She lay on her back, tracing a design on the painted ceiling. Words wound their way around the garden scene and a familiar prickling slithered up her neck. Taryn stood on the bed to better see the painting. Runes, like the ones carved into the massive wooden door, dotted the landscape. Hidden in the detail of a red rose petal was the rune for death; on a leaf of a white rose, life. All throughout, the same runes were repeated. Life. Death. Life. Death.
Her fingertips brushed against the plastered surface and her runes flared to life, lifting from her skin to hover above the painting. They rearranged themselves and Taryn gaped at what she saw illuminated above her. A message. A warning, really.
There is no Light without Dark and no darkness without light. Life is death and death is life. Beware the one who walks between worlds.
A knock on the outer door startled her and the runes swirled before settling onto her wrist. The ceiling returned to nothing more than a pretty painting. Except for one corner. Hidden in the darkness behind an image of a runyon tree, its spiked trunk pale in the morning light, caught between the grooves, Taryn saw the slightest movement. She squinted to better see and there, squatting in the corner, was a hooded man with skeletal features. His empty eye sockets stared back at her.
A shudder rocked her from head to toes.
In the other room, servants clanged noisily with her morning meal. She hopped from the bed and prodded a sleeping Kaida to wake up.
Tell me, do you see a man in the corner of the ceiling? By the window with the runyon tree?
Kaida stretched her paws and turned a golden gaze toward the ceiling, scanning it entirely before answering. I see no man, nor do I see a runyon tree.
“I’m losing my mind,” Taryn said aloud and Kaida thumped her tail in answer.
After their breakfast, Taryn explored the gardens, sorting through what she’d seen in the painting, and planning her next move.
Her boots squelched on the damp ground as she trod through the freshly budding roses to the orchard. At the farthest point of the garden, a lone runyon tree huddled beside a cliff, its branches thick with emerald leaves. The ashen trunk curved slightly to the left, toward the sea. Thorns, some as thick as a man’s thumb, protruded from the trunk, from the ground to the tips of each branch.
She approached the tree with caution, unease settling in her gut. Runyon were scarce in the east, but she remembered Hayden’s warning that the barbs held a deadly poison within their hardened shells.
“A thing of beauty, is it not?”
Taryn jumped at the sound of her father’s voice, having not heard him approach. “If you consider a tree that feeds off the flesh of man to be beautiful, then yes.”
A twinkle lit his misty eyes. “Even death can be lovely, my daughter. But come, there is something I wish for you to see.” He held his hand out to her and she was reminded of Rykoto by the river.
She ignored the offer and stepped beside him, wary. He wore a long coat over his dark tunic and walked with measured steps, his shoulders bent slightly, hands clasped behind his back. That morning, he looked more like a poet or philosopher than the dreaded Lord of the Dark.
“Did you sleep well?” He glanced at the still dark sky. “I hope the storms did not keep you awake.”
“Not at all. I slept right through them.” They walked side by side for a while, stopping every so often to smell a flower or for Valterys to point out improvements he had planned for the summer. Eventually, Valterys led them to an area off the path and close to the edge of the cliffs. Taryn stood on the precipice and gazed out at the darkened sea.
“I’ve often wondered what lies to the west of here. I thought perhaps you could tell me what exists beyond our borders. That is why they call you Offlander, is it not?”
A chill of warning crept down her back. “They call me many things for reasons I do not quite understand myself.” She checked that her thoughts were properly guarded. She knew exactly what lie to the west of his kingdom, but she’d not share that or any other information with him. Not yet.
“I know what you mean.” A sad little smile lifted his lips. “I suppose they say all manner of things about me at the Light Court. It’s my wish we know each other better to perhaps make our own judgments.”
“I would like that.” She glanced past the ocean to the dark clouds crouching over the water. “Why don’t you have a wall here or something to keep people from falling off?”
He shrugged. “It’s been my experience that if someone is determined to slip, no barrier will stop them.”
Her instinct was to step away from the edge, but she stood firm. “It would just detract from the view, anyway.”
