It served him right, she thought. At least he wasn’t tied up.
Any moment now the runes on the Alturan Lexicon would fade. Renewing them was a skill that Ella simply didn’t possess. Perhaps if she read the book, she could understand how to renew the runes, but even so she had no essence.
Ella sighed.
She thought about Miro, so far away, fighting for his life. Fighting for Altura and freedom. There had to be something she could do to get the Lexicon back to Altura. She thought about Amber and her marriage to Igor Samson. Was Amber happy? Layla’s drowned eyes came to her mind, looking at her reproachfully, her skin wrinkled. Last of all she thought about Brandon.
Then she slept.
~
SHE woke in the morning feeling cramped but refreshed. Killian was asleep, with the heatplate separating the two of them.
Ella tested the twine carefully. It held her hands tightly bound together, the wrists facing opposite directions. There was no chance of escape.
She felt like she’d lost all circulation in her hands and feet. She started rubbing her hands against her body.
"I know how to tie a knot. You won’t break through it."
She quickly looked up. Killian was sitting up, looking at her. She glared at him.
"I wasn’t trying to escape. My hands are completely numb. I’m probably going to lose them to gangrene."
He snorted, "You’re not going to lose them to gangrene. Here."
He came over and, watching her carefully, loosened the twine around her hands, leaving her feet tied. He rubbed her hands gently between his own, the colour slowly returning.
His touch was so gentle.
"Please," she spoke so low she almost whispered, "can’t you let me go?"
"Without the Lexicon?" he said.
"No, not without the Lexicon!" She pulled her hands away in anger.
He shrugged and tied her hands back up again. He then untied her feet, working on them in silence then leaving them untied.
He stood up, "We’re leaving."
~
THIS was not the clear day the previous one had been. Winter came back for a time — not in the way it chilled the air, but in the clouds that turned the sky a sullen grey.
Ella felt well-rested, but Killian looked as if he had been through a night of complete misery. His blue eyes were bloodshot. His back and leg obviously pained him terribly. He set a determined pace though, the dust kicking up from his boots under the white priest’s robe. Ella had no choice but to keep up.
He caught her look, "Did you hear it last night?"
"No, hear what?"
"The screams."
Ella shivered. "No, I didn’t hear any screams."
He looked back over his shoulder. "There’s something following us, I can feel it. I don’t know if it’s your High Enchantress, but there have been noises at night, noises that chill my blood."
Ella thought about her first night in Petrya, frightened and alone in the red forest.
"I know what you mean. Shrieks."
He looked at her quickly, "Yes, that’s it. Do you know what it is?"
"No," she looked at him in return. "Do you?"
"No."
They walked along in silence.
If anything the sky grew darker as the day progressed. Ella couldn’t even tell where in the sky the sun was. It was all the colour of smoke.
"Tell me then," Ella said suddenly.
"What?"
"Tell me. Tell me the part you play in this, why you think it’s so necessary to attack my people."
He paused for a long moment. She thought he wasn’t going to reply. When she was about to open her mouth he spoke.
"Let me ask you some questions first. What are the raja?"
"The houses? They are peoples, nations. Governed by a High Lord and with individual customs, attitudes and culture."
"And lore?"
"Yes, and with their own lore."
"What is the Emperor’s role?"
Ella felt like she was in class at the Academy again. "The Emperor’s role is to govern the relationships between the houses, and to facilitate commerce and trade. He keeps the peace and prevents war."
"And how about the Assembly of Templars?"
"The priesthood? They are there to teach us our history. About the Evermen and the origin of lore. As children we learn morality and a code of ethics. We learn to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves. The Primate also has the role of administering disputes between the houses — even disputes involving the imperial house. He facilitates communication between the houses."
"What about essence?"
"Well, the Primate oversees the distribution of essence. The Assembly possesses no lore of its own. They have no need or use for essence. The templars are specially trained priests who help produce and guard the essence. If one house, even the imperial house, were to try to take essence by guile or force, the wrath of not just the houses, but the templars too, would rise against the offending house."
"Good, good," Killian said. "That pretty much sums it up. Do you think it’s a good system?"
"Good? It’s not perfect, but it works — to a greater or lesser extent."