Page 54 of Requiem of Silence

Fear threatened to overwhelm her. “If we do this, we can’t tell anyone. I don’t want to risk the Goddess’s retribution on anyone else. We’d have to do it alone,” she whispered. “Travel somewhere we’ve never been before, join the contest to enter the Archives, and win.”

“The odds seem terrible, but that doesn’t scare me,” Varten said. What did scare him, she wondered?

“So you’ll come with me?”

He leaned forward; unconsciously she found herself doing the same. “Of course I’ll come with you. We’re in this together. We’ll find a way.” He reached out and squeezed her hand quickly, then let go.

He looked so earnest, she had to hold herself back from reaching for him. Her breathing restarted, faster than ever. They were partners now, joined for as long as this journey took, and committed to where it would lead. A pang of guilt hit her—as much as she needed his help, she hated to bring him down with her.

The space between their chairs was only a pace wide, but suddenly stretched to the width of an ocean. She had to be cautious. There was no reason to believe that Varten would betray her, but she hadn’t believed it of the Goddess Awoken, either. Her judgement was the thing she lacked confidence in, even now.

How easy it would be to depend on him the way she had always depended on others for safety and protection. His arms were strong and warm, and she could feel herself getting lost in them even in the brief minutes he’d held her while she cried. But if she was going to go out of her comfort zone and make this journey, she had to go out completely. They were friends and partners, but he was not her savior.

However this ended, she no longer believed that her salvation could be provided by others. No prince was going to rescue her. Not this time, not ever.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Come nearer, watch close.

Listen well, touch more.

Taste the scent on the air.

Bear witness to our unity.

—THE HARMONY OF BEING

“It is late,” Murmur announced, staring into the fire. Kyara wasn’t certain how they kept track of time down here in the cave city without the sun or watches or clocks of any kind, but she did feel tired. They had walked much of the day to get here and the emotional upheavals had been fierce.

“Our training will begin in earnest on the morn. I take it you will go to find your beau tonight, Kyara?” The ancient man’s description of Darvyn nearly made her smile.

“Yes. He will not like to spend the night apart.”

“Very well. You may see if he is able to unbind the child. Her bindings are loosening on their own, but speeding the process would aid in her training.”

“But Earthsong has no effect on Nethersingers.”

“She was bound by a Bright One. They are Earthsingers but also something more.” This confused Kyara, but she nodded at him.

“Come,” Mooriah said, “I will show you the way.”

Ella tapped the wire loop device around her neck and removed it, shaking her head. From her expression it was clear that the amalgam’s power had run out. She spoke to Ulani, who appeared distressed.

“What’s wrong?” Kyara asked.

“She only has one left,” the girl said.

Tana spoke up, speaking to Murmur. “Can you give her one of the stones? Like what you gave to me? Will it work on her?”

Murmur nodded slowly and Mooriah crossed over to him, retrieving two small black stones that had appeared in his outstretched hand. They were bits of the walls of this cave or one like it. Pieces of the Mother.

Mooriah handed the small calderas to Ella and Ulani, who accepted trustingly. Kyara held her breath as they closed their eyes. A stone like the ones they held had imparted the Cavefolk language to her when she was here last. With their eyes closed, Ulani was smiling and Ella looked perplexed. The calderas gave visions and hopefully each was viewing something innocuous that would simply transfer the magic and not some horrific display of ritualized murder. Kyara shivered.

Cavefolk society and culture had involved blood sacrifice on a large scale. The offerings had been voluntary and considered a great honor, but death was death, and these people were dealers in it as much as she was.

The Folk were not natural Nethersingers, but blood magic had close ties to death magic. While in service to the Cantor, Kyara had learned some blood spells. The scars all over her body were evidence of the cost of that knowledge. With a gasp, both released the stones at the same time and opened their eyes.

“That was intense,” Ella said in Lagrimari. She held a hand to her throat and spoke again. “What is…? What am I saying? How did I do that?”

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