Five Corners: The Marked Ones Read online

  Five Corners: The Marked Ones

  Title Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SOMETHING

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  FIVE CORNERS

  BOOK 1 OF THE MARKED ONES

  by Cathi Shaw

  Ink Smith Publishing

  www.ink-smith.com

  Copyright © 2014 Cathi Shaw

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Ebook Version

  The final approval for this literary material is granted by the author.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 9781939156259

  Ink Smith Publishing

  P.O Box 1086

  Glendora CA

  Cover Art by Linda Bjarnason and Caitlin Shaw

  Map by Linda Bjarnason

  Author Photo by Becca McNeil

  http://www.beccamcneilphotography.com/

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Very special thanks to my writing partner, first reader, and dear friend, Rochelle Dionne.

  Thanks to all my reader/editors for their love of Five Corners and their exceptional feedback: Caitlin Shaw, Kassandra Planiden, Kate Fitzsimmons, Brina Coleman, Alannah Clark, Daniel Nixon, Mackenzie Bjarnason, Mason Bjarnason, and Matthew Shaw.

  Special thanks to Linda Bjarnason and Caitlin Shaw for their artistic talent.

  Thanks to Ashley Howie at Ink Smith Publishing for believing in my work and giving such excellent suggestions and feedback.

  And thanks to my family for believing! I love you all!

  DEDICATION

  For my greatest cheerleader and muse, Caitlin.

  I love you!

  List of Names and Places

  Characters

  Minathrial (Min-ath-ree-al) called “Mina” (Meen-ah) – Sister to Thia

  and Kiara.

  Elethia (E-leth-ee-ah) called “Thia” (Thee-ah) – Sister to Mina and Kiara

  Kiara (Key-Ar-Ah)– Sister to Mina and Thia

  Brijit (Bri-jeet)– Adopted mother of Mina, Thia and Kiara

  Caedmon (C-ay-d-mon) – Brother to Teague

  Teague (Tee-gue) – Brother to Caedmon

  Weylon (Way-lon) – Adopted father of Caedmon and Teague

  Arion (Air-ee-on) – Elder

  Meldiron (Mel-dear-on)– Elder

  Bellasiel (Bella-seel)– Elder and Healer

  Saldur (Sale-dor) – Elder and Healer

  Eöl Ar-Feiniel (Ay-owl Are-Fen-el) – Elder and Archivist

  Celeste (Suh-leste) – Undergrounder

  Delphine (Del-fee-nee) – Celeste’s daughter

  Manach (Men-ack) – Monks

  Coimirceoirí (Coym-eer-see-oy-ri) – Guardians of the Elders

  Draíodóir (Dray-Or-Door) – Druid/Magician

  Places

  Séreméla (Sar-A-Mell-A) – the Elders’ home

  Aranel Pallanén (Air-ran-ell Pall-an-een) – Legendary River in Séreméla

  Five Corners

  The Marked Ones

  CHAPTER ONE

  Kiara stared at the small body laid out in the family's tiny kitchen. She didn't know the child but that didn't stop her heart from jerking in her chest as she looked at the perfect little girl lying in the wooden box. She was dressed in what were obviously her best clothes; her dark hair had been carefully combed and braided. She was only six years old.

  Kiara felt her own mother watching her closely. She forced her gaze away from the small lifeless form. Brijit murmured softly to the parents and then moved to Kiara's side.

  "Come away from here, Kiara," her mother said firmly.

  But Kiara couldn't stop herself from looking back at the child, noting how someone had twined a pretty scarf around her neck, concealing the ugly slashes that she knew were hidden beneath the colorful material. The result of a blade taken to vulnerable flesh. This poor girl had had no chance against her assailant.

  Brijit tugged on her arm insistently. "There is nothing more for us to do here," she whispered in a hushed undertone. "Let’s go and give the family some peace."

  Kiara shook her head, noticing for the first time the buzz of voices around her. The small room was filled with interested townsfolk, people who had never given a care for this family, suddenly drawn to the run down shack out of morbid curiosity. Kiara felt a sudden wave of shame wash over her. She suddenly wondered what she was doing here?

  True, Brijit had come to wash and dress the child and had asked for Kiara's help in carrying the dead body, remarkably heavy for one so small. Death did not bother Kiara and she was strong enough to hoist weights around. Her little sister, Thia, while a healer like her mother, had not been large enough to help with this task.

  But the heavy work had been completed hours ago. And still Kiara had stayed, transfixed by this tiny person who was no more.

  Don’t try to deny it, she told herself vehemently, you know why you’re here.

  She had seen the Mark on the child's shoulder. She resisted the urge to rub her own shoulder where an identical Mark was hidden beneath her tunic. It was something she’d believed she only shared with her sisters. But this child proved different.

  And there was no question that this child had been assassinated.

  Suddenly it was hard to breath and the walls were closing in around her. She had to get away from this place. Kiara pushed through the door of the shack while her mother was stopped by one of the family members.

