by B. T. Narro
When her mother pulled back, she choked down a sob so she could speak. “What happened to your beautiful face?”
Cedri laughed. “I’ll tell you everything.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
NEEKO
Neeko had little hope of finding Shara and Steffen at the Pig Belly Inn, but if he’d find them anywhere in this city, it would be there.
It was at the Pig Belly Inn where he’d first met Steffen, though Neeko had spent most of his time speaking with Effie. He couldn’t recall exactly how long Shara had worked there before the Southern army had come through, but it couldn’t have been more than a few days. He remembered opening the door to his aunt’s home to find her recently bathed and wearing a dress, looking unrecognizable. He let out a sigh as he thought of his aunt’s house. He was nervous yet greatly anticipating the visit for reasons he couldn’t figure out.
He didn’t need to go far into the city before he started seeing the damage the fires had caused. For every ten buildings, at least one was partially burned. It got worse the farther south he went, as he saw blackened shambles where stores and homes used to stand.
Coming closer to the center of the city, he walked by more beggars and found even more rubble between buildings with charred walls. It would take years to fix the damage the red priest and his men had done, but Neeko would do what he could while he was here, giving out three silver to each beggar sitting where their house used to be. It would be enough to feed them for a week or their family for a couple of days.
He longed to see Shara again. Unfortunately she wasn’t at the inn, and no one working there even remembered her name. One wall was partially burned but seemed sturdy enough.
Neeko paid to keep his horse at the inn’s stables, knowing there was no place to tie his horse at his aunt’s, and most likely not at Kayren’s, either. He planned to see her to let her know Swenn was finally dead. Kayren would never again need to worry about him coming to kill her. Swenn wouldn’t be coming after Neeko, either.
He wished he could relish this thought, but there were too many other people trying to kill him. Once he got to Ovira with Shara, he could relax.
He huffed and narrowed his eyes, preparing himself to fight against grief as he marched to his aunt’s house. He forced worries of Cedri out of his mind, then shoved away the dreadful thought that Shara and Steffen were dead as well. He already had too much to think about with his aunt.
He didn’t know who owned the house now that she was gone. Aunt Nann had to have written a will, but without him there to inherit anything, what did they do with her belongings? He didn’t even know who ‘they’ were. Did guards take care of this matter? Perhaps the lord of the land? The latter seemed more likely. In fact, the lord of Cessri probably owned it now.
The thought stopped him for the moment. The last thing he wanted was to deal with another man like Lord Crall. Yet, he had to know what became of her house. There was always the small chance that Shara and Steffen went there looking for him. He gritted his teeth and marched onward.
Soon he arrived and promptly knocked on the door. Something about the woman who answered triggered Neeko’s instincts to run. He held his ground, trying to determine what it was about her that frightened him. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, a beautiful woman certainly, but that had nothing to do with it.
It was the shape of her face. And her features…they were familiar yet in the most uncomfortable way, like waking from a nightmare to find the wraith that haunted him hidden among the shadows in his room—his mind playing a trick.
But his mind was playing no trick at this moment. She looked confused as she asked him, “Can you speak?”
He looked beyond her. This was his aunt’s house, wasn’t it? The rooms he could see were mostly empty, as if no one lived here.
“I believe this was my aunt’s house. She died while I was away.”
“Your aunt?” Her eyes filled with shock. “Neeko?”
“Yes.” He hoped she would give her name, but she chuckled instead.
“My gods, Neeko! I didn’t recognize you.” She folded her arms, looking at him sideways with a sudden scowl. “Have I aged that much that you don’t recognize me anymore?”
Her friendly tone—it was Eizle’s older sister! “Isa…” His fear dissolved as he realized he’d been uncomfortable because of her close resemblance to Swenn. They were twins, after all.
Then he realized something else. Gods, does she know about Eizle and Swenn, or will I have to tell her?
