Serial Saturday: "Clan of Outcasts" Season 3, Part 21 "All's Fair"

Part 21

"All's Fair"

Seven Years Ago....

The moments ticked by on the grandfather clock as they sipped in silence--but etiquette demanded that she never initiate the conversation. She would rather have scraped her arms till they bled, but she could not excuse herself until he'd said his piece.

He sipped slowly, eyes gleaming as he ogled her over the rim of his teacup. At last, he wiped his mouth and set his saucer aside.
"Tessa..." He said, and she fought to suppress a shudder. This was the moment she dreaded. She kept her hands firmly clasped in her lap. Perhaps if she didn't give him any quarter, she could avoid it.
"Tessa, look at me."
She stared at his chiseled, gleaming face, his eyes that haunted her, his lips that twitched more into a smirk than a smile.

"You have everything to gain if you consent to a life with me, and nothing to lose," he said. "Your father supports the match--and I've been as forthcoming as possible with my feelings."
Her father only saw that he was rich and well-connected. He didn't see the wandering hands, the seething stares, or the slurred words murmured in private and denied in public.
"Well?" he pressed her, shifting closer. "Say something, Beautiful!"
She shifted away. "Please understand," she begged, "I realize how my father feels about having a son of the Archduke's cousin taking an interest in my family--but it pains me to hear you speak of harboring such feelings for me when I cannot in good faith reciprocate!"

"Why do you shun me so?" He reached for her, so she disguised her avoidance with the activity of picking up the tea things. He kept talking. "Ever since I first saw you, all other maidens seem hideously ugly--I want no other. You are beyond beautiful, and your delicate nature gets you noticed--it's just that I need that sort of attraction in my life. We are a perfect fit, even if you refuse to see it. You may even grow to like me!"
Tessa stood up with the tea service, heading for the dumbwaiter door on the wall of the parlor. He followed her for those few spaces.
"Tessa! Say something--" She made the mistake of backing away after closing the dumbwaiter, right into his waiting arms. His grasping fingers folded around her elbow. "Don't just ignore me, girl!"

Tessa twisted to get away, stumbling over her skirts to get out of his grasp, but he held on. "Let go of me!" she cried.
He did not move. His eyes darkened. "Not till you say you'll accept my proposal."

Tessa's eyes flamed right back, and this time, she didn't shrink from meeting his gaze. "I will accept nothing from you!" She ducked under his arm, darting behind him and forcing him to release her. She didn't stop, but gathered her skirts and continued right out the door and into the hallway.
"Tessa, come back!" His voice followed her, but she dared not turn around. She ducked into the next wing and threw herself behind the first open door she could find.

The floorboards creaked under his weight. "I'm going to find you, little bird--and then I'll prove to you that you really do want me!"
Her heart beat wildly, and as he neared the door into the room where she hid, Tessa slipped out a second door and into the next room.

On and on it went, all through the house, as Tessa ran in terror, while the mad suitor stalked behind her, growing more insistent and more malicious with his threats.
"Scurry, scurry, little mouse!" His dark voice echoed from the next room as she darted into the solarium. "You can't avoid me forever, you know! You're mine! I am your destiny!"
Tessa listened at the door, cowering and trembling, until the sound of his footsteps faded. Still she waited with bated breath, until nothing but the pounding of her own heart reached her ears. Only then did Tessa dare to step out from her hiding place, and take great, deep breaths to calm herself.

The solarium looked very different at sunset than it did when she usually used it, in the morning. On display at the center of the table in the middle of the room was a shining dagger, given as a present from another suitor. The young maiden had been puzzled by its arrival, and she never did figure out who had sent it, but it was pretty, and it hid a fascinating secret.
Tessa drew the knife and gazed at the constellation etched on the blade. The arrangement of that singular row of stars was such that the main star, Polaris, graced the pommel. Tessa sighed and sank into a chair, speaking the star's name aloud as she did so.
"Polaris."

Immediately, the blade hummed, and a brilliant ball of light issued from its tip: a scale model of the star itself, small enough to fit in Tessa's palm. She held it, feeling the warmth radiating over her hand, calming her nerves. It spread up her arm and toward her shoulders, like a gentle caress--not at all like the grasping wrenches of her suitors. She wished she could know how it was even possible to contain a star within a knife's blade, but for the time being, it was her secret to cherish.
"There you are!"
The suitor's voice rasped in her ear, his breath hot against her neck, and Tessa jumped from the chair with a scream.

His dark eyes leered in the light of the tiny star as he pointed at her. "You're coming with me!"

"No!" Tessa threw up her hands to defend herself, forgetful of the energy she held. It left her hand as easily as tossing a ball, and a furious wind blew past her, connecting solidly with the young nobleman's chest. He reeled backward with a cry, sliding right into a stone pillar behind him where he connected with a resounding crack. The wind stopped, and the body slid to the floor... dead.

