Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(44)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ABDUCTED



Cettie’s heart panged with regret that the Aldermaston’s first instinct was one of survival. She hastened to reassure him.

“No, Aldermaston,” she said, her throat tightening. “I’ve come to make amends. To suffer whatever consequences may be suitable. I was abducted and taken to the world of Kingfountain against my will. I was deceived.” She sighed. “But I willingly accepted a hetaera’s brand, though I regret it to my shame. I am to be the Mysteries’ tool to help Sera. Aldermaston, she has been abducted from Lockhaven. I fear her maid has also been replaced with a poisoner. There are schemes at work right now that would overthrow the empire. I wish to help. And so I’ve come to you first, so you may judge my intentions.”

His look had changed and shifted as she related her tale. He seemed surprised, and she had no doubt he was worried for Sera, but he also looked . . . relieved. A sheen of sweat had formed on his brow, and he withdrew a handkerchief from his vest pocket to mop it. Then, stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket, he rose and walked around the table that separated them.

Cettie wondered at the action, until he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “My dear lost one, you have returned? Truly?”

Tears began to spill from her eyes. She hung her head, racked with guilt, and nodded, only to be pulled into a bearlike embrace.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, but his affectionate embrace nearly smothered the words.

“My dear, dear Cettie,” he said, sniffling himself. He pulled away, looking confused. “How did you get here? By what means did you cross the worlds?”

“There’s that old oak tree,” Cettie explained. “The tall, crooked one, outside the boundaries.”

“The sentinel oak,” the Aldermaston said, nodding in understanding.

“It’s a gateway.” Cettie’s memories of it were so sharp, so piercingly clear. The details of her life had all bloomed in her mind. “There is another place, a similar place also with an oak tree, in a grove in the other world. A portal opened and brought me here. I met a man named Maderos.” She breathed out slowly, trying not to slur her words. “I had met him before, only I’d forgotten—”

“Maderos, the wayfarer?” the Aldermaston said in surprise and recognition.

“You know of him?”

“Yes! Well, there have been records left of him from previous Aldermastons. He is unlike other men. He is a special gift from the Knowing who has aided our world for centuries . . . perhaps longer.”

“Is he mortal?”

The Aldermaston shook his head. “No, not in the way you and I are. He’s a Dryden, a being who exists in the mortal world and yet has progressed beyond it. There is no easy way to explain them, other than they are emissaries of the Knowing. They are charged with assignments, delegated with authority, and they intercede in the mortal world at pivotal moments. There are records of his past visits. When he appears, it is always a portent of great danger.”

“Yes, it must be,” Cettie agreed. “I never told you, Aldermaston, but after I took the Test, the Mysteries led me outside the grounds of the abbey to banish a Myriad One that had tormented me all my life. My memory of that moment was taken away, but I recall it clearly now. It was Maderos who gave me the Gift that allowed me to see the future.”

“The Gift of Seering,” the Aldermaston said, nodding vigorously. “No one has had it in over a generation.”

“I have it,” Cettie said. “The last vision I saw was of Lord Fitzroy’s death. I . . . I could not bear the thought of losing him, and wished to prevent it. I was deceived by Lady Corinne. She is my mother, Aldermaston. My birth mother. But Lady Maren is still my true mother, and Lord Fitzroy my true father. I . . . I feel so terrible about what I’ve done. If you could tell her that I’ve returned. That I am sorry. If she never wishes to see my face again, I will—”

The Aldermaston shook his head, confusing her. “I cannot do that, Cettie. You don’t understand. Stephen Fitzroy has been searching for you since your capture. He’s used the family’s shipping interests to conduct searches in both worlds.”

Cettie stared at him in disbelief.

“It’s true, my dear. I will tell them you have returned, and I assure you, they will embrace you as I did. Stephen has come to Muirwood many times, along with Caulton Forshee, to ask for my advice on where next to search for you.”

Cettie’s eyes widened. “I came across Caulton days ago, in Genevar.”

The Aldermaston held her gaze. “He was there looking for you.”

Her knees buckled at the news. “I’m afraid, Aldermaston. I’m not who I was. Nor am I what they made me. I’m a poisoner . . . a hetaera . . . a criminal of the empire, but I don’t wish to be any of those things.”

He hooked his hand around her neck. “You are much more than that, child. I must send word to the Fitzroys and my contacts in the ministry at once. If the empress has been abducted, as you said, then we’ve reached a critical hour.”

“She has been taken, Aldermaston,” Cettie said. “But I believe I know where to find her.” If Will was in league with her mother, then Gimmerton Sough would be the first place to start looking for the missing empress.