Page 10 of Null & Void

“So, a moon to get there, plus a week or two to cure every doxy, and a moon to come home. Two-and-a-half moons at most,” Beans says as he counts on his fingers. “A week after she was due to be back, the royal family hadn’t heard from her and started to worry.They contacted the King Oferdu, who said she had left as planned the moon prior, and he assumed she was already home.”

“He lied?” I ask, observing the large man with his arms crossed, trusting Ditch to know where to go.

“That’s the going assumption. We investigated for a couple of weeks, and aside from a few random people, no one saw her leave.”

“But therewerepeople who saw her leave?”

“Well, here’s the thing. Everyone who said they saw her, eventually admitted thattheydidn’t see her, only that they knew someone who had. But we couldn’t find a single person that clapped eyes on her themselves.”

“Hmmm. What about her escorts?”

Beans is nodding, stroking his beard again. “Gone.None of them were allowed to be near the doxies’ wing in the castle. Oferdu guards would escort her between there and her room in the healer’s wing every morning and night. Up until her supposed departure, everything was reported as smooth.” His expression is somber as he looks down at Ditch’s neck. “Four of the best Royal guards and two Gifted Patrons all disappeared and never made it home to their families.”

“To what end? No offense to the princess, but Gifted healers aren’t exactly rare.”

“We can only speculate. She’s particularly Gifted in that she can heal what ails the mind as well as the physical body. But we are unsure why that would be worth waging a war over.”

I had forgotten about that. Amarilyss is over five revs older than me and left Osraed more than a decade past. The Gifted Princess Ofnemoris has the ability to heal the mind, but I have no idea how that works.Most healers can focus the Divine into physical wounds, encouraging them to heal rapidly. I’ve heard it described as being able toseewhat needs to be fixed and imagining it happening—like gluing a broken bone or knitting flesh together. But how does one know what needs to be fixed in someone else’s mind?

“What happened to the accused man? Was he trialed?”

“He was executed before Nemoris could claim him for questioning. Again, we found not one witness to his crimes, more of the same bullshit. Not that we were able to question his doxies who would have actually witnessed it. Same with his trial. Though we did confirm that his execution was a spectacle and people really did witness that themselves.”

I’m beginning to wonder what the Silent Assassin is going to be able to do when it sounds like all the investigations have been done.

Beans whistles to get Riley and Tovi’s attention after a few hours of silent riding. “Let’s find somewhere to make camp for the night in Osraed before we take the main road toward Nemoris.”

“Why are we even going to Nemoris and not straight through to the bridge into Erdu?” I ask.

“Well, we aren’t exactly going to go knocking on the king’s door and ask where he’s keeping the princess, are we? Stealth and discretion and all that,” Riley says, with amused sarcasm.

“Not what I asked, but I appreciate the input.” I roll my eyes with a smile. “Beans?”

Beans is hiding a smirk under his hand as he fingers his rather elaborate mustache. “What Riley is trying to say, is that we’re going to enter Erdu from Nemoris.”

“Won’t that take double the time?”

“Officially, we’re only in Osraed to collect you and return to Nemoris within two weeks. If we don’t, the Nemoris gate peacekeepers will file a report,” Tovi answers me, not looking at anything in particular as she runs her thumb along a full and sharp-looking eyebrow. As if waking from a trance, her vision hones in on me watching her. Large, angled eyes narrow at me, and lips—already not very full, though beautifully defined—became a thin line. She really doesn’t like me.

“That, and we have already used up every single favor we had, traveling by way of Osraed into Erdu unofficially, searching for Lyss ourselves. Next time we pass through the Erdu gate, it would be reported,” Beans clarifies, getting down from Ditch.

“Stealth and discretion?” I ask, smirking sideways at Riley, who waggles his eyebrows at me.

“Exactly. We’re headed to a small cottage in Nemoris to stable the horses and pick up one more member of our party, before continuing on foot.”

I swallow my displeasure that being on foot will mean this will be an even longer journey. I want to ask more, especially about the other person joining us, but Tovi's bored and increasingly hostile expression suggests I cool my curiosity so we can make camp quickly in the waning daylight.

It’s been a beautiful cloudy day in Osraed, even if a little cold and windy, as the season dictates. Though it’s a pretty cold and windy country most of the time, we’ve been blessed with a pleasant first evening on the road.

We’re on a flat plain away from the main road for privacy. A few massive ollie trees are dotted around, the wind making a rustling sound through the endless canopies of leaves and branches. You can stand at the base of an ollie tree and not see the sky for how dense they are, but their branches don’t actually start for easily twelve or fourteen feet up the trunk. I wonder what they’re trying so hard to hide in there. Are the rustling of their leaves actually the whisper of secrets?

Tovi is tending to the horses, Beans is chopping some firewood with a massive axe, and Riley is making some food over a basic fire.

This useless, retired assassin-nanny is standing awkwardly doing nothing but imagining the conversations of fucking trees.

CHAPTER SIX

It’s not long before we’re relaxing by the fire with a bowl of extraordinarily plain stew in our hands. The other three are eating with such gusto that I’m left to wonder whether these people don’t have any taste buds or they’re just that hungry.

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