"I will."
"You cannot, Keeper. Digging is a difficult chore."
"I will. If these men wish to be gone before dawn, they will help me."
Gavril started forward. "No, as her son, I must--"
Her dagger tip flew to his throat. "I'm asking you to do one thing for me, Gavril. You will allow me to free your mother, and then y
ou will see her to say good-bye. You will help me bury her properly, and I will say the rites over her. But you will not take one more step in that direction until I summon you."
"It is my duty. You ought not to have to."
"I'm asking to do this." She wiggled the dagger against his throat. "Or insisting on it. Interpret as you wish."
A slow nod. Then, gaze lowered, voice barely audible, he said, "Thank you, Keeper," and returned to the house without another look into the yard.
SEVENTEEN
Moria found shovels behind the house, abandoned after their gruesome task. The bandits didn't move, and her rage flared inside her thinking of the terrible trick they'd played on Gavril, ready to challenge them on it. Then Toman ordered one of his men to assist her, and she channeled Ashyn and tamped down that fury, knowing it would do no good and this was not the time. For Gavril's sake and for Kiri's, it was not the time.
How much the bandit actually helped dig that hole was debatable. It was long and exhausting work, and by the end of it, Moria was ready to collapse, every muscle quivering.
At one point Toman had offered the opinion that it was unnecessary, that he could simply take Kiri's head for her bounty, since that was exposed. But he seemed to be more taunting her than seriously suggesting it, and at a snarl from Moria, he'd chuckled and wisely wandered off without pressing the matter.
Finally, she had Kiri out. The bandit did not help with that, leaving her struggling to pull the corpse from the loosened earth. She managed it and then insisted on help to carry Kiri to the side of the house, so Gavril would not see that telltale hole or the horrible faces of the other victims.
Kiri had been bound hand and foot. Marks on her cheeks suggested she'd been gagged. Had they sedated their victims to keep them from struggling as the holes were filled? Moria did not know which was worse--to be conscious in that hole as the dirt fell around you or to wake trapped in your grave. She knew only that, once again, she wished she had not been blessed with such a vivid imagination.
The whole time she'd been digging Kiri out, her mind had plagued her with scenarios, not only of the victims but of those who'd carried out the horrible task. How could they fill in those holes? How could they rip off the gags and walk away, casually dropping their shovels behind the house, listening to the cries and the pleas of five innocent victims, knowing the unimaginable torment they faced in the days before death would come? How does one do such a thing and remain human?
Moria removed Kiri's bonds and placed her on her back, hands folded on her stomach. She shut her eyelids. She massaged her face and managed to wipe away that look of loss and disbelief and find a quiet expression of peace. She cleaned dirt from Kiri's face and brushed it from her gown, and she fixed hair ribbons that had come loose. She was fussing with one of the last when she heard a noise and looked up to see Gavril a few paces away, watching her.
"Didn't I tell you to wait for my summons?" she said.
"I brought him," Toman said, walking up behind Gavril. "The night is half passed, and we don't have time for you to make a corpse look pretty."
She quickly finished tying one of the ribbons. Then she pushed to her feet and bowed her head to Gavril. "We will give you a few moments."
"We don't have time--" Toman began.
"We will give you a few moments."
She started to leave, but Gavril touched her arm as she passed and said, "Stay."
Moria still remained standing, with her back to Kiri as Gavril crouched beside his mother. When he said, "I'll bury her now," Moria walked over, bent, and clipped a beribboned curl with her dagger, then handed it to Gavril. He pulled away, that grim mask falling as he said, "I do not require--"
"Then I will." She tucked the lock into her pocket. "Now, we must bury--"
"How will I collect my bounty without a body?" Toman said.
"You can tell the emperor where to find her."
It was a poor solution, and Moria expected him to refuse, but he only grumbled and said, "Do it quickly."
Moria and Gavril dug the hole while Toman watched.
"You do know this is the emperor's work," Toman said when the hole was almost deep enough.