The Shadow Accords Box Set: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  She could always claim that she did it to search for the Hjan so that the next time, they would be better prepared. Invar might not fully believe it, but the idea wasn’t so far off from what he’d asked of her.

  It was late in the day and she needed rest, but her mind raced. Besides, what better time for her to understand the shadows than at night, when she would find them everywhere?

  Grabbing the A’ras knife she’d had ever since the day her mother died, she slipped it into a sheath on her waist so it would be easier to reach. Next, she swapped the maroon sash wrapped around her hand for a strip of white cotton torn from one of her old dresses and stuffed the sash into a pocket.

  Making her way through the cosak and out onto the lawn, she encountered Alison.

  “Carth?” Alison asked.

  She raised a finger to her lips.

  “What are you doing? I heard you were with Invar all day. Rumor has it he was injured and you somehow carried him back to the palace by yourself.”

  Carth suspected she knew the source of that rumor. She should have known better than to share with Landon what had happened. “We were attacked,” Carth whispered.

  Alison whistled softly. “I thought Trista was making things up when she said you snapped at her.”

  Carth smiled to herself. “I might have been a little harsher than I should have been with her.”

  “She said you commanded her and Heran to carry him to the palace.”

  “I was getting tired.”

  Alison laughed and cupped her hand over her mouth. “Did you really say that to her?”

  Carth shrugged. “Invar nearly died. I didn’t want them dallying.”

  “Died? What happened? I thought he was working on teaching you to reach your magic more quickly!”

  Carth told her about the attack, and how Invar had wanted to use her to detect the presence of the Hjan. She didn’t share with her what she suspected about her ability to use the shadows. That wasn’t something she wanted to share with anyone until she knew what it meant. Alison might know she was shadow blessed, even if she didn’t understand, but something more was happening.

  “Where are you going now?” Alison asked. “Master Invar should be too tired to work with you if what you said is true.”

  “I…” Carth hesitated. Alison was her closest friend, and she hated the idea of keeping things from her, but she didn’t know what to make of what she’d done with the shadows. What would Alison think if Carth admitted to using shadows and sending them through the knife rather than A’ras magic, or told her that the shadow magic seemed easier to use than the A’ras magic? What did that mean for her?

  Alison waited and Carth recognized the way her brow crinkled. It was the same look she wore whenever the instructors tried demonstrating particularly difficult uses of magic.

  “I was going to see if I could sense any more of the Hjan in the city,” Carth answered.

  “At night? Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous, especially with the rumors of the Reshian pushing into the city?”

  Carth hadn’t heard those rumors. They were nearly to the palace gate. If the token Invar had given her worked, she should be able to get out into the city, and from there… then she would be able to use her shadow magic. “I told you about my other ability,” Carth said softly. She didn’t want her voice to carry, and on a still night like tonight, she suspected it would.

  “The one where you can hide?”

  She nodded. It was more than that, but Alison didn’t know that. “I think that’s what gives me the ability to detect the Hjan.”

  Alison grabbed her wrist. “Does Invar know?”

  “He knows. He thinks the same.”

  “Does he know you want to get back out into the city to search for them alone?”

  Carth was thankful for the darkness that kept Alison from seeing her flush. “He knows I might return to the city.”

  Alison pulled on her arm. “You’re doing this and Master Invar doesn’t know?”

  “Alison…”

  Her friend shook her head. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  “You can’t do that,” Carth said. Not only didn’t she want to get Alison in trouble, she didn’t really want her friend to discover what she could do with shadows. “If I get caught, I can explain that I’m doing what I am for Invar.”

  “And I’m helping.”

  “Alison—”

  “You’re not going alone. If you try, I’ll head up to the palace and tell him where you went.”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  Alison cocked her head. “Try me, Carthenne Rel!”

  Carth debated doing that, but couldn’t risk Alison actually following through. And she’d do it because she thought she was protecting Carth, not trying to hurt her. Alison’s willingness to risk their friendship for Carth’s safety meant a lot. She could even claim that she intended to return to her room and sleep, and then sneak out later—but if she did that, she’d hurt Alison even more than she would by trying to push past her now.

  “Fine. But you have to let me get past the gate.”

  Alison nodded.

  They approached the gate and Carth saw a pair of A’ras standing on either side. Both held on to their magic—enough of it so that it burned softly within Carth’s blood, leaving her skin tight. Neither pulled with much strength, but they didn’t have to in order to react quickly.

  Carth recognized only one of the A’ras, and her stomach flipped. It was an older man named Jeff who never cared for her when he taught, mostly because Carth took so long to use her magic. As Carth slowed, Alison pushed gently on her back, forcing her forward.

  She stopped in front of the other A’ras, a woman slightly taller than Carth and with shadowed eyes that seemed to quickly dismiss both Carth and Alison.

  “We need to enter the city,” Carth said.

  The A’ras glanced at her briefly. “You realize the time, ashai?”

