Vandermere knelt in the middle of the room, a bedroom from the looks of it. Tapestries and rugs filled the room, woven in strange abstract geometrical shapes that hurt her head if she did more than glance at them. An elaborate, oaken wardrobe stood next to one of the shuttered windows. In the back of the room was a large bed with ornately carved posts. In the center of the bed lay a skeleton, its skull tilted to stare at the staircase. A dagger was buried between its ribs. A dark, burned mark marred the purple sheets beneath the body and more iron shards lay strewn across the bed. It was as if a bomb of iron had gone off.
Vandermere screamed again and clutched his head.
Lorelei rushed to him and grabbed his shoulder. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”
He stood, knocking her hand away, and turned her direction. His face was an emotionless mask. Shadows danced in his eyes as he stared down at her. That same aura of menace she’d felt when they’d first met emanated from him.
She was no longer dealing with Vandermere, but the Dark Lord.
26
Vandermere knew the skeleton when he saw it. Verdain ap Essus, the Lord of Fate was dead by iron. Forever lost.
A scream erupted from his lips before he could stop it and he fell to his knees. His chest heaved as his stomach twisted not only from the sight before him, but the iron surrounding him. His skin itched at the feeling of it in the air.
How could something like this happen? There were no signs that his attacker had forced their way in. They would have had to pass through the magical protections at the door. Knowing Verdain, there had been other protection as well.
His gaze trailed down to the side of the bed to where a pile of clothes lay. Next to it was a pair of lace panties. He’d had a female here, and it had been his doom. How could one of House Essus be tricked into inviting their assassin in?
He swallowed. He could force a vision and find out what happened. With this much iron, it was a risk. Even having a vision in such a place would be detrimental to him. It could give the shadow more leeway. Still, he needed to know and the vision would be easier in the place of Verdain’s death.
He closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and let the vision come.
A purple light flashes.
A black snake slithers up an ivory road, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. It is surrounded in darkness.
Flash.
Golden eyes are filled with lies and secrets.
Flash.
The door to the tower opens. Verdain admits his death in.
Flash.
Vaana’s face flashes as she stands over Verdain’s body. A dagger is buried in his heart. She places a device on his chest and sprints out of the room.
Flash.
An explosion blooms. Fire and iron shards.
27
Lorelei backed from Vandermere until her back hit the railing of the staircase. He drew his sword and took another step towards her.
“Vandermere, it’s Lorelei.” She raised her hands up. “We’re friends, remember?”
“Lies,” Vandermere said in a deep voice. “No servant of the Shadow is a friend.”
He lifted the sword up so the tip was inches from her heaving chest. He wasn’t outright attacking her, which was good, but any wrong move could set him off. With all the iron flung about in the room, a fight in here would be deadly to either of them.
She reached behind her, grabbing the rail. Slowly, she descended step by step with him following after her with his sword raised. Wes and Vaana stood in the library below near a fallen bookshelf. Vaana’s eyes widened as she watched Lorelei descend. Wes shout a loud curse and rushed towards the stairs. Lorelei raised her hand to stop him, but it was too late.
Vandermere’s head jerked in Wes’s direction before returning to Lorelei. His face twisted into a dark scowl and he lunged forward to bury his sword in Lorelei’s chest. She twisted her torso to the side and the blade slashed through her cloak.
She hopped back onto the rail and used her momentum to slide the remaining distance to the lower floor. At the end, she tried to stop but toppled forward and fell to the carpet. The blow reverberated through her bones and knocked the wind from her.
Wes leapt to stand in front of her as Vandermere sprinted down the remaining steps towards them. Wes pulled his gun from his belt.
“Don’t,” Lorelei cried in between gasps of air. “He’s not in his right mind.”
“Obviously,” Wes said. “What happened?”
Vaana crept around the staircase to approach Vandermere from behind.
“Fiends,” Vandermere hissed. “Servants of the Shadow. You’ll not claim me.”
“He must have had some vision from what he saw upstairs.” Lorelei gulped and shuddered as the memory rose in her mind.
Wes kept his gun trained on Vandermere, who paused at the bottom of the staircase. Vandermere studied them with narrowed eyes, his forehead creased.
“I think he may recognize us somewhere deep in his consciousness.” Lorelei raised her hands up and got to her feet. “We just need to reach him somehow.”
Vandermere spun from them and slashed his sword at Vaana a few feet behind him. She ducked down and rolled into a ball to dodge him. In one smooth motion, she came out of the tumble and stood near Lorelei and Wes.
“Stop trying to attack him,” Lorelei snapped. “It will only make things worse.”
“Any ideas on how to calm him, then?” Wes asked.
A heaviness settled in her chest as her heart pounded. The last time this had happened, she’d sung and been able to pull him from his madness. Would it work this time? She had to try. Lorelei stepped forward, drew a deep breath, and sang.
“I’ve seen through your smile.” Her words came out in a soft cadence. “Your pain speaks, through your silence.”
She pulled the image of first meeting him, after he removed his helmet. The first smile he’d given her transforming his face.
