Just as I suspected, the morning was quiet, absent of storm and wind, and I was certain the Komizar had somehow made an agreement with an unknown god of weather. No doubt it was the god who would pay dearly at some point for the bargain he’d struck.
I had tossed all night and wasn’t sure I’d slept at all. I slid aside one of the shutters, and a blast of cold air hit me. Blinding light poured through the small opening. Once my eyes adjusted, I was stunned by what I saw. Every roof, parapet, and inch of ground in the square below was covered in a thick layer of white. It was both beautiful and frightening. How much would traveling through snow slow us down?
There was a tap on my door, and when I opened it, I saw a tray of cheese and bread on the floor and heard the scurrying footsteps of whoever had delivered it, apparently afraid to be anywhere in the vicinity of the Komizar. I ate every morsel, knowing it might be my last for a while, and then I began to dress, putting on my trousers and shirt as Rafe had instructed. Besides being more suited to riding than a dress, my trousers were far warmer. My shirt still flapped loose from where the Komizar had torn it. I smoothed the fabric up over my shoulder and used Walther’s baldrick to keep it in place.
I heard the early stirrings of the city outside. Say your remembrances from Blackstone Terrace … just after the first bell. The terrace was close to these quarters, in view from the fist-sized windows of my chamber. I judged by the sun that the first bell would ring in an hour or less. By now the Council was probably settled into the talks that I assumed were not going smoothly, judging by some of the governors’ faces last night. Were they balking at the plenty in the Komizar’s silos while their own citizens suffered with growling bellies? Discontented subjects could lead to more challenges and shorter lives. It seemed that the promise of my visions was a way to douse the fires of discontent. The Siarrah, sent by the gods, would see a victory at hand. That would fill the bellies of those in the far-flung provinces for a while.
I put on the furred vest of the Meurasi, pieced together by sacrifice, and my stomach squeezed. They weren’t all my enemies. The word barbarian was gone from my lips, except to describe a savage few, and it seemed at least one lord of Morrighan was among those few.
I’d started to retrieve the knife from beneath the mattress where I’d hidden it when I heard the door rattle. I dropped the mattress and spun around.
It was the Komizar. I stared at him, trying to quickly compose my expression to one of indifference. “You have no Council meetings this morning?”
He scrutinized me, taking his time to answer. “Why are you wearing your riding clothes?”
“They’re warmer, sher Komizar. With the snow on the terrace, I thought them a better choice for saying my morning remembrances.”
“There’ll be no more performances unless I’m with you.” He angled his head to the side, mocking me like I was a dim-witted mule. “I think I need to be there to help you remember exactly what you’re supposed to say.”
“I’ll remember,” I said sternly.
We stood there, both of us hearing the faint chants of Jezelia.
“You won’t be addressing them without me by your side,” he repeated.
I saw it in his eyes. I heard it in his tone. It was all about power, and he couldn’t relinquish even the smallest fistful that had inadvertently passed to me. The pockets of clans throughout the city who gathered in the square had grown and called for me, not him, something he hadn’t anticipated, though he had all but orchestrated it. Compared to the vast numbers in the city and his staggering army, their numbers were few, but he still wanted to control every last one of them and be certain where their loyalties lay.
“They call for me, Komizar,” I said gently, hoping to soften his countenance.
“They can wait. All the better to augment their fervor before the wedding. I have a more important task for you.”
“What task is more important than increasing their fervor with visions of plenty?”
He looked at me suspiciously. “Bolstering the governors who will be going home to their provinces in a week’s time.”
“Is there a problem with the governors?” I asked.
He grabbed the red dress I was to wear for the wedding from the chest and threw it on the bed. “Put it on. I’ll be back to take you to the Council session later today. At my signal, you’ll give the governors their own private performance, where you’ll conveniently flutter your lashes and spew words of victory. The right words this time.”
“But the dress is for our wedding this evening.”
“Put it on,” he ordered. “It would be wasteful to save a dress for a few dim hours.”
I hoped to quickly quell his growing agitation so he would leave. “As you wish, sher Komizar. It’s our wedding day, after all, and I wish to please you. I’ll be dressed by the time you return.” I grabbed the dress from the bed and waited for him to leave.
“Now, my pet. I’ll be taking your riding clothes with me. You’ll have no need of them, and I know how wedding jitters can make some brides impulsive, especially you.”
