Blood Solace (Blood Grace Book 2)

by Vela Roth

  Disarming

  Perita tucked another pillow under Callen’s bad leg. “That was the worst fright of my life, my lady. Imagine you being the last to make it in.”

  Callen captured his wife’s fussing hands and pulled her close to sit beside him on the cot where he lay. “It’s over now, Pet.”

  “I’m sorry I gave you such a scare.” Sitting on the next cot over, Cassia watched everyone’s lips, reading the weather in the main hall of Waystar.

  “The Hesperines saved our lives! We owe them…”

  “…not how I imagined Hesperines at all…”

  “How easily they snuff out mortal lives…the way the heart hunters simply fell dead!”

  “…could have been us…at the mercy of their whim that we should live…”

  The Tenebran knights and lords greeted their hosts with varying degrees of frost and thaw, but all insisted on bleeding while they waited for the Kyrians to get round to them. The Semna slept beneath warm blankets while her attendants exhausted themselves.

  Master Gorgos, the mage of Anthros from Solorum, got underfoot and prayed loudly over the casualties. Cassia wondered if he recited benedictions for the patients or pleas for protection from Hesperines.

  Lio had not returned. He was nowhere among Komnena, Javed and the other Hesperines who were trying to assist the mortals.

  Arkadia, Mak and Lyros stood in formation around the mages from Cordium. Chrysanthos smiled daggers at their “honor guard” while Skleros lit a smoke. Benedict and Lord Gaius breathed down the mages’ necks as if they were also guarding them, rather than being guarded.

  There was a room of Hesperines between Cassia and Chrysanthos. Javed’s healing had even laid the secret of her injured hands to rest, and she need no longer fear losing a glove in the Dexion’s presence. But her palms were still sweating.

  Where was Lio? What work in the pass had Mak and Lyros meant? There might still be heart hunters out there.

  “Neighbors from Tenebra.” Komnena stood in the middle of the hall and raised her rich contralto voice above the noise. “Hippolyta’s Stand and our Hesperines errant have confirmed the heart hunters’ force has been defeated. All danger is past. You are now within the borders of Orthros and the Queens’ ward. I am Elder Grace Komnena, the Queens’ Chamberlain. I see to the needs of all those entering Orthros. On behalf of our beloved Queens Alea and Soteira, I welcome you and convey their warmest salutations. It is with the most heartfelt pleasure that our Queens receive you.”

  Before Chrysanthos could answer, Cassia got to her feet. The Dexion shot her an unsettled glance, but Mak and Lyros were standing in his way.

  Cassia picked her way through the cots to approach Komnena. Since the Hesperines knew Cassia had helped Lio, she no longer wondered why the Queens had named her Tenebra’s representative.

  Lio’s mother smiled. “Lady Cassia, I presume?”

  “Yes. On behalf of all of Tenebra, we thank you for your people’s heroic defense of us and your generous welcome.”

  “Many momentous words must mark such an occasion as this, the first embassy from your kingdom ever to set foot in ours. But the time for such discussions is not now, when the wounded still need care. Introductions can wait until after everyone is bandaged and rested. This humble fortress cannot show you the finest comfort we have to offer, but you will not want for refreshment and warmth, and you will have the opportunity to sleep during the hours to which you are accustomed. Allow me to offer you the Queens’ hospitality.”

  “We are honored to accept,” Cassia replied.

  The men did not interrupt. Perhaps the free lords would wait as long as their second hour here to be ungrateful for the Hesperines’ rescue and to turn the embassy into a debacle.

  The Cordian mages, Cassia already knew, would bide their time until the moment they chose to strike. For now Chrysanthos stood calmly, hardly glancing at the fearsome Stewards, his attention politely on the Chamberlain.

  Skleros pulled on his leaf-wrapped smoke and blew clouds of noxious herbal fumes into the air around him. He had slung back his black leather cape, not even bothering to hide his necromancer robes and the weapons strapped to every inch of him.

  “There is but one request we must make of you,” said Komnena. “Although we honor the sacred significance the sword and sickle, shield and spear hold for your people, it is forbidden for anyone, Hesperine or human, to carry weapons in Orthros. We must ask all of you to disarm.”

