“I have done all that you asked of me,” the lamia purred, her serpentine tail twitching like a cat’s.
Although the sea hag addressed both men, her eyes were only on Tierney. Lucia did not like the familiarity with which she spoke—apparently this was not the first conversation between Tierney and the witch. While Tierney looked perfectly at ease and a small satisfied smile played on his lips, the Eastern Oracle’s face was twisted in a mask of diplomacy that failed to cloak an expression of self-righteous horror and indignity in having dealings with a hag.
The old woman had slitted, serpentine eyes and a flattened reptilian nose. Squatty, toadlike arms sprouted from her sides, and the warty amphibian skin of her face and upper body resembled the inside of a rotting gourd, a contrast to the smooth scales on her reptilian tail.
Banded tail or no, no one would mistake such a creature for a siren. The lamia was one of the first horrors to come from the sea, a chimera born of covetous hunger, an ancient thing that had never been beautiful. This sea hag had long ago abandoned her siren kin’s compulsive urge to feed, and had instead become the scheming creature standing before Tierney now.
The witch likely hoped to elevate her own status by doing tasks her superiors thought beneath them. Lucia was uncertain as to the specifics of those tasks, but she knew they must be vile for the sea hag to have the privilege of being called to court.
“The Sower is ready, my lords. All I have seen will come to pass,” the sea hag crooned. “The false Solas Beir will fall, Ardal’s true firstborn will take the throne, and the world will be as you wish.”
“Well done, Meridoris,” Tierney said, favoring the witch with a warm smile. “You will be handsomely rewarded when we succeed. In the meantime, however, a small gift to express our gratitude.” He snapped his fingers and one of the guards brought forward a courtesan. It was the girl from the market.
Lucia was not surprised to see the girl wearing the uniform of a courtesan, but she was surprised Tierney would give her to a bottom-dwelling creature like the sea hag. Tierney had told Lucia it was imperative that the girl be captured, and she’d assumed it was because he did not want critical intelligence falling into the hands of the Solas Beir. But he neglected to mention this part. Lucia thought about what Jonathon Reyes said, and wondered what else Tierney had failed to tell her.
The young courtesan seemed dazed, unaware of her surroundings. Had they drugged her to make her more compliant? Lucia wondered if the child had any idea what fate had in store for her.
The sea hag’s eyes flashed hungrily, but she made no move to feed. She bowed slightly at her waist. “Thank you, my lord. I look forward to our future dealings. I shall eagerly await your word.” Then Meridoris took the girl by the hand and led her out of the room.
A guard followed, walking behind the lamia’s paddled tail as it coiled around the room and slithered through the exit. He closed the door once the witch was gone.
“You can relax now, Oracle,” Tierney chuckled.
Lucia turned to see the Eastern Oracle let out a sigh of relief. “That was quite unpleasant. I shall be in my chambers if I am needed for further business.” He rose from his throne, gathering the folds of his scarlet robe as he descended from the dais.
“I doubt there will be further unpleasantness requiring your attention today, Your Honor,” Tierney smiled, crossing his arms.
“Good,” the Eastern Oracle replied, scowling. Clearly he did not share Tierney’s lighthearted view of the situation. Adjusting his red square cap, the oracle marched to the door leading to his chambers, and an entourage of aides followed in his wake.
One of the aides, a nervous, fidgety little man, seemed on the verge of coming unglued. In his hurry to vacate the room, he dropped his clerk’s cap. A tall, muscled Kruorumbrae guard picked it up and held it out to him. The aide recoiled as if the guard might devour him, and then took the cap, muttered his thanks, and skittered away after his colleagues, hastily pulling the chamber door shut behind him.
Tierney grinned, watching all of this with great amusement. “He’s not the most gracious of hosts, but the entertainment is worth the price of admission.” He turned to Lucia. “Don’t you think so, love?”
Lucia removed her veil and stepped out of the shadows to join him in front of the throne. “He does surround himself with amusing little people,” she smirked.
