Heir

Chapter 2, Scene 8

Leitha lay restlessly in her bed, tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable. Realizing that it was her mind that was not at ease, rather than her body, she decided to get up. She would often feel restless when Seimon was away, but something about this feeling was different than usual. It wasn’t concern for her husband that troubled her. Wrapping herself in a robe to shield herself from the cool night air, she lit a candle and left her bedchamber.

She took a moment to look in on Dace and Darrin, whom shared a room. The boys slept soundly. Typically, when she felt troubled she would go to the library, since reading always helped to relax her. But tonight she sensed danger there, so she turned in the opposite direction and began wandering down dark, empty corridors towards Ebonwood Castle’s great hall. Occasionally, she would pass a guard in a hallway. She would smile politely to them and they would bow their head respectfully, but not a word was spoken in the quiet.

Leitha was only slightly alarmed when she came to realize that she had made a circuit of the castle’s corridors and now stood in the library, staring blankly at the cabinet. She felt the urge to open it, to peer into that book she had happened upon the day before, but she recalled that the cabinet was locked and the key was with her husband. Pushing thoughts of that mysterious book out of her mind, she began perusing the library for something else – anything else – to read. A few moments later, she found herself standing still, her vision transfixed again on the cabinet door.

That was it; she knew she had to get out of there. She left the library and headed for the kitchen, which was at the opposite end of the castle. With hurried steps, she tried to put as much distance between her and the library as she could, as quickly as possible. She was shocked when she suddenly realized she was again standing in the middle of the library staring at the cabinet. It was as if the castle corridors had somehow turned in on themselves, cutting off any means of escape from the library and that book.

It was too much. This dreadful urge was more than she could bear. Glancing around the library again, Leitha spotted an old battleaxe mounted high on the wall. She desperately pushed piles of books aside until she had cleared a path for her to move a chair next to the wall. Standing on the chair she was just able to reach the axe. The old weapon was heavy in her hands. Raising it high above her head, she brought it down hard against the cabinet door. The wood of the cabinet cracked and splintered under the impact. She felt like a murderous woman on a rampage as she brought the axe down again and again. Finally, she tore away what was left of the door, revealing the contents of the cabinet.

There it was – that book which haunted her every thought. Dropping the axe at her feet, she carefully reached past the splintered remains of the cabinet door, like reaching into the open maw of some terrible beast, to retrieve the book. She held it in her hands once again. The leather-bound cover felt warm to her touch. That strange image on the front – a sigil of the Old Ones, as her husband had revealed – seemed to beckon to her. Leitha felt suddenly the fear of being caught, like when she had been sneaking biscuits from the kitchen as a girl. Moving to the doorway, she peered up and down the corridor to see if there was anyone up and about. Seeing nobody, she closed the door and settled into her favorite reading chair. Placing her candle on the small table next to her, she held the heavy, old tome in her lap and slowly, fearfully, opened the front cover.

Inside, was another rendition of the sigil from the cover – a hand wreathed in fire within the outline of a hexagon – this time rendered in red ink, and surrounded by other sigils she didn’t recognize. The next page presented a wall of text in a strange script. Leitha recognized it as an ancient runic system of the Aldmen, but she could not read it. She turned the page again and found more of the same. As she flipped through the pages she began to find strange diagrams she couldn’t make sense of and illustrations that were unclear to her. One page displayed a rendition of a human skeleton, with several bones broken at very precise points. Runes scrawled next to the image seemed to provide commentary on the significance of it. Another page showed an image of some ancient structure, a ring of tall stones standing around a well. There were many elaborate drawings of fire. As Leitha would turn a page that held such a drawing, she would think for a second that she had glimpsed a face among the flames, but when she turned back she could no longer see it.

As she read, her candle seemed to burn hotter. The chill of the night abandoned the room, and the air grew warm and oppressive. Leitha had soon shed her robe. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. Before she realized it, her thin nightgown was soaked through.

Suddenly, there was something on her arm, the soft touch of someone else’s skin against her own. Leitha looked up in alarm and saw Odette peering curiously over her shoulder. The girl quickly drew back with a scream as her sleeve burst into flames. Leitha leapt to her feat, dropping the book on the floor. She was frozen by shock and terror as she saw the girl scream and flail about, trying in vain to shake the flames off of her arm. Leitha snapped out of her shock and snatched up her robe. She had to struggle a little with Odette, whom was in a state of panic, but she managed to wrap the robe around the girl’s arm, smothering the fire.

Two guards were at the open doorway in moments.

“She’s been burnt. Help me get her to the kitchen.” Leitha said to one guard. Turning to the other she said: “You get the steward.”

The first guard scooped the girl up in his arms and carried her to the kitchen while the other one disappeared down the corridor. While the guard was setting Odette down on a table, Leitha retrieved a basin of water. Tearing the sleeve of the girl’s nightdress away, she submerged Odette’s arm in the cool water. Odette was crying and whimpering as she bit hard on her bottom lip.

“That’s a brave girl.” Leitha said soothingly as she stroked the girl’s face and neck.

“What’s happened?” Imrich was by their side now. He had clearly been roused from a deep sleep, but his eyes were wide and attentive to the plight of his granddaughter.

“I, uh…” Leitha didn’t quite know how to answer. “I guess she got her sleeve too close to my candle.”

It didn’t quite fit what Leitha had seen, but it was the only explanation she could think of that made any sense.

*****