Page 23 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
I wondered if it was the murder of his father that had fuelled him, or simply the madness of the darkness beneath. Had it fuelled all the others? The bloodshed and tyrannical reign of all the Mortal Kings before, who desired magic enough to forfeit their souls?
Something strange moved across my shoulder blades, sharp eyes digging into my spine.
I turned, only to see a passing of shadow at the end of the hall as the morning sun seeped back through the clouds.
‘Katherine,’ came the breathless greeting from Master Hale, as he hobbled through the chamber doors, his smile bright, shoulders pushed back with pride.
‘You did excellently.’ He grinned, placing a reassuring hand on my arm. ‘How has Alma settled?’
‘She changed again,’ I sighed, finding some relief in admitting that worry.
‘Bird?’ He frowned.
‘Cat,’ I half-winced, knowing I should be grateful. Alma as a bird left a mess everywhere; at least as a cat she had more control.
‘I’m sure her nerves will settle.’ He rummaged in his pocket before pulling out a small tin of chocolates, Alma’s favourite from the southern markets. ‘I picked these up on my travels. I’m sure they can entice her back.’
‘Thank you.’ I smiled, turning them over. If anything could convince Alma to come back, it was chocolate. I ran my thumb across the metal tin, thinking of how Alma secretly kept each one, like they were precious treasures, never having received a gift until she’d met Master Hale.
‘Blackthorn is delayed.’ He rummaged in his robe pocket again, pulling out that key and handing it over to me. I took it gingerly, and felt that it was warm from his touch. The silver was intricately carved with the swoop of knowledge runes.
How long I’d wished for such a thing, and how easily Blackthorn had handed it over. It was something even Master Hale couldn’t grant me.
‘Thank you,’ I whispered, despite knowing I was speaking those words to the wrong person as I curled both hands around the key. Unease lingered at just how quickly Blackthorn had accomplished such impossible things. Especially here.
‘I have so much I wish to tell you.’ Hale took my arm to guide me further down the hallway and away from the chamber. ‘However, you have important studies to be getting on with.’
In his usual guiding manner, Master Hale showed me the way to the mages’ doors, pointing out Blackthorn’s – the one we’d come through.
He was talking about the records halls, the libraries, the sections that might best interest me, but all I could taste was the bitterness of failure as Blackthorn’s words about the rebellion came back to haunt me.
The churning unease in my gut after seeing the Council’s hateful stares stayed with me. No matter the weight of that key in my grasp, all I could see was the empty fey quarters above, the sheet-covered body in that stairwell and how everything had fallen apart so easily.
‘I’m sorry it didn’t work,’ I whispered, trying to release some of the guilt gnawing at my bones. ‘That I wasn’t enough.’
Hale turned abruptly to face me, a solemn expression on his old face, his frail hand coming to rest on my shoulder. ‘We cannot see a decade of peace as failure, my dear.’
Peace for whom?I wanted to argue, but bit my tongue. Master Hale was trying. He was trying and that had to count for something. No matter how small his own rebellion was.
‘I have more meetings this week that I’m confident about. Peace Agreement amendments that should have happened sooner.’ His tone was soft but I could see the depth of his frown, the shadows beneath his eyes and how his old shoulders bowed under the weight of it all.
‘Was Blackthorn right about the rebellion?’ I asked, unnerved at just how unruly the world beyond these walls continued to be.
‘He would know better than me. The Blackthorns had a closer connection with the rebellion during the wars.’
That answer only troubled me further. Most who worked with the rebellion were taken care of as radicals after the wars, exiled in the name of peace to the far islands in the west. Others went underground to build up the fey rebellion again. One that was supposed to be dead.
‘If the rebels attack, Montagor and the Council won’t hold back,’ I whispered that truth, knowing I shouldn’t speak it at all. Not here.
‘If they attack, it’s because they seek a war as ardently as he does.’ Hale sighed with defeat.
‘Innocents will pay the price,’ I noted darkly. That’s all that would come from another war, the fey in the far lands suffering, being further oppressed and punished for crimes they hadn’t committed. Seen as rebels for merely possessing magic.
‘That hasn’t bothered either side before.’ Hale’s tone was clipped with irritation. I understood why, as he leaned heavily on that cane, breath rattling weakly in his chest. All the time he’d put into saving this world and it still wished only to tear itself apart. ‘Now you can help them in your own way with your partnership.’
‘You trust him.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘I do.’ He nodded without hesitation. ‘I would have called on him sooner but he’s a hard man to track down. A ghost, some would say.’
