Page 29 of Beyond the Shadowed Earth
He sat with his knees pulled up to his chin, sweat trickling down his forehead and into his eyes. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Only that I have done well, that everything I’ve longed for will soon come to pass.” He met her eyes, and once more she sensed in him that power, lurking just below his skin.
“Peace,” she said and flushed, thinking of the bargain they’d made.
He smiled. “Peace.”
Chapter Eleven
THEY RODE ON IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, when the heat of the day began to fade, little by little, and their horses were rested enough for another run. They passed Eddenahr as the sun sank in a fury of red and violet. It hurt to leave the city behind, not knowing if Niren still clung to life or if she had faded wholly into the shadow version of herself.
They took one last halt in the early evening, stars glimmering to life, the last of the day’s heat pulsing up from the ground. Eda paced while her guard and Ileem shared a meager meal of meat, dates, and cheese. She wasn’t hungry. She didn’t think she could have stomached food even if she was.
It was deep night when at long, long last they set out on the final leg of their journey. Her mare ate up the miles, hooves pounding into the hard earth. Eda couldn’t help but think that the gods were watching her from their unreachable realms, waiting to see what she would do.
Waiting to relinquish their hold on Niren’s life.
She pushed away the horrible niggling feeling that it wouldn’t be enough, that she would find the stone and finish the temple, and Niren would die anyway.
Ileem’s words chased themselves around in her head:The gods will keep her safe. Rudion promised me.She clung to them, even though she didn’t know if she really believed them.
Just when she thought they would be riding forever, they were thundering up to their destination. The village was so small it didn’t merit a name. It was only occupied part of the year, when herders brought their horses through to eat the new growth of scrubby desert bushes and train for the annual races. Right now, the village was empty.
Or it would have been, if not for the mounds and mounds of stone blocks stacked by the central well.
A fire burned orange in the shadow of the stone, and half a dozen armed soldiers crouched around it, playing dice in the flaring light. The soldiers looked up as Eda, Ileem, and her guard approached, pulling their mounts to a stop. The soldiers jerked to their feet and drew their sabers in one swift, scraping motion.
For several heartbeats, Eda assessed the situation, calculating the odds of three against six, when she herself had only a dagger. Firelight danced along naked blades, and Eda glanced at Ileem. He nodded almost imperceptibly. It gave her courage.
She took a breath and swung off Naia, striding up to the six soldiers with her hands palm up in front of her, showing they were empty. The soldiers did not lower their sabers.
“I believe there has been some mistake about the shipment,” said Eda coolly, stopping a pace away. “This stone was supposed to be delivered to Eddenahr for the new temple.”
“I’m afraid, Your Imperial Majesty, that we are under orders to keep the stone here,” said the silver-haired soldier on the end. “It’s not to be moved.”
“Whose orders?”
The soldier shifted uneasily, the point of his saber trembling. “Baron Rescarin, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“And does Baron Rescarin command the Empire?”
“He commands us.”
Eda put out one hand, touching his saber, pushing it gently down to his side. The edge sliced her fingers, and blood dripped into the dust. She didn’t even flinch. “The stone goes to Eddenahr. Tonight.”
The soldier’s face hardened, and he raised the saber again, putting it to her throat. “I’m sorry, Your Imperial Majesty. But the stone stays here.”
“Did you nothearher?”
Eda didn’t take her eyes from the soldier’s as Ileem paced up beside her. She sensed that energy in him, that volatile flame.
The soldier’s glance flicked from Eda to Ileem and back again. “Baron Rescarin has ordered us to arrest anyone who attempts to take the stone. That includes you, Your Imperial Majesty.”
From the corner of her eye, Eda saw a tall, shadowy form waver into existence beside Ileem. A tremor went through her, while Ileem drew a sharp breath and dropped to his knees. “My lord Rudion.”
The Shadow stepped passed Ileem, glancing at Eda for the barest instant before stretching out one shadowy arm to touch the soldier’s heart.
The soldier gasped, his eyes flaring wide, and dropped dead into the dust, his saber clattering at Eda’s feet. The Shadow vanished.
Eda swallowed a scream while Ileem rose from his knees and folded his arm in hers. Together, they turned to the remaining five soldiers. Eda forced her voice not to shake: “The stone goes to Eddenahr, tonight, and if you will not help us, our god does not have need of you, either.” She gestured at the dead man on the ground.
