Page 130 of House of Dusk
No matter now. The moment they reached the prearranged location, Hura and his people had sprung their trap. Yeneris had barely needed to help, serving mostly to keep the palanquin from tipping over as the soldiers collapsed, struck by Scarthian sleeping darts.
“Right, stick them in the warehouse for now,” Hura ordered four of his people, who were already busily stripping the unconscious palanquin-bearers of their ceremonial costumes. “We don’t have long before they come searching.” He looked to Yeneris.
She nodded, making her way toward the palanquin. “Sinoe?” She drew back the curtain.
The princess was already crouched in the narrow base, tugging a large cedar box from beneath the seat. Yeneris joined her, and together they pulled the thing free. It had been Hura’s idea, and Hura who had provided the chest. The original reliquary box had been cedar, too, carved from the wood of an ancient tree that was said to have been over a thousand years old when it fell during the cataclysm.
This cedar was from a different tree, of course. But it had been a thoughtful touch. Yeneris liked the idea of the kore being once more surrounded by the familiar sweet scent. Safe. No longer on display, no longer a prize to secure a king’s glory.
It made it easier to confront the corpse in its current state.Don’t worry. You’ll be home soon. I won’t let them use you.
She realized Sinoe was watching her. Waiting, her painted face ghostly and serious. “It’s time to set her free, Yen.”
Yeneris nodded, chest tight. Gingerly, she reached out, carefully tugging off the spangled veil, the golden circlet.
The kore’s dark, empty eyes held her. Filled her with a sensation she couldn’t name, too dark for joy, too bright for sorrow. Next came the gown, and the gloves, and the slippers. Beneath, the bones had been bound in fine linen, with golden wires wrapped around the joints to hold them in this mockery of life.
Sinoe had made no move to help. Had perhaps understood that this was not a task for her hands. But Yeneris was glad she was there, to bear witness.
“I wonder what happened to the actual Faithful Maiden,” Sinoe said, as Yeneris began to unwind the first strips of linen. “Given everything else Lacheron has lied about, I can only assume that she’s nothing like the woman in the stories. I wonder if she knew your kore. They both witnessed the cataclysm. Maybe they were friends.”
Yeneris shrugged, continuing to unspool the linen bindings. “I don’t know. There are stories of the kore having a sister. But—” She broke off, hissing, as a sudden jolt of pain rippled up her arm.
“Yen? Are you all right?”
Yeneris shook her hand, her fingers still stinging. “I must have poked a sharp edge of the wire when I was trying to...”
Her throat closed, as she saw what lay beneath the linen. She had already uncovered the lower limbs, had been working on the left arm when she’d touched the wire.
But it wasn’t a wire. It was a gold bangle. Identical to the one that bound Sinoe’s wrist.
No. Surely it was jewelry, nothing more. She reached out again, to slide the bracelet from the kore’s bones.
This time she could not stifle her shriek. Pain roared up her arm the moment she tried to free the bangle. Even so, she might’ve tried again, except for Sinoe’s hands, gripping hers. Stilling them.
“It won’t work,” she said, with chill certainty. “I’ve tried. With mine.”
And the hope that Yeneris had gathered so tight in her chest shattered into a hundred tiny, painful shards. What could she do now? Simply take the kore’s bones to Mikat as they were? But then what? Lacheron had said the other bangle would let him hunt Sinoe down. This one almost certainly served the same purpose. And maybe more. For all she knew, he might be able to work some power on the bones through the bracelet. Simply taking the kore from the city might not be enough to prevent them from committing sacrilege. A long, painful sigh slipped from Yeneris, and she stared into her empty, useless hands. “Curse the man.”
“I’m sorry,” said Sinoe.
Yeneris shook her head. “It’s not your fault. I should have expected this. Maybe I could have—”
Crack!
She jerked her chin up to see Sinoe holding two pieces of broken red clay in her hands. The amulet. The one they’d stolen from Lacheron. The one that was meant to unlock Sinoe. To saveSinoe.
But the gold bangle on Sinoe’s wrist remained as sleek and unbroken as ever.
It was the kore’s bracelet that clattered to the floor. With a whisper, the golden wires binding the bones began to unspool like snipped threads, releasing the skeleton to patter softly onto the padded seat of the palanquin.
“Now she’s free,” Sinoe said, softly. “Now you can take her home.”
“Sinoe,” Yeneris croaked her name, reaching for the princess’s arm. For the golden band that had not fallen. She thought of the second clay token, the one she had not taken. Because Sinoe told her to take the one on the right. “You knew,” she accused.
“I suspected,” said Sinoe, giving her a sad, wry smile. “Only the right key can set the future free.I’m not the future, Yen. She is. The future of your people. It was my choice. We couldn’t risk the kore’s freedom for mine. Now help me put things right. She deserves some peace, I think.”
Silently, she began to gather the bones, placing them gently into the cedar chest. After a moment, Yeneris forced herself to do the same.
