Kaen didn’t notice the glare Xivan gave him.
Ninavis raised her head and grinned as she licked blood from her lips. “And I have to say, you lot sure did make it easy. But your man is wrong; I’m not the Black Knight.”
The blue-haired man spoke. “She is, my Hon. I know what I saw in Jorat—”
“Or should I say, everyone is the Black Knight now? Killing me isn’t going to change a thing. We knew you lot were looking for armies, so we never formed any. We knew you lot were looking for leaders, so we made everyone a leader. We knew you lot would try to find the Black Knight, so we made everyone the Black Knight. Me? I’m just a thief who’s good with a bow. Killing me is like taking a cup of water from the sea and thinking you’ve stopped the tide.”
“Shut her up,” Relos Var said. “She’s just trying to delay—” He paused, and his eyes widened. A dozen emotions seemed to cross his face: anger, shock, outrage, and fear the most identifiable. Brother Qown thought he looked rather like someone who had just been stabbed or poisoned by a good friend, who had just realized how thoroughly they’d been betrayed.
Or maybe Qown was just conflating Var’s emotions with his own.
“What’s wrong?” Duke Kaen said.
“Someone just killed my brother,” Relos Var said.
Then he vanished.
Everyone hesitated. A beat of silence filled the room, and then Duke Kaen turned to his wife. “Did you know he had a brother?”
“I didn’t think he was the sort to have a family, to be honest.”
“Hmmph. Fine. And now that he’s gone—” Duke Kaen drew his sword and advanced on Janel’s unconscious body. “I will not tolerate traitors.”
“Azhen,” Xivan said, “we don’t yet know what happened.”
The Hon whirled back to face his wife. “We know she’s a traitor. We know she disobeyed at least one of my orders, freed prisoners I’d ordered executed, sent them into Jorat. She killed my dragon! She clearly knew who the Black Knight was the entire time and hid that fact from me. I know all I need to know. I had hoped I could trust her. Now I know I can’t.”
Qown stared at the blue-haired Yoran, who was biting down on a knuckle, eyes haunted. Now that Qown looked closer, he didn’t think the man a noble. The man was dressed in simple Joratese-style clothing.
“I agree we will need to do something,” Xivan Kaen reminded her husband, “but if we kill Janel, won’t that just send her to our enemies?”
The duke paused, consternation in his expression. He had forgotten the reason they made a point of not killing certain people.
Senera gestured. “If you like, I could, um, an enchantment might, uh—” She licked her lips, looking nervous and upset. “I mean, I—”
Qown had never seen Senera lose her composure before.
“No, not you.” Kaen looked displeased. “I placed my faith in you and your master once. I no longer believe you’ve been steadfast in your loyalty. First the Black Knight and now Tya. Tya? This should never have gone so far.”3
Senera bowed. “As you say, Your Grace.”
“What about my family?” the blue-haired man interjected. “You promised that you’d reunite me with my family.”
Kaen stopped and looked at the man.
“I mean … I … please. My Hon.”
Kaen said, “Wyrga, take the prisoners and our new friend here down to the Spring Caves. I want you to make sure they can’t escape. If anyone tries to remove them without my permission, I want you to destroy them.”
“What? But I told you everything!” the Yoran man protested.
Qown had his own reasons for disbelief. He was reasonably certain Duke Kaen had no idea Janel and her mother, Tya, had rendered the caves safe. So Kaen had—or rather, thought he had—just sentenced them all to a terrible and slow death. Indeed, Kaen’s vague instructions didn’t prevent Wyrga from killing them either, so long as she kept their bodies in the caves. But he’d also made life difficult for her, since the duke had effectively demanded Wyrga kill Tya if the goddess showed up to free her daughter.
And Qown didn’t think Wyrga was anywhere near powerful enough for that.
Wyrga must have realized as much. She threw a murderous look at the duke, but he either didn’t see it or didn’t care.
“Husband, what are you doing? This can’t—”
“Don’t cross me!” the duke screamed. Then he motioned to the guards, who didn’t realize they too were being sent to their deaths. “Take them downstairs.”
* * *
“You’ve lost weight,” Ninavis said as they were marched downstairs toward the caves.
“Nice to see you too,” Brother Qown snapped.
“No, I mean: Are you eating enough? You look like they’ve been starving you. I liked the baby fat. It was cute.” Ninavis glanced around, looking for some way to escape, looking for some opportunity.
“You did?” He shook his head. “No, no. I just … I forget to eat sometimes.”
Ninavis threw him a concerned look.
They walked down five flights with a guard carrying Janel slung over his shoulder. Then they heard a voice from an adjacent hallway, yelling for them to wait. Senera appeared.
She’d either opened a gate or she’d run. Possibly both.
“How many floors down are we going?” Ninavis asked out of the corner of her mouth.
“You don’t want to know,” Qown said. “It’s a large building.”
“Wait,” Senera said, holding her side as if she had a stitch. “The duke forgot to have me spell you.”
Ninavis groaned. “Oh, it’s you. I hate you.”
Wyrga turned and looked at Senera, smiling sharp-toothed and vicious. “Is that so, little girl?” The old woman motioned for Senera to come forward with a crooked finger.
That smile made Qown pause. He recognized it. He looked from Janel’s sleeping form back to Wyrga again. How much time hand Janel been spending with Wyrga, anyway? But he had no time for that distraction.
Senera straightened her back. “What do you want, Wyrga?”
Wyrga grabbed Senera by the neck and brought the Doltari woman down to her eye level. “You’ve always been one of mine, haven’t you? Fake marriage vows may fool the men, but I know one of my daughters when I see her.”
Senera ground her teeth. “Let me go.”
Wyrga grinned. “Call me Mother, darling.”
“Let me go, ‘Mother,’” Senera repeated.
Wyrga released her.
Senera walked forward. She had the Name of All Things in one hand, filled with ink, and her brush in the other. “This will just take a moment.”
Wyrga cackled.
Wyrga knew the duke hadn’t “forgotten” to have Senera protect them against the poisons in the caves. Indeed, the duke didn’t know such magical protections existed.
Brother Qown shook his head. “This isn’t necessary,” he whispered as Senera approached. Senera didn’t know the dangers had already been neutralized.
“Shut up,” she said, looking over her shoulder toward Wyrga. “I know what I’m doing.”