Spirits of Light and Shadow (The Gods of Talmor) (27 page)

Korbin glanced at her again, but she gave no sign what she was thinking. He turned a glare back on his father. “You had us chased down, capturing and killing four of her fellow conduits merely for the crime of being conduits. Her friends. And now you’re asking for help?”

Graiphen knew this would be a tricky point. “Captured, yes. Questioned, yes. One of their kind attacked me. I was determined to find out who. But killed? No.”

Octavia shot Korbin a look but said nothing. He met his father’s eye. “We were told they were dead.”

Graiphen shrugged. “Not by any of my people, and we are the only ones who had access to the prisoners.”

“Where are they now?” Octavia asked.

“They will be released and aided in leaving Talmor if you help me. I cannot sanction them to stay and practice their heresy under the temple’s nose, of course, but I can guarantee they will live to see their homeland.”

Korbin laughed. “So you’ll release them if we practice heresy
here
under
your
nose? Your logic is astonishing.”

Graiphen couldn’t take any more of Korbin’s mouth. “Watch yourself, boy. Remember who I am and what I can do.” That must have gotten the message across, because Korbin’s cocky expression melted immediately.

“Why should we trust you?” Octavia asked. “You have done terrible things.”

Her words were harsh, but he knew he had her. She would do anything if she thought it would save her fellow witches.

Graiphen looked his son squarely in the eye. “Tell her, son. Am I a man who keeps my word?”

Korbin exhaled. Obviously, he knew he couldn’t argue. Of course Graiphen was a man of his word. For good or ill, Graiphen never made a threat he didn’t follow through or a promise he didn’t keep.

“If he says they’re alive, I believe him.”

“And he’ll release them?”

“Yes, I think we can trust that.” He turned to Graiphen. “And what about us? We still have the Council’s arrest warrants hanging over our heads.”

Graiphen shrugged. “The Council doesn’t have much power anymore.”

Korbin waited, not looking away until Graiphen relented.

“With Seba’s rise, he’s cut me off from the rest of the Council, and with the emperor coming to Vol, it’s not the time to argue that point or petition for your name to be cleared. It would look like a family favor. You can do your work safely here in the temple. When it’s over, I will see your name cleared.”

“No,” Octavia said quickly. “I won’t be confined here. There is someone I must see before I can begin.”

“We will provide you anything you need,” Graiphen said.

“This is not a point on which I can negotiate.” Octavia crossed her arms.

Interesting
, Graiphen thought.
Not a point which she
can
negotiate.
“I will grant you safe passage through the city.”

“Tokens,” Korbin said. “Not guards.”

“I won’t agree to that,” Graiphen said. “The temple will not sanction a witch being allowed to roam the city unwatched. I am the High Brother, but even I am not above the precepts of our mistress.”

He was treading a very fine line as it was. He was only able to do this much because he had no intention of letting her or the other witches leave after she completed her task.

“I am not going to run,” Korbin said. “As much as I dislike dealing with you, you’re offering something I need and our goals temporarily coincide. We want this dark conduit found as much as you do.”

Graiphen smiled and looked at Octavia. “You also give your word?”

She glanced at Korbin a final time and then gave a sharp nod. “Tokens for safe passage through the city, my friends’ safety guaranteed, every tool and supply I need given without question or negotiation, and the understanding that if what I find is not what you want me to find, that is not something I can change. The One offers the truth, nothing more or less.”

“We have a deal then,” Graiphen said. The bargain struck was unpleasant, but he could see no other way. His mistress was powerful, but he himself was not yet in a position of total strength, either in the temple or outside it. He would have to bide his time before he could act with complete autonomy.

The betrayal he was forced to commit here was also disagreeable, but necessary. In the end, the mistress would be satisfied, no matter the cost.

Chapter 21

Octavia’s skin crawled. She could scarcely believe Korbin was this man’s offspring, but she reminded herself Graiphen had been tainted by a corrupt conduit’s curse. Maybe the relationship would have made more sense if she’d known father and son before.

