“If you’re trying to threaten me, or her, I swear—”
He coughed. “If you are going to kill me, then do it. If not, stop manhandling me like a common bull.”
Surprised by his cavalier tone, Nadya released him. “You shouldn’t taunt me like that, you know.”
He smiled once again, but it was more of a grimace. “I do not fear you, Nadezhda. What can you do to me that hasn’t already been done?” Levka threw his arms wide. “I am a prisoner in an occupied city. How long do you think it will be before Wintercress decides to cleanse this place? Death by your hand might be preferable to what they would do. Any threat you make is nothing against the reality I face. If you intended to pry answers out of me with pain, then you should just turn around and leave.”
Nadya stepped back. The raw anger in Levka’s voice surprised her. “I wasn’t going to torture you, if that’s what you thought.”
“Then go. I have nothing to say to you, Nadezhda.” He sat back upon the bed without looking at her.
She felt her own temper rise in her chest. “How can you say that?”
“Were you harboring the impression that I liked you in some way? I wanted to see you destroyed. Still do,” Levka said, glancing at her, unfettered hatred gleaming in his eyes.
“I don’t care about that.” She walked up to him, standing right in front of his knees, but Levka did not flinch. “This is your fault. You egged Gedeon on. You delivered gunpowder to the zealot, who blew a hole in the wall. Wintercress wouldn’t be here if not for your selfish schemes. Don’t you feel even the least bit of shame?”
Levka stood suddenly. Nadya resisted the urge to fling herself backward. They stood toe to toe. The former magistrate was over a head taller than her, and he glared down at her with venom in his eyes.
“Do you think I wanted this? I strove to cleanse Storm’s Quarry of filth like you, of nivasi, and then Nomori, to prevent them from birthing more monsters within the city’s walls.” His voice faded to a hoarse whisper. “If you had asked me a year ago if any price was too high for the extermination of nivasi, I would have declared a resounding no.”
“And now?” Nadya asked, matching his low tone.
Levka was silent for a long moment. His eyes roved over her face, as if searching for any crack that might give him an edge. Finally, he sighed. “Now I wish for my city to be free. I fought for Storm’s Quarry when I allied with the zealot, and however reluctantly, the Chaos-maker. I never intended to incite war with another nation.”
Regret poured out of his words, and Nadya fought back an urge to put a hand on his shoulder. This was Levka Puyatin, a man responsible for untold death and the current invasion of Storm’s Quarry. She did not pity him—she did not.
“The Cressians have a nivasi,” she said suddenly.
“What? One of your kind is helping them?”
“No, not like that. The woman is Cressian, but she has the power of a nivasi.” Nadya’s sides ached in memory of slamming into stone. “More power than me. Or Shay.”
“How?” Levka collapsed back onto the cot. His brow wrinkled. “Nivasi are unique to the Nomori people. There has never been any record of another race producing a person with that kind of power.”
After considering it for a moment, Nadya sat on the floor of the cell, cross-legged. She kept an ear out for any stir of Cressian soldiers, but for now, they were undetected.
“That would explain the quick takeover of the city…” Levka continued, as if speaking more to himself than her. “After all, our Guard had the upper hand, and repairs had been made upon the wall. It would have taken countless lives to overwhelm the main gate, and there is no other entrance to the city.”
“She can move the earth at will,” Nadya supplied. “The main gate is gone, half the wall as well.”
“Impossible,” Levka whispered, but there was no disbelief in his tone. He looked at Nadya. “This is why you’re here?”
She nodded. “I spoke with a Nomori Elder, and she had no knowledge of such a possibility. You have done extensive research into the nivasi, and I thought you might have come across something.” She paused, considering. It might be foolhardy to reveal anything of the resistance; Levka could turn around and tell his Cressian captors. But without his help, she reminded herself, they might never see Storm’s Quarry freed. “There is a resistance,” she began.
Levka straightened. “The Duke’s son?”
