by A. E. Rayne
Amma didn’t notice as she explored the softly lit room. It was on the opposite side of the castle to Jaeger’s chamber, and she felt herself start to relax for the first time since her arrival in Hest. Then she saw Meena’s face. ‘I’m sorry for you. I didn’t expect this,’ she said apologetically as Meena carried Amma’s things to the bed.
‘It’s not your fault,’ Meena mumbled. ‘I’m used to Jaeger.’ And she was. She was almost dulled to the feel of him. The smell of him. The way his hands grabbed at her, forcing her to do things that made her cringe. Uncomfortable things. Swallowing, she looked at Amma’s worried face. ‘You need to focus on your baby and staying away from Jaeger. Just because you’re in separate chambers now, it doesn’t mean you won’t be together. You’ll eat in the hall, be by his side, stand by his throne.’
‘Why doesn’t the Queen of Hest have a throne?’ Amma wondered, not liking the idea of standing near Jaeger for hours on end.
Meena shrugged. ‘Perhaps the Dragos kings didn’t think much of their queens?’ She eyed the door, feeling Draguta’s need for her like a dark shadow creeping around the castle. ‘I’ll come and see you in the morning, but I must go before Draguta sends Brill looking for me. Jaeger doesn’t want her finding out where you are. She would be... cross.’
Amma walked Meena to the door. ‘I’ll stay here until supper, out of everyone’s way, don’t worry.’
Meena turned to her, dropping her voice. ‘Draguta sees everything. She hears everything. You may not be alone for long.’
Amma gulped, nodding. ‘Then I’ll make the most of it. Don’t worry, Meena. You’ve done enough to help me. I’ll be fine.’ She didn’t feel fine.
And Meena didn’t feel fine, but she slipped through the door and out into the corridor, her knees almost knocking together as she thought about the potion she had drunk and how she needed to find a way to test whether it had worked.
Draguta was stalking the corridors, growing more and more irritated by her unreliable assistant who had a habit of disappearing just when she needed her most. Swinging around a corner, she barrelled into Evaine who fell on her backside with a yelp. ‘What are you doing standing there?’ she bellowed, her temper spiking. ‘Hiding from someone?’
Evaine looked up in surprise. ‘I... I was walking.’
‘Too slowly!’ Draguta snapped, striding around Evaine’s sprawled figure. ‘Far too slowly! Now get up and come with me. I need to find your slovenly cousin! We have work to do, and I refuse to be delayed by her!’
Evaine’s ears were ringing as she scrambled to her feet, smoothing down her dress, suddenly aware that Draguta was already halfway down the corridor, shouting Meena’s name, not wanting it to be dawn before they began the spell.
And rolling her eyes and hitching up her dress, Evaine ran after her.
Bram was not prepared to let anyone else take first watch that night. In fact, if he’d had his way, he would have taken second and third watch too, but that was silly, he knew.
A sleep-drunk man had little chance of being alert or effective.
He sat by the hall doors, thinking about Fyn, trying not to think about Runa. It hurt his heart to remember the night of the barsk attack and the moment he’d found her body. He knew that the only thing he could do for her now was to keep her son safe. Their son. Bram smiled, thinking about that.
His son.
Everyone who was staying in the hall was settled into their beds now, he could see as he scanned the room. Two large fires burned low, and a third, smaller one was crackling in the middle of Edela’s little circle. The smoke was pumping like the bellows tonight, he thought, reaching for the cup of ale he’d kept beside him.
Like a great fog.
The fort had been covered in it for weeks.
Stinking smoke. And death.
And his mind was right back at Runa, and he sighed.
Edela watched Bram with one eye open, pleased that he was there – that all his men were – though weapons and burly men did not make her feel safe. Magic was powerful. It was secret and hidden, and Edela had her doubts that magic would knock on the door and demand to be let in.
She shivered, pulling the fur up to her ear, missing her cottage.
Vella was sleeping next to her, tucked up against her stomach and she felt happy about that, her mind wandering to Jael and Axl. To Aleksander. To poor Amma, who would be the most scared of all, wondering when they would come and rescue her.
