Ebudae (17 page)

“Oh?” The word was an accusation. “So you
went and got yourself hurt, or did you get Pelya hurt while trying
to protect you.”

She wanted to cry or scream, or both. “I
used it on a woman.” Ebudae had committed to telling the truth when
using the salve and she was going to keep the promise. In a way,
that made things easier. “Her name is Aphry. She’s a dancer at
Carnival. Her brother went missing, so she went to find him along
with a couple of actors and some other Carnies. Pelya and I
followed them against their wishes and joined when they couldn’t
make us go away.”

Even though the Carnies had left the girls
in danger, she didn’t want them to get in trouble. Her grandmother
just continued to stare, so Ebudae continued. “We broke into a
warehouse belonging to Master Blavoci after learning that Aphry’s
brother had gone there. Then we found a secret passage and went
down until we found prison cells next to a storage area. Her
brother was there, but when we came out of the prison area they
were keeping him in, there were swordsmen and a wizard attacking
the group. Aphry was stabbed through the stomach. I used the
healing salve on her because she would have died otherwise.” Ebudae
stopped there, not wanting to discuss other details. She looked
back at her hands and waited for her grandmother to react.

There was silence for a moment. “Did
you
kill anyone?”

It was as though a steel claw grasped her
heart and squeezed. Ebudae looked into Lady Pallon’s eyes again.
“Yes. I killed the wizard.”

“And
how
did you do that?” The words
hammered like a judgment.

“I cast a spell that caused his head to
explode.” Ebudae couldn’t resist giving details. “He didn’t even
have time to scream before little, tiny pieces of his brain
splattered against the wall.” She grinned at remembering the
experience, half to unnerve her grandmother and half because it had
been fun. That second half scared her though.

Lady Pallon showed no sign of being
unnerved, much to Ebudae’s internal dismay. “You enjoyed it. I’m
not surprised, you evil little horror.” She leaned forward
threateningly. “And is that how you plan on killing me?”

Dread trickled throughout Ebudae’s body. Her
grandmother knew what was in her mind. She knew that Ebudae sat
alone in her suite and dreamed of ways to kill her. There was no
answer.

“No doubt you have imagined too many methods
of killing me to decide which one to use,” The woman said with a
wicked smile, hitting the truth once again. She took a sip of her
tea. “You’ve already turned into a killer so I imagine my days are
numbered. You’ll probably sit in my blood and lick it off your
fingers like you do when you prick yourself on the rose
thorns.”

Ebudae shrieked in blind fury. Everything in
her vision had become red and all she could think about was
escaping this terrible woman. She crouched forward with her hands
in front of her like claws. The urge to kill her grandmother was as
strong as it had ever been, but she just couldn’t.

“Go ahead. Kill me, you little monster.” The
words came in a singsong voice.

For some reason, it jolted Ebudae out of her
fury. The young lady sat down, took a sip of her own tea and glared
at her grandmother. Her hand was shaking from a glut of emotions,
causing tea to spill on her dress. “Why don’t you just have me
married off, Grandmother? I’m sure you’d like to find a nice man to
tame me.” The words came out of her mouth dripping with
derision.

“Because I don’t want you to have children.”
Lady Pallon set her tea on the table and glared back. “I didn’t
want your mother to have children either, but she insisted on
leaving a horrid little monster on my doorstep and most likely
laughed as she skipped away.”

Lady Pallon stood and swept the teacup off
the table, sending it crashing to the stone path between the
plants. “Melody knew I wanted this family to die!” It was one of
only a few times the woman had ever used her daughter’s name in
front of Ebudae. She bared her teeth. “This family is evil and has
been ever since it was spawned from the pits of Hell.
You
are the last of this family and I will not have you breed!” Lady
Pallon came over and stuck a bony finger in Ebudae’s face. “You are
the most evil of them all.” She came so close their noses nearly
touched. “I wish I had killed you when you were a babe, but now you
have grown into the murderer that I knew you would become and soon
you’ll kill me instead. I
hate
you, you horrible little
monster
!” The words went from a hiss to a screech as the old
woman condemned Ebudae.

