A Gathering of Souls

by Dianne Keep

  “What if I kill her?” Bree whispered.

  “Not possible.”

  Had Ehre been hit on the head? “Not possible? How can you say that? Have you forgotten why I wear this charm? Because I haven’t. I don’t want to die.”

  The Resh cleared his throat. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, Your Greatness.” Ehre bowed. “Bree is curious about how to proceed.”

  “Healing comes naturally to your kind does it not?” Osling’s words chilled her bones. “You can’t be completely incompetent.”

  Bree’s cheeks flushed. He’s the one that was forcing her to relearn her entire life. A sliver of anger escaped her prison of feelings, and it tasted sweet. Don’t go there. “I can’t promise that my blood magic will answer my request.”

  Her stomach roiled with jitters, but five determined steps later, she arrived in front of Rishi Fara. The heat in the room stifled her thoughts. If only there was a window to open. She’d be a puddle of useless mush before she could attempt any sort of healing.

  Osling moved aside, and Fara held out her shriveled hand from under the gossamer fabric. Bree wiped her forehead. Sweat trickled off her fingers to the floor. “Forgive me, Your Greatness, it’s rather hot in here.”

  “I didn’t ask you to speak,” Osling said, sliding next to his wife on the sofa.

  Bree took a step back, but the Rishi still reached for her.

  She took Fara’s hand. The room turned cold. Her teeth chattered as a fire burned inside her, ripping through her muscles, bones, and skin, pressing for release.

  Fara screamed.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Wake her up!” Osling’s shout rattled Bree’s skull. His icy words stung even in her semi-conscious state.

  A warm, calloused hand gently rubbed her cheek. Too large to be Ehre’s, and it lacked the electric sting of a Seyh’s touch. Bree blinked, seeing a blurry world as the hard floor dug into her spine.

  She was alive.

  The fire inside hadn’t consumed her body after all. Blazing heat smothered Bree like a pillow, reminding her that she was in the Rishi’s private room. Every inch of her was soaked with sweat. Shane grabbed her arms and heaved her upward, holding her shoulders until she was steady.

  Bree looked around the room. Bayan had left, and the sofa was unoccupied. Had Rishi Fara been burned to dust? The sofa looked clean, but they might have washed it while she was unconscious. “Where’s the Rishi?” The words came out as a croak.

  Osling’s freezing stare caused her flesh to prickle. “She has retired to her bedroom.”

  Alive then. “What happened?” Not wanting Osling to speak to her again, Bree directed her question to Ehre.

  “Her Excellence fainted, same as you, but her fever has dissipated.” Ehre’s attempted smile was not at all comforting. “We’re not sure if the fever will return. Her skin is still an unnatural white, but her heartbeat is stronger.” Ehre’s purple alhor tentatively touched Bree’s, creating a puke-green sheen between them. Ehre’s alhor had never done that before.

  The awful fire from her center had been her healing talent reemerging. Not that she remembered having the talent to heal. The charm around her neck heated, trying to find fault with something. Her thoughts were clean.

  Osling watched the door beside the fireplace, ignoring everyone else.

  Bree moved toward Ehre. “Can we go?” Bree plucked at her riding outfit that stuck to her like a second skin.

  “We’re waiting for Keir Ryne.”

  “Why?”

  Ehre shook her head.

  All of Bree’s muscles begged for her to lie down on the floor again. She swayed and Shane caught her. His touch was soothing. Bree fought the urge to rest her head on his chest and lost. She closed her eyes. The stifling world of pine and rosemary drifted far away from her thoughts.

  The door opened, jostling her awake.

  Out of the blackness stumbled Keir Ryne Satrov, Osling’s younger brother. The two looked almost exactly alike with their dark features, except Ryne was taller and had a scar starting at his jaw, interrupting his fashioned beard. It ran in a jagged line diagonally across his neck and disappeared somewhere underneath his shirt collar.

  “I came as soon as I heard,” Keir Ryne mumbled, clutching his chest.

  Instinct told Bree to reach out and steady him, but her limbs froze under the searing heat of the necklace’s activated energy network. With her next breath, she could have sworn she smelled her flesh cooking instead of the incense. Ehre materialized at her side and spoke the deactivation code as Ryne fell into his brother’s open arms.

