“Good,” she said, her shoulders relaxing a bit as she tucked away her bow and quiver.
“The Harborym who captured Hallow will already have arrived at Skystead. Therefore, it makes sense to join up with my father’s company, and together we will attack Racin.” Having thus made his pronouncement, he mounted his horse and turned in the direction Mayam indicated.
“What? Wait…Deo! No, that isn’t what we should be doing! Kiriah blast you, Deo! Gah!”
Deo spent an uncomfortable half hour while Allegria—in the hearing of his company of blood priests—blistered him with tales of just what she’d do to him if the delay in getting to Skystead resulted in any harm to her beloved. But after silently marveling that she was far more inventive (and bloodthirsty) than her priestly upbringing would have led one to believe, he spent the remainder of the journey focused on what he would say when he found his father.
It took six hours in total to reach the camp that Israel had set up. Mayam and Jena had to lead the way once night had fallen, lanterns in hand while Deo and the others followed, single file in order to avoid any pitfalls.
A guard some distance from the camp challenged the procession, but at the sight of Deo, he backed down quickly, and a few minutes later, Deo faced his irate parent.
“You look in much fairer health than your mother indicated,” Israel said, walking around Deo to examine him from head to foot. “She said you were being tortured, nailed to a wall in order to keep you from destroying the priests holding you prisoner, and yet, here you stand, looking as unmarked as a maiden’s cheek.”
Deo pushed down the complex mixture of emotions that never failed to rise when he saw his father. For one, he simply didn’t have the energy to deal with them, but mostly, he contained his emotions in order to keep the chaos magic from waking. It had been silent since the battle at the temple, a fact for which he’d been grateful, and the last thing he wanted was for it to drive him into a berserk state in front of his father. “As a matter of fact,” Deo said in what he thought was a perfectly calm, reasonable tone, “I was tortured, nailed to a wall, and tormented daily by the priests. I assume I need not ask why you are here, although I would have thought you’d know I would not let my mother suffer at the hands of Racin.”
“I am here because my son foolishly took upon his shoulders a burden that should have been shared by several, myself included,” Israel snapped, his gaze shifting to examine Deo’s priests.
Deo felt an irritating need to defend the fact that he hadn’t managed to convert any Shadowborn to Banesmen and had to rely upon the blood priests for strength.
“I see you have a small company,” his father pointed out. “Is it with these few poor souls that you intend to challenge Racin?”
“I will back my company, small as it may be, against yours any day,” Deo sputtered. “We took down several Harborym earlier today, and you see how fresh they all are despite that battle.”
One of the priests fell off his horse with a groan, crawling to the side of the path before collapsing.
“Except that one,” Deo said quickly, moving so he blocked his father’s view of the rest of the men as they stiffly dismounted. “I doubt if you can say as much of your people.”
“My people are, as always, prepared to follow whatever plans I put in motion, unlike your group which appears to be put together of outcasts and rebel priestesses.”
Allegria sighed loudly and pushed her way between Deo and his father. “Everyone knows that I am the most tolerant of rebel priestesses—”
Both Deo and Israel both rolled their eyes.
“—but this is too much. Can you two posture at each other another time? Hallow has been taken by the Harborym, and I very much wish to get to him while he’s still alive. So let us make a rescue plan before Racin does horrible things to him.”
“What’s this? The arcanist was taken?” Israel looked puzzled.
Quickly, Deo explained what had happened. As the men and horses were taken into the main camp, Deo and Allegria claimed three-legged stools at a small portable table that sat outside Israel’s tent. Mayam stood behind Deo, evidently adopting the position of his lieutenant. Food and wine was placed before them, of which Mayam and Deo partook. Allegria did nothing more than crumble a bit of bread and take a few sips from a cup of wine.
After the tales of their various adventures had been related, Israel rubbed his chin, gazing out past Deo to the trees beyond. “It is interesting that the Harborym took the arcanist. What use do they expect to get out of him? You said yourself that he could not use his magic here, and yet, they sought him out.”