  Knights and lords startled, and a chorus of stifled protests and angry remarks went up.

  Komnena did not appear ruffled in the least. “After the close call everyone suffered tonight, I appreciate how difficult it is to think of having no weapon at hand. However, even our few Hesperines errant who rely on weapons leave them in the armory here at Waystar. Not a single armament may pass beyond this point. We must ask that you honor our laws. Rest assured, your weapons will remain safe here in the fortress and be returned to you on your way home to Tenebra.”

  Cassia could see on the men’s faces their horror at the thought of disarming in this den of monsters and their affront that the Hesperines required it. These warmongers still weren’t convinced the Hesperines didn’t lead them to the slaughter.

  Cassia answered for them. “Tonight you have offered us the most powerful proof that we can rely on your protection. As a gesture of trust, we shall honor your request. The men of this embassy shall lay down their arms with goodwill.”

  “Now, see here, Your Ladyship—” Benedict said amid the outcries.

  A buckle clinked, leather rustled, and Cassia glanced behind her to see Callen unfastening his scabbard with Perita’s help. Cassia’s handmaiden bore her bodyguard’s sword to her, and Cassia surrendered it to Komnena.

  Lord Severin looked from Cassia to Lyros, then made himself the second to remove his sword belt.

  With gracious words and gentle hands, the Hesperines went around and began to collect everyone else’s weapons. Gradually the men fell silent, staring bewildered into reflective eyes and faces that were beautiful as only Hesperines could be.

  In a matter of moments, the Hesperines extricated an arsenal of swords, knives, bows, arrows, crossbows, spears, shields, morning stars and gods knew what else from the Tenebrans’ slackening grips. Mak and Lyros did not stray from the Dexion’s side, but they looked like they wished to relieve Chrysanthos of his weapons—the hands with which the mage cast spells.

  When the free lords were completely unarmed, Skleros was still retrieving all manner of deadly items from his cloak, boots and pockets. Cassia was relieved to see it was Arkadia who stood before the necromancer, accepting piece after piece of his personal armory.

  Finally, he surrendered one more bread knife and dusted off his hands. Arkadia did not move, but stood looking at him expectantly. His eyes narrowed. She held out a hand. With a grunt, Skleros pulled five cobbler’s knives out of his sleeves and boots and handed them to her.

  When she was finished, Javed joined her and held a metal case open in front of the necromancer. “Rest assured, we will store your alchemical weaponry as carefully as your steel.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but I did not bring my poisons with me. There is nothing for you to confiscate and study.”

  “You understand, I am sure, that I must nevertheless ask you to leave all your alchemical substances in my care.”

  Arkadia watched Skleros’s every move as he reached into an inner pocket of his robes.

  He dangled an oilcloth pouch and myriad bottles between his fingers. “Herbs for smoking and tonics for the men. Not every fellow wants to submit himself to the tender care of Mother Kyria. I’ll keep my vices and their medicine.”

  Javed frowned. “I will verify the substances magically.”

  “Don’t ruin the taste of my smokes with Hesperine spells,” the Gift Collector warned.

  A puff of dust escaped his pouch of herbs, and the liquid in his vials trembled. Javed reached out and plucked one of the bot
tles from the Gift Collector’s hand.

  The healer placed the lone vial in the metal box and snapped the case shut. “This will remain here. You may keep the others.”

  At her Grace’s pronouncement, Arkadia nodded in satisfaction. Skleros gave his smoking herbs a careful sniff, then tucked them carefully back in his robes with the tonics.

  “Thank you all for your cooperation.” Komnena nodded to Cassia. “Now then, this is our first stop on the journey to the capital city of Selas. When everyone is equal to traveling, we will board ships that will bear us across the channel to mainland Orthros. In the meantime, please be at your ease.”

  Cassia gave Lio’s mother another courtesy. Perita hooked her arm in Cassia’s, and they rejoined Callen. At Perita’s insistence, Cassia sat back down on her cot.

  Lord Severin came over to Cassia. “At least some of our packs made it out of the avalanche. I still have the chopped liver from the last deer we brought down on the way. I shall save it for your hound for when he returns.”

