The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy (40 page)

“It was not a premonition,” Erela explained. “It was an attack strategy. The Daughters of Mercy, myself included, can sense your fears. We can assume the face of whatever it is you fear most.”

“Oh.” Marisol felt overwhelmed by a sense of relief that Jon might still be alive. “What did you see, Cael?”

Cael frowned. “I saw Eulalia. She was dead because I had failed her,” he replied. Then he realized what was implied in that statement, and looked over at David. “I am so sorry, David—I did not mean to suggest that you had in any way failed Abby…”

“I saw Abby’s face,” David said, staring into the fire, his voice void of emotion. “But she wasn’t dead. She was lost because she had joined Tierney.”

After that, no one knew what to say, so they went to bed without another word.

Now Erela was landing gracefully in front of them, with none of the thunder or fury that usually marked her arrival. She wasn’t the same either. Maybe it was because of the loss of her sisters, or maybe it was her connection to the Solas Beir. She bowed before the lion.

David slipped back into his regular form and finally broke his silence. “What did you find?” he asked.

“The sixth courtesan,” Erela replied. “We should reach the body by nightfall.”

It was only because of the courtesan garb that the remains were recognizable. The body was little more than a dried-out husk, mummified. And yet, the dark violet silk still had a clean sheen, with only the slightest layer of dust, proving the man had died only recently.

Marisol felt the desert breeze pick up and stir the sand at her feet. Had there been a sandstorm since the courtesan died, they might not have found him at all. The dunes of the Barren shifted all too easily in the wind.

“It
has
to be him,” David said. “Based on what Abby gleaned from the little girl, Daudi was heading west, and he would only have had a few days’ lead on us when he escaped from the city. Apart from Aziza, no other courtesans escaped.”

“Not that we know of, at least. It looks like he was trying to get back home. What happened to him?” Marisol asked. She picked up his
leather cask and shook it—water sloshed around inside. “It’s nearly full. But the way he looks—this seems a bit extreme for dehydration, doesn’t it?”

Cael nodded gravely. “Indeed it does. He would not have died from his thirst. He would have suffered terribly from it, yes, but he would not have the same limitations as a human lost in this forsaken place. By the bite marks on his hand, I would guess he was attacked. Whatever it was seems to have drained him of his bodily fluids.”

“There were footprints,” Erela said. “The breeze has picked up and erased them, but there were reptilian prints leading to the body, and humanoid prints leading away, westward.”

“A Shadow?” Marisol asked.

“Perhaps,” Erela mused thoughtfully.

“But you don’t believe that,” David observed.

“If it were one of the Kruorumbrae, we likely would not have found a body at all, and certainly not in this state,” Erela answered.

“I don’t think we’ll discover anything else about the culprit from looking at the body.” David frowned. “I promised his sister, Yola, I would find him and bring him back to her. I was hoping I’d be returning him alive, but it looks like I’ve failed yet again.”

Marisol put her hand on David’s arm. “Stop it. You haven’t failed anyone.”

He turned to her with tears in his eyes. “But I have. I keep making promises I can’t keep. I mean to keep them, but I fail.”

“So stop.”

David’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”

Marisol put her hands on her hips. “Stop making promises and stop blaming yourself. It’s not helping anyone. I know you think you failed Abby, but you didn’t. And if she
were
here, she wouldn’t blame you—she would be ticked off at you for blaming yourself. So just stop it.”

“Okay,” David whispered.

“No, it’s
not
okay. Nothing’s okay, but we are going to change that, starting right now.” Marisol angrily threw down her pack and snatched the last bolt of fabric. She began unwrapping the cloth from the spindle.

“What are you doing?” David asked.

“You
did
find Daudi, and you
will
take him home to Yola. But not like this. This is too horrible for her to see. I’m wrapping him up.” Marisol knelt to ease the body into the silken cloth. “Sorry Cael—guess Eulalia doesn’t get any presents after all.”

Cael hunkered down beside Marisol to help. “She would rather the gift go to honor one of our fallen.”

Marisol watched as he expertly pulled the fabric tight around the body and secured it with a knot, then tucked the remnants of the knot back into the folds of the cloth. Apparently Cael had done this kind of thing before.

“Come
,” he said. “Let us take him home.”

EPILOGUE: BROKEN

I
n the days that followed, David found himself relying more and more on Marisol’s strength. Daudi’s village on the Great Plains was small, and it was no easy task to deliver his body to his sister, along with the news that four of those taken wouldn’t be coming back, and the youngest remained in the hands of the Kruorumbrae.

No one in Nuren was untouched by this revelation of woe. Although it was not a comfort for the villagers to hear that the Solas Beir and his friends had suffered their own losses, there was camaraderie in shared sorrow. The villagers vowed vengeance on the Kruor um Beir when the time for war finally arrived. If nothing else, loyalty to the Solas Beir and his cause increased.

Delivering the news to Abby’s family and Jon’s mother was another matter entirely, and when the time came, David simply could not speak the words. Marisol became his mouthpiece.

Blanca Reyes was terrified for her son, and yet proud of him for saving Marisol from a horrific fate. David had feared that Abby’s parents would blame him as he did himself. They didn’t. Instead, they clung to the hope that since Abby’s body had not been found, she might still be alive.

David wished he had that kind of hope. But he didn’t. If she were still alive, he would have felt something. But he felt nothing, nothing at all.

Neither did Eulalia. She and Abby had shared a bond as empaths, and that bond was broken. “Perhaps she
is
still alive,” Eulalia suggested. “I have long feared she would be seduced to join Tierney’s cause. If that is the case, you may yet win her back.”

