“Well, it’s not exactly a map, but it’s better than nothing and should serve as a general guide.” Smoky handed out sandwiches from the pack to everyone. “Eat hearty. You’ll need the energy. Riding a horse may not seem that difficult but I guarantee that you’ll be sore by the end of the day, and hungry enough to eat your mounts. I promise that Shade and I won’t eat ours.” He laughed. I groaned at the bad joke.
“I hope you don’t or you two will be walking the rest of the way.”
Chase bit into the hearty beef and cheddar sandwich. “So the second scroll gives the location of the diamond itself?”
I nodded. “Yes. But we need both scrolls for me to claim it. I’ve got no idea what goes into the process and frankly, I’m not looking forward to finding out. These things are never as simple as Grab object, state claim, bingo it’s done. Especially with something of this magnitude.”
Venus swallowed a bite of his food and then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Do you realize, you’ll be my boss, so to speak. I’ll be in your service, as will Luke and Amber.”
I ducked my head, thinking of Tam Lin and Benjamin, two lost souls who had carried the spirit seals, and died because of them. When Telazhar had razed Elqaneve, he had managed to scatter the Keraastar Knights. Tam and Benjamin died, while Venus, Luke, and his sister Amber had managed to escape. Three knights out of nine, which meant six slots that I had to fill. And it couldn’t just be anybody—the person who wielded the spirit seal had to mesh with the energy, and a bond was formed that—if the seal was forcibly taken from the Knight—would kill them.
“I can’t even imagine what it’s going to require to find matches for all of the gems. I can’t just hold open tryouts, like casting calls.” I accepted a couple of cookies from Delilah, then polished off an apple after that.
“I think the seals will take care of that, once you’re in possession of the diamond,” Bran said. At first I thought he might be making fun of me, but the expression on his face wasn’t a smirk, like usual. “I think your biggest problem will be fending off those who would see you dead because of your new positions. Camille, you bear the hide and horn—of my father. You’re taking the throne as one of the Earthside Fae Queens. You’re the Earthside High Priestess of the Moon Mother. I don’t mean to be alarmist, but you should be wary. Not everyone is going to be all happy-happy joy-joy about this. And once you claim the Keraastar Knights? It’s no longer simply a demon lord that you have to fear. There will be others only too happy to slap you back into what they deem your place in life.”
“Until recently, you seemed to be one of those,” I said. I wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. Bran had been a thorn in my side for too long.
He slowly stood, tossing his napkin in the fire as he stared me down. “You know why I feel how I do. But my mother has a special place in her beady little heart for you, and I kneel to her wisdom on this. She would see us wed, if at all possible.” Smoky jumped to his feet but Bran held out one hand. “Back, lizard. I am not out to steal your wife.”
“See that you aren’t,” Trillian said, also rising.
“My mother would see us paired off. If you were amenable, I would accept her decree but trust me, you may have three husbands but I doubt if even you could satisfy my carnal nature. I enjoy variety, and I also prefer my paramours to be as crafty as I am. You’re too soft-hearted for me.” He was speaking without guile now, intent and focused on me. “We might as well clear the air completely. I bend to my mother’s will because she could unmake me as easily as she bore me. My father dotes on her. And now that he’s returned, I’m no longer overly anxious to see you in the grave that you thrust him into.”
I tried to calm my breathing. Bran grated on me. He was too damned handsome for his own good, and too dangerous to ever consider courting even in friendship.
“Then understand this: I don’t trust you and I probably never will. But I work with you because destiny seems to have thrown our lots together and I’m not willing to fly in the face of the Hags of Fate, or of Aeval and Titania. And they both want you along on this journey. I am grateful, however, that you are guiding us through the Deep. So let’s find a civil middle ground and stay there, shall we?”
“As you will,” he said, then turned back to his horse. “Everyone, finish your meals, attend to any needs you may have, and let’s be off again. We ride until sundown, which should put us close to the bridge. If I have my bearings right, we should reach the area where the cavern is by noon tomorrow.”
