The Ciphers of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood #2)(77)

The Medium was there. Maia had felt its tendrils slowly creep into the room as her grandmother spoke. It thrummed in the floor. It burned in Maia’s heart. She felt tears prick her eyes, and it was as if a chorus were suddenly singing—not one heard with ears, but with the soul. Maia bit her lip, staring at her father.

“I feel nothing,” he said contemptuously. He waved a derisive finger at the High Seer. “You are deranged, Sabine. You were right, Kranmir. She is artful. But I will not fall for these emotional tricks.” He took a step toward Sabine, his eyes glinting with hatred. “I do not need your forgiveness. I neither desire it nor require it. Your daughter is dead now, and I rejoiced when I heard the news. I will not have my conscience dictated to. I am the master of this land. I am the lord of this land!” He glanced around the room at them all. “Tomorrow morning, I am coming through those front gates and will decree that Kranmir is both the new Aldermaston of Muirwood and the head of the maston order in Comoros. He has already signed the Act of Submission. All who fail to sign will be taken to Pent Tower and tried for treason.” He glared at Maia, his look swollen with fury, then glanced back at Sabine. “You might want to be gone when I return, Sabine. Truly, I do not wish to ever see you again.”



The door of the Aldermaston’s study closed. Tomas the steward hung his head, looking as grim-faced as if he were standing at the steps leading to the gallows. Sitting in his usual chair, the Aldermaston seemed disappointed but not surprised. His wife was standing just behind him, her hand on his shoulder, and he reached up to clasp that hand, smiling sadly. Sabine’s arms were folded, indicating she was deep in thought. But all the upset around Maia could not compare with the misery and disappointment in her own heart.

Collier escorted Maia to a chair and then turned around to face the others. “And that madman is your father,” he said flatly. He shook his head and chuckled darkly. “If I tried that in Dahomey, the entire populace would revolt. Power must be balanced, at least slightly. See what it has done to his wits? He rules out of fear and intimidation, not loyalty.”

Collier’s words stung Maia, making her flinch. She felt tears pressing in her eyes.

“Are you leaving, madame?” Collier asked Sabine. “I know your ship is waiting at the river, so we could all—”

“No,” Sabine answered, interrupting him. Her eyes were thick with tears. “No, Gideon. We will stay.”

“But you heard him! I tell you, his heart will not be softened in the morning. We must go to another abbey. One in my kingdom . . . or Pry-Ree is closer. Let Maia open the Apse Veil from another abbey.”

Sabine shook her head. “No, Gideon. The Covenant must be fulfilled here at Muirwood. That is what Lia foresaw.”

Collier looked perplexed. “But did she say what would happen? If she could see the future, as you say, did she not write a warning about what we would face and how we might avoid it?”

Sabine shook her head. “She did not. There were no instructions, no advice about Maia’s father or his threats.”

“But what are we to do? Surely waiting to die is not the Medium’s will?”

Sabine walked up to Collier and put her hand on his wrist. “Sometimes it is.”

He recoiled from her words. “How can that be?”

Sabine shook her head. “Do you not understand, Gideon? When the abbeys fell and burned, the dead were trapped in this world. My Gift of Seering is of the past, not the future. Each day I walk these grounds, I see glimpses of their lives. The Aldermastons of the past. The learners. The wretcheds. They were all people, like us. They had hopes and dreams. Now their bodies molder in ossuaries and their spirits long to be given life again. The dead have been waiting for this moment for centuries. Can you not feel them brooding over these grounds? This is not just about Assinica and saving the innocent there. We must save those who have been waiting in death.” She turned and looked at Maia. “Waiting for you.”

Maia’s heart shivered. The room seemed thick and heavy, as if the hearth had wreathed it in smoke, except there were no fumes. She could feel the writhing despair of the dead.

Collier’s eyes bulged. He shook his head with disbelief. “So you are saying . . . so you are saying, Sabine, that we must trust the Medium? Without knowing what will happen? Even if we become corpses ourselves?”

She nodded at him. “When Lia was alive, she did not know her fate. She did not know the part she would play in bringing about the great Scourge. If she had, back when she was a child in the kitchen, she may never have had the courage to leave the abbey grounds. In our predicament, we must have courage not to leave the abbey grounds.” She sighed and looked at Maia. “I do not feel that we should bring you to the abbey tonight, my dear. I think your father has made his decision. I mourn at what that means for him.” She swallowed. “In the past, the Medium has removed kings from power.”

Maia squeezed her eyes shut and wept silently. The hope she had felt for her father was finally leaving her.





Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

—Richard Syon, Aldermaston of Muirwood Abbey





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN




Fog of the Myriad Ones



Maia stood behind Suzenne, combing through the final bits of supple hair. Staring at the reflection of her friend in the mirror, Maia felt a small pang of jealousy. Suzenne wore the supplicant robes again, just as she had the night of her maston test. She looked sweetly nervous, biting her lower lip as she gazed up at Maia’s face.