Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4)

by Barbara Kloss

  "Why in the world would you agree to something like that?" I asked. "You had to know what kind of power that would give him."

  Myez pinched his lips together.

  "He found out about my grandfather and Quinn…didn't he?" I asked.

  "Yes, and he threatened to dispose of her if I didn't agree to help him. Still," he continued, "my progress wasn't coming along fast enough, and to make certain I felt the pressure of his demand, he sent Lord Cethin."

  "As in…that demon back there?" I asked.

  "Yes. At the time, Lord Cethin was a mage just like your wizard friend, Arioch Prime, but Lord Cethin was presumed to dapple in dark magic, though no one knew for certain. He was Cassian Regius's closest advisor, and the pair of them made for a rather intimidating duo. Which was also another reason the people didn't want Cassian Regius, or his heir, on a throne. Even then, no one trusted Lord Cethin. When Lord Cethin came to my home, I was very afraid. He asked to see my progress, so I let him into my home—he wasn't the sort of man one refused—but the next morning I woke to find my family had disappeared. I knew it was Lord Cethin's doing—some spell of his—and when I asked him about it, he simply told me that if I wanted to see them again, I would carry out Cassian's wish immediately.

  "For months I worked day and night, traveling back and forth through a hidden entrance in the wall to the Icelands for material I'd need—material I could only find there. I wasn't afraid of the creatures that dwelt up there. Not then. I feared only for my family, and miraculously, the creatures left me alone. While I was constructing the new shortcut, I forged Nightshade in secret. It was a kind of insurance for me in case I couldn't make the portal. Since I'd forged Nightshade with the powers of both light and dark magic, Nightshade would be able to kill Lord Cethin—or so I'd believed—and if Lord Cethin were to die, the spell on my family would break.

  "I made the shortcut. I didn't eat or sleep, and I still don't remember exactly how I managed it, but within a few weeks, the shortcut was completed. But when I asked Lord Cethin where my family was, he told me they'd been in my possession all along, and then he opened his palm, and in it was an old signet ring, bearing the dragon—the seal of Valdon. 'I cannot give you your wife and son,' he had said, 'for your wife was the steel you used to forge your blade, and your son was the coal you used in your smelter. That is for your treachery. Only Quinn remains, as this ring. You will write to Darius, describing the fate of your daughter, and seal the wax with this ring, putting an end to this disgrace." Myez ground his teeth together, and I realized I'd been holding my breath.

  "I was so angry. I'm still not sure how I did it, but I managed to grab Nightshade and stab him through the heart," he said. "But then he was gone—vanished, into thin air with Nightshade—and the only thing left of his existence was his crimson cloak."

  I tilted my head. "The same cloak you wore in Thieves?"

  A nod. "I wouldn't forget what he'd done, and wearing it was a constant reminder. And then I had the markings tattooed on my body soon after. You…noticed it earlier?"

  "Yes…I wondered what it meant."

  He touched his shoulder gently. "It is the names of my family, in the old language. I had it done so I would never forget what I'd lost. But I never found the ring, and Nightshade disappeared too. It was about ten years before I realized I wasn't aging. At first I thought it was the cloak, but then I tried not wearing it for a few years and nothing changed. The most I could figure was that when I used Nightshade against Lord Cethin, the magic backfired, somehow. It was then I moved underground and changed my name to Myez Rader, and I have never stopped searching for Quinn."

  "That's what Eris offered you, isn't it," I said. "Quinn's ring."

  Myez nodded slowly. "Apparently, Lord Cethin took the ring with him to the shadow world. I thought he'd taken Nightshade as well, but then…you'd had it on you."

  I suddenly remembered how surprised he'd been when he'd seen the blade back in Thieves. "I found it," I said. "In a stream when I first arrived."

  "I suppose Gaia wanted you to have it, though why, I have no idea."

  "But how did Lord Cethin return from…wherever you said he was?"

