Night of Masks and Knives (The Broken Kingdoms Book 4)

“Up.” Tova’s boot incessantly nudged my hip.

I groaned and rolled onto my shoulder, blinking against the dawn. “What?”

Tova smacked my hip with her knuckles, then abandoned my cot to her washbasin where she gathered her curls into a knot on top of her head. “We’re leaving. Hells, you were so impatient before, now you’re sleeping the morning away.”

By the chill in the air, the dull gray of the light, I’d guess the sun had barely decided to show not an hour before.

″Go where?” I sat up, scratching my head. For nearly a week, I’d lived in Felstad, and never had Tova roused before the sun.

She didn’t answer, simply tossed a tunic at my face, and said, “Get dressed.”

I obeyed but kept my eyes on her frantic movements. She managed to sheath no less than eight blades across her body. One between her breasts, two across her middle. A forked fishing knife crossed the small of her back, a shiv on either arm. Then a dagger on either thigh.

She threw one of her knives made of bone at me. “Use only if you’ll be dead and bleeding if you don’t. It’s one of my favorite knives.”

I swallowed past the scratch of morning and sheathed the knife to the thick belt I’d purchased near the docks three turns ago. When I carried my vials everywhere and worked with hawkers, a knife or two on a weapon belt was convenient.

I did not move as swiftly as Tova, but went to work gathering my supplies, my rune pouch with the memories, and splashing cold water on my face to chase away the last blur of sleep.

″Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked, hopping after her into the hallway as I tugged on my boot.

″There is a cheer house with new ties to the Masque av Aska. We’ve been waiting to have a visit. Last night, the Nightrender received word from one of his acquaintances, and it’s time for our first play. Since you insist on being privy to every move we make, you’re coming.”

First, when a Kryv said ‘have a visit’ I had no doubt it meant something much more sinister. Second, this acquaintance was likely some poor dealmaker who had no choice but to play this game.

This is what I wanted. The Kryv were making their play and I would be part of it. Whether I was ready or not.

Hours later, a salty breeze from the Howl blew against my dry lips. The moon was high, but beneath a ceiling of dark leaves the cold light hardly brightened our path.

I kept a close pace next to Raum as we carved through the deepest part of the forest. Only he, Tova, and Vali, were with me, while the rest of the guild went elsewhere. No one told me where.

I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, especially Tova who would tease me endlessly, but the night felt less safe knowing the Nightrender wasn’t joining us.

My boots climbed to my knees, a size too big, and I stumbled more than once. Instead of trusting me with only Tova’s blade, the Kryv added two more belts to my waist, lined with a curved knife and a dagger.

The others moved like a gentle wind in the trees, shadows in their dark clothes, pelts, and hoods. If not for the gleam of steel from Vali’s battle axe and Tova’s quiver, I would’ve lost sight of them entirely.

I quickened my steps to stay next to Raum, stumbling over a fallen log.

When he caught me, Raum’s mouth twisted into a boyish grin. “Watch those feet, lovey. I’d be happy to teach you how to place one foot in front of the other if you need reminding.”

I snorted a laugh. Loud enough it hurt. Raum looked at me like I’d delighted his entire day.

Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I liked Raum. He’d been friendlier than some of the others, and his natural tendency to tease had a charm all its own.

A few paces more, Raum held up one hand and stopped. I slammed into his back at the edge of a river. He glanced in both directions, his body stiff near the water, until he pointed downstream. “There are enough rocks to cross down there.”

″I don’t think it’s deep,” I told him, using a stick to tap the bottom.

He glanced at me, those silver eyes like stars. “Down there is better.”

We’d cross at a slope instead of flat ground. It didn’t seem to be the best choice. “Do you not like water, Raum?”

He hesitated. “You want to know what would happen if Kase used fear against me?”

Fear? How did Kase use fear? I nodded mutely even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

″My lungs would fill with water,” Raum said. “Breath would be a forgotten notion. My body would get painfully cold, but never go numb. Then it would start over and over again.”

It was horrifying to think what Raum must’ve experienced to draw such a fear. I’d be wise to keep distance with the Kryv. Instead, I embraced a swift affection, and had to resist the urge to hug the man. “I’m sorry.”

″Don’t be,” he said. “Just . . . down there is better.”

″You’re right.” I smiled.

″Now you’re catching on.”