David wished he could believe that as well. But he didn’t. He spent his days avoiding everyone, seeking refuge in solitude. Since his return, he hadn’t sat on the throne. He had abandoned that room altogether, and the council had taken to meeting without him. He couldn’t sleep—not in his room, not in hers. Abby was everywhere, but not where he needed her most.

Only with the arrival of the newly appointed Western Oracle did he begin to feel something other than desperate anguish. What he felt was hate. His rage was not directed at Nerine herself, but at the reason behind her errand.

Through a blinding haze of anger, David listened as the mermaid recounted her story. “I witnessed Lucia being tossed from the Eastern Oracle’s balcony like so much rubbish, falling like a meteor to the surf below,” Nerine explained. “I quickly dove down and retrieved her from Eastern Sea’s rocky bottom. Lucia was bleeding internally and barely alive, but I kept her from drowning. My guards and I then carried her west to Caislucis through the undersea caverns that span Cai Terenmare. Now, we give her over to your custody
, to do with her as you will.” At this, Nerine gestured for her guards to step forward. The mermen gently laid an unconscious Lucia at David’s feet to await his judgment.

In a former life, before he knew better, David would have fought off the hulking monster Calder to save his prodigal aunt, but now he hesitated. She was the source of all this heartache, after all. Perhaps it was best to kill her now before she could wreak further havoc on his miserable life. Or perhaps he should just let Lucia continue on the path she had chosen, let nature take its course, let her die.

Heal her.

The voice was in his head, the part of him that held onto memories of Abby and imagined conversations they would never have. He knew that. But it was
her
voice just the same. And if this was the only way he could ever be close to her again, he couldn’t silence that voice by denying her request.

Kneeling, he placed his hands over Lucia’s bruised, broken body. He let the power flow through him once more, taking her injuries for his own. In the terrible pain, he could hear Abby. He could hear her clearly.

He’s coming,
Abby said.
The Sower is coming.

CHARACTERS

(in alphabetical order)

Abigail “Abby” Brown
: a girl with the ability to see the future and communicate with others through dreams. The daughter of Frank and Bethany Brown and sister of Matthew Brown, she was born and raised in the human world.

Ardal of Caislucis
(AR-dahl of KASS-loo-sis): the father of David Corbin and the previous Solas Beir, also called the Great Bear King. Ardal was assassinated shortly after David’s birth and before his kidnapping. (In general, people in Cai Terenmare use their city or region of origin as a surname.)

Brarn
(rhymes with barn): the raven who guides Abby and is a friend to Queen Eulalia.

Cael
(kayl): Queen Eulalia’s champion and first knight of the castle, Caislucis, he is charged with ensuring the safety of the Solas Beir and the royal family.

Cai Aislingstraid
(KIGH AY-sling-stride): a soul
who sees, a person with the ability to see the future and communicate with others through dreams.

C’aislingaer
(KIGH-sling-ahr): the slang term for Cai
Aislingstraid.

Cassandra Buchan
(BYOO-can): Professor of Psychology and Statistics at the University of Santa Linda, she’s married to Riordan Buchan and is the mother of their children, Ciaran (KEER-ahn), Siobhan (sh’-VAWN), and Rowan (ROH-un).

David Corbin
:  the new Solas Beir (king) of Cai Terenmare, he grew up in the human world, and prefers his human name over his birth name, Artan. His adoptive parents, the Corbins, were murdered by Calder and Malden, Kruorumbrae.

Eastern Oracle: 
one of the four Oracles ruling the outer realms of Cai Terenmare, who work in concert with the Solas Beir to keep the balance between the Light and the Darkness. He governs the City of the Eastern Oracle, perched on the cliffs above the east coast of Cai Terenmare. The other Oracles are the Northern Oracle, the Southern Oracle, and the Western Oracle.

Erela
(eh-REL-lah):  a winged woman who serves on the Solas Beir’s court council.

Eulalia
(YOO-lahl-ee-ah): dowager queen of Cai Terenmare, widow of the last Solas Beir, Ardal, and birth mother of Artan (David Corbin), heir to the throne, and the new Solas Beir.

Fergal
(FER-gahl)
the Valorous
:  a shape-shifting faery, loyal to the queen. His spirit animal is a frog.

Gorman
: a small indigo man who serves on the Solas Beir’s court council and is the historian and librarian for Caislucis.

Hedeon
(heh-DAY-on):  head knight charged with the security of the City of the Eastern Oracle.

Jonathon “Jon” Reyes
:  Abby’s best friend, neighbor, and the son of Blanca Reyes.

Kruor um Beir
(KROO-or um BAIR):  the King of Blood and Shadows, and the one who rules those who serve the Darkness.

Kruorumbrae
(KROO-or-um-bray): evil shape-shifting creatures who feed on others, often referred to as Blood Shadows or simply Shadows.

Lucia
(loo-SEE-ah): Queen Eulalia’s sister, she assassinated Ardal and kidnapped Artan (David Corbin), betraying her family for Tynan Tierney, the Kruor um Beir. While living in the human world, she disguised herself as an old woman named Moira Buchan.

Malden
(MAHL-den): a sadistic shape-shifter loyal to Tynan Tierney, who has historic ties to Newcastle Beach.

Marisol
(mah-REE-sol)
Cassidy
: daughter of Marcus Cassidy, a wealthy businessman, and Esperanza Garcia, a former supermodel, she is friends with David Corbin, Michal Sloane, and Monroe Banagher.