  Carth nodded, fishing the token from Invar from her pocket. “Master Invar asked me to—”

  Jeff reached for the token and pressed a surge of magic through it. Carth held her breath, wondering if there was something to the token that would reveal when Invar had given it to her, or even something that might let them know that she was allowed into the city. Nothing happened.

  “Invar may have given this to you, but if he did, it didn’t trigger. Try again in the morning.”

  Carth started to argue, but Alison pulled her back, dragging her away from the wall.

  “You argue with the A’ras stationed there and everyone is going to know that you attempted to come through,” she said softly. As usual, Alison managed to have the reasonable response.

  “I need to get back into the city,” Carth said. She could wait until the morning, but if she did, she’d be going back out with Invar and wouldn’t have the chance to see what she could do with the shadows.

  Alison studied her for a moment. “What is it?”

  Carth bit her lip. “Just a feeling I have,” she said.

  “A feeling. I think what you want to do is dangerous anyway—maybe it’s best that you can’t get out into the city tonight. Let’s just… just go back to the cosak and get some sleep. Tomorrow you’ll feel better and you can figure out what Master Invar wants you to do next.”

  Carth sighed. Arguing wouldn’t do any good, and besides that, Alison was right. She was tired and she would think better after getting some sleep. Only, she still didn’t think she could sleep. She wanted answers that would only come on the other side of the wall.

  12

  “Well, look who comes striding across the lawn,” Alison said as they made their way toward the cosak.

  Carth followed her gaze and saw Samis coming from the direction of the cosak, making his way straight toward them. “What do you think he wants?” Carth asked.

  “Maybe to challenge me too?” Alison said.

  Carth sucked in a breath. The challenge. She’d forgotten about it
with everything that had happened with Invar. “How did it go?” she asked. Alison didn’t seem injured, but with sparring, there were ways to mask injuries, so it was possible that she had been harmed but didn’t show it.

  Alison waved her hand. “Landon is stupid. He thinks he can hit me with brutality, but a few well-placed blows are all I needed to knock him out. Can’t very well attack when you can’t hold your sword.”

  At least Carth knew why Landon had seemed to be holding his arm when she’d seen him in the dining hall. “You won?”

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised,” Alison said. “Like I said, he got arrogant. The others decided they didn’t want to spar after it was done.” A grin spread across her face. “A pretty good afternoon, if you ask me.”

  “Sorry I wasn’t there.”

  “It sounds like Invar needed you. Besides, there will be plenty of other opportunities to watch me fighting.”

  She said the last quickly as Samis appeared, and Alison made no point of hiding her appraising gaze and swept it over him. Samis only laughed. “Good to see you too, Alison. Heard you gave Landon a broken wrist today.”

  Alison shrugged. “He’ll heal fast enough.”

  “The A’ras he’s paired with have already seen to that,” Samis said.

  “Maybe he won’t think to spar with my friend the next time.” She fixed Samis with a hard-eyed stare, which he met without turning away.

  “I challenge her so we can both practice,” Samis said. “Isn’t that the point of the right to challenge?”

  Alison shrugged. “I suppose. Is that why you’re here tonight?”

  Samis looked at Carth and shook his head. “Not why I’m here. Can I talk to Rel for a moment by myself?”

  Alison looked at Carth and waited for her to nod. What would it matter if she spoke to Samis, especially as she wasn’t going anywhere else tonight? “It’s fine, Al.”

  Alison flashed a wide grin and tapped her wrist before leaving Carth standing with Samis. They stood silently for a few moments, Samis standing too close but Carth not wanting to be the one to take the first step away. Finally, she broke the silence.

  “What do you want, Samis?”

  “Always so direct, aren’t you, Rel?”

  “With you or with everyone?”

  He laughed. “Both, I guess. I wanted to ask about what happened with Invar.”

  Carth sighed. “Why does everyone always keep coming to ask about him? Are you really that jealous of the fact that he’s forcing me to study with him?”

  Samis stared at her, eyes wide. “Forcing you? That’s the way you see it?”

  “What would you call it?” Carth asked. “He has me running through all the basic exercises, trying to get me faster.”

  “Because you need to get faster,” Samis said.

  “You think I don’t know that? I realize how long it takes for me to do anything with my magic. I might not be that talented, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get better.”

  Samis was laughing at her.

  Carth shot him as hard a look as she could. “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

  “You might be slower to reach your magic, but once you have it, you’re as talented as anyone, Rel.”

  “What are you trying to get from me?”

  Samis shook his head, his laughter slowly dying off. “Why do I have to be trying to get anything from you? Can’t I offer you a compliment?”

  “No.”

  “Fine. What happened to your hand?” he asked.

  Carth glanced briefly at the wrapped hand. It still throbbed, but with less intensity than before. She hoped that it wasn’t as bad as it felt, and that by the morning she wouldn’t have to wear the wrap around her hand; otherwise she’d have to tell Invar what had happened. He would know that she hadn’t been injured during the attack.

  “I burned it.”

  “How?”

  “Fire.”

  He sniffed. “You know, you could provide a little more of an answer than that.”

  “Why do you care?”

