“Thank you, Sigil. Tell him that I’ll join him shortly.”
He waited until Sigil bowed and retreated out of hearing. “Lady Alina, I regret that I must go.”
She nodded, still refusing to look up at him. “Of course, I understand. Please forgive my forward behavior.”
He wasn’t about to walk away, not when she thought he was using the summons as an excuse to avoid answering her.
“You misunderstand me, my lady. Gideon wouldn’t send for me for no reason, else nothing would drag me away from your side. And when we again face judgment before the goddess, leaving you will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. If knowing all of that, you still want me, then I am yours.”
She rose to her feet, gazing up at him with such wonder in her eyes. “Truly? You will come to me tonight?”
“Truly.”
He brushed a soft kiss across the back of her hand. “Until then.”
Her smile outshone the sun. “Until then.”
Chapter 22
It had been three days since Ifre’s men had left. Through his connection to their talismans, he knew they’d yet to encounter their target. Soon, though. They would reach the abbey within the day.
“Then, dear sister, either you will be on your way back to me or you’ll be dead.”
He allowed himself a small chuckle. “Actually, you’ll be dead either way, but it would be such a waste of your gift for you to die on the sword of one of my men. I have such wonderful plans for you here.”
Looking around his underground chambers, he realized he was bored. Perhaps it was time to unleash another practice volley of his weapon. The last time had taken far less effort on his part. A simple command, a cup of blood, and then the right words had been enough to send forth several bursts of its power.
“So where shall I send you?” he asked as he gathered the necessary supplies. Then the perfect solution came to him. Perhaps a small greeting to his sister was in order. Before setting the attack in motion, he clasped the talisman that tied him to the captain of his guard. With enough concentration, he could see through the man’s eyes and perhaps gauge how close the troop was to the abbey.
How odd. The captain sat staring up at the crest of a tall hill. Why? Ifre didn’t pay the man to enjoy the scenery. After blinking several times, the focus improved. Ah, so that was what had captured the captain’s attention: the abbey sitting up there on the bluff. Could the timing be any more perfect?
Surely the blessings of the gods were with him. Ifre sent a mental command to the captain to hold the men there on the valley floor. A few blasts from the weapon would surely convince Lavinia to listen to reason. If not, well, then the consequences would be on her head, not his.
He began chanting while slowly pouring the cup of blood into the bowl. Finally, he added the special herbs and spices that unleashed the power and sent the balls of fire soaring across Agathia to batter the walls of the abbey. He watched through the captain’s eyes as the explosions echoed down the valley and the stone walls above shook with the impact.
* * *
Duncan packed the last of his personal belongings and looked around. The room was stripped bare, with nothing left to show that he’d ever been there. That was the way it should be. He hated it.
The sound of women’s voices carried across the garden, reminding him that he wasn’t alone. Right now Lady Lavinia was attempting to convince Sarra she wasn’t trying to get rid of her, that the decision to send her with Duncan was for her own safety.
Sister Joetta was in there, too. It was difficult to tell whose side she was on in the discussion. Clearly she cared deeply for the little girl and hated to see her leave. She also wanted her to be safe.
Duncan was not looking forward to riding for days with a brokenhearted little girl. Not when she’d lost her second home in only a few months. This would all be so much easier if Lavinia would listen to sense and come with them.
As one of the Damned, he understood duty, and Lavinia believed hers was to stay with the sisters. She’d promised to defend the abbey, its residents, and the library. It was a burden she wouldn’t set aside lightly. Perhaps she had the right of it.
His instincts, though, said that her motivations were based more on fear than on a driving need to prevent the books in the library falling into the wrong hands. She possessed the very gift that could counter her brother’s evil. If she were to join forces with the Damned, she could do far more to defend not only the abbey but all the people of Agathia.
The women argued still. As Duncan walked in, Lavinia threw her hands up in the air, and Joetta’s face was set in a mask of unhappiness. Sarra stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her chin thrust out in a stubborn determination not to give an inch. She shot Duncan a look meant to burn him where he stood. Clearly Lavinia had gained no ground in convincing Sarra to leave with him.
Lavinia turned her frustration in his direction. “You tell them. The only way Sarra will be safe is to go with you. They will not listen to me.”
Did she think he had all the answers? Before he could say anything, it occurred to him that two of the people in that room were able to communicate with the gods. While Sarra had no control over her gift, Lavinia most certainly did. As much as he hated magic, there was no avoiding its taint when it was the enemy’s most potent weapon.
“Lady Lavinia, why not scry? Perhaps that would provide us all with some answers.”
Her first response was to immediately stare out at the bare wall in the garden, a constant reminder of what happened the last time she’d called on the gods for guidance. He understood her hesitation, but if scrying could provide any help, the risk was worth it.
“I’ll stand with you.”
Finally, she nodded. “Sarra, please draw me a fresh pitcher of water. Hurry.”
The little girl looked from Duncan to Lavinia and back again. Sister Joetta gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Please do as you are asked.”
“Fine. I will.”
