He hadn't loved her, not really. She hadn't loved him, either. They tolerated and respected each other, and that was enough. She had only been paired with him so her human half could strengthen the Nightshadow line. He would've preferred to be paired with an elf of purer and more aristocratic blood, or at least another warlock, but he was obligated to do what Fathomless Mother commanded. They both were. Benny's choices were stripped from her the day the Jarrah stole her from her home, but in many ways Radamar was just as much a captive as she was.
She stared at the book. Moisture wicked up its rumpled pages. She had no intention of rescuing the tome, not this time. It had caused her enough grief and it deserved to be punished. It reminded her that she was still a prisoner. She was even more confined now than she was in Mountain Home, and she had lost everything and everyone except the awkward body she couldn't escape and the–
“Gods-damned books.” Benny side-eyed the remaining members of her pathetic library. She hugged her knees as she fought the urge to make them join Into the Night in the mud. If she destroyed all of her books she would be even more bored than she already was. Books made for better company than moss, mud, and plipping rain. She was allowed to socialize with the other inmates at the assigned times, but that wasn't enough to satisfy her need for contact. The others were ill, insane, or irredeemably deranged. Benny was none of those things. She was only at the prison because Fathomless Mother had found someone she liked better and decided to toss Benny away to be forgotten.
She had already been there too long, but this particular torment wouldn't last much longer. Benny heard the change now, the steady scuff of soft-soled boots beneath the plip, plip, plip of the rain. The guards and wardens wore hard soles, with metal capping their toes and spurs at their heels. A simple whistled melody bounced off the walls.
That was it. That was the sound she was waiting for. Damn the books, then.
Benny leaned over her knees and swept her arm through the stack. The books flew off the stool and scattered around the cell.
Scuff. Scuff. Scuff. Louder, louder, louder, then silence. The soft-soled walker was next to her cell, likely reading her identification plaque.
Benny stretched her legs out before standing. She cautiously approached the barred door. The walker's vivid blue eyes brightened as he saw her. The rest of his face was covered by a lightweight Satlan scarf and his hair was hidden beneath a hood. He was human, but taller and broader of shoulder than most. He carried a serrated Auran broadsword on his back and a pair of dwarven push daggers on his hips.
“Hello, Belinda Vale. This little label says you're a highly skilled mage and extremely dangerous. Should I believe that?” He winked at her and leaned against the bars.
“You're late, Dad.” Benny stepped closer so she could hold her father's reaching hand.
“Sorry about that. The Jade Realm is under new management and I had to find the right people to bribe. You wouldn't believe how much I had to pay to get you out of here without causing a fuss. So, you want me to let you out and break that anti-magic shackle, or should I leave you here a little longer? You're extremely dangerous, so I'm just not sure what I oughta do with you.”
“Sard off, Mordegan,” Benny said with a smirk.
“Oh? I've not seen you in six years, and now I come to your rescue only to find my sweet little girl's become just as vulgar as her big brother.” Mordegan winked again and hoisted one of his daggers.
“Yeah, well, we got it from you. Love you, Dad. Now get me out of here.”
“My pleasure.” Mordegan jammed the dagger into the door lock. He twisted it until it popped, then stepped back and swept his arm before him. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Benny shoved the door open and stepped into his embrace. He smelled of oranges and cardamom, a combination that ignited a longing for her lost childhood. He rested his chin in her hair until she tilted her head to look up at him. “How are we going to get out of here?”
Mordegan shrugged and looked down the corridor. “Same way I came in. We can stop by cell 35B if you like. I noticed it was occupied by one R. Nightshadow. Warlock. Potentially dangerous. Subdued by severe brain trauma. Catatonic. The guards are occupied. Would you like to further neutralize her before we leave?”
“Ranalae Nightshadow?” Benny raised an eyebrow and shivered. “No, won't waste our time on her. I've seen her. Can't walk, can't talk. I don't think she's Ranalae anymore, just a shell. I could kill her, but death would be a mercy she doesn't deserve. If there's anything left of her I want it to rot. I want her to suffer for her crimes.”
