“You could try going to the Council.”
“No, I don’t know them, and I don’t trust that Lilith hasn’t already poisoned those waters.” She sighed. “Besides, as you well know, I can’t go making accusations against her without any specifics or proof. And really, what do I know? What proof do I have?”
The three discussed Mara’s studies. She explained that Leala and Fidel strongly encouraged her to study a source called, The Book of The Blood.
“I read that years ago,” Dixon said. “It was part of the standard reading for an Oathtaker’s training.”
“Me too,” Ezra said. “We had to take a whole course dedicated to it.”
“What do you remember?” Mara asked as she poured a glass of water.
“Not much,” Dixon said.
“Me either,” the innkeeper said. “But then, I was never very good at prophecy. What are you finding? Anything of interest?”
She sat quietly for a moment. “Fidel directed me to portions that are very thought provoking. They’re prophecies about a seventh seventh and she ‘who is but is not.’”
“And?” he urged.
She repeated the language she and Fidel found troubling, language she’d quickly memorized: “‘Be wary, for in those days shall come she who is not a leader, yet having sold her soul, she shall seek to lead. Woe to the people, for there shall be much crying and mourning for the infants lost by her. Run quickly to Sanctuary! For only there may you be saved.’”
She shrugged. “I can’t imagine what horrors it seems to imply will come. What does it mean when it says that infants will be ‘lost by her?’ Still, Fidel and I agree that the prophecy seems to refer to Lilith as the one who is not the legitimate leader who seeks to lead.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, the prophecy goes on to say: ‘The land shall move to mourning. Even so, a way has been provided, and you must pray that it shall come to pass, for a seventh seventh and she who is but is not, may rise after a time of misery and fear. In their day, they may lead the people forth.’” Mara paused. “I think the prophecy applies now because it makes sense that Eden is ‘she who is but is not.’”
Once again, came a knock at the door.
“There seems to be a constant stream of activity this morning,” Ezra commented as Connell opened the door to Celestine who carried a tray of refreshments. Instantly, the smell of fresh crusty bread permeated the room.
“Here you go,” she said. “You could all use some energy. You especially, Ezra,” she admonished as she tapped him on the shoulder. “You know the cost that comes with healing. Anyway, we prepared warm sandwiches for you all.”
“Sounds good,” Dixon said.
“Your favorite.” Celestine put the tray down. “Prosciutto, hard salami, aged provolone, super salty olives, and sweet grilled red pepper on crunchy bread. Oh yes, and with a drizzle of fruity, peppery olive oil.”
“Mmmmm!” he moaned with anticipated pleasure.
Mara choked back a “harrumph.”
“Your mother introduced these to us all, don’t you remember?” the barmaid laughed as she ruffled Dixon’s hair.
“I do,” he said with a smile.
“You know his mother?” Mara finally trusted herself to speak.
“But of course! Aunt Francesca could make the most out of the least. She loved to cook and to teach us all.”
Mara looked from Celestine to Dixon. Though her gaze remained on him for a long moment, he did not look up. “Aunt Francesca?” she asked as she turned her attention back to the barmaid.
“Yes, Dixon’s mother.”
“Dixon’s mother is your aunt?”
Celestine laughed, a light rippling sound. “Not just my aunt, my favorite aunt and ‘fill in’ mother. I always envied my cousin Dixon here,” she said nudging him, “for his good fortune in being her son.”
Mara nodded. “And your mother is—”
The barmaid’s smile vanished. “Well, I . . . That is, I never knew her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. She abandoned me when I was an infant. I figure if she was the kind of woman who could leave her child to go off to live the wild life, then I was better off without her.”
“That’s very wise of you. Still—”
“Don’t give it another thought,” Celestine continued. “I was fortunate enough to be left to the care of her sister—Dixon’s mother. And I got three big brothers in the bargain. It was the greatest good fortune.” She grinned, then slowly her smile faded. “I thought you knew.” She looked down at Dixon, then back to Mara. “Oh, goodness, what must you have thought!” she exclaimed with a hand to her mouth.
“Really, I didn’t think anything,” Mara said, having surmised the meaning behind the barmaid’s words and glances. She looked at the spread of food before her and inhaled deeply. The sandwiches smelled wonderful. Small crispy fried potatoes, fresh fruit salad, and a chilled carafe of wine finished off the refection.
“Well, dig in,” Celestine quipped as she turned away.
As they helped themselves, Mara noticed Ezra grinning. “Something funny?” she asked him.
His eyes shot up. “No. Nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” She bit into her sandwich. Her eyes widened. “Mmmm, these are . . . Mmmm!”
Dixon, too busy chewing to speak, winked at her. Caught off guard and momentarily flustered, she turned her attention back to her meal.
Moments later, Therese and Basha arrived.
“Sit down. Sit down,” Ezra said. He pulled chairs out for them.
“No, thank you,” Basha said. “Mara, I’m so sorry.” She shook visibly.
Mara stopped chewing. She sensed Basha’s fear and frustration. She swallowed hard as though in doing so, she would flush any unwanted information away at the same time. “Not getting anywhere?”
