Mariah shook her head in wonder. She looked to Shira, then to Han, and back again. Was this the same friend who had wanted to kill Han not that long ago? A small part of her wished she didn’t agree with her friend. The part that still wanted to punish someone for separating her from her family. She nodded.
“All right.”
They both helped her up, and she sat on the bed, staring out the little window and wondering if she had completely lost her mind.
* * *
They waited until they were all back in the temple before they told Xae and the others all that had happened. Together, they quite filled the High Keeper’s study. Berg seemed torn between being grateful for the Keepers’ help and annoyed with them, and Mariah thought he hadn’t quite let go of the past and the time that their sisters had refused to help shelter Shira as a babe.
Xae was nowhere near ready to trust Han, and more than once, he had muttered something about hard-headed women, which inevitably got him a head slap from Shira.
“I’d like to hear you say that in front of your mother,” she muttered.
“Don’t think you’re leaving me behind this time. I won’t leave you at his mercy.”
“I think you’re forgettin’ somethin’, bird boy,” Shira said, and her arm was suddenly a huge, furry paw with enormous claws. And it was entirely too close to Xae’s face. “We’re not defenseless.”
Xae nodded, not taking his eyes from Shira’s arm until she withdrew. He swallowed any further protests. “Fine. We can try his plan, but I am coming with you.”
Mariah put a hand on his arm. “Good, because we need you.”
They discussed their plans and what the group in Glenley had learned. Shira was relieved to hear that her parents were alive and said nothing in response to Mariah’s theory that they had been taken because of her. However, there was no mistaking the conflict in her eyes when she heard of the possible consequences of their going into the castle.
It was the High Keeper’s turn to interject. “We’ve tried to talk her out of going into the Keep. The risk is so great, to all our people.” She directed her gaze at Shira, but Mariah answered once again.
“I’ve made up my mind. Even if Shira told me not to, I would go anyway. I owe Rose and Jahl Caden a debt I can never repay.”
Xae came to stand behind her shoulder, nodding.
A quiet “thank you” was all Shira had to offer.
The Keeper sighed once again and finally let it go.
* * *
It took them one more day to gather what they needed, but early in the morning, two days after Shira and the others had arrived in Glenley, the little group of five and the High Keeper stood together as Damaris unlocked the rusted iron gate in a narrow tunnel that led from beneath the temple to Draydon Keep.
After a brief nod to Mariah, Teneth, ever quiet, transformed and scouted ahead. They had already said their goodbyes to Berg, Tibbot, and Midelia, who would meet them outside the city near the tunnel exit with Berg’s wagon, prepared for the journey westward. Mariah had been surprised that Tibbot had opted to stay out of the thick of this adventure. She thought he would have been happy to do anything to get revenge on the king, including taking more prisoners out from under his nose, but the old man had demurred, saying it was best if he stayed out of the keep.
“Thank you for your help,” Mariah said, taking Damaris’s hand in hers. “I will do my best to get in and out as quickly as possible.”
The older woman looked doubtful, but she nodded. “I’ll be watching for your return.”
With that, Mariah, Shira, Xae, and Han began their trek through the dark tunnel toward the heart of King Rothgar’s power. Her hand went toward her belt, to get reassurance from her father’s knife, but she remembered that she had left it with Berg for safekeeping, unwilling to risk losing it again. She would have to be satisfied with the short sword she had gotten in Grof. It seemed appropriate.
Behind them, the click of the lock echoed ominously as Damaris secured the gate behind them.
PART III
DRAGON
Chapter Thirty-Two
Redemption
The little group traveled silently through the tunnels with only one lantern between them. Every so often, Teneth’s pale tabby cat would return and signal the all-clear with a swish of his tail before streaking off to scout again.
After an hour of this, he returned once more, this time transforming into a tawny-haired, bearded young man.
