Chapter 15 #2
“No.” Brogdon’s disagreement was so abrupt that several turned their heads his way. “She’s looking for the starbridge too. We need to find it first.”
“Mayvus is looking for the stone? Why?” Aeliana asked.
Brogdon glanced at Sylmar as if seeking permission.
“This group is safe enough,” Sylmar said.
“Especially in this location away from prying ears. You might as well share everything you told me that first night.” He sat on a rock near one of the piles of cold coal and laid his staff across his knees as though settling in for stories around a campfire.
It made Aeliana think of Jasperus and all the tales he would tell in the evenings.
Except he was no longer here and the things they were about to share would probably not be as pleasant.
Still, everyone found a spot, including the winex, who curled up by the cave entrance in a protective ring.
Holm and Iris scrunched together on a rock while Orra and Emeris leaned back against the cave wall.
Aeliana sat near Lukai, their arms brushing, and Kendalyhn and Brogdon sat across from them.
The other woman stared moodily into the embers.
But Velden remained standing, practically hovering over Sylmar. “Who are you concerned about overhearing us in the fortress?”
“I’m not certain of it,” Sylmar admitted, “but I suspect some could still be branded and planted among us. I wonder if some are even using illusions to mask their marks.”
Cold washed over Aeliana, and she couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her. Lukai placed an arm around her shoulder, drawing her close. But she stiffened, and he dropped his arm.
Everyone’s eyes shifted to Brogdon, who kept his own closed, as if that posture gave him the courage to confess everything. “It’s difficult to piece things together from the time I was branded. Mayvus had a way of feeding us information that we needed to know and removing our understanding of why.”
Emeris hummed her agreement, giving credence to his words.
“Before you all came, I knew Mayvus was recruiting soldiers. That’s all I could remember during the brief time she lost control of all her brands. But she wasn’t as careful this time, and I remember more. She needs the stone because she’s been using it to bring soldiers from Ahmranas.”
Aeliana’s chest constricted as the others’ faces reflected her shock. She placed her hands on her temples as that strange detail they’d never grasped fit in the puzzle with perfect ease. Mayvus hadn’t found supporters in Vendaras. She’d created them by bringing over Ahmranans.
Except Sylmar looked unsurprised, his frown bunching up his scars with renewed determination. Even Orra placed her hands over her face and bent forward with a whispered, “Not again.”
“I should have known,” Emeris murmured. “Several of the others would whisper about life near glacial lakes and mountains and family being beyond their reach. They sounded hopeful when they talked of the land Mayvus promised them that would be free of the ice caps.”
Brogdon snorted. “She was referring to the desert that lies between Elanesse and Myndren. It’s no more inhabitable than their mountains.”
Emeris shook her head, clucking her tongue. “I’m not surprised, but I do find it interesting that they believed her.”
“They believed her because it’s happened before.
” Orra’s quiet reply drew every eye. “In Pirate Redwood’s day, pirates crossed the barrier and brought sailors over.
They’ve probably been waiting for someone to cross the barrier with an offer just like Mayvus’.
She would have been like a prophecy come true.
A hero of old.” She wrapped her fingers around the braid at her wrist. “I should have sensed her using it to build an army, but I didn’t.
I was either too far away or my power was too weak. ”
It made Aeliana sick to her stomach to think of these people being fooled by her aunt. “If she used it to bring over soldiers, how did she lose it?”
“Maybe it was in a pocket when she was carried off by Durriken?” Brogdon suggested. “All I know is that she’s waiting to find it or waiting for us to find it so she can steal it.”
“Where are the soldiers now?” Aeliana asked. “How have we not heard of this since we cut out everyone’s brands?”
“With how she kept information compartmentalized, I would guess that only the Ahmranans themselves were aware of it. And they’re likely among the soldiers who fled.”
“Tychus and Piorre,” Aeliana muttered.
