The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4)

by Andrew Hunter

  Garrett shook his head and braced himself for the first stroke.

  The whip ripped through the still morning air, and Garrett's body shook with the impact. He felt a sort of warm sensation in his ribs, a dull and distant tingling, but nothing more. He smiled to himself, knowing that he would never feel anything again where the dragon's breath had touched him, no warm hugs, no gentle pat on the back, and no sting of any whip.

  The whip lashed again, and Garrett shook, feeling only the growing fire of rage within. If Shelbie thought to humiliate him, to break him, with this, she would be sorely disappointed.

  By the fifth lash, it was obvious that Garrett was not going to even cry out, let alone pass out, from the punishment. He jumped a little when the tip of a lash found an unburned patch of skin beneath his armpit, but so lost in his rage was he that Garrett paid it no heed.

  "Matron Brix!" Shelbie cried out, a hint of desperation in her voice, "Are you doing it wrong?" Garrett heard her voice grow louder as she approached the whipping post from behind.

  "Does it look like I'm doing it wrong?" Brix growled, laying another lash across Garrett's back. Garrett saw a spattering of blood flecks darken the post above his head. He shut his eyes against the sight, forcing his consciousness down inside that warm ball of rage within.

  "Well, no," Shelbie admitted, "but there is something wrong... with him."

  "Your point, Matron Shelbie?" Brix demanded, striking Garrett once more.

  "Well... we will have to think of another punishment," Shelbie stammered, "One that he will feel!"

  "You know the rules," Brix hissed, laying another lash, "The Serpent's Kiss it is."

  "But it's obvious that he doesn't even feel it!" Shelbie said, "If I had known how... he was... I would have ordered something different done to him."

  "You mean you would have waived the traditional punishment for absence because of some personal quarrel with a student?" Brix asked. Again the lash fell.

  "Yes... I mean no, of course not," Shelbie said, "I just... can't you whip him somewhere else?"

  "We always do this in the courtyard," Brix answered, matter-of-factly, "It makes the cleanup easier."

  "No!" Shelbie hissed, "I mean whip his legs or chest or... his face!"

  Garrett felt the white-hot ball of rage inside crystallize into a shimmering idol of hate.

  The rhythm of Brix's whip faltered, and the expected lash did not fall.

  When Brix spoke again, it sounded as if she were struggling to control herself. "Matron Shelbie," Brix whispered, her voice like steel on a grindstone, "Don't you ever dare to come into my yard and tell me how to do my job again!"

  "I didn't mean..." Shelbie protested.

  "And the next time you have a problem with a student," Brix spat, "have the guts to deal with it yourself!"

  Garrett felt the distant impact of several whip strokes in rapid succession as Matron Brix carried out the remainder of his punishment in short order. The rage within had chilled to a sick nausea, and Garrett swooned, feeling blood trickle down the backs of his legs.

  The bloodstained whip landed at his feet as Garrett's knees began to shake.

  "Get him down from there!" Brix shouted, and suddenly there were strong hands supporting Garrett's body on either side.

  "Hold on, Garrett," Banden whispered in his ear, "You're going to be all right."

  Chapter Nine

  Garrett drifted in and out of consciousness, dimly aware that he was lying, face down, upon a soft cot, and someone kept waking him up by draping damp strips of cloth across his shoulders. The tall green wax candle on the table beside the cot seemed to be defective in some way, for every time he opened his eyes, it seemed another inch or two shorter than it had been. It was nearly gone when he heard the chimes of Curfew ring out.

  "I have to get home," Garrett mumbled as he tried to push himself up from the table.

  A warm, soft hand pressed gently against his cheek, robbing him of his strength to resist, and a familiar voice whispered for him to lie still.

  "You're safe here tonight," Serepheni said, "I sent word to your uncle that you're all right."

  The priestess walked around the table to where Garrett could see her from where he lay. Her eyes were red, and her smile trembled, fragile to the point of breaking.

  Garrett looked away, holding back the bitter words that churned within him.

