She Who Has No Name (The Legacy Trilogy) (81 page)

‘What do we do now, Lord Samuel?  Can you fight them all?  We are not out of the mountain yet,’ Utik’cah said.

‘Near enough,’ was Samuel’s response for the exit was in sight and the stone had already lost much of its potency here.  He called to the ether and a howling wind came rushing into the cavern, shunting the guards to their knees and blowing Samuel’s tattered hair behind him.  Utik’cah sheltered behind himto avoid the furious gale. 

Feeling the cool wind in his face, Samuel felt invigorated and he took a long
,
savouring breath of fresh air.  Magic stirred inside him and he felt it fizzing in his blood, filling him with vitality.

As the Paatin guards and wizards climbed to their feet, a wave of fire burst out from the Order magician and they disappeared within it, dropping their weapons and covering their faces.  The flames, squealing with white-hot fury, enveloped them and churned their flesh to ash. 

‘This mountain can hold me no longer,’ Samuel spoke, revelling in the sweet taste of his magic.

As the fire and heat dissipated, Samuel strode between the smoking carcasses and out into the night air. 
Free
from the mountain, he could feel the world around him and he delighted in its beauty, wallowing in the joy of his magic as it came filling his every pore, unrestricted by the accursed weight of
stone
.  His muscles filled with energy, and his blood surged with vigour.  From the air and the ether
,
he gathered his power and felt reborn.  He took a great breath and marvelled at the joy of such freedom. 

Free to do as he wished, he set his magic to work.  The wound in his torso sealed itself closed.  The grime and grit fell from his skin and he could feel moisture in his cracked throat once again.  Still, his muscles had wasted away
during
his time in exile and, between that and his missing eyes and arm, he must have appeared something of a ghoul in his black robes. 

‘I will need more time to recover, but time is what I do not have.  I will leave you here, while I hurry ahead,’ he told his Paatin saviour and
,
before the man could make an utterance
,
Samuel had bound
ed
up, leaping through the sky and onto the palace roof.  It only took several quick skips and he was vaulting in through the Koian woman’s window.

The midwives and healers were gathered around her, dabbing her head with towels
.
T
hey gasped and took a step back as he landed amongst them.  The
n they
screamed and ran,
leaving
only old Shara by the bed, holding the Koian woman’s hand defiantly. 

Guards had been
assembled
in the hall and they strove to make their way in as the women hurried out, but Samuel sent some drawers flying
in the direction of
the door and wedged it shut tight.  The men immediately began banging their fists against the wood, but they
c
ould not break the door down easily.

‘What do you want here, Demon!’ Shara asked, trembling with fear upon sight of him.

The Koian woman looked to be in feverish pain.  Her cheeks were red and her skin was wet with sweat.  The bulge of her stomach was hidden beneath the sheets, for she had her knees up, readied for the birth.  Only now, seeing her in the midst of childbirth, did Samuel truly realise he was about to be a father.  He wanted to grab her and hold onto her as hard as he could, for
throughout
every torturous moment of his dreams all he had wanted was to touch her, but
he
could not.  He kept the old woman between them, for if the Koian woman opened her eyes, she would surely be horrified by his horrendous state.  

The thought then occurred to him that they may have been dreams after all.  It was possible that all his moments with the woman had been only fantasy and that she felt nothing for him at all.  He put the thoughts from his mind, berating himself for
entertaining
such selfish
notions
at such a time.

‘What are you doing to her, old woman?’ he asked.

‘Helping her bear her child, of course!’ Shara returned, and Samuel was surprised by her tenacity and impressed by her desire to protect the girl.  ‘The mother is nearly ready, but the babe will only be born in nature’s own good time.’

‘It’s you!’ the Koian god-woman gasped, straining to see him, and the old woman had to restrain her from her attempts to sit up.  ‘I knew you were not dead.  That witch told me over and over that she had killed you.  My dreams were always of you, but then you left me and I couldn’t find you.  Where have you been?’

He kept his back to her and held his stump by his chest, so as to keep it from view.

‘I have been under the mountain,’ he said. 

‘This is your child inside me,’ she said.  ‘We shall have a son together.’

‘I know.’  He kept his gaze to the window.  ‘How is this possible?’ he asked her.  ‘I am a magician, and you told me yourself that you could not have children.’

‘I don’t know,’ she said, shaking her head upon her pillow.  Then she yelped and her hands went to the sheets over her belly.

‘The pains are more frequent,’ the old woman said, ‘but there is still some way to go.  I suspect this will not be easy.’

‘Then promise me, woman, that you will not abandon her.’

‘I will not,’ Shara responded, ‘but no birth is simple.  You have frightened off everyone who could assist with the birth.  I am not a healer or a midwife.  I have only ever helped with such things before.’

‘They cannot come in,’ he told her.  ‘Your Queen has evil plans.  She will kill the mother and trade the child for a victory in her war.  When she can be moved, I will take them away from here.’

At that, the midwife’s eyes opened in
sudden comprehension
, and he knew that she believed him.  ‘Something terrible has happened to our beloved Queen, to put our city beneath such a cloud of fear.  Very well, I will do my best.’

