Chapter 69 #2
“No more secrets,” he agrees. He gives my hand a little squeeze and I revel in the warmth of the gesture.
I glance around at each of the others in our group. Alys, Osheen, Chiyo. “No more secrets,” I echo.
They all agree, but I watch as Osheen’s hand presses over the pocket of his trousers where he keeps Carys’s wristlet. As that hand trembles and guilt replaces the concern on his face.
“Give me the wristlet,” I say, holding out my hand.
Osheen’s eyes widen. “What?”
I turn sharply to Kilkenny. “What is he feeling?”
Osheen’s focus shifts back and forth between us. Kilkenny seems ready to protest, but he must see something on my face because he exhales and turns to Osheen. A moment later, he faces me and says, “Fear. Anxiety. Guilt.”
My chest heaves with shallow breaths. “Osheen, give me Carys’s wristlet.”
Chiyo says something to me, but I don’t bother to figure it out.
Osheen takes a step back, his hands shaking as he signs, “Durvla, let me explain. Please.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat as I move toward him, Kilkenny by my side. “Give me the wristlet!”
Chiyo suddenly shoves her hand into his pocket and yanks out the golden band, tossing it to me. I miss the catch by an embarrassingly large margin, but Kilkenny catches it instead and drops it into my hand as though it’s scalding.
At first, there’s an uncomfortable buzzing sensation that makes me want to drop it as well. But then I’m forced to my knees, images flooding my mind as I hold on to the wristlet.
Lord Iywan is standing behind a woman with sepia skin and wavy grey hair.
A charcoal-colored cloak is draped over narrow shoulders as she stares intently into a mirror radiating a gentle purple glow.
Within the mirror, a scene of five figures standing among green hills and steep cliffs plays out like a vivid memory.
The woman and the strange mirror disappear from my mind, replaced with a vision of Osheen in the brig. Iywan hands him the gold wristlet. “Will you do it?” Iywan asks.
There are tears on Osheen’s cheeks as he nods. “Just tell me that her brother will be safe.”
“He’s already dead. I sent Forayers to intercept those rebels immediately. Things turned ugly; there were no survivors.”
Osheen’s face goes white, and he hesitates, wiping tears shakily from his face before asking, “Then why should I do this?”
“Because if you don’t, I will dispatch Forayers to your home to execute your mother and grandmother.
You just need to find the others and get to the rebel base.
Then your family’s lives will be spared.
That piece of jewelry will track your whereabouts; no need for you to report anything to us.
This is for the greater good, boy. The rebellion must fall. ”
The image crumbles, and I draw in a breath that rattles my chest. I’m on my hands and knees, trembling as I try to make sense of everything. I stare up at Osheen, tears brimming, my heart aching.
He lied to me. He’s been lying to all of us all this time.
Tears trickle down my cheeks as I push myself up onto one knee, leaving the wristlet in the grass.
I swat at Kilkenny as he reaches out to me, unable to fathom being touched right now.
I’m too exhausted to speak or even to sign.
I cast my thoughts out to Kilkenny, hoping he’ll hear. “Can you see what I saw?”
“No,” his voice in my head responds. “But tell me.”
“There was a woman with Iywan, looking at us through a mirror. Us … here … now …”
Kilkenny winces. “Fuck …” He scrubs his hand over his face. “It’s a scrying tether. He’s been spying on us for Iywan.”
Something breaks like a dam within me, and the next thing I know, I’m on my feet, screaming at Osheen. “You’ve been working for Iywan all this time!”
“Yes, well no … I …”
All logic abandons me, and I charge at Osheen, shoving him as hard as I can. Once, twice. On the third time, I pound my fists against his broad chest. Again and again, until I’m swinging like a mad woman, shouting at him. “You betrayed us, you coward!”
I shut my eyes as I pummel him with my fists.
He doesn’t fight me or step away. He just stands there and takes it.
When I dare to look at him again, thick bands of shadows are coiled around his body, from his ankles up to his mouth.
His eyes bulge frantically, his arms bound beneath the dark bands.
I step away from him, dropping my hands as pain creeps into the back of my skull and moves to the front of my head.
A high-pitched sound erupts in my ear, bringing along agonizing pressure that makes my gut roil as though I’m being tossed about on a boat. I press the heels of my hands against my ears as the world around me spins and I completely lose track of where I am in space.
This isn’t magic.
It’s an episode, and it hits me like a satchel of bricks—with more force than ever before.
I stagger back, but strong hands grasp my arms from behind. My stomach lurches again as everything tilts on its axis. My mouth waters unpleasantly, and as the world spins around me, vomit rushes up my throat. I double over, spewing the contents of my stomach.
I don’t have a clue about what goes on around me, but a firm arm envelopes me, holding me upright even as my legs give in. “I’ve got you,” Kilkenny says into my aching head.
Then darkness yanks me into its cold embrace.