by A. E. Rayne
‘What does that mean?’
Marcus sighed, realising that it would simply be easier if he told her what he knew. He looked up. ‘It means that Morac Gallas killed Eirik Skalleson. Your grandmother realised it and confronted Evaine, who tried to kill her to protect him. If Edela had simply kept her mouth shut...’
Jael was both surprised and incensed by that. ‘Morac Gallas?’ she shook her head, unsure why she was surprised at all. She’d had a bad feeling about him since they’d met. ‘You’re saying that it was her own fault that Evaine tried to kill her?’
‘Edela had one thing to do on Oss. To keep you safe. And now you are not even on Oss with your husband as you are meant to be, and she is dying, so, perhaps I am saying that, yes, it is her fault.’ Marcus sat taller in his chair, his body rigid.
Jael was ready to lose control of her tongue, but she thought of how desperately weak Edela was and took a deep breath. ‘I don’t imagine that she was expecting to be stabbed, no matter what she might have said to Evaine.’
‘No,’ Marcus conceded. ‘I don’t expect she was.’
‘And, if she could have, she may have done things differently. But I’m not as concerned with how she was injured as I am about how to help her. Now. That is why we’ve come, which I’m sure you already know. I need your help.’
Marcus clenched his hands into fists and glared at Jael. ‘You want my help bringing your grandmother back from the dead?’
‘She’s not dead yet!’ Jael was almost out of her chair, fighting against the urge to hold her knife to his throat until he gave her the damn book. ‘And I know there is a book here that can help her. She knows it too, which is why she sent us here.’
‘The book you speak of,’ Marcus said, his face flickering with discomfort. ‘It is a book to counter dark magic, written when there was... trouble in Tuura. A time when dreamers and elders both abused their gifts. When some had their heads turned from the gods.’ His voice was softer now, watching the pain in Jael Furyck’s green eyes. ‘It is not a book of healing. It breaks spells. Wards against them. But it does not heal. And I no longer have that book. I gave it to your grandmother, but when she left it was not found. I assumed that she had taken it with her.’
Jael felt all the air leave her body, taking any last vestige of hope with it. She looked down at her hands, twisting her wedding band.
Without that book how was she going to save Edela?
How was she going to get Eadmund back?
‘You have healers here,’ she said quietly, looking up. ‘The best healers in the land, supposedly.’
‘We do.’
‘Then, please, send someone to my aunt’s house. I will have my grandmother brought there.’ She stood up, trying to ignore the crushing pain of defeat as she strode to the door.
She couldn’t let Edela die.
She must have sent them here for a reason.
Eydis had seen it too.
‘There is still much we have to discuss,’ Marcus said irritably, following her. ‘Much more. About the prophecy –’
Jael spun and glared at him. ‘You think that I care about your prophecy when my grandmother is about to die? When I came here for a cure, and you tell me there is none? Do you think I want to sit by your fire and talk about that while you stare at me? Look down your nose at me? Dismiss me as a murderous, nothing queen?’ She looked disgusted and turned to grab the door handle.
Marcus reached out for it at the same time, fighting her for control. Jael frowned at him, confused and irritated. He was a most unpleasant man.
Then she stopped fighting him and stared into his eyes.
They were cold, emotionless. He didn’t blink as he stared back at her. ‘I am sorry that I cannot offer the help you seek. And I do appreciate that you must care for your grandmother now. But we will need to discuss the prophecy before you leave.’
‘You’re right, we must. And more. I want to hear all about why you tried to kill my friend, Aleksander Lehr too.’ She scowled at Marcus and pulled open the door. ‘But for now, let me just focus on saving my grandmother.’ And with one last, scathing look, Jael turned and disappeared down the corridor.
Marcus stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her go before turning back into his chamber and closing the door.
13
Morana was proving to be almost entirely useless.
She disappeared for days at a time, and when Jaeger did manage to find her, she was always with his father. He could barely contain his rage when he finally managed to force her into his chamber. ‘Where have you been? We cannot delay any longer! We have to do something! Kill Axl Furyck! Get my wife back! Now!’ He paced up and down behind Morana, who sat, curled over the book.
