Shadowless: Book 1 of the Ilmaen Quartet

by Helen Bell

  ‘That's all very well but if they have guns, shouldn't we have got ourselves at least one? Guns were available in Mhrydain, you know, for a price.’

  ‘Yes, but not over here. They are reserved for Crown troops. The only other people in Ilmaen to have them are professional assassins. Guns are too noticeable – and it is a capital offence to have one if you are not military. Now, if someone saw any of us armed with a gun, where would they think to place us, out of those two categories? Quite. Too dangerous; and unnecessary anyway. The garrison only break them out for practice, emergencies and official visits. Unless we get this wrong, we are unlikely to find ourselves in a situation where having a gun will do us any more good than a decent blade.’

  Cedas had rejoined them and caught the tail end of this conversation. He looked at Vel as though he was mad.

  ‘He's not after a gun?’ Kerin's acknowledgement made him roll his eyes heavenward in disbelief. ‘Does he live in the same world as the rest of us?’

  ‘Not quite,’ was Kerin's reply. ‘He has been in Mhrydain, after all.’

  ‘Hmm. Ugly weapons anyway. Get issued with bad shot or powder and you're likely to blow yourself up. I could never get on with them in Tor-Milan. Give me a knife any day. And you'd be mad to give up your sword, Vel. The camp's setting up on the other side of the hill, out of sight of Karn. We'll keep the fires low tonight as well.’

  He walked off again, shouting orders as he reached the main body of wagons. Vel cocked his head in puzzlement.

  ‘Was that a…?’

  ‘A compliment? I think it was. Sound advice, too.’

  Chapter 20 – Karn

  Once camp was made Cedas and Vel were gone. They were back within two hours, while there was still some light left. Cedas was confident of success in entering the fortress. Vel admitted frankly to Kerin that it had seemed impossible to him, but Cedas had partly scaled the cliff to demonstrate it could be done. Now Vel stood again with Kerin on the edge of the camp, watching the light fade from the sky over the town. They could just make out lights twinkling there now, and on one of the fortress towers a bonfire glowed, a reflection of the smaller one down the slope behind them that served the camp. Kerin's eyes stayed fixed on the distant fire. His arms were crossed and there was a thoughtful frown on his face.

  ‘I'm sure Jastur's there, Kerin.’

  ‘Yes. So am I. It’s the obvious place to keep him.’ Kerin was silent again for a while. After what Atune had told him, he had struggled long and hard against the temptation to have Renia try and see his brother again. This close, and knowing the risk they took in going into Karn, the struggle was renewed. He thought through that strange conversation with the old woman again and all that it implied; the urgency of her warning won out. They would have to go in with no more prescience than before, so he needed to use every other source of information he could find.

  ‘What of the guards on the keep? Could you make out a pattern, a routine, to their patrols?’ There should be one. This was Maregh's former province and now under Lemno's control, although rumour happily had the Tekai in Lestar, five hundred miles away. Even so, his influence was such that discipline would be maintained despite his absence.

  ‘We watched them for a while on this side of the river before we crossed. Two guards. But if they have a pattern it's complex. They're on the move all the time and never pass each other, but where they meet and turn seems to vary randomly. It's the only bit about this I don't like, going in this way.’

  ‘I am not keen myself, but believe me it is the only way. Once we are in the place no one will question it, because they are so strict on the gates. And I know from childhood experience that getting out is a simple process. Jastur and I found escaping into town infinitely more interesting than our tutors and duties in the Fort, and we had many routes. Don’t worry, that was nearly ten years ago. No one will know me after all this time, and except for those actively involved in holding him, no one is likely to recognize Jastur.’ Kerin stopped, uncertain how much of this he was saying for Vel's benefit and how much for his own. He knew from campaigning those five years in Federin that he would be calm and controlled on the day, but it was always hard to convince himself of that the night before. He turned to face Karn again, but his vision was inward.

