Black Hellebore (Wraith Kings)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

I cy air coiled around Ildiko’s bare feet, chilling her ankles. She curled her toes against the cold stone and edged away from the rattling cinerary until she balanced on the edge of the bier. Even as she put distance between herself and the dead, she still leaned forward, arms outstretched to stop the vessel’s racket lest it draw the Kai outside to come and investigate the noise. An internal voice that warned her the danger from her guard was far less than touching whatever clamored to get out of the urn made her pause. The lid halted its movements, as if it waited, hoping she might make the perfect mistake and touch it. She drew back, skin crawling at the notion, and wiped her hands on her tunic.

With one eye still on the urn, she turned her attention back to the rope. If only it were a little longer or if she were taller and stronger. If she were Kai…

She glanced down at her replacement garb, an idea blossoming. Ineni hadn’t been the tallest Kai woman, but she was still much taller than Ildiko. The trouser cuffs puddled at her feet, and the tunic, meant to reach mid-thigh, hung almost to Ildiko’s knees. Good material, strong threads, and plenty of fabric. She shucked the trousers, shivering as the columbarium’s unnatural cold spread gooseflesh over her thighs. The rope ruthlessly teased her. It swung in tantalizing circles just out of reach until Ildiko thought she’d bellow her frustration and destroy any hope of escape. The cinerary nearby clattered louder with every curse word she muttered, as if excited by her struggles.

She finally caught and held the rope in place long enough to knot one of the trouser legs to the frayed end. Sweat dripped into her eyes, and she wiped the trouser cloth across her forehead. An experimental swing on the fabric assured her that for now her knot remained snug and the garment strong enough to hold her weight.

The chains shackling the cinerary to the bier’s surface no longer clattered but were pulled taut as the urn strained against its tethers in an effort to slide closer to Ildiko. The lid canted once more, and this time, a voice—dry and thin as dead leaves—wafted upward on a tendril of ethereal mist.

“Sweeeet.”

Ildiko’s skin nearly leaped off her bones at the hunger in that whisper. She scampered up the rope, scraping her palms raw as she clumsily made her way along its length, no longer worrying if the trousers would stay attached or the guard would hear her. An icy draft brushed the soles of her feet as if the thing in the urn tasted her with a vaporous tongue. She clenched her jaw to keep from screaming in terror, not daring to look down, frightened of what she might see staring back at her as she made her escape.

The joist the rope was attached to creaked as she climbed. After several pauses to catch her breath and give her muscles a rest, she reached the beam. Gasping and drenched in sweat, she draped herself partway across the wood before swinging one leg over the other side until she lay on her belly, straddling the oh so-narrow expanse. Her hands, legs, and feet stung from the abrading rope, but thank the gods, she was far above the cinerary and its vile contents.

Her heartbeat slowed from a gallop to a steady thump. No longer dizzy, she carefully scooted to where the beam met the slope of the roof, near the opening made by erstwhile thieves. The ragged edges of cut thatch framed a sky festooned in stars. She stretched out a hand, gripped a clump of straw, and slowly clawed her way out onto one of the yelms, whimpering as chaff and hazel spars caught on her tunic and dragged across her exposed legs. The pain of new scratches was worth the chance to escape from both her guard and whatever awful thing lurked in the columbaria with a deathless hunger.

She lay against the roof’s slope, breathing in the outside air and listening for any approaching footsteps. Her view was limited from this vantage point, but she didn’t think Ineni’s henchman had gone far. At least the thieves had breached the once-locked death from the opposite side to the door. If her guard were keeping watch, he’d expect her to try and escape through the entrance.

As much as she wanted to crawl off the roof and scamper away from the columbarium, reason kept her in place. The Kai’s vision, even under moonlight, was much sharper than hers. In every way, he was physically superior to her, especially at night. She’d have to use the sun to give her even the slightest chance of escaping him. That meant spending the remainder of an uncomfortable night lying across the bristling thatch. At least she was miserable enough and frightened enough that she was in no danger of falling asleep.

