CHAPTER 32
The Garden
Cade looked up at the sound of her footsteps on the flagstones. Butterflies swirled with every step she took down the path, but he only saw the glass in her hands.
"Will that help her?" he asked.
"Yes, though it will not cure the whole of it." She gestured for him to lift Elaina's head so she could pour the mixture into her mouth. In a few tense moments, Elaina opened her eyes, blinking rapidly.
"Miranya?" She croaked.
"Yes, Maile. Try not to speak." She soothed. "Can you cast something, dear?" Elaina frowned and shook her head. A broad smile grew on Miranya's face.
"That is to be expected." She assured them both. "I will be right back." Miranya hurried into the house, almost running. Elaina smiled brightly and sat up.
"I told you that wine was awful." She groused. Cade could only shake his head. "You look grim as a grave digger, what's the matter with me?" she asked in mock seriousness. Cade smiled in spite of himself.
"Some poison, I don't know very much more," he began. The clink of metal cut him off, and Cade glanced up to see Miranya approaching with a cloth bag.
"I hate to interrupt, but would you put these on, Dominic?" she said, tossing the bag beside him with a crash. Frowning, Cade leaned forward and pulled from the sack a pair of manacles connected by a heavy iron chain.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked angrily, rising to his feet. Miranya's sickly sweet smile slid off her face in an instant.
"Do it, or she dies. The pillars may not work on you, Cade, but they work on her." For a moment his hand hesitated on the hilt of his sword, but then his gaze flicked to Elaina, who sat in stunned stillness.
"How do you know my name?" he asked. She chuckled.
"We'll get to that, don't worry. For now, just put those on. We wouldn't want you doing anything . . . rash."
He hesitated, "What of the poison, the berries you sent the other for?" she laughed at his concern, "You must cure her!"
"She is cured. All I gave her was powdered morel seed and sightshade. In a few hours she'll be able to cast again—of course, in a few hours that won't matter." Miranya shrugged.
"You made the poison just to get us here?" Cade asked bitterly.
"Very good! I knew you were clever. And Lidia was quite useful, of course."
"A friend of yours?" he asked coldly.
"Not at all!" Miranya said gaily, "I had to . . . convince her to help me." Her sly smile was lost on him. "Now put those on, love."
Cade could not disobey. In stony silence, he closed one metal cuff over his wrist and reached for the other. And I said I would never be chained again. Here I am closing the manacles myself.
"Wrap it around the column, there." She instructed, and with a sneer he obeyed. Now that he knew Elaina did not need her, his civility evaporated.
"How will you lock them?" he asked in challenge.
"She'll do it." Miranya said with a smile, nodding to Elaina. "On your feet, now. Here's the key." She drew a fine chain over her head with the key dangling from it and tossed it to Elaina. Elaina got to her feet, but crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.
"Do it, girl, or you die right now."
"Please, Elaina!" Cade said in alarm. Miranya smirked.
"Elaina? You two were less than truthful with us. And I told you my real name! I’d expect no better hospitality from a Northern girl, but you really should know better, Cade, darling."
Glaring daggers at the other woman, Elaina snatched the key up off the stones and went to Cade. She hesitated, trying to think of some way out of it, but Cade shook his head a fraction. Don’t think of anything, don’t try anything. Just do as she says—I can’t risk losing you. The key snapped the locks closed with a chilling click.
"Very good! That's perfect. Now he is all wrapped up like a present." Miranya praised condescendingly. Elaina turned and sprang at her, yanking her belt knife as she did. Halfway to the caster she jerked to a halt in midair. Miranya lowered her to the ground, ignoring Elaina’s struggles. Unable to cast, Elaina couldn’t escape. In fact, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she froze as still as a mouse under an eagle’s shadow. Only her eyes moved. That woman has her in Air. Cade hissed at the dismay in Elaina’s eyes. Miranya smiled warmly.
"That was awfully silly of you, wasn't it, dear? It is too late for that." She smiled at Elaina, who stood as still as the statues that littered the fragrant garden. It looked like a dream, overflowing with flowers. Elaina's eyes were wide with horror, following her captor's every move, the only interruption of her absolute stillness.
"You really should be more careful." She admonished Cade with a shake of her finger. "Catching you both would have been a headache if you hadn't been so obliging, and I did so want to catch you." Her laugh sounded like a silver bell, sending flurries of butterflies into the air in agreement. She turned to pluck a pale blue blossom from the cascades of them that hung over the courtyard. Cade cursed himself for believing her ploy. It was his fault.
