by Becky James
I shook my head. Aubin would not succeed in confusing me.
“Anyway,” I continued, “my code might not align exactly to yours, but I suspect that is because you are exposed to less violence here. I could tell the incident with Dan was the first time you had ever had a physical altercation, but this world does have violence in it.”
Evyn thought about that, tearing little pieces off her napkin. “We do use lethal force sometimes. When it’s appropriate. Like big attacks against us and stuff.”
“Some violence to stop or prevent other types of violence?” I nodded and let that sink in with her, just as it had sunk in with me when I was half a score and two turns old, unable to even begin to imagine the horrors people could visit upon one another if people like me were not around to stop it. Her emotions chased each other across her face, as open as one of her books and more legible to me; rather than letters jumping on a page, I saw her wrestle with her thoughts and then contemplate the issue.
Finally, she huffed. “Even so, you nearly killed Aubin because of a bad dream, and I had to smack you to get you to stop and realise what you were doing. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just sort of… acted.” Her nose wrinkled. “Violence to stop violence.”
I touched my cheek. “It hurt you too, didn’t it?” She nodded. “It may have been only a dream, but we really cannot trust him.”
“I… sort of see why. I thought… well.” Her cheeks flushed, but not the pale pink when she was pleased. This shade spoke of shame. “I often misread things, though,” she whispered.
I put my hand out for hers, palm up on the table between us, waiting patiently for her to open up.
Our food arrived. Evyn passed me some kind of container with a transparent lid. Frowning, I pulled it up to look inside. “Black, foaming and frothing… What manner of poison is this?”
“It’s Cola. It’s a special occasion, so I get to drown my sorrows.” Taking it, she put a small pipe into the liquid.
I shuddered. “That looks like something Aubin would cook up.”
Evyn sighed.
I put my hand back on the table, and this time she put hers on top, her hand small and cold. I smiled. “What was the second thing you wanted to talk about?”
“I was enjoying spending time with Aubin but… yeah. I can’t ever seem to make a great impression on anyone.”
“You did on me.”
“Mm.” She tapped my palm. “But you needed a running start.”
“Anyone who talks to you – properly, as I should have done – likes you. You made a wonderful impression on the king, and on Shard and Istadella.” My heart twisted. Thinking hard, I remembered what Aubin said while we were shopping. “You give easily, and that is commendable. Keep in mind that when you give, people may not respect the gift you are freely giving them. They may think it a trifle. You do not think of it as so, and the transaction is unbalanced.
“Take Teresa. All her life she treated you poorly, and she is rewarded by you risking our lives to help her. There is no doubt she was changed by that; she became generous towards you. But that transaction was never balanced.” I poked at my food carefully, a small dollop of sauce on a bed of rice that looked nothing like the imagery that had enticed me. Evyn got me utensils. “Thanks. She did a bad thing. You did a selfless thing. You were the receiver of insults and had to risk your life to make her feel better disposed toward you. She never had to make reparation to you.
“Aubin is here for your blood. He risked his life for that, not for you. He shares common interests with you, that’s true, but I warned you that he may plan to use that to make sure he has access to your blood. Not you; your blood.
“You’re being pushed around by other forces, Evyn. I want you to see that and take a stand when you have to. To lift up your sword and defend what you want to defend, attack against what you don’t want to have happen. Until that time, I will protect you. Even beyond that, because then we will be able to stand as ourselves and together.”
The edges of her mouth went up in a smile, her eyes dancing. “That was… somewhat insightful. Thanks. I’ll have to mull that over.”
“My pleasure. You could learn a lot from me.” I grinned at her.
She laughed. “So, what you’re saying is, stop being nice?”
“No. I’m saying, know the value of your niceness and your energy. Don’t give and give; give and receive.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “But I think we have to make reparations for Aubin.”
I chewed my mouthful and swallowed before speaking. “How do you come to that balance in the transaction?”
“He’s helped us a lot, and you went psycho and nearly killed him.”
“He deserved it. Trust me.”
She puffed out her cheeks. “I think we should keep him on side. We… have a transactional relationship with him. Let’s keep it that way and keep it on good terms.”
I couldn’t say no to that. “What do you suggest?”
“Apologise to him. He knows you’ve had a rough couple of days. And then try not to argue with him.”
“But he is maddening sometimes.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I know.”
When we arrived at the platform 3A, we found Aubin sat on a bench waiting. His neck did look terrible, burnished with black bruises.
Evyn approached him. “We have something we want to say.”
“Myself as well. Please, ladies first.” He nodded for Evyn to continue.
“It’s me actually,” I said. “Sorry for trying to kill you. But if you come after more blood than Evyn is willing to part with, I won’t be sorry.”
“Apology and threat accepted. And for myself…” Aubin stood up producing a single red flower on a long green stalk. It looked exactly like Gough’s symbol, the petals soft as velvet. “I realise that something said in haste may have upset you. What I meant was, it would be ridiculously unbelievable for love to be a strong motivation for someone. The stories have us imagine that inamaratos risk life and limb daily for their beloved. That is not what happens.” He held the flower out for Evyn. “Usually.”
