by Dana Davis
Taniras crossed and sat near her. A scarf covered her head with a single dark braid trailing down her back and over her cloak hood. The oily shine left no doubt that she used Predula’s ointment. She tucked hands into her cloak pockets.
Adelsik’s head itched even more now and she scratched, tough to do through the fur scarf and cloak hood. “Thank you so much for sharing, Taniras.”
“What? Oh.” Black eyes narrowed. “I didn’t catch lice on purpose.”
“I know.” She decided not to aggravate the wolf singer, not with everything that had happened, and changed the subject. “What was that all about? Why did Birek bury a piece of Maesa’s pyre?”
“Maricari custom. Whatever you said to him gave him relief.” Taniras studied her. “What did you say?”
“I found Maesa’s specter in the Netherworld.” Guilt caused her to flinch when she saw Taniras’s shock. “My apologies for being so blunt. She sent me with messages for the kin, especially Birek, before she left for her next life.”
Those black eyes widened and Taniras raised her brows. “Is that what you told him? That Maesa would be reborn?”
“Yes. And that all of us would be together. Always.”
Taniras squealed, and Adelsik jumped at the sudden change in her demeanor. “Girl, that’s wonderful!”
“What?”
“There’s an old saying in Maricar. ‘Death need not be the end.’ Only no one ever knew whether it was true or not. We were told to believe, that believing would make it happen. Great philosophy when you’re a child. But not as an adult.”
“I never thought about that. In Bedlon, we were always taught that a next life came whether you wanted it or not, so you’d better behave in the current one.” She smiled and it felt good.
Taniras laughed. Snowy came running with Camlys, Saldia, Gwen, Cass and Thad on his heels. Thad always found an excuse to be around Cass. The truth-seeker seemed clueless about his infatuation. Cass and Gwen seemed to have grown as close as Maesa and Adelsik once were. After Adelsik gave them Maesa’s message, the Maricari and Thad scattered to spread the news.
Saldia, Gwen and Cass remained and sat on the bench with Adelsik. All three bundled up like infants in their first winter snow.
Saldia vigorously rubbed her thighs with gloved hands. “Did Maesa really seem at peace?”
“Yes. But I’m not.” Now that the others around her had a bit of hopeful news, she couldn’t help but think of the yellow-eyed woman who had caused all this. “Maesa told me we’ll find Croferituus where the light is dim.”
Cass eyed her. “What in bloody blazes does that mean?” The truth-seeker had been much more confident and talkative since her root father’s capture.
“She said we would have to figure it out. I think she meant I could find that bloody, yellow-eyed spawn in the Netherworld, perhaps where the void is. Or at least locate where she’s run off to. I’m relieved Maesa will have another chance at life and we’ll meet up with her again someday, but we can’t stay here. This weather won’t balance unless we get rid of the void and take care of whatever is causing it.” She rubbed her gloved hands together and reached toward the fire. “Croferituus has something to do with it, I’m certain, especially after what she did to Maesa and Henny.” She nearly choked remembering what Predula told her about Henny. “I’d wager my boots she’s working with someone. And I don’t mean Mindona. That woman is nothing but a pawn.”
Cass’s eyes widened and she suddenly went pale. “Son of a goat! Why didn’t think of that before?”
“What?”
Cass glanced around like a child who meant to keep a secret from parental ears and lowered her voice. “When I went to search for my root father, I sensed something foul in that hamlet. I thought perhaps the stench came from a repeat murderer. There are so many undesirables there. But what if I sensed something more? That stench was stronger than anything I’d ever experienced. And I’ve traveled a lot.”
Saldia scooted closer, sandwiching Adelsik between the two women. “You think Croferituus might be staying here in the village?”
“No, not Croferituus. Taniras’s wolves would have found her. But what if she’s working with someone else, like Adelsik said. Perhaps that person is here, watching us, following us. With so many in our group now, no one would’ve noticed an extra body lurking in the trees. A convenient way to keep watch on the enemy.”
