Chosen of the One: Chapter 13, Part 2

4 February 2026

We return in today’s installment of the first book of our epic fantasy, Chosen of the One, to those chosen who gather at Klaybear’s home in Shigmar, waiting for the trial to begin. . . . (21 April 2014) We again remind our readers to right-click on the Glossary link, open in a new tab or window, thus enabling the reader to learn what each of these new terms mean.

Chapter 13, Part 2

Delgart followed Sutugno, another kailu apprentice and Klare’s best friend, tall, beautiful, and blonde-haired, who led the other chosen out of a side door of the Infirmary after making sure that no one was outside. Delgart and Marilee had both wrapped a bandage around their heads and damaged faces–the left side of Delgart’s face and right side of Marilee’s–and both wore hoods that concealed their faces. Blakstar walked beside her while Delgart and Marilee followed, leading Thal between them. Sutugno led them first through the dark and empty central market of Shigmar, then into the west quarter, before finally leading them into the southwest quarter where Klaybear and Klare lived. Both Master Avril and Headmaster Myron had suggested this route to foil any pursuit and get the other chosen out of the school until the trial of Klaybear began a few days hence. They would stay at Klare and Klaybear’s home, hoping that Klare would turn up there, although nothing had been heard from Klare since she had left the school that morning. Both masters were quite troubled by this fact and had given several names to Delgart to pass on to the awemi to make inquiries if the scout was recovered sufficiently. Sutugno tapped on the door before opening it and entering; they found Tevvy in the living room with an assortment of his equipment spread out on the floor. Tevvy appeared to be examining each piece and looked up when the door opened; his face became guarded when he saw strangers enter the room, but smiled when he recognized Marilee.

“I recognize you,” Tevvy said, “you are Rokwolf’s second, Marilee; my . . . uh, friend,” he went on after a slight pause, “Elanor worked with you last year.”

“Tevvy,” Marilee replied, recognizing him and removing hood and cloak, revealing the bandage she now wore covering the right side of her head and face. “I did not realize you were the awemi that our host had rescued.” She introduced the others to Tevvy before Sutugno asked about Klare.

“Has Klare been here?” Sutugno asked Tevvy.

“About mid-morning,” Tevvy replied, “why?”

“Did she say where she was going when she left?” Sutugno asked, looking concerned.

Tevvy shook his head. “Back to the school,” he replied.

Delgart took off his hood, revealing a similar bandage covering the left side of his face and head; he exchanged looks with the others, except for Thal, who was still standing in the doorway.

“I take it from your looks that she did not return?” Tevvy noted when no one answered his first question.

“It’s a big school,” Delgart said, his brow wrinkled. “Is it possible that she is inside the school somewhere?” he asked Klare’s friend.

Sutugno shrugged. “It’s possible,” she replied, “but surely someone would have seen her enter.”

Delgart turned to Tevvy. “Did she give any hint about what she was going to do?” he asked.

“She’s missing?” Tevvy asked, and when Delgart nodded, Tevvy frowned. “I told her I had a bad feeling about the sudden knock at the door!”

“Someone came to the door?” Sutugno asked, her face brightening.

“After she brought me breakfast,” Tevvy replied, and went on to retell what had happened earlier with Klare. “But she never said who came to the door, only that it was a fellow student with a message, but I could tell from the voice that it was a wethi. As she left, I had an overwhelming urge to follow her and would have if I had felt better,” he added, almost apologetically.

Delgart looked at him a moment before speaking. “How do you feel now?” he asked. “Do you feel up to a little scouting?”

“I feel quite whole and well,” Tevvy replied, “thanks to your sister-in-law; what did you have in mind?”

“Sutugno is going back to the school,” Delgart replied, “and she can show you the route Klare might have followed, along with several people the Headmaster and Klare’s master suggested you could contact, people who might have seen her pass.”

“I have been idle all day,” Tevvy noted, gathering the last of his equipment and stashing it in the many pockets of his black leather suit and his small pack.

