Chapter One: Recovery

Krissen finally awoke, but found that she was alone. Alone, in a strange bed, no one to speak to her…

As if the conversation with Asuka wasn’t more than enough. "How can we be the same?" she murmured. "What is this place…"

She stood and left the room, to find Nikain waiting for her.

"What has happened?" Krissen wondered.

"There was no bloodshed but Geyshard’s," Nik replied. "He is dead."

"Is he?" Kris replied softly. "So Zedd killed him?"

"Not Zedd," Nikain replied. "Geyshard was killed by a lady named Asuka."

"Asuka?!?" gasped Krissen. Feeling faint, she held the doorframe to keep herself steady.

"What, do you know her?"

"I…I think that we have met, before…" Krissen breathed, her face pale.

"You don’t look good," Nik said. "Maybe you should lie down again."

"Where is Zedd?" Kris demanded.

"He is gone. He took Asuka with him."

"He…" Krissen looked down and sighed. "I see."

"I’m sorry, Krissen," Nik said.

"Don’t be," she replied. "I should have expected—well, when shall we head back to Corus?"

"You’re not going anywhere just yet," an unfamiliar man’s voice said. "You need to rest."

"Who are—"

"This is Firrom, a healer," Nikain explained. "We brought you to him while you were unconscious."

"That’s right. You shouldn’t even be out of bed, let alone running off to Corus." Krissen sighed and let the healer hurry her back into her bed. After a few minutes Jed entered the room.

"I am going to write a song about you," he announced. "How you put two armies to sleep for the man that you loved."

"I didn’t do it for Zedd," Krissen replied angrily. "I did it because Tortall needs a civil war about as much as a horse needs a book of poetry."

"Oh, but it’s so much less romantic that way…" Jed whined.
"Then I suppose you weren’t going to mention the fact that the man I supposedly love just ran off with another woman?"

"He did?"

"Why don’t you make up a song about how he came to defeat Geyshard, then forgot the woman he’d abandoned so that he could fall in love with the woman who killed his arch enemy? Her name is Asuka."

"I’m sorry," Jed began, but Kris blew up at him.

"What are you sorry for? It’s not your damn fault! Go wherever you want to, write whatever songs you damn well please. It doesn’t mean anything to me. I want to be left alone!"

Jed left, and it would be a long time before his path and Kris’s would cross again.

Later that day, Hacia came to visit Krissen.

"I have to tell you something," she said softly. "But please don’t tell Nik, I don’t—"

"What, Hacia?"

"I’m pregnant."

"What?" Krissen sat up, her eyes wide. "What does Nik—oh, Great Mother, you’re kidding. You—and my brother—"

"I know, it’s crazy," Hacia sighed. "I don’t know what to do. I wouldn’t have even known if the healer hadn’t taken me aside and told me…"

"You’ll have to let him know eventually," Krissen said.

"No, I won’t," Hacia replied. "I don’t plan to ever see him again."

"What? You’re pregnant with his child, but you don’t care for him enough to—"

"That’s not it, that’s not it at all," Hacia interrupted. "I love him too much to burden him with me now. I can’t just—"

"Hacia—" a voice from the doorway began. Nik had been listening to the whole conversation. "Hacia, you don’t have to feel like—"

"Leave me alone!" Hacia cried, running past him, out the door, gone.

*

Zedd watched Asuka sleep on a bed in an inn. Though she was not unconscious, she still needed rest from the mental exertion through which she had just gone. She had been asleep for hours now, but Zedd just watched her, numb, not noticing the time that went by.

Now, she finally stirred.

"Asuka—" he started, getting up and moving towards her.

"Asuka?" she repeated. "Yes. I am called that…"

"What? Don’t you remember?"

"Remember…I know you are called Zeddicus. I have killed the man called Geyshard. I am a black robe mage. I…"

"Do you remember what happened before Geyshard made you his slave?" Zedd asked. Asuka sighed.

"I don’t know," she said. "I don’t remember." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I’m sorry."

"Don’t be sorry, Asuka," Zedd replied. "We’ll find out who you are."

"I believe this," she said. "Do know a woman named Krissen?"

Zedd looked at her in surprise. "I did…once…" he murmured.

"You love her?"

"I—I don’t really know."

"She loves you."

"Maybe she did once, but it didn’t work out," Zedd replied. "It’s over, anyway."

"Why did she come to you, then?"

"I don’t know! What does it matter? She’s the last person on the face of this planet that I want to think about right now. What do you know about Kris, anyway?"

"We’ve met…once…"

"When did you meet her?"

"I don’t remember."

Zedd sighed in exasperation. "Kris has her own path to follow, and I have mine," he said. "I want to help you find your past. To know who you are."

