Shrouded Sky (The Veils of Lore Book 1) (28 page)

“Son, do you accept what these two have spoken?” Jhon asked, turning to Orryn.

“Of course he does,” the first twin said, giving him no time to answer. “See how he gazes down at her even now. He can never be what she wishes him to be, and yet he still belongs to her, as he always has.”

“You’re wrong,” Chandra said.

The twins looked at her with surprise, then amusement. “Another heart stolen perhaps?” the second said.

The first twin studied Chandra up and down. “It is said you have ancestral memory,” she said.

“That’s right,” Chandra said, an edge to her voice. Something told her she needed to sound tough, though she had no idea where it would come from. The only people she had ever challenged head-on were her parents and teachers, which basically meant no one.

The second twin cocked her head, eyeing her curiously. “And what is it you think you know?” the second twin asked.

“I know about Kiradyn,” Chandra said. “I also know about Tearia and the Red King and the Purge. But Master Seth already mentioned that at the Council meeting, remember?” She looked the twin in the eye. “Or maybe you were catnapping at the time.”

The twin curled her lip. “Oh I remember,” she said. She glanced at Tygg. “I also remember you saying the tom meant nothing to you.”

“That’s right, too,” Chandra said, hoping the forced bravado in her voice didn’t betray her true feelings.

The first twin moved behind Tygg and drew a dagger from her cloak. She held it for Chandra to see, then grabbed Tygg’s hair and yanked his head back. She pressed the blade to his throat. “And if I were to slay him before your very eyes, drain his blood until it pooled at your feet, would he still mean nothing to you?”

Chandra swallowed thickly as she stared at the blade now pressed to Tygg’s jugular. What should she do? What should she say?

“
Tell them your affections lie with Orryn alone
,” Jhon said in a hurried mental command.

“But what if she follows through with it?”
Chandra asked desperately. The voice in her mind had quivered as surely as if it had risen from her vocal cords. She couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t!

“Just do it!”

“You’ve got to be kidding. So far everything I’ve said has only gotten us into more hot water.”

“You must say it!”

Chandra clenched her hands in the skirt of her robe and gathered her courage. There was no time for debate. She had to trust Jhon. “I would still deny it,” she said, lifting her head, “for there is only one man who claims my heart, and that is Orryn.”

Orryn jerked his head like he had just seen something horrifying, not an emotion a Pedant would feel, much less reveal.

Chandra stepped toward him. She locked her eyes on his. “That’s right,” she said. “I love you, Orryn. Just as you love me.”

“Impossible!” he said.

“Is it?” Chandra asked.

He scoffed. “Of course it is. I have given you no reason to have affection for me. And I certainly have none for you.” He glanced down at the Sovereign, who eyed Chandra with hostility, then at the twins, who watched him with increased suspicion. “I assure you, the girl speaks nonsense,” he said. “I’m Pedant and have always treated the girl thus.”

“Have you, Orryn?” Chandra asked, drawing his attention back to her. “What about the night we spent in each other’s arms? Does that mean nothing to you?”

Orryn remained speechless, but then his brows met. “What game are you playing?” he demanded.

The Sovereign struggled to her knees and reached a hand out to him.

“Don’t let her touch you!” Chandra grabbed his arm and yanked him from her reach.

“I do not take orders from you,” he said, shrugging her away. “Now answer me! What is your game?”

“
Oh god,”
Chandra thought
. “What do I say? What do I do?”

“Prove it to him,”
Jhon replied.

“
Prove
what
to him?”

“That your feelings are true and his are, too.”

Chandra’s mind raced back to the struggle Orryn had had within himself, and then what had transpired between them. There was only one thing she could think of to prove it, and even in that there were no guarantees.

She moved toward him, her eyes on his, praying for that spark she had once seen within them, anything to show Orryn was still alive in there somewhere. But as she watched him she saw nothing, no light, no recognition of what they had shared. “No game, Orryn,” she said, and without further hesitation threw her arms around his neck, kissing him hard.

The Sovereign let out a horrific scream and lunged on her knees toward them, but again Chandra shoved Orryn from the woman’s reach while she herself leapt in the other direction. The Sovereign, her face full of jealous rage, wailed and rocked, wrapping her arms around herself. “Traitor traitor traitor!” she hissed. “Filthy cat!”

