Page 91 of A Fractured Song

The Imperator considered her. “I am under no obligation to do so, but I will tell you my opinion to this extent. I do not believe that the disasters you’ve described were caused by talismans. And as for the wider problem besetting Oleand…” Her eyes drifted to Zev. “I suspect that answer has been within your reach throughout your whole journey.”

Zev’s pulse was once again thundering. It couldn’t be true. He’d justified his continued deception of Marieke by telling himself that his identity could have no bearing on her mission. The heartsong connecting Oleand’s monarchs to their land wasn’t the cause of the country’s deterioration. How could it be, when the monarchs had been dead forcenturies, and the land had only started suffering in the last year or two?

In spite of these assurances, he couldn’t bring himself to meet Marieke’s eyes, even though he could feel them on him.

“We’ll go,” she said suddenly, surprising him. “Thank you for your offer of safe passage out of your realm.”

The Imperator nodded, her eyes lingering on Zev’s face as if she could read his inner conflict. It was an unpleasant sensation. He barely knew what he said as they took their leave, following Marieke back down the ladder without a word.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Marieke wrestled with her disappointment as she climbed down the ladder. She’d been so sure she would find answers here, and the worst of it was that she still thought she could have learned more if she’d been willing to push harder.

But it was clear to her that doing so would be at great cost to Zev, and he didn’t deserve to be punished for his willingness to accompany her.

The Imperator had told them to wait at the bottom of the ladder for a guide, and they stood there in a silence that was nothing like their usual companionable one. Marieke cast her eyes around the fascinating settlement, regretful that they didn’t have more time to explore it.

A jolt went over her as she looked up at a nearby clay structure. This one was close to the ground, and framed in the window she could clearly see a figure she’d seen before.

“Zev!” she hissed. “Look!”

He followed her gaze quickly, and his face hardened. “Rissin.”

Marieke nodded. “She wasn’t wrong that he’s nearby. I wonder what he—” Her voice died as the elf shifted, and someone else stepped into view.

“That’s no elf,” Zev said suspiciously.

It certainly wasn’t. It was a human woman, her hair as dark as Marieke’s but her face proclaiming her to be older, perhaps by twenty years. Marieke was still staring at her when she suddenly turned, her eyes flying to Marieke’s and locking on them.

Marieke bit her lip, captured by the older woman’s gaze. She could have sworn something passed between them, and she found herself questioning if she actually knew the stranger after all.

Then Zev shifted beside her, the movement undeniably protective, and it broke Marieke’s focus.

“Why is she staring at you?” Zev asked, frowning.

“I don’t know,” said Marieke, unnerved and fascinated in equal measure. As she spoke, the woman turned away, and an unfamiliar elf trotted up.

“I’m to take you back to the human road,” he said in a bossy voice. “And I don’t want it to take all day, so come on.”

They followed him back through the archway, Marieke’s skin prickling with the feeling of being watched. Perhaps it was because of how many elves were following their progress with curious eyes.

When they were back in the band of grass between the gateway and the pillar trees, the elf stopped.

“All right,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Back where you were picked up, yes?”

“Actually,” said Marieke, “that was a long way south into the jungle. If possible, we’d prefer to be dropped off back at the northern end of the human road.”

“That’s twice the distance,” the elf complained. “We’d haveto do two doorways to get there.” He looked between them, then gave a huff. “I’d need an extra talisman for that. And I won’t be using it unless I confirm it’s approved. Wait here.”

He’d already started toward the archway when he turned back. “And I do mean wait here. You can’t come back through this gateway without one of us, and if you strike out into the jungle, you’ll get lost and die for certain.”

Marieke raised her hands in a gesture of compliance, rolling her eyes at Zev once the elf had disappeared. “Such friendly, trusting creatures, aren’t they?”

Zev just grunted. He seemed on edge since their interview with the Imperator, and Marieke didn’t blame him. The intensity of the focus on him was something neither of them had anticipated.

She assumed the elf would take a while to discharge his errand, so was surprised when she heard someone coming back through the archway. But it was a much taller figure who emerged.

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