Tierney laughed and vaulted up the dais steps to settle lazily into the Eastern Oracle’s throne, irreverently throwing one of his legs over an armrest. “And how are things with our young Lightbearer?”
Lucia wondered what the oracle would think of Tierney abusing his precious throne, but kept her tongue. When delivering bad news to Tierney, it was prudent to proceed with caution. She frowned. “Artan still lives. He annihilated the Daughters.”
Tierney raised an eyebrow. “All of them?”
Lucia nodded. “All but the traitor. But not before the Daughters took care of the c’aislingaer.”
Tierney’s eyes grew alarmingly dark and Lucia took a step back. Tierney studied her for a moment and then swung his leg down, shifting to sit up straight on the throne, gripping the ends of the armrests in his hands.
Lucia felt her heart beat faster in a mixture of fear and awe. He looked much more at home on the seat of power than the self-important oracle.
“Well, at least that task is finished. Pity the Lightbearer survived, but perhaps we will have the advantage now that our dear little Rabbit has left us,” Tierney said, his eyes burning into Lucia’s. “Was he very broken by the loss?”
“Quite,” Lucia confirmed.
Tierney smiled and rose from his perch. “Excellent. Most excellent,” he said, stepping down from the dais and taking Lucia’s hands in his.
So he’s pleased by the loss of the cai aislingstraid. That’s good, Lucia reassured herself. “I brought you a present,” she said, feeling more confident as she stared at her fingers intertwined in his.
Tierney’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, really? Do tell.”
Lucia smiled. “The Solas Beir’s confidant. He sits in the dungeon as we speak.”
“Hmm. That could be useful in getting our young friend to agree to our terms,” Tierney murmured.
“Yes—I have a feeling the Solas Beir will surrender to you very soon.” Lucia hesitated, unsure if she should continue. She looked into his eyes. He seemed pleased with her news. Perhaps he would forgive the boldness of her next question. “Tierney, what the witch said about the Sower…please, you cannot be serious about using him.”
Tierney looked surprised by her question. “I am deadly serious about it.”
“But once he begins, we will not be able to contain him. He could destroy everything. He could be your undoing,” Lucia insisted.
Tierney narrowed his eyes. “I can control him.”
“But he is an abomination—he should not even exist. We both know that.”
“And that was Ardal’s mistake,” Tierney replied. “But his error shall render our victory. I shall wield the Sower like a sword. He will change everything.” He smiled and stroked her cheek. “Besides, dear heart, every puppet needs a master.”
“Yes, but which are you?” Lucia asked. Immediately she regretted it. She clamped her hand over her mouth, as if she could take the words back.
Tierney’s eyes grew dark again. He studied her as if he were weighing a decision. “Dearest Lucia…you have so little faith.” Eyes locked on hers, he took her hand from her mouth and turned it over, pressing her palm gently to his lips before letting her go.
Then he turned and opened the doors to the balcony that overlooked the Eastern Sea. He walked out into the evening air and placed his hands on the balcony railing. Silent, he stared down at the sea below.
Taken aback by his display of tenderness, Lucia watched him for a moment before following him outside. The sun had set and the first stars were glittering in the sky.
She placed her hand on his arm. “Tierney, I am so sor
ry. I spoke out of turn.”
He turned and smiled sadly. He pulled her to him, cupping her chin. “Lucia, my love, don’t you know that everything I did, I did for us? To change this world to be as it should be? To bring you to your rightful place as queen so we could finally be together?”
“I do know that,” she whispered.
He searched her eyes. “It was always you and me.” He paused, staring at the stars. “But look, now you’ve gone and shattered our dream. You’ve broken my heart.”
She shook her head. “No. No, I…”
He nodded. “Oh, but you did. You said the child was hidden from you. You said you could not find him, and that’s why I was forced to wait in the Wasteland.”
“I…I can explain,” Lucia stammered.
“No need.” Tierney’s smile was sad, bittersweet. “I see everything quite clearly now. It was all lies. The Lightbearer was not hidden from you. He was hidden by you. And as time grew short and Calder grew strong, he found out about your little lies, didn’t he? He did not betray me. You did.”
