“If love between a dragon and an elf was forbidden in both societies, then an offspring from such a match was an abomination. When news of Vol’s birth spread, the leaders of the other elf houses met with the dragon kings and agreed that they must put aside their differences to destroy this abomination and all who had spawned it.
“The resulting battles nearly tore Aerenal apart. The House of Vol had long been one of the most respected and powerful of the elf lines. This was, after all, the house that carried the Mark of Death, the thirteenth and most dangerous of all the dragonmarks. Vol herself bore this mark, which gave the elves and dragons yet another reason to fear her and her power.
“Within a matter of months, the House of Vol was destroyed. According to recorded histories from the time, no one survived. The name of Vol was stripped from the elf libraries and expunged from their conversations. It was as if no one from the house had ever lived.”
Kandler had heard some of this before, in bits and pieces, in his travels. His wife Esprina had mentioned the House of Vol, but only as an example of how pride went before the fall. Like most elves, she had a long memory, and she had family members who’d been alive at the time of the crusade against House Vol. According to her, the members of the House of Vol had been involved in some kind of horrible breeding program designed to drive up the numbers of the rare dragonmarks that showed up among elves.
“But the Lich Queen survived,” he prompted.
Te’oma nodded, warming to her tale. “Exactly. While the rest of the House of Vol fought for their lives, Vol’s parents had her smuggled away to Khorvaire where she could live in safe obscurity. The other houses searched in vain for the young elf for years. Eventually they gave up, declaring that she must have died in one of their many offenses and been lost.
“Vol dedicated herself to revenge. She took to the study of magic, becoming one of the most powerful wizards on the planet. When her life neared its end, she took the next step, something no smaller-minded elf would have ever considered, with their worship of their ascendant councilors. She didn’t wait for their Priests of Transition to grant her immortality. The Undying Court would never have allowed it. She took it for herself.
“She transformed herself into a lich.”
Kandler watched the changeling as she spoke. She betrayed a range of emotions about this Vol, which he found curious.
“You admire her,” he said.
“Why not?” The thought seemed to surprise Te’oma even as she agreed with it. “Despite the persecution of two of the most powerful groups in the entire world, she not only survives but thrives. She lives on her own terms and has everything she could ever want—but for one thing.”
“A digestive system?” Burch said.
Te’oma ignored the shifter. Kandler thought perhaps she rolled her eyes at him, but since they were white throughout he couldn’t be sure.
“The Mark of Death.”
Kandler shook his head. “You said she bore the mark.”
“She did. She does, but there’s one problem with dragonmarks, at least from a lich’s perspective: You have to be alive to use them.
“To survive forever, Vol had to give up her most personal and incredible powers.”
“She literally traded death for immortality.”
Te’oma smiled. “Exactly.”
“Why does she want Esprë? It’s not like she can just steal the dragonmark from her.” Kandler paused, a sick feeling in his stomach. “Can she?”
Te’oma frowned and shook her head. “No, but you won’t believe the real reason.”
“Try me.”
Te’oma gazed up at Kandler from her bed and said, “She wants to protect her.”
Burch burst into howling laughter from the windowsill. Kandler snapped his head around to glare at the shifter, and he clammed up.
“Tell me how that makes sense,” Kandler said to Te’oma. He didn’t know what to believe, but his instincts told him that this was too outlandish to be a lie.
“The Lich Queen knew that if she had escaped the purge of the House of Vol, others may have too. The bloodlines in elf society are long and tangled. It was one thing to murder every named member of the House of Vol. It would be another to kill everyone related to them as well. It would have torn Aerenal in half.
“If some of her distant cousins had survived, then the Mark of Death might someday resurface. If it did, it would cause an uproar within Aereni society again, perhaps resulting in another purge, and the bearer would be murdered for sure.
“Vol devoted a portion of her time and magic to searching for any sign of the return of the Mark of Death. Over the centuries, she found a few false clues, but she always remained wary of these lulling her into a false sense of hopelessness. She tracked down every lead, sure that one of them would finally prove true.”
“That’s how you and those vampires came to Mardakine.”
Te’oma nodded. “We lurked around the edges of the town for a few days, until we were sure we’d located the right person. Then the knights showed up, forcing our hand. We struck.”
Kandler put a fist up to his mouth for a moment. He put it back down when he noticed the knuckles were white. “Tell me again how this is supposed to be for Esprë’s protection.”
“Vol wants to bring Esprë to live with her in Illmarrow Castle. There she can train her in the use of the Mark of Death in a way that no one else possibly could. Every other bearer of the mark is long since dead.”
“Including Vol.”
“She can also hide her there from others who would seek her out, either to kill her or to use her for their own ends.” Te’oma spread her arms wide, her chains rattling with the gesture. “Think about it. If the Silver Flame could detect the appearance of the Mark of Death—the first in over three millennia—do you think others don’t know about it as well? The Undying Court in Aerenal? The dragon kings of Argonnessen? The Finders Guild? The Lords of Dust? The Deathguard? The Dreaming Dark?”
Kandler nodded.
“Can you protect her from all of them?” Te’oma said in a whisper. “You couldn’t even keep her safe from me.”
Kandler fought the urge to reach out and strangle the changeling, to twist her neck back into the shape in which Ibrido had left it. Instead, he stood up and walked toward the doorway. Before he left, he shot back over his shoulder.
“Tomorrow’s another day.”
38
“It’s time,” Kandler said as he entered the infirmary. Three human guards stood watching over the changeling, one at the window, one at the door, and a third standing a sword’s length away from Te’oma’s bed. Berre had sent them in shortly after Kandler left the room last night, with orders to make Burch leave and get some sleep.
Kandler had bumped into the Captain of Bones this morning already, and she’d told him about the switch. He’d thanked her for it. He needed Burch fresh and ready for their trip, no matter where it took him. Berre looked like she’d been on her feet for the entire night, but that was fine. Once Phoenix took off, her part in all this would be done.
The changeling sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of Kandler’s voice. He wondered if she’d slept at all herself. She looked horrible. Since she was a changeling, the justicar knew that either she’d made herself look like that on purpose or she was too distracted to bother with her appearance at the moment. Her red eyes and puffy face told him she’d been crying.