by Emma Miles
‘I don’t mind, Osun.’ Kesta turned to look at him, her nostrils flared but she held his eyes.
Someone knocked at the door. Cassien stood, glancing around the table.
‘Go on,’ Osun said.
Cassien drew his sword and went to the door. Jorrun felt Kesta call power and found his own fingers twitching.
‘My knowing suggests it’s one person, nervous,’ she said. ‘No aggression or deception.’
‘Let them in!’ he called to the boy.
Cassien nodded and opened the door.
A young man with severely short-cropped blond hair and the wisp of a beard stood there, his green eyes glanced across all of them in the room. Jorrun heard a small gasp from Kesta.
‘It’s Jagna,’ Osun said, standing.
The man stepped in and Cassien closed the door behind him.
‘Problem?’ Jorrun asked Kesta under his breath.
‘No, nothing.’ But she shifted in her chair.
Osun introduced everyone, then asked the Chemman sorcerer, ‘How did it go?’
Jagna winced. ‘If I’m honest, not that good.’
‘Jagna went to speak with the man who sheltered him when his family were slaughtered,’ Osun explained. ‘He was a weak sorcerer of family Delphan, who allied with the Dunham’s rather than face death.’
‘I don’t think we can trust him.’ Jagna gave a shake of his head. ‘He put his neck on the line for me for the sake of his friendship with my father, but was quick to get me out of his home. He’ll turn with the tide, he is still a coward. He also … well, I don’t think he will ever back a plan that gives power to women.’ He turned to look Kesta up and down. Jorrun felt his hackles rise in a way they hadn’t with Cassien.
Osun sighed. ‘Never mind. Thanks for trying, and for not betraying us.’
Jagna drew himself up. ‘I’m not a betrayer!’
Osun waved a hand at him. ‘No, but you don’t have much reason to be loyal to us as yet and what we are attempting is rad—’
‘There are people outside,’ Kesta warned them. ‘Three, I think.’
Cassien got up and drew his sword again, moving quietly to the door.
‘What do you feel?’ Jorrun asked Kesta.
She closed her eyes, fine lines wrinkling above her nose. ‘Anxiety, close to fear in the case of one. Excitement. No aggression.’
Cassien relaxed his stance a little, changing his grip on his sword. Even so he jumped when someone knocked firmly. Cassien looked to Jorrun, and he nodded. Azrael moved to attach himself to the candle on the mantle.
Standing back as much as he could, Cassien opened the door.
Two men and a woman stood there. One man in his early fifties with neat grey hair and a short-clipped beard, the other in his mid-twenties with dark brown hair. The woman was perhaps early forties with the short veil of a worker, her hair pinned back in a bun. All of them had brown eyes and wore the threadbare and practical clothing of labourers.
A small smile came to Osun’s lips when he saw the woman.
Jorrun stood. ‘Come on in.’
They did so cautiously, their eyes going mostly to Kesta. Jorrun turned to his brother, it was important that he start to take the lead.
‘Will you introduce yourselves?’ Osun asked. ‘The lady I have met, gutting fish out in the lane there.’
The veiled woman turned quickly to look at the oldest of her companions.
Osun raised a hand. ‘Don’t worry, you did nothing wrong. I’ve survived by not missing the smallest of things.’
‘What gave me away?’ She tilted her head slightly.
‘A woman in Chem does not look up at a man she doesn’t know without the incentive of fear, or the backing of courage. From the fact you speak to me now, you confirm you have been given courage.’
She swallowed and nodded.
‘Let me introduce everyone.’ Osun went around the room, missing out Azrael.
The older man spoke. ‘As you know, we are of the Rowen Order. My name is Anador, my wife is Loruth, and this is our son, Marda. We are just fisher folk, but we’ll be your contacts in Navere for the moment. Balten sent word that you would need resources?’
