Everything she'd said about the events that had taken place atop Chasmverge had been twisted.
Pierce's bemusement quickly shifted into anger. Perhaps the woman hadn't owed him anything after this short time of fellowship, but how could she do this to her comrades? He couldn't understand how she could be willing to sacrifice their lives just to gain more power and knowledge.
"I know that look," came Agrathor's rough voice. He came up to Pierce's side and put an armored hand on his back. "It looks like what I've felt every day since I lost my flesh." Agrathor made his odd sighing sound. "I don't speak of it much," he said, "but I know that anger, that resentment, that fixation on betrayal is often my master. It's why I gave Scythia leave long ago to stop me when I begin to stumble over my own anger. All she has to do is say my name, and I know I'm not being rational, or worse, that I'm about to endanger the group. You felt something for Ess, didn't you?"
"I know I'm transparent," said Pierce. "I don't mean to be. But it was nothing, just the urges of my body."
Agrathor chuckled. "Maybe, kid, but the heart wants what it wants. I remember that well, even if I don't have my own heart anymore. If you're feeling betrayed, you had more hope for her than merely sharing a bed."
"Maybe," said Pierce. "I wouldn't really know. I don't know if I've ever fallen in love with a girl before."
"Ah," said Agrathor. "Take your time, kid. It's a beautiful thing, but it'll mess you all up."
They were quiet for a long time, and Pierce could hear the sound of Scythia's quiet sobbing. Axebourne held her in silence, his head resting on hers, his eyes closed in peace. Sev had risen from Ugrata and gone to sit on an ornate, high-backed chair that must have been for Kash.
"What do we do now?" Pierce asked. He didn't really expect an answer, was just thinking out loud.
"Look around, kid," said Agrathor. "We're the Lords of Testadel now. Kash is gone, the First is gone. Grondell, the Temple, likely all of the old mages. I'd be surprised if there's a capital left standing in Overland. But we control the fortress. We defeated Kash - his followers will respect that. Whether we sought it or not, we're left to be the rulers of the land."
Pierce couldn't wrap his mind around another big thing just then and didn't try. He was part of Gorgonbane, and would leave it at that for now.
"My love," Axebourne spoke to Scythia finally. She backed away a step and wiped at her eyes, dark makeup running down her cheeks. It had left a smudge on Axebourne's white shirt.
"There is a Skill I must try before we move on from here," Axebourne said. "I think it may help us with what comes next."
Scythia nodded as if she understood, but her face was dull, her eyes distant.
Axebourne moved over to Ugrata's body, laid out on the floor of the antechamber. Her blood had seeped into the fibers of a large, lavish rug.
Axebourne knelt beside her and put one hand on her slit throat, the other over her heart. He breathed in slowly, then began to speak in a language Pierce didn't understand. He uttered a final, strange word, and Ugrata sucked in a sharp breath. Her body shuddered and her eyes opened for a moment. Then she lapsed into a fit of coughing, spat out a long stream of purple blood, and settled at last. Her eyes were glazed, but they found Axebourne and she smiled for a moment.
"It's true," she whispered. "The Blacksmith is real, and now I come to meet him, despite my lack of faith."
"I am not the Blacksmith," Axebourne said gently. "You are not dead, child."
Ugrata's eyes grew tense and fearful then, flicking across the room as if she'd just awoken from a vivid and terrifying dream.
"I can't..." she spluttered. "My sister killed me..."
"She did," Axebourne said lowly, evenly. He kept a hand on her heart and moved the other to the top of her head. He stroked her ebony hair to soothe her. "None of us knew about you, Ugrata. We didn't even know your sister's true name. Everything my friends came here for, it was all a lie. I am sorry about your husband."
"Kash," Ugrata breathed. "She killed him too?"
Axebourne nodded sadly.
"Why?"
"We don't really know," Axebourne said. "She found a way to capture him, to turn him into one of her weapons. We have to assume she needed his power for whatever she plans to do next. She had said we must know what knowledge Kash had discovered."
"Power," said Ugrata. "Savita did always have to be the best."
"That was her name?" asked Agrathor. "Savita?"
Ugrata nodded, wincing in sudden pain. "Can I... Will you help me sit up?" she asked.
Axebourne did so, assisting as she moved to one of the room's couches.
"My head hurts," Ugrata said.
"You were dead," Axebourne smiled. "I'm not surprised."
"How did you bring me back?"
"Your sister killed me as well, so I know how it feels," Axebourne said, chuckling. "When I was gone, I learned a few new skills, such as restoring the life of one unjustly slain."
Axebourne took a seat in a chair nearby, pulled Scythia near to him and held her hand.
"Listen, Ugrata," he said. "Big things are coming upon the world, things even I wasn't told about during my short time away. Until now, we would have counted you our enemy, but now, I would like to propose a treaty similar to what Kash had in mind. Perhaps with less bloodshed."
Ugrata didn't even take time to consider it. "Yes," she said, eyes sincere. "Any person who would resurrect their enemy from the dead deserves my allegiance. I will
