The Beauty of Darkness - Mary E. Pearson Page 0,23

pulled it from its sheath, the day coming to life again, the disbelief that had swept over me, the seconds that changed everything, the Komizar crumpling to the ground, and my naïve hope swelling that it could really be over.

Words, dry as chalk, lay on my tongue. I swallowed, searching for saliva, and finally managed a hoarse whisper. “What happened to the others, Kaden? Calantha, Effiera, the servants?” I rattled off another half dozen names of those who had been sympathetic to me, those who had looked at me with hopeful eyes. They had expected something from me that I didn’t deliver. A promise they were still waiting for.

His brow furrowed. “Most likely dead. Clans who cheered your succession in the square suffered losses. It was a message. I don’t know the numbers, but at least a hundred were slaughtered. All of Aster’s clan, including Effiera.”

My thoughts whirled. “Yvet and Zekiah?” I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. “And Eben?”

“I don’t know.” But the tone of his voice held little hope. He glanced at my lap. The sword still lay across it.

Part of me wanted to untie him, to believe every word he had told me, that he was only here to help us escape, but Rafe’s story didn’t match Kaden’s. Rafe had seen the Komizar dead. He’d told Sven he’d seen the corpse dragged away.

The cavern shuddered with a sudden bellowing scream. I heard Sven curse and the shouts of the others trying to hold Griz down. The worried flutter of birds roosting high above us sent sandy debris raining down.

Kaden looked up as if something else might lurk in the dark floors above us. “Untie me, Lia. Before it’s too late. I promise you I’m not lying.”

I stood, dusting off my trousers, a familiar ache blooming in my chest. Venda always comes first. His long-ago words burned bright. If any words were true in Kaden’s heart, I knew it was those.

I lifted the sword and pressed its sharp edge to his neck. “You may have saved my life, Kaden, but you haven’t yet earned my trust. I care about all these men I am traveling with. I won’t have them harmed.”

His eyes smoldered with frustration. Things were different now. There was far more at stake than just my life and saving it. There was everyone I loved in Morrighan, everyone I cared about in Venda, every one of the men in this company I rode with—they were threaded into every thought and movement I made. They had to become part of his thoughts too. He had to care like I did. Venda couldn’t come first for him anymore. Even I couldn’t come first.

* * *

I lay curled in Rafe’s arms, exhaustion overtaking both of us. I had asked him again about the Komizar, telling him what Kaden said. He told me not to worry, that the Komizar was dead—but I saw his hesitation this time before he answered, the slack in his jaw, the barest stalled moment that told me what I needed to know. He was lying. He hadn’t seen the body dragged away. I wasn’t sure if I should be angry with him, or grateful. I knew he was only trying to calm my fears, but I didn’t want to be calmed. I wanted to be prepared. I didn’t push the point. Rest was more imperative to our survival. His eyes were lined with fatigue.

We were nestled in a dark nook of the ruin that afforded us only a small amount of privacy. A few fallen slabs separated us from the others and the glow of the firelight. Orrin had first watch. I could hear him pacing on the gravel floor just feet away. Maybe it was the rustling of birds somewhere high above us, or the distant howling of wolves that kept him on edge. Or the fact that the Assassin now slept among us. Maybe that was why none of us could sleep.

Only Griz seemed to find deep slumber, swept away into some dark dream-filled world. Tavish said if he made it through the night, he might have a chance. There was nothing more any of us could do.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

KADEN

Orrin’s pacing was driving me mad. It made it difficult to hear other noises. Things I should listen for. I rolled to my side, trying to reach the rope around my feet, but the knots were out of my reach. My shoulder ached from lying for hours in the same