‘Sit, please.’ Osun offered his own chair so there were enough for them all but himself to sit down. Jorrun watched with admiration at how easily Osun adapted to what he needed to be, to put the family at ease. There was a frown on Kesta’s face as she concentrated on the emotions in the room.
‘The resources I actually need are people.’ Osun rubbed at his beard. ‘I will need good clerks and administrators who I can trust to get this city back on track. I need to know who among the guardsmen I can rely on to restore order and law. Are they things you think you can find?’
The three from the Rowen Order looked at each other. It was the son who spoke. ‘Maybe. We’ll see what we can do.’
Osun nodded. ‘We may not be here tomorrow, but one of us here will come back to this house to meet you when we can.’
Anador chewed at the inside of his lip, regarding all of them. He nodded. ‘Very well. We will start spreading the word and see what people we can find for you. If … When you take the palace, will you take our women there to keep them safe?’
‘Of course!’ Osun’s brows drew together. ‘As safe as we can. It might be worth waiting until we’re certain we are secure though.’
Anador glanced at his wife. ‘We’ll get going then. Gods be with you.’
Jorrun saw Osun wince, his brother never did rely on the gods.
They waited until the fisherfolk had left, then Osun turned to Jorrun. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think I still want to take the palace tonight. The longer we wait, the more chance of us being discovered or betrayed.’ He held his brother’s gaze.
‘They felt honest enough to me,’ Kesta said. ‘But I think you’re right, the more people they go to, the more chance of betrayal.’
Osun sat down on one of the now empty chairs. ‘All right. Let’s do it. Jagna, if you want to sit this ou—’
‘No way!’ The Chemman’s face reddened a little. ‘I’ve spent too much of my life hiding. If I’m going to join a coven, then I need to fight for it, same as the rest of you.’ He looked at Kesta as he finished speaking and Jorrun wondered if he resented a woman having more power and more involvement than him.
‘Let’s get some rest and meet here this afternoon,’ Jorrun suggested.
Osun looked from him to Kesta, his eyes narrowed.
Kesta bit her lower lip, then stood slowly. ‘Osun, before you go Jorrun and I wanted to show you that book we told you about.’
Jorrun looked at her, trying to hide his confusion. Osun understood a moment before he did. ‘Ah, yes, thank you, Kesta.’
‘Come on up.’ Kesta went to the stairs and ran lightly up. They followed her into her room. ‘Sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘That was the best I could think of. The two of you need to speak alone without offending the others, particularly Jagna?’
Osun smiled and nodded.
‘You reacted when Jagna came in, is something wrong?’ Jorrun asked her.
She shook her head, but frowned a little. ‘No. It was silly, really, but his eyes startled me, they reminded me of a dream I had. He seems genuine to me, but I was surprised I could read him. Does he not have an amulet?’
‘No, he was a boy when he was hidden away from the Dunhams and never obtained one,’ Jorrun replied. ‘Do you think we can trust him?’
She shrugged. ‘As far as I can tell, yes, but it’s not impossible to fool a walker. I’d better go back down.’
Jorrun watched her as she left the room and then turned to his brother. ‘We can do this, Osun. We dreamed of avenging our mothers and we did it. We can change Chem.’
‘I never wanted this, though.’ Osun looked scared. ‘The height of my ambition ended with owning my own shop! You would be better at ruling than me.’
Jorrun felt guilt crawl across his skin, knowing he was being
selfish. ‘Osun, I’ve seen you become whatever it was needed for you to be, it is better that it’s you. Imagine people’s reaction if the Dark Man of Elden took the Seat? Another Dunham sorcerer. No. It needs to be a bloodless slave. We need to turn Chem upside down and give the country back to those that deserve it, including the women.
‘We need to be the Coven of the Raven.’
Chapter Thirteen
Kesta; Covenet of Chem
Both Jagna and Cassien’s eyes followed Kesta as she returned to the downstairs room. She forced a smile, feeling incredibly self-conscious. She picked up a piece of coal and encouraged Azrael to come down off the candle to try to take their attention away from her.
