40. Promises and Plans
Promises and Plans
When I returned to the Darkway my mind was racing.
What exactly did Dali plan to do with the amulet? Did she even plan to do what she claimed? A twinge of anger moved through me as I thought about how my mother had wanted it hidden to protect everyone, yet here was Dali using it for her own purposes.
Patience, Asharin, I reminded myself.
I turned the corridor and looked for Dali's room. I needed to speak to Maridale.
I knocked once.
Maridale answered. She looked tired. Not physically, but in some deeper way I could not find the words for.
"I need to know what Dali plans to do with the amulet," I said. "Truly."
Maridale looked at me for a long while. Then she stepped back and let me in.
"She plans to retrieve it in the coming days,” she said quietly, closing the door behind us. "She has been mapping the Vault. Learning its entry points." She paused. "She will not wait much longer."
"And what does she plan to do with it when she has it?"
Maridale looked at the floor. "She believes it will give her what she wants. Revenge on Yorali. A way home. She believes it may merge us into one and make her whole.” She was quiet. "She does not know what it will actually do to her if she wears it."
"And you?" I said. "Do you know?"
She looked up at me. "Yes," she said. "I know."
Part of me wondered what it did but not enough to ask.
"Then we do not have long,” I said.
She nodded.
"Help me get there first," I said.
She looked at me for a long time. Then she said, "I cannot. Entering the Vaultline takes an enormous amount of power and strength that I do not have. In fact, you do not have it either because during the day you are depleted."
I briefly wondered how she knew that so confidently, but thought better of asking.
"You are always asleep during the daylight hours," she added, as though she knew exactly what I was going to question.
"What has she done with Teorin?" I asked, feigning confusion.
Maridale furrowed her brow. “Teorin? Nothing significant or I would likely know about it.” She paused. “Why? Do you think he is ….” “Dead?” I asked calmly.
“No, he is not dead.”
The look she gave me was neither confused nor surprised, and the feeling I sensed was strange so I pushed it away.
“Thank you,” I said calmly.
And I turned and walked away.
I left Maridale's room with my mind made up.
Not about the Vault, exactly. But about something else that had been forming since Eravic told me about the wards.
Since Teorin sat with a fever and said there is no Ashen in Thrykis.
Since I pressed my hand to his forehead and felt how hot he was and understood that whatever Dali had been doing it was costing him something real.
I knocked on his door.
He answered quickly. Still pale. Still tired around the eyes. But present.
"I need to talk to you," I said.
He stepped back and let me in.
I sat. He sat across from me. The room was quiet.
"The bond," I said. "I want to do it."
He stared at me.
"You understand what that means," he said carefully. "You would be tied to me. Permanently. Whatever happens after—"
"I know what it means."
"Asharin—"
"The wards are getting looser," I said. "Dali wants the amulet and if she gets it before we seal the wards—" I stopped. "We both know what happens after that.”
He was very still.
“We do not have long,” I said. “Days, not weeks. Can we leave Morrath soon?”
He looked at me for a long time. "Yes," he said finally.
"Then we will." I stood. "But first I need to make arrangements.”
He nodded slowly.
"I need you to trust me," he said.
I laughed. "I tried that before."
"Something is different about you."
"Yes," I said. "Death will do that to a person."
"Something else," he said.
I looked at him. "Yes."
We were inches apart. I felt him grow hard, felt the warmth pressing against my leg and I was not disgusted or offended or hurt or amused. I stepped back and he knew that I felt him and neither of us said anything about it.
"You should call that human girl over," I said. "Have her service you."
"What if I do not want her?” He held my eyes. "I do not know who to trust."
I smiled. "Well. It certainly should not be me."
I turned to leave. At the door I stopped.
"I learned much while I was here," I said. "But do you know what I learned best?"
"What?" he said.
"I am not my mother."
I left him there.