SoJourner Page 12

  A breeze lifted his hair and breathed through his soul. Weeping sounded at the edge of hearing.

  “Who’s there?” He spun about.

  No one lurked behind him. He turned back toward the prayer rail.

  Shae stood before him, glimmering like a wraith, more beautiful than ever. “Kai!” While whispering his name, she vanished.

  He reached for her anyway, but his hands passed through thin air. Why had she been crying? He’d had no time to find out. Why had she come to him only to disappear? It made no sense.

  Struck anew by his powerlessness to help her, he sank to his knees.

  

  Rand slid across the grass, the taste of blood in his mouth.

  Urwan, watching from the path, barked with laughter.

  Draeg dug his toe into Rand’s side. “Stand and fight!” A string of rude names followed, but Rand had heard them all before. Nothing much had changed except that Draeg now pummeled him by right. “I said, rise, Misbegotten!” Draeg kicked him for emphasis, but Rand knew better than to obey. The agility with which he normally defended himself required strength he couldn’t summon, not after his ordeal in the dungeon.

  Draeg stepped back. “Raise him!”

  Urwan jerked Rand to his feet, holding him while Draeg let fly. A fist in the stomach doubled him over. Gritting his teeth, he twisted free before the next blow could land. His legs shook so badly they barely held him. Draeg caught him and drew back a fist. Rand mustered the strength to sidestep. Draeg’s surprised face touched off an urge to laugh within Rand. He restrained himself however, knowing he’d pay for the privilege.

  Draeg came after him with a roar.

  Rand’s legs forsook him altogether. He went to his knees, holding up an arm in a vain effort to shield himself. Draeg cuffed the side of his head, and he fell with ears ringing as Draeg pummeled him.

  And then, mercifully, the blows stopped.

  Rand dragged his eyes open to find Urwan hauling Draeg backward. “Your father wants him alive,” he snarled.

  “Pity.” Draeg flexed his hands. “It would be entertaining to kill him.”

  “You said you’d show Melric the wrong way to ride a welke,” Urwan reminded him.

  Draeg barked with laughter. “Is that what’s on your mind? Well, yes. There’s nothing I like more than teaching a fledgling warrior to ride.” He hocked spittle Rand’s direction. “Much as I’ve enjoyed this part of your training, Misbegotten, tomorrow we move on to finer skills. You must learn to take a life without regret.” He flashed a wolfish grin and strode off.

  Urwan hauled Rand upright by his jerken and propelled him to the tower. The door of the tiny chamber that had become Rand’s prison slammed shut behind the garn, and the iron bar that locked him in clanged into its rests. Rand leaned against the scarred strongwood door, aching in every muscle. He ran his thick tongue over his cracked lips, yearning for water with no choice but to wait until and if Urwan brought some.

  But he had more to occupy him than the sufferings of his body. Enduring beatings in the name of ‘training’ paled in comparison to the ordeal he would face on the morrow.

  

  At another time Kai might have savored the sight of dawn light gilding the strongwood trees in the inner garden while early flowers bent their heads under the weight of dew. His mind far from the beauty of nature, he strode the garden paths with purposeful steps.

  Elcon sat at the edge of the pool with water falling from the fountain in rainbows behind him. He looked up at Kai’s approach.

  “Lof Shraen.” Kai made his bow. “I saw you from my window.”

  “Come and sit beside me.” Elcon gestured toward the stone ledge of the wall retaining the pool.

  Kai perched beside Elcon. “I would ask something of you, Lof Shraen.”

  “I thought you had an intent expression on your face.”

  “Let me go in search of Emmerich,” Kai burst out.

  “A messenger from Graelinn has reported activity on the road to Pilaer. Freaer may move on Torindan any day. You could come across his armies.”

  “I’m willing to take that risk.”

  Elcon shook his head. “Don’t ask me to face losing you again.”

  “But I fear for Shae.”

  Elcon gaze became piercing. “Tell me why.”

  “I know nothing for certain.” As he spoke, Kai spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

  “What do you suspect?”

  “She may have little time left.” His voice sounded raw. “She came to me in the allerstaed, weeping, but vanished quickly.”

