The Binding

  The stump disappears fr om behind me as I step backward , moving away from Tolan’s reach.

  “Lily,” he begs, standing now, but afraid to make any sudden move toward me, “please, I didn’t tell you this to hurt you.”

  I continue to shake my head in a slow motion. Finally I say, with a steady voice that surprises me, “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

  Tolan stops trying to reach for me then. He looks me directly in the eye and says, “Yes.”

  Continuing my slow retreat from him, I ask, “And Tharin?”

  He nods his confirmation and says , “And Harlu will die also . He ’ll die at both our hands.”

  “Why? Why Harlu?” I had to know.

  “It was he who snatched E’leiana when Tharin was in the middle of the figh t.” He then takes a step toward me saying, “Listen to me Lily. You were right when you said that it wasn’t Lucas who tried to kill you in the park.” I stop . Hope spring s within my chest, that maybe, just maybe it wasn’t Lucas who did that horrible thing to Tolan and Tharin’s sister.

  He continues, speaking slowly, “Remember in your living room I told you we couldn’t help him now because he was lost to us, do you remember?”

  I nod as I think back to our conversation.

  “I was telling you the truth, Lily. He’s lost to us. Whoever that is, it’s not Lucas. That night, the night of the kidnapping, both Tharin and I felt something evil in the room. We couldn’t place it at first and then we realize d it was coming from Lucas. Later when we described it to our father he was certain someone or something had taken over his mind, maybe even his body . At the time we didn’t know for sure. We still don’t.”

  “And Harlu?”

  He nods once and I can hear the anger in his voice as he says, “He was there, but there was no one controlling his thoughts or actions. From what we’ve been told, Harlu stood by and watched. Whatever his reasons for involving himself in the kidnapping of our sister, he’s still Sidhe , and a true Sidhe wouldn’t have allow ed something like that to happen to an innocent child. I’ll never believe that he was force d to witness . He was there because he wanted to be there and he enjoyed the pain that was inflicted on E’leiana.”

  “Who…who or what can do that to Lucas , Tolan?” I ask, willing it not to be Lucas who did those awful things, or the one who truly wants me dead. There i s hope that we can still save him. I just need to convince Tharin and Tolan of it.

  “We don’t know, Lily. It’s been almost a year since that night, and to this day we still don’t know. But, we do know that whoever he is, he’s only a puppet whose strings are being controlled by someone much more powerful than he .”

  My head is spinning from everything Tolan has just told me. I half turn from him and ask, “Please let me out , Tolan. I need some air.”

  A door appear s in the wall to the side of me . I walk out into the night .

  *

  Chapter Thirty-One ~ Tharin ~

  “How many?”

  “Twelve,” answers Alorn.

  “All ogres?”

  “Four,” he replies after a moment’s pause. Four is good . Alorn would be able to handle four ogres with no problem.

  “Including Mareck?”

  “No.” That’s one thing about Alorn, short and to the point.

  I reach out to Mellis, “How many?”

  “Same, twelve,” he answers.

  “Ogres?”

  “All of them, and Tharin?”

  “Yes?” I already know what he’s about to say, just not how many he would add.

  “There are four more at the elevator, all ogres , downstairs . A few others on the lobby floor, humans, another dozen , ” he replies, his voice tinge d with excitement. Damn. So Mareck has declared this a hostile meeting. We ha ve been in tight situations before, but we usually have a full crew. Without Phoris or Tolan, it will be tight.

  I sigh and to both I say, “Looks like Mareck’s heard of the bounty. Mellis, I will need Cessa here with me so you’ll be on your own for a minute. If things go bad ly , we’ll get out to you as soon as we can.”

  “Ah, no worries, c ousin, I’ll have them gift—wrapped for you by the time you get out here.” Mellis laughs as Alorn scoffs at his bragging.

  Mellis is out in the lobby area, immediately outside the suite door. Alorn stands at the entrance door, just behind me. I’m sitting at a small round table with my back facing Alorn and the entrance. The table is set for just two, Mareck and me . The crystal decanter is filled with what looks like dark red wine, but I know better. It’s Culoq, an o gre drink , that tastes like rotten eggs and smells like fetid swamp water. Sitting next to the decanter are two glasses. It’s an ogre custom that all guest s in a formal meeting drink of the Culoq as a sign of respect to their host.

