“Then I’m not going either!” Garrett said, “I’m not walking away and leaving half myself with you… never even knowing for sure that I’m missing it… just feeling something wrong, some empty space inside, and now knowing what goes there… what went there… No!”
“You don’t have a choice!” she said, “If you stay here, you’ll die!”
“So what?” he said, “I died before! That didn’t stop me.”
“Garrett,” she said, “Don’t make this harder than it has to be…”
“Then tell me to remember!” he said, “Use that trick you used on Banden, and tell me to remember what happened… tell me to remember you!”
“I can’t!” she cried, “Garrett, I can’t!”
“You know what?” he said, waving his arms in frustration, “I’m getting really tired of your stupid curse!”
“You’re getting tired of my curse?” she scoffed, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Garrett said, standing face to face with her now, “I think I’ve had just about enough of these stupid rules… this forgetting you every single time you go away… I think it’s time somebody did something about it!”
She looked at him with a desperate hope in her flawless brown eyes.
Garrett saw the patterns of the spell that wove her into being, swirling around her body, bound with knots of rage and deception… knots so tight that they would tear her apart before they released their hold on her. He needed the key… the single word that would free her from the spell without unmaking her in the process. He needed her name.
“Why can’t you do it?” she sobbed.
He looked at her for a long moment before answering. “Because I don’t want to break you,” he said.
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “Just do it,” she whispered.
“I can’t.”
“Just… break the spell, Garrett,” she wept, “Free us both.”
“No,” he said.
“You’ll remember, Garrett,” she said, her voice growing desperate, “You’ll remember everything! You can warn people… You can remember who you really are… You can…”
“No!” he shouted, then his voice softened, “Not like that…”
Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes fell.
“I’m not giving up on you,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, “I’ll find a way to do it right. I’ll break your curse and set you free… really free.”
“There’s no time,” she sobbed, pulling away and turning her back to him.
Garrett said nothing, cold reason regaining control over his senses.
She looked at him again, her eyes full of sorrow. “Goodbye, Garrett,” she said.
Garrett watched her pull the hood of her cloak back over her head as she stepped toward the door.
When she spoke again, it was with the same voice she had used to command Banden before. “Garrett, you and your friends survived an excursion inside the temple and escaped undetected, but your enemies here will stop at nothing to kill you. It is too dangerous to remain in the city, and so you must go. Take what you can and head south. You must never return to the city of Wythr,” she paused before continuing, “Remember… remember that you were happy here… and that you were loved.”
Garrett felt the magic of her words tugging at his will, grasping for purchase against the icy shell that surrounded his heart and finding no hold. He watched the Girl in Brown as she slipped out through the shed door without looking back at him.
The moment she was gone, he yanked the knife from his belt, pulled his left sleeve up to his elbow and started scratching runes into the skin of his arm.
Chapter Twenty-one
A hand on his shoulder shook Garrett awake in the dim light of a strange room. He blinked, looking around, unsure of his surroundings. He was sitting on the floor with his back propped against the side of a bunk bed. Rows of such beds ran along either wall of the long room. Young men were slumbering in many of them. Only the occupant of the bed Garrett was leaning against was awake.
“Garrett, are you all right?” Banden asked.
“Huh? Yeah,” Garrett said, rubbing his eyes. He felt exhausted and it seemed like every muscle in his body ached. He rubbed at the sleeve covering his left arm, finding it crusty with blood. He tugged the sleeve back a little to peek below it and winced at the cuts he glimpsed beneath. He couldn’t make out the details of the wound in the gloomy, predawn light, but it did not feel very serious. “What happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Banden whispered, “I guess we made it back here after… you know.”
Garrett got to his feet. “Are you all right?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
“Yeah,” Banden said, sitting on the side of his bunk and gently feeling around the edges of the bandage on his leg, “I need to go and check on Frae… and then…”
“Banden, she was in on it,” Garrett sighed.
“Yeah… I know,” Banden said, “I just gotta know if she’s all right.”
“You need to have somebody look at your leg,” Garrett said, “We have to talk to Serepheni.”
“Yeah,” Banden said, “I need to talk to her.”
“Let’s go,” Garrett whispered, helping Banden to his feet.
“Frae first,” Banden said.
“But…” Garrett started to speak before the look in Banden’s eyes cut him off.
“I just need to see her again,” Banden said, “just to know she made it out all right.”
Garrett nodded.
Banden took the time to change his outer clothes, concealing his bloodied leggings inside a small chest beneath his bunk. After a long moment, he closed the chest and left his sparring staff lying across the top of it.
“I’m ready now,” Banden sighed, and they left the barracks together with Banden refusing any help as he limped along beside Garrett.
They approached the girl’s dormitory as the darkness bled away in the gray light of dawn. They saw a figure stir in the shadows beneath the awning, and then Frae rose to face them. She looked terrified and weak, saying nothing as she caught sight of them.
Banden said nothing either, and the two of them regarded one another in silence across the empty courtyard.
Then Frae turned and fled into the dormitory without looking back.
