The Black Orb Page 5

  "And where's the key?" Aria smiled to herself. The story gets better and better. What manner of a fool does the old man take me to be?

  Bikkar pulled a frayed leather strap from under his tunic. Hanging from it was a golden key. Even in the diminishing sunlight, the key shone brightly.

  Aria reached to touch it. As she ran her finger over its smooth surface, she decided it must be solid gold.

  Bikkar tucked it back under his tunic.

  "Well, it seems you're prepared to retrieve the Dragon Claw. How are you going to destroy the Orb with it?" Aria pushed back a strand of curly black hair that had escaped from her headband.

  "I won't destroy the Orb." Bikkar stared at her. "You will."

  "I will?"

  "Yes, you will."

  Aria burst out laughing. The laughter bubbled out from inside her until she stood and forced clam upon herself. "Oh, my, this gets better and better. You want me to take out this... This legendary Dragon Claw and destroy the Orb. Just like that. Poof!"

  "I think it might be a little more difficult than that."

  "You don't say!" Aria sat down again.

  "Not to mention dangerous," he added, clearly undaunted by her sarcasm. "It will be a long journey. The Dragon Claw, once acquired, could destroy its wielder just as easily as it could destroy the Black Orb."

  "Great! So not only do I have to run halfway across the kingdom searching for a mysterious talisman, but also if I manage to succeed, it could prove to be harmful to me." Aria shook her head. "Do you think I am a fool to say yes to your brainless ideas?"

  Bikkar sighed. "No, I don't think you're a fool, but perhaps you've a better plan to save your brother before he's either sent to the training barracks by the Queen when she gets bored with him or killed by the Grand Vizier Dilbaar in a fit of jealousy."

  "Why would Dilbaar be jealous of my brother?"

  "Didn't you see the look of loathing in his eyes when he saw your brother sit with the Queen?" Bikkar said. "He's very close to the Queen. He's her confidant. Do you think he will allow anyone else to take the position of Queen's consort for long? It would undermine his influence with her. He may be an eunuch, but don't make the mistake of underestimating his intelligence or ruthlessness."

  Aria pressed the tips of her fingers over her eyelids. Now that he mentioned it, she realized that she had detected a faint undercurrent of resentment emanating from the vizier when Marcus sat close to the Queen.

  Whatever the reason, it would be foolhardy to leave Marcus in such dangerous circumstances for long. Bikkar was right, she admitted reluctantly. It would be next to impossible to sneak into the palace and rescue Marcus, especially when he clearly did not want to be rescued.

  "So why don't you take the Dragon Claw out of its confinement yourself?" she said.

  Bikkar seemed to sense her acquiescence to his plan in her question. "In order to ensure that a potent weapon such as the Dragon Claw didn't fall into the wrong hands, the wizards who hid it took great pains to make sure that no one with any magical powers could access its hiding place."

  "So are you saying that you've magical powers?"

  "Some."

  Aria raised her eyebrows at him. "Don't tell me! You can conjure fire. You can make yourself disappear. You can... What can you do? I haven't seen you do anything magical at all."

  "As I said, the Black Orb sucks the magic out of all living beings. I've been saved from it up until now because of a protection I wear a charm of a sort that makes me invisible to the Orb's power. But it will continue to work only if I never use my gift while still under the influence of the Black Orb. And that means until I leave the kingdom, I can't use my magical powers."

  Aria snorted. "What good is a wizard who can't use magic?"

  It was hard to imagine the old man sitting opposite her with any sort of real magical ability. Most likely he was lying. Perhaps he thought she would cooperate with him better if she believed him to be a wizard. No matter. Her agenda was clear--to save her brother. For that, she would go along with any lie Bikkar spun.

  "Why are you interested in destroying the Black Orb?" She walked over to the horse and pulled free her blanket. Rolling it out on the hard ground, she laid down on it.

  Bikkar stood and began his usual slow surveillance of their surroundings.

  "The Queen's readying an army to invade her neighboring kingdoms. If she does so, surely she will use the Orb to steal the magic out of all living beings in other kingdoms. This would increase the power of the Black Orb. She would use it to subvert the rest of us to her will as she has done to the people of this kingdom," he said, never stopping his surveillance.

