Page 176 of War Queen
Norah didn’t move.
“Regal High,” her maid said again.
Slowly, Norah turned to Serene, who was standing at the window and looking down into the courtyard.
“You might want to come,” Serene said.
Norah pushed herself up and ambled from the bed. She blinked her eyes into focus as she stared down at the group of riders who had arrived. Who were they?
She squinted against the light. Why was it so bright? Didn’t the sun know it was a time of darkness?
Norah focused again on the riders. A smaller man slid from his horse, hooded with an oversize cloak. Suddenly, her heart picked up. She recognized the bright red garb of the men surrounding him—guards of the seer’s temple in Kharav.The seer had come to Mercia.
The Kharavian seer had left his temple. And had come to Mercia.
Finding a burst of energy, she turned on her heel and sprang for the door. She raced down the hall and the stairs with her guards Titus and Kiran picking up behind her.
When she reached the courtyard, Soren and Mikael were already there. They stood with the seer, their large frames towering over him.
“Bhasim!” she called as she raced toward them.
Mikael and Soren turned in surprise, and when she saw the seer, she stopped in her step.
He stood solemnly, his left hand holding the wrapped stub of where his right hand used to be.
She gaped at him. “Bhasim,” she said with a gasp, and drew closer. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“This is best suited as a private conversation,” he said weakly. “Do you mind if we go inside?”
“Of course,” she said quickly.
A guard of the seer stepped beside the old man, and Bhasim took his arm to steady himself, then followed them into the castle.
They swept into the dining room, and Caspian and Adrian joined them as they took seats around the large table.
Norah waved in water and hot tea.
“I’m going to need something a little stronger,” Bhasim said.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. “Wine,” she called.
“What happened?” Mikael asked as the doors closed behind the departing servants.
“There resides a great evil in the Aether now,” he said finally. “A dark-magic serpent, attacking those who step in to touch the Eye.”
“The what?” Soren asked.
“What’s the Eye?” Mikael added.
Norah frowned. All those visits to the seer and they’d never bothered to ask how the visions actually worked?
“The Eye,” Bhasim said. Then he sighed. He’d been annoyed at Norah for knowing about the Eye when she went to see him at the temple. Now he seemed annoyed he had to explain its existence. “There exists the Aether—the space through which the energy from all beings flows. It’s here that the Eye sits. This is how seers see the visions, by stepping into the Aether and touching the Eye.”
Norah glanced around the table. Excellent, everyone was caught up. “So what’s happening with it?” she prompted Bhasim for more.
“The Aether has been infected with dark magic. A serpent guards the Eye, seeking to poison anyone who steps inside. It attacked me.” He motioned to his absent hand. “Bit me, but I was able to escape the Aether, and”—he paused and looked at his guard—“cut the poison off before it traveled to the rest of my body.”
Norah glanced at his guard who held a bladed staff in his hand. He’d cut off Bhasim’s arm before it could spread. She shuddered at the thought. “If it bites you in the Aether, then it harms you in this world?” she asked.
