With his arms behind his head, his chest made a tempting pillow. “I think I will too.”
Curled beside him as I had so many nights before, I let the day’s horrors scour my heart.
Despite my best intentions, I drifted into a dreamscape rimmed in fire and painted in blood.
Chapter Fourteen
Morning brought chaos yapping on its heels. Although my clansmen were eager to welcome help, they were wary of me. Learning of Hishima’s death had unnerved them. If they discovered he had met his end at my urging, they would not have forgiven me. But if I had allowed Lailah’s slaughter of Murdoch or Bram, I would never have forgiven myself. His murder was not the only pall hanging over our procession. During my absence, he must have whispered tales in their ears, for no one gave me their backs. I might as well have carried the plague for their avoidance of me.
If they were skittish of me, they were downright terrified of Lailah. That same fear extended to Murdoch and Bram. Zuri they were familiar with, though they avoided her and the guards too. Supplies were scarce. Conversation stilted. People spooked at shadows. Tussles broke out often.
If I despaired at the absence of my uncle, I rejoiced to hear rumors of a second group of our clansmen who escaped up the mountain on the far side of the city rather than trek the caverns.
Once in Cathis, I would borrow Mimetidae resources to see them found and returned safely.
I owed them that. They deserved to know their maven had not abandoned them.
Nights were quiet except for the rumble of stomachs. Murdoch gave his shares to the others. His stomach complained the loudest of all, perhaps because I spent my nights asleep beside him.
It was a long, hard journey out of the mountain.
The first afternoon after reaching the tunnel’s end, we sat in wait and watched for ambush. It was torture to see bushes laden with berries we might eat, to hear the rustle of game in the brush or the rush of a nearby stream where we might wet our parched throats. When night fell, we kept guard, sleeping in shifts. Once morning came, we rallied our nerves to abandon the cave that had sheltered us so well. Out there, the trees were our sole protection from cruel harbingers in flight.
That first trembling step was worst for us all, but we were eager to take it.
Fresh air and sunlight bolstered our spirits. Some of the bolder children chased one another. Males began to walk with more confidence and females with more surety. I even heard laughter.
Best of all, with access to the Mimetidae’s forests came access to their bountiful streams.
In the span of a half hour, the Deinopidae gathered enough salmo to feed our starving group to bursting. Such was their skill with net and spear. The cleaning and the cooking, that took time. More than a few ate their meal raw. They reminded me of eager ursus perched at a fat salmo run.
After I witnessed Hishima’s death… No. I had no stomach for pink meat.
Hours later, with bellies full and thirst quenched, we set our tired feet on the path to Cathis.
Dusk found us in the field where Murdoch and Lleu had danced with the harbinger. Never in my life had I expected those white gates to appear as welcoming to me as they did this day.
“Mother…” a small voice quavered near my elbow, “…are those…bones?”
“It’s carved wood,” Murdoch answered the child. “The gate faces east. The sun fades paints as fast as we apply it, so we don’t.” When the boy appeared unconvinced, Murdoch sighed. “Can you name an animal with bones as tall? Varanus are hulking beasts, and their legs are too short.”
The boy worried his lip before deciding Murdoch must be right. “Will your clan…eat me?”
“Hush, now,” his mother scolded.
“The boy’s fine.” Murdoch chuckled, then asked him, “I haven’t harmed you, have I?”
“No.” He clutched his mother’s hand. “But my brother says because I’m small, I’m tender.”
“If he were going to eat you, he would have by now.” Bram’s appearance startled me.
The boy’s face crumpled at Bram’s rebuke, so I gave my own. “There’s no need to be rude.”
“I’m afraid there is.” He grasped my wrist and twisted it behind my back.
“What are you doing?” I struggled, but a Deinopidae male stepped forward to shackle me. A muffled grunt sent another of their guards sprawling in the dirt at my feet. I twisted. “Murdoch?”
Two guards flung a net over him and two more leapt onto his back. He struggled all the way down, entangling himself in the net with them, but in the end their numbers and skill bested him.
