Death Sworn(77)

For a few moments she was alone, the rock flat and white except for that dark bloodstain, the black river whispering past. She turned in a slow circle, staring warily at the shadows, imagining the sound of someone else’s breathing. Then the rope went still. Sorin had reached the top.

She fitted herself into the loop with some awkwardness, grasped tightly with both hands, and closed her eyes. That proved to be a mistake when the rope’s first upward jerk slammed her head against the rock wall. She opened her eyes hastily and used her feet to push herself away from the cliff as the ground and the river receded below. Sorin’s magelight traveled with her, and from this height the water looked like flat black marble, as still as the white rock that cut sharply against it.

When she finally scrambled onto the clifftop and untangled herself from the rope, Sorin gave her what seemed like an approving nod before re-coiling the rope and stuffing it into his pack. He tilted his head at the ground. “Looks like you were right.”

A pair of narrow footprints was barely visible in the dirt covering the rock.

“Those weren’t here last time,” Sorin said.

Ileni stared at him. “Last time, when you were chasing down Bazel? I think you might have missed them.”

“No,” Sorin said flatly.

She opened her mouth, then decided not to argue. “All right. Apparently Karyn is still here.” She drew in a long breath. “Let’s find out what she can tell us.”

Sorin reached over and touched her cheek. He rubbed a finger against her skin, then flicked off a sliver of dried blood.

Heat rushed to Ileni’s face. “Sorry.”

“About what?” Sorin grinned at her. “You should be proud. You bested Irun.”

A wave of nausea rolled through her. She could still faintly smell blood, as if it was caked into her nostrils. “Don’t compliment me. It was self-defense. I didn’t want to. . . .” Except she had. When she had driven the knife in, she had wanted to kill him. She had hated him and wanted him dead.

She turned away, and Sorin said roughly, “I didn’t—Ileni, don’t. It doesn’t matter. If you hadn’t killed Irun, I would have done it for you.”

And he wouldn’t have pretended it was anything but revenge. It wouldn’t have bothered him at all.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t,” she said, more harshly than she had intended. “Whatever this thing is between us, I’m certain it wouldn’t survive my watching you murder someone.”

Sorin went perfectly still, then turned his back on her. “Let’s hope you’re powerful enough to make Karyn cooperate, then.”

Ileni took a deep breath. It wasn’t fair, to lead him into this blind. “I can’t—I can’t fight her. You don’t know—”

“Don’t worry,” he said stiffly. “If Irun could best an imperial sorcerer, so can I.”

“Or she could kill you.”

He shrugged. “Of course.”

Ileni fought to control her breathing. He was being reckless, yes, but also brave; and he was, after all, doing it for her. She gestured at the stretch of rock ahead of them. “After you.”



The trail led steadily downward along the unevenly sloping rock. The footprints disappeared after a few minutes, but Sorin kept going, his eyes darting from the ground to the boulders piled around them to the stalactites hanging above. Whatever hints of passage he was following, Ileni couldn’t see them, but she walked behind him silently. Once the way was wide enough for them to walk side by side, she reached for his hand, and was relieved when his warm fingers closed around hers. Suddenly she found herself blinking back tears, and was glad he was concentrating too hard on the ground ahead of them to notice.

After another few minutes, the trail hit a wall, and Sorin let go of her hand so he could squeeze through a narrow crevice and climb onto a ledge. The ledge became a tunnel, so low Ileni was forced to pull herself forward by her forearms, her body scraping along the stones.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever. She had to keep her head down to avoid banging it on the craggy ceiling, so it was impossible to get a sense of how far she had to go or even of how far they had gone. Twice she thought about calling ahead to Sorin, asking him to slow down. Each time, she opened her mouth and then forced it shut, pulling herself onward.

Then the scraping of Sorin’s body ahead of her came to an abrupt halt, and she pulled forward so hard she scratched her arm on a sharp rock. A moment later, she was able to get to her knees, and then to her feet. Relief swept through her as she stood upright, before she saw the empty space in front of them.