Bone Witch (Elemental Magic, #3)

by Thea Atkinson

  "Careful, man."

  He laughed with something almost akin to true humour. "The woman knows our name, she does; oh we know she does because Alkaia used it, and this woman heard her use it."

  Alaysha could see that everyone was as dumbfounded as she. Something was happening that rooted each set of feet to the ground: some in disbelief, some in confusion. It seemed the mere mention of Alkaia turned their backs to stone.

  "I heard her use your name, man," Uta agreed. "What is that to me?"

  "She knows who we are. A shaman such as Theron is recalled after all and would have thought to find his death here in this forsaken village. Why not let us die at your warrior's hands, woman, as you would have let your own this sister of yours die."

  "She is no sister of mine." Uta made a show of turning away from Bodicca as though ashamed she knew her. "But I thought you could see the fruits of your labours here before you die, man."

  She held her hand toward Thera and Theron's black eyes flicked over the bone witch for the first time. Alaysha heard his sharp intake of breath, watched him swallow repeatedly, either trying to get water down or bring water to his mouth.

  "You look like her," he finally said and his words came out in a croak. "You have Alkaia's skin, her mouth." He made a motion to reach out, but before his fingers touched her face, Thera had pulled a blade from one of the warrior's hands and plunged toward her father's neck. Cai reached out almost lazily and grabbed the woman by her shoulder.

  "Stand down," she said and turned to Uta. "Why would you shame her like this in the face of her sisters?"

  Uta didn't flinch in the face of that magnetic stare. "For the same reason I put those marks on her when she was born. For the same reason her sisters wouldn't let her train to Enyalia."

  "I am Enyalian," Thera insisted. "I have the mark." She lifted her chin but Alaysha noted that even Cai tried to avoid looking at it.

  Instead, the komandiri nodded quietly and then turned to Alaysha. "She was born of the only man freed from this land. We can never forget."

  "You said no one escaped."

  Cai shrugged. "No one did."

  Alaysha spun to face Cai, mustering all the disgust she could onto her face to show the crone what she thought of her. "You marked her?" Alaysha asked Uta in disbelief. "Why?"

  "It's a mark of her shame."

  "It's a mark of great power," Alaysha argued, realizing for certain these women knew nothing of the clay witch and her true power. "You have no idea."

  "I do, witch," Uta said. "I know very well." She turned to Theron again. "How do the marks look, man? Are they correct?"

  Theron wouldn't answer.

  "I had only Alkaia's description to go by you see."

  Theron swallowed hard and shook his head.

  Uta's voice was mocking. "Why do you return? I thought you dead."

  "This shaman very nearly died, but then a witch such as this one would know that since despite the bargain Alkaia made to keep me alive, it's the other that nearly took me."

  Uta chuckled quietly. "So her pre-man whelp didn't hold to his oath, then?"

  "Oh, he tried; yes, yes he did. It just took much longer than you expected for him to do his ugly deed."

  Thera had pulled herself from Cai's hold and stepped in front of Uta. "This small man is who you would have me believe sired me?" She cast a disgusted look Theron's way. "He's nothing. My madre would not have risked her back for such a one."

  Uta didn't back away. "And yet she did."

  Alaysha was doing her best to make sense of it all. Theron had been here before, she knew that. She also knew he had somehow escaped. But to be a solstice mate of their most revered komandiri? It seemed impossible the shaman had kept such a secret.

  Cai flicked her wrist toward them, initiating the warrior's clamping down on both of their arms. "He may live for the moment, but he will have his time as will the others. Find a place to put them for now."

  Alaysha heard herself protest. "But Bodicca needs treatment. She's hurt."

  "She's hurt of her own accord even if it is a generation later. Enyalia has a long memory. She knew that when she entered the village again."

  Alaysha thought there was nothing she could do but let them go and was willing to lose the small battle to win the larger war when Theron spoke up again.

  "Ask them what they mean to do with Yenic and Gael when they're finished with them. Ask them, young witch."

  Uta spoke when Cai seemed reluctant to. "It's no secret, man. They die. They always die."

