Page 78 of Queen Demon
“Huh,” Kai commented. It almost made him feel optimistic. Almost.
The next morning, they rested in the caves and crannies of an area of water-sculpted rocks, while the animals grazed nearby. That was when Nightjar tried to kill him.
It wasn’t wholly unexpected. Hawkmoth had been talking to the others about her experience with the Arike forces, especially what Ziede and Mother Hiraga, Baram and Ibel and Kreat and Isa and all the other Witches had told her. She knew more about the Doyen and the hold the woman had had on her mind than anyone else, and the others seemed eager to hear it. A couple of dustwitches had made a small fire, long enough to warm up some bean dhal sent over with Amabel on their last message run. Kai came over with the others to get a portion. Sunrose, who was ladling it out into bowls, was accidentally elbowed. Two dustwitches leaned forward to stop any spilling, and in the confusion someone passed Kai a bowl.
Kai waited until the others were settled with their portions, seated comfortably on the dusty stone slabs, then said, “Nightjar.” He held out the bowl. “Taste this.”
Everyone went still. Cimeri set her bowl down. Others who had already taken a bite spat it out into their hands.
Nightjar held Kai’s gaze. But the reaction of the other dustwitches, their willingness to immediately assume the food was poisoned, told the tale more plainly than anything Kai could have said. She set her own bowl down, and she and Kai stood in unison. “You saw me,” she said.
He had seen her pass the bowl under the lapel of her coat, and then make sure it was handed to him. He said, “I’ve been waiting for it. I know you lied about the mortal. He was never a hostage against you.”
Her gaze flicked around at the rest of the dustwitches. Cimeri said uncertainly, “Arkat?” Her hands moved in Witchspeak,He never woke.
“He’s been with us as long as I remember,” Hawkmoth said, watching Nightjar with a narrow gaze.
“He was with us when they found me,” an older dustwitch called Stormbird said. “The other mortals from that time died.”
“You never asked about him, never wanted to see him,” Kai pointed out. It didn’t say much for her that she had thought them too stupid to notice. It had been obvious to Kai and Ziede from the beginning.
“I’ve never been sentimental,” Nightjar said easily, as if being caught truly didn’t concern her. “I’ll fight you for the leadership.”
Kai wished she had done this earlier, before they left the dustwitch camp, and saved all the trouble of watching her so closely on this long trip. “Or you can just leave, before I kill you,” he said.
“Leave,” Tangeld said, her voice loud against the overhanging rock. “Give up your name and leave.”
“Leave,” Hawkmoth said, angry.
“Leave,” someone else echoed. Then Sunrose and Stormbirdand Shearwater, then Owlet and Sparrowhawk took it up. Then the whole group was chanting, “Leave. Leave.”
Nightjar bore it for long enough that Kai thought he was going to have to kill her. Then her mouth twisted into a vicious snarl and she said, “I curse you all.”
Kai lifted a hand, and said in Saredi, echoing it in Witchspeak, “No curse of yours will touch my kin.”
She spit at the ground and turned away. In silence they watched her grab her bag from the ground and walk to her riding animal. Kai noted she didn’t try to take her spare—useless to her now since they had distributed the transport of the supplies among the whole group. As she saddled the animal and rode away, Tangeld said, “Her name is Albre.” The others looked at her in confusion, and she elaborated, “I heard the Doyen call her by it at night.”
“That’s…” Hawkmoth began, then frowned, as if reconsidering her own words. “Against the rules,” she finished finally.
Tangeld gave her a gentle push to the head. “The rules were for us, not the Doyen.”
The group was silent for a time, contemplating this, as Albre rode out of sight. Kai said, “We’d better leave now.” He thought she was too smart to betray them; approaching a legion would mean being killed on sight. And she would have to find one first. Bashasa had chosen their route very carefully. But there was no point in taking the risk.
“Might as well,” Sunrose said, and poked the pot sourly. “She’s ruined dinner.”
Cimeri snorted a laugh, Hawkmoth echoed her, and it was truly surprising to Kai how many of the others laughed too.
Once they wove their way down out of the hills, they were riding through plains broken only by the occasional gully or copse of trees. There were fewer places to rest under cover during theday. But at least the dustwitches didn’t complain; they were clearly used to hard travel. Kai continued their lessons, and reluctantly brought up how to kill demons. It was a little easier now than it had been before. He actually would prefer most if not all of them to survive now.
When they reached the edge of the territory of Descar-arik, Amabel returned, and they brought Dahin and Kai’s cadre, who seemed glad to see him and also still miffed that they hadn’t been along from the beginning.
“Still alive,” Kai told Salatel, who replied grimly, “So I see, Fourth Prince.”
“Was there doubt?” Dahin said, disgruntled. “No one tells me anything.”
There were roads near Descar-arik, once used for trade and to bring in crops from the now empty farms and deserted small towns. Now any other movement around them was sure to be a legionary patrol, and the closer they got to the fort, the worse it was. From Amabel’s reports, Kai knew the rest of the Arike army was somewhere behind and north of their position. Kai’s group would reach the meeting point first on schedule.
They had been crossing a marshy coastal plain since late afternoon, and reached the rendezvous point just as the sun was setting. Kai had been following the map carefully but was grateful for Amabel’s ability to parse out the most difficult terrain and hazards and circle back to help guide them through it. The steady breeze from the east didn’t dispel the sharp scents of saltgrass and mud, or the clouds of nightflies and other insects. The mortal legionaries must hate this place.