“I will begin immediately,” she said.

Graiphen smiled, an oily, leering grin. She doubted he realized how maniacal and unpleasant he looked. “Very well,” he said. “I can have a meditation cell prepared for you and whatever items you require brought to you.”

“I will perform three rituals. They will take time, and my efforts cannot be rushed. The first I will begin here and now.”

“Here?” Graiphen scowled. “I think not, I—”

“It will require your blood,” she said, cutting him off. “Which I will draw myself. As the dark conduit’s victim, you’re bound to him until the curse is completely broken.”

“It
has
been broken,” Graiphen said.

“You promised
every tool and supply I need given without question or negotiation
. Are you not a man of your word?”

The glare he shot her would have made most men shrivel, but Octavia had dealt with self-important people before. Not that Graiphen wasn’t dangerous. Of that she was certain. Dangerous and likely lying. Before she did anything else, she would find out exactly how far his deception went. If she was going to use her sacred talents for this despicable man, she would at least know where she stood.

“Very well,” he said, his lips twisting with distaste.

“I need tools,” she said. “A small, sharp blade of pure silver, beeswax, parchment, a white candle, a purple candle, an iron nail and a small mallet, a sprig of calamus, a piece of licorice root, a silver needle with black thread, thick black cloth of any type. I can get them from my worktable at home.”

“Might as well give me a list of the items you will need for all three rituals, so we don’t waste time.”

Octavia nodded. “What I need for the third ritual depends on what I learn after performing the first two and my venture into the city. That cannot be helped. For the second, I simply need bay laurel and white linen.”

Graiphen nodded. “I will have someone purchase what you need—”

“It will be faster if you have them brought from my workshop. The calamus is not sold in any store in Vol, and if purchased, I’d have to spend time purifying the tools. It could take many days.”

“I will send someone to get the items from your workbench. No need to make the journey yourself when you undoubtedly have other preparations to make.”

She sensed his reluctance to let her out of his control. His behavior didn’t worry her too much. If her first ritual binding him to the truth went well, she’d have less to worry about afterward. “Fine.”

“Allow me to have you shown to an appropriate cell. I will come to you when the items have arrived. I will, of course, make myself available, but I will not allow witchcraft to be performed in this room.”

Octavia bent her head in agreement. Of course, his demands were ridiculous. The spell she planned to cast would not affect the room, but he would have his way, and she didn’t see a point in arguing. She’d learned over the years of dealing with Talmoran lords that sometimes it was better to let them have their way over the little, irrelevant things. Oddly, her compliance put them off their guard when she made a more substantial demand later.

“Very well,” she continued. “I require seventeen candles to prepare myself in the meantime. I assume you have some here. The color and size do not matter for these purposes.”

Graiphen stood and told a priest outside the room to escort the pair to the cell that had been readied for their stay. “Make sure they have ample lighting,” he said. “The woman is afraid of the dark and has requested a large supply of candles.” His mouth twisted into a smile, and the priest responded with a knowing nod.

“As you wish, Ultim Qardone.” The priest bowed and gestured for Korbin and Octavia to follow him.

An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach, but she did her best to ignore it. The bargain she’d made was a dangerous one, and every instinct and past experience told her to run. Steeling herself, she moved one foot in front of the other, following the man. She’d always been one to trust her intuition, but this time, what must be done was not a good or pleasant task.

The room they were ultimately shown was thankfully bare, no rugs, tapestries, or decorations to distract from her work. She waited until the priest brought the extra candles before beginning her preparation ritual.

She requested that Korbin help her move the plain furnishings to the outside of the room, leaving the center empty, and then asked him to remain at the edge. He complied and stayed silent, for which she was grateful. As she worked, positioning seventeen of the candles in a spiral, she considered how things had changed. She’d been devastated when he left and shocked when he’d returned. But when he’d come back, he’d been different, more centered, more determined. As angry and hurt as she’d been, she saw that his departure and return had been necessary.