“Alive. And his wife,” Nadya added, and disgust flashed across Levka’s face. “Like it or not, the Nomori are part of this city, and they are dedicated to seeing Wintercress driven out.”
He inclined his head, but his expression didn’t change. “You said there was a resistance? How is it avoiding Cressian attention?”
Last hope or not, Nadya was not going to tell him of the cavern in the mines. “With careful planning. They are gathering forces, and with enough support, they will be able to strike in the coming weeks. But…”
Realization dawned upon the former magistrate. “If this so-called Cressian nivasi still lives, no resistance will be strong enough to take back the city. Not even with two nivasi on its side.”
“Exactly.” Nadya drew in a deep breath. “If you have any sense of loyalty to Storm’s Quarry left, you will help us.”
Levka rose. “My loyalty to the city was never in doubt. Only my methods in ensuring its safety.” He gestured to the broken door. “Take me to the resistance, and I will aid you.”
Nadya stared at him, uncertainty rising in her chest like a plume of smoke. “You will?”
“I see—you don’t trust me. Hard to blame you, really. I can only offer my honesty when I say that I mean the resistance no harm, and I will do what I can to defeat Wintercress.” He waited expectantly.
She had listened carefully to his heartbeat, and it remained strong and consistent as he spoke. Still, she hesitated. He knew of her ability to measure truth by listening to a person’s heart, and Levka was devious enough to know of a way to manipulate it.
“Do you have another expert on the nivasi?” he asked, as if reading her thoughts.
“Tell me what you know now.”
Levka shook his head. “That is not my offer, dear Nadezhda. I want to speak to the Duke’s son and learn the machinations of the resistance. Only then will I share what I know.”
Damn you, she thought, but nodded. “Fine. But I’m keeping an eye on you at all times.”
“I expected no less. Now come, before the Cressians wake up from the naps you put them down to.” Levka stepped forward, but Nadya held up a hand.
“Not so quickly. I have one provision of my own.” Without waiting for him to reply, she walked to the cot and tore a strip of linen from its thin mattress. She held it up with a smile.
Levka looked from her to the cloth and back to her once more. “Really, Nadezhda, is that entirely necessary?”
“Oh yes, it is,” Nadya said, a small smile touching her lips. “It is entirely necessary.”
Chapter Nine
The commotion reached Shay’s ears as she sat on her cot in the makeshift bunkhouse, finishing the final polish of her leather breastplate. Thinner and more supple than Nadya’s, it fit her like a second skin, and she cared for it with a devotion imparted by Jeta. Oiling it had become a bit of a nightly ritual for her, done to calm her thoughts before she went to sleep.
When the shouting grew louder, unmistakably the voices of Marko, Kesali, and Nadya, she sighed and set her breastplate back in the trunk that Kesali had provided for their armor. She hadn’t been the only person to notice the tumult, as several guardsmen and workers sent curious glances toward the Bulwark when she emerged from the barracks. She was, however, the only one foolish enough to approach the shouting royals within.
Five people stood in the Bulwark, their loud voices making the room seem a lot smaller than it was. Marko’s face was nearly as red as his hair, and beside him Kesali’s dark eyes flashed dangerously.
Nadya stood opposite them,
in front of a blindfolded Erevan man Shay did not recognize. Whoever he was, he had certainly caused quite a fuss.
Nadya’s father was also there, dark circles hugging his eyes. He had been weeping, but Shay could hardly begrudge him that. His wife, his partner, had died, and yet here he stood in the midst of headquarters, ready for orders. If something ever happened to Nadya, she doubted she would be approachable for months, and they had only been together a year.
Shadar Gabori caught her eye, and he frowned. Shay swallowed thickly. He might have had the respect to ignore the two of us on his wife’s deathbed, but he won’t let it go forever. She found a very interesting crack in the floor to examine.
The Nomori discouraged relationships like theirs, to say the least. In the Nomori culture, women grew up to lead their families, choosing the best suited man to take his place as her husband. Other choices, other…preferences were simply unheard of. Shay was almost grateful for the war; it provided much needed distraction from Shay and Nadya’s involvement.
