Chapter 33: House of Mirrors
"Did you miss me?"
Gharla's face went white with rage.
"How dare you show your face here again!" Before he could react, she punched him across the face. He stumbled back, rubbing his cheek.
"I suppose I deserved that."
"You deserve to be dead!" Gharla snarled, spit spewing from her mouth. "The way you treated Zyra! The way you ran away with your tail between your legs like a coward! The..." she made a horrendous sound and spat at his feet. "The truth of what you really are. You are not worthy to be here, let alone come with bags as though you have any place here, anymore!"
Kail did not resist as she forced him down, put her foot in his back, and bound his arms behind him. The blonde was angrier than she had ever been. If Gharla was a dragon she would have been blowing fire. Enui, who had been coming and going put a hand on her shoulder.
"I have sent a village runner to bring Rair back from her hunt. She will arrive within the hour."
She pointed her spear towards Kail. "The Chieftess wants to speak with him."
Gharla nodded, notching her arrow. "Yes, I'm certain that she does."
"As you wish."
Kail allowed the huntresses to parade him through the village like a prisoner, eyes wide and pots dropping everywhere he walked, just like the first time.
Slower than he liked, they arrived to Kyzu's tent. He could see through the curtain that she was currently mediating between two women who were upset about farming space. She glanced up, her face registering shock before her eyes grew hard.
"Ladies, we will have to reconvene. In the meantime, do as we discussed."
"Yes, my Chieftess."
The two women walked off, one tripping on her way out from staring at him. His guards ushered him in and Kyzu sat back arranging herself on her pillows.
Enui hit Kail hard with the back of her spear.
"Kneel."
He did as he was told. He was rebound with a cord from Gharla's belt, his hands in front, while Enui bound his legs together. When they finished he tested the knots. Ah, constrictor knots. They would tighten if he struggled and no doubt cause rope burn. Clever women those Rovians.
"Leave us," Kyzu said solemnly. The huntresses hesitantly nodded, "We will be outside if you need us, my Chieftess." Then they left the tent.
All was quiet. She watched him with no words, and he felt instinctively that she wasn't waiting for him to talk. She was thinking, likely, thinking of what to do to him. Kyzu smiled, an expression he'd seen directed towards Zyra when she was at her worst.
Great.
The Chieftess curled a long-fingered hand under her chin, her eyes pinning him in place. "
Kail
. I never expected to see you again. You're looking well."
He shrugged, the gesture lost because his massive shoulders were yanked in front of him. "Thank you. You're looking well yourself."
"Pity isn't it," Kyzu said, her smile widening. "That I would give you permission to love my sister, and you would throw it in my face."
"I thought ending things I couldn't start was what you wanted."
"What I
wanted
, was for you to be the person she thought you were."
Kyzu stood, her bare feet sliding on the floor towards him like a dance. "What I
wanted
, was for Zyra to know she was loved, and that should her back end up against the wall, the people beside her would be only of the highest conviction, character, and loyalty. But you are none of those things Kail. You, are a murderer."
Kail shook his head chuckling. Gosh, why did he return?
"And you think, of all people, you have the right to judge me?"
She recoiled, her smile dropping. "No matter how dark of a place I have been in, I have always held Zyra in my heart. Where did you hold her hm? In your groin?"
The ogre's eyes narrowed. "I didn't come here for this Kyzu."
"Oh? Forgive my poor manners. Pray tell, what did you come here for? To grovel at Zyra's feet for forgiveness? We have not seen her for as long as we have not seen you. She's been gone for months."
That's what he was afraid of. Kail straightened, looking her in the eye. "I sensed her a few days ago. She drew upon my energy using the mark I gave her when we were together. I think she's in trouble."
Kyzu's face froze over, then became sharp and angry. "And you know this for certain?"
"Zyra would only be able to draw upon my energy if she were in grave danger."
"And has she done so since then?"
"No."
"...could she be—"
"No."
She grimaced. "And you expect me to just what? Trust you?"
Kyzu sighed heavily, and went to the side of the tent. She opened a chest and pulled out an ornate, deadly looking dagger. She turned it over, examining it in front of Kail's face.
"Do you know what the Akeerans did to traitors?"
Kail glared at her, his patience running out. "No. I don't know what the Akeerans did to traitors."
