The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4) (34 page)

“I can
suggest
that you leave the city, in a certain way,” she said, “You won’t remember that I told you, but you’ll still want to go once I’m gone… It’s something that I was taught to do… a long time ago.”

“Another spell?” Garrett asked.

She nodded.

“But we have to warn people!” Banden said.

“It won’t do any good,” she said, “Trust me.”

“Then why tell us?” Garrett asked.

“I’m telling
you
,” she said, “because you are the one thing in this place that I still care about!”

Garrett remained silent, watching the conflicting emotions play across her face.

“Garrett,” she sighed, “you have to leave!”

“Come with me,” Garrett said.

Her eyes went wide, and she stared back at him, speechless.

“We can’t just run away and leave everyone else to die!” Banden cried.

“Come with me,” Garrett repeated, his voice soft and steady.

The Girl in Brown shook her head slowly, her lips forming the words, “
I can’t.
”

“Garrett, this isn’t right!” Banden said, “We have to do… something.”

The Girl in Brown looked at Banden, and when she spoke, there was an undercurrent of ancient power to her words. “
Banden
,” she said, “
you and your friends survived an excursion inside the temple and escaped undetected. You must go no now and sleep. It is dangerous for you to remain at the temple. When you awaken, shortly before dawn, you will take your leave of this place. Journey to the south and do not return to this city again.
”

Banden’s face went blank for a moment then took on a troubled expression. “Garrett?” he said, looking at his friend.

“It’ll be all right, Banden,” Garrett said, “I just need to talk with my friend for a while. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Banden nodded and then slipped out through the shed door into the night.

“It wouldn’t be safe for him to stay here anyway,” the Girl in Brown said.

“I know,” Garrett sighed, leaning against the table, “Thank you for sending him away. I don’t think he would have gone otherwise.”

She nodded. She seemed to be working up her resolve to do what she needed to do next.

“Why didn’t you come back to me after… after the tomb?” Garrett asked.

She looked at him, and her eyes flashed with anger that quickly softened into pain. “I didn’t want to get in the way,” she whispered.

“Huh?”

“Between you and Marla,” she said.

“Oh,” Garrett said, rubbing his chin with his hand, his eyes on the floor, “…yeah.”

“I’m sorry, Garrett,” she said.

He looked up at her. “It’s just a lot to remember all at once,” he said, “What happened in the tomb, my brother… you.”

“You remember everything?” she asked.

“Yeah, now,” he said, “That’s different, isn’t it? That hasn’t happened before, has it?”

“No,” she said, taking a step closer, “not really.”

“What does it mean?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, and then she shook her head, “No… it’s too late. You have to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he laughed.

“Garrett, you have to go!” she said.

“Come with me,” he said again.

“I can’t!” she said, “I can’t leave the city, it’s part of who I am, like my name.”

“Then I’m not going either!” Garrett said, “I’m not walking away and leaving half myself with you… never even knowing for sure that I’m missing it… just feeling something wrong, some empty space inside, and now knowing what goes there… what went there… No!”

“You don’t have a choice!” she said, “If you stay here, you’ll die!”

“So what?” he said, “I died before! That didn’t stop me.”

“Garrett,” she said, “Don’t make this harder than it has to be…”

“Then tell me to remember!” he said, “Use that trick you used on Banden, and tell me to remember what happened… tell me to remember
you!
”

“I can’t!” she cried, “Garrett, I can’t!”

“You know what?” he said, waving his arms in frustration, “I’m getting really tired of your stupid curse!”

“
You’re
getting tired of my curse?” she scoffed, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Garrett said, standing face to face with her now, “I think I’ve had just about enough of these stupid rules… this forgetting you every single time you go away… I think it’s time somebody did something about it!”

She looked at him with a desperate hope in her flawless brown eyes.

Garrett saw the patterns of the spell that wove her into being, swirling around her body, bound with knots of rage and deception… knots so tight that they would tear her apart before they released their hold on her. He needed the key… the single word that would free her from the spell without unmaking her in the process. He needed her name.

“Why can’t you do it?” she sobbed.

He looked at her for a long moment before answering. “Because I don’t want to break you,” he said.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “
Just do it
,” she whispered.

“I can’t.”

“Just… break the spell, Garrett,” she wept, “Free us both.”

“No,” he said.

“You’ll remember, Garrett,” she said, her voice growing desperate, “You’ll remember everything! You can warn people… You can remember who you really are… You can…”

“No!” he shouted, then his voice softened, “Not like that…”

Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes fell.

“I’m not giving up on you,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, “I’ll find a way to do it right. I’ll break your curse and set you free… really free.”

“There’s no time,” she sobbed, pulling away and turning her back to him.

Garrett said nothing, cold reason regaining control over his senses.

She looked at him again, her eyes full of sorrow. “Goodbye, Garrett,” she said.

Garrett watched her pull the hood of her cloak back over her head as she stepped toward the door.

When she spoke again, it was with the same voice she had used to command Banden before. “
Garrett, you and your friends survived an excursion inside the temple and escaped undetected, but your enemies here will stop at nothing to kill you. It is too dangerous to remain in the city, and so you must go. Take what you can and head south. You must never return to the city of Wythr
,” she paused before continuing, “
Remember… remember that you were happy here… and that you were loved
.”

