Page 100 of A Fate Unwoven
The guard’s face was ashen, but it was the devastation in Maia’s eyes that worried Lena the most. Her friend’s cheeks were tearstained, and there was a gash on her forehead that had Lena hurrying toward her. “Maia, what—”
“TheHæsta,they have Finæn.” Her words hit her like a hammer, slamming against the last of her resolve with sickening force.
“I heard Novitiate Maia screaming on patrol,” Yana explained. “When I found her, theHæstawere already there. There were too many of them, and Finæn was unconscious …” Yana’s hands moved in a helpless gesture, her face tight with guilt. “There was only time to flee with the girl.”
“Lena,” Maia said, her eyes bright with tears, “Iska was with them.”
Dimas’s jaw clenched, but the emperor remained sullenly silent.
“That’s not all,” Yana continued. “They spotted us fleeing and shouted a warning after us—said they would be awaiting the Fateweaver at the mountains east of the city, and that if Lena doesn’t turn herself in by sunset tomorrow, they’d kill Finæn … and the High Priest.”
“They have Brother Dunstan, too?” Dimas asked, breathless from the effort of holding Ioseph.
Guilt twisted Lena’s stomach. This was all her fault. She’d let Venysa manipulate her, and now two innocent lives were at risk.
“If they have Finæn, then I’m going.”
There were no guards to stop her, but if what Roston had said about Milos was true, then there would be soon. If she was going to go, it had to be now.
“Wait!” Dimas stepped in front of her.
Lena glared, her newly freed magic surging. “If you want to stop me, you’re going to have to kill me.”
“I don’t want to stop you,” said Dimas, adjusting his hold on Ioseph. “I want to help you. Fate dammit, all I’veeverwanted to do was help you, but you were so consumed by your anger that you couldn’t see that! Youattackedmy friend, drugged the church priests, and severed our bond. You’ve left Wyrecia vulnerable, not just to theHæsta,but to Verlond and any other nation that decides it might like to invade us with an absent throne.” He was breathing hard, his face flushed as he added, “Ishouldkill you. It’s what my father would do.”
Casimir bristled beside her, his own hands clenching tightly around his blades. But then Dimas added, his voice broken, “But I am not my father.” He took a breath, his head tilting to the dark sky above, and when he looked back down, Lena didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look so …defeated.“I’ve lost everything because of you. The court will never accept me as their ruler now, and the church will condemn me right alongside you. They’ve always seen me as weak, and I … I thought they wereright.But my uncle …” Dimas trailed off, his jaw hardening. “TheHæstahave to be stopped. And if the only way to do that is to work with you, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Lena didn’t know what to say. His words should have made her angry, and yet as Lena held the emperor’s accusatory stare, she found she didn’t have it in her to defend herself.
Because he was right.
“I know we all have a lot of feelings right now,” Casimir drawled, and Lena could have hugged him for taking the attention off her, “but if we want a chance to keephavingthose feelings, we really need to get out of this damned palace.”
Dimas clenched his jaw, gave Lena one more long, accusatory stare, and said, “There’s a servant’s entrance not far from here, but it’ll lead us out into the main gardens, where our only escape route will be through the palace gates. And if what my uncle said about Milos is true …”
“Then he’ll have hunters watching them. It’s too risky, but … there’s another way.” There was an instinctive part of Lena that told her to keep the courtyard off the prayer chamber a secret. That the iron grate hidden in the wall there was her only escape to the outside, should Dimas try to imprison her once this was all over. But … they were in this mess because she’d kept secrets. Because she’d been too afraid to trust others. And as much as she hated to admit it, Dimas was right: if they had any chance of saving Finæn and theZværnaOrder’s High Priest, then they’d need to work together.
And so, as the presence of a dozen webs of threads brushed against her awareness, their energy growing closer at an alarming rate, Lena lifted her chin and said, “Follow me.”
PART
IV
“When the Furybringer rises,
Her vengeance will shatter the world.”
FORTY-THREE
DIMAS
Running had been the easy part.
Not physically, of course. Not with Ioseph in his arms and his mind still foggy with whatever effects his uncle’s magic had had on him. But mentally. Running meant no time to think about everything he’d lost. But staying still? That part was agony.
Lena had directed them through the tunnels and back up into a courtyard in the northern part of the palace, where she’d gathered a packed satchel hidden beneath an old stone bench before leading them through a loose grate in the wall. From there, they’d followed Casimir out of the imperial city and into the wilderness beyond. They’d finally taken shelter in a small cave mouth northeast of the capital, where Dimas had laid Ioseph down with his head on his lap and numbly agreed as Lena, after disappearing to change out of her dress and back into the outfit he’d met her in, had suggested they all catch their breath before coming up with a plan.
Dimas had closed his eyes alongside the rest of them—all but Casimir, who’d agreed to scout the area in case any of the Fists hadtracked them. Still, no matter how Dimas tried to quiet his mind, sleep would not come. Instead, the memories of what should have been the happiest day of his life replayed over and over, a constant reminder of just how badly things had gone. In less than one evening, he’d lost the sacred bond to his Fateweaver, his claim to the throne,andBrother Dunstan. And to top it all off, the last remaining members of his family had all turned on him. And his mother …
