The Myatheira Chronicles: Volume Three: Crown of Ice Read online

  There had to be a way for her to speak with him. Moinie couldn’t watch her forever. Overhead the sun was already beginning to sink below the horizon, heralding the coming of another night. They would need to stop soon. The Vor’shai would insist upon their tents again. If Edric took up his bed in the company of the others, she would lose any chance at getting him alone.

  They were in Ythes territory now. The remainder of the trip to Isavo would be precarious. Emakai’s warriors were far from under control, their thirst for vengeance no doubt heightened by the death of their leader. A guard would need to be positioned within the camp to keep watch while the others slept. It was the only way to guarantee protection against an ambush if the Ythes became aware of their presence.

  Of course. That was the opportunity she was looking for. Edric’s watch could be arranged to fall during a time when Moinie would be asleep. She could sneak out to him without anyone else knowing. It was a flawless plan, unless something – or someone – prevented Moinie from getting her rest. Neomi would have to make sure that Sahra went to sleep soundly so that she wouldn’t keep Moinie awake with her childish nonsense.

  “We will set up camp here,” she announced calmly, raising her hand to signal the group to stop. From behind her she heard Edric stumble, quickly caught by Callum in a display of lightning reflexes. She couldn’t help being impressed. Their Captain was observant. Agile. Quick. It was no wonder he held the rank he did. “The territory we are in belongs to the Ythes. For safety, we will arrange shifts between members of the party to keep an eye out for hostiles. The Vor’shai Captain will take first watch. Edric, you will be second, followed by Gadiel. Moinie, you will relieve him and I will take the final watch before morning. Is this understood?”

  “Neomi, if I may,” Callum stepped forward, throwing a quick glance in Edric’s direction before settling his gaze on her once again. “Sahra could take the second watch. It is not that I doubt Edric’s observational skills, I simply see no reason to force the Prince to do the job of a soldier.”

  Chin lifted she stared down her nose at Callum. She knew what he was doing. He was concerned for Edric’s health and safety. Not that she could blame him. Edric looked like death warmed over standing at Callum’s side, eyes unfocused, barely able to maintain his balance for more than a few seconds without beginning to sway unsteadily. Concerned or not, she couldn’t give in. Moinie would disapprove and above all else, it would destroy her chance at speaking with him. No. He had to take his turn. If he was too ill, she would be a second set of eyes during his shift. “The Prince is a soldier and therefore will be treated like one,” she stated defiantly. “I will not debate my decision. Set up your tents and prepare yourselves for bed. If we leave at dawn we can be to Isavo before sundown tomorrow.”

  She watched and waited, patiently observing the Vor’shai as they assembled the tents, taking up a similar formation to that which they had utilized the night before. Enough space between each one to allow ample view of the surrounding land while still near enough to reach quickly in the event of an attack. As expected, Edric disappeared inside the largest structure with Gadiel. Callum’s belongings were hurried inside with them though he remained outdoors, taking up a position near the center of the camp, posture erect, eyes darting from one side to the other in a constant scan of the area.

  Nervously, Neomi made her way toward the tent where Sahra entered. If she was going to remove Sahra as a distraction, she needed to do so before Moinie left the company of the others. Her friend would know she was up to something if she discovered any tricks used to hasten the Vor’shai woman’s slumber. Once inside the tent she approached Sahra from behind, hand outstretched toward her head, closing her eyes to draw on the energy around them. The foreigners were easy to manipulate. A simple disruption in their body could render them helpless. Sahra started to turn around, surprised by the sudden thrum of energy through her head. Moving closer Neomi increased her concentration. Just a little more. She couldn’t let this woman see what she was doing. It would raise too many questions.

  To her relief she heard a soft sigh from Sahra’s lips, her legs buckling under the weight of her body, collapsing to the ground in a heap. Afraid of her own strength Neomi knelt at the woman’s side, feeling for a pulse at the side of her neck. Slow but present. She would be fine other than a horrendous ache in her head come morning.