Garrett saw his friend's face grow red. Banden’s lips tensed, and he sniffed in a deep breath, his brows furrowed with concentration as he struggled against his loss.
“Come on,” Garrett said, putting his hand on Banden’s shoulder.
Banden nodded and followed Garrett as they headed back inside, making their way toward the main temple.
They found a trio of bleary-eyed young women preparing the morning meal for the priestesses of the temple. From their simple green robes and the white epaulet each one wore over her left shoulder, Garrett guessed that they had recently taken their final vows to the order and were serving their probationary year before being admitted into the upper ranks of the order.
“Good morning, Holy Ones,” Banden spoke, bowing before the women, “I am sorry to interrupt, but we have an important message for Matron Serepheni and must speak with her at once.”
Garrett remembered to bow as well, and though he expected an argument, one of the priestesses simply nodded and went off to fetch Serepheni.
The two boys stood off to the side of the kitchen, watching as the two remaining women returned to their cooking.
Serepheni returned with the young woman a few minutes later. She gave Garrett and Banden a tired smile that quickly faded when she saw the looks on their faces. “Come with me,” she said.
They followed her upstairs into a room similar to the one where she had treated Garrett’s wounds before. She had evidently noticed Banden’s limp, for she ordered him immediately onto the table and stripped off the stained bandage that he wore beneath his leggings cuff.
Garrett’s blood ran cold at the sight of the small, circular wound in the boy’s leg
that even now ebbed little beads of dark blood. Serepheni’s face went white, and her lips tensed, but she said nothing as she pulled fresh bandages and balm from a nearby drawer.
Banden winced as she cleaned the wound and dressed it again. “I need my sister’s staff back,” he sighed at last.
Serepheni’s eyes lifted to his in alarm. “I thought that I should keep it safe for you while you’re here,” she said.
“Thank you,” he said, “but I have to leave.”
“Why?” she gasped. Her eyes turned to Garrett. “What happened?”
Garrett started to speak, but Banden cut him off.
“It doesn’t matter what happened,” Banden said, “but I can no longer serve the Goddess with all my heart… I have another duty… one that I have ignored for far too long.”
Serepheni studied his eyes. She looked troubled, but did not try to argue. “Wait here,” she said.
Garrett looked at Banden, his heart sinking, but somehow he had known Banden was leaving.
Serepheni returned with the Peacebringer staff, wrapped in green silk, and a small green leather pouch as well. She stripped off the wrapping and passed the metal staff to Banden without touching it herself. Garrett remembered the strange jolt he had received when he had touched it once before, and wondered if the priestess had shared a similar experience.
“Thank you,” Banden said, holding the staff in his hands with a sad look in his eyes.
“You’ll need this too,” Serepheni said, offering him the leather pouch.
“What is it?” he asked.
“A bit of coin,” she said, “It’s all I have to give you, but it might help.”
“No, thank you,” Banden said, lifting one hand in refusal as he laid the staff across his knees.
“I promised your sister…” Serepheni said, her voice catching a little, “Don’t make a liar of me.”
Banden relented and accepted the coin pouch, pocketing it. He looked down at his green doublet and the white worm of Mauravant upon it. “Please tell Matron Brix that I am sorry,” he said.
“Where will you go?” Serepheni asked.
“You can stay with me if you’d like,” Garrett offered.
“No,” Banden said, “I have to get out of the city… If any of my order survives, they may have gone south… I’ll look for them there.”
“Your order?” Serepheni asked, “You have felt a calling?”
Banden gave her a bemused look. “I don’t know,” he said, “I just know that I can’t stay here… I have to find out what it means… to carry this.” He hefted his sister’s staff and thumped its tip against the floor, using it for support as he slid down off the table.
“Can I convince you stay another day or two?” Serepheni said, “You can stay with Garrett, or I can arrange for something else… outside the temple. I don’t like the idea of you traveling with your leg like that.”
Banden shook his head. “No, I have to go. It’ll be fine.” He placed his weight again on the wounded leg, showing only a slight discomfort on his face.
Serepheni sighed and rummaged through the drawers again, packing a small kit for him to carry, stuffing it full of bandages and jars. He had to stop her before she could slip a large onyx mortar and pestle inside.
“I wouldn’t even know what to do with that,” he laughed.
“You’d better learn some herbalism if you’re going to be traveling alone,” she said.
A cold twisting in Garrett’s gut called to mind the memory of how he had found the boy, at the mercy of a band of faceless devils. “I wish you’d let me show you some fairy magic before you go,” he said.
Banden smiled and shook his head again. “Thank you… thank you both,” he said, “but I’m not afraid anymore… I remember what my sister said once… she said you had to listen for the guiding voice, and that was all you really needed.”
“You’ve heard this voice?” Serepheni asked.
“I don’t know,” Banden laughed, “I think it’s too noisy here for me to really hear anything… Does that make any sense?”
The priestess smiled at him, her eyes still filled with concern.
