Uneasiness soured my stomach, and I remembered the attack Roze had sent me where Flame Me made a soulless army. While it didn’t apply to Gelsi and Stono, I recalled Stono’s offer to kill for me.
With those morbid thoughts, I reached my rooms. Even though I had three levels, I only possessed enough furniture to occupy one. An armoire, a desk, a single bed and night table looked lonely in the round room. I would need to do some shopping when I had the time. Right now finding souls took priority over finding curtains. Then I could be Yelena, the all-powerful Curtainfinder. Able to decorate a room in one hour.
I laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” a heart-melting voice asked from behind me.
Valek leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as if he visited me every day. Dressed as one of the Keep’s servants, he wore a gray tunic and pants.
“I was thinking about curtains.” I moved toward him.
“Curtains are funny?”
“In comparison to all my other thoughts, yes, curtains can be amusing. But you, sir, are the best thing that’s happened to me all day, all week and, now that I think about it, all season.” Two steps and I was wrapped in his arms.
“That’s the best welcome I’ve had all day.”
I could only imagine what he had been up to. His ability to get into any building undetected made him the most feared man in Sitia. And his immunity to magic terrified the Master Magicians. He was Commander Ambrose’s best weapon against them.
“Do I want to know why you’re here?” I asked.
“No.”
I sighed. “Should I know why you’re here?”
“Yes. But not now.” He leaned over and his lips met mine, and it no longer mattered why.
The late-afternoon sun woke me and reminded me about my meeting with Gede. I nudged Valek awake. We huddled under the blankets against the icy air.
Valek moved to get up. “I’ll make a fire—”
“No!” I grabbed his arm, stopping him.
He peered at me with concern. I marveled at the rich sapphire color of his eyes and how they contrasted with his pale skin.
“You’ll need to reapply your skin-darkening makeup,” I said, brushing a black strand of hair away from his face.
He held my hand. “Nice try, but you are going to tell me why you don’t want a fire.”
“Only if you tell me why you’re here.” I countered.
“Agreed.”
I filled him in on the series of events with Cahil, Ferde and the Fire Warper.
“It’s ridiculous to think the Commander is working with these Vermin.” Valek looked thoughtful. “So the Wannabe King has chosen to ignore the truth about his birth. You got to admit his ability to dupe the entire Council is impressive.”
“Not the entire Council. Irys doesn’t believe Cahil and I’m sure there are others.” I waved my hand in a shooing motion. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not my concern. I’ve been told to be a good little student and mind my own business.”
Valek snorted. “Like you would listen to them.”
“I agreed.”
He laughed long and hard. “You. Not. Get involved.” Valek paused to catch his breath. “You’ve been in the midst of trouble ever since you became the Commander’s food taster, love. You would never walk away.”
I waited until he wiped the tears from his cheeks. “This is different. Then I didn’t have a choice.”
“Oh? And you have a choice now?”
“Yes. I’ll let the Council deal with these Vermin and I’ll stay out of trouble.”
“But you know they can’t counter them.”
“They don’t want my help.”
Valek sobered and a hard edge glinted in his gaze. “What happens when the Vermin win?”
“I’ll stay with you in Ixia.”
“What about your parents? Leif? Moon Man? Irys? Do they come with you? And what happens when these Warpers with their incredible blood magic decide to follow you to Ixia? What choice will you have then?” He studied my face. “You can’t let your fear of the Fire Warper stop you from—”
Annoyed, I snapped. “The Council has stopped me. They’re the ones who are against me.” Besides, I didn’t want to think about my family—they were all grown people able to look after themselves. Then why did guilt tug at my heart and doubt squeeze my chest?
“You just said there’re a few Councilors on your side. Once the Council hears Marrok’s evidence tonight, they’ll believe you about the Wannabe King.”
“How did you know about Marrok?” Irys had just told me this morning. I had insisted on attending Marrok’s questioning, but she said the session was closed, for Councilors only.
