The Myatheira Chronicles: The Vor'shai: From the Ashes (Volume 1)

by Melissa Collins

  Chapter Seventeen

  The journey home was devoid of conversation. Leyna struggled to grasp the truth of what she had witnessed and experienced at Damir’s hands, never having seen anything like it before. And to think Arcastus was stronger! Leyna shuddered to imagine what he would be capable of if restored to life.

  It seemed like it shouldn’t be possible to revive him, even with Damir’s strange magic. Time would have deteriorated the corpse beyond recognition or repair. His soul should have been collected by the Goddess Sytlea and taken to her home in the Underworld, leaving him nothing but an empty shell of the man he once was in life. To force breath back into the rotted flesh and bone would be simply animating a mindless skeleton.

  Oksuva insisted on privacy upon reaching Siscal. Her belongings were moved into a room at one of the more expensive inns in the city, where she shut herself behind her door, refusing the company of even her sister.

  Not far from Malic’s Tavern, a weathered building housed an inn that served the middle class. Directing the carriage to stop at the entrance, Zander gazed solemnly at Leyna, the uncertainty showing plain on his face. “This is where Kael was said to be staying while we were out of town. The clerk should be able to direct you to his room and provide you with a key. That is, if he is still here. Do you want me to come in with you in case there is any trouble?”

  “I will be fine,” she smiled, the expression faint and unconvincing. “The worst they can do is deny me a key. He will open the door if I knock.”

  “Then I will wait outside to make sure this is the right place.”

  “That will not be necessary. If he is not here, I will enjoy the fresh air and exercise in searching him out.”

  Zander hesitated. “And if he is not at any of the inns? What would you do?”

  “He will be at one of them. Where else do you think he would go?” Leyna chortled. Patting him reassuringly on the shoulder, she stepped through the carriage door, grateful for the feeling of her feet on solid ground, her legs aching from the long ride.

  They had left immediately from their meeting with Damir. She felt sticky and uncomfortable in the same dress she’d worn to the cemetery, having no chance to change during the journey. The corset was digging into her skin, pressing painfully against her lower ribs. It would take days to recuperate from the discomfort it was causing.

  “We will talk tomorrow, then,” he replied quietly. Leyna gave a short nod before turning away to face the inn. The familiar churning in her stomach had returned, adding to the pressure already afflicting her from the stays of the corset. It had been over three weeks since she’d seen Kael. She hoped that in her absence he had begun the cleansing process, ridding him of the taint of sorcery and returning the man she’d fallen for so long ago.

  It was obvious by the bustling crowds that the day was drawing to a close. People hurried in and out of surrounding stores, the sound of loud conversations and raucous laughter reaching her ears from Malic’s Tavern. A dull ache built in her heart at the thought of the crowd inside. Sharing drinks and passing stories of the day, reminiscing of times past. She missed the days when she’d been a part of it all. Even with the ongoing war, they had been carefree, enjoying the company of their friends, thankful to just be alive.

  With a wistful sigh she made her way through the entrance of the inn, the muddy hem of her dress dragging along the wooden floor behind her. Smiling, the Siscalian clerk greeted her, his hazel eyes friendly and welcoming. “What can I do for you this evening?”

  “I believe a man by the name of Kael Hadaren has a room here. I am to meet him this evening. I am his… wife.”

  Rummaging through a journal on the desk, the man peered over the top of his spectacles, lips pursed in concentration. “I do show him here.” His chair scraped across the hard floor as he reached for a key on a nail poking from the wall behind him, handing it to her with a smile. “Second floor. Third room on the right just up the stairs.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Leyna breathed in relief. While fresh air sounded pleasant to her when first exiting the carriage, her desire to lie down and sleep overpowered it. She was exhausted. The strain of the long trip and the stress of the situation were draining her. It would be easier to think of a plan after a full night of rest in a bed, rather than the rocking carriage she’d been confined to for the last week.