Jhon leapt toward the twin who was holding the dagger to Tygg’s throat, her smoldering eyes fully riveted on Chandra. He snatched the dagger from her hand and whirled around, plunging the blade into the Sovereign’s back.

The twins’ voices rose in a horrible and unworldly sound, and Chandra covered her ears to block the piercing pain. Others in the room did the same, until at last the hellish noise stopped, and the room exploded in chaos.

The Shield guards stormed toward Chandra and the rest, their swords raised. Red-robed attendants screamed and wailed, some wringing their hands, others running from the room or rushing to their Lady’s aid. The twins, now standing side by side in a formidable front, faced down the emissaries who had drawn their own weapons and rushed toward them. And Orryn, his blade unsheathed, charged Pey without regard to rank.

The guards reached them and swung their weapons. Jhon, who still held the dagger, met a Shield blade with a
clank
of metal, but the dagger was quickly knocked from his hand and onto the floor. Jhon ducked from the guard, then drew his own short sword from beneath his cloak.

Chandra, fueled by an instinct she had never known, swooped to retrieve the dagger that Jhon had dropped. She sprinted toward Tygg to cut his bindings, then realized a guard was closing in at her back. She made a sharp detour and dashed up the dais toward the throne, hoping to lure him further from Tygg, but then she realized the man was no longer in pursuit. She turned to see Ren standing over him, his own sword covered in blood.

Chandra looked at Ren, who met her gaze, but there was no time for gratitude. She ran down the steps toward Tygg who was still kneeling and bound. Red robes and guards darted in front and around her, forcing her to dodge and duck. Jhon and Orryn were not far, which would probably keep Tygg safe for a time. But Chandra refused to risk his life on probabilities. She sprinted toward him, the adrenalin pumping through her veins like that of a charging lioness. If anyone dared touch him, she would make them regret it.

Chandra clenched the dagger tighter as another red-robe approached. She had little skill with a weapon, but the power raging through her made her feel invincible.

The twins were still in combat with the three emissaries. Though outnumbered and slighter in build, the girls were ferocious, like trained warriors in a Kung Fu movie. Ren and one of Pey’s henchmen battled it out at the foot of the throne while bodies of guards and attendants littered the steps below them. The henchman spat obscenities at Ren, enraged in more than the usual sense. Not only was Ren defending the murderer of the Sovereign, but he was fighting against his own military unit, something Chandra had not expected. Her brain reeled at the confusion around her, but her perplexity increased when she heard Jhon scream “No!”, his eyes aimed squarely at Tygg.

Chandra wheeled to see the Sovereign crawling toward Tygg. A smear of blood marked a slimy path across the tile.

Chandra fought her way toward him, but as she drew near she was cut off by another attendant seeking to block her way. The servant, though determined, was little match for the fury that spurred Chandra on. She slashed him aside with her dagger, clumsy as it was.

The Sovereign reached Tygg as he attempted to scrabble away, but her hand shot out like a viper and latched onto his leg. He fell onto his back, hands still bound, as she dragged herself onto him, clawing her way up his legs. Tygg writhed and kicked, but it was no use. The Sovereign’s grip was beyond that of any ordinary woman, especially a dying one. Her chest slid onto his and she drew him into her arms, and it was then that Chandra saw the woman’s arms begin to elongate, wrapping him like a boa constrictor.

The Sovereign and Tygg were nose to nose, the creature’s hot breath mingling with his. Was it too late? Had she already planted herself in him? Chandra leapt toward them with what felt like superhuman speed, shoving aside anyone who dared step in her path. Her vision was a tunnel of focus, her determination a force to be reckoned with. She reached the Sovereign, grabbed her by the hair and swiped the blade across the creature’s throat.

Blood spurted onto the floor and across Tygg’s face as the Sovereign expelled a gurgling hiss, then collapsed, dead. Chandra kicked her off of Tygg and dragged him away, barely aware of the din going on around them.

Tygg lay panting and shaking, his eyes wild with confusion.

“It’s all right,” Chandra said. She reached down and hurriedly rolled him onto his side, cutting the bindings at his wrists. She helped him to his feet, then spun to defend him, her knife held ready, but the only enemies left standing were those still fighting Orryn, Jhon, and Ren, and the twins who were fully occupied by the equally skilled emissaries.