Amusement returned to Valek’s face. “Servants. Their information network is far superior to a corps of trained spies.” In an offhand way, he added, “I’ll tell you about the session later tonight.”
“You rat! It’s a closed meeting. Only you would try to pull it off.”
“You know me, love.”
“I know. You crave a challenge and you’re cocky.”
He grinned. “I wouldn’t call it cocky. A certain amount of self-confidence is needed, especially for my line of work.” He turned serious. “And for yours.”
I ignored the implication. “Speaking of work, we made a deal. Why are you here?”
He stretched his arms over his head and yawned, pretending to consider my question.
“Valek,” I warned, poking him in the ribs. “Tell me.”
“The Commander sent me.”
“Why?”
“To assassinate the Sitian Council.”
17
I GAPED AT VALEK. Assassinating the Council would help the Vermin and support Cahil’s claims. “You’re not—”
“No. It’s the wrong thing to do right now. The Commander based his decision on the state of Sitian affairs before these Vermin showed up. He allowed me a degree of flexibility on this mission. We need to find out what’s going on. The Council meeting tonight might reveal crucial information.”
“We?”
“Yes. We.”
I sighed. I was disobeying direct orders from the Master Magicians and the Council again, getting involved with Sitian affairs. Would I ever agree with their decisions or was I deep down an Ixian just pretending to be impartial? Perhaps my session with Gede would be useful. I needed guidance as well as information.
Valek and I agreed to meet back in my room later tonight. He left.
Apprehension swirled around me like a thick fog as I dressed and walked to the Citadel’s guest quarters. The small clouds in the sky darkened as the light faded. The streets hummed with people finishing up their tasks for the day. Lamplighters began lighting the vast network of street lanterns. The main thoroughfares would be lit, but the back alleys would remain dark.
My concern grew as I passed a number of Vermin sauntering along the streets as if they owned the place. I avoided their gazes and wondered how the Council could be so swayed by Cahil’s words. Perhaps a Warper had influenced them with magic, making them more agreeable.
The Citadel’s guest quarters were located in a building behind the Council Hall and next to the stables. The two-story structure housed many apartments and I peered through the gloom, trying to determine which one Gede occupied. A shadow moved next to an entrance. Moon Man stepped from a pool of darkness.
“This way,” he said.
No emotion showed on his face. Gone was his sense of mischievousness and the spark of amusement in his eyes. I missed them.
“Moon Man, I—”
“You must not keep Gede waiting,” he said in a flat voice. “Your Story Weaver is ready for you.”
He ushered me inside, closing and locking the door behind us. Heat pressed against my skin as if I stood in an oven. A roaring fire blazed in the hearth, illuminating the living area. All the furniture had been pushed against the walls. Gede sat cross-legged on a mat in front of the fire. A few Sandseeds sat in the
cleared space in the center of the room.
“Come. Sit.” Gede pointed to a mat in front of him.
I hesitated.
“You are the Soulfinder. You should not be afraid of fire. Sit or learn nothing.”
Removing my cloak and pack, I placed them by the entrance. I longed to pull my bow from its holder but ignored the desire. Instead, I joined Gede on the floor. Sweat ran down his round face. His skin appeared black in the firelight. A trick of the light revealed an intricate tattoo design connecting the scars on his bare arms. But when I blinked, the design was gone.
“As a Soulfinder you can examine a soul, twist it, hold it and return it. You can send your soul to others. And you can project your soul to the other worlds, and return without any harm being done to your body,” Gede instructed.
“The other worlds?”
“The fire world, the sky and the shadow world. You know about the shadow world from Moon Man. Moonlight is the gateway to the shadow world. The sky is the final resting place of our essence. The fire world is what some call the underworld. What it is supposed to be under, I have no idea. But that is where the Fire Warper lives. And where you must go.”
“Why? Why must it be me?”