“It’s worse than that,” Therese said.
“How could it be worse?” Dixon asked. “We need information.”
Therese slumped into a chair and directed Basha to the one next to her. “May as well get it over with.”
“What? What is it?” Mara asked.
Basha looked to the floor. “I’m sorry, we . . . lost him.”
“Lost him!” Mara jumped to her feet. When Dixon reached over, urging her back to her seat, she sat back down, hard. “What do you mean you lost him?”
Basha shook her head. “It was very strange. It was as though he’d been ensorcelled or something.”
“What does that mean?”
“We got his name, and he confirmed he’d been with the army that accompanies Lilith,” Therese said.
“I know that much.”
“That was it,” Basha said. “We pushed, but it was as though he was under a spell. Just as we thought he’d spill the information we sought, his eyes flashed open and he writhed as if from a source of pain we’d not authored.”
“And?” Mara asked, sensing there was more.
“And he started to go up in smoke.”
“Smoke!” Dixon exclaimed.
“What?” Mara cried.
“He literally burned to death on the spot,” said Therese.
“Oh, dear Good One. Wh—wh—” Mara stammered for words. “How could this happen?”
“There was no way we could have anticipated this,” Therese said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was as though he was on fire from the inside.” She grimaced. “Oh, the smell!” She coughed and waved her hand before her face.
Mara threw her napkin down and jumped up again. “We need answers! We need to know what Lilith has been up to.”
“We’ll get answers,” Dixon said in an effort to reassure her.
“How can you say that so calmly? How do you know? Oh, great Ehyeh!” she cried as she dropped her head into her hands.
He approached. Though at first she tried to move away from him, he put his arms around her gently, but firmly.
“I know because I serve Ehyeh, the Good One,”
he said, his voice low. “I know because you serve the Good One. I know because every breath I take assures me that it’s right and good to be on the side of life, of freedom, of choice. I know because nothing Lilith does will stop us from seeing to that purpose—to the Good One’s purpose. Nothing. We will get answers. We will prevail. No matter what she attempts to do through evil, Ehyeh will conquer through good.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The smell of snow filled the air. Some soldiers congregated around campfires while others waited in line near the meal wagon. From their midst, a fight broke out. Laughter rang out as a man fell back. Someone had extricated the food from his hands. He jumped at the mountainous offender, ready to brawl, fists raised. Moments later he fell to the ground, this time never to rise again. A knife protruded from his chest. More laughter erupted as others kicked away the body. Without hesitation, someone took the man’s former place in line and proceeded as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Lilith sat inside her wagon watching the chaos. She’d been on the road for weeks now. Before entering an area, she ordered guards to ride ahead to cover all the roadways to her next destination. Once stationed, she moved in. On pretense of holding an event to bless the infants of the area, she first asked the locals to deliver the imposter child to her. When they did not, she oversaw the demise of hundreds of infants. For those townspeople who had not felt compelled to join in the event, Lilith sent her men out to search house-by-house. In her wake, she left a continuous trail of blood.
Once she accomplished her task in an area, Lilith left sufficient guards with orders not to allow anyone to leave the city after she moved on. They remained on the lookout for the child she sought, as well as for any others that may have escaped her wrath.
As a safeguard, Lilith had placed a spell over the men at the outset of her venture. Under no circumstances could they tell of the events that transpired. A soldier who tried to do so would literally burn to death from the inside out before he could reveal anything of importance.
Of late, she’d also sent small groups out all over Oosa, to scout for areas where she might later make camp.
She turned to Freeman. Her attention devoured his body. “I’m so tense,” she purred.
He massaged her neck and shoulders.
Her eyes rolled up and she moaned. Just then came a scuffle outside the wagon. She scowled. “Get that.”
Freeman went to the back of the wagon and pulled the tarp aside.
“Sir, we seek Lilith.”
“Who is it?”
“Lilith!” a man’s voice called. “It’s me! Let go of me! She’ll see me,” he shouted.
She looked out. Two soldiers held another man tightly. She sighed audibly.
“Lilith!” he cried again.
She recognized him by his voice, his haughty bearing, even by the way he dressed, always in the same style, always in black, as though he was in uniform.
“What are you doing here? I told you to stay away.”
He tried unsuccessfully, to pull free of his captors. With a sigh and a nod from Lilith, they released him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
He elbowed the bulky, well-armed soldiers surrounding him. “May I speak with you?”
She motioned Freeman to disappear, then waved her hand at the guards to disperse. Turning back to her visitor, she nodded, then retreated into her wagon and sat at the edge of her bed.
The man entered. His eyes did not miss the rumpled bedding, the half empty bottle of wine on the table, the partially emptied wineglasses, and the lamp turned low.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I wanted . . . Well, that is, I thought I’d see what I could do for you.”
“I told you to wait at the palace.”
“But what if I can help you to find Dixon? Maybe I could urge him out of hiding?”
“And how do you propose to do that?”
He motioned to a nearby chair. “May I?”
She nodded.
