by B. T. Narro
“Stop!” Jonen’s voice came from behind him. Neeko threw open the window. Pyforial energy squeezed around his leg as he started to climb out, pulling him back to the ground. He tried to shake it off, turning to find not only Jonen but his pregnant sister, Jessila, there as well.
“Neeko!” Jonen shouted with surprise. Aggression crossed his face. Neeko got a hand in front of his neck just before he felt energy squeeze around it.
Jonen pulled a dagger. Kayren shrieked and ran to him. She tried to rip it from his hands, distracting him enough for the energy around Neeko’s neck to come loose. Jonen stopped fighting her, letting Kayren take the weapon so she wouldn’t cut herself.
Silence came over the room as everyone looked at each other. Neeko thought about going for the window again, but he would just be pulled back.
Jonen caught sight of the broken chest near the wardrobe. His eyes bulged as he grabbed it and looked inside to find nothing. He glared at Neeko. “Kayren, what’s he doing here?”
“He’s a friend!” she said, more irritated than scared.
“He’s not a friend. You don’t know anything about him.”
“It’s you I know nothing about! Are you really part of the PCQ?”
Jonen took his eyes away from Neeko for just a moment, showing Kayren a comforting look. “We’ll talk about that later.” Then his glare returned to Neeko while Jessila stepped out from behind her brother, a hand guarding her stomach.
“Give me the scrolls you took,” she demanded.
“And the paper from this chest,” Jonen added.
Holding his hand in front of his neck, Neeko almost took a chance at jumping out the window. But then he noticed the dagger in Kayren’s hand. Jonen and his sister shifted their glance to it as well.
“Kayren, hold it with both hands!” Neeko yelled.
But it was too late. Jonen had wrapped pyforial energy around part of the hilt. Neeko could feel the energy there as he tried to get his own around it, instead wrapping around Jonen’s energy.
Their energies wrestled for space on the handle while Kayren tried to keep hold of the dagger, falling to her knees with the effort.
“Let go so you don’t cut yourself!” Jonen screamed.
“Stop!” she shrieked back.
“Let go!” he demanded again.
Jonen’s sister raised her arm, and Neeko felt more energy muddling together around the small space on the hilt. With the three of them pulling, it became too much for Kayren. The blade flew out of her hands and into a wall.
Neeko fought against the other two mages’ hold on the weapon, trying to will it beneath Kayren’s bed so he could go for the window once more. But Jonen was stronger than Neeko, and with Jessila’s help, he couldn’t even compete.
As the dagger pointed toward him, all he could do was attempt to make it miss. Jonen and his sister propelled the dagger, and Neeko ducked and pushed his energy upward so that the blade shot into the wall above him.
It landed close enough for him to get his foot on top of it. He could feel the cushiony energy beneath his shoe as he got his other foot on top of it and held the wall for balance. Kayren kept yelling for them to stop.
Neeko had to scream to be heard above her. “Just let me leave! If you don’t, Kayren or your sister could get hurt.”
The dagger suddenly stopped squirming beneath his foot.
“You can leave once you give me the scrolls and that paper you took,” Jonen told him.
Neeko held up his hands in surrender. “Agreed.”
He dipped his shoulder, removing his bag. Then he reached in and took out the ten scrolls he’d stolen from Jessila.
With haste, he removed the crumpled paper from his pocket and opened it for a look. A heartbeat later, it was pulled from his hands with pyforial energy. Startled, Neeko put up his arm to protect his neck, but Jonen didn’t attack. The mage focused instead on pulling the paper through the air until he could grab it.
Neeko had been able to make out only that it was a list of five or seven sentences. The first one started with “take away the” and then listed a letter he thought to be S, but it was already hazy in his memory.
“I’m leaving now,” he told them.
The siblings had matching icy glares, but Kayren had an even fiercer scowl as she stepped in front of Jonen. “You will tell me everything.” Her hands went to her hips.
