Heirs of Destiny Box Set

by Andy Peloquin

  “No, but we’re not going to.” Kodyn gave him that confident smile. “The Necroseti made a mistake by sending us to speak to the Pharus. Arch-Guardian Suroth saved his life from the Gatherer attack. He’s going to pay his debt by helping us taken down the Keeper’s Priests.”

  “He said that?” Evren found it a bit hard to believe. From what he’d learned of Shalandra, the Pharus was little more than a figurehead, with the Keeper’s Council in full control of the city.

  Kodyn’s answer confirmed his suspicion. “Well, not in so many words. But he did say that he would do what he could to assist us in our endeavor.”

  Evren pursed his lips. “I guess, coming from someone in his positon, that’s as good as you’re going to get.”

  “Agreed.” Kodyn nodded.

  “And I can call on the Temple of Whispers for help,” Briana put in. “My father was beloved by many of the priests that served under him. I have no doubt they already suspect the Necroseti’s hand, and they have to be aware that the Gatherers are the ones responsible. When I ask them for help, they will give it.” She hesitated. “I hope.”

  “As a member of the Night Guild, I have a relationship with the Black Widow.” Kodyn grew thoughtful. “Though, if I don’t pay her a visit soon to apologize for standing her up yesterday, she might be less inclined to help us.”

  “Don’t forget that you need to deliver the item Suroth gave you,” Aisha spoke up.

  Evren raised an eyebrow, but none of the others seemed inclined to fill him in.

  “I might have someone who can help us,” he said. It seemed fitting that he offer to do his part—he was, after all, somewhat committed to this endeavor. For Hailen’s sake and the sake of the Blade of Hallar, if nothing else. “With information, at least.”

  “Who is this someone?” Kodyn’s expression grew skeptical.

  “His name is Killian.” Evren hesitated a moment. “He’s…a blacksmith.”

  Three blank expressions met his. Briana, Aisha, and Kodyn seemed unimpressed—more skeptical and dubious than anything else.

  “He runs a crew of children called the Mumblers,” Evren continued. “They gather information on everything, everywhere in the city.”

  The faces remained blank.

  Evren sighed. “He’s the one that got me and Hailen assigned to your father’s household.” There, he’d said it, the words he’d dreaded ever since they’d been discovered in Suroth’s office with the Serenii artifact.

  That had a starting effect on Kodyn. “What? I thought you said you were working for the Hunter of Voramis?” His face hardened and his hand dropped toward his sword hilt.

  “I am.” Evren leaned backward, rocking onto the balls of his feet in anticipation of a confrontation. “But when I got to Shalandra, I had no idea how I was going to get into the Vault of Ancients. I ran into this Killian, and he agreed to help me in exchange for…” He hesitated and drew in a deep breath. “…information on your father.”

  Briana’s eyes darkened, and Aisha took a threatening step toward him. “You’re a spy!”

  “Yes!” Evren raised his balled fists into a guard position. “Or, I was, because it was the only thing I could figure out to get me close to the palace and the vault.” He felt no shame, no need to apologize, yet somehow he actually wanted to convince these people to work with him rather than fight. He turned to Lady Briana. “But that’s how I knew that Samall and Kuhar, your father’s servants, were planning something. I tried to follow them to their hideout but—”

  “Hideout!” The words burst from Kodyn’s lips. He smacked his forehead. “I’m such a fool!”

  Evren trailed off, brow furrowing in confusion.

  “I can’t believe I forgot!” Kodyn threw up his hands. “I followed the Gatherers to their hideout on the Artisan’s Tier, which was how I overheard that they were planning an attack on the mansion. I’ve been so focused on what’s been happening that it slipped my mind.”

  Lady Briana’s eyes sparkled. “You know where a Gatherer hideout is?”

  “Yes!” Kodyn’s head bobbed.

  “Then what are you waiting for?” Aisha demanded. “Get there now and see if—”

  “It won’t do any good,” Evren said in a quiet voice.

  All three whirled toward him and demanded in unison. “What?”

  Evren shook his head. “Killian told me that the Gatherers never use the same place twice. It’s why he’s had such a hard time trying to track them down.”