  "I'm so sorry Garrett," Serepheni said. Her hand went to her lips.

  Garrett snorted.

  She reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice breaking with emotion, "I didn't mean for this to happen."

  "Why didn't you tell me?" Garrett rasped, still not looking at her.

  "I didn't realize you'd been gone for so long..." she sobbed, "I thought Beeks or I would be the one to administer the punishment... I didn't think that it would be this bad... I... I'm so sorry!"

  Garrett gathered his strength and tried again, pushing himself up on his hands. His back felt unnaturally stiff, and he felt the weight of the healing compresses slide down around his waist as he got his legs under him and sat up on the cot.

  "Where's my shirt?" he demanded, "I'm going home."

  Serepheni handed him a white linen nightshirt, but shook her head. "You have to stay here in the temple tonight," she insisted.

  Garrett answered her with a bitter laugh.

  "It isn't safe to leave in your condition. Please stay here and let us take care of you... Let me help you," Serepheni begged him.

  "Are you afraid my uncle will find out what you did to me, and then he won't want to help you?" Garrett asked, looking her in the eye for the first time.

  Serepheni covered her face with her hands and sobbed. "I'm so sorry!" she said again and again.

  Garrett looked away, feeling a little ashamed of his words, but not enough to tell her so. He shrugged on the shirt, feeling it stick to his clammy skin. He noticed a pinkish stain spreading across the cloth on his right shoulder.

  "I'll take my chances with the Watchers," he hissed, swinging his legs over the side of the cot and looking around for his boots.

  Serepheni fell to her knees on the floor at his feet and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Don't go, Garrett," she cried, "Please don't go!"

  Garrett sneered at her. "Are you afraid I won't come back?" he laughed.

  Fear flashed in her eyes, and she put her hands on his knee for support. She seemed to crumple in defeat, a look of devastation on her face. "I'm so sorry..." she sobbed, her voice nearly inaudible.

  Garrett turned his eyes toward the darkened doorway of the chamber and imagined how good it would feel to just walk away forever. He allowed himself a long moment to enjoy that little fantasy, letting the priestess suffer while he reveled in the dream.

  At last, he looked down at her again and he reached out to cover her hand with his own.

  "You think they can get rid of me that easily?" he laughed.

  Serepheni lifted her face to him, blinking in astonishment.

  "I told you I would do this," Garrett said, "and I keep my word. I'll be back tomorrow... and the next time I see Matron Shelbie... I'm just gonna smile and wish her a good day."

  Serepheni shook her head slowly from side to side. "You're staying?" she whispered.

  "Yeah," Garrett said.

  "I would like to know why," a woman's voice spoke from the doorway.

  Garrett saw Serepheni's face go white a moment before she bowed low to the ground in the direction of the door. "High Priestess!" she gasped.

  Garrett looked to see a stern-faced woman, perhaps fifty years of age, standing in the doorway. The High Priestess of Mauravant wore a robe of green silk ribbons of many shades, sewn together to give the garment the appearance of mottled scales. Her tall headdress bristled with emerald feathers, woven together with fine golden wire, and her glossy black hair snaked out from either side to cascade down over the serpent's head epaulets on her shoulders. Her lips were rouged almost blood re
d, and coal-dark eyeliner sharpened the intensity of eyes the color of green ice. She stared into him with those cold eyes now, and Garrett gaped back, speechless and unable to move.

  "Why do you want to stay here?" the High Priestess asked him as she stepped into the room, her silken robes rustling as she moved toward him with almost unearthly grace.

  "I..." Garrett spoke, his mouth gone dry. He swallowed nothing and spoke again, "I won't be scared away that easy."

  A hint of a smile played on the High Priestess's red lips. Her eyes went to the darkening stain on the shoulder of his shirt. "And what would it take to scare you away?" she asked.

  Garrett shook himself from the spell of her eyes and struggled to get down from the cot, remembering to bow in her presence.

  "No," the High Priestess said, lifting her hand to stop him, "Remain seated." The woman moved around the room, on the other side of Serepheni's prostrate form.

