Page 39

Alaric

T he Queen of Nocturna is still sitting there on the ivory throne, hunched over and staring into the Glass of Distraction when we reach her.

She’s muttering something to herself and I can’t help thinking she looks at least ninety years old.

She’s in much worse shape than the GodKing—I wonder if even The Heart of the Eclipse can save her.

I can see the same thoughts reflected in Sylvanna’s face. She looks worried and sad as she watches the Queen—who is also her dearest friend—mutter and mumble and stare into the magical silver spy-glass that won’t let her go.

“My Queen? My Queen, can you hear me?” Sylvanna calls softly as we approach the throne. The guards on either side look on passively. They were probably paid off by Kraven to leave her be and allow her to fall deeper into her addiction—that’s what Sylvanna thinks, anyway.

She steps closer and looks back at me.

“Bring The Heart, my Paladin,” she murmurs.

I pull out the black silk cloth I’ve been carrying and bring it closer to her, right up the steps to the throne. I don’t try to hand it over to Sylvanna—she’s not strong enough to carry it. Only I can handle it and then only with my Drake helping.

“Good, now open the cloth,” Sylvanna instructs me.

“You’re sure about this?” I don’t like to second guess my Mistress, but I felt the power that poured through us and into The Heart—it nearly blew me into pieces.

Honestly, I don’t think Sylvanna and I could have survived it alone.

It was the presence of a third—of my Drake—taking up some of the magic, that kept us alive until The Heart awakened and absorbed the magical power filling all three of us.

But Sylvanna nods.

“The prophecy promises that The Heart of the Eclipse will make all things right. We must trust in its power.”

“All right.” I nod and open the black silk wrappings to reveal the dark purple gem. The Heart is glowing from within and so heavy it takes all my Drake’s strength to hold it.

“Good, now bring it closer to her,” Sylvanna instructs me. “My Queen,” she calls softly. “Lift your head for just one moment, I have something to show you.”

But the Queen hunches further in on herself.

“Can’t look now! Too much to see. My stories, I have to watch my stories!”

“ This story is better than any the Glass of Distraction can show you. Come, just look for a moment—I promise you’ll love it,” Sylvanna says coaxingly.

At last, reluctantly, the Queen looks up, pulling the silver glass away from her eye, though she keeps it gripped in her claw-like hand.

“Now!” Sylvanna exclaims and I shove The Heart of the Eclipse right in the old Queen’s face.

She starts to jerk back, but Sylvanna won’t let her.

“No, look at it!” she insists, taking the Queen by her bony shoulders and pushing her forward. “Look at it!”

The Queen mutters and struggles, but her faded eyes are already fixed on the glowing Heart. And as she looks, it begins to glow even more brightly. Soon it’s so brilliant I have to look away but the Queen stares and stares. And from the corner of my eye, I see that she seems to be changing.

First, her back un-hunches itself. She straightens up and I see that her spine is no longer crooked and humped. Then her hair loses its gray. It becomes darker and thicker until it’s a shining curtain of deep sable flowing over her shoulders.

Her eyes are next—the wrinkles at the corners smooth themselves out and the faded irises turn a deep, rich brown that glow with a soft golden light. The rest of her wrinkles disappear too, leaving her face youthful and round.

Her body follows suit and soon the woman sitting on the throne before us looks almost the same ages as Sylvanna—maybe just a little older.

It’s wonderful that her youth has been restored, I think, but what about her mind? If The Heart can’t heal it as well, all this is useless.

The Queen blinks and finally looks away from The Heart. Her eyes flicker up to meet Sylvanna’s and I see recognition there.

“Sylvanna? My friend?” she asks. Her voice has gone from a crow’s caw to a smooth, sweet timbre.

“My Queen?” Sylvanna looks at her hopefully. “Are you well?”

“I…I think so.” A troubled look passes over the Queen’s face. “I had a dream…many dreams, I think. So many and they all flowed together but I couldn’t bear to stop dreaming.”

“That was because of the Glass of Distraction—the magical artifact that Kraven gave you,” Sylvanna says.

The Queen looks down at her hand and frowns at the small, silver spy-glass.

