28

Jason had never seen a forest quite like this. There were no leaves on the trees but it was so dense that Zemar had to conjure up a small ball of fire which floated in front of them, lighting their way.
He didn’t know what was creepier; the forest or the way grasses popped up wherever Zemar stepped and died again immediately her foot left the ground.
They walked for three days, getting farther and farther away from The Capital. Every night, Jaye would scout to make sure they were safe for the night and Zemar would disappear only to appear half an hour later with something they could eat. She would bring fruits, berries, meats, fish and when they were done eating, she would bring water directly from her fingertips and feed it to them.
Jason also seemed to notice that Zemar didn’t seem to hate Jaye as much. She wasn’t especially friendly to him and chose to converse with Jason instead but as the days in the barren forest passed, she gave Jaye less and less disdainful looks.
On the second night when Jaye had come back from his scouting mission, Jason asked why he scouted every night when they hadn’t come across a single living thing since their journey had started.
“Even when Erogon thrived, there were bandits and rogues here in Irewood,” Jaye explained, “people of no nation that delighted in barbaric violence. Of course, they wouldn’t hurt royalty but one has to be extra careful.”
“How are you sure they are still alive?” Jason asked, “I haven’t heard anything so much as move here.”
“Better to be extra careful,” Jaye repeated.
Jason snorted but didn’t say anything. After a few minutes of silence, Jaye looked at Jason curiously.
“Has Zemar talked to you about The Binding yet?” he asked.
“No,” Jason answered, “what’s The Binding?”
“It’s basically a blood oath a king or queen makes with the members of his or her court,” Jaye explained, “they will promise to serve them and their kingdom. After the blood oath is made, a sworn one must do everything the monarch says. To disobey means to die.”
“They’d really kill you for not obeying?” Jason asked, his eyes bulging.
“No,” Jaye said sullenly, “The Binding itself will kill you. The force of your disobedience will eat you from your insides out.”
Jason shivered a bit. It seemed a bit extreme, albeit necessary as it could be the only way a monarch would know that he or she was not going to be betrayed by the inner court.
“And I will have to take the oath?” he asked.
Jaye met his gaze directly, “You are the last surviving Tiledonian. From you, a lost civilization will rise again and you shall be their Lord. Of course you’ll have to take the oath. My queen would kill you otherwise.”
Jason found it hard to believe Zemar would kill him because he refused to drink her blood. Maim him, perhaps, but not kill him. However, the woman he had been seeing in the past few days was vastly different from the one he had known back in New York.
“And you,” Jason started, “you’re her soul mate. You cant go against her even if you wanted to. Will you still have to be a part of The Binding?”
“If my queen will have me, I would travel to the ends of the world for a chance to swear to her,” Jaye said sincerely, staring wistfully at a nearby tree.
It all seemed extremely weird to Jason; Jaye looked as if drinking Zemar’s blood would be the greatest thing he would ever do in his life. Jason was about to tease him about it when Zemar materialized from the shadows.
“If you boys are done gossiping, I brought food,” she said with a twinkle in her golden eyes.
Jason swore under his breath. He was having a hard time getting used to their amazing hearing and eyesight. One couldn’t keep a secret around the immortals here. He had asked Zemar if Tiledonians also had super-hearing and she said yes but he was new to Erogon so his powers might take a while to kick in. That night, Jason hardly slept and when he did, his dreams were filled with oaths and promises.

The next night when Jaye went for his usual scouting mission, Jason cornered Zemar before she had a chance to leave to get food.
“Were you planning to tell me anything at all about The Binding and how I’m supposedly meant to be a part of it?” he asked straight-to-the-point.
Zemar rolled her queenly eyes, “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Jason. I just didn’t want to tell you yet.”
“Why the hell not?” he whined.
“Because I knew you’d be fascinated by it and you’d try to convince me to let you take the oath.”
“But I'm supposed to take the oath. Why would it be so bad?”
“If you were a member of my court from Erogon, I wouldn’t mind. Because anybody who grew up here would know how serious The Binding is. They would know the gravity of accepting it.”
“But you’d kill anyone who refused to take it,” Jason pointed out.
Zemar ignored his observation, “I want you to see Tiledonia first. Or at least what’s left of it. There might be something there that would guide you. Being Bound to me might get in the way of it.”
“But its my duty to serve in your court. And I'm pretty sure I can’t do that properly if everyone else is bound and I'm not,” he argued.
“You see, you’re already trying to convince me,” Zemar sighed.
Jason stood still for a minute and pondered. Then he spoke up:
“How long will it take for us to get to Tiledonia, then?”
“I’d shapeshift and fly us but that would attract too much attention and we don’t know what’s out there. Besides, we have to gather the members of my court along the way,” Zemar explained, “so lets say about six months to Tiledonia on foot.”
“I cant believe I’ll have to walk for six months straight,” Jason said, sounding bewildered.
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be fighting part of the way,” Zemar teased.
“That’s not funny, Jean,” Jason said, looking pale at the thought of having to fight a bunch of savages, “don’t you think I should learn to use a weapon or something?”
Zemar shook her head, “The Tiledonians were never good with weapons. You’ll just be wasting your time. Don’t worry, I”ll keep you safe and impenetrable if we encounter anybody that wants to cut our heads off.”
“Still not funny, Jean,” Jason said, getting even paler.
“Zemar, Jason,” she corrected.
Jason nodded. He was still trying to get used to calling her Zemar and sometimes, he slipped.
After a while, Jaye got back and they settled in for the night.

