Cierra managed to find her voice. “What are we going to do if they come to question us?”
“What do you mean?” Theo turned to look at her. He could see the toll all of this had taken on her, but she was still trying to put on a brave face.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll notice that Cherish isn’t dead anymore.”
Cherish let out a sigh. “She’s right. I’ll have to pretend to be a corpse when they come back. Makram, rip off a strip of your shirt.”
“What?” He looked at her confused. “Why do you want part of my shirt?”
Cherish ran her fingers through the tangles in her red hair. “We need to keep up our original stories. You’re supposed to play the role of a grieving husband now. The sight of your headless wife was too much for you, so you lined my head up with my body and tied a strip of cloth around my neck to hide my wound. That way we don’t have to explain how my head miraculously reattached itself.”
Ripping off the hem of his shirt, Makram placed the cloth strip in Cherish’s outstretched hand. “Not a bad plan. I just wish you’d use some of that brainpower to get us out of here, instead.”
Cierra moved to position herself at Theo’s side instead of behind him. She was very aware of the gentle heat coming off of his skin. It was comforting in the dank chill of the dungeon. She wanted so desperately to reach out and take his hand, but she resisted. Instead, she tucked both hands into her lap and refused to look at him directly. The four of them were seated in a circle on the stone floor.
Cierra glanced at Makram and Cherish. “We need to work out our story, too.” She could feel Theo’s eyes on her. Part of her prayed that it was dark enough in the cell to hide the heated blush creeping into her cheeks.
Cherish smiled ever so slightly. Darkness wasn’t an issue for her augmented eyes, but she kept Cierra’s reaction to herself. “The obvious answer is to use Danthois and Chanta’s deaths to our advantage.”
“What do you mean?” Theo leaned in closer. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cierra stiffen when he moved. He wracked his brain trying to figure out the reason behind her reaction, but he kept drawing blanks. Theo clenched his hands into fists until the pain of his nails digging into his palms made him focus on the conversation again.
Makram crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, let’s hear it. Put that augmented brain to use.”
Cherish shot him an agitated glance, but laid out her plan anyway. “So far, the Yasta only know that we are married couples.”
“That may not be all that they know.” Theo grimaced.
“What do you mean? What else did you tell them?” There was no hiding the frustration in Makram’s voice.
“When I didn’t heal after my fight with Karl, I had to tell Grandmother Yasta about Relisse.”
“What?” Makram’s eyes narrowed at Theo. “Look here, rookie, don’t veer from the plan. You’re going to get us all—well, I was going to say caught, but we’re already in that predicament, aren’t we?”
Cherish clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “Makram, just let him talk. There’s no changing it now.”
Reluctantly, Theo recounted his story. “I told her that seeing Karl brought up my hate for him because he was responsible for the death of my first love.” He sensed, rather than saw, Cierra tense a little at his words. “I said that back when Karl was a greedy trader, a deal went wrong. I didn’t specifically say that my love was killed on Relisse, but I did say that it was Karl’s fault that she died.”
“See? That’s not so bad. We can work with that.” Cherish smiled at Makram, but there was no softening his sour mood. “We’ll just have to keep it in mind in case she told someone else about it. I think our best bet would be to say that Chanta had uncovered new technology for a better infintium blade, back in the Carristoux system.”
“Infintium?” Theo furrowed his brow.
Cherish nodded. “It wouldn’t make sense to say she had made lasana blades. We weren’t supposed to know about those before we arrived here for training. We can say that she got our group together to show the Yasta monks her new weapon, but she wanted to make sure we would be considered worthy first.”
Makram was beginning to see where she was going with her story. He decided to build on it himself. “It would be unlikely for the Yasta to take someone outside of their order seriously—especially where new weapons are concerned. We all came here to learn from the best, and to join the Yasta. Of course, once we got here, we found out about the lasana blades, so Chanta’s new weapon design was useless. That’s why we didn’t say anything after we were accepted.”
Cierra took up their alibi from there. “Then Theo had his fight with Karl, and lost his ability to heal because he let hatred into his heart. We were surprised to see Karl here because we never thought that he was a real Brother. We had just assumed that he was an imposter. A real Yasta monk would never do the evil things that we saw him commit. Since we’ve only just become acolytes, we didn’t feel we had the position to challenge or question him.”
Theo passed his eyes over the other three. “Should I be worried about how easy it is for you all to come up with a cohesive lie?”
“You’ll get to the point where you can do it, too.” Cherish tried to reassure him.
She was quickly undermined by Makram’s razor response. “If you live long enough.”
“Makram!” Cherish frowned at him, and placed her hands on her hips.
“I’m just saying, without his healing gift, he would have already been dead.”
Cierra tried to get them back on track. “Should we bring up his new blaster? That might be something that the Yasta would want to know about.”
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Cherish thought about it for a moment before answering. “I don’t think we should mention that just yet. Right now, we don’t know who’s on Karl’s side, and who isn’t. If we mention it to the wrong person, they may decide that keeping the blaster a secret is more important than keeping us alive.”
