CHAPTER 49

  Maria ran through the Castles halls with her Blessing in full use. Nearby servants, setting up the torches and candles to prepare the castle for the evening looked at her curiously, wondering what could have a young woman so scared. A few called out to her but were surprised at just how fast she left them behind, leaving them nothing to do but shake their heads and go back to work.

  As Maria reached the door to their quarters, she threw it open forcefully and was surprised to see Tirr, sitting at the table with a piece of bread in his mouth. He gave a mild look of annoyance towards the sudden disturbance. “You trying to break the door or something?” He asked as he threw another piece of meat to the patiently sitting Garm.

  Maria stood in shock for a moment, before rushing up to him and searching for any sign of injury or problem, despite his protests. After making sure there was absolutely nothing wrong, she pulled him into a tight hug, causing Tirr to blush.

  He let the hug go on for a moment before pushing her away gently, “What’s wrong with you?” He asked, noticing how upset she still looked.

  “I saw Marquess Monter…” Maria replied giving him one last look over.

  “What?”

  "I saw him here, in the Castle not even five minutes ago. Walking around like he owned the place.”

  Tirr frowned, “Didn't they just finally bring him in or something? Probably we're just tossing him into the dungeon.”

  She shook her head, “I don’t think so, it looked like he had his own guards with him.”

  “Then it’s probably just more of their political nonsense. I don’t care anymore, King Torn is handling it anyway so it’s probably fine.”

  “There’s something else though. He said something o me, it sounded like a threat to not leave you alone.”

  “He’s just mad he lost. It's over and he can’t do anything.”

  Maria wondered if that was true thinking to the Marquess’s strange words. Tirr could tell she was still worried and remembered what Claire had said.

  “Look, if it makes you feel better you can just stay with me for now.” Tirr started with his usual arrogant tone, before growing quieter as he started to fidget. “And... I’m sorry about what I said the other day. I was just mad. Because I think you were right. I think the Shard did come from me…”

  He told her about his strange dreams, of the burning city and the red-cloaked man who left with only an apology. Maria listened intently, forgetting about her previous worries for the moment as Tirr spoke.

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  "I think Bren… If that was his name, betrayed me. He might have had something to do with the Great Disaster and he might and made the Shard somehow out of my Blessing. I’m going to work with the King to see what I can do to try and fix it, or at least help heal the people that it hurts.”

  He looked down, his face emotionless, “It’s the least I can do if it’s really my Blessing causing so much pain. And it’ll help King Torn win this war against Lutel. With both you and me, we should be able to help create more shard users until I figure out how to retrieve my Blessing.”

  “Do you think it’s a good idea to help with the war that much?” Maria asked hesitantly, having seen what a Fire Shard user could do the thought of making more while knowing what they would be used for made her reluctant.

  “Yes! Lutel is a problem, I think if we help Rasor a bit King Torn might be able to finally get them to agree to a peace treaty. I don’t like all this pointless killing so the sooner the war ends the better.”

  “That’s true but…” Maria kept thinking back to Monter’s cryptic words and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. “Well has Doron come back yet?”

  “He sent a message today, said he got asked to help run some training at the barracks for a while.”

  Tirr stood yawning, “I told the King we’d start trying tomorrow so I’m going to bed.”

  Maria told him goodnight and went to bed as well, still feeling like she was missing something…

  Over the next few days, they spent much of their time working with the Shard, down beneath the Castle. At first, Tirr could barely stand to be in the same room as it. But slowly, he learned to ignore the strange rejection and disgust he felt toward the Shard and on the second day, they helped create a shard user. Making the process much easier and far safer.

  Since they had helped create three more, leaving King Torn more than pleased. Somehow the whole thing seemed strange to Maria though, and she slowly felt more and more uncomfortable. She found herself looking for Claire or her brother Claus, only for them to always be out doing something. Meanwhile, Tirr seemed to grow fonder of the King, who talked about making Tirr the national Deity and religion of Rasor.

  Eventually Maria felt the need to talk to someone, and after learning which barracks Doron had gone to and Tirr had fallen asleep, headed out late at night to visit him. She traveled quickly through the quiet city streets as she still remembered Monter’s threat, hoping to bring Doron back with her or to just talk about the strange cloud that seemed to hang over her mind.

  When she announced herself to the guards and told them she was looking for Doron. They brought a man around Doron’s age with a shaved head who looked confused. “You looking for Doron?”

  “Yes, can I talk to him please?”

  “You must be from that new religion thing he joined right? He left a few days ago, The Captain tried really hard to get him to stay, but Doron told me he was getting a bad feeling about something.”

  “Maria heard the words but couldn’t respond. The deep unsettling feeling she’d been having loomed over her and she suddenly knew why everything had felt so off. She said a quick goodbye and took off, running back to the castle as things fell into place in her mind and soon her only thought was of reaching Tirr and finding Doron and Claire.

  As she turned down the last road to the Castle She suddenly felt an arm grab her from behind, placing a foul-smelling cloth over her mouth. She heard something crack as she elbowed the man behind her, channeling her blessing to try and fight off the sudden drowsiness that had hit her. But the hand remained firm and soon she felt her body grow limp as darkness took her…