A Time of Dying (Araneae Nation) (28 page)

“That’s why you ran.” Pity urged Mana to the edge of her seat.

I stared at my hand, covering one with the other. “It was.”

“These risers are to blame for Titania, then?” Isolde pegged me with an unflinching stare.

“I believe they are, yes. We encountered several dozen in the mountains on our way into the city.” I gulped back memories of that night. Still the sound of screams rang in my ears. “Three of your guards lost their lives to save us. I would like to make reparation to their families, if I may.”

Vaughn lowered his hands. “That is kind of you.”

“Thank you, Kaidi.” Mana’s smile was brief. “Their families will be grateful for it.”

Gold wouldn’t bring their loved ones back any more than it would return mine to me. But perhaps those brave souls might rest easier knowing their families were fed and clothed.

Vaughn’s consideration left me cold. “What do you want from me?”

“From you,” I said, bracing myself, “nothing. I would ask your wife to endorse my claim as Segestriidae maven. Our clan laws are straightforward. You will find nothing amiss with the line of succession. But outside my clan, I have need of an ally to acknowledge my claim, and I’d be honored if Mana would accept my humble offer of a two-generation alliance between our clans.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Mana flushed with pride. “You do me a great honor.”

“Since my wife has chosen to support you,” Vaughn said, “I will stand by you as well.”

“Wait, son, before you ink this deal.” Isolde stood. “What are you offering us in exchange?”

“The alliance Hishima denied you.”

She circled me. “Why accept what he refused?”

“Hishima and I… We didn’t share the same aspirations. All I want is protection for my people.”

She took my measure at a glance. “You speak of reparation, but can you pay it—and us?”

“Yes.” My tongue lashed the word, forcing me to contain my bitterness.

“Isolde,” Mana chided. “She would be our ally. Shouldn’t we treat her as such?”

“No.” Vaughn drew her hand into his lap. “Let Mother finish. This is the business of forging alliances. It is an ugly necessity I regret, but we must think hard before agreeing to any allocation of our resources. Though my heart goes out to the Segestriidae, we can’t gift them warriors who could be put to better use guarding their clan home and their own families from this new threat.”

With a faint smile at her husband, Mana sat back and allowed negotiations to continue.

“Though I can afford to buy your protection,” I offered, “why not barter for it instead?”

“Barter?” Isolde spat the word as if it tasted foul. “You’ve just admitted your city is dust.”

“Which is why I require every coin I can gather if I am to rebuild it.”

“What can you offer us?” Vaughn paid me no mind, focused as he was on Mana’s fingers.

“I can offer you Lailah.” My goals had been accomplished. I was ready to be rid of her.

“Last I heard, we owed the Deinopidae for her capture and delivery.” Isolde wagged a finger at me. “That means she’s ours and only a fool pays twice for what they already own. What else?”

Few options presented themselves to me that would not further indebt me to Isolde.

“What about her earring?” Murdoch looked to me. “You made one. Can you make more?”

Vaughn cleared his throat. “It’s a nice bauble, but hardly worth what she’s asking for it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Mana brought a palm-sized crystal from her pocket. “She is an aural crystalier. Her uncle taught her his trade, and he has supplied crystals to my clan’s spirit walkers since before I was born. Her skill, young as she is, shouldn’t be underestimated or undervalued.”

“No harm meant,” Vaughn assured me. “Though I thought I understood it was a gift?”

“My uncle gave me the stone, but I tuned it myself.” I admitted, “It’s attuned to harbingers.”

Before I could blink, Isolde held my cheek in one hand and my earring in the other.

She pinched the silk and rang the crystal like a dinner bell. “How does it work?”

I winced. “It’s a trade secret.”

“Humph.” She let it fall. “What does it do?”

“Any aural crystal will amplify a specific sound. In this case, the wearer can hear the song of a harbinger in flight. Far as I can tell, plague victims only rise if they are called by a harbinger. If you cut off their heads, they won’t rise when she sings to them. The bodies must be intact for her magic or whatever it is to work. Risers are impossible to track aurally, but harbingers can be.”

