Now he wished he’d said more, had claimed her then and there. Perhaps then Daris would’ve stayed away from her.
Lerek closed his eyes, willing away the image of Daris with Terena that immediately dominated his mind. He vowed to find her. Soon.
Something cracked behind him, and Lerek opened his eyes, frowning.
A shadow moved over him.
“Well met, prince.”
Lerek gasped a second before something hit him in the head, and he was out cold.
The cypher saton the ground in Terena’s tent, his broken arm bound to his chest. His head hung down, the long black strands of his hair hiding his face from her.
“You are not Heylisian.”
The man twitched, but otherwise gave no response.
Sighing, Terena rose and ventured closer. Rydon moved back to allow her room as she crouched before the cypher.
“What’s your name?”
Nothing.
“This is going to go a whole lot better for you if you cooperate,” Terena said with a glance behind her at Rydon’s scowling visage. “You’ve no friends here, but if you speak with me, I promise to release you.”
The man stared back at her, his dark grey eyes red-rimmed. Still, he said nothing.
“How is it you ended up in Emperor Solon’s army? Conscripted?”
The man blinked.
“Barra des oté Osta?”
Terena looked back at Rydon in surprise. “You speak Ostan?”
Rydon flicked a glance at her. Turning his gaze back to the cypher, he repeated his question.
“Sa,” the man said at last, his voice so soft, Terena leaned closer.
Rydon settled onto one knee beside her. “Eken barra ó?”
The cypher shifted, pressing his lips together as he flashed Terena a look. After a moment, he began to speak, his words low, guttural and fast. Her eyes swung back and forth between the two, watching Rydon as he responded, asking more questions. The man’s head moved animatedly as he spoke, his eyes shifting to Terena every once in a while, motioning to her with his chin.
“Ask him if he can drain someone’s powers. Someone like me.”
Rydon again spoke to the cypher in Ostan. The man shook his head and laughed, launching into another rush of foreign words.
When he stopped, Rydon ran a hand down his beard and turned to Terena, his face grim.
“He says that’s not the amulet’s power. As you said, the one he carried was from Artemis, allowing him to control wolves.”
“Did they have another cypher in their group?”
After another exchange with the young man, Rydon shook his head. “No, he was the only one. He was in Metilai looking for someone. A prince from Osta. He’s been missing for years, and the queen of their kingdom sent many before him to find this missing prince. General Peleon’s soldiers caught him while looking for amulets like the one he wore. But he claims the amulet isn’t his.”
Terena searched the man’s face as he watched her. “How? We were told no one outside the bloodline it was gifted to can use the amulets.”
“Aye,” Rydon said as he rubbed his jaw. “He claims his queen used blood magic to force the amulet to answer to him. She’s done this many times. He doesn’t know how it works, just that she’s done it before and she’ll do it again until she finds whoever this missing prince is.”
