Curse and Whisper

by A J Gala

  “All of it!” she repeated. “Tizzy and Aleth! Let’s start there. Why have you done all of this to kill them? They’re your family! What have they done to you?”

  “They haven’t done anything to me.” He shrugged. “And it doesn’t matter because it’s not about me. It’s about the rest of you. What would you have done, Allanis, if Tizzy had lost control one of those years and hurt you or Athen? If she had killed someone?”

  “She didn’t—”

  “No one is ever willing to answer the question. Do you not understand that none of this is over? Just because she’s left, it doesn’t mean anything is different. If anything, it’s worse.”

  “We could have helped them!” Allanis cried. “You’ve known for all of these years! You could have helped them, your family, but instead you—”

  “Do you want to know what went through my head that night Rori’s little poison worked? The night—all those twelve years ago—when she told me that after trying to get them sick countless times, that it was a nightwalker poison that did the trick? Want to know what went through my head?”

  Allanis scoffed. “You’re going to try and explain your madness to me?”

  “Yes because you don’t fucking get it. I didn’t know what they were until that night, but I knew that ever since they came back from Tizzy’s gravesite, with Tizzy somehow magically alive, that something was wrong. They weren’t human anymore, but I couldn’t fucking figure it out. I hurt him, Allanis.”

  “I know! We all do! We saw—”

  “No, Allanis, you don’t understand. I hurt him. I fucking broke him. When he would walk away with only a black eye and broken nose, I knew something was off. I knew I had to—”

  Allanis’s jaw dropped. “You tried harder and harder to hurt him so you could do what? Test a theory? Prove a point?”

  “To answer a question! What the fuck were they? He did not recover like a human. And he didn’t realize that. But I figured it out the night they got sick, and that night was when I made a choice. I chose to protect all of you. At any cost.”

  “There was no choice to make!” She grabbed the bars and blinked away quickly forming tears. “You invented a choice that wasn’t there! The choice is all of us. All eight of us! We stay together, and we protect each other. We do not drive each other away!”

  Rhett folded his arms. “Aleth leaving was the best thing that could have happened to you. You went from having two dangerous bloodkin around to just one. I’m rather impressed Aleth survived out there on his own. Didn’t really think he had it in him.”

  Allanis was trembling. “No, Rhett. No. What is this really about? Why did you really do it? We don’t matter to you. We never have. You cannot honestly sit there and tell me you care about all of us so damn much that you’re willing to kill two of your own siblings.”

  “You surprise me, sister.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not an answer.”

  “You have honestly, truly surprised me.” He drummed his fingers on his knee. “It wasn’t so long ago, Allanis, that you were just a stupid little girl. But look at you now! Your world gets turned upside-down, and suddenly you have eyes.”

  Allanis went scarlet. “If you don’t want me to cut that tongue right out of your head, you’d best—”

  “It’s a compliment, little sister, really. I’m saying you’re right. Doesn’t everyone love hearing that they’re right? It isn’t about me, and it isn’t about any of you, either. I suppose it is a stretch to say I care so much about any of you that I’d do… well, anything.”

  She didn’t think she had ever been so angry in all her life. He took his time standing, pausing for a moment to dust himself off. Then, he leaned into his bars, only inches away from her, and raised his head.

  “Everything I have done? It’s what Mother would have done. It’s what she would have wanted. It’s how she would have protected us.”

  “No—”

  “Don’t tell me no!” he yelled. “You didn’t know her. You weren’t even old enough to remember the sound of her voice! You are no one to tell me what she would and wouldn’t have done for us!”

  Allanis took a step back and turned away. She needed air. How could anyone reason with a man like Rhett? She bit her lip, then turned to face him again with her hands up.

  “Fine,” she said. “Let’s say you’re right. Let’s say she would turn on Tizzy and Aleth to protect the rest of us. So what? Why base justice off Mother’s flawed logic? Why would you want to follow in those footsteps? Don’t you want to be someone better than that?”

