Page 57 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)
Fifty-Seven
Xiang
B olin gestured swiftly with the understanding that their time was limited. Selene loomed behind him. Xiang remained stoic while receiving the disappointing news, acutely aware of Wren’s scrutiny from the other side of the mirror as she watched for signs of betrayal.
A blizzard had struck the higher elevations, blocking most of the roads between Uduary and the Silence monastery. Selene was pressing the party forward, but they’d be lucky to arrive before the ceremony started.
Sharine’s liger’s bane wine would arrive too late for the coronation. Without the wine, they’d need another way to subdue the council’s anchors, and he doubted the Starlings would go along with outright murder. He’d told them that abducting Audra was their primary goal, but Selene wanted to use the wine on the council either way. With the council’s strength, the chances of stopping the coronation were slim, even with Sharine’s aid. Killing Audra might be the best chance they had, but neither Traq nor Durin would tolerate it.
Selene met his gaze through the glass. He understood her gestures only because he knew her mind so well, but he conveyed none of that to Wren. Instead, he nodded and gave a last farewell to Bolin before the image faded.
“What news?” Wren asked.
Xiang tucked the mirror in his robe’s pocket, his fingers brushing the vials of liger’s bane he carried. All emotions were hidden behind a flat expression. “The snow has delayed them, but they should be here by the eclipse.”
She took a deep breath, looking suddenly weary. “You’re sure she’s coming?”
He nodded. “She has supporters in the monastery already, but their hands are tied until she arrives.”
“Audra is the key then.” Wren rubbed her neck. Traq, Durin, and the Starling soldiers would blend in well enough with Xiang’s remaining troops. Everyone knew the general’s Western heritage and wouldn’t question those around him if they looked foreign. A few of the Starling soldiers would be draped in full robes and gloves to cover the darker hues of their skin. But Wren’s appearance was an exception, she was too striking to be overlooked if she attempted to enter through the front gates. After seeing how understaffed the kitchen was when they’d made Audra’s meal, Jayna believed they could get in with the extra staff that had been hired. Wren tried darkening her hair with magic, but it hadn’t held. So she’d coated it in layers of dark ashes. It would have to do.
Once inside, the women would head for Audra’s room. Wren would take care of the guards, then they’d convince or coerce Audra to wear the bloodstone, if she still had it. Jayna knew of a place for Wren to hide until Selene arrived. “What happens if we can’t get to her?”
“We can still weaken the council’s mages,” Xiang said.
“How?” Wren’s tone was suspicious.
“It’s nothing you’d want to be involved with.”
Wren’s expression hardened. “Try me.” Xiang had overheard a few of the Starlings discussing Wren’s father. She might have been reared with a deeper understanding of costs and balances of politics than her peers.
He’d carried the three vials for years, hoping to never have to use them. This wasn’t their intended purpose, but it might let them survive the night. And Wren might be the only Starling amenable to the proposal. “Poison.”
Wren assessed him cautiously, her demeanor unchanging. “You’d kill them?”
He shrugged. “Some might survive.”
Her stare was unnerving until laughter at the fire startled them. Wren turned back to him. “Then what?”
“We attack when the Oji is most vulnerable,” Xiang said.
“During the eclipse?” she asked, considering. “It would put us on equal footing as the remaining mages, I guess. Until the eclipse passes.”
“It’s the least dangerous solution I can think of.”
She lowered her voice. “And where would we get it?”
“I’ve carried it with me for nearly twelve years.” He met Wren’s eyes in a challenge.
She gave one small nod. “We never had this conversation.” Wren rose and moved back to the others. He understood her lack of inquiry and that she wouldn’t tell the other Starlings. Deniability was a powerful tool. That she didn’t want to know why he had the poison meant that she wanted no reason to have sympathy for him. That way she wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if it came to it.
They’d bought all the eggs from a local farmer that morning, several loaves of bread from a baker, and links of lamb sausage from two separate villagers. A feast compared to what they’d been eating since the Bolou . Steam rose from the plates of the mages. Xiang settled closer to Jayna after taking a plate that was begrudgingly offered to him.
