by Emma Miles
Rece sat up and Calayna gasped.
‘Wait,’ Rece frowned. ‘It’s been, what, eight days?’
Kesta nodded.
‘Well, I guess it’s feasible they’ve made it there by now, but Arkoom is a nine- or ten-day journey.’ He glanced at Calayna, who shrugged. ‘Did he say why?’
She shook her head. ‘It seemed like he couldn’t talk for long. He was outside though.’
Rece regarded her. ‘What will you do?’
She sighed. ‘Well, I must go, but I’m not leaving Navere undefended. I’ll ask Merkis Teliff if he can postpone sailing back to Elden for a few days. I’ll also not take all the women. Beth must stay of course, her baby is due soon. Sirelle should also stay with little Ursaith being so young. Kussim is strong, but behind the others in her magic learning as she came to us later. Of the others I’ll ask for two more to stay and for the rest to come with me. Calayna, Rece, I wish to leave the two of you in charge of Navere.’
‘Me?’ Rece stared at her in surprise.
‘Of course, you.’ Kesta tutted. ‘I trust you.’
Rece glanced at Calayna, colouring slightly.
‘I will appoint you a member of the coven,’ Kesta went on. ‘Is there someone you can rely on to replace you as Captain?’
He nodded.
‘I don’t like this,’ Calayna admitted.
Kesta shook her head. ‘Neither do I. I want you to promise me something though. If things go bad, you’ll evacuate as many good people as you can from Navere and sail for the Fulmers.’
‘Agreed,’ Rece said at once.
Calayna nodded slowly. ‘When will you go?’
‘Tonight,’ Kesta narrowed her eyes. ‘Even if it’s urgent for us to get to Arkoom, it will do no good to rush off unprepared with only half the things we need for the journey, and we need to put things in place here. We’ll leave when it’s dark and try to keep quiet that I’ve gone for as long as we can.’
***
Kesta had to shush the women several times before they set off from the palace. Her first plan of securing good horses and riding swiftly to Arkoom had been foiled by the fact that, of course, none of the women but her could ride. She’d had to make do with two wagons and a horse for herself and the eight palace guards who would accompany them. Merkis Teliff had kindly lent her four of his Elden warriors and it was they who drove the wagon teams. All Kesta could do to speed their journey was to purchase spare horses from the poor pickings at the Navere market so they could change teams when needed.
Kesta led the way out of the palace gates and through the cobbled streets of the city. She wore a green cloak with the deep hood pulled up over her head, a small green veil covered the lower part of her face. All the women wore similar uniforms of pine-green trousers and tunic below a lighter green cloak, with their raven emblem sewn above their hearts. Apparently, it had been Kussim’s idea that the Raven Sisters wear something to distinguish themselves and the women had been working on the clothing for several days. Even Rece had worn a green satin shirt with his baggy black Chemmen-style trousers as he waved them off beside Calayna.
Kesta drew in a deep breath and held it. She knew she was leaving Navere in good hands, but there was no way of knowing for sure if those hands would be strong enough.
She let her breath out, focusing on the way ahead.
She had only made the journey to and from Arkoom once, and most of her return journey she’d spent sleeping in a wagon as she recovered from serious injury. Captain Rece had furnished her with maps and two of the eight guards knew the way well. With the wagons they had no choice but to stick to the roads. Kesta used her knowing as often as she could without draining herself, to warn them of any potential trouble. Her horse also helped her, its sharper senses able to pick out trouble before her magic. It was a young horse, curious and fearless as only the young can be. Kesta found herself missing Griffon which in turn took her thoughts to Northold and Rosa. She prayed all was well with her friend, at least she’d be safe back in Elden.
Only two days from Navere, Kesta’s mare smelt an ambush. Kesta got her guards to slow down and she jumped from her mare’s back, leaving the path to sneak ahead. She was no Heara, but her Fulmer training meant she was able to approach the men undetected. She used her knowing to judge their character and strength. With a snort she stood, hurling fireballs at the hidden men on the ground before blasting two more out of a tree with wind. The men fled and Kesta watched them go with her hands on her hips.
