I opened my eyes and took a painful gasp of air. The room in which I lay spun around once before settling into focus, and I realized that I was no longer outside on the battlements but inside the palace. My head throbbed where I had been struck, but the rest of my body stung as if I had been sliced by hundreds of paper cuts. Carefully, I pulled myself into a sitting position, casting a warning look at the stone walls in case they decided to shift again, and I glanced down at my arms. I was bandaged almost from head to toe, looking very much like a mummy. I almost laughed at myself, until I saw that the white cloth was soaked through with blood in several places. I bit my lip and tried to remember how this had happened to me.
The door creaked as someone stepped quietly into the room, I turned my head and smiled as I caught Jakob tiptoeing toward the bed, holding a bowl of steaming soup in his hand. He froze like a deer caught in headlights, then relaxed and frowned at me.
“You should be sleeping,” he scolded, “and lying down.”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “What happened?”
He put the bowl down on the small table next to my bed, and sat in the chair beside it. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and tenting his fingers. He stared directly at me.
“You were attacked, by Ellena,” he said. “She hit you over the head. We’re not sure how she scratched you up so badly, since your guards arrested her as soon as you hit the ground, but we’ll get her to admit what she did.”
I shook my head. “No, the scratches I did myself… sort of. Where’s Ellena now?”
Jakob leaned back and raised an eyebrow at me. “In the dungeon, where she belongs. Leila, what did you do?”
“She’s in the dungeon?” I exclaimed.
“Don’t change the subject.”
I sighed and looked down at my hands. “Well, those soldiers I sent into the battle? Apparently whenever one was destroyed, a cut would appear on my body. I thought I could handle it, make them retreat when things got too bad, but then…”
“But then Ellena knocked you over the head, and while the Huryl smashed your soldiers to pieces, you were sliced to ribbons,” Jakob finished, shaking his head.
I didn’t say anything, knowing he was right. Still, I was confident that if Ellena hadn’t stopped me, I would have been able to defeat Mattis once and for all. I would have become the Promised Child the Dyrel desperately wanted me to be. I could have saved them. Jakob rose to his feet and walked to the small window on the far wall. I watched him, moving only my eyes to follow him across the room.
“Leila, you shouldn’t be pushing yourself like this,” he said, the hesitation and awkwardness evident in his voice. “You’re not the warrior people think you are. They don’t know you. All they see is the prophecy, not you.”
He turned to look at me. “You’re a stranger from a strange world, and you owe nothing to this world. Don’t kill yourself trying to save it.”
“You don’t think I can do it?” I asked.
“I don’t think you should have to,” Jakob replied. “Mattis, Damaeon, even Fynn, they’re all taking advantage of you to fulfill an obscure promise that was made hundreds of years ago.”
“After all this, you still don’t believe in the prophecies?”
Jakob took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know why the spirits listen to you, but I don’t think it’s only because of a promise made to them. Just be careful, okay?”
I nodded. Jakob smiled at me and headed for the door. As he reached out to turn the knob, he hesitated for a second.
“At first, I was doing this for the prophecy,” I said. “I thought I would be able to go home if I did what I was asked. But then, I met you, and Fynn, and Clothis, and Damaeon, and everyone else in this world, and I realized that I could do something to keep it safe for all of you. I don’t know if I believe in the prophecy either, but I do know that I can help bring peace to your world.”
Jakob waited a moment longer before opening the door and exiting without a sound. As the door closed softly behind him, I picked up the bowl of soup gingerly with my bandaged hands, and began to eat.
***
I peeked around the corner and checked in both directions. It was deserted, not even a guard standing by the entrance to prevent me from escaping. I smiled to myself and moved as silently as I could away from my bedroom and towards the stairs leading to the dungeon. I knew there would be guards down there, and so I was relying on my fame to let me pass without permission from the Prince.
I had managed to dress myself once again in a white robe. Although my original robe had been shredded and bloodstained from battle, I found that it had been replaced by one nearly identical. As I put it on gingerly over my wounds, I wondered whose bright idea it was to keep me dressed like a mystic, instead of a normal girl or even a lady of the court.
The dungeon was lit by torches along the walls, and I could see the fire spirits dancing in the flames as I passed. At the bottom of the stairs, down a long corridor, was a barred entrance to the prison cells, and a large guard stood there with his arms folded across his chest. This man would be my first obstacle. I squared my shoulders painfully and walked right up to him.
“Halt,” the guard ordered, holding out one arm to block my way. “No one may pass by order of Prince Damaeon.”
I looked at him square in the eye. “The Prince has given me permission. Stand aside.”
“Forgive me, my Lady,” the guard stammered, “but I’ve got my orders.”