Meena lingered uncomfortably by the window, not wanting to be near her terrifying aunt at all.
Morana didn’t even look around as she ran her hands over the jagged edge of the missing last page.
Torn out.
She smiled wryly. The woman who ripped out that page had made herself indispensable. As was Jaeger, she knew. The book had revealed itself to him, chosen him, so she needed to keep him on side, and yet, to create chaos now... she could almost see what her mother had been trying to achieve.
Almost.
‘You wish to kill Axl Furyck?’ Morana growled. ‘But I thought it was his sister you had decided to destroy?’
‘And you don’t think that I can do both?’ Jaeger spat as he stopped, slamming his hands on the table. ‘With the power of that book, we should be able to kill anyone we choose. Surely? What is the point of it, if not?’
Morana was slowly growing frustrated with the book.
She had discovered many spells that were both intriguing and useful – so many that she could not wait to try – but what she really needed was a way to translate the ritual spell. That was the first step to bringing Raemus back from the oblivion of the Dolma: the black prison hole where even the discarded gods were thrown. Dead, forgotten, but not without hope.
Not when they had the book.
For The Following believed that they could bring Raemus back, and with his return, the Darkness would reign again.
‘I think you can do many things with this book, but it is best to be cautious, to begin with. It holds great power within its pages, so you should test it like a hot tub of water. One toe at a time. You want your wife back?’ Morana asked, turning away from the book, her eyes meeting Meena’s, enjoying her niece’s sudden, head-tapping discomfort. ‘Is that the most important thing to you now? That Axl Furyck dies so you can bring back your wife? Return her to your bed? Reclaim what is yours? Take his kingdom?’ Morana kept going, enjoying every twitch of Meena’s face. She could feel the pain in her heart at the thought that Jaeger was still so desperate for his wife.
Jaeger frowned, forgetting that Meena was even in his chamber. The idea that his stolen wife was lying beside the new King of Brekka incensed him. Nothing else compared to the white heat of his rage at that picture. For all that he hated his father and imagined himself on the dragon throne of Hest, he couldn’t stop thinking about ripping Amma out of Axl Furyck’s arms, right before she watched him die.
‘Yes.’
Morana smiled. ‘Well, then...’ She trailed her yellow fingernails over the almost-translucent vellum page. ‘Let’s see what we can do to make that happen.’
‘How long will we have to wait here?’ Amma sighed, already longing for a proper bed.
They were sheltering in one of Aleksander’s favourite caves, half a day’s ride from Andala. They had agreed to wait there for Gant, deciding that it was best not to take any risks until they were sure that the Brekkans were ready to support Axl as their king.
Until they knew that Osbert was dead.
Amma shuddered. It was strange to think that her father and brother might both be dead now. A year ago she would have mourned them.
Well, perhaps not Osbert.
They had both betrayed her for their own ends, gleeful
ly handing her off to a dangerous monster who had killed his first wife and child. Neither one had given it a second thought. Her happiness and safety had been completely irrelevant to whatever they were hoping to gain for themselves.
And if Osbert was, in fact, dead, Amma was determined to feel no guilt at all. Her marriage to Jaeger Dragos had been her scheming brother’s idea. He was responsible for what Jaeger had done to her. It was still uncomfortable to walk or sit. She burned, ached, felt dirty and humiliated.
Osbert deserved to die for that. And more.
The Nothing was where he belonged now.
Amma turned to Axl, waiting for an answer. He’d barely spoken since they left Oss. She knew that he was worried about Edela and was struggling with the notion that he might be a king.
King of Brekka.
Axl wasn’t listening, though. All of his attention was on the fire. The wet logs had made for spluttering flames, constantly on the verge of going out altogether. ‘It’s a six-day ride,’ he mumbled at last. ‘Gant would have left quickly once it was done, I hope.’ He looked up as Aleksander came back into the cave with a rabbit on a spear.
Supper.