"You should be more careful, yourself, witch!" he spat as if he were not chained to a pillar. Her beautiful face turned toward him the picture of surprise, eyebrows raised, lips parted,
"Oh, but I was! I was very careful indeed—and look what it has brought me!" She smiled beatifically at him. "You." With a concerned glance, she stepped toward Elaina, "And you as well, my dear—don't think you've been forgotten." her porcelain fingers glided from Elaina's temple to her chin in a familiar caress. Cade snarled.
"Surely you can see this was no accident?" she continued, twirling the blue flower in her fingers while she approached Cade again. "It was deadly difficult to get that wine to you unnoticed, not a lot of room for error there, love." She reminded him with a wave of the blossom.
"And then to be sure your little minions would run to this wench first when she fell," she shook the flower at him, "I had to remove two other casters from the area! And you know how hard that is. Plus, all the trouble I went to getting this one to do as I asked. You would have been suspicious if I had turned up right at first. Then you may have brought guards."
He glowered at her, dark eyes brimming with hatred.
"And that poison was no easy feat—vinegar is so hard to mix with." She sighed dramatically. “Did you like the little fair I arranged so you'd come to me without all those boring people you travel with?" She gave him another angelic smile and tipped his chin up with one cool fingertip. He jerked away from her touch.
"How marvelously well it went!" Her smile grew, dancing in her grey eyes. "Almost too easy! Anyone could see you cared for each other, but this . . .”
Miranya casually flicked up Elaina’s left sleeve to show the woven grass bracelet. When she tossed her head back to laugh, her waves of black hair glistened in the sunlight. The butterflies swirled again in riotous color. Cade almost smiled. Elaina’s been wearing it all this time. A chill slid down his spine. And Miranya’s been watching all this time.
"Does she even know that it's the traditional gift of a suitor to his beloved—an offer of betrothal? Did you tell her that to wear it on the left is an acceptance? No?" Miranya questioned. Elaina's gaze shifted to him, and Cade kept quiet. Well, now she knows, one way or the other. He wondered if she would take it off, or switch arms before he could stop himself. If she lives to take it off and throw it in my face I’ll be thankful.
"Ever so much easier to entangle the mind when it is already in knots." His captor giggled. Cade couldn't argue. He was numb with fear for Elaina. What is this madwoman doing?
"So you see? Am I not cautious?" her tone was light. He said nothing. Her smile faded. Thorny vines sprouted and curled through the garden, and darkness flashed in her eyes. In two steps she stood in front of him again, peering into his face.
"Am I not?" she hissed through clenched teeth, her expression twisted in fury at his silence. He watched her impassively and clenched his jaw. Black vines twisted in among the flowers, choking them with thorns. The cast
er flew to Elaina's side with a shriek. A knife appeared from her sleeve in a twist of her wrist, and she held the blade to Elaina's throat.
"AM I NOT CAUTIOUS?" she demanded again, eyes aflame with rage. The blade bit into Elaina's skin, though still she could not move, and a drop of dark red blood dripped off the tip to stain the marble at her feet. Nettles and fireroot sprung up between the paving stones. Cade's eyes were fixed on the weapon. He strained against the chains past the point of pain.
"Yes, very cautious. Yes, Miranya." He whispered. The garden brightened with its mistress, thorns subsiding at once. Her smile returned, adamantine to hear her name on his lips. He took a step back, easing the tension of his bonds. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. True spirits preserve us! Madwoman!
"Thank you!" She said sweetly.
"But why? What do you want?" he demanded. "Why all this just to kill us?"
"Kill you!" she looked hurt, "Why would I want to kill you? After looking all these years? That would be silly." She shook her head at his disbelief, "No, no, no, darling. I want to help you! Her, I'll kill."
"What!" he exploded, "Are you mad, woman?"
"Not at all—we were just talking about how clever I am." She reminded him coyly, tapping him on the nose with the flower. "I've always wanted to help you, Cade A'lan, don't you remember?" She paused, his eyes were clouded with wary confusion, "I was quite young then, no pillars, just little Mira—the princesses' friend . . ." Cade blinked, staring up at her with startled eyes.
"You remember! Well, you never noticed me then, but I noticed you!" A giggle, "So handsome, so much older," she sighed at the memory. "I would have done anything to help you then, but you never asked! Fate has brought us back together, though, and this time I can help you."
She smiled benevolently, "Now, what is, at the present, your most significant problem?" Cade frowned, trying to reconcile this woman to the girl of his childhood that he had never truly noticed.
"You." He said at last.
Miranya sighed. "You're not listening, my sweet—I am trying to help you, so I am not a problem. Think, now, I know you can get it."
"The Drethlords." He muttered through clenched teeth. If he wasn't chained to a column right now, she would have been.
"There you go! And why do they hunt you, would you say?"
"They want Elaina back." It was possible that he would break his jaw if he kept grinding his teeth this way.
