Keph glanced up at her. She wasn't human anymoreher legs vanished in writhing darkness, while a dozen arms sprouted from her shoulders to twine around his legs. Her eyes were black. When she spoke, shadows escaped from her tongue in wisps.
When she smiled, deepest night itself shone through.
'Shar embraces you, Keph. She has plans for you. She's not going to let you go so easily.'
She began to pull on his legs, slowly, irresistibly, dragging him back toward the darkness where Adrey waited with Quick and Jarull with Shar's knife. Keph choked and thrashed hard and sat up in his bed, sheets twisted around his legs. The light of sunset lanced through a gap in the curtains over his window. Somewhere a fly buzzed slowly, back and forth.
He was drenched in sweat. His hair was soaked with it. When he rubbed his hands across his face, it ran between his fingers in fat drops.
She's not going to let you go so easily.
CHAPTER 11
Full night had finally fallen. Moonshadow Hall had slipped, if not into slumber, then at least into the uncomfortable quiet that followed in the wake of horror. Through her window, Feena could hear Dhauna's intermittent shrieks and inarticulate curses as they echoed up from the infirmary and across the inner courtyard.
She closed her eyes for a moment and murmured, 'Forgive me.'
Feena crossed to the door of her chamberold sandals making no noise on the floor, homespun skirt and linen blouse whispering around her bodyand opened the door.
Outside, Jhezzail started. Feena bit back a wince. She'd expected there would be someone watching her door. She'd hoped it wouldn't be someone she liked.
'Be at ease,' she said.
One hand made a sign. The other touched her medallion. Jhezzail's eyes widened for a moment as Selune's magic took hold of her, then drooped and softened, her fear washed away. Her arms fell down to her sides. She didn't move as Feena approached, but her eyes followed her closely.
'Velsinore commanded me to watch your door and summon her if you came out,' the acolyte said with utter calm.
'I guessed that,' Feena replied. 'What's been happening in the temple?'
'I don't know. I've been here all evening. I think Velsinore and Mifano have been in the infirmary with Mother Dhauna.'
'And Julith?'
'They shut her out. She's waiting in the winter chapel.' A spark glimmered in Jhezzail's placid eyes and she added, 'She asked me to let her know if you came out.'
Of course, Feena thought. Julith would do that.
Feena raised her chin and said, 'Thank you, Jhezzail. I'm sorry I have to do this.' Before the acolyte could react, she thrust out her fingers once more. 'Bright Lady of Night,' she prayed, 'hold her fast!'
The calm in Jhezzail's eyes flashed in alarm, but it was too late. The power of the spell locked her muscles and joints, paralyzing her. Feena acted swiftly, darting back into her room and emerging with the patiently torn strips that had been her bed linens. The calming spell had been necessary to draw information out of the acolyte, but neither it nor the spell of holding would last long. Feena gagged Jhezzail first, then swiftly lashed her arms to her body. Grasping her tightly, she dismissed the magic. Jhezzail's muscles sagged.
The girl struggled, but Feena hoisted her over one shoulder and carried her quickly into her chamber. She dumped her on the bed, then grabbed her legs, forcing them together so she could bind them. Behind her gag, Jhezzail was screaming. The torn cloth turned the wails into a high-pitched whine.
'I'm sorry, Jhezzail,' Feena apologized. 'I truly am. I admire your faith. Please tell Julith that I think you'll be a great priestess someday.'
Long strips of fabric bound the acolyte to the bed frame so she couldn't roll off. Jhezzail's eyes were wild with fear. Feena turned away to avoid meeting them.
She shut the door of the chamber but didn't try to lock or block it. When other acolytes or clergy realized Jhezzail was gone from her post, it would be easy enough for them to rescue her. Feena prayed that the acolyte wouldn't be missed too soontwo hours, maybe more. That would be enough time.
The corridors of Moonshadow Hall were deserted. The clerics were probably either seeking solace in prayer or huddled with the frightened acolytes, trying to mend their faith in the face of the day's events. Feena kept a sharp watch anyway, creeping through the shadows to the refectory, into the silent kitchens beyond, and out through the stout door, into the little garden. She gave the old, mossy pillar a fond brush of farewell, then hopped over the wall and out of Moonshadow Hall.
She didn't want anyone to see a wolf running in Yhaunn's shadows again, so she didn't change form. Instead she stayed on two legs as she trotted through the silent streets of the city, climbing steadily up toward the city gates that she'd passed through fourteen nights before.
In the sky above, the moon was only the barest sliver of a crescent, as if even Selune were hiding her face in shame. Feena's chest ached. Sobs had wracked her through the afternoon, and through the long twilight of evening. Inside, she felt broken.
The water in the basin in her room was stained red with Dhauna Myritar's blood. Feena could still taste the tang of it in her mouthand thinking about it only brought the taste back stronger than before. Sharp. Salty. Warm. Tingling like copper on the tip of her tongue, heavy like iron against the roof of her mouth.
Feena clenched her teeth and forced the memory away. No more sobs. No more tears. Her eyes were dry. She couldn't cry anymore. She might never cry again. Dhauna's betrayal felt like a void in her very spiritDhauna's betrayal and her own loss of control in striking down her old friend and teacher.
There was no point to staying at Moonshadow Hall any longer. High manners and elegant gowns wouldn't convince Selune's clergy anymore. The priests and priestesses, acolytes and devotees would shun her. Mifano and Velsinore would be merciless. There would be no more games or petty humiliations. At the very least, they would do to her exactly what she was doing to herself banishment, exileif she was lucky.
And if word escaped Moonshadow Hall of what had happened, the people of Yhaunn would shun the temple itself in horror. They might do more. Feena had a vision of a mob, Noyle and the other denizens of the Cutter's Dip at its head, descending on the graceful white walls and blackening them with the smoke of a thousand torches.
A wave of fear swept over her at the thought. She clutched for the nearest wall, holding herself up. When the moment passed, she drew herself up straight.
It was better to remove herself from Yhaunn before any of that came to pass. Dhauna's dreams, the dreams that had drawn her to the city and that had held her within it, were nothing more than the nightmares of a mad, old woman. The only heresy, the only danger, was in Dhauna's age-tortured mind. The New Moon Pact… a horrid coincidence, a tale encountered in chance that had taken root in madness.
Feena's hand strayed to her medallion, caressing the nicked and worn surface.
Moonmaiden have mercy on Mother Dhauna, she prayed silently. Let her wake tomorrow and remember nothing but peace.
She wished she could hope for the same.
The street opened up ahead of her, broadening into a wide plaza before the keep that hunched over the city gates. Like many of the merchant cities of Sembia, Yhaunn seldom closed her gates, even by night. At so late an hour, though, the guards on duty did take extra care with who they let inand who they let out. Feena found herself waiting behind a tall riding horse that had been loaded down with bulging saddlebags like a common mule. One of the gate guards was inspecting the bags dubiously while his partner questioned the horse's dismounted rider.
'Hey, Grat,' he called forward. 'Seems he packed like a half ling in a hurry, too!''
The other guard's voice rumbled off the stone walls of the keep, 'Packed in a hurry, riding fast, wanting to get out the gate later than an honest man has reason toif you don't want to tell us where you're headed to, maybe you
