Chapter Six

Beyond the strange barrier, we arrived at a wide, bleak shore. Waves beat restlessly against the rock beneath our feet, their susurration filling the air. 

The sky overhead was featureless and grey. I shivered. It had an oppressive feel to it, as though I were trapped inside a box, rather than staring out across a whole, wide world.

I glanced either side, gripping Fon’s fingers, relieved to find Vashri had also arrived safely. “This is the underworld?”

“This is part of it.”

“Where should we go?” I scanned the horizon. Bare, so far as I could see. “How do we cross the water?”

“The boatman will convey us.” Vashri tilted his head and I saw a silent, shrouded figure in a small boat bobbing on the waves beside us. He couldn't have arrived without me seeing him, but I would swear he hadn't been there a moment before.

Vashri touched my elbow. “The underworld looks like our world but it's very different. Stay close.”

That would be my pleasure. I'd been in the underworld a minute and I was already creeped out. Axxon and Rey needed me. A little unease was nothing if it brought me to them.

You have payment? The voice didn't seem to come from the figure, it just resounded in my head. He - it - must mean the memory the anchoress had mentioned.

“I have payment.” My voice was faded, the words snatched away by the wind that tugged at the waves' crests. I’d found a memory. Quiet, happy. It was of Essa and me, when we’d reached Myledene and accepted that we would stay a while. The first meal we shared in our hut that was just the two of us, with a door that could be bolted against all the awful things that might lurk outside the walls. I’d been truly happy; relaxed for the first time in a year.

The cloak that shrouded the figure shifted. A bloated, grey hand stretched out of the fabric, fingers unfurling towards me. It was clear that I was supposed to place my hand in his – hers – its. I had to find Rey and Axxon, I reminded myself. I slotted my hand into the discoloured fingers. I thought they would be cold. I expected its touch to be slimy, like something decaying. Instead, there was heat, followed by darkness.

The black faded. I opened my eyes and stepped into my past, but not into the memory I’d primed. Rather, I appeared in a scene I didn’t know I remembered.

A fire crackled in the middle of the hut. Pa tended to it. I leaned against Ma's side. One of her arms was around me. The other cradled baby Essa while she nursed.

I wasn't aware this memory lurked in my head, but the sense of home and safety made me relax. I had to be three or four, my thumb creeping into my mouth as Ma transfixed us all with the story of Vynnada, the warrior priestess of ancient times, leader of the Rytoo tribe.

“Vynnada was a member of a rival tribe, captured in a raid when she was sixteen. Being young, and strong, and beautiful, she was selected for sacrifice to the goddess.” Ma's voice rang over the noise of the fire. I nestled into her side, my head on her shoulder.

“But Vynnada knew her destiny wasn't to be a sacrifice, but to serve the goddess in a different way.”

Pa left the fire and sat beside me. I crawled into his lap and his arms went around me, his kiss pressed to my hair.

“After the raid, all the sacrifices were gathered together, the knives of the priestesses sharpened ready to cut their veins so their blood would flow into the earth and strengthen the harvest for the glory of the goddess. 

“Prayers were said, and then the priestesses began their work. When they approached Vynnada, she snatched the knife from them and held them back while she cried out to the crowd, ‘I am a child of the goddess. She will not have my blood, for my whole life will be devoted to her glory!’

“Three warriors stepped forth from the crowd and wrestled the knife from her. They trapped her arms so she couldn't struggle as the priestess stepped forward a second time, knife clutched in her vengeful fist.”

I'd heard the tale before, but I still tensed at that point. Pa's arms tightened in reassurance.

“But when they struck her throat, the knife grew blunt and wouldn't cut her skin. A crack of thunder split the sky and all knew that the goddess held Vynnada in her protection. The warriors fell to their knees and the priestess took her hand and asked her to join them.”

I settled again now the immediate danger was over. 

“Vynnada became a great priestess. With the guidance of the goddess the tribe prospered. Their harvests were great and their raids successful.” Ma’s tone changed. “Neighbouring tribes grew envious. The Gamore tribe waited until the men left on a raid, and they attacked when only the women and children were there. But the goddess spoke to Vynnada and told her of the danger. Vynnada called to the women to rise up. They gathered the children in safety and armed only with tools and sticks they stood firm as their enemies flooded the village. 

“They were outnumbered, and untrained, but the goddess was on their side. They killed many and drove back the rest. When the men returned, they were celebrating their victory.