“If there are only a handful of harbingers,” Isolde asked, “why bother tracking them?”

“Think of them as generals leading an army,” Murdoch said. “Find one, you find the other.”

“I see the value in that. Like as not, it was indispensable to you out there on your own, but it won’t make a spit of difference I can see if the risers are as dimwitted as you claim. As many as have died or gone missing, if they have all risen, then the size of the Necrita army means we will have no difficulty locating them.” She tapped the side of her nose as Mimetidae often did. “What need have we for ears when we have noses? We can scent a rotting corpse for miles. So while its purpose is clever, and your offer is generous, it doesn’t compare to the value of the guards who’d risk their lives protecting Titania. I’m afraid I can’t advise my son to accept the offer. I’m sorry.”

When Murdoch would have argued, I hushed him. “Leave it be. It’s a fair deal we’ve made.”

Concealing her glee was not what Isolde did best. “It’s as square as any bargain I’ve made.”

“If we’re all in agreement,” Mana said to Vaughn, “perhaps we can free our new ally?”

“If you wish.” Whether I was bound or not appeared to make no difference to him. It wasn’t his shoulders wrenched or his wrists burning. His hands weren’t numb. His back wasn’t sore.

Leaving her husband’s side, Mana approached me with a small knife in hand. She sliced my ropes, which made the Deinopidae who had volunteered them mutter what I thought were curses in his native tongue. A sympathetic shrug was all Mana offered, and I gave him even less. I flung what remained of his rope without apology. It hit the ground, where he kicked it against the wall.

Mana turned her blade to sawing through Murdoch’s bonds when Vaughn rose.

“Leave him,” Vaughn ordered.

I stepped between them. “Release him as a good-faith gesture.”

“He disobeyed a direct order from me. Neither my goodness nor faith extends that far.”

“I knew what I was doing.” Murdoch sidestepped me. “I accept the consequences.”

A grim-faced Vaughn looked to Mana. “I will do as you wish and draft a letter to Lourdes. I will attempt to enlist Henri in this experiment as long as his sister has no objections. If she agrees, then I see no reason why Lailah can’t pay an extended visit to Erania. Let the Araneidae see what their gold has bought.” When Isolde fumed, he pointed at her. “I won’t hear another word on the topic, Mother. You and I will discuss your room and your schemes after I’ve slept. Since you’ve managed to ingratiate yourself to the Deinopidae female, double her fee if she and her clansmen are willing to remain here and tend Lailah until I hear from Lourdes. If she is amenable, I would prefer the Deinopidae escort Lailah to Erania. We need all our clansmen armed and at the ready. Besides, you know as well as I do our clan excels at one thing—killing. This situation requires a gentler touch. The Deinopidae are huntsmen by trade. They understand the keeping of animals. I feel they are better suited to nurturing Lailah, feral as she is. Tell the Deinopidae more gold will await them. I have no doubt my brother will be all too eager to return the care of Lailah to them.”

“It’s a good plan.” Mana smiled at him. “It’s the safest we can make ourselves tonight.”

“On the topic of safety,” he said, kissing Mana’s knuckles, “I must speak with the guards.”

“Their captain is here.” Bram indicated Murdoch. “What about him?”

“Take him to the grotto.” Vaughn’s black eyes were flat and cold. “I’ll deal with him later.”

“No.” I wrapped my arm through Murdoch’s and held on. “What he did, he did for me.”

“Therein lies the problem.” Vaughn’s expression tightened. “I can’t punish an ally, can I?”

“Yet you’d punish one of your own?” I challenged him.

“Kaidi.” Murdoch spoke my name softly. “Let me go.”

I didn’t. Bram ripped him from me. “I will come for you,” I vowed.