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Oh.” She made a face as if she understood. “Is it because I’ve taken your aunt’s house? Please, come in so we can speak.”
Neeko glanced around, making sure there were no watching eyes. Then he stepped inside and locked the door behind him.
Isa took two chairs from another room and set them at the only table. “I’m sure you have many questions,” she said, motioning for him to sit with her. “I would offer some food and water, but I don’t have any here. I just spend a few hours here each day selling the furniture and trying to sell the house.”
“She left it to you?” Neeko was mostly confused, though slightly offended as well. He couldn’t remember Isa and his aunt speaking more than a few times.
“Not exactly. She wanted to leave everything to you, but you couldn’t be located. Eizle’s name was next on the list, but he’d been imprisoned and has since escaped. Even if he’s found, he couldn’t inherit anything, being a criminal.”
Dread crawled through him. She doesn’t know.
“I was after Eizle on Nann’s will,” she said. “But if you want the house, it’s yours.”
Isa had always been thoughtful, making Neeko more than comfortable around her as a child. It probably helped that he used to think she was the most beautiful woman in Sumar.
“Thank you, Isa, but you can sell the house. I’m only going to be in Cessri for a few days at most.”
“Then you’re certainly welcome to stay here while you’re in the city. There’s still a bed, and I won’t sell it while you’re using it.” She laughed.
He beamed at her, forgetting until then how wonderful it felt for someone besides Shara to treat him with such care. “I would appreciate that very much.”
“Just come tell me when you leave.” She wrote down her address. “That’s where I live with my husband. We were fortunate that the fires missed us. Many of our neighbors lost their homes.”
I’ll make the Southern army pay for that.
She gently put her palms on the table. “Now tell me what happened to you. You left so long ago. Where did you go? What did you do?” She formed a sad look. “If you know about Nann’s passing, I’m assuming you’ve heard about your mother?”
He could be in Cessri for days, so he didn’t see the harm in taking the time to tell Isa everything that had happened since he’d left town—Swenn tricking him when he was eight, then coming back to kill his mother; living with his father in Lanhine, working as a carpenter; his father’s death during the attack on Lanhine; the redemption scrolls; Shara…
Thoughts of their journey interrupted him as a joyful remembrance came on, powerful enough that he forgot what he was saying. I will find her.
Isa was shocked at hearing about Swenn killing Faye. She cried for a long while, but not nearly as long as when Neeko continued his story and got to the part about Swenn murdering Eizle. This was after Neeko explained how Eizle was imprisoned in the first place—Swenn harassing him until Eizle used py to defend himself.
As Isa apologized for crying and asked him to go on, Neeko felt that she deserved the truth. He admitted the role he’d played in Eizle’s death—stopping him from killing Swenn.
Saying the words aloud sent him into a torrent of contrition, too overwhelmed by regret to feel it was appropriate to go on without giving the moment its due of tears. He let them fall down his cheeks so she could see his grief.
Sometime later, Neeko regained control of himself befor
e Isa did. The poor woman was too sympathetic for her own good, as Neeko found out the tears she shed were not for herself, but for Eizle. Her eyes were dry by the time Neeko got to Swenn’s death, and they remained that way until the end of Neeko’s story—of him coming to Cessri in hopes of reuniting with his party.
He politely asked about her when he was finished, though he was too exhausted from his own tale to do more than feign interest.
She shook her head and managed a smile. “My life has been calm and happy ever since I got away from Swenn. I’m glad to hear he’s dead.” From the anger of her words, Neeko got the sense that there were incidents between the twins that Isa might have difficulty speaking about.
He remembered Jonen telling him that Swenn would’ve raped Shara if Jonen hadn’t prevented it. Neeko squeezed his hands beneath the table, his knuckles white. “I’m glad he’s dead as well.”
They spent another hour speaking about Eizle, pyforial energy, and the war. By the end of it, they shared a hug.