“This thing?” She starts to raise it to her eye…then stops. “No,” she says. “I don’t want to dream anymore. I want to live. ”

I see the relief break over my Mistress’s face.

She told me that in order to be truly free of the Glass of Distraction, the one afflicted by it must give it up willingly.

There’s no use in trying to pry it away or even destroy it.

If the one you take it from doesn’t give it of their own free will, it will only remake itself and reappear in their possession within the hour.

“You don’t need to dream—reality is sweet again,” Sylvanna tells her. She holds out her hand. “Will you give it to me?”

“Gladly.” The Queen puts the silver glass in her hand.

“Good, thank you, my Queen.”

Sylvanna looks at me and nods. I cover The Heart once more and place it carefully down on the stone steps leading up to the throne. Then I take the Glass of Distraction from her as she hands it to me.

“Ask your Drake to destroy this with his fire,” she says to me. “And whatever you do, don’t look into it!”

“ Can it be destroyed?” I ask, taking it in my hand and being careful not to look into the eyepiece.

“Now that it’s been given up willingly, it can.” She nods.

“All right.”

I take the Glass of Distraction down the steps and put it out in the middle of a vast flagstone in front of the throne. Then I call on my Drake and ask for his help.

“Of course I can destroy it!” I hear him say. “Tell everyone to stand back.”

I relay this message and the guards give me uneasy looks. They’ve been staring in wonder at the Queen, but now their attention is on the silver spy-glass in the center of the black marble flagstone.

I take a deep breath and feel my throat fill with fire. Then I blow it out, aiming at the spy-glass.

The Glass of Distraction seems to let out an unholy shriek that I hear more with my mind than my ears. Everyone in the Throne Room flinches and I know I’m not the only one who heard it. But I don’t stop blowing flame at it—I refuse to stop until it’s reduced to ashes.

It stands up to the pressure, gleaming in the fire for a moment. Then, slowly, it begins to melt. I see more and more of it dissolving until its nothing but a shiny puddle on the flagstone.

I stop at last and then I hear Sylvanna murmuring something in the Arcane Tongue.

As she speaks, the shiny silver puddle begins to fold in on itself.

It folds and folds, getting smaller every time until it’s nothing but a single, shiny teardrop in the center of the floor.

And then that winks out of existence too and The Glass of Distraction is no more.

“Oh…it’s gone. It’s really gone!” the Queen exclaims. She stands up from the throne and paces back and forth. “I don’t hurt anymore! I feel so young—so new!”

“You’re free, my Queen!” There are tears in Sylvanna’s lovely glowing eyes. “Truly free. The Glass of Distraction cannot ensnare you again.”

“Thank you!” The Queen turns to her and the two women hug, their joy a palpable presence in the room. My heart is full as I watch them—I know how much my Mistress loves her friend. I’m happy we were able to heal her and break the insidious magical addiction.

“But where is Kraven?” the Queen asks, breaking the hug at last. “I will punish him! He was the one who gave me that blasted Glass in the first place!”

“Believe me, my Queen—Kraven has been punished,” Sylvanna says dryly. “Come, I’ll explain what’s going on.”

She takes the Queen by the hand and the two women begin to speak. As for me, I pick up The Heart of the Eclipse again and secure the black silk wrappings around it.

There is much to do yet and what I have seen has given me hope. If The Heart could heal the Queen of Nocturna, maybe it can also heal The GodKing.

I don’t believe everything Kraven said about him—or I don’t want to, anyway. He always treated me well—almost like a son. I don’t want to believe that he was trying to get rid of me when he sent me on this quest.

I know that The Heart of the Eclipse can set all things to rights and so I hope and pray that it can heal the sickness of my own nation.

Solaris has isolated herself—cutting herself off from old friends by declaring them enemies. At the GodKing’s orders, we declared war on Nocturna even though they were our closest trading partner for years. We’ve become insular—hating all outsiders, even those who mean us no harm.

All that needs to change.

I pray that The Heart can set all things right and heal my nation and my GodKing as it has healed the Queen of Nocturna.

I suppose we’ll see…