Chapter Thirty One
1216 Words
“May I come in?”
Tamara slowly lifted her gaze towards the door where Daniel was lingering, angling his head to get a better view of Baric. Tamara did not miss her husband’s pinched expression when he finally caught sight of Baric.
“I do not wish to see anyone right now. If you can come back another time-“
“I am afraid this matter is time sensitive Tamara…”
Tamara let out a desperate sigh. Couldn’t he just let her take care of Baric in peace? It was her fault that he was in this condition. Whatever condition it was. Tamara leapt from her chair to swat an irksome fly that had been dangerously buzzing near Baric’s nostrils. Daniel coughed.
“I suppose you find this disgusting just like everyone else?”
“It is an abhorring sight, I mean…have you properly looked at him?”
Tamara willed herself to look at her brother, the whole of him. She just couldn’t. It was impossible to fully take him in without feeling the urge to hurl. If the human didn’t come back with the cure, her brother’s fate would be sealed. Tamara shivered, the whole world’s fate would be sealed.
“It's nothing to be ashamed of Tamara. Why do you bother caring for him when you already know what will happen?”
Tamara rapidly shook her head. She wasn’t going to let her husband agitate her nerves. Not when everyone she trusted was outside the magical realm. She had to maintain a level head. She had to be there for her people. That was the only reason why she had remained behind. The only reason why she had let her beloved risk his life.
“The human will bring back a cure. My brother’s health will return to him just like my father’s-“
“You don’t know, do you?”
A pit of dread began burrowing itself inside Tamara’s stomach. She unconsciously brought her arm around her abdomen and squeezed it. She had to regulate her temper. There was no one around to calm her and if the creatures were to catch a glimpse of how unstable her powers made her… She shuddered at the thought.
“What are you referring to?”
“I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but, you have a right to know…”
Tamara held her breath. It was news about her father. Had he fallen ill again? Had the human not fully healed him? But she had seen her father. He appeared to be well, he had even seemed happy.
“By gods Daniel tell me what is going on!”
Daniel was enjoying this little game of back and forth. He had accepted the fact that Tamara was, in fact, stronger than him but the tiny woman possessed a brain the size of a pea. She also happened to be an emotional wreck. With her sending everyone off, she had made herself an easy target.
“Your father Tamara, he is dead…”
The air around Tamara thinned. She struggled to do the normal act of breathing. Clutching her chest every time she needed to inhale a fresh lunge of air.
“If this is a lie then it is a cruel one Daniel…”
Daniel shook his head in mock hurt. Of course deception was a part of his many gifts but this time, this time he was speaking the truth and he would use this grotesque truth to unhinge his wife bit by bit.
“I wish I was lying but sadly I am not…he passed away yesterday, in front of his whole council…the cause of death is still unknown but they suspect the girl…”
Tamara froze momentarily as if forgetting the reason for her hyperventilation in the first place.
“What do you mean?”
“I am only but the messenger Tamara, I relay only what I heard…”
“And how, how did you hear?”
It was Daniel’s turn to go rigid. He hadn’t anticipated Tamara’s inquiry just like he had not anticipated that she would still be intact after hearing this piece of information. Was it possible that she was finally learning to tame her powers?
“I would rather not say…they are dear to me and very fragile…if I expose them, we will no longer have any direct ally among the humans…”
Tamara sharply raised her head.
“Are you saying that you have a human ally within Chi?”
“You know better than anyone else that I would rather ingest the vessel rather than befriend humans…”
Tamara squinted her eyes at Daniel. Her temples were pounding and she could feel herself slowly falling apart. She was about to lose herself to a darker force, a force she had never known how to control. She had to know the truth, she had to know whether her father, the greatest man to ever live, was truly dead. But how? The seeing stone was deep in the woods, beyond the magical realm, and she couldn’t leave her brother and the kingdom under the care of Daniel.
“Tamara, the humans are orchestrating a war as we speak…”
The pounding in Tamara’s head heightened, she felt as if her temples were being attacked by a steel object.
“They are amassing a troop, handing each warrior a sword draped in the vessel…”
“Lies…They cannot risk it, Lucas can never allow it…”
“Lucas is deep in the woods headed for the magical realm seeking blood for his father’s murder…he believes the human to be a witch, he believes Baric to be dead…”
“No…lies, all lies…”
“Soon the humans will invade our lands and attack our kind. They will wield their poisonous weaponry and run us through with glee…there will be no mercy as they annihilate our families, as they spill our blood…”
“No…no…no…”
“They will bring down the wrath of the gods upon us…and our kind will be no more…Tell me Tamara, will you let that happen? Will you let the magical realm be obliterated?”
Tamara let out a wounded moan. She succumbed to the darkness inside her, gnashing her teeth and thrashing her limbs. Her pupils vanished, her eyes assuming a milky form which always managed to unnerve Daniel. Tamara blinked and the white of her eyes became stark dark. A malignant smile proceeded to hug her lips. Daniel felt the urge to mirror it, he had managed to bring out this side of her.
The chamber they were in suddenly quaked, Daniel stumbled but swiftly regained his footing. Today, he had come prepared at least he supposed he was.
Today, Tamara's reign had to come to an end.
- Writer