“It is clear. The exit into the tower is just ahead.” He was dressed in the black, boiled leather armor of Rothgar’s guard. His cloak was pinned at his neck and swept back over his shoulder. With help from Han on where to look, Teneth and Midelia had managed to sneak into the barracks’ storeroom and acquire enough armor for them from the guard’s surplus. “As the Keeper said, this tunnel opens onto the ground floor of the western tower through a grate in the floor.”
“Thank you, Teneth,” Mariah said. She hesitated but finally turned back to Han and Shira, who were dressed like Teneth but with Trapper chestplates. “It’s time. We must do everything we can from here on out to avoid notice.”
Taking a deep breath, she held her wrists up to Han.
* * *
They had traveled up four flights of stairs in the empty tower and had just made it into a corridor in the main part of the keep when the voice exploded in her head. Mariah Griven!
She stumbled, tripping on the stone floor and nearly tumbling over. Her toes throbbed painfully, but all she could pay attention to was the man who was suddenly in front of her. Or was he? She thought she could reach right through him. He had thick rust-colored hair, braided almost to his waist over a fancy blue coat, and penetrating green eyes with vertical slits. Two visitations by two different gods in so little time?
“Old Cat Eyes?” His human guise once again hid his true identity, and she still had no other name for him. Catching herself on the cool stone of the wall beside her, she was vaguely aware of the others talking to her, but their voices were like the buzzing of flies in the background of a noisy tavern, and she couldn’t seem to focus on them. But the others were looking at her, not at the god. They couldn’t see him, she realized. “Why … Are you here or … or … in my head?”
No! His voice was sharp, a command. I will not answer your questions. The question is, why are you here? I told you to save the children, to avoid this place. Again and again, I’ve pleaded with you. You must leave the city, especially the keep. The king is here. In fact, he is waiting for you. He will find you, and that must not happen.
“Rose and Jahl, Shira … my friend, her parents,” she stuttered. “He’s captured them.”
It does not matter. Mariah, you must go! His attention was suddenly diverted to the hand hanging limply at her side. What is that on your wrist? He reached toward her but stopped short of touching her. Could he touch her in this form?
As if on command, she held up the arm, her cloak falling down to reveal the gold, dragon-etched cuff encircling her wrist; to her eyes, the cuff made her arm look small and frail. A gold chain hung from the bracelet, and the other end, she knew, snaked down to hook onto Han’s belt, but she couldn’t see past her wrist and the image of Old Cat Eyes filling her sight.
“It’s just a ruse,” she protested. She suddenly felt as if she were ten again, caught by her mother as she snuck an extra cookie out of the jar on the table. “I can take it off—”
What were you thinking, girl? he interrupted with a hiss. She had never heard him be anything but calm with her. His angry demeanor unsettled her even more. You do half his work for him! Who do you think you are toying with? Rothgar is not some dim peasant you can fool with a few tricks. He is the king, and he has not stayed that way, has not conquered nations, by being insipid. He is resourceful, and you have walked right into his grasp.
Fear clawed at Mariah�
��s throat, the reality of what she was risking finally sinking in. The king wanted her imprisoned, enslaved. But she wouldn’t let herself be swayed. She shook her head, physically ridding her mind of the image of her cowering at the monarch’s feet. Rothgar probably wanted her dead, but if he knew the prophecy, he wouldn’t kill her. Instead, he would hold her, make her his slave, and seal the fate of her people.
“I will not leave them.” She annunciated, swallowing hard against her terror. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me.”
It’s everything, Old Cat Eyes hissed again, and the sound forced her back a step. An angry roar seemed to buzz just beneath the sound of his voice. She bumped into something solid. Han? Shira? With a growl, the god intoned, Everything.
“I will die before I let him make me a slave,” she said, firmly taking hold of herself.
The flies buzzing in her ears started to come into focus, and she could finally hear the others.
“What is wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. Grab her arm! We can’t just stay here. Someone will see.”
