Chapter 17
When Josiah opened his eyes, Kyren almost did not notice the fact that he was awake. He saw for a moment in silence, staring at him, half-expecting those blue eyes to slide shut again. But Josiah licked his lips and took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering.
"Where--Where am I?"
Kyren wished Amalea was not still stuck in meetings with her kin. She'd been in once over the past two days, and Mirella had even peeked in once or twice, but since Josiah's presence had to be dealt with in the most cautious manner possible--and to the royal family, caution was second nature--they had not yet decided if one of the local Healers would be called, or if they would allow Josiah to leave unmolested. Amalea's envoy to the Healer's house had never returned.
He had wondered, once or twice, if Mirella had broken her vow and told them what she knew. Looking into Josiah's gaze now, with the shadows still deep under his eyes and his face still pinched from pain, Kyren wondered if their caution was caution or just more cruelty Josiah was forced to bear.
"You are in Faerie," he said. "In my Cousin's rooms."
"And?" Josiah's voice cracked.
"And what?" Kyren asked.
"Am I--" He took another deep breath. "Am I to be allowed to--to leave?"
"My Cousin is in meetings with the King and Queen--" He fell silent, then, when Josiah turned his head away and closed his eyes. "They can't keep you here."
"They could," Josiah said, which was the truth.
"But they won't," Kyren said. "The meetings are--" He struggled to find the right words without distressing Josiah any further. "They do not wish an all-out war with your Master."
"I want to go home," Josiah whispered.
And was there any reason that he could not? What would happen if Kyren just--he shook his head. Just what? Just walked out of the castle with Josiah in his arms? "I am sorry," he said. "But it is best to stay here, at least for now. Magdalen is--" He sighed. "There is a lot you do not know."
"My Master--" Josiah swallowed the words and shook his head. "Nevermind."
"I don't know who your Master is," Kyren whispered, just in case that was the cause of his hesitation. "Mirella says she knows, but she also said she had promised your Master never to tell."
"I remember Mirella," Josiah whispered. "Will you tell me some of what I do not know?"
Kyren hesitated. No one had told him not to talk to Josiah, after all. "I don't know if you'll want to talk to me after I tell you my part in this," he said. "But I will tell you."
"You were not there when Althea tricked me," Josiah said, his voice a little stronger now.
"No, I wasn't," Kyren said. "But I was there when Magdalen gave Althea the spell that allowed her to steal your talent, and I knew you were behind that mirror for three weeks before Amalea forced me to tell her. And I did nothing to stop any of it." He let out a breath. "I am a coward, but that is no excuse for my actions. I was supposed to kill you."
"My Master asked me to enforce the wards around our--our house against a witch named Magdalen," Josiah whispered. "And if he was worried enough to do that, then perhaps you aren't as much of a coward as you think."
Kyren shook his head. "No. I am that much of a coward. But it is good to hear that your Master was on guard even then." He hesitated. Did he truly wish to know? "Is there any way that I could know your Master's identity?"
Josiah did not seem to hear him. "What has happened in the past ten years?" he asked. "Is--Is the Hunt free? You said Althea is a member of the Council--is Lucas still alive?"
"The Hunt is slated to be freed in--" Kyren realized he had no true sense of the date. "Less than two weeks, I think. Midsummer's Eve. And Lucas is still alive as far as I know. But--Magdalen wants to control the Hunt. That is her goal. After that--"
"Then why didn't she use me as bait?" Josiah asked, then froze, as if he had just realized what he had admitted.
With the coldness of impending doom, Mirella's comments fell into place. Kyren covered his face with both hands. "She didn't know--" His breath hitched. "She didn't know you were a Hound." The enormity of what he had almost done left him cold. "And she wanted me to kill you--How is that possible that you are a Hound?"
"We all have human forms," Josiah whispered, his voice dull and lifeless now. "Please--don't ask me to betray my Master any more than I have."
"I am sorry," Kyren said. He stood, then, unable to sit still, and busied himself with the food and drink Amalea had left behind. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"I just want to go home," Josiah whispered, and fell silent, his pale cheeks wet with tears.
Kyren walked to the door that led to Amalea's balcony and stared out at the sunlit world. He felt--cold, now, cold with the realization of what Magdalen had asked him to do--and what she had not known. She wouldn't have wished for Josiah's death if she knew he was a Hound. She would have used his presence to her advantage. He knew that without a doubt.
That meant Althea had not known. And Althea still did not know. Kyren knew of their agreement, and he had assumed that Althea would somehow deliver the Hunt to Magdalen. Which meant they had to have some sort of bait, as Josiah had said. Bait. Would they kidnap another Hound, then? What else would Gabriel give up his freedom for?
All at once, he thought he glimpsed the enormity of Magdalen's plans. He had no idea what she planned to do with the Hunt, but if she controlled the Hunt, she could--conceivably--control anything else that she desired.
He shivered and lowered his forehead to the glass. "I'm so sorry."
"You didn't kill me," Josiah whispered. "Perhaps I should be thanking you."
Kyren turned. "Amalea said something about warning the Hunt, but I think--I think the warning might be best coming from you. If I--" He swallowed hard, trying not to think about the scope of his betrayal. "The dampening spell would not reach outside the castle. If I carried you to the balcony, you might be able to contact your Master from there."
Josiah's breath caught in his throat. Kyren didn't dare look at him for fear that he would see the hopelessness in his gaze.
"You will be punished for that, won't you?"
Kyren shrugged. "I am due to be punished for my part in this. If helping you means that your Master does not try to kill me--"
"He won't," Josiah said, but he didn't sound very sure of himself.
"You are a Hound," Kyren said. "I don't understand it--I don't--I never really liked the Hunt, in truth, but--no one deserves this."
