The Gift (3)

"You've SEEN them? You've actually seen them?" Talia gasped, sitting back in her chair.

It was true that such creatures existed, of course she knew as much, but there was a part of her that could only imagine them as storybook monsters-- fairy tales told to children who wouldn't go to bed when it got dark. The stories she had been told as a child were more like legends, they were ancient tales even when her grandparents were children and heard them for the first time.

"Yes, and they are every bit as frightening and horrid as the stories say. They are like humans, but then again not-- their heads and eyes and hands are a little too large, their bodies too thin and tall. Their skin is withered and grey, and when they speak, their teeth... they have... too many teeth-- small, spiky things their teeth are," Grieta shuddered. "And when they took Queen Aleswhite... when they..."

Grieta covered her face with her hands as if the memory was too much for her. Talia glanced toward Prince Mikhail who stood silently behind them, his face unreadable.

"Why would the Emperor choose to sacrifice Queen Aleswhite after he learned of how useful her blood was?" Talia prodded.

Grieta took a moment to compose herself before answering.

"Because she comes from the line of Eosin. Using her blood in the Krovbond ceremony is a double-edged sword. Yes, it is the only blood strong enough to give power to the marks... but it is also powerful enough to break them," she explained.

Talia drew a sharp breath, and leaned forward, sliding the wine bottle toward the woman. Grieta took it, nodded gratefully and poured herself another glass.

"If the blood of Eosin can break the krovbonds... then why didn't Queen Ora free you or Prince Mikhail?" Talia demanded.

"Because the blood used to make the marks is where the power lies. Yes, the Emperor could bind us... control us even, but he did so by using Queen Aleswhite's blood. He soon realized that if Queen Aleswhite gave an order to either of us, it would override his. That is why he disposed of her. Queen Ora's blood might have been stronger than Queen Aleswhite's, but it wasn't used to form the marks. She was able to use her magic to ease my pain, but she could not free me. To this day, I am still bound to the Emperor, and though I can almost speak freely, if he were to give me a direct order, I could not refuse him," Grieta sighed and gestured helplessly with her hands. "There are so many of us now... so many marked servants. Every time the Emperor discovered a descendant of Eosin, for years after, it was the same. He would use their blood for a few months and then, offer them up for... for... "

"For sacrifice," Talia finished for her.

Grieta nodded her agreement.

"And that is how Queen Ora knew..." Talia guessed. "He must have used her blood to make the marks on one of his servants, so she knew that eventually--"

"No," Grieta interrupted. "The Emperor believed in the prophecy. He believed that Queen Ora was destined to break the curse. He fought a war for more than a decade just to get his hands on her. He never took her blood, to my knowledge."

"Then how did she know she would be sacrificed?" Talia frowned. "If the Emperor never took her blood, and if he really believed in the prophecy-"

"Enough of this!" Prince Mikhail growled, snatching her wrist, and pulling her to her feet. "It isn't answers she's giving you right now, its speculation, and I wont have her filling your head with-"

"Because Queen Ora made sure the Emperor had no choice but to send her to them!" Grieta answered quickly, standing up as well.

"What? I... I don't understand. What do you mean by-" Talia faltered glancing between Mikhail's angry scowl, and Grieta's determined glare.

"You were warned!" He snapped, "and yet you dare..."

"She should know what her sister did for us- for all of us! Queen Ora deserves that much honor, at least!" Grieta cried, raising her voice.

Mikhail thrust Talia behind him and stepped toward Grieta, and for a brief moment, Talia was certain he would strike the woman. She could not see Grieta's expression, cut off as she was by his broad back, but in the silence that followed, it seemed that some sort of worldless exchange passed between the two.

"We are leaving now, and I suggest that you leave the capitol as well, Lady Kend. Otherwise, you'll find a different sort of customer on your doorstep shortly-- a far more dangerous sort," the Prince threatened through clenched teeth.

"You think that I fear you or your soldiers? Oh my Prince, there are far worse things in this world than you! Queen Ora knew it. The Princess will discover that-"

Prince Mikhail moved so quickly that it seemed in one instant he was holding her tightly by the wrist in the center of the room and in the next, he had Grieta backed against the wall with the jagged edge of the broken wine bottle pressed against her neck.

"One more word, Grieta... say just one more," he hissed.

Grieta's eyes flashed to Talia who had frozen in shock, her mind reeling to catch up to what had juat occurred. Half of the bottle lay in shards scattered across the floor, and the sound of wine dripping from the table was distractingly loud.

Grieta was trying to tell her something, and Prince Mikhail would not allow it to be said, that much was clear. If Talia insisted that the woman speak, the Prince would likely cut her throat before she got a word out. However, her eyes seemed to plead with Talia to understand... to put the pieces together...

But why would Ora insist upon being sacrificed to the ancient ones? It made no sense! Did she think that she could speak with them-- reason with those creatures somehow? Did she think her blood magic was strong enough to defend herself against them? Did she plan to escape from them or run from the soldiers who escorted her? Perhaps she'd planned for the Duke of Yevin to stage a rescue... perhaps..."

