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I expected my companions—all older and more experienced—to argue; instead, they nodded and we sank further into the dark undergrowth.
Maksim sidled closer to me. “You know the new king, right? Will you be able to reason with him?”
Maybe if Lumi had not tried to kill him, if his last words to me had not been to leave Tal and its problems to him. He might think me a silly girl interrupting his wedding. “Maybe once…”
The sound of approaching steps saved me from explaining more.
I grabbed Maksim’s arm, pulling us to the ground.
The night grew colder as thethump-thump-thumpof something striking the stone path approached. I filled each crack in my mental walls, unwilling to touch her and worried she might feel it.
Five priestesses with floating mage lights spearheaded the group. In the middle walked Ealhswip, her cane providing the marching beat. She seemed larger, movements smoother, the hits of the cane displaying a strength belying her age and humanity. Like one of the great cats said to roam the mountains or a griffon, she had no natural enemies, and knew it.
A noble man protected the rear. He passed under a lantern, and I could not stop my sudden inhale.
The last time I saw him, Lumi and I tried to rob his wife and then escaped through the window. I still did not know if he had been there to judge our skills, appearance, or had been supposed to catch us after we killed his wife and exclude Kirill from the deal by blackmailing us. At least I had guessed right when giving Dimitri his name. Not that it seemed to have mattered.
We lay flat as the procession passed. They were clearly not worried about being seen and fortunately, in too much of a hurry to study their surroundings.
Did that mean Dimitri had gone before us? Or was he delayed and they were getting into position? Had Ealhswip decided to kill him before he reached the crypt and married?
Each possibility raised my pulse, its pounding loud in my ears, until I almost missed their words.
One of the priestesses had removed vines, revealing a stone door—my previous exit and our entrance.
Ealhswip pushed her to the side, demanding simultaneously, “What’s the delay?”
“It’s locked somehow,” the priestess answered, bowing her head.
Von Mekeln stepped up. “First the Spirits don’t wait—I understand their impatience—and now our king’s spooked. You should be glad I could convince him to marry at all.”
“They already knew… They burned the warehouse before we had enough Spirits to power all the bodies and fight on more than one front,” the priestess said. “We needed to get inside and the sigils were down.” She turned to Ealhswip. “You would have been blocked from your birthright, mistress.”
Ealhswip waved her hand dismissively. “We’ve lost the advantage of surprise already. Break it down.”
The last was said to von Mekeln.
With a roar, he threw himself against a door I could not see, and I knew for sure we were alone. There was no way the Tower’s inhabitants would not have heard the crash in the unnaturally silent garden. Were all the noble women and children lying dead inside the Tower? Fed poison to help this woman release the dead on Tal in some twisted revenge on people long dead?
As Helia, I had walked inside the ancient building, marveling at the mosaics of each floor. How many people had I passed? Servants and female guards. Ladies and sons and daughters. I remembered the little girl hiding while studying me. Did she still breathe? How could anything justify this?
Von Mekeln threw himself forward again and with a resounding creak, the stone door—which had stood the test of time and should have required a battering ram to budge—gave way. As they and their mage lights entered, the night seemed darker thanbefore.
Rebels and priestesses and living guards fought outside and in the city. People battled to gorge themselves on poisoned food. The dead themselves, an endless mist suffocating Tal for so long that we no longer noticed, deserved the rest the Goddess promised.
Morovara had claimed me as her great-granddaughter. I had a job to do.
On silent feet, I felt my way to the broken door. Only the twinkling of the lights far down the steps interrupted the absolute darkness. I remembered running up and up through the earth. Time to return.
My companions joined me, Lumi softly illuminating the night, and we descended, torn between stealth and the urgent need to know what was happening below.
Down.
Down.
Down.
A woman’s cry echoed in the dark, breaking the monotony and my restraint.
