself. “I’m perfectly fine.” “Hey, where’s Kylara?” Rose asked, looking around. “I haven’t seen her in awhile,” Laura admitted, just realizing it. “We’d better go find her.” “Yeah, fake Raythor could make her do pretty much anything.” “Well…uh… Anella and Raythor saw her just before the elementists started appearing.” Markus said. “We should check that hallway first. She probably doesn’t know the code yet, so keep that in mind.” He started walking and Rose and Laura followed. For a long time, they didn’t see or hear anything. The deathly silence was making Rose a little nervous; she didn’t much care for the darkness either. She took a firm grip of Markus’s arm. Laura, who hadn’t been paying attention, headed off in the other direction. She’d covered quite a distance before she realized that Markus and Rose were missing. She considered turning back, but the hallway up ahead looked familiar so she just kept walking. “Laura!” Kylara called. She was standing at the very end of the corridor, which was a dead end, with her back against the wall. Laura rushed over, but stopped when Kylara shrieked: “Don’t come any closer!” “What?” Laura asked, confused. “Is something wrong?” “The floor is about to give way. I’m stuck over here.” Kylara said. “This elementist led me here, pretending to be Raythor. Then he flew away.” “Am I on the weak part?” “Right in the middle of it.” “Laura!” Markus and Rose ran up yelling. “The floor’s about to give out,” Kylara repeated. “Are we on the bad part?” Markus asked, staring down at the floor. “You bet you are.” “Green.” Laura said shakily. “Thirteen.” Markus answered, trying to keep calm. Kylara gave them both a weird look. “If we didn’t fall through before, we shouldn’t now.” Rose said determinedly, turning around and walking back. The floor beneath Markus’s feet started to crumble and he jumped on instinct, landing next to Rose and just barely upright. Laura froze, too
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:12:34 GMT -5
scared to move. She could feel the ground weakening and the place where Markus had stood was now a gaping hole. Kylara was too far away for either of them to make it safely. “Laura, take my hand.” Markus said, stretching out his arm as far as he could. “I won’t let you go, no matter what. I promise.” Laura nodded, trembling, and started turning to face him. “Can’t we get Dasher or Blade and fly her over here?” Rose said. She had images of Gabriel falling coming back to her in a rush. “There probably isn’t time, but try.” Markus said. He knew she didn’t want to see this. Rose did an about face and sprinted down the hallway yelling Dasher’s name. Laura took another step towards him and the floor virtually disintegrated as she did. She fell straight down, landing hard on her side and her arm. Above, Markus and Kylara were frantically calling her name. She could barely hear them. She tried to lean up on her arm and take stock of her surroundings, but pain shot through her entire body. Laura knew her arm was broken then, and the realization hit her hard. She put her weight on the other arm but, strangely, the pain didn’t stop. It only got worse. It wasn’t coming from her arm anymore, it was… Laura realized that the ground was covered with blood. Her blood.
****
When Laura woke up, Markus was holding her hand. “Hi, honey.” Markus said, forcing a little smile. His eyes looked tired and scared. She tried to sit up, but he stopped her. “What, because of my arm?” Laura asked. Then she went pale. “The blood… Where was the blood coming from, Markus? What happened to me?” “Laura…” Markus hesitated. “I don’t know how to tell you this…” “But you’re… you’re Markus, you’re my husband…” “Sweetheart…” He ran his hand through his hair, sighing. “You were pregnant.” “What do you mean ‘were’?” Laura asked, the numbness setting in. “That doesn’t make sense.” “The fall made you miscarry. You lost the baby, honey.” “No,” She said, shaking her head. “No, no, no. If I can’t have children, Audrion’s going to annul our marriage.” “No he won’t.” “Yes he will, he’ll say I’m cursed or something because I lost the baby.” “What matters is that you’re ok. I don’t… I don’t care about anything else.” Markus said. Laura just stared at him, starting to cry uncontrollably. “I know that isn’t true! You’ve got to have children, you’re a prince. I can’t have lost it, I can’t have…” “It’s fine, it’ll be all right.” “No it won’t. Nothing will ever be all right again.” “Don’t say that.” “It’s true!” She buried her head in her hands. “I was pregnant… I was pregnant…”
