Chapter 37
COLINAS, RAVOS
The room was as gaudy and overdone as Terena had expected.
She’d known the previous Duke Ravos all her life and the vain, materialistic duke was definitely a ‘more is more’ person.
He’d only deigned to speak to her because of her position within the emperor’s court.
But if you were not of noble blood, you were nothing.
As she searched through the duke’s personal chambers, Terena groaned at the amount of stupid shit one man can accumulate.
“Half this stuff is junk,” Croak said as he sniffed at something before setting it back down.
Terena laughed at the look of disgust on his face as he glanced around the room.
Cassandra was busy running her hands along a nightstand crusted with emeralds and rubies. It looked like it belonged in the throne room of one of the gandanas, the rulers of old Osta before the fall of the Olympians.
“Did you find something?”
Cassandra shook her head. Hands on her hips, she scowled at the nightstand as if it offended her.
“No. When he showed it to me… well, he brought it from another room but hours later, he put it inside this drawer. But it’s not there.
I thought perhaps there might be a false bottom or something but really, the man was not that clever. ”
Croak snorted as he tossed another pillow onto the floor. Jumping on the bed, he sighed and stretched out, crossing his arms to cradle the back of his head. “Other than his face, why’d you sleep with him?”
“Croak!”
Orry giggled, exchanging a look with Migela as the mute assassin covered her mouth.
“He’s not wrong,” Cassandra muttered as she crouched to look beneath the nightstand. Giving up after a minute she pushed a lock of her blonde hair away from her face. “I don’t think it’s here.”
“We’ve not been looking long,” Terena said as she wandered around the perimeter of the room. Pausing in front of a group of vases, she picked up the smallest one, no bigger than her hand, and turned it over.
“Oh, Lady Terena, this wasn’t the room I… that is to say, this is the duke’s room. I told the other woman to inform you when she was in here earlier, but perhaps she did not relay our conversation. You see, Lord Hermes will be sleeping in here.”
Everyone looked over at the newcomer. The man was small, with a thick head of sandy hair that was artfully messy.
Like many Heylisians, he wore his hair long to his shoulders, and was clean shaven, although Terena wondered if it was because he might not be able to grow a beard. Terena had forgotten his name.
“Of course he will,” Croak said with a chortle while he lounged on the bed.
“Perhaps I can find you another room if the former duchess’s rooms—”
“No need,” Terena said as she rose from where she’d been looking. “I’m not staying here.”
“Who are you again?”
The man colored at Croak’s question, earning a chuckle from Cassandra.
“I am Miltos, steward to Duke Ravos.”
“Be a dear,” Cassandra said as the man wrung his hands. “Have someone bring up a hot bath for Lady Luca. She’ll need rose and seneca oils for the water, and if you do not have seneca, lavender will do.”
Terena opened her mouth to say she wasn’t planning on staying long enough for a bath but one pointed look from Cassandra and she shut her mouth and turned away.
The man, Miltos, shifted his brown eyes between the seer and the others, his hands twisting painfully in front of his long casta, a voluminous robe made of raw silk. It was much too long on him and the front of it was wrinkled, thanks to his constant tugging.
“I will see to it immediately,” he said after a long pause while the others went back to ransacking the rooms. It took him a moment longer to leave. As he retreated, Croak threw a pillow after him, to Cassandra’s amusement.
A loud roar from somewhere down below echoed up to them. Terena jerked upright, looking around as she narrowed her eyes in concentration. She rubbed at her chest, frowning. The ache was back. She’d had a few blessed hours without it, but it returned with a vengeance of a sudden.
“What the fuck was that?”
Terena flapped a hand at Croak as another roar sounded, fainter this time.
“What’s going on?” Cassandra whispered.
“It sounds like someone dying,” Orry mumbled.
Terena prowled to the door, her heart palpitating. She leaned out and looked up and down the corridor.
“Maybe it’s coming from outside,” she said. Terena opened one of the mullioned windows and leaned out.
“No,” Cassandra said as she sat back on her heels. Her hands were planted on her thighs, twisting to look up at Terena. “I think it was coming from beneath us.”
“Inside the castle?”
Cassandra shrugged. “Somewhere beneath us.”