  I reach out to Cessa and feel her near by , waiting somewhere in the dark. She’s the key to tonight’s meeting and I want to make sure she’s close. Without thinking, I rub at my forearm, thinking of the tattoo created by the black onyx stone that’s embedded into my skin . It was the last gift I received from my mother . The stone is of the Malainisi, and Cessa is the last of her kind. It’s bound to me, as is the cat to which th e stone shelter s . The stone can be removed if I will it to, but I’ve never thought to part from it, ever ― until earlier tonight as I sat next to Lily while she slept. I thought to remove the stone then and place it on her wrist . After a month of wearin g the stone, the tattoo of Cessa will fully appear along her arm as it now appears on mine . I decided then that I want ed Cessa with her at all times. A Binding gift, so to speak.

  “Tharin?” Mellis calls, bringing me back to reality .

  “What?”

  “I’m hungry,” he replies cheerfully.

  “Shut up, c ousin, or I’ll tell the ogres you find them very attractive,” replies Alorn before I could chide him .

  “Jealous, c ousin?” counters Mellis playfully .

  “Enough,” I command, “Focus and get in the game. It can get very ugly quick ly and your ogres, Mellis, will think it’s prom night… and you, their prom queen.”

  I hear Alorn laugh and Mellis joins him good-naturedly . We get serious w hen the ba ck room door opens and out walk s two more ogres, larger and uglier than those we have encountered so far. Mareck’s two most trusted body guards, Golug and Tonug. We have cross ed paths before, so we are old friends. Every chance they get Alorn and Mellis , along with the two large ogres , try to find ways to kill each other without being the first to start a war between the Sidhe and the Ogre Nation. I will say , between the four of them they can be very creative in the ways of killing. They have come close, but they always walk away satisfied that one pair got one over the other. I sigh inwardly . I pray my cousins and the two ogre s will behave, just this one night.

  The last ogre to enter the room is Mareck. Mareck is considered unusual as a crime lord not because of being an ogre, but because she’s a woman. Being the only daughter to the ogre king tends to make life an easy one for a retired warrior making her mark in the world of man. She came here with the wealth of the Ogre Nation and with her father’s blessing. She has money, muscle and something that is quite unusual for an ogre; brains. Man is so eager to embrace and accept anything or anyone who is different. Even an ogre is looked upon as just an ugly oversize d person from some unknown European country. Yet, man can also be blinded by their ignorance and greed, and can accept things that are dangerous and truly terrifying. Money is key in being so easily accepted in this world. The bigger your wealth, the more acceptable you are despite your breed or creed.

  “Well, Tharin,” greets Mareck as she takes the seat before me. For an ogre, and a retired warrior, Mareck look s quite human in her tailored suit, ups wept hair and expertly applied make up. Mareck is nearing sixty , but she looks more like a thirty-year old female wrestler full of steroids than the aging head of a crime empire. Her chair creaks under her weight as she crosses her muscular legs.

  “Mareck,”
I nod without getting up.

  She reaches for the decanter and pours two glasses. With bright red painted nails, she s lides one of the glasses toward me and the reek from the glass fills the room. I look at the offered drink and then at my host, giving her a half grin.

  “Thank you, Mareck,” I say, “but I’m not here on formal business , as you already know.”

  “Not on formal business ?” she repeats, raising one brow at me.

  “No,” I say reaching out and taking the glass. With one swallow, I down the drink and gently place the glass on the table, sliding it back toward her.

  The ogre crime lord throws her head back laughing. She looks at me then with sparking eyes saying, “Tharin, Tharin, Tharin…what shall I do with you?”

  “Well,” I start, looking at her while I wave my hand around the room, “for one, you can call off your dogs, Mareck. As I told you, this isn’t a formal meeting.”

  “Ah, but Tharin,” she says as she picks up her glass daintily between her large fingers, “w hen it comes to the Prince of Velesi, all meetings are formal.” She downs the drink easily.

  I nod saying , “You know why I’m here. I have unofficial business for you and King Mahl. My father has a message for the both of you.”

