Tyla wished she had a moment to admire them, but Kalas moved down the hallway, stopping at the door on the end and thrusting it open. They were ushered into a sunny parlor with leather armchairs and cypress wood tables, their twisted branches topped by glass.
Kalas motioned to a chair. “Please sit and I’ll ring for refreshments.”
Tyla moved to the chair he indicated, her gaze drifting to the Nazarien woman as she took up a position in a corner of the room. Tyla shifted and watched Jarrett as he angled behind her chair.
Parish threw himself into the chair next to her and reached over to squeeze her wrist. She resisted the impulse to pull away. “Was the journey difficult?” he asked.
Tyla forced a smile, but she was unsettled by the strange tension in the room. “Long.” She patted his hand. “It’s good to see you, Baron.”
“We’re very grateful to see you.”
Dolan and the Cult member took up positions by the door as Kalas stepped back inside. He stopped before Tyla’s chair and stood looking down on her. “Why are you so thin?” he demanded.
Tyla dropped her gaze. “It was a long journey, Kalas.” She glanced at the Cult member and the woman. “You didn’t get my letters?”
Kalas didn’t respond immediately, then he sank into the chair across from her. “No, I didn’t.” He motioned to the Cult member. “When Attis came to Sarkisian and told me of the plague, I couldn’t imagine why you hadn’t sent me warning…”
“I did. I sent three different letters. One to Adishian, one to Sarkisian and one here.”
“I know. I figured you had. We found a messenger murdered in the Groziks just a few days ago. We didn’t find your letter, but we figured that’s what happened to them.”
“Murdered? Why?”
Kalas’ gaze lifted to Jarrett and his eyes narrowed. “It’s a complicated story. First, tell me how things are in Temeron. Is Kerrin all right? Tash?”
Tyla clasped her hands. “They were when I left.”
“Tell me what you know about this plague.”
Tyla resisted her need to know what was going on and relayed the story of Jax Paden to her brother, reliving his violent death. When she finished, the room was silent. In that void, the servants arrived with refreshments. As they bustled about serving everyone, Tyla leaned forward.
“What happened to your shoulder?”
Kalas accepted the drink that was handed to him. “I was attacked by Nazarien assassins on my way to Kazden. The first three times were a warning. The last was not. If it wasn’t for Ellette…” He motioned to the Nazarien woman. “…I’d be dead.”
Tyla blinked in confusion. “What? What are you talking about?”
Kalas nodded at the plate a servant held out to Tyla. “Take that and eat. You’re too thin.”
Tyla accepted the offering and thanked the servant, but she didn’t take a bite. “Kalas?”
“All right,” he said. “I’ll explain while you eat.”
Tyla lifted one of the finger sandwiches and took a bite.
Kalas sipped his drink, then rested it against his thigh. “Attis arrived in Sarkisian with a very strange warning. He told us that plague had erupted in Kazden and Temeron both. That the Cult had received word the Nazar…” He gave Jarrett a sharp look. “…had left Nevaisser for Loden. He told us a band of renegade Nazarien had gone after the Nazar to exact revenge on him for a broken pledge. The Cult feared the revenge might be the possible assault on the current Stravad Leader should she venture into Nevaisser as was feared.”
Tyla placed the food on her plate and narrowed her eyes. “Hold on. Broken pledge? Revenge? What are you talking about?”
Kalas glowered at Jarrett. “A pledge made to Tomlin Trauner.” His eyes moved to Tyla. “Ten years ago.”
Tyla shook her head. “That pledge ended with Tomlin’s death.”
“Apparently there are Nazarien who don’t believe that. There are certain Nazarien that aren’t happy with the way things are being run in Chernow. They’ve broken away from the order and have become their own cult – a cult of assassins.” He held out his hand toward Ellette.
“Assassins?”
Kalas was staring at Jarrett again. “This isn’t the first time you’ve seen Ellette, is it, Nazar?”
