01 - The Compass Rose (54 page)

It didn’t take quite a full nine days to reach Djoff on the coast. The city was in almost as much chaos as the capital, everyone terrified. All the city’s Rulers had dropped dead along with most of the high-ranking warriors at the same moment on the same black night eight days previously. Kallista and her ilian heard the story from frightened merchants where they sold the boat. Those left were trying to cope but defiance was everywhere. The castes were crumbling. A laborer had dared to strike back when a merchant beat him for his clumsiness. The world was falling apart.

Kallista hid her satisfaction as she followed Obed and Fox down the steep hills to the harbor. Torchay held her arm, steadying her unbalanced gait while Stone and Aisse helped the young naitan Gweric, dressed now in tunic and trousers like the rest of them, down the path.

At the harbor, Obed paused, scanning the scattered masts of those ships that hadn’t run before the wind when the Rulers died. Kallista moved up next to him, leaned against his arm, struggling not to pant. It was a long way down from the river docks and she didn’t have the stamina lately that she’d had a few months before. “What are you looking for?”

“That flag.” He pointed to a bright blue pennon blazoned with a stooping hawk. “Come. We sail with the tide.”

Kallista looped her arm through his. “Whose flag is that?”

“Mine. As is the ship.” He paused, sought her gaze. “Now yours. I thought to change the flag. A compass rose, perhaps?”

“Whatever you like.” She urged him on. “How did you know the ship would be here?”

“I sent orders for it to wait for us.”

“No, I mean, how did the ship know to be
here
, in Djoff? Why didn’t you send it to Haav?”

“There is another ship waiting in Haav.” Obed escorted her up the gangway, moving ahead of her so he could lift her to the deck. “I sent a ship to wait in every port on this continent. When we reach Adara, I will send word releasing them.”

Kallista stared at him, mouth open. “You sent…How many ships? All yours?”

Obed signaled to the captain as Torchay, the rear guard, leaped aboard. The crew sprang into motion. “Seventeen ships.” He offered his arm again and Kallista took it. “But they are yours, not mine.”

Finally he met her eye, his cheeks a dusky rose beneath the tattoos and the natural tan of his skin. “I told you, I am not a poor man.”

“Well, yes, but there’s quite a gap between ‘not poor’ and ‘stinking rich.’” She blinked as the size of Obed’s wealth began to sink in. “Saints and all the sinners.”

“Is this safe away?” Stone asked. “Because the minute we leave the harbor here, it’s going to be just like crossing the Jeroan, and I want to know what in stars happened back there before I start heaving my guts over the rail.”

“Don’t be so impatient.” Aisse smacked his arm.

“Just explain it, all right? Why didn’t the veil magic kill everybody like in Ukiny? And how did it kill people all the way to Djoff?”

Kallista sat on the bench provided for passengers outside the door leading to the cabins in the stern and gestured for everyone to gather. Torchay took the seat beside her, Obed kneeling at her feet. Stone sat on the deck on her other side and leaned his head on her knee, grinning up at her, daring her to order him away. Fox and Aisse sat just beyond, holding hands.

“Now that I’ve had time to consider,” Kallista said, “I believe the magic struck differently because it was shaped differently. Before, at Ukiny, I asked for something to save the people of Ukiny and of Adara. Because we were in the middle of a battle, it struck down everyone who fought against us.”

“Except me and Stone,” Fox said.

“You were marked. You became part of the magic.”

“What about this time?” Stone rubbed his cheek against her knee. “How did you shape it this time?”

Kallista set her hand on his head a brief moment. “I named it. Before I released it, I spoke the demon’s name.”

“So it destroyed the demon—” Stone began.

“And everyone who worshipped it,” Fox ended. “Including a lot of high-ranking warriors.”

“All the way to Djoff,” Aisse said, “because this time it wasn’t only two linked with you, but five. Do you think it killed Rulers in Haav too?”

