Forest of Ruin (29 page)

T
here was a guard posted at the door to the chamber. One who seemed under direct orders not to let Ashyn pass.

“As long as you are in the city, our Keeper and Seeker must remain in their quarters,” he said. “The combined force of your powers—”

“That is a load of horse dung,” Ashyn said.

Ronan choked on a laugh behind her as the guard stared, incredulous.

“My lady,” the guard began.

“I'm not a lady. I'm the blasted Seeker of Edgewood, and as such, I outrank you, which means you will step aside, and if you babble on about the combined force of our powers, I shall scream. Moria and I have been in and out of the city, sleeping within a hundred paces of Thea and Ellyn, and the palace has not exploded yet. Now, there are shadow stalkers in the court—”

“Shadow stalkers?”

“Is that not what I said when I first demanded you step aside?”

“I—I misheard. B-but my orders—”

“Tova?”

The hound sprang in front of Ashyn, and Ronan moved up beside her. The guard's hand fell to the hilt of his sword.

“Pull that on him if you must,” Ashyn said. “But bear in mind that the last warrior who drew on my Hound of the Immortals is now in the second world.”

Which was true, though one thing had nothing to do with the other.

The warrior removed his hand from his sword.

“Good. Now step aside.”

He didn't, but when Ashyn took hold of the door, he made no attempt to stop her from going in. Tova and Ronan followed.

The Chambers of the Divine was one of the largest buildings in the court. It served spiritual functions as well as housing the Seeker and Keeper. Moria and Ashyn had never been in it. One could say that was because Emperor Tatsu believed the old stories that their “combined power” could be disastrous, but Ashyn suspected he'd done it merely to keep the old women from complaining. Just as Ashyn suspected that Thea and Ellyn avoided the young Keeper and Seeker because they viewed the girls as rivals. Which, Ashyn supposed, they were now.

With Ronan leading the way, Ashyn headed through the darkened ritual rooms, deeper into the building, where she found the Seeker and Keeper's quarters. She found the Seeker
and Keeper, too. As she watched the old women, snoring on their pallets, she wanted to stride over and shake them as hard as she could.

Their beasts were not with them. Ashyn had heard they kenneled them in the night, like common pets, but she'd not dared believe it. Bad enough they'd never named their beasts. To voluntarily be parted from them all night? The thought horrified Ashyn. Even Tova looked about the bedchamber, as if confused, expecting to see the old beasts in a nest of blankets nearby.

Ashyn strode in past Ronan, who respectfully remained outside the bedchamber door. “Thea? Ellyn? I need your help.”

She had to say it again, louder, before Ellyn leaped up, dagger at the ready. Thea only lifted her head, blinking sleepily. One would think, then, that Ellyn must be the Keeper. She was not. Which only supported Ashyn's theory that perhaps the difference in their powers arose more from training than innate ability. In her case, she'd gotten the position better suited to her temperament. Ellyn had not.

“Ashyn?” Thea said, still lying there, blinking.

Ellyn advanced on her. “How dare you come into our chambers, at night no less—”

“There are shadow stalkers,” Ashyn said quickly. “In the court. I've come to get your help.”

“You brought shadow stalkers?”

“I don't know how they infiltrated the court, and it's not important. They're out there. I came to warn you so you can dispel them here while I warn Moria and the others.”

“The others? Like Prince Tyrus?”

“Of course. I presume he's with my sister—”

“I'm sure he is. Seducing an imperial prince. I always told Thea that Moria wasn't nearly as honorable—or as dull-witted—as she pretended.”

“My sister is—” Ashyn clipped her defense short. “I need you and Thea to dispel the shadow stalkers with us.”

“You give me orders, girl?”

Ashyn held herself still to keep from stamping her foot in frustration. “There are shadow
stalkers
. In the
court
.
We
have dealt with them before.
You
have not. We've figured out the best way to dispel them.”

“You? You're little more than children.”

“The shadow stalkers are like a knot of spirits. Normal spirits, I think. The magics bind them and make them angry, make them wish for revenge, and that rage consumes them.”

“What are you talking about? Everyone knows shadow stalkers—”

“No one knows anything about shadow stalkers,” Ashyn said. “Because no one alive has had to deal with them. We have. Now, I don't have time to—”

“Ash!” Ronan said.

Ashyn turned to see the guard advancing down the hall. Only it wasn't the guard anymore. Not truly. His twisted face and hands gave that away.

Tova leaped, but the shadow stalker was already in flight. Both Ronan and Ashyn backed away fast. Ashyn shouted a warning to Ellyn, standing in the doorway, but the old woman charged.

“No!” Ashyn shouted. “Don't—”

Too late. Ellyn's charge met the shadow stalker. She stabbed the creature in the gut.