From the inky shadows on the far side of the balcony, Malden emerged, a patronizing smile etched on his face.
So the little wretch has been flapping his jaws, Lucia thought. She was furious. “Dog. Filthy, traitorous dog!”
Malden chuckled as he stalked boldly forward. “Filthy, yes. Oh, yes. Traitorous, no. Not to him.”
“Lucia,” Tierney whispered.
She turned to him, pleading. “Tierney, please—”
Tierney cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. “I did love you,” he said.
Then he tossed her off the balcony.
Riding on Cael’s back, Marisol spotted Erela in the sky. “She found something,” Marisol told him.
Erela was flying back to them in a hurry. Not as fast as she could fly though, Marisol thought. Erela had been pretty speedy in coming to their assistance at the Eye of the Needle. She had been surprisingly patient of late, but still, it had to be killing her to have to slow down for the rest of them.
They were making better progress now that David had healed enough to travel as a lion, and Marisol was the one riding on Cael’s back. David still couldn’t fly, but whether that was because of the gaping wound healing in his abdomen or the one that remained in his heart, Marisol did not know. He wasn’t the same without Abby. He seemed broken, hollow.
They had been traveling for days across the never-ending desert, and after their conversation around last evening’s fire, David had kept running across the sand with them, but he had stopped speaking altogether.
The night prior, sitting around their campfire, they had been talking about the Daughters of Mercy. Marisol felt terrible for even bringing the topic up, but something Jon had said played over and over in her mind, and it was driving her crazy. Had she known what David had seen, she never would have asked the question.
Jon had said he saw death in the face of the Daughters, but Marisol saw something different. She saw Malden’s face, and then her not-so-friendly neighborhood bogeyman really came after her. So was it a premonition? And if it was, did that mean Jon was going to die? Maybe it was already too late. Maybe he was already dead.
“It was not a premonition,” Erela explained. “It was an attack strategy. The Daughters of Mercy, myself included, can sense your fears. We can assume the face of whatever it is you fear most.”
“Oh.” Marisol felt overwhelmed by a sense of relief that Jon might still be alive. “What did you see, Cael?”
Cael frowned. “I saw Eulalia. She was dead because I had failed her,” he replied. Then he realized what was implied in that statement, and looked over at David. “I am so sorry, David—I did not mean to suggest that you had in any way failed Abby…”
“I saw Abby’s face,” David said, staring into the fire, his voice void of emotion. “But she wasn’t dead. She was lost because she had joined Tierney.”
After that, no one knew what to say, so they went to bed without another word.
Now Erela was landing gracefully in front of them, with none of the thunder or fury that usually marked her arrival. She wasn’t the same either. Maybe it was because of the loss of her sisters, or maybe it was her connection to the Solas Beir. She bowed before the lion.
David slipped back into his regular form and finally broke his silence. “What did you find?” he asked.
“The sixth courtesan,” Erela replied. “We should reach the body by nightfall.”
It was only because of the courtesan garb that the remains were recognizable. The body was little more than a dried-out husk, mummified. And yet, the dark violet silk still had a clean sheen, with only the slightest layer of dust, proving the man had died only recently.
Marisol felt the desert breeze pick up and stir the sand at her feet. Had there been a sandstorm since the courtesan died, they might not have found him at all. The dunes of the Barren shifted all too easily in the wind.
“It has to be him,” David said. “Based on what Abby gleaned from the little girl, Daudi was heading west, and he would only have had a few days’ lead on us when he escaped from the city. Apart from Aziza, no other courtesans escaped.”
“Not that we know of, at least. It looks like he was trying to get back home. What happened to him?” Marisol asked. She picked up his leather cask and shook it—water sloshed around inside. “It’s nearly full. But the way he looks—this seems a bit extreme for dehydration, doesn’t it?”
Cael nodded gravely. “Indeed it does. He would not have died from his thirst. He would have suffered terribly from it, yes, but he would not have the same limitations as a human lost in this forsaken place. By the bite marks on his hand, I would guess he was attacked. Whatever it was seems to have drained him of his bodily fluids.”
