Forgotten

by Lyn Lowe

  “Don’t.”

  Vaughan blinked. “What?”

  “Don’t tell me you understand like it’s the same. I didn’t choose it.”

  “No one does,” the blonde said softly. “Not the first time.”

  “So that makes it alright? What happened to me is ok because it happens to other people?”

  “That’s not what I…”

  “Why aren’t you angry?” Kaie asked quietly. “Why are you accepting what they’ve turned you into?”

  Vaughan shifted in his chair. “What would anger get me? Does it make you satisfied?”

  “Honestly? It makes me tired.” Kaie rubbed his head as if the action would relieve the ache building behind his eyes.

  “Tired.” Vaughan leaned forward. “And alone?”

  “I’m not trying to hurt her,” Kaie muttered. “Aside from yesterday.”

  “So… so the part where you treat us both like you can’t stand around us is because you care?”

  He was quiet for a long time. A lie would be easy. He couldn’t get it out of his mouth. He decided to blame the hangover.

  “She can hurt me too much.” It burst out of him before he could stop it.

  Vaughan’s eyes couldn’t possibly grow any larger. “You think either of us would hurt you? Ever?”

  Kaie sighed. He folded his arms on the table and dropped his head between them, blocking out the world. “You will. Sooner or later, everyone does.”

  He heard the other chair scraping away from the table and the sound of Vaughan walking back to the stairs.

  “There’s another… another choice, you know.”

  “What?”

  “One other, besides giving up or destroying yourself. There’s a third choice. You could win.”

  Kaie snorted, but he didn’t say anything. After a while, he heard the blonde head back upstairs.

  He quit believing he could win a long time ago. The gods were just too good at stopping him. Like now, trapped in this house while his miserable army was left to their own devices. But what if the blonde was right? What if there was still a way out of the city?

  He was so damn weary. Drained from surviving, and just tired in general. The last time he felt anything but the growing exhaustion and fury was when he lost Keegan. Longer, since he last felt anything positive. After so much time, he almost didn’t recognize the glimmering thing trying to be born inside him.

  Hope. Tiny and stunted, but alive.

  What if he could win.

  “Better this way,” he muttered again. And this time, maybe it was.

  “Better what way?

  Kaie drew in a sharp, surprised breath. He scrambled to his feet, hoisting up his pants with some difficulty. The cloth was soaked with the brandy, and when the cold liquid hit his skin he sucked in another. Mola, her features half swallowed by the darkness, gave a throaty laugh as she watched him struggle.

  “Where in the Abyss did you come from?”

  She shrugged. “The gods set this girl here to punish Kale for his wickedness.”

  Kaie couldn’t help chuckling. “You’ve got an odd idea of punishment.”

  Her teeth caught the light, reflecting it back and making her smile ghoulish. “The boy might think differently, once he knows what Mola intends.”

  His eyebrow lifted. “What’s that?”

  She considered him for a while, then shook her head. With that simple movement, the moment passed and she was normal again. “The boy must come. Lady Dau summons him.”

  Kaie didn’t waist a second. “I’ll be right back then.” He tied his pants in place and headed upstairs.

  Henry and Judah were both back at the windows, looking like they never left. More likely, Kaie managed to sleep the whole day and it was their watch again. Peren and Vaughan were both sitting on the bed shoved as close to the far wall as the circular room would allow. Their heads were so close together that their white-blonde hair mingled together.

  A board creaked beneath his weight.

  Both siblings blinked up at him. Kaie was struck at how different they looked when placed beside each other. Vaughan’s lines were softer, perhaps even more feminine, but Peren held the beauty of the two. She was like a sculpture given life and her misery only enhanced it. The dark shadows under his eyes, the ruddy color to her cheeks, they all made her seem more alive. More vibrant. Her brother lacked any such color. Even his eyes seemed pale and washed out. It suited him, Kaie supposed. Vaughan could easily fade away and only he and Peren would notice the loss.

  Peren turned away and locked her eyes on a spot on the bed. Vaughan stared a moment longer before turning back to his sister, leaning in close enough to hide any words he might be mumbling to her.

