Page 52 of Tomb of Ancients
“A book,” I answered.
Malatriss bobbed her head, as did the snake, and then she folded her hands out in front of her; the other four hands remained tucked still behind her back. The beads on her collar twinkled gently, and then she gave me the final question. I swallowed, more nervous for this than for the unknown riddle. The answer provided by Mr. Morningside was wrong, I felt sure of that, but I was not at all convinced that I had the right clue. Or perhaps I had been confident, but now, faced with that hungry little eel around her neck, I wanted very much to be right and keep my fingers.
With another vicious smile, Malatriss offered the final test. “Arms to embrace, yet no hands. Pinches to give, yet no fingers.Poison to wield, yet no needle. What am I?”
I couldn’t help it—I glanced at Dalton, who had abandoned his casual posture, watching me with his fingernails between his lips. His eyes were hidden, of course, but I knew all of his thoughts, all of his prayers were bent toward me. The demon Focalor had failed, Henry had never gotten the opportunity, but still I summoned the courage to believe in my own wits.
For I did not know the word for an ancient scorpion creature with the chest and head of a man, but Father did. He spoke the ancient language of Khent, of Ara, of every tree and insect and man. No language escaped him. I shook, fearing what it might do to use his knowledge, but I wasn’t going to lose my fingers.
“Girtablilû,”I said, my voice ringing out, all my hopes going with it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Every inch of me froze with fear. I watched the snake, waiting for it to strike. Mother’s grip on my hand tightened and then relaxed, and Malatriss squinted as if seeing me anew.
“Willing hearts. Immortal hearts...” She extended all six of her golden hands to us. “Wise hearts. You have passed the first trial, but further tests await you within. I will be personally interested to see how you fare, little one. The door is open to you—all that remains is to walk through it.”
A hard, cold wind blew through the ruins, and a moment later I heard a rustle of wings. Malatriss had begun to walk back down the ramp, but we were no longer alone in the castle. I turned, tucking my hands protectively over the straps of the pack, finding that the shepherd had come, and Finch, proving Khent’s suspicions that our absence was noticed.
“Go through that door if you must, child,” the shepherd said, hobbling toward me with a cane, his blind eyes finding me easily. “But you will not take that book with you.”
Finch rushed toward me, the gold of his body fading as he reverted to his human form. He was not to reach me, as Khent stepped between us, his lip curling into a snarl.
“Louisa, please,” Finch implored, his huge, brown eyes—wet with tears—searching me out over Khent’s shoulder. “You don’tknow what you’re doing. We were friends once, and though different, you always showed me kindness. Would you see us all killed?”
“There’s more to this than you know,” I told him. “I’m sorry, it’s too late, I won’t be persuaded.”
“How did you find us?” Dalton stepped up next to Khent, and I began backing away, knowing I may soon need to run and run swiftly.
“Oh, brother, I can sense you. I can always sense you. You may have turned away from us, but that does not mean our bond is broken,” Finch told him, shaking his head of dark hair and glancing away, disgusted. “I knew you were changed, but to take the book? To work forhim?”
Guilt and doubt tugged at the edges of my mind, but not for long. The sharp sting of a headache seared across my forehead, and I gasped, nearly felled by the pain. Sometimes I could feel Father’s influence building gradually, but this came on with the quickness of a summer lightning storm. Father had sensed the shepherd’s proximity and clawed his way through my mind until I could hardly hear a word being said around me.
Let me face him, let me rend him with teeth and claw.
Mother’s hands curled around my shoulders, urging me away from the arguing. We stumbled toward the ramp, fragments of the shouting breaking through the bloody mist filling my head.
“It isn’t for me,” Dalton was saying. “It’s for everyone. You have them cornered, your entire host against a handful ofchildren. This isn’t a war, it’s another massacre. Henry’s released those souls, his strength is spent. What more do you want?”
“To live, brother! And to punish you for killing my sister.”
But that was me.
More bickering, more dark laughter from the corrupted recesses of my mind. The ground sloped, and I let Mother guide me, finding my feet as we descended the ramp.
“I won’t let her take it!” Finch was screaming now, all pretense of civility gone, and I heard a deafening clash of steel. “You turned away from us, brother. You’ve diminished. I will take no pleasure in defeating you, but Iwilldefeat you. Louisa! Louisa, please! She’s getting away... We shall spare your friends, Louisa, if you only listen to us. Listen to reason!”
They are feeble, alone. Let us end this, daughter, let us have our revenge.
I gritted my teeth.No. Not now. Not when we were so close...
“Khent,” I managed to whisper. “The moon...”
“I see it. Go,eyachou, go! We will not let them advance.”
But I leaned hard against Mother, hissing. It was wrong to go, to leave them like that, to let others fight my battles. And yet I feared what would happen if I stayed, if Father emerged and used me for his ancient revenge. I blinked hard, concentrating on Mother’s presence, hoping that if I stayed near to her his influence would fade away. It did, but only a little, and I had time to open my eyes and see her and Khent staring down intomy face with twin expressions of concern. How could I leave? A hundred possibilities flashed before my eyes, none of them encouraging. What if we emerged from the tomb to find Khent slain? What if I might have bargained for mercy and found some way to save us all? And those bleeding and dying for us at Coldthistle House, what if it was all for nothing?
“Go,” Khent said again, pressing his hand between my shoulder blades, “and take my courage when you do.”
