The Raven Coven

by Emma Miles

  Several of the women gasped. Some scuttled backward, but one got slowly to her feet. She had dark curly hair and one of her brown eyes was lighter than the other. Her face, her neck, her hands, were all covered in tattoos, runes that made Kesta nauseous. Kesta drew in a deep breath, forcing herself to speak.

  ‘You’re safe,’ she said. ‘You are free. Stay here for now while we secure the palace.’

  She tried to retreat from the room in in a dignified manner, but she almost tripped on her own feet. She turned in the corridor and collided with Jorrun, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back hard.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dia; Fulmer Islands

  Dia woke with a start, someone was banging on the door. Arrus groaned and turned over. With a sigh, Dia grabbed a robe and went to the door to open it. Pirelle stood there with a lantern, her eyes red and wide.

  ‘I’m sorry, Dia, but the watch has raised the alarm. There’s a ship approaching, a large one. It looks to be of Borrow make but is bigger than their warships or any vessel we’ve seen.’

  ‘A moment.’

  She went back to the bed and gave Arrus a shove before dressing quickly and slipping her dagger into her belt.

  ‘What?’ Arrus demanded, sitting up and blinking.

  ‘Borrow ship,’ Dia replied. ‘A big one, hurry up!’

  She held a shirt and trousers out for her husband then went to the door, shifting her weight impatiently from one foot to the other as he splashed water on his face and grabbed his sword. Heara was waiting in the great hall, wide-eyed Catya on her heels.

  ‘Vilnue is on his way,’ Heara said as they strode out of the Hold.

  Dia nodded. ‘Rouse the warriors, get them down on the beach before I reach it.’

  ‘At once.’ Heara loped away, Catya running behind her.

  ‘Surely they wouldn’t dare raid us.’ Arrus shook his shaggy head.

  Dia glanced at him and then looked down at the shelters of the Borrow refugees as they hurried across the high path between the Hold and the rest of Fulmer Island. Several warriors came running to join them. Instead of heading straight to the beach, Dia held up a hand for everyone to wait while she stepped off the path and headed for the mis-matched shelters. She hesitated only a moment beside one before calling out, ‘Grya, come out!’

  There was a rustle of material and a head appeared. The Borrow matriarch blinked up at Dia before disappearing. It was only a few seconds later that she emerged fully dressed.

  ‘Come with me,’ Dia commanded.

  They went on to the beach, more warriors joining them. Dia could make out the shape of the Borrow ship with its serpentine prow and twin masts, almost as big as the best ships of Elden. A Fulmer scout hurried up the dunes toward them, hampered by the sliding sand.

  ‘It’s too big to come in and land, Icante,’ he panted. ‘They have not launched a boat and there seems to be a man standing out on the prow, he doesn’t move.’

  Dia turned to Grya.

  The Borrow woman nodded. ‘The man stands there to let you see him, so you can decide who he is. It means he has come to talk.’

  ‘I’ve never seen a Borrow ship of such size,’ Dia admitted. ‘Do you know who it is?’

  Grya shifted her feet and moved her jaw. ‘I only know one such ship. It belongs to The Bard. Temerran. He left two years ago to cross the ocean.’

  ‘The Bard?’ Dia stiffened, sensing trouble.

  Grya turned to look at her. ‘We have no magic on the Borrows except in song. If the sea has called him home to the Borrows, then there is trouble.’

  ‘Trouble?’ Dia blinked. ‘If he came for the decimation of the Borrows, then he is too late.’

  Grya drew in a deep breath. ‘If he is come, then it is for worse than that.’

  Dia snorted and shook her head, glancing at her husband. The people of the Borrows had all but been wiped out, their islands made uninhabitable, what could possibly be worse than that?

  Grya continued to stare at the ship, barely blinking, her fingers folded together before her. Dia felt something with long, tickling legs crawl up her spine to the nape of her neck.

  ‘Set torches in the sand,’ she commanded. ‘Light the beach so they know to land.’

  Arrus didn’t disagree, but he placed his large hands on his hips. She couldn’t blame him for his concern, this was something completely unknown to them. The Fulmer Islanders had bards, those who could sing and pass on the old tales, but she got the impression Grya meant something else by the term, something more foreboding.