He sat, then tossed a bag of coins from one hand to the other. “I know Dixon. He trusts me.”
“Where do you suppose he’s to be found?” she asked, her voice laced with boredom.
“Well now, I’ve been thinking on that.” He smiled. “The City of Light.”
“That’s not what we’re hearing in the local pubs and meeting rooms.”
“What are they saying?”
“Someone sighted him in the highlands. I’m heading there next.”
“You must be getting false information. The City of Light is the obvious place for him to go.”
“And why is that?”
“Dixon is well known in the city.”
“It seems you’ve just given the best reason for him to avoid it.” Lilith scowled.
“No, don’t you see? Dixon always thinks everyone is on his side. He thinks he’s everyone’s favorite. It would be just like him to go there for aid and support.”
She rose. “We’ll make it to the city soon enough. If he’s there, I’ll find him.”
“Right. But maybe I could help. I could check out the inns and some of his favorite haunts. Likely, it will take some time, but . . .”
Lilith sneered. “What exactly is it you propose?”
The man leaned in. He smiled, encouraging her to join him in his plans. “Dixon is a wily one. If he gets word of your nearing the city, he’ll leave. But if I found him, I could keep him there.” He hesitated. “Don’t you see? I could make him feel secure there while keeping you informed of his whereabouts.”
“You think he’d follow your advice?”
“Think! I know. He’ll trust me. I’m sure of it.”
“He travels with a woman. What of her?”
“I’ll win her over.”
She smirked. “You are so sure of yourself?”
“With women?” He laughed.
Lilith looked at him disdainfully.
“Well, I mean, with an average woman—which surely in comparison to you, she must be.” He tossed his bag of coins again, back and forth, then stopped. “Yes, I’m sure of it. I can win her over.”
“Very well then, see to it. If you discover Dixon’s whereabouts, get word to me. For now, I plan to head to the highlands when we’re through here. I’ll put my guards on notice to be on the lookout for any messages you might send. If you find him, do what you can to keep him in one place.”
He smiled. “When would you like for me to head for the city? In the morning maybe?” His voice, his glance, held an invitation.
She was not amused. “When? Why, immediately, of course.” She tilted her head toward the back of the wagon, motioning for him to leave. “And be quick about it.”
He got up and turned to go, then jumped down. Just as his feet touched the ground, she called out. “Oh, wait! Come back here.”
He returned, smiling leeringly.
“I almost forgot. You’re going to need protection against revealing your intentions.
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to understand.” Lilith had to put him under the same spell she’d used on the soldiers who accompanied her. She could not risk his informing Dixon of her whereabouts, or that anyone might see through to his real intentions. She reached toward her guest. In a moment, he dropped to the floor and thrashed in pain.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The fire crackled. No one had spoken for some time.
“Mara,” Dixon finally said, breaking the near silence.
“I said I’m going.”
“But, Mara—”
“Look. Look here,” she said, cutting him off. She held the oracle toward him and ruffled through its pages. “It says ‘Go,’ so I’m going.” Her eyes, reflecting the fire in the grate, were hard on him. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I probably shouldn’t have waited this long to go.”
“Mara,” he said again, his voice soft, “maybe it means that you should go from
here. You know, leave the City of Light. Or maybe it means you should go back to sanctuary for more resources. Or maybe . . .”
“No. It means I’m to go to Polesk to find out what Lilith was up to while there, and to learn anything else I can about what she—”
“How can you know that?” he interrupted. “What if—”
“I’m going, Dixon, like it or not.”
He shook his head.
“Maybe she’s onto something, Dixon,” Basha said.
His eyes flashed her way. “How can you say that when you know it could be dangerous?”
“Dixon, we got nothing from Udaye, and all Dooley could tell us was that Polesk was in an uproar.” Basha stood at Mara’s side. “You know how it is. Sometimes there’s no explaining the call, the demand. If Mara is so adamant about this, well then, I think we should support her.” She turned to Mara. “I’ll go with you, if you like.”
“Basha—no,” Dixon said, “your duty is to Therese now that you’ve been reunited, just as Mara’s is to the girls.”
“I know my duty, Dixon,” Mara snapped.
“I know. I know. I just . . .” He shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out the way I meant it. All right, so you insist on going. Leave Basha here. Take me along. I don’t have a charge to attend to.”
She set her lips tightly. “I don’t know,” she finally said before turning away.
He grasped her arm. Gently, he turned her back toward himself. “Take me along. We’ll go to Ted’s. If anyone will know what happened when Lilith was there, it’ll be Ted.”
“Maybe you should stay here to help with the girls.”
“Of course we’d prefer you were both here, but we’ll keep the girls safe,” Basha offered.
“You think I should take Dixon?” Mara asked of her.
“Yes.”
“Very well then.” Mara glanced at him. “I need you to understand. I don’t want to go. I have to go. I just . . . know it, and I can’t explain it.”
“Can you explain what you feel?” he asked. “I’m trying to get a handle on this.”
“Peace.”
“You mean you feel a sense of peace about going?”
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