  Kaie swallowed against a pang of loss as he realized he didn’t feel the weight of her gaze on him anymore.

  Judah and Henry weren’t so quick to release him. The giant glared at Kaie with undisguised anger. Henry was grinning at Kaie like he just found a new toy. “Gotta say, Whoreson, I’m impressed!” He barked. Kaie tried not to cringe. The man’s voice was like nails driving through his skull. “I didn’t realize you could get it up for lady parts! So did you have to close your eyes and think of Gregor, or…”

  The glare he shot at Henry must have been a good one, because the man shut up. The smirk didn’t go away.

  “Lady Dau wants to talk to me.”

  The giant said nothing. Henry’s eyes went wide. “What? So the brown girl’s delivering messages now? How could the crazy bitch even know that? She’s got a way out of here?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kaie said lowly. “I’m going.”

  “The Abyss you are!” Henry hissed.

  A knot formed between Judah’s brows. Kaie could almost hear the problem swirling in the other man’s head. The soldier still didn’t trust him. But he nodded.

  Kaie didn’t listen to Henry’s protests. He grabbed one of the dark cloaks they used from the pile made days ago, then turned back to the stairs.

  Vaughan stood in his way.

  The blonde didn’t say a word, just stayed there like an unmovable door, blocking the path to Mola.

  “Get out of the way.”

  Nothing. Kaie shifted his weight back and forth, tempted to barrel through the smaller man. “I’ll be back,” he blurted in frustration. “Then you can be as much of an asshole as you want. Until then, find something useful to do, will you?”

  “You abandoned her once already, Bruhani.”

  Kaie flinched. “I’m not abandoning anyone. I’m coming back.”

  Vaughan nodded slowly. Kaie couldn’t shake the sense that something deeper than he intended just passed between them. But the blonde stepped out of the way. He hurried down the circular staircase, too happy to be free of all the tension in the room to give it any further thought.

  Mola was waiting for him. Kaie took just long enough to tug the hood of the cloak over his hair, then followed her out a door built into the wall just left of the cabinets.

  It didn’t lead into the passes, but out into the streets. For a second, Kaie was certain she was betraying him. But they weren’t standing in front of the building claimed by the Fourth. They were on a different street entirely, and hidden from the enemy by a row of houses. Mola waited for him to take it in, then darted off ahead.

  Within moments, they were in another of the small courtyards with a defaced statue. A second after that, she was prying up part of the cobbles and gesturing him into the opening below. It made him suspect each house had some similar door. Maybe every single building. The planning such a project would require was inconceivable.

  It also made it obvious that Callo’s claim about the reasons for the passes wasn’t the whole truth. Whatever purpose the tunnels served, it was much larger than that.

  This wasn’t the time to sort it out, though. He dropped down into the pass. A strange smell hit him. It was familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

  When the door closed over her head Mola threw he
rself at him. Still on the stairs, Kaie fought to tumble against the only wall. Once his back hit it, one of her knives was at his throat. He growled at her but the sound cut off in shock as he felt her other hand at his pants. Forbidden memories surged against the walls he’d spent weeks building, and panic sunk its claws into him.

  Furious, he shoved her without any thought to the blade. He felt a sharp sting just under his chin. He slammed his body down on top of hers. They fell against the steps together, and she let out a soft cry of pain as her shoulders hit one of the ledges.

  “What are you doing?” He snarled.

  She smiled, and once again, the light caught her teeth. It lent a glow to her eyes as well, transforming her beauty into something straight out of the Abyss. He shuddered.

  “Yesterday was for the girl upstairs,” she purred. Her dagger returned to his flesh, this time tracing a light line down his chest. “Tonight is for Mola. She will make Kale forget all about his pale, whimpering leech.”

  “Don’t you talk about her!” He hissed.

  She laughed, the same throaty laugh from before. “Does the boy think he can stop Mola?”

