The Azureans Page 5

  The king was quiet for a long time. “How far away is this place of which you speak?”

  “At least three days’ journey with a good horse. It’s in the Eastern Mountains.”

  The king went quiet again. Thoughts raced through my mind. I had no way of knowing if I could even find the man again. The mission was desperate. Though, if the war was as bad as the king said, all was already lost.

  Perhaps the king came to the same conclusion. “I guess it’s worth this small risk.” He laughed. “I will provide a strong horse and supplies. You will make this journey alone, as my embassy, and seek to arrange a treaty with the Azureans. Promise whatever you need to promise. Perhaps they will help us conquer our enemies and save what goodness remains in this world.”

  It was a strange turn of events. I had given up my position on the farm for a mission I didn’t know how to fulfill. Even if I did manage to find the place where I was mauled as a boy, I didn’t know what would happen when the man found out I had broken my promise.

  Foolhardy as it may have been, I traveled quickly through the towns and villages, through the warring kingdoms, and into the mountains. I was tempted to abandon my mission and visit my mother, but the gravity of the situation in the city pushed me to keep my word to the king.

  Despite my fears of not recognizing the place, I knew the trail where I nearly died as soon as I saw it. Perhaps one does not easily forget those times or places where they have an encounter with death.

  I tethered my horse and set up camp. Over the next six days, I wandered all over the mountains in the area. I searched and found nothing, and then I searched some more. I searched until my supplies and optimism were about to run out. I determined to travel up one last canyon as far as I could, and then abandon my mission before it turned into suicide.

  As dusk neared on that last day, I pushed up the trail, even as the sky darkened, refusing to accept failure. When it was finally so dark that I was sure I would fall off a cliff if I continued, I stopped and considered the darkening peaks below me. It was then that I saw lights of a distant village flickering between two peaks.

  The valley was well hidden, and I had passed by it several times. It was only due to my foolish decision to travel at night that I discovered it. I settled down onto the trail and fell asleep. After a rough night on the mountainside, I set off the next morning for the valley.

  The first person I encountered on my way to the city was a woman. Her dark reddish hair was curly and long. Her features were soft, and with the rising sun behind her as she approached me, I felt as if she was the loveliest person I had ever seen.

  “Who are you stranger?” she called out, and her voice was deep and mysterious. As beautiful as she was.

  “My name is Cylus.”

  We stopped as we were now close to each other, and I was surprised by her lack of concern about me. She wasn’t tall, but she wasn’t short. Her eyes met mine confidently, immediately captivating me. She stood there, barefoot on the path, and considered me.

  “You do not seem surprised to see me,” I said.

  “Quite surprised, actually. I have never met anyone from outside our village.”

  “It’s not easy to find.”

  “Our village is supposed to be hidden to all. How did you find us?” She took a step toward me. Her presence was commanding; my heart rate increased just being next to her.

  “As a boy, I was nearly killed near here. A man from your village saved my life. I have returned to thank him for his kindness so many years ago.”

  “Father,” the woman said softly. Her eyes grew sad, and she looked away, down toward the valley. “He’s not here.” Her eyes met mine again, and I realized I could look into them all day and never tire.

  Yet, despite her captivating beauty, the reality of her words was not lost to me. My mission had failed. Yet, my disappointment was buried under my fascination for this woman.

  “Where are your supplies, traveler?” she asked.

  “I have run out.”

  “Yet you have not turned back. You’re devoted to your gratitude.”

  I laughed uncertainly.

  “Cylus, please accompany me back to the village. We can discuss your real purpose here later.”

  My eyes did not leave her on our walk to the village. Her body moved gracefully, and her dress swung lightly around her bare ankles. She did not speak or look at me until we reached a small settlement of twenty houses scattered along a stream. If there were people out when we arrived, I didn’t see them. No one spoke to us until we reached the largest house in the center of the village.

  “Back already?”

  “Well, I couldn’t very well bathe with a man watching,” the woman said.

  “What? Your brother?”

  “No Mother, it’s a man. A stranger.”

  An older woman stepped out of the house. Her resemblance to her daughter was strong, even through her shock of seeing me.

  “Apparently, Father found him many years ago, on one of his hunting outings. He has returned to give his thanks.” The woman grinned and winked at me. My knees went weak at her smile.

  “Dee, I do not like this.”

  Dee. The woman’s name was Dee. The name was beautiful. It fit her.

  Dee turned to me. “This is the first time an outsider has come into our village. What is your intention now?”

  “I would like to learn your way of life.” I wasn’t ready to run back to the war in my world—not yet. I would tell Dee later what my mission truly was.

  Dee let me stay, and it was a wonderful time in the village, despite the guilt for my indulgence while so many were dying in war. Over the next week, Dee stayed with me constantly, teaching me and telling me about their life in the mountain. She showed me what she could do with hemazury. With saliva, sweat, and blood she was able to take different substances and work wonders that I had never seen before. She explained to me that all hemazury happened through these three substances, blood being the most precious and the most powerful.