  Three faces fell, radiating disappointment.

  “If they did use the hideout, they’ll be long gone by now.”

  “No.” Kodyn’s jaw took on a stubborn set. “I can’t just believe that. There’s no way that many people can just disappear without a trace.”

  Evren shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll go with you, if you want. Maybe we can find something.”

  A hint of suspicion flashed through Kodyn’s eyes. Evren met his gaze calmly—he’d just told them that he was a spy, so a bit of mistrust was to be expected. Yet, if they were to work together to achieve their mutual ends, they’d have to start trusting him. And he’d have to start trusting them, though that would prove much harder. Not for his own sake, but for Hailen’s. He could fight his own battles, keep an eye out for any daggers aimed at his back. But he couldn’t do that and worry about keeping Hailen safe. His only hope lay in earning their trust and forcing himself to trust them.

  “So be it.” Kodyn finally said with a nod. “We’ll go at first light.”

  “You want to wait until day?” Evren arched an eyebrow. “The longer we wait—”

  “Tracking is harder at night.” Kodyn shook his head. “I’m no Hound, so if we want any hope of finding anything, we’ve got to do it in daylight.”

  Evren shot a glance out the window. Daybreak was still hours off—he could use a bit of sleep after the last few intense days.

  “So be it.” He let out a long breath. “But we leave before dawn.”

  “Agreed,” Kodyn said. “The house is just west of Commerce Square. We can be there when the sun rises, then I’ll have time to meet up with the Black Widow.”

  “Maybe I should meet her, too,” Evren said. “After all, if we’re going to be working together, it might be worth introducing me to her. And,” he said as an afterthought, “I can introduce you to Killian. The blacksmith and his Mumblers are going to be crucial, at least when it comes to keeping eyes and ears on the streets of Shalandra.”

  “So you’ll help us, then?” Lady Briana asked. Hope shone in her eyes as she looked at Hailen. “Both of you?”

  Evren shot a glance at Hailen, who nodded. “Yes,” he said. The words came hard, but he spoke them anyway. “We’ll help you.”

  “Thank you.” Lady Briana stood and came toward him. “When we met, you were a servant in the house of a Dhukari. Now, you are the welcome guest and ally of a Zadii.” She held out a hand. “And, hopefully, a friend.”

  Evren shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you properly, Lady Briana.”

  “Just Briana now.” She gave a little laugh, humor tinged with sorrow.

  Kodyn held out his hand next. “Might be good to have a spy on our side now.”

  Aisha clasped his hand last. “You’ve joined a bloody difficult fight, but it’s too late to back out now.” She grinned. “By the looks of you, you’ve got the stones to do just fine.” She turned to Hailen. “Both of you.”

  Evren returned the smile. “Let’s just hope we live long enough to regret throwing in our lot with you all, eh?”

  He meant it as a joke, but even as the words left his mouth, he couldn’t help feeling like he’d just jumped overboard to save a drowning man, without so much as a scrap of floating debris to cling to.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Please.” The voice filtered into Aisha’s consciousness, pulling her from a dreamless sleep. “Do not let me be forgotten.”

  She awoke, dread coursing through her. The voice couldn’t belong to Briana,
who slept on the bed. Nor Kodyn, Evren, or Hailen, who had taken up positions in the corridor or occupied the house’s second room.

  It belonged to the dead.

  Aisha fought the urge to return to sleep. She had accepted her calling as Umoyahlebe, a Spirit Whisperer. If the spirits called to her, she must answer.

  She sat up and opened her eyes, scanning the pre-dawn darkness of the room for the source of the voice. Her gaze fell upon the blue-white form of sitting on the windowsill. A thin woman, perhaps in her third or fourth decade, with a delicate face and slim shoulders. Blue blisters dotted her body, and thin streams of crimson trickled from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

  As Aisha’s mind slipped into full wakefulness, she could almost feel the veil to Pharadesi, the world of the Kish’aa, closing and cutting her off from contact with the spirit. The woman’s empty eyes fixed on her but Aisha could not hear the sounds from her lips.