“Now we have that settled, maybe we should get some sleep. We have no way of knowing when the soldiers will come back for us.” Makram stretched his arms up over his head.
“I think that’s a great idea.” Cherish gave Makram a pointed look. “For everyone except you.”
“What? Why not me?”
Cherish gently pressed one finger to the lump on his head. “Because you, oh wise and powerful commander, probably have a concussion. You won’t do us any good if you slip into a coma.”
“How long are you going to make me stay awake?” Makram grumbled, but didn’t fight her on it.
“Long enough to make sure you’re okay.” Cherish nodded towards the far side of the cell. “Come on. I’ll stay up with you. Let’s go over there though, so we don’t keep Cierra and Theo awake. At least some of us need to be well rested. Just think of it as taking the first watch.” She led him over to the part of the cell she had gestured to, but Makram kept mumbling the whole way.
Theo was still sitting awkwardly by Cierra. Back in their room, he would have been on the floor, and she would have been sprawled on the bed. Theo felt his stomach turn a little. “So…” His voice trailed off. What was he supposed to say when he was trapped in a dungeon with a woman he was pretending to be married to? The Carbonari hadn’t prepared him for this.
“Don’t get any ideas.” Cierra narrowed her eyes at him, but Theo didn’t sense the same feistiness that he usually did.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Cierra leaned back, and rolled onto her side. The chill of the stone floor seeped through her clothing and into her skin. Theo could hear her teeth chattering, but she was too stubborn to say anything. On the other side of the room, Cherish and Makram were talking in hushed tones. Theo closed his eyes to build up his courage, before sliding over to lie down beside Cierra.
“What are you doing?” Her whisper held a hint of panic, but she didn’t move away from him.
“You’re freezing. I’m no
t going to be able to sleep with your teeth chattering like that. Just put your head on my arm. I make a better pillow than the floor, and you won’t be as cold.” Theo could sense her hesitation. “How is it going to look if the guards come in, and see that I let my wife fend for herself in a dungeon?”
His words sank in, and slowly, Cierra lifted her head up just enough to let him slide his arm underneath her. “This is just for the mission.” Her heart thundered in her chest as his other arm looped around her waist and pulled her closer.
“I know.”
Two
Four days later
Cherish felt herself floating in space. Instead of being cold, the area around her body seemed to lap at her skin like warm water on a beach. Starlight twinkled around her like fireflies. She wanted to reach out to touch one, but she had no control over her body. The warmth was comforting and familiar. It filled her. It was a feeling she had come to associate with Batumah’s grace and love.
“Cherish.” A voice whispered her name in the darkness.
“Batumah? Why can’t I see you?”
“I am always with you, even when you can’t see me.”
“Can you help us? Please? We’re trapped in a dungeon.” Cherish pleaded with the air around her.
“You are not trapped, child. You are right where you are meant to be.”
“I don’t understand. How can this be where we are supposed to be?”
Batumah’s voice moved closer to her ear. It made her ribcage vibrate. “There is more to this than you know. I allowed you to be brought back to life, because you are still needed. You must be careful, Cherish. Not everything is as it seems.”
“What do you mean? Can’t you give me a more straightforward answer?”
Suddenly, the warmth that had been holding her up, fell away. Cherish screamed as she plummeted through the darkness. She could feel wind rushing past her face. Her stomach did flips. Not knowing what was waiting for her in the darkness was worse than if she had seen the ground rushing towards her. The roar of the air past her ears mixed with her screams.
“Cherish! Cherish, wake up!” Makram was shaking her.
Cherish opened her eyes. Her hands were clinging to him. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She threw her arms around Makram’s neck. “I was so scared.”
He reached out a comforting hand and stroked her hair. “Another dream? You were screaming in your sleep this time.”
“I’m sorry.” Cherish buried her face in his chest.
“Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?” He was curious about her dream, but he didn’t want to pry if she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Cherish took a ragged breath and tried to calm herself down. The truth was that she had been having more prophetic dreams since she had died and been brought back to life. They almost always had a sinister tone now. Each one made her more and more worried about what was to come. She tried to keep the contents of her dreams to herself as best she could. She found herself seeking comfort from Makram. He gave her a tight squeeze that made her feel safe, and anchored again. She reached up to touch the fading lump on his head from where he was knocked unconscious. He winced in pain.
“Is it still sore?”
Makram shrugged, but guided her hand away from his head. “A bit. It’s not terrible though.”
“How many days has it been now?” Cierra groaned from the other side of the cell.
Theo placed his hands on his rumbling stomach. “At least one thousand.”
“Don’t be such a drama queen.” Makram rolled his eyes. “It’s only been four days, tops.”
“I’ve never been this hungry, even during the worst drought on Relisse.” Theo was so hungry that he would have eaten rotting leftovers.
Cierra rolled her head to the side to look at him. It took too much effort to physically turn her body. “Don’t talk about it. It just makes it worse.”
Theo looked at Cherish and Makram suspiciously. “Hey, why aren’t you two this hungry? Do you have a secret stash of food or something?”
“Get a grip, Theo.” Makram glared at him. “I’m just as hungry as you are. I just don’t whine about it like you do.”
