Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II, Hodges, Aaron [top 10 non fiction books of all time txt] 📗

“I take it these nightly disappearances aren’t to see some secret lover?” she asked, trying to be friendly.

The Gemaho woman grunted. “Afraid not.” Letting out a groan, she sat up and eyed Erika from across the room. “Your queen is drawing close.”

A vice closed around Erika’s throat at the woman’s words and it was a moment before she managed to reply. “She’s heading here?”

“With an army,” Maisie confirmed.

Fear drove Erika to her feet. She paced the room again, fists clenched, warmth radiating through her body…

She froze, her eyes falling to the gauntlet. Light shone from the metallic fibres and she realised she’d summoned its magic again without thinking. Letting out a slow breath, she relaxed her hand and the magic died.

“How long do we have?” she asked quietly.

“Less than a day.”

“A day!” Erika cried.

She swung around, panic gripping her…but there was no escaping the Queen of Flumeer. A moan built in her throat and she clutched her hands to her hair. What had she been thinking? Better that she had thrown herself upon Amina’s mercy than betray such a woman. She would get no clemency now.

“Oh, calm down,” Maisie snorted, lying back on the bed. “You’re safe here, or had you forgotten? A fortress lies between us and the woman. Her army could hurl itself upon the walls of the Illmoor Fortress for a decade and never come a step closer to taking you.”

“You don’t know her like I do,” Erika argued, though she ceased her pacing. Drawing in a breath, she sought calm. “The woman is devious.”

“And you think Gemaho has survived all these years because Nguyen is not? Believe me, he has been three steps ahead of Amina for years.”

The breath hissed from Erika’s nose as she exhaled sharply, but she did not argue further. There was little point. She slumped back to her bed.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “It’s just…I’ve never felt so lost. None of this makes sense. Even this magic…I think it’s doing something to me.”

“Oh?” Maisie asked, leaning forward on the bed. “Why would you think that?”

Erika shook her head. “I don’t know.” She made a gesture, as though to dismiss her concerns. “Though…maybe you can help. The orb you have, the king’s gauntlet…how long have you had them?”

Maisie eyed her for a long moment, as if weighing up whether that was information they could trust Erika with. In the end though, she must have proven herself worthy, for the woman let out a sigh.

“Two years,” she replied. “We found them in our only ancient site, far to the east. There was a sealed room, much like the one you discovered in Flumeer, I hear. It held several artefacts, though only Nguyen’s gauntlet and my orb retain any power.”

Erika nodded. “And the king…he hasn’t changed, having the gauntlet for so long?”

“Not to my knowledge,” the spy replied with a smile.

Despite herself, Erika let out a sigh, relieved. If the king hadn’t changed after using the gauntlet after two years, then…she frowned, glancing again at Maisie. She too wielded one of the artefacts of the Gods; could that have altered her perception of the king?

Angrily Erika shook her head. She was being paranoid, wasn’t she? Surely Cara would have said something about the gauntlet earlier, if it could corrupt them. But then, the Goddess had rarely offered information freely…

“I need to see Cara,” Erika said suddenly, coming to her feet. “It’s time I asked her some more questions.”

“Ah…” The woman hesitated. “I don’t think she’s taking visitors right now.”

Erika narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious. She should have checked on Cara days ago, but she’d been preoccupied with the queen and her own magical dilemmas. Now something about the spy’s behaviour set her suspicions aflame.

“Where is she?” Erika demanded.

Maisie sighed. “She’s safe…and secure.”

“You put her in a cell, didn’t you?”

“Well, we could hardly leave her in those chains after she got the first pair off, could we?” Maisie argued.

“I want to see her.”

Air hissed between the spy’s teeth as she exhaled, but after a moment she nodded. “Come on.”

Maisie led her through the long corridors of the fortress until they came to a narrow stairwell of cold granite, leading down into the depths beneath the keep. Erika hesitated as the spy took a torch from its bracket, memories of other underground tunnels flickering into her mind.

“You ready?” the spy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Erika nodded quickly and they started down into the darkness. Maisie’s torch lit a bubble of light around them, but watching the flames flicker, Erika couldn’t help but think how easily they might be extinguished. Then the darkness would claim them. A shiver ran down her spine and she clenched her fist, reaching for the magic, before stopping herself.

The stairwell ended in a narrow corridor lined with the iron bars of several cells. It stretched only a few yards—apparently Fort Illmoor hadn’t had a great need for jail cells until now. Maisie led her past several empty cells before coming to a stop at the last one. She held up the torch and glanced at Erika.

“Well…ask your questions.”

The breath caught in Erika’s throat as the flames illuminated the room beyond the bars. It held no furniture but for a steel-framed cot bolted to the stones and a bucket placed in the corner. There were no windows or other exits, though movement came from the corner as a rat squawked at the light, disappearing into a hole between the bricks.

Erika’s gaze was drawn to the bed, where a figure sat, knees pulled up to her chest. Dirt-stained wings hung limp across the bed, though Erika was surprised to see the cuts the Goddess had suffered from the king’s attack already appeared to have healed. Slowly, Cara lifted her head, her amber eyes glinting in the lantern light.

“So you finally decided to come,” she said as their eyes met.

A lump lodged in Erika’s throat and she quickly dropped her gaze, unable to face that accusation, that anger. How far had she fallen, that it had