Blackveil

by Kristen Britain

  REUNION

  Alton could not remember being happier. He and Estral spent long hours into the night talking, laughing, singing, and holding each other close. He almost forgot the danger so nearby, but there was not much he could do about the wall or the towers until Merdigen returned. It surprised him he wasn’t as frustrated as he normally would be. He was grateful for the respite actually, as it presented more time for him to spend with Estral.

  Upon Garth’s appearance at the wall and his news of the impending arrival of the company that included Karigan as a member of the Blackveil expedition, Alton had gone cold, not hearing another word Garth spoke. He spent the interval between Garth’s arrival and Karigan’s pacing in his tent and trying to decide what he’d say to her. Hello, Karigan, I’m in love with your best friend, did not seem like the best approach. Then he fell into deep thought wondering how she looked, how she’d be. She was “Sir Karigan” now, he reminded himself. How had she changed?

  Fortunately Estral was absent from his agonizing. She was giving a music lesson to an off-duty guard.

  “You look like you’re being pecked to death by a clutch of baby ducks,” Garth said, poking his head into the tent. “That anxious to see Karigan?”

  “Anxious? Yes.”

  Misinterpreting, Garth just laughed.

  And then the Riders rode into camp and Alton and Garth strode out to greet them. He immediately picked out the rarely seen Lynx, and there were Yates and Trace. The others were unknown to him. Except Karigan, who rode at the end of the line with a man in forester’s garb.

  Alton caught his breath. There she sat mounted on Condor, her posture that of a true horsewoman, the reins easy in her hands. Her long brown hair was drawn back into a single braid, just as he remembered she often wore it.

  She grinned at him. It was like a punch to the gut and he staggered back a step. He remembered those dimples, the smile of her eyes, and a stolen kiss or two. He remembered why he’d been so drawn to her. He realized he was gawping at her.

  Damnation.

  “Estral?” Karigan cried, and it was followed by a squeal that made Alton’s hair stand on end. Karigan jumped off Condor and the two young women ran to each other for a hug. Alton, who hadn’t even noticed Estral’s arrival, watched the two, feeling a little left out. Dale gazed at him with a look of amusement. He scowled at her. Garth laughed and thumped him on the back.

  After some excited conversation between Karigan and Estral that was impossible to follow, Karigan came to him for a hug. They were both, he noted, a little hesitant, unsure. When he held her, she felt lighter than he recalled. She smelled of the earth and balsam fir and her horse, not at all an unpleasant combination. When they pulled apart, he asked, “How have you been?”

  “Well,” she replied.

  Her eyes—at first he did not recognize her eyes. They were filled with night, or something he could only describe as night. Darkness, endless depth, as if there was another part of her looking out at him from some vast space that even she was not aware of, but it was gone all in a fleeting moment and her eyes were as bright as he always remembered them. He shuddered.

  The next moment new Riders were being introduced to him, as well as the forester whose name he promptly forgot. They chattered gaily, Yates making rude comments about the cavalry soldiers who had accompanied them, much to the delight of the others.

  Dale and Garth led them away, the laughing gaggle, off to the pickets to care for their horses. Karigan glanced over her shoulder at him as she led Condor away. Estral remained by his side.

  “What are we going to do?” he asked.

  “The truth is generally a good approach,” Estral replied.

  What was the truth? he wondered. He thought he knew, but seeing Karigan now? Estral reached for his hand and twined her fingers around his. When their gazes met, he was no longer confused.

  At least for the moment.

  Alton felt torn in too many directions. The Riders wanted food, they wanted a dry place for their gear, they regaled him with questions, wanted to explore the encampment, wanted more food, demanded a tour of Tower of the Heavens. So long away from being in the midst of other Riders, he had forgotten in all his dark, quiet time beside the wall how boisterous his comrades could be, especially the young ones. Lynx remained his cool, untalkative self, but his attitude was interested. Karigan mostly gossiped with Estral about Selium and the people they both knew at the school.

