Sands of Memory by Melissa McShane

Author:Melissa McShane [McShane, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Harbor Publishing

“Damn,” Sienne said. “That was a really good idea.”

“It’s a mirror,” Ghrita said. “You wanted a mirror.”

“Yes, but I need a glass mirror. Something that will break. It has to fit through the lattice of the door.” Sienne examined her reflection in the polished steel mirror. Her head scarf was askew and her hair straggled around her face because the guards had pushed her around. “I was going to use magic to retrieve the key and unlock the door. But I have to be able to see or touch the object. Even pressing my face flat against the lattice doesn’t work.”

Ghrita pursed her lips in thought. “Are there guards anywhere near?” she asked Lashwanti.

Lashwanti shook her head. “We tried to break the door down, and no one came despite the noise we made. We think Darinikh has no regard for women, that he doesn’t post guards. He thinks we’re helpless.” Her scowl said she felt helpless, and was furious about it.

Ghrita strode to the door. “Stand back,” she said, and repeated herself in Meiric. Sienne stood to one side, where she could still see the woman’s face. Ghrita closed her eyes and breathed in and out, slow and rhythmic. She clasped her hands in front of her face, one balled up and pressed against the other’s palm. Then, in one swift movement, she drew back her fist and slammed it against the lattice, letting out a sharp hah! as she did so.

The lattice shattered, spraying outward in a cloud of sharp pieces. Ghrita opened her eyes and shook out her hand, which was undamaged. Sienne gasped. Ghrita glanced at her. One corner of her mouth twitched upward in a mocking smile. “Not something your magic can do, eh?”

Sienne’s awe turned to irritation. “Thank you,” she said, suppressing an angry retort. Ghrita’s smile widened. “Now, unless you’re capable of fitting yourself through that hole, let me take a turn.”

Ghrita stepped aside, and Sienne stuck her head through the smashed remains of the lattice. It was a tight fit, and the sharp edges of the broken wood scraped her cheek and tangled in her hair, but she was barely able to see the key, hanging on its peg five feet away. It was almost too easy. With her invisible fingers, she lifted the key off the peg and drew it toward her, withdrawing into the room at the cost of a few more scrapes. The key landed in her hand, and she swiftly unlocked the door.

Lashwanti immediately made for the exit, followed by the other women. “My thanks,” she said. “Will you join us? Turn your fists and your magic to defeating Darinikh?”

“We have to find our companions. They’re in the dungeon,” Sienne said.

“My male chiefs may be there as well,” Lashwanti said. “Or they may have been turned like the guards. We will come with you to the dungeon. Though we don’t know where it is.”

“I’ve already got a sense for how this place is laid out,” Dianthe said when this conversation was relayed.

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