Lament (Scars of the Sundering Book 2) (24 page)

“I hoped Aita would fix this when
she sent me back once more. But, I digress. I did not know why I was first sent
back. Indeed, I was unable to remember any details of my encounter with the
Lich Queen. I felt uneasy, tainted, you might say, but for the sake of my
companions, I kept my concerns to myself. I eschewed using my magic, as much as
possible. A darkness lurked at the edge of my vision, and its intensity increased
when I thought too much about magic, or, now that I think on it, when I saw The
Golden Slayer for the first time.”

“The Lich Queen is dead.
Destroyed at the Battle of Badon Hill.” Gisella sheathed her sword. Rumors she
had heard pointed toward the return of the Lich Queen, but she wanted to
determine what this minotaur knew about it.

“So thinks everyone. I do not
know the mechanism of her return, only that it is. When I used my magic to
fight that cultist in the keep, the shadow demon returned. He took control of
me and used me to animate all the dead in the area. Qaliah”—he inclined his
head toward the fiendling—“put a stop to that, and for that, I thank you.”

“You’re thanking me… for putting
a crossbow bolt in your chest?” The fiendling sheathed her sword as she
narrowed her eyes, took a step back, and made a warding gesture.

“You killed me. This time, I saw
not the Lich Queen, but someone else. A skull. Eyes like an inky-black pond on
a star-filled night. The skull became a raven-haired woman. Aita.”

Gisella took a step back. “You
saw the Princess of the Underworld? The goddess of death?”

“I did. I know it was she. She
took the shadow within me and crushed it like an insect. She sent me back, and
I understand why. I have been given an opportunity to set things right.” The
minotaur chuckled. “I no longer feel a compulsion to travel to Vlorey.”

Gisella placed her hand on the
hilt of her sword. No matter what the minotaur said or was, she was bound to
her duty.

He raised his hand. “I no longer
have the compulsion, yet I know I must still go there. I have to stop the Lich
Queen. It is the reason I have returned.”

Edric laughed. “You’re mad. Being
dead’s rotting your brain.”

Qaliah cocked her head. “It’s
doing something to him, all right.”

“I will not be alone in this
fight. Unlikely as it seems, Aita said that Aurora shamed all the gods when she
acted first against the Lich Queen.”

A chill passed over Gisella.
He
cannot know.

Pancras stared at her, as if he
could read her very thoughts. “I believe she gave me a message for you,
Gisella.”

Gisella’s breath caught in her
throat. She gestured to Qaliah and Edric. “Leave us. Check the horses.”

“What? Now?” Qaliah grabbed her
arm. “This is getting good.”

“Go!” Gisella pushed the
fiendling toward the horses.

Edric tugged on Qaliah’s jerkin.
“Let’s go. We’re not good enough for their serious business. I’ll open a bottle
of ale with you.”

Qaliah watched over her shoulder
as Edric led her away. Gisella needed to hear what Pancras had to say in
private before she was ready to bare her family secrets to just anyone. Her
heart dreaded what he was about to tell her while her mind reconciled he could
not possibly possess specific information about her.

“Speak, Minotaur.”

“Bekkhildr’s blood, blood of
Vibeke.”

Gisella’s stomach churned, and
she choked back bile rising into her throat.
He cannot possibly know that!
Her knees weakened, and only through sheer force of will did she not collapse
before him. “How do you know that?”

“I told you.” Pancras placed his
unwithered hand on her shoulder. “Aita herself told me.”

“Only one other living person
knows what that means.”

“I do not know what it means,
only that it is significant to one Aita called ‘the faithful of Aurora.’”

Gisella turned away from him,
covering her mouth with her hand. The minotaur revealed a truth she withheld
from her closest friends. Not because she didn’t trust them, but because she
feared for their safety. All of her adult life, she did her duty while
listening. Listening to rumors and stories about the Lich Queen, deciding which
tales might contain a kernel of truth and which were wild speculation by the
ignorant masses. Most of the people alive today were born after the Lich
Queen’s final defeat. None of them understood what she truly wanted.

She swallowed and faced Pancras
once more. “Vibeke was my mother.”

“And Bekkhildr? Your father?”

Gisella shook her head. “Vibeke’s
mother. My grandmother.”

“I see.” Pancras pulled the
leather sleeve up over his withered hand and arm. “What is their significance?”

“Bekkhildr the Iron Witch was
better known as the Lich Queen.”

* * *

Initiates and novices gathered in
the practice area. Master Galina, once again, served as proctor, while the Blue
and Yellow Wizards observed the proceedings from the reviewing stand. Many of
the novices in attendance were initiates the week prior, and in addition to
Katka, Delilah didn’t recognize any of the novices. Her duties with the archmage
and her studies with Master Valyrian left little time for socializing.

Unfortunately, that meant there
was little time for Delilah to help Katka practice her offensive magic. She
hoped the girl would execute the shield spell correctly this time. They waited
their turn as Master Galina called forth other initiates.

Delilah took Katka’s hand when it
was the young woman’s turn. “Remember, when it’s time to hit that target, give
it everything you’ve got. You know what to do. I know you can succeed!”

Katka nodded and smiled and then
dashed to present herself to Master Galina and the wizards in the reviewing
stand. The challenges were the same as they were the prior week. They were
designed to test basic proficiencies rather than challenge the students.

As before, Katka passed the first
three parts of the trial with little effort. When it came time to attack the
training dummy, the girl took a deep breath, raised her wand, and closed her
eyes.

After a moment, she scowled. “
Aktina
tees pyrkagias!
” A beam of fire shot from her wand, engulfing the head of
the dummy. It erupted in flame and incinerated in an instant.

Delilah grinned and elbowed
Conner in the hip. “I taught her that one.”