  Samis squeezed his eyes shut and forced a smile. “Fine. What were you doing out here by the gate at night?”

  Carth glanced toward the gate. The shadowed forms of the two A’ras patrolling were visible from here. Invar had given her the token, but that hadn’t mattered to them. And maybe the token hadn’t been what she’d expected either. Maybe it only worked when he was with her.

  “Rel?”

  “I wanted to go back out into the city,” she said.

  He laughed, and in the otherwise silent night, the sound carried. “I thought you said you were attacked today. Why would you want to go back out and risk that happening again?”

  How could she explain to him that she needed to return to the city? Not because of the Hjan—with the nausea she felt, she might be one of the few able to prepare before an attack came—but because she wanted to know what the shadows might be able to do for her.

  “There was an attack, but I wanted to see if there was anything else I can learn for Master Invar.”

  “Why do you think there’s anything you can learn?”

  Carth shook her head.

  “Fine,” Samis said with a shrug. “You don’t have to share, and I won’t share with you a way to get out into the city, then.”

  “There is no way to get into the city.”

  Samis flashed a smile. Carth hated that she flushed as he did. “You’ve been out into the city once. That means you’ve been given the way out.”

  “It doesn’t work. I went to the gate—”

  “It won’t work at the gate, but there’s another way it can.”

  “What are you playing at, Samis?”

  He shrugged again. “Only that I’ll help you get out into the city, but you’ll have to tell me why you think you can find the attackers.”

  Carth glanced back toward the cosak. Alison would be there and expecting her to return, or at least for her to sleep off the fatigue from the day, but if Samis could show her how to get off the palace grounds and into the city, she wouldn’t have to rely upon him in the future. What did it matter if she shared with him that she was shadow blessed?

  “Fine. Once we get out into the city, I’ll tell you.”

  Samis smiled again. Carth wanted to stab him for being so smug but decided that wouldn’t help her get where she wanted. He started away from the gate, jogging across the lawn. She hurried after him, at first following silently, but the deeper he went onto the grounds, the more uncertain she was. Could he be leading her away for a reason?

  She reached for her A’ras magic and almost gasped as her hand started throbbing. The magic pulsed in time with it, as if the power that burned within her rubbed against the pain in her hand. As she held on to that power, she realized Samis hadn’t even reached for his connection yet.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

  A few trees were nothing more than dark blurs as they ran. Samis pointed in the distance, beyond another stand of trees. “You wanted to get out into the city. So I’m taking you into the city.”

  The wall loomed up suddenly, a swath of darkness here where moonlight and light from the ashai buildings didn’t reach. They were protected here, she realized, a place where no one would be able to know they were even here. Samis couldn’t have picked a better place to try to cross the wall—or to harm her.

  Carth held on to her magic, readying for whatever he might try. He motioned to the wall. “You should have been given something. The A’ras I’m with call it the Freedom Key. Not sure what Master Invar would have called it.”

  Carth clutched the token in her hand. “He didn’t use anything quite so… dramatic.”

  Samis smiled. “I don’t think they intended for me to learn that I could use the key to cross the wall, but I overheard them talking about how they used to sneak out into the city when they gained the rank of sai. I figure it’s tradition that we do the same.”

  “The token didn’t wo
rk at the gate,” she said, pulling the circular piece of stone from her pocket. It thrummed softly against her, more than it had when she hadn’t held on to a trickle of the A’ras magic. She briefly tried to press magic into the stone, using it as a focus, much like she did with her knife, but nothing happened. Maybe that was why Jeff had thought the token not activated.

  Samis pulled a long, slender stone from his pocket. As he did, magic flared in him. “I think you have to power through it as you use it. I don’t know what happens at the gate, but out here…”

  “Have you used this to cross the wall before?”

  Samis glanced at the stone in his hand. “I’ve used it.”

  She detected the hesitation in him. “When?”

  Samis looked to the wall before turning back to her. “Fine. I haven’t crossed the wall before on my own, but I know it can be done. This was where Erik and Brody said they came. The wall can’t have changed that much in the two years since they were raised.”

  Carth wondered. Invar said the Aras were placing layers of power into the wall, and that would change it, but then, the wall had also been breached by the Hjan, so maybe they countered each other. “What do you think we have to do?”

  Samis held his stone out toward the wall, summoning magic through it. He grabbed at the ivy and started scaling the wall. When he reached the top of the wall, he swung his leg up… and bounced into the invisible barrier.

  He landed on the ground with a grunt.

  “Not like that, then?” she asked.

  Samis shook his head. “Not like that. The key lets you through somehow—we just have to figure out how it works.”

  “We? Why do you care about crossing the wall?”

  Samis lay on the ground with his eyes closed. “You want to get over there, and so do I. Like I said, if we work together, we’ll be more likely to succeed.”

  Carth thought about kicking him. “Why do you want to get to the other side?”

  Samis flushed. She’d never seen him flustered in all the time he’d been here. In some ways, it was actually endearing. “You don’t know what it’s like to be someplace so long you don’t know what else is out there.”