Neeko kicked the dagger beneath Kayren’s bed, then climbed out of the window as quickly as he could. He ran without a break until he reached his aunt’s house. Isa had still been there when he left, but now, with the last light of the evening sun quickly fading, the dark house was empty.
He was quick to light a lamp and set it on the table in the front room. Thankfully Isa had left the quill and paper he’d used before he left. He removed his left boot and dumped out the dalion he kept there. Then he pulled down his sock and took out the folded scroll that had been pressed against his ankle since he’d last left this house.
He unfolded it, stretching it out on the table beside the lamp. Written on it verbatim was the same message on all ten scrolls he’d taken from Jonen’s sister. He began to scribble beneath the coded message, writing down everything he could recall from what he’d seen on the note from Jonen’s chest.
A noise from behind—it sounded like someone was in the bedroom.
He jumped to his feet, ready to fight as a silhouette emerged from the darkness. Gathering a pyforial cluster, he moved it outward, ready to choke his assailant.
“Neeko?” a weary woman’s voice asked. “Is that you?”
“Isa?” He grabbed the lamp from behind him.
“Two hells, it is you!” Shara cried out with joy.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NEEKO
As Shara stood in the doorway of the dark bedroom, she looked more beautiful than any sight Neeko had witnessed. Her black hair fell behind her bare shoulders, her soft skin calling to be touched. She’d wrapped a bedsheet around her body, but it was open at the bottom, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of her leg. Her lips were twisted in a coy smile, making it clear that she knew full well she was the best surprise he could ask for.
As he stayed by his chair, he still couldn’t quite believe his eyes. How was she standing in front of him, in his aunt’s house?
She bit her lip, holding back a laugh. “I can see you’re quite confused.”
He could only mutter one word. “How?”
Shara looked past him. “I was going to explain after we lie down because I’m utterly exhausted, but were you working on something?”
He’d almost forgotten about everything that had just happened, and the thought of getting into bed with Shara made him want to let it go completely. A fire raged through his body as he couldn’t help but wonder if she wore anything beneath the sheet. She’d told him she normally slept as bare as the day she was born if the night was warm, as it was. But they’d only ever slept indoors in a bed three times, and in each instance, Shara had kept on her underwear.
He sighed as he realized there was too much to discuss and even more to do for him to indulge in these thoughts, especially considering Shara was the best person he could think of to solve the decoded message.
“I was,” he said reluctantly. “I was attacked by a pyforial mage outside Aylinhall. She had ten scrolls that I assume were to be passed around town here, each one containing the same coded message. I just got a quick look at what I think is the answer to the code. I was about to try figuring out the message.”
Shara was nonplussed for the moment.
“Are we safe here?” she eventually asked.
“We should be.”
She let out her breath. “I suppose I should put my clothes back on and we can work through the night.”
Damn the gods.
Neeko moved the lamp to the bedroom so she could dress. Then he left, closing the door after him. Shara spoke loudly to be heard through it.
“I just got here an hour ago and met
Isa. After I explained who I was and that I was looking for you, she let me in and told me you said you would be coming back later. Steffen and I haven’t slept much in the past week, and knowing that it could be hours before you returned, I couldn’t resist the temptation of the bed.”
“So Steffen is all right?”
“Yes, and Cedri.”
A wave of relief went down his spine. “You found her?”
“On the way here from Aylinhall.”
“I never found out what happened to her. I had to run—”
“Yes, she explained everything.”
“How could she know what happened to me?”
“It was her fault that those two mages came after you.”
Neeko stumbled into a chair, his strength sapped. He’d figured this, but it still stunned him to hear it confirmed. Shara opened the door. She wore a loose dress as black and sleek as her hair, bringing out the darkness of her alluring eyes. Behind her, the bed was made. With the lamp in her hand, she walked to the table.
“Cedri is stricken with guilt.” Shara took the other chair and set it beside Neeko’s. She sat and took his hand with both of hers. “She didn’t want to tell them your room number, but they beat her badly.” Shara shook her head. “You should see her face. It’s worse than mine was when Swenn…had me.”
