Links

Chapter Eleven

Althea followed the queen down the stone corridor, her still partially wounded leg protesting at the hurried pace. Something was wrong—more so than had already become evident was wrong—and although the princess felt her fatigue and irritation with the situation beginning to set in, she followed like an obedient dog because she knew she now had no choice. With this thing...this 'mirror bond,' as the queen had called it...the blonde shook her head. A part of her wasn't entirely convinced that it was her doing, but she did understand she had been rather ignorant to her magical abilities for most of her life. She knew only what her parents had allowed her to be taught—everything else had been learn-by-doing or learn-by-reading.

The queen was right though—she had never put much effort into studying Link magic.

A twinge of pain struck her in the elbow and Althea realized the queen had scraped her own elbow on the frame of the archway she led them through in her hurry to get where she was going. The princess shook her head again.

This is insane. What am I going to do? I can't bring her back to Escadus like this!

"Thiago."

When the blonde next looked up she saw the queen had halted and she had to skid to a half herself to avoid colliding with the taller woman's backside. Before them stood the great emerald stag, his silvery eyes finding Althea's almost immediately, and she felt an odd sense of hatred swell within her.

"What is it my queen?" Thiago inquired, turning his gaze back to his leader. "Why are you without escorts? Surely you realize—"

The queen held up a palm and the beast's words fell away without further question. The princess briefly wondered how it would feel to command that level of respect from a subject. Or was it merely obedience stemming from fear?

"Have any of the patrols reported cities in distress?"

"Distress, my queen?"

"Afflictions. Hospitalizations."

"I do not understand, Your Majesty." The stag tilted his head, the eyes flashing briefly to Althea and back again. She felt herself begin to scowl. Then, abruptly, the Murderer Queen fixed her with an intense, brown-eyed stare. Althea averted her eyes, uncomfortable under the gaze.

"Tell him, Princess. Tell him what you told me."

Althea was surprised to hear that the woman wanted her to speak instead, but she knew better than to refuse. The stag's eyes were on hers, suspicious and...there was another emotion, but she couldn't quite place what it was. He unnerved her.

"My kingdom is very ill," the princess began, for some reason feeling that she needed to prove herself worthy of this creature's attention more so than the others she'd encountered since her arrival. "Something is affecting the magic-bearing citizens. It's even gone so far as to affect third form Links."

"If that is so, why are you not afflicted as well?" Thiago asked, his voice low and devoid of emotion.

"We're not yet sure how it spreads, but it's believed it is only activated once an infected individual uses their magic. When I left, they were discussing banning the use of magic in the kingdom to attempt to slow the spread. I do not yet know if that has been an effective course of action."

"Describe the symptoms," pressed the emerald stag, taking a step closer and lowering his head.

"Fever, nausea, extreme fatigue. Some individuals are bleeding to death because their blood won't clot. Their magic becomes sporadic and unpredictable and the only way we seem to be able to stop them from being a danger to themselves and others—and to slow the progression of the disease itself—is to put them under a sleeping spell."