  "The shadow world. It is one afterlife, and it is also where Mortis has been trapped ever since Gaia pulled this world away from Earth. Mortis must've found a use for him and, with your uncle's help, brought him back. You noticed he's more demon than man now."

  I had noticed that. Who wouldn't? But my uncle had the power to bring someone like that back from the dead. And I'd thought his kytharii were frightening. It seemed like he'd just been stretching his fingers with the walking dead. "The ring…where is it now?" I asked.

  "With Eris. He wants me to use my amalgamate capabilities to fortify his strongholds and forge weaponry for his shadowguard. I told him I'd need supplies from the north, so he sent Lord Cethin and a few others as an escort."

  "He sent Lord Cethin with you because he didn't trust you completely," I said.

  His nod was sharp. "Eris never trusts anyone. It's why he's survived."

  I took a moment to mull this over, feeling heavy as I realized how the odds kept stacking against me—against any chance we had at defeating my uncle. My uncle, who had resurrected the shadowguard. My uncle, who had raised the kytharii. My uncle, who had helped bring Lord Cethin back from the shadow world. And here I'd thought my uncle was a nightmare, but Lord Cethin… I never wanted to see that demon again for as long as I lived. All my thoughts converged at a single question, and I looked up at Myez. "You just forfeited your chance to save your daughter…in order to help me?"

  Myez held my gaze, unfaltering. "Eris has no plans to give me that ring, Daria. He'll hold it over my head, manipulating me like a puppet for the rest of my life, and I would've done anything he'd asked, but then I met you…" He winced, but it wasn't because of his wound. "You are…so like her."

  "Is that why you threw me and my friends in your dungeons?"

  He shook his head. "You have to understand…it was your escape that made me see it—made me realize it, at some point during that…agonizing recovery." I knew he was referring to the burns on his face. "Quinn was just as resolute and resourceful as you are, and when I thought of you, sitting there in my office…I didn't see you anymore, but my daughter. I saw her sitting there across from me, looking straight at me and seeing all the things I'd done, and then I felt her shame and disappointment. I couldn't sleep, either, for fear of my nightmares, but it didn't seem to matter because those nightmares haunted me during the day. It grew unbearable, and I knew I had to do something. I had to make it right, and maybe…maybe it wasn't too late for me. Maybe I could still be the man I once was. Maybe there was a piece of the trustworthy and honorable Nevan Aldrik still buried inside this abominable usurper." He let out a slow exhale, and I kept quiet.

  "When Eris came back soliciting my help," he continued, "I hoped…I hoped, perhaps, I could make a difference from the inside. I hoped I could play a part in this war—help turn the tides. I hoped this was my second chance. And then we stumbled across you." He looked over my face as if my features fascinated him. "She was your age, you know. When I lost her. And I knew then that Quinn was giving me the opportunity to redeem myself for decades of wrong, and I would do everything in my power to help you escape."

  I stared at him for a long time. The grey salting his disheveled black hair, the weary crinkle at his eye and corner of his mouth. The ugly scar warping the left side of his face and neck. I don't know why, but I believed him. All of it. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe I was too quick to forgive. I rested my forearms atop bent knees. "I'm sorry…about the fire."

  "Don't be. Spirits know I deserve a thousand times worse. But finally, with this scar, there is something honest about me."

  I inclined my head to him, curious. "I thought you were a businessman who didn't believe in spirits."

  "I thought so too."

  25

  DARIA

  I turned the brooch over in my h
ands and my stomach growled. Actually, to say it growled is a massive understatement. It sounded as if there were a small animal dying inside of it, and it was so loud I was surprised Myez hadn't woken.

  After our talk, Myez had slumped onto the floor, not quite snoring, but not breathing silently, either, and he hadn't stirred since. I had the feeling it had been a very long time since he'd slept so soundly. A cleared conscience had that effect on a person.