“He’s not just an arcanist now,” Allegria said, her voice weary. “He evidently joined the blood priests.”
“Is that possible?” Israel looked disbelieving.
She shrugged and poked Deo in the arm.
“Hmm?” Recalled from the contemplation of just what he was going to do to Racin when he caught him—and he’d incorporated a few of Allegria’s more inventive punishments—he gave a shrug of his own. “Since he was able to master the magic, I assume it is possible. I did not have long conversations with him about it—he was initiated the night we found him and spent the rest of his time closeted with the priests, learning their ways. How do you plan to free the queen with just a score of men?”
“I had hoped to meet up with Allegria and Hallow, and together with you, thought we would attack Skystead as a unified force.”
“That would seem to be the best choice.”
“No, it’s not!” Allegria slapped the table, making Deo look up from where he was tracing the spot on the folding camp table where, as a child, he’d carved his initials. “What about Hallow? For that matter, what about Idril and Quinn? If you attack, they, along with the queen, could be used as hostages.”
“Idril?” Deo’s blood seemed to turn to ice at the mention of the name. “What does Idril have to do with the siege of Skystead?”
His father suddenly became interested in a smudge on his boot. Deo turned to Allegria, piercing her with a look that she met with one of her own.
“She’s here, Deo. On Eris, and evidently, according to what Thorn told Hallow, she’s safe with the queen. And before you start yelling at me, neither Hallow nor I allowed her to come with us. She stowed away, and then when we were shipwrecked, she ran off in the night on her own. Our captain, Quinn, went after her.”
Deo was hit with a pain unlike anything he’d endured at the hands of Racin and the blood priests. The thought of Idril within Racin’s grasp was unbearable. His mother was a warrior, the greatest warrior of their time, and while he was prepared to move the heavens themselves to save her, he knew she could protect herself. But Idril…he closed his eyes against the pain her image brought. She had destroyed his heart when she’d married his father, but despite that, he would rather die himself than see her under Racin’s control. He’d rescue her from the monster’s grip, and then—when she was safe—he’d spurn her as she deserved. Yes, that was a good plan, a solid plan, one which no one could dispute.
He was on his feet and halfway to his horse before he realized he was even moving. Shouts followed him, and Mayam, clutching his arm, begged him to stop.
“You must stop, my lord. We cannot attack at night—to do so is the sheerest folly—and the priests are tired. They need rest. Please, Lord Deo, heed my words. We can do nothing more until the dawn brings light.”
“Then stay and rest. I need no such pampering.” He shook her off and stalked forward, intent on one thing: saving Idril.
“Deo! Don’t be a fool! Come back, and let us make a sensible plan,” his father shouted after him.
He ignored that command, his now frozen soul driving him on.
It was Allegria who stopped him when no one else could. Just as he reached the place where the horses were tethered, their heads hanging in exhaustion, Allegria
rushed in front of him, spinning around to face him, slapping her hands on his chest to halt him. A gentle warmth permeated the icy cold that howled inside him. “Deo, don’t you dare.”
He blinked, focusing his gaze upon her face. To his surprise, her eyes were shiny with tears.
“I would dare much to save Idril from that monster,” he said, his voice thick.
“As would I to save Hallow, but think.” She slid her hands inside his tunic until the warmth of her fingers penetrated to the blood frozen in his veins, slowly bringing life back to him. “Just as you said I can’t do this by myself, neither can you. We must join forces. You were right about that. We can’t do this by ourselves.”
It took two tries before he was able to say, in a voice pitched low so that only she would hear, “Idril does not have the powers Hallow has, nor is she a warrior like my mother. She is vulnerable where they are not.”
