“How do you know that?” Iri raised an eyebrow.
“She told me.”
It was time to come clean to the group. I told them everything, about every dreamwalk and my lack of control in going back to the prison.
Everyone sat in silence until I was done.
“Have you spoken to Runa? This seems like something she should know.” Astor bit his lip, visibly worried.
“No, not since our first meeting.”
“What does Dag'draath want with you?” Sade’s eyes narrowed.
I hoped she still trusted me, but I knew this would challenge that. “I imagine he wants me to help him escape. After all, I freed Beru.”
I glanced at him.
He sat in his chair, elbows on his knees, his head hung low, and I couldn’t see his face to see what he thought of it. This was at the heart of our disagreement earlier. Would he be angrier now I’d shared with the group, but refused to talk about it with him privately?
A knock on the door startled all of us.
“She’s not going to knock on the door, guys.” Sade stood up, shaking her head with amusement as she crossed to the door. She opened it, and the healer strode in.
“How is the patient today?” He stopped with a smile when he saw Iri sitting up in bed.
Iri extended his hand for the healer to shake. “I’m fine. Almost back to normal. Thank you for checking on me.”
“As I hoped you would be.” He turned to me. “Aria, I need to know the components of your ointment. Many villagers have died from these spider attacks. We must save those we can.”
“Yes.” I took the healer over to the herbs he had left and began mixing up a larger batch. “The key components are all here.”
The healer watched as I mixed.
“And these.” I took some trifoliate pratense from my pocket. “People think they’re a nuisance weed, but they work for snake bites and rashes.”
“You have experience with it?”
“I remembered the elders in my village using it when a local had been bitten by a snake. Seems it may also work on spider bites.” I looked at Iri, who leaned into Sade as she laughed. My cheeks reddened at the sweet moment.
“Yes.” The healer smiled as he took what was left of the weeds from my hand. “I’ll have one of my helpers scavenge the land for more.”
“They shouldn’t be hard to find. I know my mom used to make me pick them out of the garden so they wouldn’t choke the vegetables.” I paused, then gritted my teeth and prepared for the worst. “Can you tell us how bad it is?”
“It’s been constant attacks since late yesterday. She’s severely decimated the local population.”
“I’m sorry this is all happening.” I took a deep breath, tempted to give myself to her to make it all stop.
“It isn’t your fault. I’m positive we’ll defeat her in time.”
I could feel my cheeks begin to burn.
He didn’t know I was the reason for the attacks. All the deaths were on my shoulders. There was nothing I could do to stop them, except give myself to Widow.
“Umm,” I hesitated. “I think I’m the reason Widow is here.”
He turned to face me. Placing his large palms on my arms, he rubbed them briskly. “You are not to blame.”
“No, I am. Widow wants me.” I pushed his hands off, undeserving of the warmth and calmness in them.
He stepped back, eyebrows lowering as he looked at me. “I don't understand.”
I couldn’t explain everything. Some things had to remain a secret. But I had to tell him why he’d seen so much destruction and why Widow was tearing apart everything he knew.
He returned to packing up his bag with increased urgency.
My heart thudded slowly, painfully as I watched another person lose trust in me. “We’re going to make her stop.”
“How do you expect to do that?” He was practically shouting and I winced.
I knew I deserved his anger, but it had been nice to feel his pride in me before he’d joined the ranks of those who hated me.
“It’s not her fault.” Beru moved to stand at my side, his head jutting forward as his hands curled into fists at his sides. He looked ready to tackle the healer to defend me.
Looking at him with the utmost disgust, the healer curled his lip. “And is it true what they say? You are the traitor Beru she freed from the prison?”
“She was forced to free me.” Beru’s voice was steady as he regarded the healer. There was something menacing in his sudden stillness.
I practically jumped between them, facing the healer, uncertain if either would take a swing at the other. “I did free him.”
He turned and spit on my face.
Beru was on him in an instant, his hands wrapped around his neck, squeezing.
“No, Beru!” I pulled on his arm as hard as I could, practically hanging off him as I tried to break them apart. But he was somewhere else. I wasn’t even sure he knew I was there.
Beru backed the healer out of the house and pushed him to the ground, releasing his grip on the man’s neck. “You're not welcome here any longer.”
Astor grabbed his bag and threw it out the window, avoiding getting in Beru’s way at the door.
“You can’t do that to him!” They were upset with the wrong person. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine. All of this was my fault.
Beru closed the door gently, as if he’d just come inside from a peaceful walk. Bypassing me without acknowledging my horror, he walked back to the bedroom.
I shook with anger at his actions. How dare he treat another healer in such a fashion? One who had just helped to save our friend. I wanted to march in there and put him in his place, but that meant I’d be alone with him. I promised I wouldn’t let myself do that again.
“Well, that was interesting.” Astor craned his neck to look toward the back bedroom where Beru had disappeared.
“We’ll deal with him later. Right now, we need to work as a team and figure out the best way to handle Widow.” Iri’s reasonable tone brought calmness to the room.