The accusations terrified Ebudae. Everything
began to spin in her mind and she just wanted to hide. The dreadful
old woman screaming at her was filled with more vile and hatred
than the girl had ever known. ‘
Perhaps she
should
have
killed me. I
am
evil.’
The thoughts scratched against
the inside of her mind, clawing away at her will to live.

Lady Pallon turned back to her seat, so
Ebudae darted out of the chair and ran. No voice called after her
as she burst out of the observatory into the grand hallway and onto
the stairs. Her breath escaped her and spots formed in her vision
as she desperately climbed. Halfway to the third floor, she tripped
and slammed her chin into a step. Blood formed in her mouth as she
scrabbled to her feet. The dragon mark on her back was hot
again.

Ebudae didn’t remember the rest of the dash
to her suite. She slammed the door shut and stood against it while
gulping air. The entire universe was spinning around her and she
couldn’t stop it. Stumbling sideways, she made her way to her
bedroom and closed its door.

It only took her a second to reach the bed
and she crawled across it to the drawer in the nightstand on the
other side. Her silver dagger was there and she pulled it out.

Normally, she would carefully cut across the
skin of her arm, but she couldn’t control it this time. Ebudae
gashed through the sleeve of her dress to draw blood. Primal
screams ripped from her throat as she gashed again and again, but
the universe wouldn’t stop spinning. It wouldn’t stop circling
around her and she was getting lost in the stars and the
darkness.

Blood soaked her sleeve and she tried to cut
deliberately with the shaking knife. It wasn’t working so she
gashed again. Her entire body shook and rasping breaths between the
screams weren’t enough to satisfy her lungs.

With another shriek, Ebudae stabbed the
knife deep into the soft flesh of her thigh. It hurt enough to slow
the spinning. She pulled it out and stabbed again, silent this
time. The spinning stopped. Black and white spots filled her vision
and her back was hot and tingling. The only color in the room was
the deep red of her blood. She pulled the knife out and held it to
her chest as she lay back on the bed.

Darkness enveloped her.

Chapter
11

Pelya didn’t want to leave her friend all
alone with Lady Pallon. The way the old woman was staring at her
granddaughter was wicked and hateful. Gilron and Bava were
responsible for Pelya though, and she was required to do as they
say. At that point, Pelya was too tired to argue. Her father and
Ebudae were equally important to her.

“We can take my carriage,” Sir Imbra
suggested with a gesture to the vehicle as they walked out of the
gate.

“We don’t mind walking,” Bava replied. “It’s
normal in the guard.”

“I mind a little. My back isn’t what it used
to be.” Gilron leaned back and stretched.

“The young lass is exhausted.” Sir Imbra
indicated Pelya. “It would be cruel to make her walk.”

“Alright then,” Bava said with arms folded
and narrowed eyes. “We’ll ride. It’ll give her time to explain what
she was doing.”

“I’d rather walk,” Pelya mumbled as she
climbed into the carriage and sat in the same seat as before. She
was surprised when Sir Imbra came in next and sat beside her. He
gave her an encouraging pat on the leg as they both rested swords
on their laps. The knight’s was so long that it rested on both of
theirs and Pelya took the opportunity to admire the ornate
scrollwork on the sheath although she was careful not to touch
it.

“It was touched by Reanna and blessed with
her divine power,” the knight said while the other two sat across
from them, also putting swords in laps. “The enchantments on it are
too numerous to mention, but it’s quite an effective tool, in
addition to being an excellent blade.”

“It’s beautiful,” Pelya said, running her
fingers down the length without actually touching it. There were
designs of suns, trees, and mountains intertwined between knotted
scrollwork. She recognized magical runes combined with all of it as
well. Many swords had magic, but when the sheath also had runes, it
indicated a powerful weapon.

“That’s all very nice, but it’s time for
Pelya to tell us where she was last night,” Bava persisted, not
willing to let it slide. Sir Imbra didn’t protest, but he did keep
the sword across their laps. He then took her hands and placed them
on it. When she touched it, her resolve strengthened and it acted
like a shield in a way she couldn’t describe.

