Daughter of Ashes

by Esther Mitchell

  Telyn's gaze dropped to her hands as her mind played over Seoman's warning again. If he was right, then she would be safest to stay as far away from Nacaris as she could, in the future. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, and her quest would end only in heartbreak if she let him stay.

  *****

  They'd gotten nowhere. Telyn bit down on a frustrated oath as she and Marat reached the rock formation of the Majin Lache. She was afraid Lysha and Nacaris would arrive without having found the tower, either. Pacing rapidly, she tried to contain her nerves. And she wasn't even going to deal with how she still felt about what Marat told her two days earlier. What would she say, or do, when she came face to face with Nacaris again? She wasn't sure what she could say.

  A skittering of rocks nearby snapped her attention, and Telyn whirled around, her anaqueri flashing into her hand as she scanned the lengthening shadows for threat, her pulse speeding as adrenaline rushed through her system. In the shadows to her left... tall silhouettes hidden amongst the rocks. Instinctively, Telyn dropped into a defensive stance, glaring defiantly into the shadows, even as she sensed Marat move up beside her, also on alert.

  "What is it?" His voice, barely more than a whisper, reached her ears.

  "There's someone watching us." She raised her voice in a clear command, "Show yourself!"

  "About bloody time ya showed." The quip sent a shudder of relief through Telyn, even as Marat relaxed beside her.

  A moment later, Lysha stepped from the shadows behind the base of the Lache, grinning broadly. Nacaris followed her, an uneasy expression on his face. Telyn's tightly strung nerves prickled, and suspicion gnawed her guts. What did he have to look so nervous about?

  "Where've you two been? Why were you hiding?"

  Lysha's eyes widened at the attack, and Nacaris managed to look even more disgruntled.

  "Fer much the same cause ye're wavin' that blade about, I wager," Lysha retorted with a wry glance at the wickedly sharp anaqueri. "We 'eard some'n comin', an' figured it like ta be someone we didn' want seein' us 'ere."

  Relief and remorse sighed through Telyn. She was judging too quickly. She needed to take the time to listen. Wasn't that what Sala kept trying to tell her?

  "Sorry. I guess we all have cause to be jumpy right now." She glanced up the trail ahead of them, aware that she could see in the gathering gloom, but her companions couldn't. "Did you find anything?"

  "Nothing worth mentioning," Nacaris answered shortly with a jerky shrug. Telyn avoided his direct, probing gaze. She knew what he wanted, and she wasn't prepared to give him the answers he sought. She had no idea what place there was for him in her life. If there even was a place.

  "We need to be moving," Marat urged them. "Nighttime in these mountains is not a time to be caught without a campfire. The cheelaqa are unforgiving."

  Telyn shuddered at the mention of the vampiric creatures said to roam the Purat Mountains and prey on unwary travelers. "They're only a myth, aren't they? No one's actually every seen a chelaq--"

  "And lived to tell," Nacaris finished for her, with a significant look. "Marat is right. We need to find a place to make camp. Somewhere sheltered."

  Darkness was falling fast by the time they found their campsite for the night -- an inset cavern that looked like it served as a camp for more than one traveler through these mountains, in the past. The fire lit and crackling cheerily, Lysha settled her long, tanned frame against one wall with a sigh of relief. Then, glancing across at Telyn, she grinned in wry amusement.

  "Why's it that, since I took up wit' ye, I've climbed more mountains than I e'er seen atall, back 'ome?"

  Telyn arched a brow, wishing she could restore her own good humor so easily. The pressure of Nacaris' gaze on her kept her in a state of constant tension. "Complaining? You can go back to Raiador, if you'd rather."

  Lysha frowned slightly. "Nah. I'm good, 'ere."

  "You most certainly are." Marat smiled at Lysha. "Good, that is."

  Telyn's attention drifted off as her friends bantered, and she gazed off into the darkness. Somewhere, out there, Brunnari hid himself in a tower she was determined to find. Endless questions looped through her mind, and she couldn't silence the certainty that he somehow knew exactly where the Phoenix Book was. She would get that information from him if it killed him, or even her.

  As her gaze drifted through the shadows, Telyn suddenly straightened in disbelief. It couldn't be!

