The Void of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood Book 3) Read Free

and hetaera. She had been groomed by Walraven and the Victus to become one, to wreak havoc on the mastons and destroy them. Though Walraven had eventually joined the maston cause at great personal risk, he had not halted the Victus’s plot. They had hoped to use Maia as the vessel for Ereshkigal, Queen of the Unborn. Had she agreed, they would have made her their empress, the ruler and commander of all the kingdoms. They had promised her jewels and gowns, power unsurpassed since the days of the Earl of Dieyre. And she had somehow managed to deny them and survive. Until now.
    Maybe my purpose has been fulfilled , Maia mused. She had left the dark island of Naess with her grandmother, the High Seer of the mastons, and sailed to Muirwood Abbey. There she had studied the tomes, learned about the maston order, and become one herself. Then she had successfully reopened the Apse Veil, joining the worlds together so that the dead could finally rest in Idumea, and the mastons in Assinica could escape slaughter. She wondered if she had completed her purpose and the Medium would now shepherd her on to her next life. Maia was troubled by the thought. She did not feel ready to depart.
    And yet why else had the Medium not warned her to stay away from Comoros?
    “You are lost in thought,” Suzenne said, resting a hand on her shoulder. Not her left shoulder, where the hetaera brand lurked, hidden beneath her dress. “Did you sleep much last night?”
    Maia shook her head. “I dare not,” she confided. “The Myriad Ones are everywhere. I think they are waiting for me to grow weary before attacking me.”
    “Do you think they will?” Suzenne looked even more nervous.
    Maia nodded. “I wrestled against them all night,” she said, her voice sounding hollow even to her own ears. “I am protected by wearing the chaen, but they intrude into my thoughts most insidiously. I can hardly think without some remembrance of their power over me. Did you not feel them this morning at the execution?”
    Suzenne blanched. “That was terrible. You came here to prevent Lady Deorwynn’s execution, and instead we became the chief witnesses of her death.”
    Maia stared sympathetically at her friend. “Are you afraid to die, Suzenne?”
    The other girl’s anguish deepened. “Yes,” she whispered in a small voice.
    Maia turned and took Suzenne’s hands in hers, squeezing them. “I am struggling with that fear as well, I admit. Chancellor Walraven taught me not to fear death. That lesson is in the maston tomes as well, and yet the urge to cling to this second life is so strong. Let us remember the maston ceremony. This is not our final destiny. Knowing that makes it easier to bear the truth of what may happen.” She swallowed hard. “I am so sorry that you and Dodd came with me to Comoros. I hope my father does not kill you because of me. That would be too much for me to endure.”
    Suzenne tugged one of her hands free and wiped the tears that had fallen from her lashes. She dropped down to her knees in front of Maia. “I do not regret coming with you, Maia. Dodd and I are bound by irrevocare sigil. They may have separated us in this dungeon, but they cannot separate us forever.” She blinked quickly, suppressing further tears. “I know you and the King of Dahomey—”
    Maia smiled sadly. “I hardly think of him as that. He is Collier to me.”
    Suzenne’s voice was pained. “Your husband is not a maston. If you die, you will not be with him. Does that not make you grieve?”
    Maia gave her a sad smile before looking back out the window and nodding. If all had gone according to Collier’s plan, he’d ridden through the night from Muirwood to reach his spy, Simon Fox, this very morning. How surprised Simon would be to learn that Maia was in the city! She had not made it very far from the gates of Claredon Abbey before being abducted by the chancellor’s men. There had been no opportunity to visit Simon as she’d promised Collier she