“What do you want in exchange?” There was no hiding the wispy tremor in my voice.
He curled his finger my way.
I reeled backward, having no interest in getting closer to this horrifying being.
“Speak the words, and I’ll decide if we have a deal.”
“If you wish to hear, you must come closer.”
After swallowing against the knot in my throat, I took one step and another, until we were so near, the flutter of his cloakin the light breeze clawing through the chamber made the material brush against my boots.
He curled his finger again, and I leaned near his mouth, my hand tightening on my dagger. It might not be what I needed to kill Ivenrail, but one gouge would eliminate this Liege.
His whispered words struck my ear like a blow.
My breath sucked from me, I flung myself away from him. “So much! Why do you want me to do all that?”
“If I tell you, it’ll change your path.” He plucked the vine collar off his wrist and dangled it out to me, pinched between two bony fingers. “Simple tasks for a paltry item you value more than anything.”
“I value honor. Integrity.” And my love for Vexxion. Nothing else drove me.
Yet I needed that collar.
“Do you have more of them?” I asked.
“This is the last. There will be no others.” His bony lips spread wide to reveal a gaping maw that led to nowhere. Did they eat or did they suck down Nullen power to keep themselves alive? “Do we have a deal?”
He knew we did before I arrived in this cave.
“Yes.” Oh, how bitter the word tasted.
“You won’t regret this.”
I already did.
I plucked the collar from him, and before he could say or do anything to entrap me further, I flitted from the cave.
Once I’d landed outside the cage penning the winged dreg, I tried to stuff the collar into my pocket, but I ran into an obstacle and pulled out my tiny pouch of pixie “gifts”.
My hands shook more than I liked as I stuffed it back into my pocket and placed the coiled collar inside another.
With a lift of my chin, I strode close enough to the cage to press my face against the metal. Night had fallen, and the dreg didn’t stir. It lay on the sand, its breathing even, as if it was like any other winged beast waiting to be tamed.
I spoke the words, and may the fates protect me, but they burned when they came out.
The Liege had made three demands, and this was only half of the first. As for the rest? That would take time.
Another flit took me back to Weldsbane.
I found Vexxion sitting in one of the parlors, alone other than Drask clinging to a perch near the window and Brodine sliding his fingertips along the spines of the numerous books lined up on the shelves. The murmur of the others speaking in a room nearby reached my ears.
When he saw me, Drask cawed and flew to me, taking his place on my left shoulder where he belonged. I stroked his back, and he pecked my cheek, his huffs telling me he’d missed me.
“You’re back.” Brodine strode over to stand in front of me. “I was worried.” He enveloped me in a hug like the ones he’d given me most of my life, the kind that told me our friendship remained solid. “I’ve been watching over Vexxion, keeping him safe.” His chest puffed. “I know you love him and . . . I’m trying to love him myself.” His lopsided smile was so like the old Brodine I adored that I had to grin along with him.
“Thank you.”
His smile faded. “Was I like he is now, just sitting there, staring at the wall?”