  Aisha’s stomach tightened. She wanted to tell the spirit that she could do nothing, that she could not hear her pleas, but that would be a lie. She had a means of listening to the spirits—a means that would cost her dearly, as it had cost her father.

  Yet she had made her choice. Reaching into her pack, she drew a single bright blue Whispering Lily petal. She had only five more, and now that Angrak inhabited Suroth’s mansion, she had no way to replenish her store. She’d have to be sparing in her usage.

  She crushed the petal in her fist and swallowed the dried fragments. The fragrance filled her nostrils and the drop of aromatic oil coated her tongue. Slowly, the world around her fell silent, until only she and the spirit existed.

  “…not let me be forgotten.” The sound sharpened in Aisha’s ears, from a dull humming to a whisper, so faint as to be nearly imperceptible, yet clear as if the spirit spoke in her ear. No, not her ears—her mind. The Kish’aa communicated not through earthly means; their voices echoed in the thoughts of those attuned to hear them.

  Aisha shot a glance at the sleeping Briana, then whispered, “What is your name?”

  “So few to remember my name,” the spirit replied, her tone mournful. “Forgotten soon, lost to time. Lost before I have my vengeance.”

  “Vengeance?” Aisha cocked her head. “You died of disease, did you not?”

  The spirit stood and her simple robes fell away, revealing a wasted frame covered with blue blisters that oozed pus. “Must have my vengeance.”

  Aisha felt her hand stretching out of its own accord, and the spirit floated toward her. The moment the blue-white form touched her hand, Aisha felt power flare to life within her finger. Like a jolt of lightning, it shot up her arm, through her shoulders, and into the core of her being, where it settled like a single glowing coal. When Aisha looked down at her hands, she could see the little spark of the woman’s life dancing through her veins. A faint pulse, yet present in the back of Aisha’s mind. The spirit’s desire for vengeance thrummed within her.

  But vengeance for what? Aisha didn’t understand what the woman wanted. She had succumbed to the same illness as the spirits that clustered around the Sanctuary. The blue blisters that rotted her from the inside out had killed her. There could be no vengeance against disease—it killed without distinction, uncaring of such mundane trifles as caste or rank.

  So why do all the spirits cry out for vengeance and justice, then? It made no sense, like so much of her gift. All she could do was fumble through the darkness, alone, trying to understand an incomprehensible power.

  She rose to a crouch and studied the windowsill where the spirit had been perched. Carved into the stone, she saw two names—Thimara and Uryan—joined together in a heart. As she read the name Thimara, she felt a jolt as if the spirit recognized its own name.

  So what is it that you want me to do, Thimara? Aisha glanced up at the spirit hovering near the window. Tell me, and I will—

  “Aisha?”

  Aisha whirled at the sound of Kodyn’s voice coming from the door.

  “Everything okay?” Kodyn’s brow was furrowed in mingled confusion and concern.

  Aisha nodded and slipped out of Briana’s room, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. She shut the door behind her and turned to Kodyn. “Just had a hard time sleeping, after everything that’s going on.”

  “I get that.” Kodyn gave her a tight smile.

  Aisha knew that expression—she’d seen it on his face a dozen times since they left Praamis, his way of telling her that he knew something was going on with her but was willing to accept her answer. She owed him the truth…soon.

  “Evren and I are headed out to the Gatherers’ hideout,” Kodyn told her in a quiet voice.

  “Good,” Aisha replied. “At first light, I’ll wake Briana and get to the Temple of Whispers. See what sort of help we can drum up from the Secret Keepers that served with her father.”

  “So be it.” Kodyn held her gaze a long moment. “You’ll take the Keeper’s Blade, Hykos, with you?”

  Aisha grimaced. “We’ll stick out like a zabara hiding in a wild indigo patch.”

  Kodyn chuckled. “True, but at least she’ll be safe.” His eyes went to the figure of the sleeping girl, then returned to Aisha. “Both of you. I’m sure the Gatherers know that you’re the reason their attempt to snatch Briana failed the other night. They might come after you in vengeance for their fallen comrades.”

