She tried to get her mind off the shadows of her past. It was better to think about the present-even this present. “Now that we know more about Velrav and this place… I don’t feel we’re any closer to knowing what to do about it. How to get out of here, I mean.” She kept her voice soft, so as not to wake Falia.
“Widespread rebellion would be handy,” Gideon said, “but I doubt it’ll happen.”
“Because it hasn’t happened yet?” she whispered. “In all these years of suffering?”
“And also because this whole plane is steeped in dark magic.”
“Including our hostess?” Chandra guessed.
“That blood ritual? Yes.” Lying entwined with him like this, she could feel him shake his head slightly. “They won’t unite. The different groups here won’t help anyone but themselves. And however tormented the situation may be, it’s got a sort of consistency and balance that they’re used to by now.”
“You’d think the food alone would be cause enough to rebel. Grub soup?”
She felt his soft puff of laughter against her cheek in the dark.
“If they would rebel,” Gideon said after a moment, “then the flow of blood to Velrav and his companions might be reduced. Even cut off.”
“So that’s our plan?” she said doubtfully. “Lead an uprising?”
“No. It would take too long. Years, if it worked at all. Which it probably wouldn’t.” He added, “Besides, it might also take a while for Velrav to feel the effects of going hungry and start weakening. We need a faster plan.”
“Yes. Faster is better.”
“I thought you’d think so.”
“But in our current condition,” she whispered, “how can we attack someone that powerful?”
Gideon sighed and shifted his position a little. “I don’t know.”
Instead of rolling away from him, she shifted her position, too, getting more comfortable in his arms. The feel of his body was comforting. The whisper of his breath along her cheek, his voice soft in her ear… For now, he was a safe place to hide from her nightmares.
“You said blood drinkers are vulnerable to fire,” she whispered. “Maybe we should burn down the castle. The normal way, I mean. With torches and that sort of thing.”
“We’d have to go see the place to get an idea of what it would take to burn it down without magic. But stone walls added to a damp climate…”
The prospect wasn’t promising. Chandra tried to think of another plan. “Jurl captures people and delivers them to Velrav. Actually, he probably captures goblins, too. He’s obviously not sentimental about his own race.”
“You think Jurl may know more about Velrav than we’ve learned so far?” Gideon guessed.
“But whether what he says will make much sense…”
“Well, we can try in the morning.” He paused. “Or, uh, when it’s time to get up, I mean.”
The night was so still and silent, the villagers must all still be sleeping.
His hand brushed her hair as he whispered, “Try to get some more sleep.”
Chandra’s lids felt heavy, but she was afraid to go back to sleep. Afraid of what her dreams might hold. She’d rather stay here, with him. “I’m not sleepy,” she lied.
She was sure he heard the fatigue in her voice, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he stroked her hair in silence for a while.
Finally he said, “I’m wondering…”
“Hmm?” She didn’t move or open her eyes.
“Will you…” He hesitated and again, then said quietly, “What happened to your mother?”
Chandra drew in a sharp breath and went tense all over. She knew he felt it. The stroking hand on her hair became still.
“What?” Her voice was cold.
“You cried out for her. In your dream-your nightmare. It seemed like… What happened to her?”
She sat up, tearing herself out of his embrace. When she felt his hand on her arm, she flung it off.
He sat up, too, but he didn’t try to touch her again. “Chandra…”
She started to speak, then changed her mind. Anything she might say now would reveal too much-even if only how forbidden the subject was.
“I apologize.” His voice was calm. Trying to make her calm. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
Chandra inhaled deeply. In, two, three. Then exhaled. Out, two, three.
She could feel him peering at her, and was glad the darkness hid her face, as it hid his.
When she thought she had control of her voice-of her words, and thoughts-she said, “You’re right, we should get some more sleep. I’m still tired.”
There was a pause. “Of course.”
His voice had that impassive tone he often used.
Chandra lay down on her bedroll with her back to him. She felt him move away from her, returning to his own bedroll, where he should have stayed in the first place.
She lay awake for a long time in the dark, with her eyes wide open, forbidding herself to think about anything. Anything.
Although she didn’t expect it to happen, Chandra drifted off eventually, and she slept soundly. When she awoke, Gideon had already risen and gone back out into the night. Falia said some of the men had taken him to speak to someone who could tell him more about the Fog Riders that they had seen earlier.
“The rest of the villagers are all doing their work.” Falia said to her, “There is no one to guide you to where he is. You must remain here.”
The girl’s manner toward her now was noticeably cool. It was all too easy to guess why, given where Gideon had chosen to place his bedroll when they all went to sleep. Chandra might have told Falia that she had no interest in Gideon, let alone in competing for his affections. But that seemed like too absurd a conversation to have with someone who looked so young.
Not wanting to stay on Diraden-or in Gideon’s company-one moment longer than she had to, Chandra decided to tackle a task that she and Gideon had talked about: questioning Jurl. So she went into the livestock hut to see him.
The cage was empty. The goblin was gone.
Chandra turned around, intending to go alert the villagers. She found Falia in the doorway behind her. The girl had followed her here.
“He’s escaped!” Chandra said.
“No,” Falia said.
“Then were is he?”
“Being skinned and roasted.”
“What?”
“Goblins make good eating.” Falia gave Chandra’s horrified reaction a look of cool amusement.
“You’ve killed him?”
“We’ve butchered him.”
“You’re going to eat him?” Chandra couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Of course.”
“Oh, no.” Chandra covered her face with her hands, swamped with guilt. “No wonder he was so angry at me! He knew you might do this! And Gideon and I locked him in here! We made him helpless!”
“He was a goblin.” The girl’s voice was contemptuous.
“But he was my…”
Actually, friend would be wildly inaccurate. Jurl had tried to kill her and Gideon; and they had taken him prisoner and brutalized him when he resisted their questions or orders.
Such behavior, on either side, wasn’t exactly the basis of friendship.
Chandra knew full well the goblin was treacherous, amoral, and vicious. She had no doubt that, given a chance, he’d have fed her to Velrav without the slightest hesitation or pang of regret. She had also known that a situation might arise where she or Gideon would have to kill Jurl.
But she had never intended to turn him into a helpless, caged victim that the villagers could skin and skewer