  He grabbed the wrist holding the knife and twisted it backward. He held it, putting a slow pressure on the joint, until her pain filled her face and the dagger dropped with a clatter. Then, without another thought to the Lady Dau or the seconds ticking away, Kaie tugged her gown over her head and pressed his lips back against hers.

  And, for quite a while, she did make him forget all about Peren.

  When he was done with her, he tugged his pants back on and jerked his cloak out from beneath her sprawled body. Kaie couldn’t remember putting it beneath her, or when they made it to the bottom of the stairs. She smiled up at him lazily, making no efforts to hide her nudity. He let himself enjoy the view for a moment before tying the cloak around his neck.

  His knuckle brushed against wetness under his jaw, and the stinging there reminded him suddenly of the knife she held to his throat. He pulled back his hand and stared at the blood there for a second. “You cut me.”

  “The girl thought about stabbing Kale,” she murmured, rooting around the gloom for her own clothing. “Would he prefer that next time?”

  He shook his head. “Henry’s right. You’re a crazy.”

  She laughed and slid back into her gown, strapping her daggers back against her hip. She brushed past him and sauntered down the passage without a backward glance. Kaie still couldn’t see a single sign marking where they were or what direction they were traveling in, but Mola walked with such certainty that it seemed likely she knew both. So he followed.

  Time was irrelevant in the passes. One lamp looked identical to the next and the turns they took made it impossible to sort out how to get back. For all he knew, she was leading them around in circles. Still, Kaie kept count of each second. At 9,542 – just a bit shy of three hours – she stopped and pointed up.

  Kaie walked up. The door at the top wasn’t in good shape. It wasn’t closed as seamlessly as he expected, the bottom stuck out as much as an inch, and there were scorch marks along the edges that were visible even in the low lighting. This wasn’t the condition he would expect from the door leading to one of the most important people in Hudukul.

  Mola was still sitting at the base of the stairs, leaning her back against the wall just beneath the lamp. It looked like she was picking her fingernails with one of her daggers. He was on his own.

  With a deep breath, Kaie pressed against the door. It was more difficult than any of the others. When it finally gave, he toppled forward and landed hands first into a pile of ash. He climbed to his feet slowly, the misgivings turning into all-out dread. Kaie knew where he was.

  “I am sorry I’ve made you return to this place.” A soft feminine voice drifted across the kitchen. “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that fate does favor circles.”

  He blinked several times, clearing his eyes of ghosts and sought out the speaker. The woman wasn’t nearly as frail as he remembered, though she was every bit as old. Without all the heaps of golden jewelry weighing her down, the lady seemed almost spritely as she crossed the room. Her back was straight and the gown she wore was just as simple as Mola’s, rather than the brightly colored dress that made her look washed out. Her endless white hair was pulled up into a bun, wisps sticking out in every direction. There was no undoing the weather-beaten look to her skin, but her brown eyes were more focused and there was no shaking in her hands anymore. Lady Dau wore adversity well.

  “I’m sure that’s meant to sound profound, but all I’m hearing is an old woman spewing nonsense.”

  She smiled. Even her teeth looked like they were whiter and straighter, though Kaie figured that was most likely just his imagination. “And to think Tou Callo was worried you would try to charm me.”

  He grimaced. “Any chance of that was out as soon as you chose this place.”

  “Was it truly so horrible for you here?”

  “Yes,” he answered flatly. “But you know that. That’s why you picked it. You’re hoping this place will make me easy prey.”

  “If it was my intention, this is your way of telling me it won’t work?”

  “It is.” He smiled viciously. “I’m going to be very difficult.”

  Dau laughed softly and shook her head. “You’re more charming than you realize. Tou was right to warn me.” She composed herself after a moment, though her eyes still sparkled with laughter. “You can set your mind at ease. I didn’t choose this place to hurt you. I didn’t choose it at all, actually. It was selected before I was even born, and you can imagine how long a time that is.”

  His brows knit. “What in the Abyss are you talking about?”

  “Fate, Kaie the Unbroken.” She held up one stick-like finger before he could object. “I’m sorry. Is it Kale the Whore King now?”

  “How do you know that name?” He hissed.

