Page 49 of Keeper of the Word (The Unsung and the Wolf Duology #2)

Chapter

Forty-Four

ELANNA

I t rained the entire day.

“It will cease,” Tara said. “We’ve already Seen this night’s fortune.”

But Elanna drank in dread all day. One chance. One half-moon before Dashiell’s wedding. It had to be tonight.

And yet she feared it all the same. Especially after reading what scrolls they could find in the Royal Library.

Moreover, the grey rain clouds choking out the sky reminded Elanna of that night in Tam’s Ford. The stars had made effort to warn her, but she hadn’t been able to See them. She paced, her fingers grazing her neck.

Who would harm a StarSeer?

But at seven past midday, the rain ceased. And by dark, the clouds had scattered. Tara was correct.

After returning from the Delara, they’d spent the remainder of the afternoon in Tara’s apartments, rooms that were larger than Elanna’s. The six guards took turns trading off who stood sentinel in the corridor.

“When will you acknowledge that?” Hux asked quietly when he’d drawn her into a corner while the others dined on their supper.

Elanna didn’t feign confusion about what he meant. “We’ve already had this discussion.”

“We must acknowledge our traumas. How can we make it into the future otherwise?”

“There’s naught to acknowledge.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Why do you not show some acknowledgment? What was your argument with Daved about in that corridor?”

“I’d rather not say at present, Lady.” He eyed the others in the background.

“Very well. Suit yourself.”

Hux upturned his lips and winked. “It certainly will be lovely to leave this tension-filled apartment. What a bunch of nervous lambs everyone is.”

Elanna could not disagree.

Despite Dashiell’s disappearance, ’twas made widely public that King Rian’s nightly court feast went on as usual.

The sovereign was keeping up pretenses, ’twas certain.

An hour into the feast, when most of the castle’s guests and retainers were entertained and deep into their wine, the party of eight made their move.

Goodsell doubted entrusting their exit to Hux, but Tara had placed her hand upon his to still his suspicions.

Donning their cloaks, Elanna and Tara followed the others out into the corridor.

At times, Hux split them into two groups, ducking into empty rooms or behind curtains.

Twice, Hux sought out a servant, whispering in his ear as the others observed the servant’s eyes widen before escorting the group to another section of the castle.

At the servant’s gate, the same one they’d used the day of the Mead Moon Festival, Hux gave the two guards there a few choice phrases as well.

Elanna only caught the words “commander’s daughter” and “your honor.” They stepped aside, Goodsell’s surprise audible.

Hux certainly was putting the castle gossip to use.

More surprising, though, was when the guards handed Hux two swords .

“There isn’t one for everyone,” Joss said.

“It’ll do,” Hux said, wrapping the sheath belt around his waist after offering the other one to Goodsell. “Besides, I thought this city was safe?”

Joss kept her cursing to a minimum, and they exited.

Once they were on the street and two blocks away from Castle Sidra, the group relaxed a bit and splintered into pairs.

Elanna walked side by side with Hux at the lead.

The air, cool and fresh from the rain, felt glorious outside the sovereign’s castle.

The night was early, and they strode past numerous passersby, who ignored them with ease, as they meandered the boroughs of the city.

A few clouds lingered in the sky, but otherwise, a speckle of stars was visible overhead.

The half-moon was partially covered by a cloudy drift, but its light illuminated them as if a lantern lay behind.

The streets sheened with puddles that reflected the light of the street lanterns and torches from pubs, taverns, and late-open shoppes.

“What is Shroud Magic, Lady?” Hux kept his voice low. “Explain to me what we’re doing? From your retelling of the witch in the square, I would ne’er have thought you’d actively seek her out.”

Elanna kept her eyes on the road in front of them; the puddles on the cobblestone rippled as they were disturbed. “We need her. Shroud Magic is dark spellwork.”

“Like the Curse of?—”

Elanna paused and put her hand to Hux’s mouth. The others halted behind them, Goodsell particularly jumpy.

“Nay.” She pierced Hux’s eyes with her own. “Not like the Curse at all. The Curse is an evil not of the skies.”

“What happened?” Joss called, but neither responded.

They resumed walking in silence.

“Darkness need not be gloom,” she continued after her heart had slowed. “There is beauty and a depth therein that we oft mistake for wrongness. The wrongness is not the dark but the desires of imbalance. Greed. Hatred. Corruption. But the beauty of light cannot shine without darkness. ”

Hux’s lips quirked into a half-smile. “That sounds”—he paused—“comforting.”

Elanna shrugged, blocking what she’d Seen of Hux’s future from her mind. “’Tis the way of things. Can you view the stars when they are obstructed by the sun?”

Hux grinned. “You can view the moon at times.”

Elanna nodded. “Aye, my point exactly. The moon is a gentle intermediary between them. It has a glow and a shade. ’Tis one reason the half-moon is vital for tonight.”