  Theron grinned broadly. "Ah, but men don't always die. Sometimes they sire children and are then freed. Sometimes men are born here and are similarly freed to do damage where they can. To create an army. To gather the magics of witches the like you've never seen. Sometimes they seek vengeance."

  His words chilled Alaysha to the bone, not just because of the threat, but because he was eerily clear for once. She could tell that it disturbed the others as well. She turned to see Cai, whose face had blanched. The woman tried her best to retain her composure but Alaysha could see she was struggling.

  "What is he talking about?" Alaysha asked her.

  "Yuri." Theron said. "Fierce Leader of a thousand: he was the only man except for this poor shaman to escape this place alive."

  "No man escapes," Cai said, turning to Alaysha with fresh eyes. Comprehension spread across her face in a way that made Alaysha uncomfortable.

  "The man you call Yuri, your father," Cai said thoughtfully. "The pre-man Bodicca freed in her youth, the reason she wears the boar grease and suffers the shame of exile. These two are the same man. He lives?"

  Alaysha shook her head. "No. He's dead."

  She thought she heard Bodicca sob, but she couldn't be sure; the woman's face was as impassive as always.

  "Then all is as it should be," Cai said decisively and clapped her hands together as though done with a distasteful task. "The pre-man is dead despite the love of a foolish would-be warrior who thought to save him, Alkaia's man will now die despite her shameful act of granting him freedom. The natural order is restored." She explored the shaman with scrutinous eyes. "I don't think any warrior will cast for you, man, but you will do well to feed the fires."

  Theron took to mumbling again and Alaysha wouldn't have given his words credence except she caught a word that she recognized, that normally wouldn't matter to her but for reasons of late made her super sensitive.

  "What about a twin, Theron?"

  "The other man who lives." He eyed Uta speculatively, waiting for a reaction. "And not that filthy urchin Yuri bargained out of here. I see she has forgotten that one, hadn't she? Oh yes, we see she did. How delightful to know she can forget some things. But alas, he too, is dead, that vile creature." He grinned broadly. "No." He nodded at Thera. "I'm talking about her twin."

  "She has a brother?" Alaysha couldn't keep the surprise from her tone and was relieved to see the others were just as shocked. All but Uta. Uta merely seesawed her jaw back and forth.

  "Uta?" Thera said, taking a step backwards, nearly stumbling. She sent a quick glance toward her lodge and a host of expressions ran across her face. Alaysha didn't have time to assess them all, but they ended up with one bald look of seeming comprehension that made her fidget nervously.

  "The babe perished in the wild. The man lies." Uta's chin set itself stubbornly.

  Alaysha could see she'd have to press the point to get the information; no one else seemed inclined or informed enough to do so. "How do you know this, Theron? What does it have to do with my father?"

  Theron's black eyes met Alaysha's. "Oh dear, this shaman named Theron does know things, though he keeps some secrets. Yes. Yes, he does. But this one secret is too delicious to savour alone. That babe the cruel woman sought to kill became my Neve's Arm. My Ellison."

  Thera made a sound like a swallow and a groan at the same time. Alaysha watched her, the beads of sweat forming on her brow.

  "Your Neve? Her Arm?" The pieces were
falling; Alaysha had only to assemble them.

  He nodded. "Alkaia's son, yes, oh dear me, yes. Ellison: named by my clay witch in the old tradition. For her. My Ellissa." His voice broke and with it realization struck Alaysha. She'd killed that old crone along with the others, and all this time Theron knew it.

  "Your Ellissa was the witch?" Alaysha felt sick.

  He pressed his chest out, proudly, at Uta. "She raised that infant as her own. Yuri brought him to us, thinking to bargain for our knowledge. He was ever a greedy pup, that one."

  Bodicca spun towards him impassioned. "You know nothing, Shaman. Yuri loved that boy," she said, turning to Alaysha. "We have a word for two sword sisters who share a madre, but none for two males who do. Yet he felt for that boy the way a sister does to a sister. He brought him to the shaman in promise."

  "Whose promise, foolish girl?" Uta asked, seeming to lay more shame on her with the term when Bodicca was obviously anything but a girl.

  "Komandiri Alkaia's promise. She wanted him to live."