“Exactly. So, tell me, daughter, what have you been doing all these seasons?” He faced the water, but his gaze never left her.
“I traveled with Brandt. I never knew who I was until we reached Talaith.”
He penetrated her with a soul-grazing stare that said he didn’t believe a word she uttered. “So you’ve said.”
“And you don’t sound convinced. Perhaps after you’ve had a chance to know me, you’ll see that I don’t lie all that well.”
He laughed, a bitter sound against the wind that blew up from the sea. “More’s the pity for you, I’d say. Being honest will get you nothing but misery at the Light Court.”
“You really don’t like my mother, do you?”
“I love Lliandra more than should be possible.” A ferocity crossed his features and he turned his face to the ocean. “She tells the story of how I duped her, used her to create the Eirielle, but how do you know it was not she who misled me? I was, after all, the one who arrived to find my son dead.”
“Are you suggesting Mother killed your child, my twin brother?”
His shoulders twitched. “I only know that when I arrived, there was a dead baby where there should have been life.”
Taryn’s gut roiled at the image. By the time Valterys arrived, Taryn was halfway to Mount Nadrene and he never knew. “How did you find out about me?”
His eyes matched the stormy skies as they bore into her. “Does it really matter?”
Taryn held his gaze, not backing down despite the intimidating tone. “To me, yes. Was it Marissa who told you?”
A smile quirked at the corners of his mouth. “She never told me, no.”
Taryn nodded. “She told Zakael. Yes, I suppose she would.” The air in her chest exhaled. Marissa had hated her from the moment she was born. Had harbored all those seasons a resentment so fierce it would cause her to one day betray Taryn in the most intimate and cruel manner she could think of.
Valterys studied her a little too intently. “Now you know. What will you do?”
His Dark power swirled around him, vast in its scope. She longed to touch it, to feel the immensity of his ShantiMari. A subtle thought teased her mind—he wanted her to lash out at Marissa. To test her strength against her sister in a form of combat where the victor would be decided by who survived. He kept his face placid—kind, even—but she wasn’t fooled. Beneath his demeanor dwelled the brutal truth of who her father really was.
“Nothing. What’s done is done.” His power sparked with irritation, disappointment tinging the air. “She is my sister, and I will forgive her.”
“You are a fool, young Taryn. Marissa would kill you if she had the power or the cunning.”
“Is that what you’d like me to do? Kill my sister because she hates me?”
“You should eliminate anyone who stands in the way of who you are to become.” His words held no malice, just a simple philosophy.
“That’s not how I do things.”
“More’s the pity for you.” Sadness lurked in his eyes mixed with loneliness, and behind that, anger.
“Look, I’m sorry life didn’t work out the way you wanted, and I know you’re kind of pissed at my mother for hiding me, but I had nothing to do with any of that. All I know is that I’m here now and everyone tells me Aelinae is unbalanced. Without your help, it w
on’t make fuck all difference, will it? Because I’ll never become the Eirielle, and Aelinae will either cease to exist or Kaldaar will return and we can all kiss the Light and Dark goodbye. So, will you help me or not?”
“Yes, you must master your Dark powers.” He muttered as if he hadn’t heard half of what she’d said. He ambled away from the cliff and strolled through the gardens, once again the wise philosopher, no longer the scorned lover of Lliandra.
“I’m afraid that will have to wait a few days. Your unexpected arrival came at a bad time. I’ll be leaving for Danuri in less than a bell to conduct some business. When I return, we’ll see about your powers.”
He patted her on the shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “We have some fine horses in the stable. Give your stallion a well-needed rest. I’m sure you’ll find our city just as enchanting as Talaith. When I return, I promise, we’ll see about bringing balance to Aelinae. Together.” He drifted away from her then, his back bent low to examine the flowers he passed.
Feeling utterly dismissed and none too happy about it, Taryn stalked from the garden through the palace to her quarters. Kaida kept close to her side, almost tripping her several times. The grierbas’ behavior was odd, even for Kaida, and Taryn paid special heed to her friend. If something were amiss, she didn’t want to be caught unaware.