  Rhett scoffed and sat back down in the corner. “Better? Don’t talk to me about doing better. You’re just a girl with a crown who thinks she’s making a difference. But you’re not.”

  She let him have the last word and stormed off, leaving the cells. But the corridor was not empty for long. Rhett watched a tall figure stride down. The lantern light flickered wildly as he walked by.

  Rhett grinned. “Lazarus. I was wondering when you’d pay me a visit.”

  The eldest kept his distance, staring down coldly with rust-brown eyes. He said nothing.

  “I wonder what the reason is for the delay! Not that you’ve ever really had my back, but I did think I’d see you sooner. You’ve been babysitting the entrance this whole time. Surely you could have—”

  “Shut up.”

  Rhett swallowed hard and couldn’t think of a comeback.

  “I heard your conversation with Alli.”

  “Not like I’ll win you over with logic. Tizzy’s your favorite.” Rhett grunted. “She’s always the first person you run to when we come to the parties. And let’s not forget, she’s the real reason why you took me away from Mirivin and to the Fallarian Isle! To protect her.” He rolled his eyes. “And yet you’re the one who let her jump out of a tree and die.”

  Lazarus’s glare stayed frozen in place. “If I have this right, I’m to believe all your efforts to kill them are… because you think they’ll lose control and hurt someone?”

  “Is that so hard to believe?”

  He took a step closer to the bars. “Do you want to know what happened while you were gone, Rhett?”

  He was going to respond, but his stomach turned, and he stayed quiet, unable to meet Lazarus’s eyes as the older brother neared again.

  “I lost control, and I sucked the life out of a sixteen-year-old girl.” He folded his arms. “Are you going to try to kill me too?”

  “Don’t give me a reason. I liked you. I trusted you.”

  “Do you think you even could kill me? You know what I can do.”

  Rhett was on his feet in an instant and met him at the bars. “You want to play this game? Really? Then yes. I could, and maybe I will. Our parents believed in the Old Ways, and you tried to uphold that after they were dead, but do you even know what that means?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “No, you don’t. Or if you do, you don’t give a shit. Before the Ancients ascended, before the world had any fucking gods at all, the only thing governing this land was life and death. That’s it. It’s that simple. And everything you are, everything you do, shits on that. Your choice of obsession disrespects everything Mother and Father stood for. So yeah, I’d kill you too.”

  Lazarus tore his gloves off and reached between the bars, grabbing Rhett’s collar, jerking him forward. “Then do it.” His left hand hovered over Rhett’s face, stretched open with the Maw snapping feverishly. “Do it, Rhett. But I’m sure you won’t. You never did have the stomach for what I did back on the isle.” He released him and shoved him back down, then left without another word.

  Elsewhere in House Hallenar, Allanis was racing to get somewhere quiet, somewhere secluded. She needed to be alone desperately. Everyone always found her in her study, and there were still brave souls who knocked on her bedroom door when she was locked away inside.

  The cellar. No one had been in the cellar since the party. Athen was the only other soul in House Halle
nar who knew about it. Allanis made a beeline for the kitchen.

  “Your Grace!”

  Ravina’s voice startled her. Allanis tucked a curl behind her ear and turned to find the Master of Dusk behind her.

  “Yes? Is there something you need?”

  “I have news.”

  Allanis felt the dread sink all the way through her and bolt her to the floor. “Is it about Tizzy and Aleth?”

  Ravina held her gaze for a moment, then cast it to the floor. “No. But do you understand the severity of this investigation? The bloodkin detail was one you should have told me before you asked me to begin. I don’t think you realize how that one little factor completely changes what I have to do.”

  Allanis wet her lips and looked away. Her fear was not a good excuse, and she didn’t want to be the kind of queen that had nothing but excuses.

  “Then I should tell you a new detail I’ve learned. It’ll make the investigation even more dangerous.”

  Ravina suddenly stared her down with folded arms. “Don’t tell me. Is this Protégé person I keep hearing about—”

  “It’s her. It’s Tizzy.”