“By order of Isolde of the Mimetidae, Lady Isolde to those who don’t value their lives, I am honor bound to bring you two before Paladin Vaughn to face justice.” Bram tied a short length of rope to the knots at my wrists. “Forgive me, Maven Kaidi. This is not a task I relish, but a duty I must perform nonetheless.”
“Traitor,” I hurled at him. I took no pleasure from his flinch.
“I’ve been called that and worse.” He shrugged. “You are no one to judge me. If I were of a mind to point out what deeds of yours brought you here, you might see we share the distinction.”
I held my head high. “Take me to Vaughn.”
“Maven?” The mother tucked her son behind her skirts. “Should I get someone?”
Her hesitance in asking told me she knew as well as I did there was no one to intervene.
“It’s all right. You’re safe here.” I hoped my smile bolstered her courage. “I have matters to discuss with the paladin and maven. I’m sure Bram can see that you’re given food, water, a place to rest until I return.” Her nod was less than reassuring. “All will be well. I promise. You’ll see.”
As we approached the gate, Bram walked to the head of our procession. He ignored the calls of the guards who demanded to know by whose authority was Murdoch trussed and dragged as a criminal. Bram was quick to throw around Isolde’s name and dared the others to challenge him.
No one did.
The night Murdoch and I stole away from Cathis, it seemed to me forever stretched between the Tower Square and the edge of the city. At Bram’s urging, it seemed we took one step and our heels clacked on the tower’s tile floor. Inside, he corralled us all in the empty council chambers.
“Keep an eye on her.” Bram handed my rope off to Zuri. “This won’t take long.”
“Payment always does,” she mused. “Make sure you bring Isolde’s purse when you return.”
Almost as soon as he left, Bram reemerged with a black-haired Isolde dressed in a gown thin enough for summer nights but perhaps too thin to be worn publically. Her eyes were sharp, hard.
“What in the gods’ names is this?” Isolde shouldered through the crowd to reach me.
“This is what remains of the Segestriidae clan.” Bram took my rope from Zuri and set it on Isolde’s palm. He hooked his thumb at me. “This lovely female is the new Segestriidae maven.”
“Maven?” Her eyes narrowed on me. “For that to happen, Hishima would have to be—”
“Dead.” Bram nodded decisively. “He is. Quite so.” He nudged Zuri aside and gestured for a seething Lailah to be dragged forward. “If you’re looking for blood, you won’t find it on Kaidi’s hands. This is the culprit. Let me present you our unwitting ambassador of the Necrita, Lailah.”
“Lailah?” Isolde covered her mouth. “Hishima’s mother? That Lailah? You’re sure?”
“Though I never knew her and as such can’t vouch for her identity, Hishima did call her by that name.” He paused. “I’m sure one of the others could identify her if Kaidi’s word is suspect.”
“Watch your mouth, boy.” She jabbed Bram in the gut. “I see you bristling.”
He inclined his head. “I meant no disrespect.”
“No.” She prodded him again. “Your kind never does.” She scanned the crowd. “Lleu.” She waved him over. “Take her down to the grotto. Fit her in chains and put her…” her gaze touched on the chamber brimming with
perked ears, “…where no one will find her. I’ll meet you there.”
“All right.” He skirted her and went for Zuri. “Give me the rope, female.”
“My name is Zuri.” She reeled Lailah closer. “In the future, use it if you wish to address me. As no gold has crossed my palm, my catch will not go anywhere without me. So lead on, male.”
“Isolde?” He waited for instruction.
She flapped the hem of her gown. “I’ve hardly got a purse hidden up my skirt.”
“Skirt or not, I want my gold.” Zuri glared at Isolde. “I’ll wait with Lailah while you get it.”
“Take her with you, boy.” She ushered Lleu toward the door. “Zuri, we will speak later.”
Though her nod was tight, Zuri appeared willing to give Isolde a slice more of her time. “Yes,” Zuri said, winding the rope tighter around her hand, “we will.”