Adelsik studied the russet-haired woman. “If that’s true, Cass, then I should be able to locate whoever it is from the Netherworld. And they must be able to harness the Energy. Croferituus wouldn’t have any use for a middling.”
Cass nodded. “I can probably tell you which building the person is in. But I’ll have to sneak back to the hamlet. I was a bit distracted the last trip there.”
Adelsik thought she caught a blush on the woman’s cheeks. Of course, she wouldn’t point that out. “Elder Siri and the others will never let you go alone. Not after all that’s happened. And from what I’ve gathered from Lyssinya, the Elders don’t want to rile those middlings.”
The truth-seeker pursed her lips in thought. “I figured as much.”
Saldia made a clicking sound with her tongue and glanced toward The Big Iron. “I agree that Croferituus has something to do with the void and the weather. There’s a connection I haven’t quite figured out, yet.” She sounded as though she said that last part mainly to herself. Brown eyes peered from beneath her hood. “Cass. Perhaps your root father knows something. He’s been here a while.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Saldia.” Adelsik knew what that man had done to Cass. She had witnessed the woman’s nightmares.
“Nothing we do is a good idea. And I’m not one to go against the Elders. But you and I both know how desperate things will get in just a few days. It’s bloody freezing here, especially at night. We can find out whether Croferituus’s accomplice is there.” She rubbed at her thighs again. “If what Cass felt is just a murdering middling, then we can easily take care of him and perhaps the villagers will thank us. Whores don’t want murderers around any more than anyone else.”
“I’m just as frustrated about the situation as you are, Saldia. But we should at least bring this up to the Elders or Ved’nuri.” She was surprised Saldia would go against rules, considering her time spent inside the dome.
“I disagree.” Cass held eyes on The Big Iron.
“Adelsik might have something, Cass.” The shade walker raised a brow and adjusted her hood, and Adelsik felt somewhat comical flipping her head back and forth between the two women, who sat either side of her. “Not the Elders. Ved’nuri. The Vedi are willing to take risks with us but they don’t want us freezing to death when we could seek shelter. And middlings are expendable.” She shrugged. “I feel bad saying that, but this is about saving the world.”
“Yes.” Gwen, who had been quiet, raised her brows and nodded. Her multiple braids were tucked beneath her hood and loose red hairs drifted about her face.
“And I think it would be better if we have something solid to offer Ved’nuri. That’s why this should stay between us for now. Adelsik can work from the Netherworld, see what she can find out about this person, while Cass and I search the hamlet.” Gwen started to protest but Saldia held her hand up. “We’ll only locate him, no confrontations. I promise, Gwen. Once we find out whether or not Cass felt an enemy or just a disgusting murderer, we can bring the news to Ved’nuri.”
“She might punish us for not clearing it with the Elders first,” Cass said.
“Yes, that’s probably a given. But what’s a few weeks privy duty compared to saving our kin, ridding the Energy of the void, and putting balance back in the weather?” The shade walker’s face took on a thoughtful expression, and then she shook her head as though her thoughts didn’t make sense.
Adelsik pondered what she’d said, though. Saldia was probably right about the Elders denying them this task. They had been overly protective since Maesa’s death. And Henny? Would
her sisters die in vain? “Saldia, can you get in and out without anyone discovering you?”
“If someone covers for us here. Gwen?”
“I’m in. But Ebbi will be a problem?”
A crooked smile flickered on Cass’s lips. “That child will do anything I tell her. I have her washing my underbreeches now, just so I could get away from her for a while. She was joyful at the task. The little imp follows me around like a puppy and practically stands watch when I go to the privy. If you want to worry about someone, fret over Thad. That man gets in my way everywhere I turn.”
Saldia chuckled. “He’s sweet on you, Cass. Or haven’t you figured that out, yet.”
“Great fleas on a cow’s hide. That’s all I need. Another man nosing around.”
“Thad’s a good man, a good Gypsy.”
“Yes, I know. But I’m not looking for a bedfriend just now.”