"Krissen would help," Asuka said softly.

"I don’t think so, Asuka," Zedd replied. "I think that she feels the same way about me as I do about her."

"You think that she loves you?"

Zedd made frustrated motions with his hands as he paced the room. "For a while we were happy, I guess," he said, "but we both know that it wasn’t meant to be. I don’t love her anymore, I—"

"Don’t say it."

"Asuka, you—"

"Zedd, it was Lord Geyshard’s trap for you to fall in love with me. You haven’t. Don’t lie to yourself and say that you have. Don’t lie to me." Asuka spoke sternly, with emotion in her voice. Zedd was unused to hearing her speak in such a fashion.

"But I want to help you…" he said.

"I understand," Asuka said, speaking again as if she were stating dry facts. "I don’t remember anything that happened before I became the servant of Geyshard, but I believe that the memories can be recovered. Your help in recovering them would indeed be appreciated."

"I see," Zedd sighed.

*

"Krissen Heransra," a familiar voice greeted her, "I should have known you’d be back to cause more trouble."

Kris sat up, blinking. "Julika?"

"Well, who were you expecting, the Queen of Tyra? Of course it’s me!" The women hugged, grinning, and Julika pulled back to look at her. "Where have you been?"

"Living in Corus," Kris replied.

"Your arm—"

"As good as new." Krissen rotated it to demonstrate. "I found a healer in Corus who fixed it up for free."

"Corus, eh? They say it’s a place of wonders. I’ll have to get up there sometime."

"Oh, it was wonderful…for a while."

"I see. Now the honeymoon’s over, huh?"

"That’s rather a good way to put it," Krissen sighed. "How are the rest of the Griffins?"

Julika groaned. "In a sad state. We needed the money from this job, but now Harold’s refused to pay, seeing as no battle took place. Not that we aren’t much obliged to you for saving all our lives, but…we’re broke, and we still haven’t recovered from the ambush, when you left…"

"I see."

"Kris, now that your arm’s healed, you’d be a wonderful asset to us," Julika said. "Would you consider returning?"

"Oh, Julika…while in Corus, I fell…my kneecap was shattered, and there’s not a healer in the world who can put that completely back to normal. I still limp, slightly—and even if it weren’t for that, I have friends there, people who need me, people I can’t abandon. I don’t think that I could stand to kill another person."

"I see…you’ve gone soft," Julika replied.

"Juli! I—"

"Oh, jeez, Kris, don’t take it so hard! Hell, I’d get out of the business too, if I had anywhere to go! I guess I just envy you, that’s all."

"Julika—" Krissen began hesitantly. "Good luck."

"You too, kid," the mercenary woman replied. "We’re both gonna need all the luck that we can get."

*

Asuka waited until Zedd was asleep, because she knew that if he knew what she was going to do, he would try to stop her, and she would end up doing this behind his back, anyway. She left the inn cloaked in magic, and found a secluded place outside the city. There she built up a fire in the isolation of night, coaxing it with magic until it burned high and strong.

Into the fire she tossed a few leaves of vervain, and held her hands flat, palms together, in front of her face. Her eyes were closed.

When she opened them, the flames burned the midnight blue of her Gift.

"Dark Goddess, Great Mother, I call upon you, should you choose to hear this prayer," Asuka began, her voice still flat and expressionless. "You know what I have lost, and you also know my greatest desire. I beg you, Great Mother, grant this one wish—"

"Daughter, your wish can be granted—however, the answer may not be everything you’ve expected or hoped for." The voice came from everywhere, yet Asuka was certain that if someone else were in the area, they would not hear it. It was written that the Goddess had a voice beyond belief, and though she was hearing it for the first time, Asuka showed no signs of awe or surprise.

"I understand," she said softly.

"Then it will be done." The flames died suddenly, and Asuka smiled. She returned to the city, to the inn where she had left Zedd, and was just settling in to bed when--

"Help! Oh, please, don’t let him touch me, don’t let him near me! Someone hear me!"

The voice was that of a child, and unfamiliar. Zedd awoke suddenly, and saw a small girl of about eight dash through the doorway. She was dressed in clothing typically worn by children of Sarain, clean but a bit tight, as if she were close to growing out of it. Her hair was straight and black, cropped carelessly at chin length, with thick bangs that almost covered her eyes. Bright green eyes—

Like Asuka’s.

"What are you doing here?" Zedd asked gently. The girl looked distraught and frightened.

"He was chasing me," she babbled. "Please, don’t let him get me—one moment I was—and now I’m—I don’t understand!" The rest was dissolved in sobs.

"What is your name?" Zedd wondered.

"Amaya," she sobbed. "Please, help me. You just have to help me find my sister. She’ll pay you when we find her, I promise. Just don’t let him get me!"