  "Do you see something?" Nacaris' voice, murmured near enough to her ear that she knew neither Lysha nor Marat heard.

  She nodded shortly, careful to keep her own voice pitched equally quiet. "Just off to the west. There's a tower made of sandstone."

  Silence flowed over her for a moment, and then, "Are you sure?"

  Annoyance spiked. He was actually questioning her. "Of course I'm sure!"

  "Truce." He held up his hands in surrender. "It was just a question."

  "What're ye lookin' at o'er 'ere?"

  Nacaris turned away to look at Lysha. "Telyn sees a tower."

  Lysha strode to Telyn's side immediately, squinting out into the darkness.

  "Blessed spirits o' me ancestors!" Lysha leaned into the darkness. Then, whipping around to Telyn, she demanded, "'Tis the Shrine?"

  Telyn glanced back out at the tower, and shook her head. She could see the faint glow around this tower that only someone with night-attuned, Majik-touched sight would notice. "No. This one is guarded by Ceremonial Majik. It's probably a left-over from the Majik Wars."

  "Why didn't any of the rest of us see it during the day?" Nacaris still sounded skeptical, and that bothered Telyn.

  "Because it's protected by Majik. It's been blended into the mountains around it, probably to save it from attack during the Majik Wars. But you can't hide Ceremonial Majik at night. Not from someone who can see in the dark."

  Lysha frowned, and her shoulders slumped. "Any chance 'tis still in use?"

  Telyn's gaze narrowed on the tower as her senses came alive with a vengeance, and she knew. She knew he was there.

  "Oh, it's very much in use." She returned to the campfire, where Marat remained seated, then glanced at her other two companions. "We have to figure out how we're going to get in there."

  "What about breakin' down the door?" Lysha wanted to know.

  "Or your friend, Sala?" Nacaris leaned against one of the rock walls. "Can't she just burn the door down?"

  "Neither will work," Marat interjected calmly. "You cannot break down a door warded by Majik with brute force."

  "And the same wards were deliberately created to throw back Majikal attacks," Telyn finished. "And we can't just walk up and knock, either. If either Nacaris or I are identified, our chances of getting in die on the spot, and I don't imagine Lysha would meet with a much warmer reception."

  "Which leaves Marat," Nacaris supplied with a knowing wink at Telyn. "Sneaky."

  Telyn flashed him a quick smile, glad to see he was finally back on her side, because what she had to ask him to do next would be beyond difficult. But first, she had to get Marat and Lysha on board to her plan. Much easier.

  "Marat, do you think you can playact a merchant?"

  He chuckled. "Dear one, I am a merchant, as well as a Mummer. I think I can handle the task."

  Nacaris' gaze burned into her, and Telyn prayed he wouldn't ask what she knew was on his mind. He wouldn't like her answer.

  "What're you thinking of?"

  She tensed, and told herself that she could answer the question. He wouldn't like it, but it was still the best course -- the only course open to them.

  "We need to get inside." She reached for the pack she carried, and pulled out an old cloak she carried for making field bandages. Using her boot knife, she tore the cloak in half.

  "I thought we established that. What are you doing?"

  She held out one half of the torn cloak to Lysha. "Marat's going to play the part of a merchant of rare antiquities, from Krisalis. He's gotten lost in the
mountains, and he needs a place to stay and is interested in making enough money to replace a lost caravan, and get to Ulambara."

  Marat leaned forward. "What am I trading?"

  "I'll leave that to you, as long as you make sure your list includes an arcane scroll in the script of the Aerai Majin."

  "Any particular reason?"

  "Sele won't be able to resist. She's a scholar, and she's spent her life studying everything about the Aerai Majin she can get. Knowing there's a scroll out there she hasn't read will catch her attention, make her want to invite you in."

  "And the rest of us?" Nacaris looked skeptical.

  "Lysha and I are going with Marat. In fact, I have two items you can trade," she turned to Marat, even as she unbuckled her sword belt and removed her anaqueri and its sheath, holding them out to him. "Convince them that this is an unbonded anaqueri, and if Lysha will part with her trade pouch for a bit, I know that's full of Dorfaíle."