Banden pulled off his doublet and passed it to Serepheni. He gave her one final formal bow then. “My thanks, Matron, for all that you did for me… and for my sister.”
Serepheni bowed to him in return, something that no other Matron would do for the sake of an initiate Templar. “Go in peace, Peacebringer,” she said, and then she caught him in a tight hug and held him for a long time.
When she released him at last, Banden turned and hugged Garrett as well.
“Can I show you the way out of the city?” Garrett asked, “Maybe the ghouls could take you to a town down south. They know secret ways to go places. It might be safer.”
“No,” Banden laughed, “I think what I need is some time on the road again, alone. Just a good, long walk.”
“If you need anything, ever…” Garrett said.
“I know,” Banden said, “I… hope we meet again someday, but… well, thanks for being my friend, Garrett.”
“You too,” Garrett said.
Banden smiled and inhaled a deep breath. His fingers went to his chest where the sigil of Mauravant no longer covered his heart. He looked down at his plain white undershirt and chuckled.
“Feeling underdressed now?” Serepheni asked with a faint smile.
Banden shook his head. “I feel… free.”
“Good luck, Banden,” she said.
“You too, both of you,” Banden said, and then he turned and walked out into the shadowy corridor and was gone.
Serepheni hung her head in silence for a moment, and then she sighed and turned to Garrett. “What now?” she asked, “You discovered the secret you were sent to find, and now you’re leaving too?”
Garrett was rubbing absently at his sleeve. He didn’t really know what to do next. He looked at Serepheni and shrugged. “Shelbie tried to kill us last night,” he said, “If I stay, she’ll just try again.”
“What happened?” Serepheni asked, looking more concerned than surprised by Garrett’s revelation.
“We snuck into the temple while all of you were at your big meeting,” Garrett said, “One of the new priestesses was going to show me how skeletons were made, but she was working for Shelbie, and we almost got made into skeletons ourselves.”
“How do you know the Matron was behind it?” Serepheni asked.
Garrett gave her a grim smile. “I can’t think of anyone else here who would want me dead bad enough to try to kill off her own helper just to get me.”
“Frae was part of it?” Serepheni asked, looking a bit sick.
“Yeah.”
“Poor Banden,” Serepheni sighed, “He told me about her… I think he was in love.” She looked at Garrett again. “Are you all right?” she asked.
Garrett blinked, thinking it over. “Yeah,” he said, “Actually, I feel great… I don’t know why, really.”
“Let me check you for wounds,” she said, “Were you bitten?”
Garrett made a quick mental survey of his extremities. “No,” he said, “I got a little scratched up, but I think I’m fine… Oh, I did lose a flask of essence somewhere along the way… You might want to check out the dead guy pit when you get a chance.”
Serepheni frowned at him. “We call it the Womb, not the dead guy pit!” she hissed under her breath.
Garrett shrugged. “Well, whatever you call it, I don’t think I should go back there looking for the flask.”
“I’ll go look,” Serepheni sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
“Thanks,” Garrett said, scratching at his arm.
She patted her disheveled hair back into place, trying to regain something of her usual regal bearing. “Will you tell Max?” she asked.
“Do you want me to?” he asked.
“No,” she said, “It’s better that he doesn’t know… about any of it.”
“Yeah,” Garrett sai
d, “He was hoping it would be something he could use to make his own skeletons. I guess a giant pit full of worms isn’t really all that portable.”
“No,” she said.
“Where did they come from anyway?” Garrett asked, “I mean, where do you find worms like that?”
She looked at him with a sudden realization. “You don’t know what they are do you?” she asked.
Garrett shrugged.
“Garrett, those are the worms that arose from the earth to devour the body of the Goddess herself after she fell,” Serepheni said, “They ate her flesh and became her… Garrett, those worms are Mauravant!”
Garrett felt suddenly a bit lightheaded.
“Sit down,” Serepheni said, guiding him over to a chair and lowering him into it.
Garrett ran his hand over his face, trying to wrap his mind around the absurdity of it.
“Did she touch you?” Serepheni asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said, “She tried to eat me.”
“Then you are truly blessed, Garrett,” Serepheni laughed, “Not many living men can say they’ve been touched by the Goddess!”
Garrett scowled at her.
“Is Banden gonna be all right?” Garrett asked, “I mean since he actually got bitten by… the Goddess of Death.”
“He’ll be fine,” Serepheni chuckled, “I’ve seen such wounds before, many times. Each of the Matrons bears the scar of one… the Mother’s Kiss. As far as I know, he is the only male to ever bear one.”
“Oh,” Garrett said, glumly.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Well, now I wish I had one,” Garrett said.
Serepheni slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “You’re as bad as Max,” she sighed.
Garrett smiled and got to his feet again.
“Are you going to be all right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said, “I don’t know why, but I really do feel fine.”
“Should I tell the others that you’ll be leaving as well?” she asked. Garrett saw a little touch of fear in her eyes, as though she were afraid of losing her last ally.
Garrett shook his head. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said, “I think I want to talk to Matron Brix first.”
The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4) Page 26