A lump rose to his throat, mangling his words. He pressed his lips into a tight line so she wouldn’t notice the way they trembled. Tears pricked in his eyes, and long moments of silence passed as he wrestled with the sudden swell of emotions.
“As much as I try to fool myself,” he finally said in a hoarse whisper, “I’m not as strong as you are.”
Aisha’s jaw dropped. “As strong as me?” Incredulity and surprise furrowed her brow.
“Look at you.” He gestured to her tall, well-built frame, her strong arms and shoulders. “You’ve got the form of a warrior, but that’s only a fraction of your strength. I don’t think I could endure even half the things you went through, yet somehow you’re still the strongest person I know. Even now, as you’re dealing with…” He hesitated. “…whatever it is that’s been troubling you since Praamis, you’re fighting through it and more than pulling your weight in our battle against the Gatherers and Necroseti. I think I would have crumbled long ago, but you’re—”
Aisha moved so suddenly he had no time to react. Her hands clasped his face and she pressed a kiss to his lips.
In that instant, everything in the world disappeared. Kodyn’s mind spun, reeling beneath the sudden rush of sensations coursing through him. Her skin was so warm, her lips soft and sweet on his. Fire and ice warred in the core of his being. His breath froze in his lungs. Lightning crackled through every muscle, setting him alight from the roots of his hair all the way down to his toes. Time stood still and nothing existed but him and Aisha, locked together in a moment of blissful eternity.
Eternity ended far too soon. Aisha broke off the kiss and pulled back, a hint of color rushing to her face.
Long seconds passed as Kodyn struggled to find words. Finally, he managed to stammer out. “W-What was that?”
“A thank you.” Aisha spoke in a quiet, almost subdued voice, her dark eyes locked with his.
Kodyn’s kiss-benumbed mind struggled to comprehend the meaning of those words. “For what?” Not that he minded—quite the contrary, it had been as wonderful as he’d imagined it for years—but her response confused him.
“For just being you.” Aisha sat back, but somehow her fingers had found his own, intertwining with his, so strong and warm. “I know I’ve been difficult, and I’ve kept my…thing a secret from you.”
Her expression grew earnest. “But not because of anything you’ve done or said. On the contrary, you’ve only been supportive, patient, and understanding. Honestly, that’s one of the few things that have kept me going through all of it. I’ve always known that when I was ready to tell you, you’d be there to listen.”
“I swear it!” Kodyn squeezed her hand, keenly aware of the sensations tingling down his fingers from the touch of her skin. “You’ve always had my back, and you have to know that I’ll always have yours, no matter what.” A small smile split his lips. “You just tell me where to find the body and I’ll make it disappear.”
Aisha laughed, a cheerful sound, brighter than anything he’d heard from her in weeks. “See? That’s exactly what I mean. You’re the best friend I could have asked for. Not just because you’re there for me, but because you do it without asking anything in return.”
Warmth flooded Kodyn and rushed to his face. He felt as if he’d burn up, yet not with embarrassment, but joy.
“I think I’m ready.” Aisha drew in a deep breath, her jaw taking on a stubborn set. “I’m ready to tell you the truth.”
Kodyn turned to face her and wrapped his fingers tighter around hers. “Whatever it is, Aisha, I’ll do anything you need me to. Anything.”
Aisha smiled. “I know.” She lifted her free hand to his cheek, hesitance in her movements, so unlike her usual strong, decisive nature. Yet the moment her warm palm touched his flesh, a tingle ran down Kodyn’s spine. “Just like I know that no matter what, you won’t think I’m crazy.”
Her gaze dropped away, a hint of something dark and unspoken burning in her eyes. The ominous words sent a ripple of worry through Kodyn but he schooled his expression. Whatever Aisha wrestled with had her concerned. He wouldn’t let his fears for her add to the burden that weighed on her.
Silence stretched on for a long moment, no longer tense but heavy with the seriousness of what was to come. Kodyn waited patiently, offering the only things he could: the reassurance of his presence and the knowledge that he wouldn’t judge her. She would speak when ready.