“Helpful as always,” Croak groaned, shifting his arms so one of them was now across his eyes. “Have you ladies found it yet? If not, I think I’ll break in this bed. How about it, Cas?”
“It’s ‘Cassandra’ to you, and I wouldn’t sleep with you if it was the only way to save your sister by doing it.” She held out her hand to Terena. “Sorry, Ren.”
Terena and Migela exchanged a grin.
“We’re wasting our time,” Croak muttered.
“He’s right,” Cassandra sighed as she got to her feet. She cringed and put her hand to her back. “It’s not here.”
“Fine. Then we leave for Metilai.”
“No!” Croak cried out as he shot up from the bed. He stared at Terena with his mouth open. “We get Sonah first!”
“Right,” she said. “That first.”
Terena held up a hand when it looked as if Cassandra might object. She motioned to the seer with her head and when the woman drew closer, Terena lowered her head and whispered in her ear. “I spoke with Daris. I think I convinced him to break the bond.”
Cassandra reared back with a gasp but Terena pulled her back. “Shh! And, because you weren’t very reassuring about its success, I asked Hermes to make Daris immortal.”
The seer’s mouth formed an O.
“Secrets, secrets, are no fun,” Croak called out, tossing a pillow their way. “Secrets always hurt someone.”
“Child,” Orry snorted.
Cassandra crossed her arms, a perplexed look on her face. “Good. Good. That should help. He should be fine now, although I’m not…” She shook her head and stared down at the floor.
“When I concentrate on the commander now, I see nothing but black. That’s never happened before.”
Terena gripped Cassandra’s arm. A low ringing buzzed in her left ear, but she shook her head to clear it. Didn’t work. Migela prowled closer, her gaze swiveling between them.
“What could it mean?”
Cassandra cupped her face in her hands and groaned.
When she pulled her hands away, she blinked owlishly at Terena.
“I don’t know. I don’t understand. First, my vision about the amulet was wrong, and now this.
I’ll try again tonight to see if perhaps it’s just me.
Sometimes when I get fatigued my visions are fuzzy. ”
“But you just said you’ve never had this happen to you before. Where you see only black.”
“Should we find the commander?” Orry asked. “Just in case?”
“Ugh, no,” Croak said with his arm across his face. “If you ladies go hunting for him, he’ll get an even bigger head.”
“Shut up,” Terena groused as she tossed one of the discarded pillows at his face. When he grunted at the contact, she strode out of the room, still rubbing at her chest.
“Let’s go.”
“Did you hear that noise?”
Rydon caught up with Ren as she descended into the main hall, the others following close behind.
Except for Croak. That boy sauntered down the stairs like the wastrels he’d seen in the courts of Decu, his homeland.
Those useless twits thought everything started when they arrived, so there was no reason to rush.
“What?”
Rydon matched Terena’s determined stride. “The inhuman bellow that sounded earlier?”
“Aye, we heard it,” Cassandra said, puffing along behind them. “Do you know what it was?”
“No, I—”
“We didn’t find the amulet,” Ren interrupted. “We’re leaving for Lethe to get Sonah.”
“Fantastic,” Rydon said as he smacked his fist into his left hand. “Gabriol is still upstairs. I’ll go get him and meet you outside.”
“No. Wait.” Turning, Terena snapped her fingers a few times as she called out Croak’s name. “Croak, go get Gabriol. And where is Orry? If he’s still upstairs with Migela, bring them with you.”
“Right.” Croak pivoted and went up the steps just as leisurely as he’d come down them.
“Faster than that, Croak!”
Croak waved his hand over his shoulder without bothering to turn around.
“Where are you going?”
Rydon, Cassandra and Terena stopped dead in their tracks when Hermes and his cadre stormed in. Terena dropped her head back and let out a loud groan.
Spreading her arms she turned to Hermes.
“Lethe.”
“Not yet.”
“What? Why? I’m going to get Sonah.”
Hermes moved aside and Rydon’s eyes caught sight of Daris. The commander’s bloodshot gaze was fixed at a point over their heads, his face ashen.
Rydon swiveled his head between Daris and Terena. Terena did not look at the commander, either.
Something felt off.
“Send her eudaemon,” Hermes said as he turned to walk away.
Terena scoffed and stalked after him. His men flanked him, moving closer to Terena as she stopped in front of the god.
Tipping her head back, she glared at Hermes.
