His steps stuttered. “I can’t decide if you’re telling the truth or lying through your teeth.”
A bit of both, I imagined. Either way, he would be wise to heed my warning. “It’s your turn.”
“I want answers.” He paused over an ornate threshold. “I think you can give them to me.”
Curious, I tried lifting my head, but my neck muscles were weak as water. “And if I don’t?”
“Your protection expires.” His tone gave me chills. “You’ll want to avoid that.”
Avoidance sounded as good as my other alternatives. I should practice it more often.
“Here we are.” Slowly, he knelt until my feet hit the floor. When I stood, I toppled backward onto a bed. He remained as he was, seeming to have aged by years during our short journey here.
The red blossoming on his side drew my eye. “Not that I care, but will you see a healer?”
Sinking to the floor, he examined his wound as if for the first time. “They were right to warn me.” His eyes crushed shut when he shifted, then blinked open. His notice made me glance aside.
“So you’ll see the healer?” I nudged him, or was guilt nudging me?
What difference did it make to a corpse how long my blades went between cleanings? None. But Murdoch was alive, at risk, and it flustered me to notice his ruddy cheeks and heavy lids, the way sweat rolled down his temples or his fingers trembling against the floor. I had done this. Me.
Whoever Kaidi of the Segestriidae used to be, she would never have done this.
I was… I didn’t know who I was anymore.
He studied me. “You would usher me into death’s embrace so readily?”
“It’s a scratch.” I flung Pearce’s words at him. “Get it mended.”
“I see your grasp of Mimetidae politics is looser than your morals.”
Bristling, I bit out, “Then why not explain them to me?”
“If I visited the healer, after walking through the main gate like a fool—” he shook his head, “—with a wisp of a female over my shoulder, then what message have I sent the others? I’ve told the guards that their captain was bested by a female so slight a stiff breeze would blow her over.”
I smiled prettily at him. “I did best you.”
“You stabbed me in the back.”
“It was your side.” My face tingled. “I just happened to be standing behind you at the time.”
His head fell back on a sigh. “Right.”
As my anger ebbed, my curiosity piqued. “Where are we?”
“My bedroom,” he answered to the ceiling.
I was proud of how my tone remained calm when I was anything but. “You told Pearce—”
“All he needs to know.” Murdoch rose with care. “My paladin and maven entrusted me with a task, and I think you can aid me in its completion.” Movements stiff, he crossed to me. “I want the truth. If you can explain why a Segestriidae female as fine as you—seemingly sane as you—was found in that field with a spade and the blood of my clansmen on her hands, then you might find your stay in Cathis is much more comfortable and of much shorter duration than expected.”
Tempted as I was to share my burden, I had before, and I was done being the village crier. “I was hungry.” He must have felt my stomach grumbling against his shoulder.
His pointer finger tapped my earring. “Yet you chose to starve rather than part with this? Or that necklace of yours?”
Food would have brought cold comfort as I lay in a grave of my own making. “Yes.”
“Then you had alternatives,” he concluded. “No matter how unsavory you found them.”
“You’re right,” I snapped. “I could have turned to eating flesh as your clan has.”
Grinding his teeth made his purpled jaw bulge. “You have no idea what made us as we are.”
Hadn’t I thought the same about him earlier? Drawing on what remained of my calm, I gave him a believable truth. “That earring is all I have left of my family. It was a gift from my uncle.”
“I heard the plague was worse near Titania.” He was fishing for confirmation, I realized.
“It is worse the farther south you travel.” The southeast, Titania’s stronghold, was worst.
“Your family…” He struggled to find the right words.
I forced them out of my mouth. “They’re dead.”
Old grief pricked at my heart, but my family had cast me out long before their deaths. When I turned from Hishima’s offer of marriage, they turned from me. They had no choice. Siding with me was tantamount to condoning what Hishima called erratic behavior and would have earned them his ire. Hard to believe I ever respected him, that I had loved him, until the plague shattered his façade. Behind a beautiful mask lurked a yawning void that strangled all hope from my heart.