  “Let them.” Aisha shrugged. “There’s not much they can do on the streets in broad daylight. If they’re stupid enough to risk it, I’ve been looking for a way to take out my irritation at Angrak and the rest of the Keeper’s Council.”

  Kodyn said nothing, but again that expression flashed across his face as his eyes fixed on her. She could feel the worry and concern for her radiating off him, a trait that had endeared him to her since they first met years earlier. He never tried to shelter or protect her as if she were some hapless babe, yet he’d always done what he could to be her support when needed.

  “I know I’ve been a bit off since Praamis,” she told him. “I will tell you everything when the time is right, I promise.”

  He took a step closer, until he stood an arm’s length away. “You’ll let me know if there’s anything I can do?” he asked, his tone earnest. His hand fluttered by his side, as if he wanted to reach out toward her. “Whatever it is, you don’t have to deal with it alone.”

  She gave him a sad smile. “That’s where you’re wrong. This is my burden to bear.”

  “I don’t know what it is,” he said, “but I swear that I’ll do everything to help you, whatever’s going on.” He hesitantly reached out and took her hand. “I’m with you, Aisha. Always. No matter what.”

  “Thank you.” She returned the grip, grateful for the simple reassurance of his presence. “That means more than you can know.” Dropping his hand, she gave a little shooing gesture. “Now get out of here. That Gatherer’s hideout isn’t going to scout itself.”

  Kodyn’s smile didn’t drive the worry from his eyes, but he nodded and turned to go. Aisha caught a glimpse of the other young man, Evren, waiting for Kodyn. Together, the two of them slipped down the stairs in silence.

  Aisha blew out a breath and, slipping back into the room, settled onto her bedding on the floor. She couldn’t sleep, not after her encounter with the spirit.

  Thimara, she repeated the name in her mind. What do you want me to do?

  The spirit’s mouth moved, but the effects of the single Whispering Lily petal had already begun to fade. Just in time for the sunrise. As the first rays of dawn light filtered through the papyrus-covered window, Aisha stood and bent over Briana. “Wake up,” she whispered and shook the girl’s shoulder.

  Briana’s eyes popped open and she sat upright, so fast she nearly clipped Aisha’s chin with the top of her head. “Where are they?” she demanded. Her hand scrabbled beneath her pillow, as if in search of a dagger, a wild panic shining in her eyes. “Where are they coming from?”

  “Easy.” Aisha held up empty hands and shook
her head. “There is no one coming, no danger. You are safe.”

  The words took a moment to register, and Aisha could see logic fighting against Briana’s instinctive panic. Slowly, the tension faded from the Shalandran girl’s face and shoulders. “Oh.” A flush rose to her cheeks. “I thought…”

  “It’s okay.” Aisha sat on the bed beside Briana, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “If I’d been through half of what have, I’d be wary, too.”

  Briana shook her head. “But you have, and more besides. What you told me in the garden, about your captivity by the Bloody Hand.” She searched Aisha’s eyes. “How are you not terrified all the time?”

  Aisha blew out a long breath and silence hung between them for a long moment. Finally, she said, “For months afterward, I was scared even of my own shadow.” The fear still existed deep within her—more than just a memory, a living thing that she still battled to control. The battle had grown easier with time, but she knew it would always be there. “Down in the tunnels of the Night Guild where it’s always dark, I was always reminded of the lightless places where I was held captive.”

  “So what did you do?” Briana asked. “I look at you now and all I see is a warrior, unafraid of anything or anyone. You took down more than a dozen Gatherers by yourself. How did you go from this—” She held out a hand to show Aisha the tremor that shook it. “—to the fearless warrior you are today?”

  Again, silence stretched on as Aisha thought. “I think, in the end, it all comes down to time. It took me months just to feel safe around my own people, girls that I’d spent weeks locked up with. I couldn’t help feeling that at any moment I was going to wake up from a Bonedust dream and I’d be back in those filthy warehouse brothels, chained to my bed. It took me more than a year before I felt safe walking the Night Guild tunnels alone.” Her expression grew musing. “But do you know what made the most difference?”

  “What?” Eager curiosity sparkled in Briana’s eyes.