He stood there waiting. “Hurry. I don’t have time for your feigned modesty.”
Neither did I. I needed him to return to the Council Wing as soon as possible. I quickly shed my vest, belt, and boots, then turned around to take off the rest. I could feel his eyes drilling into my back, and I quickly wriggled into my dress. Before I could turn around, his hands slid around my waist and his lips traced the kavah on my shoulder. I grabbed my shirt and trousers from the bed and turned, shoving them into his stomach.
He laughed. “Now, that’s the princess I know and love.”
“You’ve never loved anything in your life,” I said.
His expression softened for a brief moment. “How very wrong you are.” He turned to leave, but just before he closed the door behind him, he added, “I’ll be back in a few hours.” His lip lifted in distaste, and he whirled his hand in the air. “Do something with your hair.”
He shut the door, and I ruffled my hair into a ragged mess of frustration. And then I heard a growling thunk.
I ran to the door and tried the latch. It didn’t budge. I pounded with my fists. “You can’t lock me in! That’s not our agreement!” I pressed my ear to the door, but the only answer I got was the faint sound of his footsteps receding.
Agreement. I almost laughed at the word. Unlike Kaden, I knew the Komizar honored nothing unless it served him. I looked around the room for something that could pick the lock. I took a bone from my tether, used my knife to split it into a thin sliver, and prodded at the small keyhole to no avail. Every piece of metal in this wretched damp city was stiff with rust. I tried another bone and another, and heard the chants outside growing louder. Jezelia. When would first bell ring? I ran to the windows, but they were too small and too deep for me to call to anyone. And then I heard a light knock.
“Miz Lia?”
I ran to the door and fell against it. “Aster!” I said, relief flooding through me.
“They’re calling for you,” she said.
“I hear them. Can you unlock the door for me?”
I heard her jiggling keys in the lock. “None of these work.”
My mind raced, trying to think what would take the least time. Fetch Calantha? She had a key to everything in the Sanctum. But whose side would she be on today? I took a chance and told Aster to get her. She left and I sat on the floor, leaning back against the door. Time crept by in agonizing beats, marked by the calls of Jezelia, and then I heard first bell. My heart sank, but then the rush of footsteps clattered through the hall, and I heard Aster’s panting breaths at the door.
“I looked everywhere, Miz. I couldn’t find her. No one knows where she is.”
I tried to calm the panic rising in me. Time was slipping away. I’ll be waiting. Was he still there?
The Komizar’s room. There. “Search the Komizar’s room!” I yelled. It was just across the hall. “He’s gone to the Council Wing. Hurry, Aster!”
I grabbed the baldrick from the bed and slipped my knife into its sheath. Next I added my tether of bones and finally my cloak to conceal the knife. If I did get out of this room, I had to look as I always did to the guards who might see me. Minutes passed. I sat on the bed. Leave without me, Rafe. You promised.
“I got it!” Aster called through the door. I heard the heavy bolt slide and the door opened. Her face beamed with her accomplishment, and I kissed her forehead. “You are the saving angel Aster!”
She rubbed her clipped locks. “Hurry, Miz!” she said. “They’re still calling.”
“Stay here,” I told her. “It might not be safe.”
“Nothing’s safe around here. I’m going to see you get there!”
I couldn’t argue with her logic. It was true. The Sanctum was anything but a sanctuary. The only thing it harbored was constant threat. We ran down halls, steps, and little-used passages, up steps and down steps again. The short distance suddenly seemed like miles. It was not an easy terrace to get to. I prayed I wasn’t too late, but at the same time, I hoped Rafe had left without me and was already safe across the river. We passed no one, thankfully, and finally reached the portal that led to the terrace.
“I’ll wait here and whistle if anyone comes.”
“Aster, you can’t—”
“I can whistle loud,” she said, her chin set in the air.
I hugged her. “I’ll know if someone’s coming. Now, go. Get back to the jehendra and your bapa and stay safe there.” She reluctantly turned away, and I hurried through the long portal to the terrace. It was covered with a thick layer of snow, and I walked to the north wall, knowing I was already late. There would be no stories this morning, only the shortest of remembrances so the guards in the square would suspect nothing, and then I’d be on my way, but when I reached the wall, a pervasive silence spread through the crowd. It spread to me, like hands reaching out, taking mine. Tarry, Jezelia. Tarry for a story. I alone possessed the last surviving copy of the Song of Venda. It wasn’t my story to keep. Whether babble or not, I had to give it back to them before I left.
