Chapter Seven

 

Rodas sat on his throne staring at an empty room, his anger rising with each passing minute. His kingdom was empty, as it had been before, when his brother ruled on the other side of the river. For the first time since he took over the land, Rodas noticed the dark, gloominess of his own walls.

“My lord.” Rodas looked up to see the young man he’d sent to spy on his brother had returned, with a woman. “I bring you the source of his magic.” The youth pulled the woman forward so hard she went flying to the ground.

Rodas stood up slowly, his dark eyes fixed on the woman lying on the ground before him. A beauty—one that could match Kalena, he thought. Her brown hair, large eyes, and womanly body had Rodas feeling a slight bit of lust course through his veins. The same lust he used to have for Kalena, back when he shared the pleasure and the magic.

She stared back at him with wide-open eyes. Slowly she pushed herself up to her feet. Oh such boldness! He had to grin at it.

“Very nice and very lovely,” Rodas stated. “You shall be rewarded well.” He motioned with his hand for the young man to leave, then drew closer to her. “So you are the one to free my brother. Such magic you must have.”

“And you are the one to trap him,” she snarled. “Such cowardliness in you.”

Rodas narrowed his eyes and brought up his hand to backhand her.

“Rodas!” Kalena’s voice stopped him.

Rodas looked up at Kalena standing in the doorway. Her dress sparkled, her hair flowed free down her back, and the dark circles around her lovely eyes seemed to get darker. However, a fire sprang back into the blue of them. He lowered his hand and moved away from his brother’s woman, to Kalena.

“I think her beauty outshines your own, don’t you?” he said. He walked around her slowly. “There’s something about her, something that just draws a man to her.”

Kalena turned her slender head towards him, following him as he moved around her. “Inner beauty does that.”

“Does it? You had that kind of beauty at one time.”

“And you drained it dry.”

Rodas stopped his walking and stood right in front of her again. “You’re usefulness is starting to wear out. Maybe it’s time to replace you. Maybe the new queen will be her.”

“You can’t have her magic, Rodas, it doesn’t belong to you.”

“And it doesn’t belong to him!” Rodas yelled in her face. He grabbed Kalena by the throat, squeezing just enough to cut off some of her air. He put his face right up to hers. “I am king in this land. Everyone and everything belongs to me.” He shoved Kalena away hard and she almost stumbled. “Take her to the tower.”

“He’ll come for me,” the woman said.

Rodas turned to her and smiled. “Oh I’m counting on it.”

“You will never be as powerful as him!” Kalena shocked him right then by yelling back, her hand up on her throbbing throat. “The purest magic is in the heart and you have no heart so you will never be as powerful as him because you will never love anything or anyone but yourself!”

“I am powerful!” he yelled, his arms going out. Rodas brought forth his magic. He produced a large gust of wind and it knocked Kalena and the other woman to the floor. “And the day you forget that is the day you die.” He left her there on the floor, walked away and the doors opened. “Send men to my brother. I want his blood now!” he yelled, stopping in the doorway. He turned back to Kalena. “Make sure he knows his woman now belongs to me.” He slammed the doors shut on them both.

* * * *

Cleto woke to a chill in the air. Opening his eyes, he looked around the room for Clair but couldn’t find her. Moving off the bed he headed for the bathing chamber and discovered she wasn’t there. He snapped his fingers and his protective leathers magically appeared on his body when one of his new staff members came rushing into the room.

“My lord!” the young girl huffed. “Look!” she pointed towards the window.

Cleto went to the window and looked out. Men from Rodas’s kingdom were on his land, burning homes and trees, and anything else to which they could set fire. People were running for their lives, and the men were trying to take those lives. The girl screamed then and Cleto turned just in time to block a blow from a rushing assailant to his head. Cleto grabbed and hauled the large club up in the air, looked the man in the eye, twisted his body to the left then kneed him as hard as he could in the side. The guy grunted and his hold on the club was gone. Instead of touching him, Cleto used his magic and pushed with both hands with all his might, toward the man. He went flying in the air fast and crashed hard against the wall, breaking the stones and slumping to the ground in a dead heap. Not thinking, Cleto snapped a finger again and was instantly fully dressed.

“Raise the warning bells,” Cleto told the frightened girl. “We’re being attacked by Rodas.”