Kyzu smiled and tapped his head with the tip. "Well, the Akeerans were our brutal sister tribe. The leader took my mother from us. It was this tribe that we decimated with the help of our neighbors the Wakai. They were a war-like clan with a strict code of conduct that make us Rovians seem like an unorganized group of fat fat birds. You see, when an Akeeran child is young, they teach it to obey. Then the test it. They tell them to walk over a bed of hot coals. The children that step on the coals begin their training. The ones that don't get a piece of their ear cut off, so that when all children begin their training, the children know who is most likely to betray them in adulthood." She passed the knife over Kail's pointed ear.
"As an adult, if you betray the tribe you are hunted down and brought before the Chieftess. She then proceeds to hack two pieces off of you, one, every hour, until sundown. Then if you survive the night, she repeats it again. And again. And again, until the person begs for death. She must hear it in their agony. Only then does she release them, and orders that none of the tribe members touch them. By this time? They are eyeless, mouthless, dying creatures, and she grants them no mercy. She does not kill them. She allows them to live in that state until their wounds kill them. It is the most barbaric thing the Akeerans could do, and the most likely to keep traitors out of their ranks."
She pressed the blade against his neck and Kail lifted his neck, defiantly baring it to her.
"I do not believe you capable of such cruelty Kyzu."
"No. Not even," Kyzu stated. "But I am sure there is one among us who could muster up the courage."
"You can't."
"And why not?"
"Because Zyra will feel it."
Kyzu backhanded him. "Liar."
Their bond wasn't fully formed so it was a lie, but he wasn't going to come clean now. "And if you kill me you'll never know whether Zyra is dead or alive, if you ever see her again."
Kyzu hit him again. He could taste blood in his mouth. Funny, he didn't remember the older sister being so strong. She gripped him by his hair and yanked him backward, making him growl.
"Did you intend to kill her as you killed her predecessor?"
"Never."
"Why did you kill him?"
Kail craned his neck to face her, his hair ripping out his skull. "The witches killed him. They killed his soul. He had no spirit and had lost his hope. I only released him from his agony. And I would do it again."
The Chieftess tried to hide it, but a flash of fear ran past her schooled features.
"And you say they did this to the keromedio before Zyra?"
"His name was Valor," he said stiffly. "He was my brother." He shifted forward. "Is there anything you would not do for your kin? I was exiled for sparing him and labeled my brother's killer, forced to live with my actions, a worse fate than his already detestable one. I will not apologize for that. But I will apologize for my cowardice. I didn't want to go through that again. I didn't want to see the person I love turned into a monster for the sake of a war they had no stake in."
Kyzu leveled the dagger at him. "Then why did you return?"
Kail closed his eyes. "To grovel at her feet."
"For her love?"
"No. Just her forgiveness."
"I don't believe you," Kyzu chuckled. "You still love her, that is plain, but the truth of her state, of your connection...if you are lying ogre..." Kyzu released his hair, dropping strands onto his lap. Her voice low and raspy. "If you are lying, I will summon the Akeeran in me, and I will
end
you. Do you understand."
"Yes."
"You do love my sister."
Kail sighed. "That's not important now. What's important is—"
"Saving Zyra. I know. How do you suppose we do that?"
Kail chuckled. "I have no fucking idea."
"Then you are as useless as ever, you miserable green oaf." The insult was more bark than bite. Much of the anger had come out her voice. Kail hoped that was a good sign.
"Gharla! Enui!"
The huntresses rushed in, fully armed. "Yes Chieftess."
"Check on the status of Rair. I wish her to be present. The ogre has quite a story to tell us."
She pointed the dagger at his chest. "And he is going to start from the beginning."
-
"You have to remember Zyra...Look at it. See what I see. Can you see it?"
...wait. Who are you?
It's on the sword...You have to take it off as soon as you can...
I don't want to lose you!
"You have to..."
No...
"You
have
to."
HELP! PLEASE! ANYONE HELP ME!
Zyra jerked up in a cold sweat. She turned to her right, looking out the window of her hut. It was still night. She could feel the panic receding to some private place in the back of her mind. Why did she feel like she'd had this dream before? She was dying, and yet...why? Why did it feel so real? The more she had the dream, the less she remembered and the more she wanted to. Maybe everything was just getting to her. Living alone had its downsides too. She was painfully aware of her position and the fact that she'd narrowly escaped Creedon's minion Thorn.
Groaning, she stood up, deciding to take a walk. The sun was still down, and the moon ruled the sky. She needed to get her mind right if she was going to do this. Scallen was nowhere to be found yesterday, so Etaceh said she would personally speak to him and get him onboard. She then told Zyra to rest up, and gave her several droughts to heal her.
