WarDance (Chronicles of the Warlands #5)(55)

“She will not,” Amyu said in Xyian. “She has messages to deliver.”

“She will when it gets bad enough.” Eln turned back to his work.

Eloix took the bottle, and gripped it tightly. “He forgets,” she snorted. “I speak Xyian.”

“If I try to grant you mercy, they will try to stop me,” Amyu said. “It is their way.” She loosened her hold on Eloix’s wrists for a moment. “There is a dagger on my belt.”

“When I have given you Simus’s words,” Eloix said through clenched teeth. She coughed wetly, and spit. There were flecks of blood on her lips as she started to speak. “I hold you to your oath, child. Listen well. On the morning of the night of the pillar of fire,” she began, panting between words. “The warrior-priests drove us from the Heart...”

Amyu listened carefully, as Eloix recited Simus’s message to Keir. She focused on those painful words, ignoring the sounds around her. Of sizzling flesh, and frustrated healers.

Toward the end of her message, Eloix let out a surprised gasp. “The pain. I can’t feel—”

Eln lifted his head, his eyes so stark and so old. The healers around him all paused in their efforts, moving back. The guards paused, confused.

“I can’t feel my legs,” Eloix finished in Xyian.

“Yes.” Eln’s voice was little more than a croak. “It’s eaten through—” He swallowed hard. “Are you in pain?”

“It’s harder to breathe,” Eloix said, more cough than voice.

“It’s working toward the lungs.” Eln sounded harder now. “If you understand me, know that I am not stupid. I would ask, before you—” He stopped, his jaw working.

“Snows,” Amyu said. “We say she is going to the snows.”

“I know,” Eln snapped and Amyu almost stepped back at the rage in his voice. The apprentices flinched, glancing at one another.

“Clear the room,” Eln commanded, and the guards and apprentices bowed their heads and left, some murmuring soft prayers.

“Amyu stays,” Eloix demanded, grabbing her wrist.

“I know what she will do,” Eln repeated, his voice filled with sorrow. “I would ask that she let me try one more thing on the wound, before—”

“Yes,” Eloix said, coughing. “Try what you will.”

Eln didn’t hesitate. He reached for a large basket on a top shelf and pulled out a handful of bloodmoss. Amyu watched as he took the plant and placed it on the edge of the wound, where the poison still glistened.

The pale yellow leaves curled, turned brown, and crumbled into dust. Eln stared at it, and then closed his eyes.

“He is finished,” Amyu whispered.

“The fire warmed me,” Eloix choked out the beginning of the ritual. “I thank the elements.”

Amyu released her hold, pulled her dagger, and placed it in Eloix’s hand. Eloix gripped it tightly, her fingers bone-white. Eln had stepped back from the table, his face buried in his hands.

“The earth supported me. I thank the elements,” Eloix said, but started coughing, bringing up blood. She struggled to continue.

Amyu knelt by the table, shaking inside, but striving to be the warrior Eloix needed her to be. “The waters sustained you,” Amyu picked up where Eloix had left off. “We thank the elements.”

Eloix’s eyes were wide, focused on Amyu, but unseeing. She nodded as she choked, and placed the tip of the dagger at her throat.

“The air filled you. We thank the elements.” Amyu’s voice shook despite her best efforts. “Go now, warrior. Beyond the snows and to the stars.”

Eloix thrust the dagger home.

And for long moments both Amyu and Eln stood silent as the last breath of life left her body.

Eln finally moved, striding over to jerk open the door. The guards outside came to attention.

“Amyu carries a message for the Queen and Warlord,” Eln’s voice rasped. “See her to the Castle.”





Chapter Twenty-Two


The city guards hustled Amyu to the Castle, hugging the sides of the buildings, keeping a wary eye for the flying beasts as they trotted along deserted streets.

The Castle was a brooding presence, guards with bows and crossbows at every window. The Palace guards rushed her through the gardens and the kitchens, avoiding the courtyard. The monster that had attacked the day before was still laying there, its carcass being rendered for removal.

“Nobody’s tried to eat it yet,” one of the guards muttered. “But there’s interest in the leather and other bits.”

Amyu nodded silently.

“The Queen’s in the Council Chamber, with the Overlord. The Seneschal’s there, with the others.”

Amyu nodded again. Up the stairs then and through the corridors. She knew the way, but the guards didn’t leave her side. Amyu didn’t complain; everyone was jittery and on edge.

So was she, if she were honest.

As they climbed the stairs, Amyu realized that Eloix’s blood was still on her hands and leathers. Amyu shuddered, trying to conceal her fear. She’d never been in battle, never killed another, never watched a warrior bleed out before her eyes.

Maybe being a child was not such a bad thing.

But before she could scold herself for such a cowardly thought, they reached the double doors of the Council room, and heard voices raised inside. Amyu paused, drawing a steadying breath, and then opened the doors, hoping to slip in quietly.