His smile was lopsided. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Ah, how well your gown fits. Like a glove. Or not. I imagine gloves don’t fit you well, do they?” Stefan tightened the sash at my waist, then walked his fingers over the laces and up my spine. “Very nice.
Very
nice.”

“Thank you.” I extricated myself from his constant plucking.

“I have outdone myself. I truly have.” He twirled merrily while lifting imaginary skirts. “All will see you shine. Now, now. Don’t try to hide, shy thing. You must be brave. You must
shine
.”

I dodged his attempt to neaten my high collar. “I somehow doubt that will be a problem.”

Crystals glinted at my neck and ears, at my wrists and fingers. I cast rainbows when sunlight hit me. My hair was coiled atop my head. My gown flushed pink. I was radiant. I was ridiculous.

This gilded maven was as foreign to me as the Necrita. I much preferred my ash and cinder. It reminded me of who I was and what I fought for, instead of what no longer was or might have been. This formality was necessary, I supposed. There were witnesses visiting from Beltania and Halcidia, the Salticidae and Deinopidae clan homes, respectively. They were old allies, and they had come to observe the brief ceremony that bestowed the title Maven of the Segestriidae to me.

All the while I was pampered by Stefan I imagined Murdoch caged in the dank grotto.

While Cathis strung banners and streamers, while the Mimetidae prepared for a feast fit for a new maven, he was trapped in a cell I had as much right to as he did. His absence made me ache.

A knock at the door set Stefan’s feet to tapping. “I can guess who that is…” His high-pitched chortling was as bizarre as the rest of him. “Maven Mana, Mana Maven, I knew it must be you.”

She touched his arm. “I wanted a word with Kaidi before the ceremony, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” He flung his arm toward me. “She is divine. Good as I can get her. Perfect.”

A brilliant smile broke across her face. “You look beautiful, Kaidi. Truly you do.”

She reached for me, and I clasped her hands. “Thank you for your generosity.”

“My prices are fair, for fairness comes at a cost.” Stefan bumped into a dresser backing from the room. “If you have need of me, I am but a whistle away. You can whistle, Maven of Mine?”

“I can,” she assured him. “You best hurry if you want a good seat.”

He bowed his head. “I have a chair saved, if I can but reach it, thank you.”

Another whirl on his toes and Stefan left us, singing a bawdy tune about a tailor and a maid…

Assured he was out of hearing range, I still leaned near. “How can you stand him?”

“He is odd, isn’t he?” she asked fondly. “He knows his trade as few in Cathis do, and he has never disappointed me. Though his sight has left him, his hands remember their way. Besides, he is such an eccentric person that others in the city market avoid him, and his business suffers for it.”

“I can see how that would be the case.” I saw too how a young maven viewed as peculiar by her new clan might turn to a person also scorned as an oddity for the fellowship they both lacked.

“Ah, Kaidi.” She tucked stray hairs behind my ear. “You really do look lovely.”

Praise made me uncomfortable, but I smiled in thanks. “What did you want to discuss?”

Concern wreathed her face. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“To be maven?” I smoothed my thumb over Hishima’s signet. “It’s not a matter of wanting, but a matter of what is needed. There are others as suited to this position as I am. I know that, but I feel they would bury their heads in the sand when I feel now is the time to erect watchtowers. I made peace with this life years ago. Though I did stray from this path, I am prepared to walk it.”

“You will make a fine maven.” She hooked my arm through hers. “Your people are lucky to have you. I thought only to give you a quiet moment to check your heart. Are you ready to go?”

I put my other hand over my stomach. “As I will ever be.”

“The ceremony is a short one.” She patted my arm. “You’ll say your piece, I’ll say mine and then the witnesses will be dismissed. Food and drink will be served. Then there will be dancing.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not much for dancing.”

“Yet everyone will wish to take a turn with you.” Hers was the voice of experience.

“I will plead headache and escape at my earliest opportunity.”

She laughed, but I meant it.

“Headaches won’t protect you from suitors with two left feet. You must stay and dance.”