CHAPTER 10

“You finally talked to her?” Rhaxma asked, her tone a bit too casual, her yellow eyes a bit too severe.

Sitting in one of the chambers in the palace, Calix reclined on the sofa opposite her, his arms behind his head, staring into the distance. He was always the first to arrive for these Council of Masters meetings with His Majesty, so he always had to wait. His punctuality was well known, and he suspected that this was why Rhaxma frequently appeared just a few moments after him. She knew she would have a few minutes of Calix’s time to herself.

“Answer me,” Rhaxma pouted. “Did you talk to her today?”

Calix turned his head and looked at her. He had done too good of a job with this one. He could see the hunger in her eyes and the carefully-disguised desperation in her actions. He hadn’t worked on her in years, yet she still pathetically clung to him and their past. It was he who had made sure the mark of Adoration—a crown—was etched into her back. She had also earned her rose—the mark of Pleasure—in their time together. It was when he took his attention away from her that the heavy chains appeared on her skin, showing she had learned the lesson of Wisdom.

“Yes, I talked to her,” he answered, keeping eye contact and monitoring the emotions on Rhaxma’s face. Her feelings amused him.

“Did you kiss her?”

“Not yet.”

Rhaxma swallowed hard. “Do you love her?”

Calix snorted. “Love? Of course not. It’s just part of the game. I intend to win, and I’m getting close.”

This seemed to mollify Rhaxma, and a coquettish smile raised the corners of her mouth. She rose and slowly crossed the space between them, and he noticed the way she let her hips sway. What was she after?

She sat on the edge of the sofa next to his outstretched legs and leaned in toward him. “When you are King of Adia, you will need a queen,” she said, her face so close that Calix could see the tiny black veins in her eyes. He pushed her away.

Feigning nonchalance, she sat back and crossed her arms. “I suppose I won’t tell you what Leeto discovered yesterday.”

“Fine, don’t tell me.”

She narrowed her eyes, letting go of any pretenses. “I have information that will help you win. You need me.”

Calix sat up so quickly that Rhaxma didn’t have time to react before he grabbed her chin between his thumb and finger, squeezing hard. “I do not need you. If you want to help me, so be it. Tell me your secrets. But don’t make the mistake again of thinking you can control me with your information. Or your body.”

“The heirs are alive. The conquerors in the prophecy,” Rhaxma hissed, smiling smugly when Calix’s face registered his shock. “And Leeto knows how to find them.”

Calix dropped his hand, which had left red imprints on her skin, and thought through the implications of this news. If it was true, Leeto could use this information to gain tremendous leverage. This could not be.

The door swung open, and Eryx, Leeto, BiBi, and Megara entered, stealing Calix’s opportunity to ask more questions. That would have to come later.

Rhaxma rose from the sofa and spoke with the other ladies in a corner, occasionally glancing in Calix’s direction. Leeto plopped down on the sofa recently vacated by his sister.

“Any news?” Calix asked.

“No, nothing out of the ordinary yet,” Leeto said cheerfully, although his eyes had been darting between Calix and the finger marks on his sister’s face. “How are you doing with your Adians? Any headway?”

“Just some slow progress, nothing substantial,” Calix answered. So this is how they would play it. Neither willing to tell the other how close they were to gaining power and control.

A butler came to usher the group into the throne room. Calix always tried to be first, and he slipped his way to the front of the line. He wanted His Majesty to see his face first, a sign that he was the most loyal of them all.

“What news do you bring from Adia?” King Damien asked from his golden throne, eyeing each as they entered. This time he was flanked by Ajax and Jairus.

The meeting was short. No one gave a report worth noting, and Calix wondered how many of them were hiding something as important as Leeto’s secret. The king did not seem at all pleased with the lack of progress, and he informed them that his patience was growing thin.

Calix’s mind whirled with thoughts of Princess Helena, whom he grew up calling Lena, and the unnamed baby. If he could collect them for himself, there would be no end to the favor he would receive from His Majesty. He resolved that he must get behind the curtain and learn more about the conquerors.

King Damien rose and led the weapons toward his formal dining room. Calix’s brain worked quickly to create a plan. “Jairus,” he called, not even bothering with the prince’s formal title. They had been boyhood friends—practically brothers. “Could I please speak with you for a moment?”

Blond-haired, violet-eyed Jairus gave a curt nod and stayed in the room rather than following his grandfather. When they were alone, he asked, “What is it?”

“I received some information that I want to share with His Majesty, but I don’t want to bother him if it is not true.”

Jairus’ handsome face looked bored and annoyed. “How am I supposed to help you?”

“If I could take a look at the prophecy behind the curtain, I could check to see if my information is accurate.”

