Chapter 27 #2
‘I said I’d fetch you, but do you know where Kyor is?’
‘He’s with Uzra. I’ll reach out to Elska, ask her to get him to come to us.’
A moment later I’m speaking to my wolf’s mate. Is Kyor with you? We would like him to come to our dining room to discuss some matters.
Yes. He has been in conversation all morning with the general, but he has been worried about you and the Veil. I felt Fen’s pain and worry for you, but I did not want to reach out to him unless I knew the situation. Not when he is still so fragile.
Thank you, I say quietly.
Thank you, Rose, for all you have done for him. I do not take it for granted.
You look after people you love. And I love him. We both do.
A wave of warmth washes over me from her. That is very true. Now, I shall fetch the prince for you.
Benny is pacing with impatience when we find him in the dining room, and I don’t miss the way his face softens when Ruben walks in by my side.
Caz and Thessa arrive only moments before Kyor does.
‘Okay, Caz,’ Benny says. ‘Spill?’
‘Impatient to get back to other things, are you?’ Kyor teases, but Benny grimaces a little and doesn’t reply.
I frown. Something is off with Benny today. If he’s regretting what’s happening between him and Ruben, I’ll eviscerate him. I love Benny, but Ruben has been my best friend – my only friend – for years.
‘Right. Shut up,’ Caz snaps. ‘I need to talk to you all about something important. And I need you to take it seriously. I’ve learned something,’ she begins, tapping a large bundle of cloth she’s dropped on the table, ‘something big, I think. It was a complete accident as I was meant to be researching the Myrkr, but anyway, I ended up finding a book about the Retterheld. I don’t know how it ended up in the pile, but I started explaining it to Thessa, and that’s when I found it. It has to mean something.’
Inside the bundle of cloth that she carried is a large tome, and she carefully pulls it out of the protective material and sets it on the table for all to see.
The ancient leather sags at the spine, while some patches of the cover are worn so thin you can see the fabric below.
I get the feeling that just opening it will be enough to make some of the pages disintegrate, but thankfully, she leaves it where it is.
‘Some of these books in the library, they aren’t just on Issen history.
You remember I mentioned they have records here of the early Retterhelds?
’ She looks at me as she says this, and there’s an unnerving intensity in her gaze, as though it’s some kind of test.
‘Yes?’ I say hopefully, though in my defence, she has told me a lot of information since we got here and my head has been too full to take all of it in.
I vaguely remember her saying something about some extremely old records though.
And Magnus knew of the Retterheld, but maybe he didn’t get that information from Korvane like I’d previously assumed.
‘Well, I definitely told you, Benny.’ She switches her attention to the earl. ‘What’s the earliest Retterheld mentioned in any of the books you’ve read?’
‘The earliest?’ he answers. ‘About two thousand years ago.’
‘Yes! Exactly!’ She clasps her hands together, beaming like a proud teacher. ‘Well, this book here has details going back to Retterhelds from four thousand years ago.’
‘Four thousand?’ Benny repeats incredulously.
‘That’s certainly impressive,’ I say. ‘But you think it’ll help us how?’
Carefully – oh so carefully – she opens the ancient tome and gently moves the pages until she comes to the one she’s looking for. It has a worn and faded picture of three daggers, one of them undoubtedly the distinctive blade that is by my side.
‘This is what caught my eye,’ Caz begins.
‘It’s your dagger, Rose. Drawn in a book so ancient its pages are crumbling.
I had to get one of the Issen to help me understand it, but from what they read, these daggers were one of the first gifts of the Retterheld.
And get this, the first Retterheld wasn’t just open to Morathkians.
It was open to all the people of the land – Torailians, Issen … even the Sannings.’
‘The Sannings?’ I say in surprise.
Thessa remains silent as we all look at her.
‘How could the Sannings have stood a chance when they don’t have any magic?’ Ruben asks.
I clear my throat pointedly and Ruben flushes. ‘Sorry, I forgot for a moment.’
‘Ru’s right though. It’s tough enough with magic,’ Benny agrees. ‘Rose is the kick-arse exception that proves the rule.’
‘Thanks,’ I murmur as my brain works overtime. ‘I can’t imagine Torailian magic would be much help either,’ I say, thinking of that bitch we met on the journey here, and her arrows, and the way she called me an abomination.
‘It would be helpful if they entered as a team,’ Kyor disagrees. ‘Worked together, shared what they knew of the trials. Used their mental magic to coordinate their efforts.’
‘Exactly, and according to this, they did enter,’ Caz insists. ‘Anyway, the important thing to tell you is that there were three children of Etta in the first Retterheld – three people gifted by the Goddess.’
Before we can digest this information, she shocks us again.
‘It was won by three Sannings.’
‘I don’t get how that can happen,’ Ruben finally says, breaking the silence that followed Caz’s revelation. ‘I thought the Retterheld is one gift only. The Goddess chooses one person, one reward. Like she chose Rose.’
‘That’s what I need to get to the bottom of,’ Caz says. ‘But it definitely says “three Sannings”. And my guess is there’s a lot more we still don’t know about the Retterheld, the Sannings, the daggers … all of it.’
Thessa’s forehead is marred by a frown. ‘There are tales,’ she murmurs, ‘tales of three Sannings. Three of his priests.’
The fact she will not speak his name tells us she means Sanrott – the God of Land and Sea.
‘Priests?’ Benny scoffs. ‘How would they survive the trials, let alone win them?’
‘Like the citizens of Morathka are raised with a blade in hand, so the Sannings are raised with our spears.’