Keenan started to walk into the fortress, but three steps in he stopped and turned to face her, his expression full of indecision.
“You call these memoires a wound; wounds fester if left untreated and perhaps you should consider that sharing the story will help you to purge it.” He said at last, before turning and walking away.
Silver groaned as she realised that, despite her wishing otherwise, Asha was intelligent enough to see right through the lie that Silver wanted to tell her. She was going to have to tell her the truth or avoid the question, which would leave Asha to ask her mother who would in turn ask Endis who would use this as leverage against her. For all his faults, Endis wasn’t stupid, using Kriss’ name would likely goad her back into the vulnerable space she’d been in an hour ago and she would be captured and subjected to whatever her brother-king thought appropriate in an attempt to convert her back to the way she had been. He would invent some story for her disappearance, one that would satisfy even Romana, and she would be imprisoned until she managed to escape.
Chapter Six
CURSE
She watched the dawn rise until she felt a little hand tug at her own. Looking down, it was no surprise to find Asha there.
“What are you doing outside of the caves?” Silver growled.
“Keenan brought me outside because he said you’d show me the forest if I asked nicely enough.” Asha explained. “Please show me the forest, Aunt Silver.” The girl pasted an angelic smile onto her face.
“You’re not dressed appropriately.” Silver replied, looking at the pink dress the child was wearing. “Wear dresses if you like, but that one is completely impractical.”
Asha’s forehead wrinkled as she concentrated, the clothes changed to mirror Silver’s own armour. The child appeared older than she was, but the clothes looked ridiculous on her.
“Use this image.” Silver sent a mental image to the child who concentrated hard once more until her clothes changed to dark green leather armour that fit her proportions better.
“Did Joanna give you extra threads to attach if you grew?” Silver asked.
“Yes,” Asha replied. “And father gave me a dagger in case I needed it.” She pulled the slim weapon out of the waistband of her clothes where she’d been (rather unsuccessfully) hiding it.
Silver smirked. “You’ve broken rule number two within a day of being here. Do you even know how to use that?”
“You stab people?” Asha meant it as a statement but it seemed to be more of a question.
Silver chortled. “Try and stab me then.” She didn’t even bother pulling her own weapon.
Asha didn’t ask for confirmation, she simply lunged. Silver didn’t even have to dodge as the girl overextended herself and missed completely.
“From now on,” Silver decided. “You have one attempt a week to stab me; you can use stealth, deception and whatever means you deem necessary. When you succeed, I will teach you swordplay.” Asha nodded. “And Asha, you broke one of my rules,” Silver began.
Asha’s eyes went wild. “Please don’t put me in the dungeon, Aunt Silver!”
Silver schooled her expression, “You’re going somewhere worse.” She said in her best attempt at a strict voice. “I’m putting you under Lena’s command as a pot scrubber for the next week, you’re confined to your room when you’re not helping her, is that understood?”
Asha nodded, her expression relieved when it really shouldn’t be. Lena would make the girl scrub till her arms ached and the girl would quickly grow bored in her room, Silver’s punishment was far more lasting than the momentary fear of being put into the dungeons. That threat would lose all meaning once the girl actually went into the dungeon and spent an hour there.
Silver led the way into the forest, leading Asha through the trees in silence.
“Aunt Silver?”
“Yes?”
“I have a question, three questions really.”
“Then ask them.” Silver couldn’t understand why the child needed to waste time informing her she had a question when she could just ask it straight away.
“Do I get punished every week if I try to stab you and fail because I broke the rule about weapons?”
“No. That rule will only apply to weapons other than that dagger.” Silver informed her. “Next.”
“How did you know I was pretending to be younger for my mother?”
“It was obvious,” Silver replied. “As soon as I thought about that first day that I met you I could see that you were more intelligent than you appeared. Playing with my wings to distract me, listening quietly while pretending to be distracted yourself, those were not the actions of a one year old child. You will be a dangerous woman one day.” She sounded almost proud. “What was your last question?”
Asha was quiet for a while, “I wondered when you were going to explain last night’s dream to me.” She replied.
Silver was quiet, her eyes not really focusing on where she was going until she heard Asha’s scream.
She snapped out of the trance she had entered to see they had arrived back at the gates of Dalmorin and before them were the bodies of two centaurs.
She threw open a portal to Roan and dragged a still hysterical Asha through it with her.
“Look after her, we may be under attack.” She informed him as he sat, shocked at the desk in his room. At her words, he grabbed a weapon and nodded.
“I’ll let nothing touch her.” He promised.
She created a portal back to outside the gates, her swords drawn and edged with Demon fire.
No one was there, the dwarven sentries were standing guard, their eyes alert as she knelt quickly to examine the bodies.
The heads were mounted on pikes that had been driven into the ground with some force right in front of the gate, obviously, whoever had put them there hadn’t known she was already out and had intended for her to see them as she left. But even without seeing their faces she could tell from their distinctive hair colours who the bodies Asha had seen belonged to.
