Bitterwood. Part 21

"What t-terrific luck Zanzeroth didn't come further into the room," the wizard whispered, looking at the wall. "We have a chance after all."

"Agreed," the phantom said. "I will carry you. If we can remain invisible we can slip through the gates unnoticed."

"Ven?" Jandra said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Why won't you look at me?"

Vendevorex twisted his neck around to face her in a swift motion. Pain etched lines onto his face as he hissed, "Because it's t-true."

"What?"

Vendevorex sighed. He closed his eyes. His whole body slackened and sagged. "Years ago, when I arrived in the k-king's court, I was no one," he said softly. "I had no allies to convince Albekizan to take me in. I had to p-prove my abilities, to convince him I was a worthy member of his court. Albekizan tested me by having me destroy a cottage near the castle."

Jandra shook her head, not believing what she was hearing.

Vendevorex continued. "Setting the structure ablaze was simple. Killing the man and woman within was simpler still. To further prove my power I walked through the burning house, showing that the heat and smoke couldn't harm me. I heard your cries above the roar of the flames. I hadn't known they had a child."

"You killed my parents?" she said. "As... as a demonstration?"

"Yes," he said. "But I spared you. I... I saw you in your burning bed and you looked so... innocent. That night I knew I was committing murder solely for my own selfish needs. I never lied to myself. I made the cold, calculated decision to end your parents' lives to improve my own. But when I saw the innocence in your eyes... that was the first moment in my life I ever felt shame."

"I can't believe this," she said, choking back tears.

"I-I've tried to make amends," Vendevorex said, sounding as if he, too, were on the verge of tears. "I have used my powers more wisely, I hope. I try to protect life when I have the opportunity. I use my powers to harm as little as possible. You've taught me that all all life is precious, Jandra." He closed his eyes and shook his head remorsefully. "I made a horrible mistake that night. I only hope the intervening years have proven that I've since learned compa.s.sion." life is precious, Jandra." He closed his eyes and shook his head remorsefully. "I made a horrible mistake that night. I only hope the intervening years have proven that I've since learned compa.s.sion."

Jandra kept her eyes fixed upon his face. It was true, his words, his feelings. Remorse for the deed filled him, but didn't change the fact. He had killed her parents. He had raised her all these years to appease his own guilt. Her relations.h.i.+p to him now seemed so clear. He kept her by his side to convince himself he was something better than a cold-blooded murderer.

She stood up. The cloak of invisibility around them dissolved. She turned her back on her former mentor.

"Good-bye," she said.

"Jandra," Vendevorex said, reaching out a feeble wing to touch her back. "I truly am sorry."

Jandra recoiled from his touch, stepping beyond his reach. "Sorry? You think that an apology now makes up for a lie you've told all my life? It's not enough, Ven. Nothing you can say will ever be enough."

"I understand you're hurt," he said. "And once this is over, I understand you may desire some time apart. But you can't leave now. Our circ.u.mstances require us to stay together, at least a while longer."

"I think leaving now is an excellent option," Jandra said.

"Where would you go?" he asked.

"Where I belong," she said, running for the door as tears burst from her.

ZEEKY COULDN'T STOP shaking. She'd been singled out with the other children earlier, into a group the dragons would eventually execute. Now the other girls and boys were free, threading back through the crowds to their parents who desperately called out their names. shaking. She'd been singled out with the other children earlier, into a group the dragons would eventually execute. Now the other girls and boys were free, threading back through the crowds to their parents who desperately called out their names.

No one called for her. She wasn't so far from her home village-twenty miles at most-but she knew no one here.

She had lost Merria in the confusion so she called for her now. To her relief, Merria called back. Then Merria's voice was cut short. Still, Zeeky headed in that direction.

"Merria!" Zeeky cried out as she spotted the girl held in Hodan's arms. The farmer had placed his hand over Merria's mouth. He scowled at Zeeky.

"Go away, child," he said.

