Chapter 29
SINAN
S inan was still reeling from the revelation as Rixende came up to him, her hands raised in a threatening position.
She’d had no proper training, of course, so she used hand gestures better suited for an incensor than one of the Blessed.
Still, trapping him in a matrix of skeleton parts was awfully impressive for an untutored feral bone witch who could also control Touched animals.
He had a better look at her as she advanced toward him.A pair of tufted ears rose above her straight black hair, and fine lines of red fur outlined both her cheeks. A full tail, lush and soft, twitched underneath her velvet cape.
Rixende’s Blessing was lovely.
A few years younger than Gallmau, her appearance must have recently altered to fox aspect—it wasn’t uncommon for Blessed children to come into their Gifts and their transformed appearance as they transitioned to adulthood.
Zhang Jue must have used some magic to disguise her new form before he lured her away from her mother and the court.
“Your Serene Highness.” Zhang Jue added enough awe to his tone to emphasize his next words. “You’ve defeated the Prince of Shadows.”
Saints, Sinan hated the son of a bitch. Everything made sense now.
The heir to the Throne of Soissons was one of the Blessed, and there was nothing Odart and Zhang Jue wouldn’t do to stop her ascension to the throne.
Except kill Rixende themselves, which they couldn’t do, because of the loyalty curse. It applied to the Shields of Thaschus as well, since they couldn’t be ordered to kill Rixende by either mage.
Instead, Zhang Jue and Odart had convinced Rixende to travel with them to Terra Amata, then sent a taunting message to encourage rescuers to come and kill the mysterious Bone Lord who had abducted the princess.
Like in Gallmau’s poem, a hero would do what Odart and Zhang Jue couldn’t—murder a necromancer who happened to be a seventeen-year-old girl.
“He’s the Prince of Shadows?” Rixende cocked her ears forward as she regarded Sinan, giving her a quizzical air much like an actual fox. “He couldn’t even stop me from using Plumette’s bones against him.”
“He came here with your traitor of a brother and the Lioness of Abdju to kill you.” Zhang Jue came forward, his court robes swirling as he made an over-dramatic gesture at Sinan.
“By the grace of Saint Elesbaan and your noble blood, he has been defeated. All you need to do now is cut off his head, and your curse will be lifted.”
From her chair, Valentina let out a gasp of horror but didn’t move.
Zhang Jue had convinced the princess she had been cursed by a necromancer, whose death at her hand would reverse her new shape and unsettling new abilities.
“You’re not cursed.” Sinan struggled again, but his bone shackles weren’t going anywhere, regardless of who Plumette was.
Rixende was one of his people, and if he couldn’t convince her that he, Meri, and Gallmau were here to help her, Odart and Zhang Jue would find a way around the loyalty oath and kill her.
With his powers intact, he could have turned the bones into a hail of projectiles and riddled Zhang Jue’s body like a pincushion.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, and he couldn’t expect any help from the Tomb Fighters.
Their plan had been for Sinan to free Valentina and Rixende, then lead them to safety while they distracted their enemies.
Sinan had to reach her, to make her understand. “You’re like me, one of the Blessed. Zhang Jue and Odart have lied to you. They don’t want you to become Queen.”
“It’s a peculiar habit amongst the Bone Lords of Karakoncolos to consider themselves blessed by their twisted, horrible shapes.
” Zhang Jue continued lecturing the princess as if Sinan was an interesting zoological specimen, not someone he was standing next to.
“It’s part of their death cult, in which they worship the patron saint of fallen women and engage in vile practices of all types. ”
“My brother is the one who doesn’t want me to become queen.
” Rixende, unlike Zhang Jue, did address Sinan directly and with a good deal of venom.
“Gallmau wants the throne for himself, even though I’m the legitimate heir.
” She punctuated that last sentence by extending her forefinger at Sinan’s chest. Bone chips flew into her hand, and within seconds an ivory sword was leveled at his heart.
“Rixende, stop.” Valentina squirmed in her seat, and Sinan belatedly realized she had remained unmoving only because she was shackled to her chair. “You can’t do this. It won’t change what’s happened to you.”
“Let me gag her.” Zhang Jue removed a strip of silk from his pocket and moved toward the medica. “Her madness grows worse. It would be best if we let her rest in a different cave with the guards watching over her.”
“No.” Rixende whirled, sword in hand, and the mother Azhdarchid turned its wild eyes in the direction of the Sorcier du Roi. Her beak opened, then snapped shut in warning.