  “Then she’s the one all the Hunters are after.” She threw her hands up and brought them down on her thighs. “I’ll have to choose some higher profile Hunters to start stalking from now on. But from what I’ve gathered, it sounds like they aren’t any closer to finding her than we are.”

  It was a relief that Ravina had taken the news so well. So far, it had been a tricky dance of trust with her Master of Dusk. But somehow, she felt like it made the trust she was working toward even stronger. Ravina was not a mindless servant throwing herself at a queen’s every command. She was a woman who, though she had a strong sense of right and wrong—Allanis found staying on the correct side of the line that Ravina drew to be difficult—was also tempted by mystery.

  Suddenly, the woman grabbed Allanis’s arm.

  “We need to go somewhere private. Now.”

  Allanis led the way to her room, panic settling into her like a chill. Save for the eavesdropping opportunity from the cellar that Tizzy and Athen knew about, her room was the only other private space she could offer. Once inside, Allanis closed the door behind them and locked it.

  “What’s going on, Ravina?”

  “We’ve had some lucky clues lately,” she said. “Count them up if you have to.” She started making out each point by raising a finger in the air. “What Tye told us after dropping off Alor, what Meeka told us, everything your oracle niece has said, information from people I’ve shadowed… with that intel, we were able to gather that Rhett had been staying at The Clarinet and that he was in Hunter company. But I’ve figured out more than that. It hasn’t all been Hunters. Rhett’s met with someone else, more than once.”

  The chill of dread continued to grip Allanis. She put a hand to her chest to steady her breathing. “Who? Not Mother Tryphaena, right? Please tell me it’s not—”

  “You’ll wish it was.”

  Neither of them said another word, and the room fell silent. Allanis waited, studying the hesitance on Ravina’s face. The woman couldn’t bear to look at her.

  “What aren’t you telling me? And why don’t you want to say it?”

  “It was Sinisia Alvax.”

  There was a pang in Allanis’s heart. Something cold and sharp. She tried to tighten her lips on a frown, but it came anyway.

  “Anavelia’s Master of Dusk.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

  It was a lie. Ravina hadn’t forgotten Ashbel’s little outburst at the Council meeting that had changed everything. Ashbel had said Anavelia wanted her Master of Dusk to bring her Aleth Hallenar. Even if that meant using Rhett as a resource.

  Ashbel had warned them all not to tell Allanis. Ravina glanced over at her queen’s glassy storm-blue eyes. It felt wrong to hold back the truth.

  “Are you alright, Your Grace?”

  “I don’t know.” She rubbed her arms for warmth. “Whatever Anavelia wants with Rhett, it can’t be good. I just can’t for the life of me guess what it could be. Why wouldn’t she tell me? I’d do anything to help her.”

  She was heartbroken, but the betrayal drummed up more anger than sadness. No tears fell. She clenched her jaw.

  “Perhaps I should speak with Rhett,” Ravina said. “I could get answers from him.”

  “No.” She folded her arms. “No one is to speak with Rhett. He’s too smart, too cunning. Madame Blanche is about the only person I can trust to go down into the cells and not get talked into giving him the key.” She shook her head and looked out her window. The sun would set soon. “When he’s had time to cool down, I’ll talk to him again. I want you to go to Sinisia Alvax.”

  “What would you have me do?”

  “I don’t care. Confront her if you must, just find out what’s going on. If Ash hadn’t gone to see Ana, I could have questioned him… or, if he’s trustworthy and not just a rat for her, I could have sent him with a message.”

  “I will find Sinisia, Your Grace.”

  Ravina unlocked the door and left, and Allanis sat by her window in silence, rubbing the tension from her brow. Something didn’t make sense. Anavelia didn’t know nearly enough to have a reason to have her Master of Dusk talking to Rhett.

  Her thoughts went as far back as she could in an attempt to find a clue, a trace of a clue. Even if she knew the full scope of events going on at House Hallenar, Allanis thought, Anavelia wouldn’t have a reason to be interested in them. And especially not an interest against her.

