Oracle (14 page)

    
Sean
knelt on the floor and pulled a trunk out from under the bed. “I had business
to attend.” He took a key from his pocket and used it to unlock the trunk, then
pushed back the lid and drew a cloth bound bundle from within.

    
A feeling
of unease stirred Cole’s gut. He recognized the bundle and knew what it hid.
“What are you doing?”

    
“It’s
time.” Sean unwrapped the bundle to reveal their father’s sword. The blade
gleamed silver in the light of the lamp.

    
“Duke
Victor bid us to wait,” Cole said. “Lord Charles may yet be chosen king.”

    
“His
money has served us well. Now, we serve ourselves.” Sean stood, gripping the
sword in one hand.

     
Cole
glanced down the hall and was relieved to see Lauren had not come after them.
“So you mean to attack?
Now
? We aren’t ready.”

     
“With no
king on the throne this is the opportune moment.” Sean’s dark eyed gaze
searched his. “Are you with me, my brother?”

    
If only
Cole had taken Kat’s offer and followed her to the desert, he would not now
find himself being drawn into the darkness after his brother once again. “Of
course. I’m always with you.”

    
“Good.”
Sean nodded once, and moved past him to the door. “Fetch
Perulidita
.
We go to join the others.”

    
Cole held
back a heavy sigh as he again followed his brother into the hall. He detoured
to the closet where the carrier falcon was kept. She was sleeping with her head
tucked up under one wing.

    
“
Perulidita
, wake up,” he whispered the words so as to rouse
her more easily from her slumber. She lifted her head and regarded him
expectantly with her yellow eyes.

    
“No
message today.” Cole slipped on the leather glove which hung by a hook on the
wall. “We go on a journey instead.” He held out his arm and she stepped
daintily onto his wrist.

    
When the
two of them entered the living room, Lauren was staring at the open front door.
She turned at the sound of Cole’s footsteps. “What’s happening? Sean came
through here with a sword. He stopped by the cradle to look at the boys and he
wouldn’t answer my questions or even look at me.” Her gaze shifted from Cole’s
face to the bird and back again. “Where are you going?”

    
The look
in her eyes tore at his heart, but nothing he could do about it. Not trusting
himself to speak, he merely shook his head and moved toward the doorway.

    
Lauren
stepped in his path. “No. I can accept such from Sean, not from you. Tell me
something.
Anything.
Lie to me if you must. But don’t walk out the door
without saying a word to me.” Her voice thickened with unshed tears. “Don’t you
dare.”

    
Cole
swallowed down the lump in his throat and took hold of her hand. “Things are
happening. Important, dangerous things. That’s all I can tell you. Sean and I
have to leave for awhile and I don’t know when we’ll be coming home.

    
“You
should take the boys to your mother. Stay with her. But if things begin to
look... bad, if you get wind of trouble coming this way, leave. Get out of
Marigold, out of Hyacinth if you have to. Don’t stay here.”

     
“Oh, God
Above.” A single tear tracked down her cheek. “What has Sean gotten you into? I
don’t suppose you can promise me you’ll both come back safe.”

    
“I’d not
make you a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep. But try not to worry too much.
Sean and I always look out for each other. And I will do my best to see those
boys don’t grow up without a father. I can promise that much. Now it’s your
turn.”

    
“I promise
to leave Hyacinth if I get wind of something bad,” she said. “But I pray it
doesn’t come to that.”

    
“So do
I.” He quickly kissed Lauren’s cheek and
Perulidita
squawked a bit at being jostled so. Then man and bird left the warm light of
home and ventured out into the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

    
A light
breeze stirred Priscilla’s long, blonde hair as she strode down the street under
the glow of the full moon. Candlelight shone out from the windows of taverns
and brothels along the way, but the orange shaded shine held back, leaving her
to be bathed in silver. A color she felt much more suitable for one such as
herself.

    
Many eyes
noted her passing. A beautiful woman in a gauzy white dress walking alone in
that particular section of Marigold could hardly hope to escape notice.
Normally, Priscilla would have taken more time to enjoy the attention and even
have some fun with it. But tonight she was on important personal business and
not in the mood to play.

    
A whisper
of sound warned her of three men following her as she stepped off the lighted
way and down the darker street leading to the Guild House. Priscilla smiled.
Maybe she did have time for a little fun, though she doubted it was of the sort
these three had in mind.

    
Priscilla
spun around, startling her pursuers so they stumbled into each other trying to
match her quick stop. She smiled demurely and batted her lashes. “Can I do
something for you gentlemen?”

    
The less
odious of the three managed to gather his ale soaked wits enough to reply. “You
can do something all right.” He gave her a long, leering look. “You can get
down on your knees and use that pretty mouth to make me feel real good.” His
friends chuckled.

    
Under
other circumstances she might have acted the helpless maiden and let this
little scenario play out, but tonight was one of those exceedingly rare
occasions when her concerns for another person overrode her natural tendency to
indulge herself.