The shade walker chuckled. “Could be an exciting change around here. Perhaps we should all take bedfriends. Get more kin out of the cold.”
Adelsik’s face heated at the blunt conversation. She had thoughts of bedding a man, of course, but Cass and Saldia had a way of making her blush. Sometimes for the fun of it. Thankfully, neither seemed in a mood to tease her.
Saldia grew serious again. “I can hold the Energy for quite a while now. So I can sneak us into the hamlet unseen. Believe me, I have no desire to get caught by anyone. And I don’t think Maesa would have given us this information if she didn’t expect us to act on it. Specters know things we don’t.”
Adeslik nodded. “Yes, they do. When?”
“It’s already too late tonight. We’ll be eating night meal soon. Tomorrow. When the hamlet is awake. The streets are probably not very crowded with this weather. I’ve noticed many simply run to one task or other and disappear back inside the buildings.”
Adelsik nodded again. She’d seen that too. A sudden hand landed on her shoulder, which surprised her since Saldia wasn’t especially affectionate. “How do you know Lyssinya and the other slumberers won’t come searching for you in the Netherworld? You’re supposed to meet there tonight, aren’t you?”
She took in a long breath. “Yes. I’ll have to convince them I need rest and am too tired to slumber.”
Saldia squeezed her shoulder and took her hand back. “That shouldn’t be hard considering what happened today.”
Cass shifted even closer. “What about Taniras?” Adelsik welcomed her body warmth and began to feel less chilled as she sat pinned between the two again. “Those wolves of hers have long ears.”
“Mm,” Gwen uttered as she peered around Cass to look at Saldia. “Yes.”
Adelsik motioned them quiet as Ryder passed. The old errant still had his limp. Since the injury had mended long ago, the healers couldn’t correct it. Ryder nodded and they acknowledged him before he made his way toward the privies.
Cass and Gwen leaned in again. “Perhaps we should we involve Taniras?” Cass said. “Her wolves also have a great sense of smell and might be helpful.”
Saldia shook her head. “She’s been unpredictable lately. If she decided this was a bad idea, there would be no getting past her.”
“Right about that,” Adelsik said. She had been on the other end of Taniras’s temper as a youngling. The woman acted like a mother hen at times, even with other new-oathed. So much so, that Adelsik often forgot the wolf singer was only two years older now. “Wait. Saldia, you outrank her. Can you order her to help us and keep quiet about it?”
The shade walker scratched her head, and Adelsik wondered whether she had caught Taniras’s lice or was simply thinking. Her hair had no ointment on it. She couldn’t see Saldia’s scarf beneath the hood, either but the woman always had her hair pulled back in a scarf.
Saldia focused on her. “I could do that with some of the others, but I don’t think Taniras would obey me if she thought we were being foolish. I’m not the only new-oathed who has called down a full Gypsy.”
Adelsik smiled and Cass and Gwen chuckled. Many new-oathed had witnessed Saldia berate Haranda and Lyssinya when they argued like a couple of younglings.
Gwen snorted. “That Ved’nuri imitation you do is quite convincing, Saldia.”
The shade walker grinned and adjusted her hood. “I did learn a few things at the dome. But Taniras isn’t some awe-struck youngling. Or a frustrated Gypsy about to embarrass herself in front of her kin.”
“You got that right.”
Adelsik jumped at the sound of the singer’s voice and as the other women winced. Obviously, Taniras had learned how to sneak around without notice, another wolf trait, no doubt. The dark woman crossed around the table to stand in front of them, fists on her hips and eyes hard.
Here we go. After this, we’ll be lucky to take two steps without Taniras following.
“Not only do my wolves have long ears, but I seem to have acquired a bit of that talent as well.”
“How much did you hear?” Saldia said outright.
“Well, now. That would be everything after Cass said, ‘I sensed something foul in that hamlet.’”
“Bloody goat dung,” Cass uttered. Gwen simply shook her head.
