Moon Shimmers(79)

Bran shook his head. “There’s a women’s division, but their monastery is deeper into the mountain range and they seldom come in contact with their male counterparts. Both branches are deadly. Both branches are almost chaotic in their relentless drive for order.”

“They sound—unpleasant.” Chase was mincing his words.

I nodded. “Generally, although Menolly knew a priest from the Temple of Reckoning in Aladril. He was a priest of Great Mother Dayinye, and he was originally from the Order of the Crystal Dagger. But I had the feeling he had left the monastery for good, although he never said anything about it. At least as far as I know. He was pleasant enough, but intense.” He had helped save Menolly from Dredge by cutting her link to him—the link all vampires have to their sire. That seemed so very long ago, though it had only been four years.

“The loopers are ready,” Bran said, poking the birds.

Trillian had dressed them in a way that took less time over the fire. The fish were also ready. Bran set aside enough for breakfast before parceling out the rest of them. Trillian carved the loopers, while Delilah used a sturdy campfork to spear the handover roots, which were soft and tender in the water. Soon, we were all busy with food and tea. The buttery flavor of the birds melted against my tongue, and I mashed my handover root, swirling the juices from both bird and fish into them to produce a creamy puree. Delilah handed around the salt, and I sprinkled some of that onto everything. The roots were almost as good as mashed potatoes, although they could have done with a little milk.

“If Roz stays to keep watch over the horses, somebody should stay with him. Shade and Smoky can’t, if they’re going to fly us up there. Bran, you seem to be familiar with the order. Are you coming along?” I couldn’t stay, and neither could Venus. For some reason, I had to take Chase with me, and the two dragons had to go.

“I should. I know their ways. Trillian can stay here. Delilah, you might want to stay as well.”

She shook her head. “As much as I’d rather just play campout, I’m going if Camille is. I won’t let her go into this alone.”

Trillian frowned. “I’d rather go, but Rozurial should have someone else with him. All right, I’ll stay here. But be careful up there. I’ve had some dealings with the Tygerian monks before and I’m not comfortable with you heading into their territory.”

I didn’t want to say anything, but that didn’t surprise me. Svartans didn’t get along well with anybody too rigid. The entire Svartan race had a knack for chaos, and if the Order of the Crystal Dagger eschewed it, there were bound to be some sparks flying when the two got together.

“Smoky will be with me, love. And Shade and Delilah. You stay with Roz. You’re more comfortable in the woods than he is.”

He nodded. There wasn’t much he could do to stop me, and he knew it. “Guard her well, you big lizard. Or I’ll chase you down.”

For once, Smoky didn’t answer. He, too, looked pensive.

“We leave in the morning? Or should we go tonight?” Even though I was tired, I was anxious to get moving now that we knew the location.

“Morning. If there’s trouble, we all need to be on the top of our game,” Delilah said. “Tonight, we rest. Let me look at your ribs.”

She led me off to the area where I had laid out my sleeping bag. I stripped off my shirt, shivering in the cool evening air. The day had been plenty warm, but here, out in the open, the moment the sun went down, the temperatures started to fall.

“Your bruises are fading. You’re healing up pretty fast. How do they feel?”

I tentatively did a few chest stretches, wincing as the ache set in. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been. “I should be back to normal in a couple of days. Whatever normal is.”

After a moment, during which we sat hand in hand, Delilah nudged me with her shoulder. “I miss Queen Asteria. But at least I got to see her when she was young, too. When I—” She paused, then bit her lip. Delilah had been given the task of escorting Queen Asteria out of her life, onto the next leg of her journey. She had seen the Elfin Queen in various stages of her life and had come to understand her in a way none of the rest of us ever could.

“She and Trenyth were so young. The world was so different then. And yet, they were caught in a war. War’s always with us, isn’t it? None of us can live in peace, can we? I used to wish for the world to be a peaceful place. Now, I just hope it survives.” My mood was rapidly spiraling and I wasn’t sure how to stop it. I needed to pull myself out of the depression that had settled around my shoulders.