And with that, Delilah and I cleaned up and found a private place in the woods to use as a restroom. After we washed our hands and faces in the pond, we returned to our mounts and Bran led us back to the trail, and we set off again, into the depths of Thistlewyd Deep.
SUNSET CAME LATE and my lower back and butt were aching as I swung off the horse. I brushed her down and led her to a patch of grass where the other horses were eating. It felt like I was walking with bowed legs for the first few minutes until I did some toe-touch stretches and shook myself out. I unhooked my staff from the saddle and propped it near the area where Trillian spread out both his bedroll and mine.
Bran kindled a fire, making certain to ring it with stones so it wouldn’t flare out of control.
We were near a stream, and the trees were so thick in this area of the Deep that they blocked out most of the remaining light. A chill began to fill the air, a sour tang of moisture that never left the forest, retained within the mulched carpet of detritus that covered the forest floor. Delilah motioned to me and I joined her as she began to set out more sandwiches and cookies.
“There’s enough protein bars left for breakfast, but we’ll have to find food after that.” She portioned out the sandwiches—two per person. “I wish we had something hot to go with this. Even though it’s June, it’s going to be chilly tonight.”
Bran leaned on a tall branch he had found near one of the trees. “We can make a fish broth, if someone catches a couple fish. The stream is jumping with samracks. In fact, I’m willing to give it a try if you gather a basket of handover roots, which are near the edge of the water. Do you know what they are?”
I nodded. “Lethe used to have me gather them when I was little. I know what they look like. Delilah, grab a flashlight and let’s go see what we can find.”
Handover roots were common and easy to spot—hence their name. Travelers gathered them hand over fist on journeys since they were easy to identify and didn’t seem to have any counterparts that were poisonous and easy to mix them up with.
Delilah fished through her backpack until she found a flashlight, while I retrieved a light muslin sack. We always took several of them on trips because there always seemed to be something we needed to gather. As we crossed through the glade, over to the stream’s edge, we saw that Bran was already on the rocks that provided a path across the stream, kneeling and intently watching the water. He was carrying a long, wicked-looking dagger. Before we could say a word, he lunged, still managed to keep his balance, and brought the dagger up with a fat, wriggling fish on it. He dropped the fish into a bag that was on the rocks next to him.
“He’s got balance, I’ll say that for him.” I led Delilah away from the area where he was fishing, not wanting to scare the fish. “I couldn’t do that.”
“I might be able to, but it wouldn’t be easy. Menolly could manage it, though.” Delilah glanced around. “I remember eating handover roots, but I don’t recall what they look like.”
“Here, let me show you.” I hunted around for a moment, bidding her to point the flashlight this way and that. After a few minutes, I spotted a large spike of green with yellow flowers at the top.
“There. During the summer, they have spiky yellow blossoms. Here, let me dig one up.”
I knelt, unsheathing my dagger from my belt. I brushed away several inches of mulch—fallen needles and decaying leaves—from the base of the plant, then dug around the handover root, about two inche
s from the stalk all the way around. I grasped the stalk and gently rocked it, easing it out of the ground. There was a tearing sound as the root tendrils gave way and the root came out, long and fibrous, about three inches in diameter. It was about the size of a large potato.
“Those over there, they’re handover roots too?” Delilah pointed to a small thicket of the plants.
“Yeah, those are handovers.”
We moved over to the patch and dug up eight more roots before washing them off in the stream and carrying them back to the fire. Bran had managed to catch five of the samracks—each the size of a medium-sized trout—and he had scaled and gutted them.
I handed Delilah the bag of handovers. “Here, start chopping these for the pot. You don’t need to pare them. The skins make good eating, too. I’m going to look for some wild parsley and a larabay plant.”
Larabay was a wild herb that tasted very much like a leek. They, too, grew wild through the forests of Otherworld, especially the northern climes near water. It didn’t take me long before I found five of them, which should do well for seasoning. I washed them in the stream and carried them over to Delilah. She cut them up and added them to the soup. Bran had diced the fish into the pot along with the handover roots. Trillian dug a box of salt out of his pack and added a spoonful of it to the pot and before long, the rich aroma of broth filled the camp.