  She holds the empty glass, quietly tapping on it as she looks me over. She places the glass back on the table and says, “Tharin, I haven’t been back to Velesi in almost six years and haven’t seen my father in all that time.”

  “Yes,” I reply “but you do still speak with him.”

  After a short pause, “Yes.” Mareck looks at me and after another pause says, “You know how it is, Tharin. The ogres have been living among the Sidhe in peace for the last eight centuries now . The Ogre Nation has its own civil unrest to worry about.”

  “We’re not speaking of thieving between the tribes, Mareck. We’re speaking of war.” I get the reaction from Mareck I was hoping for .

  She leans forward, “War? You can’t be serious. I know there’s been civil unrest between the c lans, but that’s been going on as long as that of the ogres.” She stops for a moment looking at me intently, and then slowly leans back.

  “This war you’re speakin g of. Do es it hav e anything to do with the newly—found princess? Senestra’s daughter…what’s her name? Ah, yes, Lily.”

  It takes everything I have not to react to the ogre saying Lily’s name. I give her a small smile, “I see. Before you call your dogs to try and claim the bounty, I have a surprise for you.”

  Mareck lifts one manicured brow as I silently call out.

  “Cessa, come.”

  Mareck knows instantly what the black stealth is that appears from nowhere and is now slowly approaching behind me. She sits still and both Golug and Tonug shift their stances ready to move upon her word. Cessa stops beside me, and then without any signal from me, she quickly lop e s from my side and playfully pounces on Mareck. The ogre crime lord leans back in her chair as both of her body guards quickly move behind her, stopping her from tipping backward . Mareck’s laughter fills the room as she and the black cat roughly greet each other.

  It’s been six years since the two old friends have seen one another . I watch as the ogre princess grabs Cessa by the ruff of her neck and rub s her face against the big cat ’s ow n. Cessa’s large paws gently bat at Mareck playfully not getting enough of the rubbing and hugging.

  “Cessa! I’ve miss ed you , my baby! Where have you been, you big girl ? Yes , you are! You’re a big girl, aren’t you?” This continues for several minutes, with Mareck speaking in a baby voice and Cessa trying to fit herself on Mareck’s lap as if she were a kitten. The ogre laughs as Cessa settles down and lays her large head in Mareck’s lap.

  After a moment, Mareck looks up at me smiling, her eyes misty.

  “This isn’t fair, Tharin. Not fair at all,” she says as she continues to rub at a very happy Cessa. She turns to Golug and says, “Look , Golug , it’s our Cessa.” The ogre body guard doesn’t make a move or show sign of any facial reaction , but both his and Tonug’s stances are once again at ease.

  Cessa is my ace in the hole with Mareck. She loves that cat as much as she loves her father. Before retiring as one of her father’s greatest warr iors along side her eight brothers, Mareck was out on a hunt. She heard there were two or three renegade ogres from the Culo’oug tribe that had stolen livestock from one of their village s . Two or three ogres were no match for the warrior princess , so she set off to handle the renegades on her own. Of course, it was a trap to lure the princess out alon e . She was taken by ambush by at least twenty ogres. By the time they had her beaten unconscious and tied up, there were only five of them left.

  I was still learning how to use the onyx stone , and Cessa and I were still learning about each other. My tie to her was strong, but my will was not as strong as hers and she would run off hunting in the nearby forest as often as she could. I would look for her for hours, sometimes for a day or two, but never more than that before she would eventually come back to me ― usually because she had to return to the stone before her energy gave out. The stone is a portal between our world and hers, Malainisi. She comes when called and returns upon my command only.

  It took me three days to fi nd Cessa and when I did, she was badly beaten and wounded. Lying next to her was Mareck. She was even wors e off than Cessa , but she had a protective arm wrapped around Cessa as the big cat lay asleep, weak and bleeding from a deep cut to her side. As hard as I tried, I was unable to send her back to Malainisi. I was not strong enough at the time , and without Cessa’s help, I was unable to transport her through the onyx portal. When Mareck woke, despite her wounds, she pounced up in a low crouch standing between Cessa and me . If Cessa had not risen and limped over to me , and as fast as I was even then, I knew that Mareck would have slain anyone who would hurt the cat, including me. Trusting in Cessa, Mareck let her guard down and collapsed at my feet. Slowly limping, Cessa moved back to lie next to her, one of her large paws on Mareck’s prone body. That was enough for me.