“Ebudae and I made some friends at Carnival
the day before yesterday. We went back yesterday. Some of their
friends came by and said that a man was missing. That man was one
of our new friends’ brother.”

“You’re leaving out names, Pelya,” Gilron
noticed. “That’s not like you.”

A sob broke free. “I broke the law, Uncle
Gilron. I think I have to go to jail.”

“Even if you killed everyone in the High
Council I wouldn’t let that happen, lass” Gilron said with a
reassuring smile. “You can leave the names out, but tell us what
happened.”

“You wouldn’t? But I have to obey the law,”
Pelya insisted. It was inconceivable that the weaponmaster would
ever let her get away with even bending a law.

“You’re the most honest and law-abiding
person I know and that includes every member of the guard and Sir
Sunshine here,” Gilron said. The knight chuckled in amusement. “You
take the law seriously and if you broke it, I’m certain you had a
good reason for doing so.”

Pelya just frowned at him, not
comprehending.

“What he’s saying is that sometimes the law
interferes with justice and right,” Bava explained. “In those
instances, law can become evil.”

“Tis true,” Sir Imbra surprisingly agreed.
“By law, no one is allowed under the city for any reason, yet my
companions and I go down there frequently to battle evil.” He
leaned into her. “I follow the law wherever it does not interfere
with my divine duty, which is greater than any mortal bindings
others may attempt to cast upon me.” Then the knight patted her leg
and sat back again.

Pelya still didn’t get it. Following the law
was supposed to be everything and she had never broken it other
than going down into the ruins and picking locks, which was an
approved skill in the guard. She couldn’t stop from finally crying
and just buried her face in her hands and let loose. In a way, she
didn’t even know what reason she was crying for anymore. It just
seemed like the thing to do.

“Oh dear. This is not going well at all,”
Sir Imbra said. He put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned
over and cried into his.

Bava sighed and looked out the window while
the commander raised his eyebrows in confused amusement.

A few minutes later, they reached the
fortress that served as the Dralin City Guard headquarters,
barracks and training compound. It housed over four thousand guard
members and was a district in and of itself. A general who sought
to overthrow wizard rule in the city had built it. After the failed
attack, his soldiers became the City Guard. Centuries later, they
were still some of the best trained. They had to be in a city so
sinister.

Each thirty-foot thick wall of the
eight-sided district had two gates, one for people to walk through
and a double gate for wagons. The carriage entered the west gate
after Gilron stared at the lieutenant who opened the door to look
inside. Everybody knew the commander and nobody was ever stupid
enough to create a problem for him.

The carriage stopped in a small courtyard
near a stable area. Young recruits came out to care for the horses
under the driver’s watchful eye. Commander Coodmur led everyone
into the headquarters. Pelya was relieved that they hadn’t made her
talk about the previous night even if she felt like a fool for
crying in front of them.

Headquarters was a large building with
countless uniformed clerks sitting behind desks. Many of those
desks were in large common areas while others were in offices with
higher-ranking specialists. Citizens of the city came to beg for
help or justice. The biggest department was for missing persons.
More people disappeared in the city of Dralin than in any country.
The population never decreased because there were always more
people moving in from every direction. Pelya’s father complained
about the fact a lot.

His disappearance was beginning to sink in.
Whether he hated her or not, Pelya’s father was the one thing in
the world she could cling to without having to be brave. Gilron led
them through hallways and into a strategy room, one of many where
difficult or important cases were gone over by teams.

“Pelya! Where is your father?” Sergeant
Gorman came forward and wrapped her up in a big hug. Gorman, Gilron
and her father were the three men who protected Pelya the most.
Anyone who had a problem with her had to go through them first and
they were three very dangerous men.

“I don’t know, Uncle. I haven’t seen him.”
Pelya looked around at the room. There were maps of the city and
sewers along all the walls. A guardsman stood over one of the two
tables that had documents spread out, studying the information. A
guardswoman sat at a desk looking into a large book filled with
more maps. “Is all this for Daddy?” Pelya asked in alarm.