Chandra turned to Tygg and realized he was lifting something that looked like a leaf to his lips. But then, from seemingly nowhere, Jhon was upon him. Chandra glanced back to see what had happened to the guard he’d been fighting. He was lying on the ground, his eyes staring blindly at the ceiling. She turned her attention back to Tygg and Jhon, confused by Jhon’s violent attempts to wrestle whatever it was from Tygg’s hand. Tygg, shaken and injured as he was, fought with determination, shoving Jhon back and insisting it had to be done. But Jhon seemed equally motivated, and the two of them were soon rolling on the ground in their struggle for the mysterious leaf.

“Enough of this!” Orryn shouted behind her. Chandra twisted around to see Pey with a shocked expression on his face, blood gurgling from his chest. He fell onto his back, his skull cracking against the tile.

Orryn hastened to Chandra’s side, panting with exertion and smelling of sweat and blood. He was still in his Pitch uniform, but the filth that covered him hid all signs of the white he had donned that morning. Even Chandra’s robes were splattered with red.

Tygg leapt to his feet and ordered Jhon, who was struggling to his knees, to stay back.

“Tell him he mustn’t do this!” Jhon said to Orryn.

Orryn looked at his father, then at Tygg, clearly at a loss. His eyes gravitated to what Tygg held, and an understanding formed in his expression. “Tygg,” he said, shock registering in his voice. “Surely you don’t mean to do it.”

“Tell him I can help him,” Jhon said.

“No one can help me,” Tygg said. He lifted the leaf to his lips.

“Father can!” Orryn said.

Tygg hesitated.

“I swear it, Tygg. Give him a chance.”

“I have no choice, Or’n!” Tygg said.

“I know you think Marcassett has entered you,” Orryn said, stepping toward him, “but it’s possible she didn’t have enough time.”

“Tygg.” Jhon reached out a hand. “Please, before you do anything rash. Let us at least know for certain.”

“And if she
is
in me?” Tygg said. “What then? Will you allow me to do what must be done?”

“If it is your will,” Jhon said.

“No!” Chandra said, brushing past Orryn. “I won’t let you do this!”

Orryn grabbed her by the arm, allowing her to go no further. “Father knows what he’s doing.”

“Don’t you understand?” she said, shrugging her arm from Orryn’s hold. “Tygg means to kill himself!

Jhon placed his hands on either side of Tygg’s head, concentrating as Chandra had seen him do before, but then Jhon grabbed Tygg in a bear hug, pressing his body to his.

“Father, no!” Orryn rushed forward and tried to pull them apart, but Jhon was thoroughly latched onto Tygg, and it was only after a few moments that Orryn was able to force Tygg in one direction and his father in the other.

Jhon staggered back. “I’m sorry, son,” he said, and shoved the leaf into his mouth.

A deafening screech sounded from the twins, like a thousand angry hawks had descended into the room. The emissaries, one eye on their opponents, the other darting toward Jhon and the others, hesitated, then continued to fight the twins who now seemed more crazed than before.

Orryn moved toward his father, but Jhon thrust out a hand. “Stay back!” he commanded. “There must be no physical contact between us.”

“Father, what have you done?”

“No,” Chandra whispered.

“You are free,” Jhon said to Tygg. He sank to one knee.

“Why? Why did you do this?” Tygg asked, barely able to speak.

Jhon clutched his chest, his breathing labored. “Because . . . your Qwa t’sei cannot end here, nor can Orryn’s and Chandra’s. Together you must see that the Kee is returned.”

“Father!” Orryn took a step, then stopped.

“Returned?” Tygg said. “You mean it is not here?”

“No,” Jhon said, his voice growing weak. “It must be found, or it will be eternal death . . . for us all. Only Chandra can return it to us . . . for only she knows where it is.”

Tygg looked at Chandra, aghast. “Is this true?”

“Yes. But I only recently learned of it,” she said.

“Where is it?” he demanded.

“In Sister World.”

Tygg paled as if all the blood had drained to his feet. “Sister World?”

The clanking footsteps of approaching Shield men sounded from a corridor at the far end of the room. The twins, seeing their chance with the reinforcements, whirled away from the emissaries and toward the corridor.

“Edrea,”
Chandra heard Jhon’s fading voice sound in her head.
“It’s time. Get out. All of you. Keep her safe.”