Beware the Seer: Nine Kingdoms, #2

By Ann Bakshis

A warning not heeded is the deadliest poison of all. 

The seer has shown Honora her cards, and foretold the future that awaits. Despite the ominous reading, Honora can't bring herself to backdown. Not with the chance to reclaim her powers so close at hand. 

However, the tarot cards don't caution her alone. A path has been revealed that allows both Evander and Lycus to prevent the tragedy to come. The lessons aren't learned by any until a priceless death shakes all but one. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann Bakshis
• Release date: Nov 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781386781318

Book preview

Beware the Seer

Nine Kingdoms, Book Two

A Novel by Ann Bakshis

Copyright © 2020 by Ann Bakshis

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living and dead, actual event, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

Description: Description: PonahakeolaPress.png

Published by Ponahakeola Press, 2020

Typeset in Caslon and B820 Roman

For my cover artist Lori.

I love how our brains connect.

Table of Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

One

Ore

The morning is overcast, which is appropriate for today. Aliza is helping me button the back of a black formal dress she found among Evan’s mother’s possessions. She has to pin it in some areas that hang loose. Once I’m properly attired, she brushes my hair and leaves it down around my shoulders. I would normally prefer it up, but given that we’re to bury Job today I choose to go with a more formal style. Evan is down with the funeral carriage that’ll take his father through the town’s streets before circling back to the cathedral, entering in through the commoner’s gate on the far side of the castle proper.

Caster knocks on my door to tell me he’s ready to accompany me down. When we reach the foyer, the door is hanging wide open. At the bottom of the steps leading to the drive is the Pelheim Vagter in formal dress, with Argus at the lead. A regiment of around one thousand men are split in half with half flanking the front of the carriage carrying Job’s casket, and the other bringing up the rear. Evan informed me when we woke this morning that it’s customary for the family to walk behind the casket in a slow processional. I don’t relish the idea, but if it’s tradition then there isn’t anything I can say about it. Caster brings me down the steps where Evan is waiting for us right behind the carriage.

Job’s casket is pristine white and covered in a tapestry that’s embroidered with the Pelheim symbol. Bouquets of flowers cover the wooden planks of the carriage floor with some of them spilling to the ground. The aroma the flowers produce is relaxing and fresh, masking the perfume death can leave behind.

Evan kisses me sweetly when Caster hands me off to him, then he orders the procession to start. The soft sound of music fills the air as several flautists lead the way down the drive and into town. I cling to Evan as the hot morning sun bears down on me, causing me to swelter in the heavy gown. When we reach the outskirts of town I lift my head as it had been resting against my chest staring at my feet, panic immediately setting in. Everyone around me, with the exception of Evan, is gone. I could’ve sworn I saw them a moment ago, yet the streets are empty—even void of the funeral carriage.

Where is everyone? I mutter.

What do you mean? They’re all right here, Evan answers.

I feel a hand touch my back and Caster reappears as does the rest of the crowds, along with the carriage. I quickly turn my head to look at the people, discovering they’re all gone again. I search blindly in the air for Caster’s hand and when he takes a hold of mine the grief-stricken faces of the people of Latrest come into focus. I’m now able to hear their sobs as we slowly pass. Caster lets go of me for only a brief moment and everything disappears again, including Evan, as he’s no longer holding on to me. I freeze in my spot and only start moving when Caster begins to push me forward.

Are you all right? he whispers in my ear.

I’m fine, I reply. Just a bit dizzy from the heat.

When we reach the center of town I notice an odd dent in the ground. It bends and turns as if the earth itself is knotted up. This is the spot where I saw Aliza and Henry apply their protection shield, so this must be part of what I’m experiencing. I glimpse flowing lines that lead towards a grassy knoll which has been bent and pulled into various directions, but I can’t tell what the image looks like as a whole. I make a mental note to ask either Aliza or Henry about it later.

I hold onto Caster so everyone will stay in focus while Evan takes a few steps ahead of us to keep pace with the carriage. We wind our way down the main street and begin turning back towards the castle, then move off to the road leading west, and over to a lane stretching in front of the cathedral. As we pass through the wrought-iron gate for the church, a sense of ease washes over me. I let go of Caster, and nothing disappears this time.

The carriage stops just outside the cathedral entrance, then several Vagter take possession of the casket and escort it down the aisle towards the altar. I follow Evan to the first pew as the rest of the congregation fills in, so many that there’s no room for anyone to sit. The building is packed tight with mourners, which demonstrates the impact Job had on his people. The priest and his servants step up to the casket, anointing it with oils and incense while the rest of us bow our heads in silent prayer.

I’ve never attended anything so formal or religious before and it makes me feel lost and out of place about what to do, so I simply follow the example of others around me, hoping I’m doing it right.

