Chapter 20: A Lie, A Truth

"We have to go," I said. "We have to leave everything and go. Right now."

"Yael..."

"They saw me, papà. They saw me and that means they'll come back here, soon, for all of us. We have to leave... To Semuru. We can go to Semuru, can't we mamma?"

I turned to her. She looked at me steadily, seemingly calm. My mother knew how to hide her heart. "The Lords don't like to leave loose ends. If it's the Somaer who took her, Yael, then anywhere we go, the danger will follow."

"Then what do you intend to do? Just stay here and hope they won't come?"

"We're not young and swift enough to outrun them," papà said. "But you are."

"Nonsense! You work the vineyard. You labour every day. You're both strong, you can—"

"Yael. I'm nine and forty years this coming winter," papà said. "We were too old as parents. Most men my age have grandchildren to inherit their children. We've weathered many storms. And this one is no different. But you, Yael, cannot be found here when they return to question us."

"Question you? They won't ask questions. It's not questions they want. Whatever they need Marin for, they'll want to erase their tracks, papà."

"You have to leave, Yael," papà said. "You have to live. We'll buy you time, enough to get away safely."

There was no stopping the tears from coming. There was no limit to my rage and confusion. "I'm not leaving you," I said.

"What about Marin?" mamma asked. "They took her alive. She could still be saved."

Papà looked at mamma for a moment as if she were mad. How could I possibly save anyone? And from the Lords, no less. But some understanding passed between them, something that back then, in the whirlwind of my emotions, I didn't comprehend.

My father turned to me with firm conviction and pressed a heavy purse into my hands. "If you want to save your sister, you have to live, Yael," he said. "At any cost, you have to live. That means we're not your parents and you're no one's daughter."

They only wanted to give me purpose. I knew this now. They wanted to die knowing that they died for me to live.

And I lived for Marin to be saved, even if they hadn't really meant to give me such an impossible task.

I would save Marin.

At any cost.

***

My heart drummed in my throat as I stood in his sunny bedroom. It had the same exact layout as mine, except that the water basin was right by the fireplace and the tapestries along the walls showed dizzying patterns of stags in green, red and gold. Lord Waryn poured himself a glass of wine, and offered me none. The label on the bottle had a seagull stamp under the word DIEDER written in bold red letters.

The guards at the door were ordered to move away, the adjacent bedroom where servants would be was completely vacant.

There was no one to hear me scream.

We stood like this in silence, me, with my hands clasped together, standing in the centre of the room and he, with a goblet in hand, leaning against the oak mantlepiece.

I would not offer a word to him. He would be the first one to speak. I had to be careful with my lies.

And finally, he did speak. He said, "I know your name isn't Abetha."

I didn't reply.

"During the execution in Klesei market square of the vintner from Thalmina and his wife, you stood with Lady Afali, Lord Euryis and three other lesser Cervi lords, Panlis, Filar and Modian. Then, just when everyone was distracted, you vanished for approximately six minutes. Where did you go?"

"I was—"

"Wait, don't answer that, let me ask you a better question." He abandoned his wineglass on the mantlepiece and began pacing in front of me, grinning. "Who was the dead girl I found in the alley right behind where your group stood? Why was she naked, the girl? Did you kill her? But if you did, why did you strip her of the dress?"

When I spoke next, I could barely hear my voice over the sudden ringing in my ears. "What were you doing at the execution?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here. You speak only to answer."

I could feel sweat trickling down my back. I couldn't find my voice, but he didn't seem to really expect me to answer.

"Why did you try to pay for the peasants' burial? And where did you get that coin purse? You didn't have it with you before you vanished. Who gave it to you?"

My knees were weak, the room grew unsteady. All this effort I put into my survival was being undone, one question at a time, by this man. Whatever he planned to do with his knowledge, I was at his mercy and it killed me. I longed to do something terrible, something violent that would banish the smug smile off his face forever. But I remembered all too well how expertly he had wielded a sword in the darkness, and he was living proof that leaving a trail of dead bodies in my wake would not go by unpunished.

Waryn twined his fingers behind his back as he paced. "The vintner was an interesting choice for an execution. He managed a successful holding that had been in his family for generations. From what I could gather, his family originated in Kambria, that's why he proudly wore the sigil of a sea-gull. That explained a lot about the quality of the wine, but nothing about what his crimes were and where both of his daughters vanished on the night before he and his wife were executed."

Waryn had his back to me when he faced the empty hearth. "He had two daughters. One aged sixteen, his heir, Marin Dieder, last seen during the seasonal wedding night in Thalmina, and the older daughter, Yael Dieder, apprentice to a local mask-maker who went only by the name of Shana and who conveniently vanished this morning just as my eyes went looking for her. Yael Dieder, too, disappeared on the same night as her younger sister."

