Chapter 3

Deception Karn awoke with a scream.

He sat up in bed and touched the back of his head, then ran his hand down his neck to his shoulders in search of a wound. No blood. No pain. No tenderness. Nothing but tangled, greasy hair. How can this be?

The wooden floor of Opal’s cabin felt foreign beneath his feet as he stepped slowly from the bed. Once upright, he lumbered for a few shaky footsteps before he reached an old silver mirror hanging on the wall. When he peered into it, he was stunned by the reflection.

“I look like hell…”

His brown hair, normally tied back, hung untidily past his shoulders, and his beard had become unkempt.

Who are you?

Once again, Karn tried to piece together the events that led to this strange day, but the fog inside his head was still too thick to penetrate.

Frustrated, he shuffled out of the small bedroom into the main room, which was a combination of kitchen and workshop. He took a long look around, but all he laid eyes on seemed unfamiliar. Tiny bottles cluttered the countertops and shelves, some labeled with names of herbs while others were filled with unidentified fluids. A wreath of dried lilac hung over a window across from him and a basket of assorted fruit sat on the kitchen table. A stout-looking door led to the same woodland scene from that morning. As Karn peered through the doorway, he spied Opal seated on the verdant earth.

“What happened to me?” he asked as he stepped toward her.

“Karn, you’re awake.” Opal stood and brushed grass from her wrinkled skirt.

“What happened to me?” he repeated.

She darted to him and wrapped her arms around his wide chest. “You fell asleep, my love,” she whispered in his ear.

The moment she released her grip, he felt odd and compelled to speak. “I remember being a soldier enlisted in the army of Weiden’s Rise. I remember you and my father, yet there are still giant holes in my past.”

“You worry too much, my love. Even if little by little, I’m sure your memories, like your wounds, will heal over time.”

“Do you think your teachers could restore my memory with their magic?”

“Perhaps. Let’s go inside. We should prepare for our trip to the High Council’s fortress.”

Karn snatched her hand as she turned away from him; he needed answers.

“How old am I? How long have we been lovers? Opal, I cannot remember my mother’s name, let alone what my—”

“You are twenty-five summers old, and I’m twenty-one,” she stated as she peeled his hand off her wrist. “Your mother’s name was… Elizabeth.”

Opal stepped around Karn and into the cabin, but he lingered outside. Birds sang all around him while the scent of wildflowers floated through the trees.

This place, its abundant serenity… I could stay here forever… but I need my vengeance first. I need…

“Opal, I need my gear,” Karn said as he joined her in the cabin.

“Gear?”

“My packs, armor, shield, sword—my gear.”

“Yes, of course. Follow me.”

Karn followed Opal to a storage closet at the rear of the kitchen. After she opened it, she pointed to a stack of wooden crates. On each crate, a name was scrawled in gray chalk; the last one had his. Karn picked up the crate and made note of its weightlessness when he carried it to the dining table.

His breaths came faster and faster and his hands shook. For the briefest moment, he considered not opening the crate at all. When he finally pulled open the lid, he was struck with the most intense wave of nausea he had ever felt.

Is this all that remains of my life: a sword, a buckler, boots, a small bag of coins, and an empty pack? There must be more.

Karn lifted the sword out of the crate and took a long look at it. The chiseled iron hilt was one-and-one-half hands long. Weiden’s Rise’s symbol, a serpent with heads at both ends, was engraved on the handle with the words “Strength, Loyalty, Cavalry” just below. Oddly, the scabbard did not match the sword; instead, it was plain, hardened leather, devoid of design. It may have seemed wrong, but Karn did not waste another moment worrying about it. He strapped the sword to his belt and placed the buckler shield in his pack.

***

Opal paced the floor behind him. Her mind raced; she knew she needed answers to his inevitable questions.

You prepared for this moment, Opal. Don’t allow your nerves to undo you.

She fiddled with a jar of red moon leaves, an herb she collected for healing purposes. Hopefully he has not noticed your tension. You’re stronger than this. You’re better—

“Opal, where’s my armor?” he asked as he laced his boots.

Deafened by the thousands of words jumbled inside her head, she did not respond at first. When he repeated himself, his words struck her like stones.

“What did you do with my armor?”

“Y-you were mortally wounded, Karn.” Her voice rose as she stared at the jars, unwilling to make eye contact with him as she lied. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t unhook the straps to your damaged armor, so I used my magic to remove it.”

“Then it’s here?” Karn stood. “Someplace?”

“No, Karn, it’s not.” Opal slammed her fist onto the counter before her. “I was panicked. Your armor was ruined. I… I dissolved it off you. It’s gone—destroyed.”

When she finished speaking, the cabin went quiet. Opal crossed her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, swaying her hips.

The sun seemed to crawl a full degree across the sky before Karn moved, his stride steady and silent across the room.

When he gripped Opal’s hips in his big hands, her arms jerked, and she knocked a jar of herbs off the counter. It shattered on the hard floor, its contents scattered at their feet. Opal gazed at the mess but caught Karn’s eyes locked keenly onto her body.

“There’s no time for this,” she squeaked as she sensed his intent.

When Opal pushed back from his arms, she planted one foot firmly into the spilled herbs, her bootheel slipped, and she tumbled backward to her seat.

Red-faced, she stood up and brushed the brittle remains of the leaves from her.