  Fortunately Dale and Garth were there to help manage the questions and arrangements. It occurred to Alton that all the activity was actually an excellent diversion because it allowed him to avoid admitting his feelings for Estral to Karigan.

  When they stood before Tower of the Heavens for their tour, Dale demonstrated how easy it was for the Riders to walk through the wall, with an apology to the forester, Ard, who would be unable to join them. The Riders gave it a try, first tentatively, and then with enthusiasm, passing back and forth numerous times. The nearest guard on duty watched in mortification.

  Alton sighed. “Get used to it, Dixon, they’re staying. Most of them, anyway.”

  When Alton entered the tower himself, he found the Riders peering into cabinets and flipping through the books on the table. He nearly pulled his hair out for he had arranged the books precisely, but he forced himself to calm down. Karigan, he noted, was gazing up at the hole in the roof far above.

  “I’d heard the tower took quite a jolt,” she told him. “But I didn’t know there was so much damage.”

  Before Alton could respond, Dale said, “We almost got squashed!”

  Karigan’s eyes widened. “I see you came through it all right.” When she noticed Estral had followed them into the tower, her eyes grew even larger. “Estral? How did she get in here?”

  Alton smiled. “She took me by surprise the first time, too. She sings to the guardians. She says they like her.”

  Karigan glanced at him as if to make sure she’d heard him right. Someone yelped and they both jumped. It was Fern—she had discovered the most extraordinary feature of the tower—the grasslands in the circle of columns. The others had to experience it for themselves and there was much excited discussion and experimentation just as there had been with walking through the tower wall.

  “I imagine they’ll tire of it . . . eventually,” Karigan said with a wry smile. “Actually, I have little memory of this place myself.” She wandered away, checking the various nooks and crannies of the chamber, pausing to gaze for quite a while beneath the west archway, where Captain Mapstone had found them both half dead after their respective experiences in Blackveil almost a year ago. She drifted away from the arch and joined the other Riders near the tempes stone to view the grasslands.

  Estral joined Alton and watched the Riders with amusement lighting her eyes. “It’s going to be a little more lively around here, don’t you think?”

  “We’ll see. Once I assign them to their separate towers, we may be able to keep things down to a dull roar.”

  That evening turned into a sort of celebration beneath the dining tent, with Estral called into service to sing and play and Riders dancing up a storm, with off-duty soldiers joining in. Alton left Dale and Garth in charge of the Riders to ensure they didn’t break anything.

  He sat at a table with Karigan, Lynx, and Ard. Karigan appeared deep in her own thoughts, and Lynx smoked his pipe, his eyes half-lidded as though he were in a different world altogether. Ard clapped to the beat of a rousing tavern song. Yates, Alton observed, was doing backflips, much to the delight of onlookers.

  “I am beginning to think Yates was an acrobat in a former life,” Karigan said.

  “I’m finding it difficult to believe the captain chose him for the expedition.”

  “He’s good at drawing maps,” Karigan replied. “And he volunteered.”

  “Volunteered? Is he mad?”

  Karigan gazed steadily at him. Besides himself, she alone knew what it was to enter Blackveil Forest. No one else who d
id had survived. This, he realized, was a bond they shared, a bond like no other.

  “Even from here, guarded by the wall, I can feel the unrest of the forest,” Lynx said unexpectedly. “Dark creatures with their dark thoughts.”

  Alton shuddered and Ard ceased his clapping. “Your words do little to instill confidence,” the forester said.

  “And so they should not,” Lynx murmured.

  “Well, I did not volunteer outright for this duty,” Ard replied. “My Lord Spane recommended me to my Lord Coutre. I suppose it’s better me going in than some younger, less experienced man with a family. Besides, I’d do anything for my lord and lady, and especially Lady Estora. Doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to it.” Silence followed his pronouncement and he stood abruptly. “Guess I’ll see if there is any more of that pie left.”

