Chapter 22
SO AM I A PRISONER OR A GUEST?
LEELA
There was a man sitting at the end of my bed, his body in profile, head bowed as he whittled wood.
His dark wavy hair fell across his forehead in a disarming manner, framing a face arranged in lines of concentration.
I lay still, breathing evenly as memory returned in increments—the road to the mountains, the attack, and him.
The primordial evil…But wait…there was something else. Something he’d said to me…
“I told you that your tender heart would get you in trouble, didn’t I?”
My pulse jumped. The primordial evil had never said those words to me.
But Araz had. Many a time. Not those exact words, but the sentiment had been the same.
How did the primordial evil know? My heart sank as the obvious answer filled my mind.
He must have stolen Araz’s memories. Read them before he… Before he incinerated my drohi’s soul.
I focused on keeping my breath even while surreptitiously scoping out the room. There was a hearth with an armchair by it, a small table to the left, and a wardrobe against the far wall with an ajar door beside it. A washroom maybe?
A couple of lanterns were fixed to the wall, burning low and ambient, and there was a closed door to my right. This one had to be the exit. No point making a run for it, though. It would be wasted energy without any idea of the layout of this place.
“Are you hungry?” the man asked without breaking the rhythm of his whittling. “I’ve been instructed that you be fed a light meal as soon as you wake. Transference takes energy even for those being carried.”
He looked up from his task, bright jade eyes locking on to me from a face I recognized. I sucked in a breath. “You…”
He offered me a lopsided grin. “Me. Yes. Do you remember my name?” There was an almost soft vulnerability to his question.
“Yeah…C’ael.”
His shoulders dropped a little. “That’s right.”
I sat up, and the furs draped over me fell to my waist. My coat was gone along with my outer tunic, my holster, and my axes.
C’ael held out the wooden object he’d been whittling. Firelight illuminated the shape of a tiny horse with wings, one that looked suspiciously like a moona. “For you.” When I didn’t take it, he shrugged and tucked it into his pocket. “I suppose you have questions.”
“You suppose correctly. Where is he? Where’s the bastard who’s wearing my Araz?”
He winced. “He doesn’t much like it when people call him names. In fact, he tends to get pretty upset.”
“I want to speak with him.”
“And you will.” He stood and stretched, his cream shirt riding up a little. “Once it’s time.”
“I want to speak with him now.”
His expression sobered, lips pressing in a thin line. “You don’t make the rules here, Leela. He does. This is his domain. You’re a guest.”
“A guest? Yeah, right. A prisoner more like.”
“Goodness, so dramatic,” he drawled. “But if that’s what you wish to call it, then yes, I suppose you are. But you’re a prisoner who’s about to get a guided tour of her prison by yours truly.”
“What are you? His lap dog?”
C’ael pressed a hand to his chest as if wounded by my words. “Goodness, you have a mean streak, don’t you?”
I was in no mood to tolerate his playful attitude. “Answer me. What are you, C’ael? A messenger boy? His little servant?”
He dropped his hand with a sigh. “I’m a companion that he called forth.”
I sat up, intrigued. “What do you mean?”
“I mean when you speak to nothingness long enough, sometimes it answers back. Now, are you hungry?”
I shook my head even as my stomach growled.
He arched a brow. “How about this. You come for a walk with me. Take a look at the camp. Meet some of the others—”
“The devouring force, you mean?” My mouth curved in a wry smile. “It’s an army, isn’t it? His army made up of all his monsters. Why the fuck would I want to hang out with those beasts?”
“You have no idea. But if you want to know the truth, then maybe come with me.” He held out his hand, but I ignored it, throwing back the furs to swing my feet out of the bed to stand unassisted.
My knees buckled, and he moved fast to wrap an arm around my waist, pulling me against his body. Warmth wrapped around me, cocooning me, and for a moment I was tempted to lean into it.
Only for a moment, though. “Get off me!” I shoved at his taut chest. He released me immediately, and I plopped back down onto the bed. “Fuck.”
“Your body is still adjusting to the transference.”
A wave of fuzziness washed over my mind. “What is transference?”
“The method by which he brought you here.”
The cotton wool sensation ebbed, my mind clearing. “You mean…like teleportation?”
He frowned down at me. “I have no idea what that is. But he moved you through space in a blink to bring you here. It takes a toll, which is why food is important.”
Dammit. “Fine. Give me some food.”
“Please?” he crooned.
“What?”
He shook his head and tutted. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”
“No, she died when I was a baby.”
He sobered. “I’m sorry.”
He sounded genuine, and my anger melted a little.
I wasn’t sure what he was, but I was pretty sure he just did what he was told.
In this case, feed me and show me around.
He wasn’t the one in charge, but he could take me to the primordial evil.
Maybe…Maybe I could make an ally out of him.
Being difficult would serve no purpose. I needed to get my strength up, get the lay of the land, and then figure out a way to get the fuck out of here.
I exhaled and allowed my shoulders to drop. “Please, can I have some food, C’ael?”
He arched a brow, his lips twitching as if holding back a smile.
“What?”
“If you think you can use me to somehow get out of this place, then you’re sorely mistaken. There is no leaving here without his consent.”
