The Banished of Muirwood(55)
I have been to the hetaera’s lair and faced their test. It was the Medium’s will that I leave a curse on their Leering, a curse bound by irrevocare sigil. A curse to last for all time. I faced the Queen of the Unborn, Ereshkigal, who sought to turn me into her slave. She threatened me and my posterity with revenge. The Leering was too powerful to destroy, but it was moved from Dochte Abbey, hidden away by the Dochte Mandar. You must understand that it still holds great power, and its brand—two entwining serpents—can still be burned into a shoulder. It is usually the left shoulder. That is how you can tell a woman is a hetaera. In my day the hetaera seduced kings and sheriffs and secretly plotted to have all the mastons murdered. My own mother was killed by a hetaera. In your day, many mastons are weaker in the Medium than the Dochte Mandar who use kystrels to amplify their power. But a hetaera would be even stronger—she would have the power to destroy their civilization. I must warn you that the curse I placed on that Leering is still in force. A hetaera’s kiss will bring a plague. The Naestors fear this above all else, and they will murder any girl who wears a kystrel or has the mark on her shoulder. Eventually, they will kill any girl who even learns how to read.
—Lia Demont, Aldermaston of Muirwood Abbey
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Fate
Maia was so startled, so amazed, so frightened by Collier’s words that she could only stare at him, dumbfounded. She closed her eyes, trying to untangle the conflicting thoughts, convulsing feelings, and tremors of dread that threatened to mute her permanently. She had been to the lost abbey. That much was true. She had ventured into the area that contained a dark pool, a place the Dochte Mandar had used to commune with the dead. She had beheld the Leering of which he spoke, had felt its raw power. But she had not touched it. She had been too afraid.
But she could also appreciate that to this man, her sudden presence in his kingdom could be misinterpreted in a thousand different ways. She wore a kystrel around her neck. Surely that would persuade him of his own accuracy, if nothing else did!
Though Collier was wrong about her, his accusation sent thoughts dashing around in her mind, colliding and sparking and crumbling to dust. Why had her father sent her to the cursed shores of Dahomey? What were his true motives? She could only guess, but had not Chancellor Walraven said that one of the ways to dissolve a marriage by irrevocare sigil was if the wife was found to be a hetaera? She had read about the hetaera in the tomes of the Dochte Mandar. She knew the legends of their deadly kiss. Had her father sent her to become one?
That thought sent a searing shard of wrath through her soul.
She opened her eyes and stared at the Mark of Dahomey. He still dangled her kystrel in front of her, as if she were some fish that would succumb to a hook if only the correct bait were presented.
“You misunderstand a great many things, Your Majesty.”
“Please. Call me Collier, and I will call you Maia. Our pet names for each other.”
She clenched her jaw, feeling the swell of fury rise up inside her. She squeezed her fingers into fists, wishing she were strong enough to shred the ropes that bound her wrists.
“I am not a hetaera,” she said tightly. “You have misunderstood me entirely, and in so doing, you have deceived yourself most of all.”
He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Anger is an excellent way to conceal a lie. It is so easy to feign outrage.”
“I am not dissembling,” Maia said, stepping forward. “I am not what you think, but I can understand why it must look that way to you. You also already know that the Dochte Mandar are hunting me and seek to murder me, but—”
He waved his hand. “I will not let them harm you,” he interrupted. “Of course they seek your death. Let me shield you from them. They fear you because they know you are more powerful. More powerful than them. And more powerful than the mastons.”
She shook her head. “I am not what you think I am.” The thought was repulsive.
“Well, there is a very simple test to prove your innocence,” Collier said languidly. “Open your bodice.”
Maia flushed with shame and rage. “I bear the kystrel’s taint.”
“Of course you do. Let me see your shoulders. Long ago the hetaera would cover the marks on their bosoms with paints or tattoos, but nothing could cover the brand. It was always the left shoulder, I believe, though I do not know if it makes a difference. How about we start there?” He smiled mischievously.
Maia felt heat and awkwardness battle inside of her. She was not a hetaera! But she was also not about to disrobe in front of this man to satisfy his vulgar curiosities.