I groaned inwardly. That bubble was back in my solar plexus, and it was bigger than ever.
Chapter 15
We caught further trains. The landscape started to gall even though it was an alien green, and the time gave me ample opportunity to think about what to do with Aubin.
He kept himself amused by reading and rereading the book that Evyn had purchased for him and studying any papers left unattended. Evyn seemed inclined to let him steal papers and indeed benefitted from them by reading over his shoulder. Whenever a conversations of theirs got too long, I would look over and Aubin would scowl and desist.
Evyn seesawed between keeping an eye on him for trickery and keeping an eye on him with that bubble bouncing in her heart. My mood rapidly darkened. He was using her, playing with her innocence with no compunctions or ethics, and all to benefit the mage who was his soul companion. I found myself assessing how I might take him out.
There was one thing he was correct about. We needed more allies. If Gough and the royal family were being held somewhere, we needed more swordmen. The swordsmen I would choose and count on every time were my cohort; men like Gavain and Aleric. My stomach twisted remembering how Gavain couldn’t let me go on for fear that I would be caught and killed, but also that Torgund would turn his wrath onto him if Evyn escaped.
I needed to ascertain that Gavain was well and whole. He might have been executed for what I did.
I eyed Aubin again. He apparently had a lodestone and wanted to go over to Oberrot to use it. Lodestones were tricky to use, but I could do it up to a point. The one in Special Forces was answered on a shift rotation pattern, and if I contacted it but waited until I felt a mind I could trust, I would be able to find out about Gavain. My actual ally, as opposed to this mercenary one.
We got on and off different trains at different stations under different weather conditions. It blew a cold breeze
, bright hot sunshine, or fat droplets of icy rain, and sometimes all three. “Complaining about the weather is the national pastime,” Evyn explained when I asked her whether this was usual.
Finally we finished boarding trains and exited the station – in this case a hut on a ‘platform’ – and started walking along the grey path.
“Gran will meet us in the marina,” Evyn said, hunkering into her coat.
My body had become stiff from the activity this morning and then sitting on my posterior, so it felt good to finally be doing something physical other than swinging my arms waiting for trains at stations. I ached all over but had to slow down for them as I kept slipping into my usual marching pace. Gavain would have been able to keep up with me, I thought, and a sudden need to be on Oberrot to find out what had happened to him flared up within me.
Evyn directed us to a marina thick with boats all under tarpaulin. I scanned the place quickly, but it seemed deserted of people. A light drizzle started up to make a change from the icy wind, puckering across the steady brown surface of the canal.
Evyn went straight to a tin structure, a welcome yellow glow from within spilling out onto the chipped stone path. “Hello? I’m looking for my gran?”
“Evyn!” A short, old woman with long, white hair pulled into a braid sat at a table. She turned carefully in her chair and left a game of cards unfinished to greet my soul with a kiss. “And… gosh, what strapping young lads.” Pulling a wired device onto her nose to frame her eyes, she gave both myself and Aubin appraising looks. “My,” she breathed.
Evyn shucked off her coat. “Uh, yeah. These are Thorrn and Aubin. From school.” I saluted at my name, and Aubin gave her a short bow. I did hesitate a little as fathernames were important. Slaves did not have fathernames; without one, our situation could be suspect.
“Shardsson and Tabreksson at your disposal,” Aubin said. That felt better, but then I rankled that he had been the one to smooth over the situation so quickly and cleanly. Never mind. I would use him for as long as he was useful, and I had to keep him on good terms in order to use his lodestone.
Evyn’s Gran clearly did not believe anything about any school but showed us to her barge even so. Evyn busied herself with various tasks and assigned some to us; I was given cleaning while Aubin was shown the intricacies of the engine. I held my tongue, galled that I had not proved my worth enough to be shown its secrets. Gran said, “To say thanks, I’ll order us in some food. Do you boys like pizza?” That improved my mood somewhat.
As the sun set, Gran left for the night, leaving Evyn the keys. Evyn held onto her grandmother for an extended period of time. My heart lifted watching her. When she returned to me, I folded her in an embrace as well.
“She knows something’s up,” Evyn said quietly. “She knows it’s something to do with Mum, and she’s learnt not to question that. She trusts us so much because she loves us. I didn’t know how hard it would be to rely on that trust. I almost wish she had demanded a full explanation and I could tell her everything and she’d sort it out because she’s Gran and invincible but…” She shook her head against my chest. “She’s not. She’s Gran. And I’m me, and these are my problems.”
“Our problems,” I reminded her. I nearly told her about my plans to contact Gavain in the hopes of winning more allies to give her confidence, refraining only because I wanted to report more of a sure thing.
“Are we able to ping through to test the location?” Aubin asked.
“Sure. I’ll put the kettle on, and we’ll be out and back before it boils.”
