The Crow King's Wife(79)

Finn held up a hand to still the bard and the spirit fell silent at once. Turning in his seat he regarded Seth for a moment. “Didn’t you dreamwalk to Zoey a few days ago?” he asked cautiously.

Seth smiled at the memory and nodded his head. “I did and it was sweeter than I could have hoped. She was already dreaming about me when I stepped into her thoughts and while it wasn’t exactly an accurate image of me it was still a flattering one.”

Nodding slowly Finn watched him with a dubious look on his face and then nodded to the bard once more. “Continue, and do exactly as Seth told you. Tell it in the Glis fashion and as honestly as you can remember. I have a feeling there is more to this story than I am going to want to hear.”

The bard’s expression never shifted as he bowed his head to Finn, but Seth didn’t miss the dark glance the spirit gave him before continuing. “With the nightmares and threats came the crows in flocks such as the folk had never before seen. They gathered about the village devouring every bit of food they could find from the gardens and surrounding forests. The air was constantly alive with their calls even in the dead of night. For days they lingered and tormented the peaceful village with their noise and thieving nature. Karalea felt pangs at seeing her friends and family suffer the nuisance, but kept her silence as her mother had bid her and worked all the harder at her gathering to provide the village with what the birds had stolen. Her silence and refusal infuriated the Crow King and he realized that his minions were not enough to frighten her. Karalea was strong of heart and spirit and he knew by watching her endure his minor torments so stoically that it would take more to break her will, and so the nightmares faded away and the flocks of crows left. For a time she believed he had given up, and for the first time in weeks she slept in peace. It wasn’t until the next night that she knew the truth. In the dark hours of early morning there was a noise outside her door. Thinking it was her mother or father she rose to see what had brought them from their beds so early. The air beyond her room was chill and it was not one of her beloved parents waiting for her. The creature was hideous with the marks of the grave still upon it. Once perhaps it had been human, but no trace of humanity remained in the glowing eyes it set upon her. In terror she stumbled back into her room and braced herself against the door as the nightmare beyond slammed its strength into the rough wooden planks. For what seemed like hours it clawed at the door snarling and growling as it hissed threats in a low guttural voice. Only with the Crow King would she be safe it warned her, but through her sobs and cries of terror she held it back and refused the newest threat. It fled with the first light of dawn and Karalea sagged in exhaustion. Only by sheer force of will did she manage to drag herself to her parent’s door. She expected to find them dead, for the had not responded to the noise of the night, but to her vast relief they lay sleeping and with only a gentle nudge she roused them. Through tears she told her father everything and watched as his face darkened with anger and then paled in fear as her story unfolded. His reaction was as different from her mother’s as night is from day and within but an hour of hearing her troubles he had gathered the entire village to his home. He told them all of the Crow King’s torments toward his daughter. Another place might have turned Karalea away and banished her from their village, but that was not the sort of place she dwelled. Instead the folk rose in righteous outrage and vowed to protect her and see her safe until help could be summoned even if they must petition the High Lord himself.”

“Seth I don’t like where this is going.” Finn warned in a low voice. He had shifted in his chair and the book was once more on the table. Apparently the Lord of Death had lost all interest in his research for the time being.

Seth smiled and remained silent simply waving his hand for the bard to continue. It was a dark story, he knew that, but it was a story Zoey would know given how long she had lived in Glis. Once she realized what he was doing she would know what to do, and as clever as she was it wouldn’t take her long to piece together his plan.

The Spirit hesitated his gaze flicking between Seth and back to Finn until he was waved to continue by Finn as well. His voice faltered at first and then regained the rich tones he had no doubt been famous for in life. “At first guards were placed in an attempt to protect her from the spirits that came to torment her, but after several brave men suffered dearly for their service she was moved to the temple. When even the holy ground failed to keep the torments at bay Karalea began to rest under the protective light of the sun and remained awake and terrified during the long lonely hours of the night. As the troubles continued first one messenger then another was sent to the capital to beseech help, but no answer came, and not a soul that was sent returned. The days progressed and her suffering increased as did the pain of her village. The game that had always been bountiful in the forests fled and for many days the hunters returned to their family with empty hands. Then one by one the hunters began to disappear as well. Karalea’s heart swelled to breaking as each life was lost for she knew it was because of her that they suffered. She vowed to her people that she would surrender herself to the Crow King if he would end their torment, but her village loved her so that they refused her brave offer. As the guilt grew in her she insisted it was the only way and so to protect her they began to lock her inside the temple and prayed every night that salvation would come before all was lost. It wasn’t until her own father was lost on one of his hunts that Karalea truly lost all hope and knew that if she didn’t act the entire village would fall to ruin. Already her people were starving. For with the theft from the crows and the lack of meat from the hunters there was nothing left to them. So it was that in the dark of a moonless night that she climbed to the rafters of the small stone church. She knew that they had locked the doors and the windows fast below, but they had not considered the small window near the roof. As quiet as a mouse she crept through the window and down to the narrow porch below it. She could hear the fearful whispers of the men who guarded her below, but she was the daughter of a hunter and so knew how to move as silent as a shadow. Without light to guide her she made her way into the deep forest to a glade that she knew from her wanderings and there she called upon the Crow King. He came without pause to claim the prize he had worked so dearly for and so it was that Karalea was never again seen by those she loved so dearly and the Crow King won his wife. The village that she had sacrificed herself to protect faded with her for no one that dwelled there could remain without thinking of the beautiful sweet girl that had been stolen from amongst them and the torments they had endured on her behalf. To this day that land lays barren, and to this day the people of Glis are wary of all creatures they do not know as their own, especially crows.”