Page 226 of Salt in the Seas
The foul smells of body odor and waste infiltrated her nose, anddirty hands gripped the bars they walked past. So many voices called out, asking for mercy, until they blended together and she could no longer distinguish one plea from another.
“It wasn’t this crowded when we were here,” Gaeren said, “but it still stank, and we still grew restless.”
Orra calmly hummed her agreement from behind them, but Aeliana noticed her scanning the ground and lifting her skirts as if ready to run.
“Has anyone started hearing their cases?” Aeliana asked.
“Ah, well, typically that would be the king’s job. I’m not willing to wait for Enla’s return, so I requested that various men be brought in as judges, but first we’ll need to vet their honor.”
“What will we do with the Ahmranans?”
Gaeren shrugged. “If we find the onyx stone Orra is so keen on, maybe we’ll send them back. I’m not sure yet. It also depends on how many of them willingly fought alongside her and how many were victims of branding.”
They reached a door at the end of the hall, and when they stepped through, they came across four more cells. Only one was occupied. The hairs on Aeliana’s arm stood on end beneath her cloak, and she shivered as she stepped closer to Gaeren.
Orra strode past them, right up to the bars. “Both women agreed to come. So now you need to hold up your end of the bargain. Tell us where the onyx stone is.”
Sylmar’s gnarled hands wrapped around the bars. He looked oddly frail without his staff, yet his eyes held an intensity that made it difficult for Aeliana to maintain his gaze. She’d railed at him the night before, and while she no longer felt violent enough to harm him herself, she hoped when Enla returned, justice would involve full retribution.
“Thank you for coming,” he said.
“We didn’t come for you,” Aeliana shot back.
He nodded. “I’m no broken dragon or lost winex. I can no longer earn your sympathy.”
Aeliana frowned. “What is it you want to say?”
Sylmar closed his eyes and leaned against the bars. “There is one thing I’ve kept secret from you.”
“Just one?” Aeliana scoffed.
“Just one left,” he clarified, opening his eyes. “At first I thought it didn’t matter. It would only cause you more pain to know it. When that message came on your skin after you first arrived, I didn’t want to consider it was possible.”
“What message?” Orra asked.
“My guardians?—”
“Kidnappers,” Iris cut in.
“Yes, kidnappers,” Aeliana agreed, “carved words on my back to communicate with Mayvus. She used blood magic to send messages back, even across the barrier.”
Gaeren shuddered beside her, and this time Aeliana stepped closer to comfort him.
“I don’t think it was blood magic.” Sylmar’s grip tightened on the bars, making his fingers turn white. “The longer it went without her using it again, the more I was able to write it off as a fluke. Maybe it really had been blood magic. But when your mother’s talk of a curse held merit, I saw things differently. I knew I had to consider the possibility.”
“What possibility?” Gaeren’s tone held warning.
“I had to consider that whatever joined Emeris and Mayvus could be connecting you to someone else too. Not blood magic, but something like a curse. When we first thought it could be Mayvus’ own doing, it made sense. She wasn’t one to do things halfway. If she’d found a way to bind her life force to Emeris, she was surely willing to use you in the same way.”
“Who? Who would she bother binding me to?”
Sylmar’s gaze turned pained, and he slumped against the cell bars. “After hearing your vision from Lady Merinnia, I know it wasn’t Mayvus. I think the whole Wyndren line was doomed ages ago. Perhaps Mayvus never even had a chance at goodness.”
“What are you talking about?” Aeliana’s starlock burned against her chest with her impatience.
“You won’t believe me, which is why I need Iris to show you her memory.”
They all turned toward Iris, whose expression held confusion. “My memory of what?”