Zhang Jue froze.
The weather mage was afraid of Rixende for good reason.
Even if he could attack her with his magic, she was already strong enough to threaten him.
With training, Rixende would be an exceptionally powerful member of the Blessed.
But no lie was more powerful than the one a person desperately wanted to believe.
“Valentina’s not leaving my sight.” Rixende lifted her weapon, gazing at the razor-sharp edge with fascination.
She held the blade up toward Sinan’s neck, as if judging what type of blow would best sever his head from his body.
“She should be safe in Lutecia, not hexed by a necromancer my brother’s joined forces with.
I thank Saint Elesbaan I spotted Valentina’s simar through Plumette’s eyes and had her and the babies save her. ”
The Azhdarchid cocked her head at Rixende, as if recognizing her name.
Well, that explained both who Plumette was and the source of the bones.
The Azhdarchid’s dining habits would produce an ample supply of animal skeletons—and perhaps a few human ones.
More ungainly shapes moved in from the gloom at the back of the cave, and Plumette’s two flaplings stalked up to them.
Each was the size of Gallmau, and they were threatening enough even without their mother.
“I understand your concerns.” Zhang Jue raised both hands in a placating gesture, edging away from the Archaic animals. “We’ll get Valentina the best medical help once we return to Lutecia. But we must rid you of your curse first. Take off his head, Mademoiselle la Reine. It’s the only way.”
“It won’t because he isn’t a necromancer.” Valentina nodded her head in Sinan’s direction. “He’s only pretending to be one because Gallmau told him to.”
Sinan gave her an incredulous look. Maybe Valentina was experiencing disorientation from everything she had been through, and Zhang Jue wasn’t entirely wrong.
“He looks nothing like a Bone Lord,” Valentina continued. “He can’t be the Prince of Shadows.”
Rixende dropped her sword back to rest on her shoulder and leaned in to examine Sinan more closely. “He’s rather comely for a necromancer, I’ll allow.”
“His mother was a venefica.” Zhang Jue gripped the silk tie in his hand tightly, as Sinan frowned in confusion at Valentina’s words. “He’s the murderous Bone Lord who slaughtered half of the benandanti in Zyx. You must end his reign of terror.”
“He blundered into this cave waving a sword around and couldn’t even come up with a simple spell to stop you from trapping him.
” Valentina kept her tone calm and conversational.
“Sinan of Karakoncolos can split Artifacts in two with shadow and raise a cursed throne of bones from the floor of the Synod meeting room itself. This man is only a courtier your brother brought along—a wastrel poet of limited literary talents.”
Now Sinan understood. Valentina wasn’t losing her mind, she was doing her best to stop Rixende from killing him.
“You mustn’t listen to her.” Zhang Jue took a step closer to the bound medica, but Plumette gave another warning hiss and he stopped. “She’s mad.”
“Many strange things have happened to both of us.” Valentina had the princess’s full attention now. “If you’re wrong, nothing will change, and you’ll have murdered a helpless young man.”
“He’s an evil necromancer, not a person,” Zhang Jue protested, but Valentina cut him off.
“I have a simple spell to help us.” Valentina raised her hands off the chair’s arms, ivory chains rustling as they stopped the movement.
She was restrained by loops of interlocked spinal vertebrae.
“A temporary truth charm. Remember when you insisted I use it on the ladies of the Court during a party? I can cast one on this man and the honorable Zhang Jue, as long as they agree. Then you can ask both of them anything you want.”
“I’ll do it.” Sinan wasn’t sure where Valentina was going with this, but Rixende now seemed uncertain about beheading him, and that was progress.
“Your Serene Highness, as the Sorcier du Roi, I’m forbidden to submit to this type of magic.
” Zhang Jue’s face darkened in anger as Rixende moved over to Valentina and waved her hands.
The bone chains collapsed into a loose pile of skeletal parts, and the medica stood up.
“Noviodunam secrets could be revealed in front of this necromancer.”
Rixende ignored him as she held on to Valentina’s arm and pulled her toward Sinan. “Make him tell me the truth.”
“Open your mouth and say ‘ah’.” Valentina reached out with her finger as Sinan complied and touched his tongue.
A vibration passed through him, sending his teeth chattering.
Medicus magic was horrifying.
“Excellent.” Rixende nodded with approval, then leveled the tip of her sword at Sinan’s throat again. “Did my brother tell you to come into this cave and bring me to him?”