Mordegan nodded. “Interesting. Her son chose the same fate for her, and for the same reason. Let's go.”
THE RAIN FADED TO A tepid mist by the time Benny and Mordegan reached the beached skiff. Claw Island was inaccessible by anything but small transport boats. Coral reefs kept larger vessels from venturing anywhere near its shores.
A figure sat at the prow. Hooded and clad entirely in gray, the slight person nearly disappeared into the clouded afternoon sky.
“Who is that?” Benny asked. She nudged Mordegan's side and he put a protective arm around her shoulders.
“In a minute. Let's get away from this gods-damned haunt first.”
Benny held up her right arm. “Shackle, Dad.”
Mordegan's hand ventured to his dagger. “Oh. Right. You certain you wanna be able to use your magic again? It's caused you nothing but trouble to this point.”
“Dad, no. I mean yes. Take it off. Losing my magic has felt like being blindfolded with my limbs bound together behind my back. I can breathe and scream, but that's about it.”
Mordegan let go of the dagger hilt and instead opened the tool pouch on his belt. He braced Benny's gloved hand and picked at the lock on her wrist. She never took those fingerless gloves off, not unless she had to switch them out for a cleaner pair. Her sleeve slid back slightly as Mordegan worked, exposing a dense collection of tiny runic tattoos.
“Did you do that to yourself or did they do it to you? Did you go forest elf on me, or is this something else?” Mordegan asked. He ran his thumb along a line of runes and the shackle dropped to the ground.
Benny shook out her wrists and covered her exposed skin. “Don't want to talk about it.”
“Maybe later?”
“Maybe.” She kicked the shackle aside and the invisible binds on her soul released. She exhaled and stepped across the sand toward the skiff. “I already feel better. Haven't even done any magic yet.”
“Try not to do anything big, at least until we get out of the Jade.” Mordegan helped her into the skiff, then shoved the small boat into the waves before climbing in himself.
“We're not going back to Jadeshire?” Benny asked. She stared at the third person in the skiff, the slight figure who so far had only tilted their head to the side and stared back through dark goggles.
“Not safe. Sarding Starbrights took over the realm. They haven't yet figured out that I was working for the Goldtrees, but that's only a matter of time. This little escapade ought to hand it right to them.”
“Where's the rest of our family?”
Mordegan shrugged and loosened the scarf from his face. He was fifty, but his unlined and clean-shaven face made him appear ten years younger. He lowered his hood, then combed his fingers through his honey-blond hair. He was grayer than Benny remembered. “Safe places. I sent Belda and our kids to her family in Stonecreek. The older kids went wherever they felt was safest, most likely to their moms' clans. I got Cora and Roshan—Ragan's Fae sister and brother—I got them and their families passage to a forgotten area of the Faelands, as far from the war front as possible. Didn't wanna send them there, but Fae aren't safe in any of the Bacra realms proper.”
“And Ragan?” Benny asked. Tension crept through her shoulders. Ragan was eleven years older than her, but he had always been her favorite sibling. “Is he okay?”
“I don't know where the hell he is,” Mordegan said with a sigh. �
��I mean, I know he's alive because he sent me a falcon telling me his mother was dead, but he couldn't tell me where he was so I couldn't send the falcon back to him. Falcon was an odd wild type, not a homing breed. All I know is he's alive and he's with one of Rin Sylleth's boys. The rest of what's happened with him since you were taken . . . well, I explained it to you already in the letters.”
Benny winced and looked away. She had not been prepared the day six months earlier when one of her father's falcons came to her slit of a cell window to drop off a lengthy note detailing the family news she had missed during her four years with the Jarrah and year-and-a-half in the cell. Her sweet little nephew Alon had died while she was gone, and his death had torn Ragan's family apart. She was missing a person of her own, and she needed to know. “Dad, did you find her? Did you find my daughter?”
Mordegan took one hand off the oar and touched her knee. “Yes.”
“Is she okay? Where is she?”
“Your mother's got her.”