  "So, you want to save the world?" Really, did the old man think she would buy his noble intentions?

  "Yes, and because if she controls the world, there will be no place safe enough for a person like me. What harms one of us harms us all."

  "Whatever." Aria suppressed a yawn, turned her back and went to sleep. The journey to the Forest of the Dryads would be long, and she would need all her strength. Whatever motivation Bikkar felt to destroy the Orb, she had an even bigger one--Marcus.

  For her brother she would do anything, even if it pushed her to the limits of her endurance and killed her in the process. At whatever cost, she would save Marcus.

  Chapter Six

  Bikkar decreed Aria could not return to Kalaba.

  "Who does he think he's? Telling me how to go about my life?" Aria wrapped the scroll she had written for Shayla, all the while muttering her displeasure with Bikkar.

  According to Mr. Know-It-All, the search for them was most likely still on. Ever since they had broken into the Archives room, the guards in Kalaba were probably still looking for them. He said it would be was pointless to take a risk with their lives and freedom when they were about to embark on a mission of such importance.

  Aria disagreed. After all, no one would be able to identify them as the suspects of that break-in. None of the guards managed to get a good look at their faces, and Aria had been wearing a disguise anyway.

  To her annoyance, Bikkar dismissed her argument. "You'll not take that chance, and neither will I. There's no time to waste...unless you aren't interested in seeing your brother again."

  That particular threat had ended the discussion.

  She beckoned the trader awaiting her instructions. He had agreed to carry the scroll to Kalaba. "Take it straight to Shayla. Don't you dare enter a tavern before you hand this over to her, or your wife will hear about how you lost five gold coins playing cards, rather than having your purse stolen as you told her."

  "I'll go straight to her house," he promised.

  "Did you have to threaten him?" Bikkar mounted his horse and motioned for her to follow him. They had already doused the fire and rolled up their blankets. Their satchels were tied to the horses' saddles.

  "If I hadn't, he would've run to the nearest tavern upon entering Kalaba and forgotten all about delivering the scroll to Shayla." Picking up her skirts, she stood on a log to mount her mare.

  "You didn't write down our final destination in that scroll, did you? If it fell into the wrong hands…"

  "I'm not an idiot," Aria said before he could finish. "I simply wrote that Marcus was safe and I would bring him home soon. If I didn't send her a message, she would worry."

  "You care about her, don't you?" Bikkar turned the horse off the highway and into the knee-high grass that covered the land in all directions.

  Aria shrugged, not caring to have her feelings analyzed. "She's Marcus's lover, not mine. Why can't we follow the same path through that side of the highway?" She gestured in the direction they had traveled from Kalaba to Akba.

  "It's best not to," he said, and spurred his horse forward.

  Aria had no choice but to follow him. The horses galloped across the wide plains, leaving in their wake flattened grass and clouds of dust. Ahead was the endless plain, extending as far as eye could see. A few trees broke the monotony here and there
, but most of it was covered with the same knee-high grass.

  "There, do you see that?" Bikkar yelled after a while. He pointed.

  Aria looked. A herd of elephants was walking into the distant horizon. The huge beasts, grey and wrinkly, lumbered sedately one after another. "They're majestic," she said.

  "That they are," agreed Bikkar.

  The elephants were soon left behind as the horses galloped across the plains, eating away the distance with an easy grace. When they reached a pond of murky water, Bikkar pulled to a halt.

  "We won't stop here for long," he said, as they led the horses to the water. "This place is bound to attract every predator within ten leagues. And I don't want to be meat for a lion or a pack of hyenas."

  Sighing, Aria washed her face and made sure that her headband covered the top of her hair, protecting her head from the afternoon heat. She dried her hands and stared at her smooth palms. Could Bikkar really be right? Did the lack of lines on her hand mean she had more control over her destiny than other people?

  The abnormality had always worried her. Did the absence of lines on her hands make her unique?