Once dawn gave way to full morning, she began her slow descent, muscles stiffer than shutter poles and her skin stinging from the numerous cuts and scratches she’d collected. Every crackle of dry straw made her cringe as she crawled down the roof, pausing at intervals to listen and find better purchase on the thatch so she wouldn’t slip. The fall would be short but loud enough to bring the Kai running. Finally at the edge, she hung onto the lowest of the spars, her feet swinging just above the dusty ground. One of the spars started to give way, and she let go, sliding down the yelm’s length until she dropped with a soft thud.

Splinters of agony shot through her bare feet and into her shins. She pressed her palm to her mouth to muffle her cry and blinked away tears. Huddled against the columbarium’s wall, hardly daring to breathe for fear of alerting her guard, she prayed the gods remained merciful. Only the nearby nicker of a horse and the ceaseless croon of the wind filled the silence. So far, so good.

The sun plated the landscape in gold, casting the structures surrounding her into silhouettes that stretched like giant fingers over the ground. For a moment she had the eerie sense of being trapped within a cage where shadows acted as bars for the captive within. The sound of the horse’s nicker beckoned, and she crept toward it, wincing with each careful step. She spotted her guard and his mount at the same time.

The Kai sat cross-legged in the shadow of a columbarium, reclined in peaceful repose. Despite the rising heat, he wore his cloak with the hood pulled forward to shield his eyes from the blinding light. With any luck, he dozed, assured in the belief that a weak, human woman would never escape.

His horse was where she’d guessed earlier, grazing on tufts of grass that lined the precipice of the necropolis. These weren’t tall hills, but they were steep in places, and the rugged ground was made treacherous by loose, sharp stones. If she made a dash for the animal, she risked scaring it away or flinging herself over the edge thanks to a misstep. That, and she was shoeless and footsore, in no shape to sprint for anything.

She crept toward her means of escape, sidling alongside several columbaria, always watching her guard. He hadn’t yet noticed her, and she held her breath as she closed the gap between her and the peacefully grazing horse.

Thank the gods Brishen had taught her how to mount and ride bareback. Every failed attempt to swing onto a horse’s back, every jarring stumble and fall, every bruise, had culminated in this slim chance for freedom. The animal still wore its bridle, with the reins looped across its neck. All Ildiko had to do was sneak past the Kai, reach the horse without startling it, and vault onto its back without falling down the side of the hill. And keep her seat long enough to put distance between her and her warden. She tried not to think too hard about the near-impossible series of tasks ahead. One thing at a time, she reminded herself. She’d escaped the columbarium with its ghoulish occupant. She could do this too.

Hope inspired courage. It didn’t guarantee success. Ildiko was no more than arm’s reach from the horse when a frisson of warning crawled down her back. She turned just in time to see the Kai leaping toward her, a terrifying figure of black claws, sharp teeth, and glowing yellow eyes bright with rage. He was on her in an instant. She opened her mouth to scream, but the air gusted out of her lungs in a squeak instead as the Kai slammed sideways into her much harder than his weight or momentum warranted. She caught a glimpse of his face, shock rounding his eyes, before her feet left the ground, and she hurtled with him over the hilltop’s edge.

The sky tilted around her for a moment before earth rushed up to meet her with a bone-cracking thud. Agony exploded across her body as she hit rocks and twigs, the Kai’s heavy weight crushing her as they tumbled together down the rocky slope. She was suddenly free, flailing even harder as she rolled down the hillside, stopping only when she smashed into something hard and sharp.

She lay on her back, gasping for air as a red tide of pain washed over her. The sky had returned to its place above her, endless blue and free of clouds. She tried to lift her arm, then tried to scream at the fire licking her entire side from knee to shoulder. The only sound to pass her lips was another thin gasp as glass splinters pierced her lungs with every breath. Black stars pulsed in her vision, growing until all she could see was a sliver of blue slowly devoured by darkness. She attempted to speak, but that hurt too. In the end, she prayed. Not to gods for mercy, but to the one person whose face she most wanted to see in these last moments of fading consciousness, his name an invocation, an orison, an evensong.

Brishen.