Tyla shifted so she could see him. Jarrett dropped his eyes.
“Nazar?” said Kalas, an edge to his voice.
“No.”
“And just how do you know her?”
Jarrett wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I can’t tell you that.”
Kalas pushed himself out of the chair. He settled his drink on a side table. “You can’t tell me that? I was attacked three times, shot with an arrow, and you can’t tell me? You put my sister’s life in jeopardy and nearly cost me my own, and you can’t tell me? I think you better try.”
Jarrett lifted his head and met his gaze. “I can’t.”
Kalas’ good hand tightened into a fist. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ellette stepped forward.
“Tell him, Nazar. Tell him what he wants to know,” she said.
Tyla could feel the tension snaking through the room. Kalas himself vibrated with it.
Jarrett closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he opened them, he looked at Tyla. “I thought I could change things,” he said. “I thought I could make things better, but I was so stupid. I didn’t realize how entrenched the Nazarien were.”
Attis snorted, but a sharp glare from Kalas silenced him.
“What do you mean? How do you know Ellette?” Kalas asked.
“I don’t. Not really. I couldn’t stand how women were treated by the Nazarien. After Tomlin died, the first thing I did was outlaw Procreation Ceremonies. I thought it would protect the women. I thought it would end the horrible degradation and abuse.” He moved forward and gripped the back of the closest chair. “Most of the Nazarien complied. They were celibate so much of the year as it was, but a handful rebelled. They petitioned to have the ceremonies reinstated. When I refused…” His voice choked off. He drew a calming breath. “When I refused, they did unthinkable things.”
Tyla’s gaze swung to Ellette, but she was studying her clasped hands.
“A group of them kidnapped some young girls, just come of age. We hunted them down, but we were too late. We found them in an isolated cave up the coast from Chernow. Two were already dead, and one died on the way back.” Jarrett’s hands tightened on the top of the chair. “Only Ellette survived.”
Tyla closed her eyes.
“What happened to the men?” asked Kalas, his voice thrumming with fury.
“We pursued them, but they eluded us.”
“You let them go? Murderers and rapists? You let them go.”
“They were outcast from the order. No one would ever accept them again. It was decided that such punishment would be worse than death.”
Kalas moved forward until only the chair separated him from Jarrett. “They became an assassin guild. They recruited other malcontents and trained them as killers, including Ellette.”
“What?” said Tyla.
Jarrett looked stricken.
“Yes,” said Kalas. “Ellette was trained as an assassin by the same men you let go free. They sent her on a suicide mission to attack me and force me to return to Sarkisian. The first three attacks were warnings, trying to scare me away. The last one, just before Kazden, was meant to be fatal. She saved my life. However, the real target is you, Tyla. They want to harm you to get revenge for the Nazar breaking his pledge.” He cast a venomous look on Jarrett. “A sorry mess, if you ask me.”
CHAPTER 11
Ellette watched the waves crash against the rocks, erupting in a prismatic spray of color. The violence of it satisfied something dark inside of her, something that longed to smash something herself.
“They tell me my father would spend hours just listening to the waves, letting the spray wash over him until he was soaked,” came the King’s voice behind her.
She
closed her eyes and curled her hands around the rail. Her chest felt so tight she thought she’d suffocate. She didn’t want to turn and look at him, see the accusations and disgust in his eyes.
“I never understood it myself. It always felt so untamed, so unpredictable to me. I’ve always hated unpredictability.”
She didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know what he expected her to say. Not now, not after he knew of her humiliation. He moved up beside her. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his body.
“I’m sorry, Ellette. I’m sorry to put you through that.”
She blinked. She hadn’t expected him to say this.
“I had to know the truth. I’m still not sure I understand it, but I had to know what your connection to him was.”
She turned and faced him then. “You are wrong,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes in surprise at that. “I’m wrong?”
“He tried. He tried to be the best Nazar he could. He wanted to make changes that would protect his people, but it was too hard.”
