Wrynric flew back to his feet and reached for his sword. “If you lay a hand on her...”
“What? You’d kill me? Arden’s wife, whom he loved dearly?” She waved a finger at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would dare. Try to hurt her and you’ll see what I’m capable of.”
Meridia stared at him, her face a feral rictus. He watched her, his hand still on his sword. Long seconds passed, neither moving. Then Meridia spoke. “You’ll live to regret this. I hope you die out there.”
She spun toward the curtain where Aemon was hiding. He quickly ducked back and hid behind the barrel. It was not a good hiding spot, but it was all he had. She threw open the curtain and stormed past him and down the hallway, so intent on her own thoughts she did not notice him.
Aemon was about to start breathing again when he heard laughter from further down the passage. Suddenly, Minard drew back the curtain of a room several doors down. “You’ll make a godless man of me if you keep that up,” the monk said over his shoulder. “You must’ve concocted some sort of magical brew to make me feel the way I do.” A woman giggled and threw a pillow at him. He picked it up and threw it back. “You’ll be needing that.”
With a wide grin, the monk walked down the passage toward him. Aemon’s heart raced. He looked around for somewhere to hide but already it was too late. Wrynric drew back the curtain of his room just as Minard saw Aemon crouched behind the barrel.
The monk stopped. “What in Ibilirth’s holy name are you doing?”
Wrynric saw Aemon and sneered. “Did you hear us, boy?”
Aemon’s cheeks felt like they were on fire. “I... ah, hmmm.”
Great, how am I going to explain my way out of this one?
The old warrior swore under his breath. “Don’t tell the half-blood what she said. Meridia is... She’s still hurting from Arden’s betrayal and seeing Kara has thrown salt into old wounds.”
Minard helped Aemon to his feet. “Didn’t your mother tell you it’s rude to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations?”
Aemon tried to bite a nail but remembered he had chewed them all down already. “I am sorry. I heard raised voices and...” He struggled to swallow. “I wanted to stop listening; really, I did. Kara is kind and gentle and would never—”
Wrynric grabbed him around the throat. “Shut your mouth, boy.” He turned to Minard. “Go to bed, monk. I need to have words with this one.”
Grinning, Minard said, “Go easy on him; he hurts easily.”
The old warrior dragged Aemon down the passage by the hood of his cloak. They passed the door Minard had come from. Erinie stood just inside the doorway, with a blanket wrapped around her.
Wrynric stopped dead in his tracks. “What were you doing with him, girl?”
Erinie seemed taken aback by the old man’s tone. “Just talking. It’s not often I get to meet new people.”
“Why aren’t you dressed?” He glanced around her room. “You don’t need to take your clothes off just to talk.”
Her face darkened, her eyes becoming slits. “Don’t bother giving me another one of your lectures. I thought after what happened, we would be over this sort of thing.”
“Nothing has changed since Sunholm. You’re like a daughter to me, and there’s much you don’t know. I only want to protect you.”
“And you’re like a father to me, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to speak to me like this. I’m a woman grown, and I don’t need you protecting me anymore. If I want to share my time with Minard—you can’t stop me.”
The old warrior slammed his mailed fist against the wall, sending chips of stone flying into Aemon’s face. “He isn’t your friend. His order would hunt us down as heretics and purge us all. They are, and always will be, our enemy.”
Erinie looked down her nose at him. “Minard isn’t like that.”
“Open your eyes, girl—”
“Never call me girl again.”
Wrynric’s teeth ground together. Aemon had never seen him so angry. Where was the old man taking him and what did he intend to do when he got there?
The old warrior’s voice almost broke. “I’ve looked out for you since you were born. You can’t do this to me. Not now.”
“And I thank you for that.”
Some of the life went out of him. “Then at least tell me why. What do you see in him?”
“He’s handsome and strong, and I like men like that. My life has provided few opportunities for pleasure of late, so I’m seizing it when I can.” Erinie waved dismissively. “Now go away. I want to forget this conversation ever took place.”