“Yes, my lord,” the girl said, running from the room.

“Clair!” Cleto yelled, also rushing from the room.

More men stormed into his home and this time Cleto reacted. He moved his hands, bringing the magic within to surface. With a hard shove of both hands, he let it lose and watched it take every man in his sight down to the ground. His men came forth and quickly tied up the few that lived.

“Clair!” Cleto yelled again. “Has anyone seen Clair?” he called out.

“She’s not in the castle,” one of his new men called out. “All the women are hidden and safe, but your queen is not among them.”

“Rodas!” Cleto yelled so loud and with so much anger in his voice that his inner magic came forth again and this time it shook every wall in the castle and knocked over every man and animal. A strong gust of wind followed. “Finish collecting these men and have the rest of our own prepare themselves. We go and finish this shit with my brother once and for all.”

“Yes my lord,” the man said, getting himself as well as the others back up on their feed.

* * * *

“So you’re Kalena,” Clair stated.

“I am.” Kalena took Clair to the top of the castle and instead of locking her in, as Clair thought she would, the woman stayed and sat down on a stool next to a fireplace that looked like it had never been used.

“Why’d you do it?” Clair asked, unable to help herself. She was being held prisoner and didn’t understand why. “Why’d you help him imprison his own brother?”

Kalena gave her a faint smile, or at least tried to smile. She looked so frail and weak. How Clair knew she’d look soon due to the cancer ravaging her body. The woman seemed so thin even, as if she hadn’t really ate anything in days, maybe weeks, and the dress she wore hung on her body. The brightness of the sparkling red did very little with the paleness of her skin.

“Rodas wanted to kill Cleto back then,” Kalena stated, standing up and going to the open window. “I talked him out of it the best way I could.”

“By putting him in that damn toy soldier?”

Kalena turned and stared Clair. “I don’t expect you to understand. But in order for Cleto to live and one day reclaim what was his by birth, then banishment was the answer.”

“And then you went with the power,” Clair huffed. “So much for love and honor.”

“I do love Cleto.” That statement had Clair stiffening up. She didn’t like the sound of that. “I’ve never stopped loving him and Rodas knows it. It’s why he tortures me so, and why I let him. I punish myself for letting Cleto be imprisoned in that soldier and will never forgive myself or be able to make amends for it.”

“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. You’re just trying to come up with some crap so you can look yourself in the eye.” Clair opened her mouth to say more but pain hit deep inside her head. She reached up with both hands to her forehead and almost fell to the ground in pain. She didn’t even notice Kalena come and steady her from falling, but she did feel the coolness of her hand’s touch her forehead.

Kalena gasped, “You’ve got a sickness in your head!”

“I’m alright.” Clair shrugged Kalena off and stood up, leaving the woman where she stayed on the ground. “What’s going to happen now?”

Kalena’s eyes didn’t leave Clair. Seconds went by of just silence before the woman spoke again. “Cleto will come. The brothers will fight and only one will survive.”

“Are you sure?” Clair didn’t like the sound of it. Didn’t like the idea that Cleto might not come out of this fight alive. Even if all of this is nothing more than a dream for her, she still didn’t want to see the man she fell in love with so quickly die.

“I saw this the day Cleto was banished.” Kalena stood up. “One will die. One will be crowned king by the people.”

“Which one?” Clair held her breath.

“I don’t know,” Kalena whispered.

Tears came to Clair’s eyes and the pounding in her head increased. Oh Lord, please don’t let Cleto die—I beg you!

The pounding stopped when the door bang opened and Rodas stormed in. Kalena stood up and he pushed her aside, then grabbed Clair’s arm in a tight, bruising grip. He said nothing, only jerked her towards him and out the door, back down the stairs. He tugged her down a cold, gray hallway and into a chamber where he shoved, her so hard she fell to the floor.

“Give me the magic,” he ordered.

Clair turned around, but didn’t get up. “I—I don’t know how.”

“He’s coming and I’ll have the power to fight him.” One threatening step towards her he came. “Or you will suffer as well.”

“I can’t give you what I don’t know how to use.”

“Well, we’ll soon find out.” He reached for her only to stop with the sound of a door opening with a loud bang. Clair watched his face go white for a moment.

She smiled. “Cleto is here, and you’re in so much shit now.”