  “Could it have been…her specter?”

  Kai had wondered the same thing, but he trusted his instincts. “Shae lives, I’m certain. She’s come to me more than once through the soft places between the worlds.”

  “Please explain,” Elcon prompted him. “Why can’t my sister return to Elderland as she left it, through the gate of Gilead Riann?”

  Kai pulled in a breath as she passed into the corridor between worlds again in his memory. “Once she went through the gateway, it vanished. I believe she is in peril. Emmerich told me the worlds are out of balance.”

  “That’s an unsettling notion.” Elcon dipped a hand in the water, letting it slip through his fingers, then tilted his head toward Kai. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go.”

  Kai made a ragged sound in his throat and thrust to his feet.

  “Sit down again and let me explain,” Elcon said in a patient voice.

  Kai had never regretted serving Elcon until now, but he obeyed.“There’s Mara to think of, too,” Elcon went on. “If Torindan falls, she’ll need your escort to Westerland.”

  “To Westerland? Euryon may not receive her.”

  “She is his granddaughter, despite all. Perhaps he will accept her for Aewen’s sake if not mine. But if he fails in that, take her to the inn at the White Feather. Despite their sins, the innkeeper and his wife would care for her.”

  Kai could scarce fathom what he had heard. “Don’t you fear they would hide her from you again?”

  Elcon gazed up at Talan, riding his wingabeast at the fountain’s center. “I’ll not abandon my people, even if that means defending Torindan to the death.”

  “Sacrificing yourself will save no one.”

  Elcon sighed. “I have no desire to make a martyr of myself, but if I am ever to win the loyalty to unite Faeraven under one ruler again, it will be because I prove myself worthy of their trust.”

  “You are aware that a dead ruler cannot lead.” Kai left it at that, for he knew that particular jut of Elcon’s chin too well.

  Elcon’s lips quirked upward at the corners in a slight smile. “That has occurred to me.”

  16

  WARRIOR IN TRAINING

  Mara lingered at her inner chamber window as sunrise blossomed in the sky, purging the deadness of night. In the inner garden, strongwoods bent their heads toward grasses threaded with early flowers. She cracked the window and breathed her fill of the scented air but could not free herself of a sense of dread.

  A tap came at her door, followed by the sound of it opening.

  Mara turned to find her maid in the doorway. “Traelein, have you ever felt something fearsome was about to happen?”

  Her maid arched golden eyebrows. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “It’s hard to explain.” Mara sought for words. “It’s almost as if at the very edge of thought, a venomous snake lies in wait, ready to strike.”

  “Do not speak so, Lof Raena!” Traelein warned in hushed tones. She stepped into the chamber and closed the door behind her. “You may bring this curse upon us.”

  “If only my silence would stop this.” All at once cold, Mara crossed her arms to warm herself. “I fear nothing will.”

  Traelein’s gaze ran over her. “How come you to know these things?”

  Mara shrugged. “T’was but a feeling.” One she might better have kept to herself, it seemed.

  T
raelein shook her head. “The world breeds evil enough, may Lof Yuel save us, without looking for more.”

  With her maid so distraught, Mara said no more, resolving to carry her burdens alone.

  

  Rand fought to keep his gorge down.

  Draeg brandished a headless dove, its wings still fluttering, while the crowd encircling them in Pilaer’s outer bailey roared. Draeg tossed the dead bird on a pile of small corpses with muscles still twitching. He pulled a rabbit from a cage by its scruff and held the coney high as it kicked. The crowd had pressed forward more urgently with each new death, and now required three guards to hold them back.

  If Rand had entertained any lingering doubts about his inability to become a warrior, his revulsion now laid them to rest. Appalling as this day might be however, Rand could not wish it gone. Today he had only to watch the carnage. Tomorrow he must perform the same atrocities as Draeg or perish at the hands of the mob. From the look of these ruffians, he would suffer if given over to them. The rabbit’s scream snapped his attention back to Draeg.

  This time he did vomit.