Jayna picked at her food, looking sullen beneath her robes.
“You should eat,” Xiang said.
Jayna shook her head. “I’m too nauseous.”
“You need sustenance.”
“He’s right,” Liasa said, “Don’t know when we’ll get a chance to eat again.”
“Or if,” Jayna said.
“You’ll live through this,” Durin said. “Moon mage in a Moon monastery. But us—” he looked meaningfully at the other Starlings—“our chances are slim.”
“Why didn’t you leave?” Jayna asked softly .
“It’s a terrible trait that Starlings have. An overbearing sense of justice combined with an inability to admit when we’ve made bad choices. And that one comes from generations of those factors.” Wren smiled sheepishly from across the fire as he nodded to her. “So here we are. Conspiring with people who’ll probably sacrifice us at the first opportunity.”
Gazes flicked to Xiang. He took another bite and chewed slowly, offering no reassurance. Whatever happened to them after the eclipse would be decided by the new Rajav.
Liasa patted Durin’s shoulder. “I’ll be beside you the whole time.”
He smiled at her. “And we shall blaze a path to glory.”
She chuckled nervously. “I’d rather blaze a path home.”
“Same, Liasa. Same,” Durin said.
Liasa rose a moment later and joined the other soldiers, strapping knives to her thighs and securing a sword to her hip.
Jayna’s tone was heavy. “Those weapons won’t mean anything if the Oji gets close. And there are probably a dozen other ten stars in that monastery.”
“But your Oja will save us, right?” The sarcasm was rich in Durin’s voice.
Xiang stood. “She’ll be here before the eclipses. You have my word.” He caught the worry in Jayna’s eyes. He said to Durin, “You could stay here. You don’t have to go in.”
“Abandon my friends when they might need me most?” He shook his head. “I’d rather die beside them than live with that burden on my soul.”
“But Claude is waiting for you,” Jayna said.
“He understands the risks of what I do,” Durin said. “I’m grateful for the time we’ve been given. Honestly, it’s been more than I deserved.”
The soldiers looked like they were enjoying a last meal. Their laughter was a little fuller. They threw affectionate arms around each other’s shoulders. It was much warmer than Moon soldier behavior. It reminded Xiang of his first battles in Western colors, and he found himself thinking of those long dead.
Durin leaned toward Jayna. “You should tell your Galia that you love her. Say it often, so she doesn’t doubt. Put more of yourself into it than you think you’re capable of. That way, when you’re gone, she won’t doubt what she meant to you.”
Xiang swallowed the food in his mouth then walked away, abandoning a mostly full plate. Ducking into a tent, he pulled the mirror out and sliced his arm again. Bolin jostled atop his horse, Selene beside him. Xiang pulled out a vial of the liger’s bane from his pocket and tried to explain what they would do. Selene’s surprise at the poison faded quickly, but Xiang knew there would be repercussions the next time they were alone. He told Bolin he loved him before the connection died.
It was late afternoon when Wren called everyone together. Starling would set soon, then both full moons would glide across the starry sky. The huddling soldiers listened intently to Wren’s orders, each of their nervous breaths wisping white in the air.
Xiang would lead Traq, Durin, and the soldiers into the monastery through the main gates. Wren, Jayna, and the liger’s bane would go through a servant’s entrance.
It was difficult to determine who was which tribe. There were minor differences in build, coloring, hair textures, and general manners, but similar features peeked from beneath each robe. Nervousness shifted their feet and tensed their shoulders.
“Say your prayers to whatever gods you call to,” Wren said. “Make peace with the ones beside you. And, if we are lucky, perhaps we will see a new day dawn. May Starling blaze our path and Taiyang watch over us.”
The soldiers echoed quietly back to her. Traq’s lips remained sealed, though Durin said it a little louder. “May Starling blaze our path.”
One Moon said softly, “Let Song guide us.” The others murmured the same.
Xiang and Jayna stood quietly beside each other. An eerie calm swept over the combined group, and, with no more rhetoric, they marched toward the monastery.