A knock on the door. ‘The hand-of-force is calling for volunteers,’ Haromyr said. ‘Do you want us to volunteer?’
Ardonyx caught Tobazim’s eye as he replied. ‘You can volunteer all you like, but you won’t be chosen.’
Tobazim grinned as he walked out.
G
RAELEN REMAINED IN
the all-father’s cabin when the door closed on Tobazim.
‘You know what you need to do,’ Kyredeon said. ‘It will be a dangerous mission. No one will be surprised if Tobazim is killed. And we’re in luck, the causare’s choice-son has also volunteered. If you can lead him to his death, that would be a blow to her.’
They discussed who should make up the party. They did not want the group too obviously weighted with Kyredeon’s supporters, so they decided on young warriors with no obvious allegiance to him.
Oriemn went out to call for volunteers. Everyone would volunteer – it was a chance to win stature – so he could take his pick.
Head reeling, Graelen left. Valendia was waiting; she drew him to the rail overlooking the mid-deck.
‘What did he want?’ she whispered, as Oriemn selected volunteers.
‘I’m leading a mission.’
Below them, Tobazim left the cabin, heading for the side of the ship with a travelling kit over his shoulder.
Her eyes flew to his. ‘No, Grae.’
‘I have to do this.’ To save her.
‘No.’
‘Sometimes we have to do hard things.’
She brushed past him, running into the passage to their cabin. He followed, but she was not behind the blanket in the corner. Graelen delayed as long as she could, hoping Valendia would come back, but she was avoiding him. She had a good heart and a kind nature, but she was utterly determined.
If he did this, she would despise him.
But if he didn’t, Kyredeon would have him killed, which would kill her; and he couldn’t bear that.
Better she despised him.
When he climbed down into Sorne’s rowboat, as well as the Mieren oarsmen and Sorne, there were five cloaked brotherhood warriors waiting for him. He could feel their roused male gift. If he were Tobazim, he would be feeling very threatened.
And a threatened T’En adept was a dangerous thing.
A
RAVELLE FOLDED THE
ornate brocade robe Hueryx had worn for the all-council meeting.
‘Can you believe the arrogance of that Malaunje?’ Dragomyr demanded. ‘Speaking at an all-council isn’t enough. He has to interrupt an all-father.’
‘I know,’ Reyne crowed. ‘Did you see Kyredeon’s face?’
‘Perhaps the Malaunje has something to be arrogant about,’ Hueryx said. ‘He’s used his visions to make King Charald dance to his tune for years. Now he’s set off to rescue a queen, raise an army and save a kingdom.’
His seconds said nothing.
Hueryx caught Aravelle’s eye. She smiled before she could help it.
‘When Imoshen’s choice-son dropped from the rigging, I thought the all-fathers would punish him for his temerity,’ Dragomyr said.
‘He volunteered to win stature, a clever move. Everyone is manoeuvring,’ Hueryx said. ‘Meanwhile, Dretsun keeps picking away at Imoshen, even though she demolished him the last time he tried to undermine her.’ Hueryx gestured to Aravelle. ‘And what can we learn from this, Vella?’
Startled, she said the first thing that came into her head. ‘That an all-father driven by ambition can overstep his reach.’
Hueryx laughed. ‘See, Dragomyr? With a little training she will prove a valuable tool.’
But Aravelle wasn’t going to be anyone’s tool. She went through to the bathing chamber to clean up. They’d left water in the tub, towels on the floor and clothing where it had fallen as they stripped.
She began by sorting their clothing. As she worked, she stubbed her toe on a small chest filled with semi-precious stones, spilling them across the tiles.
Aravelle looked at the jewels winking in the lamplight. Just one of those stones would have kept her family for ten years. When she thought of how hard her mother and father worked to put food on their table...
‘Don’t even think it,’ Saskar said.
She gave a guilty jump as he joined her.
He dropped to his knees to pick up the jewels. ‘You’re thinking of stealing the stones and running away. The same thing occurred to me. But we’d have nowhere to go. Even if we dyed our hair, our eyes and fingers would give us away. We can never pass for Mieren, and without the T’En, we’re powerless to defend ourselves. There’s nowhere to run to, Vella.’
‘I wasn’t thinking of running away,’ Aravelle protested, helping him put the gems back. ‘Besides, my parents ran, and we were happy!’
