章 316: The Seal is Broken

The entire company of the Fates exited through the celestial portal and filled the sky with their terrifying presence. Their light magic emanating from them was oppressive even to the other magical creatures.

As soon as Hanna grabbed the Empress's arm, Aurora blinked and was instantly across the field beside the slowly waking Cafer. The Fate slapped the magic blocking cuffs on the gnome and stepped back as he came to his senses.

Cafer grabbed his head, unsure of what had happened. The last thing he remembered was being blasted by a light before everything went dark.

He had seen, but been unable to process, the source of the light on the other side of the battlefield. Whatever it was had power beyond anything he had ever seen.

As he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a reproachful look from his least favorite Fate. He instinctively tried to use his earth magic to repel Hanna. That is when he noticed the cuffs on his wrists. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded as he stood to his feet.

"It is time," Hanna was gravely. The gnome looked to see the entire host of the Fates. They were hard to look at with their shining bodies, but Cafer could swear that each was scowling.

"Time for what?" The gnome took a step back as Justum descended from the sky and stood next to Hanna.

"The Maker has sent us for your reckoning," Justum said, his voice multiplied as the rest of the Fates echoed him.

"Reckoning?" His eyes flicked to the Empress. He furrowed his brow. "Aurora is right here and unharmed. I have not broken my promise!"

"Not the Empress," Justum confirmed, shaking his head.

"Her Highness and this woman's husband are not even here. Surely you cannot hold me responsible for anything that has happened to them." Cafer's silver tongue began to work its deception. "I was no where near them and did not order that anything should happen to the royals."

"Neither the Emperor nor Princess are who you have hurt," Justum looked down on the gnome like he was a bug to be squashed. Cafer unconsciously gulped.

"Then who…?" Cafer's voice trailed off. The look on the Empress's face he had assumed was disdain. He now realized that he was wrong. It was grief. "My son?"

"My son," Aurora corrected him.

The gnome shook his head vigorously. "Alaron is in Valiant!"

"He was here," the Empress choked on her words. Her voice was thick with regret.

A flicker of recognition crossed Cafer's face. He looked toward the opposing army's mound. His eyes watched as the Fate Omid came from the sky and took up a limp figure into the air, gliding silently across the plain. The Fate's gaze pierced into Cafer's soul as he brought Alaron's broken body and stood next to Justum.

"The magical beam? That was Alaron?" The gnome's mouth hung open. The once vibrant prince was now only a shell.

Hanna nodded. "He used a spell you taught him to stop this war. It took everything he had, and now Alaron is gone. So you see, you hurt him very much indeed."

Cafer recalled a light spell that he had taught Alaron. It had been meant to protect the boy, but in the end it had been used to protect others. "No. It cannot be." A small feeling of regret entered him.

"Magic, which you know that you never should have taught him, is what killed him. You are responsible for his death." Justum announced.

"The Maker has sent us for your reckoning," the Fates boomed.

"You hurt the only person who cared about you." Aurora's eyes burned with tears as she stared at him accusingly.

"No." In his disbelief, the gnome could form no other word.

In his desire to be needed by Alaron, Cafer had introduced the boy to magic. Believing that the boy might be part gnome, it was a calculated risk. Every risk he took was carefully planned out, but he had not accounted for the one thing he could neither control nor understand. Love had conquered his ambition.

"No, no, no, no," he repeated as his mind seemed to be slipping.

"The seal on your life…" Justum said. His voice was deafening as the rest of the Fates joined in, "has been broken."

"Return to the earth, the place gnomes value above all else," Hanna paraphrased the old blessing.

"No!" Cafer finally broke from his delirium. He reached out his hand to grab a hold of Hanna. As much as he despised the Fate, she was the most gracious. Perhaps he could plead with her and she would stop his judgement.

But as he outstretched his arm, the tips of his fingers turned dark and then disappeared like dust in the wind. His hand and arm quickly followed like sand through an hour glass. "I wanted to rule the earth, not become it!" Cafer gasped, watching his body crumble to dust. Each bit of him disintegrated until at last even his face turned to ash and was carried off across the landscape, never to be seen again.

Around them, the gnomes and giants had awoken to see the results of the battle. Tied up and loosely grouped together, they watched in horror as Cafer was brought to judgement.

"Your Majesty?" Hannah stepped aside to allow Aurora to address the gnomes. The fiery-haired woman wiped her face clean of tears and gave a small nod.

Under the protection of the Fates, the Empress stepped forward and called out fiercely. "Your king is dead and the battle is over! Who will speak for the gnomes?" Her voice magnified by some invisible magic, everyone on the Beachy Plains could hear her words.

None of the earthy creatures would meet her eye.

"Who will speak? Will no one negotiate for you?" Aurora repeated impatiently. Her toes unconsciously tapped in the dirt.

"He will!" Brinn used the small amount of her magic that had regenerated to send the message to the Empress's ears.

"Who—?" Aurora asked, trying to find her friend across the plain.

Hanna vanished and reappeared with Brinn and another who quickly crouched behind the elf. The spymaster grabbed the mousey gnome by the collar and pulled him from behind her.

"Lukoss will speak for the gnomes," Brinn asserted.

"I will?" Lukoss asked, wishing to pull his head into his collar.

"You wanted me to help you free your little fairy friend?" The red headed elf whispered. "This is your chance. I am helping you free everyone."

Lukoss's eyes went wide. He realized she was right. There was no need to go and hide in a hovel when he could fix the gnomic system from inside. With the Empress's and Fates' backing, he might actually be able to do it. It was worth a try. If not, the small hovel would be his back up.

"I will speak for the gnomes!" he announced as he straightened his back. He hoped desperately that no one saw his shaking knees. "We surrender."

"That much is obvious." Aurora nodded sternly. "I have no desire for slaves. I assume my allies do not either. So, I ask you, new King of the Gnomes, what assurances can you give me?"

The mousey gnome cleared his throat. "With Your Majesty's permission, the gnomes will retreat, set free all of our captives, and never enter the land of humans without permission. I swear by the Fates, we will never make war again."

"And?" Aurora gave him a sharp look.

Brinn coughed, "Wives!" She nudged the gnome.

Lukoss realized his error. "Of course. We will no longer steal wives. Any female who lives among us must do so willingly."

There was a grumble among the gnomes, but they quieted with a few nudges from the butts of elven swords.

"I tentatively accept your terms," Aurora said. "We will head back to the palace and draw up an official agreement—I am sure my elven allies will help me with that—and then we can discuss the gnomes' release:"

Lukoss bowed. "May the Fates hold our agreement as binding." He looked up momentarily at the glowing figures before averting his eyes. Invoking the Fates was the only way he could see for making sure the other gnomes stayed in line.

"We will," Justum assured him firmly from above them on the mound. "The Fate Eunomia will be keeping a careful eye on all of you."

"As for the giants…" the Empress was less sure how to deal with them.

Before she could speak anymore, Hanna interrupted. "Shoo! Go home you big brutes! And never trust a gnome. They will get you into trouble." At least this is what Aurora thought Hanna said, for the Fate spoke in the ancient tongue. Either way, the result was that the large monstrous cyclopses broke their flimsy bindings and headed northward without complaint.

"That was effective," Brinn commented to Hanna.

"It usually is with those creatures," the Fate shrugged with her eyebrows raised.

Justum came down from the mound to stand beside the Favored of the Fates. He gave her his nod of approval. "Well, Your Majesty, you have won," he told her as if his stamp of approval made it so. Though, perhaps in a way, it did.

Aurora looked over his shoulder at the still form in Fate Omid's arms. "Really?" she challenged Justum, "I had hoped winning would feel quite different."