He was right. The drama had to stop. We needed to focus on Widow and closing the tear in the prison before anyone else escaped.
When another knock came on the door, we all tensed.
Sade moved first and I followed. After the way the healer had reacted, we needed to be ready to protect ourselves from everyone.
The elderly woman who’d rented us the house stood outside, wrapped in a thick wool shawl to protect her from the cool morning.
Sade stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter.
“I come for the dreamwalker.” Her voice was reedy and thin, making it sound eerie in the quiet room.
“I’m a dreamwalker,” I spoke up, not afraid of the frail thing standing at the door. Even if she were to suddenly leap at me.
“You must leave. All of you.” She looked around the room at us, her face thin and scared. “They are coming for you and will kill us all to get to you.”
“We’ll be on our way as soon as our friend is well enough to travel.” I couldn’t argue with her words. She was right.
“No, you must leave today. Now. The sooner, the better. Or everyone around you will pay for your mistakes.”
She turned and walked out of the house wordlessly, leaving Sade and me to watch her openmouthed.
If we stayed, these people would be murdered.
Chapter 15
We traveled for three days, Widow and her spiders never far away. Every town we stopped to rest in reported spider attacks. It seemed at times she knew where we were going before we did.
We were still days from the coast. We slept in shifts after the night we woke to find three bodies suspended over our campfire, dead. It was clear she was playing with us.
“He’s dead.”
Sade and I were washing up at the water’s edge when Iri’s angry voice called out. I rushed to dress, stumbling up the hill while I put my shoes on. When I got to the top of the hill, I co
uld see one of the horses lying on the ground, stiff and lathered with sweat on his flanks.
“She’s heartless,” Astor spat, rubbing his face.
“I’m not scared of her.” Sade turned to project her voice into the woods. “You won’t stop us!”
I brought my hand up, covering my eyes in a futile attempt to soothe the pounding headache from the lack of sleep. “We need to bed down for a couple of days. I can’t keep on like this.”
Iri swept me up in his big arms and hugged me. “Soon. Once we have gained some ground on her.”
I pulled back from him and nodded. I needed to rest now. My body ached from sleeping on the ground, riding a horse all day, and sitting in the carriage. If Widow wasn’t chasing us, I would have almost welcomed walking to our destination.
“We’ll trade horses in the next town.” Beru threw our supplies on the back of the carriage.
“What about him?” I pointed to the dead horse.
Beru shrugged and kept packing.
I knelt and ran my hand through his mane. He didn’t deserve this. “I want to bury him.”
“There’s no time. Besides, he’s dead. He won’t know the difference.” Beru kicked at the fire pit to cover the red-hot coals, then dumped the soapy wash-water on it for good measure.
“Are you that heartless?” I stood and ripped a thick branch off a tree and moved beside the horse. I began to dig so we could roll him into a grave.
Sade grabbed a stick and soon after Astor followed.
Iri was still weak but poured water for us when we needed it. I was so focused on my work I didn’t notice when Beru began to help.
It didn’t take long working together for us to dig a large enough hole to roll the horse into. We each grabbed a leg, flipped him over, and let gravity do the rest.
“That was energy we couldn’t afford.” Beru, now covered in sweat, threw his stick to the ground, and returned to breaking down camp without another word.
The rest of us covered the horse and gave a few words of thanks for its help on the journey, then joined him and Iri, and left immediately.
We traded our horses for fresh stock in the next town then promptly left, trying to cover as much ground as we could.
I knew I’d have to attempt dreamwalking soon to borrow more supplies, but I was trying to put it off because it meant another stop. At least the others could rest while I worked, and I was trying to keep track of everything I borrowed.
If we lived through this, I was determined to repay everyone we took from. Eventually.
“We need more supplies. We only have enough to last until tomorrow.” She looked back at me, her brows were knitted together.
I knew what that look meant. I was tired and needed rest, but I couldn’t expect them to understand how hard it was on me. After all, it looked like I was sleeping.
We stopped in a secure location off the trail where we found an old shelter with a somewhat comfortable space for me to lie flat.
I was exhausted, so it didn’t take long for me to drift off. This time, Astor had found a baron’s home. Luckily when I arrived, he was having a dinner party. People were milling about everywhere. I wasn’t dressed for the party in my dirty, scuffed clothes, but no one batted an eye when they saw me.
In the banquet hall, a grand feast was laid out on the table. It was clear from the sheer quantity of food the guests at this event had no idea what true hunger felt like. I kept to the outskirts of the room, stuffing what I could into my pack to take back for the others.
I had a pastry in my mouth when two older women, both dressed in miles of silk, walked past.
One of the women scrunched up her nose at my stench.
I hadn’t been able to sit in a hot bath for weeks, and apparently that had followed me here.
“They say she’s part spider.” One of the women said in a conspiratorial tone. “Milk, please.” She held her cup out to me.
Apparently, she thought I was the help. I wanted to hear more, so I poured her the milk. She didn’t bother to look at me as she grabbed the drink without a thank you.
