Veiled Innocence (Book One, The Soul Cycle) (29 page)

The camp looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry; everything was in disarray. Items that
had been
stacked neatly on the wagon were strewn about, the murdels' precious saffurite lying along the ground like ordinary rocks, and the grass was trampled in several places. The fire had long gone out, a pile of ashen branches, and beyond that she could hear the sounds of a scuffle.

“That way.”  She began walking toward the brush, but Rowan put an arm out to stop her. 

“Let me go first,” he said, stepping in front of her.

She nodded, too scared to argue, and followed him, treading carefully so as not to give them away to whatever beast was lurking on the other side. 

They were two steps away from the bushes when the battle spilled over to them in a flash of teeth and growls.  

“Watch out!” Rowan yelled. He shoved her and dove out of the way as a mound of murdels on top of what appeared to be a human-like creature came charging through the clearing. The tiny murdels dangled from the limbs of the animal, slicing wildly with their axes and daggers, but their opponent was too quick and padded in thick leather for them to do much harm. It easily dispatched them, sending several dead
murdels
hurtling to the ground with its sword, and punching and kicking the rest of them off as it freed itself.

Rowan cried out, and
she
spun to find a fresh red line across his forearm from the murdel he was fighting. She looked around her feet for anything she could use as a weapon. If only she had her bow!

“I thought you said they were harmless!” she shouted.

“I never said that!” Rowan growled between grunts. “Something’s got them in a frenzy!”

She nearly tripped over something long and hard
,
and she felt along the ground, finding a broken tree limb. Scooping it up, she rushed toward Rowan when a cold voice froze her midway.

“I'm surprised you're still alive.”

Lian gasped and whirled around; Merí stood before her,
giving her a
hard
stare
.
Lian
hesitated.
“I must confess you are the last person I ever expected to see here,”
Lian
said,
shifting her weight
“How did you manage to –”

Mer
í
's eyes narrowed as she brought the tip of a saber to
Lian’s
throat. 

Lian froze, her cheeks paling. “What are you doing?” Only now she noticed the exotic bl
ack armor masking the countess'
frame, which was unusually built with undertones of hard muscle.
She
studied her stony face.  “You're not really a countess.” 

Merí ignored her and stepped closer, at which Lian took a step back.
“You should be dead,” Merí said.
“Murdels would kill for something they want
,
and I see the lust in their eyes when they look at
that
.” She briefly gest
ured to the teardrop
and
then shifted her eyes b
ack to Lian’s. “I saw the light and
the murdel's singed hand. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Lian said, keeping her voice measured. “I was passed out.”
I saw the hand, too, but Rowan never mentioned anything about the crystal. I assumed the poor creature had some kind of accident.
Her eyes lowered so she saw the gleam of crystal from the bottom of her vision.

Why is she so interested in
this
?

Merí followed her gaze, taking in the jewel and frowning. She opened her mouth to say more when Lian caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. “Watch out!” Lian yelled as a murdel lept toward Merí's back, ax swinging wildly over its head. 

Merí whirled around and blocked the ax with her saber just as it was about to lodge in her skull. She shoved hard, and the murdel stumbled backwards. She charged, knocking it to the ground with the hilt of her saber.
Crushing
the heel of her boot onto its small hand,
it cried out in pain and dropped
the ax. She
kneeled
over it, knee on its chest, aiming for the murdel's heart when it pulled a hidden dagger from its vest pocket and lodged it in her stomach. 

Lian gasped
.

Rowan's head shot up, the ax in his hand oozing green-black blood from the dead murdel at his feet. His face froze in shock as he took the scene in.

Merí stared at the knife buried in her body. 

It was as if time had stood still, and all the air was sucked out of the clearing in that fine line between life and imminent death. A dark look overtook the brief surprise on Merí’s face before she swung her saber
hard, ending the murdel's life.
Slowly,
she
stood and staggered, grasping the knife embedded in her body. Her olive skin paled
,
and her breathing became heavy and ragged.

Lian blanched and cupped her mouth to keep from vomiting. Her limbs shook uncontrollably
,
and she cradled her arms, as if to keep herself from shaking apart. Never had she witnessed so much death firsthand in such a short span of time. Her mind was on overload, and for a moment
,
she thought her brain might shut down completely.

Lian gulped down more bile
, and though she wanted to look away
,
she was unable to remove her eyes from Merí.

Rowan swore and ran forward as Merí fell to her knees, stil
l clutching the knife's hilt.
He was almost to her when Merí closed her eyes and slowly pulled the blade out.

Lian’s eyes widened so far they hurt.
What?

There was no blood, not even a wound. Only a sizeable slit in her tunic proved the knife had been there at all.

Merí shuddered, and it looked like her skin
rippled
, like water. Then it was over
,
and she opened her eyes, looking as if nothing had happened.

Standing, s
he carelessly dropped the knife
and looked expectantly at Rowan, who stood stock still a few feet from her. His face carried the same astonishment as Lian's, and for a long while, no one said a word. 

The remaining murdels gawked at Merí before dropping their weapons and retreating into the darkening forest. They were completely alone in the clearing.

At last, Merí sighed. “I feared it may someday come to this.” Her voice was barely audib
le, and she sounded very tired.
She turned and slid her saber in its scabbard. “Come.”

And with that, she disappeared into the trees.

Tragedy

ROWAN, AX IN TOW
, immediately took off after her, his
hands balled into angry fists.
Lian shook her head, trying to order the chaos in her mind.

