A Masquerade of Spiders

Chapter 33: Will The Pain Away

"We won't be able to ask her because Aspertin won't bend an inch, just like she said," Waryn's voice came from down the passage.

"She knew this would happen," Leah said. "She knew everything. She was one step ahead of us the whole time, and now she's—"

"Well met, Dylana," said Nava who was first to arrive at the little room.

I peeled hardened wax off my finger. That was what they thought of me. That was how they spoke of me. He lingered behind in the passage as Leah brushed past him to walk up to me.

"Tell me," she said through clenched teeth. "When did your operator contact you?"

I stared at her. How could she have found out? I had had contact with Pyren only four times since he appeared before me and each time no one was around to hear us talk.

"Why would you think—" I began.

"I received a late report. A very late report," Leah said. "One of my eyes says she thinks she saw you walking with a strange man in a silver maiden mask right before your engagement party..."

My lips worked as my mind raced over what I could and couldn't tell them. "Why did it take her so long to report?"

"Because, she knows I hate to have my time is wasted," Leah said. "She wasn't sure it was you, and when she moved in for a closer look, you and the man were nowhere to be found."

If I told them the truth, I might be able to salvage something. Maybe they would help me find a hint of how to free myself of my oppressors.

But it was also likely that I'd lose them.

And if I lied, and they discovered my lie, I would become exactly what they thought I was.

I tried to test the water. "How did they vanish?" I said. "I mean... the man and the girl who might be me."

Leah answered with only a glare, squeezing her lips together.

I looked from her to Nava, and finally at Waryn, who was watching the corner of the room intently.

No matter if I feigned innocence, they knew of my ability to lie. I was already condemned.  I could've continued to lie, forever and ever.

I could've, and maybe this truth could stay hidden.

I don't know exactly what decided me that night. Maybe I had reached my limit, or I was simply already broken.

"It was during the White Ball..." I said after a long pause.

Waryn gasped, and the look he gave me...

That look he gave me was worse than any physical wound he could inflict.

I started talking rapidly. "I know him by the name of Pyren. I don't know who his master is, he beats me every time I ask a question. He has my sister...she's—she's dying..." I added, my voice hitching. Even here, I was shamelessly using the truth as a shield.

"Why did it take him so long to find you?" Leah asked.

"Because he lost me and only spotted me during the Initiation Ball..." I left out the part about Shana's betrayal. There was no reason why it would be relevant to them.

"He also..." I continued, swallowing hard. "He also admitted to killing Afali himself."

Nava clasped her hand to her mouth. She was oddly quiet, but this was Leah's show. "Fine. And what does he want you to do?"

Again, I looked at Waryn.

"He wants you to kill Waryn?" Leah asked.

"No!" I exclaimed, alarmed. "He doesn't want me to kill anyone. He... He wants Waryn kept away from the conclave."

"What?" Leah said, proving to me that my answer was the last thing she expected. "Why?"

"I don't know," I said. "I don't understand how Waryn's whereabouts has anything to do with the Kiri."

"Doesn't that mean that he has to go now?" Nava said.

"Unless... unless..." I could feel my pulse in my ears. "Unless that's what he wants. Maybe the Kiri plan to wipe out all of the Fel leaders at the Conclave."

"You're disgusting," Leah said. "You won't stop, will you?"

"Wouldn't you say it's odd timing that your agent decides to report something that happened weeks ago at exactly the same moment he decided to bring me to see you?"

Leah clearly wanted to continue to sneer at me, but her face relaxed as she puzzled over this. She shook her head and swung her arm in the air. "Either way," she said. "Dealing with you is too risky."

"Exposing her is too risky too," Waryn said. Those were the first words he spoke in my presence that evening. "Did you know about Kiri's move?"

The blue of his eyes seemed black when he looked at me. His voice was cold and harsh. He wasn't looking at me like I was a stranger, or that I didn't matter to him.

He looked at me like he would tear me limb from limb with his very hands. Like me breathing next to him made the very air toxic.

"Kiri's move?" I asked, struggling to hold back my tears.

"The houses Canid, Chelonio, Equidae, Anarchni, Papaverace, Bovid and Homini have all announced that they will be backing Kiri for their claim to the crown."

"When did this happen?" I asked.

"We don't know," Nava said.

"So, what would be the point of the conclave if Kiri has already rallied the north behind it?"

"If Aspertin and Acavia ally, or if either of them give up the crown to ally with the Fel, Kiri will lose its advantage," Nava said, breathing out a sigh.

"This is a waste of time," Leah interrupted. "She's here gathering information instead of giving us. Go back to your master, Dylana."

"I'll have to come again," I said quickly. "Otherwise he'll know that you know."

"Or, like you said, this is all his doing," Leah interjected. "You'll be able to enter your old room, but don't expect to have to access that passage."

I sent a glance at Nava first, because that was easier, and then looked at Waryn. "Right... I'll be going now." I said, turning to leave.

"Just a moment...Dylana," Waryn said. "After the white ball, did he tell you... did he tell you to seduce me?"

"Yes," I said with my back to him, and hurried away.

I could almost feel the chill of his gaze on my back. I pressed a hand against my chest, but I couldn't will the pain away.