Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,21

going to gather our room. We need to leave.”

Elmwood raised a tree branch-like arm and pointed to the door. “Kearmore, attend with them,” he said to his guard.

“And Addax,” Samiel added, nodding to one of hers. “Be watchful.”

The four of them left the room, one wearing black, one white, one red, and one green; all lands united. It made Crow smile. “Thanks to you both.”

A silence fell over the room until Samiel broke it. “So, you two are joined by the string of fate?” she said, looking between Crow and Tancho. “Unexpected, yes?”

“You could say that,” Crow replied. “I came here for the tradition, as I was born to do. But this . . .” He held his wrist forward, showing the birthmark. “This was not expected. Adelais also found it so.”

“Mm, yes,” Elmwood said. “It seems an inconvenience to her.”

Tancho walked closer, his brow furrowed. “Samiel, you mentioned the string of fate? Do you know of it?”

She smiled, her eyes alight. “In my qasr, I was raised by my own elders. Generations of women who teach the stories and traditions as we worked. I trust you had your own teachings. But according to lore, the red string of fate is invisible to the eye, but the soul can see. It stretches from one soul, out in the world to find the soul it connects to,” she flitted her hand in the air. “It is an old tale told to ease the worried hearts of those who long for love. They will find their one.”

Crow was about to protest that, and Tancho sputtered something unintelligible. Love? Had Samiel succumbed to madness? She laughed and waved them both off. “It is not always love. The string of fate ties you to someone who will bring change to your life, a friend, merchants, neighbours. It can mean many things. Were you not taught this?”

Crow, Tancho, and Elmwood all shook their heads.

“We don’t know what it is,” Crow said. “Red string or not, it’s something entrenched in alchemy. Maghdlm brought about a reaction, and I don’t believe anything here is a coincidence.”

“You’re suggesting she can eliminate this but chooses not to?” Tancho asked.

Crow gave a nod. “Perhaps she orchestrated the whole thing. Perhaps this was always the ploy.”

Tancho asked them what Adelais and the other elders had discussed after he and Crow had left, and the answer was not much. The way they skirted around truths and feigned surprise of a possible attack on the Westlands had not sat well with Samiel and Elmwood, and as the elders left to seek information or insight, Samiel and Elmwood had come directly here.

But Crow only listened with half an ear because his mind was racing . . .

Perhaps she orchestrated the whole thing. Perhaps this was always the ploy.

“Crow?” Tancho asked. “Are we boring you?”

Perhaps this was always the ploy . . .

“That’s it!” Crow said. “It’s all a ploy.”

“What is?” Tancho asked. Even Karasu paused her packing to look at him.

“This Golden Eclipse comes but once in our lifetimes. Our whole lives are dedicated to this.”

“So?” Samiel asked.

“We would be here without question,” Crow explained. “It is insisted that we all leave our lands to be here, in this place. Together. For the first time in our lives, all four of us are here at the same time.”

“What is your point?” Elmwood asked.

Crow stared at Tancho, and from the way his face was now devoid of colour, Crow guessed he understood. “Karasu,” Tancho whispered. “Forget what isn’t packed. We leave at once.”

“What is it?” Elmwood asked, more concerned now.

“If you were to invade four connecting lands, would you do one at a time? Or would you wait for such an instance when all four rulers are absent and move in, taking all in one fell swoop?” Crow shook his head. “We left our lands unattended. This whole thing has been a ruse.”

“What of the string that binds you?” Samiel said, nodding to Crow, then Tancho. “How do your birthmarks play into this theory?”

“That was unexpected,” Crow replied. “And also why she didn’t like it. She wants us to still partake in the Golden Eclipse.”

“Why?” Tancho said, cinching his bag closed and tying it off. “What purpose does that serve? We’re already here.”

“I don’t know,” Crow admitted.

“To divide us,” Elmwood said.

Soko and Kohaku and the others arrived back, flushed from running but smiling. Until they saw the looks on their faces. Soko dropped the two bags, his eyes full of worry. “My king, what is