Chapter 13 #2
Azur scoffs. “Zorwal doesn’t want you. He wants Marlak, and if you go there, he’ll force all the information from you, including this island, including all our plans. Are you dim?”
“If there’s one thing I know are magical laws, Azur. It’s why I had to wait for you to get up. We’ll make a binding deal. If I give any information about Marlak, you, or this island to Zorwal, I die. If he tries to pry it from my mind, he’ll kill me. As a bonus, you all get rid of me.”
Azur shakes his head and huffs, as if hearing something absurd. “Why do you assume we care whether you live or die?”
“I care,” Astra says. “I don’t want you to die.”
Her words surprise me, but don’t mean much. “It doesn’t change anything,” I say. “I knew you wouldn’t want me to go to the castle, and it’s why I wanted to make a deal.”
Azur narrows his eyes. “You do realize that you have to touch a fae to make a deal, right?” He pulls off one glove, revealing fingers and part of his palm taken by that dreadful white. “Are you sure you want to shake hands with me?”
“If it’s what it takes? Yes. Yes!”
“Renel.” It’s bizarre to hear Marlak’s wife addressing me as if she was my friend. “I also want to free Tarlia. I love her like a sister—”
I don’t want to keep hearing that nonsense. “You clearly have no siblings, or you would know your words are meaningless.”
She sighs. “She’s my friend. But let’s wait for Marlak. If you go now, alone, you might get caught, killed, who knows? She wouldn’t want to see you hurt, and neither would Marlak.”
I raise a finger. “I doubt Marlak cares. And I’m hurting now. The pain is worse than being eviscerated, and I know what it’s like to be stabbed in the gut. This is worse. My chest is heavy. The pain is unbearable. Poke my eye out and it will hurt less.”
They all stare at me as if I had lost my mind, and Astra says,“You still want to plan this right.”
Her calm tone is like a punch to my already painful chest. “Wait, wait,” I mimic them. “You want to leave her there, suffering. What kind of friend are you?”
Astra stares at me, perhaps realizing she is not Tarlia’s friend after all, and at least she has the dignity to spare me any more of her drivel and remains quiet.
I turn to Azur. “Let’s seal this deal.”
He rolls his eyes. “And once you’re enslaved by the Witch King himself, do you think our deal will even hold?”
“I’m saving Tarlia and I don’t care what I need to do.”
Azur sneers with that mocking face, that superior air that I always ignored. “How are you even going to the castle? It will take you at least a day.”
“It’s why I’d rather leave as soon as possible.”
Astra clicks her tongue. “Marlak, Nelsin, and Ferer will be back tomorrow. They could help you transcend and take you there faster.”
I shake my head. “Marlak has bloodpuppets after him and his magic can be traced. In fact, all fae magic usually can be traced. You might all scoff at me, but my pathetic lack of magic might be just what I need to walk into the castle undetected. I know its passages.”
“Mirella’s there,” Azur says. “She also knows the castle.”
“She’s not looking for me. I’m going no matter what, so spare me your pointless warnings. I just don’t want you to think I’m going to betray you, that’s all. Let’s seal the deal.” I extend a hand.
“Renel, wait.” Lidiane enters the kitchen.
“I don’t want—”
“Just listen.” She waves her hands in front of her.
“I was working on my capes last night. I can give you two of them, and they’ll help you walk into places unnoticed.
You won’t be invisible, but people won’t pay attention to you, which is almost the same.
Just give me some time to finish them. And I can transcend you—”
“Absolutely not,” Azur shouts.
Lidiane clicks her tongue. “I won’t go to the castle or near it.
I agree it’s dangerous. But I can get close to the area, so that Renel only has to walk for half an hour or so to get there.
That will save him one or two days. Maybe he’s right that he can sneak in.
And if Tarlia isn’t there tomorrow, it’s one less worry for Marlak. ”
“Didn’t she make a deal with Zorwal?” Ziven asks. “Isn’t it binding?”
I’m getting tired of arguing. “Deals can be undone.”
“But you need both parties, don’t you?” he asks. “It means you’ll need to surrender to Zorwal.”
“Obviously.” My face is hot and my hands are trembling. “It’s why I have to go: to undo it.”
Azur shakes his head. “Zorwal wants Marlak. If you can’t give him any information about him, there will be no deal. Not only will your trip be useless, it could put us all in danger.”
“I won’t put you in danger.” I’m tired of their excuses, their pointless arguments. “But you know what? If you’re not willing to make a deal with me, I’ll go without one.”