“I don’t believe it. Sounds preposterous to me.”
Both women turned their backs to me as they faced the crowd, leaning in to continue whispering to each other. “It’s true. My cousin’s girlfriend’s brother saw it with his own eyes.”
The older of the two looked smug.
“They’ll never make it here if that’s the case,” the younger replied.
“Why is that?”
“The baron has plans in case something happens. I’m sure of it. I’d stake my life on it.” The younger woman walked off.
“Foolish girl,” the older woman said under her breath, shaking her head as she watched the other leave.
“I’ve seen the spider-woman myself,” I hid my dirty hands behind me.
“What was that?” The woman turned around, her nose wrinkling as she looked me over from top to bottom.
“She’s real.” I wanted to know how much people knew about her.
“You’ve seen her?” She stepped closer, despite my smell.
“I have, Madame,” I wiped off some of the cheese from a puff I’d just stuffed down my throat.
“I told them all she was real, but no one ever listens to me.” She sniffed, turning back to scan the crowd.
“Which one is the baron?” I hoped her disdain extended to him.
“The balding fat one in the corner. Look at all those hussies, fawning over him. His wife is standing right there.” She held her nose up further in the air. If it was any higher, she’d fall over.
“Do you think he really does have a plan if the spider-woman comes?” I bit into another delightful puff. This one a sweet cream.
She snorted. “Sure, he does. To get his own hide out of here.” With that, the old woman retreated into the crowd with her fake smile, instantly gushing over a couple a few feet away as if they were best friends.
I’d heard enough of the town gossip by now. I needed to get the coin and return before I ran out of energy. From the looks of this party, the baron had more coin than he needed. Perhaps I should rob him blind.
I made my way to the hall where I thought his office would be, opening it to find my hunch had been correct. I scoped out the room quickly, then walked over to the bookshelf where Astor had seen the safe.
Behind the statue on the third shelf, I found the hollow book with the red cover, just like he’d said. There was no lock, which surprised me considering the house was full of people. And in the spot where the book had been was a large space, extending far back into the shelf, full of money.
I ditched the food I’d stashed earlier after less than a half seconds debate. I filled the bag and my pockets with coin. The more I saw on my travels of the rampant poverty people were living in, the worse I viewed the rich barons and businessmen whose wealth we were borrowing. If I could have taken it all, I would have.
He didn’t deserve any of that coin while people starved.
I lay down on the floor behind the desk, dreamwalking back to the cabin where my friends were waiting just outside.
Sade opened the door. “You’re back! How much did you get?”
“Enough to last us for a while.” I smiled and dumped the coins out from my pack and pockets.
“Aria. That’s incredible amount. How will he not miss this?” She picked up the coin, bringing it up to her nose and inhaling deeply.
“Oh, he’ll notice.” I offered a mischievous grin and debated over filling her in now or waiting until everyone was there.
“Why did you take so much?”
“We can give what we don’t need to the poor. The people who can’t afford a cure for Widow’s poison.”
“Yes, but if we take more, they’ll find out and come after us. We don’t need more people trying to stop us. We need to focus on the prison.”
“I’m still focused on the prison. We’ll never see these people again.”
I was annoyed she couldn�
�t see the purpose behind my plan. Then again, I didn’t think she’d ever been inside one of the houses of the rich.
She’d never experienced the excess they lived in.
Before she could reply, Beru knocked on the door and walked in. “I just wanted to make sure you were back.”
I nodded and looked away. He’d disapprove of my plan if she did.
Beru’s eyes widened as he saw the coins spread out on the bed. “How many houses did you go to get all that coin?”
“One.” Sade rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
Beru didn’t need to say anything. His eyes said it all.
Sade relaxed her arms and turned to the door. “I’m going to round up the others. I feel like fresh meat tonight. Be back soon. Oh, while you’re waiting, you can get a fire going.”
Before I could protest, she was gone, leaving me alone with him.
He didn’t look at me, still captivated by the coins on the bed. “It’s dangerous to take this much from one person.”
“I know.” I laid back on the cot, pushing aside some of the money. I was exhausted and fully intended to sleep while the others went for food.
Beru could tend to the fire for all I cared.
“I heard what you said to Sade before I came in. About giving to the poor.”
I looked away, waiting for him to tell me all the reasons it was a terrible idea.
“I think you’re on to something. We could get the support of the villagers. They wouldn't be so scared of Widow if we helped them out. Most of them don’t know why she’s attacking.” He sat on a cot on the other side of the room, resting his elbows on his knees.
“You actually agree with me?”
“Yes.”
I folded my hands over my stomach, biting my lip as I stared at the water-stained ceiling. “What if we can’t fix this? What if there’s no way to close the rip?” The words tumbled out, unfiltered, unbidden, but I couldn’t hold them back any longer.
“We will help the villagers heal their own. We will find the key and close off the prison.”
His words were matter-of-fact, but when I turned to look at him, he’d shifted so he was lying on his cot looking at the ceiling as well.
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