  She found it difficult to lift her legs to carry herself up the stairs. They were steep, making her progress slow and tiresome. Third room on the right. Her eyes fell on it, shoulders relaxing, sinking down at the sight. She couldn’t get to it fast enough. Oh, glorious sleep awaited her! Freedom from the restricting garments that she had been trapped in for days.

  Anxiously, she turned the key in the lock. In her mind, she could envision Kael’s face, lighting up to see her, the soft green of his eyes restored to their old vigor and shine, his arms wrapping around her lovingly. A smile crossed her lips as she stepped through the door, opening her mouth to speak excitedly. But no words came.

  Her voice was silenced instantly at what she saw there in the room, the smile fading in a single, paralyzing moment. Her body froze, numbed of all the pain and discomfort that had plagued her up until then. On the bed she saw the horrified expression on Kael’s face, matching that which covered the familiar, petite features of Reina, clutching desperately at the blankets to cover her exposed body from view.

  “Eleni,” Kael gasped, pushing Reina off of him abruptly. “I didn’t know you were even on your way back here.”

  Grasping at her stomach, she tried to pull the corset out away from her body. She couldn’t breathe. The feeling was miserable, the restraining clothing only adding to it, causing her to become dizzy, wobbling on her feet. She wanted to walk over to the bed and strike him. To pull Reina from under the covers by her hair and drag her across the floor.

  Reina! To think she would do something like this. The little girl that she had cared for all those years in Carpaen. Had she taught her nothing of being a lady? And the teachers at the orphanage, it had been their duty as well. But no, she should have known Reina was not the innocent girl she’d been back then. That had been made clear the night they first spoke in Siscal.

  “What do you think you are doing, Reina?” she exclaimed, finally finding the breath to speak. “Have you no dignity? No decency or respect for your own body? Your reputation?”

  “I serve drinks in a tavern. My job is to entertain the men and give them something to look at while they lose themselves in their ale. What do you think my reputation is, exactly?” Reina scoffed. Her slender hands tugged the blankets up further, pressing them tightly against her neck.

  Kael was already on his feet, fastening his trousers around his waist. “Eleni,” he started, becoming suddenly aware of the conversation passing between the two girls. Glancing from one to the other, Leyna could see the confusion in his eyes, but she didn’t care to explain anything to him. “How do you two know each other?”

  “You are not in any position to be asking questions,” Leyna snapped through gritted teeth. Her head was spinning. Placing her hand on her forehead, she tried to steady herself, to make sense of what was happening. But there was no sense to be made of it. “What the hell is this Kael? I thought we worked through whatever had been wrong before I left. We were going to make things work. Have you changed your mind?”

  Making his way over to Leyna, Kael wrapped his arms around her. “Eleni, you don’t understand. It isn’t what it looks like. I can explain everything.” She could smell the wine on his breath. Suffocating her with its stench.

  “Explain?” she shouted. She tried to push him away with all the strength she could manage. The thought of his touch disgusted her. “What else could it be other than what it looks like? I am not a fool, Kael.”

  Heat shot through her body, radiating up into the tips of her ears, her skin turning red, flushed with rage and humiliation. How could he have done this to her? How could he claim to love her and then continue to dr
ive them further apart? Winding back her arm, she brought her hand across his face, stinging her own skin with the impact.

  A brief moment of silence fell on the room while Kael’s drunken mind registered what she’d done. His face contorted in a look of pure, menacing rage, grabbing her shoulders tightly in his hands, his fingers digging into her skin painfully. She cried out, choking on her own scream as she felt her back slammed against the wall near the door. “How dare you raise a hand to your husband!” he yelled, thick spittle shooting from his mouth with the words.

  She couldn’t escape the darkness in his eyes, staring through her. It wasn’t him. This was not the man she had spoken to that afternoon before she left for Kaipoi. Not a hint of the gentle green remained, replaced by a dull grey which completely enveloped the iris, like a hazy shadow.

