Ghost in the Seal (Ghost Exile #6) (41 page)

“And apparently,” said Nasser, “you are going to save the world.”

Caina felt a chill. “What?”

“The Knight of Wind and Air told Morgant he would choose whether the world lived or died,” said Nasser. “If he had chosen to allow the world to die, he would have left the wedjet-dahn in the Inferno. Kalgri would have killed you, Cassander would have claimed the regalia, and in time Callatas would have killed him and used the relics to work the Apotheosis.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to save the world,” said Caina. 

“Doesn’t it?” said Nasser. “For Callatas has not yet been defeated.”

“Let us not grow complacent because of prophecies,” said Caina. By all the gods, she was sick to death of prophets, oracles, and riddling spirits. And she had made the mistake of assuming Sulaman’s prophecy had meant her death. “Where are the Staff and Seal now?”

“Within Strabane’s strong room,” said Nasser. “It’s the most secure place in Drynemet, and only the six of us who were at Rumarah know it is here.”

“Seven of us,” said Caina. “Kalgri escaped Rumarah. She’s almost certainly told Callatas where the relics are by now. He’s going to come after them as quickly as he can.”  

“I agree,” said Nasser. “Which is why as soon as you feel well enough to travel, we are leaving Drynemet for Istarinmul.” 

“Callatas is in Istarinmul,” said Caina.

“So are ships that can carry us swiftly to Catekharon,” said Nasser. “Istarinmul’s navy is weak, and even though the Empire’s western fleet is still rebuilding after the Kyracian war, the Emperor has more than enough ships to safeguard the sea lanes. Once we get on a ship, neither Callatas nor Kalgri will be able to stop us. And Callatas will soon have a new problem that will occupy his full attention.”

“The rebel emirs,” said Caina.

“They prefer to think of themselves as the emirs who shall restore sound governance to Istarinmul,” said Nasser. “Tanzir Shahan will soon march from the Vale of Fallen Stars, and the Kaltari clans will move to join him. Grand Wazir Erghulan has very little support left, and even many of the northern emirs would like to see him gone. Istarinmul may well fall to the southern emirs, and if it does, we shall have a chance to kill Callatas and put an end to his evil. At the very least, he will be forced to abandon Istarinmul, and shall have to start his Apotheosis over from scratch.” 

Caina said nothing, staring over the edge of the terrace to the stream bubbling through the valley. Once, she knew, she would have felt terrible guilt, blaming herself for the impending civil war. That guilt seemed like a distant thing now. She had died and come back, but if she had died and stayed dead…the civil war would have started anyway. If she had never come to Istarinmul, Callatas might have well have continued his evil unopposed, seeking fruitlessly for the Staff and the Seal as he slaughtered thousands to continue producing wraithblood. 

She had not started Istarinmul on its path to bloodshed, she now realized…but she would see it through to the end. 

“Sorry I lied to you,” she said at last, “about who I really am.”

Nasser offered a lazy shrug. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth about who I am, either. That you figured it out first…well, I have no one to blame but myself.” He hesitated. “It may be a peculiar thing to say…but you remind me of my daughter.”

“Truly?” said Caina. Nasser never spoke of his lost family, the wife and children that had burned with Iramis.

“She, too, sacrificed herself to save others,” said Nasser in a quiet voice. 

They stood in silence for a while.

“I’m sorry,” said Caina. 

Nasser smiled. “Do you know I had already heard of you? Your true name, I mean. I had heard rumors that a woman named Caina Amalas had been banished from the Empire. But you so convincingly presented yourself as a man that I never made the connection.”

“Thank you,” said Caina. “Do you know how exhausting it was to pretend to be a man all the time? We’ve traveled together for weeks. I had to control my voice, my stance, my stride, my mannerisms…everything.”

“Well,” said Nasser, “I am pleased you are relieved of that burden, at least. How do you change your voice so convincingly, by the way?”

Caina shrugged, the memory of Halfdan flickering through her thoughts. “I had good teachers.”