  Grabbing her by the arms Neomi dragged Sahra’s limp form over to the blankets, eyes locked on the entry flap of the tent. Moinie would be coming any moment. Hastening her movements she tucked Sahra into the bed, pausing only briefly to admire her work when she finished. Sahra looked so peaceful lying there. Fast asleep. Moinie would never think to check for anything out of the ordinary. No one would know Sahra spent the night in unconsciousness rather than restful slumber. To the unsuspecting eye, there was no difference between the two.

  By the time Moinie entered the tent Neomi was already settling herself in her own blankets. There was nothing to be done about her friend at this point. All she could do was lie there and hope Moinie drifted into a deep enough sleep that she wouldn’t notice Neomi slipping out. Her heart raced at the thought. This was madness. If the Ythes attacked, Sahra was now useless to them. For the sake of a man, she had intentionally weakened their numbers. Maybe Moinie was right. It wasn’t safe for her to continue this way. She knew this and yet she couldn’t convince herself to let it go. She just needed to speak with Edric this one time and then she would avoid him throughout the rest of their journey the way Moinie requested. It was better for everyone that way.

  She felt like a criminal. A thief waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Lying there in the dark she listened to Moinie’s breath, steady at first, slowly easing into the gentle rhythm of sleep. Her entire body tingled with excitement. It was working. In another hour the entire camp would be fast asleep other than herself and Edric. She couldn’t have planned it more perfectly.

  Voices outside caused her heart to leap in her chest, panicked at the thought of something ruining it all. Slowly she slid closer to the wall of the tent, straining her ears to hear who was speaking. One of the men was the Vor’shai Captain. He was recognizable, though he sounded unusually stricken. She cursed the softness of his tone, preventing her from making out more than a few words, breaking up the conversation too much for it to make sense. Over time she found the second voice familiar as well, quickening her already racing heart. Edric. Damn. What if Callum decided to stay with him during his watch? It would ruin everything! She needed him alone. There were too many questions she wanted to ask which couldn’t be spoken in front of anyone else. Pride wouldn’t let her admit the gratitude she felt for his bravery to anyone but him. No. She would get him alone even if it meant luring the Captain away as well. She prayed that wouldn’t be necessary. He was too strong of a fighter and a valuable asset to their team in the event of an attack. Sahra might be expendable but Callum was not. She was limited in dealing with him.

  A name was spoken between the two men. Feminine. She had to assume it was a woman they knew from Tanispa. Aiva? She couldn’t recall having heard anyone say the name before. Whoever she was, the name stirred anguish in the Captain’s voice. His wife, perhaps? Edric’s sister. Why did this woman bring him so much pain? Edric had mentioned the Captain to be under some kind of distress. Was it possible his troubles were somehow linked to this Aiva?

  What did it matter? She didn’t care what the Captain’s troubles were as long as he was gone from Edric when his shift was over. He could sulk about his wife in the privacy of his own tent. He didn’t need Edric to listen to his drivel.

  Time dragged by, the next hour feeling like an entire day before she finally heard movement from outside. Someone was going toward the men’s tent. Pressing her ear to the wall she tried to listen for an indication of a voice. Anything which would tell her who stayed behind. It was possible the Captain would disregard her orders for having Edric carry out a shift and remain on guard until their Commande
r awoke. There were so many things that could go wrong. She couldn’t remember ever having felt this nervous before. Her hands trembled, the hard thud of her heart pounding wildly, echoing through her head like a drum.

  Waiting until the camp was quiet again Neomi quietly slid from under the blankets, cautious in every movement, not wanting to wake Moinie. Precise steps guided her toward the exit without a sound. Moinie’s breathing remained unchanged. Deep. Even. Good; she thought to herself. For once she wouldn’t have to answer to her friend for every little thing she did.