Tessa stared in horror at the swirling orb of light in her hand. Had she killed the Archduke's cousin? Slowly, she folded her fingers toward her palm, making a fist around the light. As soon as she released it, the light had vanished, gleaming upon the dagger's surface once more. Tessa laid the dagger upon the table and backed out slowly. Only after she had closed the door to the solarium did she turn and run back through the halls, screaming for the butler.
Somehow, she doubted that anyone would try taking advantage of her ever again.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Present day...

Damaris chased after the team headed for Wildhaven: King Jaran and Queen Azelie, Aurelle, and Erlis. He did his best to remain unseen, but Azelie glanced over her shoulder, and abruptly Jaran came to a stop.
"No, Damaris," he said to the empty hallway behind them. "I thought I was very clear that you are not coming with us."

Damaris dropped from the rafters. It was hard to hide from a telepath! "Please!" he begged. "I can be useful--I probably know a lot of the people living in Wildhaven."

Jaran shook his head. "It is unwise to take too many people along to what might amount to a fact-finding mission. You would get very bored before we'd even arrived in Wildhaven."
Damaris scowled. "It's better than hanging around here with Him!" he retorted.

Queen Azelie chuckled. "Just because Trev chose to leave you behind because you couldn't understand him doesn't make him a threat to us," she said. "He could have given me the same treatment, except that I gave him a voice, with my telepathy, and that gave him the confidence to follow me back into the castle where you all could find me."
"And now we're headed to try and get ahead of this threat that's got three of our own captive," Erlis added, her weird Elvish eyes glinting. "You don't have an assignment yet--"

"Or perhaps he does," Aurelle cut in. She smiled at Damaris. "You and Risyn are both in charge of keeping the scientists and Javira safe. Who knows what might decide to strike, or whether Markus might send an update while we're gone. You're the last of the original Outcast team--remember when you and Velora met Korsan in that cave, back when the Wilderness was someplace to send those who had been banished from setting foot in the kingdom?" she laid a hand on his shoulder. "We trust you more than we trust these newer friends. Stay alert, and hopefully nothing will happen till we return."
Damaris smirked. "Little did they know that this was the last time any of them would see each other," he quoted.

Aurelle snorted and cuffed him gently on the back of the head. "Stay out of trouble, young Phoenix."
Damaris nodded.
"If you find out anything," Jaran directed, "Contact Azelie. That will be the fastest way to let us all know."
"I will," Damaris replied. He waved as they departed out of the castle gate. "Fare you well!"
Once the guard closed the gate behind them, Damaris jogged back toward the Great Hall, where Trev sat at a table with Lizeth and Nyella.

The two scientists were fascinated by this unexpected person, and peppered him with all sorts of questions, trying to draw out any portion of his past, to ascertain his origins. Trev, for his part, did his best to concentrate on the Illusory Scroll Aurelle had made, which would write out the words he thought, since no one there could read his thoughts like Azelie could.
"Have you always lived in the castle?" Lizeth asked.

Trev nodded to the scroll.
I have lived elsewhere. I have lived in another castle, where I could move freely. Not this castle all the time.

"Was it hot in this other castle?" Nyella wanted to know. She had a map spread out before her, with lots of information recorded, of the different biomes in and around The Realm. "Or was the weather cold most of the time?"

Trev shrugged, and more words appeared on the scroll.
I do not know.

Lizeth gestured to the light, summery linen tunic he wore. "Did you always wear clothes like this, or do you remember wearing longer sleeves, or thicker fabrics at some time or another?"

Trev gestured all around them. I am warm in these places. I have fire when my arms are cold. I have no need of other clothes. I do not have them with me. In my other castle, I had cloaks and other clothes.

Nyella made some notes, crossing out a few locations on the map. "This other castle, was it big or small? Many rooms or just a few? Tall towers, or only a few stairs?"

Damaris rolled his eyes and glanced over to Risyn, who was watching this whole thing from his favorite place to stand in the Great Hall, just beside the dais where the King and Queen would sit. We trust you more than the others... Those words should have bolstered Damaris' confidence--they were probably intended as a compliment--but years of living on the streets of The Harbor had taught the young man a thing or two about trust. Was there something he was missing about these people who remained behind? Why didn't Jaran and Azelie trust them?

No one was paying him any mind, so Damaris did what he did best: he disappeared, faded into the shadows of the castle, and climbed through all the secret alcoves among the rafters. Trev might be master of the apparent system of tunnels underneath the castle, but Damaris knew how to get around without touching the floor. Perhaps talking it over with Anahita would help him make sense of things.

Down in the garden, Javira coaxed a network of vines to finish sealing over the portion of the castle exposed when Damaris escaped Trev's imprisonment. Since Kaidan was taken, she'd felt untethered, detached from everyone else. She knew that nobody trusted her, least of all Aurelle and Jaran--the people she'd hurt the most by her actions. At least Azelie could see that she was doing her best to be genuine--but Jaran had insisted that the two of them should not be separated after about a day and a half of not knowing where she was, in spite of searching the castle top to bottom three times over. Javira finished sealing the hole with fluffy, leafy ivy, and moved to the rows of hedges, trailing her finger over the leaves and branches to sculpt them into whatever shape she pleased.