Before she slid the curtain shut in the old warrior’s face, her eyes met Aemon’s. “Is he going to lecture you too?”
Wrynric growled under his breath and dragged Aemon away. In the main chamber, they passed two men guarding the entrance to Safehold. The guards looked at them with raised eyebrows but said nothing. One pulled aside the curtain leading outside. Wrynric snatched a torch from the wall and dragged Aemon between the two boulders at the entrance.
When they were some distance from Safehold he stopped, shoved Aemon against the cave wall and pinned him there with a clenched fist. Wrynric stared into the darkness, his breathing labored, teeth still grinding together.
After several minutes he turned to Aemon, his face lined with worry and fatigue. “You almost blurted it all out in front of the monk, you fool. Don’t you remember the vow he took back at the temple? He will kill Kara if he thinks she’s a threat.”
“I remember, but I was not thinking. I am sorry.”
“Then start thinking, boy. We have a dangerous journey ahead of us and we can’t afford to let our guard down. Kara must get to the Metal Man, no matter what.” He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t know if what Meridia said is true. She’s long been bitter and angry, and I wouldn’t put it past her to lie about what she saw in her visiondreams.”
“Kara would never do—” Aemon remembered the look Kara had given him the day they arrived at Safehold, and he also remembered when she had slapped him at the Tomb of Ibilirith.
No, he could not allow himself to believe it was truly Kara who had done those things.
“Seeing Arden’s daughter born of another woman—a courtesan at that—has hurt Meridia deeply and she’s just lashing out.” Wrynric sighed. “It doesn’t help Kara looks like Semira.” He stared back into the darkness, as if he did not want Aemon to see his face. “I trust Arden and his vision. Kara will save us all.”
It frightened Aemon to hear the uncertainty in the old man’s voice. Though it was hard to imagine Kara leading an army, it was easier imagining that than her turning her machine beasts on the Priest King and butchering him. She was a good person. Like the old warrior said, Meridia was just bitter and hateful, and probably making it all up.
Aemon put his hand on Wrynric’s shoulder, hoping the old man would not notice it shaking. The older man’s behavior had frightened him. “Meridia is wrong, as is Ibilirith’s prophecy,” Aemon said, trying to sound reassuring, as much for Wrynric as for himself. “Kara will save us. I know she will.”
Wrynric slowly nodded, then handed Aemon the torch without looking at him. “Go back inside. I need time to myself.” Aemon hesitated, uncertain what to do. “Leave, before I break your neck.”
Aemon walked back toward Safehold. When he rounded a corner, he heard Wrynric collapse. Aemon paused, and listened to make certain the old man was all right.
“Arden, Liana, my dear, sweet Semira,” Wrynric sobbed. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I wish I could...”
The seemingly invulnerable Wrynric was close to breaking. Like Kara, he had lost so much. Aemon had lost too, but his loss paled in comparison to what had been taken from them. Both must be tough as stone to go through what they had and continue on.
But even stone could shatter under pressure.
Aemon would need to keep a close eye on Meridia. She wanted Kara dead, but would she b
e foolish enough to try something after Wrynric’s threat? The sooner Kara got better, the sooner they could leave Meridia and her foul lies behind.
Not wanting to intrude any further on Wrynric’s sorrow, Aemon made his way back to Safehold, more uncertain than ever.
Chapter 23
KARA
The surviving members of the Covenant of the Lost Sun gathered around the entrance to Safehold to bid Kara and her companions farewell. Kara had rested for three days, and now she had to move on.
Time was running out.
Wrynric, Minard and Aemon shouldered ropes and supplies while Erinie consulted with the man who’d take over her role of leading the refugees. Kara leaned on her walking staff and watched them.
Then, one by one, the refugees hugged Kara and gave her their best wishes. A young girl who looked no more than six years old approached Kara, eyes filled with awe. Behind her stood a boy and a girl, so similar in appearance they had to be triplets.
Kara smiled down at her. “Hello, little one. What’s your name?”
