Call of Sunteri (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 2) (28 page)

“Left pack pocket.” I roll my eyes as she dives into my pack.

“Time is passing more quickly now,” Ki whispers. “Soon it will be dark.”

“Yes,” says Mevyn. “We’d best be on our way.”

At the back of my mind, something calls to me. An object I thought lost, a beloved old friend begging to be rescued. My sword, propped against the wall in Jacek’s tower, just out of reach. I was so close to it, close enough to touch it. Close enough, but my arms were too heavy and then Jacek, he was right there, right beside me. I could get it back again, and maybe I’d see him, too. My heart starts to race and then Tib walks up and strikes me hard across the cheek, snapping me out of my trance.

“Hey!” Rian thrusts a hand out toward him and I see the wave of a spell pass over the boy, but he seems unaffected by it.

“It’s okay,” I push Rian’s arm down and rub my cheek. “He saw it. I was slipping into the Dreamwalker’s grasp.” I turn to Tib. “How did you know?”

Tib shrugs. His eyes slide sideways to Mevyn just for an instant.

“I could see the shadows in your eyes,” Tib says. With his frown, I get the sense that this is a talent he’s reluctantly accepted.

“Can we go now?” Tib asks.

“We really should.” Ki has her bow out now with an arrow nocked and ready. At the mention of shadows, Flitt shines her light a little brighter, pushing them back until the room is entirely bathed in her prisms.

“Yes, we’d best go quickly.” Mevyn beckons us closer and we link arms together.

“I’ll do it this time,” Flitt says around a mouthful of sugar. “Just say where.”

“Back to the meadow?” Ki says thoughtfully. “There, we can keep the shadows at bay and make a plan.”

“I have a better place,” Mevyn says thoughtfully. “A safer place.”

“Where?” I ask.

“I can’t say. Not here. The shadows have ears.”

“Sorry,” says Rian. “I don’t know you well enough yet to trust you that much, Mevyn. I have a place. I need to check on them anyway.” He looks at Flitt, who nods slowly.

“Yep,” she says. “That place is as good as any. It’s already all warded up, too.”

“Well, how do I know I can trust you, then? Turn those tables, Mage.” Mevyn’s eyes narrow, his golden hair floats around his head as though he’s under water.

“Do you want our help against the Dreamwalker, and with the Wellspring?” Rian asks. “If you do, then you have to trust us, don’t you? We’re going after him either way, with your help or without it.”

“Very well,” Mevyn agrees wearily. Beside him, Ki shifts her footing, looking slightly concerned.

“Are you permitted to leave the Dreaming, Ki? To go to the waking realm?” Rian asks.

Ki closes her hand over her necklace and bows her head. When she looks up again, she nods slowly. “Iren consents, and trusts in your wards, Your Excellency.”

I think of Eron, how he was so keen to have me bring Viala—Ki—back to him. Bringing her with us outside of the Dreaming would put her in a dangerous position, and she has no idea of the risk. I wonder if Iren does.

“Can I speak to Iren though that?” I nod to her necklace.

“Of course,” she says. “But quickly. It’s nearly nightfall now.”

She takes the stone in her palm and I move closer to look into it. The gem is a chip of Iren’s own eye, the Oculus: Midnight blue with flecks of gold that float through it like the stars in the night sky. I focus on it and fall into it the same way I fell into Stubs’ amber eyes and Rian’s hazel ones. Iren’s is far vaster, though. Its thoughts greet me cautiously. I can see its kind, stony face smiling down on me as golden orbs drift lazily around us.

We don’t speak to each other. Instead, I recall the meeting with Eron. I send the moment out into the space between us, and Iren watches. When that memory fades, another one emerges slowly. One from the distant past.

Viala and Eron stand together in the annex beside the ballroom of Cerion’s palace, their heads bent close together, secretly planning. Beyond the door, the sounds of a ball are muffled and fleeting. I feel myself drawn closer to her until I’m seeing the scene through her own eyes.

“
If we fail in this,
” she’s saying, “
if we do not succeed together, then we shall both fall. Swear to me.
” She holds his hand in hers and traces strange runes over it. Black tendrils curl out from the runes and tighten around their clasped hands, binding them. “
If anything happens, swear that you shall stop at nothing to find me, to bring me back to you.
”

“
I swear it, my love,”
Eron says passionately.
“I am yours and you are mine, always. One day, we shall rule together. Our kingdom will be endless, as will our power. I will never lose you. I will always come for you.
”

“
Together, or not at all,
” she whispers. “
This spell seals it. Bound by words, heart, deeds, and darkness, never to be undone, except in death.
” Eron leans closer to her. I feel his lips on hers and pull away, disgusted.