‘It won’t be so bad,’ Aleksander reassured Amma with a smile. ‘We’ll be dry in here, and there’ll be plenty to eat. It won’t be long before Gant arrives.’ His insides were churning, though. He wanted to be in Tuura, as much as he didn’t. It was not a place where anyone was safe, he knew.
Not with those dreamers, those elders.
Always plotting, secret keeping.
Kormac laid Edela on the bed she had slept in over the winter. It felt like only weeks ago, but it had been months now; months since she had run away in the early hours of the morning, determined to get Aleksander safely back to Andala.
To get them both out of Tuura alive.
Branwyn sobbed as she tucked the bed furs around her mother’s tiny frame. Edela had wasted away so dramatically that she almost disappeared into the mattress. There was barely anything left to her.
‘Where is this healer?’ Gisila muttered impatiently, looking at the door again. ‘Perhaps you need to go back to the temple?’ She directed this at Jael, whose eyes were also focused on the door.
And then a knock.
Berta, aware of the tension in the house, was at the door in a heartbeat, ushering the old healer inside. Branwyn sighed in relief, wiping her eyes. Marcus had sent Derwa, Tuura’s most experienced healer. She was a tiny, hunchbacked, white-haired woman with a sharp tongue, but a comforting ability to find a cure when it appeared that none existed.
Derwa peered around at all the pensive faces, then grunted and shuffled towards the low bed where Edela lay. ‘There are too many in here!’ she rasped irritably. ‘I am here to see my patient, not all of you!’
Branwyn stood, helping to usher everyone out. She hovered in the doorway with Gisila, both of them wanting to remain. Someone needed to stay with Edela.
Derwa turned and squinted at Eydis, who was being led through the door by Jael. ‘The blind girl will stay!’ She turned back to Edela, her long, white braid hanging down past her thick waist, flapping as she moved.
Eydis froze and gripped Jael’s hand tightly as Jael took her towards Edela’s bed.
‘Shall I stay with you, Eydis?’ Jael asked.
Derwa was just about to growl, but she peered at Jael and harrumphed instead. ‘Yes, you will stay too, Queen of Oss. Two dreamers will be better than one, I’m sure.’
The sun was sinking low in the sky as they pulled down the sails and slotted in the oars.
It was worth being cautious as they approached Kalfa. If it was a trap, Ivaar could be lurking anywhere.
Thorgils stood on the precipice of everything he had dreamed of for so long. Isaura was within reach, almost his again. Well, she had never stopped being his, he smiled to himself. But he would finally be able to hold her again and keep her safe with him.
He blinked away tears as Villas walked up to the bow to join him. ‘What do you think?’ he croaked, tasting the salt of the sea on his tongue.
Villas wiped his dripping, red nose on the back of his hand and squinted. His eyes were old now, but he was certain he could actually see further than he used to. ‘I think we have no reason to wait.’ He winked at Thorgils. ‘Unless you want to go and comb your hair first?’
Thorgils laughed and slapped him on the back. ‘You don’t think I’ve spent all day doing that already?’ He took a deep breath and walked around the wooden house, back to the stern, waving at Bram to follow them in. ‘Let’s go to Kalfa!’ he cried, before heading back to Villas. ‘Let Bram go first. We’ll beach before we get anywhere near the bay. We need to stay out of sight till nightfall.’
Villas hurried back to the tiller, shooing away his second in command. ‘Let’s just hope that old goat remembers how to use his sword!’ he smiled. It had been some time since he’d fought alongside Bram Svanter, but he’d always been a fine warrior. And he knew that they were going to need every bit of wit and skill they could muster to get off Kalfa in one piece.
Derwa had her eyes closed as she hunched forward, moving her hands in circular motions above Edela’s body, her tiny, gnarled fingers never touching her patient as they skimmed expertly over her. Edela was stripped of her furs now but did not shiver as she lay there exposed in her simple, grey night dress.
She did not move at all.
Derwa inhaled throatily, then belched. Sitting down with a thump on the side of the bed, she peered up at Eydis who sat quietly on a bench beside Jael. ‘So, Eydis Skalleson, what colours do you see when you look at Edela?’