“How could you even think of bringing him here?” Marko asked, his harsh tone cutting through Shay’s thoughts and commanding her gaze. The young Duke held his rapier in a white-knuckled grip pointed at the blindfolded man.
“We need his help.” Nadya stood in front of the stranger. “We need answers, and he’s the only one who has them.”
“At what risk? He is not one to be trusted, not after he betrayed us all.”
“I know.” Nadya’s voice softened. “It is not your people whom he has attempted to destroy.”
“What?” Shay asked, interrupting. “Who is this man?”
Kesali answered without looking at Shay, her glare fixed upon the mysterious Erevan. “This is Levka Puyatin. Former magistrate to the Duke and orchestrator of the Blood Sun Solstice.”
Oh. Shay stared at the lanky man. He wore the spun clothes of a laborer but lacked the muscles of someone born into that life. Even bound and blindfolded as he was, his face carried a permanent smirk that oozed smugness.
“I do not like it at all.” Marko hesitated for a moment. “Guardmaster?”
“I like it less than you, Your Grace. But in times of war, we must take any alliances, no matter how distasteful, offered to us.”
“The risk to the Nomori,” Kesali muttered. “I don’t like it.” Her eyes did not leave the former magistrate, and hatred burned behind her gaze.
Shay shrugged. “It will be all of us if we don’t find a way to deal with the Cressian nivasi,” she said.
Everyone turned to look at her. It was silent for a few moments, before Levka Puyatin laughed.
“I like her.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t care less if you liked running around the ramparts with your trousers down screaming about being a bird. You are going to help us defeat Wintercress, and so you can stay.”
“That is not for you to decide,” Shadar said, but Nadya reached out to her father.
“She’s right, and she is the only one thinking clearly here. Shay and I cannot defeat the Cressian nivasi, not without help. Levka is a…” She paused, searching for the right words. “A murderous bastard who wants to see Storm’s Quarry cleansed of Nomori, but he’ll do anything to save it from outsiders. Including working with us.” She turned back to the blindfolded man, the last statement a question to him.
Levka nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m a monster, none of you trust me. If I even so much as think about escaping or breathing in the general direction of the Prince, I will be drawn and quartered.”
“More like burned to a crisp,” Shay muttered.
“Whatever strikes your fancy. Now, get this horrid blindfold off me.”
Marko sighed but gestured for Nadya to do so. Levka let out a few grunts of pain as she removed it.
“Good, thank you. It is nice to know that the royalty of Storm’s Quarry hasn’t lost all its civility,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Now, I believe I know where we might learn how a Cressian nivasi came to be.”
Kesali gestured for him to continue. “We haven’t got the time to bask in your genius. What do you know?”
“The High Cleric’s scrolls mentioned ancient ruins off the coast of the western ocean, the Brine of Lazuli,” Levka said. “They weren’t identified as being ancient Nomori, but the doors bore an etching of a five-petaled flower.”
“The Protectress,” Nadya said quietly.
“Indeed. Physical temples are nearly unheard of for the Nomori, but it is in a place that would have been a waypoint for the ancient Nomori, who sailed the coasts and rivers. It is possible they built it for some purpose. Perhaps to house something of great import.”
“So your entire plan rests on a perhaps,” Marko said, frowning. “It’s too risky.”
“Perhaps there is nothing there, Your Grace.” Levka shrugged. “Perhaps the Cressian who can move the earth with her mind is not nivasi after all. Perhaps Wintercress has devised an entirely different way of turning a person into a weapon.”
Shay swallowed hard. The thought of a Cressian nivasi was hard to wrap her mind around, but the thought of that woman being something other than nivasi—that was worse. Far worse.
“You are suggesting sending our people into an enemy nation during a time of war in order to find a temple which may or may not be there, for answers that might not even exist.” Marko shook his head. “It’s a fool’s errand. Unless you plan on offering yourself as a volunteer to take the journey, then we have nothing left to discuss.”