  Outside the tent she could see a figure hunched near the center of the camp, a tiny, dying fire the only warmth provided other than a single blanket wrapped around the man’s shoulders. Careful not to announce her presence prematurely she stepped lightly across the surface of the snow. She couldn’t see his face. It was buried in his arms, a mass of tousled black hair visible through the faint illumination of the flames. Black. The Captain’s was brown. Why was she so relieved? She needed to get herself together.

  Distracted by the discovery of Edric’s presence there by the fire, alone, her concentration slipped, a single foot breaking through a thin layer of ice over the snow, creating a soft crack which shot through the quiet night, the man’s head snapping up in alarm. Seeing his face sent her head into a frenzy. What was she going to say? It had all been clear in her mind, perfectly worked out down to every little word, and now, here she stood, speechless. The carefully rehearsed conversation lost. Swallowing hard she straightened her back. He couldn’t be allowed to see her hesitation. She couldn’t risk giving him the wrong impression. She just wanted to talk. Ask a few questions. So why did she feel so nervous?

  “Neomi?”

  Lifting her finger to her lips she silenced him, glancing behind her toward the tents in fear of someone coming out to find her there. They needed to be quiet. Callum would still be awake. If he heard commotion, he would come to investigate.

  Frozen where she stood, Neomi listened intently to the camp. There was nothing. Complete silence from every direction. Satisfied that they were alone she moved in closer to Edric, kneeling in the snow at his side. He was shivering. A quiet chatter from his teeth could be heard over the crackling of the small flames, his hands clutching the blanket tighter against him for warmth. Staring into the fire she willed it to grow. He needed more than a burning ember to keep him out of harm’s grasp from the cold.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She cast a curious glance toward Edric out of the corner of her eye, unsure of what to say. Her mind had yet to calm. It was chaos, the thoughts crashing, forming nothing more than incoherent, broken statements which could never be spoken out loud. She hated the way he made her feel! Why wasn’t she in control around him? It should be easy to confront him about his behavior the night before. His foolish act of heroism, the unwanted touch of his hand against her face… “Why would something be wrong?” It was better than nothing. If she remained quiet he would know something was amiss.

  “Your face is flushed,” he replied quietly.

  Flushed? Slowly she brought her hand to the side of her face, pressing her gloved palm against her cheek. “It is the heat from the fire,” she lied, lowering her hand to rest on her lap. “I did not come here to make small talk. You are ill. It is only a matter of time before Moinie notices. Have you determined the reason for your sickness?”

  She stared at him, challenging him with her eyes. He gave little resistance, head bowed, a dejected sigh creating a soft mist in the air around his mouth. “We have.”

  “And?”

  “It is somewhat humiliating” he frowned. “I’m afraid if I tell you, your people will think us more weak and pathetic than you already do. My intention was to avoid that as long as possible.”

  “I am not going to leave until you answer my question.”

  “Then I have a means of prolonging your company for a while.”

  She stared at him through the orange glow of the fire. Did he speak in jest? Was he going to bait her into further conversation by dangling the answer she desired over her head? “My company is not something which can be prolonged beyond that which I allow. If you do not wish to tell me the cause of your ailment, it changes nothing for me.” She cringed inside to say the words. It was a lie. She needed to know what was wrong with him. He saved her life and now he suffered for it. Was it a punishment from the gods for interfering with their divine plans? He knew the answer. And she knew she would remain with him until he told her; or until someone else awoke to prevent them from speaking further.

  Edric shrugged, shifting his gaze away from Neomi to stare into the dancing flames. His silence was frustrating. Why didn’t he speak? Did he honestly intend to conceal the reason from her? He was testing her. Seeing if he could convince her to stay. It was a dangerous game they both played. To stay too long would make him think he had some hold over her. If she left too soon, she would lose her chance at discovering what ailed him. Either way Edric would be victorious unless she could draw the answer from his lips before time whittled away.

  She needed to think of a distraction. Another conversation which would draw him in, detract him from his games. “Your Captain is troubled,” she stated plainly, clasping her fingers together in her lap. “Who is this Aiva that brings him so much pain?”

  “If you are trying to trick me into admitting further weakness of our people, it will not work.”