‘What’s this book then?’ Jagna asked. Kesta could feel his suspicion.
‘The night Osun killed Dryn Dunham, we found a book.’ She sat down and turned one of the cups on the table around slowly with her fingers. ‘It was covered in strange symbols, writing that none of us recognised.’
Cassien gasped. ‘So, it really was Osun who killed Dryn Dunham?’
‘Can I see the book?’ Jagna asked. ‘I lived with a scholar for a while, I might recognise it.’
She managed to maintain her smile, hoping Jorrun still carried the book everywhere with him. She went to the stairs and shouted up, ‘Jorrun! Jagna would love to see the book!’
She returned to her seat, her heart beating just a little faster.
Only moments later she heard the door above open and footsteps coming down the stairs. She breathed out, her muscles relaxing, when she saw the small green book in Jorrun’s hand.
Jagna stood up at once, Jorrun tilting his head slightly to regard him as he handed it over.
‘What happened to it?’ Jagna demanded, barely looking up as he examined the deep, narrow hole that ran through several pages.
‘It saved my life from a dagger,’ Kesta told him.
He looked up at her, eyes wide, then went back to examining it. ‘I think it’s from the Borrows.’
‘The Borrows?’ Kesta moved closer to Jorrun. ‘Do they even write?’
‘Rarely, and they use old runes like this. Of course, I can’t be sure, and I can’t tell you what it says I’m afraid. Look at the cover.’ Jagna ran a finger over it. ‘Here in Chem we mostly use leather, but this is plant fibre, probably hemp, like they use in Elden,’
‘And the Fulmers,’ Kesta added.
‘That, I didn’t know.’ He looked directly at her and she glanced away, closing down her knowing. Sometimes it was best not to know what people were feeling.
He handed the book back to Jorrun.
‘Come on, let’s get back to the inn,’ Osun suggested. ‘It’s going to be a long night, tonight.’
Jorrun gave him a brief nod.
When the others had left, Jorrun sat at the table, looking down at his hands folded in his lap. Kesta sat beside him.
‘You’re worried?’
He looked up at her. ‘I’d be stupid not to be.’
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could try to reassure him, but he was a clever man and would have thought through everything himself already, many times over. ‘I’m very proud of you.’
He turned to look at her in surprise.
‘No, really.’ She felt her face warm. ‘We could have considered saving Elden and the Fulmers enough and walked away, but you want to save Chem too, a country you have every reason to hate. And I love that you’re willing to deal with the consequences of your actions and fix the mess we made.’
He looked away and sighed, a frown forming above his blue eyes. ‘I wanted chaos, I wanted a chance for those who could change things to come forth. I hadn’t accounted for the suffering people would experience in the meantime because there was no one to show them the way.’
‘Can there be a revolution without someone having to pay for it somewhere?’ She placed a hand on his leg.
‘Fire burnss.’ Azrael drifted in front of him. ‘But from ashess new things grow.’
‘Not comforting for those who are burnt.’ Jorrun snorted.
‘How about … you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs?’ She grinned at him.
He looked up and smiled, shaking his head. ‘Thank you, both of you.’
‘We’ll make sure we do things properly,’ she said. ‘Set up a firm foundation we can feel confident in leaving.’
He opened his mouth but didn’t reply. She wished she hadn’t closed down her knowing, to use it now would be too obvious. ‘Go and catch up on some sleep, I’ll tidy this lot up.’ She nodded toward the table.
He sighed. ‘All right.’
***
Kesta considered going up to get some sleep herself but, despite her restless night, she found herself unable to sit still. Had she been anywhere but Chem she’d have gone out for a long walk. She really needed to be outside. She went to the yard door and opened it, looking out at grey stone and wooden fencing that was green with slime. The sound of gulls was incessant and the smell of the docks strong. Underneath it was the scent of the sea and she raised her face to feel the warm wind against her face. The light grew brighter behind her closed lids and she smiled.