“Gather close, brothers and sisters of Venda,” I called out to them. “Hear the words of the mother of your land. Hear the Song of Venda.”
* * *
And so I said it, verse after verse, holding none of it back. I spoke of the Dragon feeding on the blood of the young, drinking the tears of their mothers, his cunning tongue and his deadly grip. I told them of hungers of another kind, ones that were never sated or quenched.
I saw heads nod in understanding, and puzzled guards looking at one another, trying to make sense of it. I remembered Dihara’s words, This world, it breathes you in … shares you. But there are some who are more open to the sharing than others. For the guards and many who stood below, my words were only babble, just as Venda’s had been so long ago.
As I spoke, a breeze circled around. I could feel it inside me, stretching, reaching, then moving on again, traveling over the crowd, through the square and down the streets, through the valleys beyond and across the hills.
For the Dragon will conspire,
Wearing his many faces,
Deceiving the oppressed, gathering the wicked,
Wielding might like a god, unstoppable,
Unforgiving in his judgment,
Unyielding in his rule,
A stealer of dreams,
A slayer of hope.
Until one comes who is mightier,
The one sprung from misery,
The one who was weak,
The one who was hunted,
The one marked with claw and vine,
The one named in secret,
The one called Jezelia.
A murmur ran through the crowd, and then Venda was there, standing beside me. She reached out and took my hand. “The rest of the song,” she whispered, and then she spoke more verses.
Betrayed by her own,
Beaten and scorned,
She will expose the wicked,
For the Dragon of many faces
Knows no boundaries.
And though the wait may be long,
The promise is great,
For the one named Jezelia,
Whose life will be sacrificed
For the hope of saving yours.
And then she was gone.
I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who had heard her, or even seen her, but I stood there dazed, trying to grasp the enormity of what she had said. In an instant, I knew those were the verses ripped from the last page of the book. I braced against the wall, steadying myself with this revelation. Sacrificed. The murmur from the crowds grew louder, but then movement caught my eye and my gaze jumped up to a high wall across the way. Chievdars, governors, and Rahtan were watching me. I drew in a startled breath. Their meeting had adjourned early.
“Miz?”
I turned. Aster stood in the middle of the terrace. The Komizar stood behind her with a knife held to her chest.
“I’m sorry, Miz. I just couldn’t leave you like you told me. I—” He pressed the tip of the knife against her, and she blanched with pain.
“Dear gods, no!” I cried, locking my eyes onto the Komizar’s. I pleaded with him, delicate, desperate, and slow, stepping closer, trying to bring his focus back to me. I held on to him fiercely with my eyes and smiled, trying to somehow dispel this madness. “Please, let her go, sher Komizar. You and I can talk. We can—”
“I told you, without me, there would be no more performances.”
“Then punish me. She has nothing to do with this.”
“You, my little bird? At the moment you’re far too valuable. She, on the other hand…” He shook his head, and before I could even fathom what he was doing, he plunged the knife into her chest.
I screamed and ran toward her, catching her as she slipped from his arms. “Aster!” I fell to the ground with her, cradling her in my lap. “Aster.” I pressed my hands to the wound in her chest, trying to stop the flow of blood.
“Tell my bapa I tried, Miz. Tell him I’m no traitor. Tell him we—”
Her last words lay frozen on her lips, her crystal eyes bright, but her breath still. I pulled her to my chest, rocking her, holding her as if I could defy death. “Aster, stay with me. Stay!” But she was gone.
I heard a small chuckle and looked up. The Komizar wiped his bloody knife on his trouser leg and slipped it back into its sheath. He towered over me, his boots dusted with snow. “She got what she deserved. We have no room in the Sanctum for traitors.”
Numbness washed through me. I looked at him, incredulous. “She was only a child,” I whispered.
He shook his head, clucking. “How many times do I need to tell you, Princess, we don’t have such luxuries. Venda has no children.”
I gently slid Aster from my lap onto the snow and got to my feet. I stepped closer to him, and he looked into my eyes with all the smugness of a victor. “Do we understand each other at last?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I think we do.” And in the turn of a second, the smugness was gone. His eyes widened in wonder.
