No,she thought.It’s up to us. Again.
She’d thought they were done, but she’d been wrong. There was no “done.” Not until the day you died. And sometimes not even then.
“Forgive me,” Guine said, extracting himself from the clump of scantily clad followers and servants. “But you should have more faith in the men and women of Cerre. We can reach out to all our neighbors. Maybe we aren’t warriors or bone workers, but we can convince people to help.”
Zera blew them a kiss.
Kreya opened her mouth to say she couldn’t expect ordinary people to grasp the severity of the situation and rise to the challenge. But then she shut it. Maybe it wasn’t her call to make. Maybe they should have a chance to have a say in their own fate. She gave a tight nod to Guine.
It was Marso, to Kreya’s surprise, who spoke again with his old confidence in his voice, this time to Zera’s friends. “Go to every palace on the fifth tier. Tell them we need their statues. And when you’re finished, go to the theaters and the music halls on the other tiers. Tell them to help spread the word: the bone guild is in danger.”
Guine and Marso’s idea worked.
In the wake of Guine and his friends, Kreya approached Zera’s neighbors, especially those who sported the largest sculpture gardens, and with the owners’ blessing, she carved bones and installed them in their statues. Jentt accompanied her, carrying the bag of fresh animal bones.
Statue after statue.
Garden after garden.
She installed her bones in them all: sculptures of giant menand women, soldiers, wild animals, mythical monstrosities. Any statue that looked as if it could fight, she inserted her magic. “You have a new purpose now, my beauty,” she whispered to a marble carving of a wild boar.
At last, they reached Grand Master Lorn’s palace. She still had unused bones—Zera’s collection had been extensive—and she knew exactly how she wanted to use them. Every muscle felt as if it were quivering, but she couldn’t stop now.
The guards recognized them instantly. “Master Kreya! Master Jentt!”
“We need Lorn’s pillars,” Kreya said bluntly.
“Your friends approached us with your request, and we’ll tell you the same as we told them: Grand Master Lorn has not returned from the bone guild headquarters. Without his approval, we cannot grant you access to his palace, but we will notify him of your request when he returns.”
That was very polite, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The army on the plains, hidden beneath the earth, had been vast. Eklor had had many years to build it up. She needed every statue she could get.
She peered at the closest guard. “I remember you. You helped me burn the bones.”
“Yes, Master Kreya.”
“You saw them for yourself,” Kreya said. “Do you believe Eklor means no harm?”
“I...”
The other guard asked, “Do you mean harm to Grand Master Lorn or his property?”
“Yes,” Kreya said.
The guard was not expecting that answer. Her stoic face twitched in surprise, and Kreya felt a stab of sympathy. Theguards’ job was to keep uninvited visitors out. They hadn’t signed up to be asked to decide who to trust to save the world.
Jentt jumped in. “What she means is: she intends to harm Eklor, the monster who deceives our grand master and threatens the lives of our colleagues.”
“So she don’t mean to harm Grand Master Lorn or his palace?”
“I will most likely destroy his palace,” Kreya said.
Jentt shot her a look. “You’re terrible at this.”
“I need the pillars, and I had enough of diplomacy at guild headquarters.” She turned back to the guards. “Let me do what needs to be done. Meanwhile, you evacuate the building. It will most likely collapse without the pillars, since they’re holding up the ceiling, and I don’t want to be responsible for unnecessary deaths.”
This did not reassure the guards. “We cannot allow—”
Jentt cut him off. “You have a choice: Take a risk and trust yourself. Help us. Or close your eyes to the obvious truth—Eklor is offering a fool’s dream. A second chance at life comes at a terrible cost, and Eklor is making the innocent pay. Worse, he’s using that dream as a trap.”