“There were footprints,” Erela said. “The breeze has picked up and erased them, but there were reptilian prints leading to the body, and humanoid prints leading away, westward.”
“A Shadow?” Marisol asked.
“Perhaps,” Erela mused thoughtfully.
“But you don’t believe that,” David observed.
“If it were one of the Kruorumbrae, we likely would not have found a body at all, and certainly not in this state,” Erela answered.
“I don’t think we’ll discover anything else about the culprit from looking at the body.” David frowned. “I promised his sister, Yola, I would find him and bring him back to her. I was hoping I’d be returning him alive, but it looks like I’ve failed yet again.”
Marisol put her hand on David’s arm. “Stop it. You haven’t failed anyone.”
He turned to her with tears in his eyes. “But I have. I keep making promises I can’t keep. I mean to keep them, but I fail.”
“So stop.”
David’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”
Marisol put her hands on her hips. “Stop making promises and stop blaming yourself. It’s not helping anyone. I know you think you failed Abby, but you didn’t. And if she were here, she wouldn’t blame you—she would be ticked off at you for blaming yourself. So just stop it.”
“Okay,” David whispered.
“No, it’s not okay. Nothing’s okay, but we are going to change that, starting right now.” Marisol angrily threw down her pack and snatched the last bolt of fabric. She began unwrapping the cloth from the spindle.
“What are you doing?” David asked.
“You did find Daudi, and you will take him home to Yola. But not like this. This is too horrible for her to see. I’m wrapping him up.” Marisol knelt to ease the body into the silken cloth. “Sorry Cael—guess Eulalia doesn’t get any presents after all.”
Cael hunkered down beside Marisol to help. “She would rather the gift go to honor one of our fallen.”
Marisol watched as he expertly pulled the fabric tight around the body and secured it with a knot, then tucked the remnants of the knot back into the folds of the cloth. Apparently Cael had done this kind of thing befor
e.
“Come,” he said. “Let us take him home.”
EPILOGUE: BROKEN
In the days that followed, David found himself relying more and more on Marisol’s strength. Daudi’s village on the Great Plains was small, and it was no easy task to deliver his body to his sister, along with the news that four of those taken wouldn’t be coming back, and the youngest remained in the hands of the Kruorumbrae.
No one in Nuren was untouched by this revelation of woe. Although it was not a comfort for the villagers to hear that the Solas Beir and his friends had suffered their own losses, there was camaraderie in shared sorrow. The villagers vowed vengeance on the Kruor um Beir when the time for war finally arrived. If nothing else, loyalty to the Solas Beir and his cause increased.
Delivering the news to Abby’s family and Jon’s mother was another matter entirely, and when the time came, David simply could not speak the words. Marisol became his mouthpiece.
Blanca Reyes was terrified for her son, and yet proud of him for saving Marisol from a horrific fate. David had feared that Abby’s parents would blame him as he did himself. They didn’t. Instead, they clung to the hope that since Abby’s body had not been found, she might still be alive.
David wished he had that kind of hope. But he didn’t. If she were still alive, he would have felt something. But he felt nothing, nothing at all.
Neither did Eulalia. She and Abby had shared a bond as empaths, and that bond was broken. “Perhaps she is still alive,” Eulalia suggested. “I have long feared she would be seduced to join Tierney’s cause. If that is the case, you may yet win her back.”
David wished he could believe that as well. But he didn’t. He spent his days avoiding everyone, seeking refuge in solitude. Since his return, he hadn’t sat on the throne. He had abandoned that room altogether, and the council had taken to meeting without him. He couldn’t sleep—not in his room, not in hers. Abby was everywhere, but not where he needed her most.
Only with the arrival of the newly appointed Western Oracle did he begin to feel something other than desperate anguish. What he felt was hate. His rage was not directed at Nerine herself, but at the reason behind her errand.
The Rabbit And The Raven Page 28
