Page 46 of Keeper of the Word

Realization rushed through Tolvar. There was no doubt in his mind this was Crevan.

“Do you believe me now?” Tolvar snapped at Joss.

“This proves nothing, Lord Wolf,” Hux quietly countered.

Tolvar didn’t listen. Stars’ shadow. Was the attack on Elanna more menacing than merely stopping her from reaching Asalle as Tolvar had secretly speculated? Crevan could not possibly plot to destroy the StarSeers? But then, why not? There werefivebird corpses. His first instinct was to split up his men and search the area. But what if this was part of a trap? Second-guessing was foreign to him. Damn Hux for getting into Tolvar’s head.

“What are your orders, m’lord?” Gus asked.

He should track down Crevan this instant. He was not some pawn in a chess match. But is that what Crevan expected Tolvar to do? ’Twas not often he elected to go on the defense.

What if this is a trap?

Tolvar’s gaze darted from the starling corpses to Elanna in the background. Her face was pale. In the firelight, the remnants of herbruised neck resembled cursed dark markings he dared not consider long.

Asalle was less than a day’s ride away.

“We’ll double our guard this night. Sleep in three-hour shifts. Pack up as much as can be done now. We ride at dawn to Asalle.”

Unease crept over Tolvar. And even as he mulled over whether or not he’d made the correct decision, one thing was certain at present: he did feel like a pawn.

Chapter

Eighteen

ELANNA

She’d Seen this place. The visions of her Sight were vivid and real, and even so, Elanna’s breath was taken away when she gazed upon the city wall of the capital of the Capella Realm. It would take three Ashwin city walls to reach the top of it.

“Daved, would that you could see this,” Elanna whispered, thinking of her brother. Had his adventures in the military ever brought him here? For she was confident that he’d enlisted just as he’d always planned.

This morning, she had donned not her traveling gown, but had dressed in blue wool gown she hoped was more suitable for an audience with the sovereign. ’Twas simple—StarSeers rarely wore finery—but at least it was not filthy like the one she’d traveled in. She adjusted her hair so it fell in a mass across her chest, surrounding her neck. Hux had told her multiple times the bruising wasn’t noticeable, but she meant to hide it all the same. It no longer pained her to swallow, but she found herself testing that often. When her eyes were closed, Elanna had trouble repelling the sensation of fingers clenched against her skin. What should have been visions morphed into a notion that her lungs might burst.

But she was here in Asalle to accomplish the great task before her. She suppressed the sensation of her skin crawling.

Who would harm a StarSeer?

Tolvar had not allowed Elanna to see what terribleness lay in the grass, but she knew it had something to do with her. And apparently, Tolvar’s brother, she’d surmised from Tolvar’s scant remark. The riddle of the stars came back to her, as it had at Tam’s Ford:

There are threats unforeSeen to tempt those with wounds.

Stray not from the path or accept certain doom.

She’d strayed not from the path.And she must continue that course. She swallowed again.

Castle Sidra, the sovereign’s castle, was a beautiful behemoth. It stood on a hill in the city’s center, its granite stones glittering in the sunlight. From the main gate of the castle, Elanna observed the surrounding city, its roads laid out like a grid. Each district went on for miles, a public square in its center. People, riders, and carriages milled about.

Inside the castle’s inner bailey, stood a stream of dozens of retainers, servants, and knights in both white and silver uniforms. A tall man with a firm chin, clad in a rich blue tunic, strode to them on a golden-thread carpet. The sovereign. King Rian’s face was unreadable. As Elanna dismounted, she realized that she was uncertain who was supposed to bow to whom.

She curtsied low when King Rian stood in front of her.

He bestowed her an incline of his head. “My dear Lady StarSeer. Elanna the Fourth. I welcome you to Asalle.”

“My thanks, Your Majesty,” Elanna said, fighting the temptation to smooth her hair along her neck. There was not a person in the vicinity who did not stare at her in wonder. “I am honored to be here.”

“The honor is mine,” King Rian said, his eyes catching those in the crowd. “A StarSeer has not graced Asalle since the reign of my great-grandfather, Nicolus, I believe.” His smile was warm but did not reach his eyes. He held Tolvar’s gaze longer than he did others. “Come. You must be exhausted from your journey.”

His chancellor hastened after him, leading Elanna and Tolvar through giant double doors guarded by knights dressed in white-silver-and-gold uniforms. She chanced a backward glance at Hux, who was being led through a separate door along with Tolvar’s knights.