Page 7 of Heart of Night
For a moment, I wait for her to continue, but she remains quiet, eyes distant as if in her mind she’s already gone on a hunt.
“Can you tell me what Ephegos wants with me, Kaira?”
Five
Ayna
For the first time since the warrior Flame entered the room, her expression becomes guarded, and she is fidgeting, almost like she is anxious she might spill secrets that aren’t hers to tell. Not that I’m surprised Ephegos would have put a lock on all that information he’s been unwilling to share with me himself, and his vengeance is nothing I’d want anyone exposed to, so I shake my head at Kaira, pretending my curiosity and fear aren’t eating me up. “It’s all right. I’ll find out in good time.” If I never find out, it’s soon enough.
Kaira’s shoulders relax, and she heaves an obvious breath of relief.
I might not get the information I want, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned at the Crow Palace, it is that there’s always something else to learn that might come in handy later, so I brace myself for all the possible answers to my next question. “Where is this residence located? Are we still in Askarea?” Not that I’m in any condition to attempt an escape, but if I ever get a chance, I’d better know what to expect if I make it past the pink and yellow blossoms in the gardens outside my window.
Kaira shakes her head, then nods. “Kind of. We’re right at the border.”
My heart beats wildly enough to make me wonder if the full-blooded fairies in the estate can hear it through walls and floors. “Which border?”
There are only two borders with Askarea, and both of them are human territories. Cezux and Tavras.
“The Plithian Plains.” She gestures at the window as if the forest and flowers would explain everything, and my stomach sags to my knees.
“Tavras.” The word leaves me in a gust, hollowing out my chest until I have no breath in me. I haven’t seen the Plithian Plains in the north of Tavras since my childhood when my mother dragged me across the land to find a new home for us. The flatland sits nestled between the lush grain fields in the northeast of the capital Meer and the Askarean border. It’s a region of harsh winds and wet storms that hosts only a few settlements. Merchant outposts mostly, where goods for trade with the fairylands are being temporarily stored, inns and blacksmiths provide for travelers, and then there are the horses.
I’ve never seen as many horses as on the Plithian Plains where they graze in vast stretches of flat lands with sheds built against copses of trees as shelters and waterholes scattered between the occasional fence for keeping them from meandering into the fairylands.
When I was a child, I thought galloping through the Plithian Plains on one of those slender horses would equal freedom. Then I grew up and became a pirate. Riding is nothing compared to the winds whipping across the ocean and the sense of flying they induce when the ship cuts through storms and waters.
“Not quite. We’re technically still on Askarean soil. It’s the only way to make sure Tavras can’t interfere—” Eyes widening, she slaps her hand over her mouth, stopping herself, but I’ve soaked up every last syllable, and there is no unhearing what she said.
“Interfere with what?” I prompt, hoping she’ll slip up again.
Kaira takes a step back, gesturing at the tea. “Drink. I’ve already said too much.”
“Not enough,” I correct her, and I notice that guarded expression again that tells me something is going on behind those brown eyes that could make a difference in my escape.
That makes the woman chuckle before her gaze darkens. “I always say too much. It’s a Guardiansdamned miracle they let me do anything at all.”
“Who are they? The Flames? The Crows working with the Flames? General Katrijanov?” I have to at least try. After seeing the Crows bleed when answering questions the curse forbade, there is nothing that can happen to Kaira if no one ever learns she spilled secrets. “I won’t tell anyone you said anything,” I promise, wondering if Flames—or even part-Flames—make bargains like other fairies.
Kaira only shakes her head at me. “I value my life too much to tell you. But know that, even if this seems to be a dire situation, not all Flames are happy with Ephegos’s leadership.” She doesn’t say if she agrees, but the fact that she mentioned Ephegos as a leader confirms the impression I got at the battle when the Flames seemed to flank him and protect him like a king of their own.
Inclining my head, I reach for the cup still waiting on the table. “I won’t forget your kindness, Kaira.”
She’s already stalking toward the door, knife back at her hip and shoulders tight as she reaches for the brass knob and hesitates. “I’ll try to come back tomorrow. Just don’t upset anyone in the meantime. Flames are a fiery people and their tempers almost as bad as that of the Crows.”
I accept her warning with a tentative smile. “A perfect match, those two people then. If only they wouldn’t try to rip each other apart.”
Kaira returns my smile before she leaves the room.
I’m wearing the same eggshell-and-blue dress with blossom embroidery when I wake in my bed, what could be minutes or hours later. An ache in my shoulder makes me roll to the side and reach up to rub it, but my arm is stuck between the mattress and my body, and the sensation vanishes as I try to remember how I ended up here. The last thing I know is sipping the aromatic brew Kaira poured for me; everything after is a haze of jostling and nausea.
A glance at the table confirms the tea set is gone, and I wonder what sort of poison they gave me that makes my stomach feel like I have a ton of sawdust to hurl.
When I roll out of bed and hurtle for the bathing room, I barely make it to the porcelain toilet. But all that comes up is bile and memories of a beautiful pale male lying lifeless in a puddle of blood and water.
“Myron,” I whisper as if somehow that would summon him from behind Eroth’s Veil. His name bounces off the marble tiles and brass accents in the room, but in my chest, all it does is sink into the darkness I’m harboring there like a rock into ink.
By the time I’m done dry heaving, I’m shaking from exhaustion, and sweat beads my neck and forehead, but my head is clear, and where I had little to no idea of where I am and why I am here a day ago, I now have an estimated location of my whereabouts and the knowledge that the Flames and Crows working together might not be as happy with their alliance as they seemed when acting against Myron.