A Child of Darkness

Chapter 5

I woke confused and to the sound of hushed voices. I rolled over toward the voices and squinted my eyes open. Rhys, Mira, and Leo were all sitting on the couch in front of a roaring fire, heads together in a deep discussion. I sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Good morning!" Mira quipped, noticing me for the first time. The others snapped their heads up and stared at me. "Are you hungry? I can have breakfast brought—"

"I want to know why I'm here," I interrupted, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around myself. I needed to know what these people wanted from me, why they had stolen me from my room (cell) and brought me here. I was tired of everyone avoiding my questions.

They looked at one another with what seemed like fear in their eyes, but no one spoke.

"I need to know why you've brought me here, I don't understand anything that's happening or where I am, and you need to start answering my questions."

Leo let out a breath. "You're in an underground base that Nevan built many years ago, in Vakaria."

"Underground? Vakaria?" I asked, not understanding still. I was getting very tired of not understanding anything that was going on.

"Are you sure you can't wait for Nevan to come explain this to you?" Mira asked. "He'll probably be better at this than we are."

"No, I want to understand. I want to know what's happening to me and why I'm here, and if you don't answer my questions...I'll run. I'll leave and go back to my room (cell)." I said, my voice shaking a bit.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Rhys soothed, getting up and walking slowly to where I was sitting on the bed. "May I sit?"

I nodded, and he sat next to me. "Friadus contacted us awhile ago, and told us who you were and that you were being held in the Citadel of Vakaria. We're from Arlen, a town in Casamont, which is a few days journey from here in a transport. My father, King Nevan, rules over Casamont, and his brother, King Evalon, rules over Vakaria. Evalon has been keeping you prisoner in the dungeons of the Citadel of Vakaria for roughly 17 years. When Nevan found out who you were, he set up a rescue mission immediately to get you out. That's why we're here. We'll be leaving to go back to Arlen soon, and you'll be coming with us. You won't have to be a prisoner anymore, Leila."

My head was spinning with this new information, all these new names and places.

"But I still don't understand," I said. "Why am I so important? Why was I a prisoner? What did I do to deserve such punishment?"

Once again, silence fell over the group as they all looked at each other with guarded faces.

"I deserve to know!" I almost yelled the words, surprising myself.

"Okay, okay," Leo said, putting his hands up. "I'll go get Nevan. He'll explain this better than we can."

He left the room, and an awkward silence descended. Mira cleared her throat. "Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I'm starving, so I'm going to have some food brought up to us." She left just as quickly as Leo had, leaving me alone with Rhys, who was still sitting next to me.

"I want to go back outside," I said quietly. I wanted to feel the grass on my feet again, the wind in my hair. I wanted to see the sky unobstructed by bars on a window.

"You can't, right now," he said, relaxing back against the pillows beside me. "I promise, once we get back to Arlen, you can go outside as much as you like. But we can't risk anyone knowing where you are right now. They'll take you back to the prison if they find you, Leila."

I picked at the tunic I still wore from last night, the one that Mira had given me. I was much warmer in this than I had ever been in my gown and shabby blanket. I blew out a breath and laid back, matching the position Rhys was in.

"That was the first time I've ever been outside," I said quietly. "It was wonderful. Gilda used to talk about the birds, and the sky, and the stars and the moon. I want to see those things. I never thought I would get a chance to."

Rhys was silent for a long time before he said, "How did you survive? For that long, all alone in the dark, with nothing to do an nobody to talk to? I can't imagine it."

It was the only life I had ever known. I had Gilda, for awhile, to keep me company, and I had Friadus bringing me my meals every day, even though he didn't talk. I had my journal (where was it now?) and my etchings on the wall. I had my small window with the bars, and I had the man in black that came when I was to be punished. I had the others, in the rooms next to me, the ones that would scream and cry until they were silenced.

I jumped as the door opened and Leo returned. Behind him was the man from last night, King Nevan. He came in and sat on the couch, crossing his legs and turning to look at me. I shrank back against his gaze.

"I want to tell you a story, Leila," he said, his voice gruff.

"I don't want a story, I want to know what—"

"This story will help to explain everything," he cut me off. "Once, there were two bothers. One was born with a gift of darkness, and he was afraid of it. He tried to ignore it, but one day he was angry, and he lashed out with his gift. He didn't mean to, he was only seven at the time, but in doing so he killed his mother. He couldn't understand what had happened, why his mother wasn't moving anymore, and he yelled for help. His father came, and saw what he had done, and banished him to the dungeons of the palace. His father was afraid of him and what he could do. So this boy spent his life below the palace, and he had instructors who would come and teach him the ways of the world. He had no other friends, for he was not allowed to leave the palace, but his brother would come and play with him. His brother was not afraid of him, and loved him even though he had killed their mother. When the boy turned eighteen, he escaped the palace, running to a far off land that was uninhabited. He thought he would be free there, able to do whatever he pleased. You see, he was angry. Very angry at being kept in the palace dungeons, angry at his father for putting him there, and angry at himself. He began to explore his gift, his darkness. He learned how to kill, and how to bring that which he killed back to life. He brought others to his land to experiment on them. He was amassing his own army of undead people, using them to do whatever he pleased. He was happy, he was no longer alone, and no one could hurt him. When his father caught wind of what he was doing, he traveled to see him, thinking he could talk sense into him. He knew he may have to kill his firstborn son if things did not go well. He never returned from that visit with his son. The younger brother, in his fathers absence, became the new King."

"Where is the boy now?" I asked, when Nevan paused. "That's Evalon, right? No one else ever tried to stop him?"

"I tried," Nevan said quietly. "He killed my wife, Eleanor. He turned her into one of his Vaka, his undead. I escaped to raise my son and keep my kingdom safe. The type of darkness Evalon has cannot be fought with light. It must be fought with the same darkness."

"I'm sorry," I said, "but I still don't understand what this has to do with me. Why did Evalon keep me in the prison? Why have you taken me?"

"We believe you have the darkness that can rival Evalon's," Rhys cut in, leaning forward and looking at me, his eyes bright. "You can stop him, finally."

I shook my head, "No, no, I don't have anything like that. I can't do anything like that. I can't help you."

"There was a prophecy spoken by one of our seers many years ago. It spoke of a child of darkness, born to take the crown, matched in power to the one already dark," Nevan explained.

"I don't have any sort of power!" I yelled, getting up out of the bed. "I don't have anything! I can't do anything to help you! I appreciate you getting me out of the prison, I really do, but there's nothing I can do to help. I'm nothing."

Rhys grabbed my hand, and I flinched at his contact. I was still not used to feeling the skin of another on mine. I tried to pull away, but he held tight. "Friadus watched you your whole life. He worked for Evalon. He knew you were being kept in that dungeon because you were a danger to Evalon. Every day, when he would bring you your meals, he was told to sprinkle a powder on them. They were keeping your powers from you, Leila. They were slowly poisoning you and keeping you in the dark, so you never had the chance to become what the prophecy foretold."