Garrett felt the magic of her words tugging at his will, grasping for purchase against the icy shell that surrounded his heart and finding no hold. He watched the Girl in Brown as she slipped out through the shed door without looking back at him.

The moment she was gone, he yanked the knife from his belt, pulled his left sleeve up to his elbow and started scratching runes into the skin of his arm.

A hand on his shoulder shook Garrett awake in the dim light of a strange room. He blinked, looking around, unsure of his surroundings. He was sitting on the floor with his back propped against the side of a bunk bed. Rows of such beds ran along either wall of the long room. Young men were slumbering in many of them. Only the occupant of the bed Garrett was leaning against was awake.

“Garrett, are you all right?” Banden asked.

“Huh? Yeah,” Garrett said, rubbing his eyes. He felt exhausted and it seemed like every muscle in his body ached. He rubbed at the sleeve covering his left arm, finding it crusty with blood. He tugged the sleeve back a little to peek below it and winced at the cuts he glimpsed beneath. He couldn’t make out the details of the wound in the gloomy, predawn light, but it did not feel very serious. “What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Banden whispered, “I guess we made it back here after… you know.”

Garrett got to his feet. “Are you all right?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

“Yeah,” Banden said, sitting on the side of his bunk and gently feeling around the edges of the bandage on his leg, “I need to go and check on Frae… and then…”

“Banden, she was in on it,” Garrett sighed.

“Yeah… I know,” Banden said, “I just gotta know if she’s all right.”

“You need to have somebody look at your leg,” Garrett said, “We have to talk to Serepheni.”

“Yeah,” Banden said, “I need to talk to her.”

“Let’s go,” Garrett whispered, helping Banden to his feet.

“Frae first,” Banden said.

“But…” Garrett started to speak before the look in Banden’s eyes cut him off.

“I just need to see her again,” Banden said, “just to know she made it out all right.”

Garrett nodded.

Banden took the time to change his outer clothes, concealing his bloodied leggings inside a small chest beneath his bunk. After a long moment, he closed the chest and left his sparring staff lying across the top of it.

“I’m ready now,” Banden sighed, and they left the barracks together with Banden refusing any help as he limped along beside Garrett.

They approached the girl’s dormitory as the darkness bled away in the gray light of dawn. They saw a figure stir in the shadows beneath the awning, and then Frae rose to face them. She looked terrified and weak, saying nothing as she caught sight of them.

Banden said nothing either, and the two of them regarded one another in silence across the empty courtyard.

Then Frae turned and fled into the dormitory without looking back.

Garrett saw his friend's face grow red. Banden’s lips tensed, and he sniffed in a deep breath, his brows furrowed with concentration as he struggled against his loss.

“Come on,” Garrett said, putting his hand on Banden’s shoulder.

Banden nodded and followed Garrett as they headed back inside, making their way toward the main temple.

They found a trio of bleary-eyed young women preparing the morning meal for the priestesses of the temple. From their simple green robes and the white epaulet each one wore over her left shoulder, Garrett guessed that they had recently taken their final vows to the order and were serving their probationary year before being admitted into the upper ranks of the order.

“Good morning, Holy Ones,” Banden spoke, bowing before the women, “I am sorry to interrupt, but we have an important message for Matron Serepheni and must speak with her at once.”

Garrett remembered to bow as well, and though he expected an argument, one of the priestesses simply nodded and went off to fetch Serepheni.

The two boys stood off to the side of the kitchen, watching as the two remaining women returned to their cooking.

Serepheni returned with the young woman a few minutes later. She gave Garrett and Banden a tired smile that quickly faded when she saw the looks on their faces. “Come with me,” she said.

They followed her upstairs into a room similar to the one where she had treated Garrett’s wounds before. She had evidently noticed Banden’s limp, for she ordered him immediately onto the table and stripped off the stained bandage that he wore beneath his leggings cuff.

Garrett’s blood ran cold at the sight of the small, circular wound in the boy’s leg that even now ebbed little beads of dark blood. Serepheni’s face went white, and her lips tensed, but she said nothing as she pulled fresh bandages and balm from a nearby drawer.

Banden winced as she cleaned the wound and dressed it again. “I need my sister’s staff back,” he sighed at last.

Serepheni’s eyes lifted to his in alarm. “I thought that I should keep it safe for you while you’re here,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said, “but I have to leave.”

“Why?” she gasped. Her eyes turned to Garrett. “What happened?”

Garrett started to speak, but Banden cut him off.

“It doesn’t matter what happened,” Banden said, “but I can no longer serve the Goddess with all my heart… I have another duty… one that I have ignored for far too long.”

Serepheni studied his eyes. She looked troubled, but did not try to argue. “Wait here,” she said.

Garrett looked at Banden, his heart sinking, but somehow he had known Banden was leaving.

Serepheni returned with the Peacebringer staff, wrapped in green silk, and a small green leather pouch as well. She stripped off the wrapping and passed the metal staff to Banden without touching it herself. Garrett remembered the strange jolt he had received when he had touched it once before, and wondered if the priestess had shared a similar experience.

“Thank you,” Banden said, holding the staff in his hands with a sad look in his eyes.

“You’ll need this too,” Serepheni said, offering him the leather pouch.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A bit of coin,” she said, “It’s all I have to give you, but it might help.”