“Can see everything,” the answer came back. “Night eyes are Ulk Bog’s friends. Nothing hides. We are safe.”
Oriantha doubted that, but then she harbored so many doubts anyway that one more hardly mattered. It had been her plan for them to reenter the Forbidding and escape swiftly—not to veer off on an unexpected quest that she could not help thinking would be a failure. But no one’s plans had worked out as intended since the moment they had set out from Bakrabru. Mostly, they had just muddled through, trying to do the best they could.
Minutes later they reached the floor of the valley and started across the shattered terrain toward the dark pit that would take them down inside the earth. She kept her eyes directed ahead, scanning for whatever waited.
But as the Ulk Bog had said, there was nothing to see.
Twenty-six
How could this have happened?
Aphen screamed the question in the silence of her mind, its echo reverberating as she fought to regain her composure. She had never trusted Edinja Orle, not even when the sorceress was helping them escape Arishaig. She had wondered then if Edinja had something to gain by giving them her airship and sending them on their way so willingly. Given what she knew, it seemed wrong to believe the other woman could change so abruptly from an enemy to a friend.
But there was no indication of an ulterior motive and seemingly no earthly way she could do them harm once they were away from her.
Now Aphen knew better.
“How did you find us?” she asked.
Edinja gave a small shrug. “I never lost you. Not as long as you kept your sister close, which I knew you would. She is fitted with my marker, a bit of magic buried beneath the skin of her neck, there in the hairline where it can’t be seen. Had you searched her thoroughly, you would have found it. But I knew you wouldn’t do anything like that where dearest Arling was concerned.”
“You tracked us as soon as we left, didn’t you?”
“Shortly after. I used the second Sprint. Arishaig was doomed by then. Even I knew that. There was no reason to stay once it became apparent. Besides, I had plans of my own that were more important than going down with the ship. I might be Prime Minister of the Federation, but I am not required to sacrifice myself when the cause is lost.”
Aphen was thinking desperately of what she might do to turn the situation around. Edinja’s knife was perilously close to ending Arling’s life. A single swipe of that blade across her sister’s throat, and there would be nothing anyone could do. In which case, the Ellcrys could not be renewed and none of them would be saved.
But Edinja must know this, too. Would she really kill Arling if they came at her? What was she trying to do?
Aphen glanced sideways at Cymrian. He seemed at ease, but she knew he was looking at a way to get at the sorceress. The difficulty with this lay not only in the danger to Arling but also in the closeness of Cinla, who was crouched down and ready to spring. He might try to reach Edinja, but the big cat would be on him before he completed his first step.
“Hold your light steady,” Edinja said to Arling, tightening her hold on the girl. “Point it where I can see everything they are doing. No tricks. If you drop the light or try to switch it off, I will cut you.”
Arling’s features tightened. “You won’t do anything to me. If you do, you doom us all. I have the quickened seed of the Ellcrys. I am the only one who can send the demons back to where they came from. You don’t dare harm me.”
Edinja’s strange green eyes glistened. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. You don’t even know what it is that I want yet. It would be better for you if you wait to hear me out before you risk your life in a foolish effort to escape.”
“Stay still,” Aphen said to her sister. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Arling—the new, hardened version of Arling, unpredictable and volatile—did not seem convinced, and for a moment Aphen thought she would abandon caution and do what she so clearly wanted to do. She would wheel back on Edinja, knife or no knife, and claw her eyes out.
“What is it you trying to do?” Aphen asked quickly, hoping to forestall any reckless attempts of that sort. She continued to look into Arling’s eyes, hoping her sister would remain calm.
“Are you are ready to listen to what I have to say?” Edinja replied. “You might be surprised by what you will learn.” She tilted her head sideways. “Move over there.”
She wanted Aphen and Cymrian to shift away from where they stood between her and the passageway leading out. They hesitated only a moment, then moved over as directed. Edinja shuffled Arling several steps over until she stood where the way was clear.
“Now let’s all be very quiet while I talk.”