The young man looked impressed.
“I’ll bet they weren’t expecting that.”

“Congratulations, Initiate. You
may trade in your initiate robes and join the ranks of the novices.”

Katka’s gait to rejoin her
friends was more akin to a bounce than a walk, and her smile widened to the
point that it crinkled the skin at the corners of her eyes.

She took Delilah’s hands and
jumped up and down. “I did it! I did it!”

“That’s great—”

“Initiate Delilah!”

“You’ll do great!” Katka squeezed
her hands.

Yeah, I’d better. I’m too old to
be learning how to make light and scrub cauldrons.
“I’ll
show them drak magic.”

Delilah bowed before Master
Galina. The older woman inclined her head. “Create light.”

“
Fos
.” The top of
Delilah’s staff illuminated.

“Initiate Delilah, I am going to
cast a spell at you. If it hits you, it will harm you. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Delilah pulled the strands
of magic to her before Master Galina began her spell. The bolt of energy
dissipated with a spurt against the shell Delilah’s spell formed around her.

“Interesting.” Master Galina
pointed to the tree behind Delilah. “Get a box from the tree using
your
magic.”

“No problem.” Delilah faced the
tree, scanning the boxes. They were all about the same size. She picked the
highest one. “
Dynami antikeimeno kalesei.
” The box flew out of the tree
as Delilah fought to control the energies between her and the box. She was not
accustomed to exercising this sort of fine manipulation, but by the time the
box reached her, she managed to slow it enough so she could hop up, grab it,
and then tuck it under one arm.

Master Galina saw the diminutive
drak struggle to maintain a grip on her staff while she wrangled the oversized
box, so she stepped forward and took the box from Delilah. “Very good. Attack
one of the training dummies, please.”

Delilah walked over to the
dummies and raised her staff. “
Dapane phlogone
.” A stream of fire shot
from the eyes of her staff, engulfing the dummy. She ended the stream as soon
as the end licked the dummy and stepped back as it became engulfed in flames.

“That is sufficient, Initiate.
You may trade in your initiate’s robes for novice’s robes and join the ranks of
the novices.” Master Galina bowed to Delilah. Before Delilah returned to the
crowd, the older woman motioned her over. “You’ll want to watch how much you
show off. Not everyone appreciates it away from the practice field.”

“Yes, Master Galina.” Delilah
kept her voice level and bowed. She returned to Katka and Conner. “Let’s
celebrate! First round is on me!”

* * *

“We’re never going to remove all
the dirt and grime out of this place!” Kale stood and arched his back. The kink
sent a spasm of pain into his wings.

“At least five years of
accumulated crud. It’s going to take a while.” Kali put down her scrub brush
and rubbed his wing joint.

“Maybe I should just burn it
away.” He spat a gout of flame into the hearth, causing the fire to flare for a
moment.

Kali wrapped her arms around him
and rested her head on his shoulder. “Let me run far, far away before you do
that. I like being warm and cozy, but I draw the line at being set on fire.”

The two draks spent the last
several days doing nothing but cleaning. They started with the living quarters.
Once they removed the debris, Kale realized he needed to purchase furniture at
some point. Thus far, they continued to use the bedrolls they had slept in on
the road. It wasn’t horrible, at least they had a roof over their heads, but
Kale found himself wanting a real bed. After their personal quarters, Kale
insisted they clean up Delilah’s room. It was the only other room that could be
used for sleeping quarters, and he wanted it to be ready if she arrived.

After they finished uncluttering
and cleaning the sleeping chambers, Kale and Kali worked on the rest of the
living quarters: the privy, bathing room, and hearth room. Of the furniture
they found within the building, they were able to salvage only a copper bathing
vessel, one chair, which they cobbled together from three different broken
chairs, and the display shelves in the storefront. Kale avoided the bookcases
in the stairway leading to the runed circle altogether. After showing the
secret area to Kali, he locked the door. He needed neither the distraction of
all the books, nor did he trust himself not to search every nook and cranny
down there in search of forgotten trinkets.

They cleaned for a few more
hours. The bathing vessel’s patina would require some sort of solvent and elbow
grease to remove it. Kali wasn’t sure removing the verdigris was strictly
necessary.

“It doesn’t matter. We don’t have
any way of bringing hot water in there right now anyway.” Kale tossed his brush
into the tub with a clang.

Kali pointed at the bathing
vessel. “You breathe fire. We can start with cold water.”

“Good point.” Kale craned his
neck to look toward the front of the shop. The deep shadows revealed the sun
was now high in the sky, casting this portion of the undercity into darkness.

Kale realized he lost track of
time. “I’m hungry.”

The very mention of food sent his
stomach into knots. Kali nodded her assent, and they dusted themselves off. As
Kale strapped on his harness and pouches, he heard someone knocking at their
door.

A round young man stood at the
door, crouching to peer through the drak-sized portal. He flipped back his hood
and raised his hand in greeting. “Hello. I’m Clerk Hadeon. I have papers for
you.”

Kali waved him in. “The ceiling’s
high enough, I think.”

He squeezed through the door. The
top of his head was just shy of the ceiling, and he crouched to avoid one of
the hanging lights. He reached into his bag and pulled out several scrolls.

“I have deeds and money for you.”

“Money?” Kale glanced up from the
deed he examined. There were two copies: one for him and Kali and one which was
to remain in the Hall of Records. “What money?”

“Oh, Magistrate Yulian said the
gem you paid with was too much money. He sent the remainder with me.” The clerk
fished in his pouch and tossed a fat sack filled with coins on the counter.

Kale smirked at his mate as he
dumped the money onto the counter. She responded by pursing her lips and
grabbing one of the papers from the clerk.