  

  Uneasiness clawed at Elcon, although it had been a long time since he’d battled a welke rider on the gatehouse stairs. Dorann, who had saved his life then, climbed beside him now. During the time of peace that followed, the siege of Torindan had become nothing more than a distant nightmare, one now ready to return. With sorrow weighting his steps, he passed through the light falling across the stairs, and then back into shadow. How many of his people would die this time?

  He must seek Emmerich’s help at once.

  The tracker’s boots echoed on the stone stairs along with his own. He’d found Dorann’s penchant for silence comforting, for it allowed him to think his own thoughts uninterrupted. A memory of the steward Benisch intruded, and Elcon pushed it away in annoyance. He’d rather forget the distant cousin who had attempted to murder Aewen. Benisch rotted in the dungeons of Torindan and would one day expire there.

  They emerged onto the ramparts into sunlight at odds with Elcon’s mood.

  “Lof Shraen!” Craelin called as he strode toward them.

  Elcon smiled in greeting. “The watchguard told me I might find you here.”

  Craelin bowed to him. “Had you sent for me, I’d have come to you.”

  Elcon waved a hand. “I didn’t want to wait.”

  Craelin squinted at him. “Does something press your mind?”

  Indeed something did. He’d lain awake most of the night thinking of Shae. He’d refused Kai’s request to seek out Emmerich, but that didn’t mean he meant to do nothing for his sister. “I’ve decided to send Dorann in search of Emmerich, but he’ll need guardians to protect him.”

  “With all respect, Lof Shraen, I’m best alone,” Dorann said before Craelin could reply,

  Elcon swerved a glance sideways to the tracker. “Are you certain?”

  Dorann nodded. “If it’s all the same to you, keeping others alive in the woods would distract me.” He spoke with confidence rather than pride.

  “He’s right, more’s the pity,” Craelin confirmed. “Besides, a guardian cannot hope to keep pace with a tracker in the woods.”

  Elcon still hesitated, loath to send even a tracker unescorted on such an urgent mission. “All right. Go by yourself, but return within ten days or you’ll have company.”

  Dorann gave the hint of a smile.

  Craelin laughed. “Don’t look so smug. We can find you, if need be.”

  “I’ll do my best to come back sooner,” Dorann promised.

  Elcon grasped his shoulder. “May Lof Yuel guide and keep you.”

  “Go on with you, then.” Craelin gestured with his head. “Kai can tell you where he last saw Emmerich.” He squinted after Dorann. “You’ve made a good choice in that one, Lof Shraen.”

  “I’ve no doubt. I should have sent him when Kai first gave warning.”

  Craelin’s brow furrowed. “I outght to have advised you to do so.”

  “Can we expect any hope from Torindan’s allies?”

  “Messengers ride to them. I am certain the loyal shraens will respond to our call.”

  “And we will find out who those may be. Let me know of any word.” Elcon braved the stairway, alone save for the uneasy memories that enveloped him. It always came down to asking for help. No matter how strong the defenses they built, Torindan could not stand alone. Surviving another onslaught from Freaer’s armies meant calling upon all the ravens that stood by the alliance of Faeraven. He could admit the truth. That number had shrunk under his rulership. Foisting a Lof Raelein of Elder blood on the divided Kindren ravens had been a grievous error costing many lives, including Aewyn’s. Had he given his people time to absorb such a drastic change, they might have come to accept Aewen, despite his breaking faith with Arillia to marry her.

  Such realizations had come to him only in hindsight, but once they did, the weight of guilt would have destroyed him had not Emmerich urged him to embrace both Lof Yuel’s forgiveness and Arillia’s love. But the past still marked him, and with Freaer mounting a new challenge, he and his people would again face the consequences of his rash actions.

  

  Rand blinked in the harsh sunlight behind Draeg, who led him into the outer bailey where the sacrifice waited. Guards held back the crowd, preventing the victim from being torn apart. The figure languishing in the sun had been lashed to a pole carved to resemble a welke with its head back and wings spread. The weapon weighting Rand’s hand resembled a welke claw and had steel talons honed to a fine edge. His unhappy task was to bloody the victim in order to draw the wretched raptor birds from the sky. As the birds of prey descended, all watchers would retreat to a distance but remain near enough to revel in the victim’s shrieking. Rand fought the urge to bolt. The mob would turn on him, and Draeg would still murder the victim. .

