“Good to know,” Arryn said. “Is our guest of honor behind that door?”
Zoe nodded. “In you go. I’ll wait here; Margit is going to assist you. The woman has a surprisingly strong mental block, so it will take a bit more strength. I can do it, no problem, but Margit wanted the first crack.”
A snarky smile pulled at the corner of Arryn’s mouth. “I have a feeling something’s going to be cracked by the time we get through with her.”
Zoe smiled and rolled her eyes as she pushed the door open, gesturing for them to go inside.
“Welcome, ladies,” Margit greeted. She stood with a certain level of power and respect in her old shoulders. “Given some of her colorful comments, I’m sure this will be a good time.”
“Thank you for helping us with this,” Arryn said. “There’s no way we could have done this alone.”
Margit quirked an eyebrow, giving the magician a knowing expression. “And whose fault would that be?”
Arryn looked at her incredulously. “Hey, I’ve already been raked over the coals. I’ve learned my lesson.” She threw her hands into the air. “I relent. I’ll focus more on mental magic. I didn’t realize how important it was until today.”
Margit gave her a curt, stern nod. “Good. Then we should begin. Just so you know, we do not make a habit of taking prisoners and barging into their minds. But there are exceptions. Like now, when innocent rearick lives are at stake, and the Temple is under attack.”
Arryn nodded. “We know. We’ve spent enough time with Zoe to know what the mystics stand for.”
Margit turned and stood behind the captive. The woman was tied to a chair, and Arryn couldn’t help but notice she was in a far better condition than she herself would have left her in. But as the mystic said, they weren’t in the business of torturing people.
“I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer,” Arryn began. “If you do not, Margit here will dive into your brain.”
Get her talking. Once you ask a question, she won’t be able to help the images that come to the front of her mind—even if she doesn’t speak. She has a wall, but I should be able to break through if she focuses too much on you, Margit sent telepathically.
Arryn nodded. “You said a name earlier. Esmerelda. Is that the wife of the dead leader of the ex-Arcadian guards?”
The woman only smiled. “Esmerelda. I said a name, but that’s all you’re getting. And the old bat can try, but she’ll never get through.”
Arryn’s expression became amused. “That ‘old bat’ could kick my ass, your ass, and the asses of the two beautiful but deadly women behind me. They are solid muscle, in case you hadn’t noticed. So I’d be nice to the old bat.”
“The next person that says ‘old bat’ is getting their entire identity erased,” Margit warned.
Arryn cleared her throat and nodded. “Right. Anyway. Esmerelda. What does she look like? Oh, wait. I know. Short black hair. Super pale skin. Freckles across her face. Right?”
Medium height; long, curly, black hair; physically fit, Margit relayed. Nice work giving a fake description. She mentally corrected you every time you said something wrong.
The woman laughed. “You’ll never get anything out of me. You can ask all you want.”
Arryn smiled. “I think you’re right. But I’m gonna ask questions anyway.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat on a chair across from the hostage. “I’m going to guess she is just like her husband—raging psycho, uses everyone around her to get what she wants, thinks she’s better than all of you.”
“You think you know her? You don’t know shit. That loving, doting husband you keep talking about allowed his men to brutalize us. They beat us. Assaulted us in every way you could possibly imagine. We weren’t the only ones; they did the same to her. When she found out he died?” The woman laughed. “Esmerelda saved us all.”
That answer certainly caught Arryn off guard. She looked up to Margit, and the old woman’s brows furrowed as she nodded.
Arryn focused back on the woman in front of her. “If you’re victims, why spread that hate to other people? Why would you do to someone else what was done to you? You had the opportunity to take your terrible past and fight for those weaker than yourself. You may not be classically trained, but all of you know how to fight. You could use that to help instead of harm.”
“Are you looking for something redeemable in me?” the woman asked.
Arryn wasn’t exactly sure how to answer the question. After hearing what she had to say, and getting confirmation that she was telling the truth, the idea of killing the woman didn’t exactly sit well with her.
Then again, neither did the woman’s attempt to kill children.
“Part of me wants to make you realize the error of your ways. I want you to see what the world has to offer. Show you that you can suffer, can be in the deepest part of whatever hell you’ve been in, but still come out on top.”
The woman smiled. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ there.”
Arryn nodded. “That part of me is naïve. That part of me is the innocent child that will always be there. My humanity. Something the adult part of me knows you do not possess. If you had even an ounce, you never would’ve attacked children. I forgave the man who ruined my entire life and got my family killed because he had humanity left. But you? I’ve learned to listen to my gut, and my gut tells me there is no hope for you. Am I wrong?”
The woman shook her head. “No. You’re not.”
“I think we have everything we need here,” Margit concluded.
The captive woman’s brows furrowed as she struggled to turn and look at the older woman. “What do you mean? I didn’t give you shit.”
“On the contrary, you are quite an emotional one. You allowed your emotions to overpower reason. You became angry when thinking about your past, and it made you weak. Your barrier became thinner, and I was able to dive right in.”
“Bullshit. You did no such thing. You’re only saying that. It’s all talk, but it’s not going to work; I’m smarter than that, you old bitch,” she said.
