Xae glanced back toward the cabin, the longing clear in his eyes before looking back at Mariah. “I’ll be ready.”
“I want you to stay here, Xae. It’s probably nothing.” The heavy stone that had settled in the bottom of her gut said otherwise. “There’s no reason for you to go.”
“No reason? If something is wrong with Shira, if she’s in danger, there’s every reason! She saved my life, helped me rescue my family. What kind of a person would I be if I didn’t help when she needed me?”
“A living one!” Mariah snapped. Her nails dug into her palms, but she welcomed the pain. Whatever she had done before, Simone would never forgive her if she let him die. She’d never forgive herself. Trying to control the shaking in her voice, she continued. “Listen, like I said, it’s probably nothing. And if it is …”—she swallowed hard—“I promise to send word if there’s trouble.”
He stood there for a long moment, staring hard at her, his black eyes pools of nothingness in the shadows of the night.
She shuddered. “I promise,” she repeated.
“All right, but I’m going to hold you to it,” he murmured, and then he surprised her by pulling her into a tight embrace. “Don’t go thinking you need to do everything on your own, Mari. You’re not the only chosen, you know? We’re in this together. I won’t stand by and let you be stuck in the dungeons again or worse …”
“Xae!” She pulled back. “Don’t come unless I send word.”
He didn’t answer her for several seconds. “Mari, we both know you’ll never send word. You’ll try to do it all on your own.” Somehow, despite her never telling him, he seemed to know how terrified she was by the thought of her friends being imprisoned as she had been.
“I won’t be alone. I’ll have Shira.” She tried to loosen the tightness that had enveloped her chest by letting out a short laugh. “Look at us, arguing over something we don’t even understand.” One more deep breath. “Xae, I promise to send word if we need you.”
“And to tell me if Shira or her family are in trouble?” Mariah remembered Xae’s particular fondness for Shira’s mother, Rose.
She nodded and muttered, “Yes, Xae. I promise.”
“I will haunt you if you break that promise, Mari. I’ll sit outside your cave and scratch and caw every night, so you’ll never sleep again.”
This time, her laughter wasn’t forced. “Oh, Xae. I really hope it’s nothing.” This time, she hugged him. Resting her chin on his head, she thought about what might be happening with her friend across the sea and understood how torn he was. She knew he didn’t want to leave his family, but he had seen the kind of things that were out there, knew that while he and his sisters were free, there were so many others that weren’t.
Even amidst the relative safety of their loved ones in Cillian, as long as the Ceo San of Varidian and the citizens of the world were still under threat by King Rothgar, she doubted either of them would ever know true peace.
* * *
A little while later, Mariah watched Xae disappear into the cabin, sparing one last look back at her, the guilt clear on his face even now. He was still just a kid. Did he even realize that? Or had the events of the past year sucked all of the innocence out of him?
She didn’t really remember ever feeling like a child herself. As she examined her memories, her mother’s voice harried her thoughts as she took her time walking back to Gwyn’s cottage. It had been all … “Be careful, Mariah. You don’t want someone to see.” … “It don’t matter if it’s hot. Put your cloak back on this instant!” … “Get back in this house right now, child!” … “Go help your father, girl, and stop starin’ out that window. Those kids playin’ out there’ll be workin’ soon enough as well. This world don’t leave us no time to be frolickin’ about all day. Go on, now. Do something useful.”
At one time, memories of her mother had brought her nothing but pain and anger, but now they brought a deep sadness instead. All that time, her mother really had been protecting her. She had protected her until the moment came when she no longer could. When she had been captured, Mariah had lost the letter that had proven that very thing, but she still carried the words in her heart along with the hope that someday she’d find both of her parents again.
She prayed that they were still alive so that she could.
Chapter Four
Joining
Mariah sat on a squat stone wall at the edge of the corner gardens, looking up at Wakely’s country house and picking at the gold cord wrapped around her bodice in a crisscross pattern. Actually, she supposed that the house was Gwyn’s now too.
