The Glass Dagger by M. D. Presley

Author:M. D. Presley [Presley, M. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Decembre 8, 567

Smoke had a particular way of marring even the greatest of beauty, and Lakeshire proved no exception. Over the last few days, Valentine readied them for all the elegance they would encounter upon their arrival. Known for their eccentricities and believing themselves the descendants of deities, the Gazers built barriers between them and the ignorant masses populating the rest of Ayr. Because those of the Gazer faith were always wealthy, Marta found herself wondering if they rose to such state due to truly being better than others or possessed the audacity to think themselves superior simply because of their wealth. Either way, they surrounded themselves with the finest things, including their barrier consisting of a massive maze of rose hedges surrounding the entire town. To enter Lakeshire proper, one needed to either know the way or spend many hours discovering it.

But the black smoke billowing at the center of town signaled they had little time to spare. The Grand War familiarized Marta all too well with the remains of burning wreckage, and she had little desire to reacquaint herself with the sight. But the Gazers were their last chance, and so they picked their way through the maze.

Although Valentine swore up and down she knew the path through on their trip there, she backtracked more often than Marta liked. At the first corner, she suspected some impending attack, and so unleashed her monstrous Armor. But no attack came, and they picked through the maze, turn by tighter turn. Even though she did not know the immediate path, Valentine still led them true enough, and Marta could sense that they closed in on the town itself.

“There,” Valentine finally announced, pointing from atop her horse. Caddie rode the other as Marta stalked ahead and Isabelle behind. “Around the next bend and we’re there.”

Marta eyed the black smoke again. It had not changed in thickness at all in the last half-hour of their approach, and she wondered who was feeding it. She nodded to Isabelle.

The girl slipped off around the bend as Marta scanned the area. Although the maze must have been beautiful in the early autumn season, the cold of oncoming winter withered the blossoms until just the thorns remained. Marta felt a certain kinship with them.

Isabelle appeared again moments later, fire flashing in her eyes as she opened her mouth to reveal the stump of her tongue then pantomimed tearing it out.

“Glassman?”

Isabelle nodded then grasped her own breasts. Marta could not hide her disbelief.

“The woman glassman that’s been following us?”

Isabelle bared her teeth in the semblance of a smile. Wolves in the dead of winter would have been more welcoming.

Marta felt her rage blossoming, not at the glassman, but at herself for having hoped the creature dead. That was foolish thinking, relying on optimism rather than seeing the corpse slain by her own hands, and it was far past time to settle the matter. Knowing the glassman was alive and could track Caddie meant she would not sleep again until Bernice was dead.

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