So I sit back down on the edge of the bed again and pull one boot off, deciding to get comfortable. My traveling clothes are filthy and smell like griffin, and my hair is so tangled from the endless winds as we rode that I might have to shave my head and start over. I wonder if Yulenna left a comb somewhere around here. Tossing my boots aside, I head for what I assume is the bathroom. The moment I step inside, I see an enormous mirror and I'm drawn toward it, ignoring all other plumbing.
Oh god, I look like absolute hell. I touch my face, astonished that Kassam hasn't pointed any of this out. My eyes are hollow, my skin drawn tight over my normally rounded face. My mouth looks chapped and colorless, and my hair like straw. I don't look travel-ravaged. I look…unhealthy. Like there's something wrong inside me…and isn't there? I touch my mouth, horrified at the changes.
"It will get worse," a quiet voice says behind me.
Gasping, I turn around and see one of the Spidae behind me. This one doesn't have the blue eyes as the one did before. Instead, this one has eyes as black as night, and they look like holes in his pale face. He looks unnerving as he cocks his head at me, watching.
"Hi," I manage to croak out. "I'm, uh, Carly? I'm with Kassam."
He takes this in with an impassive look, and for a moment I wonder if he heard me at all. He gestures for me to follow him, then turns and leaves.
"Wait," I call out, trailing after the tall, mysterious figure. "I have to stay! Kassam told me to remain here for him."
The Spidae turns his head slightly, but I don't feel as if he's looking at me. "Time is limited. When he comes back, there will be much sadness. Best to get this done first. Follow me."
What the hell does that mean? Much sadness? Anxiety seizes me and I'm suddenly afraid for Kassam, and also for myself. "Wait. Explain, please." I trot after him, abandoning my promise to stay put. Kassam would understand, I tell myself. We're here for help and answers, and surely that's what this man is going to provide. "Where's Kassam?"
"Home. He returns home. There is much sadness." He pauses, drawing himself up. "Or much joy. I cannot tell which way it will go." His black-eyed gaze grows vacant and he sways in place. "The trees. The trees. I did not want to see the trees doing that." He scrubs at his face with a sleeve. "Hedonism…"
I hesitate, confused. "There's something wrong with the trees? Or is it something to do with Kassam's return? Please, you have to tell me." When he ignores me, I reach out for his sleeve, to touch his arm and get his attention.
The god lets out a shrill cry, as if pained. "No!"
I immediately clutch my hands to my chest. "Sorry! I didn't mean to. But you're not making sense!"
Another figure comes racing down the hall, and to my surprise, it's not Kassam or another Spidae, but Yulenna. "Zaroun," she calls at the sight of him, moving directly toward the god who even now claws at his hair as if he's in pain. "Zaroun, it's all right. I'm here." She approaches him like one would a skittish colt and holds her hands out, palms up. "Do you see me? I'm right here with you."
"Yulenna." The god pants, pressing his palms to his eyes. "Has to see. Has to know," he mutters. "Trying to help."
"I know, my lord," Yulenna says in the most gentle of voices. "Come. Let me guide you back to the web. Is your brother there, waiting for you?"
"My brother. Yes. My brother is there." The god lowers his hands and focuses on her face. He grabs the sleeve of her dress and twists his long, spindly fingers into it. "You will lead us. This is the help we need to get it started. Her questions are too much for me."
Yulenna nods. "I am here, my lord. I will handle all your needs." She heads back up the ramp and gestures that I should follow. "Come. They're looking for you. But stay back and don't—don't touch Zaroun. He sees too much when that happens. It hurts him."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. The things he's saying, though…they frighten me." I need to know what happens to Kassam. I race after Yulenna's swishing skirts, taking care to stay a good distance back as she leads the god up the ramp. "Please, you have to tell me what he's talking about. He said there would be much sadness? Is something wrong with Kassam? I have to know. Now."
She shoots me an impatient look. "Zaroun sees visions of the future, but most of the time, his visions are nonsensical because he sees all possible versions at once. He's trying to warn you, to be helpful." The gaze she casts him is oddly affectionate. "He's doing his best."
"So no one's in danger?"
"Not yet." Her voice is tart as she leads the Spidae—Zaroun—forward. "Ossev is with him, hearing his requests. You will speak to Neska."
Neska? I don't know who that is, but I suppose it's one of the Spidae. "Should I get Kassam? He'll want to hear this, I imagine—"
"They separated you deliberately," Yulenna says, all impatience. "Whatever Neska will say to you, it is for you to hear alone, without influence. Now come, or they might not want to see you again for quite some time." She gives Zaroun a gentle smile, full of affection and completely at odds with how she treats me. "One more landing, my lord, and then we will be there."
"The trees," he says, his voice distant. He trails off, lost in thought.
"I will make sure Neska warns them of the trees," Yulenna replies.
"Warn?" He chuckles, then shakes his head, and for a moment, he doesn't look so lost. Those black eyes are unfocused, but not confused. "No warning. Just…startling."
Yulenna glances back to me, and at my confused expression, she shrugs. "No warning, then. Come, my love. We will send her to Neska and I will see to your needs."
The look he gives her is heated and alert, and I suddenly feel like I'm intruding. Would it be inappropriate for me to clear my throat? Because I feel like I should remind them that I'm right here.
But then we reach the landing, and Yulenna points at the thick cobweb curtains. "You are needed in there, Carly. I will go on with Zaroun."
"Oh. Okay. Thank…you?" Should I even be thanking her? I got no answers. Zaroun spouted a bunch of confusing things and scared the shit out of me and now I'm more lost than ever, and twice as worried. I touch the curtain, trying not to recoil as the sticky webs cling to my fingers, and step inside into a narrow hallway. As I do, I hear a low thrumming sound, like machinery that's working in the background somewhere. I move toward that sound, and as I do, it sounds less like machinery and more like…a harp. Or a fleet of harps. A gentle golden light spills into the hall, and when I finally step into a room, the breath escapes me.
This must be the heart of the Spidae's powers.
53
I stare in wonder up at the massive, multicolored web that fills the room. It's the source of all the lighting, a million threads all tangled together in no particular order, hanging in midair like a starburst or a nebula of sheer color captured inside the tower. I take a few steps forward, my feet cold on the stone floor, and I clutch my hands to my chest as the strands seem to move, fluttering and weaving themselves amidst each other as I watch. They look close enough to touch when I move to the middle of the room, but I don't dare. I know what this is, and I stare at the strands with awe, trying to pick out Kassam's and my own.