Witchling (Curse of Kin) (33 page)

Making our way deeper underground, Bones gave a short description of the rooms we passed. Most of them were for storage. Crops were once kept in them because the cold underground temperatures held the food longer. Weapons were stored in others. Old furniture and boxes in others. We eventually came to a large, hall that opened off the dark corridor two levels down. Ornate weapons from a bygone age were hung on the walls. Large rugs draped from the ceiling displaying coats of arms. Shackles hung from a wooden raised platform in the center of the room.

Brie shuddered, and we walked over to it. “This isn’t what I think it is, is it?” she asked Bones.

“Yes. That’s if you are thinking it’s to hang prisoners from while they are tortured for information or punishment.” Bones looked at her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“Bones, please don’t scare the children,” Jasper admonished. He shook his head as Sully laughed at Brie simpering until she attached herself to Bones.

“No blood has been shed down here lately, Brie. That I can assure you of,” Jasper said.

“That’s only because the thought of it always scared anyone to tell all,” Bones said as he tried to untangle Brie’s arms from his. He gently pushed her toward Jasper and moved away.

“Did you torture anyone, Jasper?” Sully asked.

“War was necessary. I won’t deny that. but torture was not something I condone these days. Being locked down here in these cells without food and light was usually enough for us to gather any information we needed. Most of our battles were fought out over the mountains. That is where our property ended,” Jasper said. He walked down a corridor off the great room. There were three doors in total, two on one side, each large enough to hold twenty men. The smaller one on the other side of the corridor was set beside an alcove, a rough wooden bench pushed into its dark depths.

I felt myself go cold, the memory coming to the surface. Bones looked at me as he noticed the shift in my body. “This is it. The room I thought Roman was locked in that night in my dream,” I said. “This door wasn’t here, then.”

I pushed at the heavy wooden door, and it opened into a dark, cold room. Hugo followed me in. He whined and pushed against my legs, trying to guide me out. The room felt old and evil.

I will not be scared
.
There is nothing here to scare me.

I tried to calm myself and breathed in steadily. The fear crawled over my body leaving my skin cold and clammy. Still I stayed. Roman was no longer here; it was just bad energy, I thought, left over from the Others who invaded my dreams. I put my hand on Hugo’s big head and calmed him down, stroking his soft ears. When I felt the chill leave the room, I turned and left.

“Let’s choose some weapons for Roman to try out, Jasper,” I said, trying not to look at Bones. I kept my mind blank and calm, smiling at Sully, who was getting wound up over the weapons hunt. “I know that’s the only reason we really came down here. Sully is just about to bust with anticipation since you offered to let him have another one.”

“Yes, splendid idea.” Jasper spoke to Roman. “I think we can come up with something for you, young man.

“A real sword, Jasper?” Roman asked excitedly.

“Well, almost,” he replied as he led the way back to the weapons room where most of the soldiers’ everyday swords were kept. Dress swords were hanging on the wall, arranged in a stunning display along with the family banners. He handed Roman a wooden sword called a waster. I watched as my little brother fought against Bones who was on his knees, encouraging Roman to attack.

Sully and Brie took down an assortment of weapons, testing them out in play fighting.

***

When I was settling Roman down for the night in his sleeping bag Jasper made us a final cup of tea. I listened to Brie and Sully discuss what they wanted to do the next day while my mind was on my normal early start to the day.

“I’ll go for a run in the morning before we get into the sparring if that’s okay. Jasper, can you keep an eye on Roman for me till I get back?” I asked.

“Of course, girl dear. He can help me with breakfast while you are gone,” Jasper replied.

“How long can we train with the swords tomorrow?” Sully asked.

“I think if we do a couple of hours, Sully, that will be enough for now. We still need to be aware of the next full moon, just over a week away. Consider the lesson a well earned break. Your arms would not be able to handle the swords for much longer than that anyway. We can do more with them next week once this is over.” Jasper finished his tea and bid us good night.

***

I left the house in the morning while everything was quiet. Hugo ran with me, and we took our well-trodden path through the forest. It was a fresh morning, the sun was barely up, and it promised to be a bright day. The dew was clinging to the grass and wildflowers as I ran my usual route. The deeper into the forest I got, the cooler the air became.

As we rounded the track near the Widows Lake, I slowed my pace. Hugo growled deep in his throat. A glance around showed a small rough timber cottage that hadn’t been there the last time I had come this way. Smoke drifted out of its single chimney to hang in the cool air among the trees. I stopped and tried to clear my head
. I’m not asleep. This is not real
.

The door to the cottage opened. Several women came out of the door. They were clothed in dirty white ragged dresses that dragged on the ground. When they came closer to me, I could see they were not alive. They were the dead walking. The smell hit me as they neared the spot where I was standing. Their flesh was hanging off their bones, and maggots infested what was left of their bodies. Still they headed toward me.

I gagged and turned away, pulling Hugo with me.

They held out their arms. “Nera, wait.” They made their way to the lake across the path that I stood on. “Come with us. It is time.”

I backed away farther, crouching by a bush when they passed. One by one, they walked into the lake and disappeared under the water as I watched. My gaze strayed to the cabin once again. Another figure stood in the doorway, shadowed against the light of day.

“You should have listened to them, Nera. You could have gone easily with them, and it would all be over. But no,” the voice boomed, “you want to stand up to me and fight. Well, fight we will. And I will take you down, my girl, you and your family. Tell Jasper I am on my way.”

I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder. “What the hell do you think you are doing, creeping up on me like that?” I yelled.

“Your shadow, Nera, remember,” Bones said.

When I turned back to the cottage, it was gone. The forest was quiet and still once more.