“We need to go.”

“We need to go,” he repeated, but in his tone, she heard no real intention of leaving.

Karn seized Opal by the belt of her skirt and pulled her hard into a tight embrace. A sour taste painted her tongue as her heart pounded heavily. She had long desired this moment, so much so that she felt like her insides were about to explode.

His rough hands tilted her chin up. Opal saw passion in his eyes a second before her breath was stolen by a forceful kiss. The heat of his body against hers and the saltiness of his mouth further excited her. Before she knew it, Karn had gathered both her hands in one of his. Arms pinned high above her head, Opal danced on the tips of her toes.

“Karn?”

She nervously held eye contact with him until he ran his other hand down her neck, past her bosom, to the strings on her blouse. He fumbled to untie them a moment during which she whispered his name again.

Lost of his patience, he tore the blouse down to uncover her breasts. Opal was unsure what would come next, and the uncertainty made her shudder with desire and anticipation.

“Please. Be gentle…”

Karn cupped her breast from beneath with his free hand. His grip was firm, and he squeezed it tightly, but softened as he moved to her nipple.

Opal felt herself grow moist. She wanted to kick and scream if only to expel the teeming desire that had built inside her.

She struggled to free her hands, and when they were loose, she pounced on Karn. With his shirt off, she gazed upon his handsome face, and ran her hands down his chiseled stomach to his leather pants where they hooked around the top of the garment.

“Do you love me?” she whispered, her forehead pressed to his lips.

“I always have.”

Opal tilted her head back, her mouth almost in contact with his. “That, Karn, was exactly what I needed to hear.”

When Opal paused, Karn took charge. He kissed her with his lips parted, as if to devour her soft skin little by little. Pants off, he unhooked her skirt and yanked it hard to the ground.

I’m ready for this, she thought as she took his manhood in hand. “I’m ready for you, Karn.”

Opal released a shuddering gasp as Karn entered her. After the initial pain, her body tingled, and she wanted more. Her thoughts rang out with words she was too shy to speak. Deeper, Karn. I want you deeper inside me.

Back pinned against the counter, Opal lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist.

Each thrust felt better than the one before. Opal prayed the sensation would never stop, instead build and build until she could no longer endure it. Time was lost to her, and when the blissful feeling came to a sudden halt, it did so with a powerful spike of pleasure that made her entire body quake. As she collapsed into him, her thoughts were clear. You are mine now, Karn. All mine.

***

Uncomfortable with the silence in the room as she dressed, Opal listed a collection of items for Karn to gather in the kitchen while she escaped to pack her bag in the adjoining room. She took her time stuffing her knapsack with the few items she had wanted to ferry back to her room at the High Council, all the while consumed by the thoughts of what she had just done.

She could not remember the last time she felt this joyful, and she was sure of one thing: her life had finally taken a step in the right direction. But the idea also frightened her worse than anything—even worse than the invading warlord.

Happiness, after all these years, has come with a price. Are you still willing to pay it, Opal?

Anxiety gripped her heart and a flood of concerns filled her head. Am I doing the right thing? She breathed in slowly, in effort to calm her nerves.

“Ready?” she asked as she reentered the kitchen.

“Ready.”

Opal walked out into the night air and dropped her bag. The portal spell she was about to call upon was one taught to all second-level magic students and was the only way she knew of in and out of the mages’ fortress. Being in her fourth level of study, it was little more than a reflex, but her cluttered mind made it more of a chore.

Karn, she thought as she gazed at him, then at her torn blouse. Is this how you take all your women, so savagely, like… like a barbarian? I need to tell someone. Not the teachers; not Malik. Who will listen? Who will understand?

Opal closed her eyes and pushed out all aberrant thoughts. With a practiced breath, she drew deep upon the powers that resided inside her and summoned the portal to the High Council’s fortress.

The already dark sky grew murky, dabs of purple outlining the black clouds that rolled across the horizon. A chill wind gusted through the forest and lapped at Opal’s bare arms as purple sheet lightning filled the sky.

She faced Karn. Through the pulsating purple glow of the energy that surrounded her, she saw him speak, but the loud whistle of wind snatched the words before they reached her.

Is he afraid? What will he do? Opal watched him close as the shimmering energy that surrounded her began to fill her hands; his eyes grew wide with amazement.

“It’s okay,” she said, more so mouthed to him as she readied herself.

Opal raised her arms above her head and channeled the swirling purple magical energy she had built into a ball of bright white light that hovered before her. The orb of magical energy crackled, and then, after a thunderous boom, it opened like a giant mouth, its aperture a pit of darkness that swallowed everything around—from passing moths to the dry leaves that rested atop the grass.

“Opal!” Karn shouted.

Opal moved closer to Karn and smiled. “Time to go.”

“The brightness. That sound… I thought it swallowed you,” he said with some tension. “Is it safe?”

“You’ve seen me open portals for many months now.”

“That thing.” Karn pointed at the swirling portal. “I don’t recall ever seeing a thing such as that before in my life. The way it shakes… it looks almost as if it were alive.”

Opal tugged on his belt. “It’s safe. You know I would never harm you with my magic.”

“I know.”

“Good. We should hurry, my love.”

Hand in hand, they stepped through the portal to the other side: The High Council of Mages’ mountaintop fortress.