I held Vox’s hand as we stepped over the threshold, and it was like walking into an entirely different place. It was warm and light, with a fire crackling in the hearth and a wrinkled old woman smiling up at my brother as if he was her long-lost grandson.
“Kian Halhed! You have gotten even more handsome,” she cooed, and my brother blushed, even though the woman must have been eighty. “And I see you’ve brought friends.”
Inclining his head, Kian’s face fell into the solemn expression I knew so well. “I have. They would seek refuge, if you’re inclined to give it, Meela.”
She raised a single brow. “To all of you?”
“No, just two of them.”
She appraised us, and somehow, I knew she saw too much. She lifted her chin at Lierick. “This one has the look of the Hanovans. Has the Second Line finally come home?”
The silence around the room was so thick, it was hard to draw breath past it.
Iker shook his head. “How could you?—”
Meela waved a hand. “If we get into the hows and whys, we’ll be standing here all night. Come in; you’ll all need food and lodging for at least tonight. There’ll be time for questions once you’re all warm.”
We followed her further into the house, and I tried to hold in my surprise when she stopped beside a threadbare rug, grabbed a big brass ring, and lifted a giant, heavy trapdoor. She shouldn’t have been able to do it without First Line magic, or maybe Third Line magic, but I sensed nothing.
I gave my brother wide eyes as I walked past him, and he had the audacity to grin back with a shrug.
Meela led us down a set of sturdy stone stairs. “Reeba, we have guests.”
“Guests?” someone echoed from further into the darkness. “At this time of night?”
At the base of the stairs, the room opened up into a home. It was huge and reminded me a little of the rebel hideout in Cyne, maybe even the repository of information in Doend.
Meela laughed. “I can see you connecting all the dots over there, girl. More like your ancestors than you thought, eh?” She turned back to the darkness. “Yes, Reeba. Guests at this time. But you’ll be happy that it’s your favorite Ninth Line son.”
The infamous Reeba appeared, and while she was younger than Meela, it wasn’t by much. “Kian is here?” She looked to the back of our group and smiled widely. “Young Halhed! It’s so good to see you.”
How often did Kian visit these two?
“Good to see you too, Reeba. I’ve brought friends, including my sister, Avalon.”
Reeba turned toward me, and I noticed her eyes were completely white and unseeing. She was blind?
“Avalon Halhed. Your brother speaks highly of you,” she said warmly, and I flushed.
I raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to say the same, but he’s been very closed-lipped about you two.”
Meela cackled. “As it should be, girl.”
Hayle cleared his throat. “Not to be impolite, but what is this place?”
Meela had left our group standing in the entrance of the room and was now fussing with a big pot over the stove. Reeba cocked her head at Hayle. “The little Taeme Heir. Did you see this, Meela?”
“I’m not the one who’s blind, Reeba,” the elderly woman tutted back. “Also the Heir to the First Line. Quite the fancy delegation you’ve brought to our door today, Kian.”
Reeba was definitely blind—Meela had just said as much—so how had she known Hayle was from the Third Line?
These two were an interesting pair.
Kian grunted. “They’re all right, I guess. Not nearly as exciting as me, though, right?”
Reeba cackled and patted his head with unerring accuracy. “Always the favorite, Kian, especially after you brought that bottle of whisky on your last visit. Meela was as blind drunk as I was—emphasis on blind!” She was chortling now, and Kian looked at her so warmly, it made something in my chest twist.
Meela waved a big ladle at us. “Sit, sit. You can’t eat standing; it’s bad for digestion.” We filtered over to the long wooden table, sitting down on the bench seats. It looked almost out of place in the room with the two small women. There was enough space for a dozen people here.