A little smile curled Allegria’s lips. “She may not be as great a fighter as the queen, but give her a dagger, and she can hold her own in a fight. Deo, my friend, I know the pain you feel. I bear it, too. Hallow means everything to me, but I was willing to listen to you when you pointed out what was reasonable and what wasn’t. So you must now listen. We will save Idril, just as we will rescue Hallow and the queen and Quinn. But you must use your head rather than your heart.”
He took a great, shuddering breath, placing his hands over hers, giving her fingers a squeeze of acknowledgement.
Behind him, he heard an intake of breath, but when he turned with Allegria, there was only Mayam looking worried. “Very well,” he told them both. “We will make plans. We will allow the men and horses to rest until dawn. And then we will bring down Racin, or raze Skystead in the attempt.”
Chapter 20
We sat next to a modest camp fire and made plans.
“A three-pronged attack seems to be the best strategy.” Lord Israel tapped the small scrap of paper upon which Mayam had drawn a crude map of Skystead. “Racin will be sure to be drawn by the distraction that my men and I will make at the main gate. That will allow you, Deo, and your motley group of priests to slip into the city via the drainage tunnels.” He stopped speaking and cocked an eyebrow at Mayam, who still stood behind Deo. “How sure of this map are you?”
“Tolerably sure, my lord,” she answered, her hands clasped together in what I would have thought was a sign of humility but for the glint of anger in her eyes. The part of my mind that was not consumed with fear for Hallow wondered at that anger, but I lost my train of thought when she continued. “Before I was sent to attend Lord Deo, my mother and I served a noblewoman in Skystead. The drainage tunnel will be guarded, but not so heavily that Lord Deo will have difficulty entering the city.”
“A full company of Harborym could be housed there, and they would not stop me,” Deo said simply, and given his abilities, no one raised so much as an eyebrow over what would have been outright bragging in anyone else. “Once I have Idril and the queen safe, then I will destroy Racin once and for all.”
Lord Israel was silent for a few moments, and I realized with some surprise that he was struggling with a strong emotion. At last he said, “So long as you make sure the women are safe, then I have no objection to that plan.”
At that moment, I understood the depth of his emotions regarding the queen. I smiled to myself, touched that he would give up the need to be the one to rescue his beloved in order to see the end of Racin. Like Deo, I knew that accepting the fact that he must subjugate his own desires for the greater good must have cost him much.
He tapped another spot on the paper. “Then you, priestess, will go with this handmaiden to the Temple of Rebirth, which is located just outside the city walls.”
“I would rather fight at your side, my lord,” Mayam told Deo, an odd pleading note in her voice.
Deo shook his head even while she spoke. “Your skills are better suited elsewhere. Allegria will have need of your guidance around the city. Your brother and his priests will be all the help I need.”
“I’m fine with leaving you two to fight Racin while I save Hallow, but I don’t see why we should go to a blood priest temple,” I said slowly. “Surely, they will hold Hallow in a gaol?”
“The Temple of Rebirth is a gaol,” Mayam said with an air of resignation. She cast a few glances toward Deo, but he was moodily staring at the map, his fingers tracing the same shapes on the camp table over and over again. “Or rather, it is now. Once it was the center of learning for the Shadowborn, but with the coming of Racin, its high priests were turned into Harborym, and its stones ran black with despair. If Racin has your husband, he will be kept in the Temple with the others intended for the trials.”
“What trials?” I asked suspiciously, my heart alternating between horror at the thought of Hallow in peril, and the need to snatch him from Racin’s grasp. “How can he be tried when he has done no wrong?”
“The trials are what Racin calls the experiments he performs,” Mayam told me, leaning over the map to touch a spot at the north edge of the city. “Here. When Jena first joined the brotherhood, he served at this temple. There is a way into it from the roof of the storehouse next door. We will be able to get inside without alerting any of Racin’s men.”
I closed my eyes for a few seconds against the horrible picture of just what Hallow might be enduring at that moment, but I couldn’t let myself dwell on it. I had to keep focused on the one, bright shining hope in a world made of darkness: that Mayam and I would find Hallow, free him, and together, we would help destroy the one who was responsible for so much death and sorrow.