  Through the fog of her thoughts she could hear the sound of footsteps pounding over the floorboards of the room. Frantically Reina collected her clothing, dressing herself, unable to tear her eyes away from Kael holding Leyna securely against the wall. Leyna could see the fear in her expression. Her naivety had prevented her from seeing exactly what this man was. It was too late now. Reina’s fingers reached for the door beside them, pulling it open, only to have it slammed shut by Kael’s hand, moving at lightning speed before she could get through it.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he hissed.

  Reina’s scream resounded across the room, piercing through Leyna’s head. Her hand was free. In his attempts to prevent Reina from leaving, he’d released his grip on her, his focus directed toward Reina’s trembling form, shaking uncontrollably in front of the door.

  In that moment, Leyna was taken back to the days she and Reina had spent in Carpaen, relying on each other to get through the misery their lives had been thrust into. Reina had been so young. The reality of life hadn’t truly hit her. All she understood was that they couldn’t go home and that her father and sister would never again be seen. The confusion and anger she’d harbored all of these years had made her the woman she was now, scared and alone, trying to make her way in a world that had never made sense to her. Leyna couldn’t hate her for the choices she made.

  While Kael was distracted, Leyna let her free hand slide over to the door, tentatively wrapping her fingers around the knob. Reina caught her eye, trying not to draw attention to what was going on.

  Kael was reaching out to Reina. Panic rushed through Leyna, watching the inky black aura building up over his hand. It pained her to see him like that. But it wasn’t him. Somewhere in the depths of the alcohol and the shadow, she prayed the man she cared for was still there, fighting to get his body back from this creature that had possessed it.

  Steeling her resolve, she drove her knee hard into his groin, the reaction to the pain somewhat delayed before he doubled forward, his dark eyes flashing angrily at her. Reina lunged forward, pushing him off balance, a grunt escaping him as he tumbled to the ground.

  “Go!” Leyna shouted, twisting the knob on the door. They burst through into the hallway, racing down the stairs to the lobby and out into the street, afraid to look back, in fear of seeing Kael’s face behind them. Reina clasped Leyna’s hand in hers, pulling her toward Malic’s. “We will be safe in the tavern. He wouldn’t dare attack us in front of all those people.”

  As they pushed through the tavern door, the familiar outline of Zander’s carriage stood out to Leyna, stopped near the side of the building on a small side street leading deeper into the city. Silently she prayed he would see them.

  Every head in the room turned to look at them as they entered, frantic and out of breath. Pausing just inside the door, Reina straightened her dress, running her fingers through her hair in attempts to appear casual, a charming smile on her face. The regulars of the tavern recognized her, lifting their glasses to her jovially in greeting.

  Leyna couldn’t get the room to stop spinning. It was becoming worse, building rapidly. Unable to fight the dizziness, her vision faded to black, the feeling of the floor rapidly coming up to meet her face as her mind gave in to the pull of unconsciousness.

  A strong stench roused Leyna to consciousness, her eyes opening to find her lying on the bed in her room at Zander’s house. Reina was standing at her side, clasping her hand tightly while Zander held a small vial under Leyna’s nose, pulling it back at the sight of her eyes snapping open.

  Everything flooded back into her mind. She could still see the darkness in Kael’s eyes, the shadowy aura building around his hand while he held her there against the wall. He was a monster. His behavior was no better than what she had witnessed from Mikel. It was obvious they’d been working closely for many years for Mikel’s habits to have rubbed off on him so completely.

  “Zander, we cannot let Gislan see Reina here,” she gasped, trying to sit up on the bed. Zander hushed her softly, his hands pressing her back down.

  “Gislan is out in search of some new man to entertain her for the evening. I don’t expect her home for some time, and if she surprises us, we know we can fit this young lady through the window,” he said. “Now, would either of you like to explain to me what is going on? Without hysterics, preferably.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do,” Reina grumbled.

  “Where is Kael? Was he not in his room?” Zander closed the vial in his hand with a small cork, setting it down on the floor next to the bed where he was kneeling. “You’re lucky I decided to stick around even though you told me to leave.”