He spun around to stare at me. He knew my name. He knew exactly who I was. "I really believed there was a girl named Abetha in my room that night. And yesterday, I was convinced you were Dylana. I truly thought you were her. You behaved just like she would have. Like a woman with no soul who would do anything to get away with cruelty. But Nava figured something was odd when she heard your accent. "It isn't real, Waryn," she told me. "It's too elaborate." Not many have an ear like Nava, you had everyone else fooled. To confirm her suspicion, she tested you on your knowledge of Tvereman history, of Manadira, the Tvereman ancestor, and you failed."

What did he want me to say? What did he want me to do? I was frozen solid as he took slow, deliberate steps towards me, a lion cornering its prey.

"And then I realised that you were the same woman who entered my room, from that brief moment that you showed me your face. What made you try to escape that night? Were you worried that your old mistress would reveal you when she came to measure you for a mask? Or that you'd die while taking serum? Which was it? Both? And you came to my room, why?"

He held up three fingers. "There are three more things that elude me, Miss Yael," he said. I shut my eyes at the mention of my name, as if I wanted no involvement with it. "The first is, how did you know to choose Dylana as your victim? Who gave you that information?"

I opened my eyes when he put two fingers to my chin. "The second question I'd like answered is, who trained you? Was it that woman, Shana? Was she a spy-master in disguise?"

His last remaining finger slid from my chin, to the side of my neck. "And finally, what purpose are you here to fulfil?"

And then he waited, because he expected an answer. And I waited, because I expected to die.

When a long while passed, he grabbed my upper arm, gently but possessively. "Come, Yael, you can tell me. I've been in this game of spiders before I could even talk. I know how it works. Your master holds your loyalty because he ransoms your sister's life in exchange for your actions. In this world you have entered, the means always justify the end. You want to survive, not just for survivals sake, but for hers, isn't that right?"

That seductive tone he took, he was using every tool in his arsenal to woo me, to encourage me to give him everything when he already had so much. I looked up into his face. He was so beautiful,  with his hard wild stare and undisturbed smoothness of his shaven cheeks. It was hard to believe he was even a real human, and not a turner like Emil.

But I wasn't swayed. On the other side of my panic was a noiseless sanctuary.

"Why did your master put you here, in plain sight, Yael, when, with your talent, you could've been so much more useful as an Abetha? Even as yourself?"

He got nothing out of me. I would give him nothing more. What did it matter, anyway?

A lie.

A truth.

Everything would die with me.

"I can make you one of mine, Yael," he said. He held both my shoulders, his hands touching me almost tenderly, as if he would comfort me for failing so bitterly. "If you give me your master, if you show me his game, I can help set you free. Think of Marin."

Despite my better wishes, I shivered, and could feel the wetness of tears on my eyelashes.

Like a spider wrapping its prey in silk, he pulled me into his embrace. "I can save her, and you. Unlike your master, I've got no taste for cruelty. I won't let you suffer."

I pushed him away with all my might, and laughed through my tears. "You'd believe me as soon as I'd believe you," I said. "There's no reason for me to trust you, and the truth I have doesn't align with the way you see the world. It's over, you made it clear that it is, so stop being a coward and kill me now. Or would you like me to do it myself?"

I didn't wait. I undid the silver maiden mask, letting it fall with a clatter to the floor. Then I began to untie the inner silk mask.

He grabbed my wrists and wrestled them away from my mask straps, holding both my hands together in front of me. "Test me with whatever you think is the truth, and let me see if I can find your lies," he said.

"Why should I?"

"Because if you die, there will be no one to fill Dylana's place. The Cervi will have lost their ward, the Accipitri will scream for justice. The south and the north hold no love for one another. How long do you think they can hold it all together? This can be the kind of thing that will burn all of Vynam to the ground."

"And you want me to believe that you care?" The Lords have always walked on the ashes of the people. Even if everything crumbles, they would still ride on top of the waves of our blood.

"Fine, let's assume you'll die in the coming hour," he said. "Then humour me before that happens, for the chance you might discover that nothing is actually as lost as you think."

I couldn't find an argument to contradict him. I twisted my wrists out of his hold. He made to catch them again, clearly wishing to stop any further attempt of me removing my mask. But I began speaking. "Shana did train me...in mask-making, you idiot. I was her apprentice. I didn't want the vineyard, I didn't want to make the drinks that poison people's hearts." I gestured towards the bottle of wine on the mantlepiece. "I was a mask-maker apprentice because all I even wanted was to make beautiful masks."

"If that's so, then how did you manage—?"

