The Rising by Vanessa Nelson

Author:Vanessa Nelson [Nelson, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-02T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Yvonne came back to the dining room to find everyone settled in a prickly silence. Jaalam and Pieris had been put in what had been Suanna and Firon’s places, the two Hunar on either side of the new arrivals. There were empty plates, and half-empty wine glasses, in front of the pair.

Yvonne settled next to Guise again. He had filled her wine glass for her.

No one else had eaten much more, she saw. There was weight in the air. Expectation. Apprehension. They all had things to share, and no one, it seemed, was looking forward to telling their tales.

“Better?” she asked Pieris and Jaalam.

“Much better, dear lady,” Jaalam said. “You are a miracle among women.” He put his hand on his heart and gave a shallow bow. Yvonne accepted the compliment. She liked Jaalam, although she preferred him in his more serious character.

“There’s trouble,” Pieris said. “A lot of it.”

“Yes,” Yvonne agreed.

The atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone sat forward a fraction.

“Before we exchange news. Is Lita alright?” Yvonne asked.

“Oh, yes,” Pieris said, face lightening into a smile. He and Jaalam had been escorting the cloth merchant back to Willowton. “She was not pleased to find that no one had cleaned her house, though.”

“The bodies had been moved,” Jaalam added, brows lifting. “I am not sure what else she expected of the local law keepers.”

“Ulla is staying with her. Helping with choosing new guards,” Pieris added. There was something in his tone that made Yvonne think there was more to Ulla’s extended visit. Lita and Ulla had bickered almost constantly in all the time Yvonne had spent with them. But they also did not seem able to leave each other alone.

“Trouble, you said.” Yvonne turned her wine glass between her fingers, the dark liquid gleaming in the candlelight. “Why don’t you start?” she asked.

Pieris looked back across the length of the table, shadows across his face, the weight of his years showing again. He was a brighter, younger man since he had met Jaalam. Not tonight.

“The rending has let something in. Or, rather, it’s letting something in,” Pieris said. “I can’t see it properly. It’s growing. Rising.” He swallowed, hard. “To be honest, I’ve only tried to look closely once.”

“I wouldn’t let him try again,” Jaalam said. Absolutely serious, his voice flat, face tight.

Pieris shifted in his chair, and Yvonne thought that beneath the table surface, he had linked his hand with Jaalam’s. None of them were particularly open in their affections, but she understood the need for contact.

“I’ve felt it,” Yvonne said. “A darkness. There’s an intelligence there.” She stared into her wine. “It’s spoken to me. More than once.”

The silence dragged on long enough that she looked up, to find everyone staring at her.

“What did it say?” Ewan asked.

“It was trying to draw me in. Called me sister,” Yvonne said, and took a large mouthful of wine, almost choking as she swallowed, trying and failing to chase away the memory of the warmth sliding up her arm. Pieris’ description rang in her mind.

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