Closing her eyes, Edela held Amma’s face in her mind, wanting to find her in a dream, though she knew that she couldn’t. For tonight, she had to try and find Draguta.
‘And when did you arrive?’ Draguta roared, striding into her chamber, Evaine panting behind her, already wondering when she could head for her bed. ‘I have been all over the castle looking for you, and you certainly weren’t here before!’
Meena swallowed, quickly flustered. ‘I... I didn’t have enough dragons blood,’ she mumbled, dropping her pestle into the bowl. ‘I had to... go and get some more.’
‘Hmmm.’ Draguta’s eyes were sharp, unimpressed, quickly alert to what else needed to be prepared. ‘Well, do you have everything now? Everything I asked for?’ And reaching for the Book of Darkness, she laid her hands on it, feeling an unexpected jolt. It popped open her eyes, shooting down her spine and Draguta blinked, trying to remember what she had been about to do. Meena was busy nodding at her, and she snapped. ‘Get stirring! And while you do that, Brill, you will poke that fire. It will not survive long by the look of it, and I will soon have need of those flames.’ She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, still not sure what had happened.
Turning her attention back to the book, Draguta lifted the cover, opening it slowly, feeling nothing but the familiar cool leather, and the crisp texture of the vellum pages as they crackled between her fingers. But she frowned, her limbs tense, sensing that something was wrong. Reaching the page she was looking for, she inhaled a sharp breath, frowning at the unpleasant smell emanating from Meena’s bowl. ‘Do hurry!’ she growled. ‘I would like to begin!’
Aleksander yawned. ‘Hope you get some sleep tonight,’ he murmured, rolling towards Jael. The fire was crackling between them, but he could see that she was wide awake. ‘You need some sleep.’
‘I do. But I need dreams too. It would be helpful to know what Draguta is planning. Why she didn’t try anything today.’
Aleksander’s eyes closed. ‘Not sure I’d want those kinds of dreams,’ he admitted, thinking about the Widow. About Dara Teros. She had been in his head once, but hers had been a comforting voice. A protector. He often wished she would come back, but then, he smiled to himself, that would likely mean they were about to be attacked. He grabbed his fur, trying to get comfortable. ‘I wish you luck with your dreams. If you need any help, let me know.’
Jael didn’t say anything. Aleksander could fall asleep mid-sentence, she knew. Something he had in common with Eadmund.
Her face changed.
She hadn’t thought about Eadmund all day. Not since she’d left Eydis behind. Eadmund, who was out there somewhere. Waiting.
And when they found each other?
Jael’s eyes moved to Thorgils, who was sitting with Karsten by the mouth of the cave. They had argued over who would take first watch and, in the end, they’d all agreed that it made more sense to take it in pairs, which by the droop of Thorgils’ big head, had been the right thing to do.
Reaching down, Jael placed a hand on Toothpick’s moonstone pommel.
Waiting.
Waiting for whatever surprises Draguta had in store.
The wind picked up.
It had been a relatively fine day – nothing threatening a storm – so Gant was surprised by the rattle of the window; the strong breeze shaking the door. He edged towards Gisila, who was moaning in her sleep. ‘Ssshhh,’ he soothed, his eyes still closed, a hand out, smoothing down her hair. ‘Go back to sleep. It’s just the wind.’
25
�
�There are many ways to hurt someone,’ Draguta breathed, her eyes narrowing to slits. ‘You can take their life with a knife, a whisper... ’ She eyed Meena and Evaine who sat opposite her. ‘You can destroy everything they love, one at a time. Until they go mad. Until they have nothing.’ She smiled. ‘Or... you can take everything all at once.’
Meena’s eyes widened in horror, the smoke from Brill’s fire making them water.
‘But where is the fun in that?’ And dipping a finger into the bowl of bloody potion, Draguta placed it on the table and started to draw.