"Tell me this," I said. "You took Nava's mask, didn't you? And paid for the burial. Why did you do it?"

"As a distraction. The vintner's execution was clearly someone's move on the board. I shone a bright light in their eye as I made my own move."

He was standing still, but now I was pacing. "Ha," I said.

"Ha?"

"Your move nearly cost the life of this Lord Ballar. You would sacrifice one of your own for something so minor."

He crossed his arms while shaking his head. "Oh Yael, every move in this game results in innocent casualties. You're not one to speak."

I wasn't one to speak, but I spoke, "Unlike you, I don't know what I'm doing."

He threw his head back and laughed. If I had my knife which me—and of course I didn't—I could've gotten him then. "See? That's not something I've ever heard a spy say."

"I'm not a spy."

"Of course you're not..."

"I didn't know who Dylana was when I pulled her aside, gave her the purse and told her to pay for my parents' burial. I didn't know anything about her. I didn't plan to kill her." My breath hitched. "But you wouldn't believe me."

"You pulled her aside and she just came with you?"

"I had a knife."

He didn't believe me. I didn't expect him to. In his shoes, the truth seemed like the least likeliest of stories. "Let me get this straight. You abducted a noblewoman to give her a purse full of money—at knifepoint—so she'd pay for your parents' burial? And what did you expect would happen?"

"I was desperate..."

"So, suppose this actually happened, what did our dear Dylana do?"

"She took the purse—"

He opened his mouth to respond.

But I didn't let him. "And then she spilled the gold on the ground and started screaming. I tried to get her to quiet down, but I slipped on the coins and crashed into the wall."

"She died of a head injury and there was blood on the wall," he said, rubbing his chin. "So then you decided to take her place?"

"I was planning to pay for the burial as a noblewoman, and then go into hiding, but the Phasiani lord..."

"That would be Lord Euriys Walary," Waryn offered.

"Yes, he intercepted me. My plan was to go into service for the Somaer and find what happened to my sister. I can't do anything as Dylana. There's too much at risk. That's why I tried to escape."

"The Somaer? Why the Somaer?"

"The men who took my sister wore tiger masks." I left out the part about the man who could control the spectres. No one needed to know about that.

"That's not how it works, you should know better," he said.

I should have known better. Looking back, I did everything so...stupidly. I should have let my parents hang from the pillars—what would it matter to them when they were already dead? But instead, I lost all sense. And of course, whoever took Marin wouldn't wear their true masks. They would either wear iron masks, like the men who came to Shana's home wore, or they'd wear the mask of their enemy, to frame them.

Or maybe there was another purpose, one that I was blind to.

I was such a fool.

"Who...Who are the enemies of the Somaer?" I asked, breathlessly. More than getting caught by Waryn, this new knowledge made me falter. I had been an arrow flying with a clear target in front of me. I was now submerged over my head in murky waters. "Who has her? Where is she? Where... is..."

My knees gave way, but he caught me before I hit the floor. I wobbled against his arms as he led me to a chair.

There was a glint in blue eyes. He didn't bother to hide his foul heart from me—he was excited.

"It's easier to tell you who isn't enemies with the Somaer," he said. "It's not so simple. Wait here."

He moved as lightly as a cat to a chest that sat open by the bookcase and removed a tube. As he pulled a rolled scroll from the tube, I noticed how long his fingers were. On the low table before the hearth, he spread out a map.

I couldn't hold back a gasp. I sank to my knees on the thick rug to have a better look. The pressure in my chest eased a fraction as I scrutinised this marvellous creation. I had never seen a map of all of Vynam before. Thirty-eight states spread before me, each in a different colour, with its sigil painted almost lifelike, and the topography of the land clearly visible beneath. From Lamoni and Melod in the north, down to Kalmisia, Holen and Zemer in the south. I saw Tvereman in South-Tal and Velamia—where we currently sat—in the forested, hilly Adorans.

Waryn placed a black velvet purse closed by a pull string on the corner of the map, from which he pulled out small gold tokens shaped like ball-headed men. "Eloroan is part of the Fel family, like the Somaer," he said, putting a token on Lamoni, his home. "Kiri are historically the sworn protectors of the Somaer," he said, placing another token in West Genalia on the state of Bestoria, home to the bear-sigil and the Kiri. "And Zemer, in the south, Ayida Zemer and Tamir Somaer have recently welcomed their first born son. A marital bond between both states has created a power shift between the north and south the likes of which hasn't been seen in hundreds of years." He placed a gold token on the state of Zemer in the far south, home to the Bael who wore the Night Parrot sigil. "And that's it."