Truth be told, she was a bit envious of Trev and his network of tunnels that could take him anywhere he wished under the castle, without anyone the wiser. If she and Kaidan had known about these tunnels when everything had been falling apart around them, they might have avoided throwing in their lot with Troy and inviting all manner of scorn and animosity because of it. Perhaps the Shadow would have exposed his hand a lot sooner, if he couldn't find any lackeys to manipulate into doing his dirty work for him.

"Family is an important part of one's identity," rumbled a voice behind her. "Without them, we are ships adrift, deprived of an anchor for our souls."

Javira sniffed and wiped the tears out of the corners of her eyes. "What do you know about family?" she turned to face Mage Risyn, who had entered the garden behind her. How long had he been standing there watching her vent her frustration into the plants?
Risyn sighed and sat upon a nearby bench, looking very much like a man with a painful secret--hadn't Kaidan suspected as much the last time he talked to Javira?

"There was once a young man," Risyn explained, "who found himself blessed with a Gift he did not understand, and he became desperate to find someone to help him control it, and understand it. This young man had a sister who depended on him for protection--but once she too had a Gift of her own, she no longer depended on him so much, although the young man sought to keep his sister safe, so that she would have no cause to use her Gift more than absolutely necessary."

Javira wanted to ignore the mage, to cut him off and tell him to get to his point--but the longer he talked, the more she felt compelled to listen without speaking. She related to this sister, seeing in the relationship between siblings a reflection of her own relationship with Kaidan. She stopped fussing with the hedges and came to sit next to Risyn on the bench as he continued.

"The young man heard of a powerful man who had practically mastered a similar Gift to his own, so the young man decided that he would do whatever it took to meet this man and train under him. His sister had been to a place where the young man assumed she would be safe, and so he could have departed to see this great man all by himself, leaving his sister behind. But just before he could have left, on his way to the harbor to find passage, the young man received word that his sister was not safe, that this place where she was had put her in far more danger than she should ever have been in, and instead of reserving her Gift for isolated incidents, she was requiring her Gift to defend herself, in the absence of her brother, and because of this, she was going to be given over to a place where she would almost certainly be killed. Therefore, the young man decided to rescue his sister, and remove her from this dangerous situation, and leave on the first ship that was headed in the direction he wanted to go." Risyn's eyes gleamed, and sweat beaded on his brow as the sun shone down on them both. Javira felt a new breed of anxiety, a longing for Kaidan to come and rescue her in just such a way, and all of this agitation she released into the ground, calling up a living, blooming arbor of grapevines with climbing plants woven through them, shading the two of them on the bench.

Risyn had sat silent for some time as the arbor formed, so after waiting in thick and heavy silence for several minutes, Javira finally asked, "Did they escape?"

Risyn nodded. "They found a ship, but as payment for passage without interference, the young man had to consent to use his Gift to benefit the captain and his crew. In this way, the young man and his sister crossed most of the Sea without trouble--but there was one night, when the storm was too great and the young man's Gift too underdeveloped, and so the Captain suffered the loss of his cargo. He charged the young man for that loss, and furthermore cast him off his ship with a rowboat to traverse the rest of the distance to his destination, keeping his sister behind to work of what remained of this 'debt' that the young man now owed--and that was the last that the young man ever saw of his sister."

Javira felt the ache crowding around her chest, and when she released her Gift into the ground beside the bench, a rosebush sprouted and unfurled, full of the thorny, scented blooms. She met Risyn's gaze.
"That's why you were so afraid when Captain Haggard's ship pulled into the Harbor," she whispered.
Risyn nodded. "Your brother suspected as much. That young man was me, and the last time I saw my sister Quilla was when Captain Haggard declared that she would serve as his galley maid until he had no further use for her. That was so many years ago, I don't even know if he's bargained her away at some point, or if she might still be on his ship--but I know that if I ever see the Captain again, he might claim my debt to him and use it against me. That's why I stay here--not because I'm waiting to betray any one of you," he abruptly declared the very resentment that Javira harbored as an excuse to avoid the dark Mage, "but because I failed the dearest person in my life so long ago, I don't want it to happen ever again." He let out a sigh and rubbed his hands together. "And now you know something about me that I have never told anyone--not even Mage Korsan."

Javira smiled, and placed her hand on Risyn's shoulder. "I guess you have just as much of a vested interest as any of us to stop the Crow Queen from achieving her ends."
Risyn nodded. "I just want my sister back, before she is caught in the crossfire between Queen Mallory's forces and our own."

Javira lifted her chin, a renewed sense of inclusion and connection established in her psyche. She held out her hand to Risyn. "For the sake of family, then?" she said.
Risyn seized her hand and clasped it tightly. "For family," he affirmed.

Javira nodded. "Now let's see what our scientists have discovered about our new acquaintance," she said, pointing toward the door into the castle.
Risyn gestured ahead of himself with a nod. "Lead the way, miss."

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