  The fact that tomorrow would be the first meeting of Renia's fateful trinity, himself, Jastur and Vel, had not escaped any of them. Vel was pragmatic; he told Kerin that he had not come all this way just to sit in the rearguard, and unless he took a trek to the far end of the country, the three of them would have to meet at some time. He was prepared to take his chances in Karn. Kerin was grateful for that but still on edge. He had mastered the urge to ask Renia to try and see more, but he had been watching her; she too had been brooding on the significance of tomorrow. He had noticed her stiffen at that first meeting in Cedas's wagon, when he had named those he wanted to go into Karn with him, and then there was this obsession of hers with the Eagle. Yet since their argument she had said nothing more.

  Heaven grant that Jastur was in there. Logic and Renia's conviction pointed to it, but he had to be ready for any eventuality. Kerin had steeled himself for the worst; that Jastur had died here. He had lived with that once before, those few weeks in Mhrydain, before Renia renewed his hope. If all else failed, he would have to live with it again.

  He stirred himself, conscious of Vel's patient presence. He must have been wrapped up in his thoughts for some time, as Karn was in complete darkness now.

  ‘We may have to rely on Nina and Jez's performance to get us in,’ he said, harking back to the concerns Vel had voiced, ‘but that doesn’t worry me. The very thought of those two together is distracting.’

  Vel was not going to dispute that. To know he was going to miss it came as a blow to him, after hearing the old members of the Company recall it. And bad news made him hungry.

  ‘Want some supper? I think stage one of the plan will soon be under way.’

  ‘I am not hungry, but we had best get something down us. After you.’

  Stage one had been evolved to explain why Cedas was not directing the show in town the next day. It would be the first time that such a thing had happened, so it would be remarked upon by the rest of the Company. They had decided that the answer was for sudden illness to befall him and confine him to his bed. If Eddir hung back to drive him and Naylan's wagon stayed to keep an eye out, while the rest of the Company went on with Nina in charge, then each person would be in the place they needed to be; some outside Karn's walls, and Jesral and Nina within to stage their diversion.

  Cedas began his subterfuge during supper, underplaying it well. He was quiet and restless, appearing to be in worsening discomfort until Nina, with equal subtlety, persuaded him away to rest. Those around the fire who were paying attention noticed; others who were caught up in conversation did not. That was perfect. Kerin could already imagine them talking to each other next morning: ‘I didn't realize he was feeling ill.’ ‘Oh, yes, you could see it last night at supper, he was all out of sorts then.’ He moved away from the fire to settle down under Naylan's wagon, impressed again by the multitude of skills that Cedas possessed.

  Renia already lay there on her side, wrapped in a blanket. He thought her asleep, but she turned over at his arrival and gave him one of her sad and worried stares. He stared back without flinching; that look of hers always seemed to be a prelude to some disagreement between them. He was in no mood for it now. She picked up an extra blanket and tossed it over to him.

  ‘It's cold tonight. Make sure you and Vel get some sleep. I’ll take the early morning watch,’ she said, and lay back down.

  Little chance of sleep for any of us tonight, he thought, but he took up the blanket anyway.

  oOo

  Next morning, looking suitably wan and pinched, Nina called a meeting of the Company and explained the situation. The troupe expressed sympathy and concern and above all determination to put on the show so as not to let Cedas down. Arrangem
ents were made for Eddir to drive Cedas and for Naylan's wagon to stay back with them. At the last minute, Renia decided to travel on Atune's wagon with Jesral and Nina. Nerves had overcome her, and she decided she would be better kept busy helping Atune than fretting beyond the second wall. Besides, Cedas was in no position to object to her breaking his rules. As soon as she was on Atune's wagon, the Company moved off.

  The ‘ailing’ man let the caravan travel out of sight before he left his sick bed. He was fully dressed already, in what had been made up to match Kerin's recollection of the retainers' dress in Karn. They all wore the same, with a spare set for Jastur. Each carried a sword, wrapped and strapped to their backs; Kerin and Vel their own, Naylan and Cedas weapons from Naylan’s wares. Naylan distributed skeleton keys around his pockets so that they would not jingle together.

