“That was five seconds.”
“I talk faster than that.”
“Ten.”
Lexsea’s mouth turned up in a sulk. “Fine. You know what he wants. You know what he did. But you don’t know why.”
“The ‘god of the netherworld’ just murdered any leverage he might have had.” It wasn’t true though. Elloven’s murder had done exactly what Ryquin had intended.
“You don’t know why you should say yes.”
“Then spit it out, harpy.”
“God of the netherworld?” Taven whispered. It sounded even more ridiculous on his lips. “Is that why...”
“He needed you to bring me here. Used Elloven to do it, and it worked because you’re not smart enough to see when you’re being played,” Jesstin said, still fixed on Lexsea.
“You don’t know everything, Jesstin. You can still save her,” Lexsea said. She glided across the room. Her confidence flickered when Jesstin unlatched his scabbard. “She’s not beyond your help. As a show of faith, I’ve just seen to an important step toward this goal. Without it, your task would be impossible, so I am here to help, you see. I already have.”
She had more than nerve. She had a death wish, and Jesstin was itching to grant it. He spat at her feet. “Time’s up.”
Lexsea’s hands lifted in surrender, but then she changed. Her eyes quivered erratically, then rolled back into her head and back down with a crash. Her voice took on a deep, masculine edge. So Ryquin had shown up. “There are many things you don’t know about your necromancy, Jesstin, and who can say if you’re strong enough? The dead assault you because they believe what I believe. You can do more than speak indiscriminately with the deceased. You can raise them.”
Jesstin drew his sword and wedged the tip at Lexsea’s neck. “Do you prefer to die in your sister’s body or your own?”
“You put false hope in his head at your own peril!” Sesto exclaimed, shrill and unsettled. Jesstin had never seen him so on edge. “Do you not see before you a man with nothing to lose?”
“You cannot raise all the dead,” Lexsea-as-Ryquin said. Her eyes traveled briefly downward. “No one is that powerful. Optimistically, you may have the energy for one. Your dilemma will be choosing which, for you’ve only just met Aelloven, but there are others you miss, no? Your mother?”
Curls of dried blood flaked away when Jesstin dragged a hand down his face. The Rivenholders would say anything, do anything, to get what they wanted. Dangling the prospect of saving Elloven and his mother was bold, but Jesstin didn’t care anymore if he was being used or lied to. The last meaningful thing he’d said to Elloven was the worst thing he’d ever said to anyone, and he would put himself in whatever danger he had to in order to make it right.
Jesstin sheathed his sword for the time being. “Daire, I want to hear what you think, if you believe this shit. If you need me to kick this bitch out so you can speak freely, say so.”
Daire looked lost. More than that, scared. “Ryquin believes it. He told me years ago about the kingdom necromancer he was searching for, but he’d never seen... He doesn’t know for certain, and there isn’t a way to know without trying.”
“You’re not suggesting Jesstin take a holiday to the afterlife?” Sesto was astonished.
“I would never suggest that,” Daire said meekly. “I was only answering honestly.”
“What is it Ryquin needs me to do when I get there?” Jesstin asked. “Spread despotic propaganda, raise a cult in his name?”
“Jess! You are not entertaining this,” Sesto hissed. “I’ll go to Asterin?—”
“I’ll already be gone,” Jesstin said. “You’re out of time, Lexsea. Ryquin. Say what you came to say.”
“I need you to open a door I can enter. It’s a very specific, particular door. There may be others, but there’s only one I need,” Ryquin’s voice said through his sister’s mouth. “That’s all. Then you can leave, and our bargain is ended. I will take it from there.”
“That’s all?” Jesstin shook his head. Open a door to the netherworld? A place no living person should be able to visit? “How?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “No one does.”
“Then why does he—why do you—think I can do it?”
“Sesto’s right,” Taven said slowly. “This is madness. If the dead could return, we’d know. There’d be some evidence.”
Sesto threw up his hands. “Thank you!”
“My brother has studied this for many years,” Lexsea said with a dazed shake, like she’d been knocked sideways. “He’s confident in his forecast. I’m confident in him. Time moves differently in the Infinitum, and every minute we spend arguing about this up here could be days Aelloven suffers down there. In the interest of expediency, Jesstin, can we talk in private?”
