He whirled on her, his face contorted in anger, and snarled, “Until you take off that mask, I refuse to answer any of your irritating questions!”
She crossed her arms. “Once I take off this mask, I won’t be able to ask you questions.”
He gave her a look that implied she was stupid.
She glared.
“Take it off,” he said. “That mouth is not yours to speak from, and you know it.”
Several seconds of silence passed. Even the wind died down to a breeze that was comforting, especially after the howling gales that had torn through the trees all night. Dawn was approaching fast, the horizon in the distance staining a dull gray as light spilled through the sky.
Sable knew it wasn’t fair of her to deny Avalon’s right to speak. After all, that was exactly what had been done toherten years ago, when whoever was responsible for her fate had thrown her inside this wretched mask. Avalon was the first person to help her after all these years, and it was selfish of her to steal Avalon’s rights as soon as she had the chance.
With a sigh, Sable stepped closer to Hadrian. He stiffened, but to his credit, he didn’t back away. “When I take off this mask, I would like you to listen to what Avalon has to say,” she told him. “Whether you believe I deserve to be trapped in this thing or not, the decision isn’t yours to make.”
Silence.
“Do you understand me?”
He gave one stiff nod. With reluctance, Sable removed the mask. Pulse thudding in her temples, she felt her control disintegrate, the body becoming someone else’s again, and away she faded.
Into nothing.
~
When Avalon had come back from wherever she’d vanished to, she was shaking so badly that Hadrian had to carry her back to the temple, where they discovered their horses were gone. That was the one thing about temple protection: the barrier would provide protection to humans and Folk, but animals were another story.
Now, she and Hadrian sat together beside a column, watching the sun slowly rise over the green hills in the distance, the rays staining the forest gold. Hadrian had given her his cloak and wrapped her up in two blankets, but she was still shivering.
When Sable had taken control and destroyed those Silver Maidens, and then marched after Hadrian through the forest, Avalon had felt lost. She was still there, observing everything from some cramped place in her mind, but she hadn’t been able to say a word. She had thought Sable heard her shouting, but if she did, she refused to acknowledge her as she pulled her strings, marching her body onward and spewing insults at her best friend.
Sable had picked up her soul and tossed her aside, shoving her into the back of her own mind, as though she were nothing. And she was afraid.
Still, she’d told Hadrian what she wanted, and for once he listened. She had also informed him of the plan Sable had yet to hear about.
While Sable had argued with Hadrian in the forest, Avalon had remembered something from several years ago. Last night, when Avalon had dreamt of Sable and Levon in the Temple of Ice, she realized it wasn’t the first time a memory had shown her that ancient book.
Nearly a month after they’d found it, Levon had come over late one night. He’d snuck past the guards, and the two had ventured downstairs only to discover the book was written in a tongue now forgotten, or perhaps never known in this world. Sable had lost plenty of sleep in those weeks, the book seeming to call out to her from its hiding place in the catacombs.
But Avalon had seen four engravings in the leather cover, as if objects of the appropriate shapes were meant to fit inside them. Tomes written in old tongues sometimes held answers to questions people were now afraid to even ask, but if she found someone who could read it…
Avalon was so absorbed by her thoughts that when Hadrian sighed, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. “If I take you to look for thisbook…,”he began, “will you come back to Hilsian with me?” Before she could speak, he said, “Let me rephrase that. Will you come back to Hilsianwillingly, without having to be chained and dragged?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “If we don’t find the book, I’ll come with you.”
He didn’t seem to like that, though he nodded anyway. “And if wedofind it?”
“I’d like to figure out what it says.”
“And then what?”
“If it gives me answers on how to free Sable, I’m going to free her. But if the book says nothing, or if I can’t find anybody who can read it… I suppose I’ll go back to Hilsian with you, and we can forget about this whole thing.”
She knew it was stupid—crazy, even—but she had faith in the book. Something was telling her she would find the answers she sought in its pages, and she felt it was her responsibility to at least try and free Sable. She’d found a girl trapped in an unspeakable prison, and if she gave up on her…
Well, who else would save her?
17
