Free Shrouded Sky (The Veils of Lore Book 1) by Tracy A. Akers Page B

bundle from his pocket. It was small, wrapped in cloth and bound with twine. He handed it to him. “If you fail to prevent it, Tygg, you must swallow this. It is chichanei; one leaf placed on the tongue is all that is required. But you must be quick about it, for if she reaches your mind, she will know your plot.”
    “So I am to face Marcassett, kill her host, find the Kee, steal it, escape the city, and bring the Kee to Adjo. And if she touches me, I am to eat poison, which still leaves us without the Kee.” He forced a laugh. “How simple.”
    “Aye. If she touches you, we may not secure the Kee, but at least we will have trapped Marcassett, for if she enters your mind, she will be housed within you at that moment. Please know, Tygg, this is not the desired end. To succeed, you must bring us the Kee. If you fail in that, your death and hers will at least prove to the gods that we remain allies to them. We can only pray they will be satisfied with that.”
    “And what of the Pedant and the Imela? How do they figure in the scheme?”
    “You can expect no aid from Orryn, other than him protecting you for a time due to his debt. As for the girl, she gives you reason to go to Syddia. Nothing more.”
    “But the Imela has ancestral memory. Orryn claims she spoke of Kiradyn.”
    “Kiradyn?” Yatka turned his eyes to the image on the wall and studied it. “The gods did not tell me this,” he said.
    “If they did not tell you this, what else have they not told you?” Tygg asked accusingly.
    “I cannot know everything!” Yatka said, turning on him. “That would make me a god, and that I would never claim to be.” He turned his eyes back to the wall. “If the Imela has memory of this place, then others might have it also. And if they come looking for us . . .”
    “If they come looking for us, what?”
    “The gods made it clear that Sister World, that all the realms that surround us, are not to know of us. That is why they insist we remain hidden, avoiding contact with them. The gods do not yet know of the children stolen from our shores many generations ago. Nor do they know Aredyrah has at times winked in and out of view on account of it.”
    “How can they not know?”
    “We are but a grain of sand in the vast ocean of their existence, but that does not mean we are of less importance to them.”
    “And when they do learn of the Lost, and the Kee? What then?”
    “We can only pray they will not see our weakness as betrayal.”
    “Is the Imela a threat to us do you think?”
    Yatka shrugged. “I do not know. The elementals have allowed her to enter our shores. All we can do is trust their wisdom. They wish this world destroyed no more than we do. That is why they now protect our borders and allow only those descended from the Lost Ones to enter.”
    “They have been mistaken before. Are there not many unmarked graves to attest to it?”
    “Indeed. Hopefully there will not be another before your task is done.”
    Tygg looked down at the bundle in his hand.
    “Hide it in the waistband of your leathers,” Yatka said. “It will not likely be found there.”
    “The gods ask much of me.”
    “As they do all of us.” Yatka placed his hand on Tygg’s arm. “As for the Imela, do not concern yourself. She is but a means to get you into Syddia. You will argue that she is of our blood, thus it is your duty to go there and prove it. Of course that is not your true purpose. Your true purpose is to assassinate Marcassett and steal back the Kee.”
    “I am but one man, Yatka. How can I hope to defeat such a creature?”
    “The gods would not have chosen you if you were not worthy.”
    “Am I? For I feel very small.”
    “It depends on what you answer now. Will you risk your life to save your soul? Will you risk yourself to save us all?”
    Tygg felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness. If he answered no, he would be no better than his great grandsire. If he answered yes, he would not likely live to see his