He allowed me a moment to look at the map, thirty-four possible states where Marin could be held. I looked up at him, waiting for him to have a better answer. He fished a handful of silver tokens from the velvet purse. "Let's not forget the states that are dependent on Somaer. Somaer holds the secrets of serum, they invented it, they create it, and sell it to whichever noble family wishes to use it." Each state of the north received a silver token shaped like an eight-pointed star. Then a few states in the south; Doveret, Miva, Rossbar, Coabri...

"And then the states that are dependent on Somaer financially," he added several more states of the south.

"But that just leaves out Kalmisia," I said. Kalmisia was too small, too poor, too far away.

"No, Yael, this is just to show you which states would have motive to betray Somaer. Enemies don't form without a reason. So, in fact..." He swiped his palm over the map, collecting the tokens like a tidal wave. "Your sister is likely anywhere in Vynam, except Delen."

I shook my head from side to side. I wasn't disagreeing with him. I was trying to push back the mounting despair.

"If I believe you—which I don't," he said, making me move as he began to roll away his map. "Then whoever showed you the Somaer masks wants you to end up in Delen. If all this is more than a coincidence and a series of mistakes—which it most likely is—then your purpose as a spy is in Delen."

I fell back onto my heels. "You give me too much credit. I was just grabbing opportunities and fumbling in the dark."

"I can't underestimate you. Do you see where that's a mistake? You underestimated Nava, now you're here. You need to do better, and you will. No matter what the truth is, you're mine now."

"How do you know this isn't part of my plan?" I said.

"I don't." He finished putting the map away and lowered himself to the rug before me. He leaned on the low table, so that his face was inches from mine. "You have a talent for this. You have what it takes to make great men crumble. Maybe, whoever sent you targeted Dylana to get to me. Whoever sent you could have known that I would like you for the mere fact that you ended that monster's life. You even look like her. Same hair, same build, only your eyes are prettier. She had ugly eyes."

He frowned.

"I thought you didn't see her since you were little?"

"I didn't. Not personally. But I kept my men on her. On her and on her sister, Kitlidara. What a piece of work she grew up to be. Afali will never know the service you did by her."

"She won't?"

"Not as long as you don't betray me."

"And what happens now?"

"You will tell Afali that we have mended things between us. The reason I was cross with you was because we quarrelled right before I left and you never retuned my letters. I'm a petty man, I suppose. On my behalf, I'll invite you and Afali to come with us to the Masquerade. I will host you in my home in the Masca Delen. I'll make her believe that I wish to court her so I can keep a close eye on you."

"But my sister isn't in Delen," I said. "You just proved it."

"The strongest nobles of the north will be there. The place will be crawling with spies. And if you have a master, he will find you there, to utilise you. If you want to find her whereabouts, you have to find your master's identity."

He looked at me like I was his, even if holding me was like trying to trap a shadow in a box. I don't know why, but just then, I thought of Pyren. Compared to him, Waryn viewed me with hungry eyes.

I was an object of desire because of what I could do, but also because I was a woman. He was passionate about weaving webs of deceit, and that meant there was self-satisfied fire there, one that I might use in due time.

I couldn't see myself as a seductress, but I would transform into anything that would get me what I wanted.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that, perhaps, what he wasn't telling me was that he was the master of which he spoke. If he knew where Marin was, he wouldn't tell me. I reached where I did independently. Having the knowledge of my sister's location would make me try to break away from him. In that way, he would string me along and bend me to his will.

I rose to my feet and moved around the low table, settling at his side. One day, I told myself, I would make him regret ever using me. I forced myself to touch him, letting my fingers travel up his arm, tentatively. I could feel the hardness of muscle beneath. "If you want me to do this," I said, slowly. "Then you have to promise me one thing."

His body angled towards me. He wished to be seduced, he was expectant. How many spies did he take to his bed? Heat rose up into my cheeks. "What do you ask?" He touched my face with the back of his hand, tenderly. A wave of warmth rose through me. The thought of seducing him, of bending him to my will, was alluring. He believed I was his.

"Never call me Yael," I whispered. "Never use my name again."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

WHOOOO! Is it just me or is it hot in here? *opens a window*

This concludes the first half of Yael's adventure. Who is her master? Maybe we'll find out... maybe she's still her own master? Can she overcome Waryn? Will seducing him be the brightest move? Oh, I've got so much intrigue planned, your head is going to be sent spinning.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank every single one of you for being here with me. This journey is just so fun and exciting when I can share it with all of you. Your comments and votes mean so much to me. They're like little metaphysical hugs that give me the energy and excitement to keep on going. Really, believe me when I tell you this, you are THE BEST.

Today, I'm a puppy, and I turned all of you into puppies too for cuddles and giggles!

❤️
Einaty