Anais and the Broken War (The Blood Mage Chronicles Book 5) (5 page)

“Any chance you’re willing to see what you can do with the necklace? That was the plan, after all. I don’t think Gorman ever envisioned us taking this hoard down by the might of our steel.”

Why had I so easily forgotten that I was supposed to win this battle by magic? After I pulled the string of black pearls from my pocket, I cut my hand with my blade and let the blood dribble onto the necklace. Fire seeped into my veins, and I could see everything without my eyes. The furies were throbbing hungry pinpricks of light spread thick throughout the woods–so many more than just the ones we could see. They were everywhere. Uncountable. My attention danced from one to the other, trying to find the right place to start. I wanted to be efficient. If I only had one chance, I needed to use it to take down as many as I could. The highest concentration of pinpricks flickered around the horse, whose light was dimming quickly. It shuddered and then faded to nothing. The horse was dead.

I focused on the furies gathered around the horse’s body and imagined the ground around them turning soft as quicksand, soft enough to eat them whole. I clutched the necklace and watched as they sank into the earth. They squirmed and howled as the world embraced them. I brushed sticky tears away from my eyes as I felt an ache spread through my gut. The rush of power was so intense that I wasn’t able to control it. It tore energy from the blood in my veins. I gasped. It was too much. I took a deep breath, trying to slow down, but I couldn’t find a way. I was lost.

A rush of hooves caught my attention, and I blinked. I no longer saw the world in hidden flashes of energy. Once again, I was privy to the facade on the surface. A contingent of soldiers on horseback galloped down the road toward the sinking furies. They were coming from the south. Not the right direction.

“Soldiers,” Fynn whispered. “Anais, you have to stop.” Fynn reached over to me and took hold of my arm.

But it was too late. I couldn’t have stopped myself if I had wanted to. If I didn’t finish, I would burn up and blow away in the wind.
 

The furies sank deeper into the muck. The horses the soldiers were riding balked as their hoofs touched the yielding earth. They lifted their front legs, whinnied, and tried to turn back. But it was too late. As the horses collapsed, the soldiers dismounted, but it didn’t save them. They screamed as their legs were swallowed, they bellowed when their torsos merged into the earth, and were silent once their heads disappeared. The circle of quicksand clouded out moving into the forest, taking everything. Finally, the tree we perched on began to sink.

“Ani, please. I don’t want to die. Not like this.” Fynn’s grip on my arm tightened. “Dear sisters of mercy, save us.” His words were the last thing I remembered before everything went dark.
 

While clutching at a warm wool blanket, I bellowed a long blood-curdling scream. I blinked. I wasn’t in the tree anymore. I was somewhere else–somewhere warm and safe.

“You’re awake,” a voice in the darkness said before a lamp was lit. Fynn was standing above me, dressed in crisp and clean courtier garb, his hair freshly curled.

“Where are we?” I asked as I pulled the blanket close to my chest.
 

“This is my studio. Not the grandest, I admit. But I do what I can.”

“The last thing I remember was sitting in the tree. How did we get here?”

“Now that is an interesting story.”

Narrowing my eyes, I waited for him to continue.

“I thought we would die. The tree sank so far down into the ground that our feet almost touched by the time it all ended.”

“How did it stop? I couldn’t control the power. It was consuming me.”

“I hit you on the head, and you passed out. As soon as you were unconscious, the tree’s descent halted, and the ground froze solid.”

“That was smart. You must have broken the magic’s hold on me.”

“That was the easy part. Getting us back to the city…now that was difficult.”

It seemed impossible for Fynn to have carried me all the way to Barriershire. “How did you do it? You couldn’t have carried me so far.”

“As luck would have it, I didn’t have to. After I pulled you from the tree, I considered leaving you and sending back help once I reached Barriershire. But, while I hesitated, by some stroke of luck, your mare returned. So I hoisted you up onto her back, and you hung around her neck. When I climbed up behind you, I expected the horse to balk, but she let us ride her. I can’t imagine it was a pleasant experience for her, for it certainly wasn’t pleasant for me. I’m not much of a horseman when riding on my own and I was even less graceful with the addition of your dead weight.”

“Did they let you in the front gate? How did you explain our appearance to the guards?”

“Are you being flippant? I didn’t even attempt the gate. It was one thing to be seen riding out of the city to battle with Gorman’s writ in my hand, clad in my finest garb. I looked like a hero. I had no desire to be seen skulking back into the city in rags with a half dead girl in tow.”

“Then, how did you get in?”

“There are tunnels the skins use, a sewer system I think. The fat man guided me. It’s been awhile since he’s shown any interest in me, but our escapade through the forest intrigued him. It was his idea to knock you out.”

“Oh.” I grimaced, both grateful and disturbed that the fat man bothered to interfere.

Fynn nodded. “I’m not thrilled to be under the fat man’s scrutiny either.”

“I was unconscious. How did you get me through the sewers?”

“I carried you.”

“By yourself?”

“Sadly yes. It took me days to make it back to my studio. Days, Ani. I wish you had woken up while I was dragging you through the tunnels. That would have been helpful.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. But, alas, there’s nothing for it. I suppose I should be glad you’re still alive. I was beginning to wonder.”

“Why didn’t you bring me to the Great House? Mediera would have called a healer.”

“I dared not,” Fynn said with a sigh.

