Emergence (Book 2) (6 page)

"You should leave now," she said, her voice eerily calm. "Let Canil go. He is not yours."

The phantom's lips wrinkled in disdain. "Take him from me, healer. If you can."

"Oh, I can," Ciara said. "I'd just prefer not to."

Another swipe of claws flashed her way and Ciara twisted. Andrakaos growled, the sound rippling from her own throat. Her lip curled. "Last chance."

"You're no match for me, girl."

"Maybe not," Ciara said. "But he is."

With a flick of her right hand, Ciara sent the power of Andrakaos streaming from her fingers. At the same time, she gathered up the bits of her earth magic that lay scattered at her feet and held them ready in her other hand. The figure leapt forward to meet the onslaught and as it did, Ciara sent her earth magic out with a single w
ord driving its purpose:
Canil
.

Shadow and ancient power collided
. Ciara shuddered with the impact, crying out in pain as it jarred her with the force of a battering ram. She nearly lost her grip on Andrakaos, and the denizen pressed its advantage. As it lunged, her earth magic latched on to the only visible aspect of Canil still remaining, and surrounded him with blinding light. It ripped him free, and in that instant of confusion Andrakaos closed vice-like jaws around the creature and crushed it into nothing.

A rush of victory ripped through Ciara. She fought the desire to leap skyward in exalted flight as she had done in the old woman's chamber. She could do so again. She could be one with Andrakaos, and never fear man or beast. Everything she wanted would be hers.

"Ciara!"

Nialyne pushed to her feet, her gown in rags, blood streaming down her arms. Ciara's breath caught, a moment's hesitation that made her unprepared for the magic that swarmed suddenly around her. Andrakaos's triumph turned to rage. He moved to rend the bindings that closed in on him, but every hole he made reformed twofold. He thrashed against it, Ciara lost in the intensity of his emotions.

"Look at me."

She turned to face Nialyne.
They were still within the veil. Canil stood beside her, blinking as though the light hurt his eyes.

"Be calm," Nialyne whispered, and breathed ac
ross her palm.

The scent of fresh flowers and green grass warmed by the sunshine filled Ciara's nostrils. She inhaled deeply and the rage of Andrakaos left her
.

***

Ciara gasped as the room snapped into focus. Then her knees gave out, and she landed on her backside on the hard floor. Nialyne helped her to her feet, no sign of a wound on her.

"Well done, girl," Konly said. "I don't know what you did, or how you managed it, but I'd say you saved this lad's life." The master healer slid her a measuring glance. "There's sweet water on the table there."

Ciara looked in the direction Konly bobbed her head. She made her way unsteadily toward the pitcher, and gulped the contents of the first mug in three huge swallows before pouring herself another. She drank half of that one before coming up for air. When she did, she caught Nialyne's narrowed gaze directed her way.

"What did you do?" The way Nialyne phrased the question to sound like a demand put Ciara in mind of Bolin.

Ciara's legs shook. She rested her backside against the table, and downed more sweet water before attempting to answer in a manner that wouldn't get her in serious trouble. "I think I saved both your lives?"

"How?"

Ciara wrinkled her brow. "I'm not sure what you're asking, Danya."

"That power is not allowed to be called within these borders."

Her explanation didn't make things any clearer. "I didn't mean to."

"It
cannot
be called within these borders." Nialyne's expression pinched, and her skin took on an ashen pallor. She turned to Konly. "What caused this man's wounds?"

The master healer shrugged, and wiped her hands on her apron. "Some kind of wild animal if I had to guess. We can ask Canil when he wakes. Which hopefully won't be until the morning. He needs that much rest. From the looks of you two, he's not the only one. What happened?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Bolin said from the doorway, and Ciara flinched when his eyes landed on her.

"Whatever caused this man's wounds lingered within him." Nialyne laid her hand on Canil's forehead.

"Who is he?" Bolin asked.

"An Imperial
messenger," Konly said. "He was looking for you."

"Did he carry anything?"

Konly gestured toward the corner. "Anything he had got tossed there. I was more concerned with saving the lad's life than his bags."

Nialyne shuddered. "His memories are shadowed," she said, as though to herself. "The attack came swiftly in the half-light of the early morning. He had been sleeping. Not a wolf, but something similar. It could have killed him but didn't."

"Why?" Ciara asked before she thought better of it.

Nialyne's brow furrowed. "I don't know. Perhaps to gain entry here." She opened her eyes and locked her gaze on Ciara. "Is that what you saw in the doorway?"

"I'm not sure. I think both things were different." She flicked a glance Bolin's way. He seemed more interested in going through the messenger's gear than listening to them.

"Let me know when he wakes," Nialyne said to Konly. She motioned Ciara and Bolin to follow her out.

"As you will, Danya, but I intend to keep that from happening for some time. He needs healing now, not interrogating." The last bit Konly said with a cold look Bolin's way, but he seemed fixated on a single sheet of folded parchment that bore a deep burgundy wax seal showing an insignia of two crossed swords and a gryphon. Ciara had seen it before, at Guldarech when the royal court had visited for summer festival: the insignia of the emperor.

They were less than half way across the yard when Danya Maurar approached them. Ciara wouldn't have thought his spine could have gotten much more rigid until his gaze fell on Bolin. Ancient oaks had more give. He opened his mouth to say something, but Nialyne held up her hand to forestall him.

"My study," she said.

The elder snapped his mouth shut and fell into step beside them. Ciara could feel him stewing the whole short walk. She honestly expected him to burst before the door to Nialyne's study closed behind them.

He glowered at Bolin. "I should have guessed you had something to do with this."

