The Threshold Child (64 page)

It was Kendan.

He spotted her eyes, her only visible feature, and was just as
stunned as she was. He hurried to control the emotions on his face and slowly
got to his feet.

“What do you want?” he asked one of the escorts.

The Shimat in question jerked his head toward Adesina. “She claims
to have a message for the Sharifal. She does not seem to be aware of the
change.”

Adesina didn’t know what the guard meant by “the change,” but she
knew that there was no chance of pretending to be anyone other than herself.

“Of course not!” Kendan said sharply. “This messenger has been
under deep cover.”

She stared at him in shock, hardly daring to believe the words
coming out of his mouth. The other Shimat seemed equally surprised.

“Sir, she fits the description of the renegade…”

Kendan cut him off impatiently. “Do you suppose I would not know
the renegade when I saw her?”

“Of course not, sir!”

He waved his hand at them. “Then leave us.”

“But, sir-”

He silenced them with a look. They bowed their heads and started
to withdraw, but he called them back.

“Wait a moment.”

Kendan beckoned all four guards into his study and closed the door
behind them. The Shimat watched him warily, uncertain what he was doing.

Then, with lightning quick movements, he drew a dagger from the
sleeve of his black robes and slashed the throat of the guard nearest to him.

Adesina rushed to draw her sword and dispatch another, and Ravi
lunged to kill a third. Kendan, who could not see Ravi, was too stunned by the
mysterious death of the Shimat to react quickly enough to kill the fourth
guard. That left him to L’iam.

The guard tried to escape out the door to warn the rest of the
fortress, but the L’avan prince threw a knife into his retreating back. The man
fell to the ground, never to move again.

Kendan stepped past L’iam to drag the body back into his study,
then he bolted the door shut.

Adesina stared at him in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

He produced four small white squares of cloth, staining each of
them with the blood of the fallen Shimat and then placing the cloth on the fire
to burn.

“I lied to them in order to protect you, and there can be no
witnesses to such a betrayal.”

Her frown deepened. “Others have seen me here, and they have
probably reported it to the Sharifal. Are you going to kill all of them, too?”

“None of them know that I helped you,” he replied. “Besides, the
Sharifal is not here.”

Adesina had been looking at the bodies strewn at their feet. Her
head whipped up at this revelation. “What? Where is she?”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “It is enough to
know that she is gone for a time.”

Her expression became hard. “Where is she, Kendan?”

“It does not matter,” he insisted. “You are here now, and there is
nothing you can do about anything other than what happens where you are.
Perhaps it is better that she is gone,” he added softly.

She gave him a sarcastic stare. “Why is that?”

His dark eyes were full of unspoken emotion as he looked up at
her. “Because I was left in charge, and therefore you were brought to me.”

An awkward silence filled the room. Adesina didn’t know how to
reply to such a statement. Kendan studied her face a moment before sighing
quietly and turning away.

The young Shar’s gaze was arrested by the body of the third guard,
whose neck had been crushed by Ravi’s powerful jaws. “Did you kill him with
your magic?”

She quirked an eyebrow. “I suppose there was an element of magic
involved.”

Adesina glanced at Ravi, who inclined his head to show that he was
willing to reveal himself. Kendan gasped at the appearance of the giant feline.

“What is it?”

“
He
is a Rashad. He began following me when we left the
fortress to go to the High City.”

It took a brief moment for Kendan to recall her strange comments
about the animal following them as they rode north.

“And he has been with you ever since?”

She nodded. “He is my guardian.”

L’iam cleared his throat gently. “Adesina, we have to hurry.”

She started as if she had been in a daze. “Of course. I am sorry.”

He gave a sad smile and shook his head, indicating that her
apology was unnecessary.

Adesina brought up her Blood Sword, pointing it at Kendan’s neck.
“Where are the L’avan prisoners?”

He raised his hands slightly, in a defensive gesture. “Adesina, I
am on your side.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You were willing to kill four men in order to
protect your standing as a Shimat. You are not on my side, you are on your own
side.”

He started to speak, but she cut him off. “Where are the L’avan
prisoners? I will not ask you again.”

Kendan looked into her pitiless eyes and was saddened by what he
saw. “Most of them are one level down, in the laboratories, but your father is
being kept in the dungeon.”

Adesina tried to keep her expression harsh, even though her heart
began to beat faster. “What makes you think I am related to any of them?”

“He told me,” Kendan said quietly.

She shook her head, not wanting to believe him, but he persisted.
“Ask him. Ask him if he knows me.”

Taking a quick step forward, she hit him across the face as hard
as she could with the hilt of her sword. He dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Adesina could feel herself shaking as she stood over the man she
had once loved. She tried to tell herself that she didn’t love him anymore, but
the tears that she fought back would prove otherwise.

She struggled to control her voice as she began to issue orders.
“Ravi, go find E’nes and Sa’jan. Tell them to get all the prisoners from the
laboratories and then meet us at the stables. We are going to get my father.”

E’nes sat on his horse, studying the face of the cliffs under the
light of the moon. He and Sa’jan rode slowly, trying to find the cave that
would lead them up into the fortress.

The young L’avan was growing nervous, and glanced at the sky for
what must have been the thousandth time. Midnight was fast approaching, and
they still did not know how they were going to get into the Shimat stronghold.
What if they did not find the entrance fast enough to be of any assistance to
Adesina and the others? What if they met their deaths because he and Sa’jan
were not there to prevent it?

