Ghost in the Serpent by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller
Language: eng
Format: epub

11

Arrangements

They had been speaking quietly to keep from waking the children, but Caina supposed that had been unnecessary. Both Nikarion and Zoe were so deeply asleep that Caina could have probably shouted at the top of her lungs and not awakened them.

“I am glad they could sleep,” murmured Kalliope. “They have seen such horrors in the last few weeks. I feared that nightmares would trouble them.”

“They might,” said Caina. “Or they might not. Children are often more resilient than we think.”

“And just as often more fragile than we might hope,” said Kalliope.

She took another blanket and lay down near Zoe and Nikarion. Caina crossed to the door and lay down in front of it, still in her dark Veilplate armor. She would keep it on just in case they were attacked in the night, and she was amused that the armor did not make any noise as it slid against the door. The ancient Alchemists who had made the armor for the seset-medjar assassins had done their work well.

Faint snores already came from Kalliope. Sheer determination had gotten her this far, but the effort of casting multiple powerful spells had drained her.

Caina wondered again how Kylon would react to the news that he had two children with her.

Well, she already knew how he would react, didn’t she? A mixture of anger and guilt. Some anger at Kalliope, yes, but most of it would be aimed at his late sister and the Surge for conspiring to hide the children from him. Guilt for the fact that the children had spent the first six years of their life without a father. Kylon’s own parents had died when he was young, and their absence had marked him deeply.

She wished that he was here. Mostly because she missed him but also because his skill in battle would have been valuable. If he had been here, he would have cut down all the Cultists at the shrine of Tethene.

The green archer.

Who was the green archer?

Caina shook her head. She would learn nothing new tonight.

She laid her pyrikon staff on the ground next to her, sending a mental command to dim its light. If either Kalliope or the children awoke suddenly, at least they would not panic in pitch darkness.

Lying on the floor wasn’t particularly comfortable, but Caina had a lot of experience sleeping in uncomfortable places, and it had been a busy day.

She fell asleep almost at once.

And in her sleep, she dreamed.

Her dreams were frequently varied and often less than pleasant. Nightmares, her teacher Halfdan had told her, were the scars of the mind, and Caina had built up a good collection of scars. Maglarion, the Moroaica, Grand Master Callatas, the Red Huntress, the Kurghast and other past horrors sometimes echoed through her dreams.

But there had been other dreams as well. Sorcerers and djinn and sometimes worse things had used her dreams to speak with her. That had happened quite a bit less since she had become a valikarion since her mind was protected from such intrusions.

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