A Lair of Bones

by Helen Scheuerer

  But Odi was tugging on her sleeve, bringing her back to reality.

  ‘It seems your human is eager to leave my chambers, Rohesia,’ Queen Delja said, retrieving the volume from the chaise and placing it carefully on the table beside her crown.

  Roh stared. The two things she wanted most in all the realms were but an arm’s length away, practically within her grasp. She could have sworn she heard the book whisper her name and saw the gems in the coral crown wink at her. They called to her, they wanted her to have them – but Odi was pulling her away. She barely registered her legs moving beneath her, and yet she found herself outside the queen’s chambers, the tome, the crown and the veils to the sea all ripped away.

  ‘Keep walking, keep walking,’ Odi muttered, pulling Roh towards the pulley system by her elbow. Odi kept checking over his shoulder, as though he could hear footsteps behind them. As though someone was bound to stop them and order him back to the queen. The fear that spiked in his eyes brought reality crashing back to Roh. Had she really just got away with taking Odi from the queen?

  ‘Odi, slow down. I’m going to trip!’

  But he didn’t pause until they were in the pulley system, the cage closed, feeling the strange sensation of being dragged down. His face was pale when he turned to her, and suddenly Roh needed a moment to gather herself, before she told her friend that she had freed him from one nightmare only to drop him in the middle of another.

  When they arrived at the level for competitors’ residences, Odi had still barely said anything. It wasn’t until they were safe in their own quarters that Roh could no longer stand the silence between them. ‘Odi,’ she began, unsure of what to say, but knowing she needed to say something, anything. ‘Odi —’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he blurted out as soon as the door clicked closed behind them. ‘I wasn’t honest. The Eery Brothers, the fiddlers, they’re my stepbrothers, you see.’

  ‘I’d gathered as much,’ Roh allowed. ‘When you said you heard them in the tunnels, you meant their music.’

  Odi nodded. ‘Mason and Brooks Eery.’

  ‘You helped with the piano because … You came back for them, didn’t you?’

  Odi stopped in his tracks. ‘I knew if they had a piano, it would mean a lot more songs would become available to them. That they would have more time. That I would have more time to figure out a way to save them. I always knew cyrens hunted musicians, but I didn’t know about that ledger. That I was on it.’

  ‘You still risked yourself for them. I thought they treated you poorly?’

  Odi’s brow furrowed at that. ‘They’re family, Roh.’

  ‘You had a chance to escape this place.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, does it? I’m here now. They’ve got more time, and we still have a shot in this tournament, if you’re not too angry with me?’

  The onslaught of fury Roh expected did not come, and she was filled with something foreign to her … Understanding. She found herself waving away his apology. ‘What right do I have to be angry?’ she said, surprising herself. ‘You didn’t choose to enter this tournament. You were lured into our lair and trapped. All three of you were. And it’s not like I’m known for my stellar decision-making.’

  Odi gave a small smile at that. ‘You got me back.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have let them take you in the first place. I … I was in shock. I froze. Are you … Are you harmed?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Odi told her, settling into his usual spot by the window.

  ‘Where did they take you? What happened?’ Roh asked, sitting on the floor nearby, stretching out, eager to keep the reality of the third trial at bay for just a little longer.

  ‘I was taken to the musician holdings. Mason and Brooks were there. Despite appearances, they’re alright. I talked to them. I told them about our piano, to use it and their full repertoire of songs.’

  ‘I hope they were grateful.’

  Odi smiled. ‘Mostly, they were angry at me for putting myself at risk.’

  Roh must have looked confused.

  ‘Our relationship … Things are complicated with them, Roh. We may not get along, but at the end of it all, we are still brothers. In any case, I wasn’t there long. The queen sent for me less than an hour after I’d been taken from the hall.’

  ‘What did she want?’ Roh asked.

  ‘You saw the piano. It’s one my ancestors made. She said they’d been waiting for me, and she made me play for her.’

  Roh waited.

  ‘So I played for most of the night. One or two of those council members visited, but they spoke your language, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. The whole time, that damn viper of hers watched me. It’s disgusting, Roh, shedding its skin everywhere. Honestly, that creeped me out more than the queen of Saddorien cyrens.’

