Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

voice lacked any mirth.
    “My point is that we do not actively recruit faceless. They are a punishment, not an honor. We have only three now, women who let their sex control their actions. Their faith in Karak, however, remained strong. So we put them separate from us, let them live and operate outside the temple. For years they remained obedient, performing tasks to further the cause of Karak. But now…”
    “They’ve done something,” Ethric said, figuring where the story was going. He looked at the seven in the painting, their bodies bathed in blood and darkness. “They’ve gone feral, haven’t they?”
    “Putting our entire temple in danger,” Pelarak said as he clutched the painting with his burning hand. “This spat between the Trifect and the thieves benefits no one, certainly not us. We gain nothing siding with either, and only risk revealing ourselves to the public at large. This cannot happen. Yet they have acted out on their own, struck against a lord of the Trifect, all while telling me lies and half-truths. Now one comes to me, seeking to increase their number, as if it were a privilege to be a faceless. Too many times I have given them orders, only to watch them be disregarded entirely.”
    “You want them killed,” Ethric said. It was not a question.
    “I do,” Pelarak said. The fire on his hand changed from purple to red. The painting began to burn. “I want their bodies sacrificed before the statue of Karak. Their very order is one of shame and disobedience, and now they have gone too far to be useful any longer. What good is a servant that will not obey? These three faceless sisters have a captive by the name of Alyssa Gemcroft. She was supposed to be brought here, to be placed under our watch, but instead Zusa and her sisters have kept her hidden. Find the faceless women and kill them. Alyssa
must
remain alive. All our plans mean nothing otherwise.”
    Ethric watched as the fire spread across the painting, not at all bothered by the smoke that washed over his face. When the flame reached his bare hand, he flexed his arm. Black fire swarmed over his fingers. The frame broke, crumbling into ash in his fingers. In one giant whoosh, the painting and its frame were consumed. As the ash rained down to the floor, Ethric drew his sword and made his vow.
    “Until my death, I will hunt them,” he whispered. “No child of Karak is greater than his master.”

CHAPTER
21
    P rivacy was something Alyssa found she could rarely obtain, but despite all their food and supplies, Yoren still liked to hunt. It was then she could be alone, and she cherished those opportunities. That morning, like most others, he went off with his bow to prove his abilities and come back with yet another animal he could boast of slaying. That morning Alyssa fled to the far edge of the camp, racing around the bottom of a nearby hill so that she could not be seen even by their guards.
    A small stream flowed near the bottom, barely more than ankle-deep as it ran toward the nearby Kinel River. Into its water Alyssa stared, glad she could not see her reflection due to the mud. No doubt she would have seen the circles around her eyes, angry red veins filling the whites.
    “Do you miss me?” she whispered, thinking of Maynard in his giant, empty mansion. “Do you miss me, Daddy?”
    Yoren had convinced her that he didn’t. That she’d been sent to John Gandrem’s to be out of the way, to wait like a good girl while the men did their business. And she’d believed it. She splashed the water with her hands, disrupting whatever reflection she could see. The cold clung to her fingers, and she held them against her dress to dry them off. That hand brushed the dagger she still kept with her, and for the first time she thought to use it not on Yoren, but on herself instead.
    “It’s not safe to hide beyond sight of Theo’s guards,” a voice said behind her. Alyssa flinched, fingers tightening around her dagger, and then she relaxed.
    “Why is that, Zusa?” she asked. She’d finally learned to identify all the faceless women by their voices. It was either that, or constantly look like a fool asking the name of whomever she was speaking to.
    Alyssa glanced back and saw the woman standing with her arms crossed, covered face staring at her. At least, Alyssa thought she was staring at her. The daylight reflected off the thin white cloth, making it impossible to peer through it. How Zusa could see at all baffled