Divined (9 page)

Ixie halted, uncomfortable. “Clio, you can go back in with Nox. I’ll stay with Ealis.”

Ealis smiled politely. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Wonderful, then perhaps you could show me around your beautiful home?”

Ealis bowed. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” he said, looking as if quite the opposite was true.

But Ixie bounded up and placed her hand on his arm, guiding him from the room with a quick glance in Clio’s direction.

She would have to get this over with, if not only to spare Ealis from Ixie. Clio walked back into the dining room. Nox had taken a seat by the table and was pouring himself a cup of wine while Ashira stood nervously by the door.

“So Nox, will you help me refill my store of the draught?” Clio asked.

He set down his drink. “Do you have any notion of the mess you’ve left behind? The whole Empire is looking for you—one commander in particular.”

“I thought you would approve of my decision to leave. You helped me fight this before,” she said. “Leaving was the only way to make sure the Emperor didn’t find out about you and Riece and Tirza and everyone who has ever helped me in his own city. Would it be better if I let you all get caught and killed for me?”

Nox sighed. “All I know is Tirza is hurt. Her brother has left the city on a reckless campaign because of you. Again. And the Order is taking advantage of the commander’s absence. So is Zarae. She’s up to something.”

“Of course she is,” Clio muttered. “I’m sure she’s the one who told the Emperor about me.”

Nox shrugged. “She certainly is making the most of the situation.”

“I want to help, but I can’t come back while the Emperor is looking for me. Especially if all it would take is Zarae pointing me out to him. And then there’s the matter of the Deities. Vazuil has only left me alone while I’m here.”

Nox looked down into his cup. “Clio, honestly, your reasons don’t much interest me. I like you, but there are only two things I care about in this world: Tirza and breaking the Order. I thought you cared about those as well.”

“I do, of course,” Clio stammered.

“And Riece?”

“Since when did you start concerning yourself with Riece?”

“Since when did you stop?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Never,” she whispered, her hands balling into white fists at her side.

“He is a wreck. He always is. Even when you’re with him, all he can think of is when he’s going to lose you again. You can’t keep doing this to him. He needs to be more. He needs to be the commander. How is he supposed to focus on the Order and the Empire when his head is full of you?”

Tears were burning behind her eyes. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t understand how important he is? How great a leader he will be? I know better than you. But I can never be free of the Deities. You think I should go back to him, but if I did there’s no saying when they would rip me away again.” Sobs clawed in Clio’s throat. She swallowed and choked on the building ache.

“No, I don’t.” Nox stood, taking a final drink of wine. “What you should do is end it. For good. Set him free of you. I know it won’t be easy, but deep down you know I’m right. There’s no guarantee you could ever be with him, not while the Deities hold power. There are forces stronger than love, Clio.” His eyes dropped to the floor, pain twisting his features. “Good, evil, ambition, fear. One of these drove you from him. Let it be good that keeps you away.”

His words hit her hard, and Clio felt all the air forced from her chest, leaving her empty and shrunken.

“You’ll destroy him,” Nox went on. “And there are others who need him. Be braver than this. Don’t let your fear win. Stay here, stay, and never return. I’ll make sure Riece doesn’t find you. I’ll keep you hidden and supply you with as much of the draught as you need. He will suffer, but he’ll be stronger for it.” He set his cup down, and half his face was shrouded in shadow. “We all make sacrifices.”

Tears were spilling down her cheeks. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t breathe. And Vazuil was there, whispering.

Give up the boy. It’s for the best. You’ll only hurt him.

Agony erupted, spreading through her mind, down her spine, through her blood. She was breathing pain and fire, and her skull was too small, too weak to contain it all. She closed her eyes and instantly regretted it.

Riece stood in the throne room in Morek. He bore a great golden breastplate, and his golden cloak had been replaced by white. Clio couldn’t look away. She knew this Vision wouldn’t be of his death, and yet somehow, it was worse. So much worse.

A young woman walked into the room, dressed in pearls and gems, her hair long and her stomach swollen with child. Riece beamed at the woman as she approached. He held his hand out to her, but before the woman reached him, something small and dark darted between them.