The mass is long and the atmosphere is sweltering. The longer we sit on the hardbacked pews, the worse the pounding in my head becomes. I didn’t eat much for breakfast this morning because my appetite was still off from getting sick yesterday. Once the priest has finally said his last prayer, the congregation leaves, while Caster, Evan, and I stay behind to follow the casket down into the catacombs. The good thing about being underground is how much cooler it is. Argus has several of his men set the casket down into a premade hole along the far end of the vast room that’s filled with stone carvings indicating where someone has been buried. Each statue is small and simple, yet still resembles royalty. Job is laid to his final rest under the carving of a baying wolf. Evan lingers for a few minutes and I stay with him while the rest retreat to the castle.

I don’t want to be buried here, Evan utters. I want to rest among the hills to the north, so I can view the stars every night and listen to the wolves howl.

Then I shall be laid alongside you, I say, wrapping my arm around his. Where you go I go. In life and in death.

Thank you, my dearest, he says, then bends down to kiss me. Let’s return to the others. There’s still so much to do before we leave in the morning.

Once we’ve rejoined them, Evan, Argus, and Henry lock themselves in the library to go over documents needing to be signed showing the change of leadership, as well as updating anything else that might pertain to Evan taking me as his queen. Caster hits the bar in the solar since this has all been too much for him like it has been for me. Aliza takes me up to the master bedchamber to help me out of my dress and we begin packing a duffle bag I’ll be taking with me when we leave Latrest tomorrow to go searching for the traveler’s camp.

The protection shield you used; does it have knots in it? I ask, wrapping my robe around myself before rifling through drawers.

I take it you saw it while on procession, she says, smiling as she fusses with the dress.

Only some of it. What does it look like as a whole?

It’s a five-point star inside a heavily woven circle laid on top of a shield knot, she says.

And it protects against dark magic?

Yes.

How?

Well, any being who tries to use dark magic while inside a protected area will have their curse rebounded, killing them instantly.

But if Lycus and Moyra no longer have their powers, what good is the shield?

Because it also wards off creatures who were created by dark magic, such as a succubus and a cambion, she says, then she takes my hand and has me sit on the bed beside her. Dark magic isn’t only spells, but beings so powerful that hell itself can’t contain them. If a creature who was made from dark magic steps into a protected area, then everything around them disappears. They can’t see or hear their enemy, but the enemy can still see and hear them.

If the mark is branded on someone, then they become invisible to the dark creature as well as immune from their spells, correct? I ask, making sure I understand.

Yes, exactly.

Is there a way to counteract the effects?

I suppose, but I don’t see why anyone would want to, she says, chuckling. Now put on something simple and we’ll continue packing for tomorrow.

Aliza and I spend the next several hours rummaging through drawers, packing only the essentials, then placing them in a pile in the foyer. We don’t want to take a lot as it’ll weigh us down and slow our traveling. I then work on assembling bedrolls down in a workroom next to the kitchen. A late lunch is served, which finally draws the others out. Evan and Argus discuss possible routes to take and how long we might be gone.

A week should be more than enough time to locate the camp, Argus says.

Then where do we go? Caster asks. We need to get those medallions if we want to open the gate into Toorkuns to retrieve the gladius.

The problem with that is we might also be unleashing the Shadows into Reynes, if it still exists, Evan says. We may want to rethink this, especially if Lycus and Moyra no longer have their abilities. They’d be simple creatures now, and no threat to anyone.

Then why are we searching for this camp? Caster asks, his temper rising. What’s the point of any of this if you’re just going to simply let that lunatic roam free?

I have no intention of allowing him to roam free, as you call it, Evan counters. But we can’t simply waltz into the other kingdoms and demand their medallions. We need to strategize, discover what they may need, and perhaps work out an exchange.

You know damn well Lycus won’t be acting so diplomatically, Caster rages. He needs the gate open just as much as we do, but we have to be the first, otherwise, there’s no stopping him or Moyra from poisoning the realm.

Then after we eat you should join Argus and me in the armory to plot out our course of action, Evan says, glaring at Caster. That’s if you can tear yourself away from the bar long enough.

Aliza smacks Evan on the back of the head. Don’t you dare talk to anyone in such a fashion, she scolds. Just because you’re in pain doesn’t diminish anyone else’s suffering. I’m sure today was very hard on everyone, especially Caster, given how he lost Honora’s mother not too long ago. He hasn’t been afforded the proper time to grieve, so leave the man alone.

No one speaks for the remainder of the meal, especially with the amount of animosity clinging to the air between Evan and Caster. I wonder what happened to cause a rift in such a short time.