  ‘The queen isn’t creepy.’

  ‘What?’ Odi blurted.

  ‘She’s not. She’s beautiful.’

  ‘You can be both,’ Odi argued.

  Roh ignored this. ‘What else? What else happened?’

  ‘I looked through the book.’

  ‘What!’

  Odi gave her a sheepish look. ‘Well … she left for a while. Said I should have a break and it was … Well, it was just lying there on the table. And you’d told me how important it was in the Passage of Kings.’

  Roh realised that she was gripping fistfuls of carpet, her whole body tense.

  ‘I couldn’t read it,’ Odi told her, his tone apologetic. ‘But …’

  ‘But?’

  ‘It showed me something. It was so strange, Roh. There I was, frantically turning its pages, trying to understand why you’re so obsessed —’

  ‘I’m not obsessed.’

  Odi rolled his eyes. ‘Even though I couldn’t read it, I still looked. I don’t know what I was expecting, but … It showed me Orson, Roh. She was standing all alone, in some dark, empty space.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Roh said, turning to face him.

  ‘That’s it. I don’t understand it, either.’

  Roh didn’t know what to make of these visions. The Tome of Kyeos had been trying to tell Odi something, but what, she had no idea. And what did Orson have to do with anything?

  ‘Did you get caught?’ she asked.

  Odi shook his head. ‘No. No one came back for a while after that. And besides, I think the queen assumed I couldn’t read it or didn’t know what it was, so … she was never suspicious of me in the first place.’

  ‘Alright.’

  ‘Alright?’

  Roh ran her fingers along her circlet, preparing herself for the blow she had to deal him now. ‘I think it’s time I told you of the third trial.’

  Odi started. ‘You know what it is?’

  ‘I do. You’re not going to like it.’

  ‘I expected as much.’

  ‘No, you’re really not going to like it.’

  ‘Tell me,’ Odi said simply.

  ‘We have to retrieve the scale of a sea serpent.’

  Thick silence filled the space between them, the tension growing with each passing moment. Roh could hear her own heart thumping in her chest until —

  Until Odi tipped his head back against the wall and laughed. The sound burst from him, loud and rumbling.

  And though there was absolutely nothing funny about the impending trial, Roh felt her own face split into a grin, a huff of laughter escaping her as well.

  Disbelief, defeat, terror … Their laughter encompassed it all. When the pair finally stopped, Odi wiped his eyes and seriousness settled around them once more.

  Odi got to his feet. ‘We need to prepare.’

  ‘Prepare?’ The word was laced with incredulity. ‘We can do nothing to prepare for this.’ Roh had already made as much peace with that fact as she could, but Odi was still processing the news. He began to pace their quarters at a dizzying speed, looking around wildly, as though some bolt of inspiration would come to him through the gold lattice headboards.


  ‘I’m sorry,’ Roh heard herself say, her voice small.

  Odi looked up from his panic. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m sorry that you got dragged into this. I asked to be a part of this tournament. You didn’t,’ she told him.

  ‘True,’ Odi said, stopping to push the loose hair back from his face.

  Roh smiled grimly. ‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do.’ If they had more time, more knowledge of the creature, she might have tried to design a trap, but her parchment and charcoal lay discarded at her bedside, no use to her now.

  Odi went to the rucksack crumpled in the corner of the room and rummaged through the outer pockets until he produced the flask he’d brought back from his father’s shop. ‘You know, I think you might be right, Roh.’ He tossed her the flask. ‘We’ll have to leave it up to fate.’

  Roh removed the cork and breathed in the toffee-sweet scent. ‘I don’t believe in fate.’

  ‘No?’

  She took a long swig. ‘No.’

  ‘What do you believe in?’

  ‘Doing whatever it takes to get what you want.’

  Odi took the flask from her and drank. ‘When’s the trial?’ he asked, his voice hoarse.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ she told him.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  On the morning of the third and final trial, Roh and Odi broke their fast in the competitors’ dining room. What had once been a bustling hub filled with cyrens and humans was now near empty, and a sombre atmosphere lingered heavily at its heart. The pair sat together on the end of a long table, pushing their food around on their plates, quietly watching the tension of the morning unfold.