"Of course they do! And why is that?"
"Because she is the answer to their prophesies!" he growled, glaring. It was a look that no sane creature would want to encounter. She giggled and brushed the flower along his lips. He bit at it, spitting the petals at her feet. A sharp blow with her elbow sent him to the floor, head ringing. There was a rustle as nettles crept up between the stones.
Cade pushed himself up to sit on his heels, vision quivering and sparkling painfully as he watched her moving to get another flower, pink, this time. Blinking away the dizziness, he did not see her until her face was inches from his.
"I wish you wouldn't do that, my sweet." Miranya purred. This close, she smelled of flowers in a way that dwarfed the real thing. He coughed at the thickness of it. "And you had been doing so well . . ." she spun away, his mind spinning with her.
"Your problem is her power. And that is a problem I would be happy to . . . fix." She was smiling into his face again, too close for dazed eyes to focus. "Did you know I could do that?" she whispered. He shook his head, mostly because he was trying to think clearly. Know she could do what? She smiled into his confusion.
"Yes," she murmured in his ear, "I can. All I have to do is kill her, and her powers are gone." Stepping back, she began to glide toward Elaina.
"No!" Cade cried, leaning against his chains to stagger upright again. Suddenly everything was far too clear. "Leave her! Anything, I'll do anything, but leave her alone. Please. Miranya. Yes, little Mira, you were such a pretty girl, even then. Please, don't hurt her." He slumped against the chains.
Cade did not even care that he was begging. Elaina did, judging by the astonished fury he could see in her eyes, even from this far. He didn't care about that either. She can be mad at me later, so long as she is alive later. The sorceress' face lit up when he said her name with its compliment, but settled back into a puzzled pout.
"But sweeting, we just agreed that her power was your problem—I'm going to help! What does she mean to you?" she finished innocently.
"Everything!" His reply was immediate, but her tinkling again laugh filled the garden.
"Sweet, really." she said with a smile, then her mouth flattened into a thin line, "but you're lying." Cade stared at her, incredulous.
"I guess that proves mere casters have no power over the mind,” was his chilly response, “because I’ve never said anything more true.”
"She can't possibly be everything a woman might mean to a man." Her tone and glance prevented any possible misinterpretation. Cade refused to take the bait, staring resolutely at his captive Wielder. That is not something we are going to discuss.
"Do you know how I know?" Miranya asked silkily, going to him. "This," she laid her hand over his heart, "is still beating." At last his puzzled dark eyes left Elaina to settle on Miranya.
"You don't know!" She cried with genuine delight, "Good thing you talked to me, silly children." She wandered through the flowers, trailing her fingers along the petals. "In addition to figuring out that she's a Wielder and you're her Watcher, I've learned so much from our guests from over the sea! Would you like to hear?" Cade only glared.
"I learned a mind like hers can't stand the touch of your sort of spirit and the same is true in reverse. It's lethal. Instantly lethal." She finished flatly. "Of course, that's not a problem—they would only come into contact if they were brought closer than is natural by some web, some perfectly balanced casting between you . . ." She watched his reaction with narrowed eyes.
"We're still alive, witch." He noted coldly, and he got a cold smile in return.
"For now." She reminded him. Cade was silent. "Yes, you are for now—it's natural that there remain some separation of minds, spirits, call it what you will. You are two separate people, after all." Miranya continued, playfully, "Even if you can feel where the other is as surely as you know where your own feet are." She made a face.
"The problem is if you get too . . . close." Briefly, her gaze flicked to Elaina to see if she understood and rolled her eyes at the blush that stained the other woman’s cheeks. Cade stared at the ground.
"Northerners!" Miranya murmured accusingly, peering at Cade, "You've been with them too long—you're shy!" Elaina couldn't move, and Cade didn't. "Yes, that close." She hissed. Frowning at the stones, Cade wondered if she could really mean . . .
"Instantly." Miranya snapped her fingers, surveying her captives with a satisfied smirk. Stunned, Cade focused all his energy on keeping his face smooth—this was not the time to be transparent.
"Oh, this is fantastic! I didn't know a person held like this could weep!" She stood in front of Elaina's Air-bound form, and Cade could see the tears glistening in her eyes. It made him shake with fury.
"Can't even blink, but here she's crying. Might have killed yourselves, mightn't you?" she chuckled and waved her flower at Elaina. "Silly children, meddling in things you don't understand."
"But now I am not sure what to do! Would it be worse for her to live, knowing she could never have you the way I can, my pet?" the woman swayed toward Cade, "Or should I just kill her now?" a furrow marred her perfect brow in her thoughtfulness. "What do you think? Will you be more obliging if I let her live?"
Cade nodded vigorously, bringing his expression and his body under control at once. He would have agreed to anything.