We ate the sandwiches as Bran ladled out the soup for us. We had each brought our own enameled camp mug. They were light and easy to carry. I pulled out my spork—another implement we had added to our gear—and began spooning up the hot broth and food.
“Mmm,” Delilah mumbled, her mouth full. “I’m so glad we took the time to make this. I needed something hot.”
“It’s good,” Chase said. “I want to help out. What can I do?”
Roz clapped him lightly on the back. “We’ll wash the dishes after everyone’s done.”
The evening passed quickly, or perhaps I was just tired enough to make it seem so. Shortly after dinner, I found myself yawning. While Roz and Chase washed the dishes, and Delilah and Shade snuggled off to one side, I wandered over and sat down by Venus. He sprawled back against a log, sitting on his bedroll near enough the fire to stay warm. As I joined him, he glanced over at me, a crafty smile on his face.
“The journey hasn’t been difficult so far,” he said, returning his gaze to the fire. “Too easy, perhaps.”
“Don’t say that. I want it to be easy. The mountains aren’t going to be a picnic. They’re harsh, Venus, and filled with danger.” I shivered. The Tygerian Mountains were wild and so were those who lived in their peaks. The Order of the Crystal Dagger had fortified their monastery, but that protection didn’t extend to travelers.
“Easy is as easy does. I’m not saying we’re walking into a trap, my dear. But I’ve found that when great things come too easily, they aren’t appreciated for what they really symbolize.” He paused. “You know the diamond will change you, just as the seals have changed those of us who bear them.”
I hugged my knees to my chest. Nobody could ever accuse Venus the Moonchild of being comforting. “I thought as much. I don’t know what I’m getting into, Venus. I don’t really want this honor, if it’s that. But nobody can ever say I shirk my duty. I grew up fast. My father expected things to be done right. He, himself, grew up under the same expectations. I think I inherited his devotion to duty. In some ways, I’m probably best suited to this.”
He considered my words. “I think you are. Delilah doesn’t have the patience to put up with it, and Menolly, well…I think it’s safe to say she can walk away from things easier than you can. When you put that gem around your neck, be prepared. I had no clue what would happen when I actually took on the spirit seal for my own. It’s like one door closes and another opens, and you find yourself part of history in a way you never expected to be.”
I glanced over at Delilah. “She’s growing. And so is Menolly. Both have come so far from where we were when we arrived Earthside. I don’t know about myself. I feel the same, and yet, I’m not. I’m tougher. I’m also letting go of always having to take care of them. They don’t need me so much now, and that’s a good thing, given what’s coming up for all of us. I guess we’ve all grown up a lot.”
Venus nodded, a sage look on his face. “You ventured Earthside expecting something totally different than what you ended up with. It’s bound to be a shock, but you’re adapting and you’re not fighting it. That’s the key—to go with the flow. To ride the current of your personal destiny and surrender to what it means to you. I’m not saying you don’t ever make new goals and try out something that seems foreign to you. But it means that you quit trying to control the universe, because nobody can do that. In the long run, we’re the sum total of where our journeys have led us. If you fight the journey, you end up stagnant or backtracking.”
The conversation was leaving me with the distinct feeling that I had entered territory a little too existential for my own peace of mind. At least right now. I touched his hand lightly, smiling.
“Thanks, Venus. I guess I’m just nervous.”
“There are ways to take care of that nervousness.”
Venus entwined his fingers through mine. The wily old werepuma winked at me, holding my hand as he rubbed his thumb against my palm. I suddenly realized just why Nerissa had found him so enticing. He might be a bit grizzled and scarred, but Venus put out a scorching hot energy and right now, it was tickling me in ways I knew that I shouldn’t be thinking about. Especially with Smoky around. Trillian would probably just laugh it off, but Smoky? Not a good idea.