  Her mouth quirked. “I listen. Very, very well. I would suggest you try it, but I expect you are usually too busy talking to hear. But it’s no matter. I’m here, you’re here, the prophesy can unfold as it’s meant to.”

  “What?” Kaie shook his head. Confusing only began to describe the sensation of talking to this crazy old bat.

  “Didn’t anyone bother to tell you? That is a shame. This was all foretold, Kaie. Kale. Really, will you tell me which one you prefer?”

  “Kale,” he answered automatically. “What’s been foretold? By who?”

  “Oh, by a child of Fate, I suppose. No one bothered to keep the name. But Lemme’s bloodline was one of the strongest in Elysium, back in my grandfather’s day. And I’ve never heard of a seer coming from any other. I figure it must have been a son, since it wasn’t cloaked in any of the usual metaphors one expects from a daughter. In the end, it’s of no matter. My grandfather knew it for truth, and he told it to his daughter. She told it to me. And here we are, just as Fate intended. As I said, she seems to have a fondness for circles; ending things where they began and beginning things where they ended.”

  “I don’t understand,” Kaie confessed. Dau smiled.

  “Which part?”

  “Any of it!” He considered for just a moment. “What’s this prophesy about?”

  “It’s not very informative for you, I’m afraid. I knew that I would meet you and that I would do it here, where my grandfather forged his city. But if he knew what we would discuss, he didn’t share it with my mother. Or, maybe she decided not to share it with me. The result is the same.”

  “Really?” He scoffed. “A seer wasted the time to say that the two of us had to talk here, in this burnt out shell?”

  “Actually,” Dau answered, “she said we would talk in the garden.”

  Kaie felt the blood drain from his face. “No.”

  “I’m sorry Kale. “

  “I’m not going in there.”

  “You are. I’m afraid I have to insist.”

  “Then we’re done here,” he snarled, crossin
g his arms over his chest so that she wouldn’t see his hands shaking.

  “That would be a mistake. If you leave now, the one Tou called Silvertongue will find you.”

  Kaie stumbled several steps backward. He threw out his hands without thinking, catching himself on the slightly raised edges of the door. It shut and squeezed the flesh of his palm into the seam. It hurt, but he couldn’t summon the air to curse.

  “He’s looking for me?” Kaie croaked when he managed a breath.

  She frowned, just a little. Like a storm cloud passing over the desert sun. “Hunting might be a better word for it. I’m told he checks the hair of each man he finds. That might be a coincidence, of course, but I think we both know better.”

  He nodded slowly. “And you’re sure? That he’ll find me if I don’t cooperate?”

  “Quite sure.”

  “The prophesy?”

  “No. Nothing so sensational as that. I’d prefer to do this civilly. But if you refuse to cooperate and insist on ending our conversation prematurely, then I will make sure that man knows exactly where to find you.”

  And, in an instant, Kaie was better. Not good. Worlds away from good. But better. This wasn’t some divine finger pressing against him, maneuvering him back into Silvertongue’s possession. This was extortion. That was something he could handle.

  “Alright,” he said, letting out a slow stream of air through clenched teeth. “Garden then.”

  Thirty-Three

  The garden wasn’t how he left it. The fire was never meant to reach so far. How it destroyed the kitchen, blackened the walls of the hall, and consumed every single plant was beyond him. He never intended it to reach beyond the room. The blaze looked to have taken half the manse.

  There was no mistaking the pool in the center. He could smell the fresh, clean water – such a boon in this land. He remembered the feel of the cool liquid soaking into his skin, could almost feel it peeling away the layers of grime and easing the balls of tension all throughout his back.

  His stomach lurched. His mind went blank as his eyes locked on the spot. The spot. There was no sign of what happened here. But he knew it was there. Beneath the surface. The stain was too deep to be cleaned away. Not even fire could remove it. He could taste the copper of his own blood on his lips, could feel the jerk of the Aulis drawing tight against his throat, the blinding pain from where his face was slammed into the stone, Silvertongue’s hand digging into the small of his back …