Reisil hesitated. She wanted to refuse him, to deny that he owed her anything. But though that was true, she also needed allies. She needed people she could trust. She nodded.
His eyes flared and he stepped aside, extending his arm, and speaking more loudly, his voice disdainful. “But do not let me detain you.”
Reisil moved past Metyein and wandered toward an alcove. She needed a place to think. She ducked through the draperies, grateful to find the space unoccupied. She drew a shuddering breath, her mind racing as she paced.
“Well, you certainly created a stir.”
Reisil swung around as Juhrnus slid between the curtains, Esper perched on his shoulders. His face was ruddy, his hair damp and straggly. His doublet was wrinkled and unevenly buttoned.
“Been out prowling?” she asked with a meaningful look at his clothing. He glanced down and grimaced.
“Give me a plain shirt any day. I’m wearing so many clothes, I can hardly move. Come on, then, lend a hand. Mustn’t look slovenly for our exalted guests.”
Reisil helped him adjust his clothing, turning him around for a once-over. “As good as can be expected. But do stop letting Esper sleep on your clothes. You’ve got several tears in your doublet and shirt, and there’s no fixing those now.”
Juhrnus gave an unremorseful shrug. “Can’t blame him for wanting a comfortable nest.”
“How did you get the singe mark on your elbow?” she asked, pointing to the chocolate patch on his otherwise white sleeve. Juhrnus twisted his arm to see it and began to swear.
“White is a color only fools and ghosts should wear.” He eyed the assembly through the opening of the curtain. “And we’ve plenty of the one in there. Seen Sodur?” he added diffidently.
“He was here a few minutes ago.”
“Who with?”
Reisil shook her head. “No one but Lume.”
“Where is he now?”
Reisil shrugged. Juhrnus pushed the drapes aside. Reisil looked over his shoulder.
“Not a lot of
ahalad-kaaslane
here tonight,” Juhrnus observed. “Most of ’em I don’t know that well.” He was silent a heartbeat and then sucked his breath in sharply. “You don’t think—”
Reisil hesitated. She wasn’t sure there was any point in hiding the truth anymore. She rubbed her forehead. “He sent them away. Anyone who might have challenged the rumors about me, who might have told me what was really going on. He thought if the
ahalad-kaaslane
didn’t accept me, then the nobles would leave me alone and give me time to learn how to use my power.”
“He what?” Juhrnus’s voice was strangled, and his face had begun turning a mottled red.
“He was convinced some noble, or several of them, would kill me to keep the
ahalad-kaaslane
from regaining power. But since the
ahalad-kaaslane
all hate me, I’m no threat. So I’m safe.”
“That’s . . . that’s . . .”
“Stupid? That’s what I told him when I figured it out. He said it was for my own good and if I weren’t so naïïve, I’d see that.”
“How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Since last summer. And I hoped if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t be tarred with the same brush. I was wrong.” Juhrnus had every right to be angry with her. She wasn’t his mother. He was
ahalad-kaaslane,
and it wasn’t her job to protect him.
Fury turned Juhrnus’s face a darker shade of red. He balled a fist and struck at the wall, swearing when his knuckles came away bleeding. He shook his hand. Reisil watched and said nothing.
“So that’s the way of it, then,” he said finally.
“I should have told you. You have a right to know, to choose your own path.”
Juhrnus looked at the wall. Reisil held herself still, waiting for his verdict.
“Is that all of it? The break between you and Sodur?” he asked, turning back to her, his gaze scorching. She nodded. He reached up and stroked Esper’s head. “All right, then.”
Relief rushed through Reisil, and she let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding.
“Saw you talking to your patient. What did he say?”
“He apologized for bumping into me.” Reisil paused, then said slowly, “He thanked me for saving his life and offered his service.” When Juhrnus didn’t answer, she added, “Sodur would be disturbed to learn Metyein cas Vare knew I’d healed him. And likely overheard the rest of our conversation that night.”
“I’ll bet he would. Someone might earn his trust by telling him. But really, who wants his trust? Let him eat
skraa
.”
Reisil grinned, starting when the brassy sound of horns blasted through the Great Hall. “They’re here,” she said softly, and then stepped out of the alcove to see better.
The majordomo pounded his staff, and his deep, ringing tones echoed through the answering hush that fell over the assembly.