  They didn’t have to wait long after the torches were lit before the man moved away from the prow. Moments later a small boat was lowered and rowed toward the shore. Grya became restless, taking several steps forward onto the sand. Dia felt her own nervousness growing, but she forced herself not to move nor step closer to the shelter that was her husband. Heara stood at her back, little Catya her eager shadow. No one moved as the boat hit the beach, two men jumping out to drag them up the sand. A third man stood up in the boat, he was slim and quite tall, maybe a little under six feet. The torchlight caught his hair, like flame, as unusual a colour in the Borrows as the Fulmers.

  He jumped out of the boat and took a few steps forward. Dia lifted her chin and walked out to meet him, Arrus at her left and Heara at her back. The man was dressed in green trousers, long boots, and a brown shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. He wore no weapons that she could see, but a flute was tucked into his belt. He raised a hand in greeting, glancing at them all, his eyes finally resting on Dia. His green eyes as dark an emerald as Kesta’s right eye.

  Dia sucked in air and bit her lower lip. Hadn’t she seen those eyes before?

  ‘Icante, thank you for allowing me on your island.’

  His voice was deep and rich, seeming to vibrate within Dia’s bones. His skin had been roughened by wind and sea, but he seemed to be about ten years younger than Dia herself.

  ‘Why have you come?’

  His face broke into a grin, but it slowly faded when she didn’t respond. ‘You are quick to the point.’ He cocked his head to one side. ‘The sea called me home. I found the Borrows empty, a curse upon the land. I came to the only place I knew that could lift a curse.’

  ‘Not to Chem?’

  He looked down at the sand and then back to capture her eyes. ‘Chem is the place that lays the curses, is it not?’

  ‘That is so.’ Dia narrowed her eyes. ‘But we know nothing of blood magic here, if I did, I’d have healed your lands and sent your people back and away from my islands.’

  Temerran’s brows drew in toward his nose. ‘Yes, you have taken in the people of the Borrows despite everything.’

  Grya took that moment to step forward and the Bard held out his arms to hug her. She stepped back and he kissed both her cheeks. ‘Matriarch Grya, you have survived.’

  ‘And not many others.’ She shook her head, her face crumpling.

  Dia looked away, embarrassed by the strong woman’s show of grief.

  ‘So.’ Temerran looked up, studying Dia, Arrus shifted at her side. ‘The flame shelters the sea. Who would have imagined that?’

  Arrus growled. ‘It was not us who made war between our people.’

  Temerran held up his hands. ‘Let us not bring up the past or we won’t move forward. Icante, it’s late – or early! Let me return to my ship and we will move out away from your Hold. Later, when it’s light, would you talk with me to see if we can find a solution?’

  ‘Time, it seems, will be the best solution,’ she replied.

  ‘Although not ideal for the Fulmers, or for us. There may be another way.’

  She drew in a deep breath and sighed. There was no harm in talking and yet … and yet she couldn’t trust this man. ‘We’ll meet on this beach tomorrow.’

  Temerran bowed, but Dia turned her back and gestured for the others to follow. Arrus commanded several of the warriors to remain on the beach. As they followed the path back up to the Hold,
she looked down and saw Grya was still talking with the Bard on the sand. She felt her hackles rise.

  Heading straight to her room she told Pirelle and Heara to follow. Calling flame to her fingertip she lit a candle and called out to Doroquael who appeared at once, growing out of the candle flame. When Dia turned around to address them all she realised the girl, Catya, had come too. She rolled her eyes but didn’t object. Perhaps someone from Elden might offer a different perspective. It gave her an idea.

  ‘Heara, fetch Vilnue in and get Milaiya too.’

  Heara frowned, but nodded, darting out through the door.

  ‘That seems a good idea,’ Arrus said, pouring himself some water. ‘Anyone else want any?’

  Dia raised a hand in dismissal, wandering toward the window that looked out across the sea. Doroquael was drifting about the room and Dia realised that she herself was pacing. She pulled out a chair and made herself sit down. The door opened and Heara ushered Vilnue and Milaiya in before her. Vilnue already knew what was going on, but Milaiya looked frightened, glancing around at the others in the room. Catya’s presence seemed to ease her fears a little.