I gave his hand a firm squeeze, then jumped up as quickly as my inner thighs would let me. They were protesting the ride in a most vehement manner, and I worried that I’d be too sore to move the next morning.
“Well, I need to turn in. I’m beat and I think I’d better stretch before bed or I’m going to be terribly sore tomorrow.” I couldn’t believe that I was stumbling over my words, and I was grateful that it was dark so he couldn’t see me blushing.
He let out a soft laugh, low and throaty, and waved me off.
I hurried over to my sleeping bag, motioning for Delilah to join me. The men were gathered around the fire talking.
“What is it?” she asked as I dragged her over to my sleeping bag, where I gently lowered myself to the ground, spread my legs, and started stretching, leaning over to grasp my foot and hold the stretch.
“Venus. Did he ever come on to you?” I lowered my voice, making certain no one could hear me.
Delilah stared at me for a moment, then adopted the same pose and began to stretch out as well. “No,” she said, glancing around at the fire. “They’re talking so loud I don’t think they can hear us. Why, did Venus just…?”
“Yes, he did. I managed to backtrack without being rude but holy hell, I can tell why Nerissa trained under him. Literally. All her talk about him teaching her how to transfer pain to passion? I believe her. I mean, it wasn’t that I didn’t believe her but I really do believe her now. I didn’t know what to say.” I groaned as I hit a point where my inner thighs decided to rebel. “I hope to hell I can walk tomorrow morning. It never occurred to me that we were going via horse. I thought I was in shape but apparently I was wrong.”
“I’d say give them a good rub, but somebody might get the wrong idea if he saw you.” Delilah stifled a snicker.
I smacked her lightly on the arm. “Smart ass. Honestly, if I were single, it would have been hard to resist. He’s got some heady fire, I tell you that.”
We finished stretching and Delilah had me turn around. “Take off your corset. You have a shirt under it. We need to check on your ribs.”
Trillian meandered over. “What are you doing?”
“Checking Camille’s ribs and her back.” Delilah handed the flashlight to Trillian. “If you could hold this while I check under her shirt. I should put a good layer of the salve on, too.” r />
Between the two of them, they slathered me up with salve and Trillian reinforced the padding on my sleeping bag with an extra blanket. I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping on the ground, but there was no help for that. As I slid into my sleeping bag, Delilah returned to hers. Trillian settled down beside me, leaning over to kiss me good night.
“I know that old scoundrel put the make on you, but he’ll respect your space if you say no. Don’t tell Smoky about it or the lizard’s likely to use Venus as an ass-wipe.”
I coughed. “I thought nobody else noticed.”
Trillian stroked my face, his hand soft against my cheek. “If you think I don’t keep an eye on you, you’re very much mistaken. I watch out for my wife. I’m your alpha…you’re my love. I consider it my job to know what’s going on.”
Smoky joined us and we fell silent about Venus. “Shade will be taking first watch. He’ll wake Trillian and Bran in a few hours, and you will in turn wake me shortly before dawn. That way we’ll have a full night’s rest.”
As they both slid into their sleeping bags and the camp fell silent except for the hiss and crackle of the bonfire, I realized once again that I couldn’t ask for better protectors. I fell into a deep sleep, interrupted only by the occasional rustle of brush as some animal wandered past.
THE NEXT MORNING, I was almost as sore as I had feared I would be. Smoky carefully helped me up, but then took the unusual stance of making me stretch out, helping with his hair as he gently pushed and pulled my limbs in a variety of ways they didn’t want to go. He was careful to avoid my ribs, and he made sure nobody saw anything they shouldn’t, but by the time we were done, I’d privately labeled him as bad of a drillmaster as the one we’d had in training when we first went to work for the Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency. The first year had been spent divided between classes and physical training. I’d graduated from Basic Core near the top of my class on the intellectual side of things, but barely scraped by on the physical side. After that, I’d given up any semblance of gym and confined my athletics to walking and the occasional sprint.