by K. C. May
Chapter 59
Edan came to Daia and sat on a step beside her. He brushed the hair from her face, then gently turned her onto her back and pulled her to a sitting position between his thighs. He held her to him with his arms around her, her back against him. Her chin lay against her chest. “I’ve got you,” he whispered.
Never in her life had Daia felt so helpless. She’d watched from the corner of her eye as her friends battled Brodas while she lay immobile. Useless. Gavin had taken a hard beating; Risan and Edan were both injured. On the blood-smeared white marble floor below her, Domach lay unmoving. Risan knelt beside him and pressed his ear against Domach’s chest. Daia held her breath.
Gavin came back down the hall. “Is he alive?”
“No,” Risan said.
Gavin squatted beside him. “Sorry about the knife,” he said.
Risan smiled dimly. “It would hit mark if Ravenkind did not knock it away.”
Gavin put a hand on Risan’s thigh. “Don’t worry, I ain’t getting amorous,” he said with a crooked grin. He shut his eyes for a moment, and Daia watched Risan’s grimace change into a gape.
“You can heal,” Risan said when Gavin pulled his hand away. “That is amazing. Did you see that?” Risan asked Daia and Edan. “He healed my leg with just touching.”
Gavin put a hand on Domach’s chest. A vein bulged on his temple, and his arm quivered. After a long moment, he relaxed and sat with his head in his hands.
“Where is Ravenkind? Dead?” Risan asked.
“He fled,” Gavin said, “but Edan got an arrow into him. Likely he’s still alive. I got to go tell Brawna about Demonshredder.” He looked up at Daia. “You awright?”
In answer, Daia rolled her eyes. If she were all right, she wouldn’t be sprawled on the stairs, limp as a corpse.
He grinned. “One blink for yes, two for no.”
She blinked twice. No.
“Are you injured?”
No.
“He used that spell on me when... It’ll fade in a few hours, but maybe I can speed it along. Want to try?”
Yes.
He climbed the stairs. Edan started to stand, but Gavin motioned him to stay there. He hooked his hands under Daia’s thighs and lifted, bending her knees so that the soles of her boots lay flat on a step. Then he pushed her knees apart and knelt on the step between them. With a lecherous smile and wagging eyebrows, he said, “And you told me I’d never get between your legs.”
“Gavin,” Edan said in a disapproving tone.
If Daia could have smiled, she would have. She didn’t doubt Gavin Kinshield would make a crude joke with his final breath.
He took her head in his hands and closed his eyes. His hands, so huge and rough, were surprisingly gentle. She did not know how to ask him if she should help with this at all, but decided that if he wanted help, he would say so. Almost immediately, she felt numbness in her fingers and toes and found she could wiggle them. The tingling sensation traveled up her arms and legs little by little and soon reached her torso, neck and face. Daia moved her hands and feet. It was working.
He opened his eyes. Those deep brown orbs were mesmerizing in their intensity. A feathery touch grazed her mind: the feeling of someone reaching for a connection. Not the blind groping of someone in trouble, but an intentional brush, soft and warm like a lover’s gentle caress. She took hold of it and felt the surge of earth energy flowing through her and into Gavin.
A porthole opened in the inky depths of his eyes. She glimpsed what lay beyond his rough facade, his pain, his life. No, more than that: his lives – as a husband, a father, a battler, a friend. Curious, she looked still deeper.
The connection intensified. She felt drawn in as though a gale sucked at her. In her mind, she saw an image of Gavin as king standing tall and strong, achieving all the greatness for which he had potential. She saw him as the embodiment of vigilance, equity, self-mastery and strength. In this image, she saw hope for the future of Thendylath.