Talia was whipped roughly around as Prince Mikhail snatched her wrist and pulled her in his wake as he moved toward the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Grieta who stood frozen against the wall, a thin line of blood drawn across her white neck where the rough edge of the bottle had scratched her. The woman moved her lips silently, but Talia could not discern the words.

As Prince Mikhail burst through the door leading into the hallway, a cluster of woman scattered nervously from where they had likely been listening. The Prince glared fiercely at them before turning toward the stairs, dragging Talia along with him.

"P-please my Prince," one of the girls called after him. "Our lady has prepared a gift for the Princess. If you'll wait only one moment-"

"We want none of your gifts!" he shot back, not bothering to stop or even to glance her way. "Tell your lady she has less than an hour's time before the palace guard arrive!"

Talia heard the exchange, and vaguely registered the long dark hallway and narrow stairway beyond. Why did he hurry so? Was he afraid that Grieta would regain her nerve and chase after them shouting the things he didnt want her to know?

Ora's death was still a mystery.

She had once assumed that her sister had been executed as a criminal by Prince Mikhail. She had never believed the story the Emperor told about Ora dying in childbirth. It had seemed far more likely that her sister's rebellious activities had been discovered, and that the Emperor had assisnated her in secret. Even Grieta's explanation that Ora had been given as a blood sacrifice to the ancient ones as a means to save the Emperor's throne... even that was somewhat consistant with what she expected to hear.

It was supposed to be the Emperor's fault! The Emperor was an evil, violent man, and surely he was responsible for Ora's death. There could be no one else. All of the hatred and desire she felt for revenge was directed toward that man now. The suggestion that Ora had been responsible for her own demise.... it couldn't be true.

But if it wasn't true... why would Prince Mikhail be so desperate to stop that woman's tongue? What was he hiding from her?

They had reached the narrow alleyway behind the building, and still he dragged her along by her wrist. Perhaps the most pressing question she should be asking at that moment was: why was she allowing him to?

"Stop!" she ordered, yanking her arm back as hard as she could. "Let go of me this instant!"

The Prince continued as though he did not even noticed her struggling against him. Talia wrenched her arm back again and planted her feet, throwing her weight back on her heels, determined to either force him to stop or to drag her across the ground by her arm.

Prince Mikhail turned swiftly, and reached for her waist. Talia realized at once that he intended to carry her out, and without even stopping to think, she hauled back and slapped him hard across the face with her free hand.

The sound of the slap echoed through the alley.

She regretted it almost immediately. He did not even wince or turn his head, though her hand throbbed as though she'd slapped a brick wall, and the way he froze worried her. He had immediately dropped her hand and gone absolutely still and was not looking at her but at the ground.

"I... I am sorry.... I didn't mean to... I wasn't thinking clearly and I... forgive me," she mumbled.

"It was a mistake... my mistake... to bring you here. I thought that Grieta could be prevailed upon to simply explain how Queen Ora's life ended. I was wrong. I told you that she can't be trusted. You must understand that she will say anything she can to draw you into her way of thinking, of her-"

"You say this as though I should trust you far more than her, yet she has revealed more to me in one hour than you have in all the months I've spent beside you," Talia said slowly.

"You know why I cannot give you the answers that you seek," he answered.

"Grieta is also marked and yet she manages-"

"Because her marks are crude and poorly drawn. The Emperor had not learned then how to properly-"

"And do you not think it was difficult for her still?" Talia interrupted. "Did you not think she struggled? Yet she found a way. She needed her voice so desperately that she managed to take it back, but you... Sometimes I think you prefer it this way. You prefer to have it as an excuse."

"As an excuse?" He repeated, his voice rising slightly in anger.

"What did she mean by it? What did she mean when she said that Ora left the Emperor no choice but to send her to the ancient ones?" Talia demanded.

"I could not say," he replied dismissively.

"Could not or will not?" she shot back.

"Both," he growled.

Talia nodded to herself.

"You're so loyal, aren't you? Loyal to your brother, whether you want to be or not, and loyal to Ora and her final request to protect me. Loyal enough even to Grieta that you would give her warning before you send your guard, and not cut her throat even though she defied you. You're so loyal... to everyone but me," Talia observed and gave a short hard laugh.

Prince Mikhail scowled at her words. He looked as if he wanted to make a sharp reply but then thought better of it. He turned away and continued walking toward the street. The carriage was waiting where they had left it.

"I will not stand here in the street and argue with you in full view of the entire capitol. Get in the carriage and then you may accuse or strike me as much as you like," he called back to her.

For a moment, Talia continued to stand where she was. She briefly considered turning around, marching right back to Grieta and demanding an explanation, but she knew Prince Mikhail well enough to realize that he would not allow her to even reach the door.

Besides, Prince Mikhail was correct to warn her that Grieta might not have the best intentions. There were certainly something very off-putting about the woman, though she could not put her finger on it.

There were other ways to find out the truth.

With that thought in mind, Talia followed Mikhail back to the carriage.