“Do you mind if I use your quill and paper?” Neeko asked. There was something he needed to get down before he spent any more time walking around Cessri—where any member of the PCQ might see him.
*****
It had been a while since Kayren had given Neeko her address, but he’d thought about it too many times to have forgotten. He left his horse at the stables at Pig Belly Inn, figuring there would be no place for the animal outside her house. He only planned to be there long enough to tell her she was safe from Swenn. But he’d just spent hours at his aunt’s house after expecting a quick visit, and the same thing could happen with Kayren.
He was relieved when she answered the door and not her father or another family member. She seemed delighted to see him and invited him in.
Her home was smaller than his had been in Lanhine, only one bedroom instead of two. He figured she lived by herself. At sixteen, this was quite rare. After ensuring no one else was there, he told her the news.
“Swenn is dead.”
“Are you certain?”
“I checked his pulse.”
“You were there! What happened?”
So Neeko told her the tale. She interrupted to offer him food, but he had plenty of coin to buy his own meal later at Pig Belly Inn, where he would wait for Shara. He did have a tall glass of water, though, for his parched throat.
It wasn’t long before he finished his story.
“Thank you for coming to tell me. It’s a weight off my shoulders to know he won’t ever hunt me down for witnessing what he did to Eizle. I’m glad he’s paid for his crime.”
Neeko nodded, though he noticed her glancing nervously at the door. He figured she wanted him to leave.
He stood. “That was all I needed to say.”
“Wait, sit. I must admit something to you.” Her lips pressed together.
He sat. “What?”
“I met someone…a man—I met a man while Eizle was in prison. He’s my beau now.” Her voice carried shame. “I care for him, but I can’t help but feel guilty.”
Neeko didn’t understand. “Why tell me this? I don’t mind.”
“I know you feel guilty for Eizle’s death. So I wanted to share my guilt with you.” She looked down at her hands on the table. “I wanted to tell you when we met in Norret, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
Then Neeko realized what she wanted from him, so he gave it to her. “Kayren, it’s fine. There’s no reason for you to feel guilty. Eizle told you not to come see him in prison because he wanted you to go on with your life, didn’t he?”
She nodded. “It was the only reason I allowed myself to be courted.” She looked up. “But he doesn’t know that I went to find out about Eizle. He was gone on a long trip, as he is often. He’s due home soon, so please don’t mention it if you meet him.”
“I won’t.” Neeko began thinking of an excuse to leave, for he didn’t care about meeting anyone new, but she spoke before he could think of something.
“He knows about Eizle being imprisoned, but that’s it.” She formed a crooked smile. “He’s a pyforial mage like Eizle was.” Her voice fell to a whisper as her smile widened. “I don’t know why I keep falling for them.”
She went on to describe how she believed many women find pyforial mages attractive, but Neeko was too distracted by his own thoughts to listen. If this man is a pyforial mage, what are the chances he’s a member of the PCQ? She was still talking as he began to listen again.
“…and he’s leaving for weeks again after tonight. He’s bringing his sister here, who I’ve never met.”
His sister… “What’s his name?” Neeko tried to ask calmly, though he noticed some panic coming out through his voice.
“Jonen.”
Neeko popped to his feet—his first thought was to get out. His next thought was to warn her. But there might be something in this house to help him decode the message or at least provide more details about the ambush.
“He normally lives here with you?” His rushed words made her freeze. “Kayren! Does he live here with you?”
“Yes, why?” Her voice was almost a whisper.
“When’s he supposed to be here?” Neeko couldn’t keep still, bouncing back and forth as he glanced at the door.
Kayren pushed herself out of her seat. “He just said he would be here tonight. It could be minutes or hours.”
Neeko decided it was worth the risk. He rushed into the bedroom, Kayren chasing after him. “What is it?”
He looked for space where something might be hidden. There was room beneath the bed, a dresser with six drawers, a wardrobe about his height, and a shelf filled with books covering the other wall. Gods, there was too much to search, but he had to try. He opened the top drawer of the dresser.