Riece laughed, and the sight made Clio sick and joyful all at once.

A small boy barreled into Riece’s arms.

“Enough,” Clio whispered, and the word seemed to catch in her ragged throat.

Family. It was something Clio would never be able to give him, not without risking their children’s lives to the rage of the Deities. But Riece could have that. He would. She loved him too much to give up that Vision for him.

She felt pain in her knees before she realized she’d fallen. Nox and Ashira stood before her, both reaching out to help. Clio waved their hands away, wanting none of them, wanting nothing but quiet and solitude in which to endure this grief.

She ran.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ashira caught up to Clio at the end of the councilor’s row, but Clio shouted at the girl, begging her to give Clio a moment alone. Vazuil was still fighting in the back of her mind, trying to force more Visions behind her eyes, but Clio put everything she had into pushing them away. Her mind was so tender, a single thought, and knives cut through her eyes. This was it, Clio realized. Vazuil was trying to break her. He had finally found a way, not through Visions of suffering and death, but with something much truer. Something Clio didn’t know how to turn away from because it was what she had always believed deep down, ever since she found out what she was.

She stumbled blindly onto a boat and was dimly aware of shoving gold into the oarsman’s hands. The journey across the river was a wash of pain and tears. At one point, she hung her head over the ledge, and her sick was lost in the lapping waves.

When her feet touched land again, she ran until she was breathless, until she was ready to collapse. Exhaustion swept through her mind, forcing Vazuil back as her heartbeat raged in her chest and her lungs screamed for air.

She ran up the stairs to their room, huffing great gasping gulps of air. Her tongue throbbed, her mouth stung. She pushed through the door, desperate for water, but froze. Right away, she knew something was wrong. A fire had been lit in the room’s small hearth.

She turned to it. A woman sat on the stool beside the flames, a row of thick blades laid out at her feet.

Clio spun toward the door, but it slammed shut as a dagger whizzed past her head, imbedding deep in the heavy wood. Another dagger flew just over her left ear, and Clio stilled. She was trapped.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“What do you want?” Clio asked, turning slowly to face the woman. Her shoulders were broad, and she was dressed in a simple shift that did little to hide the leather armor she wore beneath. Clio’s eyes were immediately drawn to the woman’s face. She didn’t look old, but there was something weathered in her tanned skin. Thin white scars caught the firelight. Most surprising of all, however, was the woman’s head—she was bald. Dark tattoos circled her bare scalp.

“Several things,” the woman answered in a deep voice. “First, to talk.”

“This is how you start a conversation?” Clio took a step back, barely glancing over her shoulder at the blades still stuck in the wall behind her.

The woman looked at Clio, and Clio shivered. “I was warned you would do anything to keep me away once you learned who I was.”

“Warned? By who?” Another step. Sweat ran down her hands.

The woman grinned and shook her head. “I was warned you wouldn’t listen once you heard who sent me either. Clio, I’ve come to offer you a bargain that I believe will help us both. If you would sit then there would be no need to use any of these.” The woman looked down to gesture at the four remaining blades on the ground, and Clio didn’t miss her chance.

She spun and tugged on the nearest blade in the door. Panting, she pulled, putting all her strength into her arms, but the blade was sunk too deep, and for a horrifying moment, Clio feared she wouldn’t be strong enough to pry it out of the wood.

She heard a rustling behind her then felt the tip of a dagger pressed into her back.

“Don’t,” the woman warned.

Clio cried out as the blade finally came free in her hands. Spinning, she sliced behind her, but the woman had jumped back, and Clio cut only air.

“I think you should go.” Clio tried to summon enough force to make the threat credible.

But the woman only laughed before flying forward, dagger raised. She moved too fast. Clio barely managed to dodge the next swipe as she fell awkwardly on the chest beside her. The woman pulled Clio back up, then tossed her into the wall. The air was forced from Clio’s chest, but she was standing, and when the woman came again, Clio managed to throw a punch with her left hand before she jabbed with the dagger.

The woman caught Clio’s fist easily and twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding the dagger’s point. Clio felt it tear through the leather armor of the woman’s chest, but the blade came back without blood.

