Chapter 6: A Debt Repaid
"LET US THROUGH, OR YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" The door burst open, Midja and Kriz
pushing it and Jekan fending people off with a sword. He ran up the steps to
Voren. "We came to save you! Come on!" He pointed his sword at the emperor and
growled. "Stay away, or I'll -" Voren bit Jekan's ear, and he yelped. What'd
you do that for?!"
"Because this guy is a FRIEND! HE just saved me single-handedly!"
Jekan looked him up and down. "He doesn't look so special to me."
"IDIOT!" Voren kicked him. "THAT'S THE EMPEROR! SHOW SOME RESPECT!"
Jekan's eyes went wide. "EMPEROR?!" He bowed. "Oh, your majesty, your
excellence, forgive me, I -"
The young man laughed. "Calm down. It's all right. I'm not mad or
anything."
Jekan smiled. "Oh, thanks."
Voren sighed. "Right. Can someone get me out of these things?" Jekan helped
her get off the energy bonds, and she smiled. "Okay, now all we have to do is
get the animals and - unngh..." She slumped over.
Jekan ran forward, worried. "Voren?!"
She smiled weakly. "I'm... okay... It's just... those... bonds..."
Jekan looked and saw several points where the bonds had cut her and she was
bleeding. He sighed. "You need a doctor. Or at least a normal healer."
The emperor kneeled next to them. "I know where one is. Come on."
Jekan picked up Voren and gestured for Kriz and Midja to follow him.
Outside, the emperor's guards crowded around the group, but he waved them
off. "Let them be. They are friends. I need the healer!"
"The healer? Why would you need a wizened old woman such as I?" A
cracked, old voice came from a tent nearby. The emperor smiled. "Alarah, will
you please help her?"
The voice sounded interested. "Oh, it's a HER, eh? This wouldn't be a
prospective BUYER of my dear Kilshir, would she?"
The emperor blushed. "No, Alarah, we've just met, but she's injured, and
needs your care."
"All right, all right, bring her in." Jekan carefully stepped into the
darkened tent with Voren, followed by Kriz, Midja and the emperor. An old
woman gestured to a bed and Jekan placed Voren on it gently, face-down (most
of the injuries were on her back). The woman surveyed the wounds. "This's easy
to fix. A simple healing spell will do it." She muttered a few words under her
breath and held her hands over Voren. A blue light glowed faintly above her,
and slowly, carefully, the wounds closed.
When they were gone Voren looked up. "Can I get up now?"
"Yeah, you can get up now. Take it a little easy (as in don't get
captured and cut) for a little while, and you'll be fine."
Voren smiled at her. "Thank you, Alarah, if I may call you that."
The woman snorted. "It's my name, isn't it?"
"So it is." She turned to the emperor. "What's YOUR name? I can't just call
you 'your majesty/excellence/perfectness/whatever'. Tell me your name."
"It is..." he hesitated, as if wanting to say something else, but
finally just said "...Kilshir. My name is Kilshir."
Voren raised an eyebrow. "What were you GOING to say?"
He twisted a piece of fabric in his fingers. "Well, my father's people give
names to their children. But my mother's people believe children should pick
their own names when they're old enough. I was given the name 'Almanari' by my
father, but when I was 14 I picked Kilshir, because I liked it better."
Voren nodded. "Hmm... 'King' and 'Leader'. Interesting how they go together,
isn't it?"
Kilshir blushed again. "I didn't know what it meant until after I
picked it... The other is customary. They name all the first sons that. Or, in
case of a girl, 'Almanaria', 'Queen'."
Voren grinned. "At least they have equal rights. Can't say the same about
SOME backwards planets..." Kilshir grinned back. She looked at him. "How old
are you? You seem young to be an emperor."
He looked down. "I will be 20 the next moon cycle..."
She waved her hands in front of her. "No no, I didn't mean you're too young,
or inexperienced, or any of that! I just meant... Well..."
"My father died a week ago. I was just made an emperor, and they say I must
go to all my kingdoms and tell everyone personally that I am the new emperor."
He sighed. "I only have one person in the world I trust, and that is Alarah."
The old woman made a noise. "Pfft. You have plenty of friends. You just
dragged me along to torment me!"
He smiled. "Alarah is like a mother to me, and has been since my own mother
died 2 years ago."
Voren looked at the ground. "Uh, sorry... I wish I could be more
feeling about it, but my parents hate my guts, and the feeling is mutual,
so..."
He looked surprised. "Hate? Really? That is a completely new idea to me..."
She sighed. "Yeah, well, it isn't the best thing in the world, but I make do.
I haven't seen 'em since I ran away, about..." She silently counted in her
head. "...About 13 years ago."
He was shocked "That long?!"
She shrugged. "Well, I ran away when I was 12, and I'm 25 now..."
"25? Really? You look younger."
"I SHOULD look older with all the grief I've been through, but I don't really
care that much. It's the best deal I've ever unconsciously made, so..." she
grinned.
Jekan spoke up. "I hate to interrupt, but it seems the king has
rallied his troops and is heading this way... What're we gonna do about it?"
Kilshir looked completely shocked. "Do about it? Innocent people may be
killed..."
Voren shook her head, a glitter in her eye. "Not if I have anything to do
with it... Kilshir, I want you to gather ALL your mages, healers, EVERY person
with ANY kind of magic in them, and bring them to me. NOW." He nodded and
rushed out, calling for everyone. They all came in a second, and he turned
them over to her. Voren looked around at the 20 or so people he had gathered.
"Okay, I'm gonna make a magical focus, guys. I need ALL your free energy to
make a shield to protect this ENTIRE camp. If you can pump out ALL your free
energy to me, I can do it. Do you understand?" They all nodded. "Good. Now, we
go outside and begin." They all walked outside and formed a circle with Voren
in the middle. She raised her hands above her head and shouted "LET THIS
ENERGY BE GIVEN TO ME! LET IT BE MINE TO POSSESS AND TO KEEP, TO USE AS I SEE
FIT! FOCUS!!!" And she began the spell.
"Leader of the light, give me your power. Leader of the dark, give me your
focus. Leader of the gray, give me your help. LEADERS, GIVE ME A SHIELD IN
WHICH ALL MAY BE SAVED!!!" She struck the ground in front of her.
"NORTH-POINT!" She struck the ground behind her. "SOUTH-POINT!" She struck the
ground to her right. "EAST-POINT!" She struck the ground to her left.
"WEST-POINT!" She raised her hands to the sky. "LET ALL POINTS BE COMBINED,
AND LET THE SHIELD HOLD ALL!!!" A stream of rainbow energy came out of her
fingers and spread through the camp, around everything, enclosing all, and the
shield was up. The circle broke as all the mages and healers fells to their
knees (and some on their faces).
Kilshir came up to Voren, smiling. "You have saved us all! How can I thank
you?!"
Voren looked at him dimly. "Catch me." With that, she collapsed, and Kilshir
just caught her before she hit the ground.