“Maybe.” Kallista shrugged a shoulder. “Torchay’s magic holds so much sheer stubborn strength, it wouldn’t surprise me if it killed Rulers all the way to Adara.”

“Torchay’s magic.” Obed looked so decidedly unhappy, Kallista held her hand out to him. Why? What was he thinking? He took her hand, kissed it, then let it go.

“What happened then?” Stone asked. “When Torchay was marked? It wasn’t much like what happened with the rest of us.”

“The demon sank its claws into me.” Torchay spoke before Kallista could. “I was unmarked. It left me vulnerable to the demon. The mark requires surrender. There was one thing I would not give up.”

“No, Torchay,” Kallista spoke up. “It wasn’t your fault.
I
kept you from it. I wouldn’t give you up to the One.”

He smiled at her, bringing her hand to his mouth for a kiss that made her shiver. “Then why were you marked and I not? You can’t think for me, love. You can’t dictate my emotions or my decisions. It was
my
refusal. My own…stupidity. I did no’ understand that letting you go was the only way I could protect you.”

“But…” Kallista paused to think. She was sure she had kept Torchay from being marked. Maybe they both had a part in it. “It doesn’t matter now. You’re marked like the rest of us.”

“What happens now?” Stone leaned back on a braced hand, looking up at her. “We’ve destroyed the demon. Does that mean the marks go away? Are we still ilian?”

The sails snapped in the wind, drawing Kallista’s attention as she struggled for words. “Ilian is family,” she said finally. “Bound together to love and support each other and raise any children that may come. It is possible to dissolve these bonds, if the marks leave us.” She took Torchay’s hand, squeezed it tight. “But, even if that happens, I hope you all stay. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I love you all.”

“And there
is
a child to raise,” Aisse added. “I stay.”

“I too,” Fox said quickly. “This is my—my
family
. There are no castes in Tibre any longer, I think, even if I had one.”

“I’m staying.” Stone made a face. “Though I don’t know how much use I’ll be raising a child.”

“Actually…” Kallista glanced at Torchay who grinned at her. “There will be
two
babies to raise. After we left Tsekrish, on the riverboat, when Torchay did his medical check, he listened to be sure the baby was all right. And he says there are two heartbeats. Twins.”

“
Two
babies.” Aisse bounced to her knees in excitement.

Torchay cleared his throat. “Not exactly.”

All eyes turned to him. Alarmed, Kallista’s hands flew protectively to her stomach. “Is something wrong with one of—”

“No.” He caught her close in a hug, chuckling. “No, love. Nothing like that. It’s just that we’ll only have two babies for a short while before Aisse gives us a third.”

“Third…” Aisse stared at him, eyes wide with shock. “Third
baby?
” She shook her head, clutching Fox’s arm. “No, that is impossible. I am barren. I—”

“Perhaps when the One marked you, She also granted you healing.” Kallista stretched a hand toward Aisse who took it and held on tight. “Joy to you, ilias.”

“I—are you certain?” Aisse looked as if she’d been struck with one of Kallista’s lightning bolts.

“Aye. Your babe should arrive near the end of Mielle, about six weeks after Kallista’s two.” Torchay grinned. “Joy to you, ilias. Joy to us all.” He gripped Fox’s hand, then slapped Obed on the shoulder.

Obed knelt on the deck before Kallista without reacting, silent, his face remote. He worried her sometimes.

Kallista leaned forward, touched his cheek. “Will you stay? You never did say.”

His expression shut down even more. “Do you cast me off?”

“No, of course not. But I won’t keep you against your will.”

“Your will is mine, Cho—Kallista.”

She gave him a skeptical look, remembering a certain morning in the forest when that had not been true. Obed must have remembered it as well, for he flushed that dark red again, shifting position. “I will never willingly leave you.”

Her fingers trailed along his cheek as she drew back. “Good.” Kallista took a deep breath. “So. I suppose when we get back to Adara, if the Reinine has no duties for us, we’ll need to find a place to live. With our so-wealthy ilias here, we won’t even have to worry about finding a way to support ourselves. We can spend our days in idleness.”