  ‘Okay.’ Dia placed her hands together and tapped at her lips with the tips of her forefingers. She looked up at the fire-spirit and Doroquael came to an immediate halt. ‘As far as we were aware, the Borrows has no magic, yet tonight I spoke with a Borrowman whose very words were magic. Furthermore, he admitted he speaks with the spirits of the sea. Tell me, Doroquael, how can this be?’

  Doroquael made a popping sound like driftwood on a fire. ‘We knew the Borrowss was the land of the ssea spirits, they surround the islandss but cannot walk upon them. Sea spiritss are wild, fierce, they care little for mortals. A bard would be different though, a bard might leave them enraptured.’

  ‘We have bards.’ Arrus frowned. ‘Keepers of tales, writers of official records. They don’t have magic.’

  ‘All words have a certain amount of power,’ Pirelle disagreed. ‘Even our bards can calm or lift a room.’

  ‘No.’ Dia stood up and grasped the back of her chair to lean on it. ‘This was different power. It was almost, but not quite, elemental.’

  ‘Jorrun would be the best person to ask,’ Catya spoke up. ‘He has hundreds of books and knows lots of old things.’

  Dia gripped the back of the chair harder. She hadn’t told the girl Kesta and Jorrun were far out of reach and now was not the time. It might be possible for Rosa to find something in the Raven Tower, however. ‘I’ll write to Northold, that’s a good suggestion, Catya, but it will be several days before we hear back. Vilnue, Milaiya, do you know anything of this bard?’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Merkis Vilnue shrugged. ‘We have entertainers, musicians, in Elden, but I’ve never heard claim of a Borrowman Bard.’

  ‘Milaiya?’

  The freed Chemman slave was chewing furiously at her thumb. ‘There are folk tales of sea spirits.’ She glanced up, blinking rapidly. ‘From the tales they are cruel and unpredictable.’

  ‘They are asss like to harm a Borrowman as help them,’ Doroquael hissed.

  ‘And bards?’ Dia prompted the girl.

  She shook her head.

  Dia sighed in frustration. ‘I suppose I must listen to him tomorrow. If there is a way to heal the Borrows faster and send them all back there, it won’t be a bad thing.’

  ‘Until they come back and raid us again.’ Heara huffed.

  ‘That is always a risk.’ Dia let go of the chair and made her way over to the wash stand. She looked down into the water, seeing only her own reflection. ‘Thank you for your thoughts, everyone. Try to get some sleep and we’ll speak again in the morning.’

  They left slowly, Doroquael squeezing out through the gap in the window and Heara staying until last, one hand on Catya’s shoulder. Heara looked from Arrus to Dia. ‘Get a message to Everlyn,’ she said. ‘You should have a walker with battle experience with you.’

  ‘Very well,’ Dia nodded.

  When her friend and bodyguard left, Arrus made his way back to their bed, but Dia crossed the room instead to the desk.

  ‘Will you not try to sleep?’

  She pulled a clean piece of parchment across the desk. ‘Not yet. I won’t be able to settle until I’ve written these letters.’

  Arrus sighed loudly and she heard the creak of the bed as he got in. ‘Perhaps this bard is a good thing? If he takes away the refugee—’

  ‘I don’t trust him.’ She glared down at the empty paper.

  But why was it she didn’t trust him? Was it because he had power when no one in the Borrows should have? Or was it just because of his green eyes?

  ***

  Dia chose those who’d met in her room the previous night to come with her to the beach. As before, the Borrowman Bard had two men row him ashore, but he walked alone across the sand, the sea breeze playing with the long curls of his red hair. Grya hurried forward to meet him and he took her hand, kissing both cheeks. Dia could hardly blame her for standing with her countryman even if it might jeopardise aid to her people.

  ‘You had time to consider my words.’ Temerran looked up at Dia.

  Dia took in a breath, holding his gaze. ‘Of course, although as I said last night, I’m not sure there is anything I can do.’ She gestured for the Bard to follow and they all moved along the beach to where some blankets had been set out in a circle. ‘I’ve sent for assistance from a friend in Elden, but it will take time before I hear back. When you said there might be another way, did you mean there is, or that you hoped we might find one?’

  He looked down at the sand and smiled to himself. ‘A little of both, actually.’

  They stood beside the blankets, none of them yet sitting down.