  Roh’s stomach was in knots, twisting so intensely she thought she might be sick. Odi looked equally terrified, his face colourless and his fingers rapping against the table uncontrollably. Roh felt as unprepared as she had at the first trial, not knowing what was to come, or who, if anyone, would survive. Ames had always said the trials got more and more difficult, dangerous, deadly. Somehow she hadn’t believed him. She wished she had now. Though, would it have changed anything? She had been so determined to be here. In her bones, she knew that no words from Ames would have stopped her. That thought calmed her. It had been her choice, all of it. At every twist and turn of this tournament, she’d made a decision that had brought her here. From the game of Thieves at the very beginning, to leaving Saddoriel with Odi and saving Tess. Every single moment had been a choice belonging to her and only her. She had to face that, but also acknowledge that it wasn’t the same for everyone. She stilled Odi’s tapping fingers on the tabletop beside her, covering his hand with hers, hoping that the warmth of her palm would offer some sense of comfort. Odi hadn’t chosen this path for himself. He hadn’t had the free will that she had, up to a certain point. But he too had started to make decisions for himself. He had chosen to build the piano. He had chosen to return to Saddoriel, when he’d had the chance not to.

  These thoughts roiled wildly in Roh’s mind as she watched the dining room, spotting Yrsa and Tess entering from the far corner. As though sensing Roh’s attention, Yrsa’s gaze slid to hers, before shifting to Odi at her side. Stony-faced, Yrsa gave a single nod of acknowledgement before nudging Tess in the direction of the serving trays.

  ‘Well, that was new,’ Odi said.

  ‘Hmm,’ was all Roh could manage. She didn’t feel like talking. It was a form of self-preservation. She knew she would need all her energy, all her wits before the day was out, and so she continued to survey the others. Finn Haertel had just entered, his face a mask of livid rage. But for once, he didn’t spit venomous, hateful words at her. In fact, he didn’t so much as glance in her direction. A flurry of movement caught Roh’s eye. Estin Ruhne was talking to Zokez Rasaat, her hands moving erratically before her, her eyes frantic.

  Zokez was shaking his head, gesturing in a way that told Roh he wanted nothing to do with the renowned architect. Fascinated, Roh watched as Estin approached Yrsa next. She was too far away to hear their words, but Yrsa’s frown and subtly wrinkled nose told Roh that Yrsa didn’t like whatever Estin was saying.

  Odi leaned in close. ‘What’s going on?’ he whispered.

  ‘By the looks of things, Estin’s asking for something that no one wants to give.’

  Indeed, Estin approached Finn next. Roh had to admire her for that, given Finn’s furious expression and rigid stance.

  ‘Please,’ she heard Estin say. ‘We have to be in this together.’

  ‘Leave me be, Estin,’ Finn brushed her off, his words harsh, unfaltering.

  ‘But, Finn, what they’ve asked of us … It’s madness. We’ll all die.’

  ‘So don’t enter.’

  ‘You truly believe you can achieve what has been —’

  Finn drew himself up. ‘I truly believe that you should leave me be, or —’

  ‘Or what?’ Estin snapped. ‘You’ll do something worse than feed me to a sea serpent? For Thera’s sake, Haertel, open your gods-damned eyes.’

  ‘No, Estin. You open yours. And do it somewhere else. I’m tired of looking at you.’

  Roh saw Estin’s body sag with defeat. Finn’s razor words had found their mark at last. But what Roh did not expect was Estin’s eyes to fall to her and Odi, and this time, her gaze was not filled with the disgust and loathing Roh had experienced at their mercy before. As Estin approached their table, she seemed almost … timid.

  She cleared her throat. ‘Rohesia …’

  Roh kept her face neutral as she looked up at the architect she had admired so greatly once. ‘What is it, Estin?’

  ‘I know that we haven’t always … seen eye to eye.’

  Roh couldn’t help the scoff that escaped her. ‘That’s an understatement.’