  And did Ashbel know? Had he been relaying details to Anavelia this whole time?

  But Anavelia was her friend. Allanis hated to be so naïve, but she couldn’t believe that Ravina’s news had been Anavelia’s intention at all. Something else had to have led to Sinisia Alvax meeting with Rhett.

  She was convinced.

  14

  Rogue

  The sun was long set, and fog was beginning to roll in. Tizzy and the others had crossed over the Bogwood and into the Wistwilds. She lamented their sluggish pace. Maran moved slow even for a human.

  But the bloodslave made not a peep. She didn’t complain, and she’d never asked to take a break. She kept a slow, diligent pace that never broke.

  Tizzy looked at her, catching sight of Maran as she rubbed pain from her shoulders and made small changes in her stride to relieve pressure on aches in her hips and heels.

  Aleth and Lilu were far ahead of them, leading the way with few words. There wasn’t much to say, and the trip was proving to be straightforward. Aleth knew there were plenty of circumstances to talk about, plenty of things that had changed for both of them, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care where the Nuntius on Lilu’s shoulder had come from, didn’t care what people at the Convent were saying, and didn’t care to know the hot water Lilu and Talora had gotten into with Louvita. But then Lilu cleared her throat.

  “Torah keeps saying he wants to talk to you.”

  He did not want to talk about Torah. “Of course he does.”

  “I hate his sister.”

  “You hate everyone.”

  She stretched her arms over her head. “Do I?”

  “I’ve never heard you say you like anyone.”

  “I don’t hate you. I don’t think I like you, but I can tolerate your presence and not Korrena’s.”

  A little half-grin twisted onto his face. “Aw, thanks.”

  “Reshina died.”

  His pace slowed, and his smile died immediately. “What?”

  “Merryn and Reshina. Ziaul says they died on the way back from the Western Peninsula. I know you and Reshina were close. I’m supposed to say sorry, so… sorry.”

  “I—I…” His feet dragged a little, as did his words. “… we weren’t close, Lilu.”

  “I saw you two being close before—”

  “You can be physically close without being, um, being—�
��

  “Look, are you sad or not?”

  “Yes, I’m sad!”

  “Alright, then I’m sorry.”

  Aleth sighed. A wave of sensation from old lip-locked memories crashed over him. “Thank you, Lilu. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’re getting the hang of this stuff.”

  She put her hands on her hips and nodded with pride.

  “Hey, guys,” Tizzy called to them. “Can we look for a place to camp out for a while? We’ve been hiking all day, and we should let Maran take a break and get some sleep.”

  The daemon regarded them with a quick glance over her shoulder. “There’s a spot maybe another mile out that way that was being used by a caravan when I was on my way to Sheerspine. It should still be nice and worn in.”

  “What if they’re still there?” Tizzy asked.

  “We ask to share the space for the night, and if they say no, we kill them.”

  Aleth rolled his eyes. “There’s a whole forest here. We can just pick a different spot.”

  Maran squeezed Tizzy’s hand. “I’ll be fine. Please don’t stop for me. I don’t want to be a hindrance.”

  “You need rest,” Tizzy said. “We’re stopping. It would be stupid to keep pressing through the night without letting you sleep some. You’re not like us. I know that.”

  They were less than a quarter-mile away when Lilu stopped in her tracks. Tizzy crept up behind her, and they stayed hidden behind a boulder.

  “What is it?” Tizzy asked.

  Lilu didn’t even look at her. “Where’s your brother?”

  She scanned all around. “I don’t know. What’s going on? Should we yell for him?”

  “No.” Lilu moved forward, staying behind trees. “There are still people at the caravan’s spot. But they aren’t the same people.”

  Tizzy followed with Maran close behind. “Hunters?”

  “Yes, but that’s not the problem.” Lilu stopped again, straining her ears. “If they were just any Hunters, I’d say we go clean them out. In a heartbeat. But, of course, these aren’t any Hunters.”