She snatched up the pitcher and charged out of the room, leaving the three adults staring at the door in silence. Finally Joetta spoke again. “I hate this for her, for all of us. I will take her with me after she brings the water. The two of us will seek out a quiet spot and practice her music. She’ll like that. I will also pray the gods will guide us all.”
Lavinia’s smile was definitely forced. “Thank you, Sister. Knowing Sarra is with you will make it easier for me to concentrate. The last time I attempted to scry, it did not go well.”
Duncan suppressed a shiver at the memory. He dreaded looking down into the depths of that bowl, but he would do it for Lavinia.
Sarra must have run all the way to the well because she was already back, leaving a steady drip of water in her wake. She practically shoved the pitcher at him.
“Thank you, Sarra.”
Joetta moved up beside her. “Come, Sarra. We will leave them now. Perhaps you would like to work on that new piece that we’ve started.”
Sarra ignored Joetta to send Lavinia a hard look. “If I leave, how will I know that you are telling me the truth about what you see?”
Joetta gasped in shock. “Sarra, apologize right now! The abbess would not lie to you.”
“She already has. She told me I would have a home here as long as I wanted one.” She turned her back, her small shoulders hunched and shaking.
“See how long that promise lasted. She can’t wait to send me away.” Sarra choked the words out between sobs.
Her pain stabbed Duncan’s heart. He caught her up in his arms and held her close. She struggled briefly before finally wrapping her arms around his neck as she soaked his shoulder with her tears. He tried to soothe her, patting her back with the palm of his hand.
When the tears finally slowed, he spoke to her again. “Sarra, we understand that you want to stay here with Lady Lavinia. So do I, but sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do because the gods ask it of us. You would be in danger if you remained here.
No one expects you to like this, but we are asking that you trust us to do what’s best.”
She leaned out far enough to look him in the face. “You don’t want to leave Lady Lavinia, either?”
He wished he had thought to tell Lavinia that earlier when they were alone. She deserved to hear it privately, but he couldn’t lie to Sarra. Not about this. “No. I would stay here forever if I could.”
Sarra weighed his words for several seconds before finally nodding. “I’ll go with Sister Joetta. I’m not promising to go with you, not until Lady Lavinia sees what the gods have to tell her.”
Duncan mustered up a smile for her. “I agree to your terms.”
He kissed her forehead before setting her back down. Sister Joetta took her hand, giving him an approving smile. “Shall we see about that music, little one?”
* * *
Lavinia waited until the door was closed to face Duncan. He was a man of many gifts: warrior, scholar, and now comforter of young girls. She ignored the packs he’d carried in with him, not needing the reminder that their hours together were all but gone. She had a few aches left from the intensity of their earlier encounter in the library, but they would soon fade. She wished they wouldn’t; she wanted to hold on to every reminder of Duncan that she had.
Had he really meant that he wanted to stay here forever? With her or with the library? She couldn’t find the words to ask. But when he held his arms out to her, she didn’t hesitate, hoping he took as much comfort in their embrace as she did.
“Thank you for helping with Sarra.”
She felt a chuckle rumble through his chest. “The little minx drives a hard bargain. Despite her small stature, she’s both stubborn and strong.”
“That she is.”
It was time for Lavinia to be strong as well. The gods would not have given her the gift of scrying if they didn’t believe she could bear its burden.
“Shall we go outside?”
Duncan tightened his arms around her briefly before stepping back. She picked up the pitcher of water and led the way out into the garden. Duncan uncovered the bowl and made sure it was sitting level in its holder. When he was done, she stepped forward and slowly filled it with water.
Duncan assumed the position on the opposite side of the bowl as she sought the place of deep calm within her. Immediately the water smoothed to a mirror-bright surface, reflecting only the blue of the sky above. As they waited, she remained painfully aware of Duncan’s presence.
If only the gods would find it in their hearts to let him stay in her life. She’d learned early, though, that to wish for impossible things only led to pain and disappointment.
The water rippled as the first images came into focus. She and Duncan both leaned forward enough to watch. The first picture was of two men riding across the grasslands together. Duncan immediately frowned.
“What?”
“Those are two of my friends, Kane and Averel. They’ve already left Lady Merewen’s keep. I was hoping to return before they had to go.”
The image faded, flashing this time to two men standing together at the top of a wooden palisade. “Those are Gideon and Murdoch.”
This time Duncan sounded happier. Seeing his friends and fellow warriors after being separated from them had to please him. As their faces faded away, the water darkened. Her first instinct was to stop, to back away, but she remained right where she was. If the gods had more to reveal, her duty was to watch and learn.
This time there were three horses, all moving at a full gallop. The view was too distant to identify the riders.
As she strained to make out the details, the water rippled again this time. At first, the view was a familiar one. She seemed to be standing at the top of the switchback trail that led up to the abbey from the valley floor. Then, in a stomach-churning dive, she plummeted to the floor of the valley, this time to stare up at the walls of the abbey.
The attack would be difficult, leaving his men exposed the whole way up the hillside. The trail was narrow, barely as wide as a wagon, which would limit how quickly he could get his men to the top. Would an abbey have armed guards? Unlikely, but it couldn’t be counted out.