‘Are you missing Elden, yet, Azrael?’
She opened her eyes and looked up at the fire-spirit.
‘Thiss was my home for decadess,’ he crackled. ‘Well, asss much as any place above the ground and away from the fire realm could be. We ussed to wait for the pressure in the volcanoess to build and come shooting up. Whoooosh!’
Azrael shot up into the air, spinning like a mad thing, then drifted down like a falling leaf, his fiery arms behind his head. Kesta laughed in delight, but her joy faded. ‘Do you miss the fire realm, Azra? What possessed you to make a bargain that would leave you trapped here for eternity?’
He came to hover not far from her face, making himself small again. ‘A plea from a soul we all loved.’
‘Jorrun’s mother, Naderra?’
Azrael dipped briefly. ‘Yesss. And two boys we thought might change the world.’
She blinked at that. She loved Jorrun and certainly respected and admired him, but to think of him as someone who was destined to change the world was somewhat overwhelming. As for Osun … Kesta wrinkled her nose. And Doroquael had come through from the fire realm for her mother, Dia. Did the fire-spirits presume a great destiny for the Icante also?
She regarded the little fire-spirit, looking into his flaming blue eyes as he gazed back. What were the fire-spirits up to?
‘I hope you two aren’t up to no good.’
Kesta jumped, gritting her teeth. She hated that he could creep up on her.
‘Of course not.’ She turned and smiled at Jorrun, trying to hide the fact he’d startled her, but of course he knew.
‘Did you not get any sleep? I thought you might come up.’
‘I’m fine. Come on in, Azra.’ She waited until the fire-spirit had bobbed in and closed and bolted the door.
‘I’m going to the ship to get the rest of the things we might need; would you like to come?’
‘Oh, I’d love to!’ She went over to the table and picked up the fleece. ‘Which do you think, the beard or the hood?’ She turned around to see he was smiling, but shaking his head.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, all right, the hood then.’
She pulled it down over her head and folded her arms across her chest.
Jorrun opened his mouth and sighed. ‘It won’t be for long.’
They stepped out into the lane and Kesta let her shoulders drop and lowered her head, opening up her knowing to warn her of any trouble. It was hard not to give into the temptation to look around. As before, women lined the wharf, sorting and gutting fish, packing some of them in salt. It reminded her of the dead warriors she’d seen being transported from Chem months before and a shiver ran down her spine. She recognised Loruth. The woman from the Rowan Order didn’t pause in her work or acknowledge them in any way.
Jorru
n’s ship seemed untouched and he unlocked the cabin, checking it was clear before holding out his hand to invite her in. As soon as the door was shut, she pulled off the hood and drew in air as though she’d been holding her breath the whole time.
‘What do we need?’ she asked.
‘Once we enter the palace it’s unlikely we’ll be able to leave for a while.’ His eyes glanced over the objects on the cluttered table. ‘We’ll have to stay and hold it until we’re certain it’s secure, so take anything you deem essential, but bear in mind we’ll be climbing and fighting our way into the palace.’
She shrugged. ‘I need nothing but my dagger.’
He turned to look at her, his eyes searching hers, although he had returned to his usual habit of hiding his feelings behind a relaxed and expressionless face. ‘It’s hard to know whether it would be safest to leave things here or in the safehouse.’
‘Then let’s divide things between the two.’
He nodded but his attention was still on the table.
‘Jorrun, are you worrying about your books?’
He looked up at her, a slight smile playing on his lips and a little colour touching his cheeks. ‘You know me too well.’
‘Bring the most precious ones and we’ll see if we can find somewhere to hide them in the house. We can always get Cassien to come and get them later. I’m surprised you risked bringing any.’
‘You don’t go anywhere without your dagger, I don’t go anywhere without my books.’
She touched his arm and smiled to herself.