After pacing from one room to the next in her vast suite, wearing a path in the thick carpets without so much as a servant disturbing her, she decided to explore the palace. If nothing else, Hayden had taught her that every royal residence had secrets worth finding.
Chapter 32
TARYN’S first attempts to tour the castle were thwarted by an overly friendly seneschal. She’d taken no more than ten steps from her room when he materialized from the shadows, scraping and bowing, asking after her comfort. She grumbled her displeasure until Kaida directed her attention to the man’s spectacles and stained fingertips. The sure signs of a man who spent too many hours poring over texts, making notes.
“I’ve heard Caer Idris has a library to rival Talaith’s. I’d love to see it.”
A derisive snort started in his throat and ended in a wheeze. “Hardly. Perhaps when the empress was in residence, but no longer. All the great books are locked in the Overlord’s rooms. I can show you the pitiful excuse we have for a library if you’d like.”
Taryn pointed to his stained fingers. “Are those from the scrolls in my father’s rooms?”
Taken aback, he surveyed his hands. “This? No. I’ve been copying recipes for the cook. Her eyes are getting bad and she needed fresh ink to better see.” He fidgeted with his glasses, taking them off to clean the lenses before replacing them on the bridge of his nose.
She hoped he was better at transcription than he was at lying. “Well then, I guess it’s the lesser library for me.”
The seneschal wasn’t kidding about it being pitiful. The space, more of a nook really, consisted of two overstuffed chairs and a single wall stuffed with scrolls. No bound books graced the shelves and the scrolls were mainly accounts of the castle, with a few family histories written in the margins. Taryn read through all of them during the long days she waited for Valterys to return. Thankfully, Zakael went with him, leaving Taryn alone in the dark castle.
Yet, she was never without company. Either the mousy seneschal or another servant would appear the moment she deviated from the common rooms. Always pleasant in manner, asking after her needs, directing her toward her room or the main hall. Her father must have made it clear to his staff she was not allowed to roam unattended in his absence.
After yet another attempt to lose her minders, she sat slumped in a chair of the pitiful library. Rain ran in lazy swizzles down the window as Taryn gazed through the thick pane, seeing neither the rain nor dark clouds dancing on the horizon. On her lap lay a twice-read account of the battle between Rykoto and Daknys written by a chronicler of the Lord of the Dark, which meant it heavily favored Rykoto. According to the tale, Rykoto was subdued through Daknys’s trickery and then thrown into a dungeon of sorts beneath the Temple of Ardyn. His release could only come from the “Blood and Blade of the one who is and is not.”
Rykoto would live in his eternal hell only if all thirteen seals remained intact. Should even one seal be removed, there was a possibility for him to reenter the world of Aelinae. One seal that she knew of was missing. It was hidden at Paderau Palace, but if there were more missing—a dread-filled shudder shook her to the core.
The scroll claimed Daknys set clues into the temple that would help the Chosen One keep Rykoto imprisoned. Unfortunately, these clues could also help free him. According to the scroll, if the clues were deconstructed in the proper order, they would reveal instructions to undo the bonds that kept Rykoto imprisoned. The text ended abruptly and she searched the space where she’d found the scroll for a second parchment that held the rest of the tale. She scanned every scrap of paper on every shelf but found no other mention of Rykoto.
When certain no one was looking, she tucked the scroll inside her boot. Valterys had more wards and alarms set on his room than she ever placed on her own, which meant she would have to wait for his return to gain access to his private library, where she suspected the rest of the scroll resided. If she were Sabina, she’d bat her eyelashes or thrust her breasts under the seneschal’s nose in an effort to flirt her way into Valterys’s rooms, but she’d probably look like a fool. Perhaps she should’ve paid better attention to Sabina’s princess lessons, she chided herself. Not that she ever would admit that to her friend.