“You’re weak,” the woman said almost as if she was surprised.

Clio leapt forward, throwing her dagger so it spun end over end toward the woman’s chest, but the woman knocked it out of the air as if it were no more troubling than a gnat. Clio didn’t stop. She ran forward and spun, whipping her elbow out and pushing the woman closer to the flames.

“Cease this,” the woman said, ducking and dodging to the left.

Before Clio realized what had happened, she was the one pressed up against the fire without escape. Beside her foot, the remaining row of daggers sparkled in the flickering light. She dove for them, but a blow connected solidly with her gut, and she was flung to the side. As she fought to regain her feet, the woman’s hand wrapped around Clio’s throat, lifting her into the air so her toes barely scraped against the floor.

“Clio, I do not want to hurt you. We are on the same side.”

The shredded leather of the woman’s armor flapped to the side, exposing her chest where a dark mark had been burned into her skin. Clio didn’t recognize it. But she didn’t need to.

“You serve the Deities,” she wheezed around the woman’s iron grip.

“I serve one,” the woman said, setting Clio down. “We want to help you.”

Clio laughed. “Help me? Help me do what?”

“Defend mankind.” The woman spoke simply, but her eyes shone. Clio knew that look.

“I’m not defending mankind. Neither are you. Not while you worship this man. Whoever he is, he has lied to you. He’s only using you. Trust me on this. I know.”

“No. Listen to me, Clio. He’s different, and we need you.”

“You mean, he needs me,” Clio said with a scoff. “They all want the Oracle. I have to say, whoever your master is, his attempt is the most creative yet.”

“He’s not my master.” The woman stepped forward and raised her blade almost as if she didn’t realize she was doing it.

“He is,” Clio said, meeting dagger’s point.

“No, listen—”

“No, you listen to me.” Clio stepped even closer, unafraid. “Your Deity has told you some elaborate and tragic story to get you on his side. Let me guess, if I don’t help you then people will die. It’s a lie. They are all lies. He’s used them to enslave you, you just don’t see it yet.”

The back of the woman’s hand collided with Clio’s cheek with enough force to throw her to the ground. Blood flooded her mouth, and Clio spat.

“I’m not enslaved,” the woman said quietly, but there was a fire in her eyes that matched the uncontrolled force of her blow. “You won’t listen to what I have to say, I can see that now.”

“I won’t.”

“Perhaps Commander Riece will be more agreeable.”

Clio shrugged despite the ice that filled her veins. “I don’t know this commander.”

The woman smiled, and scars stretched and tugged across her face. “Clio.” She shook her head. “Love makes blind slaves of us all, does it not? Oracles and commanders alike.”

“If you touch him, I’ll kill you. I swear it.” Clio’s voice was low, barely stronger than a whisper.

“Will you?” The woman’s eyebrow rose questioningly. “I think I’d like to see you try.”

Clio dove for the blades, but the woman was faster. Thunder pounded through Clio’s skull, until the world shook and faded.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Would you like me to help save the boy for you?
Vazuil whispered as Clio opened her eyes.

Ixie sat at Clio’s side with a wet cloth pressed to her head.

“What happened?” Ixie asked, seeing Clio’s eyes.

But Vazuil was too strong. She couldn’t think without hearing his voice.

I can help you. Just summon me first. Let me plant my seed in you. Then we can rescue the boy.

“A woman. Strong. A…priestess of some kind like the ones Daizon used,” Clio murmured.

Say my name, Clio. Spill your blood and call to me.

“What did she want?” Ixie asked, squeezing the cloth so cool water beaded on Clio’s brow.

“She was doing the bidding of a Deity. I don’t know who. I didn’t recognize the mark, but it could have been Vazuil.” It could have been her father, too, she knew. He’d threatened her when they spoke. Perhaps this was all part of his plan to take her back from Vazuil. “Is Nox still in Cearo?”

Ixie shook her head. “He left last night. It’s been a full day since we found you like this.”

Clio sat up, panic flooding her veins. “He can’t tell Riece where I am. He needs to stay away, safe with his men. She will come for him. She’s strong, Ixie.”