Page 11 of Between Soul and Vessel
“Forgemaster,” I greeted him, tipping my head in respect. It made me want to vomit.
The sound of something buzzing, and the desperate roar of an animal from somewhere up above, sent my nerves on edge.
“To what do I owe the honor?” he said, his slimy tongue pressing against the corner of his parted lips, moving up and down. Up and down. Up and down. The act, accompanied by the way he was looking at me, made me want to crawl out of my skin.
Still, I hid my true nature, my invisible mask permanently in place. “I’m here with the empress,” I said, giving him a soft, fake smile.
“Always such agood girl,” he rasped, his words sliding over my skin, painting them in his nauseating filth.
The need to run and find a scalding-hot tub to dousemyself in and a wool brush to scrub my skin raw with became exceedingly strong, but I steeled myself.
The empress gestured to the female in Imari’s arms. “Do you recognize her?”
He stepped closer, surveying the white-haired female. His hand wrapped around the bottom half of her face, shifting her head from side to side. “Oh yes,” he cooed with a raspy chuckle, his eyes glinting, as if a shiny new toy had been gifted to him.
My fingers twitched at my side, desperate to reach for the rabbit’s foot. I didn’t know the female, but I felt for her in that moment, watching as he put his grimy, horrible hand over her face, as if he had a right to.
He looked at the empress, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “If she is here, Nockrythiam might follow.”
“Nockrythiam?” I asked, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of me. There wasn’t a soul alive who hadn’t heard that legendary name, regardless of how hard the empress tried to erase it. He was the greatest fighter in all of the lands, the bringer of death, and the last defender of Emperor Alaric. The Ender of Realms.
I glanced at the vessel . . . How was she connected to him? It was a question I was determined to find the answer to.
“Let us hope that she succeeded at her task,” the empress said, ignoring me. “Nockrythiam is the key.”
“Indeed, he is,” Victor agreed, pulling his hand from her face. “Shall we find out what happened?”
“Yes. How long will it take?” the empress asked,resting a hand in the crook of her hip.
He surveyed the condition of the vessel, before he said, “It shouldn’t take much more than a few hours to repair the damage, but as for the soul—”
“I’ll see to that,” the empress cut in, raising her hand, the one with the gold cuff on it—something sheneverwent without. “It will be much faster that way.”
Victor eyed the jewelry, then replied, “Very well.”
He and the empress began to walk toward a secluded room. Imari and I followed behind them.
Long legs speeding up, Imari caught up to Victor. “I can help.”
“And you are?” Victor asked without so much as glancing her way.
“Imari, sir. I work at station 104 along the Miyakai River and—”
“Thank you, Imari,” Empress Avena cut her off. “But I have another task for you, which I will explain later.”
We filtered inside the room, brightly lit. Inside, there were trays and walls full of various tools and instruments. The look of them made my blood run cold. In the middle of the room, an altar made from stone. It looked hard and unforgiving. Cold. It fit the rest of this place.
“Lay her there,” Victor directed Imari, gesturing to the altar before he walked towards a desk. Slung over the chair was a blacksmith’s apron. He grabbed it and began to put it on.
Imari laid the female down on the altar and then took a step back.
“You can wait outside,” the empress directed Imari before her eyes shifted to mine. “I want an emergency council meeting arranged three hours from now.”
I glanced at the white-haired female, a gnawing feeling in my stomach. Although she was a perfect stranger, leaving her with Victor just didn’t sit right with me. But just as I always did, I bowed my head to the empress and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
I could feel Victor’s eyes on me, watching as I walked out the door.
The second I was outside, my twitching fingers grabbed hold of the rabbit’s foot, and I left the tower as swiftly aspossible.