  Leyna laughed pathetically, leaning her head back down against the pillow, her eyes gazing up at the solid white ceiling overhead. “My arrival interrupted him. It would seem he was not expecting me. However, I still have some questions of my own in regards to that.”

  “I had no idea he was your husband,” Reina said defensively, glancing nervously over to Zander. “If I had known, I never would have become involved with him. But he has been following me for weeks now. Asking about you. I remembered seeing him at the table with you that night at Malic’s, when you told me that those people didn’t know who you really were. So when he started questioning me about the woman I mistook you for, I was hesitant to answer him.”

  “Oh, gods,” Leyna whispered. Her heart sank in her chest, twisting the invisible knife that had already begun to stab through it. Was that what Kyros had asked of him? To investigate her? “He is not my husband. But that is not important. What did you say? Did you tell him who I am?”

  Reina shook her head. “No. I assumed he was just another one of the men you spoke of. I didn’t want to risk them coming after you, but when he still pursued me, I thought I could try and get some information out of him as well. It seemed more easily accomplished by getting closer to him. I don’t understand. I thought he said he was your husband…”

  “He was more than likely doing the same thing to you. But that doesn’t tell me anything about what happened,” Zander frowned. “I’ve picked up that you are the woman who was sleeping with Kael. I recommend not asking questions about marital status right now. We have bigger things to worry about.”

  Climbing back to his feet, Zander began a slow pace across the floor. His eyes darted nervously toward the door with every turn. Leyna could sense his unease with the situation. And who could blame him? He was stuck in the middle of something he knew nothing about, but potentially could destroy everything they had worked toward all these years. “So why would Kael be interested in Leyna?”

  With a sharp intake of air, Leyna sat up, her eyes following Zander’s movement back and forth from the door to the window. “Because Kyros is interested in me,” she shrugged. “I cannot say for sure, but Kael mentioned before I left that Kyros had requested him to do something for him. He wouldn’t elaborate on it.”

  “But I thought you said it was Damir who knew you…”

  “They both do,” she sighed. “Kyros was with the assassins who killed my mother and Reina’s family.” Her throat contracted, tensing with the emotion which fi
lled her at the memories. The scars on her back tingled, sending a shiver down her spine, her head shaking to get rid of the image of Kyros’s face. “Kyros was supposed to kill me, and failed. Reina’s sister knocked him unconscious before he could finish the job. I was nine at the time. From the moment I recognized him, I have feared he would see the resemblance between me and the child he chased through the house that day. If he didn’t draw the connection right away, then hearing the name might have done it for him. It is only a matter of time now before they figure out who I am.”

  “We need to remove you from the mission then. It’s too dangerous.” Zander paused in the center of the room. His eyes were focused on Leyna. Solemn. An expression she wasn’t used to seeing cross his features. “The only option for you is to either return to Dalonshire, or go into hiding. Anything that will get you out of their sight. My suggestion would be whatever gets you free without having to go back to Mikel. Honestly, he doesn’t exactly seem much better than these people.”

  Leyna stared at him. Making no movement at all, she held his gaze, her anger rising at the thought of having to give everything up and run away. She couldn’t hide in a trunk the way she did as a child. She had to face these men or they would just keep killing, the same way they killed her mother. Only this time it would be her entire race they slaughtered, while she sat in the darkness of that little box.

  She refused to run and hide. Not while there was still a chance she could help take them down. “I can’t just walk away from this. You have to understand how important this is to me –”

  “It’s important to all of us! But you will do little good to your people if you are dead. Don’t you see that? If these men want you dead, then we need to keep you away from them so that you can continue to help us fight them.”

  “And how do I fight them if I am hiding?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed angrily. “Do I just lie down somewhere under a bed and pray things work out? My mother had that same idea for me. Hide away so they can’t find me. You see how well that worked out. She’s dead because I couldn’t face them.”