Then the image began to tear apart. A seam ripped open and widened to reveal blackness so profound that it touched all the senses. She saw Gavin entombed by a vast hunger where he lay like a battered animal washed ashore after a storm. His voice echoed in her mind as he called to her one last time before the light in his eyes dimmed and blinked out.
no, no, No, No, NO, NO! NO! A shudder convulsed her entire being. The connection weakened as he pushed her away. She was not supposed to have seen that last image. It must have been his fear of claiming the throne, of not measuring up, of being unable to meet the needs of a country two hundred years without a king. Perhaps he feared he would lose a part of himself by living among the nobility, like dying alone in an alien world. But he wouldn’t be alone. Surely he knew that. She would be there, beside him. Edan would be there. Risan. Brawna. You have friends, Gavin, she thought. Friends who trust you. Friends who believe in you. I believe in you. She bore her gaze more deeply into his as she thought this last, willing him to hear her thoughts, to take comfort in her friendship and her loyalty.
She searched his deep, dark eyes for recognition and acknowledgement of her faith, but she saw something else. Something she couldn’t explain. As impossible as it seemed, she sensed that he was more than just Gavin Kinshield.
The numbness faded, and she felt Edan’s arms loosen around her. The connection between Gavin and herself ended. His face, the stairs, the manor pulled into view, grounding her once again in the real world. The intensity left Gavin’s eyes, and he smiled his gap-tooth smile. Then, he was just Gavin once again.
“It’s getting easier,” he said. “Must be the gems in the sword.”
Daia smiled back. Her cheeks were streaked with wetness. He looked at her with brow scrunched, a silent question in his eyes. Did he not know what had just happened?
“You awright?” he asked softly.
She was tempted to kiss his cheek, but doing so would only encourage his misbehavior. “My thanks, Kinshield,” she whispered. For what, she couldn’t begin to articulate.
“No, my thanks to you. You helped me get my sword from Ravenkind. Without you, we’d prob’ly all be dead.” Gavin stood and offered his hand to help her up.
She put her hand in his, almost expecting some sort of shock. It was warm and dry and strong. He pulled her to her feet. Daia took a deep breath and, with Edan, followed him down the stairs.
They stood around Domach, looking down at his still form. “Actually,” Daia said, “Domach’s knife saved us all. Ravenkind nearly had me.” She squatted beside Domach and looked into his face, slack and empty. A lump rose in her throat. He’d been a nice fellow. She should have at least shared a drink with him. That was all he’d wanted. Just one lousy drink.
“Let’s get him to the sofa,” Edan said.
Daia and Gavin lifted Domach and carried him into the sitting room, setting him gently on a plush crimson sofa. Edan picked up Domach’s head and put a pillow beneath it.
“Daia, Edan, why don’t you search the library,” Gavin said. “Risan, you check the rooms upstairs. Look for anything that might help us find Ravenkind. I’ll go give Brawna the news.”
“Gavin,” Daia said, putting a hand on his arm. “I’ll tell her.” Brawna was like a sister to her. It was only right that she be the one to deliver the news about Domach.
“No,” Gavin said. “It’s my responsibility. Her brother’s dead because of me. I’ll tell her. I owe her that much.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be swayed. “Then we’ll need to hurry and get to the cave,” Daia said. “Ravenkind’s probably heading there now.”
“But he doesn’t have the sword,” Edan noted. “If what he told Domach is true, he won’t be able to get the King’s Blood-stone anyway.”
Gavin groaned. “Damn it. He has the blue gem.”
Risan bent down, picked something up, and smiled. He held the blue moonstone between his thumb and forefinger. “This blue gem?”
&nb
sp; “What if that was Risan?” Dwaeth whined. “Maybe Lord Ravenkind killed everyone and Risan was trying to escape, and he left us here.”
“Shhhh,” Brawna said. She moved away from the back wall of the barn and squatted beside the boy sitting cross-legged on the ground. “Risan wouldn’t have run off like that. It was probably Ravenkind, fleeing in defeat.”
A large form appeared in the corner of her eye. She shot to her feet, her sword coming up reflexively. “Gavin. Thank Yrys. Is it over?” she asked. “Someone ran into the stable. Was it...?” She paused and studied him. His face was drawn, his eyes crinkled as though he was in pain. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
He came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Domach,” he said gently.
No. He wasn’t saying Domach was... No. She shook her head, but she felt her chin start to quiver anyway. “No,” she said. “My brother’s not dead. He’s not.” Her eyes began to well.
