Page 87 of Her Soul for a Crown
His shadow curled its edges into a coil, ready to strike. He had been fooled not once but twice on the most important undertaking of his existence. There was no time for Anula’s theatrics. Yet mayhap he had time enough to find the merchant. Tothankhim for the cursed relic.
“Yes,now,” Anula demanded, marching forward only to slip on a broken piece of blessed statue.
She canted forward, and Reeri caught her by the elbow. Red flecks dotted her arms and face.
“Is that blood?”
Anula wrenched away. “Why did you destroy a statue?” When none of the Yakkas responded, she turned to Bithul. “What’s happened? Where’s the Bone Blade?”
“It was false, my raejina consort,” Bithul answered gravely.
Anula’s shoulders sank. “No.”
“Yes,” Kama said. “Nevertheless it put on a glorious show before its demise.”
“Why are you standing there?” Anula spun on Reeri. “We need to find the real dagger.”
“I am not merely standing here,” Reeri said betwixt clenched teeth. “You interrupted.”
“Interrupted what, your sulking?”
“I am not sulking.”
“Why do you want the blade?” Bithul asked.
“For her bargain,” Reeri said, but Anula announced louder, “To kill Lord Wessamony.”
The room tilted. Reeri stared at a red fleck on Anula’s cheek. “Say that again?”
Bee-stung lips pulled back in a snarl. “Lord Wessamony must be brought to justice.”
Calu whistled low. “I did not see that coming.”
Reeri’s shadow unraveled. Hope trickled like a river through a mountain pass. “Why?”
Anula raised her chin. “I suspect you know why. He’s a murderer. And you’ve come to kill him, too. Haven’t you?”
All was silent.
Until—
“Of course not,” Bithul insisted. “The Lord of the Second Heavens is no murderer, my raejina consort. Why would the Yakkas…?” His voice trailed as Reeri lifted his gaze. As Calu, Sohon, and Kama regarded him. Truth in their eyes. Bithul shifted. “Why?”
“The memory-nightmares,” Anula said. “I was right. The banishment was not your fault, was it?”
Reeri rankled. “It does not matter.”
“Yes, it does!” Anula snapped. “It matters that the Lord of the Second Heavens, hallowed and worshiped by half the kingdom, cares nothing for any of them. It matters that he deems us worth nothing, that he slaughters us without a second thought. Itmatters that he’s the reason my village burned and my family was murdered. It matters who sits on the throne, in the Heavens and on Earth, wielding power over all.”
In two swift steps, she closed the gap betwixt them, a challenge vibrating. “It matters who stole the lives of your Yakkas, who punishes them beyond death. It matters that you are freed.”
Reeri’s borrowed heart stammered.
“Eppawala burned because of him. Because he sought the Bone Blade. The same relic you seek,” Anula said, her eyes flicking to the others as she pieced it together. “But you aren’t giving it to him, are you? You’re going to use it against him. The same way Fate used it on Destiny.”
“What?” Bithul asked. Anula obligingly told their story. Bithul sucked in a sharp breath. “That can’t be true. The Heavens would have told us.”
“Yet it is, and they did not.” Reeri’s heart railed. Images of centuries past, of all the humans and bargains made for Wessamony’s search, flashed. Reeri had known of seekers perishing on their journey. He had not known of innocents’ deaths, those who had not accepted the challenge of the elevated bargain. Yet if Anula’s words were true…