“Leigh.” She whispered, “Miria.”
Their bodies were mutilated almost beyond recognition, some wounds were from the fight but the majority had obviously been done after their deaths. The palomino colours of Miria’s body were drenched in blood making the colour that of rust. Their furs were matted with the cold liquid and Silver bowed her head as she took in the way their bodies had been defaced after death.
“Romana.” She contacted her half-sister without hesitation. “How long has it been since you last saw Katelyn?”
“About three months, why?” Romana asked.
“Leigh and Miria are dead; I found them outside my door with their heads mounted on pikes. You need to find your ward. Before you ask, Asha is fine.” She could tell the distress she was putting her sister in, but she didn’t care. She needed to know if this was an attack on both of them or just her.
It was a full twenty minutes before Romana got back to her, and she passed the time by carefully removing the centaurs heads from their pikes and ordering the dwarves to prepare two pyres for their funerals.
“Oh my good Ancients.” Romana replied. “She’s here, she’s in her old room, but she’s barely alive. Nothing I’m doing to heal her is working.”
Silver reached out and caught the mental image Romana was projecting at her.
Katelyn lay suspended in the air in her sea shell themed bedroom; the usually orange walls sported dripping symbols written in her blood while every inch of her body down to the tips of her angel blonde hair was soaked with it. Her eyes were open and her mouth contorted in a silent scream of pain. Silver recognised the dark magic immediately.
“Don’t touch her!” Silver yelled down their mental link, “Those are curse symbols! Anyone who touches her will fall prey to the same fate. Issart’e tried to use the same trap on me a while ago.”
There was a tense mental silence in which Romana didn’t answer. Silver created a portal just as the words came into her
mind.
“It’s too late, Marten touched her, now they’re both like this.” Romana’s voice shook with tears. “How do I get them out of this?”
Silver was silent as she reviewed the options, the only way she could think of to do it would be if someone who shared blood with Issart’e were to do it. Unfortunately, though the Ancients called each other brothers and sisters they weren’t actually related, so neither Romana’s blood nor her own would do. Somehow she doubted that Llewellyn would deign to help them and she suspected that Issart’e’s other half-brothers and half-sisters would rather finish the curse and kill Marten and Katelyn than free them.
“Silver, help me. Please, help me get them free of this. I’ll pay you with whatever you want!”
“I’m not refusing to help.” Silver retorted. “I’m merely considering our options.” She repeated what she knew to Romana.
“So they’re stuck like this?” Romana demanded, sounding completely devastated.
Silver stepped through the portal and appeared next to her half-sister in Katelyn’s room.
“You need to move away.” Silver informed her. “Even indirect contact could land you with the same fate.” She cast her gaze over where Marten now lay, suspended next to Katelyn with cuts appearing across his body. A second, critical glance made her estimate they would survive no longer than the next week.
“There must be a way to get them out of this.” Romana insisted.
“I just told you the way.” Silver replied. “We catch Issart’e.”
“You’ve been trying to do that for over a year!” Romana cried.
“But he’s never made a move against me before.” Silver retorted. “I have a chance now.”
Romana shook her head sadly. “Can we contact him?”
“I doubt he’d respond.” Silver snorted. “I am going to search my books. Perhaps your dear mother will have an answer if you ask her.” The remark was pointless, as they both knew Kate would not interfere, even to save Marten’s life.
She stepped back through the portal and into the library at Dalmorin. She’d successfully moved all of her books here over two years ago, and now she headed for the section that contained her myriad books on black magic. Some were the grimoires of dark wytches she had killed in her previous life, and she started with these, pouring over them as day passed quickly into night.
Chapter Seven
RADICALISED
When Silver woke, it was not where she expected to wake. Searching her memories, she remembered reading in the library and falling asleep while pouring over the books, she had definitely never created a portal to one of the other worlds in their realm. The world was one of the few that wasn’t too different from her own, but the air was heavy and the tall grass surrounding her was a startling golden colour that she didn’t think was from lack of rainfall.
She stood slowly, examining her surroundings. It took little more than a moment to figure out she was not alone.
“I am unarmed.” Issart’e informed her from his position sitting atop a log.
His position on the battlefield, where she had seen him once before, had not done him justice. His skin shone with a golden luminescence that she knew would have been brighter like the rest of the residents of this world had his father not been an Ancient. His eyes were also golden, and his hair paler than Keenan’s. The effect may have been dampened had he worn a shirt, but all he wore was a pair of tribal shorts. The result was stunning in a way that most women would equate to masculine beauty, but she saw it for what it was; another weapon in his arsenal.
“You don’t count magic as a weapon?” She enquired. “Undo what you’ve done to my sister’s family.”
Issart’e sighed. “I must explain. I am not responsible for that.”
Silver snorted. “Why should I believe that? You know I’m hunting you.”
“I am not insane.” Issart’e informed her. “I have no offensive magic either.”
“The Council informed me you had become radicalised by power.” Silver replied. “If you don’t die then I will.”