  Garrett sank back onto the cot, following the High Priestess with his eyes but daring to say nothing.

  The High Priestess moved to the table and lifted a wet bundle of cloth from a large wooden bowl. She squeezed pink water out from the cloth, letting it spill into her cupped left hand. She turned her gaze toward Garrett again with a bemused smile. "Why would you bleed so much for this?" she asked, "We are not your people. You have no love for the Goddess... do you?"

  Garrett remained silent for a moment. Something about her eyes made it impossible to answer falsely.

  "I don't really know anything about the Goddess," he answered, "I mean, apart from what Matron Beeks has had me read..."

  "And yet you would suffer so in Her name?" the High Priestess mused, "Why is that, I wonder?"

  Garrett felt suddenly very afraid, but something in her eyes calmed his fears, made it seem all right to answer her. "Because my friends asked me to be here," he said.

  The High Priestess let the washcloth fall back into the bowl and dried her hands on a clean towel, never taking her eyes from him. "You have a great deal of loyalty to your friends," she said, "but do you have any loyalty to the Goddess?"

  Garrett shrugged. "I never really thought about it," he admitted.

  "And why is it so important to your friends that you remain here?" the High Priestess asked, her eyes falling on Serepheni who did not raise her face from the floor.

  "I guess... they want the priestesses and the necromancers to become friends," Garrett said.

  A cynical smirk curled the High Priestess's lips. "But that is not the only reason, is it?" she asked.

  Garrett's heart was pounding in his chest, and a warning screamed in the back of his mind, but he couldn't really hear it. "No," he said, "That's not the only reason."

  The High Priestess gave him a sharp-edged smile. "And why do your necromancer friends want you to be here?" she asked.

  Garrett's skin tingled at the danger in her question, but his voice paid it no heed. "They want me to learn the secret of how you make skeletons," he said.

  He was dimly aware that Serepheni's body flinched at his words, but he could not look away from the High Priestess's cold green eyes, as they seemed to pierce into the depths of his soul.

  The High Priestess tossed her head back and laughed, a long, merry laugh. She shook her head and laughed again.

  Garrett blinked, suddenly aware that he had not done so at all while she was speaking to him. He felt the strange spell of her questioning seem to fade from him, and he looked at the High Priestess, wondering what he had said to elicit her strange reaction.

  Serepheni dared a glance up at her mistress, trembling with fear, but the High Priestess only smiled down at her and offered her hand to the young priestess.

  "Get up, child," the High Priestess spoke to Serepheni as she helped her to her feet, "I have outed a spy in our midst, but, fortunately for the both of you, not the one I was hoping to find."

  "I'm sorry, High Priestess," Serepheni answered, "I didn't mean for..."

  "You have done nothing wrong, my dear," the High Priestess laughed, "and you are welcome to keep your little spy." She gave Garrett an amused glance and then patted Serepheni gently on the shoulder. "I believe the Goddess's secrets will remain safely hidden... even from such formidable foes."

  "He can stay then?" Serepheni gasped.

  The High Priestess gave her a motherly nod. "He's already collecting his share of admirers," she said.

  Serepheni questioned her with a look.

  "If it were only Matron Beeks speaking for him, I would understand," the High Priestess said, "She has a gentle heart... But when Brix stood up for the young man... That's when I knew I had to meet him."

  "Matron Brix?" Serepheni asked, her face incredulous.

  "She's asked for him to be reassigned to full Templar training," the High Priestess said, "I don't believe I have ever seen Brix as angry as she was today."

  Serepheni shared a bewildered look with Garrett.

  "He begins anew tomorrow," the High Priestess said, looking at Garrett again, "His record wiped clean by my order. See to it that he does it properly this time."

  "Yes, High Priestess!" Serepheni gasped, falling to one knee before her.

  The High Priestess locked Garrett's gaze to hers once again, but this time he felt no danger in it. "A warning, little spy," she laughed, "Do not delve too deeply into the secrets of Death and Life. Some mysteries lie hungry and waiting for those foolish enough to discover them."

