“Sounds fair enough,” Ilyan said at once, my gasp of surprise echoing around us.
“There is only one hitch,” Cail continued, finally stepping away from the window. “If I can only bind the curse, not send it into Edmund, and I die before my father, then the curse will be unbound and it will be unstoppable and Wynifred will die. To save her life, my father must die first.”
“You drive a hard bargain,” Ilyan said with a smile, his hand dragging through his hair as he contemplated everything in front of him. The minutes dragged on as we waited. I tried to catch Cail’s eyes, to plead with him not to do this, but he avoided me, his focus only on Ilyan.
“I will agree to your request Cail, if you both consent to my terms. Cail will bind the curse, with a future promise of sanctuary, and Wynifred will give up her fire magic.”
“Deal,” Cail said at once, his hand extending in an attempt to seal the promise.
I could not move. Cail was risking everything for me, putting his life on the line in a crazy attempt to get me to Ilyan and hopefully into safety. I could do nothing more than return the favor, even if it would be years before he could redeem it. I would do anything to save my brother, just as he would obviously do anything to save me.
“Deal.”
“Tell me of the Vil?s,” Ilyan said the instant the word was out of my mouth.
“Edmund has found a way to make a Vil? strengthen his magic,” Cail began, and everyone stiffened. Everyone knew that Edmund had captured the little things, but even I didn’t know what he was doing with them.
“There are cages of Vil? he hides underground, harvesting their poison in the hopes of someday creating a child more powerful than you. He plans to inject his next child with enough poison to either kill it or turn it into a weapon. He also keeps a Vil? by his bedside, letting him bite him every night, on his mark, in hopes of increasing his power.”
Everything washed over me, the onslaught of memories coming in such a rush I couldn’t help the wave of bile that expelled itself. I felt my stomach empty itself, heard the dull splat of liquid against stone, and my vision swam, the cold prison coming back into focus.
I heard the two men exclaim, before Timothy laughed, his joy making the sound high pitched and girlish.
“Feel better?” Edmund asked, “Remember everything?”
I didn’t respond. I just hung my head between my arms, the lack of muscle strength giving me reprieve.
“Now, tell me Cail’s secret. Why will he do anything to save you?” I just looked at him, not willing to give him the information, knowing deep down that soon I wouldn’t have another choice.
“Tell me what I can threaten your brother with, Wynifred.” I felt his fingers rest against my spine, his magic jerking into my spinal column as he moved to take the information by force.
“If Cail dies first, then I die. If Timothy dies first, the curse unbinds itself.” My voice was dead as Edmund forced it out of me.
“There now,” Edmund sneered, the smile wide on his face, “That wasn’t that hard, was it? Come along, Timothy. It looks like I have a job for you.”
He moved away from me then, the door swinging shut behind him with a clang before the shackles around my wrists vanished, sending me to the ground in a heap.
Ilyan
Chapter Seventeen
I could not thank Ovailia for her foresight in adding modern bathrooms to the ancient chambers at Rioseco more than I did right now. The room was still steamy from the prolonged shower, the air heavy with the mist of the okouzleny bush. I breathed in the heavy flavor of the wood, savoring the way it relaxed my heart and cleared my lungs.
I had let the water run for much longer than was strictly necessary as I cut my hair back to the short cut that Joclyn had said she liked, letting the steam move out into the bedroom where Joclyn lay on the large soft bed. She looked so peaceful, and although I knew the magical properties of the bush would not wake her, I hoped they would calm her in the nightmare she was still restrained within.