"Hodan," Alanda whispered, "couldn't we...?"

"Be quiet, woman," Hodan said.

"What's wrong?" Zeeky asked. "You said you'd look after me."

"The evil that has fallen on our village arrived with you. The man who left you is mad, claiming to be Bitterwood. I don't understand what has happened, but these things taint you. Kamon warned against the evils outsiders can bring."

Zeeky couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"But-,"

"Go," Hodan said, his eyes narrowed to hard slits.

Zeeky shut up. She saw that Hodan was serious. Alanda looked uncertain but Hodan would never let Zeeky stay with them. She wished Poocher were here now. He needed her so. She felt stronger when she cared for him. Now she had no one.

Unless Hey You was here. She thought she had heard his voice earlier but she couldn't see a thing from where she had stood. If she could find him, he would be nice to her.

She didn't have to look for long before she found him. His arms and legs were bound with rope and he lay on the dirt. The people of the village looked away from him, ignoring him, making a circle several steps around him for him to lie in, alone.

No one moved to stop Zeeky as she walked to him. But when she got there, his eyes were blank, staring straight ahead as if he didn't see her.

"Hey You," she said, crouching next to him. "It's me. Zeeky."

The old man didn't answer.

Zeeky said, "I don't know anyone. You were nice to me. Can I sit here with you?"

Still he didn't answer.

Zeeky's eyes blurred with tears. She said, "Please talk to me. I'm scared."

"h.e.l.lo," a woman said from behind her as she placed her hand on Zeeky's shoulder. "Don't be afraid."

Zeeky turned. The woman was beautiful with long brown hair held back by a silver tiara. She was dressed in white cotton though her clothes were covered with dark stains. Zeeky couldn't even say h.e.l.lo, however, as tears choked her voice.

"Hey," the woman said, crouching before her, wiping her cheeks. "What's wrong? Have you lost your mom and dad?"

"And my pig." Zeeky swallowed, then sobbed. "I'm all alone."

"Me too," the woman said. "So why don't we stay together. You can help me, okay?"

"O-okay."

"So what's your name?" the woman asked.

"Z-Zeeky. What's yours?"

"Jandra," the woman answered as she swept her up in her arms. Jandra looked at Hey You and said, "I'm surprised they don't have you under guard."

The old man s.h.i.+fted his eyes toward her. His lips barely moved. "I'm not the man I thought I was."

"What do you mean?" Jandra asked.

"I am no longer Bitterwood," Hey You said, continuing to lie as still as death. "Another now answers to that name."

"I don't understand."

At last, Hey You lifted his head from the ground. He frowned as he said, "Your boyfriend stole my name. I may let him keep it."

"My boyfriend?" Jandra asked, sounding confused. Then she raised her eyebrows. "Pet?"

The man Zeeky called Hey You lowered his cheek to the dirt once more and said nothing.

A commotion came from the edges of the crowd. The shouts of dragons could be heard, barking orders for the people to line up.

"Stick close to me, honey," Jandra said to Zeeky as she lowered her back to the ground. Then she moved to Hey You and said, "Let me help you up."

"Why bother?" the old man complained. "Let the dragons carry me or kill me."

"Don't be like this," Jandra said, placing her hands on the ropes that bound him. Her hands glowed in the morning light and the ropes fell free. "I'm going to save these people. You're going to help me."

"I tried to save them," the old man said. "I failed. I'm too tired to go on."

Jandra took him by the s.h.i.+rt and with a grunt lifted him to a sitting position. She stared into his eyes and said in a low voice, "No matter what the dragons or these people believe, I know who you are. You do too. You aren't going to simply give up."

"You don't know me," he said. "I've fought for so long. Now another has agreed to die for my sins. You could never understand what that means."

"Then you can try to explain it as we go," Jandra said, struggling to pull him to his feet.

The old man sighed, then stood, shoulders hunched..