“Menegal-Hakar, Jebak of the Berjudi, Honored Pewaris of His Supreme Greatness, Tengkorak-Gadai, Kilmet and Suzaerain of Dahre-Sniwan’s chosen people in Scallas and across the waves; Waiyhu-Waris, Oljebak of the Berjudi, Honored Musnah of His Supreme Greatness, Tengkorak-Gadai, Kilmet and Suzaerain of Dahre-Sniwan’s chosen people in Scallas and across the waves, and Kedisan-Mutira, Emak of the Endul, favored
penabidan
of Jebak Menegal-Hakar and Oljebak Waiyhu-Waris.”
Reisil barely heard the almost nonsensical introductions as she watched the sorcerers float up the steps and through the wide doorway of the Great Hall, two feet above the floor. There was an audible gasp, and then Reisil felt a wave of magic wash over her, filling her mouth and ears, squeezing her lungs and pressing her flat. She coughed, struggling for breath. All about her, the entire assembly wilted beneath the onslaught, clinging together, coughing and gasping.
The sorcerers floated along indifferently, approaching the royal dais. Those waiting for them remained unaffected by the Scallacians’ spell.
Reisil’s vision dimmed, and her chest ached. Beside her, Juhrnus gagged, grabbing at the draperies as he sagged to the floor. Esper made a hissing sound, and Saljane shrieked. Fury flamed inside Reisil. She snatched at her power.
It was gone, leaving her as barren as if it had never been.
Not now!
She tried again, but nothing. Her fingers curled into claws, and black smudges dimmed her vision.
Wrath. Frenzy. Brutality. Blood-hunger.
The
presence
from the bluffs. Reisil recoiled, feeling her bones shifting against one another as if she were being twisted and pulled like a rag doll. Suddenly her power roared up in answer to the ferocious assault. Raw and hot, it burst from her like a thunderclap, shattering the sorcerers’ net. She ripped at it with invisible hands, driven by fury and pain.
Reisil’s wild magic crashed against the sorcerers’ shields. The Scallacians dropped to the floor, staggering. With practiced calm, they gathered themselves, looking neither to the left or the right as they marched toward the dais as if nothing had happened.
Reisil sobbed for air, the pressure on her lungs easing. Her magic crackled in her hair and along her skin. She reined it back, but dared not let go of it.
What if it failed to come again?
She felt the pressure of it beginning to build inside her, pressing against her eyes, making her teeth and bones ache. Reisil clenched her shaking hands.
“What—?” The rest of the sentence was lost as Juhrnus began to cough. He caught his breath. “What was that?”
“That was the sorcerers telling us they are not our friends. Inviting them here was a mistake.”
She pushed past Juhrnus, her attention caught by a knot of people forming near the far end of the room, far from the royal dais. Reisil strode through the nobles, brushing them aside. A woman had collapsed. Reisil could sense the old woman’s heart stuttering, her life fleeing away. Reisil knelt down beside the stricken woman. Juhrnus settled beside her. Her blood roared in her ears, and her hands trembled as she set them on the woman’s chest. Her power flared. With it came the
presence
. It crashed into Reisil’s mind with all the force of a stampeding herd of horses.
For a moment she was helpless. Then she felt Saljane’s mind surge up like a spear. The
presence
faltered in its onslaught, and it was enough for Reisil to slam shut her mental barriers.
~What was that?
Saljane sounded strained.
~I don’t know.
Nor did she have time to consider. The woman was dying.
Before she could lose her nerve and with it her magic, Reisil settled her hands back down on the woman’s chest. Magic flowed steadily, contained by their shared minds. Soon the woman’s breathing deepened, her blood flowing more quickly as her damaged heart grew whole.
When Reisil stood up, the people around her parted, their faces suspicious and accusing. As she walked away, a cloud of mutterings rose in her wake.
“You can do that for her, but what about my Deintra?”
“Thought your power was all dried up. Picking and choosing, are you?”
“. . . demonspawn . . .”
Reisil’s steps stuttered, and then she continued, arm tensing as Juhrnus grasped her elbow with a steadying hand. Even if she knew who had spoken, nothing she could say would change their minds. Sodur had seen to that.
“Having a look at your handiwork?” she asked Sodur, who had come to meet them.
