Page 180 of The Eye of the Fifth
‘Steady, Zuriel,’ Naal cautioned. ‘We cannot just fly off to Blythtrie and hope for the best. It will need careful planning, without reckless haste. Whatisa sure thing, is that this bold move was made to draw us out of the shadows. To force our swords into this war once and for all. The Empress plays on our empathy for freedom… we must be vigilant in how we respond.’
Zuriel bowed her head in understanding.
‘Kyra.’ A chill skittered over Kyra’s skin at the change in Naal’s intonation, from commanding to wary. ‘This box is addressed to you.’
Kyra blinked. ‘To me? What is it?’
‘I do not know. I have not opened it.’
Perhaps it was from Oslan? He’d known where she was going. Maybe it was a gift from Taru? A letter from him and Rosary? A sign that he’d arrived there safely.
Intrigue moved her forward as she took the small black box from Naal’s hands and placed it on the stone table. The wordsEARTH WARDENhad been intricately carved on its top. Her fingers traced the lettering, but with that soft touch, she knew it hadn’t been Oslan who’d sent it.
It was cold, exuding a bleakness that had her wanting to vomit up all the acidic liquid swilling around in her stomach.
A firm hand came down on top of the box, covering the words. She knew whose hand it was before looking up. Gedeon towered above her, eyes full of caution. ‘Don’t open it. It won’t be a pleasant gift.’
She stared at him for a moment, hands turning clammy with cold sweat, but despite his warning, she pushed his hand aside and lifted the lid.
Alone in the centre of the box, sat a severed, bloodied human ear.
And there, pierced horribly at the top of the cartilage, was a singular golden hoop.
Kyra’s mouth turned bone dry.
She could not speak. Could not think. Could not do anything but look at that hoop, covered in dried blood.
Someone tried to gently close the box, but she held onto the lid with a steadfast hand. The wood splintered beneath her fingers.
The quiet in the room was torturous. The quiet in her head was worse.
‘Kyra.’
‘She has her,’ she heard herself say, separate from her body. Someone lightly touched her shoulder. ‘Don’t touch me!’
The hand disappeared.
Her vision was blurring. Her hands were trembling. And in the depths of her soul, that slumbering, terrible force began to stir.
Naal’s voice cut through the air like a blade. ‘Everyone out.Now.’
‘Naal-’
‘Everyone,Gedeon. Go.’
Feet shuffled, the door slammed shut. The very air had turned to ice.
Kyra slammed the lid and glared at theEARTH WARDENengravement, her chest rapidly rising and falling. ‘I have to go.’
‘Kyra,no.That is exactly what Azar wants you to do.’
Naal didn’t understand. Rosary had been punished, had been maimed because… because ofher. Because of who she was. ‘You cannot keep me here. I will not stay here, Naal.’ Her voice trembled. ‘Not while Rosary is in the hands of that sadisticcunt.’
‘The arrival of this box and the attack on Blythtrie is no coincidental synchronicity,’ Naal implored. ‘Azar is attempting to split us up. By now she will know that all four Wardens are together once more. If you go to Zarynth, you walk right into the trap that she has laid for us. I am sorry, Kyra. I know what Rosary means to you. But if you run off to save her, you sacrifice yourself. And I cannot allow that to happen. We need you.Drorianeeds you.’ Naal’s cool grey eyes were deep with regret.
Kyra couldn’t have given less of a fuck.
‘She needs me!’she roared. Her skin was rapidly beginning to glow. ‘It’s because of me that Azar has her!’