The warriors, however, were sad because the chief had been gravely injured. Vynnada and the other priestesses tended him with cures and prayers and he recovered. But his arm was damaged and he could no longer wield a sword. A new chief must be chosen.”

I tensed again, knowing what was coming. 

“Any warrior could have put himself forward, but the choice was unanimous…”

My breath hitched.

“Vynnada was declared chief. The first woman warrior chief, and the one who would always be remembered across Charnrosa.”

Pa squeezed my arm. “A magnificent woman.” He pressed a kiss to my temple, then reached to touch Ma's shoulder and stroke a finger down Essa's soft cheek. “Just like all the women in my life.”

Darkness descended.

I blinked and the ocean roared to life once more. The swathed figure stood before me. Thank you. The low voice rumbled inside my very bones. Step into the boat. I will escort you.

Fon took my hand. “Come on. Axxon and Rey are waiting for us.”

I gripped his fingers. Vashri curled his hand around my elbow and we stepped into the boat. When we were all on board, the boat began to move. I sat down on the plank set from one side to the other. Fon took the place beside me while Vashri sat on a narrow ledge behind us.

The shrouded figure stood in the prow of the boat, waves splashing either side as the craft picked up speed.

“How are we moving?” I asked. There was no sail, no oars, no visible way to propel us through the water.

“No idea.” Fon's tone was incurably bright, as always. I sent him a sceptical glance, sure he must sense the strange atmosphere. The strain on his face told me how much his cheerful reply cost him.

I squeezed his hand, determined to reassure him as much as he had me. “Underworld magic, eh?”

“Something like that.” His gaze strayed past the boatman, searching for something in the featureless sea.

“What's our destination? Will the boatman take us to the kings’ souls?”

“We'll have to stand before the master of the underworld.”

“Everyone must,” Vashri added.

I remembered the anchoress warning against the soultaker’s magic. Enchantments that could swallow us whole. Just from the name, the soultaker didn’t seem like the best person to approach when we planned to take souls back to our world from the underworld. “Can't we go straight to the goddess?”

“The soultaker assesses all souls as they pass through the underworld. There’s as much chance that Axxon and Rey are with him as with the goddess.”

The creases on Fon’s brow deepened at Vashri’s words. My stomach was a tight ball of fear. I wasn’t used to seeing the kings anything but confident in their abilities, especially Fon.

I glanced down to distract myself, watching the waves as the small boat ploughed through the water. Crests of white foam dashed against the boards. The ripples were mesmerising. I put a hand out, intending to dip my fingers into the water.

Vashri caught my wrist before I could break the surface. “Best not touch,” he murmured. 

I let my hand fall into my lap, but I peered into the water to see what had alarmed Vashri. While the surface was disturbed, it was hard to see, but I thought I could see shapes in the depths. I remembered the serpent in the lake surrounding the citadel and shuddered at my stupidity.

“Thank you,” I told Vashri.

“Don't take anything for granted here.”

“I'll make sure I don't.”

His fingers laced between mine. Not as though he didn't trust me enough to let go, but as though he craved the comfort of connection as much as I did. 

His thumb stroked to and fro across the back of my hand. He was very close, sitting forward on his bench. Fon put his arm around me. “If you fell in, I’d come after you.”

I thought it was meant as a joke. I tried to smile, but the presence of something in the water had taken me back to the Emperor’s citadel and the serpent in the lake. It was Axxon and Rey who’d guided me safely past the creature, feeding it stones until there was no room in its belly for a human meal.

My chest ached with loss. I missed Axxon and Rey like a constant, painful thorn piercing my heart.

“Here.” As though he’d read my thoughts, Fon drew me closer to him.

I leaned against his side, resting my head on his warm, solid chest. His other hand stroked my cheek and my eyes closed. I breathed deeply, filling my senses with his scent, using Fon to fight the sense of unease the underworld had roused in me.

I had just settled, my heartbeat steadying and the sense of fear leaving me at last, when the shadowy boatman spoke. I can take you no further.

I jolted upright to see our destination. A rocky island lay beside the boat. Looming in its centre was a high stone wall. It might have been built to keep out intruders, but that hardly seemed necessary when in front of the richly-carved gates sat an old friend.

Cardivass peered at the occupants of the boat, both sets of teeth bared in a snarl. It didn't seem that he was any happier to see us on his home turf than he had been last time we'd met.