Page 28 of Path of the Dark
9
About Your Brother
ELIAS LEANED AGAINST the wall and watched Ryana sing. He hadn’t heard The Lay of Morwen in years; it was one of his mother’s favorite songs. Strange really, for Jada of Anthor was a cold, hard woman—and the lay was full of raw emotion.
Ryana had a voice to make the shadows weep: soulful, sensual, and sweet.
Elias felt the hair on the back of his arms prickle. His breathing grew shallow as he listened. Her voice was a caress.
The entire common room had gone still at Ryana’s singing, even the raucous dicers. The men gazed at her, their faces slack, as if a goddess stood before them.
Elias knew how they felt. Even dressed in her enchanter’s robe, leggings, and long boots, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun at the crown of her head, Ryana had a presence when she sang. A sensuality that laid her bare.
Elias had never heard such a voice. His body actually responded to it: his pulse quickened, and his groin tightened.
Ryana had seen him. He’d noted the alarm flare in her eyes earlier when she’d become aware of his presence. After that, she’d made a point of looking through him. However, when she finished singing, Ryana spared a wary glance in his direction once more.
They stared at each other for a heartbeat, both unsmiling.
In retrospect, Elias shouldn’t have enteredThe Black Boar. He should have stayed away. But he’d gotten bored in the evenings and had slipped from the palace after supper. Officially, he wasn’t supposed to stray from the confines of the palace, especially without an escort. He hadn’t even brought his men with him. The soldiers at the gates to the lower town had recommended this inn for its ale and dicing. Elias hadn’t expected to see Ryana here.
But now he had, he was intrigued. What was an enchanter doing singing in a dodgy tavern? His surprise grew further when he followed her path back to the shadowy booth on the far side of the common room. Asher and Mira both sat there, with another couple Elias didn’t recognize. A snow-white hawk perched on the back of the booth behind Asher: the enchanter’s familiar.
Ryana took her seat, leaned in, and murmured something to Asher. A moment later the High Enchanter glanced his way.
Asher frowned, and Elias favored him with a smile. The High Enchanter had remained aloof toward him throughout negotiations so far. After Elias had tried to kill Ninia a couple of months earlier, Asher wasn’t inclined to trust him.
Wise man.
The lyrist struck up another tune, this one jaunty, and the dicers resumed their bickering.
Elias drew back into the shadows. Perhaps it was best he find another tavern to drink and dice in. The food in this city tended to be plain and stodgy, yet the ale was delicious.
And the ale was bound to be just as good elsewhere.
Ryana stifled a yawn and blinked in an attempt to ease the fatigue that made her eyes burn. The inn’s common room was nearly deserted now, save for two men in the corner who were still dicing—and Ryana who was propped up against the bar.
Asher and Mira had long since returned to the House of Light and Darkness, while Lilia and Dain had retired to their room upstairs.
But Ryana hadn’t wanted to go home to her austere chamber. She’d indulged in a couple of games of dice, both of which she’d won, before singing till she was hoarse. Now, her throat ached, her eyes smarted, and her body cried out for sleep.
She couldn’t put it off any longer.
Bidding the inn-keeper good night, Ryana slid off the stool and reached for her cloak. Despite that it was early summer now, the nights here in the highlands could still be cool. It was a long walk back to the House.
Ryana stepped outside, breathing in the night air, crisp and laced with wood smoke—pleasant after the muggy, overly-warm interior ofThe Black Boar’scommon room. The narrow street beyond was empty, the high wood and stone buildings towering overhead. The lamplighters had been out earlier, although there were only two glowing orange lamps burning on this street.
The darkness didn’t bother Ryana—as an Enchanter of the Dark, the shadows were her allies. They would warn her if she was in any danger.
Even so, when a tall silhouette stepped out of the deep shadow of the inn, Ryana stiffened.
Her pulse quickened when she recognized Elias. Instinctively, the fingers of her right hand flexed. Around her the darkness stirred, awaiting its summons.
Elias’s mouth quirked. “Apologies. I didn’t mean to give you a fright.”
“You didn’t,” Ryana growled back. “What are you doing, lurking in the shadows?”
“Waiting for you,” he replied.