“All I want is your joy. I want to heal your suffering and save you from the dark.”
Vandermere stiffened, his grip on his sword shaking.
She focused her thoughts on the first night on the ship. How close he had gotten to her. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to love someone again, but he had caught her attention.
“Give unto me your suffering. Let me share your burden and shine through your shadows.”
She took another step forward to where the tip of the blade pressed into the fabric of her dress. Vandermere’s hand dropped as he stared at her with a confused look on his face.
“Fear not the heat of my light. Let me be the sun in your world of shadows.
She laid her hand on his chest and met his gaze. “Fear not the heat of my light. Let me be the sun in your world of shadows…”
The gloom in his eyes faded and he stared down at her with recognition. With a loud groan, the sword fell from his hand and he collapsed to his knees.
Lorelei knelt beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He pressed his forehead against her breast as his entire body shook. She ran her hand through his hair as she let relief sink through her. It was as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.
“Shh. You’re back with us,” she said in a gentle voice.
After another moment, he pulled away and straightened. “I apologize. I lost myself.” He smiled down at Lorelei. “You brought me back again.”
“What was that all about?” Wes spoke up.
“The Lord of Fate is dead.” Vandermere bowed his head. “I forced a vision to find out what happened.”
“Did you see?” Lorelei asked.
Vandermere’s head shot up and he glared at Vaana. “This isn’t the first time you have been here. What did you do?”
Lorelei looked between Vandermere and Vaana as a queasy feeling settled in her stomach.
“What’s he talking about?” Lorelei asked, landing her gaze on Vaana.
Vaana shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe the crazy hasn’t settled.”
Vaana paled and her shoulders slumped. “Damn you, why did this vision have to be so accurate.”
The room took on an eerie clarity for Lorelei as a chill ran down her spine. “You really did this? That’s why you haven’t wanted to come here. Because you knew you’d left nothing behind.”
“I was following orders. Verdain ap Essus was a heretic. Worse. He didn’t just collect information on old magic, he actually collected the essences of old gods.”
“So, the Order told you to kill him…with iron?” Lorelei asked.
“Doesn’t sound in line with the Order’s principle of Reincarnation,” Wes spoke up.
“I had my doubts about it, but it was given to me by the Apostle of Fire and by the Voice of Wisdom herself. How could the one who speaks for the Empress be wrong?” Vaana met each of their stares with an expression of determination.
“And do you believe these things now?” Lorelei asked.
Vaana crossed her arms and stared down at the floor. “I don’t know. Things have been…unclear…since the Menhir.”
“What happened?” Lorelei asked. “He didn’t have the essences here, so you got where he stored them, somehow?”
“She seduced him,” Vandermere said in a cold voice. “Verdain had a predilection for courting females.”
Vaana nodded. “I knew this from the information I’d gathered on him. He was surprisingly forthcoming. I had expected more resistance.”
Vandermere’s jaw tightened and he was on his feet in an instant. His fist clenched and he stepped towards Vaana. Lorelei put a hand on his arm.
“Wait,” she said. “Violence isn’t the answer to this.” She jerked her head in Vaana’s direction with the curl of her lip. “We do need to decide what to do about you, though.”
“What, you plan to kill me?” Vaana said with a snort. “I’m not easily felled. Especially now.”
Lorelei’s stomach twisted at the thought. “No, but we need to think about this. I knew you were using us to get the tablet…but you kept what you did from us.”
“This is why I didn’t want to come here.” Vaana threw her hands in the air. “I knew it would be for nothing…and it would break what we have built.”
“What have we built?” Vandermere said in a growling voice.
“Yeah, I used you in the beginning, but that’s changed. I’ve grown to like you.” Vaana stared down at her clenched fist. “And I’ve been pretty useful. I’ve healed you and saved your lives.”
“So, what? You want to go on with them like you’ve been?” Wes looked at Vandermere’s face. “I don’t think they’re gonna be happy about that.”
Lorelei held up her hand. “Look, I think we need to step back from this for now. Let’s take the night to let some emotions settle and discuss what to do in the morning.”
“She may leave,” Vandermere said. “To escape whatever punishment is owed to her. She abandoned the Order, after all. I doubt she has any problems with abandoning us.”
“She doesn’t have many places to go,” Lorelei said.
“Actually,” Wes said, “she has almost the entire West to get lost in and people willing to aid her for the right price. I’m sure she knows where to look for them.”
“Fine,” Lorelei said. “How about we lock her up for now?”
Vaana let out a short laugh. “You’re not about to lock me up in some broom closet.”
“As much as you think you can win, it’s three against one,” Lorelei said. “We know your tricks.”
A strange light glittered from Vaana’s eyes. “You haven’t even begun to see my tricks.”
Vandermere reached down and grabbed his sword. “By all means, show us then.”
“Wait!” Lorelei held up her hand. “Let’s not destroy what is left of the library. Vaana, I know you think that fighting your way out is your only option...”
Vaana sent a glare in Vandermere’s direction. “Isn’t it? He plans to mete out some sort of punishment for my transgression against his House.”
