Was that what the sharp lance was? The queen—and whoever else it might be behind the voices and the bracelets—erasing what they didn’t want shared? Just because I’d heard it as little more than a squeal of sound didn’t mean Saska had.
It also explained the weird gaps in her memories, and Kiro’s inability to uncover any information from the three women—no matter how strong his powers, or how deeply intimate the reading, he couldn’t uncover what was not there to find.
“So this queen—she’s Adlin?” It was a logical conclusion given it was the Adlin who had originally snatched them, even if the hand I’d glimpsed in her memories was Irkallan.
“No. She merely uses them as she uses us.”
“Meaning they’ve enslaved them and are using them as incubators?”
A smile touched her lips, and it held the first hint of warmth I’d seen for a while. “She doesn’t need to enslave them—not when she controls the one who now leads them.”
The entire Adlin population under the total control of another race? It was a prospect I found rather hard to accept. And yet their actions in Tenterra when I’d rescued Saska had certainly been beyond their norm.
She wrapped her arms around her thin body. “The wind bites at me. I think she wishes me ill.”
“Nonsense. You’re just projecting your own fears onto her.” I tried to inject as much positivity as I could into my tone, because in truth, there was bitterness in the wind’s whispers. I touched Saska’s arm lightly; I might as well have been touching ice. “You need to come inside. Catching a chill will do neither you nor your child any good.”
“No.”
I thought for a moment it was a refusal, but she allowed herself to be gently guided into the warmth of her suite. The maidservant came rushing into the room, and she was carrying several blankets. I helped Saska strip, eased the blanket around her trembling body, then glanced at Abee and said, “Is the healer on the way?”
“Yes, ma’am. And I’ve taken the liberty of ordering some hot soup and bread for you both.”
“I have to go back to the masque, but thank you.” I guided Saska to the nearest cloudsak then squatted beside her. “Shall I wait with you for the healer?”
“The longer you remain in my presence, the more determined they are to get rid of you.” She hesitated, then added softly, “Watch your back, sister, because they are fiercely angry with you at this moment.”
“I fear them not.” I squeezed her arm then released her. “If you need anything—no matter what it might be—have me paged.”
She smiled, but her gaze wouldn’t meet mine. “I will. Go. I’ll sleep the sleep of the dead, and enjoy the peace of it.”
I studied her. She was exuding an odd sense of calm now and that stirred uneasiness within me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Sleep is all I need. A long, uninterrupted sleep.” Her gaze finally came to mine; the clouds I saw there did little to dispel the unease. “Thank you. You saved me out in Tenterra. You save me still.”
“Saska—”
She touched a cool finger to my lips. “Enough. You should go enjoy yourself while you can. And if you remain determined to seek answers, then perhaps you should go back into Tenterra, to the place where you found me. Everything you need to know can be found there if you look to the ground and what lies beneath it. Now go.”
Her gaze and her touch left me. She drew the blanket up closer to her chin and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sleeping; it was a dismissal. The questions that remained—and there were more of them than ever after that final statement—would not be answered tonight. I reined back my frustration and rose. “Night, Saska.”
She didn’t reply. I took off the coat, handed it to Abee, then put my mask on and left.
Once again, Trey was impossible to find but Lord Kiro made his way to my side almost as soon as I walked into the ballroom. “Lady N,” he said, smoothly ensnaring my elbow and guiding me toward the edge of the vast room, “walk with me.”
The desire to say no twitched my lips, and he obviously sensed it, because he dryly added, “Please.”
I took a glass of dark red wine from the tray of a passing drink boy and sipped it as Kiro led me toward one of the nooks.
“What can I do you for, Lord K?” I said, once we were both seated.
He crossed his legs, his foot lightly brushing mine. A ruse for those who might be watching more than an attempt to seduce—there was no heat in that brief touch, no underlying sense of power. “There’s a feel in this room I don’t like. I came to warn you to be wary, both with Ewan and when you’re circulating.”
“Do you think he’s the source of whatever it is you’re sensing?”
“Perhaps. Certainly there’s some anger directed his way.” His mouth twisted, though it was hard to classify the result as a smile. “Lord E, apparently, likes his sex a little rougher than some of his more genteel conquests would prefer.”
I snorted. “Surely his reputation for rough play has preceded him, given a masque is held every year.”
“Oh, I’m sure it has, just as I’m sure it’s disbelief and curiosity that has led many ladies to his bed.”
“The ladies of the Reaches,” I noted, “need to be a little more outspoken about what they do—and do not—want in bed.”
“Ah, but that might well cost them and their family a lucrative commitment.”
“And that’s all that matters here? What about love? Besides, Ewan’s already committed, so a relationship with him isn’t likely to go anywhere vital.”
“Unless of course, a child born with magic comes out of the liaison.” Kiro raised an eyebrow, but there was darkness and old pain in the deeper reaches of his eyes. “But I won’t have you thinking it’s all business here in the Upper Reaches. There are as many liaisons that happen for love as happen for advantage.”
I guessed if there was one good thing about being stained and classified as unlit, it was the fact that I knew, from the very start of any relationship, that even if love did strike, it was unlikely to end in anything lasting.
I took a drink and then said, “Saska confirmed the voices wanted me dead. Perhaps what you’re sensing here is the beginnings of another attempt.”
“This doesn’t feel specifically aimed at you. What else did she tell you?”
Instead of immediately filling him in, I said, “Do you know of a place called Catlyn?”
He frowned. “I believe there was a Catlyn temple on the far side of the Blacksaw Mountains near the Songbird River. But when Versona’s earth witches severed the ties between our lands and theirs, it would have been destroyed.”
“Well, not all of it was, because that’s where the bracelets came from. From what I’ve witnessed, and from what Saska has said, they not only enable sharper telepathic communication, but are also a means of implementing punishment and memory erasure.”
“And everyone who is a part of this scheme was given them?”
“It would appear so.” I hesitated. “Tell me, has there been any indication that the Irkallan are active?”
His gaze sharpened. “No—why?”
“I caught an image in her mind, and it looked an awful lot like drawings I’ve seen of Irkallan limbs.”
“If those creatures were out of hibernation, we’d surely know. They’re warriors first and foremost, and would not hesitate to attack the forces that now sit on their borders.” He paused, his gaze narrowing in thought. “I will, however, ask for scouts to be sent into the Blacksaw Mountains, just in case.”
Relief stirred. We’d know soon enough whether the image I’d seen was merely the madness of a disintegrating mind. “What about Heska?”
“Given she’s the only other woman in this place possessing the bracelets, we’ll need to round her up as a matter of urgency and make her talk.”
I nodded. “There is another possible problem.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That being?”