Hermen's face clouded. Ella wondered if perhaps she shouldn't have laughed so loud. Then she remembered the taste of the seal livers. She also remembered her captors being less than gentle with her.
Ella laughed some more, while Hermen's expression grew more pained.
~
AT THE end of the meal the guests dispersed one by one. A revenant in grey came over to Ella, saying nothing, just staring at her with sightless white eyes.
Ella knew when she was being summoned. She bid good night to Hermen and followed the revenant to a smaller chamber nearby.
Dain Barden was crouching in front of a hearth, holding his hands towards the embers.
"I'm a plain-spoken man, Ella, and I will appreciate it if you are direct in return. Why are you here?"
Ella gathered her thoughts, wondering where to begin. "We think the attack may have been directed by an ancient enemy of all of us."
The Dain turned, his eyebrow raised. "You mean one of the Evermen?"
"Yes." Ella met his gaze.
"I didn't see any lore," Barden said. "I saw some kind of chemical explosive, a substance that is also toxic when introduced to the blood."
Ella was surprised at the Dain's insight. He didn't just rule his people by might.
"There are other reasons," Ella said. She thought about Evrin's words. Someone had crossed. "I need to know. Has any stranger come to these lands, seeking essence?"
"Now I'm getting worried, Enchantress," the Dain said.
"Perhaps it's time to be worried."
"Yes," said Dain Barden, and the one syllable sent chills through Ella's spine. "I can't say for certain that a stranger came here, but Renrik, one of my most senior necromancers, fled, along with several others of his order. I am the only one who can access our essence reserves, but they took several flasks with them. They also took a ship."
Ella was surprised. "You have ships?"
"We don't like those of the houses to know, but yes, we have ships. They took the Icebreaker, one of our best ships."
It had to be, Ella realised. Evrin was right. One of the Evermen was in Merralya, and he had with him several necromancers.
"Is it enough?" Ella asked.
"Enough for what?"
"You know what I'm asking! Did they take enough essence to build the vats? Enough to build the machines that extract essence from the dead."
"Yes," the Dain said, sighing. "They took enough."
"How long ago did this happen?"
"Some time ago."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Ella cried.
"Who are you, woman, to question me in my own palace?" Dain Barden growled, rising to his full height.
Ella reminded herself she needed the Dain's help, not his ire. She calmed.
"Where could they have gone?"
"Where?" Barden said. "I have no idea. And now that I've answered your questions…"
"There's something else," Ella said.
"What is it?"
She took a deep breath. Ella knew Evrin would never teach her the things she needed to know, and this was her only chance.
"I need you to teach me."
"Teach you? Teach you what?"
"I need you to teach me how to bring the dead back to life."
The Dain laughed. "I learned my lesson with that one. No, never again will we share the knowledge outside my people."
"There must be something I can offer you that will change your mind."
"Ha," Barden snorted. "Nothing. You may stay in Ku Kara one more night after tonight, Enchantress. I know it has been a long journey north for you. But then I'll ask you to leave."
14
ELLA wandered about Ku Kara. It took her hours but she walked from one end to the other, watching the Akari at work and play, opening her mind to their way of life.
She thought about Killian.
With no idea what strange world lay on the other side of the portal, Ella couldn't even picture him. When she tried, she simply saw him as she'd last seen him, bare-chested, near-naked, looking at her with eyes that spoke volumes as he took a step into the unknown.
Ella held his necklace as she walked, rubbing the worn pendant between her fingers. Lost in thought, she was oblivious to the cold.
Where was he right now? Was he cold, also?
His face floated in a void of darkness. Ella again saw his fiery red hair and intense blue eyes, a shade she had only seen before in Evrin.
Killian had been raised an orphan, and become a street thief in Salvation, under the gaze of Stonewater. He had been offered a chance at a normal life when he'd joined a performing troupe, and with his lean, athletic build, Ella was sure he could have enjoyed a life of success.
But the Emperor had destroyed the troupe, murdering the only family Killian had ever known. Lost, Killian had returned to Salvation, the only home he knew. The Primate had found him, and turned the young thief to his own evil ends.
Yet Killian had met Ella, and somehow, she knew she had touched him, and he'd been saved again.
All he had ever wanted was to find his own family, and feel the sense of belonging that Ella knew he had always wanted to know. Evrin had given Ella part of the story, revealing that Killian was descended in a long line from Evrin himself.