  The only Azurean in the town was Dee herself. The days flew by, and I marveled how she affected the elements around her in magical ways. She also worked her magic on me. The longer we spent together, the more I knew I had fallen for her. Her smile was the first thing I thought of in the morning, her laugh the last thing that danced across my mind before I fell asleep at night.

  I decided to abandon my mission and never return to the valley. I justified myself in that I hadn’t really broken my promise—the man I came for was dead. Besides, King Webun would never find me. Having made my decision, I spent the evening with Dee next to a small fire in front of her house and laughed as she told me about her first attempt at hemazury as a child.

  “You tell such delightful stories,” I said. “I would have never imagined this place existed.”

  “Never have I had a more captive audience.” Dee smiled in return. “But it has been eight days, and you have not told me anything about the world you come from, nor why you really came here.”

  “Perhaps that no longer matters.”

  “It does,” Dee said. “You’re the most exciting thing to ever happen in this village. I must know why you’re here.”

  Her large, powerful eyes begged me to tell the truth, and try as I might I could not lie to her.

  “Things are not the same where I come from,” I said. “There is war and death and oppression.”

  “There is death here,” Dee said. She looked confused, as if she didn’t understand the words I was using. “Father died just four years ago in a hunting accident.”

  “Yes, but do people kill each other?”

  Dee’s face changed from confusion to disbelief. “People kill each other?” she stammered.

  “Yes, their leaders make them do it. We call it war.”

  “That is awful! I thought that you said there were no Azureans in your world?”

  “As far as I know, there are none. What do Azureans have to do with war?”

 
; Dee stood and paced around me, refusing to look at me or let me touch her. I hadn’t expected her to be so distraught about the news of war, it being part of my life from the time that I was a boy.

  “Since I was a little girl,” Dee said through tears, “I was taught that we were here, secluded in the mountains, so that men would not kill each other. When Azureans were in the valleys, in the midst of men, we caused fighting. We have been here for generations, teaching that the only way for men to live in peace was to keep ourselves hidden from the world.”

  “Our world is not a world of peace,” I said bitterly. “Only one ruler, King Webun whom I serve, believes in goodness and freedom of men. Those who oppose him are powerful and determined to destroy him. In his desperation, he gave me supplies to come and find you.”

  I could not read Dee’s expression. She was silent a long time. Finally, she sat back down next to the fire. I put my arm awkwardly around her and she leaned into me.

  “All those people will be killed unless I do something,” she said. Her face was blank, her eyes looking into space. “I have lived my life in bliss, oblivious to the pain and suffering that surrounded me.”

  “Dee,” I tried to interrupt, tried to take her hand. “You can stay here. We can stay here. This is not your fight.”

  “No, Cylus.” She pulled away and stood up. “How can I live the rest of my life here knowing that others are suffering? All my life I’ve been taught that I was here to serve others. Azureans serve. That is why I’m hiding here. But I hide no more. I cannot hide if it does not stop the suffering of others.”

  The next morning, we left utopia to travel to King Webun’s castle. Perhaps she was motivated by her strong sense of adventure, but she was motivated by duty more than anything else. She believed with everything she was that Azureans are born with the calling to serve humanity. She was going to do just that.

  We made the journey as quickly as we could. We both rode the horse, Dee sitting behind me with her arms around me. Such a situation should have been heavenly, to have her so close, to hear her breathe into my ear, to feel her body against mine with each bump in the road. But, it was not. Her heart was no longer light. She peppered me with questions the entire journey, asking about the ways of men and how the kingdoms conducted their wars. I explained everything I could, wishing we could talk about something else.

  And then we arrived outside Sattah. “Tomorrow morning, we will enter the city and seek an audience with the king,” I said as we set up camp.

  “I’m so nervous,” Dee admitted, “but I have to do this. To have the blue blood is a call to serve.”

  “Why is it called blue blood?” I asked.

  “When I bleed, my blood is blue. This is a symbol of my ability to interact with the elements using hemazury.”

  “And each of your children will have the ability to do magic?”

  “No, only the firstborn. You, Cylus, have actually met some of my siblings,” Dee smiled as if she had just said something funny.

  “I’m sure everything will go well. You’re of the same caring disposition as the king himself.”

  “Thank you,” Dee smiled and took my hand. “I do appreciate your confidence.” Her hair blew in the wind, dancing around my face and tickling my skin. I thought that I had never seen anyone so beautiful. I felt like I would lose her the next day to the king and to the war, and part of me was dying.

  I, too, was going to be a casualty of this war.

  “I love you.” I could not leave it unsaid. Dee smiled, and for the first time in days, her smile reached her eyes. The moon shone on her face, and her features were soft, her lips large and full.

  “I love you, too,” she said. “This is our time, this is our role.”

  I gently put my finger on her lips to stop her from talking.

  She kissed my finger.

  My hand lowered and our lips met. The moment we touched, all of my feelings for Dee seemed to magnify. I could think of nothing else, could feel nothing else but my love for the woman I had met in the mountains. We kept kissing, and I could not get enough.

  The next morning, we entered the city and requested an audience with the king. He accepted the audience with Dee, but did not include me in the invitation. I did not see Dee again that day, though I sat miserably outside the palace gates all day.