  Cedas gathered his kit; before he packed his tool roll, he held up part of it for the others to see. It was a ring attached to a pin, made of a dull silvery metal.

  ‘To go over how these work… I've about three dozen of them, and I'll be hammering the pins into the rock on the way up. That leaves the ring free. As you come up you'll have the rope round you. When you get to a ring, you hook the rope in like this…’ And he demonstrated the almost invisible catch in the ring that closed back to secure the rope within. ‘If you do fall off it means you don’t go far, and you don't take the rest of us with you. You will be safe; remember that fact when you're up there, because it's easy to think otherwise. Remember also that I may not have enough rings to guarantee you are in reach of another when you detach from the last; in that situation you must be sure all the other climbers are attached. The signal to indicate you want to detach is that –’ and he held his hand out with thumb and forefinger making an O, which he opened wide ‘– and a clenched fist from the others tells you they are attached and it's safe to go ahead. A clenched fist when you're on again, please, in case you're too exhausted to look up; the poor sod in front of you may be in an even more uncomfortable position than you are, and desperate to move.’

  Kerin took one of the rings for a closer look, fascinated by the hidden catch.

  ‘Where did you get these?’

  ‘I picked them up in my soldiering days down south near Tor-Milan Citywild, just over the border.’ Kerin took 'picked them up' as a euphemism for 'looted', or even more likely 'stole from army stores'. Cedas continued, ‘My captain believed they were pre-Catastrophe, and I've never found out what the metal is. It's very light and doesn't corrode at all. I've been able to use them again and again in acts, they hammer into wood as if it were butter; but I think they were originally made for just this kind of thing, military storming of forts, and not meant for re-use. When we put one in the cliff last night, it was nigh on impossible to get it out again. That’s an advantage, frankly; if they’re left here it’ll point to Tor-Milan military involvement in this mission. Let the authorities go on a wild goose chase there, while we head for the eastern borders.

  ‘Still, I'd appreciate it if the last man up would have a go at getting at least some of them out as he passes.’

  Kerin gave him back the ring. He added it to the pile of others and a cloth-muffled mallet in his roll before he fixed that around his middle and manoeuvred it into a comfortable position.

  Kerin took up one length of rope, Vel another.

  ‘Are we all ready? Good. Eddir, Bighur, you know where to take the wagons?’

  Eddir nodded. ‘Know dat town now like back of my hand,’ Bighur retorted confidently.

  The four men entered the wood that ran beside the road and used it as cover as far as they could. Then they were out in the open the rest of the way down to the ford, but they were fortunate in the lie of the land, which sloped down from the road so steeply they could walk unseen from the town all the way to the bridge. On the side of the river there was a deep stand of trees and shrubs running up to the cliff base to conceal them. It would also serve to mask them from any river traffic until they neared the upper two-thirds of the wall, but the chances of that were so small they could be disregarded. The river was low for early summer but no less cold for that and fording it made them wet to the waist. Still, it was a fine June day; they were dry before Cedas was halfway up the cliff face, laying the rings for the rest of them to hook in to.

  He made it look far easier than it was, and Kerin’s muscles were screaming when they made it on to the slight ledge where cliff face and fortress wall met. Cedas let them rest a while and Vel, last up, dumped the two rings he had managed to retrieve into Cedas's hands, looking as though he was getting the worst of the bargain – least rest and most work, apart from Cedas. Vel had nearly parted company with the cliff face getting one of the rings free.

  Cedas pressed on. He had warned them that this was the tougher section, where the carefully faced blocks of stone gave almost no handholds and there were few cracks to bed the rings into. And indeed, where the first section had taken half an hour the next stretch, although covering no greater distance, took more than an hour.

  Within three feet of the top, Cedas stopped and checked the sun's position against the strains of the show music he could hear. Kerin had been able to make out the beat of the tune for the last ten minutes, and Cedas had hammered in time to it to avoid attracting the guards' attention. Now he leant out, showing guts in relying almost exclusively on the ring to hold him while he tried to pick up the tune and fit it to the running order of the show. Kerin glanced quickly down at the others – Naylan would be feeling the strain worst, since he was neither as young nor as light as the rest of them. But above him, Cedas tucked back into the wall and held the flat of his hand out to his side to ensure silence. The guard must be patrolling above him still, so they had no option but to wait.