* * * *

Cleto walked with a new purpose down the main road toward his brother’s dark, castle. His men took care of any that came out from the huts to challenge them. Not one touched Cleto.

He climbed the stone steps instead of using magic to get in. He paused in front of the heavy wooden door, glanced up and down in chagrin, then stepped back and kicked the door in. The anger with his magic gave him extra strength he needed to bust those doors open without the use of magic.

“Rodas!” Cleto yelled.

Men dressed in the dark colors of Rodas came out from all over to face Cleto and his own men. Fighting commenced and this time Cleto’s men had an upper hand. All the pleasure that Cleto and Clair shared helped to empower the kingdom. Cleto’s men were stronger this time and took charge of the fighting.

Cleto moved around the fighting men towards the main stairs. He ran up them, two, and three at a time, stopping here and there to exchange punches and a bit of swordplay with several fighting men. None could stop him this time.

“Rodas where are you, you bastard!” Cleto yelled from where he stood on the second floor. “The time has come to pay, brother.”

He was about to go up another flight of stairs but stopped. The pull of Clair’s magic came to him and he ended up walking down the hallway, to the end where a door closed. Fury tore through him as he kicked in the door—and found what he’d been searching for.

His brother stood in the middle of a bedchamber and Clair in front of him with a knife to her throat. The sneer on his brother’s face reminded Cleto just how lost his brother had become. No longer did his brother have the golden locks with the black streak. The darkness had consumed him to a point where all of his hair was now black as his the eyes. Nothing of the man that used to be his brother stood before him now. What stood there was pure hate.

“This ends today,” Cleto said.

“Yes it does,” Rodas said back. “Ends with your power first.”

Rodas made a move and started pressing the blade tighter into Clair’s throat. However, neither it seemed was prepared for the move that Clair made. She brought her elbow up and hit Rodas hard in the gut. That was all that Cleto needed. Rodas dropped the knife, Clair dropped to the floor, and Cleto lunged at his brother. The two grabbed each other and went flying in the air, right through the window, landing hard on the ground. It knocked the wind out of Cleto’s lungs, but the fall didn’t kill them. Rodas was up on his feet first and it cost Cleto. A foot made contact with his gut. When it came for a second hit, Cleto managed to grab it, twist the foot and shoved his brother away, scrambling to his feet.

Rodas came at him again and, using his magic, Cleto shoved him back, knocking his brother down. Rodas never played fair as a child, so Cleto had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t fight fair now either. He was right. When Rodas got up to his feet, he reached to his side and summoned a long sword. Cleto took a couple steps back and did the same. Both brothers faced each other with swords in hand.

“This time, brother,” Rodas sneered, “You won’t come out of this alive.”

“You are not my brother,” Cleto snarled. “The man that used to be my brother died long ago. I don’t know you anymore.”

Rodas charged at him, sword high in the air. He brought it down, and Cleto blocked it with his own sword. Sparks flew at the contact. Back and forth, they exchanged strikes, blocking each other. The air around them became thick with dark alternating with light magic and the clouds overhead thundered. Rodas came at him again, and when Cleto blocked the hard blow of the sword he couldn’t block the fist that came with it. A hard hit to the jaw sent Cleto stumbling backwards. Rodas came again, hitting Cleto fast and hard.

Each time Cleto would rise, he was knocked to the ground, unable to catch his breath. Cleto was on his hands and knees when Rodas came up and kicked him hard in the stomach. Cleto went flying in the air a short distance, landing hard on the ground. Then the rain came down. Coldness splashed into his face, clearing the fogginess.

“I will always be stronger than you brother,” Rodas yelled over the rain and thunder. “You cannot win!”

Rodas’s foot came up for another blow and Cleto grabbed it, twisted, and shoved his brother away. He got back up to his feet and when Rodas charged at him again, Cleto grabbed the arm that was up, turned and picked Rodas up off his feet and slammed him down on the wet ground. He also went down, hitting his brother over and over, until Rodas stopped fighting back. Stumbling Cleto stood back up, breathing hard, looking down at his brother.

“It’s over!” Cleto huffed.

Rodas rolled over and slowly got back up on his feet. The two faced each other and still Cleto saw the hatred in his brother’s eyes.

“It’s...not over!” Rodas bellowed as he ran toward Cleto.

