Chapter 20 #2
He carved through the skin and bone, his blade so sharp that it paused only briefly as it severed her spine. Her head fell to the ground, rolling until it rested next to Tallu’s feet.
“What happened?” Sagam asked.
“We tried to negotiate, and she used strange magic—”
But I froze, staring as her body moved, the tendrils that grew from her back multiplying. They lifted her severed head, replacing it on her body.
The skin melted back together, and she frowned at us. “You may have succeeded in killing one animalia, but that does not mean we are all as foolish.”
Vines exploded out of the floor, encasing Sagam, Asahi, and Gotuye. It was so tight that I couldn’t even hear their muffled shouts, and soon their bodies were still.
“Let them go,” I said.
“They live. Their fates are not fulfilled yet.” She glanced at Tallu, who held a handful of electricity in his hands.
His arms trembled, the blood at the corner of his lips turning into a trickle as he used more of his life to power the electricity in his hands.
“Emperor Tallu Atobe, release that. You cannot beat me.”
“We can,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel. “Tallu’s family killed the One Dragon, and I killed Centipede myself.”
“You helped to kill Centipede. There is a difference. Even the ice dragon that assisted you in accomplishing your goal has fled. They know that fighting destiny is not the same as the malicious cancer that Centipede was.” Spider’s tendrils reached back, righting her chair, and she settled into it, crossing her legs at the knee.
I knelt next to Tallu, draping one of his arms over my shoulder and helping him back to his chair. I wiped at the blood that had trailed down his chin with the sleeve of my jacket.
“You are persistent, and your goal is a worthy one. Save your lover, save the affection that grows between you.” Spider shook her head, something fond in her smile. “Do a task for me and then I we can discuss his fate.”
“Just discuss his fate?” I asked sharply. “You take me for a fool.”
“You have traveled the length of the continent to find me, and now you wonder if it is worth it? He will die without what I have to offer. Your options are to do a task and save his life, or let him perish,” Spider said.
I started to agree, but hesitated. “What task?”
“You have regrown one elder tree, but one cannot keep the memories of all of the elven people. One cannot keep balance in Tavornai lands. Regrow more elder trees and then I will treat with you.” She watched Tallu for a long moment, shaking her head. “You should work quickly.”
I thought of Lady Dalimu, who had been sentenced to regrow the poisoned orchards of Forsaith. Her task had been impossible.
The night before, I might have thought that this task was impossible. But now I knew better.
“I agree. How many would you like me to regrow?”
“You will know when you are done,” Spider said. She pushed herself up out of her chair, striding over to the doors and opening them. As she walked, the last three Dogs fought their way free of the vines ensnaring them. Sagam called after her, but she continued to walk away.
Even though she walked on two legs, I was sure I could see eight legs carrying her. I blinked, shaking my head.
Sagam immediately spun, as Gotuye and Asahi rushed into protective positions around Tallu. Sagam searched the back of the room, his sword ready.
“Your Imperial Majesty, what happened?”
General Saxu was shouting out in the hall, but I heard a crackle of sound and the building shook. Spider, apparently, did not take well to being questioned, nor to someone threatening her or her people. There was more shouting, and I took a few steps into the hallway.
Behind me, Tallu answered, “We have made a deal with the Pirate King. She will provide us information if my consort does a task for her.”
“What task?” Sagam asked.
His suspicion wasn’t unfounded. The Pirate King was an unknown quantity, and our knowing that she was Spider did not make her easier to understand or more trustworthy.
In the hall, vines wrapped General Saxu and his men. They were pinned against the wall, their swords hanging uselessly at their sides as they struggled against the strength of elven magic.
“Prince Airón, help us,” General Saxu said. Spider was already at the doorway to the building, framed in brilliant light by the bright sun outside. She looked golden, the tendrils of vines waving around her.
“You do not have to do this. I have seen your fate,” she said.
Her voice was soft, conciliatory, and I wondered what fate she had seen that made her offer me the option of escaping the deal she had just struck. She turned, her long braid spinning with her, and then she and her men strode out into the swamp.
No. If she wanted trees, I would give her as many as she needed until she set Tallu free. Until he was whole for the first time since he’d been cursed.