Jael was puzzled by the question; surprised that the healer knew who Eydis was.
Eydis was not. She didn’t hesitate. ‘Black. Mostly black. Some blue. But all very faint. Like smoke. Misty and dirty.’
Derwa nodded, grunting. ‘I brought your mother into the world, you know. Rada Lund, she was then. A quiet, little, blue-faced baby, I remember. Cord around her neck. She couldn’t breathe. But I saved her. And now, here you are. A dreamer like her. A good dreamer too, if you can already see colours.’
Eydis’ small mouth fell open.
‘And what about you?’ Derwa grumbled at Jael. ‘Close your eyes. Tell me what colours you see.’
Jael swallowed. ‘I don’t see colours. I’m not really a... dreamer.’
Derwa peered at her impatiently, her head cocked to one side. ‘Your grandmother is my friend,’ she said quietly, looking back to Edela. ‘She was not much of a healer once, but I taught her many things. She was a better dreamer than me, and I was a better healer than her. But we both learned. Helped each other. Talked a lot. About you.’
Jael froze.
‘Everyone talks a lot about you, of course. But not many talk about you being a dreamer. But Edela did, to me.’ Her sharp eyes softened in sadness. ‘So, Queen of Oss, close your eyes and breathe in your grandmother. Tell me what colours you see.’
Jael clenched her jaw, ready to protest, but she closed her eyes instead and took a deep breath. She could hear Derwa talking to her as she tried to concentrate; as she tried to find Edela in the darkness, lying on the raft in the cave.
The cold, dark cave.
Jael tried to see anything unusual. Any colours at all. She crept closer in her mind, remembering rushing to Edela’s side, helping her off the raft, laying her down. Her body was dark. Black shadows. She saw nothing but black.
Then...
‘I see yellow!’ Jael exclaimed, surprising herself. She opened her eyes. ‘There’s yellow. Almost gold.’
‘Where?’ Derwa asked quickly. ‘Come, show me.’
Jael walked over to the bed and bent down towards Edela, pointing to her head.
‘Good,’ Derwa smiled. ‘Now, we can begin.’
Jael took her seat next to Eydis. ‘Can you save her?’
Derwa was barely listening as she stood, breathing heavily. ‘Save Edela? Oh no, it’s only Edela who can save herself. But now we
know that she’s still there, so I can open the door. It’s up to her if she wants to walk through it.’
Amma had fallen asleep, and Axl and Aleksander were sitting around their still spluttering fire, trying not to wake her. It was early, and although dark, neither of them were ready for their uncomfortable beds of dirt yet.
‘What if Osbert didn’t even get to Saala?’ Axl whispered. ‘What if Haaron just killed him and now he’s marching his Hestians upon Rexon and Gant?’
Aleksander had considered that. ‘He very well may have, but it would have been a bold move, and I don’t think Haaron was in the position to do anything bold after what we did to him. We’ll find out soon though, won’t we?’ he yawned. ‘And until then, there’s no point worrying. Whatever we have to do, you’ll be King of Brekka. We’ll see to it.’
Axl poked at the flames with his stick. ‘And when I am, I have to kill Jaeger Dragos. I have to set Amma free, so we can be married.’ He glanced at Amma who seemed restless as she lay underneath her cloak nearby. ‘So she can be free from what he did to her.’
Aleksander thought of Jael and what had happened to her in Tuura. ‘She’ll never be free from what he did to her. But she will be happier, being with you. So you need to stay alive for her. Keep Brekka safe for her. And I don’t think you have to worry about getting to Jaeger Dragos. I’ve a feeling he’s busy thinking about how he can come and kill you!’
Morana’s ragged cloak slithered behind her, sweeping across the red dust as she crept through the torch-lit catacombs that wound their way under the castle.
She walked past wall after wall of skulls; hollowed-out empty masks of the very men, women, and children who had lost their lives digging the ancient tunnels for their demanding Dragos kings.