The King’s blue eyes searched her face. Such a blue, so deep, so vibrant. “How did you wind up in the assassin’s guild with men who…” His voice faltered.
Her back stiffened. She could feel every muscle tighten. “They killed my mother. She went after them. She couldn’t stand what happened to me and the other girls. She wanted to kill them, but they killed her. I found her. They carved their symbol into her cheek and left her like refuse in the desert. They didn’t even know me when I asked to join. They didn’t even recognize me. I was nothing to them. But I learned, I studied, and I planned. I was going to kill them, until they sent me to attack you.”
Kalas swallowed hard.
“That changed everything. I had to make a choice. Life or death. I picked your life.”
“I’m grateful.” Simple words, but they eased the tightness in her chest.
She wanted to touch him, but she was afraid. She wanted to hug him for the gift he’d given her, but she didn’t want to be rejected. She wasn’t sure he’d want anyone like her touching him.
“I know you see me now and you will only think about what happened…” she began, then faltered. Firming her jaw, she continued. “We tried to fight them, but there were too many. They were too strong.”
Kalas took a step back. His expression shifted. “I know that. You didn’t think I blamed you…”
She lowered her eyes. She couldn’t answer that.
He didn’t speak for a long time. Ellette’s heart pounded against her ribs. Then he shifted weight, leaned against the rail.
“When I was a child, Rarick would have me beaten for one infraction after another. Half the time, I didn’t even understand what it was for.”
Ellette lifted her eyes and met his gaze.
“I got to thinking that I must have done something wrong. Why else would he have me punished if I hadn’t been at fault?” He gave a shrug. “It wasn’t until he was dead, Ellette, until I was a grown man, that I understood I wasn’t responsible, that it wasn’t my fault. I wish I understood that years before. I wish I had known that I wasn’t to blame. It would have made things so much clearer. Even now, I have to keep reminding myself, telling myself it wasn’t my fault. Please don’t waste any more time blaming yourself for what you couldn’t control. Free yourself of that burden. It isn’t yours to bear.”
Ellette felt tears threaten in her eyes and blinked them back. He gave her a tentative smile and she wished she knew how to return it. Never had she longed for anything as badly.
* * *
“You did the right thing.”
Jarrett looked up. Dolan stood in the doorway of Kalas’ library. He crossed the room and took a seat on the other side of the table. The lamp cast his features in stark relief.
“Come again?”
Dolan hunched his shoulders and studied the graining on the table. “You did the right thing in Chernow.”
Jarrett leaned back. “Thanks.” He knew his voice didn’t hold conviction. Kalas’ interrogation had emphasized his failings.
“Do you know why I left Chernow?”
Jarrett shook his head. He’d never exchanged more than a handful of words with Dolan, even when Tarnow had been alive, and he found him oddly perplexing. He was so very Nazarien, Chernow Nazarien, yet he sported a Cult tattoo on his cheek. Stranger still was his close connection with the ruling class of Adishian. Two Kings had called him their closest advisor and confidant, two very divergent men.
“I’d just turned nineteen, one year past my first Procreation Ceremony. Amberlain was seventeen. I knew her my whole life. She and I found seashells together and collected driftwood. She tagged along behind me wherever I went. We made swords out of fence pickets and practiced fighting. When I came of age and started my training, we would sneak away and wander the dunes together.”
Jarrett studied Dolan’s bowed head. He bit his lower lip, a very unNazarien-like display of emotion.
“This was before Talar Eldralin’s time, before Nazarien were allowed to marry. I knew Amberlain was nearing her eighteenth year.” He looked up at Jarrett and met his gaze. “She was beautiful. Heavy dark hair, large blue eyes, skin like honey. I went to the elders. I begged them to let me share the Procreation Ceremony with her. We’d planned it that way. We promised each other.”
Jarrett looked away. He couldn’t meet Dolan’s eye.