Sutugno looked around the living room. “I’m certain the Headmaster will keep you all informed,” she noted before turning toward the door.

“How long will you be?” Delgart asked Tevvy.

“At least an hour,” Tevvy replied, “maybe longer, depending on how far I have to go for information.”

“Be careful,” Delgart noted.

Tevvy smiled, which highlighted the innocent look of his face. “Careful is my business,” he noted as he followed Sutugno out of the door.

Exactly one hour later, Tevvy walked in, pulling off his hood and cloak; he shook his head to answer the questioning look Delgart shot at him the moment he entered. “Is there anything to drink in this house?” he asked, tossing his cloak onto a chair by the door and closing the door.

“I think I saw a jug of cider in the kitchen,” Delgart replied.

Tevvy grimaced. “No, I meant something stronger, like ale,” he said.

Marilee grinned at the awemi. “Elanor mentioned your fondness for ale,” she said, “might I remind you that we are in Shigmar, in the home of a pair of kailum, so I do not think you will find anything damaging to your health anywhere in this home or city.”

“I was afraid you might say that,” Tevvy grumbled, “so I’ll have to settle for the cider,” he added, making a face.

Marilee and Delgart exchanged a look. “It is your brother’s home,” Marilee noted.

Delgart shrugged, stood, and went into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with mugs of cider.

Blakstar sat at the table next to Thal, trying to get the maghi to eat a few more bites. “I cannot understand why anyone would drink something that has gone bad,” Blakstar noted, “which will only addle one’s wits.”

Tevvy shrugged. “I wouldn’t expect a rule-loving kortexi to understand,” he replied.

“That is because we kortexem recognize the value of good health,” Blakstar noted, his neck slightly red, “and clear senses when going into battle.”

“I don’t have to justify myself to you or anyone else,” Tevvy replied, “and I’m not rising to your bait,” he added as Delgart handed him a mug of cider. Tevvy took the mug. “Do you want to know what I’ve learned or not?” he asked, irritated by the kortexi’s words.

Marilee invited Tevvy to sit down beside her on the couch. “Ignore him,” she said as Delgart sat in a chair to her left and passed her a mug. “Delgart and I are interested in what you discovered,” she added and then went on in a whisper, “as I’m sure Sir Blakstar is,” she said, smiling at Tevvy.

Tevvy took a drink from the mug before he spoke. “Klare’s friend took me to several people that would have been out in the street along the way between here and the school this morning,” he began, “and most of them had not seen her, but there was one who was sure that she had seen Klare go by, on her way back to the school; it was around the time she left here this morning, but the wetha thought she was alone, which seemed odd to me. She was certain, however, that she did not return to the school, but turned aside and entered the west guard tower,” he finished, taking another drink of cider.

“Did you manage to get inside the guard tower?” Delgart asked.

“We tried,” Tevvy replied, “but they would not allow us to enter, although Sutugno told the guard that she was on business of the Headmaster and Master Healer. The guard on duty said that only the Headmaster would be allowed to enter as there was disease inside, so she went back to the school to report to him, and I came back here to report to all of you.”

“Did Klare’s friend have any idea why she might have gone there?” Marilee asked.

Tevvy shook his head. “None at all,” he replied, “Sutugno was quite puzzled by it.” He paused for a moment. “If only there were some way to distract them,” Tevvy mused, “perhaps if you created a disturbance across the street, I could slip inside and investigate.”

“That would be unwise,” Delgart noted, “since we have seen what they have done to my younger brother, with little or no evidence; we would likely end up in cells next to him.”

“You don’t suppose that is what this other master is thinking?” Marilee suggested.

Blakstar turned to her. “Do you mean the one who arrested Klaybear?” he asked.

“I see what you mean,” Delgart put in, “and that is who she means, Blakstar; he took Klare on some invented pretext in order to get us to try and find her, giving him an excuse to have us all arrested.”