“Come on then.” Lleu kept his sights on Lailah. “The sooner we get her isolated, the better.”
A none-too-pleased Zuri tugged Lailah in her wake as she entered the hall with Lleu.
“Shall I rouse the paladin?” Bram’s expression turned somber. “Ah. I see there is no need.”
“Mother.” The cool voice punctured all other conversation. “Would you care to explain this?”
My clansmen parted to admit Vaughn, whose tousled hair and untucked shirt left little doubt of what he had been doing prior to our arrival. The shuffle and stomp of so many feet must have woken him. Seconds later, Mana appeared with her hair in a simple braid and a cloak tossed over her nightgown. She drifted through the crowd, touching foreheads, patting cheeks, rubbing weary shoulders. Working her way around the room, she reached me last and paused before me, clicking her tongue. She grasped my chin and angled my head up, turning my face this way and that.
“I suppose you’ll do.” Her embrace brought tears to my eyes. “Trouble always follows you.”
“If only I were more difficult to track.” I smiled at her. “Can you tend to my people?”
“It’s already done.” She swiped fingers over my cheeks. “Someone will be down once their rooms are prepared. Cook is awake and preparing enough food to last everyone until breakfast.”
“Maven?”
We both turned toward a matched pair of young males with cheeky grins.
“Everything is ready,” the first said.
“Want us to clear all these out?” asked the second.
His brother, for the resemblance was plain, elbowed him in the ribs.
“I meant…” he scowled at his sibling, “…shall I escort these fine people to their rooms?”
“Yes.” Mana covered a smile. “See that all their needs are met.”
The pair crossed the room, herding my clansmen from the council chamber into the hall with encouraging nods and knowing smiles. From there, the doors were pulled closed, leaving me and Murdoch to face Vaughn and Mana. Isolde and Bram, of course, had also remained in chambers.
While we stood waiting to be addressed, Vaughn escorted Mana where the elders’ chairs sat and waited for her to be seated before dropping heavily beside her. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped beneath his chin. Without invitation, Isolde claimed the remaining spot.
His furious eyes burned coal black. “Which of you is to blame for all this?”
“I am.” Murdoch stepped forward. “I helped Kaidi escape. Capturing Lailah was my idea.”
“I left of my own free will.” I too stepped forward. “I share the blame equally.”
“Bah.” Isolde rubbed her jaw. “Questioning them won’t give us anything but a toothache.”
“Forget placing blame for now,” Mana suggested. “Perhaps start with what has happened in Titania. Hishima arrived shortly after we discovered you were missing. He was distressed but—”
“Accused us of being liars.” Isolde seethed. “As if we’d resort to such tricks to get him here. If I had wanted his gold, by the gods, I would have held a sword to him and marched him here.”
“He was furious. Not that I blame him.” Vaughn tapped his lips with his pointer. “His anger was that of a male scorned and humiliated, not that of a paladin who rode from his city in ruins.”
“The fire was well on its way to burning out when we arrived,” I said. “Hishima thought that I burned Titania to the ground in a fit of pique. How could he have known me and thought that?”
“Missed the bit about him being a scorned male, did you?” Isolde smirked.
A sharp glance from Vaughn made her huff and settle into her chair.
“There are grave accusations cast here.” Mana urged, “You must tell us all you know.”
Knowing she was right made it no easier putting to words what I had kept secret for so long.
“You know what brought me here. You saw my work.” I stared at my hands, willing them to steady. “Hishima ruined me. The plague took my family from me. All else sprung from my need for revenge. I don’t pretend to know why Lailah is the way she is. Hishima called her a Necrita. I don’t know what that means with any certainty. I can only speculate that their…people…feed off ours. The harbingers are Araneaean. The risers are Araneaean. Some wear the faces of family or friends. Yet they are something else entirely once called by a harbinger. They rise from the dead. Why do some sprout wings and others not? I can’t say, unless they were infected differently than the risers. Consider the animals. Some died cleanly. Some died horribly, as if something gnawed through gut and bone to escape. If there are two types of infection, why not two types of victim?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Mana frowned. “I assumed people consumed some animals before the illness killed them. I never considered there might be two different infections instead.”
