The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [80]
“And what do you get in exchange? My voice? My heart? My—”
“My mistress only wishes to help you. She has watched you for some time, Daine with no family name.”
“And you expect—” Daine paused. “What did you just call me?”
“The words of my mistress, Master Daine. I’m certain that she will explain.”
“Do … do it.” Lei had raised herself up on one arm. Her face was pale, her eyes unfocused, but her voice was steady. “The Queen of … Dusk.”
“Well,” Daine said, helping Lei to her feet, “show us the way.”
As bruised and battle-worn as Daine was, he found his spirits rising as they followed the young man. It must be the sun, he concluded. Beyond the gloomy nature of the environment—the bleak moor studded with faces, and the dark forest with its serpents and its thorns—the realms of night were cold and empty. Not so the twilight land. A vast meadow stretched across rolling hills. Wildflowers filled fields with color and unleashed a symphony of scents into the air. The sky was a tapestry of light, clouds painted brilliant rose and orange by the setting sun. Bright birds sang songs of the evening, fluttering among scattered trees. Despite the beauty, Daine couldn’t help but wonder how many of the birds could talk.
Other things were troubling Daine, and with no enemy in sight, he turned his attention to the events in the ring. “What happened back there? Pierce, how did you get free?”
“I have no explanation,” Pierce said. “My own strength was insufficient to the task, but as I strained against my bonds I felt a rush of strength, power that remained with me throughout the battle.”
“Could this be the work of your little friend?”
“No, captain. Shira identified it as an augmentation of my abilities, clearly derived from an exterior source, but she cannot identify that source.”
Daine didn’t like mysteries. “Lei, can you explain this?”
“Hmm?” Lei had recovered from the thorn venom, and reclaimed her staff from Pierce. Her eyes were distant, focused on the horizon.
“Pierce. Aren’t you worried? And what did you do back there? Did you kill that man?”
Lei shook away the cobwebs. “No … no. He’s not dead. He’s trapped in that tree. Powerless, at least for the moment. That’s what Darkheart wanted.”
“Your staff. That’s what it wanted. So now we’re doing the bidding of a piece of wood?”
“She saved us, Daine.”
“We wouldn’t have been in danger if we’d just given it to the Huntsman!”
Lei’s eyes flashed, and she backed away from Daine. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. She gave everything she had left to open that gate. We wouldn’t be here without Darkheart.”
“She speaks the truth, Master Daine.” It was the first time the guide had spoken since they had left the arch. He was looking back over his shoulder, and now Daine saw that the youth’s eyes were multicolored … rose and orange, just like the sky above.
“Who are you?” Lei said to their guide.
“Call me Kin,” the young man said with a brilliant smile. “I run errands for her majesty.” Ahead of them, a fox peered up out of the grass and then disappeared again; in the brief moment, its fur looked like fire. “Let me assure you once more, your troubles in this realm are at an end. You need fear no treachery in my lady’s house. I swear it by twelve and one.”
Daine glanced at Lei. “You’re the expert here, Lei. Do we get to eat the bread?” Despite his misgivings, he realized that he was starving. In the chaos of the forest, Lei had never found time to make her promised gruel.
“I’ll want to hear our hostess swear to our safety,” Lei said. “And this time, I’ll be listening for tricks. From what I’ve heard, this queen is no stranger to subterfuge. But vows have power in this place.”
“Then I think you’d better do the talking,” Daine said. “Now, about Pierce—”
“Please, my companions, stay your speech,” Kin said, interrupting.
They crested a hill, and the guide swept his arm to encompass the valley below. The rays of the setting sun played on the waters of a small lake, and a castle rose up from the center of the water,