“And now,” I said, “Venda has no Komizar either.”
A swift act. One that was easy.
I pulled my knife from his side and plunged it in again, twisting for good measure, feeling the blade cut through his flesh, ready to plunge it in again and again, but he stumbled back several paces, finally comprehending what I had done. He fell against the wall near the portal, staring at the red stain spreading across his shirt. Now he was the one who was incredulous. He drew his knife from its sheath, but he was too weak to step forward, and it spilled from his hand. His sword remained useless at his side. He looked back at me in disbelief and slid to the ground, his face twisted in pain.
I walked closer and stood over him, kicking his knife away. “You were wrong, Komizar. It’s much easier to kill a man than a horse.”
“I’m not dead yet,” he said between labored breaths.
“You will be soon. I know about vital organs, and though I’m certain you have no heart, your guts are in pieces now.”
“It’s not over,” he gasped.
I heard shouts and turned. Though the people below couldn’t see what I’d done, those on the high wall on the far side of the square had seen. They were already running, trying to find the quickest route to the terrace, but Kaden and Griz charged through the portal first. Griz pushed both halves of the heavy portal door shut behind him and wedged a bar through the iron pulls.
Kaden looked at the blood on my hands and dress, and the knife still in my grip. “By the gods, Lia, what have you done?” And then he spotted Aster’s lifeless body lying in the snow.
“Kill her,” the Komizar yelled with renewed energy. “She won’t be the next Komizar! Kill her now!” he demanded, choking on his breaths.
Kaden stepped over to him and knelt on one knee, looking at his wound. He reached across and pulled the Komizar’s sword from its scabbard and faced me.
Griz’s hand went warily to one of the swords at his side.
Kaden held the weapon out to me. “You might need this. Somehow we’re going to have to get you out of here.”
“What are you doing?” the Komizar screamed. He slumped further to the ground. “You owe me everything. We’re Rahtan. We’re brothers!”
Kaden’s expression was as grieved as the Komizar’s. “Not anymore,” he answered.
Even as he lay dying, the Komizar continued to issue demands, but Kaden turned back to me, ignoring him—and then we heard the trampling of heavy boots on steps. Rafe appeared at the head of the stairs where I was supposed to have fled already. Jeb and another man stood behind him.
They walked toward us, taking in the scene, and slowly Rafe drew his sword. His men did the same. Kaden looked from Rafe to me. His eyes flooded with understanding. He knew.
“I’m leaving, Kaden,” I said, hoping to avoid a clash. “Don’t try to stop me.”
His expression hardened. “With him.”
I swallowed. I could see it in every twitch of his jaw. He had already guessed, but I said it anyway. “Yes. With Prince Jaxon of Dalbreck.” There was no turning back now.
“You always meant to.”
I nodded.
His gaze faltered. He couldn’t hide the pain of my betrayal.
“Step away from her,” Rafe warned, still cautiously advancing.
Suddenly Griz grabbed my arm, dragging me to the wall where the crowds still waited. He raised my hand to the sky before them. “Your Komizar! Your queen! Jezelia!”
The crowds roared.
I looked at Griz, horrified.
Kaden’s face was equally shocked. “Are you mad?” he yelled at Griz. “She’ll never survive! Do you know what the Council will do to her?”
Griz looked out at the cheering crowds. “This is bigger than the Council,” he answered.
“She’ll die just the same!” Kaden said.
Rafe pulled me from Griz’s grip, and then the world seemed to explode. The portal doors burst open, the iron bar flying loose, and Rahtan flooded in, governors following on their heels. The first blows came from Malich, who focused all his energy on Kaden, brutal and hungry. Kaden deflected his first strikes and advanced, the fierce clang of metal on metal juddering in the air. Theron and Jorik came at Griz, their assault relentless and violent, but Griz was a giant wielding two swords, and he met them blow for blow, driving them back.
Rafe felled one guard after another, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Kaden against the onslaught.