  "Neither a'those're particularly exotic around here," Lysha pointed out as she handed the pouch to Marat.

  Telyn flashed the Minegard a grin. "Dorfaíle are a treasure to practitioners of Ceremonial Majik because they hold the power to boost any ceremony. And an unbonded anaqueri would be of extreme interest to Brunnari -- he's always coveted them, and he probably believes possessing one would solidify his respect among the Maji. Very few ever get to lay hands on an anaqueri, since the Majik Wars. The anaqueri, by nature, don't trust Maji."

  "Again, that gets Marat inside, but doesn't explain what the rest of us are supposed to do." Nacaris remained where he was, absolutely still, as he watched Telyn.

  "Lysha and I are women. Lysha will play the merchant's wife." She grinned at Lysha. "If you wear Marat's robe, and keep the cloth I gave you over your hair and face at all times, they won't even look at you twice. Just remember, don't speak unless there's no way to avoid it, and try to disguise your voice if that happens. Brunnari, at least, will recognize a Borderlander accent, and he's likely to remember your voice, as well. If you stay silent, he's likely to ignore you completely. A merchant's wife is of no value to the likes of Brunnari. He doesn't have much respect for women who aren't pure, anyway."

  Lysha shifted from foot to foot and frowned, looking distinctly uncomfortable with her part. As the Minegard cast a furtive glance toward Marat, Telyn suddenly understood. This had less to do with the lie than it did with the 'merchant' in question. Lysha's nervous smile when Marat handed her his loose outer robe of pale orange silk confirmed her suspicion.

  "And you?" Nacaris raised one eyebrow in what anyone else might have taken as negligent curiosity. Telyn knew better. She could read the tension in every line of his face, the tension in his shoulders, and the darkness that crept into his eyes. "It's going to look strange for such a poor-looking merchant to have two wives."

  Telyn wrapped the other half of the torn cloak around her head, in Endland fashion for a man. She turned to Marat. "If you'll give me your sword?"

  He met her gaze, and a grin split his dark face as he drew it from the sash around his waist, holding it out to her, hilt-first. Tucking the Endland blade into her own sword belt, she turned back to Nacaris. "With my face covered, I appear to be a young warrior -- the kind a small-time merchant would have as a travel guard. That's my in. Marat will want to make sure to play up my apprenticeship under Dariadus of the Enui. Brunnari will want the prestige."

  "So Marat's the bait, Lysha's the wife, and you're the hired help." He stepped away from the wall, and his voice dropped to a dangerous murmur as he stalked her. "Where does that leave me, Telyn?"

  She cleared her throat, and avoided his gaze. This was the tough part -- the one flaw in her plan was his reaction to the part she needed him to play. "We should talk alone."

  "No." His voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper, even as he came to a stop directly in front of her. "We'll talk here, now. Where does it leave me, Telyn?"

  "Nacaris--"

  "Where, Telyn?"

  She sighed. Might as well get it over with. "You're the shadow. I need you to stay outside, to keep an eye on things."

  "I see." The words were cold, clipped, and she winced. Of course, he would think she was trying to lock him out. After the discussion they had a few days ago, she'd known he was going to see it this way.

  "No, you don't." She kept her own voice pitched to a whisper, glancing furtively at their companions, who pretended not to notice. "You think this is about you and me, but you're wrong. This is about the world, and what Brunnari will do if he really does have access to the Phoenix Book. This is about Sele. The last thing this is about is you and me. To bring Brunnari down, we need to know that we have all the angles covered. He can't get away -- he's too dangerous. I'm asking you to do this because I trust you to make sure he doesn't get away. If he gets past us, if we can't stop him, it'll be up to you."

  He stilled, and the look in his eyes was no longer anger -- it was sadness. "And what makes you think I'll care about anything, if I lose you?"

  Telyn's eyes closed, and she fought the pull of those words. She couldn't bear them. "Don't say that."

  His hand raised, and his fingers skimmed her cheek. Telyn fought the urge to nuzzle into that touch. She had to keep her resolve. Instead, she forced herself to move away from his touch.

  "Please, Nacaris. Just listen to me."

  His eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "All right."