The girl glanced at her two siblings, then up at Kara. “My name is Shyra. I have something for you.” She held up a black band with a round silver display on it. “It belonged to Mommy, but she... sleeps under the light of the Lost Sun.”
Shyra held it out for Kara to take it. Kara hesitated. How could she take something of such value to the little girl? “Please, we want you to take it,” Shyra insisted. “Let me help you put it on. You wear it around your wrist.”
Kara reluctantly let the girl wrap the gift around her wrist. After the girl clasped it on, she looked up at Kara expectantly.
Kara made a show of admiring the gift. Her breath caught in her throat.
She knew what it was.
“Do you like it?” the girl asked eagerly.
Kara blinked. “Yes, little one, I do. Do you know what it is?”
The girl glanced at her twin brother and sister, as if uncertain what to say. The other two children nervously came forward and held each other’s hands. The young boy spoke now. “Mommy said it was given to her by her mommy, who got it from her mommy. They all swore to the Lost Sun they’d protect it.”
“And they didn’t know what it was?”
All three shook their heads.
Kara forced a little grin. “It’s a watch. People used to wear them to tell the time and store information on. This one has no power anymore, so the display is blank.”
The triplets gasped. “How do you know that?” Shyra asked. “Did you see one in a visiondream?”
Kara had no idea how she knew what a watch was, but she had to say something. “Yes, I saw someone wearing a watch in one of my visiondreams.” Kara started to take it off. “But I can’t take it. You should keep it to remember your mother by.”
Shyra stopped her. “No. It’s yours now.” Her eyes reddened. “We have visiondreams too, and they showed us that we must give mommy’s watch to you and that it will be of great importance for you one day.”
Kara brushed back her bangs. “You’re scions?” They shifted uncomfortably, not making eye contact anymore. Kara gingerly dropped to her knees and put her arms around them, ignoring the ache in her wounded shoulder. “It’s alright. Think of me as... an older sister.”
They hugged her back now, all four just holding one another. “Take care, little ones,” Kara said. “I’ll make sure I keep your watch safe. Maybe when you’re all grown up, I can give it back to you.”
When they had separated, a dark look came over Shyra. “The adults here think we don’t know what happened to Mommy. But we know. We know what the failed scion did to her.”
Who was she talking about? Semira? Wrynric and Erinie had both tried to avoid talking about her. What were they hiding?
A look of such hate came over the three children's faces that Kara recoiled. “Shyra, that’s enough of that,” a man scolded as he came up to them. “You forget who you’re speaking to.”
Shyra put her hands on her hips. “The failed scion killed Mommy.” She pointed at Kara. “She can kill the failed scion for us and mommy can come back.” Her bottom lip quivered as her brother and sister began to cry. “We miss her so much.”
Kara’s heart broke to see the grief on their little faces. They were too young to have suffered such loss, and to harbor dark thoughts of revenge. “I’m sorry, little ones.” Kara struggled with words. “Your mommy is at peace now, like my mommy. One day, you’ll all see her again. I promise.”
“Thank you, Scion,” the man said, then lifted Shyra and put her on his shoulders. He turned back to Kara. “May the Lost Sun watch over you.” With that, he took the other two children’s hands and reentered the crowd.
The last to bid Kara farewell was a middle-aged woman with a gray streak running through her black hair. Oddly, the woman’s eyebrows were painted on with dark-blue coloring.
Wrynric came to stand beside Kara, his posture unusually tense. Was he expecting a fight? Kara smiled at the woman as she bowed her head.
“Say what you’re going to say, Meridia, then begone,” Wrynric said, eyes blazing.
Meridia.
Where had Kara heard that name before? She sifted through her memories but found most of them fragmented. She tried to put the pieces together to see what they were, but they broke apart like shattering glass.
“Hello. I’ve heard your name before, but can’t recall where,” Kara said, trying to ease the tension.
Meridia graced Kara with a warm smile, though her eyes betrayed the hidden hostility behind it. “I’m Arden’s beloved wife.”
Kara swallowed. That explained the hostility.