  Estin didn’t bite back. This Estin lowered her head in something akin to regret before she continued. ‘What are you planning to do about this trial?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, surely you don’t mean to compete? A sea serpent? You’d have to be —’

  ‘Mad?’ Roh asked with her brows raised.

  Colour bloomed on Estin’s cheeks. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry for my part in all that. But, we have bigger problems facing us now, don’t you think?’

  Part? The part you played? Roh wanted to say, anger heating beneath the surface. You humiliated me in front of everyone who matters in Saddoriel …

  ‘Rohesia? Surely you’re going to do the sensible thing and forfeit?’ Estin added desperately.

  Seeing the utter terror in Estin’s lilac eyes, Roh bit back all the rage she had for the cyren.

  With a glance at Odi, she faced Estin. ‘I wasn’t planning on forfeiting,’ Roh told her. ‘But if that’s what you want to do, there’s no dishonour in that.’

  ‘But … but we should all forfeit. We should stage a protest together.’

  ‘You know as well as I do, that will never happen.’

  ‘Well, then,’ Estin stammered. ‘You and I can forfeit, together. I … I heard that you’re something of an architect yourself. Perhaps … perhaps when this is all over, I could be your tutor.’

  Roh stared at her, nausea subsiding. To be the disciple of Estin Ruhne … There once had been a time when Roh would have done anything to hold claim to such a title. To learn under such a renowned bone architect would hone her skills in unparalleled ways. Her music-theatre model flashed in her mind and she imagined how much it would improve at Estin’s instruction.

  But slowly, Roh shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Estin,’ she said. ‘I’m not ready to forfeit.’

  Estin swore loudly, throwing her hands up in a rage. ‘The madness lives on in you then, isruhe,’ she spat at Roh.

  Roh waited for the insult to pierce her; however, it didn’t land as it previously would have. It bounced harmlessly from Roh, as the architect gave her one last filthy look and stalked away.

  ‘I didn’t think there was anyone I could respect less than you, bone c
leaner,’ said a smooth voice.

  Roh spun to find Finn Haertel now at her side. ‘Imagine my surprise when I discover that person is Estin Ruhne,’ he said.

  Roh opened her mouth to hiss a retort, but the dining-room doors opened, revealing Elder Colter.

  ‘You are due at Saddoriel’s entrance in one hour,’ he told them. ‘Gather what you need.’

  When Roh turned back to Finn, he was gone.

  Roh and Odi were solemn as they stared at the rucksack on the floor of their quarters.

  ‘Gather what you need,’ Roh remarked quietly. ‘Like there is a prescriptive list of items for handling a sea serpent.’

  Odi shrugged unhelpfully. ‘It seems stupid to bring a pack like that.’

  Roh agreed. ‘It’ll just slow us down.’

  ‘Us? That sounds like you think I’m expected to breathe under water alongside you.’

  Roh rubbed her temples, an ache blooming there. ‘I don’t know what’s expected …’ The thought of Odi attempting to swim and breathe beneath the seas with her was terrifying, but she pushed it aside. ‘You’re right about the rucksack, though.’ She opened it up and took the coil of rope, shoved it into a much smaller satchel, and tucked a simple dagger into her boot.

  ‘That’s it?’ Odi asked, brows raised.

  ‘That’s it.’

  The music of Mason and Brooks Eery filled the passageways as Roh led Odi from the competitors’ quarters into a network of tunnels. Roh’s inner compass pointed the way, taking her down paths she’d never encountered before, as though it somehow knew she needed this extra time away from everything and everyone to gather her strength. Ignoring the queasy feeling in her gut, Roh led them towards the entrance of Saddoriel. She could already hear them, the hungry crowds lusting after her blood. Resentment clamped a cold fist around her heart as the towering archway of bones came into view, the sound of the crowd deafening now. Cyren and human peered outwards, taking in the formidable entry to the lair, and the masses that congregated there.

  Odi glanced at her, like he wanted to say something, as though yet another of his questions was on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he pointed, and Roh’s mouth went dry. Surrounding the base of Queen Delja’s stone-column throne were five tall glass tanks.