  Alton watched after the forester as he made his way through the tent to where the cooks were stationed. He noticed that of anyone, Ard seemed the most interested in hanging near Karigan. Even now, from across the tent, he glanced back as though to check on her. She appeared completely unaware of his attention. Alton wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe the forester was just looking out for her. She was the only female on the expedition and perhaps Ard did not realize she was quite capable of looking after herself.

  Alton supposed he should be pleased Ard watched after Karigan, but it bothered him. Could it be he was jealous? He almost laughed out loud at himself. He’d no right to be jealous of her anymore, and besides, he really didn’t think Ard was her type. He just couldn’t see it.

  “No sign of the Eletians?” Karigan asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “I suppose they still have a day before the equinox to get here.”

  “If they don’t show, what then?”

  “Oh, they’ll come,” Karigan said with quiet conviction. “They’ll come and we’ll enter Blackveil Forest. This was their idea, after all.”

  “What is it they’re after?” Alton wondered.

  “That is what our king wishes us to find out,” Lynx said. “Blackveil was once their Argenthyne and they’re going back to see what remains, I suppose.” With this pronouncement, he rose and excused himself for the night.

  That left Alton alone with Karigan. They gazed at one another in awkward silence.

  “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Karigan said, smiling shyly. “We don’t know where to begin.”

  “Well, I’d like to hear about everything that happened last fall,” Alton replied. “I’ve gotten bits and pieces about Lady Estora and the Silverwood book, but not the entire picture. You were on a training run with one of the new ones, right? Fergal?”

  “Yes, and I was none too happy about it.” Karigan laughed and set to telling him about the journey and her experiences with Fergal, though true to form Alton could tell she was withholding certain details. For instance, she did not say how Fergal fell into the Grandgent from the ferry, and she was very evasive for some reason about the inn they stayed at in Rivertown. When it came to the rescue of Lady Estora, she emphasized the roles of others. She was not the type to boast or claim the credit. In fact, the less she said about herself, the more he was sure she had been integral to the rescue.

  She’s Sir Karigan, he reminded himself, an honor not conferred on anyone in two hundred years, and the only one involved in those events to have earned it. The king certainly believed her actions had been exceptional. He half-smiled to himself, remembering Karigan the runaway schoolgirl, but even then she’d accomplished extraordinary deeds that led directly to the rescue of the king from his brother’s coup attempt. Alton recalled the passing darkness in her eyes he’d perceived earlier. He hadn’t seen it since, but he couldn’t help thinking there was something much more complex about her beneath the surface than there had been before. Something that—it sounded odd even to him—but something that separated her from the rest of the world.

  “And so here I am,” she said.

  With some surprise he realized his thoughts had distracted him from the summation of her story.

  “Your turn,” Karigan said. “Catch me up.”

  Alton glanced toward Estral, who was teaching the Riders a new song. Lantern light glimmered off her hair and her smile made his heart wobble. He tore his gaze away, looked back to Karigan, and told her of his own travails with the wall, and he almost tripped himself up with laughter when he realized he was withholding details from her just as she had from him. She did not need to know, he decided, the depth of his madness after his time in the forest. Bringing it up would be like scratching a scab off a nearly healed wound. There was a time, he reflected, when they would have told each other everything. Now they acted a little like strangers. By the time he concluded, he had said nothing of Estral except to describe the basics of her arrival.

  “I’m surprised she left Selium at all,” Karigan said, “much less came here of all places.”

  “We’ve . . . we’ve enjoyed the music,” Alton replied, not ready to admit more.

  They fell silent again and Karigan gazed at him as if she expected more from him. He tried to come up with something, anything, but only got warm beneath the collar. Fortunately Dale rescued him by coming over and plopping herself on the bench next to Karigan.

  “My, aren’t we the maudlin ones,” she commented. “Everyone else is having a grand old time and you two look ready to cast your lot with beggars and undertakers.”

  “We’ve been catching up,” Alton said.