Taking a bit of chalk from her bag, she drew symbols on the wooden floor between the candles, creating concentric circles. She stepped carefully and chanted with a slight hum, focusing as she lit the candles. This place had been home to a god for centuries, and carving out a sacred place to draw upon the One would not be easy if her efforts were not welcomed. The trick would be in subtlety. She didn’t place much stock in the existence of the Spirits of Light and Shadow, but their followers were fervent. She’d seen for herself that these disciples could be ruthless and clearly possessed some kind of magical knowledge in an unfamiliar sphere.

Time barely seemed to have passed when a knock sounded on the door, but she was familiar enough with her connection to the One to realize time warped when bound to the infinite. She sensed Korbin moving toward the sound as she continued stepping through the candles and chanting. When he arrived at the door, she said, “Accept the items, but allow no one to enter.”

The air in the circle was now pure, her efforts having pushed back the oppressive presence of Braetin’s followers. She would be reluctant to leave the relative safety and comfort of this place.

Still wrapped up in forging her connection to the One further, she distantly heard Korbin speak. “My father is here,” he said.

Nodding, she signaled for him to be invited in. Making her way carefully through the circle of light, she stepped as though dancing through the runes. When she reached the edge, she saw Graiphen waiting outside her circle. His presence was large and imposing. She didn’t want to invite him in because the circle offered her some protection, but she had to do what her task required.

Bending in front of him, she drew a symbol on the floor, a gateway. “You may pass over,” she said, and briefly wondered if he would have had the fortitude to break her circle uninvited. “Bring the items on the first list with you. The others must stay without.”

He scowled but followed her instructions and stepped into the circle, his red robes glaring at her sensitive eyes. When she closed the circle after him, she caught Korbin’s gaze. He was watching intently. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring look.

A moment later, she returned her attention to Graiphen, and what she saw made her take a step back. His eyes had turned black, with no color, no white between the lids.

With a gasp, she glanced at Korbin, but he showed no sign he saw what she did. The sight made her reluctant to continue. She’d never before seen someone possessed, but the signs were clear. The man had done a deeply evil deed, and in performing it, given his soul to his goddess.

The danger was clear, and she hesitated. Although she had planned to draw his blood for this truth-binding ritual, now she didn’t dare. What should she do? If she deviated from what she’d told him before, he would be suspicious.

“What’s wrong?” Korbin asked.

Graiphen smiled. He must have known what she saw.

“Your goddess is strong,” Octavia said quietly.

“Yes,” he replied. “Now you understand.”

She hadn’t before, but she was starting to now. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t cursed. Her plan to bind him to his word was useless. When he’d made the bargain with her, she’d suspected he intended to betray her, and she planned to take countermeasures. Now she knew she couldn’t force him to tell the truth or influence him to stick to his promise. If she touched his blood, she risked invoking the Spirit who now owned him. If he touched hers, he would have power over her. The Talmoran gods were more real than she could have imagined, and more dangerous than she’d feared.

“Come to the center,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Graiphen followed, watching her closely with those dead, black eyes. Octavia felt Braetin’s attention through his gaze. Drawing on the One, she clothed herself in its infinite web of protection. Without it, she feared she might fall under Braetin’s influence.

Who or what were these Spirits? She didn’t dare ponder long. Her training and protection of the One would hold her for a little while, but she felt like a child trying to hold back the tide with a bucket. If Braetin moved, she would be helpless.

“Place the items on the ground,” Octavia said. “Take out the silver blade and the parchment.” When he’d done as instructed, she said, “Prick your finger. Let the blood fall onto the paper. Eight drops. No more, no less.”

“Afraid to touch me?” he whispered.

“This will lead me to our enemy,” she replied just as quietly. Keeping her voice barely audible, she said, “I know of your betrayal, your lies. My sisters of the Sennestelle are already dead, aren’t they?”

Graiphen’s face barely twitched, but it was enough for her to know the truth.
I could not allow any follower of Eurmus to survive.
The voice that spoke was not Graiphen’s. It echoed in her thoughts.
Eurmus?
She didn’t know this name.