The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH NEW NORMAL?

Daisy’s entire body had been poisoned by the dark magic she had carried to convince the Xelusians she was the Dark Oracle Lady Fleur, then again by the power she absorbed to replace her light when the Lord of Shadows attacked her. There were also places in her brain and lungs where the black blood had formed clots and had to be surgically removed. Her healing was far slower than even a normal human. When her scans showed almost no brain activity and her heart was so weakened it wouldn’t beat unaided, so they sealed her in a healing sarcophagus to wait.

Karstien sat on the balcony of the palace staring at Daisy’s dark house near the falls.

“My noble one, what troubles you?” Allura’s soft hands and voice caressed him. She asked but she already knew.

From the first hours after Daisy’s departure, when Yuri, Abe, and Serapha revealed all they knew, she had worried. She had reviewed everything Shadz had learned about soul magic and picked Serapha’s brain. The Veil of Hope was the most worrisome. Allura had feared for Daisy’s sanity once the enchantment surrendered all that was good in her soul to protect Yuri’s. Daisy had known too much suffering and grief in her life for her sanity to survive without hope and love. Allura had been angry with Yuri and Abe, and especially Serapha, for not revealing the truth sooner, but everything they did was bound by the command of the Patriarch of their house. Allura couldn’t help but believe the great Oracle Adamos had been mistaken this time, and she had been proved correct.

“Karstien... talk to me.”

“I wish had never met Daisy.” Karstien confessed. “The pain, the grief, everything she had suffered was because of my family and our war... We have destroyed one of the most beautiful and strongest souls I have ever known.” He grieved for it all. “My own uncle wants to leave our house because of it, and I want to go with him. I am ashamed to carry the name House of Adamos for the first time in my life.”

“Is it truly that bad?” Allura asked. She knew from her great-great-grandmother Eonae the anguish Fleur felt for those 13 days but she waited for her husband to speak because she knew he needed to and she wondered how much more Karstien knew.

He struggled to explain. “It is worse... Before she went back... You know how Daisy always had this will to overcome, to accomplish, to love and hope, to fight for herself and others... Now... now she only wishes to die. Regulus has shared some of the things she said to Regis and Eonae. They are the same as she said to Uncle Yuri and I. My grandfather’s own words condemned us and proclaimed her whole life was a lie told to save our house.” Karstien stopped, he turned and pulled her around his chair and into his lap. His tears wet her shoulder. His words were muffled as he repeated Daisy’s self-loathing, he finished with the part that grieved him most. “My best friend hates me. She thinks she was just a tool made to be used and discarded by my house. Daisy even doubts that my father loved her; she told Regis that my siblings were no more hers than the birds of the air.”

Allura gasped in horror, “Daisy loves her children more than anything, they are her reason for everything she does. How can she believe they aren’t hers?”

“She thinks she was just a surrogate for them, as she was for the dark queen. She believes everything my brother claimed about her was true, that she was a concubine.” Karstien leaned back and brushed a lock of Allura’s hair from her cheek. “How can I fix this? All her memories are tainted, all her suffering seems contrived and purposed to harm her. She has all the facts and none of the truth.”

“And what is the truth, my king?”

“My grandfather made sure she was special. He wanted her to be loved and protected by our family as its most valuable treasure. Her love for others is the source of her greatest power and now... now she believes the worst of those she loved most.” Karstien sounded defeated.

Allura brushed a curled lock from his forehead as she often did. “When she wakes, you must tell her that. Remind her that she is loved and always has been until she believes. We will all help you. Daisy is one of my best friends, she has always been there for us and now we must be there for her.”

“Asha says she might not recover.” He admitted his worst fear.

Allura nodded, “Serapha says her soul feels fragmented. When Yuri was in the Room of Light with Daisy, he said it was outside the Celestial Veil, and that it was crumbling.”

“I don’t want to lose her.”

Allura cupped his cheeks, “None of us do. She is getting the best care. All we can do is pray.”

Time passed, and the Huntsman returned to his school on Arborea. Yurieth began teaching classes with a heavy heart, Regis and Rheema had also come to Academy while Regulus worked with Abrieth at the Guardsmen training center and Eonae took Asha’s place at the Healer and Mage school after Asha birthed her twin daughters. Eonae renounced all claim to the throne and pledged her loyalty to King Karstien and Queen Allura as

The one thousand twenty-six rescued ancient Aetherians and Xelusians had recounted to many how the Dark Oracle had gathered them all after the harvest. How she built their escape, trapped the Devourer, and sacrificed every bit of her power and spirit to save them. They were settled throughout the population and the influx of lost skills and traditions brought much joy to those who were the descendants of the Tear of Heaven's Hope. Their people had lost much just to survive the last war.

