Page 159 of City of Snakes
“I am going to be traveling to acquire some new resources against Caym. Our hope is that we can find one of the other envoys alone and put them under the Sethe curse…but if we cannot, or if he gets to you first…”
He nodded. “Then you have to place it on me.”
“Yes. We will only resort to putting you under it as a last resort. Because there is no known way to reverse it.” My voice cracked. “We’ll need to specify a timeline to break the curse.”
“Then promise me something.”
“Conditions?” I whispered with a raised brow. “Have I rubbed off on you?”
“Yes. This time I have one.” He offered me a weak smile and said, “If it comes to it, don’t let them curse me to sleep longer than my parents’ lifetimes. If I had to wake up without them…”
At that, I embraced him, burying my face in his fresh tunic.
“I promise, Em.”
Maybe it made me a fool to trust a man who had shown me nothing but betrayal in the past few months. But I knew Emmerick’s heart was still in there, somewhere behind Caym’s treachery.
The boy I’d climbed trees with, the Knight who’d protected me through my formative years, the Constable who’d stood by my side—he was here.
So long as he breathed, I wouldn’t believe there wasn’t a way to break through the darkness to get him back.
Chapter 50
Krait
“Do you have enough water?” I asked from atop my horse, beside Sybilla’s.
She hummed a yes. This time, I hadn’t made Sybilla ride in a cart or on a mule. She was armed to the teeth, with a sword sheathed in her saddlebag and bow across her back. A blacksmith had fitted her with an everlasting quiver and arrows of charmed iron capable of penetrating even the toughest of stones and metals.
There had been a time when I would have done anything to get her to be quiet. That time was not now.
“Are you feeling well?” I tried again.
“Yes,” she sighed out.
I let out a grumble of frustration.
It was less than a day’s ride to get to Sahlmkar if one covered ground briskly, yet I fretted about her strength. We had deliberately not built an Egress there. The region just south of the volcanic shores held a decent amount of industry—textiles, masonry and blacksmithing. It also held the highest concentration of prisoners in the Sahlms.
We’d locked away Old World war criminals and those unwilling to keep the peace with our neighboring realm. Like the ones who’d attacked Luz.
Due to the lower altitude and harsh climate, Sahlmkar was even hotter and drier than Sahlmsara. The travel was treacherous enough to warrant a party of thirty soldiers. The wind whipping the air was a welcome reprieve from the heat, though it brought dust with it.
Elsedora was staying in the Sahlms to manage affairs and maintain communication with Henosis while I was gone.
The way Sybilla held her reins in one hand and massaged her wrist with the other told me she’d lied. She was hurting. My jaw tensed. I wanted her to confide in me the way she had when I’d held her in bed.
Sybilla glanced over. “Elsedora told me what to expect in this region,” she noted. So she was willing to talk—about geography, at least.It was a start.
“Did she tell you its history?”
“It is thought to be Death’s land,” she said. “Is that true?”
“It is,” I answered. “It’s where Caym and Desidero were born.”
While I was the King of Sahlmkar, and while the industry there served all of the Sahlms, there were still many in the old city who prayed to both the Death and Shadow Origins. They accepted me only as one half of the whole.
We could be walking into a trap. I suppressed that fear. “The people of Sahlmkar respect me as their ruler—but most still worship Caym, believing him to be the superior Source Origin. It may be unwise to bring you there, and if there is any indication of unrest, then I’m Shadowing you out.”
