“Indeed.”
And now Sparrow understood. All of this, the deaths and war… were to protect the Mists. But… Sparrow knew Vauphan didn’t want the Mists, didn’t care about them. They probably would have been happy to have Elistans make the pilgrimage into their lands to visit them. And… that wouldn’t be for a hundred years or more.
“What can I do to help?” Ursa asked, intent and sounding eager.
“I’m glad you ask.” Merlin was practically purring. “With your ability to seek out the truth, I have a special mission for you: seek out and find that bitch Legs and the remainder of Maverick House. Kill them, kill them all!” Merlin’s voice had risen to a fanatical, maniacal, semi-laugh. “If you can do that, you can ask anything from me once I am crowned as the new queen, and it shall be granted.”
“Thank you, My Queen, and… I see now why you must be queen. You are the only one who truly understands what’s at stake.”
“Yes, indeed. The others will understand and fall in line.”
“I’m sure they will. And I will not fail you in this mission. I swear House Maverick shall be no more soon enough.” Those words made Sparrow feel a chill… but then… Maverick House was already gone. Perhaps Ursa’s words were an inside joke. Maverick house was gone in truth and in its place was Spider House.
“Thank you, Lady Ursa, that is all. You may go.”
“Thank you, My Queen.”
Fabric shifted, feet scuffed, then came footfalls and the sound of a door opening and closing. Then only the single footfalls for some time before Ursa dared to speak again. “Well… that was informative,” she whispered.
Yet still she walked and only once it sounded like she was in some private room, another door closed behind her, that she said, “You can come out now.”
Sparrow gasped as the world spun into light and largeness. She staggered, falling to the floor and sitting there for a long moment.
“Did you hear all of that?” Ursa asked in a whisper. She was pulling closed curtains over the one window in the room.
“We did,” Ahmaia responded before Sparrow was recovered enough to speak.
Ursa turned back to them. “She’s completely mad.” The tall and sturdy woman seemed to let her guard down, and Sparrow could see the fear in her eyes. “I… can’t imagine what she’ll do to this nation, to us all. Whatever it is you and Legs are planning, I think you need to do it soon. I’m behind you fully, and I’ll see if I can’t get some others on our side. Now that we know what’s happening… they’ll have to listen.”
“Let us hope so,” Ahmaia said earnestly.
“I’ll fly to Legs, let her know,” Sparrow said. “Open that window for me?” She veered into her avatar and hopped up onto the sill as Ursa parted the curtains just a little and opened the window. Sparrow was out like a shot. She wasn’t the fastest bird, but this news was dire. She’d not stop until she reached Cliffside, not for rest or food. Legs had to know this now.
Sparrow couldn’t help the feeling that, as Ursa had said, they must act soon, or it would be too late…
…for their House, for the nation, for everyone.
Chapter 13
I sat heavilyon one side of the long couch. “The Mists? All this for the Mists?” I understood the importance of the Mists and how closely linked Elistan culture was with them, but still. “We invaded a nation, started a war, to claim where the Mistswill be… in a hundred years?” Something occurred to me then, something Lynx had said about how they’d been sent to claim lands in fear that Vauphan was planning on invading to claim the Mists. The reasoning was very close to the truth, just… that it wasn’t Vauphan that planned on moving, but the Mists themselves.
Now it all makes sense,Auwei said.And I can’t believe I didn’t know. Shouldn’t I have known the Mists were moving?She sighed.I guess when I’m within them, I don’t really know or care where we are in your realm and when I’m Bonded, I’m usually not close enough to them to tell if they are exactly where they were dozens of years ago. Though…
What?
Now that I think of it, when showing some of my previous True-Bonded to the Mists, I think that the part of the forest where we entered the Mists was different for some of my earliest hosts than it is now. They are ever-so-slightly further away than they used to be. Fascinating. I’ve sort of known this entire time, but not really thought anything of it.
Well, someone did think of it and it’s causing madness!
Sparrow continued: “Also, Ursa has been tasked with killing all of us and eliminating ‘House Maverick.’” She quirked a smile. “Too bad that house doesn’t exist anymore.”
“How did she seem?” I asked. “Ursa, that is. Is she with us?”
Sparrow shrugged. “She had plenty of opportunity to give me up but didn’t. It’s possible she’s playing a much longer game, but Ahmaia seems to trust her.”
I nodded.
I think we can trust her,Auwei chimed in.