  She stood in the muddy yard, drawing in deep breaths of the frosty fall air, trying to calm down.

  "Tell no one of what you have seen, Kiara."

  She whipped around and saw Brijit behind her, calmly tying her bonnet before they started the journey home.

  "Why?" Kiara asked, her voice rough with emotion.

  Brijit did not answer for moment, instead she pushed past Kiara to where the horses were waiting and mounted her small mare.

  Kiara watched her mother through narrowed eyes. She had begun to suspect that Brijit was hiding things from her. And she didn't like it.

  When it was clear that Brijit intended to leave this place with or without her, Kiara mounted in silence and turned her horse toward home.

  "I saw it, Brijit," she said quietly, refusing to let the matter rest.

  Brijit looked up suddenly, worry lines on her forehead.

  "You can tell me to be silent but until you share what you know, I'm not likely to be. What in Five Corners is happening? This isn't the first death like this ...?" She heard the question lingering in her voice, even though she knew the truth. She was sure, based on her mother’s reaction when they’d arrived, that this was not the first innocent death Brijit had stumbled
upon.

  Brijit sighed. Then looked ahead on the path. "No. It's not," she admitted, confirming Kiara’s suspicions. "Another child was found in the Lowlands. He was killed in the same way."

  "Did he have the ..." Kiara hesitated. They never spoke of the Mark.

  "Yes," Brijit said quickly, before Kiara could voice it. "And two more near the mountains to the North."

  A rock of fear tightened in Kiara’s stomach. She never would have guessed her mother would keep so many deaths a secret.

  "Who is doing this?" Kiara asked quietly, trying to calm her mind. "And why?"

  “Stop with the interrogation, Kiara!” Brijit’s voice was high pitched and shrill and so unlike her mother that Kiara could only stare in shock.

  Brijit closed her eyes for a moment. Then she opened them and forced a brittle smile to her lips. "I don't know who would do such a thing, Kiara. Sometimes there are people who are ... not right in their head. And they kill things they shouldn't."

  Like Johnny Oldsfeld, Kiara thought. He killed small animals for the sport of it. He liked to watch them suffer and eventually die. But this was different. Johnny didn't chose only those animals that had white spots.

  And Brijit was avoiding Kiara's eyes a little too much. She was focused on the road refusing to look at her. She looked almost guilty. But why would that be? Her mother was a healer not a killer. Surely Brijit had nothing to feel guilty for.

  "Is there nothing we can do?" Kiara asked, anger tingeing her words.

  Brijit shook her head. "Be on the lookout for strangers," she offered softly.

  Kiara stared at the back of her mother's head as Brijit rode ahead of her. Suddenly Brijit turned back. "Oh, and Kiara ..."

  "Yes?"

  "Say nothing of this to your sisters."

  Kiara's eyes narrowed as she considered her mother's words. Brijit knew more than she was letting Kiara believe. And Kiara was determined to uncover what her mother was hiding.

  ****

  They were only a few miles from the Inn when a frantic looking farmer intercepted Kiara and Brijit.

  "Mistress Carnesîr!" He called, his voice raw with emotion. "Thank the stars, I've found you."

  Brijit smiled gently at the man, all traces of her earlier angst erased. "Hamish, calm yourself. What is it?"

  "It's Shila. She's in a bad way. The baby started coming but then it just stopped and now Shila is so sick."

  Brijit straightened. She was the only midwife for miles around. But Kiara knew that this was not Shila's first born. She had four children already, the last she'd birthed in the barn in the middle of milking. Brijit and Kiara exchanged a look. If Shila was having trouble birthing this child, then it didn't bode well.

  "When did she go into labor, Hamish?"

  The farmer looked at her blankly.

  "When did the pains start?" Brijit asked a bit more firmly.

  The rough farmer sniffed and rubbed his nose on his sleeve. "The day before yesterday. I don't know what to do. Please say you'll come."

  Brijit nodded. "Of course, I will." She turned back to Kiara. "You go straight back to the Inn, Kiara. Let your sisters know that I've been called away." She paused and looked around the woods nervously. "And don't linger here today. I don't like the feel of it."

  Annoyance pricked at Kiara. Brijit had been nothing but jumpy since they left the dead child. She’s noticed how her mother kept pausing and peering left then right deep into the woods. Not that she would share her concerns with Kiara. Now she was telling her to be careful simply because of how she felt. Kiara shrugged and turned back to her horse.

  Brijit suddenly gripped her upper arm. Kiara looked back at her mother in surprise. "Kiara promise me, you'll go straight back to the Inn."

  Stunned by the urgency in her mother’s voice, Kiara’s mouth went dry. Unable to talk, she just nodded.

  Brijit watched her for a moment longer, clearly fighting some inner emotion.

  Exacerbated Kiara mounted and turned her horse toward the Inn. "I'm going, I'm going." She caught the farmer's anxious eye and felt a stab of guilt. "I hope Shila is well," she added before urging her mare to a jog in the direction of home.

