But even if she hadn’t come to her senses, the end would have been the same. Unlike his siblings, the Hunter was a warrior. He would never abide a demon at his back. He would slay the Daughter as soon as he entered the sphere, robbing the Lord of Storms of his rightful prey. But that crisis was averted. Finally, the Lord of Storms would hunt as he had been created to hunt.
“All shall be as you say, Lady,” he said, his deep voice rumbling with pleasure. “I will destroy anything that threatens your sphere.”
The Lady didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she turned away from her sphere and walked to him, reaching up to cup his face in her burning hand. Do it quickly, my Lord of Storms, she whispered, her fingers tightening on his face. Strike down the demon’s daughter and bring me her seed. Bring it to me. Do you understand? It must be large and powerful by now, far too great for your vault. Bring it here and I shall take care of it myself.
The Lord of Storms strained against her burning touch. He wanted nothing more than to take her permission and run, throwing everything into the hunt. But he’d been too long in the company of Alric’s prudence, and he knew the question he must ask just as surely as he knew how much he would regret the asking.
“What of the thief? He still favors the demon’s company. What would you have me do if he gets in the way again?”
Benehime’s fingers froze against him, and the Lord of Storms braced for her inevitable anger. But, though her eyes narrowed, she didn’t strike him or scream. Instead, she stepped back, regarding him with a fury so cold it froze the air.
The thief is nothing, she said, her voice like ice in his ear. Do what must be done. Get the seed, and do not return here or bother me again until you have it.
The Lord of Storms’ face split into an enormous grin of pure, mad joy. So simple, so beautiful, just as it had been at the beginning. At last, after so long, his Lady was back. “As you say,” he rumbled. “So it is done.”
The Lady nodded and turned away, walking back to her orb with small, tight steps, her shoulders set at a furious, bitter angle as she leaned over the sky again. The Lord of Storms barely noticed that she was upset. Already, he was lost in the hunt. With one swipe, he tore his way out of the Lady’s white world, reappearing in his Deputy Commander’s office with a crack of thunder.
To his credit, Alric didn’t jump. He simply turned and looked up. “Well?”
“We hunt!” the Lord of Storms roared, marching to the window. He flung it open, cracking the glass with his force, and leaned into the wind. Outside, those League members not on assignment were gathered in the yard for practice. They looked up as one at the sound of breaking glass and saluted when they saw it was the Lord of Storms. He grinned back, feral as a wolf.
“Drop everything and get to the hall,” he bellowed. “The League hunts the Daughter of the Dead Mountain!”
A shout went up, but the Lord of Storms had already ducked back inside. Behind him, Alric was on his feet, buckling what was left of his golden sword to his hip. “A good meeting, I assume?”
“The best we could have hoped for,” the Lord of Storms said, crossing the room in two long strides. “Come, we’ve work at last.”
Alric nodded and followed the Lord of Storms into the corridor to join the stream of League men already flowing toward the great hall.
CHAPTER
7
Miranda had been avoiding Banage’s office since she’d come back to Zarin. Going in now was even harder than she’d expected, but there was nowhere else she could talk to the West Wind’s human representative the way she needed to, as the Rector of the Spirit Court. The room looked exactly as it had the morning they’d left for Osera. As she held the door for Lelbon, she almost expected to see Master Banage sitting at his desk like always. But the desk was empty, and, after a short hesitation, Miranda walked over and slid behind it, sinking into the Rector’s high chair with as small a grimace as she could manage. Lelbon took the seat in front of the desk, the one that was usually hers.
“You’ve been promoted since last we spoke, I see.”
“Considering the last time we spoke I was exiled from the Court, that’s not saying much,” Miranda said, straightening up in a vain attempt to keep from being overshadowed by the enormous desk. “But it’s been made clear to me that I won’t be here long, so I’ll just get right to the point. I have reason to believe we’re facing a crisis the likes of which has never been seen in the Court’s existence. How much has your master told you of the Shepherdess and her stars?”
Lelbon tilted his head. “My master would never tell me anything the Lady did not wish humans to know,” he said cautiously. “However, what I deduce on my own is outside of his control. Considering I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life in service to the winds, most of them are comfortable enough to forget I’m there half the time. As a result, I’ve heard enough to draw my own conclusions.”
“Good,” Miranda said. “Then you know that stars are at the very top of the spirit world. Ancient spirits, some even older than the Shepherdess herself, chosen by the Lady to guide those spirits beneath them.”
“And fixed with her mark of authority,” Lelbon added. He smiled when he saw Miranda’s brows furrow. “That’s the part of the story the spirits themselves focus on. Benehime’s mark is what makes the stars so powerful, even outside of their areas of control. That mark allows them to act in the Lady’s name. For a spirit, disobeying a star is the same as disobeying the Shepherdess herself.”
Miranda nodded. She hadn’t heard it phrased quite that way before, but considering her own spirits’ reactions to the stars they’d met, it made sense. “Well,” she said, “if you understand all that, then you’ll understand the crisis we’re facing. I have reason to believe that stars are disappearing.”
She paused, waiting for his reaction, but Lelbon just nodded. “Go on.”
“Do you need more?” Miranda said, pulling herself forward until the edge of the desk cut into her stomach. “The largest spirits in the world are vanishing without a trace and leaving the spirits who depend on them in a state of panic. This isn’t some minor emergency.”
“Have any of your spirits been affected?” Lelbon said.
“Not yet, but that’s hardly the point,” Miranda said. “The Spirit Court stands for all spirits, not just the ones who serve us. If stars are vanishing, it’s a problem for all the spirits below them, and we need to stop it.” She held up her hand, counting off the questions on her fingers. “We need to know why they’re disappearing, where to, how many are already gone, and how we can stop this. That’s why I need Illir’s help. He may not be a star himself, but he’s certainly powerful enough to know what’s going on.”
“And what will you do with that knowledge?” Lelbon asked.
“I’m going to use it to mobilize the Court,” Miranda answered. “Even if we can’t stop the stars from vanishing, we might be able to help prevent the panic. But I need to know what’s going on so I can explain it well enough to get the Tower Keepers moving; otherwise idiots like Blint are going to claim I’m making this up as an excuse to hang on to power.”
Lelbon raised his eyebrows. “Blint?”
“One of the sort of Spiritualist who’d sit around arguing over the Rectorship while the world crumbled under his feet,” Miranda said bitterly, leaning over the table at him. “I need answers, Lelbon. I swore an oath to protect the spirits, and I will not be forsworn.”
Lelbon leaned back with a long sigh. He’d watched her carefully while she was speaking. Now he looked down at his hands resting on the folded cloth of his robe.
“Your dedication is a credit to your organization,” he said. “But I’m worried you’re missing an important point.” He glanced up at her. “Stars are beloved by the Shepherdess. They are her lieutenants, overseeing their segments of her flock. If you’re right, and they are disappearing without explanation, would it not be logical to assume that she had some hand in their disappearance?”
Miranda set her jaw stubbornly. “My wind spirit mentioned something to that effect,” she said. “But I thought the Shepherdess’s purpose was to care for the spirits? Why would she do something that throws them into such