He glanced over at his companion, but Sa’jan’s craggy features
showed no signs of the anxiety that E’nes felt. There was nothing but focus on
his aged face as his sharp eyes scanned the surface of the rocks.

He abruptly brought his horse to a stop, and E’nes quickly did the
same. Sa’jan pointed a few feet ahead of them, where a shadow darker than the
rest was tucked back in a crevice.

E’nes wasn’t as certain of his eyes as Sa’jan was, so he connected
to his
vyala
. His vision took on a
dark green tint, and the cave stood out clearly from the rest of the cliffs. He
nodded to Sa’jan with a relieved smile on his face.

They dismounted their horses silently and approached the cave as
quietly as they could. E’nes could not help but think to himself that his
sister was much better at stuff like this.

Sa’jan brought forth his own
vyala
,
and his eyes glowed a light green. He scanned the cave for a moment and then
held up two fingers to his companion.

There were two Shimat guarding the cave.

He dropped his hand to the belt that Adesina had given him and
pulled out two of the darts. Sa’jan moved to the side, allowing him to pass.

E’nes did not have the kind of training that Adesina had. Even
though he had known about his
vyala
much longer, he did not know how to translate it into action as effortlessly as
she had shown in the northern forests. He could tell the general location of
the two guards, but he knew that his aim would not be nearly as precise as his
sister’s would have been.

The Shimat were on opposite sides of the cave, meaning that E’nes
would have to move quickly if he was going to render both unconscious.

He aimed as carefully as he could before stepping into the cave
and letting the first dart fly.

It hit the Shimat in the thigh, which wasn’t quite where he had
been aiming, but it would do. E’nes hurried to throw the second dart, but the
remaining Shimat was already moving. Her small, feminine form ducked behind the
large rocks of the cave, using the shadows to hide her movements.

“Sa’jan!” he whispered in alarm.

The other L’avan was instantly at his side, just in time to cry
out in warning. A small throwing knife shot out from the cave’s shadows, and
E’nes dove to one side. He was just slow enough that the blade grazed his arm
as he leapt, but he was grateful that it had been no worse.

He scrambled to his feet, using his green tinged vision to watch
the catlike movements of their opponent. She was silently creeping closer,
waiting for them to take a false step. She drew two short swords and climbed up
behind a larger rock, preparing to attack from above.

E’nes waited, switching his
vyala
and praying that his reflexes would not fail him. When she sprang down upon
them, he used his power to throw her back with as much force as he could
muster. The backlash of her sword as she flew away caught E’nes across the
chest, slicing the skin painfully.

He ignored his own wounds and dashed across the cave, drawing his
sword in preparation of a fight.

It was unnecessary, however, because the Shimat had landed on one
of her own swords. Her eyes were wide with shock and agony as her fingers felt
the blade that pierced her body. She struggled for a moment before falling back
and becoming still.

E’nes felt sick at the sight. He had never killed anyone before,
on purpose or by accident. The glory of battle that he had expected as a boy
was not here to bear him up. He only felt a slight nausea spreading through him.

He heard Sa’jan come up behind him and place a hand on his
shoulder. “Are you all right?”

E’nes couldn’t find his voice. He merely shook his head and turned
away from the body.

“The first is the hardest,” Sa’jan said softly, leading the young
man back to the mouth of the cave.

He sat him down on a smooth rock to take a look at his wounds.
E’nes stared at the moonlit waves lapping at the rocky shore.

“Does it get easier?”

Sa’jan shook his head sadly. “No, but the shock begins to fade.”

He turned his attention back to E’nes’s injuries. He walked out to
gather the horses and bring them into the cave, then he got his medical pack
out of his saddlebag.

“This is a fine way to begin,” he said grimly, as he bandaged his
young companion. “We have not even entered the Shimat fortress, and you are
already bleeding.”

E’nes grimaced apologetically. “I am sorry.”

A brief smile crossed the older L’avan’s face. “Do not be sorry,
be faster on your feet.”

He chuckled and nodded his agreement. Then he glanced once more at
the sky, gauging the position of the moon. “It is midnight,” he informed his
friend in a voice tight with tension.

Sa’jan nodded. “Let us go, then.”

They each wrapped themselves in their long cloaks, bring up the
cowls to hide their faces. Then they mounted their horses and began riding
through the tunnel found at the far side of the cave.

The silence was suffocating as they rode, filled with the anxiety
of expectation and the fear of failure. They did not speak, and there was
little else to break the silence. The sound of the horses’ hooves was muted by
dirt that had been packed down on the tunnel’s floor, and even the usual
jingling of the bridle seemed absent. Torches were few and far between, giving
only the minimum of necessary light.

The path inclined upward, winding here and there, and frequently
splitting into different directions. E’nes ran over Adesina’s instructions in
his mind: left, left, right, left, right, straight, straight, straight, left,
left, left, left, right, left, left.

Far ahead they could see the lights of the stables. E’nes fingered
the darts on his belt, waiting for Sa’jan to tell him how many Shimat were
standing guard.

A thoughtful frown creased his brow, and he pulled his cowl
forward even more. E’nes did the same without question, lowering his head as
well.

A small servant boy dressed in brown robes hurried forward to take
their horses. Sa’jan gestured imperiously, as Adesina had instructed him,
sending the boy away without a word.

The two L’avan dismounted their horses and tied the reigns to a
standing pole near the tunnel they had just ridden through. The servant boy was
still peeking at them from around the corner. The expression on his face was
curious, as if he wasn’t sure what they were doing.