Torchay’s stifled laugh sounded too much like a snort. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“I’m very good at idling.” Kallista poked his arm. “You’ve seen me do it.”

“Aye, for a week or two. Then you’re jumping out of your skin for something to do.”

The sails snapped again and the ship heeled over as the wind broke free of the rocky headland. The three Tibrans promptly turned a bilious shade of green.

“Oh, Goddess.” Fox lurched to his feet, stumbling for the rail, Aisse and Stone on his heels.

Kallista’s stomach felt none too steady either, but with the breeze on her face and her eyes on the horizon, she didn’t need to find the ship’s rail yet.

“What of me?” Gweric turned his eyeless face toward her from his post near the ship’s mast and guilt dug its talons into her. She had forgotten his presence. “What will you do with me?”

“You’ve been busy this last week, haven’t you?” Torchay said accusingly, moving to put himself between the Tibran naitan and Kallista.

“Adaran?” Obviously she still couldn’t tell which language was spoken.

“Good Adaran. Better than Aisse’s.”

“Peace, Torchay.” Kallista set her hand on his arm. “If he can see without eyes, why shouldn’t he be able to hear without ears, understand more quickly?”

“I cannot see,” Gweric said. “Only all of you. I see the magic flowing between you, weaving back and forth in a pattern. It is beautiful. It is why—how I know you are good. I didn’t see it at first, but now I do.”

“What
will
you do with him, Kallista?” Torchay didn’t relax, didn’t move back.

“Turysh, I think. We need to go there for Fox. Maybe my mother can do something for Gweric’s feet. After that—” Kallista studied him. Gweric might be able to see her magic, and she might still be able to feel the links, sense the magic that bound her ilian together, but she could no longer reach it. The healer Merinda had told her that pregnant naitani gradually lost their ability to call magic, but hers seemed to have left all at once after the demon died. She could not read Gweric’s magic.

“You need to learn how to use your magic,” she said. “What you can and cannot do with it. We will have to find the proper place for you to do that.”

Gweric looked alarmed. “I—find magic. That is what I do.”

“Most naitani can. But all of us have a magic that is our own primary gift. I think it’s time you discovered yours.”

“I…” He fell silent, motionless.

“Come.” Obed rose smoothly to his feet. “I will show you where to sleep. You will not mind sharing with the cabin boy.”

As they entered the door beside her, Kallista tipped her head over onto Torchay’s shoulder. She was tired of thinking, tired of running and worrying. For just a moment, she wanted to simply
be
.

“I heard you name the demon.” Torchay put his arm around her, adjusted her head to a more comfortable position. “I saw it.”

“Did you?” She did not want to talk of this now. Determinedly, she shut her eyes.

“None of the others saw it. I might be the last of us marked, but I believe the link between us is closer. For instance, I know you don’t want to discuss this.”

“That isn’t magic. That’s nine years at my side.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Likely true. But it was the magic that let me see the demon. And the magic let me hear what it said before it died.”

“Oh?” Kallista rolled her head back onto his arm and opened an eye to look at him. “And what did it say?” She truly hoped he hadn’t heard.

“Zughralithiss.”

A chill ran down her spine at the hissing sound.

“What is it, Kallista? What does it mean?”

She sighed and ran a hand up under his loose hair to his godmarked neck and hugged him tight. “I don’t know. Nor does Belandra, except…”

“What?” He tightened his arms around her.

“I fear it means we are not done with whatever the One has for us.” Kallista closed her eyes again, breathing in his familiar scent. “It will be on us soon enough, but not right away, I think. My magic is gone until after the babies are born. We have this time to rest, to be together. To be happy. Let’s not look for trouble before it comes. All right? Can you give me that?”

“Aye.”

Kallista could see the worry lurking behind the smile in his eyes. Torchay was a professional worrier. But he only kissed her and lifted her across his lap.

The future would bring what it brought. Until then, she would be more than content.

THE COMPASS ROSE