Finally, Aisha drew in a deep breath and lifted her eyes to meet his. “I am a Spirit Whisperer. I can speak to the spirits of the dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aisha searched Kodyn’s face for a reaction. He had remained silent for the last fifteen minutes as she recounted everything—from the discovery of her Umoyahlebe powers in Praamis to seeing the Kish’aa in Rosecliff to her interactions with Radiana, Eldesse, Osirath, and Thimara. He’d stared at the blue-white stone in the pendant with that same blank expression.
Please, say something! She had never felt so vulnerable in her life—not even when chained to a bed in a filthy warehouse. Then, she’d fought to protect her mind even if her body was exposed. Here, she had bared her heart and soul to the one person in the world that could hurt her more than anyone. If he rejected her, mocked her, called her insane, she didn’t know if she could bear it.
“Wow!” Kodyn breathed. “That’s…”
Aisha’s gut clenched. He thinks it’s madness. She tried to retreat, to build up the defensive walls she’d just pulled down for him. It was the only way to protect herself from being hurt by his response.
“Amazing!” Kodyn’s eyebrows shot upward.
Aisha nearly wept in relief. Her worst fears hadn’t come true—one look at the wonder sparkling in his honey-colored eyes made her want to kiss him again.
Excitement shone on his face. “So you’re not only talking to the spirits of the dead—these Kish’aa—but you can actually use their energy. Like shoot fire from your hands?”
“Not fire.” She shook her head. “The closest I can compare it to is lightning, but—”
“Even better!” Kodyn leapt to his feet. “Forget fighting the Gatherers with swords or trying to take down the Necroseti through Lady Callista.” He grinned so wide Aisha thought his head would explode. “Anyone messes with us, we can just send you in to burn all their asses with a bolt of power!”
“It doesn’t quite work like that,” Aisha said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not calling down lightning from the sky, like in those legends your mother used to read you.”
Kodyn’s excitement diminished a fraction and color rose to his cheeks.
Aisha grinned. “Yes, Ria told me about those. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” Her wry grin faded. “The truth is that I don’t really understand how it all works yet. My father couldn’t really explain it clearly.”
“Because of the…” He scrunched up his face, trying to remember the word. “…the Unshackling, right?”
“The Inkuleko, yes.” Aisha winced at the painful memory of her father’s dull, vacant stare and slack features. “And Imbuka told me that I must travel alone on my journey with the Kish’aa.”
“Damn that!” Kodyn growled. He threw himself onto the bench beside her and fixed her with a piercing, intense stare. “There’s no way we’re letting you deal with this alone, Aisha. You’ve already had to carry the weight on your own for so long. Whatever we can do to help you figure…” He waved his hand in a vague gesture. “…all this out, we’re going to do it. I swear!”
Aisha was keenly aware of Kodyn’s face a finger’s breadth from hers, and her eyes went to his lips—the lips she’d just kissed a few minutes earlier. She didn’t know what had made her do it; an impulse, driven by her relief at his escaping death, gratitude for his staunch friendship and loyalty, and something more, something deep down in the core of her being that had grown steadily over the past three years. She didn’t regret her instinctive action, but it hadn’t been something she’d p
lanned. Now, hearing his response and seeing the earnest look on his face, the fierce desire to support her burning in his eyes, it just cemented those feelings.
“Thank you.” She spoke in a quiet voice, a surge of emotions welling up within her. Relief mingled with joy, accompanied by a sense of remorse that she hadn’t opened up to him sooner. She had borne the burden for so long, but in the span of a single day, she had begun to share it with the people that mattered most to her. The weight lifted from her shoulders and it felt as if she could draw breath for the first time in what seemed an eternity.
“So that pendant,” Kodyn said, his eyes going to the blue-white stone necklace, “that’s a Serenii artifact, right? You think Suroth’s journal has something to say about it?”
“That’s what Briana said.” Aisha nodded. “She hadn’t yet found anything, but she was going to start looking. Now that she’s no longer trying to solve the matter of the Whispering Lily, she’ll have time to focus on it.”
