Veiled Innocence (Book One, The Soul Cycle) (41 page)

Lian stepped forward and hugged her. “I shall never forget this.”

Lady Mardon squeezed her bac
k. “Come back anytime. May the g
ods protect you, my Lady.”

They released, and Lian and the others waved their goodbyes and started down the path.

For a few minutes, none of them said anything, content to be left to the privacy of their own thoughts. Lian noticed two bags were missing from Vishka’s belt. 

“What did you do with all the saffurite?” Lian asked, adjusting the bow along her shoulder.

Vishka’s eyes sparkled. “I left most of it on the table.”

Lian stared at her and then smiled to herself.

***

LIAN SMELLED THE SALT
of the sea and knew they we
re close. She hurried her pace. A
few minutes later
,
they crested the hill
,
and the ocean came into view.

She surveyed it in open awe
. “I’ve only read abo
ut it, imagined it in stories. It’s beautiful. Words cannot do it justice.”

Rowan clapped a hand on her shoulder. “You can admire the view later. We’re here for more than sight-seeing.”

They followed the hill down to the main gate, which was shaped like white, shimmering coral. From there the path widened and split off into roads. They kept to the main path an
d soon found themselves in the M
arketplace.

Lian had never seen such tall buildings. The streets were clean
,
and every building was made from mander, a light blue pearlescent rock that glittered in the sunlight. The green-blue waves of the Eastern Sea sparkled between buildings, and Lian
smiled softly, completely taken with it
. 

Conversations drifted around them in a myriad of different tongues and dialects. She knew Delkor was a major trading center
for people from all over Eresea
but had never witnessed it herself.

Accalia could be like this. Someday.

First, she needed to find her people. Rebuilding would be easier if she could garner enough support.

She turned to Rowan. “Where should we start looking?”

He stepped aside as a man pushed a cart full of fish past. “I suppose we could start asking around.”

Lian wrinkled her nose and squinted down the str
eet. “Who knows how long that will take.
We can’t wait that long, not if we’re going to…”

At first she thought she was having another vision. A familiar head of mousy brown hair
bobbed
in and out of the crowd
, moving away
in the opposite direction.

Lian’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it,” she said and took off after the girl.

She pushed her way through the throngs of people, some mouthing crass remarks as she ran past. Just as the girl was about to cross the street, Lian grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

“Ursa!”

Ursa’s eyes widened
,
and she paled. She reached up to touch Lian’s hair. “Are you real?”

Lian grinned, tears brimming in her eyes. “Of course I am. Aren’t you?”

“Y
es?”

Lian
pulled her into a hug. She squ
eezed her as tight as she could
. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean, that is, can we –”

She didn’t know where to begin.
Ever since meeting Lord Winter, she felt like she could
feel
again. She wondered if that place had done something to her, had healed her of the numbness the way the crystal healed her wounds.
So many emotions were coursing through her; happiness, sadness, regret.
Not even the darkness inside her stirred. Strangely, it had remained dormant.

Seeing Ursa
was overwhelmi
ng, and tears sprang to her eyes
.

Ursa smiled, her own eyes shining
. “I’d forgive you anything. You are
,
after all
,
my best friend.” She took a step back. 

“How did you –”

“Where have you –”

The two girls
smiled
. “I have so much to tell you,” Ursa said.

“And I you.” Lian wiped her face on her sleeve and grabbed Ursa’s hand. “Come. The others are not going to believe this.”

Ursa
sniffled, her face hopeful. “Others?”

Lian paused, imagining the look on Ursa’s face when she saw Vishka and Rowan. “You’ll see.” She looked back at Ursa and smiled so wide her face hurt. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

Ursa smiled back and nodded, though the wariness in her eyes suggested she didn’t fully trust Lian.

And that was all right. She could work with “a little” trust.

***

“
YOU WENT WHERE?”

They were in a tavern a block away from the marketplace alley. The place was filling up as it neared lunchtime.

“Barendale,” Ursa shouted. “You know, the little town about five miles north of Accalia?”

“How many were injured or killed?
”
Rowan said, ever the investigator.

Fear
flashed through Ursa’s eyes. “I’m not sure. Everything was chaos, and the smoke was so thick it made it difficult to tell exactly what was happening.
There… there was something else in the fire, some sort of monster. They… those people…”

Lian put an arm around her friend and hugged her.

“Were you pursued?” Vishka said.

Ursa’s forehead wrinkled. “Not that I know of. What were those things? Why did they attack Accalia?”

Vishka said no more and looked away.

Lian glanced at Rowan
,
and he nodded. “Sometimes people don’t nee
d a reason to destroy something,” he said.
“
Sometimes they do it because they find pleasure in doing so.”

Ursa considered this. The tavern noise was too loud to hear her, but Lian knew from watching the shape of her mouth that she said, “That’s awful.”

They sat like that for a minute or so, reliving that night. At last, Lian shook her head and pursed her lips.