Benny's heart dropped. So far, so far away. How did she get there? Benny would do everything she could to reclaim her child, but would the little girl remember her? Would she want to be with a mother she no longer knew? She was only two years old when Ranalae tore Benny away from her. She was four now. “How...?”
Mordegan glanced toward his silent gray companion as he resumed rowing. “Your . . . Radamar Nightshadow teleported her to your mother a little over a year ago. He said he didn't know where you were taken and he didn't know if he'd be alive much longer. He didn't think he could protect her and didn't think she was safe in the Jade Realm or with any of his family, so he took her to your mother. I'm not sure what your relationship with him was like, but seems he loved your little girl enough to keep her safe.”
“Our little girl. Yes, he adored her. Do you think he's dead?” Benny's heart wasn't sure if it should feel sorrow or relief. Maybe little of both. Unmasked, Radamar was gentle and soft-spoken, and she knew he would never have hurt her. He was kind, if aloof. Within the shelter of the Jarrah mask, however, her husband was a cruel monster. Never to her, of course, but he was nothing but vicious toward the victims the Jarrah claimed. Brother Despair was a moniker rightfully earned.
“Most of the Nightshadows are dead, or missing and presumed dead. Dunno about Radamar specifically. None of my informants were able to find any trail of him. I'm sorry. Did you love him?” Mordegan tilted his head until his neck popped, then looked past Benny's shoulder as the last gray edge of Claw Island disappeared into the mist.
“No,” Benny replied, rubbing her right wrist. She felt strange with the weight of the shackle lifted, naked despite her body being completely clothed. “I . . . I didn't love him, but I guess I cared about him. Didn't choose to marry him, and I wasn't his choice, either. Still, he loved Radella as much as I do. He was a good father even though he wasn't always a good person. I'm certain he did what he thought was best for her. I need her back now, though. I don't need anything else now that I'm free, just her.”
“We're taking you to her. I know it's hard, but try to be patient. It's gonna take a while.”
“As long as it isn't forever.” Auberline. That's where Benny's mother was, but neither Benny nor Mordegan would say the name aloud. It wasn't safe to speak of destinations when there was a possibility they were being hunted. It also wasn't safe to speak of such things before strangers. Benny nodded toward the gray figure. “Okay, now who the sarding hell is this misty little shit?”
Mordegan cocked his head toward his companion, “Belinda Vale, I'd like you to meet my friend Juna. Show her your face, Juna.”
“Too bright.” The voice within the hood was muffled and barely audible.
“Just for a couple seconds. I've seen your eyes in plenty brighter light than this.”
“I don't trust her. She was one of them.” Juna ran a gloved hand along the wall of the skiff.
Mordegan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know, but she isn't now. Wasn't her choice to be one, neither. Unless you wanna head out on your own to follow the rest of your people, three of us are gonna be together for a while, so you need to learn to trust one another. Benny's like you, in a way. Blue magic, mage magic. None of that cockflaming warlock shit.”
Benny held out her hands, palms up. Blue vapor arced between her fingers. She condensed it into a light dolphin and sent it swimming through the gray waves. This was easier than she expected. Two years in chains hadn't diminished her ability to manifest light forms. It was as comfortable and natural to her as it was before Claw Island. It would take some practice to return her higher-order spells to their previous strength.
Juna watched the dolphin leap, then disappear beneath the choppy water. A sparking spider burst from Juna's own hand. It skittered across the boat and exploded near Benny's feet, leaving a charred sunburst on the hull.
“Corporeal manifestation. Unstable, but impressive,” Benny said with an uncertain smile. “I can help you develop your skills if you like. You said it's too bright for you. Would you like me to make it a little darker? Will you let me see your face if I do that?”
“Mages make light, not dark. That's a warlock skill.” Juna's head lowered.
Benny shrugged and rubbed her nose. “I can darken without invoking shadows. Shadows wouldn't listen to me, anyway. What I can do is wrap the boat in a blue cloud, and that will block out some of the sunlight. Not that there is much sunlight today. These clouds are thick.”