Goddess help her, she wasn’t seeing through her own eyes. Trapped in the vision, she lost herself in the mind of a man, a soldier—no, a captain, in the royal guard. The burden of Keirthan’s sigil around his neck was oddly heavy, its power a steady burn where it rested against his chest. Through the captain’s gaze, Lavinia studied the men who surrounded him, all oddly still as they stared up the hillside.
What were they waiting for? Then she knew. Through the sigil on the captain’s chest, she sensed Ifre’s distant presence. She drew back, fighting the urge to break free. If she ran now, she wouldn’t know what he was up to, what form his next attack would take.
Then it played out in the captain’s mind. Ifre was going to unleash his blood magic, aiming it in a first strike directed at the walls of the abbey. She yanked her mind free from the grasp of the vision and backed away from the bowl.
Duncan stared at her, looking puzzled. Had he seen nothing of that?
“Lavinia! What did you see?”
She couldn’t find the words, but then she didn’t need to. Not when the entire building shook with the first blow from Ifre’s attack.
Chapter 23
Would they never leave? Gideon had better things to do with his time than play host to this gaggle of nobles, but he reined in his growing irritation. He needed their help and wouldn’t risk offending them.
“Captain Gideon, may I have one last moment of your time?”
Sir Gilford could have more than that if he needed it. The knight’s opinions clearly carried a lot of weight with the others, and he’d been the first to promise his aid. “Certainly.”
They walked a short distance from the others. “I will send my men as soon as I return home. As much as I’d like to say your assessment of Duke Keirthan and his plans for Agathia is wrong, I cannot. I will also talk to several of the smaller landholders in my area to see what they can do to assist. Most likely they can only send a man or two, but I suspect you will need all the help you can get.”
He shot a dark look in Sir Gable’s direction. “Despite my neighbor’s promises, I wouldn’t count on his men arriving at your gate any time soon.”
“I thought the same,” Gideon admitted. “I’m more worried about him warning the duke.”
To his surprise, Gilford laughed. “Not likely. He’s too much of a coward. He’ll hide inside the stone walls of his keep until the battle has been decided and then sidle up to the winner.”
Then he held out his hand. “It has been interesting meeting you, Captain. When this is all over, perhaps we can find time to share a few flagons of that wine you mentioned.”
“I would enjoy that, Sir Gilford.”
“As would I.”
He meant that, but there would be no time, not with the gods’ judgment looming on the horizon. He accompanied Gilford back to where the remaining visitors were all mounting up to ride out. Gideon signaled for the guards to open the gate. Once the last one rode out of sight, it felt as if everyone within the keep gave a huge sigh of relief. The meetings had been stressful for Gideon and Merewen, but all those extra mouths to feed and horses to care for had been a burden on all her people.
His lady joined him, her own weariness showing in the slump of her shoulders as she leaned against him. “Think they will fulfill their promises?”
“Gilford pulled me aside to say he will send his men within days. He said we shouldn’t count on Sir Gable, but I’d already figured that out for myself.”
On the whole, Gideon was pleased with the agreements they’d reached with the rest of the landholders from Agathia. Each of them had sworn to send Gideon a number of their knights, men-at-arms, and bowmen to use as he saw fit.
They’d demanded that if anyone’s home came under attack, Gideon would send assistance. He’d agreed, but only if he had the men to s
pare. That was unlikely to be the case, and the landholders would know it, too, once they thought it through.
The enemy had a small army at his command and could attack on several fronts if he so desired. That meant Gideon had to avoid scattering his limited resources too thinly, thus rendering them vulnerable and ineffective. They had only one real goal: defeat the duke himself. He’d laid out that cold truth for the landowners. They understood his logic; that hadn’t meant they liked it.
Sir Gable argued that Gideon’s first duty was to protect all of the landholders, not just Lady Merewen. He might as well have saved his breath, especially considering he’d earlier insulted Gideon’s honor and questioned Lady Merewen’s right to regain control of her clan’s land. Did he really think any of the Damned would ride to his rescue?
The two of them took comfort in each other’s company for a short time, but then Merewen stepped away. “Jarod sent word that he would like me to look at one of the mares for him, so I should go.”
“After you’re done, get some rest. This past day has been hard on all of us.”
She smiled at him, her love warming his heart. “That it has.”
After she walked away, he climbed to the rampart where Murdoch had been pacing back and forth while the nobles rode out. As Gideon joined him, he said, “That’s a much happier look on your face than you had earlier, not that I blame you. I’m glad to see the last of them for a while.”
As the two of them fell into step, Gideon couldn’t help but agree. “True, but we shouldn’t complain too much. We have garnered more help, even more than I’d dared hoped for.”
“If they follow through on their promises.” Murdoch looked out toward the riders. “Sir Gable isn’t smart enough to see that either we band together or we die separately.”
Gideon didn’t argue the point. The past had taught them to be grateful if someone else joined them in the fight but to only depend on each other. They could only hope that this time would actually be different.
They walked the perimeter of the bailey. Since they had been cooped up inside most of the day, the fresh air felt good. The sun was already fading to the west. Soon Ellie would start serving the evening meal. After that, Gideon had plans that involved only him and Merewen.
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