The Path of Giants Page 7

  It was later, when she was taking me to the church to meet her father and the townspeople who needed healing, that I asked her how it could be that her mother didn’t know our instructor was this sorcerer.

  “Because I have never told my parents.”

  “Why not?” I wondered.

  “It’s not that I care if my mother finds out. I just don’t want my father to hear it.”

  “I thought he and the king worked closely with each other.”

  “They do. Father knows all about Leon, but he doesn’t know he’s that sorcerer.”

  “So he doesn’t know that Leon was in prison for murder?”

  “He doesn’t know Leon was in prison at all. He never would’ve let me stay at the castle if he did. I’m sure the king has kept it from my father purposefully and told Leon never to divulge the truth to us. I bet the king doesn’t even know that Leon blabbed.”

  “What about Reuben’s parents?” I asked. “Don’t you think Reuben has told his father about Leon’s past?”

  “I imagine he hasn’t, either.” She squinted with a glance. “I know you were close with your father, but I don’t think it’s regular for a sorcerer to want to divulge that information if they wish to retain their position.”

  “Maybe not for nobility,” I commented. “I don’t mean to offend,” I added. “I just think I’m realizing that noble families work a little differently than most others. It’s almost as if the patriarch is king over the land he owns and the people in his life.”

  She looked down, making me wonder how accurate my words were.

  “I’m no expert,” I said. “If you tell me I’m wrong, I’ll believe you.”

  “I’m not sure. You are at least accurate about my family, but my father is a good man. He cares about the people of his city and of Lycast. He can be a bit austere, but he only wants what’s best.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  I would try to, at least. I couldn’t so far.

  We came upon the church. Livea was the largest city I had visited after leaving Newhaven, and yet the line of people waiting for healing was shorter than most.

  “Hmm,” I mused.

  “What is it?”

  “I would’ve expected more people would need healing. The line was longer at most other places.”

  “I told you, my father cares about his people. We have a number of competent doctors in the city.”

  Kataleya’s father motioned for me to come to him as he stood in front of the open doorway to the church. There was a young man at the front of the line. He was only a couple years older than me, though he was so thin he looked as if his legs might snap under a little more weight. He seemed to be in pain as he stood slightly doubled over.

  “He can’t keep anything down,” Whitley explained with an empathetic look on his wrinkled face. “It’s been this way for weeks. The doctors here have tried everything, but he’s only gotten worse. I made sure he was at the front.”

  “And I thank you for that, my lord,” said the young man.

  “Let me see what I can do.” I could already feel that something was terribly wrong within his stomach. I put my hand over it. He winced.

  I pushed my mana out and gasped at what I felt. The problem was deep and extensive. The farther my mana traveled through his body, the more it found. I didn’t know what this was exactly, some sort of illness. It was like an infection, but it seemed worse. It was like his body didn’t know what to do with it. Even my mana seemed to tell me this was not something it could fix.

  I straightened my back and put my hand over my chin.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” asked the young man with glistening eyes.

  “Yes, I’m going to need some time. Let me focus for a while.”

  What followed was a long conversation between me and my mana.

  I began trying to heal, but it turned out to be too soon. All I had managed to do was bring out a few painful yelps from the young man. After a while of this, I started to lose hope. Perhaps his body had been altered so drastically that my mana didn’t know how to restore it to what it once was.

  The few dozen people were getting impatient as this went on for a quarter of an hour. I eventually had the idea to try something else. Rather than let my mana do all the work with me only casting the healing spell, I had to communicate an additional message. I didn’t just tell my mana to heal. I had to let my mana re-familiarize itself with the internal workings of my own body first—a body that was working correctly.

  Something seemed to click when I let my mana peruse through the young man’s stomach and surrounding organs once again. It finally knew what to do.

  “All right, this is going to hurt worse than anything you’ve ever felt,” I warned him.

  “Take my hand,” Kataleya told the young man.

  He nodded as he curled his lips inward.

  I healed, pouring my strength into the spell as it was the only way to get the job done. I could feel my mana changing the nature of his body, restoring it to how it used to be before there was so much damage—that is, to a system like mine.

  I didn’t want to stop until the spell was over, but it took too much out of me. I had to pause and catch my breath several times.

  After a few long minutes, I had eliminated the last of the severe illness that my mana could find. There had been so much, I was worried I might’ve missed a little and that it might come back. I searched a few more times, but I found nothing. I was barely on my feet by the end of it.

  Both of us were panting when I told him, “It’s done.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked in a shaky voice, finally releasing his grip on Kataleya’s hand.

  “You’re all better.”

  He put his hand over his stomach, then looked up with an expression of utter shock. He slowly stood up straight. Then he began to weep.

  “I haven’t felt hunger in months,” he choked out. “I can’t tell you how good it feels.”

  “He is cured!” Whitley announced, prompting applause. It wasn’t a moment before they finished that he added, “The healer that I have called here will now heal the rest of your issues.”

  There was another round of applause.

  I might’ve bristled at Whitley taking credit, but he was the one who was going to be taxing these people, after all. Those taxes would then be handed over to the king. I supposed it did make sense for them to feel gratitude toward him.