I rolled my eyes. “Listen, I’m in a bit of a hurry. How about you let me pass, and if I get caught, I’ll tell the Prince I cast a spell on you or something? That way you won’t get in trouble.”
The guard shrugged. “As long as you don’t let the prisoner out, you can talk to her all you want.”
He moved his arm, and I thanked him. I passed through the first barricade and made my way down the dimly lit passage. At the far end, I could see light peeking out from beneath a closed wooden door, and I assumed that was where they were holding the sorceress Ellena.
I found her chained to the wall, looking very haggard. Her porcelain skin was smudged with dirt, and her cheeks stained with tears. Her hands were held above her head, with heavy iron manacles around her wrists. She raised her head as I entered and smiled faintly.
“I’m happy you’re all right, Leila,” she said. “I apologize for the bump I must have given you.”
I shrugged. “The bump isn’t bothering me as much as the headache. Why did you do it? Why didn’t you stay in the tower?”
“I had to stop you from killing Mattis,” Ellena sighed.
“Even after all he’s done to you? You came here seeking sanctuary from him, and now you’re trying to protect him?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “I don’t have any pressing business. Tell me about it.”
The sorceress looked at me with her green eyes, searching my soul for any signs of betrayal. I stared back openly, wanting her to trust me so I could better understand her. She had helped me so much in the past, I wanted to be able to repay some of that.
“Mattis was a kind youth,” Ellena said. “He was innocent and naïve, full of life and promise. It was too easy for me to fall in love with him. I gave him all my affection and skill, granting him whatever he desired. At first, he wished for trivial things, like a crown of flowers for my hair, but he soon became greedy and ambitious.”
Ellena paused for a moment, fresh tears beading in her eyes.
“He joined the army and rose quickly through the ranks, thanks to my help. He wanted to be in control, to command the troops. At first, I thought it was out of loyalty to his king until I saw him for what he had become. I had fulfilled his heart’s desires, and left him empty, so he sought power to fill the void.”
“Why didn’t you stop him?” I asked quietly.
She shook her head slightly, jingling the chains that bound her. “It was too late by then. I had alienated my family against me, and they cast me aside. I was bound to Mattis by an unbreakable bond, and I am still bound. This is why I can’t destroy him.”
I took a deep breath and winced against the pain. I was moved by Ellena’s story, and I wanted to help her break whatever held her to Mattis, to free her from his tyranny.
“The bond can’t be that strong,” I assured her. “You’re here, aren’t you? You left him and came to us.”
Ellena laughed coldly. “And what makes you so sure this isn’t part of his plan? Perhaps I’m here to spy on you, Leila Sinclair. Perhaps I’m here to kill you.”
I shook my head. “If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me yesterday. No, I think the bond is weakening. If you truly desire your freedom, you’ll find a way to sever it.”
The imprisoned sorceress stared at me in disbelief. The tears were rolling freely down her face, and I reached up with the sleeve of my robe to wipe the aside. I smiled at her and turned to leave, hoping that she would use her time in the dungeon to think about what she had said.
“Wait,” she called to me.
I paused at the door to her cell, glancing back at her over my shoulder.
“There’s only one way to end this war,” she said. “The silver acorn. Talk to the elves. They will tell you what must be done.”
At the top of the dungeon stairs, I found Prince Damaeon and Jakob. They were both frowning and looked displeased. Jakob was even tapping his foot as he glared at me. I smiled sheepishly and raised a hand to wave hello.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Jakob asked.
“I’m fine,” I told him for the second time. “It barely hurts.”
“It was a mistake to let you participate in the battle,” Damaeon said. “Should the Huryl come again, I want you safely in the caves with the evacuees.”
“But I helped!” I protested. “I kept the siege towers from coming!”
“You made an army and nearly killed yourself,” Jakob added.
I stuck out my tongue at him and turned my attention back to the Prince. Quickly, I told him what Ellena had said about the silver acorn, and how the elves could help us find it. The Prince looked skeptical and stroked his chin as he considered my words.
“You really think the sorceress can be trusted after she nearly killed you?” he asked.
“The Huryl are still in the Spirit Woods,” I told him. “If I can sneak out of the city and go to the Elven Queen, maybe I can stop this war before more people die.”
“If you sneak out of the city, you’ll be a target for the Huryl,” Jakob protested. “They’ll grab you in a second. Who knows? Maybe Ellena knew you would do something so foolish and there’s an ambush waiting for you.”
I turned to the Prince, knowing the final decision was his. I could escape to the caves behind Oponoe and protect the evacuees from possible attack, or I could sneak into the forest and find the elves and the mysterious silver acorn. The choice was up to him.