Making sure the path was clear, Evyn opened a portal. Stepping back into the heat of Oberrot was welcome, the sudden roar from the waterfalls familiar. I turned around, looking up at the dark mountainside looming above us. While Spiritshere was the smallest mountain in the chain surrounding southern Oberrot, it was as steep as its fellows. Next to us ran a fast-moving river, the sides cut straight and clean turns ago. A slave ladder would run up the sides of the waterfall, to enable them to climb up and winch the barges up. As an exercise, Shard made Special Forces do it; it was hard and slippery work clinging to the sheer sides, only a fingertip’s grip between life and a nasty fall.
Aubin made a quick check of the settlements by their twinkling evening lights. “We are indeed on Spiritshere. Give me a few heartbeats to contact my soul.” He held onto a lodestone and appeared to go still.
Evyn nudged me. “What’s that? What’s he doing?”
“That’s his lodestone. They are stones connected to other stones by birth. They all… I don’t recall, something like they know where the others are that were near them when they were formed, and they can all shake the same way to transmit messages.”
“Oh.” Evyn patted my hand. “I’ll ask Aubin.” At that, I gritted my teeth but held my silence.
When Aubin’s eyes refocused, he shook his hand free of the lodestone. “Tuniel is on her way. She will be here in a few days.” He slipped the lodestone into his pocket.
My eyebrows lifted. “A few days?”
“We did make incredible time coming here. Unfortunately, the rest of Oberrot does not operate on Earthian time.” He surveyed the falls. “We can make camp in Spiritshere until she arrives to facilitate the process.”
My stomach pitched. He had manoeuvred us into accepting a mage being brought along. Having a mage close to my Earthian soul, knowing what she was, was beyond dangerous; it was stupid and would likely result in Evyn’s death.
If what he said was true and we needed a stone mage to help us find King Gough, I saw little alternative. Instead, I would need back up, and fast, to prevent this mage from taking more than Evyn was willing to part with.
I took a deep breath. “I want to use the lodestone.”
Aubin’s eyes flickered. “This? This is the lodestone that links to Tuniel.”
“The lodestone at Special Forces can receive a great many types. That is so we can be contacted by anyone with information.”
“You want to contact them?”
“You said it yourself, we need allies. I would contact Aleric to start.”
Aubin nodded slowly. “Very well. I am pleased that you have considered my opinion on your other friend.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. “Gavain might be dead because of what we did.”
“I doubt that. Contact Aleric. If he refuses to help us, at least swear him to secrecy.”
“Zounds, really? Do you think?”
“Thorrn,” Evyn murmured, shaking her head.
I sighed, holding out my hand. “The lodestone, if you please.”
Aubin handed it over with deliberate slowness.
“Cool. How does it work?” Evyn asked as I slid into the vast whiteness of connection.
I thought very hard and clear about the lodestone at Special Forces and about Gavain. As luck would have it, the connection came through loud and clear. “Gavain here.”
“Gavain!” I could not hide my joy in a lodestone. “You’re alive!”
“Thorrn!” Shock and surprise did not begin to describe his emotion. “You apparently vanished into thin air! What happened? Where did you go?”
“Oh, here and there,” I said, grinning.
“Well, never mind that. I regret immensely the opportunity you gave me. Does the invitation still stand?”
Delighted, I said, “Of course! Yes! I would be honoured to have you.”
“Tell me where you are, I can be there by morning.”
“Well, you might have to run. Hard.” Without thinking the location flowed out of my mind; the vast waterfalls, the lights of the settlements far below. It’s hard to keep thoughts to yourself in a lodestone.
Gavain caught it. “Spiritshere? How did you… Nevermind. We can regale each other with stories when we next meet.”
“Of course. And… while you’re there, sound out Aleric.”
“Aleric?” A weight slid down through the lodestone. Just as quickly it was gone. “I will do that.”
“Gavain? What’s wrong?”
“I will be able to tell all when next we meet.”
Doubtless the situation was tense and dark at the castle. “I’m looking forward to fighting with you again. This time on the same side,” I said.
“Indeed,” Gavain said, breaking the contact.
“—crystalline structure vibrations—” I caught Aubin saying.
“No talking about vibrations anywhere near my soul,” I snapped.
He rolled his eyes. “Did you get through to your friend?”
I tossed his lodestone up in the air and caught it to watch Aubin stiffen, nearly laughing at him. “I did. More tomorrow.” And wouldn’t his face be surprised when Gavain and Aleric appeared. Then we would be able to keep a stone mage to the original deal, and after that, no further need of any sneaky assassin apothecarist.
I grinned at Evyn, and she gave me a happy smile back. Yes. I would protect her from any and all threats. Especially those that threatened body and heart.
We saw no point in searching the mountainside in the dark of night, instead pinging back to the barge. As predicted, the kettle had not long boiled. Evyn got out some simple games that we used to pass the time until we retired.
A double bed took up half the width of the barge, and myself and Evyn settled on it. Aubin had no choice but to be billeted on the sofa. I smiled when I saw his legs sticking off the ends.
The air held no heat on Earth, so I was grateful to have Evyn tucked close to my side giving off warmth. Having my soul companion close by brought a new form of relaxation to me and I slipped into sleep more easily than I ever would have before. I also woke refreshed. If I dreamt, I did not remember it. “I wonder when we will share dreams,” I said when we awoke the next morning.