  Not that she felt unique in any way. She felt scared and helpless. It didn't matter how many times she foraged for food, conned people out of their gold so she could buy clothes for her brother, or even act as a harlot so they could live in comfort, she had always had the comfort of knowing Marcus was there to protect her. He was the rock in her sea of chaos. He was the anchor in her life.

  Now she was adrift. And he wasn't here to save her.

  "Ready to leave?" Bikkar squatted down next to her and splashed water on his face.

  "Yes." She got up. Stuck as she was with the old man, maybe it was time to make the best of it. After all, he was helping her save her brother. "You never did tell me how I would use the Dragon Claw to destroy the Black Orb."

  Bikkar stood up and wiped his wet hands on his robes. "I don't know exactly how..."

  "You don't know...what?" Aria stomped her feet, incensed by his casual tone. "Are you telling me that we're on a quest to find this mythical magical weapon that might prove to be dangerous and you don't even know how it would work?"

  "Magical weapons don't come with instruction sheets," he growled and moved towards his horse. "Once we get there, I'll find a way."

  "Oh, right." Aria followed him, curbing a desire to kick him. "So once we get there, I'll just stand in a corner and scratch my head while you try to find a way to make the weapon work...if it ever does?"

  "You know what?" Bikkar whirled around to face her. "You're the crabbiest person I've met in my entire life. I wish I'd never laid eyes on you."

  "Well, that's exactly how I feel about you." Aria placed her hands on her hips and stared at him. "If it wasn't for my brother, I would never have agreed to this half-crazy plan of yours."

  Bikkar stalked to his horse. Once mounted, he galloped off, leaving Aria shrouded in a cloak of dust.

  "I hate that man," she muttered. She stamped her feet again, wishing it was his dead body she was stomping on. After spitting the dust out from her mouth, she mounted her horse and followed the cloud of dust he'd left behind.

  Days blurred into weeks as they crossed the plains. Eventually they reached the twin cities of Dippi and Islo. They were actually two neighboring villages on the bank of River Ziar that had over the years grown so big that they were just a stone's throw apart.

  Since their last fight, Aria had barely exchanged a word with Bikkar. They had fallen instead into a routine of riding from dawn to dusk, stopping only for meal breaks in the middle of the day.

  "May we stop for a decent meal at a tavern?" she said as they stepped inside the city gate of Dippi. It was the first time she had asked him for anything since their argument. Tired of their sparse meals, she longed to sit at a table and eat decent food, even if it meant swallowing her pride and making up with the old codger.

  To her surprise, he nodded. The tavern nearest the gate had a stable attached. After they tied their horses, they entered together.

  It was a simple place. Against one wall was a fireplace, but no fire was lit at this time of the day. Dangling from a rope above the wooden counter was half a roasted pig. A number of cooked chickens and pigeons hung nearby. "We'll have some of that." Bikkar pointed towards the pig. "And your best ale, bread and cheese to go with it."

  "The stew is fresh today," the man behind the counter said. His lean face was covered by a bushy beard and there was a thin scar above his left eyebrow.

  "No stew." Aria longed to bite into a fleshy hunk of meat. During their journey, they'd had no time to hunt and their meals had consisted mostly of fruits, cheese and bread or stew made of dried meat and whatever vegetables Bikkar managed to scavenge from the plains. "Please!"

  "You look like you've traveled a long way, pretty lady." The man pulled down the pig and cut two generous slabs. "Where're you from?"

  "Akba," Bikkar answered before she could do so.

  Pushing the trencher of meat towards them, the man turned to pour ale from a jug. "And what brings you here?"

  "I'm taking my daughter to visit her maternal grandmother who lives in a hamlet on the other side of the river. It's been a while since we've been there and the old lady's getting on in years." Bikkar picked up the trencher and ale glasses and took them to a table on the far side of the room.

  "What is this new story you're concocting?" Aria whispered.

  "Shhh." He placed the food on the table. "Eat."

  Shaking her head in annoyance, Aria sat down. "You're an accomplished liar."

  "No better than you, my dear."