The next day, the trio continued on their search for Barine. Usually, they would stop three times during the day for about an hour and rest, but this time, Zemar barrelled on like a cannonball through the woods and even Jaye had to struggle to keep up. She didn’t stop for rest and after walking for 8 hours, Jason was about ready to drop.
“Why… is she… doing this?” he asked Jaye, panting.
“I’m guessing she has sensed that Barine is close,” Jaye answered easily, “either that or she has sensed danger following us and she’s trying to lose it.”
At that very moment, an arrow-like object whizzed past Jaye’s head and embedded itself in a tree right beside him.
“Damn it,” Jaye muttered, “they see a wimp and a huge man and they decide to shoot the huge guy?”
“HEY!” Jason scolded, “who’s the wimp.”
“Less talking, more running,” Jaye said and set off in a sprint after Zemar.
Jason knew he was going to die. This was the end. He had absolutely no energy left. He had been walking for 8 hours straight and now these lunatics expected him to actually RUN. There was no way he could do it. He was going to die in the hands of bloodthirsty forest dwellers and they probably going to roast him and eat him.
Despite his racing thoughts, Jason could feel new energy surrounding him. It felt like a pungent wine spreading through his veins. It was stronger than anything he had ever felt before; even stronger than adrenaline.
He could fell himself running, taking long strides that ate up the ground until he had almost caught up with Zemar and Jaye. He could tell that the newfound strength was from Zemar. There was something about the ethereal feel of the power that reminded him of how it felt when Zemar laid those golden eyes on him.
Suddenly, Jaye and Zemar stopped. Jason almost slammed into a tree.
“Why did we just stop?” he asked, trying to regain his balance.
“There’s no point trying to outrun them,” Jaye said, “they’re in the trees.”
Jason immediately looked up. But the barren trees looked too dense and dark for him to see anything through. He looked at Zemar but she just looked pissed that Jaye was right.
Ill-naturedly, she dug her fingers into the trunk of a nearby tree with a force that made the ground shake. Immediately, the emaciated tree looked to be bursting with life; the dark trunk turned into a rich brown and leaved sprouted all over the branches in the blink of an eye.
The force and the sudden growth must have startled the men in the tree because two of them stumbled down and landed on the floor with a loud thud.
Before they could move, Zemar had them surrounded by vines that seemed to sprout out of the ground they had landed on. She entwined the vines so that they were standing and could be examined by the trio.
They were bronze men with wiry frames and long faces that reminded Jason of a mole. They definitely looked angrier than moles, however, seeming to be angry that they had been bested by the people they had been stalking.
Jason looked over at Zemar and once again, he could see every ounce of the queen she was even in the condescending way she looked at them. Any man would be cowering in fear at a look like that. But it was either these men were extremely brave or just plain stupid because they were hissing at Zemar like they wanted to cut her into pieces.
“Who are you?” one of them asked icily, “a witch who stole from our leader’s powers?”
“So you are under Barine?” Zemar asked in a calm voice.
“Do not speak her name. Have you no respect?” one of them howled.
It must’ve amused Zemar because she smiled at them the same way one would smile at a child’s antics.
“I am Zemar,” she said in that same calm tone, “Queen of Erogon.”
“Lies,” one of the captives screeched, “my queen has been dead for years.”
“Imposter,” the other wailed.
“Silence!” Jaye glowered in a manner that made them shut up (it was just then that Jason remembered that Jaye was actually Zemar’s consort), “how dare you accuse my queen of being an imposter? Do you not see her eyes?”
The two men stared at Zemar and noticed the golden colour of her pupils for the first time. As realization dawned on their faces, Jason found it quite comical; the wau they scrambled for words. He was sure they would’ve grovelled and kissed Zemar’s feet if it wasn’t for the vines restricting their movement. Instead, they settled for bowing their heads as low as they possible could.
“We are extremely sorry, my queen,” one of them said, “we did not realize. Excuse our mistake.”
“We are but your loyal subjects, my queen,” the other said.
That seemed to satisfy Zemar because she nodded her head once and said, “Tell the rest of your people in the trees that it is safe. Then you will lead us to Barine at once.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
They let out a series of whistles and caws and faintly, Jason could hear some of the tree branches creaking as they rest of the tribesmen left the trees.
Zemar loosened the two men, binding only their hands so they could lead them to Barine.
Jason saw that they were actually properly dressed in clothes that looked to be made from leaves and were short and flimsy to allow for easy movement.
So step by step, they went deeper into Irewood to find the first member of Zemar’s court.