Shivering free of the past, I found myself eye level with Murdoch’s chin.
“You must have some status.” His demeanor softened. “Were you offered no assistance?”
I glared at his stubble. “I need no one’s help.”
For better or worse, I was on my own. At least I could depend on myself.
Murdoch straightened with a wince. “Where would you go if I set you free?”
Leaning forward, I wet my lips. “I have a cousin in Erania. I could go there.”
“You realize if you steal from the Araneidae, they will chop off your hands?”
“I have a trade. I can earn a living.” But I was sorely out of practice with crystal and gold. These days a spade’s handle fit my hand better. I had even learned to hone my own blades.
Instead of blowing more threats in my ears, he exhaled. “Will you answer my questions?”
Too bad he neglected to qualify truthfully. “Will you set me free?”
“You’re hardly caged.” He gestured around us. “I’ll contact your cousin and arrange—”
“No.”
His hand came to rest on his sword’s hilt. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.”
Hishima had ears everywhere. His reach was far and his grip was iron cold and unbreakable.
“There is no cousin, is there?” Murdoch cursed. “Has anything you’ve said been true?”
The heat of his anger singed my cheeks. Drawing myself upright, I faced him. “You asked if I was eager to send you to your death.” Our eyes locked. “Are you so eager to send me to mine?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he measured my words, clearly undecided if I was still lying.
Shoving from the mattress, he gave me one last look. “I have to go.”
Tears threatened when he turned his back on me. “Could you untie me first?”
His hesitation gave me hope. But with a single word, he shattered it.
“No.”
Shadows glided across the floor. I watched their steady advance as I lay curled on my side to remove pressure from my aching wrists and ankles. Breathing made my back ache, but Murdoch had trussed me too well. All I could do was lie here, alone in the coming dark, and plot to escape.
Murdoch would return. I only had to wait.
And while I waited, I ground my teeth until I feared my gums might bump before he arrived.
Low voices made me strain my ears to understand their conversation. I picked out the words female and hang. Not two words I enjoyed having associated within my hearing. Not in that tone.
The knob rattled, and their conversation hushed. I readied the insults I had honed in my head, but the male who entered the room was not Murdoch. He was taller, leaner and his eyes were so black they reminded me of staring into a starless night sky, a void empty of life, vast and vacant.
“Murdoch tells me he found you in the field.” He stalked closer, frowned. “With our dead.”
I nodded when no words formed.
His brow creased. “You’re not mute?”
“Far from it.” Murdoch entered the room and pushed the door closed.
The first male grasped my chin and studied me. “What is your purp
ose in Cathis?”
Gathering my nerve, I met his stare. “The same as my purpose—”
“Keep your tongue in check,” Murdoch warned. “He’s not as gentle as I am.”
He thought himself gentle? My bruised face and throbbing limbs disagreed. Still, there was a sense of coiled anticipation radiating from his friend that made me wish I could avoid his notice.
“I can be gentle,” the male said, and I didn’t believe him for a moment. “For instance, those bonds must be chafing.” His violent tug on the rope jerked my entire body forward. “Mimetidae silk,” he murmured upon inspection, reverence in his voice. “One of Lleu’s creations, I assume.”
He eased a finger between the ropes circling my wrists and twisted until agony zinged down my arms. For hours, I’d lamented the loss of sensation in my hands, but I felt each painful twinge now.
“It is.” Murdoch’s confirmation sounded gruff.
Dare I hope he disapproved of my rough handling? Or was he simply in shared anguish?
“I can make the pain stop,” his friend coaxed, “if you tell me why you’re in my city.”
His city? “You’re the paladin?”