  "You're going to be our shadow. You'll watch the doors from outside, to make sure he doesn't send anyone out to summon more. Once I've got Brunnari cornered, Marat or Lysha will let you in."

  He remained tense for a moment, then sighed in resignation and nodded. "All right, balnyt. We'll play it your way, for now."

  Telyn kept her gaze locked with his even as she addressed the others. "We'll leave at first light. For now, I think we'd all best get some rest."

  Everyone moved back to the campfire, and Telyn hoped they all got some sleep tonight. She already knew it was far beyond her. Tomorrow, she would face her destiny -- she just didn't know if that destiny was to live, or die.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Telyn greeted Helios' rise into the sky with a heavy sigh of relief. Finally. She stretched her limbs to loosen the cramped muscles of a night spent watching the tower beyond their campsite, afraid it would disappear if she closed her eyes.

  "Have you been up all night?"

  She tilted her head up to find Nacaris standing just behind her. She offered him a tired smile and a nod. "I kept thinking it would disappear if I stopped looking."

  He crouched down beside her, touched her hair lightly. "Are you certain you're up to this, balnyt?"

  Resignation flooded her. She knew she could be walking into a death trap. She'd been afraid to call for Sala, to ask the questions she both feared and desperately wanted to ask. "I don't have a choice."

  His brow furrowed. "Of course you do."

  "No." She shook her head. "I don't. Since the day Brunnari killed Ashes, my destiny was set. Maybe even before that. I still don't understand it all, myself. I just know I have a destiny to fulfill."

  "Then let's be gettin' ta it." Lysha appeared beside them, already dressed for her part.

  Telyn nodded her thanks and rose to her feet. Then, straightening her own headcover, she gestured for her companions to follow her, knowing that only she could actually see the tower through its Majik haze. She was their guide, and yet she knew that, before the day was over, she'd be standing in another's shadow. If only she could believe it was all worth it.

  *****

  It was an excruciating hour's climb, circling around obstacles, and Nacaris thanked all the gods of his people that he was able to keep up with the small group from his concealed position. He couldn't see that tower, and he doubted Lysha or Marat could, either. But neither of them seemed to doubt Telyn, and he didn't really know what he thought, right now. Part of him wanted to put her up there on a pedestal and say she couldn't ever make a mistake, but he knew th
at was dangerous and unhealthy. She was human. She was going to make mistakes. It wasn't his part to believe otherwise. It was his part to love her in spite of those flaws and errors. And he did, which tore the guts out of him, because Telyn only seemed interested in a physical relationship, and he'd wanted more than that for over a decade -- almost as long as he'd known her.

  He shook off his wandering thoughts. He didn't have time for them. Right now he needed to focus, because if Telyn was telling him the truth, and this wasn't the biggest attempt to lose him she'd ever made, he needed to be alert for anything. Telyn was going to be in a lot of danger. His gaze narrowed on her tensed shoulders as she strode ahead of the small party, and he knew she was aware of that danger. She was afraid, and he wanted to enfold her in his arms and assure her everything would be all right.

  Telyn came to an abrupt stop, and glanced over her shoulder, as if looking for him, her expression nervous and afraid. In that moment, he knew she was telling the truth -- she needed him to protect her, and he couldn't do that if he was inside. Brunnari would recognize him immediately.

  He crept enough from behind concealment that she could see him, and watched her visibly relax. If that was all he could give her, right now, it would have to be enough.

  *****

  Telyn breathed an inward sigh of relief when she saw Nacaris. It wasn't that she wanted to believe he'd abandon them, but after their recent arguments, she couldn't be entirely sure he wouldn't decide her coolness was too much to bear. She couldn't prevent that -- she already accepted that she was going to have to drive him away, in the end. There really wasn't any other choice -- a mercenary like Nacaris was used to calling the shots, and he wouldn't be able to stand in her shadow for long before he came to resent her. And if Nacaris resented her, it might just kill her.

  "Why've we stopped? We there?"

  Lysha's voice brought her attention back around, and she craned her head back to look up at the massive tower. It was really quite impressive that a Majin had managed to mask such a huge structure so successfully, and for so long. The tower had to be at least twenty stories high, and sandstone didn't hold a Majikal charge very well.