Child of Blackwen (An Artemis Ravenwing Novel Book 1) (45 page)

“Taking that book along for the journey?” I asked.

“Of course!” Jack beamed. “It has a lot of information about dragon jewels too. So, is it time for food yet?”

“No,” I answered. He frowned. “I wanted to ask you about something.”

“That tone of yours has never meant pleasant conversations,” Jack said.

“These are dark tidings.” I looked at the rest of Talisa’s books and frowned. “You and Callypso mentioned something before about purifying the sai. Why is there a need to do so? And why did Callypso seem so afraid of being near them?”

Jack took a deep breath as he put down
The Winged Jewels of the Sky
. “Are you sure that’s something you really want to know about, Artemis?”

“I’ll only obsess more if you don’t tell me, remember?”

Jack bit his lip and sighed. “You might want to take a seat.”

“All right.” I did as he suggested. “I’m sitting. Spill.”

“Have you…” Jack cleared his throat. “Have you ever heard of lingering spirits before?”

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“Goddesses, I wish Callypso was here right now.” Jack nervously laughed. “She’s more of an expert on them than I am.”

“You just miss her,” I teased. “But continue please.”

“There are occasions where, after one meets their death, particularly by violent means, the soul does not always take the pathways to Avilyne’s realm. They tend to stay behind,” Jack explained. “The longer a spirit lingers in Arrygn, the greater their need for revenge. The imbalance in the world they create is just as great. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes.”

“Some lingering spirits are stronger than others,” Jack continued. “The longer they stay in our world and avoid Avilyne’s judgment, the more the madness consumes them. Should they encounter a loved one, they would not recognize the spirit at all; their original personality would be gone. Some have tried to remedy the situation by purifying the gravesites, giving a reburial, and so on.”

“What does my sai have to do with a lingering spirit?”

“Your mother is a lingering spirit,” Jack answered. “Most of us have encountered her in the waking world. You’ve only seen and spoken with her through dreams. I’m not sure why this is. When I met her in this very library…Soleil burn me.” Jack shuddered. “Artemis, she’s not the Tamina we’ve heard so much about. She was not the same person I saw in the vision that day.”

“Goddesses…”

“Your mother is not a typical lingering spirit either, and that is the main reason Callypso is accompanying us to Blackwen City,” Jack said. “Callypso would be able to sense her before the rest of us would. We all fear what Tamina could be capable of. She orchestrated this journey for you to undertake, which I fear will lead you to your death if you’re not careful. I don’t know how she means to benefit from it other than you taking down Arlina, but neither do I want to give your mother the chance to lead you astray.”

“She is the real reason why all of you are coming with me.”

“Yes and no, Artemis,” Jack said. “Even if Tamina hadn’t orchestrated the event, we all would have gone with you. We care too much.”

“Does Callypso think my mother’s spirit is connected to the sai even in death?” I asked, now remembering Callypso’s words of caution.

Jack nodded. “I agree with her. I tried purifying them myself and failed miserably. When dragon jewels are given from one person to another, you’re supposed to purify them so that they don’t have any essence of the previous owner left.”

“Why has it been so difficult?” I asked.

“Again, Tamina is not your typical lingering spirit. She’s been wandering Arrygn for as long as you and I have been alive, Artemis.” Jack rubbed his forehead. “You
must
be careful when you fight with them.”

“I felt a strange energy sensation when I held them,” I recalled. “Is that how they’re supposed to feel?”

“I’ve never had dragon jewels before, so I cannot tell you.” Jack shrugged, apologetic. “When I held onto them, I felt nothing. Despite my being a mage, I don’t have a strong connection with the jewels and the sai as you do. Callypso fears to be near them because she is an elemental. Anything with negative or dark energy could easily consume her. I don’t know how they’ll affect you, but a word to the wise either way: don’t fight in anger.”

I had a flashback to the dream of Mother and how she said it was good that I was finally releasing my anger.

Avilyne’s hell.

“Artemis?” Jack snapped me back to reality. “You look ill. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I dismissed him. “I need to grab some air.”

“Artemis, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Jack.” I flashed a quick smile. “I just need a refresher. Perhaps I could convince Netira to rejoin us.”

Arlina hated the daylight hours. Absolutely
despised
them. She never understood what was so wonderful about the sunlight.

If it weren’t for the traitor mage’s trinkets, Arlina would have burned to ash. If it were up to her, all of Arrygn would have been covered in eternal darkness, just like her precious Dark Fortress. Arlina appreciated the moonlight from time to time as well; she couldn’t deny that. But the daylight hours…if only it were possible to obliterate the sun!

No one would miss it. She’d be doing them all a favor.

She looked back to her resting place; Arlina never tired of the sight of a chained Karesu. He twitched now and then, still under the influence of the cordial. Arlina wondered what the mage dreamed of. Perhaps he was reliving memories as she had when she took the cordial to escape the energies of both her wretched specter sister and the forest of the Woodland Realm.

She grinned as she recalled the memory of Gavin. His despair was so
delicious
. It was a shame she wasn’t under the cordial long enough to relive another memory that involved the human merchant.

Now
that
was delicious.

Arlina walked toward Karesu’s sleeping form, but stopped once she sensed another presence within the tent. She could not hide her horror when she spotted her sister sitting in the chair she had been in seconds ago.

Tamina smiled at her, her forehead still bloodied by the flintlock pistol that was used to murder her.