  When. She had to keep thinking when. “I thank you, my lord. It will do him great good. He is no longer young.”

  “At fifteen, he is hardly past his prime for a liegehound,” Lord Severin reminded her, “especially one of his breeding, training and constitution.”

  Cassia was usually capable of facing facts. But not those few that were unthinkable to her. “Despite liegehounds’ lifespan of nigh on thirty years, most do not survive any longer than mundane dogs.”

  “Due to the danger of their duties, yes—but when cared for as well as yours, they have the longest, healthiest lives of any dog. We must be prepared for his return. I am sure wound care was part of your training with him.”

  “Certainly. But I fear I lost all my healing plants with the rest of my packs in the avalanche.”

  Suddenly Lord Severin jumped as if someone had walked over his grave. He stepped aside and got out of the way of the Hesperine behind him.

  The Guardian of Orthros stood before Cassia. She had never been this close to Hippolyta before. The most formidable warrior in Hesperine history wasn’t any taller than Cassia herself, although her Stand regalia displayed that her petite limbs were all muscle. She dangled Cassia’s gardening satchel from one hand.

  “Lady Cassia, I believe this is yours.”

  Cassia stared. “How can I thank you? Surely the Guardian of Orthros has more important business than fishing bags out of the pass.”

  “This one has an aura about it. My senses guided me right to it. I believe it is the, ah, plants you are carrying in here.” Hippolyta smiled and placed Cassia’s weapons into her hands.

  Cassia hugged the satchel to her, feeling the reassuring weight of the glyph stone. “I am grateful.”

  “Take care, Lady Cassia.”

  Hippolyta crossed the hall to join her Stand. As the Guardian of Orthros approached the Cordian mages, Chrysanthos and Skleros followed her with their gazes like hunters who had sighted the rarest of dangerous beasts. Tychon was pale and sweating. Eudias scuttled backwards, only to jump out of his skin when he nearly ran into Arkadia.

  Lord Severin sat down beside Cassia and spoke low. “I should count myself fortunate the Hesperines do not know of my father and his connection to the heart hunters.”

  “They know,” Cassia informed him. “They know you were in the snow, under attack with the rest of us.”

  Bitterness Cassia recognized crossed Severin’s features, then disappeared behind a survivor’s mask. She remembered when she had passed that point of no return with her own father.

  Now the king had passed his point of no return with her.

  Tolerance

  Lio stood alone in the snow once more, but he knew there was one more creature alive out here. There had to be. He followed the path of the two heart hunters who had taken Knight. It was easy to retrace their route, which he had seen in their minds.

  He smelled the blood first, then the musk of liegehound. Knight’s slow, powerful heartbeat reached Lio’s ears along with another sound that made his stomach sour. Teeth worrying at flesh.

  Lio stepped as near to Knight as he dared, then approached slowly. Lio’s assault had made the two men crash on their skis, and they had taken Knight with them on a litter. Between their bodies, Knight lay tangled in the remnants of his bonds. What had once been a muzzle was in pieces around him, and bloody bits of rope littered the snow.

  Lio did not bate Knight by veiling himself. He walked near, keeping to one side of the hound with his gaze averted, as he had learned from his Trial brothers.

  Knight froze and lifted his head. A growl purred in his throat.

  Lio stood very still. “Good dog, Knight. Remember me? Lio, your lady’s champion. Here I am. No tricks.”

  Knight sniffed the air, eying Lio as he had the night they had met. The red around the hound’s jaws was not just the natural markings of his fur this time. It was his own blood. Lio studied the rope that bound Knight’s front paws together. It was a knot the dog’s teeth should have been able to saw through in no time. But Lio could smell the coils of a hedge warlock’s arts woven into the rope.

  Knight could not chew through the bespelled rope, so he was chewing off his own paw instead.

  Without any sudden moves, Lio knelt down. “You won’t let anything keep you from her, will you? I know. I’d give up more than a hand for her, and so would you. You risked your life for her tonight, just like breathing. No doubt about your kill count, Sir. What a shame that your opponents had the ill fortune to serve such barbaric masters. Would that all dogs could live under the fair hand of a lady like yours. Even now, I know her heart is breaking with worry for you. Will you not let me take you to her?”

