The Void of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood Book 3)(9)

After their escort released them, Maia entered first, followed by Suzenne.

“You will not be harmed tonight,” Kranmir said coolly, “if you cooperate. If not, Captain Trefew and his men will compel you. Lady Shilton witnessed this same . . . procedure when her own granddaughters were questioned. Do not think she will show you any more favor than what they received.”

Maia stared at the ground. She knew what was coming. Her heart panged with regret for ever having touched that accursed kystrel.

“Remove your gown, Lady Suzenne. You will be examined first.”

Suzenne shot Maia a look of abject terror and quailed.

Kranmir’s eyes narrowed. “Captain?”

“With pleasure,” Trefew said jubilantly, stepping forward.

“Do not touch her.” Maia blocked his path. “I will help her.” She gave Kranmir a look of loathing, but he seemed unaffected by it. Suzenne shook with fear as Maia stripped away her girdle, then tugged the lacings of her gown loose and helped her remove it. She wore the chaen beneath, protecting her modesty, but Suzenne’s cheeks were beet red with mortification to have disrobed before so many men. Maia gathered up the bundle of clothes and turned to Kranmir.

“Are you providing us something else to wear?” she challenged, before handing over the clothes.

“Of course,” Kranmir said. He stepped forward, giving Suzenne a critical look. She trembled with embarrassment, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. His voice was smooth and dark. Maia could not see the Myriad Ones prowling throughout the room, but she could sense them, their mewling shadowforms snuffling about, greedy to taste the emotions in the chamber. “A kystrel,” he said with exaggerated sanctimoniousness, “leaves a taint on the chest bone. A whorl of tattoos that begins to rise up to the throat. You do not seem guilty, my dear, so that is in your favor. Lower the chaen slightly to be sure.”

Suzenne flushed even more and tugged limply at the front of her bodice. There was no stain.

Kranmir nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. “There are records, however, that an ancient Family in Dahomey was not afflicted by the kystrel’s taint. The only way to be certain is to see the shoulders as well. If you please, my dear. Or as I said, Captain Trefew will be only too eager to assist you.”

Suzenne gave him a black, angry look. She nodded in meek compliance and carefully pulled down the chaen to expose her left shoulder, covering herself as best she could. Maia was furious, but of course this was all a playact for what would come next. She knew it with savage certainty. They were drawing out the charade to make their suffering more acute.

“Thank you,” Kranmir said. “But just to be sure. The other shoulder too.”

Suzenne obeyed and revealed her other shoulder, which was also free of any brand.

Kranmir nodded with satisfaction. “Lady Shilton, you are my witness. So are these soldiers. Lady Suzenne Clarencieux is free of the taint. Now, Lady Maia. If you would submit to the same procedure, we shall examine you next.”

His eyes looked into hers, and her suspicion was confirmed. Yes, he knew . . . he had probably known for a while. He nodded to Captain Trefew. Suzenne moved forward to help her, but the captain shoved her away. Maia cringed as she felt the hands touch her, yanking loose the girdle and tearing the sleeve of her gown. She wanted to strike out, to scream, but she endured the humiliation as he nearly ripped the dress from her. It was what he had wanted to do on that long-ago day when she had been taken to Lady Shilton’s manor, when her remaining privileges had been stripped away, as well as her clothes.

Maia stood in her chaen, feeling the same awkwardness to be stared at by so many, but she lifted her chin in defiance and refused to cower. Trefew gathered up her gown in a heap under one arm and stared at her with vile emotions burning in his eyes.

“Let me see your hand,” he said, gesturing for her right. She opened her palm and showed him the pink scar on it. He nodded, frowned, and then folded his arms.

“Even the chaen does not conceal the kystrel’s taint on your breast,” he said sternly. “I am shocked that Richard Syon did not have you examined when you came to Muirwood. Did he know what you are? I cannot say the word, you know. Obviously a binding sigil is at work here.”

Maia clenched her teeth as she stared at him in anger. She said nothing.

“Your shoulder, please,” he said, motioning for her to bare it.

Maia kept her expression as calm as she could. “I bear the mark,” she said simply, her voice quavering. “But I am not what it implies.”

Kranmir smirked at her in response. “Show me.”

Maia sighed, anguished, and slipped the chaen over her shoulder, exposing the hetaera’s brand. As soon as she did, a veil of blackness drew over her eyes like a cloud blotting out the moon.

And then she was falling.





CHAPTER FOUR




Gallows





It was a struggle, terrifying and sudden. Blackness shrouded Maia, enveloping her in dark coils of smoke and suffocation. She felt a wrenching sensation in her mind and body, as if her soul was about to be sundered. On instinct, she battled it, refusing to yield to the vapor that threatened to stifle her. She groaned and thrashed, trying to repel the invasion. It was like fighting off an ocean’s tide. There was nowhere to anchor her feet, no way to shove against the amorphous waves that wished to bury her alive. She was drowning in the blackness of the Myriad Ones.