“Does she know about the Shadow Root?” Kodyn’s forehead scrunched up. “Did you tell her what Imbuka told you?”
Aisha frowned. “No,” she said. “It’s odd that it slipped my mind. We got to talking about the Whispering Lily when she told me what Evren found about the poison in the Hall of Bounty.”
Kodyn’s face hardened. “Let’s hope he gets back with the Secret Keepers soon, then. It’s not just about stopping the effects—though that’s definitely a priority, given what Evren said about it killing people quickly. But Master Scorpion once told me that poisons were like paintings. He said ‘Any idiot alchemist can brew up a crude poison, but a well-made toxin is a work of art, the handiwork of a master.’ Basically, finding out what the poison is might be able to help us find out who made it. If we can do that, we’ll be able to unmask the culprits—Necroseti, Gatherers, Ybrazhe, or whoever is doing it.”
“Damn right.” Aisha nodded. The spark of Thimara’s life filled her with burning heat; the Secret Keeper demanded vengeance for her death.
“But that actually kind of reinforces my point about the Shadow Root,” Kodyn continued.
Aisha’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Kodyn drew in a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, his expression contemplative. “During the months I spent with the Scorpions, I learned a few things about making poisons, but also potions and remedies. Many toxins and acids are just a distillation of potent substances, breaking it down into its various alchemical components. However, healing remedies tend to combine various substances with different effects. For example, the mixture of lavender oil and aloe vera to soothe a serious burn.”
Aisha’s eyebrows shot up. “You think combining Shadow Root and Whispering Lily could work?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Kodyn shrugged. “But if, as Imbuka said, Shadow Root somehow mutes the voices of the spirits, there has to be something in it that affects your Spirit Whisperer abilities.” He threw up his hands. “Mixing the two ingredients might do something. I’m not an alchemist or a Secret Keeper, but—”
Aisha threw her arms around his neck and kissed him a second time. Again, it was an impulse, but it felt as right as it had last time. He had just given her something she hadn’t truly had in a long time: hope.
She broke off this kiss faster. “Thank you!” A warm glow suffused her to the core.
Imbuka had warned her against the Whispering Lily, but if she could somehow find a way to balance its effects with Shadow Root, it could offer hope. Not just for her and her burgeoning Umoyahlebe powers, but for anyone touched by the power of the Kish’aa.
Kodyn colored to the roots of his dark hair. “Remind me to offer half-formed ideas more often.” He touched an absent-minded hand to his lips and a stupefied smile broadened his face.
Her retort about “all his ideas-being half-formed” died unspoken as the stone wall of the chamber slid open and Ennolar and the sour-faced Uryan entered.
Aisha threw herself to her feet, blushing furiously. She wasn’t embarrassed about being caught kissing Kodyn—Ghandians had none of the Praamian prudishness—but at her vulnerable emotional state. She still felt raw from baring her soul to Kodyn. His reaction had proven it worth the effort, yet now the Secret Keepers found her with her guard down.
“Twice in the span of a day, we have been summoned like novices to the Arch-Guardian’s office,” Ennolar’s pudgy fingers said, but a hint of humor sparkled in his eyes. “Perhaps you should wear Suroth’s mantle instead of me.”
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with us,” Kodyn said aloud. The color hadn’t left his face—her kiss had thrown him off-balance as well. Yet, as always, he recovered with aplomb, his mind once more focused on the mission. “We need your help figuring out what in the bloody hell this is.” From within his robes, he produced the glass vial.
Ennolar and Uryan’s kohl-rimmed eyes widened at sight of the dark-grey liquid within the vial.
“How did you come by this?” Ennolar’s gestures were short, sharp, his face purpling with anger.
Confusion twisted Aisha’s face into a frown.
Kodyn’s expression mirrored hers. “I found it on the body of the assassin that killed Councilor Angrak.”