Mariah set her jaw. “I am going with them. We are going to find Rose and Jahl and free them, whatever it takes.”
Old Cat Eyes growled again, and Mariah swore she saw the faint outline of smoke rising from his flared nostrils. “Fine,” he huffed, and reached for her hand.
Her eyes rolled up in her head when he touched her, and a shiver ran through her as his hard, smooth skin sent waves of memory from their first meeting through her. His hand felt like warm, polished granite.
His vaporous form disappeared from her sight, but she could still feel his hand in hers, pulling her forward.
Shouts of surprise followed her.
“Where—”
“What are you doing?”
“Mari!”
There are worse things than death, you know. The god’s voice was still as clear as it had been when he was standing before her. In an instant, she saw herself cowering in front of the king once again, only this time the flesh around the cuff on her wrist was raw and red, as if it had been melted like wax around the shining gold. Pain flashed through her arm. But if you insist on putting the world in danger for the sake of two mortals, I will take you to them and get you out of here before the king can find you. If you’re going to do this, I must protect you as well as I can.
As the image faded and the pain with it, relief filled her. She hadn’t wanted to admit until that moment just how badly defying Old Cat Eyes had frightened her. But she’d won. He was helping her now instead of standing in her way. How she would have gotten around him if he’d insisted she turn back, she had no idea.
She stumbled again as a hand curled around her elbow, and Shira’s voice filled her ears.
“Mari, what are you doing?”
As if she were immersed in water, she struggled to form words that her mouth could speak to someone other than the god. “Old Cat Eyes,” she gasped. “He’s here.” She waved in the air before her but then thought better of it and tapped her temple with the finger of her free hand. “He knows where your parents are.”
The touch on her elbow fell away and moved to her back. “Well? What are we waiting for? Come on, people. Let’s go!”
Old Cat Eyes pulled on her hand again, and Mariah moved forward, knowing only that she had persuaded a god to do her bidding and trembling at what that might mean.
* * *
Down a back hallway that hadn’t appeared on any of their maps, one even Han and Teneth didn’t know about, Old Cat Eyes led them through deserted areas of the castle until they were just down the corridor from the cell Midelia had found.
Do what you need to do, and get out. I will help you if I can, but for now, I must distract him, keep his attention from you. And with that, he disappeared, his presence gone from her mind so quickly that Mariah slumped as if it had been the only thing holding her up. Han grabbed her quickly, keeping her from falling.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “Your parents,” she said to Shira. “Their cell is around a couple of corners and down the corridor a bit. We’re almost there.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” It was Xae this time. Like her, he was wearing black armor and a gold cuff, only his chain was attached to Shira’s belt.
They had learned from Han that the cuffs were no more than shackles until the Trapper and the slave were bonded, but even he had not yet learned what that meant. Mariah had the dreadful feeling that the process must have to do with the melted flesh that they had all seen around the cuffs of the trapped Ceo San. The bonding apparently also did something to cause the obedience and fealty the Sovereign had witnessed in their freed captives.
Impulsively, she hugged Xae. “I’m okay,” she whispered into his ear. “Let’s just find them and get out.”
As he hugged her back, she felt him nod. Shira joined them in the brief embrace before they stepped back. Han and Teneth stood close, but both seemed uncomfortable, so Mariah nodded that they should move on.
Before they could step around the corner, the sound of bootsteps stopped them. A half a dozen soldiers went running by. One of them, a grizzled old veteran by his looks, spotted them in the corridor opening and stopped. “Thank the king you’re here. We need backup. There are wolves! Free ones. In the castle!” Gesturing, he waved them into the hallway before him. “This way! Draw your weapons!”
Mariah blinked, but Han simply said, “Yes, Captain,” and pushed her forward.
Shira echoed his words a beat later, and the four of them entered the corridor between the captain and his men and began running to catch up. As they did, a resounding howl filled the corridor. It was followed by barks and growls and the shouts of men.
