Throwing back the covers, she stumbled to her feet, swaying as a bout of dizziness overtook her. She needed to leave. Hurriedly, she searched for her water pouch and dagger, or anything that could be used as a weapon.
The door creaked open, and Maya stood there in a pale-yellow dressing gown, holding a fresh cup of steaming tea. “Do you really think I’d leave anything sharp out around you?”
Mouth tightening, Elysia forced her aching body to straighten as she turned around. “Where are Daphne and Jessa?”
She sipped her tea. “They’re fine. Dropped them back off inRelaclave now that I can travel freely again. Thanks for that,” she smiled, but it lacked any warmth, her gray eyes unreadable.
Elysia put a hand on the tree stump serving as a nightstand. “You can travel freely again.”
“Indeed, all fates-woven restraints and rules are gone.” She dipped her chin at the bed. “You might want to sit down before you pass out.”
Begrudgingly, Elysia shuffled to the bed, never taking her eyes off Maya. “If you can go anywhere, why are you here? Why aren’t you off murdering your father like you’ve always dreamed of? Do us all a favor,” she mumbled.
“You’re a bargaining chip.” She took a tiny corked vial out of the pocket of her dressing gown and tossed it at Elysia. “And don’t worry, Garrison will die, but I’m dreaming bigger than that these days.”
Elysia fumbled the potion, her fingers not working properly. Grabbing it off the bed, she held it with no intention of ever drinking anything from the backstabbing bitch in front of her. “It doesn’t matter if you healed me. Aidan and Grim won’t forgive you.”
Maya slid one finger around the rim of her teacup consideringly. “Who says I healed you?”
Elysia shot her a dry look and wiggled her stiff fingers. “I’m not dead, and I’m in your wretched seaside hovel.”
The former Blatz princess set her teacup down and folded herself into the rocking chair. “You might remember I offered to teach you necromancy.”
Dread poured through her empty stomach.
Maya watched her reaction carefully. “You’re not reanimated if that’s your concern. You’re simply in-between.”
“In-between,” she repeated, her face falling as she looked around the cottage room with new fearful eyes.
“Yes, you were hovering when I came back for you, and I simply helped you along. Guided you into the other. No one willfind you here. Your body is safely in stasis. You would die quickly if awoken.”
Elysia gripped the blankets, her voice hardening. “What do youwant?”
Maya looked out the window as the sky muddled into gray and rain drizzled down. “What do I want…” she repeated before glancing back at Elysia. “You know, I’m not sure anyone’s ever asked me that. I was the eldest unwanted Blatz daughter, never even considered for the crown despite clearly being the better fit. Instead, I raised Topp for the role he never wanted, and I should have had. Still, it wasn’t until I learned what my father had done to my mother that I tried to kill him.”
In another life, Elysia could have empathized. Families were complicated and their world misogynistic. She knew what it was to be angry and want vengeance, but that didn’t mean she was willing to be held hostage in a strange limbo. Her magic nudged her though, heeding her to keep quiet and allow Maya to unburden herself. Elysia held her tongue.
“As a necromancer, death went differently for me than others. I had no need for coins or guides to a new realm. I traveled between them all initially, watching, waiting, learning new skills. I couldn’t stand how Garrison was ruining Kava, so I tried to rid the world of him again. At the time, I wasn’t fully corporeal, which made my task of using a death realm spirit and driving a human corpse more challenging… Not only did I fail, but I also incited a new level of radicalism within Garrison that I couldn’t have imagined. As you know, the fates stepped in.”
She said nothing and Maya continued.
“They assigned me to monitor Aidan while Aidan believed himself to be babysitting me. They birthed me anew—a demigod—and promised me that if I reported to them, followed their instructions, and learned how to rule the realm, that it would be mine.” Her gaze cut sharply to Elysia. “You were never supposed to even arrive.”
Resignation and anger burned away Elysia’s restraint. “Again, I am asking you what youwant.”
Maya looked up in surprise. “Isn’t it obvious?”
She bit her tongue once more, holding back the scathing reply she wanted to fire at the batshit bitch. “Tell me.”
“I want the talisman, of course. The death voyage is a joke. A way for the fates to flex their power and ensure you’re obedient before they make you a god. The little priestesses love to wax poetic over it with their painted walls of stories, but all that really matters is the talisman, and you’re going to tell me where it is.”
Elysia scooted back on the bed, resting her head against the wall. “Couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. Maybe you should have trained me better. Besides, what would you have done if Idiedusing the scissors you gave me?” She shot a sharp, vindictive smirk at her captor.
A flash of anger whitened Maya’s eyes. “Either I eliminated a threat to my throne, or I gained the knowledge I sought. Now let’s try this without lying because I know how good you are at finding power sources. You managed to travel the realms to get to Aidan while in the godsforsaken cesspit of Relacave. Tell me where the talisman is, or you will never leave here.”
She smiled now. “You think the talisman will give you what you want?”
Maya’s hands gripped the wooden arms of the rocking chair. “Aidan doesn’t deserve the Deathlands. They handed him a throne, a kingdom, and hespaton it because he wanted to carry on being athug. I would care for the dead properly. Give them so much more than he ever has. He never even allows them tovisitthe mortal realm.”