“Well, that’s convenient, because he’s going as well.”
“Daris,” Hermes said with a flick of his fingers. Daris moved to his side, his face impassive.
What the fuck was going on with him?
“Go to Lethe with Rydon and bring my niece.”
Daris nodded and turned without a glance at Terena.
“What?” Terena opened her mouth as she jerked forward. “You’re not—”
“Terena!”
The ground shook when Hermes bellowed her name. Rydon’s hand moved to his sword.
This was not good.
Terena’s face darkened. When she turned back to Hermes, Rydon’s eyes darted between the two. She was unrecognizable. The expression on her face was one he hadn’t seen before but did not portend anything good.
“You raise your voice to me like I am a witless child but that cannot be. Because I am not witless, nor am I a child.”
Hermes puffed up, the swirling silver liquid in his eyes zinging back and forth like it was possessed.
“You are a child, niece. I have lived for millennia. And you are witless, if you think you can leave without my permission. Remind me again which circle we’re in? Ah, yes, the eighth and final circle. If you fail this time, it’s not just you that’s fucked.”
The cavernous hall became sweltering. Terena’s eyes were bright, glowing red, and her hands shook.
Rydon gripped his sword, his eyes wild as he took in everyone’s positions.
“What’s going on?”
Rydon cursed, swinging around to see Croak coming down the stairs with Gabriol, Orry and Migela.
Gabriol immediately unsheathed his sword and Migela did the same with her daggers.
The portly cleric clutched some books to his chest with one hand as he frantically batted his hand at Croak to pull him back.
“What’s going on,” Hermes said in a booming voice, “is your sister is about to learn a very valuable lesson.”
Closing the distance, Hermes held out his hand. A metallic sound rang out as his caduceus formed.
Terena snarled, and Rydon’s eyes almost popped out of his head when she held out her hands and the Twins materialized. The runes etched on the blades activated and red light pulsed up and down the blades once. Gone was the white light he’d seen several times when she’d used them.
“Put away your swords, niece,” Hermes whispered.
Rydon edged closer. Hermes’s men did the same.
“Hermes, what the fuck?” Rydon whispered.
The god shook his head, a look of confusion on his face before it melted away into a thunderous expression.
“Put away your staff, uncle.”
“I will not ask again.”
Terena laughed unpleasantly. “You seem to think you have power over me. I may not know as much about being a god, but I am one. Nor am I as strong as you, but I am a daughter of Ares. I’m supposed to be here. This is my story, old man. Not yours.”
There was a brief moment where Rydon thought his heart stopped.
No one moved. Even Croak’s gasp was cut off.
Before anyone snapped out of their shock, Hermes backhanded Terena with his caduceus.
Daris roared and leaped at the god, his arm pulled back, aiming his sword at Hermes’s neck.
But the sword stopped inches from his skin, and Daris dropped to the ground as if hitting an invisible force.
Two of Hermes’s assassins charged at him, hauling Daris up by his arms and holding him captive between them. Even that wasn’t enough to break Rydon from the sheer shock immobilizing him.
The god looked horrified for a brief moment, staring at his caduceus as if he’d never seen it before. The look was gone so fast, Rydon thought his eyes played tricks on him.
Hermes spared a glance at Daris, snarling something Rydon could not hear past the thundering in his ears.
Terena, on the ground, stared up at the god as if seeing him for the first time.
Taking advantage of everyone’s stupor, Hermes grabbed Terena by the top of her head, his fingers clamping tight enough to make her wince and cry out. Rydon bolted toward her. One of Hermes’s men had a dagger to his throat before he moved two feet.
Hermes crouched, bringing his face within inches of Terena. Croak was shouting like a madman, and when Rydon twisted to look at him, he saw Gabriol and Migela on the ground with more of Hermes’s criminals surrounding them.
The fat cleric whimpered on his knees, the books he’d been holding scattered on the floor. Croak was ashen, looking at his sister with wide, haunted eyes as another one of Hermes’s undesirables held him by the scruff.
“You think you’re indispensable?” Hermes seethed. “I still have your sister. The heir! You forget, niece, I am eternal. And you are still fucking MORTAL!”
He raised his hand to strike her again. Gabriol and Croak shouted and Rydon cried out to Terena as the world went black.