“Begone!” Ashyn said, dispelling madly, yelling at Thea to use her Keeper skills, but the old woman just lay on her pallet, staring bug-eyed as her sister was knocked down by the shadow stalker.

Ronan and Tova jumped in. Ronan stabbed it in the neck, Tova leaping on it, but the shadow stalker had Ellyn on the floor, and before Ronan could even stab it again, the thing ripped out Ellyn's throat. Bit in and tore at it like a frenzied beast, blood spraying, Ellyn's scream dying at the first gurgle.

Ashyn closed her eyes. It was all she could do. Close them and focus on her powers, on soothing and dispelling the spirits, on telling them that they'd murdered a Seeker but that it was not their fault, that it was the fault of the sorcerer who'd done this to them, and if they left now, the goddess would forgive their madness.

“You must go,” Ashyn whispered, stoppering her ears to Thea's screams and Tova's growls and Ronan's curses and the creature's shrieks. “Please, please, please. It is not too late. Go now and the goddess will understand.”

She kept saying the words, squeezing her eyes tighter and tighter, struggling not to look, trusting that Tova and Ronan were fine and that this was still the best thing she could be doing.

It didn't take long. Perhaps, despite the frenzied attack, enough of the spirits within were still aware of the horror and the blasphemy of what they'd done, slaying one of the goddess's chosen, and they seized on Ashyn's words as their last hope
for redemption. They left and the shadow stalker weakened, and the rest either realized what they'd done or gave up. Soon the creature lay still, and Ashyn opened her eyes to see Ellyn's ruined body, her neck nearly bit through, the room sprayed with her blood.

Ashyn looked at Ellyn, and she didn't think of all the times the old woman made her feel like she'd never be a proper Seeker. She recalled the rare moments of kindness during their training, the moments of shared success, when Ashyn would perform a ritual exactly right, and she'd see a glow of pride in the old woman's eyes. Only a momentary glow, as if with every one of Ashyn's successes, Ellyn had seen her own power weakening.

It didn't need to be like that. It
shouldn't
have been like that. Any threat Ashyn posed to the old woman had not been Ashyn's fault. Only now did she realize that and felt, not anger but pity and grief for what they'd missed out on—a true bonding of mentor and student and, ultimately, of equals.

Ashyn turned to Thea, frozen on her pallet, staring at her twin.

“We need to—” Ashyn began.

A scream cut her short. A scream from deep in the courtyard—in the direction of the palace.

“Quickly!” Ashyn said. “I will tell you how to dispel them on the way.”

“My sister . . .”

“. . . is gone. Mourn her later. Honor her now. We'll find Moria and with the three of us, we can fix this.”

The old woman looked up at Ashyn, her gaze blank.

“Please,” Ashyn said. “We cannot wait.”

“No,” Thea said, her voice monotone. “You are right, Seeker. I cannot wait. My sister is gone.”

She started to rise. Then her hand moved and Ronan shouted, “No!” and Ashyn saw the flash of the blade as Thea drove her dagger into her own gut.

M
oria and Tyrus were working their way toward the court, Tyrus shouting for others to take cover while Moria dispelled the shadow stalkers. She had to get to Ashyn. Yes, her sister could help, but more than that, Moria needed to know she was safe.

Moria had told Tyrus to go to his father and his mother, but he would not leave her side. He'd sent the children to warn his father—trusting that the shadow stalkers would still be under orders not to slay the young. His father would watch out for his mother, and there was little he could do that others could not. It was Moria's skill they needed. Hers and her sister's.

They were almost at the gate when a figure came running through it, braids swinging. Moria heard Gavril's exhalation of relief from ten paces away.

“You are both safe,” he said as he ran to them. Daigo
growled, and he said, “Yes, you, too. If you're running for Ashyn, she's not in her quarters. I was in the court when I saw one of the stalkers. I went straight for your chambers. No one is there.”

“She was waiting there for Ronan,” Moria said. “He must have come. Good. He'll watch over her, and she knows what to do. But we must find them.”

“Your highness!” a voice called.

They turned to see a guard running toward them. All three stiffened and reached for their blades. So far, all the afflicted had been guards, and while this man had clearly not been turned, that did not mean the creature was not inside him, waiting to come forth as it had with the farm boy in the steppes.

“Keep your distance, Nao,” Tyrus said.

The guard stopped short and nodded. “Yes, your highness. I understand. I will not come close, but I bring an urgent message. Your father has ordered everyone into the palace. He has secured it. Your mother is there, as well as your brothers.”

“Go,” Moria said. “I'll find Ashyn.”

“I'll stay with Moria,” Gavril said.

The guard shook his head. “The Seeker is already there. I'm to bring all of you. Quickly, please. The creatures are everywhere.”

Moria nodded, and they broke into a run, following the guard.