  Since Cedas showed such confidence in the rings, Kerin trusted his weight to his while his hands searched for a better hold. He found it, and looked up. Cedas signalled to him; five fingers, then two. Seven minutes before they could go over the wall. Kerin was appalled at the prospect but acknowledged the information and passed it down to the others.

  After four eternal minutes the music changed; this must be Jesral and Nina's piece starting up. He steeled himself to trust the ring again and shook his aching arms out as the act got going.

  Then he heard some distant shouting, and a gust of laughter from the crowd watching the show. A nearer voice – one of the guards – calling something back and making some comment to the other guard above Cedas; and this guard said audibly ‘They want what?’ and moved off. His footfalls faded; his laugh rang out with that of the other guard, on the opposite side of the keep. Cedas signalled Kerin with a tug on the rope, detached himself from the last ring and carefully hauled himself up the remaining three feet. Kerin hurriedly detached himself too, and with Cedas pulling managed to scale the remaining wall without reattaching to the last ring. He scrabbled his way up and fell over the parapet, seeking to prevent his rope from tangling or his wrapped sword from banging against the wall.

  The two guards had their backs turned; they leant out over the parapet on the far side of the keep. There was no cover between Kerin’s party and the guards. Cedas glanced along their stretch of wall to the nearest of the seemingly distant corner towers, grimaced and shrugged. Kerin had asked him to get as close to one of these as possible, but lack of handholds had forced him further out towards the middle of the wall. No choice now but to get the others over the wall as fast as possible. To do so left them exposed to the guards, but it made no odds: if the men looked over they were done for anyway, so best get on with the job in hand. They both hauled on the line and Naylan followed, purple and almost a dead weight; the long and lanky Vel came last. Once they were untied Kerin beckoned them to follow him to the tower stairs, while Cedas regretfully let the rope fall back over the wall and out of sight. A loss; but a worthwhile one. When it and the Tor-Milan rings were eventually found, the false trail it sent Lemno on would ensure the Company's safety.

 
; Vel took the chance to look at the two guards again as he hurried towards the stairwell. Still they had not turned. Cedas yanked him on to the stairs and pushed the door to.

  At the base of the tower stairs they unwrapped the swords and hung them at their waists, like any guard or retainer; the cloth wrappings went out of a narrow window, following the rope down the cliff. Then they split up without comment, each pair knowing their way. Naylan and Vel took one corridor, while Cedas and Kerin went the other way and down another staircase.

  In the next corridor a door opened ahead of Cedas and an official looked out. He beckoned them over; there was nothing to do but go.

  The man looked them up and down, clearly not recognizing them, but he made no comment on it, instead thrusting a package into Cedas's hands and telling him to take it to the post stables 'with all haste', before disappearing back into the room and shutting the door.

  ‘What now?’ asked Cedas, glaring at the packet as if it burned him.

  ‘Best take it, or there may be a hue and cry before we get Jastur out. You know where it must go, and how to reach the lower guardroom from there?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then I will meet you there with the others.’

  oOo

  Atune and Renia sat on the verandah to watch the show. Atune had improved astoundingly in the last few days. She was able to sit and hold her head up if she had a pillow behind it for support, and nagged to be taken outside to see a show after so long. The Company loved it; they might be without Cedas, but the sight of their old leader heartened them, and she waved to them all like an ancient empress receiving tribute.

  They set up the show inside Karn's second wall, on the stretch of open ground it enclosed. It was the nearest they could get to the keep. Few were allowed inside the third wall at the top of the stretch of ground, and fewer still into the keep itself, a short distance beyond. Still Jesral and Nina felt it was close enough for their purposes. Quite a crowd had gathered; today would be a rare treat for the townspeople.