Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (75)

Which meant he knew he would get stabbed in the back by his own cult members. That was more self-awareness than Yerin had expected from him.

Yerin looked from one to another of them, wishing she had some food. She supposed she could open her own void key and grab some, but the mood didn’t seem right.

The Archlady visibly considered her words before speaking. “The most I can do is weaken the script to allow you inside the Hall’s defenses, but I am…concerned…that a battle between the two of you will result in the destruction of the sect.”

The Sage of Red Faith chewed on his thumb and stared into the distance, but Kahn Mala shifted uncomfortably. She started to speak several times, and eventually couldn’t hold back anymore.

“I’m sorry, Sage, but we don’t have much time. I’m afraid Redmoon has already been in contact with the Bleeding Phoenix.”

“He has,” Red Faith said absently. “The transport of the Hall will begin in less than a day, when Redmoon has gathered enough power to supplement the Dreadgod’s transportation. The Phoenix will summon you to its side, where you will be its drones. No better than those who bow before the Silent King.”

Something in the Archlady crumpled. She sank back into her chair. “Then we are doomed.”

“Your faith in me is shallow.” The Sage cast her a disapproving glance. “Spread the word among those loyal to my cause. Place your lives into my hands, and I will spend them well. We will put our spear through Redmoon’s heart, even if it is with our dying breath, and we will drag him down into defeat and the eternal suffering that he—”

Red Faith got so worked up that he choked on his own words, but Yerin was watching Kahn Mala. The Archlady looked like she wasn’t so ready to throw her life away, and Yerin expected her to bolt at any second.

Yerin had tried not to say anything during this meeting, because members of Redmoon Hall leaned toward not trusting her. Might have been because she’d made no secret about hating them.

But she’d seen enough of the two Redmoon Halls. The one made up of crazy Dreadgod-worshipers should burn to ashes as far as she was concerned, but the other Hall was willing to use pieces of the Phoenix for their own ends.

She could work with that second one.

Though not if the Sage of Red Faith drove them off by talking about spending their lives like coins.

Yerin leaned forward and grabbed Kahn Mala’s attention. Not the Sage’s; he was too busy clawing at the air as though he could see Redmoon’s face in the wind.

“I’m about to empty all my pockets here,” Yerin said. “No secret that I hate your sect, but I can’t have them work with the Phoenix. If you can keep the crowd off our backs, me and this cracked head over here can get rid of one Herald.”

The Archlady inspected her. “Are you willing to work under the Sage in the aftermath?”

“Rather kiss the edge of my own sword.”

Maybe that response had been too quick, Yerin reflected. Red Faith glared at her.

Kahn Mala leaned back in her chair. “Desperate times make desperate alliances, as they say. I don’t like working with someone so young who has such power, but I will stomach it for the sake of our survival. That said…” The snake around her neck rose and hissed. “…I would sell my soul to the Phoenix before I helped you overthrow Redmoon and then tear us apart.”

The Blood Sage’s skeletal face appeared next to hers, so close that his nose brushed her cheek. “What did you say?”

The Archlady didn’t shiver in disgust, which made Yerin respect her spine. “It…is a measure of my resolve, Sage, not an indication of my disloyalty. She could turn on us when Redmoon falls, or sell us out to the Akura Monarch.”

The Sage of Red Faith was still pushing his face into Kahn Mala’s, his eyes wide, like he was trying to shove his way into her thoughts and inspect her from the inside out.

Yerin gagged. “All right, take your tongue out of her eye and move back three steps. You’re going to make me ruin your shoes.”

Red Faith slowly slid back, but he never blinked. He looked more like a snake than the Blood Shadow around the Archlady’s neck. Which had wisely hidden itself from the Sage’s glare.

“She is correct, though,” the Sage whispered. “We do require assurances of your loyalty.”

Kahn Mala settled herself slowly, breath after breath, clearly trying not to show how Red Faith had rattled her. She held out a hand to Yerin, and when she spoke next, there was a subtle humming behind her voice.

“Swear not to abandon us. After the transition of leadership, don’t sell us out, and act as though we’re all members of your sect until we’re safe. In return, I promise the same loyalty and safe passage.”

She kept her hand out, and the incomplete promise vibrated between their spirits.

Yerin looked pointedly to the Sage.

“I have no intentions of betrayal,” Red Faith said coldly. “I am not like that rat, Redmoon. I strike only when it is in my own interests.”

Yerin wasn’t sure what her own face looked like, but the Archlady was trying very hard not to show her expression of disbelief to the Sage.

The Sage hissed like a cat. “We are wasting time. Fine. To ease your doubts, I swear along the same terms. As long as you are loyal to us, we will be loyal to you, until the end of this crisis and a day beyond.”