Quickly, Em, slide it off my finger. You must take the ring with you, Hetta said as though she were another voice in Emriana's head. Stunned but trying desperately to remain cool and collected, Emriana bowed over her grandmother as though she were offering up a final good-bye. She tucked both of her grandmother's hands into her own and discreetly slipped the ring free.
Don't lose it, Hetta said. I'm inside it. A feeling of joy surged up in Emriana then, for she knew she wasn't imagining any of it, that somehow, her grandmother's essence, her spirit, was safely stowed in the ring. Get out of the house, now, Hetta said. It's not safe for you. Defy him, and leave.
The girl subtly pocketed the piece of jewelry then rose to her feet She turned to face Grozier. "Go to hell," she said with the most conviction she'd ever felt about anything in her life. Around her, everyone gasped.
"I'll see you there," Grozier sneered, but Emriana had already turned away, and was walking out of the room. "Guards, make sure she leaves the premises at once," he ordered.
"Em, no!" Ladara called out. "Come back! You mustn't do this!"
The girl ignored them all, though the pain in her mother's voice made her cringe. She realized she had come to despise the woman's timorous nature, but she nonetheless felt self-loathing for hurting Ladara. The woman was, after all, her mother.
You can't help her right now, she admonished herself. You must save yourself, first.
With those words to bolster her courage, Emriana hurried out, practically sprinting to her own room. The guards behind her began to trot to keep up.
If Grozier has his way, I won't even be able to take any belongings, Emriana thought, won't get much opportunity to pack.
In her room, the girl slipped on a different pair of boots, discarding the single one she had on her foot. Then she snatched up a satchel and threw an extra outfit inside. She also dug a pouch of coins out from a cubbyhole in the back of a drawer in her dresser. She was just turning to exit when a box on her bed caught her eye.
It was the set of daggers Xaphira had given her. There were still two inside.
Emriana could hear Grozier down the hall, shouting at the two guards to bodily remove the girl. She glanced at the doorway, where the two guards stood, hesitating to enter a lady's chambers uninvited. Before they could overcome their sense of propriety and cross the threshold, Emriana snatched up the box, stuffed it in the satchel, and turned toward her balcony.
"Get her out of here, right now!" Grozier said from right behind the two guards. "She gets nothing!"
Emriana didn't wait to see if the house guards would jump to their work or not. She darted outside, onto the tiled porch where the smell of blossoms always hung thick in the air, and scrambled down the steps to the grassy expanse below. She heard the sound of footsteps on the tiles behind her and knew that Grozier had ordered the guards to follow her until she was well and truly off the property.
From the lawn, she scurried around the house, through an orchard, and down a side path to the main one leading to the front gate. Once she was there-still followed at a discreet distance by the pair of House Matrell guards-she slipped her hand inside her pocket and slid the ring onto her finger.
Grandmother? She projected. Is it really you? Are you truly there?
Yes, child, Hetta replied. I'm here.
Oh, Hetta! Emriana silently exclaimed, burbling with both excitement and trepidation all at the same time. What happened? You died!
All is not as it seems, Hetta replied. Magic can do strange and wondrous things, and we Matrells have access to our share of it. I have worn that enchanted ring for a long time. In the event of my death, my spirit would be drawn into the ring, rather than away to the afterlife. I'm a stubborn old bird and have no intention of leaving things unfinished. I'm here with you, and will remain so for as long as you need me, until we settle this.
Now. Something has happened to Marga, to the twins. I don't know what, yet, but I sense deception. Grozier is up to something, and Marga is not acting herself. Where is Xaphira?
Emriana's heart ached. I don't know, she confessed. She disappeared last night. I was attacked, nearly drowned. I tried to contact her with my pendant, once last night, once this morning, but she would not answer. She could feel anguish radiate from the presence inside her.
That is truly wretched news, Hetta said solemnly. But we have no time for that now. Xaphira's a strong girl. She'll survive without our help for the time being.
I hope so, Emriana thought.
Yes, that is all we can do for the moment. Hope. Right now, we must get away, seek help. I want you to go to the Darowdryn estate. We need their help. I have a lot to tell you along the way.
Grandmother Hetta?
What is it, child?
Did you know that Vambran and Kovrim are lost at sea?
Yes, the woman said, with a kindness and warmth that made Emriana want to cry. But do not believe it. Grozier Talricci is a snake filled with lies. Vambran and Kovrim may very well be alive. If they can, they'll get word to us.
My pendant! Emriana thought. I can reach them with my pendant!
Before Emriana had a chance to do that, however, a voice calling her name got her attention. It was Mirolyn, hurrying down the path toward the front gate. Emriana was almost to the end of the path, was almost prepared to step outside of her family home for perhaps the very last time. She turned back to the young woman, only a few years older than she.
"I have a message for you," Mirolyn said breathlessly as she caught up to Emriana. "My mother says to tell you that she remembers where she once heard the name 'Roundface.'"
Emriana turned to face Mirolyn, her heart filling with newfound hope. "Well?" she said, thinking that the news could be a lead to finding Xaphira. "Where?"
Mirolyn took a deep breath and said, "Her sister used to talk about a little boy where she worked, a youngster, the son of a courtier named Blackcrown. All the serving staff nicknamed him Roundface, because he had such chubby cheeks. 'Little Roundface,' they all used to call him. She doesn't know what the child's real first name was, but she thought that might help. Blackcrown, she said, and she was very certain."
Emriana tried to keep from sounding exasperated when she asked, "And where did your mother's sister work?"
"Oh, sorry," Mirolyn said, blushing. "It was at the Generon. She was a maid at the Lord's Palace."
CHAPTER 14
Vambran sat peering through the bars of the cage, watching the druids at work on the rock shelf beyond. The five other soldiers imprisoned with him lounged quietly, some of them sleeping. None of them were fettered any longer, having worked together to remove the rope bonds around wrists and ankles. The hardwood saplings holding them in place within the shallow cave were another matter.
"You are a long way from home, mercenary," the woman with the piercing green eyes said, approaching the cave and looking through the bars at Vambran. "We do not see many of the Order of the Sapphire Crescent here."
Vambran returned her stare curiously. "I'm surprised that you know of our order," he replied. "Though we are not here by choice in any event."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Truly?" she said, sounding skeptical. "Do not all men come here to the shadows of the Nunwood to fight their fights for others? Do the idle rich of the cities not pay you to wage their wars for them out here, where the killing won't stain their precious cities with so much blood?"