“
Some magic,
” Iren says quietly, “
cannot be undone except by its caster. Your refusal to cooperate with Eron matters little. He will stop at nothing to reach her, no matter who she is now. To him, as long as she is alive, she is Viala, the one who cast the spell to bind them. Even now, only she can sever those bindings. So you see why I must allow her the chance to choose well, should she be faced with it.
”

“
But she has no memory of that time now. How can she possibly undo a spell she can’t even remember casting?
”

“
She is no longer clouded by fear, darkness, power, hatred. She has been given a second chance. When the time comes, if she is faced with it, she will remember. This is her final test. I must allow it.
” Iren shows me another memory, this one more recent.

Ki and Tib in the Ring, holding each other. Ki and I in the cave together, guarded by Iren’s blue light. Ki, standing at the crest of the Shadow Crag, keeping watch over Kythshire and the lands beyond the border. Ki, resting curled in the protective crook of Iren’s elbow. With every scene, I can feel the confidence and peace in her, the sense of purpose and belonging.

“
It would be cruel of me,”
Iren says
, “to conceal this from her. To deny her this chance to redeem her past. Even while making his choice for her, Rian said the same. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

“But what if she chooses poorly?”
I ask.
“What if she allows herself to be clouded again and Eron gets his way?
”

There is a long silence before Viala’s voice drifts into the space between us once more. As I fall away from Iren and back to the stone room, her words drift through my mind over and over.

“Bound by words, heart, deeds, and darkness. Never to be undone, except in death. Except in death. In death.”

I’m aware of my feet on the ground and Rian’s hand on my shoulder as I slip away from Iren. Ki is watching me curiously, but I avoid her gaze. I don’t want her to see what I’ve seen.

“All right?” she asks quietly. I nod. Beside her, Tib watches me with suspicion, his eyes narrowed. It makes me feel uneasy, like I’ve been caught in a lie. I shake it off and turn to Rian.

“We can go,” I whisper. “All of us.”

With Viala’s spell still echoing in my thoughts, I take Rian’s hand. The rest of our group comes together, linking arms and holding on, and Rian murmurs the spell that will take us to the Half-Realm, and then on to Sorlen River Crossing.

Tib

It’s the third time today I’ve been lurched through space to someplace new, and I don’t like it any more this time than I did the first two. I cling to my sister and squeeze my eyes shut and try hard to concentrate on something else. Like the conversation between Azi and the stone giant, Iren. The things I heard, just like I could hear Rian telling Flitt we were going to Sorlen River Crossing. Just like I could hear Crocus talking to Scree.

I feel like I should tell Ki. Tell her what they said. This is some sort of sick test. He’s controlling everything she remembers, just like Mevyn did with me. If she fails, death. How did we both get ourselves into this mess? It’s her fault, really. She never should have agreed to go with that Sorcerer. A gift is a trick, Nan told her. If she’d stayed and just picked blooms like she was supposed to, if she’d started filling her basket and stopped reading her stupid books, neither of us would be here.

Maybe she deserves what’s coming to her.

Rian whispers something as we spin around, and I feel the magic around us shifting. Preparing for us. Letting us in. I never noticed things like this before the fairy ring. I was never sensitive to magic the way I am now. I know what it’s doing before it happens. I can see it and avoid it.

I think back to the stone room when we got split up from the others and Rian was raging. He was flinging spells everywhere and not one of them touched me. I knew where they were going, and I just moved away. Then after I slapped the knight, he tried it again and I didn’t even feel it. It’s like it split in two and went around me. I don’t understand it, but I’m not complaining, either.

We land with a thud on the floorboards loud enough to wake the village, but it doesn’t wake any of the patrons up. I remember the story Rian told back at the Ring, about his guild. I look around at them. They look unharmed. Sleeping in the middle of a fight scene. Chairs and tables turned over. Plates shattered on the ground. Wine and cider spilled everywhere. It stinks in here, too. Rotten food. Burnt meat. Unwashed people.

Azi gasps and rushes to one of the sleepers. A woman. She looks like an older version of Azi with the same blond braid. She’s slumped over a bench, her arms draped awkwardly across it like she’s passed out from too much drink.

“Oh, Mum,” Azi brushes some stray hair away from the woman’s face. Arranges her arms a little more comfortably. Looks up at Rian. “Was this you? You put them all to sleep?”

“After you passed out,” Rian’s shoulders go up apologetically, “they all started fighting. I didn’t know what else to do.” He starts going on, telling the same story he told us in the Ring. Ki goes to stand by the window and watch out. Mevyn sticks close to me. I want to shove him away.

While Rian’s talking, I go from one of the sleeping guild members to the next, looking them over. Last time I saw them, they were riding out of Cerion. I stop next to the biggest one. He’s huge. Stone-skinned, with plate armor. He’s out cold, snoring loudly.

I look at Rian again. He’s not that much older than Raefe. Eighteen, maybe. How does he have so much magic that he can just put all of these people to sleep? I inch away from him and lean against the wall beside the hearth. Close to Ki. I don’t like it. Nobody should be so powerful.