She continued to stare at it.
The thing was three stories high, for the love of the gods! How could one man need so much space? How could one afford such things?
Well, I suppose getting commissions from the queen helps. The house was more like an estate, with a large, high-ceiling building—a whole separate building!—that Wakely called a shed reserved for such projects, she had learned. It was as big, maybe bigger, than Gwyn’s whole house. He had two apprentices as well. How had she never known? And now, he was going to be practically one of the family.
Before they arrived at the manor, Gwyn had told Mariah more about Wakely’s past, about his first wife. She had died a decade ago, but the long union had produced seven grown children and many grandchildren as well. They all lived in Kathe Teigh, Cillian’s capital, but, according to Gwyn, they often came up from the city to visit Wakely.
Apparently, they never came to Wellspring, though, because Mariah had seen neither hide nor hair of them in all the years she had known the man. However, many of them had arrived at the country house that morning to attend the wedding. The size of the house was still absurd, although it did help diffuse the noise and clamor of Wakely’s relatives, especially the children. Gwyn’s “family” consisted of those friends she had made in Wellspring over the years. She had never talked much about what she had left in Varidian all those years ago.
Trying desperately to ignore, at least for now, the tug she herself felt toward that cursed kingdom, Mariah studied the structure before her. The natural stone and polished wood of the house were at least elegant and understated. If someone were going to live in such an overgrown monstrosity—it was like a tiny castle—it might as well be beautiful.
Mariah still couldn’t imagine Gwyn going from living alone in her little cottage to … well, this. But if there was one thing she didn’t doubt, it was Gwyn’s happiness. During the ceremony, Mariah had stood next to her as the old woman had clasped arms with her new husband before the white-robed Keeper from Kathe Teigh. Gwyn had practically glowed. Mariah had sworn she’d heard a quiet rumble. Had Gwyn been purring? Mariah had to admit, she had never seen the old hunting cat smile quite so much. It had been infectious, and her own cheeks hurt a bit from doing the same. So, although she didn’t understand exactly why Gwyn would choose to leave her current life for this one, Mariah had decided that it couldn’t do her any harm.
The sprawling garden where she now sat was coated with frost and filled with dead stems, brown grasses, and bare trees, but the little stone paths that ran through it in alternating spirals and haphazard branches spoke of a hidden beauty. She hoped she would get a chance to see it when it was in season, to feel the mystery of wondering what was around the next corner as the hedges grew tall and full, heavy limbs spread overhead.
From inside the house, Mariah could hear the ebb and flow of the celebration. The sounds of happy children warmed her heart, even if she didn’t want to be in the middle of them at the moment. The chaos of it all had been a little much for her, but although the garden provided some respite from the noise, the view of the sky made her itch to fly.
Everything she needed to travel was packed and waiting for her at Gwyn’s cottage. Her cottage. She still didn’t know how she was going to deal with that. At least Bria and Zach had ag
reed to keep the house whole while she was away, however long that took. Firebend, however, would once again have to look after itself. She had considered sparing yet another day to go to the mountain and secure the cave but decided against it. Shira’s letter had sparked a feeling of urgency in her chest that had her longing to go.
She might be gone only a few weeks, but if she succeeded in convincing Shira to help her with the plan that had taken shape in her mind, it would likely be much longer. She would miss Gwyn and Bria and the others, especially the children, but there were still others that had been left behind in Varidian, others that she might be able to help. She hadn’t discussed her plans with her friends in Cillian, not yet. They had a part to play if they were willing, but she had no idea if it would work. Rescuing a few people was one thing, but …
She shook her head forcefully to clear it. She knew that if she let herself get overwhelmed, it would send her back to Firebend to hide, and she would fail before she’d even started.
When the celebration was over, she would return via wagon to Wellspring with the Ansells and Tamsins before gathering her things and flying to Eiocliff on her own. This time, she would spend the night at a proper inn, the Scarp and Trawler, in the coastal town before making the journey oversea. It was the same inn where Xae had retrieved the message from Shira.