Velden cleared his throat. “So we’re looking for a black rock that transports people across the barrier, Mayvus, and the”—he stood on tiptoe and craned his neck over everyone’s heads as if counting the various fire pits—“dozen or so Ahmranans who’ve been keeping her alive?”
“She could have double that or more,” Orra pointed out. “And if she finds the onyx stone, she’ll use it again. She’ll be out of our reach—or worse, she’ll bring back more Ahmranans.”
“Even if we find the stone and keep it from her,” Aeliana said, “we need to understand this curse.”
Kendalyhn and Lukai exchanged skeptical glances.
“Or whatever it is that’s binding their life force,” Aeliana amended.
“Whenever we face her again, we need to be sure she can’t survive and that it won’t affect my mother.
” It baffled her that they still doubted Emeris after everything that had happened in the last week, but at least they should be able to agree to this, curse or no curse.
Sylmar nodded. “I think there’s merit to your efforts to go through Mayvus’ research and destroy her blood stores. I’ll make sure everyone takes shifts in aiding with that, but it will need to be kept quiet. We don’t know who we can trust outside this group.”
It was the closest thing she was going to get to an apology.
“And if any sort of”—Sylmar turned a thoughtful gaze on Emeris—“connection is found between the two sisters, we’ll reevaluate our plans.”
“Witches, blood magic, a bargain made with the sprites,” Emeris mused. “Maybe it’s a combination of them all.”
“I hope the witches weren’t involved.” Iris shuddered, tightening her hold on Holm’s arm.
“Are the sprites any better?” Aeliana asked.
Emeris shrugged. “Maybe it was none of those things. It could be some sort of prophecy, foretold by the Stars.”
Orra hesitated, her eyes clouding over before she shook her head, as if she’d caught and stopped herself from sifting the future.
“The point is that nothing should be discounted, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.” Emeris’ chin rose a fraction.
Aeliana caught a glimpse of the high priestess and potential queen everyone had been bowing to, and she couldn’t help grinning while checking Sylmar’s reaction.
Except he was already studying Aeliana, his eyes troubled as he hesitated. Whatever he considered saying got tucked away as he turned back to her mother. “We’ll all keep an open mind.”
“So, again,” Velden said, “we’re looking for a black rock that transports people across the barrier and clues about a curse or experiment gone wrong.
” He linked his webbed fingers and stretched them out, letting his knuckles crack with a satisfying ripple.
“All while keeping it under wraps so any secret brands back at the fortress remain unaware of our efforts. It’s cake compared to what we’ve all been through. ”
Sylmar grimaced. “And we hope that the curse doesn’t work the way Emeris thinks it does.”
Aeliana tensed as everyone turned sad eyes on her mother.
In that moment, the reality of what a curse would mean hit Aeliana in the chest with such force that her starlock warmed in preparation for a defense.
But there was no defense for this truth: if the curse was real and it worked the way her mother said, it didn’t matter how much they all loved the priestess.
Every single one of these people would be willing to sacrifice her in order to get rid of Mayvus.
Fear slithered through Aeliana’s gut, bringing her back to the night on the balcony when her mother had asked to be killed.
Was it so different from when Aeliana had asked Gaeren to kill her before she could be branded by Mayvus?
But what if her mother’s request came from a place of confusion rather than sacrifice?
Stems unfurled at Aeliana’s feet with unnatural speed, the daisies already looking wilted and diseased as her fear tainted the magic growing them.
She finally understood why Sylmar looked so haunted every time talk of a curse came up.
It wasn’t just because he thought Emeris was losing her sanity; it was because he expected her to die if the curse truly existed.
They’d rescued their high priestess from the fortress not just because they cared for her, but because they thought she knew how to defeat Mayvus.
Except her own sacrifice was the solution Emeris had been guarding all these years.
It was the price she’d been willing to pay that night on the balcony, and it was a price she’d be willing to pay all over again.
Only Aeliana wasn’t willing to pay it. She set her jaw and smashed the daisies down with her boot. She needed to be the one to uncover whatever curse or magic had kept Mayvus alive, because she also needed to find a way around it.