While Aliza and Henry clean up after lunch, Evan takes Argus and Caster out to the armory at the back of the estate while I make my way to the library. I meander around looking at all the books, but mainly focusing on locating the Regnum Parable as it’s no longer sitting on top of the desk. I locate it on a stand by a long window overlooking the back of the property, so I carefully pick it up, setting it on the desk. I sit and glance through the book, knowing it doesn’t contain anything on specific dark magic or creatures, but I think it describes the Shadows, and with Evan mentioning it as a possible obstacle, I’d like to know as much as I can about it.

I finally find the section towards the center of the book. It’s not very long, which surprises me, but it does describe what occurred the last time the creature was seen in this realm.

The Shadows is described as being a monster of a plague that devoured men’s hearts, slaughtered women, and enslaved children. It’s said to be a creature of such awesome power that even the fiercest of men cowered before it. The darkest of beasts were born from its loins and were easily commanded by their master. Whole kingdoms fell to it and thousands perished until a Dewin by the name of Dermont the Wise stepped forth from Toorkuns and wrangled the monster, subduing it into a manageable form, then imprisoning it. But the only land powerful enough to hold the creature was Toorkuns, which meant the kingdom needed to be abandoned by those who resided in it. A decision was made to seal the gate by removing nine medallions that held it open, dispersing them among the new kingdoms that were formed in what is now known as Reynes.

The horrid beasts who had been created during the Shadows’ rule were tamed and made into slaves for their new monarchs. As time began to pass, the influence over these creatures held by the plague subsided and these beings were eventually permitted to live a peaceful existence amongst their new lands: the griffins in Geron, the amarok in Pelheim, the dwerg-reuses and giants in Axis, the leimakides in Lomance, the dragons in Otarid, the afanc in Kitezh, the dwarves of Strygon, the elfai in Vanir, and the scitalis in Drouviel.

Argus’ ancestors would’ve been one of the creatures created by the Shadows, which makes me wonder how much he’s aware of his heritage and if dark magic would still be an issue for him even though centuries have passed since it was last used and seen.

Perhaps I’m one of these dark creatures created by the Shadows, but unknown by others. It would make sense because of what happened during the funeral procession. I wonder if there’s a way to find out for sure. I can’t ask Aliza or Henry because the book states that all dark creatures are the enemy of the Dewins. Then how is Argus here? They know his kind was once considered a blight on the land, since the dwerg-reuses are also referenced in their book. Maybe because these creatures have been apart from the Shadows for so long, any influence this plague had over them has been completely eradicated, it seems.

Dinner is ready, Aliza says just a few feet from the desk, causing me to jump. Oh, I’m so sorry dear. I thought you heard me enter.

That’s all right, I say, trying to cover up my unease. I hadn’t realized how late it was.

It’s nearly eight, but I’m afraid you’ll be the only one eating in the dining room tonight. The others have requested their food be brought to them in the armory.

Then I’ll eat here.

Very good, she says, smiling, then turns and leaves.

She’s only gone a few minutes when she returns with a tray of meat and potatoes, setting it on the desk beside the book.

That’s some heavy reading, she comments, nodding towards the tome.

I got curious when Evan mentioned the Shadows at lunch, so I’ve been in here ever since, trying to learn as much about it as I can. Do you remember what it was like during that time?

Not here, but in Toorkuns, yes, she says, taking the seat across from me. Because everyone was so focused on obliterating the Shadows, other dark creatures began to emerge through another gate that rests in that kingdom.

There are two? I ask, surprised.

There are several actually, she says. Toorkuns acts as a type of go-between for this realm and many others, including the one where Moyra and her kind come from. To protect them all from the plague we had to seal the gate for this realm, trapping many of us here.

But this says the Shadows was imprisoned in Toorkuns, so wouldn’t it still be true, as well as destroying the other realms you were trying to protect? I ask, tapping the page.

She leans forward in her seat. The writers of the Regnum Parable were known to embellish the truth a bit, she says in a hushed tone. They wrote it that way so everyone would be too afraid to seek out the gate and reestablish the connection with Toorkuns. The Shadows was actually destroyed here in Reynes right before the new realm began. The only way Dermont the Wise was able to accomplish that was by closing the gate.

Did the Shadows draw its powers from Toorkuns like you did?

Yes, and no. When the Shadows was initially conceived it sucked on the life-giving forces that make up Toorkuns, but in order to weaken the monster, the blood supply had to be cut off.

Thus the gate was sealed.

Precisely, but it didn’t kill it completely. That was handled by Dermont, though no one’s ever been able to discover what weapon he used to do it and he’s been dead far too long. Writings from that time are sparse, and none of the information remains.

And there isn’t any way for the Shadows to return?

None at all, since its life line has been severed far too long, she says. The Shadows is dead, so all that remains is removing Lycus and Moyra from our presence, and then all dark creatures will have been eradicated.

