The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(89)

“I’m almost jealous,” Zoya said. “Serves me right for staying behind. Stranger’s Peak would have been marvelous to see.”

I shuddered. “I would have gladly traded places with you if I could, Zoya. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

“I can prepare some more herbs for you, to help calm you,” Althy offered.

“Kalen has been giving me the Calming spell nearly every day since we left Kion.”

“The fool,” Zoya scoffed. “Surely he knows it saps his strength.”

“I’ve tried. You know Kalen.”

“I’ll make sure to yell at him for it later. And how is Likh?”

I bit my lip. “She still has the blight, but I don’t know why. We’ve been so careful…”

Althy mulled that over. “I’ll have a talk with Khalad and see what other options we have. Perhaps the Blight rune affects those with silver heartsglass differently.”

“That is what she said. How…how is Fox?”

Althy looked at me without saying a word.



“I see.”

“Tea, he’s as busy as you are, what with the princess and the—”

“There is no need for an explanation, Althy. I understand all too well.”

“He believed you about Druj,” Zoya persisted. “He’s still in shock. With the blighted courtiers, we didn’t have much time to—”

I startled. “Blighted courtiers?”

Althy shot Zoya a scathing look. “We’ve had our own share of blighted attacks. There is no reason to worry. The queen and princess are fine, as is Mykkie. Fox was instrumental in saving them.”

“Lady Altaecia,” Kance greeted, nearing us with Kalen and General Lode by his side, “And, Lady Zoya. Thank you both for your assistance.”

Zoya curtsied. “We nearly didn’t make it in time, Your Majesty, given the late start we were afforded. What do you intend to do now?”

“We need to head to Mithra’s Wall and confront King Aadil,” Kance said abruptly. “I will not leave until I have that madman out of my kingdom, preferably in chains.”

“And I would like to have a talk with the Faceless who stands behind him,” I added bleakly.

“What if they raise another daeva?” General Lode asked. “I am leery of having to face another so soon.”

“How many of the bezoars do we have now?” Kalen asked.

“Five.” It had taken nearly two hours and a host of Fire runes to evaporate most of the poisonous bile the dead indar excreted in death before I was able to retrieve its sapphire-blue bezoar. “Including the azi, that makes six. There’s one more daeva not yet accounted for.”

Zoya frowned. “That would be the akvan. But if I remember correctly, it won’t be ripe for resurrection for another two years.”

“Unfortunately, the Faceless may have found a way to speed up the process. The Gorvekai claim such a rune exists but refuse to divulge the secret.”

“Then Druj must have gleaned it through some other text,” Althy theorized. “And recently. We had no such problems with them in the past. He must have reason to believe the First Harvest is somewhere inside Mithra’s Wall.”

“Then we must go after it immediately!” Zoya protested.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds, Lady Zoya,” Kance said. “The close, cramped caves within the Wall will not be advantageous for large armies. The azi will not be able to enter short of burning down the whole mountain.”

“Then let’s level it.” There was a nasty glint in Zoya’s eye.

“As a last resort, yes. But I would much rather take less drastic means to lure the Drychta king out, milady.”

“Why bother luring him out?” I interrupted. “I brushed against Druj’s mind for a few moments while the azi fought his indar. He’s smarter than Aenah, but not as feckless as Usij. I doubt you will get them out of the mountain for any reason until they find their prize, and time is running short. I understand that we might have the disadvantage going in, but with his soldiers depleted, that may be the best course of action.”

“Mayhap it would be better for everyone if it did burn,” Althy murmured. “Let the First Harvest burn.”

“I don’t think it would take to fire that easily,” Kalen said. “Lord Agnarr gave me the impression that it would endure whatever we did to destroy it.”

“Then who do we send into Mithra’s?” Kance asked.

“Tea and me, Zoya and Althy if they’re up for it, a half dozen more asha and Deathseekers. Some soldiers to guard the entrance, perhaps, and the rest to make sure the Drychta survivors don’t try anything else,” Kalen replied.

“The Drychta survivors are down to manageable numbers,” Althy agreed. “They’re the lucky ones, given the fates of their comrades. Perhaps they will be amenable to surrender now.”

King Kance sighed. “This will put you all in greater danger.”

“There’s not a lot of choice at this point.” Kalen allowed himself a smile, drawn tight at the edges. “And that’s part of our job description. In fact, I’d rather start sooner than later. Once Tea has rested enough.” There was a question behind his words.