“I am.” He leaned close enough I smelled pungent lavender on his clothes. “My clan has lost a great many of our females to the plague.” Another twist of his finger made me gasp. “Recall, if you will, how welcoming the guards were at the gate.” A cruel note entered his low tone. “Now, imagine for me how much warmer their reception might be if I told them you were a gift to lighten the grief in their hearts.” When I flinched, his teeth flashed. “Ah. I see you possess a reasonable imagination. Good. I’d prefer not to use crude language in the presence of females.”
“Though torturing a member of the fairer sex doesn’t seem to bother you,” I gritted out.
“This isn’t torture.” His laughter raised hairs along my nape. “This is conversation.”
“My mistake,” I panted.
“Vaughn.” Murdoch’s tone held a warning edge.
Vaughn’s head snapped toward Murdoch, a snarl twisting his lips.
“Is that happiness to see me?” The soft greeting carried across the room.
A female wearing an emerald gown stood in the doorway with a fistful of dried lavender that she arranged in a vase on Murdoch’s bureau. Her black hair spilled down her back, past her hips. She was the picture of tranquility, looking upon my torment as if faced with children quarreling.
How had she snuck in while Murdoch guarded the door? Unless… Had he let her in?
The anger contorting Vaughn’s expression softened into anticipation. His snarl eased into a smile so tight one fang bit into his bottom lip. He stood, straightening his shirt before turning toward her.
“Had I seen you there,” he said, strolling to the willowy female’s side, “it would have been.”
From where I lay, I caught the pair in profile. Hers looked as familiar as she sounded.
“Maven.” Murdoch frowned at the vase. “This is not a matter for your tender sensibilities.”
The maven, who was definitely not Isolde, sidestepped Vaughn before he reached her. “The plague stripped me of tender sensibilities, Murdoch. Now. Tell me about this prisoner of yours.”
Vaughn trailed after her, sliding his finger into the sash around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. When he bent close to her ear, his voice was grim. “She was caught beheading our dead.”
“So I heard.” She leaned her cheek against his. “Do you mind if I take a look at her?”
Her touch appeared to unravel his anger. He swept his arm toward me. “Go have your look.”
Wary of her interest in me, I braced for the worst. When her gentle fingers touched my cheek and her deep green eyes cut across my body, inspecting my every ailment, recognition caused my lungs to seize. “Gods’ web, you’re the Mimetidae maven?”
Kokyangwmana—Mana—was a walker, a spiritual leader for the Salticidae people. Her clansmen were peaceful farmers. Mimetidae were mercenary cannibals.
Did nothing in the second world make sense? Had madness overtaken every clan? What but desperation explained their bizarre pairing? Why else would such a gentle soul wed a cruel one?
“Kaidi.” Confusion and awe warred in her tone. “It really is you.”
“Kaidi,” Murdoch echoed, as if memorizing the word.
“You know her?” Curiosity led Vaughn closer. “She told Murdoch her name was Imani.”
Eager to avoid increasing his interest, I blurted to Mana, “Why did you come?”
The males’ reactions told me that neither knew how to proceed while Mana was present.
She tugged my earlobe. “Murdoch mentioned your earring when he petitioned Vaughn.”
“It could have been a customer of mine.” Once I had prided myself on their number.
“True.” Her features softened. “But once Murdoch mentioned you, I became curious. I asked myself what the odds were of a Segestriidae female wearing one of your earrings arriving in Cathis. I considered the name you gave—Imani—which is the same name as my dear friend Kaidi’s varanus, a hatching I gave her. Knowing all that, how could you be anyone other than Kaidi?”
The scope of my carelessness was a slap to the face. How I meant to continue outrunning Hishima if I dropped him such fat breadcrumbs to follow was beyond me. Exhaustion was taking its toll on me. I had not slept, and I could not afford to rest. “I never expected to find you here.”
The look she turned on Vaughn made me squirm. “It’s a recent development.”
I had to know. “Are you happy?”
“I am.”
“And your family?” I nudged. “They approve?”