“I see.”

The conversation lulled, and Elanna found her eyes drawn to the black shadows of alleyways and unlit windows.

“Indeed, there was a time,” she said, “when even witches dreaded the Curse. ’Tis because the Curse cannot be controlled, no matter what humankind may think.

So you see, dark spellwork is not a curse but is a magic contrary to the light of Siria.

’Tis much like the difference between the shadows scattered by the moon’s pale light and the glimmer of the stars. ’Tis as coldness and warmth.”

Laughter in an alleyway seized their attention.

“I have ne’er heard of Shroud Magic. Shouldn’t I be familiar with it as I am from Deogol, the isle of the Moons?”

“The Moon goddesses are the very essence of the Moon’s muted glow. They are not the shadows.”

Hux frowned, clearly not following all of Elanna’s words.

“’Tis layered, the enchantments of this world.

There is the constancy of the stars’ brilliance, the everchanging radiance of the Moon, and the rich cast of shades as the antithesis of that luminosity.

It keeps the balance in Tasia. But where StarSeers are Daughters of Light, Shroud Magic is not easily used.

Or touched. And there can be harsh consequences that I am not altogether familiar with. But we have no choice.”

Hux cocked his head toward her and raised an eyebrow. “And this is why we seek the witch. You need her to perform this?”

“Aye. And Tolvar’s moonstone. Let us hope she is who Tara has Seen. ”

They rounded the block and found themselves in a new borough.

And Hux was right. This district did feel different.

Not lavish. Many of the signs on shoppes and pubs bore chipped paint, and the street lanterns revealed cobwebs thereon.

Dozens of people still passed them, but fleeting eyes drifted onto them.

Hux kept his hand on his hilt. When she glanced back at Goodsell, he, too, had a hand on his hilt.

They crossed three more roads. Elanna was positive they had moved into yet another borough. Whereas she’d sensed unease where they’d just been, in this borough, Elanna knew the edginess was not her imagination.

Behind them, Goodsell’s sword shushed as he unsheathed it .

“And what spell exactly do you perform tonight?” Hux asked, his eyes scanning the surrounding streets.

“The dark spellwork we perform tonight will have the power to protect and veil the Capella Realm’s most precious place. The Heart.”

“And that is?” Hux unsheathed his sword, too.

“Asalle.”

Hux stumbled but didn’t pause his pace. “You shall hide an entire city? The city? The capital of the Capella Realm.”

“If the stars command us. Aye. ’Tis exactly what we shall do.”

Hux lifted both brows, giving a low whistle.

It seemed to Elanna that the districts of Asalle they traveled were like a funnel. They winded through blocks upon blocks, each one becoming more like the bottom of a barrel, the dregs of the city clinging and unable to ignore.

But Asalle was supposed to be different.

Cracks, was all Elanna could estimate. ’Twas the only explanation that a borough like this could exist in Asalle.

At a tavern, the sign of which Elanna couldn’t read—’twas so worn—Hux halted and told the others to wait while he stepped inside. Barrett offered to go with him, but Hux insisted everyone else stay with Elanna and Tara.

Three women spilled from the doorway as they passed Hux. Staggering, they swerved to not collide into the group. One bumped into Elanna, and Joss shoved the woman, who fell to the street.

“Eh? What you do that for?” her companion screeched at Joss, making an effort to get into her face. But in her drunken stupor, she veered away.

“I shall do more than that if you come near her again,” Joss said, her fists clenched.

The three cackled, one falling next to her companion.

“Move along,” Goodsell said, his arms shooing them like one would chickens. They cackled once more and started away.

“Wait!” Tara exclaimed. She stepped forward, towering over them. “Give it to me.”

“Give what?” one asked, the other two inching away. Suddenly, they did not appear so intoxicated after all.

Tara lifted her cloak’s hood away from her head to reveal her golden hair. Her eyes transfixed the woman in front of her. “For your fortune’s sake, give it to me.”

Without a word, the woman dropped the Edan Stone she’d swiped from Elanna’s pocket into Tara’s open palm.

Clearly not intoxicated.

The two behind her came to a standstill. “Stars be good. I’d heard rumor. What are you doing here ?”

“That is my business and the business of the stars. Now hold your tongue and be off.”

They were a dozen paces away when Elanna called out, “Wait!”

She, too, dropped her hood and strode to them. “In six days hence, leave here and make for Renstown. Tell no one where you go. There, you find a man named Buchton. Tell him to prepare his storage cellar. He will have had a dream and will know what that means.”

The three’s eyes widened. Elanna suddenly became aware of what she’d uttered.

What is in six days?

There was no time to ponder over the fortune she’d bestowed upon them. “Do you understand? ”

“Aye, m’lady,” one said, her tone meek. They fled as Hux exited the pub.

“It appears as though I missed some excitement.”