Adelsik felt the blood drain from her face, despite the cold that already left her feeling quite numb. Taniras also had the most amazing memory. No doubt she could recite their entire conversation.
Reflective black eyes weighed the four of them like naughty children. “I ought to thrash the lot of you.” The singer crossed her arms.
Adelsik expected Saldia to protest, since the shade walker outranked all of them, but that didn’t happen. Instead, she sat with hands in her lap and a guilty look on her face, while Taniras continued to upbraid them.
“Going on and on about disobeying Gypsy rules. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. New-oathed women acting like that. At the very least, I should report you to Haranda, since she was our clan mother.”
Something in her tone made Adelsik take notice. “But you won’t do that.” She fought the urge to squirm when those black eyes moved to her, wild and wolf-like.
“No. If the Elders choose to dawdle, then we’ll have to light a fire under their backsides. We’ll present this plan to the other new-oathed and the servants then call an appointment with the full Gypsies and Sages. If we convince them, they might be able to get the Elders moving. Otherwise, Adelsik can seek out Ved’nuri.”
Saldia shook her head. “That’ll take too bloody long.”
“Not if we move quickly. We still have the rest of tonight. And Adelsik can try to locate this man from the Netherworld.” She breathed on her hands but didn’t put her gloves on. “I’ll get the wolves moving too. They have a keen awareness when it comes to undesirables.”
Adelsik wanted to hug these women for pulling her thoughts away from Maesa and Henny, even if only for short while. At least she felt less helpless with a plan.
Chapter 7
“She what?” Lyssinya stood in the Netherworld with the other slumberers, her bedfriend in front of her.
“I’m telling you, she coerced several of our Elders,” Tapnut explained. “Not just Galen.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe he’s dead.”
He grew silent and Lyssinya envisioned Galen’s face, old, twisted with pain and fear at Croferituus’s hands.
“There’s something else,” her dark-skinned lover said.
“Yes.”
“Croferituus wears a ring. I remember it from my studies. A black ring of power. The forbidden ring.”
“We’ve seen it. How did she get her slimy hands on it?”
“Don’t know. The Elders who are left didn’t even know it still existed. It was supposed to have been destroyed.”
Lyssinya fought the urge to curse just now with Ved’nuri present. She understood how Gypsies lost knowledge, since they had frequently isolated themselves during their travels over the past centuries, but even from their island, Sages kept watch over the mainland and Netherworld, had texts
and other documents at hand. How could the Sage Elders have missed such an important thing?
How many have turned?” she said softly.
Tapnut looked confused. “How many what? I know you. Lyssy.”
Lyssinya smiled weakly and glanced at the other slumberers that accompanied her. Tapnut had no slumbering ability. His mind strayed in his dreams just as anyone who couldn’t touch the Energy here. “Croferituus coerced the Elders,” she reminded him gently as she touched his arm.
“Yes, she did. How did you know?”
“How many Elders did she turn?”
He studied her with a knowing look. It wouldn’t last long, though, and soon she would be reminding him again why she had come into his dreams. “Croferituus promised eternal youth, or something like that. There are only four Elders left. The four youngest. Even Sages, as long as we live, don’t wish to die.”
“Have the others been through the transformation?” The question left her mouth dry.
“No. They still have their essences. Even Galen did when he died.”
At least with their essences still in tact they could be reborn and have another chance in a future life to make up for this one. Lyssinya found a little comfort in that and urged her bedfriend to continue.
“They left, Lyssy. Set sail toward the mainland. Just up and took off one morning. No one knew they’d gone until the next council when they didn’t show. We freed those in captivity and are trying to get our community back to normal. We don’t know whether they made it across Monster Sea or not.” He frowned and Lyssinya took his hand in a comforting gesture.
She fought swelling grief. She had known the Elders since her early womanhood. She hadn’t seen any of them in the Netherworld so it was possible that they had died. They couldn’t hide from her here. They were her kin. Kin whom she wanted to slap bloody sense into, but kin nonetheless. She would have to search for them, find out whether any of them survived.