Page 49 of Tell No Tales
"We were young and foolish," she said. "I know it's no excuse for how we treated you, but you didn't deserve what Martiz did to you, what he did to so many." She motioned to the foot of her bunk, and she took a seat on her pillow with her back to the wall and her bare feet up on the rough wool blanket.
"Thank you," he said, not only because his legs were starting to cramp after his exertion earlier, but also for the apology. He appreciated the support of the firm mattress.
"You've brought Hesse's journal with you," she pointed to the book. "Empress Delilah found it at Hesse's bedside when he'd passed. It was turned to a page about necromancy."
"Bringing back the dead?" Vadim shivered.
She shrugged. "We both know it doesn't work like that. A life weaver can use a soul's energy to reanimate a body, but it's still dead."
"Someone wanted to control Hesse's corpse?"
Yvette nodded.
Vadim didn't understand. Hesse would decay past the point of fooling anyone in a matter of days. How could Coryn have used his corpse to do anything? "Delilah came to you about it?" he asked.
"She came to my uncle, which is how he ended up hanged for the crime. I know he didn't kill Hesse, but whoever did used him to cover it up."
"You think it was a healer."
"I think it was Coryn. She used my uncle as one of her magic receptacles. I think he saw something on the emperor's corpse that implicated Coryn. He went to Empress Delilah with the journal. They were getting too close to the truth, whatever it was."
"But why? Coryn didn't need to control Hesse. She was already his trusted guard and adviser. She could have suggested anything, and he would have done it."
"Hesse hated war. You didn't see what happened after your first battle, when you …" she pointed at his hands, and the gloves he now wore. His face heated as he remembered leaving them off with Klaus, and Klaus's order not to wear them when they were alone. Gods. He'd been a mess without them, but now, he could envision not wearing them elsewhere, if only for short periods.
"You nearly went mad," Yvette whispered, "and he with you. You refused comfort, railed at him about marrying Delilah … you don't remember any of this."
He shook his head. He remembered the battle at Melham Island. Coryn had stolen his power and used it to drain an island of surrendering people. Then, she'd called fire and burned the island to the ground with all those helpless people unable to flee. Vadim remembered his guilt for months afterward, but he didn't remember anything between watching them burn and wearing the gloves for the first time.
"He loved you, Vadim. He grew to love Delilah, too, but he would have burned down the world for you."
"I never asked him to."
She nodded. "Coryn wants a way to control Emperor Hugo the way necromancers can control their twisted creations. She wants Glamiere's weavers to help in her project on Stony Eel Island, and she's not above starting a war to get them."
"And once she's raised the old wizard tower on Stony Eel, what then?"
"You already know what the stone can do. Imagine using it to remove all magic at once."
"No weaver is that powerful."
"I didn't say it made sense. You asked what she wants. That's what Nola and I have been able to discern from our weeks scouting between Stony Eel and Hearthstone."
Vadim had assumed Coryn wanted to eliminate the world's magic, but hearing someone else say it aloud made it more real.
"What other questions do you have?" Yvette asked, pointing to the journal. Sometime during their conversation, she'd flipped to a dog-eared page.
He lost track of time while he flipped from entry to entry, asking for Yvette's opinion on wording and whether the spells listed would work. Yvette yawned after one of her lengthy explanations, and Vadim realized they'd been talking for so long, the sun had set. Hannah would want to call their storm soon, and they would part ways. He still had so many questions.
"We're running out of time."
Yvette grinned at him. "We can communicate any time a question arises, the same as we're sitting here and talking now. If I'm available and have an answer, I will. All you have to do is reach out to me with your mind."
"Simple, you agree?"
He nodded. It was as easy as communicating with another death weaver."How did I not know this in school?"
"You grew up on Aquarion, with Martiz. We shielded ourselves from you because we feared you would use it to communicate with him." She shrugged. "I'm sorry. We didn't trust you."
