The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(39)

“They are here,” Tea said abruptly, turning away from the window.

I looked out and saw at a distance, much to my horror, a mass of soldiers converging on the city.

“I see the blue flags of Kion,” Lord Kalen said, “and the greens of Arhen-Kosho, but none from Odalia.”

“But why?” It was a ridiculous question. The answer looked back at me, her smile grim, so I asked another. “How did news of Daanoris’s fall travel so fast? Surely a week is not enough to raise this army.”

“They have had weeks to plan. They must have known the very night I ended my exile.” She stared back out into the throng of soldiers, as if straining to seek out one particular face among them. “It would appear,” she mused, “that the bond I share with my brother is stronger than even I realized.”





12


The duke had done his research; I regretted telling Polaire about the weaknesses in Aenah’s wards, for they had been quick enough to strengthen them in mine. The asha association relied heavily on the Royal House of Odalia for unfettered access to their kingdom. They might not like the duke, but they wouldn’t go out of their way to offend him.

I paced the windowless room, past the one small cot they afforded me. I cast my mind out again but couldn’t detect Fox’s presence. Despite all his threats, Holsrath would most likely keep Mykaela and I unharmed. But my brother, though my familiar, may not fare as well. I was worried too for Khalad and Kalen.

I examined the walls and floor and gave the door a good kicking, with little result. “This is useless,” I growled.

I wouldn’t be too sure about that, child.

I gasped. Had Aenah escaped?

I am gratified by your faith in my abilities, Lady Tea. But you called for me, not the other way around.

An image came unbidden to my mind: Aenah sitting in her cell, still bound by her wards but in better spirits than I.

Who are you working with in Odalia, Aenah?

Me? Would I be sitting in this old dank dungeon if I had an accomplice working for me? I assure you, my dear, no one in the Odalian palace answers to me. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.

You gave me an offer. I’m taking it now. Tell me about shadowglass.

Threats are all well and good, but not even you and your pet azi can conjure enough runes to force me. But I will help you. I have my own grudges against Usij that need repaying…

Quick flashes of memory cross my mind—a burning town, the edges of it sweeping out to sea. A younger Aenah, her face tearstained and grieving, holding a still baby in her arms as she watches her world burn.

I’ll have that back, thank you. Just as swiftly, the image was gone and Aenah’s presence returned, angry and melancholy and cold. You have had practice to eavesdrop on my memories so easily.

I’m sure you can understand why.

I will tell you more about shadowglass. The book I gave you was deliberately vague on the matter. The Great Prince had many reasons to keep his secrets.

Are you saying Hollow Knife himself wrote this book?!

My book is a descendant of the original, which has since been lost to time. The shadowglass is his promise to us for immortality, but its ingredients come at a price.

The sleeping sickness? You’re dooming these people to death!

Death? They sleep, peaceful and happy, surrounded by memories of loved ones and better times until the end of their natural lives. I would call it a gift, Aenah said.

I drew on Compulsion without thinking, but nothing happened. Her throaty chuckle was proof of my failure.

Did I strike a nerve, Tea? Perhaps Prince Kance prefers endless sleep over the stress of ruling a kingdom. Who knows? Mayhap he dreams of you. I presume Usij has the pieces of their heartsglass. It has been a stalemate between us for the better part of ten years—we all strive for the same goal, but the shadowglass can only accommodate one, and we have always found it difficult to share among ourselves.

Get to the point.

It is a simple recipe. Blade that Soars and Hollow Knife were two halves of the Great Creator’s heart. When he formed the world, it was necessary for him to divide his heart to bring a balance of light and dark into it. That is why Hollow Knife needed to take Blade that Soars’s heartsglass for his own, to become truly immortal. To create a facsimile of Blade that Soars’s heart, we gather the Five Great Heroes from where his blood flows down and forge it anew into a pure heartsglass. But to achieve Hollow Knife’s heart, it is necessary to turn one’s own silver heartsglass black.

And how is that possible?

There are many paths that lead to a black heartsglass. Hollow Knife’s requires a corruption of self. I have found killing to be the easiest method. And not simple commonplace murder—one must delight in it.

Quick visions blurred through my mind: blood and desires, deaths and unholy rites. She laughed when I reeled back from her, my disgust clear. It gets better with every killing, I assure you.

You vile, disgusting—

That may be so. I make no pretense of sainthood. Unlike your fellow asha, I do not claim to be what I am not. It is a shame, really, that you fled Odalia so quickly that you had little time to conduct a thorough investigation of your own elders. Oh, the atrocities you can find there!

Tell me more about what they did.

But her thoughts were already fading. Try as I might, I was too weak to wrest them back.