Axl was lying in the cave near Fyn. There were three caves beside each other. Theirs was the largest, certainly the most accommodating, though the ceiling was dripping and the noise was so irritating that Axl couldn’t sleep. The rain was still falling, less heavily now, though the wind was whipping the trees in the distance where the horses were tied up between them along lengths of rope.
Rork was sitting by the mouth of the cave, looking out into the darkness. Axl wondered if he should join him, though Rork wasn’t one for conversation. Perhaps that made him the perfect company, Axl thought, watching the dark shapes of the trees in the distance as they waved from side to side.
Listening to the horses whinny.
Edela scrambled to her feet, staring at the hall doors, her hips clicking, the flames from her tiny fire disturbed by the breeze.
‘Edela?’ Bram started walking towards her.
She pointed at the door. ‘Something is wrong, Bram. Eydis, Ontine, wake up!’ The girls were sleeping by her feet, curled into her circle. The puppies too. ‘We must stay here. Biddy!’
Biddy had been sleeping on one of the beds that lined the walls, near Derwa and Alaric. She stumbled towards Edela, trying to peel open her eyes, struggling out of a deep sleep.
Gant was there quickly, belt already wrapped around his waist. ‘What’s happened? Edela?’
‘Something is wrong,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t know what, but I cannot leave the circle. You must go.’
Biddy stepped into the circle, bending down to stop Vella who was eager to follow Gant. She gripped the whining dog to her chest, happy to see that Eydis was holding onto Ido. ‘Do you have everything you need?’
Edela didn’t know, but she quickly bent down to close the circle, trying to think.
She didn’t know what was coming.
They were just like the wind.
Draguta smiled, watching as her tiny whisps flew through the fort. She could control them with the sweep of a hand, the delicate flick of a finger. They were almost invisible as they slipped around corners, sliding under doors, squeezing through keyholes.
Just innocent little whisps.
But in her hands, oh so devastating.
Gant and Bram strode across the square, armed with axes. They’d left Bram’s men behind, not wanting to leave the hall vulnerable.
Gant thought of Gisila lying in her bed, half-asleep.
He should have moved her into the hall.
‘Albyn!’ he called up to the ramparts. ‘I need some men! Send down a dozen! Let me know if you see anything out there!’
They strode onwards, wishing for some moonlight, but the moon was hiding, and their journey was even more uncertain because of it.
Bram’s skin was prickling all over as the twelve men hurried down from the ramparts to join them.
‘Spread out,’ Gant ordered. ‘Either side of us. Weapons drawn.’ He heard a whinny from the stables, quickly followed by another, and then the pained roar of a horse, and his attention was quickly on the long shadow of a building in the distance. He sniffed the air. ‘Come on! Let’s check the stables!’
Eydis sensed that something was happening, just as Edela did, but neither of them knew what.
They stayed inside the circle, trying to focus, wanting to determine if they were in danger. Ontine sat opposite Edela, Eydis to her right, Biddy behind them, one eye on the doors. She held a spear, wishing Jael was there to protect them all.
Edela’s eyes were closed. She felt as though she was standing on a beach, the chill of a breeze sweeping over her body, winding around her, making her shiver.
She was so cold.
But it was not cold.
A breeze? A cold breeze? In the hall?
Entorp came over to the circle, wondering if he could do anything.
‘Go to the doors!’ Edela ordered suddenly, her eyes springing open. ‘Is there a storm? Is the wind blowing? Hurry, Entorp!’
Entorp could hear the terror in Edela’s voice, and he raced to the doors as two of Bram’s men hurried to open them. Running down the steps, Entorp paused for a moment, taking in the dark night.
The perfectly still dark night.
Meena watched Draguta move her finger across the seeing circle, her dark ring almost humming as it slid around. Draguta’s eyes were closed as she swayed from side to side, murmuring under her breath.
Evaine yawned from her seat beside her, wondering how much longer she would take. She couldn’t see or hear anything, but she could smell the horrific stink of the smoke pumping from the hearth. It had her eyes itching, and she found herself growing sleepier by the moment.
Meena glared at her cousin, trying to get her attention but Evaine ignored her, yawning again.