“No.” Rian whispers as he looks around, suddenly frantic. His hands are in his hair. He rushes across the tavern and drops to his knees before a huge pile of glass shards. “No, no, no.”

“What is it?” Azi rushes to him. “Rian, what’s happened?”

“My golem,” he picks up some shards. Closes his eyes. The glass in his hands glows softly. “Something fought it. A man. In Cerion’s livery. They fought, and he smashed it, and then…”

Azaeli goes to his side. Touches his cheek. He looks up at her. Swallows. She gazes into his eyes the way she did in the castle. Falls into them. A golden tendril creeps across her neck. Peeks up over her collar.

“Jac,” she describes what she sees quietly. “He woke up somehow. He destroyed the golem. Smashed it. He wanted to kill everyone while they were sleeping. Elliot stopped him. The fox. They fought. The fox wounded him. He wouldn’t let up. He chased him out of here.”

She tears her eyes away from him. Pushes herself to her feet. Walks across to another snoring man, a much smaller one. His hair is orange and brown. It covers his face with bristly fringe. Dark lines are painted across his cheeks. They look like whiskers. She rests a hand on his arm. Looks at Rian.

“Can you wake him?” she asks. Rian comes to her side. Shakes his head.

“I never slept him. He was already out when I cast the spell. It wouldn’t have worked on Da, anyway. Sleep spells don’t work on him.”

I look from Rian to the man. They have the same nose. The same jaw. The same pointed ears, though Rian’s are a little more rounded.

“I’m confused,” I say. “He’s a fox and he’s your father, and he chased someone away, but he’s still sleeping, and he’s here, but he isn’t?”

“That’s about right!” Flitt chirps. She’s nestled into a bowl of cherries. She nibbles one and red juice drips from her chin.

“Clever one you have there, Mevyn,” she says around a mouthful.

“Can’t you just wake him up?” I ask. “Nudge him, if it’s not a spell?”

“I don’t dare,” Rian says. “Not if he’s still after Jac. If they’re fighting and I wake him, it could be bad.”

Rian looks away from his father to a woman sprawled beside Azi’s mother. She’s older, with bright red hair. Not like Saesa’s. Sharper. Like the blossoms. It’s spiked up in a strange style. Her armor is soft leather. Dark blue. Tight. Her skin is pale and covered with freckles. He stoops to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. Whispers Mage words. She blinks slowly. Sits up. Stretches. Looks around at everyone sleeping.

“What in the seven…?” her eyes rest on Rian. “Did you do this?”

Rian gives a little nod. He’s different with her. Younger, somehow.

“I had to. Azi needed help, and everyone was getting out of hand.”

She looks around again and shakes her head slowly.

“Did you get Marked?” she asks with a scolding tone.

“No, Mum. It’s only Twelfth Circle.” Rian replies. He smirks a little, like he’s amused he knows more than she does. Still, she reaches for him. Tugs down the collar of his robes. Peeks at his chest. I press my lips together. Try not to laugh as he shrugs away from her. Azi doesn’t spare him her amusement. She laughs softly. That’s when the woman notices her.

“Oh, Azi, we were so worried!” she cries. She hugs her and takes her face into her hands and looks her over.

“I’m okay, Mya.” Azi pats her arm. Offers a reassuring smile.

“Mum, something happened,” Rian says. “I was careful. I set wards. I set a guardian, but Jac woke up somehow. He shattered the golem, but Da stopped him.” He goes to Elliot again. Puts his hands on his shoulders. Mya goes to Elliot’s side. Settles on the bench. Strokes his cheek softly. Closes her eyes. Hums a melody that I can see, somehow. She presses her forehead to his. I watch the magic weave between them.

“Something,” she whispers, “something’s wrong. A darkness. Tangled. Twisted. Something flicking toward us. Trying to tear us apart.”

“Dreamwalker,” I say. If Mya hears me, she doesn’t react.

“Is he in danger?” Azi asks. “Should we wake him?”

“He’s distracting it,” Mya puts a little distance between herself and Elliot. “Luring it away. Keeping it occupied. Like a hunt. He’s clever,” she smiles to himself, “we don’t need to worry about him. Not yet.”

There’s a long stretch of silence while everyone thinks that over. Ki is the first to break it.

“People are walking past like they don’t even see this place,” she says quietly from her post at the window.

“That’ll be the wards,” Rian explains to her. “I set a Look-Away, along with several others. I’ll take them off once I wake everyone.”

Mya looks from Rian to the window. “Who are you talking to?” she asks.

“Oh, right. They’re still…” Rian looks at Ki, then me. Mevyn sinks behind me and I scowl. Flitt’s bowl of berries is right in front of her on the table, but Mya doesn’t seem to notice her, either. “Do you want to come out, or?”

