she hissed, her dead blue tongue flicking like a snake’s, tasting the air, ‘but not for much longer. My power grows, and a dead man’s bargain is soon broken.’
‘Bargain? Is that why you killed them?’ Venn asked, indicating the dead Elves all around.
The Wither Queen reached up with long broken fingernails and caressed the nearest of the wisps of light. ‘Such is the nature of my bondage, to scour the forest of Elves and leave the humans unharmed.’ She stopped and peered at him with rapacious intent. ‘But what human has three souls?’
‘One who would honour your work, my queen,’ Rojak replied before Venn could speak.
The Reaper Aspect cocked her head in curiosity - not in a human way; it reminded Venn more of a cat’s unfeeling interest. There was no doubt she had heard the words, and she was surprised at the way Rojak had addressed her. Her eye narrowed. ‘To do that you must free me of my bargains.’
‘And if we did?’
Her expression went even colder. ‘Do not think I would substitute one set of chains for another.’
‘Never shall you be chained,’ Rojak crooned, ‘never caged like a God’s pet.’
She took a breath and her tongue tasted the air once more, flicking out towards Venn, as though lapping the sweat from his cheek.
‘Tear down the temple to me in Lomin, defile the ground and break my chains - then you may ask one thing of me, so long as it does not leave me bound to another.’
‘A Goddess asks for her own temple to be defiled?’ laughed Rojak, his delight unrestrained at the perversity of the request. ‘Such a thing would be a joy in itself.’
Venn bowed to her. ‘It will be done.’
CHAPTER 20
Major Jachen squinted up at the sun and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. It was mid-morning and they’d been travelling since dawn, making a final push to reach Llehden before the end of the day. The sun had been in their eyes all the way and Jachen’s head was hurting because of it - that, and the questions running nonstop through his head.
Lord Isak’s final orders for his Personal Guard had been to travel to Narkang and enter the service of King Emin. That in itself had been enough to provoke near-rebellion in the ranks. Count Vesna had limited the impact by returning the married men to their previous positions before giving the order, but still it rankled. Some of the men still refused to believe Jachen was as much in the dark as they, especially once they had found their new master at his castle outside Kamfer’s Ford.
‘You will go to Llehden,’ the king had said, his face inscrutable. ‘You will find the Witch of Llehden. She has a use for you.’
Jachen shook his head. He had been a mercenary for years, and had served many masters, but this was the first time he’d been passed around like a piece of currency.
‘Can you not tell me any more, your Majesty?’ he’d pleaded. ‘What do I say to my men? They’re the best of the Farlan Army, and they’re ready to die for their lord without hesitation - but to be handed off like mercenaries or slaves . . . they’re men of honour, your Majesty — ’
‘They are men of war,’ King Emin had replied, with enough snap in his voice that the black-clad bodyguard at his side put a hand on his sword hilt.
Jachen had been given an audience by himself, while the rest of Lord Isak’s Personal Guard were left in the courtyard below and told in no uncertain terms to stay put until Jachen returned.
The king’s reaction had left Jachen even more confused; the Farlan and the people of Narkang were allies, were they not? Yet everyone at Camatayl Castle had treated them with suspicion and hostility, as if they were enemies in their midst rather than proven friends and comrades.
‘What is more,’ King Emin had continued after a tense moment, ‘you will go to Llehden with only two of your men - am I right in thinking not all are Palace Guard?’
Jachen had been slow to work out what the king was talking about, and his silence prompted the bodyguard to take a warning step forwards. ‘The Ascetites? Yes, your Majesty, three aren’t Ghosts but agents of the Chief Steward.’
‘They will stay here then, I have need of such men. Their names?’
‘Ah, Tiniq, Leshi and Shinir - they are as thick as thieves and about as honest, but Tiniq