  That didn’t mean I had to like it, though.

  At least the young man seemed to appreciate what I had done, really appreciate it, as he shook my hand and continued to weep. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I think I owe you my life.”

  I could tell he wanted to embrace me, so I opened my arms. He practically fell into me and squeezed me with weak arms. It felt like hugging a skeleton.

  “Eat well, and you’ll soon get your strength back,” I told him. “You deserve it.”

  “Thank you so much,” he cried. “I owe you everything.”

  We parted. I had no doubt that he would’ve perished, but I told him the truth. “You don’t owe me anything. In fact, you helped me learn something about my own mana just now. So thank you as well.”

  He composed himself enough to bow. “You’re too kind.”

  When he left, Kataleya came at my side and asked, “What happened? I’ve never seen you take that long to heal anyone.”

  It was true. Even severely broken bones had been easier to mend.

  “I think mana is a lot more receptive to our thoughts than I first realized. I’ll have to think about it more later and let you know.”

  She nodded as she understood what I was trying to politely tell her. There were plenty more people waiting to be healed.

  The rest of the cases were easy to determine and resolve. I healed most people in under a minute, and soon I was done.

  “Are there any others coming from outside villages?” I asked Whitley.

  He made a face.

  Oh
that’s right. “My lord.”

  “No, that’s everyone. Your task is done. If you require anything from me, you are to let Kataleya know, and one of my servants will see to your request. You are also free to return to the castle whenever you wish, or you can stay the night and leave in the morning.”

  I wasn’t going to leave before I had the red diamond back in my possession. “I would prefer to stay, my lord.”

  “That is fine, however I do expect you to leave before noon tomorrow. Kataleya has a guest coming.”

  “Who, Father?” Kataleya asked.

  “Trevor.”

  “Oh.”

  Her father smiled but stopped when he saw Kataleya refusing to join him. “What’s the matter?” he asked with obvious worry.

  “Nothing,” she said. “I just wasn’t expecting him so soon. He sent word?”

  “Yes. You should be prepared for a proposal finally. Make sure you look your best.”

  “I will,” she said indifferently.

  Now I was even more eager to get my hands back on the red diamond, and perhaps I would be leaving sooner than tomorrow morning. I tried to convey this to Kataleya with a look. She gave me a small nod.

  All those I had healed had left by then. We started to head back to the mansion, but soon we were interrupted by one of Whitley’s uniformed servants running toward us, a grave look on his face.

  “My lord,” he said. “It’s your cousin. He’s on his way.”

  “How do you know?”

  “One of your scouts sent a missive. He should arrive this evening.”

  “What else?’

  “My lord?”

  Whitley appeared irritated. “Is he coming with anyone?”

  The servant looked at the note frantically, but Whitley snatched it out of his hands. “He’s riding alone?” Whitley asked as he read the small scroll. “This doesn’t make sense.” Then he turned to us. “Come on. I have a lot of work to do before the evening.”

  “We will catch up to you,” Kataleya said.

  Her father had lowered eyebrows. “Kataleya, you are to stay by my side right now.”

  “Yes, Father,” she said with a bowed head.

  We walked briskly back toward the mansion.

  I could think of many reasons why Kataleya might want to speak with me alone. The reason I hoped for the most was that she had a plan to recover the red diamond sooner rather than later. Another possible reason was because she wanted to tell me something about her soon-approaching proposal. I didn’t need to hear anything about that. In fact, it was probably better if I didn’t. I was generally strong-willed, but Kataleya could probably undo my resolve with a few choice words. I didn’t want that. Everything was finally starting to make sense.

  But I had other matters to worry about. I knew who Whitley’s cousin was. I knew why it was alarming for him to be visiting.

  “It’s Endell Gesh coming here?” I asked for confirmation.

  “Yes,” Kataleya said. Then she told me quietly, “I’m sure my father will not want you asking him questions about it.”

  Sometimes I didn’t like how well Kataleya knew me.

  The first time I had heard of Endell Gesh was a while ago. It was soon after the king had first told us to look for signs of corruption in the capital. I had been walking down the street when a dark mage going the other way had bumped my shoulder. It was his arrogant attitude, the man wanting to fight me, that led me to sense for anything amiss. I had felt an essence of dteria on him, which prompted me to follow him.

  I had watched him enter an inn, have a short discussion with the innkeeper, and leave with a pouch that turned out to have coin. After speaking with the innkeeper, a man named Mathew Plumb, I had learned that the dark mage was extorting the innkeeper. Mathew was too afraid to go to the guards because the dark mage had claimed that the head guard knew all about the extortion. It would only get Mathew killed.

  I had brought this information to the king, who promptly removed the head guard from power. Endell Gesh was the name of that head guard. The king’s councilman had figured Whitley might have a problem with the king removing his cousin from power, but there had been too many tales of Endell working with dark mages. The king had claimed Whitley would understand.

  I still remembered the fear in Mathew’s eyes as he very cautiously divulged this information to me. That was the last time I had seen him. I went back later to check on him, but his cousin had taken his place. Mathew had reached out to his cousin for help, and his cousin had murdered him and hid his body. He’d nearly killed me as well during one the bloodiest brawls of my life in the small office of the inn.