“You should have heard the silence when I made my plea. My heart was pounding so loud, I couldn’t hear myself think, but they were silent. Then they told me to leave. Just that. Nothing more.” Dolan flattened his hand on the table and stared at it. “The Nazar himself claimed her. Andoloshian, a man I was told to revere. I could do nothing to stop it. She begged me, pleaded with me to leave, but I told her I couldn’t. I told her we had to accept the Council’s decree. It was our duty as Nazarien.”
Jarrett’s gaze swung back to his face. Dolan’s expression remained neutral, but his hand tightened into a fist.
“She killed herself the morning after the Ceremony, drowned herself on the very beach we explored as children.”
Jarrett swallowed at the lump in his throat.
Dolan’s eyes lifted and fixed on his. “I left two days later. I’d told her I couldn’t leave, but it was so easy. I just walked away. I came to Kazden and entered the Cult.” He lifted his fist and rubbed at the tattoo on his cheek. “Even that was too much.”
Jarrett found his voice. “How did you wind up in Adishian?”
“Tarnow needed soldiers. When he heard a Nazarien had volunteered, he was intrigued. He was like that. Impetuous. He asked me to attend him at the castle. His wife and son were still alive then, before Rarick started pressing the borders. Adishian was wealthy, peaceful, and Tarnow liked exotic things – art, animals, plants. He added me to his collection.”
“That explains Tyla.”
Dolan nodded. “She was his most exotic acquisition. He was a good man. He gave me purpose.” He exhaled heavily. “The Nazarien are a dying breed. Tomlin Trauner saw that and he thought he could infuse them with the change they needed. That’s why he picked you. I won’t defend his methods, but I understand them. He knew you would try to change them, move them more toward the center. You weren’t wrong in what you did. You couldn’t allow the Procreation Ceremonies to continue.”
“I’m not sure Ellette would agree.”
Dolan shrugged. “I didn’t hear her denounce you either.”
“You have a point.” Jarrett tapped the table with his knuckles. “Thank you for telling me your story. I know it must have been hard.”
Dolan leaned back in his chair. “You are the only person I’ve ever told. I never even told Tarnow. Odd isn’t it. As you get older, the things you guarded so fiercely don’t seem all that important. I locked Amberlain away and refused to think about her, but lately, she’s been in my thoughts more and more. I guess I want to make peace with her memory and now seemed like the right time.”
&nbs
p; * * *
Tyla waited for Kalas to enter the house again, closing the balcony door at his back. He glanced up in surprise, then his face lit into a smile.
“Hey, Tiger. I thought you were resting.”
Tyla crossed her arms to put distance between them. “I wanted to talk with you alone.”
“Okay,” he said, then motioned to the chairs behind her. “Why don’t we sit?”
Tyla moved to the seat and sank into it. It felt good to rest her body. Kalas sat down across from her. She was grateful for the separation. She watched him shift his arm until he was comfortable. “What’s on your mind? I know that look. You’re not happy about something.”
“Should I look at your shoulder? Was it attended properly?”
“I had a surgeon sew it up. There’s no infection and little pain. I think it’ll be all right.”
“Can you move it?”
“He told me not to try. At least for a while until the stitches set.” He cocked his head at her. “Is that really what you want to talk with me about?”
Tyla stared at him, unable to speak. The look was so like their father, it stunned her. She lifted her hand and clutched the emerald. She wanted to tell Kalas about her odd dream, but she was afraid he’d think she’d lost her mind.
“Tyla?”
She blinked and released the talisman. “No, well, yes, but there’s more.” She could see Ellette standing on the balcony still, staring out over the waves. “I’m a little unclear why you have an admitted assassin living in your house, roaming around freely.”
Kalas laughed. Tyla loved the sound. Too much of his life had been void of laughter. “Assassin is painting the brush strokes a bit broad. She’s not very good at what she does.”
The World of Samar Box Set 3 Page 69