‘And look at the price they paid. Both dead and their children captives. You were lucky the causare offered a reward for live Malaunje and T’En, or the Mieren would have killed you.’
She bowed her head.
A
S
S
ORNE CLOSED
the door on the Wyrds’ chamber, he noticed that one of the warriors was missing and assumed the missing brother had slipped into the town on a private mission for the all-father.
Sorne turned to the castle-keep. ‘We leave tomorrow at dawn.’
‘Good, because the silverheads make my skin crawl,’ she confessed. So she was sensitive to gift power; some True-men were.
Sorne’s stomach rumbled.
‘Have you eaten?’
‘No,’ he admitted.
‘I’ll have something sent up to your room.’
He thanked her and returned to the baron’s chamber. As he entered, a cloaked warrior rose from the chair by the fireplace.
He reached for his sword.
Valendia laughed and threw back the hood. ‘I fooled you. I fooled them all.’
He hugged her, his heart light with laughter. ‘Grae –’
‘Doesn’t know I’m here. We’re fighting.’ Her beautiful wine-dark eyes glittered with tears. ‘Oh, Sorne, it’s horrible in the brotherhood. The all-father...’ She shuddered, reaching for his hands, shaking with emotion. ‘He’s sent Grae on this mission as an excuse to kill someone.’
So this was what Imoshen had been trying to tell him. But he knew Graelen to be an honourable man. Sorne noticed her chilled, trembling fingers. ‘You’re freezing. Come over by the fire and tell me what’s going on.’
As he built up the fire, she knelt next to him.
‘Kyredeon fears Tobazim and Captain Ardonyx will challenge his leadership, so he’s told Grae to get rid of Tobazim.’
‘I’ll warn Tobazim about Kyredeon’s plans for him.’
‘He knows. Believe me, he knows.’
‘Don’t worry. Grae is an honourable man, he won’t –’
She shook her head. ‘Kyredeon threatened me. Grae will kill to protect me.’
‘Then Grae needs to unite with Tobazim and Ardonyx against the all-father.’
‘They’d lose. Tobazim and Ardonyx only have low-ranking brothers on their side. Kyredeon’s got everyone running scared. And besides, according to Grae, they aren’t powerful enough yet. If they challenge and lose, Kyredeon will purge the brotherhood, executing all their followers. If Grae dies, I die. That’s why he’ll kill Tobazim. But it will make him go hard and cold inside, and I’ll lose him.’
Sorne held her while she sobbed, rubbing her back, saying the things their mother used to say. All the while, his anger grew.
After a few moments, she pulled away and wiped her face.
‘What do you want me to do, Dia?’
‘Sweet Sorne.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘There’s nothing you can do. We’re only Malaunje, and this is T’En brotherhood business.’
‘There is no “only Malaunje.”’ It infuriated him to hear her say this. ‘You could claim sanctuary with the causare. She’s more powerful than any man.’
Valendia shook her head. ‘No one can interfere with the way an all-father runs his brotherhood. I shouldn’t have come to you.’
‘Of course you should. I’m your brother.’
There was a knock at the door. ‘Wait here.’
He accepted the tray from the servant and shared his meal with Valendia. She said she wasn’t hungry, but managed to put away a good portion of his dinner.
‘I should go back.’ It was clear she didn’t want to.
‘Stay the night. You can have my bed.’
‘I couldn’t.’
‘I can’t sleep on Mieren beds anyway. They’re not long enough.’
She managed a tearful smile.
‘Stay here for now. You don’t have to go back to the brotherhood, not until they sail. Zaria is here with her children. You’ll like her. And the cat’s had kittens.’
‘Sorne!’ She shoved him. ‘I’m sixteen, not six.’
He grinned.
She yawned. ‘Don’t know why I’m so tired.’
Sorne led her over to the bed, slipped off her shoes and tucked her in.
‘You’ll see, Dia. Things will look better in the morning.’
‘That’s what Ma used to say.’ Valendia raised solemn eyes to him. ‘But there’s no way out of this. I’m going to lose Grae either way, and it will kill me.’
‘No.’ He was adamant. ‘There’s always hope.’
She smiled. ‘Silly Sorne...’ And she drifted off to sleep.
As he stretched out in front of the fire, he wondered if he should tell Graelen that Valendia was safe. If he did, the adept would probably insist she return to the brotherhood. In fact, now that Sorne thought about it, he was stepping on the other man’s toes by coming between him and his devotee.