Gede’s disappointment was evident by the sagging of his shoulders. “You are the Soulfinder. The Fire Warper’s soul is there.”
The heat from the room baked into my body. My shirt clung to my back. “How do I get there?”
“Through the fire.”
When I didn’t say anything, Gede continued. “Only you can go in and leave without being harmed. The Warpers have been feeding this creature with souls from the Kirakawa ritual. His strength grows.”
The flames in the fire pulsed with an urgency. They swelled to man-size. I looked at Gede in alarm, but he appeared serene.
“He waits for you. Go to him,” Gede said.
I stood. “No. I’m not ready. I don’t even know how to fight him. With magic?”
Gede sneered with disdain. “You have no idea, do you? All the better.”
Confused, I glanced between Gede and the fire, expecting the Fire Warper to step from the conflagration.
“He comes for you. If you will not go on your own, then I will provide an incentive.” He snapped his fingers. “Moon Man, show your pupil what she needs to do.”
Moon Man strode toward the blaze. The flames reached out to him. He extended his hands and the fingers of fire wrapped around his arms.
“No,” I yelled. “Get back.” I grabbed Moon Man’s shoulders and pulled to no avail.
The tendrils of fire advanced and crawled over my hands. A burning excitement tingled and souls writhed in agony within the depths of the blaze. Caught between worlds. Hundreds of them. They dragged us toward them.
My first instinct had been to resist, but their need for freedom, for relief clawed at my body. I needed to help them. Leaning with Moon Man, I pushed forward. The fire burned on my skin, but the pain stayed bearable and a cooling relief lurked on the other side. If I could just get through.
A hand tugged on my shoulders. I tried to shake the person off. “It’s okay. They need me.”
An arm from outside the fire world circled my neck and squeezed. My hands still clutched Moon Man’s shoulders, trapped in the fire world. “No. Stop. I must…”
The souls ceased their pleading and flinched. “Wait.” The word wheezed from my lips as I strained for air. But they hid and cowered. “I’ve come to help—”
“But who will help you, my little bat?” the Fire Warper asked.
I lost my grip on the Story Weaver. Without the breath to speak, I projected, Do something! into Moon Man’s mind.
I can not. I have no power here.
The fire world blurred into a blob of orange and yellow. I plucked at the arm around my neck, but my hands weighed a hundred pounds. The blob transformed into black.
I woke. Lying on my back, I squinted and blinked until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The cold air moved like silk over my hot body. My head throbbed and the skin on my hands and arms sizzled with pain. I drew a thread of magic and used it to soothe my head and heal the blisters.
“How about helping me,” Leif said. He held out his arms. They had been scorched.
Leif sat next to me. We were in an alley in the Citadel. Concentrating, I pulled power and healed his burns. My energy sapped, I leaned back against a wall as a wave of dizziness made my head spin.
“What happened?” My voice croaked as pain ringed my neck.
“I had business in the Citadel tonight and thought I’d wait for you by the guest quarters. Out of nowhere Valek appeared.” Leif paused, but when I failed to explain, he continued. “He muttered a comment about a Council meeting and asked where you were. By the firelight blazing through the windows, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Valek picked the lock and we peeked in time to see you and Moon Man hug the fire.”
He wiped soot from his face with a sleeve. “Valek attacked the Sandseeds inside and yelled for me to get you. Gede screamed for me to leave you alone, that you need to learn. Valek’s scarier than Gede, so I listened to him, but I couldn’t pull you away from the fire. I choked off your air until you passed out. Carried you out here.”
I touched my neck. “Did you do the same for Moon Man?”
“He was too far in. I couldn’t reach him.” Leif’s voice cracked with anguish. “Does the Fire Warper have him?”
“I don’t know. It was strange. I’m not certain what just happened.” My brain felt overcooked and logic stuck to the sides of my skull like a burnt crust. I needed another opinion. “Where’s Valek?”