  She wanted to tell Ehre to stop her muttering, that the code wasn’t working, but her lips wouldn’t move. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the necklace kept its furious hold on her flesh.

  Thump.

  Keir Ryne’s body lay haphazardly on the floor.

  “Ehre!” Resh Osling shouted.

  Ehre hurried to Ryne and placed her hands on either side of his face.

  Shane moved, blocking her view of Ehre, agony raging in his blue eyes. His hands gently wrapped around her waist.

  Why does he care? Why does he care?

  “I live to serve.” Shane smiled as if he heard her silent question.

  A bolt unlocked inside her.

  Power weaseled its way into her veins until her head swam in its richness.

  A younger Shane chased her through a pine forest.

  He laughed at her while she fumbled with a bow and arrow.

  They sat in a glittering sailboat floating above the water.

  The vision passed, leaving her chest aching like someone had ripped out her heart. Her pulse thundered in her temples, telling her she still owned a heart. She was alive, not that she wanted to be. Not anymore. No one could live without a heart.

  Shane. You’re here.

  Every muscle in Bree’s body tensed. That wasn’t her voice. How could another girl be inside her head? The room spun.

  Her lungs screamed for air. She gulped several breaths before the room stopped spinning.

  A tingle of freedom from the charm’s hot network started at her fingertips, slid up her arms, and spread over the rest of her body as the fiery lattice funneled back inside the amber gem.

  Everything hurt. Her head might be cracked in two.

  Why had she pictured herself with Shane? Why was there a voice in her head that didn’t belong to her?

  I’m in shock. There. Her voice. Hers.

  Whatever words Ehre had said must have inadvertently given her access to Shane’s memories. Why would she be in his memories? She knew some Seyhs had figured out how to access other people’s thoughts. Maybe she was somehow placing herself in his memories? The feelings of uneasiness she sensed before by the tower had been his. Or hers? She didn’t know. He looked worried about her when he shouldn’t. He talked to her when he shouldn’t.

  She probably just reminded him of someone else who happened to look just like her. That had to be it.

  Shane frowned. “You need to accept—”

  Osling’s roar cut off his words. “Fix this! He’s dying!” Osling screamed, tearing at his hair. “This can’t happen!” He took a step toward her. Bree’s body trembled anew.

  Shane pushed her behind him, somehow keeping a hand on her while he bowed. “Your Greatness, it isn’t wise to approach her while the incantation is activated.” The back of Shane’s black uniform almost touched her nose. He smelled of fresh dirt and mint.

  Taking a deep breath, she focused on the tiny lines in the black leather vest between Shane’s shoulders. Keir Ryne groaned. Rubbing her temples, she peeked around Shane.

  Resh Osling whispered something to his brother. Ryne’s otherwise ruddy complexion had faded to a pale green. Ehre touched his chest, which glowed yellow under her violet alhor.

  Bree’s amber gem lit up and reflected off the Shane’s dark armor. Keir Ryne probably wore protective pendants like all the royals. Was his charm malfunctioning at the
same time as hers? Whoever made the pendant would answer to Osling for the glitch. She hoped the person wasn’t Ehre.

  Ehre helped Ryne to the sofa and motioned her over. Shane let her go. Bree waited for the Resh to object, but Osling ignored her, staring at the hearth instead.

  “He needs water,” Ehre pointed to a pitcher in the corner.

  The clear liquid sang to Bree. She salivated at the idea of tasting water. Within five seconds, Ryne had gulped the cup dry.

  “Do you want another?” Bree turned toward the pitcher.

  “No, no. I am much better. It was the running.” Ryne gazed at her face and then at her pendant. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”

  Heat rushed through the necklace’s web. She placed her hand over the hot jewel as if that would stop it. “I was told Rishi Fara’s fever is gone.”

  “Yes.” Keir Ryne winced. “That is why I ran. She hasn’t had a breakthrough since the sickness came to her.” Ryne wiped his brow with a handkerchief. “Did you hear? Khrisk will be home tomorrow.” He patted her hand.