Zedd looked between the girl and Asuka. Amaya certainly looked like a younger version of Asuka. "Asuka…could she be your sister?"

Asuka said nothing. She merely stared at Amaya, her expression thoughtful.

"Asuka?"

"I—I don’t know," she told him. "I’m sorry…I still do not remember."

"She looks like you," Zedd said.

"She might be," Asuka said. "I don’t know, I don’t remember…"

"Amaya, is this your sister?" Zedd asked. Amaya looked at Asuka.

"I’ve never met my sister," she said. "I don’t know."

"What is your sister’s name?"

"It’s…it’s…I forgot!" she cried. "It’s in the letter mother gave me—but the letter is in my bag, and he took my bag away from me! He wanted to take me away from me!"

"Zedd, whether I am her sister or not, she needs someone to look after her," Asuka said softly, thoughtfully. "Can’t you feel it? Her Gift—"

Zedd probed the girl’s magic gently, and was shocked by what he found. Such power he’d never seen in any mage, even the black robes he’d come in contact with. And completely untrained…

"It’s amazing! I haven’t seen power like that—"

"A girl like this would be easy prey for one such as Geyshard," Asuka explained, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice. "And untrained she is a danger to herself and everyone around her."

"I know," agreed Amaya. "That is why I must find my sister. She is Gifted, like me."

"Then your sister and I will train you," Zedd said.

"What? You do not know that I am her sister," Asuka said.

"How can she not be? You look alike, you both have incredibly strong magic…"

"I suppose this means we must be," Asuka sighed.

"The untrained Gift can do strange things," Zedd replied. "Amaya—did you feel, somehow, drawn to us, in any way?"

"I—I was running away, and all of a sudden I was running down the hallway," Amaya replied. "I don’t even know where I am!"

"You’re in the Elk’s Eye Inn, in Port Legann," Zedd replied.

"Port Legann? What are you doing in Port Legann, sister? I thought you lived further north!"

"My name is Asuka," she told Amaya gently. "And with me is Zeddicus of Veldine."

"Oh…is he your husband?" wondered Amaya.

"No, he is a friend."

"Oh, I see…I understand. My mother wasn’t married to my father. That’s why you didn’t know about me. You and your brothers, children of my father’s wife—I wish I could have met you sooner!"

"Brothers?" Asuka wondered softly.

"Yeah, your brothers! Our brothers. You do have two brothers, right?"

"Amaya," Zeddicus began, "Asuka…was in a very bad accident and has lost her memory. She doesn’t remember your brothers, or your father, or anything."

"Oh…" Amaya looked at Asuka sadly, but the woman only smiled.

"Amaya," she said. "Being able to meet you has made this the happiest day I can remember. I promise that I will take care of you, and I think Zedd will, as well. This man who was chasing you will never catch you. I promise."

"You mean it?"

"I have ways of knowing," Asuka replied. "You must be tired from trying to escape him." Amaya nodded. "Then sleep. You can share this bed with me, for tonight."

"Thank you…sister," Amaya replied.

"Call me Asuka, please," Asuka said. "Now, get to bed. You must sleep more, too, Zedd."

"Don’t forget that you need some rest yourself, Asuka," Zedd yawned.

"Of course, Zedd. There’s just one thing left that I must do."

Hirom Khallis had not been evil before.

Perhaps he was more mercenary than most, but he did not take any more joy in killing than to know that his paycheck depended on it, and so he excelled at it. He did not judge right or wrong, just calculated impassively which would pay more. That was why his Venom did so well in the business of warfare.

Indeed, he did dress in black leather, in order to impress both prospective employers and opponents, to show that he was indeed a formidable man to deal with. To make more money, he rationalized it, and thought no more of it. He certainly couldn’t be called a good man, not the sort mothers told their sons to look up to, but he was not evil.

Then he was the next to pick up Sorrow.

A stroke of luck, to possess such a rare, expensive sword—he paid little attention to the magical legend of it. He was not so much a fool to discredit magic entirely, simply because he did not possess the Gift, but he believed that his trained will would be enough to combat any curse on Sorrow. He reached for the sword, mentally bracing himself against its magic.

He felt nothing.

But he picked up Sorrow, its magic coursed through him, silently, without warning. He felt no different, but he was forever changed. A part of him had died, and it was replaced by the magic of Sorrow, and it would now control him.

The sword burned for revenge, and now Hirom Khallis felt it as well.

The mage Zeddicus would have to die.

*

*

Why would I be dreaming of Krissen now? Zedd wondered as he awoke. And in such a way… He felt himself blush when he looked at Asuka, who was already up and about. How she could function on so little sleep was beyond him. He looked over to the other bed, where Amaya was still asleep. At least he wasn’t the last to wake.

