The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(30)
The older woman faltered. “I… Hestia has always been in charge of—”
“Hestia is no longer here. You have lost half your allies, transformed into the very creatures whose existence you sought to hide from the rest of us. Inessa herself was present when they were slain, and not all by the Dark asha’s hand. Were you so desperate that you were willing to sacrifice your own? We lost Lady Mykaela for your treachery!”
The asha wrung her hands. “We had nothing to do with that! We hid the rune, but never did we dare invoke Blight for our own means! Only bone witches and Faceless can strike its killing blow! Even Hestia wouldn’t dare taint herself with such vile magic! We wanted neither her nor Mykaela dead!”
“They speak the truth,” Lady Altaecia observed. “Their heartsglass is as clear as day. Whatever crimes they committed, the murder of the other elder asha cannot be laid at their door.”
“It’s that foul bone witch’s curse!” another of the elders spat out. “Even now you keep her familiar as a pet!”
Lord Fox said nothing, but Princess Inessa was not as kind. She lunged forward, a sword drawn from a belt on her hip, and the elder found herself staring down its pointed tip. “Retract those words,” Princess Inessa stated coldly, “or lose an eye. Lord Fox Pahlavi has proven his loyalty time and time again. When given the choice between his sister and Kion, he chose my kingdom every time. If the Dark asha received assistance, it was not through him. Even Hestia herself admitted his innocence. When the blight pestilence came upon this city months ago, he saved her. Or has dementia robbed you of your memory?”
“We are innocent, Your Highness! We only hid the forbidden runes for fear they could be exploited by others. We’d never—”
“As the council house has been decimated, you are all to return to your own respective asha-ka until further notice,” Empress Alyx ordered. “My men will guard you for your own safety until I have salvaged what I can of my kingdom. Remain there until I send for you again.”
Once the asha had departed, Lord Fox kneeled before the empress with his head bowed. “Your Majesty. I am sorry.” His voice cracked.
“Rise, Fox,” Empress Alyx said, as gentle as she had just been harsh. “If you had not been by my daughter’s side all this time, I would have had reason to suspect you. But you have comported yourself with the loyalty and diligence I would wish for from my most trusted generals. You saved Hestia’s life, even while she fought for the end of yours.”
“I could have brought in my sister. I had the chance.”
“He is a good man, this Lord Fox,” Lord Garindor murmured beside me. “Guilt feels heavier on good men’s shoulders.”
“Ridiculous,” the princess argued. “Tea was surrounded by daeva. You could not have dragged her, kicking and screaming, back to Kion, whatever you might claim.”
“You saved my life,” Empress Alyx reminded him, “and my daughter’s. I am only sorry that you cannot protect Tea like you do us.”
“She made her bed, built it with nails and needles. Now she must lie in it.” Lord Fox rose to his feet, his expression resolute. “There is still the matter of the oracle, Your Majesty.”
“What of the oracle?”
“Her temple has been destroyed. There is no sign of her body among the wreckage, nor of any of her attendants. I am heading there now to investigate further.”
“For what?”
“For Tea.” There was a leanness to him, eyes narrowing and jaws shifting into an expression I recognized whenever he thought about his sister or when he believed her near. “I felt her. Briefly. I felt her satisfaction when you dressed down the elder asha. She is somewhere in the city. And I intend to find her.”
I didn’t wait. I spun away from the window and dashed downstairs, shouting half-sentences to Lord Garindor about my intentions, stopping only to snatch the letters I had set aside for Lady Altaecia to read.
The bone witch may have abandoned me, but I knew my duty.
7
The temple of the oracle stood out like an overgrown weed amid the lush greens and roses of traditional Kion aesthetics, but it was all the more remarkable for it. There was an honesty and earnestness about that domed shrine—unlike the asha-ka, which was arrayed on all sides. It made no attempt to impress with its simple, white walls and modest greenery. The only feature of note was the bell that hung over its main doors for visitors to ring, announcing their entry.
I was here alone, as was the custom. Fox and Kalen had gone to Knightscross. That my family was in Ankyo and not in our village brought me selfish relief, but the thought of another blight assault was worrying. I had promised to contact Fox as soon as I was done. Communing with the oracle was a private affair, not to be shared even among the closest of siblings.
The winding corridors were the same as I remembered. I had visited these sacred halls more times than any other asha, and I could have walked its silent paths blindfolded. It was unusual for a full asha to visit the temple of the oracle more than half a dozen times in her lifetime, and yet here I was, making my twenty-seventh visit. It’s been said that an asha confided in only two people in her life: her hairdresser and her confessor. I had no deep ties to any of the gods worshipped within the Willows, but the oracle was the closest thing I had to a confessor.