Governor Obraun advanced toward me, and I lifted my sword to strike when he suddenly turned and dealt a death blow to Darius. The governor was fighting on our side? His own mute guard fought beside him, but now he was yelling with a voice that was loud and clear, warning Jeb of someone charging from the side. Governor Faiwell battled beside Jeb, as did two of my assigned guards. None of it made sense. Who fought against whom? The melee of screams and clattering swords was deafening. In one swing, Rafe brought down Gurtan and Stavik and moved on to more. He was frightening in his power, a force I didn’t even recognize.
The grunts of battle and the sickening crunch of bone filled the air. They had hemmed me in behind their backs. I was clearly the target of those advancing. My own sword was useless. I tried to break through to help, but Griz pushed me back.
Malich’s expression was wild as he attacked Kaden, driven by more than just duty. A scream pierced the air when Griz finally thrust his sword between Theron’s ribs, but Jorik swung, and his sword sliced Griz’s side. Griz fell to one knee grasping his ribs and Jorik raised his sword to finish the job. Before he could plunge it into Griz, I threw the knife still in my hand. It hit Jorik dead center in the throat, and he stumbled backward. He was dead before his body ever hit the ground. Griz managed to get back to his feet, still wielding one sword while he held his injured side. Blood was everywhere, and the snow was a slushy red. A bloodbath.
The onslaught slowed, and at last the numbers seemed in our favor.
“Get her out of here!” Kaden yelled. “Before more come!”
Rafe yelled to the not-so-mute guard to clear the stairs and ordered me to follow, then laid a deathblow on Chievdar Dietrik, who had charged toward him, determined not to let me go.
“This way, girl!” Governor Obraun grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the stairs. Another man ran with us. I heard Jeb call him Tavish, and the mute guard, Orrin. Rafe followed behind, guarding our backs. I looked back and saw Kaden, Griz, Faiwell, and the two guards holding off those remaining on the terrace. Gods help them when more came. Surely all of the soldiers’ barracks had been alerted by now.
We hurried down the stairs to the second level and turned into the portal, the plan gone horribly off course. As soon as we passed through the heavy door, it slammed shut, and I looked back to see Calantha bolting it.
“Calantha,” I said, stunned.
“Hurry!” she yelled.
“You can’t stay now. Come with us.”
“I’ll be all right,” she answered. “No one knows I’m here. Go.”
“But—”
“This is my home,” she said firmly.
There wasn’t time to argue with her, but I saw a resolve in her face that hadn’t been there before. We exchanged a last knowing nod, and I ran.
Rafe now led the way with me just behind him. It was a long dark corridor, and our footsteps echoed through it like thunder, but then the sound doubled and we knew we had guards charging toward us from the opposite direction.
“Down here!” I shouted, turning toward a path I had traveled with Aster. “It will take us to the catacombs.” I led them on the twisting path and then down a long flight of steps. When we reached the bottom, I heard loud shuffling. I put my finger to my lips and mouthed, Someone’s coming. Jeb pushed past me. I tried to stop him, but Rafe nodded to let him go.
He stepped out from the landing into the light, and I saw him transform back into the patty clapper. He smiled and a guard came into view, asking him if he had seen anyone run past. When Jeb pointed in one direction, the guard turned, and in a lightning-quick motion, Jeb snapped his neck.
“It’s clear,” he called to us. “He was the only one.”
We ran through the narrow catacombs and down trails that led us through the caverns. We were so deep in the earth I knew the scholars had no way of knowing that a war had been unleashed above them. The few who saw us running past were stunned into silence, confused over what was going on. They only conjured wars; they didn’t fight them. I turned at the pathway of skulls. “This will take us to the river,” I said. When we heard the roar of the falls, the one called Tavish pushed in front to lead us to the raft. About a hundred yards down, we stepped out of the tunnel into the mist from the river. The ground was slick and icy.
“This way!” Tavish called over the din, but then four soldiers emerged from another tunnel that emptied onto the river and a new battle ignited. Rafe, Jeb, Obraun, and Tavish ran forward to intercept the assault. Orrin and I took on more guards who ran toward us from the tunnel we’d just left. I stepped to the side, hidden from view, and when the first came through, I swung, catching him in the neck. Orrin took the next one, and we both downed the third. I caught him in the ribs, and when he stumbled forward, Orrin gored his back.
Rafe yelled for us to get to the raft, that they would catch up, and Orrin pulled me along a bank and down a trail of rocks, with Tavish following close behind. We came to an outcropping of rocks, and panic gripped me. I saw no raft, but Tavish jumped. I thought he’d gone straight into the river, but then I saw him on the raft nearly hidden by mist and rock.