“Disappeared. But he left your cloak and pack. And orders.” Leif smiled ruefully. “We are to leave the Citadel as soon as possible.”
“Did he say why?”
“No. Just to meet him about two miles south of the Citadel.”
I stood, wrapped my cloak around me and shouldered my pack. My legs protested the weight. “Let’s get our horses and supplies from the Keep.”
Leif shook his head. “He said not to return to the Keep for any reason.”
I mulled over the implications. Valek had been in the closed Council session where they questioned Marrok. Evidence must have been gleaned, but obviously not in our favor. So much for my promise to visit Gelsi.
We fled the Citadel and camped in a farm field west of the main road. With no supplies, and me refusing to let Leif light a fire, a miserable night loomed. We huddled in the dark.
Leif muttered over Valek’s reason for sending us here. I cursed my own stupidity; I didn’t have to wait for Valek. I could contact Irys myself.
I asked Leif to keep watch.
“Better than freezing to death,” he said.
Lying on the hard ground, I projected my thoughts. Irys’s tower sparked with life. And instead of finding the Master Magician sleeping, she was bent over a handful of books in her study. Because of the bond we shared, her thoughts were open to me.
Irys, I said in her mind.
Yelena! Thank fate! Are you okay?
I’m fine.
Where are you?
I don’t know if I should answer. What happened at the Council session?
A long pause. Marrok confessed.
To what? He didn’t do anything.
To freeing Ferde and conspiring against Sitia.
Stunned, my mind blanked for a moment. What…what was his motive?
Just like Cahil said. Marrok wanted to get Cahil arrested and be in charge of Cahil’s men. But…
Go on, I urged.
There’s a new wrinkle. Marrok conspired to team up with Ferde and the Daviians to provoke a war with Ixia.
Why is that new? We already know the Daviians want war.
The new part is Marrok named accomplices. Another pause. You and Leif.
My body numbed. Unbelievable. Someone must have forced Marrok to confess. It’s all a lie. Did you feel any magic being used? How can the Council swallow that? The t
houghts tumbled one after another.
Unless you have some proof otherwise, the Council has signed an arrest warrant for you and Leif. They wish to capture you so you can be safely executed.
I almost laughed at the words safely and executed said together. The whole situation was ridiculous.
I’m not supposed to be telling you this either. I could be incarcerated in the Keep’s dungeon if the Council finds out. Bain and I are already being watched for disagreeing with them. They’ve gone quite mad.
That’s putting it mildly.
What are you going to do? Irys asked.
There has to be a reason the Council has gone mad. Discovering the reason should be next. Guess I really was going to stick my nose in Sitia’s business. Nothing like having a warrant for your execution to get a girl motivated.
But all the clans will be alerted to your arrest warrant, and there’s already talk of a reward. There’s no safe place for you in Sitia.
I’ll figure something out, and I think it’s best if I don’t contact you again for a while. You’re already under suspicion. I don’t want to compromise you any further.
Good point. Be very careful, Yelena.
I’ll try. But you know me.
Yes, I do. So I’ll say it again. Be very careful.
I pulled my awareness back, breaking our connection. Exhaustion dragged at my body and I would have drifted to sleep if Leif hadn’t bumped my arm.
“Oh, no you don’t, little sister. You were gone a long time. Tell me what’s happening.”
I filled Leif in on the details and managed to shock him into a rare silence.
“So what do we do now?” Leif finally whispered.
“We wait for Valek.”
Valek arrived near dawn. He rode Kiki and had Rusalka in tow. The saddlebags bulged with supplies. Fatigue lined his face.
He peered at me. “You know?”
“Yes.”
Valek dismounted. “Good. Saves time. The Citadel and Keep are crawling with soldiers looking for you.”
“How did you get the horses out then? A secret spy maneuver?” Leif asked.
“No. A distraction at the Keep’s gate, and I bribed the guards at the Citadel’s south entrance.”
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