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:12:51 GMT -5
“Laura, I love you. Don’t cry, please.” Markus begged. “We’re going to get through this together, just like everything else.” “Markus…” Laura said, sobbing even harder. She tried to hug him, but her broken arm made that impossible, so she just slumped against him pathetically. “I’m so sorry…” “There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Markus said firmly, putting a hand on her good shoulder to steady her. “It was an accident.” “Why doesn’t it hurt? It should at least hurt me, for what I’ve done…” “Blade’s spell, the one he used on Anella two years ago.” “The one that puts the pain into other people?” “Yeah…” “Are you…?” “No, I couldn’t because…” “Oh,” Laura said, understanding what he meant. “I see. How’s Kylara?” “She’s fine,” Markus said. “I’m sorry Laura, this is my fault. If I hadn’t jumped-” “If you hadn’t, you’d be lying here too with a broken arm, or worse.” Laura pointed out. “Why didn’t Dasher fix my arm?” “She ran out of energy, stopping the blood.” Markus explained. “It took her awhile to figure out what was wrong and she tried to save the baby too, when she did… the point is, Tallith had to set your arm. She couldn’t have done anything.” “Tell Blade to undo the spell. I don’t want everyone else to suffer because of me.” “Sweetheart, releasing the spell now, after what Dasher tried to do, could kill you.” “I killed our baby…” “You didn’t kill the baby! It was an accident! You didn’t even know that you were pregnant!” “Rose…is Rose all right?” “Laura, stop worrying about everyone else. You’ve got to concentrate on taking care of yourself.” “What about you?” “I’m perfectly fine.” “No, you’re not.” Laura said seriously. She leaned back, staring him straight in the eyes. “Do you think I can’t see what’s happening to you?” “You…” He trailed off. “I’m fine.” “Markus…” “Don’t worry about me.” “Go and get some sleep.” “I’m staying with you.” “Raythor, Anella or Rose can stay with me.” “But you said you couldn’t sleep without me.” “I need you to do this for me.” “All…all right.”
****
“Good morning, Markus.” Anella said, with somewhat forced brightness, as he opened his eyes. “This is yours, I think…” She handed him his sword.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 15:13:15 GMT -5
“When did you get that?” Markus asked, now fully awake. He noticed her sword was back on her hip as well. “Last night. We broke into jail and got back our weapons and the horses.” “You did? Really?” “Yes, of course. Kylara planned it.” Anella smiled. “She did it for you.” “For me?” He smiled too. “Uh huh. Raythor’s with Laura. Dasher still can’t fix her arm, so Tallith is taking care of her.” “And I suppose you’re looking after me.” “I am.” “Thank you…” Markus said, forcing the corners of his mouth to turn up. Anella glanced at him sympathetically. “You’ve been through a lot lately.” “No more than you have.” “Do you know why Kylara followed Raythor last night?” Anella said, changing the subject for his sake. “Why?” “He told her that is she followed him, he’d leave me.” “And she believed that?” “Apparently,” She said. He laughed and it made her feel better just to see it. “Raythor would never do that.” “You know it and I know it, but Kylara has no idea.” Anella said. This time they both smiled. Markus put his fingers against his temple. The headaches were getting more frequent, but they weren’t getting worse and he had almost grown used to them. Anella looked concerned. “Is something wrong?” She asked. “No, I fine. Really. I can mostly see now.” “Mostly?” “Kidding. Come on, let’s go check on Laura.”
****
“Come on, cat girl. You want me to give her flowers?” Raythor said, slightly incredulously. “She’ll love it,” Laura said confidently. “You said you wanted to do something for her.” “All right, but I’m going to tell her that you told me to.” “Don’t do that!” Laura said, sounding so shocked that he had to laugh. “I’m joking.” “Oh…” She grinned. “That isn’t nice.” “But I made you smile.” “You’re sweet.” They both turned their heads, hearing Markus’s voice in the hall. “I’d better go.” He hesitated. “Laura, I’m really sorry. If anyone in this world should be a mother, it’s you.” “Thank you Raythor.” Laura said, tearing up a little. “Whoa, don’t cry. Markus will hit me or something.” He said. She laughed.
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