“I would not swear that’s the case. It’s not my area of expertise.” I knew only what occurred after the infection, not what led up to it. “Surely there is someone who could study it, study her?”
“There is someone.” Mana glanced at her hands. “Henri. Lourdes’s youngest brother. He has an agile mind and resources at his disposal no one else has. He’s an herbologist. He could become a physician if he set his mind to it. He has the connections to secure the brightest minds to aid in his research and he has the means to reward those who abandon their work and come to his aid.”
“We will speak of such arrangements later.” Vaughn covered her hands with his. He glanced at me, ending the discussion. “After you witnessed a rising you decided to fight these—Necrita?”
A tight nod from Mana kept me from arguing the topic. She knew his temper best, after all.
“The plague killed my family. I can accept that. What the harbinger did, bringing them back, was unnatural. They’re walking corpses, incapable of independent thought or emotions.” I let my determination shine. “They deserve peace, they deserve lasting death, and I will give it to them.”
“Fair enough.” Revenge appeared to be a motive he appreciated. “Why not a riser as proof?”
“If you raise a corpse and kill it, it’s still a corpse. Even with Murdoch and Lleu’s help, they proved too strong to capture. There was no point dragging one in after we finished with it. How could I have proven the body wasn’t one I plucked from a field? Dead is dead. That is not proof. I knew if I was to win you over, I had to capture a live harbinger. They are irrefutable evidence.”
“How did you know Lailah was a harbinger?” he asked. “Or where to find her?”
I gave them the abbreviated version. “Hishima spent a portion of each night in an abandoned section of the crystal cavern. One night I followed him. He caught me and took me to Lailah.”
“That’s why you ran.” Pity urged Mana to the edge of her seat.
I stared at my hand, covering one with the other. “It was.”
“These risers are to blame for Titania, then?” Isolde pegged me with an unflinching stare.
“I believe they are, yes. We encountered several dozen in the mountains on our way
into the city.” I gulped back memories of that night. Still the sound of screams rang in my ears. “Three of your guards lost their lives to save us. I would like to make reparation to their families, if I may.”
Vaughn lowered his hands. “That is kind of you.”
“Thank you, Kaidi.” Mana’s smile was brief. “Their families will be grateful for it.”
Gold wouldn’t bring their loved ones back any more than it would return mine to me. But perhaps those brave souls might rest easier knowing their families were fed and clothed.
Vaughn’s consideration left me cold. “What do you want from me?”
“From you,” I said, bracing myself, “nothing. I would ask your wife to endorse my claim as Segestriidae maven. Our clan laws are straightforward. You will find nothing amiss with the line of succession. But outside my clan, I have need of an ally to acknowledge my claim, and I’d be honored if Mana would accept my humble offer of a two-generation alliance between our clans.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Mana flushed with pride. “You do me a great honor.”
“Since my wife has chosen to support you,” Vaughn said, “I will stand by you as well.”
“Wait, son, before you ink this deal.” Isolde stood. “What are you offering us in exchange?”
“The alliance Hishima denied you.”
She circled me. “Why accept what he refused?”
“Hishima and I… We didn’t share the same aspirations. All I want is protection for my people.”
She took my measure at a glance. “You speak of reparation, but can you pay it—and us?”
“Yes.” My tongue lashed the word, forcing me to contain my bitterness.
“Isolde,” Mana chided. “She would be our ally. Shouldn’t we treat her as such?”
“No.” Vaughn drew her hand into his lap. “Let Mother finish. This is the business of forging alliances. It is an ugly necessity I regret, but we must think hard before agreeing to any allocation of our resources. Though my heart goes out to the Segestriidae, we can’t gift them warriors who could be put to better use guarding their clan home and their own families from this new threat.”
A Time of Dying (Araneae Nation) Page 20