I turned back to Saxu, raising my wolf’s claw and cutting him and his men free.
He fell to the ground, his leg giving out.
Commander Rede rushed to him, helping him to stand.
I found General Saxu’s cane trapped in the vines and when I pulled it free, parts of the vine came with it, bits of plant that stuck to the wood.
“Why didn’t you use electro magic against her?” I asked.
“We tried,” Commander Rede admitted. “She danced through it like it was nothing.”
“She was faster than us, and her magic stronger.” General Saxu frowned, shaking his head. A leaf that had been caught in his hair fell to the floor.
“Is that what all elves are like?” one of his men asked, hushing to a whisper when Rede looked at him sharply.
“What deal did you strike with her?” Saxu asked with the certainty of a man who knew a deal had been struck.
Perhaps he had been on enough battlefields to see when his commanding officers had made a decision that might cost him and his men a great deal, or that might demand they make peace even with the bitterest enemy.
“She will give us information, but she requires that I find her something in the forest.” I kept my words vague. What we wanted from her wasn’t Namati’s location, but Saxu didn’t need to know that.
Saxu nodded, his expression already firming. “Commander Rede, go with the prince—”
I shook my head. “There was a reason she asked me for it and not Tallu’s army. I will go alone with some of the children here.”
“His Imperial Majesty will not allow it,” Saxu warned.
“His Imperial Majesty understands the stakes just as much as I do,” I said, then decided that perhaps it wouldn’t be wrong to lie. I could always say she had double-crossed us as expected. “Without Namati, how will we ever fight Bemishu and Kacha?”
Saxu narrowed his eyes, the frown between his brows growing deeper as he gazed at me. He was a smart man. Perhaps I was foolish for hoping he would believe the lie Tallu and I insisted on telling. Something in my tone had put him on alert.
He suspected we were not interested in Namati, that we had some other goal in Tavornai, but I was the emperor’s consort. He could not question me, not in front of his men, even if he did it only through implication.
I turned and saw Lady Chaliko standing further down the hallway. Today she was wearing golden makeup of the same shade Riini had been crushing the day before, both hands clenched in the fabric of her skirts. Her eyes widened as I began approaching.
“I need Riini. And Joxii. And any other children whose tendrils have grown back quickly after you did your duty as an imperial and severed them.”
Under her golden makeup, she went pale. She and I both understood that House Chaliko had never severed a child’s tendrils, so she knew exactly what I was asking for.
Slowly, she nodded, her chin touching her chest and leaving behind a soft brush of gold on the fabric. “They are being housed in some outbuildings, Your Highness. Do you want me to take you there?”
I nodded sharply, and she gestured for me to follow her. Before we could leave the house, Tallu caught my hand. His fingers wrapped around mine, his rings digging into my flesh, his face pulled tight in a frown.
“Airón,” Tallu said in a low voice.
“This is not something you can help me with, husband.” I reached out, covering his fingers with my own, stroking the back of his hand gently. I could feel the veins standing out, his long, beautiful fingers clutching mine tightly.
“Is it not?” Tallu challenged. His russet eyes were fierce, catching hold of mine and refusing to let go. “Because I know I can be a great deal of help.”
I looked at him. The blood had been wiped clean from his face, and his expression was serious and focused. We had an audience, but he didn’t seem to care, letting all of his worry for me show.
“What sort of emperor would I be if I risk your life for the Imperium?” He leaned forward, his breath running over my ear. “What sort of lover would I be if I let you do this alone?”
My hand stilled on his, my fingers encircling his wrist. I looked down, unable to meet his eyes, denying myself the sight of them, because I knew that as soon as I did look, I would give in. I would let him have his way.
“If you come with me, I am not sure I will have the strength to complete the task.” Because I knew what the cost was going to be of raising so many trees. My memories would slip through my fingers, given away freely in exchange for the hope of Tallu’s life.
“I go with you, or you do not go at all,” Tallu said. His voice allowed for no negotiation, no argument. “Do you understand?”
I looked at him helplessly, feeling myself smile. “Husband, I very much doubt that any of your guards will allow you to come with me.”
“Then let them come,” Tallu said. “We will face the consequences together.”