The Oracle Daisy remained in a state of limbo, her scans were all gold except the ones showing brain activity and cognitive functions. All attempts to revive her from the vegetative state failed and stimulating her too much caused violent seizures. Asha had chosen to leave her in a sarcophagus until she woke naturally, if she ever did.

Half a year later, Yuri still went once every ten-day. It was part of his new normal as Meara would say. He had seen the elderly Mazoni warrioress occasionally visiting Asha and realized she was not long for this life. Yuri sat by Daisy’s healing chamber and told her about Kalen, Jenna, their schooling, and about anything and everything else that occurred to him. Too often, he would look up to see Shadz glaring at him like he hated him. Several times Asha had been forced to make them both sleep or summon Karstien and Abe to separate them. Their latest conflict was because Shadz had asked if Yuri knew how close the Assassin Tangriel had been with Daisy because of something Tangriel’s sons had said about her singing to them all so they could sleep without nightmares, and that she was the first woman their father had smiled at after their mother died.

Karstien walked Yurieth to the Portals. “Uncle, you can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

“Your father did this for 32 years after your sisters were born.” Yuri reminded.

“Yeah, but he didn’t pick a fight with the Master Mage weekly. Honestly, Asha is at her wit’s end, and is about to ban you both from the Healer’s Hall unless you’re dying.” Karstien shook his head then he sighed, “About your other request... are you sure?”

“Yes. I cannot bear what my father did to her and why. Nothing justifies using any living being in that manner. I no longer wish to be part of the House of Adamos.” Yuri said firmly. “Tell the council, I wish to revive my mother’s house as Colby and Shadz revived their grandfathers’s houses.”

“But you are the eldest, you are the High Lord of a major house... Yophriel will be considered a minor house.”

“I don’t want a title, I never did. I only want to make things right for her.” Yuri clenched his fists as he looked back toward the Healer’s Hall. “Leaving my father’s name behind is only the first step in making amends.”

“And what if she never wakes up? There are dozens of eligible ladies of high rank who have complained to Allura that you are not doing your duty as a royal and choosing one of them,” Karstien reminded.

“You would order me to marry someone I do not love as King Zeus ordered your father?” Yuri’s steel gray eyes were fierce.

Karstien bowed his head, “No. But you need to consider that Daisy... Daisy may be lost to us.”

“I will never give up on her. Hope endures as long as love lives.” Yuri repeated his mother’s favorite phrase and walked through the portal to Arborea.

An old woman in a cloak that Yuri had ignored walked over to the King, flipping her hood back revealed she wasn’t Aetherian. “It’s time for Plan B, Kars. He is as stubborn as she was, and he isn’t going to give up. He’s a huntsman, how long do you think it will be before he senses Daisy’s crypt mate?”

“You’re right, Meara. I... I know you’re right.” Karstien looked out at the Crown City. “You realize that when you wake, some of your children and grandchildren will be dead.”

“May be dead, they have their father’s blood in them too.” Meara corrected optimistically. “It’s for Daisy. My family has served the House of Adamos for thousands of years, they will understand.” When Karstien glanced back at the portal to Arborea, Meara squeezed his arm. “Don’t let Yuri’s disillusionment affect you. The House of Adamos has accomplished impossible things; sometimes they used the wrong methods, but their hearts were in the right place.”

Karstien chuckled as they walked down the steps from the portal station. “I bet you’d still Gibbs-slap my grandfather.”

“Oh, heck yeah. He should have told Daisy the truth. Kaleth should have told Daisy the truth. She may have done better with facts, but the truth meant everything to her, even when she didn’t like it.” She paused for a moment and looked so sad, “Does she really believe Kaleth never loved her?”

Karstien’s mouth pressed in a thin line. “Yes.”

Meara shook her head and wiped a tear away. “Poor Daisy.”

Karstien opened the door to the Healer’s Hall for her. They were surprised to see Abe still there, but Karstien held out his arm to Meara as she feigned frailty. “Is that Abe? He’s getting so fat and old since the war ended,” Meara taunted.

“Meara!” Abe grinned and hugged her, “How are you?”

“If I wasn’t 92, I would still beat you with a sword,” Meara answered.

“Your sword fighting days are over. Asha is on the third floor in her office.” Karstien chided.

Meara patted his hand. “Thank you for helping an old woman through the snow.”

As she hobbled to the lift and disappeared, Karstien sighed. “She still comes from Jura to see Asha.”

Abe looked very sad as he asked, “Did you lose a lot of humans growing up of Terrearth?”

Karstien nodded solemnly, “I have lost more friends to old age than I have to war. Meara will just be the next one that I will be grateful to have known.”

Gave swallowed, his eyes wet with unshed tears, “And I thought losing Fianna and Davin was hard.”