  The last few miles to the Inn passed uneventfully but Kiara couldn't help wondering what had set her mother on edge. She was clearly upset by the dead child but there had to be something more to it. Brijit’s insistence that Kiara go straight home and watch for strangers was odd.

  But as the gables of the Inn came into view, Kiara was no closer to figuring out what was on her mother’s mind. She shrugged and gave up her analysis. Her sisters understood their mother better than she did. She decided to go over the matter with them and see what they could make of it.

  Satisfied that her sisters would be able to find an answer to the puzzle, Kiara looked up with a small smile on her lips. But it fast faded as she rode into the stable yard. Her eyes snagged on a sight that had her worries returning thrice fold.

  In front of her were three large and tough looking horses, the like of which she’d never seen in the Lowlands. And standing beside their mounts were three wild looking men. New arrivals to the Inn and they were definitely strangers!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Even without Brijit's warning Kiara would have been wary of this group of strangers. They were a rough looking threesome with horses that were built for both speed and endurance. Warhorses, Kiara suspected.

  As she approached she could see that one of the men was significantly older than the other two. He had what should have been a warm and friendly face except for sternness around his mouth.

  The younger men were opposites. One was a monster of a man. Kiara estimated him to be close to seven feet in height, his muscular arms laced with tattoos that marked him as a member of the army.

  Kiara's unease doubled when she saw the tattoos. While they were aware of soldiers in the Lowlands, they rarely saw them. And the soldiers of the Five Corners were not the kind of men one wanted to find oneself mixed up with. They were a brutal band of ruthless killers who the governing heads insisted were necessary to protect the country from raiders beyond the sea to the South and the far mountains to the Northeast. But rumors abounded that the army spent more time harassing citizens of the country than they did defending it. A soldier at the Inn was not a good sign.

  Swallowing, Kiara turned her attention to the last of the party. He was small in stature and had an easy, friendly manner. It wasn't until Kiara was a few feet away that she saw his eyes. They were silver with a strange metallic glint to them. They were almost mesmerizing. She forced her gaze away from them and focused instead on the older man.

  "Can I help you?" she asked, her tone purposely cool.

  She tried not to flinch under the weight of those three sets of eyes her as she brought her mare to a halt in front of them.

  "Do you live here?" the older man asked carefully.

  Kiara nodded.

  "Then you can. We are looking for lodging." He smiled but Kiara couldn't shake the coldness that seemed to emanate from him.

  She forced a disappointed facade to her face. "Oh, I’m sorry but I believe we are all booked up for now. Pinefell has a nice Inn and it's not far from here."

  The soldier's dark eyes narrowed. "Your stable is remarkably empty for a full Inn."

  Kiara widened her eyes in what she hoped was an innocent expression. "It is, isn't it?"

  Before she could say anymore, the side door to the Inn opened and Mina came hurrying out. Before Kiara could give Mina any kind of signal or warning, her sister was saying, "Welcome! Welcome to the Inn! Are you seeking lodgings? We have the best venison stew in the Five Corners."

  The older man turned his attention to Mina. "We are looking for lodging but were given to believe that you were fully booked." He gestured casually toward Kiara.

  Mina laughed. "Hardly! We are never fully booked at this time of year." Then she saw her sister. "Kiara! You're back. Did Mama go with Hamish?"

  Kiara glared at her s
ister. Not only had she admitted that the Inn was empty, she'd effectively told them that their mother was away. Precisely the knowledge that strangers such as these should not have. Kiara watched in dismay as Mina led the men and their mounts toward the stable and shook her head. So much for staying away from strangers!

  ****

  Kiara put her mare away in the stables and then went to find Thia. It wasn’t difficult as her little sister was in the kitchen as she always was. Kiara stepped into the room and was immediately assaulted by the enticing aroma of freshly baked bread. Her stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her that she'd had nothing to eat since early morning.

  Thia looked up in surprise before a wide grin lit up her face. "Kiara! You're home."

  Kiara nodded and reached for one of the loaves of bread that were cooling on the counter. Thia smacked her hand away, "Don't you dare, you've not even washed up."

  "C’mon, Thia, I'm starving."

  Thia shook her head before slicing a thick piece of bread and putting it on a plate. As she handed it to Kiara, she looked up her brow furrowed in concern.

  "Did Mama come home with you?"

  Kiara shook her head as she took a huge bite of the still warm bread. She closed her eyes in delight as the warm hominess melted in her mouth. "Hamish met us on the road."

  Thia sighed as she cut another slice of bread of put it on Kiara's plate. "Shila shouldn't be having trouble with birthing. This is her fifth child." Worry was thick in Thia’s voice.

  Kiara nodded in agreement. Then she remembered what her mother had said about avoiding strangers. And yet Mina was taking the newcomers on a tour of the Inn at this very moment. Kiara closed her eyes in frustration.