Her heart leapt at the thought of her friend. In a matter of days, she would see her again. It was true that they hadn’t really known each other long, but they were tied together, along with Xae, by a common bond. Their quest to save the boy’s family had forged a friendship between them more surely than years of acquaintance could have ever done.
She couldn’t wait to talk to Shira about the ideas she had for freeing more of the Ceo San children. And maybe, if she was lucky and her friend was willing, they could solve the mystery of what had happened to her parents so long ago. And, of course, there was the matter of Shira’s letter. Something was troubling her, but it was another thing Mariah couldn’t act upon until she had both feet planted in the sands of Grof’s beaches.
Lifting the flowing lines of her dark green skirts, she stood. The sun had passed its zenith when Gwyn and Wakely took their vows, and that had been hours ago. Surely, it would be time to leave soon.
As Mariah moved toward the house, the double glass doors opened outward. Wakely stood there, as radiant as Gwyn had been, his cheeks flushed with happiness. He nodded to Mariah but didn’t come out. Instead, he stood back, holding the door open as the Keeper who had performed their joining stepped through instead.
She was a tall, plump woman with ash-colored hair, slightly wrinkled skin, and floor-length white robes. Like Mariah, she wore a wool cloak over her garments against the chill, although hers was as white as her robes. As Wakely pulled the doors closed behind her, the woman regarded Mariah with a dour expression that had her feeling like a wayward child. Then, the Keeper held out a hand, beckoning the younger woman to walk with her. Resisting the urge to shake her head and scurry away into the manor instead, Mariah bit her lip and came up beside the woman as she started along a path that led away from the house and between a maze of barren bushes.
They walked slowly and silently until the shrubbery blocked the view of the doors behind them. “Daughter,” the Keeper said in a husky, measured voice, turning to Mariah. “Pardon me, but you are not familiar to me. I know most of the Clare family. You stood with Gwyneth. You are her family?”
Mariah turned to her, bowing her head a little as she did. If there was a protocol for honoring Keepers, she didn’t know what it was, but it couldn’t hurt to show respect. Her experience with the caretakers of the temples was limited to her single visit to the temple in Kannuk. Her cheeks warmed as she remembered how oddly she had behaved there when she had seen the temple. It had been a huge, dark gray stone affair that had overwhelmed her with its beauty and that of the lush garden that grew around its edges. Something about it called to her still. “Yes,” she answered. She almost left it at that, but at the last second, she changed her mind. “Well, family by heart if not by blood.”
Not meeting her gaze, the white-robed woman nodded and gestured for Mariah to follow as she resumed walking.
“I must admit, young one, that I felt compelled to talk with you the moment I saw you. Of course, I was called to my duty to Gwyneth and Wakely first, but I am glad I caught you before you took your flight from this place.”
Mariah gave her a sidelong look. She had deliberately stayed in her human form today, with neither a feather nor a wing in sight. She had not wanted to draw attention to herself on a day that was meant for joy and celebration, Gwyn’s day.
Did the Keeper somehow know what she was anyway? Or was it simply the vague way she spoke? Daire Denholm, the Keeper in Kannuk, had sounded much the same. The silence stretched on as they walked until it pushed down upon Mariah unbearably. “So, you’re from Kathe Teigh? Is there a temple there?”
The woman simply nodded.
Stupid question, she chided herself. Of course, there’s a temple there. I already knew that. “I’ve only seen one temple,” she prattled on anyway. “It was very beautiful.”
The Keeper seemed unimpressed.
Silence once again thickened the air. Mariah wondered how things were different for the Keepers in Cillian, without a ruler who seemed set against them doing their job. As far as she knew, Queen Cenessa was faithful to the Althamir and supportive of their servants, both the Keepers and the Ceo San alike.