"If you do this, your--your Cousin won't be pleased," Josiah said. "And neither will Mirella." He sounded as if he were trying to talk Kyren out of allowing him to contact his Master.
"Yes." Kyren sighed. "I know."
"I would like--I would like to feel the bond in my mind again," Josiah whispered. "But--I don't think I could bear to have it vanish again." He shifted around on the bed until he faced Kyren. "It would be like--like a hole in my heart."
"I think they were hoping that you healed a bit before they let you leave," Kyren said. "Amalea was supposed to have sent someone to fetch the Healer, but that was two days ago, and--and she has not come. I don't believe her--the person she sent ever reached his destination." He hesitated. "I--It is my fault, too, that you are in this predicament."
"Why?" Josiah asked.
"Bethany Daulton was my lover," Kyren whispered, the old pain still sharp enough to send a quiver through his voice.
For the first time, Josiah's gaze sharpened. "You are the elf who killed Jacob Daulton."
"Yes." Kyren could not dismiss Beth's memory with a shrug. "He--He was not a good man."
"Then, anyone who summoned the Hunt was not a good person," Josiah said. "I do not think my Master would seek your death."
"Do you--" Kyren motioned towards the balcony.
"No. Not now." Josiah's eyes slid shut. "I will rest first."
He was still asleep two hours later when Amalea returned.
Chapter 18
"Josiah was a Hound," Magdalen said without preamble, her voice intense.
Althea had not expected her arrival. She stepped back in the face of such an intense fury that set her wards singing, and carefully laid the paring knife on the cutting board that sat on the counter. "What did you say?"
"Josiah Hunt--damn him! Why didn't I see this?--Josiah was a Hound!" She stopped, then, struck dumb by something Althea couldn't begin to imagine. And then, after a moment, she began to smile.
"Josiah was a Hound? How is that possible?" Althea tried to laugh. "The Hunt--" Quite suddenly, the thought of lunch turned her stomach.
"The Hounds all have human forms," Magdalen said, dismissing this tidbit of news with a wave of her hand. "Malachi gave Josiah up quickly enough--"
"You spoke to him again," Althea said flatly. "Why didn't you send for me?"
Magdalen shrugged. "Who would I have sent? Stefan? You need to stay away from the Hunt for the time being, Althea. We still have time."
"What were you smiling about before?" Althea asked. "Did you think of something?"
"Perhaps." Magdalen said. She took an apple from the bowl on the countertop. "I suppose Jordan will need food to survive, don't you think?"
"You haven't fed him?" Althea turned to open the fridge. She snagged a bottle of water and half a loaf of bread. "Give him this," she said, then wondered why she cared at all if he lived or died. He was, after all, much more dangerous alive than dead.
Magdalen laughed. "You would have fed Josiah these past ten years. You have a soft heart, deep down inside."
"No I don't," Althea said, stung. "I want this to go the right way just as much as you do. But if you need to keep him alive for some reason, he'll need food." She hesitated, loathe for Magdalen to declare her soft-hearted again. "Where is Malachi now?"
"If he dies, we will know," Magdalen said. "When a Hound dies, the bond between the Hunt is broken, just as I said."
Althea blinked. "But that means--what about Josiah? I thought you said he was dead!"
"I have my doubts that a Hound's death would be blocked by the dampening spell around the castle," Magdalen said. "And since the Hunt's bond remains intact--"
"That means Josiah isn't dead." Althea gasped the words. "He knows what I did to him! He knows!"
"Josiah created the wards around the Hunt's lair," Magdalen said. "Do you have enough of his power left to get past them?"
"I don't know," Althea stammered. "What if he's--"
"Gabriel will be looking for Malachi," Magdalen said. "And so will most of his Hounds. He might leave one behind, perhaps, but not any more than two."
"What do you want me to do?" Althea asked.
"Kill whichever Hound you find," Magdalen said. "The Hunt will be in chaos, and then--"
"What about Josiah?" She couldn't help but ask. After all, he knew what she had done. And if he told his story--if he told his story to anyone at all--
"If Josiah is alive, then he will be our bait," Magdalen said. "I will fetch him. But we need the Hunt in chaos first. The bond between them has to be broken."
"Then kill Malachi," Althea said, wondering why she hadn't done such a thing already.
"No. I need him to live for a little while longer," Magdalen said. "He did not answer my question about Emle. And he broke my truthspell."
"Is that even possible?" Althea asked. Truthspells were powerful spells. If one of the members of the Hunt had enough power to break a truthspell--then why hadn't Gabriel sent him to Darkbrook as well?
"I don't think he knows how he did it," Magdalen said. "Either way, unless he dies on his own--and that may yet happen--I can still use his knowledge."
"This Emle--is pregnant," Althea said.
"Yes." Magdalen's smile held an almost predatory air.
"Is--Is the child--"
"Find out," Magdalen ordered. "If yes, then Gabriel's child would be a much better hostage than one of his Hounds."
That was true, but Althea didn't want to get stuck with caring for a squalling baby while they waited for the Council's binding to expire.
"But I should kill a Hound, regardless?" She had to admit--but only to herself--that killing a Hound was something she had always envisioned. And now that it was even more important that a Hound die--
"Yes," Magdalen said. "The death of a Hound--any Hound--will destroy the bond between them. Gabriel won't be able to communicate with any of his Hounds while the bond is broken. That will give us the time we need to make sure Josiah is dead."
Althea nodded. "And Malachi?"
"We may yet have use for Malachi," Magdalen said. "Either way, if the bond is broken, Gabriel might not find him in time. And that wouldn't be a horrible thing at all."
(Next Update: October 3rd)
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