Levka spread his hands. “Of course I am. You do not have anyone else with my training here. Do you, Your Grace? My expertise will be vital to the mission’s success.”
“Good. I’m sure you’ll be quite able to survive the trip on your own,” Kesali said. “It’s one way to be rid of you.”
“I doubt it, Stormspeaker,” Levka said with his horribly smug leer, “as the Iron Phoenix will be coming with me.”
* * *
“Absolutely not.”
Shay and Kesali objected at the same time, then glared at one another across the room. Nadya was too preoccupied with Levka’s words to care. Go with him? She played through the possible scenarios. It was all too likely he’d try to get her killed somewhere along the way. Or that he was lying through his teeth about this entire thing.
The resistance could spare her, though. It had Shay if nivasi firepower was needed, and Nadya knew she would not survive another fight with the earthshaking Cressian woman who, despite all impossibilities, might carry the same blood as her.
Was there another choice? She instantly knew the answer. No, there wasn’t. Not if Storm’s Quarry was to be saved.
They could not defeat Wintercress without defeating this creature. And they could not do that without knowledge that Levka was convinced he knew how to obtain. Nadya did not trust him at all, but if he did try to double-cross her, Nadya could handle herself. The enemy of my enemy…
“I’ll do it.” Every eye turned to her. Nadya felt Shay’s betrayed gaze more than any other. Her voice grew quieter, but she continued. “We need knowledge to defeat Wintercress’s weapon. Without it, this resistance will fail. Storm’s Quarry will fall.”
“Then I am going with you,” Shay said firmly. Her dark eyes glared around the room, daring argument.
“No,” Levka said firmly. “One nivasi is more than enough trouble for me. I will not travel with two of you creatures.”
Shay’s hands flared orange, and the temperature in the Bulwark rose considerably. “You do not get a say, now do you? If Nadya goes, then I go.”
“No, he’s right.” Shadar shook his head. “Two will slip into Wintercress more easily than three. Besides, we need you here, Shay. The resistance has much use for the Shadow Dragon.”
“Please, Shay,” Nadya whispered, praying that her partner did not decide to set the entire building ablaze. “Please, it’s the only way.”
Shay’s mouth opened and closed. Then she stormed out of the Bulwark without anot
her word, leaving only the scent of burning iron in her wake.
“You’d better talk to her before she burns this entire place down,” Marko said. “We can go over the details with him.” He glared up at Levka, who only smirked in return.
Nadya agreed and left. It wasn’t hard for her to find Shay. She had gone to the edge of the cavern, as if to escape as much of the resistance—and Storm’s Quarry—as she could. When Nadya approached her, she didn’t turn her gaze away from the stone wall.
“You’re leaving me. With them.” Shay’s hand waved at the Bulwark. “I followed you this far. Why not to Wintercress?”
“Because you are needed here.” Nadya took Shay’s hands in hers. “Because in order to save this city, we have to be parted. At least, for a little while.”
Shay shook her head. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about this city—you know that. I came here for you.” In Nadya’s grasp, Shay’s hands began to burn hot. “I won’t be left behind. Not again.”
Nadya swallowed hard. “I’m not abandoning you, Shay. I’ll be back, and we can then finish this fight for good.” She pulled Shay closer, and the other woman did not resist. Their lips met. Soft. Hesitant. Tripping over the emotions that boiled over between them.
“Promise me, then,” Shay whispered into her neck. “Promise me you will return. We’ll save the day, again, and then we will be together. Promise me.”
“I promise.” Nadya did not know if it was a promise she could keep, but Shay’s sudden fierce kiss stole the words from her mouth, and she swore to herself that she would keep it, no matter the cost.
“Ahem.”
Drina Gabori stood only a few paces away, leaning against the wall of the cavern.
Nadya’s instinct was to spring apart from Shay, but her partner held on to her tightly. “Grandmother,” she said, clearing her throat. “What—what are you doing here?”
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