“Where is Ashyn?” Moria said, striding through the main palace chamber. It was a vast room, seeming big enough to hold a
hundred. Yet there were fewer than twenty people there, and clearly no girl with red-gold hair nor a giant yellow hound.

“She's not here,” Moria said, as Gavril and Tyrus walked on either side of her, scanning the knots of people. “Blast it, she's not—”

Moria nearly collided with a court lady who stepped into her path. She was about to circle past when she stopped short. The woman was imperial-born, perhaps barely into her fourth decade, and more well-rounded than was the current fashion. What stopped Moria, though, was her face. She saw it, and she knew exactly who this was and bowed as deeply as she could manage, stammering, “L-lady Maiko. My apologies. I was—”

“Searching for your sister. Not the best time to make your acquaintance, I know.
My
apologies.”

Tyrus embraced his mother with one arm, the other still clutching his sword. “I am glad to see you are safe. I was going to look for you. I just—”

“You're busy trying to solve the current crisis. As you should be.” She lifted up to kiss his cheek. “I'll not interfere with that. I saw Moria searching for her sister and wanted to say that she is not here.”

“What?” Moria said. “The guard told me—”

“I suspect the guard told you whatever he needed to get you in here.” Maiko cast a look behind Moria. “Which would not be the young man's fault.”

Emperor Tatsu approached. “I did not tell him to lie about Ashyn. But yes, he could have extrapolated that when I said bring you all here by force if necessary. I have men searching for your sister, Moria.”

Moria turned toward the door. “I need to find her.”

The emperor stepped into her path. “I know you're worried about your sister—”

“It's not just that. Um, and excuse my interruption, your imperial highness.”

Maiko's lips twitched in a smile as Moria hurried on.

“While I am of course worried about her, I
need
her. We can dispel the shadow stalkers. That's the only way to stop them. Well, short of hacking them into tiny pieces and . . .” A glance at Maiko. “Apologies, my lady. I did not mean to be so blunt.”

The concubine smiled. “Continue, child. Please.”

“I need Ashyn. If we can get the court Seeker and Keeper, we can do even better. Together, we can end this quickly.”

“She's right,” Tyrus said.

The emperor nodded. “All right. But you will be guarded—”

“That . . . Again, um, apologies. But the stalkers have possessed guards. Sometimes they do not manifest immediately.”

“Again, Moria is correct,” Tyrus said. “Which is why I was trying to find you to tell—I mean
ask
you to put the guards outside. Do not tell them why. Simply order them to stand guard
outside
the doors.”

“Is that
your
order?” the emperor said.

Tyrus flushed. “Deepest apologies. Like Moria, I am rattled, and in my attempt to be efficient—”

“No, I believe her forthrightness is rubbing off on you. I would say I was glad to see it, if that would not imply I'm encouraging insubordination from my son. I will admit only that I'm not displeased to see it. Your point is taken, Moria. If
the guards are infected, they should not go with you.”

“I can,” Gavril said. “They'll not bother me when I'm with the Keeper.”

“I will as well, naturally,” Tyrus said.

“
Naturally
you will not,” the emperor said. “I need you here.”

“No,” Tyrus said carefully. “You wish me here so that I will be safe. You
need
me with Moria, to add my blade to Gavril's and bring Ashyn and the court Keeper and Seeker back.”

“When I said I was not displeased to see you being more forthright . . .”

“He is correct, though,” Maiko said. “As much as I would love to keep him safely here, he serves better out there. His companions will watch out for him.”

“We will, my lady,” Moria said, and Gavril seconded it. After a quick embrace between mother and son, the three of them were off.

“We'll focus on Ashyn first,” Tyrus said as they strode toward the exit. “Daigo? You can help with that, correct?”

The wildcat gave no reaction.

“Don't pretend you don't understand me. I need you to track Ashyn and Tova, and I know you're already doing that, and I know you won't admit to it because you aren't a hunting cat and you don't want to be seen failing.”

“Do you truly think he understands you?” Moria asked.

“Every word? No. More than he lets on. Yes. Mostly, I can just predict his behavior because I know his Keeper. He will do whatever you would.”

“I don't think that's exactly—”

“Completely true.”

Gavril grunted in agreement. She looked at him.

Gavril shrugged. “The cat is your bond-beast. He's as difficult as you are. It's his nature.”

Tyrus smiled as Moria glared at Gavril. Ahead of them, the main doors were opening to let someone in. They paused to let the newcomer pass, their attention still on one another.

“Back to the plan,” Tyrus said. “Daigo will attempt to track Ashyn and Tova. We will follow him while not relying on his nose. The point is—”

“The point is,” said a voice in front of them. “That you have given your last order to my son, Tyrus.”

The figure stepped forward, pulling back his hood. Even before he did, Moria knew who it was. She would never again mistake that voice.

Alvar Kitsune.