“Why?”

“The official word is that the city is under siege. Most of the captains and soldiers have returned. We missed quite a bit, you and I. Gorman’s no longer pulling the strings. I tried to see him yesterday, but I was turned away at the door to the Great House. I didn’t push the issue. It seemed unwise.”

I frowned. “Who has taken charge?”

Fynn shook his head. “I don’t know and didn’t ask.”

“Look, I can get in. The front gate is not the only entry point.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Will you come with me?”

He shook his head. “No. You’ll have to go alone. I don’t want to get involved if I don’t have to. If Gorman wants me, he can come and get me. I’m done with all of this war business. It’s not for me.”

“You won’t go west across the mountains? Will you, Fynn? We need you here.”

“I would go in a moment if I could. Think, Ani. I can’t go anywhere. The fat man still has his hooks in me. I doubt he would let me flee the city.”

“Of course.”

“It must be nice to be so blithe about the fat man’s noose.”

“I’m sorry, Fynn, but I’m glad you can’t leave.” Should I offer to release Fynn from his bonds to the fat man as I had done for Azriel and myself? Would he run the moment he regained his freedom? Probably.

“Not very grateful of you.”

“Fynn, I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” While I started to lower the bed sheet, intending to get out of bed, I stopped by the realization that I wasn’t wearing any clothes.

“Why am I naked?”

“I had your dress laundered. There’s a girl who works in the market who does my linens and garments. I salvaged your dress from the mare’s saddlebag. Sadly, I lost your headpiece somewhere in the tunnels. My apologies.”

He handed me a neatly folded square. While I sniffed the cloth, an aroma of fresh cotton and vanilla greeted me. I wondered if he paid extra for the sweet scent.

“Thank you.” I didn’t move for his eyes were still on me.

Fynn smirked. “I’ll let you change in privacy. Do you need money for a carriage?”

“No. I can walk.”
 

“Take some coins. I don’t wish to be responsible for misfortune befalling a sister of mercy. It’s bad luck.”

After leaving Fynn’s studio, which resided on a charming side street on the outskirts of the market, I walked toward the town’s square. The buzz of early morning activity declared that even if the city was under siege, the daily life of the city’s residents was little changed. Once in the central square of the market, it was easy to hail a carriage.
 

“I’m sorry, the city gates are closed,” a driver said in greeting. “I can only stay within the city limits today. Will that be all right, sister?” he asked. I was surprised he knew me as a sister without my headpiece. The white frill on the neckline of my dress must be particular enough to mark me.

“That will be fine. Will you take me to the Great House?”

C
HAPTER
5

“SWEET SISTERS, ANI. Where have you been?” After I had slipped into the family dining room, Mediera embraced me. I had snuck into the Great House through the servants corridors, trying to make myself unseen and unheard, and had hoped to find Mediera eating breakfast. I hugged her back, grateful to have found her so easily. I did not answer her question, though, for I had not come up with a story yet to explain my absence.

“Oh, Ani. Everything fell apart. I don’t know what to do…” she stammered.

“Sister Anais?”
 

Mediera dropped her arms, and I turned to see who was calling my name. A guard clad in livery stood watch at the door opposite of the one I had entered through. I hadn’t noticed him at first, but I wasn’t surprised to find Mediera with a chaperone.
 

“I was told to watch for you,” he said. “You’re wanted in the council chamber, sister. My apologies for the interruption, but the matter is quite urgent. We were told you must be fetched immediately upon your return.” He took me by the elbow, and by instinct I wanted to flinch away–I wanted to run. But, of course, I couldn’t. Even if I managed to escape this lone guard, Mediera and Uthur were tied to this place. I wouldn’t leave them. As he led me away, I glanced at the untouched spread of pastries on the table and wished I had grabbed one.

“Sister Anais, take a seat,” a hard voice directed me after I entered the council chamber.

Three men clad in military regalia were positioned in chairs at one end of the wide circular table. I recognized the speaker, the one in the center–Captain Carenhail. His ice blue eyes drilled into me, as I sank into the chair opposite him. Did he recognize me? I lowered my head, letting my now long dark hair flutter down across my face, disguising my features in shadow. I wished Fynn had not lost my headpiece, for it would have been a more effective mask.

The guard who had escorted me bowed at the three men before leaving the room. Something was about to happen. I just wished I had some clue what it would be.

“Do you know why you are here?” the man on Carenhail’s right asked, his voice softer and kinder than Carenhail’s, but still insistent.

I shook my head. I had no idea why they would have any interest in me. I was no one.

“Brentwood, you don’t need to help.” Carenhail cleared his throat and then turned to me. “You ate dinner in the family dining room a month ago on the night Lord Pendragon vanished? Was he present at the meal?”

I nodded, understanding sinking in. These men did not believe the story we had concocted to explain away Lord Pendragon’s disappearance. And I was a witness. They wanted to shake the truth from me.

“Were you seated near him?” Carenhail asked.

“No. I was seated at the smaller table. But I could see him.”
 

“Who were you seated next to?”

“Sister Zilla and Jacarda Clark. Jacarda is a local socialite.”

The man on Carenhail’s left unrolled a scroll and made a quick note.

“We know who she is. Why did you attend the dinner?”

I shrugged. “Lady Mediera invited me.”

“Did she do that often?”