The Broken Pieces(9)

“Hoping for the best?” Daniel asked. “That’s your plan?”

“Put simply, yes,” Brute said. “You disagree?”

Daniel shook his head.

“Cyric will be returning to the Blood Tower. With Robert gone, their ploy will fail if they can’t tie up all the loose ends. That’s what we are, one giant loose end. He’ll come, and then we’ll die.”

“I saw what Darius could do on his own,” Brute said. “Get some food and drink in your belly, then sleep away the day. You do us a disservice as you are. None of us have any plans of dying.”

“You misunderstand me,” Daniel said, putting aside his plate and standing. “I didn’t survive all that just to play the coward or the fool. Sir Robert was a great man, a good man, and what Cyric did…I can’t forgive it. I won’t. We’ll find that madman and make him pay. And the first step to that is retaking Robert’s tower.”

“Robert’s dead,” Darius said. “It’s not his tower anymore.”

“Then we’ll take back my goddamn tower,” Daniel said. “We’ll fling those mercenaries into the river, and maybe you can kill yourself another of those forsaken lions. How does that sound?”

“It sounds impossible,” Darius said, even though he smiled. “But I’ve been doing the impossible lately. What’s one more attempt at it among friends?”

“Not quite impossible,” Brute said. “We do have that woman of yours.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair, setting aside the last of his meal and drink.

“Woman?” he asked. “What woman do we have that can make the impossible possible? Because I’d be glad to meet her.”

“You already have,” said the boy in the corner. He stood up straighter, and suddenly looked so much taller than before. His build thickened, and his hair turned red, growing longer so that it curled about his neck. No longer a boy but a woman with breasts beneath her sleek black tunic, which matched the leather of her pants. Brute frowned, clearly unhappy with the display, while Daniel tensed as if expecting some sort of attack.

“Always one for the dramatic,” Darius said, shaking his head. “Daniel, I’d like you to meet Valessa, formerly a gray sister of Karak, and my current guest.”

“Who…” Daniel said, then paused to swallow. “No, what are you?”

“I was one of Karak’s most faithful,” Valessa said. Even now, Darius could hear the pain in her voice. “And now I am accursed and abandoned. Cyric stripped everything from me, betraying me to excuse his own failures. I am shadow, I am death, and I will have my revenge upon him, same as you.”

“There must be something stronger in my drink than I thought,” Daniel said, standing. Darius met his gaze, which had hardened tenfold. “Are you a madman, paladin? You invite a creature of Karak into our tent because she claims a desire for revenge? How do you know she doesn’t report our every move to Cyric? How do you know she won’t kill us all in our sleep?”

“I don’t,” Darius said. “But I trust her.”

“You trust her?” Daniel said. “That’s great. But can you guard her?”

Darius looked to Valessa, trying to read her. It was nearly an impossible task, her very image that of an illusion, an exquisite mask to hide the shadows. In her eyes, he thought he saw anger, perhaps wounded pride.

“I do not fear pain,” she said to him. “If you must, show Daniel the manacles you hold over me, if he needs such a display to sleep at night.”

It didn’t feel right. It felt akin to when he drew his sword to cut off Conn’s head, but he would not refuse Valessa’s request. He pulled his sword off his back and held it with both hands. The blade shimmered with light, and even though it did not seem bright in the tent, it immediately began to burn Valessa’s flesh. Her pale skin flaked away inch by inch, and her body trembled as whatever held it together steadily broke. Daniel watched, his mouth open. Darius pulled his blade back to sheath it, but Valessa stepped closer, grabbing his wrist. She stared into his eyes as the light burned her deeper, until even her face was lost in shadow and darkness.

“Enough!” Daniel cried. Valessa’s hand released his wrist, and he quickly sheathed the sword onto his back. The light faded away. Now a mass of darkness on her knees, Valessa slowly regained her strength, her form solidifying with each passing moment.

“Satisfied?” Darius asked Daniel, feeling irate.

“Not even close,” Daniel said, watching the skin reappear on Valessa’s hands and face. “I think you’ve only disturbed me further.”