  Temerran ran a finger down the flute in his belt. ‘I know little of Fulmer magic, nor do I expect you to tell me of it, but I believed you can change emotions.’

  She nodded, not wanting to give away any more than she had to.

  ‘Do you think you could change the feel of a land?’

  She almost laughed, but she saw in his face how serious he was. ‘I’ve not been to the Borrows but my daughter described to me how it felt to her. She seemed to think the evil feel of it was the residue of so many blood spells cast. Walkers can influence the emotions of people and animals, but not the land itself. I could give calm to bird and beast, courage to your people, but until this stain on the Borrows fade, anything I do will only be temporary, if it would even be effective at all.’

  ‘I see.’ Temerran’s shoulders sagged a little and he turned to look out across the sea.

  Dia felt pity stir in her heart. ‘Let’s sit,’ she said.

  Arrus and Vilnue placed themselves to either side of Temerran and Grya, Heara remained standing close behind Dia. Milaiya had her arms folded tightly around her body, looking down at her covered knees. Dia regretted bringing the former slave, the poor woman was clearly uncomfortable.

  Temerran drew his flute from his belt and placed it on the blanket so he could sit cross-legged. ‘I have supplies on my ship and treasures from another land far across the ocean. I must keep some for the men who risked their lives to sail with me, but the rest I give to pay the debt of the Borrows.’

  Dia swallowed, Arrus sat up straighter. ‘If you have food to help feed your people then by all means, let them have it,’ Dia replied. ‘But we wish for no treasures.’

  Temerran raised a hand. ‘I hope I did not offend.’

  Merkis Vilnue cleared his throat. ‘Icante, I hope I’m not stepping out of line?’ He turned to face the Bard. ‘I could set up trade deals with Elden so you can exchange your goods for things that might be of more use to your people.’

  ‘I have questions.’ Heara interrupted before Temerran could respond, her hand on her hip near a dagger hilt. ‘As far as we are aware the Borrows has no overall leader, only separate tribes that are often at war with each other. Then you step up out of the sea claiming they are your people.’

  �
��I didn’t mean that in the respect of owning them.’ His green eyes lit with his smile, but Heara wasn’t charmed. ‘But more of belonging to them.’

  ‘Heara has a point though.’ Dia sat back to study him. She wondered if he would feel it if she called her knowing, it would be worth the risk. ‘Tell us more of who you are and what your position is among the Borrows.’

  He smiled. ‘I’ll tell you, and gladly, if you will afterwards introduce me to everyone here. I see several people not of the Fulmers and I’m intrigued.’ His eyes went last of all to Doroquael.

  Dia felt a moment of discomfort, she should probably have introduced everyone to him before they began speaking, but her suspicion had gotten the better of her. ‘Of course, let me introduce them now. To your left is my husband, Arrus Silene. Behind me is my bodyguard, Heara, with her novice, Catya, who is from Elden. This is Milaiya, our guest from Chem.’ She saw him start at that. ‘Pirelle, my apprentice, Merkis Vilnue, our ambassador from Elden, and Doroquael of the fire realm.’

  ‘Such a wondrous group!’ He looked around at them all. He leaned toward Milaiya, placing a hand flat on the sand before him. ‘My lady, do you not know anything of the curse?’

  Milaiya shook her head vigorously.

  ‘No woman in Chem is allowed to know anything of magic,’ Dia replied for her.

  For the first time a little frustration showed on Temerran’s face. He glanced at Doroquael and opened his mouth to speak. Seeming to think better of it he sighed and looked down at his hands that now lay palm up in his lap. Dia carefully called up her knowing.

  ‘Well then.’ Temerran settled himself and looked up to make eye contact with them all. Dia felt his confidence, excitement, and curiosity, only the slightest touch of nervousness flowed beneath it. ‘As you say, the Borrows is made of many clans and although some of them make alliances, for the most part they are very competitive. Resources are scarce, not much grows on the islands. Even wood to build ships and houses is something to be fought over.

  ‘The first bard came into being many generations ago. No one knows for sure from where he came. He carried news and tales, he could read and write – not just the old runes – and so wrote official records for each clan. He took no side, refused to divulge the secrets of each island. There were times a clan would try to bribe or force him to their cause, but to those he never returned and they lost his services and were damned in the eyes of the other clans.