  Knight watched him, panting. Something came to Lio’s senses through his instinctual Hesperine wariness of liegehounds. Pain. Knight’s pain.

  “I can feel you in the Union, almost as I could any other animal. I think we’re picking up where we left off and even getting to know one another better.”

  He dared look into the hound’s eyes. Knight did not snarl in challenge. Lio could see and feel the dog’s uncertainty.

  “I understand,” Lio soothed. He inched closer. “It was a lot to ask for you to trust me before, and now all your protective instincts have taken over. You’re in pain, and it’s hard to tell friend from foe. But I am on your lady’s side, Knight. Will you let me take you to Cassia? Cassia.”

  Knight let out an ear-splitting howl.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Inch by inch, Lio scooted nearer to Knight, wary of the moment when the hound’s tolerance might turn to aggression. But he made it within arm’s reach without Knight going mad and hurting himself further.

  Lio waited. He and Knight sat together in the snow.

  “It’s cold out here,” Lio said. “Are you ready to go home and get warm? I know the embassy brought you some meat. Aren’t you hungry? I know who will have herbs to ease a liegehound’s pain. Cassia.”

  Suddenly, all the tension went out of Knight’s body, and he lay there in surrender.

  “It’s all right,” Lio murmured. “You can trust me.”

  He reached out a hand and rested it on the dog’s side. Knight let out a huff like a sigh. Carefully Lio eased the choke collar off of Knight, moving his hands right past the beast’s maw. If he lost some fingers, they would grow back. But the liegehound didn’t even snap at him.

  Lio cast the vile chain away. “This next part is going to hurt. I wish I could help you with the pain. But I know you won’t tolerate my thelemancy, and I don’t trust it right now in any case. We’ll both have to be strong.”

  With careful fingers, Lio examined the knot. “Hespera’s Mercy. I’ll never be able to untie this. You shall have to be very tolerant, Knight.”

  With all the speed and precision of movement the Gift afforded him, Lio lowered his head, put his fangs to the rope and sliced through Knight’s bonds.

  A mass of fur and flesh broadside
d him, and snow sprayed in his face. When he sat up, he saw Knight streaking away from him toward Orthros.

  When Lio caught up to Knight, the hound was limping in circles around the place where Lio had stepped away with Cassia. Her dog sniffed and sniffed the spot where her scent had disappeared.

  “Even if you could find her trail, you are not going to make it all the way over the rest of the Umbrals on foot, my friend. We are going to have to step together.” Lio knelt down again and put out a hand to the dog. “Come here, Sir. What is it Cassia says? Dockk. Dockk, Knight.”

  Knight stood utterly still, staring at Lio as if he had never seen him before.

  “Dockk. To Cassia.”

  One step at a time, Knight limped through the bodies of the heart hunters and came to stand before Lio. Lio caught his breath, hesitating. Then he rested his hand on Knight’s ruff.

  “Good dog. Now let me do what I can for that foot before we go.”

  Lio stopped breathing, trying to clear his head of the stench of suffering and death, although he could not and must not hide from the carnage around him. He reached into a pocket of his robes and found his handkerchiefs where he always kept them. There actually remained something so civilized about his person as a handkerchief. He pulled one out and stared at the white silk embroidered with Hespera’s Rose.

  “Remember when I used one of these to care for your lady’s wounded hand? Will you carry a message to her for me?”

  As gently as possible, he bound the liegehound’s wounded paw in Orthros silk that bore Hespera’s sacred symbol. Knight’s blood soaked the fabric quickly, but the only protest he mounted was a whine.

  “Good dog. Now we’re ready to go home.”

  Wrapping his magic around Knight felt like trying to put wings on a brick. The dog whined again, but did not lash out. Panic flared to life in Lio once more. What if he went astray with Cassia’s dog?

  Cassia. He focused on her. Her aura. Her blood.

  Craving tore at him, but when he stepped, he opened his eyes and found himself before the doors of Waystar.