Gavin lay down on the blankets and covered himself with the third. Within moments, he was fading off to sleep.
Marcus looked up from his journal at the sound of the bedroom door opening. He forced himself not to react to the sight of Kiri striding from the room, the robe about her shoulders flowing almost like a cloak, even though his reaction would’ve been a satisfied chuckle at the evidence he was right about Gavin. She stopped at the armchair in which she’d sat not too long ago, and she clutched the back of that chair as if it were an anchor.
“What do I do?”
Now, Marcus quirked his left eyebrow. “With respect to what?”
“He laid blankets on the floor beside the bed and went to sleep. He said the bed was mine. What do I do?”
Marcus sat, looking into her eyes, and he couldn’t help but remember her as she was before she left Vushaar, her homeland. He remembered the strong-willed, compassionate, young woman who was learning to rule her father’s country once he was gone. He remembered all the time and effort he’d spent watching over the Muran family for countless centuries…protecting them, mentoring them, and sometimes avenging them. It took all of Marcus’s incredible will to keep himself from unraveling that slave mark with a composite effect right there and then.
Oh, yes. He knew precisely how to remove the mark…with no threat whatsoever to Kiri’s life. For that matter, Marcus knew how to eradicate slavery across the world; he’d always known. But ending slavery was not his task to achieve.
Instead, Marcus restricted himself to words, saying, “Kiri, you are the daughter of the oldest dynasty in the world, and you were raised by one of the greatest men that dynasty has ever produced. What do you want to do?”
“I-I want to go to sleep.”
“Kalinor and those who chose to serve him will never trouble you again, girl; I promise you that. You’ve been in a very dark and evil place, these last two years, enduring all kinds of depravity and viciousness no one should ever have to experience. But you’re safe now. No one will harm you here. Go to sleep.”
Kiri stood silent for a few moments before she turned and walked back to the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Marcus waited in his chair for several minutes before he, too, went to bed.
Chapter 9
Gavin stepped out of the bathroom just in time to see Kiri walk out of the bedroom. She didn’t seem as timid as she had the night before. Gavin knew one night or a hundred wouldn’t erase everything she had endured, but he hoped the day would come when she faced him with her shoulders squared and her head held high.
“May I visit the temple?” Kiri asked.
Gavin replied by crossing his arms and quirking one eyebrow upward, saying, “That’s not the right way to say that.”
Kiri frowned, and her eyes shifted side to side like she was thinking about Gavin’s statement. After a few moments, she lifted her eyes back to Gavin and said, “Master-”
“Nope. I’m certainly not going listen to that word. Have you forgotten what I said last night before I went to sleep?”
Silence extended between them until a faint smile crossed Kiri’s lips almost too fast for Gavin to notice, and she said, “I want to visit the temple today.”
“Better,” Gavin said, smiling as he uncrossed his arms, “and I see no reason why you can’t. My only worry is whether you’ll be harassed as you travel. Marcus, what do you think?”
The old wizard looked up from his journal. “Yes? What was the question?”
Gavin was quite sure Marcus knew exactly what he’d asked, but he humored the old wizard all the same. “I was asking your opinion of whether Kiri would be harassed if she went to the temple.”
“I suppose there is that possibility if she’s traveling alone. Kalinor and his amusements are no longer in a position to protect her. So, we shall have to provide another threat. You said you were hungry, and I imagine the young lady is as well. I recommend visiting the dining hall to address that, and while you’re on the main floor, step outside to the garden and bring me a stone about the size of your palm. The closer it is to a disc in shape, the better.”
About an hour later, Gavin and Kiri returned to the suite. Gavin was about to knock when he remembered how Marcus opened the door. He lifted his medallion from where it hung around his neck and placed the face of it against the smooth panel beside the door. He both heard and felt the latching mechanism release and pushed the door open.
Marcus stood at the table, a book lying open in front of him, and he looked up at the sound of the door.
“Ah, good! I was hoping you’d remember how to unlock the door. Did you bring the stone?”
Gavin nodded. “Yes, I did. I have it here.” He held up a smooth river rock the size of the cup of his palm. It was the shade of gray that seems only to be found in stone and striped with strands of black.
“Excellent, my boy. Lay it on the table here.” Gavin did so as Marcus went to the library and returned with a small knife. “Now, what we’re about to do is create an amulet for Kiri that will ensure everyone knows whom they will face if they harm her. It will also serve as a key to the door, so she can come and go as she pleases. First, Gavin, I need you to prick your thumb or finger just enough to draw some blood, and then, drip a couple drops on the stone.”
Gavin did as Marcus instructed and wrapped his thumb in a small rag the old wizard handed him.
“Now, Kiri, you must do the same.”
“Me? Why me?”
“The power in the door will respond to Gavin’s blood as if it were his medallion, but that would create a skeleton key anyone could use to enter any location protected so. By incorporating your blood as well, I will tie this amulet to you and you alone. Even if someone were to steal it, it would not open the suite or anywhere else for them.”
Gavin frowned and quickly lowered his head, hoping Marcus wouldn’t notice. I wonder what other doors my medallion will open…
Kiri sighed and held out her hand. Marcus gave her the knife and she winced as she drew some blood from her thumb. After dripping a couple drops onto the stone, Kiri accepted a rag from Marcus and stepped back.
Marcus pulled a leather cord from a pocket of his robe and, placing the stone in his palm, laid the cord on his fingers in a small coil.
“Gavin, this may hurt a bit.”
Taking a couple deep breaths, Marcus closed his eyes and invoked two Words of Power, blending them together to create a composite effect, “Uhnrys- Sykhurhos.” Gavin felt the power take hold in the form of a savage concussion to his soul and that ever-present tingling sensation erupting into a raging torrent. The experience almost knocked the wind from Gavin’s lungs, and he felt his knees weaken. But that didn’t stop him from watching what was happening in Marcus’s left hand.
The old man’s left hand and forearm developed an aura of gold-colored power, and waves of that power began flowing into the stone and leather cord. The stone absorbed the blood as the glyph in the center of Gavin’s medallion etched itself into the stone. A hole formed at the top of the stone, and the leather cord threaded itself through that hole before the ends joined to form an unbroken circle of leather.
“By the gods…” Kiri said, her eyes wide. “I’ve never seen anything like that!”
By that point, the aura faded, leaving an amulet bearing Gavin’s House Glyph, and Marcus extended his hand toward Kiri.