They collided and an explosion rang out between them. Both of them went flying backwards, away from each other. They each hit the ground and slid back, the wind clearly knocked out of them. Lightning and thunder crashed down as well.

Cleto was the first to get back on his feet this time. He stumbled a few times, walking over to his brother who still lay on the wet, muddy ground. The rain beat down on his face, his eyes were closed, but his chest rose and fell telling Cleto that he was still alive.

Cleto kept on going, stopping to pick up his sword from the ground. He had blood on his face, it was painful to move, and the rain made him cold, and with all that, he felt good. Felt like this was finally over for him.

“No!” a woman screamed.

Cleto turned and Rodas was back up on his feet and charging him again. Cleto quickly went down to one knee and swung his blade. He made contact with Rodas’s stomach, making a long cut. Rodas yelled and hit Cleto in the face again. Cleto, still on his knee, reeled backwards but didn’t fall to the ground. Rodas managed to get Cleto off balance enough to give him the upper hand once more.

“Stop it!” a woman screamed again.

Rodas stopped for a mere second to see who screamed. It was a mistake. Cleto lunged at him, hitting full force in the stomach, knocking him back down to the ground. Cleto then straddled him and began hitting Rodas with as much of his energy he had left. Blood quickly covered Rodas’s face and the fight seemed to leave him finally.

“It’s over!” Cleto yelled in Rodas’s face.

Breathing hard and fast, Cleto finally stopped hitting his brother. Slowly, Cleto got up and looked to his left. Clair, Kalena, and the rest of Rodas’s staff and men all stood outside, watching the fight. Now they all stood still, none moving.

Cleto’s breathing was painful, his sides hurt from the fighting. He staggered over to his brother and almost fell to his knees when Rodas scuttled back away from him.

Why did it have to come to this? Why did they have to fight? Cleto had been asking those questions for years now and still he had no answer for them. He felt sorry for his brother and for what he’d become. Turning his back on Rodas, he began to walk away.

“Cleto, watch out!” someone yelled.

“It’s not over until your dead!” Rodas snarled.

Cleto turned at the same time his brother came at him with a knife held high in the air. His own sword he shoved forward and through Rodas. Brother stared at brother, eyes wide open, shock on both faces. The knife in Rodas’s hand dropped to the wet ground, his arms went around Cleto, and together they both fell to the ground, on their knees, still facing each other.

“For—forgive me—brother,” Rodas struggled to say. A mud and now blood-covered hand came up, touching Cleto on the side of his face. “I’m—sss—sorry.”

“I already do,” Cleto said, tears quickly forming in his eyes.

Rodas gave a painful smile. “End it.” Cleto shook his head and Rodas moved that hand around Cleto’s shoulders, hugging him.

“It’s—alright,” Rodas reached between them to the sword and twisted it. Moans passed his lips into Cleto’s ear. Rodas’s eyes widened more, mouth open, and one last breath left his lips before he slumped back, the sword slowly withdrawing from his body.

Cleto stayed on his knees staring at his brother, the rain pounding down on them. Kalena worked through the crowd and rushed to them both, dropping to her knees. She touched Rodas’s face, then turned and flung herself in Cleto’s arms. When she pulled back the rain stopped and for the first time since Rodas became king, the sun broke through the dark clouds. It came down first on the three upon the wet ground, and then spread out across the rest of the land, as far as the eye could see. The darkness had been broken. The kingdom free. The balance of the land put to right.

* * * *

Clair didn’t move to Cleto. She stood behind the crowd watching Kalena and Cleto embrace each other. The pain she felt in her chest at seeing them together almost matched the pain in her head. She backed away from everyone, and then pressed herself up against the wall, eyes closed. How long she stood there, she didn’t know. But she needed to collect herself and she needed to do it fast.

“Are you hurt?” Before her eyes opened, Cleto had her in his arms.

She hugged him back, pressing her face into his wet shirt. “No. I’m okay.”

“Thank the stars,” he sighed, holding her tighter.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Kalena watched them both. The longing in the woman’s eyes had Clair wanting to cry right then, but she held it back. When Cleto pulled back, took her face in his hands and kissed her she almost lost those tears.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

She nodded. “Sounds good to me.” With a faint smile she took his hand and they left the castle.