Once we crossed, our shoes were wetter, but we had no trouble. The slope wasn’t as steep as I thought, and at the top we were met by a wrought iron gate surrounding a sprawling longhouse made from heavy logs and mossy cobblestone.

Raum crouched behind two stone pillars carved in old runes of good fortune. Long, lost blessings. Nothing good would be found here.

From a satchel, Raum pulled out a pair of black pants, then tossed a satin tailcoat hemmed in red, bold as embers, swirls of green, rich as morning grass, and blue, deep as the Howl lagoons. Next, a pair of shoes made of rose leather with the slightest curl at the toes.

Vali shucked off his axe and belt, followed by his black tunic and leather trousers. Tova did the same, unashamed, so I worked mightily hard to be as steady and bold while I dressed in a shabby, shapeless dress to mark me as a serf.

″Mal,” Raum said. “If you get turned around in there, stick with me or Vali.”

″Why?”

Raum tapped his temple. “I see well.”

″Ah, you’re both Profetik?”

Raum slung his arm around Vali’s shoulders. “They call us the twins. Sight and ears.” He glanced at Vali. “Honestly, I see the resemblance.”

I grinned and shook my head. With Raum’s thick golden hair and Vali’s rich brown skin, they couldn’t look more different. “Was your mesmer so hard to admit?”

″It’s been fun watching you get riled up not knowing what any of us can do,” Raum said.

I rolled my eyes. “So what? Do you see visions?”

″No, but I can see through your clothes.”

I covered my chest, face hot. Raum and Vali shared a good laugh.

″Ignore them,” Tova said and adjusted a gold chain crowning her head. “He can’t see through your clothes. Raum can see obstacles at impossible distances and Val can hear the drop of rain ten lengths away. If, of course, they focus, which they often don’t. Bleeding sods.” She glared playfully at the men, then led me a few paces away. “Remember, you do not speak tonight.”

″I won’t.” I was to be their serf. Nameless. Silent.

″You must not react to what is said, or what you see,” Vali added.

″What do you expect to see?”

″They are posing as Hemlish traders,” Raum said. “Use your imagination.”

No doubt I would catch a glimpse of a cheery trade and sale. A thing I knew went on, but never brought it from the back of my thoughts to imagine how it was done.

Were I a better person, my stomach might turn over on behalf of the cheer boys and girls. Bile might burn my throat in disgust. I might flinch. The sort of person I’d become skimmed memories from bones and sold them to the highest bidder. I didn’t flinch, and there was no knot hardening in my gut.

My mind, instead, went to ways I could steal the memories of those who sold the cheeries, then maybe get them to forget how to breathe.

I finished dressing, mimicking the way Tova hid her knives beneath her skirt. My arrangement lacked a bit of her finesse, and when we stepped through the gates, I had to walk with my toes pointed out to keep two of my blades from knocking between my thighs.

Raum would pose as our guide. Wealthy visitors like Hemlish traders did not travel the back roads of Klockglas unaccompanied.

His position in the scheme was well-played. Raum’s wit distracted the house steward at the entrance, and the man did not even ask for our papers before leading us inside the longhouse.

I winced at the sharp scent of roses as if every rug and fur was soaked in them.

The steward guided us to the great room of the longhouse. Seated on a three-legged stool in the center of the room sat a girl with dark hair, and a red welt swelling near her eye. Once my gaze turned to the edges of the room, a breathy gasp caught in my throat.

I quickly hung my head when Tova glared at me.

How was I expected not to react when seated on a bench was Gunnar with his cunning smile, and—three hells—Kase, but once again he bore the face of Elof.

The only difference between this Elof and the one who frequented Strom lands were the eyes. Instead of the sea blue color, the Nightrender altered the shade to black, with a touch of his true gold.

Dressed in a fine waistcoat, hair combed, he looked every bit like the imaginary Prince Fell.

Like a fist to my throat, my pulse stilled. The bastard.

Elof was Prince Fell.

A secret of the Nightrender unraveled, and I doubted he knew I’d stolen a piece of him in a few breaths.

The killer of the east created illusions, but he’d unmistakably created one around our story. The tale we’d shaped together. As if he, too, still held onto a past he said died long ago.

My skin bubbled in angry heat. To sit there and play as if he cared for nothing, well, the Nightrender could hide behind those damn shadows all he wanted. They were not so dark to me anymore.