Chapter 24: Stop Talking

That night Caina sat alone in her room, drinking a cup of tea as she sharpened her knives and daggers. The Kaltari did not much care for coffee, and Caina really wanted a cup of Damla’s coffee. Nonetheless, she had to admit that the Kaltari brewed good tea. She had started drinking tea years ago at the Vineyard, when she had trained as a Ghost nightfighter, and it had been her drink of choice for years. Later, though, she had discovered coffee. It had been in Catekharon, and in fact Kylon had taken her to a coffee house for the first time…

She lifted a throwing knife, checking the edge, and nodded to herself and set it back down on the table. 

There was a tight nervousness in her gut, a tremor of excitement that went up her limbs. Caina knew what she had to do. They would go to Istarinmul, conceal the Staff and Seal in Catekharon, and return to stop Callatas. That was clear. 

She just had to do something else first. The knives and daggers didn’t really need sharpening. They were just a distraction, a way to keep her hands occupied while she…

Someone knocked at the door. 

Caina straightened from the table, smoothing the front of her dress. 

“Come in,” she called. 

###

Kylon stepped into the small guest room. 

Caina stood by a table, wearing the dress and cloak of a Kaltari woman, the bronze brooch glinting in the dim light from the hearth. He still could not sense her presence, not at all, but he didn’t care. She was conscious, standing and awake. 

That was more than he would have expected. More than he would have hoped. 

“You’re awake,” he said. 

She smiled. “This morning. I think I just missed you.”

“Strabane has me hunting for Teskilati spies in the hills,” said Kylon. “They’re good at hiding, but they can’t hide from a man with the sorcery of water.” He hesitated, looking at her for any sign of illness, of pain. “Though you’re doing a good job of it.”

Caina shrugged. “Annarah says that what…happened to me was similar to the trials the valikarion of Iramis underwent. So apparently I can claim to be a valikarion now. No divinatory spells will work on me, and I can…see sorcerous auras. It is a damned strange sensation.” 

“You can see mine, then?” said Kylon. 

“Yes,” said Caina in a quiet voice. “It’s…silvery and blue, but those aren’t the right words. It’s so hard to describe.” She met his eyes. “It’s a…a compelling sight. I never thought I would say that about anything of sorcery.”  

Kylon nodded. “That is what I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” 

Kylon took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

###

Caina blinked several times before she spoke.

“What?” she said. “Why are you sorry? What are you sorry for? You…haven’t done anything.” 

“I did,” said Kylon. His face was grim. “I…should not have poured that Elixir down your throat.”

“Why not?” said Caina. “It saved my life. It saved all of our lives. Cassander would have killed us all, and a lot more people if he got his hands on the regalia. You…”

He kept speaking. 

“I know how much you hate sorcery,” said Kylon. “And I should have been more vigilant. I should have realized that if the Huntress wore a shadow-cloak, I couldn’t sense her or her nagataaru. I…”

“Kylon,” said Caina. “If there is any blame, it is mine. All those damned curved knives. I should have realized that it was Kalgri months ago.” She sighed. “She was playing with my head, trying to make me isolate myself so I would be easier to kill. It almost worked, too. It would have worked, if not for you.” 

She crossed the room and stood before him, looking up at him. 

“Kylon,” she said. “You saved my life. You saved us all. Thank you.” 

Kylon stared down at her, and at last nodded. 

“How could I not?” he said. “After you risked everything for me?” 

“What do you mean?” said Caina. 

“In the Craven’s Tower, after you defeated the Sifter and used the Elixir to heal me,” said Kylon. “You couldn’t have carried me out on your own. Morgant told me what you did, how you threatened to kill him if he didn’t help you get me out.” 

Caina felt her face warm. “I…was in a bit of a mood at the time.” 

“You had been seeking him for months,” said Kylon. “He was your only link to finding the Staff and the Seal, your only clue to stopping the Apotheosis. And you were willing to kill him to save my life.” 

Caina couldn’t meet his eyes for a moment. “Like I said. I was in a bit of a mood.” 

“I was wrong about you,” said Kylon. “When we first met. I thought you were a…a cold spy, a manipulator.”

“Now what do you think of me?” said Caina. Her voice was a little hoarse.

“I think you’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met,” said Kylon. 

“Because you saw into my mind?” said Caina. 