  He approached the sacrifice with a feeling of unreality and halted with his heart pounding in his throat.

  He hadn’t expected this.

  The pale form sagging against the pole belonged to a female. She’d bowed her head, probably as a protection against the rotting fruit scattered at her feet. Lank hair that had not seen a comb in many a day tangled to her waist. As he neared, she lifted her head. A fist of pain slammed into his stomach. He fought to breathe. The padded end of the claw of death pressed into his hands, so tightly did he grip it.

  Mother.

  Draeg turned an excited face toward him. “This honor belongs to you, Misbegotten.”

  Rand stared at Draeg, unable to form words.

  A look of cruelty replaced his half-brother’s smile. “Come now. The crowd awaits.”

  “Rand.” His mother rasped. She struggled to continue. “You…must do this.”

  “No!”

  “Listen to me!” He had never seen her eyes so frightened. “Why should we both perish? Save yourself for my sake, my son.”

  A whimper escaped him. He would rather die than harm her. How could she expect this of him?

  “Fresh kill!” The chanting of the crowd grew louder the longer he delayed. It seemed he must appease it.

  “Do it now!” Draeg yelled.

  Sobbing, Rand reared back to strike the first blow, the claws weighting his hands. Let them do their work quickly. He brought his arm down, and the claws found their mark. Draeg screamed and went on screaming. He fell to his knees, gripping the shredded side of his face.

  The crowd broke past the guards. Someone took hold of Rand, as welkes screeched from the sky, and his mother’s shrieking joined Draeg’s.

  Rand started up in bed, sweat running from him in rivulets.

  Another nightmare.

  Tears slid from the corners of his eyes, and he wandered a maze of pain.

  At some point a soul fluttered against his, soft as a butterfly, Mara reaching to him with the shil shael.

  He closed his eyes and reached for her, finding sanity.

  She swirled around him,
shedding peace, but slipped away too soon. He ached for her to return.

  Sickness rushed over him as dawn’s rays penetrated the barred windows. Urwan would come for him soon.

  17

  DREADED DECISION

  Mara left her maid in the corridor and peeked into the presence chamber, expecting to find it empty, but her father sat on the larger of the two carved and canopied thrones. Arches framed the throne dais, and above them hung heroic scenes, rendered in paint on canvas with unerring skill. A central chandelier dripping prisms remained unlit while the High King of Faeraven mauled his thoughts in the dimness. From his scowl, they took him down unpleasant paths.

  She started backward, hoping to leave him undisturbed.

  He lifted his head. “Syl Marinda, what brings you here? Come forward.”

  She obeyed with slow steps as he leaned against the throne’s velvet back.

  Traelein, ever tactful, did not follow.

  “Father.” A hollow echo repeated the word throughout the large chamber. “I’m loath to disturb you.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Your presence comes as welcome.” His smile held tenderness but also a touch of sadness. “You stood in the archway from the allerstaed.”

  “I have come from there. I felt the need to pray.”

  He sat forward. “Your prayers leave you restless.”

  “Why should you think that?” A defensive note slipped into her voice.

  He gave her a gentle smile. “The frown on your face betrays you.”

  “It is only that I slept ill.” She told him the truth, but only part of it, and now couldn’t meet his eyes. The painting of a sea serpent twining its tail about a sailing ship in one of the heroic scenes caught her attention. She felt as fragile as that vessel, just now. How much could she reveal without being thought strange? Perhaps speaking of evil drew it to her, as Traelein believed. After Mara had repudiated the idea last night, a darksome presence had chased her in nightmares.

  She’d woken in darkness, and her thoughts had turned to Rand. He had all at once seemed near. The awareness of him had transported her through time and space to touch his soul. An invisible cord bound her to the Kindren tracker, a tie natural as breathing. She had not recognized it as an enchantment until this morning but had immediately sought the allerstaed to beg deliverance from the High One.