“What was that about?”
Juhrnus spoke first, his voice hard. “Your sorcerers tried to kill us all. Part of your plan?”
Sodur looked sharply at Reisil. She stared back, uncowed.
“This is necessary,” he said. “They
can
help us.”
“Funny sort of help,” Juhrnus retorted acidly.
“They don’t respect weakness. They were testing us. You put them in their place easily enough. Now let’s go. I want you to meet them.”
Reisil put a hand on Sodur’s arm as he would have walked away. “You’re wrong. It wasn’t easy at all. I nearly couldn’t do it. If—” She broke off. “You cannot depend on me to keep Kodu Riik safe from your sorcerers.”
Something in her voice made the color bleed from Sodur’s cheeks. He gripped her elbow. “You can’t go. Not now, not yet. You’re right. They aren’t our friends, which makes your presence more vital than before. And you
did
break their spell. They’ll be cautious now. Go away, and they’ll certainly try again. If you stay—they aren’t our friends, but they can be bought. They still might be the answer to the plague. But not if you leave.” His grasp tightened, his voice dropping. “You can’t go find the wizards yet. Not while the sorcerers are in Kodu Riik. You’ll doom us all if you do.”
Reisil yanked her arm away. How dare he invite them here and make her responsible for them! It was his fault, his choices and his secrets. Not hers.
~But we must protect Kodu Riik
.
Saljane sounded as angry as Reisil felt, her voice sere and cold.
~Is this the way? We can’t
make
them help. We can’t
make
them find a cure. All they have to do is drag their heels, and the plague does their work for them. I should find the wizards, now, while there’s still time.
~But what if Sodur is right?
Reisil’s lips pinched together. It was an argument she couldn’t gainsay. Not yet. But it wouldn’t be long before the whole city was under siege by the plague, and if the Scallacians didn’t help soon, she would go hunting for the wizards on her own.
She nodded and then followed after Sodur to the royal dais, Juhrnus at her side. Sodur guided them around to the back of the dais to stand behind the Lord Marshal, the Verit, the Vertina. The Castelain was introducing the sorcerers to the nobility in a stately, sonorous voice. The two male sorcerers nodded disdainfully at each introduction. The woman hardly noticed the presentations.
Reisil waited, shifting from foot to foot. The introductions concluded, and the Castelain bowed and retreated. The Verit drew a breath and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Sodur stepped forward, bowing low.
“My apologies, Daz. But I would plead two more introductions.” The Verit’s eyes narrowed, but he smiled graciously.
“Of course. We would not wish to slight anyone.”
Sodur waved Reisil and Juhrnus forward. They complied, though Reisil could not erase the stony expression from her face.
“These are two of our finest young
ahalad-kaaslane
, Reisiltark and Juhrnus. Juhrnus will be serving as your aide and liaison, to help you with whatever you need during your sojourn in Kodu Riik. We have given him quarters near yours for your convenience. Reisiltark will be able to assist you in understanding the plague.”
As he made this introduction, Reisil studied the sorcerers. They were of a height and only an inch or so taller than she. Their dark eyes were lined with thick kohl, and their lips gleamed scarlet, giving them a sensual, exotic appearance, though Reisil felt only repugnance. Their robes were sleeveless, and their arms were bare, showing darkly tanned skin swathed in a delicate net of finely wrought chains, flashing with tiny charms in all sorts of shapes and sizes. These finely-netted chain sleeves draped across their hands and attached to carved rings circling the first knuckle on each of their fingers. Beneath their robes, the chain undergarments stretched down to the ground, visible beneath the slightly shorter length of the colorful fabric. Their feet were shod in thin-soled, strappy sandals, also decorated with a jingling array of charms. A snood matching the undergarments draped each of their pale heads, ending just above their pale eyebrows and sweeping down over their shoulders to fasten across the chest. As on the undergarment and sandals, charms flashed and gleamed along the crisscrossing lengths and jingled along its edges.
Sodur announced their names and titles, the alien words rolling off his tongue as if he’d known them all his life, as if he knew what they meant.
“May I present Menegal-Hakar, Jebak of the Berjudi, honored Pewaris of His Supreme Greatness, Tengkorak-Gadai, Suzaerain of Scallas.”