  “Speaking of which,” Dale turned to face Karigan directly, “what’s this I hear about the king’s masquerade ball and you being Mad Queen Oddacious? That was one of my favorite plays. ‘Mad Queen Oddacious has twenty-one cats, each named Precious and wears a hat—’ ”

  “Auuugh!” Karigan wailed putting her head in her hands. “Even here, next to the wall I can’t escape it!”

  “I’m afraid not,” Dale said, all chipper. “Tell me everything.”

  As Karigan told the story of the masquerade, Alton glanced covertly at Estral. The Riders sat in a semicircle around her as she told them some tale. He became lost in a reverie as he watched her until Dale let go a high-pitched, “Assassination attempt?”

  Now Alton paid rapt attention while Karigan recounted the attempt on King Zachary’s life. It sounded ill-conceived and inept. If the Weapons had not stopped the would-be assassin, Alton was certain the king could have done so himself blindfolded and one-handed, and yet the color drained from Karigan’s face as she told the tale.

  “The king could have taken down that fool with a glance if need be,” Dale said dismissively. “He’s as well trained as any Weapon.”

  “I know, I know,” Karigan replied. “He’s our king and I ... I don’t want him hurt is all.”

  Alton scrunched his eyebrows together. There was more being left unspoken in that statement.

  “Well, Queen Oddacious,” Dale said, “why don’t we go join the singing?”

  Karigan groaned and Dale laughed. Dale took her friend’s hand and led her toward the others.

  Alton could only breathe a sigh of relief that he’d gotten away without having to confess the truth about his affection for Estral.

  DARK MIRROR

  When the evening wound down, a few Riders excusing themselves to go to bed, Dale sat with Karigan explaining to her what had happened to her shoulder in Tower of the Earth. Alton had already told Karigan about it, but now she got Dale’s version of events and it was frightening.

  “So Merdigen is now consulting with the other tower mages about what to do?” Karigan asked.

  Dale nodded. “We don’t know what happened to Haurris or his tower, and we don’t know what that creature in there is or how it got there in the first place.” She shuddered.

  “And whatever it is could pose a danger to the rest of the wall,” Karigan murmured.

  “Exactly, and there may not be a thing we can do about it. As if the breach wasn’t enough to worry about.”

&nbs
p; When Estral finished playing and punctuated it with a huge yawn, the party truly broke up. She hugged Karigan on her way out and said, “It’s so good to see you. I want to talk more, but now I’m about to fall asleep on my feet.”

  Alton was right behind her with his good nights, the last of the partiers dispersing after him, leaving Dale and Karigan alone in the tent.

  “How is he?” Karigan asked. “How is he really?”

  “Alton? Much better,” Dale replied. “There were some rough moments, but he’s come around very well.”

  “I’m glad,” Karigan said. It was hard to discern Alton’s well-being for he was quieter than she remembered, and when they talked, it was as two acquaintances, not as friends who’d been much closer. His letters had been more personal. In fact, the Alton who had written about how anxious he was for her to join him at the wall seemed a different person than the Alton she’d seen today, almost aloof. Maybe all that time apart had turned them into strangers. If there was anything he wanted to say to her, he’d better overcome his aloofness and hurry up. She’d be departing the day after tomorrow.

  And what should she say to him? That she was open to the possibilities?

  “Well I’m done in,” Dale said. “Think you can find your way to your tent, or do you need a guide?”

  “You’d probably better help me,” Karigan said. “I’ll never find the right one in the dark.”

  And so Dale led her to the tent she was to share with Trace. Karigan hugged her friend once more.

  “It is good to see you, Dale,” she said. “We’ve missed you.”

  “And good to see you, too, Sir Karigan.” Dale snorted in laughter. “Sorry, sorry,” she said, still laughing. “Can’t help it. Don’t know which is funnier, Sir Karigan or Queen Oddacious. Good night.”

  Karigan watched her friend stroll away with the lantern, sputtering with laughter as she went. If Karigan had any illusions of her recently bestowed title ever eliciting respect from her fellow Riders, they were now thoroughly crushed.