A spark of irritation flared in my chest. “Really? The devouring force seems to have managed just fine in his absence.”
“Things are different now.” He crossed the room to the table and returned with a plate holding grapes, berries, and small hunks of hard cheese. “I can’t be your ally, but I can be a friend.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “Why would you think that I’d consider making you an ally?”
“Because I know how you think,” he said.
I glanced up at him. “You know how I think?”
He frowned slightly as if only now considering his words. “I guess I do.”
“You don’t know me, so how can you possibly know how I think?”
His brow cleared. “No. I don’t, but he does.” He smiled down at me. “Eat up and we can take a walk. All your questions will be answered soon enough.”
C’ael led me from my cozy room into a network of tunnels.
The walls were smooth rock, as if polished down, not natural passageways. The ground was wooden floors. This place was definitely man-made, or god-made, or whatever.
“Where are we?”
“Inside a mountain,” he said.
“What mountain?”
He chuckled softly. “None that has a name. None that can be found, so you can save yourself time trying to extract the information. This place is hidden by powerful forces and has been so for eons. That won’t change any time soon, not unless he wills it.”
“What is he? This…primordial evil.”
“You can ask him yourself when you speak to him later, but for now…” He pushed open a wooden door, and amber light spilled into the gloomy tunnel. “Come meet the others.”
He ushered me into a vast chamber housing a market square lined with stalls and stores.
Huge globular lights hung from a high ceiling, casting enough light for it to feel like it was daytime.
Children’s laughter rang in the air, rising above the splash and tinkle of a pretty fountain that was a feature spot in the center of the square.
People milled about. Hair in various shades of blue, green, or silver.
Skin like burnished copper, golden brown, pale, or tinged red or blue.
Djinn…These were djinn. And among them walked others…Beings who glowed slightly. Powerfully built men and women. Asura?
“This is Old Haven,” C’ael said. “It’s the size of a small village created to house the djinn and Asura who you call the devouring force.”
“I don’t understand. Where are the revenants?”
“They have their own area,” C’ael said. “They’re well taken care of. You do know what they are, right?”
“I was told they were born Asura who’d been infected and turned by the devouring force.”
He snorted softly. “Partly right. They’re oath-breakers. Asura who made a vow and then went against their word. Their touch can spread the curse to other oath-breakers. I’m sure he will explain it all. Come…”
Mind reeling with the evidence of my eyes, I allowed him to lead me through the market, past stalls of sizzling food, beads and scarves, and tiny wooden carvings.
This place reminded me of the night market that Chandra had taken me to, except here, djinn and Asura stopped to stare at me, their curiosity open and raw.
“Nothing to see here,” C’ael said loudly, his lithe form cutting a path through the crowd.
I stayed close, his fresh scent guiding me through spicy aromas promising delights that would burn the roof of my mouth.
Narrow streets trailed away from the square, each lined with small houses with neatly thatched roofs.
This was a home.
A village hidden in a mountain.
A place where djinn and Asura lived side by side, yet it was also the devouring force. This made no sense.
A group of children sat outside a shack, their attention on a female djinn with flowing blue hair. She looked over as we passed. The children followed her gaze, then began buzzing in excitement.
“This is Falima,” C’ael said. “One of the tutors here.”
He raised a hand, and she inclined her head with a warm smile.
One of the children ran up to me. He had the biggest grin and crazy blue hair that stood up all over the place. “Didi says you’re a queen. Is that true?”
“Dody!” Falima called out, her cheeks going pale. “Get back here.”
“It’s all right.” I smiled down at the boy. “I’m not a queen yet. I was going to be.”
“You will be,” he said with a nod. “I saw it.”
“You saw it?”
“Dody…” Falima appeared beside us and gently took the boy’s hand. “I’m sorry, Blood of Vijayroodra, Dody can be fanciful sometimes.”
Dody frowned up at her. “But I—”
“Now, Dody, say goodbye.”
Dody sighed. “Goodbye…for now.”
Falima bowed slightly and led the boy away.
“Not what you thought you’d find, is it?” C’ael said.
I shook my head. “No. It isn’t.” And I still wasn’t sure I believed it.
We walked until the market fell away and the ground beneath our boots got rockier. A set of stone steps appeared to our right, ascending to an ominous-looking vaulted door built into the rockface.
“What’s through there?”
“The temple. No one is permitted inside. The ancestors sleep there.”
“Ancestors?”
“You’d have to speak to him about that.” He continued forward, and I followed him through an arch and into another chamber, empty and echoing. The only feature was a rockface riddled with dark arches connected by zigzagging stone steps.
“What’s that?”
“That is the barracks,” C’ael said. “Each arch leads to living quarters that house a troop.”
Countless arches. Countless troops. How big was this army? How vast was this devouring force made up of djinn and Asura?
“The people in the market aren’t part of the army, are they?”
“Mostly they’re civilians. The active troops are resting. You’ll meet Craven, the leader of the force, soon enough. But for now, I think you’re ready.”
I dropped my gaze to his, blinking at the intensity in his eyes. “Ready for what?”
“Ready to see him.”