“Sunlight is too much sunlight.” Juna looked toward Mordegan and shrugged. “Go ahead. I want to see.”
Benny hummed through an exhale and pulled the energy of the mist into a condensed cloud. The moisture glowed blue as it slowly swirled around the skiff. This was easy, as easy as breathing. She had missed feeling these deep breaths of the universe fill her body. Energy coursed through her. She was more awake than she'd been in two years.
The blue cloud thickened and the light grew dimmer. She stretched her arms to the sides and regarded Juna with vague impatience. “Dark enough now, or would you prefer darker?”
“Dark enough.” Juna's hand raised to remove the goggles. Round, luminous eyes the color of carnelian regarded Benny with undisguised suspicion. Juna pushed back his hood, revealing shimmering black hair and coppery skin. His features were delicate and angular like an elf's, but his race hadn't been fully elven in at least a thousand years.
“You're Uldru.” In her surprise, Benny dropped the cloud. It fell over them as a light rain. “Dad, where did you find an Uldru?”
Juna pulled the hood over his head before the rain subsided, but left his eyes uncovered. “He didn't find me. I came to him. Rin said he could teach me how to fight. I was a slave. Was born as one and so were my ancestors. She freed us from the forge beneath the city, her and her elven mate and her orcs. They killed the Jarrah and the Varaku and set us free. I told Rin I'd repay her by learning how to defend my people so I could then teach them. Mordegan teaches me. My people left the Jade Realm when the Starbrights rose. I'll join them again when I've learned enough.”
Mordegan narrowed his eyes and shook his head, but the rhythm of his rowing didn't falter. “Benny, you've been locked away long enough that you shouldn't know what an Uldru is. I never mentioned them in my notes. You mind explaining?”
Benny ran her fingertips down the paired scars on her cheeks. They were healed to barely visible by the time Ranalae threw her away, so she doubted her father had noticed them in the gray light. She felt them, though, felt them every moment of every day. “They took me while I slept. I woke to masks and red robes and a woman calling me Sister Veil. It took me a while to realize she wasn't calling me by my last name, but instead Veil, like a shroud. They did things to me that I won't go into right now, and then they married me to Radamar and told us we had to have children together. That's what the Nightshadows do. They breed things with purpose, including themselves. They breed strength and magic into their own bloodline and try to remove it from others.
“I was not initiated as a Jarrah because they mostly wanted me as a broodmare, but they still called me Sister Veil. Then Radella was two and the Jarrah leader expressed disappointment in me because I wasn't pregnant again yet. She dressed me in the robes and mask and took me underground. I met the Varaku, and I saw the Uldru slaves. I was horrified. Fathomless Mother took me home and left me to think about my place in the world. I confronted my husband about what I'd seen, and he acted like I was ridiculous, like I was complaining about the grass growing or some other mundane thing. He was born into the order and grew up as a Jarrah, and he said to me, 'Belinda, they are not what we are. Things below us must remain below us.' Fathomless Mother came back and I refused to be initiated. I couldn't live with being a slaver, or with raising my daughter to be one.
“She was furious with me. She said that if I was anyone else she'd leave me underground to die. She took me to Claw Island, told me a suitable replacement had come of age, and warned that if I revealed her identity or told anyone the things I'd seen she would kill Radella. She's as good as dead now, and so is her order, so now I can tell you because I have nothing to fear. I have worn their masks and learned some of their secrets, but I am no Jarrah.”
Juna stared at Benny, his eyes narrowed. He was healthier-looking than any of the poor Uldru she had seen underground, and she found him strikingly beautiful. He traced his fingers down his cheeks in an echo of the motion Benny had done minutes before. “I believe you, but I can't trust you. Maybe someday.”
“Good enough for now,” Mordegan said. He sighed through an exaggerated exhale and continued to row toward the distant, mist-veiled shore.
4
Tessen
“You're dead,” Iefyr growled. His knife slid along Tessen's throat, releasing a tiny droplet of blood.
Spellkeeper Page 3
