Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(88)

I gasped as I saw her, Ovailia carrying Ryland out of the LaRue estate. She did not fight. She simply walked past those who should attack her. She moved quickly as she dragged him, her head held high, her nose crinkled as if she was carrying out the trash.

My voice came in a wave, the monotone sounds rippling through the cave.

“A tryst has been set in motion, one you cannot ignore. The father of the four is using his seed, one against another, and in the end none will fall until two lives are lost. It cannot be stopped. Beware where your trust lies.”

I looked up to Ilyan, his mouth open in wonder. I reached up and placed my hand against his jaw, needing him now, more than ever, to trust me. Even though this sight may mean I never get to see Ryland again.

“You can’t trust her, Ilyan. Do this, for me.” Ilyan gazed into my eyes questioningly. His jaw worked soundlessly once before he nodded, his resolve weakened at my request.

“Okay, mi lasko. Anything for you.”





Twenty-Seven


I yawned and took another long drink from my mug of Black Water. It had been hours since my sight and still they had not come to a decision. The bickering had gone on and on. Part of me wished I could use my sight and then tell them what to do, but Dramin had informed me it didn’t work that way.

So I sat and drank deeply of what was now my only food source, letting their conversation roll around me as I avoided sleep, yet again.

“I’m telling you Dramin,” Thom snapped, “if she shows up in Isola Santa and no one is there, she is going to think both of them have died.”

“I don’t see the problem with that,” Dramin countered, his usual chuckle strained.

“There are two problems with that old man. First, Edmund has control of the wells of Imdalind. If he thinks the Siln? is dead, he will do whatever he wishes with the power without fear of repercussions. I don’t fancy trying to clean up that mess, do you? And second, if Ovailia is working with them she knows every secret Ilyan has trusted her with. We don’t want Edmund knowing where we are, he has been after our heads for centuries.” Thom said emphatically from his white couch, his dread locks swinging wildly.

“She knows about Sain at this point, that’s the problem,” Dramin countered. He gestured wildly and spilled some Black Water which Thom glared at evilly.

“Only if she is working with my Father,” Ilyan countered, his words seemingly going unnoticed.

“So, she knows about Sain,” Thom said, calming down a bit. “If she knows about Sain, then obviously she is going to go above and beyond the things she would normally do for Edmund, just to spite us.”

“And with Ovailia that is the issue,” Dramin said.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. Ovailia on a regular day was a pill. I would hate to see her unleashed. I took a sip of my Water and sat back, knowing that ignoring them was going to be impossible. Their voices kept getting louder and louder.

“You understand now. We are all in trouble!” Thom yelled, his dreads whipping around more.

“We? Us? Why are you including me in this? I am not even sure she is ‘crossed over’ as you two so eloquently put it.” Ilyan’s voice roared to life and I flinched automatically at the close proximity of the noise.

They were talking in circles; they had, yet again, gotten themselves off topic and were focusing more on mud-slinging then the actual problem. This fight was not helping anyone.

“Of course I am including you in this, Ilyan,” Thom snapped. “You’re the one who kept Sain from her for hundreds of years. If it wasn’t for you then this whole mess may not have happened!”

“Oh, placing blame, are we. Don’t even get me started on your little debacle at the university!”

“At least I was able…” Thom began “Will you guys shut up?” I yelled loudly, stopping Thom in his tracks. They all looked at me for a moment as I glared them down. Someone needed to stop them and get them back on topic, all this bickering was driving me bonkers.

“Listen, what if we gave her a job. Something to do. Then she wouldn’t realize that we know… might know that she is a traitor. And then, if she doesn’t know we know, she wouldn’t go out of the way to do anything. But, if she has a job, maybe we can use it to our benefit.”

“What are you saying, Joclyn?” Dramin asked, his eyes narrowing into that look I knew all too well. I returned it for a moment before looking back to the other two.

“Well,” I said, “in the sight she was carrying Ryland down the hall in the LaRue estate, no one was stopping her.”

“Yes, yes, you told us this,” Ilyan said. I turned to him. His face was worried. He didn’t like the idea of Ovailia having turned on him, again.

“Well, if she is working for them and we give her a job, say… getting Ryland out of the estate,” I said strongly, hoping my conviction would give them all something to talk about instead of yelling,“…if she gets him out of the estate, then not only can she bring Ryland to us so we don’t have to worry about rescuing him on our own, but then she is proving to us that she is on our side, even though we know she is not really on our side. She will think that we know she is, and then she will think we trust her, and then…”

I stopped; they were all looking at me like I had cats growing out of my head.