“I’m sorry, Brawna,” Gavin said. “He saved our lives. All of us. He fought bravely and well, and died a hero.”
Suddenly Brawna couldn’t see. The world was a blur, and a pitiful wail echoed through the trees like the cry of a wounded animal. She felt warm, strong arms around her, and her face pressed against a hard cloth surface.
Domach. Her brother, her friend, her idol. Gone. This wasn’t supposed to happen. How could he be gone? She’d barely had a chance to talk to him, to tell him all that had happened to her in the last year or hear his tales of adventures. How could it have gone so wrong? Why did Domach have to be the one who died? Why couldn’t it have been her?
Brawna realized she was sobbing, and Gavin was holding her close, rocking gently and patting her back. Her arms were tight around his waist, his shirt clenched in her fists as she clung to him. Another hand patted her back too, a smaller hand, and she opened her eyes to find Dwaeth standing with her and Gavin, tears streaming down his face.
“It’ll be all right, Miss Brawna,” Dwaeth said.
She drew back and hastily wiped her face, embarrassed at her emotional display in front of the king and the child. She was supposed to be protecting them, and there she was blubbering like a girl. Some warrior she was.
Gavin looked at her, a sympathetic expression on his face. “You want to see him?”
Not trusting her voice just yet, she nodded and started to gather the leather packs that held their gear. Gavin bent down and picked up three of them, slinging their straps over his shoulder, leaving her with two. They walked in silence back to the manor, Gavin’s huge hand warm and gentle on her shoulder, Dwaeth’s small one soft in hers.
Chapter 60
Daia and Edan explored the main floor of the house until they found the library. Tall shelves, full of books, lined one entire wall near the door. A beautiful, well-oiled desk and matching chair stood under an ornate leaded-glass window positioned high on the far wall.
“A lot of books on sorcery,” Daia said as she scanned the shelves. “And some journals too.” She started pulling books off the shelves and flipping their pages.
Behind her, Edan opened drawers of the desk and rifled through them. He fell silent, then exclaimed, “My word! Daia, look at this.”
Daia turned around. A diamond pendant, encased in a gold setting, dangled by its gold chain from Edan’s finger. It might have been the largest diamond she’d ever seen, and she’d seen quite a few.
“Is that what I think it is?” Daia asked. She moved closer to get a better look.
“I can’t be sure, but it might be Calewen’s Pendant,” Edan said. “I heard it was stolen a few weeks back.”
“Gavin has been after this. He’ll be thrilled to finally have it back.”
Edan put the necklace into a black velvet pouch. “My father has always said that Gavin was destined for something big. He used to tease Gav, asking if he’d saved the world that day.”
Daia chuckled and turned back to the bookshelf. “Your father must be a fortune teller.” But not a very good one, she thought; he hadn’t foreseen Daia running away or joining the Sisterhood.
“Hm. What have we here? Owww!” Edan said, shaking his hand. “This box just stung me.”
On Brodas’s desk sat a small chest with a wooden gargoyle on its closed lid. Daia went to it, but Edan held out his arm to stop her.
“It’s protected by a magic spell,” he said. “Don’t touch it.”
“The gargoyle -- I know what that is,” she said. “We can use it to find out whether Ravenkind’s alive or not. I’ll be right back.” She started to the door.
“Wait, take this,” Edan said. “Give Gavin something to smile about.” He handed her the black pouch.
Daia went into the foyer and found Gavin standing against a wall, head bowed. Dwaeth stood beside him, his hand lost in Gavin’s. In the sitting room, Brawna was on her knees by the sofa, stroking Domach’s hair. Gavin looked at Daia. His face was arranged in an impassive expression, but he couldn’t hide the pain in his eyes. She pressed her lips together in sympathy. This was harder on him than he let on.
Their gear lay on the floor by his feet. She squatted and rummaged through her pack until she found the gargoyle she’d purchased from Yardof. She stood, picked up Gavin’s free hand, and uncurled his fist. In his palm was a ring with a black gem inset -- the ring that had been on Brodas’s finger. She laid the velvet pouch on his palm beside it. When she saw his eyes widen, she gave him a wink, then stroked Dwaeth’s hair before returning to the library.
