Free Chartile: Prophecy by Cassandra Morgan Page B

at Piper’s head, her fingers on the girl’s
temples. She began chanting again, and nodded toward Dimitri.
    “ Piper. Piper, can you
hear me? Piper, please come back to us. Listen to my voice. Follow
my voice, please, Piper.”
    There was an intense electrical sensation as
the lightning moved faster. They all winced, but no one dared
release from the strange spell. Magical, religious or both, they
could not say, but Jayson, Jack and Leo would do anything to bring
Piper back.
    “ I know you’re scared. I
know, I— I should have protected you. Please come back to me.”
Dimitri whispered.
    The lightening flashed wildly, blinding them
all, then ceased. Piper took a deep breath, as though breathing
life back into her lungs again. She still remained unconscious. The
boys felt drained. Even more exhausted than their day long trek up
the mountain. The Empress released her hands from Piper’s temples
and smiled.
    “ Well done,” she
whispered. She applied more of the herbal poultice to Piper’s arm,
and laid a cool, wet cloth on her forehead.
    “ Why isn’t she awake?
What’s wrong with her?” Jayson asked. He looked frantically between
Piper and The Empress, and back again.
    “ She is tired, dear. Her
body is still fighting the venom. She will be fine, with rest and
medicine. Dimitri, please call our friends back inside.”
    Dimitri hesitated and swallowed hard. He
looked for a long moment at Piper before resigning to do his
Empress’s bidding. He nodded covered the length of the room as
quickly as he could. When he opened the door to the hallway, he
hurried back to Piper and stroked her hair. The guards, healer, and
the two other ladies waited anxiously outside.
    “ Please take Piper to the
Sapphire Quarter. I want her as close to me as possible,” said the
Empress. “And please find rooms for our guests as well. The Emerald
Quarter should do nicely.” The crowd bowed to Jack, Leo and Jayson,
and then to the Empress, their hands flat on their thighs. Two
guards stepped forward to carry Piper away on a wooden stretcher
the boys had not noticed hung on one of the walls. Dimitri looked
to the Empress, and the woman nodded with a smile. Dimitri followed
close behind the guards that carried Piper. The boys hurried after
them, leaving the Empress and the ladies alone with the
healer.

Chapter Seven
    Of Law and
Limestone
    The boys waited anxiously in the room they
had been assigned in the Emerald Quarter. Leo bit his nails. Jack
stared at the door, lost in thought. Jayson paced frantically in
circles around the sofa and chairs in the middle of the room. The
room was large and just as grand as any of the halls they had
passed along the way. But they were too on edge to take notice.
    Two bedrooms led off on either side of the
common room area with two beds each, complete with gosling stuffed
mattresses and tapestries on every wall. The common room had
several carved high backed wooden chairs with soft green cushions,
and a green fainting couch. There were murals on every wall, and
even the ceilings, depicting what they assumed were scenes from the
history of Chartile. The founding of Mount Kelsii, the gifting of
the Draconian Runes by the Dragons to the Dwarves, and something to
do with a griffin nesting atop a mountain.
    All of this was being completely ignored.
Jayson, Jack and Leo had hardly noticed the emeralds and jade
around the door frames, nor the stained glass in the windows
overlooking the mountainside. Piper was all they could think of at
the moment. Piper and what had just happened. The thought of her
lying unconscious somewhere unknown scared them. Without her, they
were lost in this strange land. Without her, they did not know what
to do.
    There was a knock on the door. They jumped
at the sound, coming back to reality. Jack rose from his chair, and
crossed to open the door. He turned the intricate handle, his hands
trembling. Before him stood the Empress, but she was not alone.
Four guards had escorted her,