‘What are you saying?’ the Koian asked, for she did not understand their Paatin talk.

He kept his back to her and huddled within his robes.  ‘Why did you not tell me you are a witch?’ he asked her.

‘I am not a witch!’ she said, pained
by his accusation
. 

‘Yes.  I know it now, but you are something.  I don’t know any other word for it.’

‘Then don’t call me anything.’

‘And you can see magic,’ he said.  ‘That’s how you managed to navigate your way around the catacombs.’

Again, she nodded.  ‘That was a long time ago.’

‘Not for me.  Time passes strangely under the mountain.  Hours and moments are interchangeable and the fevers I suffered made it all the worse.  There, bound in my prison, I had a dream.  I had returned to the fortress of Ghant and I was injured and dying upon the floor.  I saw Grand Master Tudor struggling against the Paatin.  Something happened to me and then I stole the life of everyone there.  It saved my life, but I consumed theirs.  Tudor died, and only you remained.  Somehow, I know it was not a dream at all.  You saw it all, but you didn’t say anything.’

The Koian woman took a breath.  ‘I saw you and I was afraid
—
not because of what you could do, but because of what it meant.  It frightened me because
,
for once, something that Canyon had told me had been true.  He said that we were the same in nature, and we were supposed to have a child that would save our nation.  I thought he was lying but
,
when I saw you consume those people
,
I knew he was telling the truth.  It is not an evil power Samuel but
,
as with any power
,
it can be used in many ways.’

‘I will kill them for this,’ he said darkly.  ‘We are not pawns to be pushed together and used for their whims.’

‘Do not say such things.  There can be no good
to be
had from these feelings.  Let them do as they wish and let us do the same.’

‘I cannot help it.  At times like this, my anger comes boiling up into my heart and I feel there is a dark and terrible thing lurking inside me.  It makes me want to kill and rend and tear my opponents to pieces.  It takes control of me and it uses me like a puppet—and I let it.  Sometimes, I think I will become that thing altogether, and the man called Samuel will cease to exist.  Perhaps it has happened already?  Perhaps that is what happened to me in Ghant.’

‘Don’t speak like that.  I have never seen anything in you but a good and true man.  If anything, you are too honest and too pure
,
and a little more suspicion may have kept you out of this trouble.  It is others who have taken advantage of you.  Do not doubt yourself, for I will never doubt you.  I hope that means something to you.  Please...look at me.  Why do you keep yourself turned away?’

A flare of magic caught his attention.  It was Anthem, far above, rallying his magic and readying himself for battle.  With a flick of his wrist and a loud crack
,
Samuel sent a spell that sealed the door for good, cracking and twisting the stone around it.  The lintel warped, seizing the door in place.  It would never open again.

‘My teacher is calling me.  I must go to him and teach him something in return.’

The Koian woman was puffing quickly, holding onto her belly, but she held one hand out to Samuel as he stepped away.  ‘Don’t leave me!’

He could not even turn back to look at her, lest she see his hideous face.  Instead, he ignored her and went to the window, where he drew his magic and leapt. 

Anthem’s location was as obvious as if a flaming beacon had been set above him
.
Samuel bound
ed
along the terraces and rooftops, leaping like a human flea towards the blaze of gathering magic.  The Star of Osirah still burned far above them in the night sky, and the people of the city
continued to
celebrate beneath it, ignorant of what was unfolding in the palace. 

Grand Master Anthem was waiting in the hall of the Desert Queen, where Samuel had witnessed their treachery.  He was wearing his Order blacks and stood defiantly, straight-backed, in the middle of the room, surrounded by power.  Alahativa was waiting to the side, with the Emperor draped in chains beside her.  The man looked infuriated, but it seemed he was helpless against her magic.  No servants or guards lined the walls.  All had fled or been told to leave lest they be consumed in the coming conflict.

‘Samuel,’ Anthem said in greeting, granting a welcoming smile.  ‘We have much to discuss.’

‘I want nothing to do with you any more, old man,’ he replied and Anthem scowled back.

‘I see you’ve grown a bitter tongue, but it would pay you to hold it until you have learnt everything there is to tell.  Would you not hear how Gallivan and I fared in Garteny?’

‘I have already heard all I need to hear and I am in no mood to listen to more lies and stories.  And what would you expect?  Look what she’s done to me—my hand, my eyes!’ and he pulled his sleeve up over his stump, to reveal the mottled, pink skin that bulged around his elbow.  He raised his chin to let the light fall onto his ravaged face and even the Desert Queen looked disgusted.

But Anthem was resolute and went on.  ‘Yet
,
even blind, you have learnt to compensate for such injuries.  You are truly gifted, Samuel.’

Alahativa also spoke up.  ‘I applaud you for surviving my dungeon, Samuel.  It is a feat that no one has ever accomplished.’

‘Your dungeon is much overrated, witch.  First, Balten escaped, and now, so have I.  Your
E
mpire is decaying from within.  Even your own people have turned against you.  You have lost your
E
mpire with your madness.’