  Buzzing filled Bree’s ears and what felt like liquid fire flooded her head. Flinching, she stepped back, retrieving her hand. “I will be glad to see him again.”

  Ryne chuckled. “You and many other young ladies.” He glanced at Osling. The Resh harrumphed. “If the Rishi is not accepting visitors, I should get back to my meeting. You will let me know when I may come again.”

  Osling nodded.

  “Good. I will see you at dinner. Ehre.” Ryne rose from the sofa. “Bree.” He bowed to his brother and exited.

  Bree returned the cup to the table, almost giving in to her tongue’s blaring request to sneak a sip. She went to her place next to Shane and Ehre. She couldn’t stop her feet from tapping as they all waited for the Resh to dismiss them.

  Finally, Osling waved his hand. Ehre disappeared through the door first, followed by the other guards. Shane slipped his hand in hers and led her into the blackness. Welcome warmth spread from their entwined hands to her heart and the dark didn’t suffocate her this time as they trailed Ehre’s faint purple glow.

  In a few moments, she was out of the dark and inside Osling’s red study. Shane released her hand before anyone could see, and her quad reformed. She swore the carpet snakes hissed at her heels as her boots left the carpet.

  Without pausing, Ehre led the way back to her workroom, and when the door closed, Bree’s mentor sank to the floor.

  Bree went to the side table and poured two glasses of water. “This is the worst day imaginable.” She drank one, refilled it, and drank another before handing Ehre a glass.

  “Not the worst.” Ehre chugged the contents. “You’ve seen the worst. You just don’t remember.” She pushed herself up against the door, locking the latch. “Here.” Ehre spoke a few words, and a blast of cool air fluffed Bree’s clothes away from her skin.

  “Thanks.” She’d have to learn that trick. “Sometimes I’m glad I don’t remember.” That awful day had disappeared with the simple weave of Seyh magic.

  Bree touched the amber pendant. “I know you think I’m better off this way, but I think the spell is backfiring. I saw a woman with a silver alhor in the mirror before my ride with Bayan.”

  The hallucinations weren’t exactly scary. Every Seyh had visions at some point, Bree was sure, but the emotions were disconcerting. “And I’ve seen Captain Shane’s memories or something like memories. I’m in them. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”

  Ehre patted her back. “Better not say it out loud. Someone might hear you.”

  Spies covered the palace thicker than beetles, but Ehre’s workrooms had always felt safe. Bree glanced at the nooks and corners of the walls. The Resh’s skillful scouts never ceased to impress her.

  “Who else am I going to talk to about it? You’re my mentor. You’re supposed to help me with my rehabilitation.” Bree poured another glass of water from the stand in the corner, savoring the cool liquid as it ran down her throat. “If the necklace is malfunctioning then I’m putting people in danger.” She poured another. Her belly sloshed as she sat at the table.

  Ehre hung her long black jacket on the hook and rearranged the clutter on the table. “The Resh and I have been notified every time the defense mechanism has tripped. We’re not worried.”

  “Why is that? During our trip home, you thought the heavens were falling every time it triggered. What’s different about today?” Ehre knew something and wasn’t sharing. Bree could see in it in her eyes. “And it fired up when Keir Ryne touched my hand back in Rishi Fara’s room. Did you know?”

  Ehre’s eyes widened slightly.

  “The necklace didn’t notify you?”

  “No.” Ehre smoothed the sleeves of her black tunic. “Today, you activated a device. You endowed Rishi Fara with a bit of relief. If the necklace’s defenses switch on, we assume it’s your blood magic blooming after all this time. We’re willing to take the risk.”

  “You might, but I’m not.”

  She could blast the palace to tiny pieces, and they didn’t care as long as Fara’s fever was gone? Had they forgotten the horrors she’d committed? She’d seen the aftermath. The burnt plains stretching as far as she could see.

  “Is Rishi Fara so close to death that Resh Osling will sacrifice the capital? Stav has how many people living in it?” Bree asked.

  “You felt the death that surrounds her.” Ehre wrapped her arms around herself.

  Bree shivered, remembering the taste of Fara’s room. “Why bring me to her?” Bree’s alhor pulsed, reaching the table, turning it gold. “You haven’t trained me in healing.”

