My stomach sunk to my toes. I’d heard statements like this from Petra before, right before she locked me up and tried to force me to become Tsarina. “In other words,” I said slowly, “I’m going to hate whatever you do next.”
Walinzi nudged Mlinzi with her massive elbow. “See? I told you this one was intelligent. She understands.” Walinzi fell forward onto her arms, setting the ground shaking again. “Our help will not come easily. But without us, you will never find the Sword of Theodora or learn how to use hybrid magick. Are you willing to bargain with us?”
Her huge orange face loomed before me. It took everything in me not to flinch or run away. However, I stayed focused on the images of so many Casters reaching out to me as I headed into the gateway. Those people deserved answers and peace. So did I. “Name your price.”
Walinzi’s eyes flared orange and bright. “You must never see Jicho again or communicate with him in any way.”
My back teeth locked. Jicho had said something about this before, back in the alley at the festival. I promised the boy I would always speak to him. Had Jicho foreseen this moment? If so, it wasn’t very good news. When Jicho warned me, he hadn’t been in the best of moods. Still, I wouldn’t go back on my promise.
When I spoke again, I kept my body stiff and straight in true Necromancer fashion. “Absolutely not. Name another price.”
After this, there was a lot of hopping about and screeching, both from Mlinzi and Walinzi. The pair swung from long orange vines, their claw-like toes almost taking off my skull as they swooped overhead. The entire time, I kept my face passive and my stance strong. I couldn’t let them see that they’d unnerved me, even though my heart was thudding so hard in my chest, I thought it might break free to clog up my throat.
“Are you quite through?” I asked.
At length, Mlinzi and Walinzi stopped their display and sat before me once more. Mlinzi bared his pointed teeth again. “Perhaps this one is too clever,” he growled.
Walinzi scrambled behind her brother and began pawing at his shoulder. “Let’s see…Another form of payment.” She paused. “Perhaps you could give us a memory.”
“A memory, yes.” Mlinzi orange eyes locked on me. “That will work well.”
A chill ran up my torso. Before, I’d had a sense of how the tricksters where playing their games. Now, I wasn’t so certain. “What kind of memory will you take, good or bad?”
Walinzi shrugged. “That’s all in one’s point of view, isn’t it?”
“That’s not what I meant. Will taking these memories hurt anyone?”
“No one will be injured,” said Mlinzi.
I frowned. There was a trick in here, but I couldn’t see it. “There are many definitions of injury,” I said.
Walinzi’s wide orange eyes became even larger. “We can only protect from physical harm,” she said. “We gods don’t understand how your kind feels about every little thing.”
“And you’ll get the memory back after you succeed,” added Mlinzi.
Rubbing my neck, I thought through these conditions. Mlinzi and Walinzi probably did have a rather hazy view of human emotions. Having them promise no injury was about as good as I could secure.
“I must say, this is a rather fine bargain.” Walinzi stopped fussing with her brother and hopped closer to me. “Do you want the Sword or not?”
“We’ve only spoken about the Sword,” I countered. “What about the secret of how to heal the gateways with hybrid magick? You promised that as well.”
“Gateways are evil,” growled Mlinzi. “No healing.”
“Evil or not, I need information about both the gateways and the Sword.”
Walinzi pursed her long lips. “And you may have both.”
I frowned. This negotiation was going far too easily. These two tricksters were up to something. “And you’ll give me all of that—both the Sword and the way to heal the gateways—in exchange for one memory.”
“Not exactly.” Walinzi raised a pair of fingers. “It would be two memories then.”
I suppressed a smile. We were negotiating terms now, and that was far more comfortable ground for me. “And for those two memories, I would get both the Sword and the way to heal the gateways with hybrid magick…without my dying in the process.” It was always very important to be clear in a negotiation.
“Yes, yes.” Walinzi rolled her eyes as if my clarifying were the silliest thing she’d ever encountered. I didn’t believe her act for a second.
“I want those memories back after I get the Sword.”
“Ungrateful little witch,” growled Mlinzi.
“Both memories.”
“Fine, fine,” said Walinzi. The satisfied gleam shone in her eyes. I didn’t like that look at all. It was as if I was about to make a huge error, and Walinzi couldn’t believe her good fortune.
An image popped into my mind—something from my talk with Amelia back at the lab. The Sword was in two pieces. “I want one memory for all parts of the Sword.” Perhaps there were more than two pieces.
Walinzi huffed. “That’s rather unreasonable. The Sword is in two pieces now. It could break down even more. We need one memory for each part of the Sword. Our services aren’t free, you know.”
So this was their game. Who knew how many memories they planned to take? If I weren’t careful, I might end up leaving here without knowing my own name. “Two memories for all parts of the Sword of Theodora and the secret of how to heal the gateways.” With this statement, Mlinzi and Walinzi began to hop around, so I raised my hand, palm forward. “And please, don’t bother to jump about in another display. A simple yes or no will do.”
The monkey gods ceased their jumping. It was a good thing, too, since all the movement was making me seasick. Mlinzi looked at his sister expectantly. For her part, Walinzi drummed her long fingers on her kneecaps for a few long moments. At last, she spoke again. “This is a horrid bargain, but yes, we agree to taking four memories for the Sword and truth.”
“Two memories.”
Walinzi tapped her chin. “Did I say four?”
“You did. It’s two.”
“My sister and I agree,” said Mlinzi. “Do you?”
I couldn’t believe the pair of them weren’t still trying to pull some kind of verbal trick on me. I narrowed my eyes. “And those memories will return after I find the Sword?”
“Yes,” said Walinzi smoothly. “And no one will be injured by the memories’ disappearance.”
My mind spun through every angle and loophole. I couldn’t find one. I’d made it clear that I wouldn’t be killing any gods for Mlinzi and Walinzi…And I did still need the Sword. “In that case, I agree.”
Mlinzi whooped, making more “oo-oo-ooo” noises. A low boom of thunder rolled over the jungle. The atmosphere became thick with the charged sense of magick. Black clouds appeared, covering up the pale orange sky. Mlinzi and Walinzi were about to cast their spell, and whatever it was, it would be huge.