Chapter 9

Hanna

The magician raised his hands suddenly as my knees buckled. ”Oh, I”m sorry. Let”s get that thing out of your ear. I completely forgot.”

I didn”t trust him at all, but I still accepted the bottle the servant offered me, feeling his dead fingers against mine and resisting the impulse to snatch my hand away.

I wrenched the top off and poured the cold fluid into my ear. The sensation of it trickling down into my ear was terrible, but still nothing was as terrible as feeling the worm moving inside my ear canal.

The pressure built to such a fever pitch I let out a gasp, unable to breath, and then suddenly the worm was tickling at the entry to my ear, and the pain relented. I snatched the worm out before it could dive in again and threw it at the magician.

He merely chuckled in response, glancing down at the worm at his feet. ”It”ll be dead within a few minutes anyway. I store them in one of the Snake Queen”s servants. They don”t last long outside an ear canal.”

I wanted to demand to know what was wrong with him, but I wasn”t going to piss him off right now. Instead, I scrambled to Thorne”s side.

Thorne”s eyes were unfocused, his handsome face bloody, but his breathing and heartbeat felt strong as I ran my hands over his chest. By the time I looked up, the servants had all disappeared, which was probably for the best.

”My sincere apologies,” the magician said, touching his hand to his chest. ”I had to know you really were who you claimed to be. As I said, the Snake Queen is looking for me.”

”You seem pretty well defended,” I said drily.

”I would be against some enemies,” he said. ”And I must remind you the Snake Queen is your enemy, as well, so... we must be friends.”

”I wanted to be your friend!” I rose to my feet. ”We could”ve skipped all the torture. I always came here to be your friend.”

”Because you need my help.”

”Yes. To foil the Snake Queen”s plans.”

He snapped his fingers, and suddenly the lights came up. They illuminated all kinds of things that I was sure hadn”t been in the room seconds before: a long sofa of dark wood and red velvet, two overstuffed chairs, lanterns set on tables that cast warm, flickering light against the yellow walls.

”What the hell?”

He shrugged, though he couldn”t contain his evident pride. ”Magic. My magic works here, even within the walls of my dungeon. And it is a lovely dungeon, isn’t it?”

There were no more bars between us.

”What”s your name?” I asked, needing to confirm the answer.

”Ekardo.”

I let out a long, slow breath. We”d found him. It was hard to feel triumphant now.

Thorne groaned.

”Let me get you two some tea,” Ekardo said. He snapped his fingers, and one of his dead-eyed servants came in carrying a tray with tea, a bowl with water and a towel, and a pair of slender green potion bottles. ”You two both seem like you need these.”

”Mm.” I didn”t trust him enough to want to drink the potion.

”I really didn”t think you were Alys”s brother,” he mused to a barely conscious Thorne. ”She really never mentioned you.”

”You can stop saying that,” I snapped, given how much Thorne loved his sisters.

”Perhaps Alys is merely protective of you, and that”s why she didn”t mention you. Just like this girl.” He smiled at Thorne, obviously not bothered that Thorne was in no state to respond. To me, he said, ”It really is a mere healing draught. I”d invite you to test it, but, well...” He shrugged, given that our magic didn”t work within the city.

I sighed and uncapped the bottle, deciding to take the risk myself to see if it was safe for Thorne. But as I raised it to my lips, he came alive and caught my hand in his, guiding the bottle to his lips instead.

”Thorne!” I said impatiently. ”I was trying to make sure it”s safe!”

He gulped it down, his big hand still wrapped around mine, his fingers pressing mine tightly into the cold etched lines of the glass bottle. Then he pulled away, sitting back. ”I know.”

”Even half dead, you”re a pain in the ass,” I grumbled.

But his skin was growing brighter, the wound on his head healing. I picked up the towel and wet it, then gently wiped the blood away from his face. Thorne let me. He sank back into the cushions of the sofa and submitted to my care, which had to be a sign he was still wounded.

”Anything strange? The desire to do this psychopath”s bidding or anything like that?” I glanced again at the dead-eyed servant who hovered behind Ekardo, willing to do whatever he asked.

Thorne shook his head.

”Then I”ll take this one for later if there continue to be no ill effects,” I said, tucking the potion inside my jacket. The wound across my back still burned whenever I moved. But this draught would do nothing for my enchanted wound.

Ekardo was turning my ring over and over in his fingers.

”The magic attached to this ring feels especially powerful,” he said. ”What does it do?”

”What ring?”

He gave me a look as if I were wearing down both his patience and his trust.

I looked down at Kaelan”s ring, turned between his long fingers. ”It”s my wedding ring.”

”That ring is ancient.”

It was the prized family heirloom I”d stolen from Kaelan back on the Isle. His mother”s ring. The one he”d put around my finger at our wedding.

”I guess so, I didn”t worry about that.” I only cared about what it meant.

Ekardo was still studying it as if it were some fascinating specimen, and it made me want to jump on him and grab it back. Thorne”s eyes flickered to the ring, then up to me. His face was impossible to read.

”Have you tried unlocking the magic? It practically vibrates from here...you really can”t feel it?” He looked at me as if I were unworthy of the ring, as if he were disgusted by my lack of sensitivity.

I shook my head.

”You can give it to me in exchange for my help,” he began.

”No.” Thorne sat forward, animated---and angry---once again. ”You can give us your help in exchange for me never telling Alys how you tortured us.”