  Which was why I couldn't sleep—at all. Between the rain's constant pattering and Myez's deep breathing, my mind would not shut off. I kept thinking about all the things Myez Rader had said and all the things Lord Cethin had shown me, but most of all I kept thinking about Stefan. Stefan, my paranoid, legalistic brother who never did anything wrong. Stefan, who never had a hair out of place or a protocol out of mind. Stefan with his huge dimples and bright eyes. Stefan with his willingness to help me, to be a friend when the rest of this world had snubbed me. Stefan, who had loved me no matter what anyone had said, who had done everything he could for me, who hadn't used me as a pawn. Stefan, whom I'd verbally assaulted, but loved oh so fiercely, and now he was gone and the worst part of it was I didn't know if he knew how much I loved him. How much I hurt. It should have been me, not him. I was the one Eris wanted, not Stefan. I should have been the one in that room. I should have been the one Eris murdered. Maybe then Stefan would have been spared.

  And Alex…

  I squeezed the brooch. Where was he? Ever since we'd landed in this valley, it was as if the cord linking me to him had been severed. I reached out to him, but it was like trying to move a phantom limb. He just wasn't there. I couldn't sense him anywhere, and his absence made me feel even more alone. I hoped the fact that I couldn't sense him was a result of this place and not because something bad had happened to him. If anything happened to him…

  My next breath trembled. If only I'd accepted the offer when Danton had first made it a month ago. Orindor would have been there to help Valdon and then maybe Eris wouldn't have invaded so easily. If only I'd gotten over myself sooner, maybe Stefan would still be alive. And if only I hadn't entered the games and instead followed the rules my father had set, maybe my father would be alive, too. If, if, if, if….

  Ifs were going to beat me up until I died.

  Considering the way things are going, that might not be a very long time.

  Thanks for that, Conscience. I can always count on you to pin me down when I fall.

  But what now? Myez seemed to think my brooch would lead us to dragons, but there were no dragons here. I'd escaped Lord Cethin only to be trapped in this vale, There'd be no braving the mountain passes with Myez in the condition he was in. I couldn't use magic to speed up his healing process, either. I also couldn't just leave him here—at least not until he was stable. He'd probably saved my life back there.

  Frustrated, I sighed and let go of the brooch, then sat up straight and gazed out at the small lake. Rain continued pitting the surface, but it'd faded to a light sprinkle. I needed to move so I could think, and with one last glance at the sleeping Myez, I crept out of our cave. It was cooler now that it had rained, and the air felt brisk and refreshing. I walked down to the lake, my boots crunching along the rocks with each step. I crouched beside the water's edge and took a few moments to splash water over my face, and then I pushed up my sleeves and scrubbed at my arms, letting the cold water wash away the dirt and grime. The open cuts on my hands and wrists stung. I probably needed to dunk my whole body in the lake, but I'd do that once I'd given Myez clear instructions not to step out of that cave while I did so.

  I touched the back of my skull where I'd been hit. There was a nice little knot there that was tender to the touch. I really should start wearing a helmet. I wiped my hands on my pants and continued walking along the perimeter to get a better idea of our surroundings. The lake was almost completely surrounded by a wide black beach and rock wall, save the narrow trench we'd used to get here. A wider spot of beach about the length of a football field stood off to one side, carved into the rock, but it, too, was surrounded by rock wall. There were strange markings all over the face of the rock there, most of them within reach, as if the wall had been tagged by trespassers. Had other Draconi trespassed here?

  A few scorch marks stained the walls—large enough to be vestiges of dragon fire. If this vale had belonged to the dragons and their Draconi, where were they now? Why had the brooch led me here? I kicked at the pebbles in my path. I was supposed to be finding Alex, not wasting time chasing mysterious voices and Gaian ancient history.

  After a bit more wandering and exploration, in which I uncovered some edible berries and even more scorch marks and carvings, I made my way back to the dead tree sticking out from the rock wall. Myez stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall.

  "Where were you?" he asked. It sounded like a scolding.

  I raised both eyebrows. "I went for a walk…?"

  By the look on his face it had definitely been a scolding.

  "Here." I showcased my pickings upon a small rock inside our cave. "It's not much, but it's all I could find."