  "My name is Alian." The counterman said when he set a hunk of cheese and a slab of coarse bread on the table. "That'll be two silver coins."

  "That's robbery!" Aria nearly spat out the meat she was chewing. "Why, in Kalaba...and Akba, I could buy twice as much food for that amount."

  "Well, we charge more around these parts." Unconcerned with her accusations, the counterman sat down with them.

  "It's the river bridge," Bikkar explained. "They've the only bridge in the area that goes across the river. All the travelers going to and fro need to enter the city to do so. Hence the higher prices in the taverns and markets."

  "That's right." Alian thumped Bikkar on his back. "See, your old man knows the game. So, what's your name?"

  "Maria," she announced, resisting an urge to stomp on one of his feet. The way he was leering at her made her angry. What was it about the men that they could never behave decently around a lady? Except Bikkar, she realized. He had never laid a finger on her or made any attempt to force himself on her, despite their close proximity over the past few weeks.

  "That's a nice name for a pretty lady," Alian smirked.

  Aria looked down at her food and tried to ignore him, hoping he would go away.

  He, however, seemed determined to spend more time with them. "So, perhaps, you'll stay in the city for a few days before moving on?"

  "No. We'll be on our way as soon as we've eaten," Bikkar said.

  "Better to be careful these days," Alain said. "There're strange things happening in the countryside. Maybe it's not a safe place for a gentle lady such as your daughter."

  "What strange things?"

  After placing his elbows on the table, Alian leaned towards Aria. "I heard a few travelers tell how they ran across a contingent of the Queen's soldiers who warned them that another company of guards was attacked and killed on the highway. Seems some men, dressed in a strange manner, crossed the highway. When the Queen's guards challenged them, instead of stopping and answering their questions, the strangers killed all the soldiers, save for one, who ran into the plains like a scared chicken." He guffawed.

  "Strangers? What kind of strangers?" Bikkar said.

  Aria noticed his face was deathly pale. What was up with him?

  "Well, they didn't exactly say." Alian scratched his beard. "Just that they were dressed in nothing but loincloths." He
winked at Aria. "And carried spears, was all I heard."

  "How did they manage to kill the Queen's guards with spears?" Aria said.

  "Well, strange it is," Alian said. "The Queen's guards are a fierce lot. Never heard of an entire company being killed before. I've heard that the strangers escaped without a loss of life or any injury. Talk is around these parts they were from a neighboring kingdom. It will serve them right when the Queen attacks the lot of them with her army."

  "So, it's true that the Queen's army is on the move?" Bikkar cut a slab of cheese and passed it on Aria.

  "The army's moving to the eastern border, that's what I heard," Alian nodded, his eyes boring into Aria's. "Also, the guards have been picking men from the streets and sending them off to Akba to be presented to the Queen. It seems she needs more soldiers."

  "What about you?" Bikkar asked. "Aren't you interested in joining Her Majesty's ranks and fighting the enemy? A strong man like you would make a brave soldier."

  Alian blanched. "Someone has to mind the store. Well, I better go see what the cook is up to. Have a nice meal."

  Aria watched thoughtfully as he went behind the counter and walked through a door hidden behind a curtain.

  "Well, that got rid of him fast." She grinned. "It seems no one wants to volunteer for the army. That must be why she picks up men from the streets."

  Bikkar seemed lost in thought.

  "What's wrong?" Aria prodded him on the arm.

  His expression worried, Bikkar shook his head. "It seems to me that the Queen is readying her army on all fronts. She's planning to attack more than one kingdom, which means she has a big enough army to counter all resistance. Not only that, she must have discovered a way to transport the Black Orb from one place to another within days. How else can she hope to eliminate the wizards who would support the armies of other kingdoms?"

  "What are you talking about?" Aria rolled her eyes.

  "Don't you see?" Bikkar gripped her hand fiercely. "There are wizards who can kill entire contingents of soldiers in moments, through fire, water or any other natural element. A number of powerful wizards together could bring an avalanche on an army, throw fireballs at them at rapid speed or change the course of a river to flow over them. Magic, suitably harnessed, is the most potent weapon in a war."