The two Secret Keepers exchanged glances. “That should not exist!” Ennolar said in the silent hand language. “Or, it should not exist outside of our halls. That vial in your hand contains black alchemy of the darkest sort.”
“Black…alchemy?” Kodyn glanced to Aisha as if to confirm he’d understood the meaning of the gesture.
“What is black alchemy?” Aisha asked.
“A foul perversion of the Mistress’ truths.” Ennolar’s face darkened. “Our goddess has entrusted us with the task of uncovering all of the secrets hidden on this world we inhabit. We have dedicated our lives to delving into the mysteries of Einan in all their forms, unlocking all the truths hidden from the rest of mankind. Yet some secrets are too dangerous to be known. Secrets that could shape the course of the world.”
Kodyn shot a puzzled glance at Aisha. “So you’re telling me this is one of those secrets?” He held up the glass vial.
Uryan nodded. “In a sense.” Her face had grown even more pinched and drawn, displeasure etched into the deep lines around her eyes and mouth.
“Imagine if you could create a remedy that only healed a fraction of those suffering from a fatal disease,” Ennolar explained. “And you, the maker, would be able to choose what people were healed. Those with brown hair, short middle fingers, or hair on their backs.” He held up a hand. “While such a thing is far from possible, you can imagine the sort of power that remedy would convey upon the maker.”
“Of course,” Aisha said. “You could choose who to save and who to let die.”
”Such power over life and death is reserved for the gods alone,” Ennolar’s fingers said. “While the Mistress has given us latitude to use her secrets to take and save lives on a small scale, there are certain discoveries that have the ability to wipe out not only the lives of every man, woman, and child in Shalandra, but all of Einan. We, as servants of the Mistress, are charged with guarding those secrets with our lives. But it is forbidden for any outside of the Temple of Whispers to possess them.”
“Even the knowledge that such things exist is reserved only for Secret Keepers.” Uryan fixed them with a gaze stern enough to wither an entire field of crops. “It is only Suroth’s trust in you and the bargain struck by his daughter that stays our hand now. Under other circumstances, we would be forced to protect its secret at any cost.” The look in her eyes left no doubt what sort of lethal means they would use in that endeavor.
Kodyn stared at the glass vial as if at a venomous serpent coiled around his wrist. “But what in the bloody hell is it?”
The two Secret Keepers exchanged glances. “We do not yet know,” Ennolar’s fingers spoke. “But its color is—”
“Color?!” Kodyn’s shout echoed off the stone walls of the small waiting room. “
You’re just about threatening to kill us because of this, based on nothing more than its color?”
Aisha had to agree. “That link is tenuous even in the best circumstances.”
Ennolar’s face hardened. “Tell me, can you distinguish a dagger from a sword at a glance? Or a stiletto from a poignard and misericorde?”
Kodyn froze, his eyes narrowing a fraction. Aisha knew him well enough to recognize his “Of course” face—the one he used when Bryden lectured him about skills he’d picked up during his first year as a tyro. It held a mixture of longsuffering and annoyance tinged with just a hint of spite at being patronized.
“If you, a mere youth, have the wisdom to recognize the differences between the two, perhaps you can trust that we know our skills almost as well as you know yours.” Had Ennolar been speaking aloud, his voice would have dripped sarcasm. As it was, a hint of insulted outrage cracked his rotund face.
Aisha could see the retort forming on Kodyn’s lips, but spoke before they burst out—and likely infuriated the already-offended Guardians.
“Can you find out what it is?” she asked quickly. “Or what it does?” She turned to Kodyn. “If Handsome was carrying it around on his person, it has to be important.”
To her relief, Kodyn managed to rein in his temper. “Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “He wasn’t wearing armor when I found him, and I found only a pair of daggers and a few trinkets. I’ve spent enough time around assassins to know that aside from the tools of their trade, they tend to carry only the most important things.”
Aisha nodded—she’d learned that during her training with Errik and the assassins of House Serpent. “So if Handsome thought it important enough to keep on him at all times, it’s got to be something seriously potent. Especially if, as you say, it’s black alchemy.”
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