    
“That’s
no way to speak to a lady.” Her hand shot out almost too fast for the human eye
to mark the movement, and closed around the man’s throat. She easily lifted him
off his feet. “Didn’t your mother teach you any better?”

    
Priscilla’s long, red nails dug into the man’s flesh until his blood was
running down her fingers. He gasped, clawing uselessly at her wrist while his
companions watched in mute shock.

    
She
glanced over at them and smiled. “Who wants to go next?”

    
They
exchanged one horrified look, and bolted.

    
Priscilla
pouted. “I guess they don’t want to play after all.” She released the dead man.
His body hit the ground with a meaty thump. She used the front of his shirt to
clean the blood from her hand before going on her way.

    
When she
reached the Guild House she found it dark, but went up to knock on the door
anyway. Some time passed before a man with a face like old leather answered. He
gave her a cursory look over before meeting her gaze.

    
“Can I
help you?” His voice was a bit gruff, and yet remarkably polite for a man who,
judging by his rumpled clothes, she had roused from sleep.

    
“Are you
Zeke, the Guild Master?”

    
“I am.”

    
“Then yes,
you can help. I’m looking for a man named Ethan. I was told he does work for
you.”

    
“Depending on what you need done, I can suggest a few others,” Zeke
said. “Ethan’s on a job.”

    
“I only
want to see Ethan. Where is he?”

    
Zeke
frowned. “Are you one of his lady friends?”

    
Priscilla
giggled. “In a way. I must find him. Not to put him in any trouble, if it
worries you. His father has died and he hasn’t answered the summons to come
home.” Which wouldn’t have bothered her except something truly terrible was
going on. An elder power had been murdered and such things simply did not
happen. Ethan could be in some kind of trouble. Something worse than the kind
of trouble he was usually in.

    
“I don’t
know exactly where he went.”

    
“Please,”
she tilted her head and looked up at him through her lashes, “if you can tell
me anything to help me find him I would be so grateful. This is a dire family
matter and I’ve come such a long way.”

    
“Well,
now.” Zeke cleared his throat. “I suppose if it’s a family sort of thing. Far
as I know he’s gone off to the Dells with my daughter and two others. But it’s
a big place, the Dells. You won’t likely find him. May as well wait for him to
come back if you can.”

    
“Maybe
you could tell me where he lives so I can wait for him there.” If he had left
his home using a rift, she could easily follow after him. If not, as was likely
the case since he was traveling with others, she could simply peer into the
aether
and summon herself a nightmare to track him down.

    
Zeke
rattled of an address in the city. Men. They were all the same. A pretty
face
 
would undo them every time.
     

    
“Thank
you so much.” She turned from the door.

    
“Miss,”
Zeke called after her. “You might want to consider spending the night here. We
always have an empty bed or two and these aren’t the kind of streets a woman
should be wandering down alone this time of night.”
      

    
“I
appreciate your concern but you needn’t worry,” she smiled at him over her shoulder,
“I can look after myself.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY TWO

    
Scant
moonlight fell through the canopy as Sean, Cole, and their particular cell of
the rebellion moved toward the castle. Though they were surrounded by others,
still Cole felt as if it were only he and his brother as it had been on another
night much like this one. A night of violence and blood. The night they fled
their homeland never to return. Cole could well remember the panic in his chest
as they raced toward the coast, praying the ship meant to carry them to safety
would still be waiting.

    
Cole was
barely thirteen when his older brother changed the course of their lives with
the stroke of a sword. Tonight, Sean seemed bent on doing the same thing all
over again. Though tonight, it might be their own blood flowing across the
stones.

    
As they
drew near the edge of the woods, Sean raised his fist to halt the group. Cole
crouched down beside a tree and peered out at the castle. The sky was starting
to lighten with the coming of dawn.

    
Sean tied
a missive to
Perulidita’s
claw and sent her winging
into the sky. Cole watched her fly away and wished he could join her. But he
was only a man bound to the earth. And to his brother.

    
If this
should be his last day of life, his deepest regret would be having parted with
Kat on bad terms. He wished now he could go back and change something about
that last encounter. So many things he might have done differently.

    
“Speak a
prayer to
Moaba
for our success this night,” Sean whispered.

    
Cole
closed his eyes and pressed two fingers to his lips. But it was not for the
rebellion he prayed, nor even for himself and his brother. Instead he prayed
for Kat, that she would be safe in her journey to the desert and someday find
all the things her heart longed for. She deserved each and every one of them.

    
Red-orange light bloomed over the horizon. Cole rose to his feet and
stood beside his brother with his sword firmly gripped in his hand. The castle
watch would be changing shift and Sean had felt this was the best time for
attack.

    
Silent as
ghosts, they slipped out of the woods toward the castle. And to Cole the red
dawn seemed a heavy portent for what lay ahead.