Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(21)

Sera sat back down on the cot, staring at the stale-looking bread and baked nuts on the plate. She put a few in her mouth and felt a rare enjoyment. As she reached for the goblet, she felt a quivering thought not to drink from it.

Poison.

As a trick, it was a cunning one. The cider smelled so inviting, and the salty nuts she’d eaten had only increased her thirst. It took great self-control to set the goblet back down. Staring at the bread, she broke off a piece and slowly chewed it. When her thirst became unbearable, she stopped eating and set the tray on the floor next to the goblet. She pulled up her legs and huddled in the dark space. She had lost her freedom. But not her ability to choose her thoughts.

Help me escape from this place, she thought silently to the Mysteries.

For she knew all too well what Lady Corinne wanted from her.

The Leering that bound Ereshkigal, Queen of the Myriad Ones, was hidden in the depths of Cruix Abbey. Lady Corinne had tried to break the seal of that Leering, but she lacked the authority. Sera had that authority, and during her visit to the abbey, she’d learned that Lady Sinia, a Wizr of old who’d come to the empire from Kingfountain, had prophesied that an empress would one day unbind the Leering. The name of the empress, she’d said, was the Angelic One.

Seraphin.

With the Tay al-Ard, Lady Corinne could take Sera there instantaneously. How long would it take Mr. Durrant to start looking for her? He knew about both the Leering and the prophecy, so he would know it was of utmost importance for them to find her immediately.

There were trusted people assigned to Cruix Abbey to keep watch for Lady Corinne’s return, but no doubt the woman would be subtle about it. She’d had a year to scheme. Her plan clearly involved taking Sera alive, at least for now. That meant she did not yet intend to kill her, a realization that bolstered Sera’s courage.

But what was she supposed to do now?

Lady Sinia had made that prophecy before she disappeared. If it had sprung from the Mysteries, did that mean Sera was supposed to unbind the Leering? Or would Lady Corinne threaten her in such a way that she felt she had no other choice?

What if Trevon’s life was at stake?

Would she have to sacrifice her own life?

Trust. Believe.

Sera had been the instrument of the Mysteries’ power before—through her, they had opened a rift in the sky. If she stood strong in her faith, the Mysteries would save her from this awful dilemma . . . wouldn’t they? Or would this be a test of her allegiance to the maston oaths?

As she sat there in the darkness, she began to think back on the words of the tomes she had read. On the lessons she had learned at Muirwood Abbey and throughout her life. She’d been duped before. She’d been deceived by Will Russell and others like Lord Welles. While she could not change her circumstances, she could keep her mind open for direction from higher sources of wisdom.

She didn’t know how long she had been in a state of pondering, but she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall again. Two sets of footsteps this time. Sera rose from the cot, still nursing her painful wound. The lock released. The door opened.

Sera saw Mrs. Pullman first, but the older woman dragged the door wide, revealing Lady Corinne in the corridor. How things had changed. The former lady of Pavenham Sky, once the most fashionable woman in the empire, was skulking in a cellar.

“Good evening. Or is it morning still?” Sera asked with feigned cheerfulness. “I really can’t tell.”

“Leave us,” Lady Corinne said to Mrs. Pullman. The crags in the old woman’s face furrowed deeper, but she nodded and retreated down the corridor, holding the lantern in one hand. The light from the Leering in the corridor was situated behind Lady Corinne. It revealed more of Sera than it did of her enemy.

“Where are we off to next?” Sera asked.

“I have havens throughout the land,” Lady Corinne said, her voice betraying no emotion. But there was a dangerous look in her eye—that of someone who was becoming more and more unstable. She stepped into the cellar, her body filling the small doorframe.

“So we do not go to Cruix Abbey yet?” Sera said, tilting her head.

“Not yet,” Lady Corinne answered. “All in due time.”

“They will find me,” Sera said, trying to put some steel in her voice.

Lady Corinne smirked. “Not if they don’t know you are missing.”

Sera looked at her in confusion.

“Do you think I left this up to chance? Do you not think I’ve been careful in my preparations? You are my slave, my prisoner. Your life means nothing to me, Sera. I would just as soon drive a dagger into your chest, as I did to Lord Fitzroy. I have enough blood on my hands to fill a river. Even some of yours now.” Her smile was deadly. She stepped closer. She glanced down at the floor beside the cot, at the tray and full goblet. Her look darkened. “Drink the cider.”

Sera’s stomach plummeted. She’d known the cider was poisoned. She’d known it. And she didn’t doubt Lady Corinne would force her to drink it. So she kicked the goblet over with the tip of her toe, giving the woman a defiant look.

The splash of liquid, the rolling of the cup on the floor, and then intense silence.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Lady Corinne said in a low, husky voice.

In a moment, Sera felt her wounded arm wrenched back, her already deadened fingers cruelly twisted. The pain made her gasp and sag to her knees. She’d never hurt so much in her life. There was the dagger again, held only inches from her face.