Page 97 of Salt in the Seas
“Then why bother going back?” General Nels asked.
“When I was healing Emeris, her wounds would grow worse, like she was gaining new ones. She told me it was because Mayvus was gaining new ones from Durriken.”
“You believed me about the curse because you could see it happening.” Emeris’ eyes clouded over. “I thought I would die from those wounds. It probably wasn’t fair for me to give you so many memories at once. It was too much. But I was afraid I wouldn’t have another chance. I knew you were the only one who would take my suspicions seriously. That you were the only one who could find out if Mayvus and I had been cursed by the witches.”
“So you went to the witches,” Orra mused, “pretending you still intended to end the Wyndren line?”
Marnok nodded. “I was only able to stay with them for a couple of weeks, and it was difficult to learn much. They spent so much time with their rituals, and while I wasn’t forced to participate, even watching for the sake of maintaining my supposed allegiance was hard to stomach.” He shuddered, and Orra’s own past experiences with the witches rose to the surface, leaving her uneasy.
They may worship the Stars, but that hadn’t stopped them from poisoning her, bleeding her, and abusing her for their own nefarious purposes. The dark spirits had hovered, constantly waiting for theirfeeding frenzy, leaving a persistent blackness that had drained her of hope. It had been one of the darkest seasons of her existence.
“Did they question your story?” Emeris asked, her careful words leaving much unsaid.
Marnok shrugged. “They’ve seen Mayvus’ rise to power. They knew I had my work cut out for me. But they seemed satisfied with the fact that Mayvus had been dragged off by Durriken and you were near death when I left. I told them I felt like my mission had been accomplished. Even so, I wasn’t able to gain any understanding of why I was given the mission in the first place.”
“So you think the witches cursed the Wyndren family?” General Nels asked, eager, as always, to get to the main point.
“I doubt it.” Marnok’s brow furrowed. “Why would they have sent me after Emeris and Mayvus if they’d already successfully cursed them?”
“Maybe they cursed them after you left,” Rildan suggested.
Marnok frowned. “Maybe. Whether they did the cursing or not, I feel like they know something about it. When I didn’t have bodies to show them as proof, they seemed strangely certain the Wyndrens were already doomed in some way. I just couldn’t tell if that was their overconfidence in some measure they’ve taken or if it was because they knew of some other endgame that was already in place.”
General Nels made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “That’s all you discovered in two weeks with them?”
Emeris shot him a disapproving glare. “He risked his life to go back to people who would kill him if they knew where his true loyalties lie. I’m grateful he was cautious enough to get out safely.”
“They grew suspicious after a while,” Marnok admitted. “My mother asked me things about my childhood that I couldn’t remember. Even though I told her I’d had memory loss, I think it scared her. I assume she’d rather eliminate a possible asset than set loose a suspected traitor.” He shuddered. “I barely escaped. It’s likely I would have been their next sacrifice to the Stars if I hadn’t sensed the change in my mother.”
“What change?” Rildan asked.
“She almost grew…sentimental. She may be awitch, and I may have been her pawn, but she loved me at one time. In her own twisted way.” His jaw tightened.
Emeris reached across the space between them, patting his hand. “The others have gone hunting for the starbridges. They’re going to see Pacran.”
“No,” Rildan corrected gently. “They’re headed for Paelen’s waters to seek out the Sayhleens and find Lady Merinnia. If anyone knows about a curse or a prophecy or something that binds you to Mayvus, she will.”
Emeris frowned, her eyes clouding over. “I could have sworn…”
Rildan and Marnok exchanged a curt glance.
“Either way,” Emeris continued. “We won’t make you go back to the witches.”
His shoulders slumped, making Orra aware of just how tense he’d been. There was far more to his story. And perhaps he would share it all at some point. But it was clear he still wasn’t ready to reveal his secrets.
“You’ve been gone far more than two weeks,” General Nels pointed out. “Even with travel time. That can’t be all you did.”
“This isn’t an interrogation, General,” Emeris said. “I invited you here as a courtesy and out of respect for the ways you’ve protected us. But there’s no need to put him on trial.”
Marnok held up a hand. “It’s all right. He’s being thorough. I would ask the same questions if I were him.”
Orra licked her lips, already knowing part of his answer. “You went to see the sprites,” she said.
“No,” Emeris said. “He wouldn’t—” She cut off as they all took in the guilt on Marnok’s face.
“I went there—not to seek a deal, but to verify why I went there in the first place.”
“In the first place?” General Nels asked.
