Page 108 of Silverbow
“No.”
“I know your Treesinger’s face. Do you?”
Her words struck him like a blow.
“I’ll make you a bargain,” Colm blurted.
No.
Hylee turned her head. “Yes, Dreamwalker?”
Oryn contemplated lunging for her in the momentary distraction, but Enya stood between them and Hylee was far too powerful.
“The Treesinger’s face for a decade of my life.”
“I think not,” the witch laughed.
“A century.”
“Colm!”
“Nowthatis an advantageous bargain,“ Hylee mused. “But I’m afraid shaving a century from your song does not serve me. Not today, anyway. Besides, I’m havingfun.”
“Take your fun elsewhere,” Oryn snarled.
Hylee grinned and pressed her lips closer to the girl’s ear. “I’ll make you a better bargain, Enya Silverbow.”
“Why?” She had the wherewithal to ask.
“For the mercy you showed my sister. And perhaps it will curry me some favor with your gods.”
“Ask the price, Enya,” Oryn pleaded.
“What is the price?”
Hylee hummed. “I offer you what was, what is, and what will be.”
“And the cost?”
Hylee cocked her head, listening to whatever the shadows whispered. “You only have to do your duty and do what mommy dearest asked of you. She left you a message, you know.”
“Enya-”
“My mother?”
“Mhm.”
“You want me to do what my mother asked of me? That’s it?”
“That’s it, Silverbow.”
“Fine.”
The witch seized Enya’s head between her hands. She let out a gasp, but Oryn dared not move. He stared at the place where Hylee’s fingers lay against her temples, tendrils of shadow drifting across her skin like smoke.
Her eyes went vacant, staring at something he couldn’t see, something beyond. He listened with abject horror as her heart slowed. The steady beats fading…fading…and when they stopped, the hum went silent. Whatever strange in between the witch had cast Enya into, it was devoid of the gods’ songs.
twenty-eight
