Page 70 of Queen Demon
Arnsterath lifted her brows, as if what he had said was absurd. “You didn’t come up here to look for broken pots and the bones of mortals dead and dust for decades.”
Ramad, to his credit, didn’t look surprised either. He said, “A death well has to be outside?”
“If it’s a big one,” Kai said. The one Aclines had made aboardthe stolen Immortal Blessed ship had been small, not meant to last long. “A Well big enough to be used by the Hierarchs and expositors as far away as Enalin or the Blessed Lands would have to be at least the size of Benais-arik.”
“Not necessarily. Most of the Well of Thosaren is underground,” Dahin offered. “Though it does have a large outlet on the surface. Its core was formed naturally by the action of the earth, then it became a place of worship…” He trailed off, his voice turning thoughtful. “But, that… I’d never thought… Huh. What if—”
Ramad said quietly, “Kai.” He had dismounted and was looking off to the side, at something across the gorge to their left.
Kai slipped off his beast and stepped close enough to see. On the other side of the rocky divide was a depression with a flat grassy area. Peacefully grazing in it was a small herd of long-haired riding oxen, some still wearing their saddles and packs, some just in their bridles. There was no sign of anyone left behind to watch them, no sign of a camp. There were at least enough animals to account for all the missing mortals.
Ramad said, “At some point they dismounted and were lured, or taken, inside, and the beasts allowed to wander off.” He looked at Kai, his mouth set in a grim line. “Whoever is in there isn’t worried about hiding.”
“They know how many people were in the expedition, that only a few were left at camp,” Kai agreed. And they had captured Highsun too, probably the most formidable fighter. “I’ll go in alone and see if anyone is still alive.”
Ramad inclined his head. “I wish you wouldn’t, but I see the necessity.”
Before Kai could say that the necessity was none of Ramad’s business, Arnsterath said, “I’ll go with you.” She had dismounted and walked up behind them. Kai felt her presence like an itch on his skin.
“No, I want to see what’s in there first,” Kai said, withoutturning around. “Then you can come in and prove you’re a good little demon who can do what you’re told.”
“You want me to stay out here?” He heard that smile in her voice again. “With your vulnerable mortals? What if I decide I’m hungry?”
Kai turned and grabbed the front of her coat. She bared her teeth and caught his wrist. As her hand grazed his bare skin, she hissed in pain and jerked away.
At the university, when the Tescai-lin had gone back inside to speak to Domtellan, Kai had taken the chance to prepare a few designs for intentions, and to stab himself for the pain to power them if necessary. Intentions were easier to keep in reserve than cantrips, and these were designs that had been used against him in the past, so he knew how well they worked on demons. He said, “If you try to take hostages against me again, I’ll peel your skin off and wear it.” He added in Saredi, “You need to stop thinking of me as the boy you abandoned, and remember I’m the monster the Hierarchs feared.”
Her expression went sullen for a flash, then condescending again. She replied in the same language, “You always considered yourself a special little creature, didn’t you. Grandmother’s pet. What would she think of you now?”
“I can show you how to send your shade to the underearth, and you can ask her yourself,” Kai retorted.
Arnsterath looked away and folded her arms. Kai wasn’t surprised. The underearth tolerated a lot of transgressions, but demons who took familiars was not one of them. And Arnsterath had done the bidding of a renegade Immortal Blessed, against the Rising World. Even after the destruction of the Saredi, the Houses still considered Grandmother’s treaty to be sacred and were not forgiving of anything that might look as if they countenanced a violation of it.
Dahin said, “I’d also like to remind everyone that I am not mortal.” He flipped his coat open to show a Blessed weapon, very likethose that the two Immortal Marshalls, Rafiem and Eleni, had carried.
“Did you steal that too?” Ramad asked, his voice dry.
“Oh no, I brought this with me from Benais-arik,” Dahin said. “It also works a treat against expositors. Don’t pretend you’re not carrying a cursebreaker or two, vanguarder.”
Now that everyone’s ability to kill each other was sorted, Kai needed to get moving. “You should all get under cover. We don’t know if they have patrols or sentries posted somewhere.” He started away. He would have to backtrack a little to get down out of these hills and into the cover of the valley floor. This would be easier with a Witch to help; any Witch, but especially Ziede.
He was aware of Dahin watching him go, his expression conflicted. But whatever Dahin wanted to say, he obviously didn’t want to say it where Arnsterath and Ramad could hear.
Ramad caught up when Kai had only gone a short distance down the winding slope. Ramad said, “I’m not here to argue, I just thought you should take this.” He held out a small pack with a water flask tied to it.
Kai couldn’t think of a reason not to, and sadly Ramad was still his most trustworthy ally at this point. He slung the bag over his shoulder. He didn’t know how long this would take, and they still didn’t know how long the daylight lasted here. He said, “If I’m not back by tomorrow—”
“Then someone else will be making the decisions.” Ramad, being Ramad, managed to make it sound reassuring. He added, “Take care.”
Kai walked away.
Crawling under brush without leaving any sign that you were there was something Kai had done many times as a Saredi scout. His body had also been smaller and more limber then.
Fortunately the bushes were high enough that he could crawlwithout having to lie flat, the ground underneath mossy and carpeted with decaying leaves and not anything too sharp. Stinging insects did not much care for demon flesh and the small rodents fled at his approach. It was still not an enjoyable trip.
Kai had worked his way to the opposite end of the valley first, and found what he was certain had been a road at one point, coming in from the hills to the west and curving across the valley to the base of the tor. A higher vantage point would have told him more, but he could still see how the vegetation that had grown over it was subtly different even after all this time. If the scholars weren’t already certain that they had been looking at a ruin from the regularity of the stone around the base, this would have been a definitive clue.
Kai had chosen to go in near the road as the easiest way to find an entrance. And the scholars had taken this route too, though the only sign of their passage now was a few broken branches and some boot prints in the disturbed bracken. Boot prints that went toward the tor, none going away.