“Sometimes it sucks to be immortal.” Shrugging, Karstien answered. “I am going to make sure she gets back to the Portal Depot. Family dinner tonight?”

“Invite Asha and Shadz to bring the girls,” Abe offered, then added, “Yuri won’t come after he visited Daisy today.”

“See you tonight.” He waved as his uncle walked out into the snow.

Up in Asha’s office, Meara sat erect, belying her age. She was saying, “I don’t agree, Asha. I think the soon, the better, quick like a bandaid. There is no point in dragging it out and watching Yuri going almost crackers like your dad did.”

“Then who do we tell?” Asha was tapping her fingers on her shoulder. “And where to bury her?”

“Everyone... we tell everyone the simple truth; we lost Daisy. And a very few, we tell a more complex truth. As for where to bury her, Vole already knows a place your father picked out and prepared.” Meara looked at Karstien with the calculated intellect that made her one of the best generals in the last war. “I’m sorry, Kars, but it’s need to know, and you’re a security breach waiting to happen.”

He nodded, “When?”

Asha opened her mouth, but Meara spoke first. “That’s beyond your clearance too. Your reaction has to be authentic to the family and your sealed one. It is going to take some time to arrange everything, maybe a decade or more.”

“I trust you.” Karstien looked beyond the glass of his sister’s office at his best friend’s healing sarcophagus. “I’m going to miss her.”

Asha rose from her chair and walked over to the glass to hug him. “Me too. But she is too damaged to come back to us. It’s better if she dies so she can be reborn.”

Regis found Yuri standing in the clearing by his private home, staring up at the sky as he did every time he visited the oracle. The first night Yuri had come home, Regis had revealed what Fleur had told him in the past and Yuri had confirmed her belief in it. It was the first time since his daughters died that Regis had seen Yurieth weep.

“Hello, brother,” Regis greeted.

“Ale?” Yuri offered as he drained another bottle.

“Yes, thank you. Do I need to take your morning classes?”

“No,” Yuri scowled for a long moment. “Maybe.”

“Did something happen today at the Healer Hall?” Regis could see something beyond the oracle’s coma was bothering Yuri.

“No... yes... Something the Mage said reminded me of something said during our final moments before escaping the cataclysm. Did you know Tangriel? Were he and his sons close to Daisy?” Yuri wasn’t sure if he wanted to know but Regis’ odd look relieved his fears.

“She was as close to his sons as she was to any of the child survivors. She would sing to them. I would see her talking to him and Sangriel. Sometimes just him, he worked tirelessly to help her build the jump chamber. We three did most of the high work, our climbing skills saved time. Why?” Regis had picked up an ale and opened it. “Are you thinking of inviting his sons to our school? Because they really don’t have the magic or skills of their father...”

“No, nothing like that. Tangriel tried to kill me but wounded Daisy instead. It is why we almost missed the jump. Before that, he said and did a few things that lead me to believe he was in love with her and she might be turning toward him. It’s stupid really... just... he said things that sounded like Daisy had confided her pain. He claimed she would be a good mother to his sons and that was why he couldn’t let me go back with her.”

Regis stood quietly and waited for Yuri to continue speaking.

“I orphaned his sons because he wanted Daisy for himself and... and I thought she might want him.” Yuri stared at his fist around the bottle of ale. “When he stabbed her instead of me and she fell into my arms, I hit him hard enough to break his neck and left him for the necrorriors.”

“Necrorriors?” Regis asked.

“Undead or zombie warriors brought back by necromancy and water of darkness,” Yuri explained.

“No wonder Lady Fleur... I mean, Lady Daisy, said the word the future used for them was difficult to explain. Even her name is a struggle. Rheema showed me the flower, and now I understand, but I will always think of her as Alpinefleur.” Regis smiled sadly, “It doesn’t exist anymore. The Cataclysm wiped it out and so many other things I knew. Flora, fauna, terrain, all gone. The forests now are so different. Trios is the only place that feels like home.”

“You mean Arborea.... Wait until we go to the Meridian system for the annual hunt, you’ll love it there. I have thought about moving the school there but...” He paused, remembering something.

“But she helped you pick this place...” Regis chuckled, “Rheema says the oracle hates this world, because it kept killing those she loves for sport, so she had to feel their dying and reviving.”

Yuri had to laugh too. “It killed my brother often, but Kaleth took risks. He was what the humans call a thrill seeker. Always a bigger challenge, always hunting a more dangerous prey or predator. Some of the realms he took me to hunt, the creatures there... Sometimes I think he was insane.”

“I would have liked to have met your youngest brother after his proving year,” Regis responded.

“You and he would have gotten along well. You have the same odd humor.” Yuri wished things had been different, so his brother would still be living.

“I am going home to my sealed one, do not stay out here all night, brother.” Regis patted his shoulder and vanished into the evening.