Since becoming king, Rothgar, on the other hand, had corrupted everything good in Varidian associated with the Althamir. He had burned most of their histories and claimed that the Ceo San had been chosen to serve him. In reality, his Ceo San were less than slaves, chained to Trappers, bound up in his quest to conquer Whitelea, and somehow controlled from the inside out.
The pale, waterlogged visage of the owl man she had fought over the lake in Laikos swam in her mind. He had been one of those slaves. She could almost feel the cuff he had worn, hot as flame, closing over her own flesh. She reached out a hand to steady herself and found only the white-wrapped forearm of the Keeper. As her mind cleared, Mariah pulled back, an embarrassed smile on her lips.
She started to turn away, back toward the doors, muttering, “I’m sorry. I should really get back inside.”
“Wait.” The caretakers voice was gentle. Mariah turned her head back and met the hazel eyes that were studying her. The dour expression had softened, and the woman opened her hands and held them out, palms up. “May I?”
Mariah hesitated but then turned back and laid her now chilled hands over the other woman’s. As their skin touched, the Keeper closed her eyes. She took three slow, deliberate breaths, and the air seemed to thin. Then, the woman gasped softly.
Mariah tried to pull back, but the Keeper’s grip tightened. She was muttering under her breath, but Mariah couldn’t make out the words. Her own breathing became labored, and sweat beaded on her brow. She felt the instinctive need to flee rise in her, but the Keeper’s eyes flew open, holding her gaze and her body in place. “Hawk! No wonder I …”
Despite the fact that her hands were still firmly stuck in the Keeper’s grip, Mariah took a step back. How did the woman know that she was Ceo San? How did she know she was a hawk?
The image of the Althamiran temple in Kannuk, with its high ceilings and smooth, detailed sculptures, filled Mariah’s thoughts. Daire Denholm had touched her as well, laid a hand on her broken shoulder. And after she had, it had no longer pained her. In fact, she had been able to fly again shortly after their encounter, much sooner than she should have been able to. Did the Keepers have magical abilities like the Ceo San? Maybe something different?
Before Mariah could ask, the Keeper spoke again. “Please, don’t be alarmed. Whatever you need, I will take care of you. Just tell me.”
Gently pulling at her hands, Mariah murmured, “I just wanted to see
the garden, to get away from the noise, that’s all.” She was torn between her original desire and her new one to just escape this place, this woman. A tingle ran through her when the Keeper finally released her hands.
“Of course, of course.” The woman turned away and began to walk again.
Mariah wanted to flee, to gather her friends and get back to Wellspring, but something else pulled at her, and she found herself trailing along in the Keeper’s wake instead. After a few moments, a large, still flowing fountain appeared in a paved clearing before them.
Her mouth dropped open slightly as she got a good look at the structure. It was an Althamiran fountain, like the one in the temple in Kannuk. The pool was surrounded by a low stone wall, and at its center stood a statue depicting several of the gods back to back in both their human and animal forms. Water bubbled up near the base of the statue and gently rippled outward.
Behind Mariah, the caretaker chuckled warmly. “I had heard rumor of this fountain. It seems that Wakely is more reverent than your average citizen. Of course, he can afford to be.”
Mesmerized, Mariah sat on the wall and dipped her hand into the water, finding it amazingly warm compared to the air around it. It soothed her as she let her gaze move back to the Keeper. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “Yes, as long as I’ve known him, Wakely has held the Althamir in high regard.” She traced a wet finger along the stone of the wall. Veins of blue and green ran through the smooth gray rock, glinting in the weak sunlight.
The Keeper sat down and faced her. A smile warmed the woman’s face, in stark contrast to her gruff behavior from before. “It seems I have been doubly blessed today, to be able to perform a joining for two lovely people and to meet with you. It is unexpected, I must say. I am honored.”
Mariah’s eyes widened.
“What can I do for you, Ceo San? For surely, I have been called to your aid. I have never been called from the temple for inconsequential matters.”
Revelation of the Dragon Page 4
