“You probably thought that bauble was a tsali stone, assuming you understand what a tsali stone is. It is not.” She flicked her hands away as if brushing away evil thoughts. “There are eight Cornerstones. Two stones for each of the four founding races. Each different, each with a different awful set of powers, each meant to usurp one of the Eight Gods.” Khaemezra chuckled, low and evil and without any warmth. “They failed in that at least. I’ll take my comforts where I can.”
“I don’t understand. Are you saying I could use this to gaesh other people? But I am gaeshed!”
“So? The Stone of Shackles cares not if your soul is divided or whole, only that it is here on this side of the Second Veil. Listen to me, because this is important: that glittery rock on your chest embodies a concept, and that concept is slavery. Every slave who has ever crawled or squirmed or died at the end of a lash feeds it, just as every death feeds Thaena. You wear an abomination around your neck and it makes the world a more terrible place by the fact of its existence.”
I felt lightheaded and dizzy. People had tried so hard to get me to remove that damn stone. At that moment, I wanted to take it off and throw it across the cabin—more than I had ever wanted anything in my life. I reached for the knot at the back of my neck, fingers scrambling in a panic. “And you used this on your granddaughter? I want it destroyed. I’ll smash it. I’ll break it—”
“As easy to kill a god, dear child. No weapon you own is up to the task. Besides, it protects you. The Stone of Shackles saved your life just a few minutes ago. Your enemies believe they cannot kill you so long as you wear it; that the power of the Stone of Shackles would twist such an act to mean their deaths and not yours. Why do you think I gave it to Miya? As for why I used it on her, I had my reasons. Leave it at that.”
That stopped me cold. Khaemezra was right, of course. The necklace couldn’t be taken by force; it had to be freely given.
Also, she’d just given an order.
I forced my hand away from the stone. “Is this what Relos Var wants? The Stone of Shackles?”
Khaemezra sighed. “No. I doubt he cares for that particular trinket. He seeks something other than a magic necklace—your destruction.”
“But why does he want to kill me? I’ve never met him, or done anything to him.”
She smiled at me in a grandmotherly sort of way. “Dear child, I did not say he wants to kill you.”
“But you said—” I stopped and felt cold. As a priestess of the Death Goddess, she wouldn’t be imprecise with any phrasing concerning murder.
“Killing you would be a sloppy mistake, one that puts you back in the Afterlife, to be reborn or Returned.” She reached over and patted my knee. “Understand, it was pure luck…” She nodded at me. “… pure luck, that we had any idea about this auction. A source overheard Relos Var discussing the sale, and relayed that information to us without understanding its significance. However, I don’t know how he knew you would be there.”
“He could have heard about my kidnapping. I’m sure half of Quur knows I’m missing by this point.” I grimaced. “How he knew to go looking for me in the Kishna-Farriga slave pits though … if Darzin knew where I was—” I paused. “Darzin’s found me before. Could he have ordered this Relos Var person to collect me once he knew my location?”
She blinked at me and then laughed, awful and loud. “No.”
“But—”
“Darzin might be Relos Var’s lackey, but never the reverse. Prior to this you have met small men with small ambitions. But Relos Var? Relos Var is a Power, one of the strongest in the whole world.”
“Thanks for telling me. I’ll sleep so well tonight.” I swallowed. “Why me, again?”
“There’s a prophecy.”
I stared at her.
Khaemezra stared back.
I blanched, looked away, and reminded myself not to get into staring contests with High Priestesses of death cults. “I don’t believe in prophecy.”
“Neither do I. Unfortunately, Relos Var seems to take these prophecies seriously, so I must as well. And in the meantime, I would like to train you and make sure that the next time you run into trouble, you will be better prepared.” She smiled. “I’ll think of it as a favor to Miya.”
“No thanks, I already have a—” I started to say, I already have a goddess. I couldn’t spit out the words.
She noticed the pause and her eyes narrowed. “Yes, Taja is your patron. But despite our origins, worshiping the Death Goddess is not a requirement for admission into our order. I seek a soldier, not a priest or fanatic. The Goddess of Luck will not object to your training at our hands.”
I closed my eyes and shuddered. “I don’t give a fuck what Taja wants with me.”
When I opened my eyes again, Khaemezra stared at me with open contempt.
“Fool,” she whispered. She’d used much the same tone with Relos Var.
Blood warmed my cheeks. “You don’t understand what I’ve been through—”
“What is it about the idiot men in your family that you are all such fools? Stubborn. Mule-headed! If one of the Sisters chooses to give you her grace, do you think you can walk away from a goddess? That you can say ‘Bah, a bad thing has happened to me, fie on my goddess forever’? Taja walks with you as much now as she ever did. She protects you and comforts you, and if you will not see it, that is not her doing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Exactly what I’d expect a priestess to say. Easy words when you don’t sit here gaeshed, with the dried blood from flayed skin still staining your back. She … She…” I realized I shouldn’t say the words, but the damage hurt. What happened to me still hurt. Khaemezra may have healed the damage to my body, but the damage to my emotions, my soul, still festered, hot and raw.
I leaned forward and finished the sentence. “She betrayed me.”
Khaemezra’s nostrils flared. “You’re mistaken.”
“The Quuros navy had found me.” I gestured toward the hull of the ship. “I’d spent months huddled in the rowing galley downstairs, praying the slave masters didn’t remember I was there, and then the navy arrived, looking for me. And what happened? They couldn’t see me. The one time in my life I didn’t want to be invisible. I watched as that navy captain looked right through me, even though I was exactly who he was looking for—the only yellow-haired bastard in the room. That was the moment I realized that my goddess didn’t want me rescued.”
“Of course not. Going back to Quur would have been a disaster.”
“A disaster?” I tried to keep my voice a careful neutral.
Khaemezra glanced at me, narrowing her eyes, and I knew I’d failed. She saw the anger as clearly as if I’d lost my temper outright. “Return to Quur and you die.”
“You don’t know that.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh child. You think so?”
“I do. I had a plan. It would have worked. Instead, people I love are probably dead.”
“Yes. Some are. Far more would be dead if you had stayed. I know that. I know that far better than you.”
I looked at her.
“What was it you said, not five minutes ago? About how you convinced Juval not to kill you outright? The dead keep no secrets from the Pale Lady.”