"I need to borrow your cloak for a second," Jandra said, picking it up from where the dragons had thrown it to the ground. She looked around; no one even looked in their direction. "Zeeky, I need you to keep secret what you're about to see."

"Okay," Zeeky said.

Jandra took Bitterwood's cloak and placed it over her, hiding her face in the hood. By now the guards had reached them and forced them into the column of people that formed across the field. Zeeky noticed that other green dragons had herded the animals from the village at the back of the column, and she wondered if Poocher was with them.

"There," Jandra said, handing the cloak back to Bitterwood.

Zeeky gasped. Jandra's hair was no longer long and brown, but was now short and black. Bangs completely concealed her tiara. Her dress was neither stained nor white but a uniform beige. Zeeky could hardly believe the change.

"How I have fallen," Bitterwood grumbled, "that I keep the company of a witch."

"Don't mind him, Zeeky," Jandra said. "I'm not a witch."

"Villagers!" Kanst again stood on the wagon, shouting through the wooden cone.

"Chakthalla, the tyrant who held you all in bondage, is dead. I have liberated you in the name of the great King Albekizan. The king has ordered me to take you to a new home, a better place, called the Free City. There you may live your days liberated from the worries of daily labor. In the Free City, food and shelter are provided at the king's expense. Chakthalla resisted the king's plan to shower you with wealth and comfort, preferring to keep you in servitude. Now she's paid the ultimate price for her cruelty. The journey in the days ahead will no doubt be hard. We will be walking during all the hours of daylight so that we may bring you to your new home as quickly as possible. But be strong, good people. You will have your reward."

Confused voices rose all around Zeeky.

"It makes no sense," a man said. "They threaten us with death, then say they've come to help?"

"My cousin in Richmond sent word of the Free City," another said. "He says he's been employed in its construction and that the wages were the highest any man could earn."

"It's G.o.d's will, my children," said an old man with a shrill voice.

"Kamon speaks!" A ripple of excitement ran through the villagers. "It's Kamon! He's broken his silence!"

The crowd turned and Zeeky caught a glimpse of an ancient withered figure clothed in rags. He was bald save for a fringe of thin white hair that hung around his shoulders like a wedding veil. He had a long braided mustache that hung six inches below his chin. His eyes looked twice the right size for his wrinkled, spotted face.

The villages were all jabbering now, whispering back and forth about the significance of Kamon speaking. They drew into a large circle around the old man. The ragged figure silenced the crowd with a raised hand.

"For years I've kept silent, waiting for the sign of our redemption," Kamon said, in a dry, scratchy voice. "In the blood of the child, all is revealed. We must obey the dragons. The murder of the boy, the taking of our homes, the fall of the castle: these are signs that the land is cursed. Though even they don't know the truth, the dragons lead us from this place, to the Promised Land, where we will finally be free from sorrows. The day of redemption is at hand!"

An earth-dragon pushed his way through the circle of villagers. "Break it up," he ordered. "We're leaving."

Male villagers, including Hodan, rushed to form a protective line in front of Kamon.

"Stop," Kamon said to his impromptu defenders. "Now is not the time to fight. These dragons are mere servants of fate. The day will come when they will pay for their sins against our people; today is not that day."

The dragons jostled the people into a long column, no deeper than three abreast. The people began to move forward, guided by the dragons across the broken fields. Zeeky looked back, trying to see the animals that some of the earth-dragons had gathered from the nearby farms. She watched the dragons herd the beasts together behind them. She hoped she might catch some glimpse of Poocher, but there was no sign of him.

Then they started marching, and the only animals she could see were the crows descending in great dark clouds, shattering the morning air with their harsh caws, forming a black wake as they fell on the battlefield, covering the dead with a living shroud.

PART THREE: RIVER.

Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pa.s.s over the rivers.

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man Isaiah 47:2-3

PROLOG PART THREE: LIES.

1078 D.A. The 47th Year of the Reign of Albekizan Year of the Reign of Albekizan