PROMISE

CHAPTER 21

Hain was silent from his place at the bottom of the room. The old Vrai–Lilith had insisted that Hain call him Hume–had repeated his offer to seat Hain beside Lilith. Naturally, Hain had refused, grabbing hold of the only chance to assert some control over the situation by taking the only other seat available–the one at the dead center of the room.

"Some of the details you already know," Lilith said when the room had settled. "But others," her eyes turned down, "are, well, more complicated."

She looked from the floor to Hume. "I don't even know where to begin."

Hume nodded, placing a withered white hand on her shoulder. Revulsion coiled through Hain at the sight.

"Why not from the beginning?" Hume said.

"The beginning," she said, as though just considering the idea sapped her strength. She closed her eyes briefly, and nodded. "That's probably best."

She opened her eyes and turned them on Hain. "The Foew found me as an infant and raised me in Promise. My parents left me there, in the hollow of an old pine."

Hain had heard this story before–save any mention of the Foew–and it never failed to make his heart ache. Old gods from before the End Day still held sway in many villages bordering the Godless. Brutal gods, hungry for the kinds of sacrifice that left young mothers weeping over empty cradles.

"You told me before that the Cats found you."

"They did." Lilith said. "In a way."

Hain scowled. "What does that mean, 'in a way'?"

"It means the Cats don't act on their own. They're controlled by the Foew."

Hain blinked. "How is that possible?"

"For now, just believe me when I say that it is," she said. "I know it must be hard to wrap your head around, but try not to get too hung up on the details."

"Do you mean the part about people from a secret city in the Godless controlling the Cat Clans, or the part about you growing up here?" Hain said, his voice incredulous. "Because both ideas sound crazy, Lilith."

"I'm sure it does." Lilith said with a dark chuckle. "It even sounds crazy to me sometimes, but it's true."

"Yes, but how can it be true? How could you have been an Homage from the Cats if the Cats are controlled by these people?"

"You're not wrong," she said. "But you're not completely right either. The fighting between Echo and the Cats at the Godless border was, well–" She stopped, shaking her head. "I can't think of a way to say it in a way that won't sound horrible."

"Staged," Hume said from beside her.

Hain's jaw threatened to hit the floor. "You staged a war?"

"I don't know if I'd call it a war, so much as skirmishes," she said quickly. "And anyways, the Cats were harmless. Just chasing some farmers from their land every now and again. Nothing more than that."

Hain thought back to his encounter with the Cat at the edge of the Godless. To the Cat who'd come after him after he'd found Lilith alone in their clearing. Neither had hurt him, but he wouldn't call them harmless.

"Assuming the Cats really are under control from these people–"

"Foew."

"Whatever," Hain said. "You're saying that they basically staged a war–"

"Skirmishes."

He glared knives at her. "Can you not interrupt me?"

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Go on."