  He frowned. "You really shouldn't be out there alone."

  "Well, our other alternative is we starve to death. So…"

  He examined the berries I'd found. "How'd you know these were safe to eat?"

  I shrugged. "I just ate a few and waited to see what would happen."

  His eyes—er, eye—went wide.

  "I'm joking," I said. "We had huckleberries near the castle in Valdon. Stefan and I…we used to snack on them the mornings we'd practice together."

  Myez chastised with that one eye. "They're called purberries."

  I knew that. Stefan had tried correcting me too, but I'd already grown so used to calling them huckleberries, because that's exactly what they looked like. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

  He made himself comfortable beside the huckleberries. "Tired. All right, but tired." He popped a few berries in his mouth, and his lids fluttered a little as if the berries were the best things he'd ever tasted. "Thanks for gathering these. Any signs of the dragons?"

  "Except for a few walls of scorched rock, no." I tossed a rock out of the cave. "I found some markings though. Think they could be from the old Draconi?"

  "That would make the most sense to me," he said, popping another berry in his mouth. "What is your plan, then? Did you want to wait it out?"

  "I don't see that we have a choice." I gestured to his wound. "At least for a few days. You need to rest. If the mountain passes are as bad as you say, there's no way you can attempt them now."

  He looked over at me and slowly swallowed his berry. "And…if I'm not well enough in a few days?"

  I chewed on the inside of my lip and peered out of the cave. I didn't want to care about leaving him, but I did care. The idea of leaving him—alone—in this strange place made me feel guilty. He'd saved my life. I couldn't just…abandon him. But I also couldn't sit here for weeks on end. My uncle had taken over yesterday. I didn't have weeks. I barely even had days. If I waited too long, there might not be a world to return to.

  "You can go on, you know," he said.

  I looked back at him.

  "I know you're anxious to return to your friends, and I don't want to hold you back from that."

  "But what about you?" I asked. "I can't just…leave you here."

  He popped another berry in his mouth. "Yes, you can, Daria. Of course, I'll try my best to rest and be well enough to go with you, but if I'm not, you must go on without me. I know we're running out of time." I opened my mouth to argue, but Myez said, "Don't worry about me. I've survived this long on my own. I'll be all right. I grew up in the north, remember?" He gave me a small smile.

  I gave him a small smile back. "Yes, well, this isn't the north."

  He dusted his hands and leaned back against the cavern wall. "You're leaving in two days, with or without me. Anyway, I haunted Thieves long enough. I suppose it's time I found a new hauntin
g ground, and I believe the Shadowvale will do quite nicely."

  As it turned out, Myez wasn't well enough. He was better, much to my relief, but not "trudge through the mountain passes" better. Still, he'd insisted I go on without him. His insistence helped me not feel so guilty about leaving him—wounded—in this strange place, even though I knew I had to regardless.

  During those few days, I'd managed to craft a few makeshift daggers—with Myez's help—out of stone and wood, and I'd gathered as many berries as I could carry. Myez all but demanded I take his cloak, and I eventually agreed. We sawed off some of the extra fabric and made small packs out of the extra pieces, which would carry more berries and some pumice stones I'd use as trail markers. I left his amulet with him, though. I had a brooch that might be able to flare up again and guide me. He needed something to get out of here, just in case, assuming he could find a spot that would permit him to fill it with magic. Besides, I wasn't sure how in the world a person stored magic in that thing anyway.

  "Which direction did you plan to go?" Myez asked as I packed.

  "You said this valley lies between Campagna and the Arborenne, right?"

  "Yes, though we are closest to Campagna's capital."

  "Good, because I'd like to head for Campagna. Sir Torren and his troops were planning to sail there first before heading south to Valdon. They may even be there now. Maybe I'll be able to meet up with them, or at least come in behind them."

  He mulled this over and said, "Just…be careful, Daria. This place…it's earned a reputation for a reason. People don't generally leave the Shadowvale—at very least not unchanged. Always be vigilant. And mistrust everything."