Except those who still call each kingdom home, I add, trying to gauge her reaction.

Those, my dear, are but shells of the past, she says, dismissing me. Their lives have been so far removed from those of their ancestors that it’s only water now, not blood. No recollection of their previous nature is anywhere on record, except on that page. She jabs a finger towards the book. And only the royals have access to such information, though no one really pays attention to what happened in the past as there’s no threat from it now. She stands and straightens her apron. Eat before your food gets cold.

I nibble on the meal as I continue to flip through the parable, but I don’t find anything further that interests me. I set the empty tray aside as Caster enters, carrying my old quiver and bow in one hand, and the one I stole from Longemere Castle in the other.

Here, he says, handing them to me. The pin is still in your old quiver, so I suggest you use it to secure both of your medallions into the newer one. Evan and I both agree that you shouldn’t wear them while we’re away from Pelheim.

All right, I say, taking them from him. Is everything all right between you two?

Everything’s fine, he answers, sounding rather flippant.

Liar, I mutter.

Fine, do you want to know what my issue is with him? Caster asks, blowing up at me. He insists that we take you along on this stupid outing, when you’re safer here in the castle.

But I’m not safer here, I retort. Lycus is coming and without that protection shield over this place I’m vulnerable to him.

There are other places we can hide you until we return.

Where, Caster?

You could stay with Verna, he responds.

How do you know this woman? I ask, crossing my arms over my chest, leaning back in my chair.

That’s none of your business, he scolds, shaking a finger at me.

Well, if you want me to live with the woman, then I need to know who she is to you.

He scowls at me, then bites his lip before answering. She helped raise your mother, he says. Elizabeth grew up on Verna’s family’s farm.

That explains how my mother knew her, but not you.

Ugh, fine. She and I were married once. There, happy now? he asks, seething. Your father got the marriage voided after only a few days.

Why?

Do you really need to know everything? he practically hollers.

I simply glare at him.

I got her pregnant, so I did what was right at the time. She wound up losing the baby, so I left.

Did you love her?

Hell no, he answers loudly, then starts to shake slightly. I was lonely, he says, sitting down in the chair across from me. David had Elizabeth and I didn’t have anyone. I got desperate. It happens. Tears begin to form at the corners of his eyes at the mention of my mother’s name.

I’m sorry about Mom. I don’t think I got a chance to say that to you until now, I utter, with great remorse.

I know, he says, wiping away the tears as they fall. I guess I’m just afraid of losing you too in all this madness, which is why I’m against the idea of you coming with us.

But you know how I can get if I’m stuck doing nothing. I’d be useful to you, and it would keep Lycus from locating me since we’d constantly be on the move.

Yes, I know. I’m just scared, Ore.

I get up and go around the desk to hug him. He weeps in my arms for a few minutes, then tells me he’ll see me in the morning. I take off my necklace and pin the medallions into the bottom of the black quiver before I retake my seat, resting my head on the book and trying to think like Lycus to see if I can connect to his mind. I’m drawn instantly to him and I can both see and hear everything that’s going on even though I know I’m still physically in the library. He’s currently in a tent, much like the one he was in after taking me from Nysa. Pillows lay scattered around the floor as he slowly paces back and forth, wearing only trousers and holding a piece of parchment in his hand.

I hold my breath, wondering if he’ll notice me, but he moves right past without batting an eye. His red hair is slightly damp and hangs loosely around his ears. He’s mumbling to himself when the tent flap opens and Moyra enters. Rage immediately fills me, but I don’t know if I can lash out in this current state, whatever it may be. I’m not even sure how I’m projecting myself to Lycus. I only know what I’m seeing is real.

What do you want? Lycus gripes when he spots her lingering.

I was wondering if you wanted any company tonight, she says.

I told you that was over with.

Yes, you did, she says, stepping closer to him. But I saw how you looked at me this morning. The desire is still there, so why not follow it?

You know why, he says, shoving the parchment into his pocket.

But she’s not here, and I am, Moyra says, beginning to undress.

He doesn’t stop her until she’s completely naked and is reaching for him. I told you no, he says, though I can tell he wants her.

But you need me, Lycus, she says, caressing his face. At least until Honora gets back.

Why do you do this to me? he moans, her lips brushing against his.

Because I can, and I want to, she replies, her hands working to remove his trousers.

He pushes her down onto the pillows, envelops his mouth over hers, and proceeds to defile her in ways I’m all too familiar with. I grow angry and jealous at the exchange. He’s going to need to be taught a lesson for his unfaithfulness, but first I want to have a look at the parchment that has him intrigued so much. I get down on the floor as their moans fill the air, rattling my nerves and causing fire to burn inside me. I reach into his pocket, retrieving the paper. It’s a note directed to Lycus, telling him about someone wanting to collect me