"Then you would have guessed wrong," Nialyne said, and though soft, her words reverberated with power. Ciara shrank back instinctively, and the hairs on her arms stood on end. The look Nialyne sent her way didn't hold much more warmth than her voice. "That power cannot be called within these borders. By that I do not mean we forbid it, I mean it is not possible. It should not be possible. Not without the intervention of the elders. All of them. How did you do that?"

Ciara lifted her shoulders. "I don't know."

"That's ridiculous," Maurar said. "Answer Danya Nialyne's question, girl."

Bolin swung his head in the elder's direction. He stood at Ciara's elbow, between her and Maurar. "She has very little control over it. You, of all people, should understand the possessive nature of such power. It's obvious whatever held the messenger proved a great threat."

"Danyas," Nialyne said. "This is not the time for you to air your differences. Come here, child."

Ciara swallowed. She wanted to hide behind Bolin, or bolt from the room altogether. Instead, she slipped her hand into Nialyne's and walked with her to a pair of chairs facing one another before the fireplace. Nialyne kept hold of her, even after they sat.

"I need to see exactly what you saw," Nialyne said.

"But you were there."

Nialyne shook her head. "That doesn't mean we saw and felt the same things. The realm of the veil is an elusive place. Can you tell me if you were still within the Greensward?"

"No."

"No you were not in the Greensward? Or no, you cannot tell?" Maurar asked, his words clipped; his disdain for her dripped from them like wax from a taper. He stood to the right and slightly behind Nialyne's chair.

Bolin took up a similar position beside Ciara.

"No, I couldn't tell. It happened very quickly. But the creature said it wasn't within the borders when Danya Nialyne asked it. I tried to use my earth magic but it did little good. Danya Nialyne was fighting it as well." Ciara took a breath and closed her eyes to better her memory. "It switched forms, as though it couldn't keep hold of Canil's essence for long and fend us off at the same time. It told me if I killed it, I would kill Canil as well, but I knew I could bring him back."

"Why did you call on the ancient power?" Nialyne asked.

Ciara opened her eyes, and pursed her lips. "
That thing tried to kill you."

Maurar snorted. "Complete nonsense. Danya Nialyne was in no danger."

"I thought she was," Ciara snapped, with a glare at the Elder. Nialyne squeezed her fingers at the same time Bolin laid his hand on her shoulder. She looked back at the other woman. "You were bleeding."

"It is all right, child."

"No, far from it." Maurar pointed a finger at Bolin. "You brought her into the Greensward, as such you are responsible for her actions within its borders."

Bolin's hand tightened. Ciara stood up before he could do or say anything. "It's not Bolin's fault. I alone am responsible for my actions, and were I faced with the same choice over again, I would do no differently. That beast would have killed the messenger for certain, and Danya Nialyne as well. Wrong or not, I refused to allow that to happen. I suspect, even had it been your life being threatened, Danya Maurar, I would have done the same."

Maurar's mouth twitched. His gaze flicked from Ciara to Bolin before settling on a spot between them. "Danya Nialyne, the rest of the elders and I will require your presence as soon as you may make yourself available."

He bowed from the waist to no one in particular, then turned and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Ciara plopped back into her chair, exhaling a whoosh of air. "Is he always like that?"

"As rain falls down," Bolin said, and Ciara wondered if Nialyne hadn't heard. If she did, she gave no indication. Bolin gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I need to speak to Danya Nialyne. Alone."

"About me?" Ciara turned to look up at him and he quirked a brow in reply. She sighed and stood. "I'll see if Konly needs any more help."

***

Bolin waited until Ciara left, then handed the unopened messenger's missive to Nialyne. She looked a question at it and made to hand it back, but Bolin shied from it as though it were a snake about to strike.

"There's no i
ndication this was meant for me," he said.

"I'm not sure how much the messenger said, but I do know he asked for you," Nialyne replied. "Specifically."

"I'm hesitant to open a message from the Emperor without knowing for certain I'm its intended recipient. I believe the punishment for that is hanging."

Nialyne waggled the parchment at him. "Who else within the Greensward would be receiving an
Imperial message?"

Bolin rubbed his jaw. Dread churned in his stomach like a bad
meal. His last message to the Emperor had been short and to the point, if somewhat evasive. Just that he had needed to seek aid in the Greensward, that Donovan had become a larger threat than they had imagined, and that he would return to Nisair once he could do so safely. For Dain to have received it and returned one with this much speed spoke volumes. Volumes he didn't care to read.

He took the parchment from Nialyne, slid his finger under the wax to break the seal, and flicked the letter open with a quick snap of his wrist. He clenched his jaw as he read the words scrawled in the
Emperor's own, fluid writing.

I missed you at Ranstone. No doubt how you preferred it. We shall discuss that on your return to Nisair, which is now Required posthaste, as there should be nothing to delay you further.

Your previous messages have indicated you have found what the Mages have feared all these years, and explains to some degree the unsettling event of the last moon cycle past. They believe, as do I, this power is the tool of our enemies and, as such, is a dangerous entity to the Empire. Please, relay My gratitude to the Elders of the Greensward for their assistance in your plans, however, I am sure you will agree this entity must now be remanded to the custody of the Imperial Coucil for further dispensation.

I have sent a guard behind this messenger by way of Trambachou to ensure Your return.

We shall dine together on your arrival.

D.

Bolin read it twice, although once had been more than adequate. He lowered his hand when he finished, crinkled the parchment into his fist, and stopped just short of tossing it into the fire. He slid a look Nialyne's way.

"I'm ordered to return to Nisair." He failed at keeping his voice neutral.