  Garrett only nodded in response, shaking himself free of her presence as she swept from the room in a rustle of green silk.

  *******

  Serepheni brought Garrett a breakfast of warm porridge the next morning. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all, but Garrett felt completely renewed by the time he had made it halfway through the bowl and washed it down with a cup of goat milk.

  "I need to have a look at your wounds," Serepheni said, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to hide a yawn.

  Garrett dragged the tail of his shirt up over his head to let her have a look at his back as he sat on the edge of the cot, pulling on his boots. He heard her stifle a little gasp.

  "Is it bad?" he asked.

  "No," she said, remaining silent for a moment as she studied him, "It's... healed."

  Garrett grunted. "That's good right?" he asked, tugging his shirt back down.

  Serepheni shook her head. "I've never seen anything like that," she said, "There aren't even any... well, any new scars."

  "Oh," Garrett said, "thanks for fixing me up."

  Serepheni flashed him a wan smile and looked away. "Garrett," she said, "I'm sorry about yesterday... If you decided that you didn't want to keep doing this, I would understand."

  Garrett laughed and shook his head. "No," he said, "I meant it when I said I would stay. Anyway, I feel great today... Honestly, I didn't feel a thing when Matron Brix was hitting me yesterday... Maybe Graelle was right about dragon fire. Maybe it makes you invincible or something."

  "You didn't see what your back looked like when they brought you here, Garrett," Serepheni said, "You were badly injured."

  "I've had worse," Garrett said, shrugging his shoulders. He got to his feet and seated his heels comfortably into the heels of his boots.

  "This isn't a game, Garrett!" Serepheni said, "Not everyone who goes through Templar training survives it."

  Garrett looked at her with a smirk. "And you still asked me to do it for you?"

  Serepheni blushed, her eyes falling. She looked very tired, worse than he had ever seen her in the swamps.

  "It's all right," Garrett said, "I'm not afraid of it. I said I would do it, and I will."

  "You don't have to!" she sighed, "I'll understand... Max will understand."

  Garrett laughed. "I still have to find the secret of skeleton making for him, don't you remember?"

  Serepheni shook her head, anger in her eyes. "Forget about that, Garrett," she said, "Max has been trying to worm that out of me since the day we met, but, even if you did know, it
wouldn't do you any good."

  Something about her words triggered a flash of memory for Garrett, a fleeting hint of something important, something that made his heart ache. He had heard those words before somewhere.

  "I'm glad you told the High Priestess the truth about that," Serepheni said, "but you must understand, they will not allow you to discover that secret. Even if you did, it would be useless to you. You would risk your life for nothing in trying to learn it."

  "Then you knew that Max wanted me to learn the secret?"

  "Of course he asked you to," she said, "He's Max... I love him Garrett, but you know he doesn't always think things through. He puts people at risk in his mad schemes... people he loves, because he doesn't think things through."

  "Then just tell me the secret," Garrett said, "I mean, if it isn't of any use to me, then why not just tell me, or tell Max, so we could forget about it?"

  Serepheni sighed and shook her head. She sat down on the edge of the cot and seemed almost to shrink in size as the breath went out of her. "There are things, Garrett... terrible things... We stand between them and the world, people like me. The priestesses... we stand between the world of men and the world of gods, and we look where others do not dare to look. We face things, Garrett. We... have the strength... no, the mindset, patterns of thought... our training that lets us witness things that others could not look upon and remain... sane. Sometimes I wonder if it is enough..."

  Garrett said nothing.

  She smiled at him, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. "There are things inside the temple, Garrett, that you do not want to find... no matter how much you think you do. I'm not protecting what is hidden here from the world outside. I'm here to protect the world from it."

  Garrett nodded slowly. He turned toward the doorway, but paused, looking back again. "What did the High Priestess mean when she said that she was looking for another spy?" he asked.

  Serepheni lifted her hands, palms up. "Someone in the city is working for the Chadiri," she said.

  "But the High Priestess thinks that it is someone inside the temple?" Garrett said.

  "I don't know," she admitted.