Her fingertips tapped along the dragon’s wings of her sword. ShantiMari flowed through the halls like liquid, flaring in spits, sometimes with spells embedded into the threads. Caer Idris was a place of Dark power where rules of ShantiMari were enforced, but there existed an undercurrent that made her queasy. Tracking her unease to a single thread would be futile. She placed a hand over her vorlock scar where the poison thrummed beneath her skin. There, hidden amid the venom, was the black stain the phantom had given her.
The constant throbbing had become a daily nuisance she no longer thought about, and she realized with a start that too much of the past season had been spent on pursuits not of her choosing.At least the phantom wasn’t among the courtiers spying upon her at Caer Idris, she thought dryly. Or making her do things against her will.
The seneschal darted behind a column and Taryn suppressed a laugh.What I wouldn’t give for a pinch of the phantom’s ability to compel right about now. I’d command the seneschal take us to my father’s rooms at once, she told Kaida, absently rubbing her scar, ignoring the rush of irritation.
To what end? If you so chose, you could enchant the entire castle into doing your bidding, but you are needed elsewhere. Let us explore.
Explore? Would you like to elaborate? Inside? Outside?
Kaida padded away from the nook into a crowded hallway where several courtiers shuffled past, avoiding eye contact with her. The seneschal followed at a discreet distance, but Kaida increased her pace and after several turns, lost him. Taryn jogged to catch up, curious why the grierbas suddenly wanted to lose their escort.
Are we looking for something or are you just bored?
Kaida ignored her.
At last they came to a door leading down a long flight of stairs. A few torches flickered in the semi-darkness and Taryn hesitated, but Kaida forged ahead. After several minutes, she debated turning back when they came to a locked door. Kaida pawed and scratched at the door, whining.
“What is it?” Taryn asked. Even though she whispered, the sound echoed off the stones and she flinched.
Something is beyond here. We must follow the scent.
Taryn paused for a moment. What could lie beyond a locked door at the end of a very long set of stairs? Nothing good, Taryn told herself.
Against her better judgment, she touched the lock and it snapped open, the door swinging wide to allow access into a hallway that stretched far into the darkness. Kaida skulked
along the wall. Ahead of her, a few torches lit the way, but it was still quite dark. Taryn wanted to turn back, but Kaida insisted she follow.
With each step they took, Taryn began to realize they were in the castle dungeons. Unlike those of Celyn Eryri, these were often used, and more than once, they heard the whimper of a prisoner, or brushed past bony fingers that clutched the cell bars.
Where are you taking us?
Just ahead. Kaida padded to a cell and sat on her haunches. She whimpered into the blackness beyond.
The face of a boy appeared, looking first to Kaida and then to Taryn.
You must take him from this place, Kaida told Taryn.
Why this boy when there are dozens of other prisoners?
He is not a boy. He is a woodland faerie from the Narthvier and will die if you do not take him away now.
Taryn placed her fingers over the faerie’s. “What is your name?” she whispered in Eleri. The boy shook his head, pointing to his mouth. “You cannot speak?” She reached out to touch his forehead and he jerked away. “I will not hurt you. Come here,” she begged softly. He moved a fraction closer to her, his eyes wide with fear. She stretched her fingertips through the bars and touched them to his temple.
We are friends. We can help you.
His mouth gaped and he made small sounds like a mewing kitten.Darennsai?
I am Taryn ap Galendrin, Darennsai of the Eleri.
He prostrated himself, touching his head to the ground, making more of the strangled sounds against the dirt. Taryn carefully untied the strands of ShantiMari looped around the cell bars before clicking the lock open. The door creaked as she opened it, sounding like a gong through the dungeons.
After a moment, when nothing stirred in the darkness, she crept to the faerie, touching his back. Little more than bone existed beneath his tattered tunic. He looked up at her with eyes full of fear.
We are going to help.She lifted him into her arms, shocked by how light he was.Do not make a sound. We will get you out of here.
The Temple of Ardyn (Song of the Swords Book 2) Page 28