Page 26 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

Both boys untangled themselves from each other, tentatively stepping closer to Kopi, who sat preening his feathers, oblivious.

“He likes it when you scratch his head,” Zylah offered.

Dalana pulled out a chair, and Zylah took a seat as the boys doted on the little owl. She rolled her eyes as he cooed and trilled in appreciation, hoping to disguise the feeling that had settled in her chest.

Being in someone else’s home, the food cooking on the stove, the laughter. Her father’s home,herhome, had been burnt to ash, and no matter how much she tried to place the blame on Marcus, it was all her own doing.

Voices carried from out in the passageway, and Ellisar entered, followed by the two males Zylah had seen him and Lana with the day before.

Ellisar didn’t hesitate to make the introductions. “Okwata, Ahrek. This is Zylah. She’s a new friend.”

Okwata’s chair moved by itself to the table, two large wheels rolling either side of the seat by themselves. But it wasn’t the chair that snagged Zylah’s attention.

For a moment she thought she saw a tail swish out from behind Ahrek, but then she blinked, and it was gone.

Perhaps the hunger was starting to get to her.

She reached for a brin fruit from the bowl Lana passed her, taking a knife to slice it into thin pieces as the children ran out of the room.

“Will you be resting here for the winter?” Okwata asked, laying a napkin neatly across his lap. “Lady Maelissa was very gracious to open her court to us during the colder months, and Ellisar and Dalana even more so for offering us a room in their home. My chair is not well suited to the snow.”

“We’re hoping to… help some friends,” Zylah said, uncertain how much information she should supply them with.

Marcus could have eyes and ears anywhere, for all she knew.

“A risk to travel now under Marcus’s rule.” Okwata held her gaze. The hints of amber in his brown eyes caught the light as he looked at her, but she felt no threat from him.

“Oh?”

Ellisar scoffed.

“Fear not. You’ll find no love for Marcus here.” He laid plates before Okwata and Ahrek, placed a basket of pastries in the centre of the table before throwing on an apron and taking a pan to the stove.

Zylah eyed a canna cake, considering her words. Revealing that she knew about the vampires would mean answering questions, and she wasn’t ready for that. Instead, she settled on, “Marcus is using old magic. We hope to find his source, to counter him with a stronger footing.”

Ellisar nodded, a bowl of eggs in one hand. “A wise move. As is gathering your allies.” His gaze slid to Okwata and Ahrek, and he gave them an almost imperceptible nod.

Ahrek pulled a book from his coat and slid it across the table to Zylah just as Lana took a seat beside her once more.

The book was bound in leather cord, a violet stone set into the thick leather cover, just like the stone set into the hilt of Zylah’s sword.

She couldn’t read the words on the cover, although that didn’t surprise her, but the images were familiar as she leafed through the pages, strange creatures looming over slaughtered animals— “I’ve seen these before. In Kerthen.”

“You’ve been to the Kerthen forest?” Ellisar asked.

“I lived there for a few months.”

“In Pallia’s name. That’s a story I’d like to hear.” He cracked eggs into his pan, tossing the shells into a bucket on the floor beside him.

Zylah ignored his request.

It wasn’t a story she wanted to tell. Three months in Kerthen had damn near broken her, scraping by on whatever food she could hunt and forage for, constantly evading the creatures that lurked there.

She pushed the memories down. “Can you read this?” she asked Ahrek.

“Only the title. It’s called A Whisper of Light.”

Zylah frowned.

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