Wintercraft: Legacy Read Free Page A

not want to admit how strongly the veil was calling to her, so she focused upon something solid and physical instead. ‘The cliffs,’ she said. ‘They look beautiful from here.’
    The older woman gave a slight smile of satisfaction, making Kate believe that her secret was safe. She may not have known why it was important for her to keep it, but as long as she had even the slightest doubt about her situation, she would trust her own instincts far more than any living soul upon that ship.
    She returned as warm a smile as she could manage towards the woman who claimed to be her protector. Dalliah was a tall woman who looked no older than sixty, with short peppered hair and a strong body. Her clothes were old and well worn, and she wore twists of dried flowers and leaves around her wrists, marking her as someone who often worked with the dead. When her eyes metKate’s, they were critical and cold: they belonged to someone who had lived too long, seen too much, and had many secrets to hide.
    Dalliah was no ordinary woman. She had lived far longer than anyone alive. Her extraordinary connection to the veil allowed her body to heal itself almost instantly, stretching her unnatural existence until she was now almost five hundred years old. She had spent most of those years in exile on the Continent. Now she was travelling back to Albion for the first time in two centuries, taking Kate back to the ancient city of Fume.
    ‘Is your memory returning?’ Dalliah’s question was simple enough, but the look she sent with it was heavy with threat.
    ‘No,’ Kate answered quickly.
    ‘Da’ru tried to lie to me too,’ said Dalliah. ‘When she was a girl, not very much older than you. You would be foolish to follow her path.’
    The name was familiar, but Kate did not know from where.
    ‘Da’ru was your predecessor,’ said Dalliah. ‘She might not have possessed your level of natural ability, but I would have preferred you both worked together towards what we must do. Sadly, that is not possible.’
    ‘Why not?’ asked Kate.
    ‘Because she is dead.’ Dalliah said the words as coolly as if she were commenting on the weather. It was statement, given without a hint of real interest or emotion.
    ‘What happened to her?’
    ‘A student who cannot defend her own life is of no useto me,’ said Dalliah. ‘The details are not important. Da’ru had her chance. It took fifteen years to teach her what she knew. You have only a few days. Do not waste time by lying to me again.’
    She turned away from the sea and spoke to an officer who was standing at the top of the staircase leading down to the main deck. The officer glanced at Kate and nodded firmly before heading that way to gather a group of his men. Kate looked down across the deck and watched the Blackwatch work. Some were lowering a small boat over the side of the ship, while others pulled in the sails, bringing the huge vessel to a steady stop.
    Ahead of them, a tower reached up from the rocks like a ghost swathed in icy air. The small cove nearest the ship appeared deserted, yet Kate’s eyes were drawn immediately to a shallow cave worn into the side of the cliff. Something about the darkness drew her in. There was a presence inside: something neither fully dead nor fully alive, waiting in the dark.
    ‘We will go to the shore together,’ said Dalliah. ‘Do you have the book?’
    Kate rested her hand on a small lump underneath her coat pocket. Even without her memories, she felt protective towards the book that was concealed inside. Dalliah had warned her not to open it until they reached Albion’s capital city, but Kate had defied her and secretly flicked through its pages during her time alone in the cabin. The words inside looked familiar and she found that she did not have to read everything to know what was written there; the slightest reminder was all it tookfor her mind to fill in the gaps. She had read that book before. It felt like a vital part of her that she