  I stayed with them through the night doing what I could. Finally, when morning came I called my brother asking to meet me in secret. Even as boys , Tolan showed sign s of a healer, a trait that was of our mother’s. Between the two of us, we nursed both Mareck and Cessa back to health . I n the meantime , Mareck told us of how she was captured and imprison ed in a cave with the badly wounded cat. The Culo’oug ogres thought the cat would finish her off , but somehow Mareck and Cessa found a way to communicate with one another. They were able to overtake the remaining renegades and escape. The remaining five, however, didn’t go without a fight. It seem ed that both the ogre and the cat carried each other to safety before collapsing. I found them a few hours later, unconscious and on the brink of death.

  In the years that follow ed , every now and then I would release Cessa. On those nights she disappear ed she would always return with a new wound or two and I knew that she had been out hunting with Mareck. I never denied them their need to hunt together as I knew it made Cessa as happy as it did Mareck. That lasted until Mareck decided to retire her warrior ways and make an honest living in the world of man. Well, as honest as a crime lord is capable of being.

  “Give me your message for my father, Tharin,” she says continuing to stroke Cessa lovingly. The cat is beyond heaven. I really need to do something about this “girl time” with that cat. First , Lily now Mareck, I shake my head disgustedly at Cessa. She opens one of her eyes and glances at me as if reading my mind. So much for loyalty, as she closes her eye and gives Mareck’s hand her full attention.

  “You were right,” I start slowly, “Senestra’s daughter has been found. Her brother was caught four years ago and is being used by an unknown enemy, a very dangerous enemy.”

  “Huh,” she interrupts, “nothing your father can’t handle.”

  “I’m not sure about that, Mareck.” At that she raises a brow at me again.

  “Whoever is pulling Lucas’ strings is m
ore powerful than we’ve anticipated. The civil unrest among the Thirteen Clans has been simmering with a few skirmishes here and there, but the Alliance throughout Velesi has seen well laid out plots on the brink of actual battles. The smaller regions have whispered of uniting against the Alliance and going to war. This puppet master behind Lucas is the key and the catalyst of it all. I know it, and most of all, my father knows it.”

  “The Alliance .” The snarl on Mareck’s face isn’t pretty, and Cessa shifts her head on Mareck’s lap, feeling uneasy at the ogre’s displeasure. “You mean your secret council of old elves conspiring against everyone who isn’t Sidhe?”

  “No, Mareck,” I say pointedly at her. “I’m speaking of the Alliance that my father leads, and that Tolan and I stand behind.”

  She plays with Cessa’s ear to calm the cat down saying, “My father owes your k ing an allegiance. His reasons he’s never shared with my brothers or me . And I, well , I owe you my life , Tharin , and to Cessa as well,” she leans down and touches Cessa’s nose with her own.

  “I’ll give my father your message. You should know, however, that Maluk has severed ties with my king and seeks to find his own tribe to lead.”

  Great, one more enemy to worry about. Maluk is the oldest of Mareck’s brothers. The meanest one of the bunch, including King Mahl.

  “Thanks for the warning,” I reply as I get ready to rise.

  “There is still the matter of the bounty,” says Mareck quietly, stopping me from rising completely. I sit back in my chair slowly, eyeing her curiously.

  “Tharin,” calls Mellis from out in the lobby, “heads up, we’ve got trouble.”

  ~ * ~

  Chapter Thirty-Two Lily

  I step out of the circular room onto a leafy platform. I look at the leaves below my feet and realize I’m standing on a branch. I’m startle d at the idea of having nothing under me but leaves weaved tightly together , and I reach out for a smaller branch to hold on to. As I tightly clutch the tree limb , it slow ly moves me away from its trunk. It rises and straighten s itself out, giving me a high perch that overlooks the City of Lights . Everything that I imagine Las Vegas to be is spread before me. The lights of the valley go on forever and surround me . The brightest of the lights comes from the Strip, of course, and it’s as if I’m standing above Sodom or Gomorrah . It’s breathtaking in its alluring promises of riches, debauchery and sin.