“Well, that was a refreshing start to the day. I wonder what made her come out like that.”

“Probably just testing the waters, playing with your head.” Bones fell in beside me on the way back to Jasper’s. “I need to talk to you about Roman. We need to work out what we can do to keep him safe and out of harm’s way when she strikes. I went over a few ideas last night, and I spoke to Jasper this morning about it. Come up to the war room after breakfast while Jasper is teaching the others to play soldiers and I’ll show you.”

“Right.” Today I was going to try to keep on his good side. It was going to be hard but we had no time to spar for the fun of it. The Others could strike at any time. We had to be ready.

I glanced at Bones as he jogged alongside me. He certainly had a good running style, I thought. He looked fit so why did I never seen him out running? Yeah, right, my shadow.

I could smell the pancakes and bacon before we jogged into the garden. Bones cooled down by doing some stretches outside, and I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of cold water from the fridge.

“Good run, girl dear?” Jasper looked up.

“Fine, thanks. Look what I found while I was out.” I pointed to Bones. “Isn’t anyone else up yet?” I gulped down my drink, then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Not yet. I was just going in to wake them. Roman was stirring when I last looked, but Brie and Sully are still down for the count. Give them a yell would you, Nera,” Jasper said as he put the bacon in the oven to keep warm.

“I’ll just grab a quick shower and get this smell off my skin. I’ll be back in a minute, then I’ll get them.”

“What was it this time, Bones?” I heard Jasper ask as I headed for my room.

“Just a few dead women going for a dip in the Widows Lake. The smell when they walked past us was rather gross, but Nera stood her ground and let it unfold in front of her. Edrith was there, hidden in the shadows, but I know it was her. She said to tell you she was coming. I would expect her to hit within the next couple of days, Jasper. We must be ready.”

“Yes, well, we will be, I suppose,” he replied.

“After breakfast, I want to take Nera up to the war room and go over those ideas for keeping Jack out of it. Can you take the others outside for a while? I really want her to concentrate for a couple of hours. I need to sort out a couple of things with her before her father arrives. I will call you when it’s done.”

I shut my door to their voices and headed for the shower.

After a noisy breakfast and clean up, Jasper spoke. “Roman, you, Sully, and Brie are with me. Bones and Nera, you have some unfinished work upstairs, I believe. We will meet here again for lunch. Come on, soldiers. Gather your weapons, and let’s go.”

“Nera.” Bones stood back for me to proceed through the door before him. “Shall we?”

I headed up to the war room ahead of him.

We settled ourselves at the desk, and Bones pulled a book out of a drawer. He pushed it toward me, the look of disdain he usually wore replaced by sadness. His mouth was grim but not angry like it normally was, and he wouldn’t look me in the eye.

“What’s this?” I was automatically suspicious.

“It belongs to someone close to me. I think you should read the passage I have marked. And while you do that, please keep your father in mind.”

I opened the book and began to read. I could hear the clashes of the swords while I read the passage he had marked for me.

A strangled cry leaped from my throat. I pushed back my chair and knocked it over as I jumped to my feet. Tears ran down my face. I had to hold on to the edge of the table, my body was shaking so hard I doubted my legs would hold me up for long. I had thought all along I was hiding my powers from my father. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He was hiding his from me. I hadn’t even wondered where the connection was that gave me the craft. I was so intent on not falling in with Jasper’s plans it hadn’t even crossed my mind.

It was my own father who had tried to elope with Jasper’s daughter, and he was the reason I was here learning to fight this curse.

Future Roman must have known about the curse and the story behind it when he visited me and said I had to watch out because Jasper didn’t have it all under control. It was our father he was eluded to, and it was his mother—my grandmother—who was after my family.

“You bastard, I won’t do it. How dare you think that I would?”

Bones’s face was twisted with grief, his eyes filled with unshed tears, but I refused to see his pain. This was my father we were talking about, and I was intent on showing him my anger and my own tears.

“There is no other way.” He stood with his back to the window. His hands clasped together, knuckles showing white against his dark clothing. “I truly am sorry. No matter what you think of me, I am.”

“There has to be another way. I won’t do it, I won’t,” I cried as I dropped down again in the chair, sobbing. “You can’t make me.”

“No, I can’t. But if you don’t do it, Roman must. Do you want to do that to him? He does not understand. At least you do.”

He came to me and grabbed my hands, holding tight when I tried to pull away from him. “There is no other way. We have looked and looked. There will be a blood sacrifice, of that I am certain. I fear your father is planning on taking his own life in the hope that Edrith will back off and leave the rest of you alone. She won’t, Nera. He is desperate for this curse to end, and he will die regardless and possibly by his own hand if not by hers. But if you take his life yourself, the rest of you will all survive. I will be with you, but it has to be done by his blood, and that means you.”

I was almost hysterical when Jasper arrived in the room. Bones must have summoned him after he had shown me the passage in the Book of Shadows that related to my father. I sobbed in Jasper’s arms, and his own tears ran onto my hair while he held me.”I can’t, Jasper. Don’t do this to me, please.” I begged him to change things. “I can’t kill my own father. It’s not right.”

“Girl dear, if there was any other way, you know we would take it. But after what Roman told you in the future, we knew there was nothing we could do. I am so sorry. So very sorry,” he whispered, holding me tight against his chest.

“There must be another way. Why would killing him do anything?”

“Self-sacrifice is frowned upon by the gods, Nera.” Bones spoke quietly from the other side of the room, his voice filled with pain. “The curse would still go on if he took his own life. But if you do it in the name of the gods for the future of humanity, Edrith cannot and will not take any of you. It will be the end of her. We will be able to help you after it is done but not before.”