“I’m not angry. I was worried.”
“I’m sure you were worried about me as well.” The light of the lamp made her dark brown irises shine. “I was deathly worried about you.”
It was becoming difficult for Neeko to think of anything but kissing her, the craving starting to take over the image in his memory of the secret paper from Jonen’s chest.
He showed her how much he missed her by caressing her cheek as he smiled and nodded. “We need to talk about this scroll while it’s fresh in my mind.” He tapped it.
She turned to squint at it, the emotion gone from her eyes. “You said you found it in a pyforial mage’s possession?”
“Yes.”
He could hear Shara swallow hard. “Did you kill her?”
“No. I’ll explain everything after we look at this. I think it describes the details of an ambush.” He pointed at the second word.
She looked, then nodded. “Give me a moment to read it all.”
“I’d like to look at it again as well.”
“Na amaebush sis ot ebd stes ni asstine uofretss. Meted ata asstines laek foer ufrthreds uniestruction. Leaev aoens daey aftred erceivigns theis ucseroll. Rieds abuetd noet wieths uhaset. Od anoetds ocnfre wieth tohesrs yoeu seed ogeings teh saem uidrectinos. Tehd aapsscoed ots eb psokne upeonds raerival si niappropriaets ewathre foerd as usweim.”
Shara’s tongue clicked as her mouth came open. “Yes, an ambush, it seems.” She scooted her chair over until her legs were touching his so both of them could sit as close to the face of the scroll as possible. “And the third sentence seems to say, ‘Leave one day after receiving this scroll.’ ” Her scent invaded his senses, breaking his focus. She smelled like warmth and comfort, making him think of a crackling campfire during a night of gentle rain. “The fourth sentence seems to say something about riding with haste.”
He indulged, taking in a deep breath. “My gods. You smell too good for me to concentrate.”
She was too focused on the scroll to look at him. “I had a bath recently, at…the…” Her voice fell to an unintelligible murmur as she read Neeko’s notes at the bottom of the scroll. “How certain are you that S was one of the letters to be removed?”
“Fairly certain.”
She fell silent again. “There are a lot of them at the ends of words.”
More silence.
“And D’s…can that be another letter you saw?”
“I think it was.”
Shara tapped her lips. It seemed extraordinarily easy for her to focus, even as exhausted as she said she was. Neeko watched the give of her lips as her finger pressed against them, and all he could think about was how they would feel against his mouth. With every breath, he continued to inhale her sweet scent, realizing with more certainty that he wouldn’t be decoding the message tonight, as hard as he might try.
“We’re going to need more paper,” Neeko said. “Then we can begin guessing which letters need to be removed and start testing them. I’ll buy some tomorrow morning.”
When she didn’t look over, he wondered if she’d heard him.
“Shara?”
“Hmm?” She tore her eyes away.
He repeated what he’d just said.
She took in a breath as she sat back. “You’re right. This could take hours, even days. And it’s impossible without being able to write down our attempts on new paper. Let’s just hope the ambush isn’t tomorrow.”
Neeko stood. “So where are Steffen and Cedri?”
“Riding to Lanhine.” She yawned, then let him pull her to her feet. “And I’m sure you want to know about Darri…and why Steffen and I didn’t show in Aylinhall.”
“Yes, start at the beginning. What happened after we separated?”
“Darri wasn’t in his tent.” Holding Neeko’s hand, Shara walked with him into the bedroom. There was just enough light for him to make out the bed. They each went around to their own side as Shara spoke. “We found Darri walking somewhere, so we followed.” Neeko begin undressing, noticing Shara doing the same, the shadows of her clothes falling with a soft sound. “He led us to Commander Jaymes’ tent.”
“No, please don’t tell me…” Neeko couldn’t even ask if Darri had killed Jaymes like he’d killed Charlotte.