  I still felt pity for Mathew. He had been so afraid, and his worst nightmare had come true. It was Endell’s fault that Mathew, and many others, had been taken advantage of and even killed by dark mages.

  I didn’t know what the relationship had been like between Endell and Whitley before Endell’s removal. All I could see was that Whitley seemed to be in a hurry to prepare for his cousin’s arrival as we rushed back to the mansion.

  I did have many questions, but I was hesitant to say them aloud after Kataleya’s warning. Fortunately, I had a moment alone with her when Whitley rushed off to his office to send a message to the king. Kataleya quickly took me upstairs to my room. This time she shut the door without hesitation.

  “We must be brief,” she said. “I don’t want my father hearing this or spotting the door closed. I need to tell you that I wish I had more time. I’m not ready to make a decision. If I agree to Trevor’s marriage proposal, I will likely not be returning to the castle at all.”

  “What will you be doing?”

  “Seeing to his needs.” Her eyes flashed when she saw my reaction. “Not like that, Jon. Politically, I mean. I will help him with his duties.”

  But there was a romantic element to their relationship as well, of course. I really didn’t want to picture it. I had made good progress distancing myself from these feelings.

  “You don’t need to tell me,” I explained.

  “I do, because you and the others will think of it as a betrayal. I need you to understand so that you can tell them. I want more time. I wish I had it. But if I deny his proposal, he will not ask again. It would be too much of an insult. Do you understand?”

  “Of course I do, Kat. We’ll always be friends, and I’m sure Aliana and Remi will feel the same.”

  She had a breath. “Thank you.” She started for the door.

  “Can you give me that diamond now?” I asked.

  She halted, then she turned on her heels to face me. “I couldn’t possibly right now. Please wait until after the visit.”

  “Can you promise me that you will try to get it even if your father doesn’t allow you?”

  She folded her arms. “Why is this witch so important to you?”

  “Look what she did with that diamond, Kat. We had a conversation that was clearer than any conversation I could have through a callring. Who knows what else she’s capable of? We need all the help we can get, and she seems very powerful. I don’t understand why she doesn’t seem important to you.”

  “She’s a witch, Jon. That cursed diamond might not be nearly as useful as you make it out to be. It could be messing with your mind.”

  “Kat. I’m telling you, it’s not. Especially if I’m going to be losing you, I refuse to give up on possibly recruiting someone like her.”

  “It’s just that…my father is…I’ve never gone against him like you are requesting. I don’t know what he’ll do.”

  I didn’t reply, just held my pleading look.

  She took a long breath. “After everything you’ve done for the rest of us, how can I not at least do this for you? Yes, I promise I will do everything I can.” She hurried to open the door.

  “I do have questions about Endell,” I said.

  “I can’t. We have to—”

  “Kataleya!” yelled her father from downstairs. “You had better not be off alone with th
at boy.”

  “I’m coming!”

  Suddenly I was alone. I didn’t want to go downstairs because then I would have to be near Whitley again. I wished I could demand the diamond right now and leave.

  Perhaps I would have, if I’d trusted that Endell wasn’t going to try anything. I had never met the man, but I wasn’t about to leave Kataleya and her family alone. Even if Endell was coming here with no one else, that didn’t mean that Valinox wasn’t somewhere nearby, watching, waiting.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I made the most of my time with a bath and a nap. A servant awoke me when it was time for supper. Endell was arriving by then. I went downstairs and waited by the door for Endell with the rest of the Yorns.

  Of all the questions bouncing around in my head about Endell, there was one I figured I could get away with. “How is he related to your father?” I asked Kataleya, knowing Whitley could hear.

  “He’s the son of my father’s aunt,” Kataleya answered.

  “He never liked that our grandfather favored my father,” Whitley said. “Endell is a callous fool. He’s made a life empowering himself in every which way he can, but nothing has ever been good enough for him. He was the appointed lord of Koluk when Oquin Calloum ruled. Eventually, he gained the favor of Oquin and rose to be the head guard at the capital. And still, he was never satisfied. I don’t expect you to speak to him while he’s here, Jon. You are a guest, so I will not deny you a spot at our table, but whatever his purpose here, it is between the Yorns. Do you understand?”

  “I do, my lord.” It was harder every time I had to address “my lord,” but I kept a cordial tone. “May I ask what he did during the rebellion?”

  “He acted as a strategist against the current king, but he came forward when the dust settled and claimed that he was only following Oquin’s orders. He did not believe Oquin was a good ruler. Nykal spoke with me at length about my cousin. Neither of us trusted him by then, but our army—or lack thereof—was weak after Nykal was forced to dismiss a large portion of its members because of budgetary concerns. We knew we could be facing a rebellion ourselves, led by Endell, if Nykal tried to remove him from power. He had followers still, sorcerers and troops who did not die during the rebellion. We hoped we might sway him, and eventually them as well, but you know what happened. There were many stories of how he took advantage of the people of Newhaven through the use of these corrupted men. I haven’t spoken with him since he was removed, and he hasn’t tried to contact me until now.”