“No,” said Kylon. “I came to that conclusion long before that.”

Caina took a deep breath. “About that. I…also need to discuss something with you.” 

###

Kylon looked down at Caina, his pulse drumming in his temples. She was close enough that he could feel the heat of her breath against his face when she spoke and see the faint tremor near her right eye.

She was nervous. He couldn’t sense her emotions, but he could tell she was nervous.  

“When I was…dying,” said Caina. “I don’t remember most of what happened.”

“That’s probably for the best,” said Kylon. He remembered every detail of what had happened in the Corsair’s Rest. “It wasn’t pleasant.” 

She nodded and reached up, pushing her hair back from her face. “I…remember when I was lying on the floor, bleeding to death. You were sitting next to me while Nasser was shouting at Cassander. You said…you said…”

She stopped, pulling her composure together.

“Go on,” said Kylon. 

Caina looked up at him. “You said that it was your fate to see the women you loved die in front of you, that you could do nothing to save them.” 

He nodded, not willing to trust his voice. 

“Does,” she said, swallowing, “does that include me?”

Kylon took both of her hands in his, and her blue eyes grew wide. The contact of her skin brought her emotions against his senses, and he felt her fear and pain, backed by a strong and growing love for him. 

A love that matched what he felt for her. 

“Yes,” he said. 

“I love you, too,” she whispered. The pulse in her wrists raced against her fingers. “So. Good. Good. That’s good.” She was talking so fast that the words were tumbling together. “You love me, that’s good. It is in fact the best news I’ve heard in years. So what are you going…”

“Stop talking,” said Kylon, and he pulled her close and kissed her. 

For an instant she went rigid with surprise, but only for an instant. She pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his back and pulling him closer. The nervousness vanished, replaced by a swelling heat. Her hands slid under his tunic, climbing up his back. 

That seemed like a marvelous idea, so he began tugging at her cloak, pulling it off her shoulders. 

###

Caina tossed aside the last of her clothing, standing before Kylon. 

The last time she had seen him undressed had been in the aftermath of the Craven’s Tower. This was a more pleasant circumstance by far. The dying fire threw shadows over the hard planes of his chest and arms, and his eyes flicked up and down over her, taking her in. 

Over the scar on her belly. 

A wave of self-consciousness went over her, and her hands jerked to cover the garish scar. 

“No, no, no,” murmured Kylon, reaching down to pull her hands away. “No. Don’t hide. I want all of you.” 

She stared up at him. He looked back, more intense than she had ever seen him. He looked…

He looked like a man dying of thirst who had just walked into an oasis.

Come to think of it, Caina was pretty thirsty herself.

She seized his head with both hands, pulled his face to hers, and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. She coiled her left leg around him and gave the back of his right knee a tap with her heel. Kylon overbalanced and fell forward, his weight driving her down to the bed beneath him.

They didn’t stand up again for a while. 

Much later, Caina lay against him, her head resting on Kylon’s chest, his right hand stroking her hair and back. 

She felt better than she had in a long, long time.

“What will we do next?” whispered Kylon. 

A dozen different playful suggestions came to the tip of Caina’s tongue, but his tone was serious. She levered up on her elbow and looked at him. 

“Whatever happens,” said Caina, “whatever fate awaits us, we’ll face it side-by-side. Together.” 

“Together,” said Kylon.

Epilogue

The woman who now called herself Kalgri strolled through the southern edge of the Desert of Candles, tossing Caina’s ghostsilver dagger to herself. The Voice brooded and hissed and snarled in her thoughts. Kalgri listened with part of her mind, the rest of her will considering her next course of action.

Step by step she left Rumarah behind. 

That had been something of a mess. 

Kalgri was not entirely sure how Caina had survived. The Voice was baffled. Kalgri had seen Elixir Restorata used before, knew that it produced an explosive discharge, but nothing like that. The firestorm that had engulfed the Corsair’s Rest and the Adamant Guards had been like the wrath of a furious god. 

And then when Caina had stumbled out of the wreckage, impossibly alive but invisible to the Voice’s senses, when Kylon and the loremaster had driven that necromantic shadow from her…