“Which drawers does he use?” Neeko asked, rummaging through folded shirts for anything that didn’t feel like fabric.
“Neeko, how do you know Jonen?”
He shoved the top drawer shut, then swiftly pulled open the next drawer to find sets of pants.
“Have you heard of the PCQ?” he asked, throwing every pair of pants from the drawer onto her bed so he could check each pocket.
“Yes, they’re a group of insane pyforial mages who live in the mountains in Quosae.” He could hear from her voice he was frightening her. “Jonen isn’t one of them.”
Neeko found nothing. He went for the next drawer. “Has he spoken to you about the war or the gods?” He scooped up all the clothes and set them down on the bed.
“Neeko, you’re acting mad.”
“Answer me, Kayren. Has he mentioned the war or the gods?”
“Some to me, but more so to my father. They meet frequently to have long discussions about those things. I don’t care for them much.” Her tone grew angry as he went for the next drawer. “Will you tell me what you’re doing!”
Her father is part of the PCQ as well, Neeko realized. “I’m assuming your father introduced you to Jonen?”
She answered with dread in her tone. “He did.”
Neeko paused. How much would she believe? He started with what he found to be the most necessary.
“Jonen wants me dead.” Probably her father does as well. She looked back in shock or perhaps disbelief. He continued quickly. “The PCQ isn’t just a group of pyforial mages living in Quosae. They live everywhere, and they’re supporting the South in this war.”
Kayren looked more innocent with each passing moment, nonplussed and frightened. He was convinced she wasn’t one of them.
Neeko searched the rest of the drawers as he described his encounter with Jonen in detail. Her lips parted as she listened, no longer objecting to Neeko rummaging through the dresser. He found nothing and moved on to the wardrobe.
When Neeko got to the part about being followed by Jonen’s sister on the way here, Kayren finally spoke to interrupt him. “Jonen has a locked chest he keeps beneath that wardrobe.” Her quiet voice was thick with guilt. “I found it one day and
never asked.”
Neeko crouched down beside the wardrobe to stick his arm beneath it. He got his fingers around something and dragged it out—a wooden chest barely large enough to contain wands, daggers, or folded documents, its edges reinforced with bronze. There was a slot for a key on its front.
Neeko wedged his fingers beneath the lip and pried. The inner lock was too strong. He grabbed the sides to hold it steady and wedged py beneath the lip. The chest flew out of his hands as he willed it upward.
“Dammit.” He stood over the chest, knowing he could get it open, just not how.
Voices from outside came close to the front door, a man and a woman laughing. Kayren grabbed his arm, panicked. But the voices continued past.
He gathered a large amount of py and moved it beneath the massive wardrobe. He spread the energy out until it started to slip out from the edges.
Neeko reached out his hands, bracing himself as if he were about to lift the wardrobe with his arms and legs. As his mind told the py to lift, a grunt squeezed out from his stomach. The wardrobe floated, wobbling until Neeko steadied the energy.
He brought the wardrobe up to the ceiling, then he began to use his feet to maneuver the chest beneath one of the wardrobe’s legs. Kayren took over, kneeling down to put it in place as she squinted up at the floating wardrobe.
“There.” She jumped back. “Let it fall.”
Neeko released his hold on the py. The wardrobe crashed down, one of its stout legs barreling into the small chest. There was a sharp crack of wood, which was unfortunately loud enough to be heard by every neighbor around them.
“Kayren?” someone shouted from outside the house. It sounded as if the person was running toward the front door.
“That’s Jonen!” Kayren whispered.
The chest lay upside down against the nearest wall. Neeko flipped it over. A single scroll, short in length, plopped down from the chest’s splintered top.
Jonen was inside the house, running toward the bedroom and shouting Kayren’s name. Neeko stuffed the scroll in his pocket and rushed for the window.