Not knowing what else to do, Kara hugged her stepmother, who felt as rigid as stone. “I wish we’d gotten to know one another. I never met Arden, but from what I hear, he was a great man.”
Her stepmother suddenly wrapped her arms around Kara and put her lips to her ear. “You disgusting harlot. I know what you are and what you plan to do. I’ve seen you in my visiondreams.” She tightened her embrace. “You’re not here to save us. You mean to kill us all.”
Kara gritted her teeth as her stepmother’s long nails dug through her robes and into her skin. “That thing you clutch around your neck like platinum jewelry has taken everything from me.” Kara shuddered as Meridia licked her neck, leaving behind a trail of wet saliva. “Know this, you wretched husk,” her stepmother hissed. “If we ever meet again, I’ll slit your throat and drink your blood.”
She gently pushed Kara away and smiled. It was as if they’d only shared a friendly hug. “Good bye, half-blood.”
Wrynric shoved Meridia back. “Go away, woman, and leave us be.”
She spat in the old man’s face, then stormed off.
Kara wiped the saliva from her neck, then clutched the passkey and watched her stepmother disappear behind a curtain.
You’re a horrible woman. But your threat doesn’t scare me. Not after what I’ve been through.
The threat might mean little, but Meridia had given voice to Kara’s own fears. What if she got to the Dead City and found out that she was the Scion of the Prophecy? The harbinger of doom?
What if Arden had lied about what he’d seen in his visiondream, or misinterpreted it?
“Hey, are you all right?” Aemon asked.
Kara leaned heavily on her walking staff. They hadn’t even left Safehold yet and she already felt weary, her pain hammering at her from all sides and her mind a maelstrom of turmoil.
Death would be a welcome escape, yet so far it had eluded her.
Kara forced the pain to the back of her mind. “I’ll be alright,” she said. “Walk with me, for I could do with a friend beside me.”
Aemon stared at the curtain Meridia had disappeared through and seemed to want to say something. “What is it?” Kara asked.
He winced. “Nothing; do not worry about it.”
She put an arm through his and together they left Safehold and entered the Great Dark.
IT WAS NEAR EIGHTH hour on the fourth day since leaving Safehold when Wrynric stopped them near the edge of a deep chasm. Kara leaned on her walking staff while she waited to see what the old man would say.
“I know little beyond this point,” Wrynric said. “It’s up to you now, Erinie. You helped us find the Dead City once; now you must find it again.”
Erinie removed a flat, fist-sized object from her bag and held it up to the torch. She pressed a button on the side and the object began to glow a dull blue. A moment later, an incandescent image materialized in the air above their heads.
Minard backed away quickly. “What sorcery is this?”
“It’s not sorcery, sweetheart, it’s a map,” Erinie said as she peered up at it.
The monk’s face hardened. “Don’t call me that in front of... Well, you know.”
Aemon looked like he was struggling not to laugh. Kara couldn't blame him, either. Even she’d enjoyed seeing Minard made fun of. Finally, the monk was getting a taste of his own brew.
“Aw, did I embarrass you in front of the other men?” Erinie poked her tongue out at Minard. “You didn’t complain about me calling you sweetheart the other night. If anything, you—”
“I don’t want to hear anymore,” Wrynric growled. “Tell him what the device is so we can get moving.”
Erinie cleared her throat. “Our ancestors made these map devices to help them navigate. I managed to rescue this one from the repository in Sunholm before it was destroyed.” She pointed to a flashing red circle on the map. “That dot represents us and that blue dot way over there represents the Dead City.”
“Amazing,” Aemon said, his eyes reflecting the glow of the map. “How old is the device?”
“It’s old enough to not be entirely accurate,” Erinie replied. “Cave-ins and water erosion change the layout of the caves all the time, so they look far different to when the map was made. Also, there are endless mazes of cramped, twisting tunnels that make it hard to know where one passage ends and another begins, even when zoomed right in.” She shrugged. “Sometimes choosing the right path is guesswork.”
Heir to a Lost Sun: A Caverns of Stelemia Novel Page 33