  "Absurd. Our Alkaia wouldn't wrest such a promise from a whelp she didn't speak to, for a whelp she cared nothing for." Uta stepped menacingly in front of Bodicca, who met the woman's eye just as menacingly. "What could you know of it?"

  "You sent us to kill the boy, and then to kill Theron. You know this."

  "And yet you speak as though I've forgotten it. Do you think the sisters will be shocked at such a thing? They were but males." Uta shrugged.

  "But Komandiri was our best. Was she not?"

  Uta had the grace to nod.

  "Yuri killed her in the wild. That's what I know. She begged him to take the infant to Theron and then she let Yuri take her life."

  There was a collective murmur that made Alaysha's skin crawl.

  "It can't be true" Uta murmured. "I left her back unmarked. She would have lived. She wouldn't have let a man take her life. "

  "Yuri killed her. I know this. We burned her the way a warrior should be, hot and high, and we collected her ashes and he took her sword."

  This time the murmur became straight out shouting. Alaysha missed the reasoning and touched Cai on the arm for explanation.

  "Our swords," the warrior said. "Our bone witch forges our swords—"

  "With the ashes of your leaders. Oh my God, Cai. It is true. He killed that woman."

  "What makes you certain?"

  "Gael's mark. Alkaia's sword. My father must have used her ashes to mark his warriors and forge their steel." She turned to search for Thera, thinking the bone witch would want to know the truth, but Thera was gone. The leather flap of her lodge moved quietly.

  Theron chuckled and Alaysha wanted to throttle him for his insensitivity. He shut off the chuckle, but kept Alaysha's eye. "The poor pup, never able to re-enter the bitch's den; how it pained him."

  She didn't feel sorry for him, then; she felt afraid, wondering what else the man knew that he was keeping to himself.

  Chapter 19

  In the fracas that followed, no one seemed to care that Alaysha was present. In fact, with the amount of people hanging about, she was able to slip in to the witch's lodge without being noticed, thinking to check on Gael. Two other warriors stood next to his bed, holding the blanket away from him, running their hands down his bare legs, cupping his calves and other parts that made Alaysha's face burn with shame for him. They were clearly inspecting goods, and when one of them tilted his chin and spied the mark, the other noticed and made a curious sound of shocked pleasure.

  He was so still. He'd been barely conscious when they arrived, yes, but not this completely still. She would've thought him dead except for the poking and prodding of the other two women that indicated their interest in him. She waited until they were finished, both of them coming to some agreement with each other as they left the dwelling. Neither of them looked directly at her as they left. Alaysha moved close, laying her palm on his chest. Heat came off of him and waves; his heart thrummed in his chest. Alive, and most definitely drugged.

  She did a careful inspection with her fingers, testing behind his neck where he'd been struck by Cai, feeling for scabs that might indicate a good amount of healing. What she felt at the base of his skull was a small bandage that she slipped off and probed tenderly with her fingers. The knot on the back of his head had gone down and in its place was a hole about the size of her fingernail. When she touched it, he groaned and tried to twist away. It must still be sensitive. She had the feeling there'd been more to his healing than magic; she heard about shamans who drilled holes in people skulls to make them docile, but she'd not heard of them doing so to heal. A little flutter went through her chest. What if the bone witch had done this to Gael so they could use him and then murder him without trouble.

  She watched his eyes roll about beneath his lids, dreaming. She hoped they were pleasant, but the way his arms were twitching, she doubted it. She ran her hands down his chest, holding the blankets off of him with her forearms and peering beneath. Bruising where his ribs were; so he had indeed broken at least one of them. His clavicle might have been slipped as well; it showed a fair amount of bruising that had already turned yellow. She didn't want to look at his back. She only hoped they'd put some ointment on his contusions and scrapings.

  She laid the blanket down gently and reached for his jaw, letting her fingers trail to the back of his ear. "I'll get you out of here, Gael," she said to him.

  "I doubt you'll be able to," said a voice from behind her.

  Bodicca. She'd expected Cai or Thera. Alaysha didn't bother to turn around. The reality of all she now knew was almost too much to process. "You loved my father?"

  "Always."

  "And you knew of his connection to this place?"

