Simon.
Eliana turned, searching the room for him—but he was gone.
She barely restrained herself from flinging Arabeth at the wall. “Where did he go?”
“To meet a contact at the border who will help you across the Narrow Sea to Astavar,” Hob said.
Eliana began unstrapping the knives from her body. “Do you have clothes for me? Something other than prison garb.”
“You’re not leaving again?” Remy asked quickly.
She gave him a small smile. “Not leaving. I just want to sit outside, get some air after being cooped up in a cell for a week.”
And so she could see Simon before the others—and not let him past until she’d gotten the answers she deserved.
? ? ?
Zahra arrived two hours later, appearing without warning at Eliana’s side.
Eliana spat out a curse and jumped up from the tree stump she’d been sitting on.
The wraith’s black smile was barely visible in the shadowed trees. “Hello, my queen. I mean…Eliana.”
“Next time,” Eliana hissed, returning to her seat, “give me some warning before you just pop into the air like that.”
“I am overjoyed to see you as well, especially since we parted in such a dire moment.”
Eliana sighed sharply. “Yes. Thank you for that.”
“For what?”
Despite her irritation, Eliana smirked. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“I did risk much by engaging Semyaza,” Zahra pointed out. “Though I would do it again, and happily, to serve you.”
“Thank you, Zahra,” said Eliana with a sweep of her hand, “for battling Semyaza so Navi and I could escape. Your loyalty and bravery are to be commended.”
Zahra’s form shimmered with pleasure. “You sounded very regal just then, Eliana. Blood will out, as they say.”
“I don’t want to talk about my blood,” Eliana snapped.
“As you wish.” Zahra paused. “It will, however, have to be discussed eventually.”
Eliana looked away into the trees. “And if I don’t believe what you claim?”
“You forget I was in your mind, back in your cell,” Zahra said gently. “I think you’ve known for some time that something was misaligned in your past. That you aren’t like those around you. There is the matter of your body’s ability to heal itself, for one.”
Eliana whirled on her. “Listen to me right now, wraith. You may have the power to enter my mind, but you will not do so again unless at some point in the future I demand it of you. And until then, you will not even once mention the Blood Queen or the Lightbringer or whatever person it is you think I am. Is that understood?”
Zahra bowed her head. “Of course, Eliana. I will respect your wishes.”
“Thank you.”
They sat in silence for a long time, the woods quiet and dark around them.
“Do you know what they did to Navi?” Eliana asked at last.
“I wish I didn’t,” Zahra replied. “Throughout the long years since the Blood Queen’s Fall, the Emperor has undertaken many experiments in an attempt to achieve resurrection without her. Medicines, drugs, surgical procedures, manipulation of what he calls genetics.”
“What is that?”
“Put simply, it is the basic life structure of any living creature. Not the empirium—not even the Emperor can touch that, much to his despair—but it is effective nonetheless.”
Eliana shook her head. “And he uses it for…what?”
“He is creating things,” Zahra murmured, “with the help of healers who exchange their skills for their families’ safety. He is creating creatures that aren’t quite human or animal. They are called crawlers. They are monsters, Eliana. Mutations is the word I’ve heard used by the Empire physicians. And an army of them is bound for Astavar.”
Eliana stared at Zahra, her mouth gone dry. “I don’t understand. They have a whole army of adatrox, an army that’s devoured the world. Why this too?”
“There are many ways to strike fear into the hearts of those you have conquered,” Zahra said gravely. “The continued existence of Red Crown eats away at the Emperor, as does the resistance of Astavar. He is creative. He will think up new horrors for every day that any human walks free, until there is no fight left in you.”
“And only women, only girls?” Eliana’s stomach turned. “Why? If it’s an army he wants, why not abduct a bunch of hulking men?”