“Fine. Guards, let Calix through the curtain.” Jairus turned back to Calix. “Anything else?”

“N-no,” Calix stuttered, unable to believe how apparently easy this was going to be. Jairus left the room without saying farewell, and the guards parted to allow Calix behind the curtain. He stepped through with disbelief and trepidation. Only royal eyes had ever seen what was behind the throne room wall. But he would be royalty soon enough.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He had always believed the curtain hid just a small portion of the throne room’s wall, that once the curtain was parted, he would be facing a small expanse, approximately ten feet across. Instead, he was overwhelmed by the long passageway that stretched before him. He glanced along the wall, hoping it would be obvious what he was looking for. He passed many different scenes painted on the stone, but few made sense.

He recognized several portions of the mural as places he had seen on the mountain, including the palace and the courtyard. Various events and activities were taking place in the pictures; some he understood, some he didn’t.

He was shocked to see so many of the scenes set in the dirty streets of the Bottom Rung. How could that trashy, dishonorable, and disgusting neighborhood be worthy of space on these sacred walls? There must be something he was missing, for he knew His Majesty would not waste so much of his precious time worrying about the happenings there. Surely there was a different part of the mural that concerned the king.

Throughout it all, in almost every picture, there was a man with sky blue hair and matching eyes. Calix took several minutes to examine this man who seemed like a very important character in the drama. He had seen these odd color traits just twice before—on a man that lived in Adia, and in the mirror when he was a small boy. Before Calix’s hair and eyes had turned black, he had light blue hair and perfectly matching eyes. No one knew for sure why colors changed over the course of their lives, but Calix was proud that he had changed to match His Majesty.

Just as there were thousands of people with black hair and eyes, he was sure that these light blue colors could belong to many people as well. But it still gave him the shivers. Each time he looked at this man’s painted face, he was sure that it was the Adian that he had seen on several occasions before, and this confirmed for him some theories that had been stewing in his mind. He continued down the wall, growing more and more uncomfortable with each sighting of that man.

There it was. Four warriors atop the mountain, leading a large band of followers. He stepped closer and his brow wrinkled in concentration. This had to be the bit of prophecy that so many spoke of. This had to be the part that concerned His Majesty.

Jairus was one of the four, although his colors were all wrong. Jairus had been born with hair that was half brown and half maroon, with light brown eyes. These were the colors in the mural, and it seemed to be Jairus’ face. But, Jairus’ colors had changed long ago to match his sister’s. When he was only a child, he had taken on Lena’s colors, and later his girlfriend, Xanthe, took them on as well. Lena, Jairus, and Xanthe all had lemon-yellow hair with an aqua stripe. Their eyes were purple. However, the mural showed Jairus with his original colors.

Next to Jairus was a woman with yellow hair and violet eyes. Surely this was grown-up Lena. The face did not seem to match Xanthe.

The next form was not someone Calix recognized. She had long wavy brown hair with thick golden streaks and baby blue eyes. The face looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

His heart jolted and his head spun for a moment when he took a closer look at the final member of the conquering party. No longer did Leeto have the upper hand. Calix had just made a discovery that made Leeto’s information seem trivial. There was no denying it—the fourth conqueror was alive. Calix had seen this man before.

A man with navy blue hair and brown eyes.

Tali Tivka.

It was his colors, and it was his face. Adrenaline poured through Calix’s body.

What was his connection to the mountain? Why was he there in the painting with Jairus and Lena? Calix looked again at the young woman standing between Tali and Lena. He wiped black sweat from his forehead. He must discover her identity.

Jairus was in the palace. It was believed that Lena was alive, somewhere nearby. Tali was wandering somewhere north of the mountain. But that final girl. Who could she be? Where might she be? If only he could find her, he would be infinitely closer to his ultimate goal—ruling side by side with His Majesty King Damien, sovereign over their neighboring kingdoms.

His mind turned to the current assignment. Mark an Adian, bring her to the mountain, and become king over all Adia. It wouldn’t be long. But to achieve this dream, he couldn’t be content with merely earning the Adian crown for himself. He had to save the mountain from these rebels, proving himself useful and worthy of His Majesty’s utmost trust and confidence.

But first, the assignment from His Majesty. Tovi Tivka was spirited and stubborn, but she wasn’t all that different from the women on the mountain. He saw the same softness come over her face as he used his smooth words and smiles. Some of his lines had not gone over well, but it seemed to enhance the challenge. He grinned at the thought of what it would be like to present her to His Majesty, his mark, a pointed crown, clearly emblazoned on her shoulder. His Majesty would be proud. His Majesty would applaud him. His Majesty would want him as an ally for the rest of his life once he proved he could succeed in such a lofty task.

He took a deep breath and began to plan. He must get Tovi to the mountain.