“They do.” Her smile was tight. “Some more than others.” She pegged me with a hard stare. “On the topic of family, your uncle wrote me weeks ago and said you succumbed to the plague.”
Hearing her news loosened the knot in my chest. “It’s better for him if he believes that.”
“I thought you had no family?” Murdoch growled.
“I don’t.” My voice cracked. “You heard her. I’m dead to him.”
I had an uncle, one single male relative left. The others had tied their life threads to those of their wives. When the plague overcame Titania and the infected females died, the males did too.
My family was fortunate to be wealthy enough we could marry for love.
And those bonds had shattered us all.
Mana grasped my shoulder. “Kaidi—”
I rolled from beneath her touch, turning my back on her.
A soothing hand settled on my hip. “What about Hishima?”
Panic made me tremble. “My paladin has no cause for concern.”
“When I visited Ghubari last, he crowed about your betrothal. He was thrilled you had found love with such a gifted artisan, not to mention the honor of tying your family to the ruling lines.”
Her words conjured my uncle, short and round, balding, with a smile that lit up a room and a laugh that made even the hardened cynics smile. Of course Ghubari had been proud of my catch.
“Things with Hishima…” Ended the night he introduced me to his mother.
Or what the plague had left of her.
“She is betrothed to the Segestriidae paladin?” Murdoch’s irritation stung my spine.
Why Murdoch cared was no problem of mine. Probably concerned I would run to Hishima with a tear in my eye, sobbing for him my story of woe from when I was captured by Mimetidae.
Little did Murdoch suspect that Hishima would throttle me if I dared to leap into his arms.
“You failed to mention her status to me, little mouse.” Vaughn sounded closer.
Skin crawling, I twisted enough I could pinpoint him over my shoulder.
Mana dismissed him with a wave. “I wanted to see her for myself before alarming you.”
One of his dark brows rose. “Do I look alarmed?”
Murdoch cut in, “Why was the future Segestriidae maven travel
ing alone?”
I pinched my lips closed before I spilled the sordid tale at Mana’s feet, but Vaughn eyed me like I had become of sudden interest to him while Murdoch’s tight expression just made me tired.
“How long has it been since you slept?” Mana rubbed the smudges under my eyes.
Actual sleep…in a bed…my head on a pillow…covers to nestle into… “I don’t know.”
Murdoch chose that moment to contribute, “She was napping when I caught her.”
“You fell asleep after…?” Mana must have been imagining me, dozing among their dead, to achieve the flicker of shock leaching bronze from her skin. “We’ll talk later, after you’ve eaten and bathed.”
“Later? No.” Vaughn caged her wrist and pulled her hand from my cheek. “We’ll talk now.”
“Look at her,” Mana demanded. “She’s half-starved, filthy and shivering.”
“She’s also a threat to this clan.” His fingers meshed with hers. “I can’t overlook that.”
Her brow puckered. “Kaidi has—”
“Given us a perfect opportunity.” His thumb smoothed over her lips. “Hishima is the golden son of the crystal city. His people are weak. They couldn’t hold Titania for a day on their own.”
My heart clenched. “What are you saying?”
“Titania stands unguarded against her easternmost rivals. Hishima dismissed the Theridiidae guards after their clan’s betrayal of the Araneidae came to light.” Vaughn’s lips quirked up at the corners. “Hishima knows the Araneidae can afford the best of everything. After the Theridiidae’s defection, the Araneidae enlisted the Mimetidae as their guardians. Their endorsement sealed our status in his eyes. He wants what they have. He wants us. What he doesn’t want is to pay for our services. But you are the perfect bait to lure Hishima into Cathis, where we can settle this matter without the fanfare of messengers and his flowery letters of intent he has yet to follow through on.”
“You said he dismissed the Theridiidae.” I swallowed hard. “Is the city…? Are they…?”
Araneae Nation: The Complete Collection Page 62