“Jump!” he ordered.
“Not without Rafe!” I said.
“He’ll be here! Jump!” The raft strained against the ropes that secured it to the bank. Orrin gave me a nudge, and we both jumped.
“Stay low!” Tavish said, and told me to grab one of the knotted ropes to hold on.
The raft pitched and rolled, even in the calmest waters near the shore. I stayed low as Tavish ordered, gripping the rope to stabilize myself. Even through the mist, I could see the high cliffs above us, guards and soldiers traversing the trails downward. They seemed to multiply like feverish insects determined to swarm over us. Everywhere we looked, we saw more coming. They spotted us as well and arrows began flying, but they fell short and landed on the shore. Jeb and Obraun arrived and jumped down with us. “Rafe’s coming!” Jeb said. “Get ready to lift the ties!” His shoulder was bleeding, and blood drenched Obraun’s arm. Orrin and Tavish reached for the ropes securing the raft.
“Not yet!” I said. “Wait! Wait until he’s here!”
The soldiers scrambling down the wall of rock to the river were getting closer, their arrows falling dangerously near, but suddenly arrows started flying in the other direction, toward them. I turned to see Orrin letting loose a firestorm of arrows. Soldiers tumbled from ledges. Orrin managed to slow their assault, but there were always more to replace the men he took down.
We heard a terrifying scream through the mist and every drop of blood in me burned with fear. I saw Jeb and Obraun exchange an anxious glance.
“Free the ropes,” Obraun ordered.
“No!” I cried.
But just then, Rafe broke through the haze and was running toward us. “Go!” he yelled, and Tavish set the ropes free. A powerful explosion ripped through the air. Rafe leapt to the raft as it was already moving from shore, barely crossing the expanse, and pieces of rock rained down around us. He grabbed the knotted rope I shoved in his hand. “That should keep the bridge out of commission for at least a month,” he said. It was more than I had expected of the small flask of clear liquid.
We were rapidly swept into the current, and the raft pitched and jumped in the violent waters. With Obraun and Jeb both injured, Tavish and Orrin took over the rudder and somehow managed to steer the bobbing barrels through the treacherous current, away from shore. But we weren’t far enough away yet. I spotted Malich perched on a boulder, easily within range. Dear gods. What had happened to Kaden?
Malich’s bow was loaded and aimed at Rafe’s back. I jumped forward to push Rafe down as the raft spun in an eddy and I was tossed to the side. A fiery pain jolted my thigh. Even through the violent rocking, I saw Malich smile. It wasn’t Rafe he was aiming at. It was me.
“Lia!” Rafe shouted, and scrambled toward me, but not before another arrow hit my back. It burned like a glowing ember searing into my flesh. I couldn’t catch my breath. Rafe’s hand grabbed my arm, but I still tumbled backward as the raft rolled and pitched. I plunged into the icy water. Rafe’s hand held tight, fiercely digging into my arm, but the current was strong and my heavy dress quickly became weighted with water like an anchor pulling me down. I tried to kick it away, but it circled around my legs, binding them as tightly as rope. The river was numbing and wild, water rushing into my face, choking me, and the current was too much for Rafe’s grip. The fabric of my sleeve began ripping loose. I tried to lift my other arm, but it wouldn’t move, as if the arrow had pinned it to my side. Two sets of hands were grappling at my arm and shoulder, trying to get a better hold in the wild swirl of water, but then a quick suck of gushing water pulled me free from them. I was swept into the icy waters away from the raft. Rafe jumped in after me.
We tumbled through the current, his arms reaching me again and again but being pulled away as many times, the water covering our heads, both of us gasping for air, with the raft nowhere in sight. He reached me at last, his arm circling my waist, trying frantically to rip the dress off. “Hold on, Lia.”
“I love you,” I cried, even as I choked on water. If there were to be last words he heard from me, I wanted it to be those. And then I felt us sliding, tumbling, the world turning upside down, and I lost sight of him, lost sight of everything, the wretched dress the Komizar had made me wear pulling me under as if he were tugging at me from beneath the water himself, getting the last say, until finally I couldn’t fight against its weight any longer, and my icy world went black.