Dali’s Deal
Dali’s Deal
"There are things I wish to discuss," she said.
“I gathered.”
“Things my other half does not need to hear.”
I looked at her. “You can keep things from Maridale?”
A quiet laugh.
“At this point, Maridale exists because I permit it. Those who love her begged me not to erase her completely.” She examined one of her fingernails. “I found their pleading tiresome.”
“You speak about her as though she isn’t you.”
Her smile faded. “She isn’t.”
She looked at me then, her amusement fading.
“You know Maridale. She served you, did she not? She was probably kind and funny and caring.”
She stared at me coldly. “I am none of those things. I do not give, I take. And I mainly enjoy the things that feed me.”
She paused. “Kindness isn’t one of them.”
“What is?”
“Pain.” She counted it off on her fingers. “Temptation. Desire. Rage. Those things feed me.” Her smile returned. “Where Maridale weakens, I thrive.”
The cold in her eyes was unmistakable now. I wondered how I had missed it before.
Perhaps I hadn’t. Perhaps I had simply been too busy dying. Dali could continue with the cold stares and long speeches. She clearly thought me softer than I am, or she would know that nothing she was saying matters. I was simply waiting for the part where she explained what she could do for me.
Aunt Petunis had taught me about feeders and deathmages and Alarnan politics. But she had never once mentioned Sarens. I had been so focused on surviving and on finding Colsar I had never even thought to ask what existed behind the other side of Alarna.
Then again, Petunis had taught me many things I didn’t ask about. And she was far too sharp to have made such an oversight. Perhaps it was for a reason.
"What do you want from me?" I asked carefully.
“A partnership.”
“Go on.”
She folded one leg beneath her.
“You are trapped in Morrath with no magic, surrounded by creatures capable of killing you before breakfast.”
“I had noticed.” In truth, I had not noticed. I had heard Morrath had creatures but had seen nothing yet beyond the walls of this room that I was coming to detest.
A smile tugged at her mouth.
“The creatures are manageable. Teorin Rathmor concerns me more.”
“You’ve known him for all of five minutes.”
“I’ve known his type much longer.”
She leaned forward.
“He’s obsessed with you, and it will only get worse from here. He nearly lost you once. Now he’ll convince himself that controlling every step you take is the only way to keep it from happening again.”
I said nothing, because part of me knew it was true. I did not understand why he was obsessed with me or how it could be possible given the lies he had told, only that the numb feeling from earlier was all too familiar.
“My brother intends to reach you,” she continued. “Whether he finds a cure for…whatever happened to you remains to be seen.”
“And?” I didn’t try to mask the irritation in my tone.
“You are impatient.”
“I am tired. There is a difference.”
She smiled again.
“I require something from Morrath’s Vault.”
“The Vault?”
“A family heirloom.”
“What sort of heirloom?”
“The sort worth lying, stealing, and seducing for.”
I stared at her.
“You are serious.”
“Painfully.”
She sighed.
“Teorin agreed to let me stay here in the palace if I awakened you.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“No,” she said. “You don’t.”
She tipped her head back, studying the ceiling.
“Reaching the vault requires accessing the Vaultline. It requires information on access points and enough strength to open the vault itself. It is warded by powerful magic.”
I almost tell her that I don’t care, but I decide to remain silent.
“So you need him to help you open the vault?”
She smiled. “Something like that, yes.”
“So just ask him,” I said.
“It will not be that simple. He is clearly unwell.”
That part had not been clear to me, though I believed her.
“A feeder who has been using power incorrectly his entire life, who is then exposed to the magic of this place and then drains himself of power for the sake of a woman he wants to fuck, is most certainly on the brink of madness or already there.”
“Morrath was built against my people. Every safeguard favors feeders, even though it is the magic of Sarenal’s creatures that makes this kingdom so powerful. “
In truth, I did not care what Sarens do. All I can think of is Colsar, and Ari, and Kiss. I wonder if Kiss drank milk today or insisted on blood. I wonder if Ari missed his morning snuggles with me these past several days.
I wonder how Colsar is. If he blames himself even though whatever happened I know it is not his fault.
I wonder what life is like now that I am not there.
Every night we spend tangled together without clothes on.
We talk about the day. We talk about the children.
We kiss. We...we were perfect. Since we reconciled back in Shalvar, he hasn’t been able to go very long without having me near.
And now the thought of him alone breaks me in a way I cannot explain.
Dali is still talking. Something about Teorin and vaults.
"I do not care," I interrupt. "Just tell me what you want so that I can sleep in peace.”
"I will help you regain strength. Once you do, I will show you where to meet Eravic. You will meet with him nightly and allow me alone time with Teorin, enough time for me to learn him and learn how to get into the vault."
“If he has never been to Morrath, how would he know how to get into the vault?”
“He is a Rathmor,” she said simply. “Historically they have always been able to access the vaultline easily. I need uninterrupted access to him.”
“What do you need from me?” I said, now growing more impatient.
“I need you to go see Eravic in the evenings, so that I may probe him for information and convince him to help me retrieve what I need.” She paused. “I also need you, dear princess, to mind your business. Stay out of my business with Teorin Rathmor and my business here in Morrath in general.”
I stared at her. “You wish to seduce him.”
“I wish to have him give me what I need,” she answered simply.
I thought about Teorin sleeping in my bed with no shirt on.
“Do what you need to do,” I said.
I studied her.
“Why must I leave for this?”
She reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
I resisted the urge to slap her hand away.
“Because,” she said softly, “you’re distracting.”
She laughed at my expression.
“Princess…men like Teorin stop thinking when they’re in love.”
I felt my eyelids growing heavy. I want her to leave, because now she was talking nonsense. Teorin Rathmor wasn’t capable of that. My eyes shut just briefly and when I opened them again she was still sitting on the bed, much to my chagrin.
“What?”
“I’m waiting for your answer.”
“Fine.”
The word scraped my throat.
“Within reason.”
“Within reason is a dangerous term in this scenario.”
I ignored her. “You’ll have your time.”
I held her gaze.
“But if I learn you’re using him to hurt him…”
She laughed.
"What reason would I have to harm Teorin Rathmor? It isn't me he tried to kiss without permission," she said, almost cruelly.
I said nothing.
“You’ve made the correct choice," she said smugly.
She opened the door and rested one hand against the frame.
“Oh…”
She glanced back over her shoulder.
The smile that followed belonged to someone else entirely.
“I do not forgive. And I have very little patience for broken promises.”
The door closed behind her.