“
Start thinking like a regent
.”

“You
said there were others with you,” Lian said.
“
Where are they?”

“A large group of them came here,” Ursa said. “Accalians, that is. Some were hoping to resettle here, while others were considering buying passage across the Eastern Sea, maybe start over in another land far away from…”

Lian nearly
leapt
across the table. “A large group, you said? Can you take us to them?”

Ursa threw her hands up. “
Easy now
, Lian. Yes, I’d be more than happy to.”

***

AFTER THEY LEFT THE
tavern, they walked for about fifteen minutes before coming to an enormous rectangular estate with large bay windows. It too was made from mander, and though smaller in stature to the Fortress of the Night, it was no less magnificent.

“Princess Rurelyn was kind enough to take us in as refugees,” Ursa said as she opened the gate and led them down a seashell pathway to the main entrance. “I’ve lived here for the past few weeks with a few others.”

Lian stared at the manicured plants and poli
shed statues. “Very kind
,
indeed,
”
she murmured.

Delkor, a city so large it comprised most of the
country
and thus shared its name, was one of the few remaining nations Accalia was still on good terms with. The princess was young, but no less wise for it. Having come from a long line of royalty, she had been trained how to run a country, and it thrived under her care. As kind as she was fair, Rurelyn had a habit of looking out for the misfortunate, often taking in refugees an
d immigrants from other nations
and offering them a place in her society, so long as they were willing to equally contribute and swore allegiance to her.

Ursa st
opped and pushed open the doors,
reveal
ing
a large foyer with a sea
shell encrusted floor and tall walls painted from ceiling to floor in various seascapes. Lian lost her breath. “This is incredible,” she said, following Ursa up the pearl stairwell. She didn’t say more, too lost in her surroundings to form any coherent thoughts.

Accalians milled about them, many Lian recognized. Knights and peasants alike stopped and bowed as she passed, whispering
things
under their breath
too low for her to hear.

They were almost to the top of the stairwell when Lian heard someone running toward them.

She turned her head and
gasped
as Alastor lifted her into the air and spun her around.

“I can’t believe it!” His rich voice filled
the air. “I had prayed to the g
ods you
were
safe
,
and they delivered you!”

Lian returned his smile, thi
nking she would burst with joy.

Thank you, Dreaka. Thank you.

“I wondered if you’d gotten out,” she said, her voice shaking. “Now my conscious can be spared.”

“Oh,
please
,
dear Lianora. You never had anything to feel guilty over to start with. I know you would never hurt me directly.”

Alastor’s eyes looked past her, and
all
mirth
within them
disappeared. “Impossible,” he breathed.

“My Lord?” Lian followed his gaze.

      Vishka was sta
nding directly behind them, with
a strange look on her face. “Of course,” she murmured.  “How could I have been so blind?”

Lian frowned. “What are you –”

It happened too fast. Vishka yanked Lian behind her. In the same instant, she drew her saber and pointed it at Alastor.

“What are you doing?
” Lian shouted. She tried to take a step forward, but
Vishka
firmly shoved
her
back.

“Don’t move.”

Vishka stood between her and Alastor.
Around them, e
veryone stood
frozen like statues, lookin
g
anxiously from Vishka to the prince
. Lian scarcely dared to breathe.

Alastor he
ld his hands up in the air. “I
thought I could sense my brother’s touch on you when I first saw you, but I couldn’t be sure. Your Stradvärian blood threw me off.” He glanced down at the hilt of the saber. “The Blood Stone marks you as His.”

Lian looked from Alastor to Vishka. “What is he talking about? Vishka, it’s Alastor. Put your saber down, for goodness sakes!” She reached for the hilt, and quicker than lightning
,
Vishka nailed her in the stomach with the pummel so hard she lost her breath and stumbled.

Rowan caught her. “
Just breathe,” he whispered to her. He glared up at Vishka. “
What the hell is wrong with you?
”

“This
man is not who you think he is.” She gestured to Alastor.
“I doubt he’s even much of a man at all.”

Every head turned to Alastor, who had gone paler than usual. His skin looked different, like it was shimmering with tiny flecks of color.

Lian grabbed the bow, which had fallen off when she fell, and slowly stood up. “Is it true?”

She held her breath, waiting for him to answer. Rowan put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off and took a few steps forward. “Answer me. Why is Vishka so mad at you?”

Alastor looked her directly in the eyes
,
and she gasped at the deep sadness she saw there.

“Because I’m the one who destroyed her empire.”

Deceit

SHE COULDN’T HAVE HEARD
him right.

“That’s impossible,”
Lian
said. “That happened centuries ago. You would have to be –”

“Immortal?” Alastor finished. “Come now. I’m sur
e after what you’ve seen lately
that is not so hard to believe.”

Lian stared at him, her mouth opening and closin
g as she tried to speak. “But y
ou – you’re
a prince. You said so yourself.
Y
ou come from a kingdom beyond the Crystal Sea, you –”