Asuka didn’t seem to notice that he was awake, so he closed his eyes and thought. He thought about dreams he didn’t understand…not that he usually understood dreams, but normally he could at least puzzle out what events in his life brought them about. In dreams you don’t have to think sensibly, but I’m awake now. No one can read my mind, I am the only one who knows what my dream was. And even now the images are fading…

So why did he regret losing them?

*

Josef Brennert was having a very good day. Even though he was only seventeen, the Archivist Nikain had left him in charge. The library was where he had grown up—son of Astram Brennert, a scholar famous for his study of magical theory and musical history.

Of Astram’s five sons, only the youngest had followed in his father’s footsteps. The oldest had married into a noble family, and now was Lord of a small fief in the east. One had joined the Queen’s Riders, and was killed by a spidren before the end of his third year. The other two worked in Corus, one as a healer, the other a tavern owner. Those two had also married well, though not so well as their oldest brother. Each had tried to outdo the one before with the beauty of his bride, and now Josef was expected to find a wife in the near future.

Good looks seemed to run in the Brennert family, but Josef had been a bit shortchanged. His nose was a bit too large, his hair a dull brown that he wore tied back in a very short ponytail. If you looked closely at him you could see that his eyes were slightly uneven, and at the age of seventeen he still had no need to shave his face. He moved very awkwardly, and it was a wonder that he wasn’t forever blundering into bookshelves and knocking things over.

None of this could stop him from flirting with any young lady who came into the library, and the other scholars found it very entertaining to watch him make a fool of himself. Some felt a little sorry for him—he certainly wasn’t bad-looking, he just seemed to have no idea what he was doing half the time. There was only one thing that could make that awkwardness vanish.

"It’s called the harpsichord," he way saying to Jedrick Roseclayne. "You don’t see too many people busking on the street corners with this instrument, but it’s beautiful none the less. You see," he said, lifting the cover on the top of the harpsichord, "when you press one of the keys here, it plucks the string there."

"Amazing," the minstrel replied. Josef smiled. "And this really works? You can get music out of that thing?"

Josef took that as a cue. He sat down on the bench and began to play. It was very gratifying to see the most famous bard in the world’s mouth drop open with shock. "I can’t believe you haven’t come across one of these before."

"It’s simply amazing," Jedrick replied. "It doesn’t even look like an instrument, and yet—"

"I rather like the sound," Josef replied, "though tuning it is rather difficult."

"I can see how that might be," Jedrick replied. "May I try it?"

Josef nodded, sliding off the bench and standing. "Go right ahead." Jedrick sat down and pressed a key gingerly.

"Nik!" Josef abandoned Jedrick to run over to the Archivist. "You’re back! All in one piece, too, I hope!"

"Hey, Josef," Nikain said without feeling.

"What is it, Nik? You okay?"

Nikain sighed and looked away. "I don’t know."

"What? Kris is okay, isn’t she?"

"She’s fine. I…is everything all right in the Archives?"

"Wonderful," Josef replied. "I was just showing Jedrick Roseclayne the harpsichord there."

"Hey, Nik," Jedrick said. "I’d like to talk to you sometime, when it’s convenient, all right?"

"I’m not in much of a mood for talking."

"That I can see," Jed replied. "Later, then. I think I’ll be…staying in Corus for a while."

"Jed’s in love!" Josef said cheerfully. The famous minstrel turned red. Nikain sighed and walked away.

"So, does this Adine have a younger sister, or something?"

"I don’t know," Jed replied. "Were you going to show me how to play this harpsichord?"

"Yes, yes," Josef replied. "Anything to change the subject, huh? Anyway, we’ll start with a scale…"

*

Her leather-gloved hand clutched a tiny metal pendant that hung around her neck, her calm facade concealing a maelstrom of anger and fear. You idiot, she told herself, now you pay for your stupidity. If one looked closely, they would have seen that the pendant was carved with symbols for binding and searching. However, it was unlikely that she would let anyone get close enough to see for themselves.

She would have to finish this job as quickly as possible, to be free of the curse. She had made it very clear that she would not work under binding, but Khallis had looped the pendant around her neck the very second she signed the contract. Now she had no choice. Kill the one she was sent after, or die of slow rot from the inside out.

This driving need made her start to understand why other assassins went insane when forced to work under binding. The pendant on her chest seemed to radiate that need to kill into her body, and to take off the pendant meant instant death—unless the man was dead. She had to kill him, so that she could have her freedom back.

Tsuriko never asked questions. It was best not to get involved.

But once she was rid of this curse, the one who had done this to her would be the next to die.