“What do
you
want?” Arlina hissed. “I just got used to the idea of you being gone for good.”

Is that so?
Tamina chuckled as she took a lock of her dark brown hair into her fingers and twisted it.
Get used to my presence, sister. I’m not going anywhere for a very long time
.

“Say what you wish, then leave me be, specter,” Arlina snapped. “I have my own matters to attend to.”

Still licking your wounded pride from the betrayal of your Second as well as your mage?
Tamina asked, crossing her legs to get comfortable.
Or perhaps you are still cross at the fact that you failed to kill Artemis? Pitiful, dear sister, pitiful
.

“Leave me be, damn you!” Arlina yelled. “Get out!”

Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you expect others to know their manners, you must lead by example
. Tamina smirked as she stared at the mage.
Keeping the mage alive
was smart, I’ll give you that. You’d best hope he awakes from the cordial, considering the amount you gave him. It’d be both a shame and waste, should he expire
.

“Make your point known and get out, Tamina.”

You’re no fun. I
am
needed elsewhere, so I’ll comply with your desires this time
. She flashed a grin.
If I were you, I wouldn’t rush home to Blackwen. I would stop in Westyron
.

“Westyron?” Arlina said, confused. “Why in Avilyne’s hell would I go
there
of all places?”

Because I know how you just love to toy with your enemies before you dispose of them
.

Tamina then disappeared, and Arlina frowned.

Westyron? The mostly human-run city of trade and despicable commerce? True, she had once favored the place, but she soon began to hate it once she met the man who controlled the city.
Once
controlled the city, rather.

Arlina found herself liking the suggestion. Would Gavin be there now? Was Tamina offering up the man to be killed just as he did her? Or was there a greater prize in Westyron than Tamina was letting on?

“Fine, sister,” Arlina decided. “I’ll play your little game, just this once.”

I stepped outside and found Netira had moved from the cottage steps to the bench in the herb garden where Azrael was grazing. She looked terrible; she must not have gotten any rest.

“You didn’t sleep well,” she said, echoing my thoughts. I sat beside her. “What in the world have you done to your hands?”

“I don’t think any of us have slept, really,” I replied while flexing my hands to stretch the tightness of the bandages. “As for my hands…let’s just say everyone’s entitled to their odd moments.”

Netira nodded with understanding. “I once almost rubbed my hands raw after my first kill. I couldn’t get the sensation of blood off of my hands no matter how clean they were.”

“I’ve only hunted animals,” I said. “Foxes. Oftentimes it was done against my will.”

“What you will be hunting now is no different from animals, Artemis. Arlina is the worst of them all,” Netira explained. “You deny your dhampir nature the freedom it deserves. Are you ashamed of what you are?”

“Yes.”

“I was once too.” Netira laughed. “I couldn’t understand why I was born a dhampir instead of a full-blood. Like you, I never knew my parents. I was living in the streets of the Dark Fortress, hiding whenever the patrols of the Mistress were about.”

“How did you become Arlina’s Second?”

“I had to do many things I’m not proud of, Artemis,” Netira explained. “It’s what happens when you fight for survival. I was found one day by your mother. She took me in and mentored me. Tamina helped find charms and cordials for me to take to hide my heritage from the others of Blackwen City. When she left, I was so angry. She never even said good-bye.”

“How long ago was this?” I asked, hoping the inquiry didn’t seem rude.

“I’m much older than you think,” Netira answered. “We’ll just leave it at that when it comes to my age. If you must know a few more facts, then I will reveal that it is true I served the Mistress, your grandmother, for many years before Arlina usurped the throne.”

“You could have escaped Arlina’s rule.”

Netira shook her head. “I love the city more than you could ever know. I’ve done horrible things in Arlina’s service, as has Karesu, but it was a cover so that we could find a way to restore Blackwen City to its former glory. Karesu and I dreamed to love one another out in the open and to live in peace. Just because I grew up in harsh circumstances doesn’t mean that the future generations of the Dark Fortress should as well.”

She would make a great leader
, I thought.
Better than I would
.

“And my mother?”

“I thought nothing more of her after she left,” Netira explained. “I felt she abandoned me. Once I heard of her murder, I mourned.”

I remembered what Jack told me in the library. “Her spirit visited you, yes?”

Netira blinked, stunned. “So you’ve figured it out.”

“Not exactly,” I answered. “Pulled out of my denial is more like it.”

“It happens to even the best of us, Artemis,” Netira said. “She did visit me. Only once, when I was still in that wretched prison cell.”

“She’ll return again,” I said. “Will you promise to tell me when she comes to you again?”

“As you wish.” Netira watched Azrael and sighed. “I feel there is more you wish to ask of me.”

“I wanted to ask you about the Ravenwing bloodline, but perhaps you can tell me of it when we’re on the journey instead.” I took a deep breath. “As you pointed out earlier, I am ashamed of my dhampir nature. I’ve suppressed it for as long as I can, and I know it’s not the wisest of choices. I’ve paid for it with my diminishing control. I’ve never met another dhampir before, so I was wondering if maybe…”

“You’d like me to show you how to be a true dhampir?” Netira asked. I nodded. She ran a pale hand through her shoulder-length red hair. “There’s no such thing as a proper dhampir, Artemis. However…I will show you how to control the hunger that comes once you unleash your true self.”