But Sorne didn’t care. Valendia was his sister, and he did not see why she should be put in danger because of the rivalry within Graelen’s brotherhood.
Fury at the T’En, their arrogance and the way the brotherhoods were organised churned inside him. Before this was over, they’d see what one Malaunje could achieve.
And he realised he was doing it again. He’d spent years trying to prove to True-men that he was as good as them. Now he had to carve a place for himself in T’Enatuath society.
Chapter Sixteen
‘S
EE FOR YOURSELF
.’
Ronnyn peered into the polished silver mirror.
‘No more broken nose,’ Reoden said.
Since he’d never seen himself before arriving on the ship, and by then his nose was broken, he wasn’t used to this new face. But it did feel good to be able to breathe freely again. ‘Thank you.’
The healer beamed. How could she be so kind to him, yet lock the girl away? It couldn’t simply be because she was a girl. He’d spotted two girls a little older in the causare’s sisterhood.
‘Coming out on deck?’
‘In a moment,’ he said.
Five days had passed and he hadn’t been able to get near the hidden girl. It was so hard to find a moment when the cabin was empty. There was always someone coming and going. Now that Reoden had left the bathing chamber, he had a chance.
He slipped into the adjoining cabin, grabbed a chair, climbed up and peered through the grille. The girl was writing, bent over her work.
‘Don’t you get lonely?’ he asked.
She jumped, knocked the ink and spilt it. Quick as a cat, she righted the bottle, but ink had already run across the page and discoloured her fingers. ‘Look what you made me do!’
‘You should wash your hands.’
She glanced up to him. ‘Is the cabin empty?’
‘Yes.’ He jumped down and moved the chair to one side.
She opened the panel cautiously.
‘I’ll keep watch while you wash your hands.’
She darted past him into the bathing chamber and he stood at the door.
‘What were you writing?’
‘I’m illuminating manuscript pages.’
‘I couldn’t sit still and do such fiddly work.’
‘I love it. There’s something very pleasing in getting the lines just right.’
He slipped into the bathing chamber so he could watch her.
‘I’d rather be outside fishing or hunting,’ he said. ‘I used to do the work of a man back home.’
‘I haven’t been out in the open since... for a long time.’
‘I’ll take you outside.’
She shook her head, but her eyes held such longing that Ronnyn’s mind raced. He knew he could lower a rowboat. The challenge would be to do it without being caught. ‘Would you like to go out on the bay?
‘I’m not allowed.’
‘When no one’s looking. We could slip out, take one of the rowboats, go fishing.’
‘I shouldn’t –’
Someone entered the all-mother’s cabin.
He crept over to the door and peered through the gap. She joined him, face pale with panic.
‘It’s the scryer and her shield-sister,’ he whispered. ‘Did you close the panel?’
‘Yes.’
They heard footsteps as someone came towards the bathing chamber door.
‘Quick.’ Ronnyn caught her hand and ran for the door leading out into the passage.
The pair of them darted into the hall, just as one of the sisters entered the bathing chamber.
‘Now I’m in trouble,’ the girl whispered.
Ronnyn’s heart hammered. ‘Nonsense. Come with me...’ He took her hand and led her towards the mid-deck.
At the door, she resisted. ‘What if –’
‘This ship is packed with two sisterhoods. We don’t know who everyone is. If the causare’s people see you, they’ll think you’re from the healer’s sisterhood, and if her people see you –’
‘All right. But –’
He pulled her through the door onto the deck, leading her several steps before she stopped.
He turned back to find her staring up at the sky, eyes glistening with tears of joy. ‘Is anyone likely to check up on you this afternoon?’
‘What? No, they wouldn’t expect me to try to escape. I haven’t done this since they shut me away, four years ago.’
He wanted to ask why she’d been shut away, but several Malaunje children ran past, playing and laughing, while their elders strung washing on lines across the deck, obscuring the rowboats. It was a perfect moment to carry out his plan. ‘Come on, this way.’
He darted between washing lines, making for the nearest rowboat. He reached up and undid the canvas cover. ‘Slip in here.’
He cupped his hands. She placed one elegant foot in his hand, another on his shoulders and sprang up, slipping gracefully into the boat.
He glanced both ways. No one was looking. The flapping washing formed the perfect screen. ‘Wait there.’