Draguta was deep in her trance, though, oblivious to anything that was happening in the chamber as she watched the whisps dart through the air like tiny sparks exploding across a night sky. The glint of a blade, the blink of an eye, as they readied their attack.
‘There is no wind, no wind at all!’
Edela was reaching for the Book of Aurea as Entorp ran back into the hall. She thought about Gisila, realising that she was still in her chamber. ‘Get my daughter!’ she yelled to the nearest man. ‘You must carry her in here! Into the circle! Hurry! We are under attack!’
Her grandmother woke her.
Jael sat up, confused. She hadn’t heard a voice, but she could suddenly feel Edela’s terror. It was as though her grandmother’s heart was beating in her ears, racing with panic. Peering around the cave, she could see Aleksander staring out into the dark night, muttering to himself, trying not to fall asleep. She was supposed to be keeping watch with him but knowing Aleksander, he hadn’t wanted to wake her.
‘What is it?’ He turned, hurrying towards her. ‘Did you have a dream?’
Jael blinked, trying to see his eyes. ‘We need to check outside. See if everyone’s alright.’ She had a terrible headache, and as she stood, her ears started ringing.
Something was wrong.
‘You check on the horses. I’ll go and see Ayla.’
Pushing open the stable doors, Gant and Bram stepped inside, hands out, axes ready. The horses were upset, moving around in their stalls, banging into the sides, whinnying. There was a real sense of panic.
And a smell.
Gant was panicking too. He smelled death.
It was almost pitch black in the stables, but Gant quickly found his way to Gus’ stall, relieved to see that he was alright, but the horse next to Gus suddenly collapsed to the ground, and then another and another. ‘What’s happening? Bram, hurry! Something’s killing the horses! Spread out! Spread out!’
‘Whisps.’
Entorp’s eyes bulged. ‘Whisps?’ That made no sense.
Eydis had no idea what a whisp was.
Biddy did, her eyes quickly scanning the hall, trying to see one. They were spirits. Sprite-like spirits, so malleable and fine; invisible to the eye unless revealed by moonlight. Shy land spirits with a reputation for random acts of kindness.
That made no sense.
Then they heard a scream, and suddenly one of the men who had been guarding the doors collapsed to the ground, hands around his throat, blood pouring over his fingers.
‘Edela!’ Biddy shrieked. ‘They’re in here!’
Edela could hear that. She had not seen anything about whisps in the Book of Aurea, though. Not a single thing. Why would she? They were
not creatures of the darkness. Panic tightened her dry throat, and she looked at Ontine whose eyes were blinking, and at Eydis, who was awake, alert, and not in a trance at all.
And then another scream.
‘Mother, do something!’ Gisila panicked, lying in the circle, gripping her stomach. ‘Hurry!’
Edela tried to shut them all out, closing her eyes.
Needing to think.
Gant clung to Gus’ neck. ‘Help me!’ he urged one of the men. Nyk. ‘Hold his other side! Keep him covered!’ Nyk was a good man. A horse-loving man like him. They needed to keep the horses safe. Protect them somehow.
Another thud as a horse fell.
‘Can you see anything?’ Bram was bellowing to their men. ‘Anything?’
And then the clouds parted, and the moon revealed itself. Bright white moonlight shone through the thatch. It streamed under the doors, down the smoke holes, in through the holes in the walls.
And they could see them.
‘Whisps?’ Gant was momentarily confused, his eyes on the lethal-looking daggers in the sprites’ hands and the dead look in their pale-green eyes. ‘Kill them!’
It was as though dawn had arrived. The hall was suddenly flooded with light, and they could see the luminescent whisps flitting around their heads, glowing like fireflies, holding glinting blades in their tiny hands.
Poised to strike.
Marcus, who had been sleeping in the hall with Hanna, unsheathed his new sword and hurried to stand in front of her, tired eyes suddenly alert, head swivelling.
‘Keep the doors open! We need more light!’ Entorp yelled, then just as quickly. ‘Behind you!’
