The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(42)
I accepted the stew but continued to stare numbly at the horizon, fighting the urge to cry or throw up. I had never seen Mithra’s Wall this close before. I had never been to the Yadosha city-states. From my perspective, the mountain ranges were an imposing fortress, shaped like a nanghait’s profile. They stared back at me, almost literally—each peak a more repulsive face than the next. Nature had once been an inexperienced sculptor, and Mithra’s Wall was one of its first attempts. It was not like the elegant snow cliffs of the Bayevik Mountains that skimmed Istera’s Ice Knife. It was not the slim, majestic cliffs of the Hollow Mountains that guarded Odalia’s south, nor was it even the bullish, armor-like mountains of Daanoris’s Haitsa range. It was not a popular destination for tourists who preferred their scenery genteel and refined, but its ugliness was what most Yadoshans loved about it.
Monstrosities had monstrous legends to explain their monstrous natures, and theirs was of the Great Hero Mithra lifting the earth to impede the newly resurrected nanghait’s approach into Yadosha. Its burial mound was located on the other side of the range, which seemed to support the story, but I don’t have much reason to believe in old tales nowadays.
At Kalen’s urging, we had ridden for the rest of the night, not stopping until the darkness rewarded us with the glimmer of dawn. He wanted distance between us and the city before he would allow me to summon the azi, knowing the sight of it would alert others to our escape, if they hadn’t discovered it already.
All talk of my killing the azi had faded; the daeva was our only chance of outrunning any pursuers. Kalen sold our horses at a nearby village, keeping only Chief, as no other steed, save Kismet, had ever willingly mounted the daeva.
I called for my beast familiar but remembered little of the flight until we landed a few miles away from Thanh, the closest Yadoshan city to the Wall. We took time to refresh alongside the Five Rivers, one of the many streams running through the city-states, and Khalad and Kalen caught some silver-backed trout to break our fast, which Likh had duly cleaned and cooked.
I knew they were doing their best to put me at ease, and I applauded their efforts, if not their success. All throughout the night, Daisy’s lifeless countenance swam before my eyes, and nothing could shake the image of her dead in Fox’s arms. The visions I had seen with uncomfortable frequency during my time in the dungeons had disappeared, and only her face remained. Not even my memories of her helped.
I stared down at my heartsglass. A beautiful swirl of black grew on silver, a cluster of stars slowly being consumed by darkness.
Likh chattered on, sketching out the rest of the details they’d worked out while I’d been imprisoned. “The plan is to lie low while Mykaela and the others fight on our behalf back in Kion. Zoya and Parmina believe we’ve still got a good case. All we need to do is to—”
“I killed her.”
Likh paled. “You can’t say that, Tea. We don’t know what really happened.”
“What else is there to prove? She is dead, because I had stabbed her with my own knife.” And then I began to laugh. “What else do we need to know what happened? Is my testimony not enough? Was Fox’s account insufficient? My knife, my hands, my blood—I killed her, and you should have let me stand at the scaffold and hang by the neck. I’m worthless, and I killed her. I killed her. I killed—”
I didn’t see him raise his arm, but the blow was hard, snapping me across the cheek. I recoiled, stunned and blinking.
“They’re going to find you innocent,” Likh said calmly, like he had done nothing out of the ordinary, “and we’re going to hide in Yadosha with their leaders’ blessing. A newly resurrected nanghait’s been skulking about, I’m told, so they’re more than likely to welcome us. The asha association’s reach doesn’t completely extend into the city-states, so they’ll have a harder time influencing people there. Yadoshans are an independent, rather stubborn folk, and they don’t take to being told what to do if they don’t want to do it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Don’t be. I’m only sorry we couldn’t figure out a better way to do this.” He grinned at me. “Besides, I’ve never been to Yadosha before. I’ve always wanted to explore more of the world.”
“Why are you here? Your asha training hasn’t been fully… Won’t they be worried about—”
Likh’s face hardened. “I won’t be missed in Kion. Kalen has Zahid’s blessing, and Khalad pretty much goes wherever he wants to. Master Narel, the old Heartforger—his condition hit Khalad harder than he lets on, but I don’t think even his master would disagree with Khalad’s decision.”
On any other occasion, I would have been proud of Likh. He was no longer the shy, doe-eyed assistant working in Chesh’s shop, offering pretty zivars and dreaming of dancing. But there was something wrong with Likh. There was a strange silence around him that I was still too sluggish to comprehend. “What were you doing in the Isteran library that night? I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Likh froze. “That’s—that’s strange to be changing the subject so abruptly, don’t you think?”
“Nothing about our situation is normal.” That night had been a blur to me; I remembered the dream I had more vividly than its aftermath. But even so, finding Likh there had struck me as odd. “Were you doing more research about the blight?” Focus on Likh. Focus on Likh. Don’t think about sisters or brothers or blood. Focus on Likh.