“I haven’t been radicalised.” Issart’e replied. “Before Kobos found me I was living with the people of my tribe and my twin Dukran. I only joined him because my brother believed we could learn something from others like us. My tribe are a peaceful people, we are taught to respect power from birth. I have no interest in fighting you. Maria is framing me with her actions against you.”
“You say you have no offensive powers.” Silver muttered. “What is your power then?”
Issart’e stilled, and then his entire body was surrounded by a shield of golden light.
“Nothing can touch me through this shield, and while it surrounds me no one in this realm can find me if I don’t want to be found.” He informed her. “That is my only ability.”
“Men with the power of magic go insane.” Silver stated the well-known fact.
“Then why were the elven magicians still in control of their powers at the Battle of Elvardis?” He asked. “That is a lie, one told to ease men’s jealousy at not being naturally gifted with powers as women are.”
Silver nodded as she processed his logic. “Tell me then, cousin, would you have described Kobos as sane?”
“Before he set his sights on taking power from the Ancients he seemed perfectly normal.” Issart’e assured her. “I suspect most of his grandiose and violent schemes came from the dark whispers of his lover, Alda. Maria followed her sister as I followed my brother. They are both crazed by it; I am not.”
“What about your brother?” Silver demanded.
Issart’e shook his head. “He, like you, walks a fine line between sanity and the abyss.”
Silver shot him a look that told him exactly how much she trusted that assessment. “I have no choice but to exterminate those of you that the Council has deemed fanatical. It’s either your life or my sister’s unless they decree otherwise or the war begins.”
“War?”
“There will be a war among the Council soon.” Silver informed him, “Those among them who wish to be allowed to feel openly once more will band together and those who oppose them will attempt to kill those who they see as disrupting the peace. My father leads the rebel fraction and their seer has confirmed this to be true.”
“If I were to disappear after healing the family of your sister,” Issart’e began. “Would you turn your focus to Maria and allow my brother and I to remain in hiding while this war plays out?”
“I shall not agree to anything until I have made my own judgement of both your sanity and his.” Silver replied, knowing that she’d have to consult Gaillean as well to see if the Council would go for it.
“I hate to say it then, cousin, but I cannot heal your family till I know mine can be spared from your blade.”
Silver cursed, kicked a rock with enough strength to shatter it and then cursed again.
“You have quite the mouth on you for a daughter of the gods,” Issart’e replied with a smirk.
Silver glared at him. “Where is your brother now?”
“It depends on why you want to know.” Issart’e gave her a charming smile. “Till I have your word you shall not have access to him.”
“Fine, then tell me where Maria is.”
“I don’t know.” Issart’e replied. “I understand that this leaves us at somewhat of an impasse.”
Silver nodded slowly. “If you were to permit me to enter your mind, it would allow me to judge your sanity for myself.”
“And give you my brother’s location.” Issart’e replied.
“Not if I remained far enough on the outskirts of your mind to tell if you were lying, but not close enough to read anything deeper than your surface thoughts.” Silver said. “I am prepared to vow that, if you need me to.”
Issart’e inclined his head in a small nod.
“I vow not to delve any deeper than your surface thoughts in order to see that you speak the truth on this subject.” Silver said simply, a bl
ade whirring out and slicing open her hand to make the words into a blood vow.
“I will hold you to your vow.” Issart’e spoke the words that sealed them into a contract.
Silver didn’t speak, merely slipped carefully on to the outer edges of his mind.
“My brother and I are sane, and I did not kill your allies, nor did I place a curse upon your sister’s family. Maria is the one responsible for those actions.” Issart’e repeated.
He was… telling the truth.
Silver shook her head. “I have no idea how I am going to break this news to the Council.”
“Leave your father to break the news to them, or better yet, tell them while presenting them with Maria’s head.”
“You seem awfully keen for the death of your half-sister.”
“She attempted to have me killed.” Issart’e muttered. “And she has been hunting my brother and I since we refused to support Alda’s campaign against you. Her death will be a relief.”
Silver could understand that. “Since I am not against you, I propose an alliance.” She spoke the words she had been considering since he first protested his innocence.
“Oh,” He seemed amused by her offer. “What could an alliance with me possibly gain the Silver Eyed Wytch?” A slow smile spread across his face and Silver instantly recognised where this was going; her cousin was trying to charm her.
“In return for your help and knowledge I will offer you sanctuary from Maria’s hunt for you in my fortress.” Silver replied.
“Living with you?” Issart’e’s smile kicked up a notch and with his golden colouring he almost seemed to shine. “Why dear cousin, I didn’t think you cared.”
Silver groaned, now that business was over, it seemed Issart’e was going to revert to his normal self, which appeared to be a flirtatious idiot.
“You would have needed to come to my world to undo Maria’s curse on my sister’s family.” Silver justified her logic easily. “It is clear you have inside knowledge of how Maria thinks and a power that could be useful in defeating her.”
Asha's Power (Soul Merge Saga Book 4) Page 4
