Chapter 27 #3
Subconsciously, Kyor rubs his shoulder.
‘Nor are our priests as sanctimonious as the priestess of Etta,’ Thessa scoffs.
I almost begin to defend Dinah, but then I remember what the Veil has been teaching me about her. I always believed she was helping us because she loved us, that she was family. But … was there more to her interventions?
Gut churning, I shove thoughts of my pseudo-grandmother aside. ‘What do the tales say of these three?’ I ask instead.
Thessa swallows. ‘They were given a gift from the Gods, but they squandered it, becoming something dark instead. It is said the crows warn of their coming.’
My skin prickles because I can already see the lines Thessa is drawing between the dots. I have only ever known one creature heralded by crows.
The Myrkr. A being wrought from darkness itself.
For the second time today, memory drags me back to a moment I would rather forget: our last desperate battle with the Rottings and the Myrkr.
The suffocating wrongness. The panic as our magic was torn from us, leaving us weakened. Stide’s scratch that became her death sentence. Kyor bleeding beside me. Mortidem stalking so close.
Ice crawls down my spine.
Because when I killed the Myrkr, the darkness slipped away and his hair shifted to the warm blond of a Sanning. And in his forehead rested a stone of the priesthood.
‘Great Gods,’ I utter in total shock as the cogs turn. I swallow hard.
Three priests … three Myrkr.
Three has long been a magical number in Morathka, a holy number. There are three vendari – the protectors – and my blade is also part of a set of three: the three blades of Vindrun.
I learned that from a book I’d found in the High Hold library.
Unfortunately, the page that promised to be the most helpful had been ripped out.
So though I know that High Priestess Mila has the second dagger – as she used it on the Rettlings during the Retterheld – I still don’t know where the third dagger is or what the blades do.
They’re certainly not normal blades, that much I know.
The group looks at me expectantly after my outburst, but I hold up a hand for silence as my mind continues to whirr. ‘Everything is linked,’ I mutter. The dagger affected the Myrkr, and the Rottings came in hordes wherever the Myrkr was, so the Rottings and the Myrkr are surely linked too.
Maybe finding out exactly what these daggers do could tell us how to rid the world of the deadly Rottings.
Slowly, I lower my hand and give voice to the truth taking shape in my mind.
There is no surprise on Benny’s face, as he’s clearly reached the same conclusions as me.
Kyor, though, looks frustrated. ‘The Rott—’ he begins, but gets cut off abruptly, his words strangled and stopped.
His vow.
The prince rubs his forehead and lets out a sharp breath. ‘Fucking hell.’
I reach out to squeeze his hand. ‘It’s okay.’
‘No,’ he bites out, standing up. ‘It’s not.’ He shakes his head again and begins to pace.
‘We need more information,’ I say. ‘Knowledge is power, and I can’t help but feel we’re nibbling around the edges of something important.’ I look at the ancient book that Caz is cradling so carefully.
‘So what you’re saying,’ Caz says slowly, ‘is we either need to read all the books in the Issen library a whole lot faster or see if we can find someone who already has the answers we’re looking for.’
‘Well, I can help with the first part,’ Benny suggests. ‘As long as I’m not distracted.’ He smirks at Ruben as he says this, who gives a faint smile in return, a blush colouring his cheeks.
‘Right.’ Benny clears his throat. ‘Focus. Read fast. I’m on it.’
A slight sigh billows from Caz’s lips before she carries on.
‘The fact is, this library is ten times bigger than the one in Brandish, and most of the books there were in Morathkian. Here, you’ve got new languages to learn too.
I’ve done the maths. I think you’d need almost a year to get through everything that’s in there.
And that’s assuming you’re completely focused, which—’ She pauses and looks at Ruben. ‘I can’t see happening right now.’
‘So I take it that means you prefer plan B?’ I ask.
Caz nods reluctantly. ‘As loath as I am to say that the books aren’t the answer in this case … yeah, I think we should ask Magnus about it all. He’s been truthful about everything else and knows more than he should.’
‘He knows my people’s history,’ Thessa adds quietly. ‘Our traditions. He gave me a bursta. He knows more of my people than he should.’
‘All right,’ I say lightly. ‘I guess it’s time for me to start asking my grandfather some questions.’
‘How’s the Veil going?’ Benny asks before I can leave.
I grimace. ‘Let’s just say the last stage of the Veil is going to be harder than I hoped.’
Kyor pauses in his pacing. ‘It’ll be okay,’ he says, taking my hand. ‘You’ll get control of your powers, and you’ll complete the Veil. I’m sure of it. What did you see? Any idea what lesson it is you have to learn?’
‘I— I’ll tell you later,’ I say softly, unease clawing at me as I imagine his response.