The captive woman cried out as tears almost immediately formed in her eyes, and her cries soon turned into screams.
Arryn’s eyes widened as she watched Margit’s white eyes focus hard on her target. Then the captive fell unconscious, her head slumping to her chest.
“What the hell did you just do to her?” Arryn asked.
“I said the next person to call me an old bat was going to get it.” Margit’s expression was stern and unwavering, like that of a grandmother who had just caught a child red-handed.
“But she called you an old bitch, not an old bat. Not that I’m complaining. She deserved it,” Arryn reasoned.
Margit nodded, looking over at the subdued young woman. “She called me an old something, and I warned her. I took her innermost desires, her terrible thoughts of what she wanted to do to you and to me, and I played them out in her mind.”
Arryn smiled. “But I’m guessing she had the best role. The victim.”
Margit shrugged. “It wasn’t just us, Arryn. Their plans are dark. Esmerelda is far crazier than her husband. From what I’ve seen, she has enslaved the men and forces them to do her bidding. Not exactly saying I disagree; they deserve it, too. They deserve worse. But she’s letting them live, and is using them to come for the Temple.”
“What could they possibly want with the Temple?” Cleo wanted to know. “No offense, it’s just… this is an old temple. It’s beautiful, and there are many things to learn here, but I don’t understand why bandits would want to take it.”
“They want to take the mines,” Margit said.
Arryn’s eyes lit up. Everything was starting to make sense. “They wanted to take Craigston, but knew if they tried that the mystics would come down on them. Even if they managed to make it through the rearick—which was unlikely—they knew they’d have you guys to deal with.”
Margit nodded. “They considered u
s the bigger threat and wanted to deal with us first. That’s why your friend’s house was attacked; it was close by. They came up that side of the mountain hoping to find a straight shot directly to us, but ran into you instead. I’m assuming the small group who went to Craigston were those who had gotten lost along the way.”
“Do you think there will be another attack?” Bast asked.
Arryn nodded. “People like Esmerelda don’t just go away. She will take that loss hard. If I know shitheads—and at this point, I feel like I really do—she is going to lose her mind over this. There will be another attack. We need to move south, quickly.”
“Not without rest, you don’t,” Margit said. “And Arryn, you and I have a lot to discuss. You will want to stick around and hear what I have to say.”
“So I’ve inferred,” Arryn said.
“There won’t be another attack tonight,” Margit assured her. “You and I will speak, then you may all retreat for meditation. You’ll have dinner tonight, and a full night’s rest. After breakfast, you can leave.”
“I didn’t hear any option for a ‘no’ in there,” Arryn said.
“Yeah, I don’t think she gave one,” Cleo said. “That’s okay, though. I definitely need some sleep. Especially now that we have this out of the way. If you’re confident the Temple is safe, we will take your recommendations.”
Margit nodded. “Esmerelda will need time to form a new plan. It’s hard to say if the injured have even returned to her yet to update her on the mission’s failure.”
“In that case,” Cleo said with a hard pat to Arryn’s back, “have fun. I get the impression she wants to speak to you alone, but don’t think that lets you off the hook from telling us about whatever might affect our trip home.”
Arryn smiled. “I’ll update you as soon as I’m done here.”
The girls smiled and made their way out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Silent words were passed between Margit and the guards in the room, as they suddenly went to work removing their hostage.
Once they were gone, Margit turned to Arryn and smiled, lifting her wrist. On her wrist was a thin, silver bracelet. Though her arm moved, the piece of metal did not. It seemed to stay in place, as if attached to her.
“What’s that?” Arryn asked.
“This is what you and I are going to be working on this afternoon. And prepare yourself; it isn’t pleasant.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Arryn’s eyes were wide as she stared at Margit. After sitting in total silence, listening to the old woman’s every word, she felt like her mind might actually melt.
“Okay. Let me get this straight,” she began. “That little bracelet right there somehow works with the nanocytes in our blood. The nanocytes are what give us our magic, and through that bracelet, my magic would be able to connect to anyone else who’s wearing one. Is that right?”
Margit nodded. “But not just any magic—mystical magic. That means you actually have to get off your ass and practice.”
Arryn looked at her with a disgusted expression. “Get off my ass? Lady, don’t you realize I spend most of my time off my ass? All I ever do is train.”
The mystic shook her head. “Child, please. Try to focus; do not use excuses with me. Let’s not forget how you spent last night. All the drinking, and then the activities with—"
Arryn’s eyes widened as she lifted her hands in the air. “I get it. I get it. Dammit. That’s the last time I’m giving one of you full access.”
“If you have time for all that, you have time for a little mental magic training. I didn’t choose your path. You chose to be a warrior for the innocent. If you want to do that, and if you want to stop what’s happening in Kemet, you will need every tool possible.”
Arryn pointed to Margit’s wrist again. “And that thing right there is going to help me?”
Margit nodded. “You will have a direct connection to Amelia, as well as to Julianne. The master mystic has been working to close the rift in Tahn. She will be able to guide you and help you with the creatures you will be dealing with. Otherwise, you will be going in blind.”