“But we haven’t done anything wrong!” the kortexi protested, “not like this thief,” he added, the word sounding like a curse, “whose activities put him under suspicion of breaking the law.”

Tevvy snorted, ignoring the insult. “Since when has that ever stopped anyone from arresting and killing people?” he laughed.

“Neither has my brother,” Delgart noted.

“You need to fill me in on what happened to Master Klaybear,” Tevvy said. “Klare only told me that the masters could not heal him.”

Delgart nodded and looked over his shoulder to Blakstar. “Correct me if I make a mistake in the tale,” he said, and then told Tevvy what had happened to Klaybear earlier in the day.

Tevvy frowned and shook his head as Delgart finished; Tevvy turned to Thal. “What’s wrong with the white maghi?” he asked. “You seem to have left him out of the story.”

Blakstar nodded and told Tevvy what had happened when the Headmaster had tried to send a message to Thal’s parents, and how they discovered that his parents had been killed shortly after he and Blakstar had been sent to Shigmar. “So he has reason for silence,” the kortexi concluded, “which is too bad, since he might be able to make something out of the few clues that we have.”

“Why do you say that?” Tevvy asked.

“He deduced a lot about what we have to do,” the kortexi explained, “simply from the name inscribed on the hilt of my sword,” and he went on to relate to the others what Thal had told him as they traveled to Shigmar through rumepant, and how they had been sent to Shigmar to meet the other chosen and seek a second key, which they believed was the staff of Shigmar, the first kailu. “Headmaster Myron told us that Shigmar was working on some secret project before he died, after he retired from leading the school, and the Headmaster believed this project must have been the key we are looking for.”

“Did he know where this other staff might be?” Delgart asked.

Blakstar shook his head. “No,” he replied, “he only knew that Shigmar was working on his estate, which was in Kalbant, and they said it is where Klare is from.”

“And she is missing,” Tevvy put in, “so we cannot ask her if she knows anything about the first kailu and his original home.” Tevvy paused for a moment. “I think we would be wise to keep an eye on the guard tower,” he noted.

“I agree,” Marilee noted, “not that I think we will see Klare, but at least to see who comes and goes.”

“I doubt that we will find out anything useful,” Delgart put in, “but I don’t disagree with you that we should keep an eye on it.”

For three days while they waited for the trial to begin, Delgart sent them, in pairs, to watch the west guard tower. On the morning of the fourth day, Sutugno came and led them back to the school.

“Where are Tevvy and Marilee?” she asked as they gathered to leave.

“They are watching the guard tower,” Delgart told her, “we can pick them up on the way.”

“Have you seen anything?” Sutugno asked Delgart as he and Blakstar led Thal out of the house.

Delgart shook his head. “Nothing,” he admitted, closing the door.

When they reached the school, Master Avril met them and led them to the lowest level of the Assembly Hall. Before entering, Avril took Tevvy aside, whispered something to the awemi and pressed something into his small hand; Tevvy nodded and moved off in the opposite direction, disappearing almost at once into the shadows. Delgart watched him go, then looked to the master healer for an explanation; Master Avril shook his head once, then led him and other chosen into the Assembly Hall and took the seats that had been set aside for them on the lowest level, while Master Avril took his place at the council table, his eyes going to the chained apprentice led in through a different door. Delgart recognized at once that this chained kailu was his brother. He saw his mother’s face in Klaybear’s, and an overwhelming desire to rush out and rescue him welled up inside; he knew all too well how it felt to be chained. The sudden desire caused him to stand before he could stop himself, so strong was the anger he felt. Marilee grabbed his right arm and pulled him back down, glaring at him. He knew she was right–there was nothing he could do at the moment to free his younger brother; this trial would have to play itself out, but he feared the outcome for his brother and himself. . . .

Return on Friday for another installment of our epic fantasy in which the trial of Klaybear for treason to his order begins. In the meantime, you can download the entire novel from Smashwords for free; if you prefer print, you can purchase a copy from the link provided. Good reading!