Azur takes a deep breath as if he was so superior with his powerful magic.
“Renel,” Lidiane says. “You can make a deal with me. Let’s just plan it right. I’ll take you close to the castle.” She glances at Azur. “But far enough that it will still be safe. And I can transcend through strong, old circles, so this part is fine.” She turns to me. “Let me get the capes ready.”
“What about the deal?” Ziven asks, still holding his apple.
Astra’s eyes widen. “There’s a way! A way for you to cut through bonds. I could lend you a dagger…”
That can’t be. “The Sundering Dagger?”
“Yes.” She nods, a smile on her face. “I’ll lend it to you. With it, you’ll be able to free Tarlia from her bond. I think. Or hope. If I or Marlak needs it, we’ll call it back, but by that time you should have used it.”
I’m not sure I’m hearing her correctly. “And you’re not afraid of what I could do with it?”
“No,” she answers simply.
Lidiane adds, “We can determine that in our deal, if it’s necessary. I just… Are you sure you want to go on your own?”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me.”
“You saved our lives in the Shadow Lands!” Lidiane says. “And Tarlia’s my friend too.”
Ziven raises a hand. “I could come. Human magic can’t be detected, can it? And if things go wrong, I could help.”
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea, but before I can argue, Lidiane points at him. “Yes! I have enough capes. Just wait. Gather what you need, and I’ll get them ready.”
I suppose it’s one more way for them to assure I won’t betray them, except that we have no guarantee that the human prince won’t do that. “He can’t make a deal,” I say. “He won’t be bound to keep anything secret.”
Ziven tilts his head. “But I can lie if I’m captured. Also, if you know the secret passages, we’ll be in and out, or you’ll be in and out. I could just wait for you outside the castle or something.”
“Ziven won’t betray us,” Astra says as if her word was law. “And his magic could help you and Tarlia. In case things go wrong.”
I glance at the ridiculous necklace the human prince wears with the stone that grants him magic he shouldn’t have. Humans with magic are odd and unnatural, and I don’t think their powers are stable, but I don’t wish to argue or seem like I want to do anything sneaky or suspicious.
I shrug. “Great, then.”
The human prince then smirks. “Thanks for the trust.”
I wish I could wipe that smugness out of his face. Instead, I’ll have to bring him along to what might be a dangerous mission.
At the same time, it means I’ll get to rescue Tarlia. I know I can do it. What hurts is having to wait another hour or minute or second. That said, at least I’ll get to the castle much faster with Lidiane’s help.
I just hope Tarlia isn’t hurt—and that it’s not too late.
MARLAK
Perhaps I might be able to understand the language of the giant’s too. We’ve been running north for three hours now, under the scalding sun. My companion is a young giant named Kratnolvil. I decided to call him Krat, and he doesn’t mind.
I tried to ask him some questions, but he either doesn’t understand much of what’s going on or he’s being cagey with information.
All he told me is that he’ll only take me up to a certain point.
Still, he’ll wait there for me until the sun is almost down.
If I’m not back by then, he’ll return to his village.
We sit in the rare shade offered by a small hill. I eat the bread and drink the water I brought, while the giant watches.
“Water? You?” I point at him. The idea of sharing my small portions with a giant doesn’t sound appealing, but I don’t want Krat to faint or something.
He shakes his head.
“You don’t eat?” I ask.
The giant stares at me and grunts something. Perhaps he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I point at my food, my mouth, then at him.
“Food? For you?”
For some reason he laughs, perhaps because he thinks I’m offering my bread, which must seem tiny for him. It would be like a rodent offering me one single nut, I suppose.
When I finish, he takes me again in his hand, places me on his shoulder, and starts running. The ground rumbles under his heavy steps as we get closer and closer to the north. Closer and closer to the Witch King. Closer and closer to the end.
I won’t fail. I won’t.
RENEL
My chest is heavy like a boulder and every second waiting is agony.
I hate this, having to ask for authorization to leave, needing help to get to the castle, and being shadowed by a human.
More than anything, I hate that Tarlia pledged her alliance to Zorwal, that she decided to ruin her life to save mine.
It’s a horrible unfairness that needs to be undone.
I stand near the edge of the island, ready to cross to the riverbank, from where Lidiane will transcend us. Azur is going to blow us across, and as much as I trust his magic, I have the horrible feeling that we’ll be tossed into the water.
Astra and Ziven are also at the edge, and she passes me a dagger with a black blade and three clear opus stones on either side. It’s a stunning relic that I’ve never seen before, and yet I know what it is: the Sundering Dagger.