Arryn let loose a heavy sigh. “This is unbelievable. Another world. What about the Queen Bitch? Does this mean…? Surely not, right? I mean, she couldn’t possibly still be alive, right?”
“From what we know about Bethany Anne, she is still alive, and will one day return. It’s impossible for me to know if she is even aware of the things that are happening here. Some pray to the Queen, others simply trust in her and believe she will return; many don’t believe she exists at all. I personally believe she will be back one day.
“Right now, all we have are the Hannahs in the world. The Juliannes. The Arryns. She has blessed all of you, and because of that, you have the goddess-given duty of standing in her place until she returns. You must do the best you can and use all the tools you have been given to fight her fight, until the day she comes back to finish it.”
Arryn’s eyes widened, the weight of the mystic’s words pressing down on her shoulders. She had never really thought of it in such a way before, but the old woman was right. Whether it was by Bethany Anne or by something else, she had not only been given power, she had been given an intense drive to use it to protect.
Her eyes lingered on the bracelet, then wandered up to meet Margit’s. “I want it. Teach me how to use it.”
Margit nodded. “This will require you to not be… inactive… with your training.”
Arryn smiled, picking up on her word choice. She was a feisty, sarcastic, old woman, and Arryn enjoyed her immensely.
“No more inactivity. Promise.”
With a sigh, Margit said, “Good. Now prepare yourself; like I said before, this hurts like hell.”
Arryn’s eyes widened. “No, you said it wasn’t pleasant, not that it hurt like hell.”
Margit shrugged. “I also chose to be nice and call you ‘inactive’ instead of ‘a lazy brat’. I was trying to keep you at ease.”
With a roll of her eyes, Arryn shook her head and extended her hand. “You really are a piece of work. But I adore you. You’re still my favorite mystic.”
Margit smiled. “We’ll see how you feel after receiving the bracelet and going through my training.”
***
Selena walked alongside Captain Seth as they made their way across the beach. It had taken quite a while, but she believed they had finally found the settlement they’d been looking for.
The lookout they’d sent ahead after landing reported seeing solid, semi-permanent tents set up all over. They grew larger the farther into camp they went. Toward the back, in the center, was the largest tent of all: from the looks of it, it would be able to hold two hundred or so people.
“Do you see that?” Captain Seth asked.
Selena nodded. “They have guards on the wall, but Tim didn’t seem to think many more were inside. Judging by the number of people on the rampart, and the uncomfortable way they are shifting around, I would have to say he’s right.”
The captain nodded before motioning for everyone behind them to stop. “We’ll try this the easy way.”
With a dark smile, Selena said, “Yet I’m hoping for the hard way.”
Selena and the captain made their way forward, stopping several yards away from gate. They both looked up to the guards manning the wall and gave a polite nod.
“I’m Captain Seth, and we want to see whoever’s in charge here.”
The guards looked at one another for a moment before looking back down at Selena and the captain. “What is your business here?” one of them asked.
Selena smiled. “We come from Holdgate. Well… At one time, we did. Have you ever heard of Storm Raiders?”
The guard’s eyes widened as he nodded. “Not many people around here have heard of you, but we sure as hell have.”
Captain Seth laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, we hear you have weapons; we’d like to take a look at those. If eve
rything goes well, we have quite a lot of coin to offer in exchange for your best.”
The guard they had been speaking to quickly nodded to one of the men on the edge of the wall. He quickly scurried away, no doubt going to speak to whoever was in charge.
“We are sending for Esmerelda. This shouldn’t take long,” the guard said.
Selena bit her lip, annoyed at having to wait. The captain brushed his hand against hers, signaling for her to keep calm. She took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing patience to return.
“Do you think they’re going to let us in?” she asked.
Seth nodded. “I do. I don’t hear a lot of clatter going on past the gate, and it’s late evening. At this time of night, men would still be training, or at the very least, putting weapons away—we would be able to hear the sound of clanging metal. Also, I can smell meat cooking, but the scent is not overwhelming. That means there aren’t many people to cook for. Something tells me they are down on warriors. If that’s so, they’ll take whatever we offer them; they will be desperate. So yes. I think they’ll let us in.”
Selena didn’t reply. Instead, she alternated between nervously checking over her shoulder and keeping her eyes on the wall. Though her magic didn’t work on land, she could still kick ass and beat the shit out of people with her staff, if the occasion called for it. She wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t a trap.
Nearly fifteen minutes had passed before the gate finally opened. When it did, a beautiful woman stood directly in the center, with four female guards standing on either side.
“Welcome, friends,” she said. “My name is Esmerelda. Please, come inside. You must be hungry.”
Selena and Captain Seth exchanged a look before turning back to Esmerelda.
“You may bring ten of your best men, but the rest stay outside.” Esmerelda did not wait for a response. She simply turned and began to walk back inside.
Selena kept her eyes on the guards, her hand clenched tightly around her staff as the captain quickly chose ten of their best to accompany them. Once he returned, they followed Esmerelda through the encampment toward the large tent in the middle.
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