Nothing made sense. It was a fatal wound, and even if they had been able to treat it, Merí
should
have died anyway. 

She hugged her arms to her chest as she stepped gracelessly through the bramble, hoping to catch up to them before Rowan lost his temper completely.  

It was nearly nightfall, and
she tripped and stumbled along.
She was n
ot quite able to see where she was going, so she followed the sounds of snapping twigs beneath Rowan's brisk stomps. 

She would have bumped into him if he had not spoken first.

“What was that?” 

He stood fuming before Merí, who had paused to watch him with a contemptuous glare.

Lian had never seen him this angry before; veins popped out along his neck and at his temples, and his nose sucked the rapidly cooling air in and out like a siphon. 

Merí never flinched, her eyes becoming impossibly colder. “I believe I killed a murdel.”

“Don't play coy with me! You know exactly what I mean. You were dying, should be dead right now. But you're not. What did you do? Who are you?
What
are you?”

“I did nothing
,
and I am no one special.” She gave him a once over. “Just like you.”

“Liar!” he snarled, ignoring the barb. “The mass murder… it was you, wasn't it? It's been you all along.” His tone rose in volume as he stalked toward her, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Lian couldn't decide who looked scarier at the moment; Merí, with her eerie stillness, or Rowan
,
with his unbridled rage.

She had to intervene, knew she needed to, but she couldn't make her feet move. She watched Rowan circle Merí, studying her. 

Merí made no move to step away from him as he approached her. “Pick your next move carefully,” she said, her face as impassive as stone.

He ignored her and continued his advance. “There you were, probably taunting me behind my back, while I spent night after sleepless night fussing over this damned murderer who was lurking right under my nose!”

“Tread carefully
,
K
night,
” she said, voice pitched low. Her eyes followed him, dark slits against her cold face. 

“How dare you!” spat Rowan, coming to stand in front of her.

Lian looked nervously from one to
the
other. Just watching them made her stomach churn.

Merí's eyebrow twitched
,
and she coc
ked her head ever so slightly.
Then she smirked at Rowan, and that was when he shoved her.

Lian yelled for them to stop, but it was too late.

By the time Merí regained her balance, Rowan was swinging the ax madly. They were wild throws, and beastlike sounds came from his mouth as he hacked
at her. But Merí kept her calm
and managed to evade every throw without so much as a scratch to show for it. She let him swing at her, all the while looking like anything would be more interesting than fighting him, while he fumed and heaved so much that sweat began to soak his jacket.

Gradually, his attacks slowed in speed
,
and Merí lunged forward, gouging at his ribcage so hard that he buckled over. She kicked the ax from his hands, seized him by the shoulders, and threw him to the ground as she brought her knee behind his, using his own weight against him. Before he could realize what happened, she had taken his weapon and aimed it at his throat. She dug the blade in for added measure, enough so that a single strain of blood trickled down his neck.

“Get.
Off.” He was breathing so hard
it was difficult to make his words out to be more than harsh grunts. 

“No.” She removed the ax, slinging it to the side, and pressed the heel of her boot in its place. “How does it feel to be bested by a woman?” She smiled, showing gleaming white teeth. A single growl escaped his throat before she pushed her boot down harder onto his larynx.

“Stop it!
” Lian shouted.
“
You'll crush his windpipe!” 

Merí didn't even look up; she looked too content stomping the breath out of Rowan, whose face was turning blue. He clawed at her boot, but no matter how much he pushed against her weight, she would not budge, as if she was made of solid rock. She stood perfectly still, like one of those overbearing stone statues the Arch Duke had thought suitable decorations for the garden.

“Should I spare him?” Merí said. 

Lian's mouth fell open. “Of course you shoul
d! Are you nothing but a killer?
”

Merí's eyes twinkled in the darkness. “I've been many things over the centuries, a killer among them,” she said in a sing-song voice. She looked at Rowan, whose shoulders had slacked. He continued to push weakly at her boot. “Maybe I am only postponing the inevitable,” she murmured, watching him die with wonder. “We all die in the end, or so I've heard.”

Something flashed across her eyes – regret mingled with sadne
ss – before she lifted her boot. She
strode across the small clearing to lean lazily against a tree as if nothing had happened.

Rowan coughed and sputtered and rubbed his bruising neck as he rolled over into a sitting position. He took big desperate gulps of air, like it might run out and he had better take all he could while he had a chance. 

Lian
kneeled
by him and gently touched his shoulder. “Are you all right?” 

He brushed her hand off and stood up and dusted off his leggings. “I'm fine,” he grumbl
ed, stomping over to the tree fa
rthest away from Merí. He turned his back to them and firmly crossed his arms, a scowl set on his lean face. 

Lian sighed and climbed to her feet. What hope did Accalia have if its last stronghold was ready to tear each other to pieces? Was this really what her life had come down to? Magic and miracles didn’t exist before this night. She thought of Ana, Gabriel, Alastor, Ursa, and her heart ached. She felt she would cave in on herself with the weight of that loss, and she desperately sought the numbness she had so blissfully felt during those first few hours on the cart. It was the only way she could deal with the pain, a pain brought on by realizing her life had shattered into a million pieces that she couldn't quite figure out how to put back together.
And
that dark voice inside of her… C
ould people lose their souls? Would she disappear into nothing when she died if she no longer had a soul to lose? Or wo
uld she live forever in despair
until she was too old to remember what went wrong?