Page 88 of House of Dusk
CHAPTER 24
YENERIS
The Heron carried a crackling charge, like a storm cloud sweeping across the sky. It was unnerving. Before, he had been so slippery, fading into the walls, easily overlooked. He still wore the same simple stone-colored robes, still had the same paper-pale skin and colorless eyes. But somehow, now, he seemed taller. He moved with purpose and power.
It sent a chill down Yeneris’s spine.
He paused, scanning the room, then gestured to the remaining servants and the physician. “Leave.”
Yeneris jerked her gaze away, pretending not to see the command. She felt his eyes rest on her briefly, then shift away. She was unimportant. She let out a thin breath, watching him from the corner of her vision.
“Lacheron.” Hierax stood. “What’s wrong?” He glanced past the man, to the door, now shut behind him.
“Where is Ichos?” Sinoe demanded, her voice threading higher. “Is he—?”
“Your brother remained in the north,” said Lacheron smoothly. “He hunts your enemies, sire. Others who bear the Serpent’s mark. Who plot his return.”
“Then why are you here?” Sinoe inched herself higher, scowling. “Why aren’t you with him?”
Lacheron ignored the princess. He bowed deeply to Hierax, tugging something from the folds of his robe: a sheathed blade about as long as Yeneris’s forearm. “My king. Letheko, the blade of oblivion, at long last restored to its rightful wielder.”
The leather was old and dark, with no ornamentation, but Hierax accepted it as reverently as if it were forged of gold. He sucked in a breath, then pulled the blade free, holding it aloft.
The dagger was obsidian, deep as the darkness between the stars. It seemed to drink in the light of the room. Like the sheath, the blade itself was simple, with no etchings, no gems, a bare hilt bound with black leather.
“So. The ashdancers had it all along?” Hierax grimaced, snapping the blade back into the sheath.
“Yes. To their own detriment. If Agia Halimede had revealed it sooner, we might have been able to prevent the tragedy.”
“What tragedy?”
“An attack. It seems that one of their number was corrupted by the Serpent. She summoned a host of skotoi to destroy her own temple. The other ashdancers defended themselves well and bravely, but several perished, including the agia.”
Yeneris felt the world shift slightly. It seemed impossible. The ashdancers were holy warriors of the Phoenix. They carried the sacred spark of the god-beast within them. Surely if anyone could stand against an attack of ghouls, it was them. There must be more to the story. She was sure of that. The agia must have had good reason to keep the blade from Hierax. Yeneris would have liked to meet such a woman, someone willing to stand up to the king.
But now she was dead, and the blade was here, in the king’s hands. Nothing suspicious about that. Yeneris wanted to ask how many skotoi there had been, but she dared not draw the Heron’s attention. She was fairly certain she knew the answer already. Around four dozen.
“Fortunately Agia Beroe has taken charge of the temple,” Lacheron continued, “and she stands ready and willing to do her part to ensure the Ember King’s victory, by reuniting him with his Faithful Maiden at long last.”
A sick feeling spun through Yeneris. It took all her strength to hold herself still, to keep her expression cool, especially when she felt Sinoe’s eyes turn to her.
“That’s...wonderful news,” the princess said, brightly. “It’s just as the Fates decreed. Is she here now?”
“No,” said Lacheron, and Yeneris was finally able to suck in a breath. “The ashdancers needed time to tend their wounded and mourn their dead. But I expect Agia Beroe and her party will be here by the solstice. A fitting day for your wedding, sire.”
Yeneris ground her teeth. The solstice was in five days. Five days to puzzle out Sinoe’s vision and ensure that both she and the kore were free of this place, of these men and their dreams of glory.
Was it glory that Lacheron dreamed of? Hierax did, no doubt of that. It was in his every movement, the way he was constantly watching to see that those around him paid him heed, gave him the admiration and respect he thought he deserved.
The Heron, though. Whatdidhe want? It was still a mystery. And more and more, it was a mystery that had its teeth in her, in Sinoe, in all of them.
“Just as our Sibyl of Tears has foretold,” said Hierax, nodding proudly at Sinoe. “And now I have the power I need to protect our people. This attack on Stara Bron only confirms our fears. The Serpent seeks to return, and his minions will lay down a carpet of blood and tears before him. But we will not allow him to bring another cataclysm to the world!”
It would have been a thrilling speech, if Yeneris believed one word of it. But it was all lies. True prophecy twisted to serve some other purpose. She watched Lacheron, and thought she caught the faintest hint of a smile twitching his lips.
“Indeed, my king.”
“But Ichos is the one who’s out there fighting them,” Sinoe protested. “If he’s hunting down these serpent mystics, why doesn’thehave the fancy serpent-slaying dagger? Why is it here?”