“Then once you have Hallow—assuming he’s in a fit state to help fight—you two can join us and we will see an end to this threat at last,” Lord Israel concluded.
I narrowed my eyes at the “fit state” comment, but nodded and rose. Deo and his father followed suit.
“A little rest will not hurt any of us,” Lord Israel said, his gaze moving from me to Deo. “You both look as if you have been dragged behind your mounts rather than riding upon them. You and the handmaid may use my tent, Allegria. Deo, I’m sure, will find a pallet somewhere.”
I wanted to demand we leave at that moment, but recognized the folly of my desire, and reluctantly, nodded and started toward the small tent behind us. I was stopped by a soft voice calling, “My lady?”
I turned back to find Ella standing at the edge of the tent, half-hidden in the shadows, the light of the fire flickering over her, making her hair seem as if it was made up of flames. “Ella, you should be sleeping. Did Jena not make a spot for you with the priests? You may join Mayam and me in the tent if you wish.”
“I was given a pallet with the priests, but…” She hesitated, watching warily as Mayam followed Deo when he stalked off toward the area where Lord Israel’s men were bedded down. “But I could not help hearing what you said.”
I doubted if that was true, since Jena and the blood priests were resting next to the horses, but said nothing, suddenly too tired to argue. “And?”
“And I wanted to know…I wanted to offer myself…” She made a frustrated noise and said in a tumble of words, “My lady, I wish to go with you to Skystead. I want to help you free your husband. I know you think I have no skills yet, but I am willing to fight, and Peter always said that he could never best me when I put my mind to beating him at targets.”
“Targets?” My mind was moving sluggishly. “You have experience with a bow?”
She nodded eagerly. “Aye, my lady. I can shoot faster and more accurately than Peter, and I’m quick to learn if you have another weapon—”
“Fine,” I said, holding up a hand to stop her catalog of skills. There really was no other decision to be made. I couldn’t leave her with Deo or Lord Israel, since both of their companies would be fighting Racin and the Harborym. Ella would be safest with me, where I could keep an eye on her. “Be re
ady to ride as soon as it’s dawn.”
“Oh, thank you, you won’t regret this, I swear to you,” she said, clasping my hand for a moment before releasing it to slip away into the darkness.
“I just hope you don’t end up regretting it,” I said softly, then entered the tent. Despite my worry and fears, I fell asleep immediately upon Lord Israel’s cot.
A few hours later, Kiriah Sunbringer sent the sun to rise over the land of Eris, and if the clouds had not been obscuring her view, she would have seen Mayam, Ella, and me slipping from barrel to barrel outside the temple storehouse. There were a few guards set, but the only one we couldn’t avoid was quickly dispatched by Mayam, who was particularly brutal with a very long, curved dagger.
“Upstairs,” Mayam said as the guard whose throat she’d just cut slid to the ground with a gurgle. She stepped over his body and started up the stairs. “The passage leads from the roof to the upper rooms in the temple. We must be quick before anyone notices the absence of the guards.”
I said a quick prayer over the fallen form of the guard as life left his body, calling on Kiriah to bless him and see him to the spirit world, more than a little troubled by the easy way Mayam removed any obstacles. My soul was not without the stains of the lives I had taken, but those had been in battle, and although I wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone who posed a threat to Hallow, I preferred finding other ways to disable people who had done me no ill.
Behind me, Ella gagged and retched quietly before rejoining me, her face pale and damp with perspiration. She avoided looking at the body.
“Do you want to stay back?” I asked her softly. “We can find somewhere safe for you to hide—”
“No,” she said quickly, one hand darting out to touch my arm briefly. “No, I’m…it’s just that the noise he made—”
I nodded. “It’s not pleasant, but I sent a special prayer to Kiriah to guide the man to his just reward, so at least he will not suffer there.” It was small comfort, but all I could offer.
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