  "Of course. It's both of our connections."

  It explained so much to Alaysha, Yuri's cold manner, his brutal method of decision-making. "And Corrin?" Alaysha's voice almost broke on the name.

  She heard Bodicca moving, coming closer, but with obvious effort. Theron had done a wonderful job of getting her mobile, maybe even of healing her back to some degree, but it was obvious from the way she moved that the only thing keeping her upright was incredible concentration.

  "I know that's what he named him, but I had no use for him. He had no honour."

  Alaysha turned on her finally. "And honour means something to you? You who helped my father kill his own mother, who probably helped him murder mine, and my nohma, and how many others, Bodicca? How many lives have you taken for my father?"

  "I would have taken all I needed to and no more. Same as you."

  Alaysha grunted at that but the woman wasn't satisfied.

  "I would think after spending time in this village, you would understand. It's obvious you know nothing." Bodicca showed her a back still raw and weeping, but covered in honey to contain the fluid within the sores. Theron hadn't even put linen on it to protect it, but then where would he have gotten linen in the burnt lands? The woman headed toward the door, but Alaysha wasn't done with her yet.

  "You brought Yenic here to what I now discover is certain death; Gael will die as well."

  Bodicca spoke over her shoulder, twisting just enough that Alaysha could see her face and the haggard tiredness that ringed her eyes. "Bringing your lover here was the safest place for him. In the end, you'll see that." She turned her attention to Gael. "A warrior is a ready and willing sacrifice for the people they have committed to." She shrugged. "Better to focus on Yenic. Leave that man's fate to himself."

  It was long moments before Alaysha could breathe again, and when she could, she pulled the air of the lodge in slowly, trying to gather strength from it. The fragrances of myrrh and sulphur mingled, stinging her nostrils. She heard a sound behind her and turned to see Thera laying yet another fur atop the mound on the cot. The witch said nothing, merely strode toward her and cast another handful of rubble onto the smouldering fire. More sulphur. The stink became unbearable.

  She lifted the flap and went into the
sunshine. Alaysha could see the crowds of the Enyalia becoming more scattered throughout the courtyard. Stock women pooled together, tapping their spoons against their biceps. The sense of something coming, the tension in the air, was palpable even from inside.

  Yenic. He was probably even now being brought the square. She inhaled deeply and reached down to kiss Gael on his cheek. The prickle of new grown beard took her by surprise. He was always clean-shaven. Her throat tightened up. And even if she wanted to say goodbye, she couldn't.

  She let Thera pass her by and said nothing. The woman was preoccupied, even in her duty. But it wasn't the solstice that had her mind; it was something Uta had said, something Theron had said. The twin. Could Thera really care about a brother she'd never met? Could she be concerned that she had a twin at all?

  The entire village seemed to be more focused on the youth standing on a broad stump that had been drug from the forest and set to rest against the backdrop of luscious foliage. The flowers that drooped from the stems called to mind a rainbow and a variety of leaves with every color and shade from dark green to Moss, with every texture from spongy to spiked, could have given a viewer pleasure. It might well offer pleasure to the women of Enyalia, but for Alaysha it only brought anxiety.

  Yenic himself was naked and she could see someone had gone to the trouble of smudging the shadows of his muscles with soot, making them stand out more plainly. He projected his usual arrogance, but Alaysha could see in his features the shade of distaste. He would show them he didn't care, but beneath she could tell he was silently planning their deaths.

  Several Enyalia were circling him, going about much the same routine as the women inside had been doing to Gael. The inspection was thorough. For long moments the Enyalia examined the potential and a handful of stock women had begun to grow impatient. Alaysha could hear them complaining, the mumbling becoming louder. Finally, Cai stood in front of him and indicated for Thera to stand next to her. Both women divided the crowd into several distinct groups: one of stock women, all who held onto spoons; one of very large, very broad and almost mannish Enyalia, and a final group of shorter, more squat Enyalia, who Alaysha noticed had far fewer circlet on her forearms and thighs than the first group. As she scanned the groups, she realized that the hardier warriors, obviously the strongest with the same ones who had been inspecting Gael as he lay unconscious.