It took him a moment to notice the past tense. “We’ll find him, we will, mistress! Have no fear of that!”
She shook her head. “No, dear, loyal Romus…even though I’ve said so to the people, I don’t think we will. Like his brother, I fear Uldyssian’s lost to us forever!”
It was unthinkable. The master had defeated terrible demons and legions of warriors! Nothing could take him so easily…and yet…
“Some say…mistress…some say that they saw his brother near him just before he vanished…perhaps…”
“A disguise, like that worn by the two monsters who attacked me.” Serenthia shuddered, which made Romus want to comfort her in his arms. “No, a demon took Uldyssian, of that I’m certain.” Her green eyes bore deeper into his. “One almost took me even. Before Hashir.”
He was aghast. “Mistress! When?”
“In the jungle. When Uldyssian ordered us across the river. You recall?”
“Aye…” Romus gritted his teeth. In some ways, it bothered him even more that she had nearly been taken than it did that Uldyssian was now missing. He found it impossible to imagine the edyrem without her.
“Uldyssian…and even Mendeln…protected me then. Since they vanished, I’ve worked as hard as I can to protect everyone else, but…I must tell you something, for your ears alone, dear Romus.”
“What? What?” Without realizing it, he slid closer until they were nearly touching.
“I am afraid. Afraid. I can protect the others, but who is there now to protect me ?”
The answer escaped him before he realized how it sounded. “Me! I’ll always be there to protect you, mistress!”
Before his face could redden too much from shame, Serenthia suddenly put a soft hand to his cheek. She smiled. “You would? Would you really, Romus?”
It all began pouring out. “I’d give my life and soul for you, mistress! I’d stand against all the powers of the Triune! I could never let anything happen to you!”
He expected her to throw him out for daring to speak so when it was evident to all how much the master had meant to her.
And yet…
“Romus…” Serenthia whispered, her lips so close that he was nearly ready to sacrifice his life just to kiss them once. “Romus…you’ve no idea how much that means to me…”
She caressed his cheek again, then, almost reluctantly, leaned back. The former brigand was unable to stop himself from exhaling sharply.
“If you mean what you say…and I so very much hope that you do…this gives me another idea…”
Still recovering from before, Romus managed only a grunt of inquisitiveness.
“You know how Uldyssian introduced others to the gift. But with me, he delved deeper…and that’s why I think that my abilities grew faster than anyone else’s.”
“Very likely, very likely,” he replied, glad to have a safe subject to discuss.
“I think…no…I know…how he did it. They were private moments, when he could focus on me alone. You did notice that there were times when he and I were gone for hours?”
Romus recalled some such periods and felt for the first time a jealousy that the master had been able to partake in them with the woman before him. “Yes…mistress…”
“Good!” Her eyes seemed to glow brighter than the torches in the chamber warranted. “Will you do me the honor of doing as Uldyssian did with me? It’ll mean hours together, for which I apologize, but with both him and Mendeln gone, someone else must step up…and I suppose you could better protect me while I protect you…”
He could hardly deny her. “I’m yours, mistress. To my very soul, I’m yours. Teach me, if you think me worthy…”
“I find you very worthy,” Serenthia returned in what from any other woman would have sounded coy to Romus. Not the mistress, though. Not her.
Steeling himself, the brigand finally tore his gaze from hers. She wanted him merely as a fellow comrade, nothing more. Everything that she had suggested made perfect sense; Romus should have felt honored for that alone. If the master was indeed never returning, as she clearly believed, the least that his loyal follower could do was to see that his legacy lived on.
Feeling better about his decision, Romus bowed his head. “When shall we start, mistress?”
Her smile curled higher. “Why not now?”
“Now?” He thought quickly. “Saron and some of the others’ll need to know, mistress, so they can do without me…”
“They are capable of that already. You need go and tell them nothing…not even after tonight…”
Her hands went to his and when she touched them, a flush went through Romus. Trying to recover, he looked to the doors and only then noticed that they were shut.
“I want us alone…the better to concentrate,” Serenthia explained. “You understand the need for privacy, don’t you?”
“Yes…yes, mistress…”
She giggled, which caused his face to again flush. “And one more thing, dear Romus…” Her fingers intertwined with his. “You need never call me ’mistress’…”
13
It sounded to Uldyssian as if something immense was breathing.
The cavern in which he and Rathma stood stretched so high that the stalactites forming above had managed to grow many times the length of a man. The stalagmites had done fair, too, rising like squat giants from the floor.
Uldyssian felt as if he stood in the mouth of a hungry beast. The “breathing” only added to that disconcerting sensation.
It was the stalactites and stalagmites that were also the source of illumination for the tremendous chamber, for radiating from deep within each was a ghostly crimson light whose source he could only imagine. While he was grateful for their brightness, they, too, contributed to Uldyssian’s overwhelming sense of unease.
“This is as far as I can risk bringing us by other than physical means,” Rathma commented with his usual detachment. “You can sense why, I think.”
But now that he was getting over his astonishment at where he and his undesired companion had just materialized, what Rathma had proclaimed just before their arrival once more seized hold of Uldyssian.
Lilith had control of the edyrem…
Stirred anew by anger, he seized Rathma by the collar of his cloak. “What did you mean by what you said before?” Uldyssian growled as he shook the demoness’s son. “How did it happen? How did she do it?”
“You refer to my mother and her usurping of your followers,” the other said needlessly. “She is cunning and keeps herself well shielded, but I have gradually considered that she must have possessed the woman Serenthia at some point when she was out of your sight in all ways. From there, it was a simple task to—”
Head pounding, Uldyssian roughly released Lilith’s son as he thought of just when it might have been that the demoness had taken the merchant’s daughter. One incident immediately came to mind. Serenthia had gone to get water and for once, he had not used his abilities to monitor her. She had bent behind the lush plants and…and a moment later had gasped.
And fool that he had been, Uldyssian had taken her response to his concern at face value. He had forgotten the twisted ways of Lilith…
“Serenthia…” he whispered. “It can’t be…she can’t be dead…”
“And she is not.”
Confusion, hope, and distrust warred for mastery over Uldyssian. “What do you mean? It’s Master Ethon and his son all over again! That foul witch wears Serry’s skin like a damned dress! She slaughtered her then stripped her of her flesh!”
Rathma shook his head. “No…for the game my mother’s chosen to play, she cannot disguise herself so. Such a technique, while definitely demonic in nature, allows only a limited ability. Enough to fool some priests or household servants for a time, but not for extended periods and needs. For this, Lilith required a more careful, more delicate touch. She has literally had to make herself and the woman one. My mother is like a haunting spirit that now guides each movement of the body, yet your Serenthia is still within, but very, very deep asleep.”