“They probably should,” says Azi. “It’d make it easier.”

“I don’t mind,” says Ki. She looks at me. I shrug.

“I guess.”

“Mmnope!” Flit says around a mouthful.

“Nor I,” says Mevyn.

“Course not,” I mutter.

“Tib can speak for me,” Mevyn sinks lower. I glare over my shoulder at him.

“We brought some friends,” Rian explains to Mya. “This is Ki.” He casts a spell to reveal her. Mya’s eyes widen. She looks from Ki to Rian in disbelief. “And that’s Tib.” He says the spell again, sweeping a hand in my direction. The air shifts around me.

“Where?” Mya looks at the hearth and squints.

“The Revealer won’t work on the Dreamstalker,” Mevyn chuckles. “Tib, just step out.”

“Step out?” I scowl at him. “What’s that mean?”

“Just imagine stepping out of hiding so they can see you. Then take a step,” Mevyn explains.

I wrinkle my nose and look at the rest of them. Mya’s still staring over the top of my head at the wall, trying to see me. Beside her Rian and Azi are whispering together, looking impressed and a little concerned. I shrug my shoulders, think about showing myself, and take a step like Mevyn says. The change around me is subtle, like walking through a spider’s web. It works, though. Mya sees me.

“Oh, there,” she offers me a smile. “Were you there the whole time? I had no idea.”

“That’s the point,” Mevyn mutters dryly at my shoulder.

“Yes m’lady,” I reply, ignoring Mevyn. I want to bat at him. Grab his little golden wings and send him flying right into her face so he can’t hide behind me anymore.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you…both.” The hesitation in her voice when she turns to Ki tells me everything. She knew my sister before. When she was Viala. Still, she smiles. A real smile, not a put-on. Then she turns to Rian again.

“What exactly is going on?” she asks him. “Wait. Perhaps we should wake the others before we get into explanations. To save time.”

“Perhaps not,” Mevyn says. “The truth is not meant for a broad audience.”

Rian and Azi exchange glances.

“Mum, there are others here, too,” Rian says. “Others who need to be protected. They need our help, but they don’t want to show themselves. They can’t risk being seen or saying too much in front of too many.” He watches her closely. Mya shakes her head. Her smile is full of mirth as it dawns on her who he must be talking about.

“Them again? I ought to have known they’d enlist you both in some new quest. You understand though, Rian, that our fealty is to Cerion and its King? Peace in our kingdom is our duty. You aren’t losing sight of that, are you? You haven’t forgotten your reason for traveling there in the first place, have you?” She nods pointedly at my sister, who is still watching out the window.

“This is a common enemy,” Azi says calmly. “He was involved with those who breeched the border of Kythshire. He’s meddled with each of our minds. It’s why we’ve all been so on edge. He’s even tampered with the princess’s baby. He’s shown an interest in Prince Vorance and Princess Sarabel, as well. He’s even stolen from Princess Margary. I fear his interest in the throne. There’s something about the Plethores that fascinates him.”

Mya sighs. Pinches the bridge of her nose. Looks at her husband, then her son.

“Very well,” she says. “But the Elite works together. Whatever you tell me, it’s their right to know it as well. We’ve sworn oaths to each other. In times like these, we do not keep secrets from each other. If you seek our aid, then you’ll have all of us or none of us.”

Rian looks at me. I’m not sure why at first, but then I realize Mevyn has drooped behind my shoulder again. I shift a little so the Mage can see him. To my surprise, he drifts toward Flitt a little. Looks at her.

“What would you do?” he asks. “Would you trust them? All of them?”

Flitt looks at Mevyn, wide-eyed. She opens her mouth to say something, but a crash from outside interrupts her. It’s followed by screaming. Panic. People running. More crashing. Doors slamming.

At the window, Ki raises her bow. Her face is pale. Her lips pressed into a thin line. Outside, thunder rumbles. The sky is dark as night. She turns to us. Her necklace flashes blue.

“Something’s coming,” she whispers.

“What?” Mya rushes to the window. Looks out. “What is that?” She spins to Rian.

“Wake them up,” she orders urgently. “Now. The guild. Quickly.” She runs past him and grabs her mandolin. Turns to me. “Stay out of sight,” she says, “unless you know how to use those.” She points to my knives and then rushes the door as the rest of her company stumbles to their feet. She doesn’t go out though. Instead she starts to play on her mandolin.

Her song is quick and encouraging. Like stepping out of the Half-Realm, I let the magic of it affect me. It makes me feel brave and strong, like I can succeed in anything. Like nothing can stop me. I watch Rian wake the others, calling them each by name. Bryse, the big one. Cort, the dark-skinned fighter. Lisabella, Azi’s mother. Benen, her father. Donal and Dacva, the healers. Everyone except for Elliot.