“There are limits to even my power. Besides, Mayor Bertram was another such as myself, under someone else’s influence. Whose? I don’t know.”
Galiana’s brow puckered for a moment before she spoke. “Another thing, Irmina, you mentioned the dead men were all near kinai patches. Ryne said the Wraithwoods with the villagers were not far from a kinai orchard. Jerem told us something similar was discovered by you on this side of the Vallum.”
“Yes?” Irmina furrowed her brow, uncertain where Galiana was going.
Galiana turned to Ancel. “Remember that glen of yours and Mirza’s?”
The mention of the glen brought back fond memories of time well spent in Ancel’s arms. The effort not to look in his face proved harder than she could manage.
“Yes,” Ancel avoided her eyes. “Wait … you don’t think.”
“It could be used for Wraithwoods?” Galiana nodded. “Would we even know who has gone missing with all the shadeling attacks? We still have not visited each outlying farm or small village raided since. It is time we did.”
“No one has been there since my father?”
“Yes, the Seifer and Nema patrols, but from what Irmina says, I would like us to send some of our own now.”
“When?” Ancel’s face lit up at the prospect of hunting the shade.
Why would he seem so enthusiastic? She still had nightmares about the creatures.
“You will not be coming with us,” Galiana said. “I need you safe, especially with him here now.” Her gaze drifted to Ryne.
“I agree.” Ryne nodded. “There’s no reason for you to take a risk. In time, with more training, yes. Now? No.”
“A sensible teacher.” Galiana smiled. “The type I like and you need.”
Rolt brought dishes laden with food to the table.
“Well, I would not want to impose on you two any further.” Galiana stood. “Irmina, I need to speak with you.”
Reluctantly, Irmina pushed up from her chair. This time she didn’t need to try to catch Ancel’s attention. He was staring at her. His eyes were chips of ice.
Chapter 16
Long after Shin Galiana left with Irmina and Kachien, Ancel sat picking at his food, chewing on a thin slice of deer without tasting it. He reached a hand up to the pocket where he once kept Irmina’s letter before he stopped himself. It was no longer there. He’d destroyed it the night he met Kachien.
With a heavy sigh, he pushed his plate away. Almost two years had gone since she abandoned him. Now she reappeared as if nothing happened. It didn’t help that she was more beautiful than his savored memories. When Irmina left, she was a tad softer, but that had changed. The unmistakable mark of muscles honed from years training marked her now, and apparently not in her features alone. Her jaw line and chin stopped a hair shy of masculinity, but somehow, that tough exterior warmed his loins. So did her confident air and haughtiness. Maybe the attraction was a product of the rigors he experienced since this entire ordeal began. At least he hoped so. Yet, he knew it was more than that. He’d watched her move, taking in her sublime mixture of grace and strength, that when combined with her curves, he found intoxicating. To him, she was trouble personified.
He thought he’d gotten over her, but seeing her again brought forth emotions he’d buried. Unwanted feelings. The worst of them left him aware of a love he loathed yet was unable to cast aside.
His relationship with Kachien complicated matters even further. Her job as an assassin and the power she used, which at one time induced fear, no longer bothered him since he gained his Etchings. And she stopped working as a courtesan ever since she rescued him. The hint of a smile tugged at his lips. Mirza would have said whore. He wondered what his friend would think of Irmina’s return. Probably nothing good.
Well, he didn’t care. She was the past, dead to him like the meat on his plate. The longing to rush into her arms and hug her had almost overwhelmed him until he remembered her letter. Two years. Two years with no word from you. He grimaced. May Amuni damn you to Hydae.
Frozen fingers crept down his spine. He shook the feeling off, picked up his wine cup, and emptied the contents. Maybe he should drown his thoughts about the woman. Or call on Kachien. The time spent with her often brightened his temperament on days when his mother’s plight preoccupied his mind. Would it be the same with Irmina here? He couldn’t say one way or another.
“You’re troubled,” Ryne said across from him, his voice muffled. The man was sopping up sauce from his third plate with a thick piece of bread.
“A little.”
Ryne grunted. “More than a little. I can feel you, remember?”
Ancel let out a breath. He’d forgotten about the link. Over the past few months he taught himself how to push the connection to the back of his mind. He’d done the same for the links in the pendant and the sword. When deep in thought, he hardly noticed any of them. Ryne’s words made him aware of the ball inside himself.
“How can you tell what I feel?” Ancel strained his mind toward the lump trying to sense Ryne’s emotions.
“Eventually, you’ll recognize them as you would your own. The more time we spend close to each other, the stronger they will be come. Of course, you can always talk to me.” Ryne gave him a lopsided grin, and then stuffed the bread into his mouth.
“I’m talking to you now,” Ancel said.
Ryne stopped chewing to swallow. “There’s talking. And then there’s talking.” For the second sentence, his mouth never moved.
Ancel gasped. Ryne’s words had come from inside his head. “H-How-”
“Picture what you feel of me in your mind. Reach for our connection as you would the Eye. Sink yourself into it and project your speech to me.”
Ancel attempted to reach out and touch the lump. After a few tries, he managed to caress it with his mind. He pretended the link was simply a part of his body then tried to make it a part of his thoughts. Nothing happened.
“Keep trying,” Ryne said, “You’ve mastered entering the Eye so this will come easier.”
Ancel scrunched up his face.
“Don’t force it. Adapt it to what you sense, to what your mind tells you is available. Make it an extension of your will.”
Inhaling deeply, Ancel made several more attempts, but to no avail.
“Your mind is clouded now by your thoughts of Irmina. Once you push that distraction behind you, you’ll be able to properly link with me.”
“She’s even getting in the way of my training,” Ancel growled under his breath. “What do you suggest I do?”
“Confront the issue. Go to her. From there the rest is up to you.”
“I told her I hated her. What if she doesn’t want to see me?”
Ryne shrugged. “She won’t turn you away. It’s in her eyes. She loves you.”
Ancel almost choked. “All I saw was hurt and loathing.”
“You weren’t looking closely enough.”
“I was.”
“Were you?”
Ancel frowned, and then narrowed his eyes. “You mean … the auras?”
Ryne nodded. “The strongest emotions are the easiest to see. That’s how I knew you were going to strike the Knight Captain. You have this anger seething below the surface. The essences can use that against you, coaxing you to take their power. Become your hate’s greatest foe, and not only will you be happier, but your control will be much easier. A darkness resides in you, Ancel. Whatever the reason for it, you must overcome its pull.”
The night of his mother’s taking rushed into Ancel’s mind. The voices spoke to him that night, giving him the power he needed to use the divya his parents had hidden away at the winery. Through the artifact, he connected to the temples throughout Denestia and tapped into the Mater housed in each. Exactly how the elements came to be built within them, he wasn’t sure, but he’d been able to draw upon them nonetheless. He unwittingly summoned the netherling with that power.