When she walked in, Edan was reading one of the books, and a scowl darkened his face. He looked up. “By the seven realms! This is Ravenkind’s journal,” he said, his voice barely audible. “It has a detailed account... Do you know what happened to Gavin’s family?”
Daia nodded solemnly. She stood beside him and looked at the page he was reading. The neatly-written entry described the execution of Gavin’s family. “By Yrys, it sounds gleeful. Gads! Put that somewhere Gavin won’t see it,” Daia said. “We’ll burn it first chance we get.”
“I knew the man was vicious,” Edan said, shaking his head, “but this is twisted. How could he get so much pleasure out of it?” He slammed the book shut and put it in one of the desk drawers, burying it under some papers there. “What do you have there?”
She held up the wooden gargoyle. “The merchant said that if the person who places the gargoyle on the box is dead, placing another gargoyle on the box will enable us to open it.” She set her gargoyle on top of the box and watched it blend with the chest. “Tap your nose for luck.” She and Edan both touched their noses with their forefingers. Daia reached gingerly for the lid of the chest, certain she would receive a shock.
It opened with a quiet squeak.
Daia leapt into Edan’s arms with a whoop, and he spun her around twice before setting her down. “Gavin,” he called.
Gavin appeared in the doorway, with Brawna and Dwaeth on his heel. “What is it?” Gavin asked. Risan appeared beside him, and they all crowded into the library.
“Ravenkind’s dead,“ Daia said. ”He did it. Edan killed him.”
“What makes you so sure?” Gavin asked.
Daia explained how the gargoyles worked.
“Assuming Ravenkind’s the one who put the gargoyle on this chest,” Gavin said.
“It’s full of magic grade gems,” Edan said, picking up a handful of the smooth gems. “With a box of them sitting on his desk, why would you think otherwise?”
“You’re prob’ly right. Thinking he’s dead makes me uneasy.” Gavin shook his head slowly. “Why would he flee instead of grabbing some of these to use against us? Until I see a body I can actually piss on, I’ll wait to do my cheering.”
“Then let’s go find it,” Edan said. “I trust your instinct too well.”
“In the interest of caution,” Daia said, “let’s go directly to the cave. We can assemble an army and hunt for his corpse later.”
“There’s no hurry,” Gavin grumbled. “We need to take care
of Domach. Besides, there’ll prob’ly be Viragon Sisters to contend with, remember?”
“Delaying won’t solve that problem,” Daia replied. “You have your sword now -- your enchanted sword. The fight’s already over. We just need to go tell them.” She grinned and clapped Gavin’s shoulder.
“What about the chest?” Edan asked. “It has all these gems in it, not to mention his books and notes. If Ravenkind’s alive, we need to keep him away from this.”
“We can take the chest with us,” Gavin said.
“No need,” Daia said. “We’ll use my gargoyle to lock the library door. It’ll keep him out until we can return with a wagon to haul everything away. That way, we deny him access to his books too. If he’s still alive.”
Chapter 61
With Brodas having fled and Risan rescued, Daia was as eager to get to the cave as Gavin was to avoid it, but in the end, she and the others agreed to bury Domach and start out the following morning. After a thorough soak in a hot tub at an inn owned by Edan’s uncle, and a long night’s sleep, Gavin arose at dawn and dressed. He slipped out of the inn before everyone else awoke.
The Institute for Scholarly Studies was locked up tight when he arrived, but he pounded relentlessly on the door. “Open up,” he yelled. “Open the door.”
Down the street, a window flew open and a man stuck his head out. “Shut up! People’s tryin’ to sleep.”
Gavin continued to beat the door with his fist. “Scholars, open the door.”
At last, a light came on in one of the windows and floated from one to the next, until it hovered behind the curtain of the window closest to the door. The curtains parted and an eye peered out at him.
“Who is there?” a voice called behind the glass.
“Gavin Kinshield. I got somethin’ you want, and you got somethin’ I want.”