Page 93 of The King of Koraha
“And in that case?” Gurice asked.
“We’ll figure it out then.”
“Well, I’m not worried. At all.” Gurice’s sarcastic tone suggested otherwise.
“Aw, come on, sis. It’ll be fun. We’re the Invisible Sword. That commander fellow won’t know what hit him.”
Ah, the confidence of youth. Shyla glanced at the sand clock. Angle three-forty. Kamila would be in to wake her in twenty angles.
“My two guards and I will go to first meal at angle zero,” she said to them. “You can leave then.” She picked up the pendant. Cracks zigzagged through the jewel. The black stone no longer glinted with iridescence. “I need to wear this. If my expression turns rapt, Mojag, please yank this off of me.” She paused, unwilling to loop it around her neck.
“Wait,” Gurice said. “Give me that.”
Shyla handed it over. Gurice yanked a necklace out from under her tunic. It had four thin round disks hanging on it. Opening the clasp, Gurice pulled two of the disks off, closed it, and tucked it back. She added the disks to the pendant’s chain and returned it to Shyla. Written on one of the silver disks was Gurice’s name and Mojag’s was etched on the other.
“Now you won’t forget us,” Gurice said.
Touched by the gesture, Shyla squeezed her friend’s hand. “Thank you.” She donned the chain and slipped the pendant down next to her skin. She braced for the goddess’s love to drain her will. The siblings stared at her, but nothing happened. Everyone relaxed.
“It was our mother’s,” Mojag said with melancholy darkening his gaze. “All of our names together.”
Shyla pressed her hand to her heart. “I’ll make sure you get these back.”
“We haven’t been a family in so long. Makes more sense for them to be apart. You keep them.”
Poor Mojag had seen so much death in his short life. Shyla vowed that when this was over, she’d ensure they’d be a family.
Angle zero came a heartbeat after she lay down. She blinked at Kamila’s blurry face, then blinked a few more times to bring the woman into focus. Shyla’s room appeared to be empty, but she sensed the magical commands keeping Gurice and Mojag’s presence from the guard.
Shyla’s entire body hurt and pain ringed her chest from her cracked ribs. She wished Zhek had sent his pain relief medicine with the Invisible Swords. The temptation to return to her comfortable cushion and recover from dying pulsed in her exhausted body, but her time was limited.
The guards went with her to the dining area to eat first meal and then Fareed returned to his room to sleep and Kamila accompanied her to the Second Room of Knowledge. Neda waited for them in their reading nook. The monk had pulled out a number of new tablets. Had the woman slept at all? Not according to the dark circles around her eyes.
Gathering her will, Shyla sent Kamila to sleep, catching the guard before she hit the hard ground. Then she freed Neda from the compulsion.
Neda swayed and Shyla moved to help, but the woman held out a hand. “Don’t come any closer.”
Understanding, she stopped as shame twisted inside her. Neda had good reason to hate her, but Shyla hoped she’d still be willing to help her.
Neda straightened, visibly pulling herself together as she drew in a few deep breaths. “What changed?”
In response, Shyla pulled out the broken pendant. “I’m free from Xerxes’ compulsion.”
“Who is Xerxes?”
She explained what had happened and what she needed to do.
“You’ll free all the monks.” It wasn’t quite a question, more of a demand.
“Yes, but not all at once. I don’t want Egan tipping Xerxes off. I can do it slowly over the next nine sun jumps and then when we leave, you can deal with Egan.”
Neda considered. “How do we deal with him?”
“I hope to learn how to counter his pendant. It might be as easy as taking it off, but at this point I don’t know.”
“And all this…” She gestured to Shyla and Kamila and herself. “Is due to magic?”
“Yes. I know it’s hard to believe. But—”