“And it’s probably well deserved,” Lorelei touched Vandermere’s arm again. “But…what will it get us in the end? We came here to learn more about the gods within Vaana. If we kill her, what will happen to them?”
“I don’t know.” Vandermere’s brow furrowed. “I could find out.”
“None of that. Also, we are considered heretics and wanted by the Order. That isn’t going to go away. If we turned her into the Quorum, we’d be arrested as well.” Lorelei looked to Vaana. “We are in the middle of nowhere, and as far as I know, you don’t know how to sail a ship. You can at least wait for the night.”
“Fine,” Vaana muttered in a low growl. “Which room do you want to stick me in?”
Lorelei turned the key, locking Vaana in the storeroom. They had found a ring of keys on the wall of the kitchen that worked for most of the locks in the tower. They’d considered locking her in the small sitting room, but it had windows. In the end, Vaana had predicted her prison, though she’d been left with a bedroll and pillows as well as food.
Lorelei turned and leaned her back against the door with a long sigh. “What now?”
“Well,” Wes said, “there is a lab and a library to explore. Maybe she didn’t destroy everything.”
Lorelei nodded. “She left the sketches on the wall intact. Maybe she left more.”
Without a word, Vandermere turned and marched up the stairs.
“Maybe we should give him some time,” Lorelei said softly. “This has all come as a shock to him.”
“Huh,” Wes said. “Is he supposed to be a seer or something?”
“Something like that,” Lorelei said. “But it doesn’t make him omniscient.”
“Still, you’d think he would have looked into this place before coming here. Had a vision or something.”
Lorelei stared up at the ceiling and bit her lip. “I don’t think Vandermere likes to have visions for fear of what could happen.”
“You mean like earlier? What was that all about?”
She shook her head. “All of his House is cursed with a madness. It appears that his becomes uncontrollable when he has visions.”
Wes shook his head. “You all are a weird lot.”
Lorelei chuckled. “I guess you’re right. But, you’re still here.”
He shrugged and bumped her shoulder with his. “Maybe I like weird.”
“Doesn’t that make you weird too?”
Vaana’s voice came muffled from behind the door. “If you’re going to flirt, pick another room.”
Wes gave a fake bow and stretched his arm to the stairs. “Shall we?”
They climbed the stairs to the second floor. Vandermere was nowhere to be seen. Lorelei sighed and paced the length of the room. She wanted to go to him, to let him know she was there for him, but he probably didn’t want the company at the moment. Her gaze drifted to one of the sketches on the walls.
“Some of these look like maps,” Lorelei said, “But to places I’ve never even heard of.”
“There are tales of gateways that lead to other worlds,” Wes said. “There’s supposed to be one somewhere to the West.”
“We are in the West,” Lorelei said. “I mean, we’ve been traveling West for the past two weeks…on a river. How much more West is left?”
“A lot,” Wes said with a chuckle. “And no one knows where this gateway would be. At least, no one I’ve talked to.”
“Were you interested in going there? You don’t seem like the type to follow fancies.”
“You just don’t know me,” Wes said. “I’m here, aren’t I? And you found me under Murgleis’s thrall.”
“True.” Lorelei frowned down at the sword. You’ve been silent a lot recently.
I’m not here to provide a running commentary on your exploits. We made a pact
and I am waiting for it to be fulfilled.
You knew we would come here first.
I did. I am patient. I have time, after all.
What do you think of Vaana’s betrayal?
It is to be expected. The Order is filled with evils you can’t comprehend…Well, perhaps you can.
What do you mean by that?
Silence met her question.
Lorelei let out a sigh and turned to Wes. “So, maybe we should check out the library before messing around with anything in here. We don’t want to blow this floor of the tower up.”
Wes glanced up the stairs. “What did you see in the bedroom?”
Lorelei shook her head as the image flashed in her mind. “You shouldn’t go up there. It’s deadly…The whole room is covered in iron shards and dust.”
“I’m surprised you’re not sick from it. Or Vandermere.”
“I covered my nose and mouth when I realized what it was…but Vandermere…” He didn’t. Lorelei’s brow furrowed. “Strange.”
“What?” Wes asked.
“Vandermere was on his knees, kneeling in it, and yet he didn’t seem affected at all.”
Wes’s eyebrows raised. “I thought your people are supposed to be affected by it more.”
“We are…unless in Vandermere’s madness and anger he didn’t notice.” Lorelei gasped and sprinted towards the stairs. “What if he’s upstairs sick?”
She raced up the steps as her body broke into a cold sweat. Visions of Arryn raced through her mind. Arryn had been stabbed with iron and it had crippled him. What would happen to Vandermere if he breathed it in?
The library was empty. Lorelei paused, catching her breath as her gaze rose to the ceiling. What madness had compelled him to return to the room filled with iron?
She barely spared Wes a glance as he joined her. Instead, she took the steps two at a time to the top floor.
Vandermere stood near the headboard of the bed, holding a medallion with an emerald the size of her fist in it.
Song of Shadow Page 21