  Ehre blinked, went to the bookshelf, and opened a dusty book. At the very least, she could have pretended to read the text.

  Bree hated it when Ehre ignored her questions on purpose. “I really had no idea what I was doing in there. I could have killed her.”

  “But you didn’t.” Ehre continued to stare at the same page.

  “Will you look at me?” Bree’s hands balled into fists. She focused on breathing in and out, in and out. Her alhor snuck over to probe Ehre’s purple glow. “I’m confused. You’re my mentor and you’re not explaining anything.”

  Ehre’s hands trembled. “I can’t tell you anything.” Her right eye twitched.

  “Fine, but don’t hold me responsible if something bad happens. I told you what’s going on with the charm and what I’m seeing.” Bree closed her eyes and counted to ten, shoving the frustration deep into places she never looked and put a lid on it. She knew what it felt like to be pressed for an answer, and she didn’t want to put Ehre in that position.

  The Resh was willing to risk the palace and all the people in it so his wife could be cured. He didn’t care that she didn’t know what she was doing. He wasn’t worried she might kill everyone.

  So, neither would she.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The buzz of dusk flies resonated through the balcony doors of Ehre’s workroom, alerting Bree that her lesson time was almost over. Dinner with the royal court was an hour away.

  She looked up from the scroll on the history of Seyh laws. “Might I stay in my room tonight? I’m worn out.” Ehre had disappeared somewhere. She hadn’t heard her leave. “Ehre?”

  Ehre’s private quarters were just behind the door to her right. Bree had never been in there. She couldn’t imagine Ehre sneaking off to take a nap. The metals lab was to her left. She’d been in that room more than she liked.

  The lab door was open, but there was no sign of Ehre. Bree looked over the precious jewels in the glass case Ehre used for evoc pieces. Ehre’s table of animal Hollders glinted in the corner. Bree peered at the rare miniatures. Each little figurine represented a person in one of the many Seyh tribes. Each Seyh wore a pendant replica of their Hollder given to them on their naming day. The Hollder embodied an animal that reflected their personality and the color of their alhor.

  Bree’s tribe was never mentioned, and she was stripped o
f her Hollder. She touched a silver fox with blue topaz eyes. A zap of life stung her fingers, changing the alhor around her hand from gold to blue for a few seconds. If a powerful Seyh also had a copy of the Hollder, they could call and command the other Seyh, but that was against the law. Hollders were strange, old magic.

  A book from the back shelf fell. Bree brushed it off and replaced it in the open space. Scanning the titles of its neighbors, she found a book on mechanics and skimmed through it. She and Ehre still had the task of discovering the disk’s use. Bree flipped to the front of the book. Its publication was after the Changing.

  Placing the book in the crook of her arm, she continued to inspect titles. Three more books looked promising. She brought them to the table, setting the pile next to the relic, and clicked her tongue. She’d forgotten Ehre. The sooner she made her excuses for dinner, the better chance she had of Ehre allowing her to miss.

  She had just knocked on Ehre’s bedroom door when she heard her mentor talking on the balcony. Bree pressed her ear to the glass.

  “The incantation can’t hold her much longer,” Ehre said. “She’ll need your assistance.” A bird chattered. “No, she doesn’t remember anything. She mentioned visions and what she thinks might be a shared memory with a guard.”

  Who was Ehre talking to? A bird? Bree cracked open the curtains. A dew bird sat on the rail, chirping.

  “She only took the fever away,” Ehre said. The bird fluffed its feathers and hopped. “I don’t know what else I can do. There are too many people watching her.”

  The bird pecked Ehre on the forehead and proceeded with a series of tweets as it settled back on the railing.

  Ehre rubbed her head and whispered something else, bowed to the little bird, and turned to come inside.

  Bree scurried to the bench. “I’ve been wondering where you were. I hadn’t thought to look for you out there.” Maybe Ehre was a little cracked too. Or maybe not. People talked to animals or their pets, right?

  Bree held out the books she’d gathered. “I found some more books that might be helpful. We could go to the library tomorrow and look at all the books we have from Utan.”