  The next morning, I heard the announcement: King Webun was joining his kingdom with the kingdom of the mountains by marrying Dee.

  People all around me cheered, hopeful for the first time in months. But not me. I wished for death. Dee was gone.

  Where could I go now? The only option seemed to be to return to find my mother.

  I packed up to leave, but before I could go the king found me.

  “Cylus!” he exclaimed. He was in a jovial mood—and who could blame him with Dee as his wife? “I can’t believe it, but you’ve done it,” he said to me in awe, and he put his arms around me. “I never expected to see you again. Your name will go down for good in all the history books, my friend, for you have saved this kingdom.”

  He clapped me on the shoulders, the joy on his face exactly opposite of what I felt inside.

  “I’m happy to serve the people,” I lied, giving the sincerest smile I could muster. At that moment, I didn’t care about the history books, or the kingdom, or the king.

  “You have served the people, and I implore you to join my court. Sit with me in council day by day and help us as we turn the tides of this war and bring peace to the kingdoms.”

  I stood dumbfounded. The thought of me, a son of a travelling merchant, being invited to sit on the highest courts of King Webun was unprecedented. But I would rather die than accept. The thought of sitting in the castle, living in the castle, and seeing Dee day by day as queen was more than I could bear.

  “You have given me a great honor,” I mumbled, “to invite a servant without qualifications to join your court.”

  “It’s not unprecedented for those who stand for the people against all odds to be rewarded.”

  I could not accept. No one would ever understand, but I would not accept. “I appreciate your kindness,” I said, “but I would be happier with my own small farm and a peaceful place in the kingdom. I cannot imagine that I would know anything of use to your kingdom.”

  The king was surprised that I turned down his offer, but he was no less gracious. He saw to it that I was given one of the nicest farms on the east side of Sattah, and a beautiful home. I abandoned the idea of visiting my mother and moved there and hired a few hands. The king told me that the minute I changed my mind, no matter how many years down the road it might be, I would be welcomed into his court.

  I did not attend the wedding. I threw myself into my new estate, hoping the memories and the hurt from the time with Dee would fade.

  But, even as the weeks passed, the loss of Dee did not lose its sharpness. Pain lurked deep in my soul, and the mere thought of Dee would bring an onslaught of longing so great that I could barely breathe. Yet, my night sleeping with Dee outside the city was the only thing I could think about.

  One evening I sat up late into the night, watching the fire burn in the front room of my large, empty house and longing for Dee. Outside a storm had blown through, and I could hear the last raindrops falling off the roof into puddles around the house.

  There was a knock on my door.

  I called out, “Who visits Cylus at this time of the night?”

  The response was made of the most beautiful words I had ever heard. “Dee, Queen of Sattah, calls upon you.”

  I opened the door, and she stepped into my house. I said nothing as she took off her wet cloak and sat down by the fire. Awed and confused at her presence, I hardly knew whether to laugh or cry or run. I stood dumbly at the door, staring at her like a fool.

  “You’re letting in cold air,” she finally said. And so, I closed the door and joined her at the fire.

  “You seem surprised to see me,” she said as I sat down.

&nbs
p; “You’re a married woman now. I didn’t expect to see you again.” And then I realized that her presence was more painful than her absence. I wished she would leave.

  She started to cry. I stared dumbly until she regained her composure.

  “The king expects me to do something great, Cylus. He left right after our wedding to rally his armies. He’s spreading the news of our union to his enemies. I don’t know what he expects of me. What hemazury can I do that will win this war?”

  “You can’t think of any way to use hemazury to defeat your opponents?” I asked, dumbfounded.

  She shook her head.

  But, while she couldn’t think of anything, I could. We spent the rest of the night into the morning brainstorming ideas, talking about what powers she knew and understood. As we talked, Dee relaxed and saw the steps she needed to take. She was so naïve of war that she hadn’t understood how the power she had would be effective in political maneuvering or battle.

  Despite the pain of being with her, I did my duty to my king. I taught her how to destroy his enemies and to keep him in power.

  When the birds started to chirp, she stood as if to leave. “Cylus,” she said, “you have helped me so much.”

  “I’m happy to serve my kingdom,” I lied. I could scarcely bear the thought that our short meeting was already ending, and yet it couldn’t end fast enough.

  “You know why I had to marry Webun?”

  I nodded.

  “My marrying Webun doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

  Instead of stepping to the door, Dee stepped to me. She kissed me, and all the feelings of that night outside the city came back again.

  Eight months later, the king’s first son was born. He had Dee’s eyes and dark black hair. He had my long face and nose. The king named him Wynn.

  Cylus stops speaking, and clears his throat, but no more words come out.

  My mind races with questions. I still don’t know who Togan is. Does Cylus expect me to take this story and lead armies to defeat Wynn? Is he planning on teaching me, like he taught Dee?

  Finally, Cylus speaks again. “You have two more stops before you’re ready to fight Wynn. First, go to the mountain gate guarded by stone men 20 miles farther up the canyon. You will find me there. In the meantime, do not use any hemazury other than what I have taught you—and be especially careful with your blood.”