"You won't be angry with me if I take you from her, will you?"
"Never, Miranya!" he gasped, "you are just as lovely—more lovely!—just as powerful . . . and since I can never be hers," he shrugged, "What's the p
oint? I have known you so long, you remember Antral the way it was . . ." he pretended to break off with emotion and gather himself again, "Why not be yours?" Cade finished at last, reaching out to stroke her side.
Elaina jerked her eyes away. He fought to keep from clenching his jaw, fought to keep up the act, but he was terrified that his fear was written all over his face. Please, let her believe the lie.
"That was easy. For an ever-loyal Antralian that was awfully fast. Are you toying with me, toy?" Miranya asked suspiciously, grabbing his chin in her long fingers. She stared into his dark eyes.
He did his best to retreat behind the stony mask of his days with the Brethren. He'd had a lifetime to perfect that mask. Believe it, witch. Believe I would be yours. Believe it, and free me so I can kill you. Nothing of his thoughts showed on his face.
"I thought you loved her?" she pushed, still unsure.
He threw his head back and laughed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his betrayal in Elaina’s eyes. It was agony.
He ignored it.
"Prove that you want me. Kiss me." She demanded in a throaty whisper. Cade forced himself to smile into her lips, if this could save Elaina . . . Anything.
Leaning against his chains as she lifted her face to his, he kissed her with the greatest need of his life. At last, the sorceress stepped back, breathless. Her eyes were dark with her desire. Elaina's tears had stopped—replaced with a look that should have killed the other woman where she stood. A look that included Cade. He barely kept from flinching. Truth, if this works I am going to have a lot of explaining to do . . .
"How was that?" Cade demanded brashly.
"That? That was . . . convincing. Everything I imagined as a child." She murmured against his chest. He chuckled deeply.
"Wait until I'm free of these chains." He replied, voice rich with promise. Miranya inhaled sharply. He saw the obsessive desire in her unguarded eyes. Never taking her sparkling gaze from Cade, the caster waved a hand. Elaina stumbled in her sudden freedom, nearly falling. He resisted the instinct to move to her side.
"I keep my word. You may go. If I ever see you again, I will kill him—I'll keep that promise, too." Miranya warned cheerfully. Elaina glared at her, hands balled into fists at her sides. For a moment, she hesitated, as if she would attack with her bare hands. He tensed. Her gaze shifted to him.
Chills ran down his skin. He had seen those cold, haunting eyes before. That last day in the red tent. The moment she decided to die. He fought down the urge to protest, to defend himself from this newest mark on her soul.
This is ridiculous. Doesn’t she see what I’m trying to do? Miranya believes because this is what she wants—people see what they want to. Besides which, she is out of her mind. But Elaina? She’s ready to dismiss everything I’ve said and done instead of ignoring this charade? I’m in chains and she is a jealous madwoman’s whim away from death, and still she thinks I don’t love her? He wanted to yell after her, to explain everything, to ask her how she could possibly believe this.
But he didn't. Until he was out of these chains, they were hardly any better off. Once I am free . . .
"You look after her with longing, pet." Miranya accused. He shrugged, much as he would have if Keravel had been questioning him. He had years and years of practice—she would believe, then she would free him.
Then she will die.
He had never killed a woman before and did not wish to. He certainly did not want to start with Sarina's childhood friend, no matter what she was like now. But this woman could not be left alone. She was insane. Insane in a fiendishly clever sort of way. An insanity that had decided it wanted Elaina dead and would try again when he escaped.
That he would escape her was absolutely certain in his mind. Without Elaina as a hostage she would never manage to bind him again. But once he did, she would be after Elaina before the poison wore off.
And that I cannot allow. Ever. No matter what it does to me. So, she will have to remove these shackles, and then she will have to die.
He turned a blazing smile on her. Would a madwoman notice my eyes are cold?
"Would you like to try without the chains?" his voice was a caress. Desire flamed on her cheeks, and she yanked him forward into another kiss. Apparently not. Finally, she tore out of his arms.
Panting for breath, she fished out the key to his manacles on the fine gold chain around her neck. With a triumphant, dazzling smile—she was beautiful—the chains fell to the stones. He reached out to hold her face in his hands. Her smile faded under his pained expression. But it was too late. He twisted sharply. Miranya's neck snapped with a crack.
Suddenly limp, her body sank to the stones. The garden faded, withering and yellowing without constant support from its creator. Cade did not dare look down. Clenching his fists to keep his hands from trembling, he took a slow breath and sprinted down the path after Elaina.
She must have walked fast. By the time he caught her she was nearly out of the garden. Now she was walking in long strides, shoulders back and chin high. Not the look of hopelessness. He managed to smile.