“Ugh. Wine.” Theo closed his eyes. “I haven’t had wine in so long.”
Cierra tried to smack him, but she didn’t have the energy. Instead, she turned her eyes towards Cherish. “Smack him for me, will you? I’m afraid if I actually touch his arm, I’ll just gnaw it off.”
Makram shook his head. “You two were made for each other.”
“You take that back!” Cierra yelled across the cell to him.
“Hush!” Cherish hissed at them.
“See?” Makram gestured towards Cherish. “You’re even upsetting Cherish.”
“No! I mean, hush! I can hear someone coming!” Cherish quickly laid down on the ground and repositioned the strip of cloth around her neck to hide where Karl’s blade had sliced through her.
Theo threw himself down in Cierra’s lap. She glared at him. Her voice was an angry whisper in his ear. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know! I saw Cherish lay down, so I just did it, too.”
Cierra shoved him off of her legs. “She’s laying down because she’s supposed to still be dead, idiot!”
“I’m starving! My brain is literally eating itself. Cut me some slack.” Theo grumbled, and rubbed the back of his head where it had bounced against the cell floor.
“As small as your brain is, that won’t take long. You’ve only got enough brains for a snack in that hollowed out head of yours.” Cierra mumbled under her breath.
“Hush!” Cherish issued them one more warning before the door to the dungeon opened.
Makram lowered his lips until they were almost touching Cherish’s ear. “I know you wanted to wait this out, but it’s been four days. I don’t think Cierra and Theo can take much more of this. Whoever is coming, this might be our chance to get out. You’re the only one of us with weapons.” Cherish opened one eye, just enough so that Makram knew that she had heard him. She didn’t nod or shake her head, so he had no way of knowing if she was going to attack or not. He just had to trust her judgement. Makram braced himself for the worst, just in case.
A dark figure was framed in the light of the doorway as it heaved open. Flickering light burst into the dungeon, as a torch was carried in. Makram squinted into the brightness. So much time away from the surface had made his eyes more sensitive. He heard a low hum coming from Cherish’s arm that was closest to him. He had never noticed before that he could hear her preparing to shift her blades into position. The last few days in the dungeon had made him even more aware of her small nuances. A muted whirring sound revved up and then seemed to stall out for a second before restarting. His eyes glanced at her in concern. Makram wasn’t sure if he was only aware of the noise was because he was spending more time with her, or if it was a sign of internal damage from when she was decapitated. How much did he actually trust that Theo healed her correctly? Would Cherish have spoken up if she knew something was off? Makram fought to cage his worries and focus on the situation at hand. This wasn’t the kind of situation he wanted to be in when he was doubting the effectiveness of one of his teammates.
“Theo? Cierra?” Two green hands gripped the bars of the cell, as a third hand pushed the torch through one of the gaps. The light illuminated not only the interior of the cell, but also a familiar face peering in at them.
“Jaedo?” Theo scurried to the bars. “What are you doing here?”
The green Josti gestured with two of his hands. “I heard that you attacked the matriarch. I didn’t believe it. I snuck down here to check on you. What is going on? No one’s seen Grandmother Yasta in three days. The monastery is filled with talk that she was terribly wounded. Only Aphano, Karl, and one of the matriarch’s most trusted servants are allowed to see her.”
“She’s alive?” Makram found it hard to restrain his dismay
that the old woman had lived. When he thought she was dead, he could at least dupe himself into believing that, even though they were captured, there was one less Yasta leader in the world. Knowing that she was still alive only made him want to escape more. Their mission had been a complete failure so far, and he had already lost three of his teammates on the climb up the mountain.
Jaedo nodded his head. “That’s what they are saying. Brothers Superior are coming in from all of the different systems, and none of them have been greeted by or been granted an audience with her. It’s very unusual for the matriarch not to greet brothers who have traveled so far for the Dargani festival.”
“We didn’t attack her. We’d have no reason to…” Theo pleaded the Josti with his eyes, to understand. He needed someone to believe him.
“I didn’t think you did. What happened though? You were found in the room with her injured body.”
Cierra moved closer to the bars. Talking momentarily took her mind off of her hunger. “We found her in her room, after Karl had struck her down.”
“Did you actually see him do it?” The Josti’s eyes searched her face.
“No.” She hesitated slightly. “He was the only one in the room with her, though.”
“So, it’s possible that perhaps he found her that way as well.” Jaedo seemed unwilling to blame anyone on assumption.
While Makram appreciated the Josti’s attempt to be fair, his team needed all the support they could get. Moving towards their new friend, Makram decided to risk a little more information to sway him to their side. Before he spoke, he remembered that he was supposed to be grieving over his dead wife. Makram tried to muster some tears, but his body was so dehydrated that he couldn’t even do that. “Jaedo…”
“Makram, I didn’t see you at first. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Jaedo reached out, and held Makram’s hand. “I brought you all some food, too. It’s not much.”
Cierra almost started to cry when the Josti reached under his robes and offered them three rolls. She reached out to take one, as if it was more precious than any jewel. “Thank you, Jaedo. Oh, but, there’s only three of them.”
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 37