Metal clanged on stone, teeth snapped, and Shira stiffened. “Blood,” she whispered. “I can smell it from here.”
The scene came into view just a moment later as they turned another corner. The short span between walls was filled with soldiers and wolves. The animals fought each other and the humans as well.
The captain came up beside them, gesturing at Xae and Mariah impatiently. “Get them in there! What are you waiting for?”
“Aren’t some of them ours? The ones that were guarding the prisoners?” Han asked.
“If those animals can’t win, they deserve death. Now, get on with it.”
Mariah signaled to Xae with the hand further from the captain, and they both transformed, freeing themselves from the chains, and flew toward the battle as if their “Trappers” had commanded them.
“Birds?” Mariah heard the captain’s disgusted growl behind them. “Really?” If he said anything else, it was lost in the fray.
They tried to fly above the swing of weapons and the snapping of teeth, but the low ceilings didn’t give them much clearance, and Mariah and Xae were forced to dodge and dive in the narrow space, trying to get a fix on what was going on. The wolves outnumbered the men. At first, they all looked the same, the same gray kind she had encountered in Laikos. They were all haggard and scarred, but two more so than the others.
A smaller wolf was backing those two against the iron bars of a cell door. Mariah flew closer, trying to determine who was who. Her sudden presence in the air distracted one of the retreating wolves, and as he looked up at her approach, the advancing one latched onto his throat. It was over in a second. One wolf was dead, and the other, its mouth covered in blood, faced off with the remaining wolf before the door, its fellows taking on the men armed with swords just behind them.
Trying to avoid getting caught in the middle, Mariah flew over the pair, her talons catching the iron bars. Surprise filled her when the door pushed open beneath her slight weight, and she went swinging into the room. She let go and tried to steady herself.
She landed on human feet, her hand on her sword as she spun around. The gold cuff was still
on her wrist, but the chain was gone, probably still hanging from Han’s belt. A chamber pot and two filthy straw pallets sat against the back wall of the tiny room, but Rose and Jahl were nowhere to be seen.
“They’re not here!” she yelled to the others. In her mind, she screamed as well, searching mentally for any sign of Old Cat Eyes. You lied to me!
And with that, she moved into the melee. In the span of seconds, the smaller wolf had already defeated its second opponent, who lay bleeding on the floor next the first. Her pale blue eyes were fierce, and Mariah reflexively stepped back. But instead of attacking, the wolf barked at her and then ran back into the hallway as recognition hit Mariah. “Ruby!”
They had come after all? After Ruby had told her that Glenley held only death for her kind?
At Mariah’s feet, as the last bit of life left them, lay the now-human bodies of Ruby’s father and another member of her pack, gold slave cuffs melted onto their wrists.
Mariah shuddered as she felt their magic leave them and hover in the air above them, buzzing like a swarm of bees. And then it was gone.
She blinked and gasped, realizing she had been holding her breath. Shaking the odd sensation off, Mariah transformed again, more comfortable fighting in her animal form, and followed Ruby into the fight.
Two of the soldiers, one a Trapper, and three wolves lay unmoving on the ground. Shira had transformed into her bear and was back to back with human Teneth and two of the wolves. They were surrounded by three soldiers with long blades, but the odds were good. Han and Xae in his raven form were on the far side, squeezing the soldiers between Shira and their respective blade and beak. Two more wolves were near them, looking confused as if they didn’t know whose side to fight on.
As she emerged from the cell and surveyed the scene, Han looked up at her and screamed, “Mari, look out!”
Instinctively, she swerved to the right just as an arrow whizzed by her. She swooped around to find the captain behind her, nocking another arrow. Somehow in the confusion, he had moved past the cell door, where he had free rein to pick off his enemies one at a time. Mariah sped toward him and clawed at his face. He dropped the bow, grabbing at her, before he could finish setting the next projectile.
Revelation of the Dragon Page 30