  “If I wanted proof of weakness, I would not have to trick you to obtain it,” she snapped, unable to contain her irritation. Chiding herself she drew in a deep breath. Calm. You need to stay calm. Insulting him was no way to gain his trust. “I seek to understand your people. The ways of the Vor’shai confuse me. It is as if we come from two different worlds. Among my people, women do not cause men grief. This makes me wonder what could trouble a man such as your Captain. He does not seem the type of person who would be easily shaken.”

  The dim glow of Edric’s eyes fell on her, examining her through the darkness. It made her uneasy to think of him scrutinizing her. She assumed him to be unobservant but he had proven himself smarter than she liked to admit. If he discovered how uncomfortable she was at his side, he might try to take advantage of it. “You have no idea the hardships my people faced before you came to Tanispa to bring us yours,” he said quietly. Stern. “Callum’s wife is ill. Only days before your arrival he learned she was carrying his child. Under normal circumstances that would have been joyous news, but she suffers complications. There is no guarantee the child will make it to birth. And instead of being by her side to comfort her, he is here in this wretched place with your ungrateful people trying to save your lives when his wife could be back home dying. The only comfort I could offer her was to come with him to try and prevent his death as well.”

  She wasn’t certain what she’d expected him to say, but the words he spoke now struck her in a way she didn’t understand. Callum was distressed over the loss of his wife? To not be with her while she suffered with child? Such matters were trivial to the Ovatai. It was rare for a husband to be by his wife’s side when a child was born unless it was an heir to a line of honor. To think of a man being so torn over being away from his wife was unheard of. “I do not understand,” she shook her head, searching in her mind for the right words to ask. “What hold does this woman have over him which haunts him to this degree?”

  “Hold?” Edric breathed, shocked by the question. “He loves her, Neomi. More than life itself.” His words were broken by a hard chatter of his teeth, fighting to get it under control again. “Callum has been in love with my sister since they were children. He would die for her and on many occasions nearly has.”

  “And your sister? She shares these feelings for him?”

  “Equally,” he nodded. “Almost forty years ago we were on a voyage across the Vai’ld Sea. My younger sister, Shaelyn, had been taken captive by a group of pirates and was at risk of being sold into slavery. Our ship was attacked by a creature known
as a divastru. In many ways similar to your Avaern, it is a frightening beast. Callum and his men fought bravely but to no avail. The ship was going to sink and everyone on board was sure to die either at the hands of the divastru or the depths of the freezing water. Callum gave the order for us to make our escape while he took a boat out to sea in order to distract the beast long enough for us to get away. It was a suicide mission. He was going to sacrifice himself for us. When Aiva realized what he was doing, she tricked Gadiel into leaving her side so she could throw herself into the water after Callum to try and save him. The last thing we saw was Callum’s boat shattered under the strength of the divastru and his body being flung into the sea. We went for weeks, convinced they were both dead, only to discover that Aiva had found his body and dragged him, half-dead, to the coast of Tunir. She saved his life at risk of losing her own. You can call it weakness if you want, but I think that is a display of the greatest strength two people could ever possess. He was willing to die for us all and she was willing to die for him.”

  Humbled by the story Neomi averted her eyes, staring down at the melting snow around the flames. She couldn’t imagine feeling an emotion for someone so strong that it was worth dying for. “He must feel terribly indebted to her.”

  “There is no debt when you love someone. It is repaid simply by knowing the other would do the same for you. That is the beautiful thing about love and most of us live our lives without ever knowing what that feels like.”

  “Do you love me, then?”

  Edric coughed, choking on his own saliva. “I beg your pardon?”

  It seemed a simple enough question. “You saved my life,” she replied calmly. “Does this mean you love me? Am I indebted to you?”

  “We don’t only save the people we love,” he stammered, drawing his knees in toward his chest uncomfortably. “I saved you because it was the right thing to do. Do you honestly mean to tell me that your people would not have done the same? What of your husband? Surely he must love you in that way.”