“Jaymes is alive. It seems that Darri tried to poison his water, but we came into the tent after he put in the poison. The truth of what he was doing there came out because of Steffen.” Neeko’s eyes had gotten used to the darkness enough to see Shara reaching across the bed for him. “Come here.”
He pressed himself close as she turned, taking his arm and pulling it over her stomach. She let out a soft moan as she sometimes did when he kissed her.
“If the four of us must separate again,” she said, “I’m staying with you.”
“Agreed.”
“Though, I was glad I went with Steffen. I saw a side of him that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.” She put her hand on Neeko’s arm, her touch cool and soothing. “I want to trust him, but I can’t bring myself to do it. He closed himself off from me after Darri’s death, becoming reticent as if he has a secret. I sometimes wonder if there’s something more to the poison he’s not telling me.”
“Darri’s poison?”
“Yes. Steffen proved that Darri had poisoned Jaymes’ water. Men searched Darri right there in the commander’s tent. They found the pouch of poison, but it wasn’t on Darri. It was on the ground near him. Darri seemed genuinely surprised about the whole thing—the poisoned water, the pouch. He was adamant that he knew nothing about any of it.”
She went silent. Neeko got a sense that whatever happened next was troubling for her to speak about. He moved closer, holding her tighter. She nuzzled back against him.
“Jaymes decided Darri was guilty. He was about to execute Jaymes when Steffen argued that he should be the one to kill him.” She paused. “Even though I looked away, I can still see it. Jaymes had driven his sword through Darri’s leg, crippling him so he couldn’t run. Steffen shot an arrow through his head. I know it was wrong for me to think that Steffen was a man of gentle nature—he was given a ‘beastslayer’ title in Ovira, after all—but his face after he killed Darri was as if he wanted to kill him ten more times.”
Neeko could understand Steffen’s feeling. There’d been many nights since Shara had killed Swenn that he felt the exact same way. Watching him die had done nothing to ease the simmering rage.
“Steffen kept the poison,” Shara said. “He told Commander Jaymes he would dispose of it where it would not reach water nor contaminate fertile ground, but I saw him take it from his pocket and put it in his bag days later when he thought I wasn’t look
ing. I’ve wanted to ask, but I figured he would just lie. Otherwise he wouldn’t have hidden it from me.”
“That is suspicious. If he plans to use the poison against our enemies, why wouldn’t he tell you?”
She tapped her fingers on his arm. “We need to watch him carefully. I believe he’s going to do everything in his power to convince you to go back to Ovira. With Darri dead, he has no other reason to stay after he finds Terren. That’s why he and Cedri are riding to Lanhine—Terren would have to cross through the city on his way to the South. They were hoping to catch up to him while I look for you here…looked for you.” She kissed his arm.
“Cedri was just as reticent as Steffen,” Neeko observed. “I believe she has even less reason to stay now that Darri’s dead.”
“She’s changed, though.”
“How?”
Shara hummed. “It’s hard to explain. It’s as if she didn’t care about anything before, including herself, and now she cares about all of us. You’ll see when we meet them in Lanhine.”
Neeko wondered whether this change was from the guilt of sending the two mages after him or if something else had done it.
“I looked for you at the Pig Belly Inn,” Shara said. “I knew you would either be there or here.”
Neeko chuckled. “Yes…I would, because I thought you might look in those two places.”
Shara gave a quick laugh. Neeko moved his hand around her stomach, coming across the two scars near her side. They were rough to his tough, especially in contrast to the rest of her. He didn’t mind them, showing her so by gently tracing his finger down one of them. He’d asked before if they still hurt, and they didn’t. More often, he’d asked if she wanted to speak about Swenn, but she never did.
She took his hand and moved it to the center of her stomach, not saying a word. Whenever she fell silent like this, he knew they were both thinking about Swenn. He wanted to talk to Shara about the incident, but he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know how he felt. There was hollowness inside of him now. He figured it would fill with time, but it had only gotten deeper.