Ekardo let out a short, hard laugh. ”You think you have all the power here when I can raise the bars around you once again?”

”I wouldn”t try the same trick with us twice. Give her back the ring.” Thorne”s voice was steely.

My gaze flew to his face, but Thorne was focused on Ekardo. ”Give it back to her.”

”Is the magic for communication? Memory? Enhancing strength?” Ekardo asked casually, as if he were having a nice, relaxed discussion. But there was faint high color in his cheekbones, and his fingers trembled just slightly as he reached over the table with the ring. When I went to take it from him, he dropped it on the velvet tablecloth.

The ring glinted on the tablecloth. I picked it up and slipped it onto my finger, feeling how cold and hard it was when I closed my hand. If there was power in the ring, I didn”t feel it.

I just felt my tie to Kaelan.

”How does one unlock the magic?” I asked.

”The same feelings or memories that locked the magic inside the ring should unlock it,” he said.

”Which would be...”

He shrugged.

Magic was so unpredictable. It offered so much power if we could just bind it to our use.

Ekardo let out a faint sigh. ”Why did Alys send you to me?”

We told him our tale so far.

”Give me this cloth,” he said, holding out his hand.

Thorne hesitated.

”I”ll help you,” he said impatiently. ”I don”t intend to hurt Alys by killing her brother, assuming it would cause her any pain.”

Thorne reached inside his cloak and pulled out the scrap of cloth.

He looked at the blood-stained fabric Thorne produced, then dropped it into a copper bowl on the table between us with a muttered word.

Flames leapt across the bowl, incinerating the cloth in seconds.

Thorne leapt to his feet as the smoke curled up into the air.

”It”s the only way for me to determine which exact poison she used,” Ekardo explained. He was already setting little glass jars around the little pyre.

The smoke curled to one of the glass jars, each containing a few withered leaves or seeds. He stroked the poisoned jar almost fondly. ”Ah yes. Gabari Root.”

He handed the jar to me. ”Make note of its appearance. Its odor.”

The root itself was curling and drab brown, but it had little withered white flowers at the top. I”d expected the scent of a flower, but it smelled like piss. I handed the bottle to Thorne.

”Yes, I can make an antidote that will counter the Snake Queen”s spell,” he said. ”But you’ll need to get more Gabari root. I don”t have enough.”

”From where?” I asked.

”The Snake Queen has a garden just across the border.”

Thorne shook his head. ”I”m not bringing Hanna into the Snake kingdom.”

”Yes, I know how fond the Snake Queen feels of her family,” Ekardo said. ”But then, that”s exactly why I appreciate the Isle royals.”

His dark gaze met mine. ”You have nothing to fear from me, Hanna of the Isle. Your King Caldren once saved my life. I”ll do everything I can to help you.”

”Like go across the border and harvest the root?” Thorne asked drily.

”Well, anything but that. The Snake Queen has my blood, and as soon as I cross her border and enter her magic...” He let out a dramatic shudder. ”But, I can offer you a safe place to sleep for the night and a lovely breakfast in the morning.”

I glanced at the terrifying, blank-faced servant. I didn”t want them standing outside my room, staring into oblivion, while I slept.

”We”ve got our own accommodations, but thank you.”

”Suit yourself. And then, once you have the root,” he added. ”I”ll need a new fragment of his body.”

He gestured at the burnt remnant of what Thorne had already taken from Kaelan.

Thorne”s face blanched. ”Of course you will.”

He stood abruptly. ”When you have both those things... I can make you the antidote.”

Thorne and I went out together into the night. I breathed easier once I was in the dark city street, and I wondered how long we had been inside. I stopped and looked back, studying the fa?ade and the way the windows were all swathed in thick drapes, so no one could have any sense of the dark happenings inside.

I was glad we had left, even if we were in a strange city.

”We”ll have to let Kaelan get close,” Thorne said grimly. ”I don”t like the idea.”

”I don”t like the idea of getting close to him until we can pour that potion down his throat,” I agreed, but even that was hard to imagine. I glanced at him again. ”Are you alright?”

”Given that magician is no longer ear-fucking me? Fantastic.”

I sighed under my breath. He was never going to admit how hard this must be for him.

”Leaving the city will be difficult. By now the gates are all locked and guarded more closely, and we”re not exactly popular around here.” Thorne”s gaze roamed the streets as if he were waiting for us to be attacked as we started along the empty street.

”Perhaps you could murder fewer people next time we visit a new place,” I suggested. ”You”re not a great traveler.”

He shrugged unapologetically. He would always be a fighter, not a spy, and most of the time, I loved him for it. ”The underground market will be open now. We”ll go there before we worry about leaving the city, and get you healed.”

”How do you know all this?” I demanded, my voice cutting---because I was trying to avoid showing him any hint of admiration.

But I didn”t know anything about this side of the world.

”I made frequent trips across the border for Kaelan.” Thorne said shortly.

”What for?”

”Whatever he needed from me.” He gave me a look. ”I have always been loyal to Kaelan.”

”He wouldn”t feel impressed by your loyalty at the moment.” He was evading my questions, which always bothered me. ”What did Kaelan have you do?”

”Hanna, if you expect me to try to prove my worth and loyalty to you... I won”t.”

I cast a glance up at this maddening man beside me with the stoic face. His expression gave nothing away.

”I don”t expect anything from you, Thorne.”

But it was a lie, of course.