‘Thanks for the extra horses.’ She grinned.
Her smile quickly faded. They had a long way to go yet and she’d been unable to get hold of Jorrun since his instruction to come to Arkoom. Worse still, when she’d tried to fire-walk she’d been unable to. It was as though the fire-spirits had fled Chem and the realm of fire through which she tried to walk was empty of life. Her uneasiness was growing. What had happened? What if she arrived too late? But if there’d been no hope, if he’d thought she wouldn’t make it in time, Jorrun would never have asked her to follow him and risk the other women.
***
Five days into their journey they lost one of their guards. Despite the mare’s warning, they had little time to prepare as a group of twenty well-equipped and mounted men struck them. Kesta used her knowing to get several of their attacker’s horses to throw their riders, but their attack was ferocious. The Raven Sisters had their first experience of fighting, coming out of their wagons to form two circles, most shielding as Kesta had taught them, while two in each group hurled out flames. It worked well, but their guard was struck down by a well-aimed arrow. Kesta insisted on staying to bury him before they moved on.
There was still no word from Jorrun.
As they sighted Arkoom in the late afternoon of their ninth day of travelling, a cold dread settled in Kesta’s stomach. Hatred surged through her body to clench her fists as she looked down into the valley, at the city nestled in the mountains. Smoke rose from a distant volcano and from the fires of the charcoal burners in the forest between her and Arkoom. Her mare fidgeted beneath her and Kesta absently stroked its neck.
‘I’ll call you Destiny,’ she whispered to the horse, her eyes still on the city. ‘Wish us luck, Destiny.’
She urged the horse forward down the long road to Arkoom.
***
She’d expected resistance at the gates, but as soon as one of their guards declared them to be of the Raven Coven, they were ushered through, the Arkoom guards even clearing others out of their way.
‘It seems we’re expected,’ Kesta said, more to herself than to the others.
‘What’s happening?’ Estre had pulled aside the canvas to look out past the Eldemen who drove her wagon.
Kesta waved at her to get back inside. Every instinct was telling Kesta to flee, but she couldn’t put her finger on why. She tried to put her anxiety down to her previous experience of this dreadful city, but as much as her head tried to convince her, her heart was screaming otherwise.
‘Let’s find somewhere to keep the wagons and horses,’ she told her guards, her voice muffled by her veil. ‘I’d rather keep them in the outer circle of the city and near the gates, just in case.’
‘There’s a hostler just here.’ One of the guards nodded to a street off the main road to the right.
‘That will do for now,’ Kesta agreed. Her nerves were so on edge she was beginning to make herself feel nauseous.
They paid for two days keep for the wagons and horses in advance and arranged for the sale of the bandits’ horses. Kesta stroked Destiny’s nose and kissed her warm cheek before replacing her veil and hurrying to join the others. A small group of curious onlookers had already gathered. Even veiled the women of the Raven Coven stood out like swans among ducks.
‘Let’s get to the palace, quickly,’ she said.
The seven guards led the way and the Eldemen brought up the rear. Several people stopped to watch them pass, but no one challenged them. Every muscle in Kesta’s bo
dy tensed as they reached the gate to the inner circle of the city, the vile temple district. She didn’t need to warn the women that followed her, they knew better than she – hopefully – ever would, what life was in the capital of Chem.
Once again, they were allowed straight through, this time with the words, ‘The Overlord is waiting for you.’
Overlord. So there had been an election?
She kept her head down, resisting the temptation to look up at the higher-market slave shops and the skin houses that sold temporary rights to the bodies of women. Movement caught her eye, and a stone whizzed toward them. Estre cried out as it struck her on the arm. Kesta called flame to her hands immediately, her eyes searching the wide street as she growled, ‘Keep walking.’
Several people ran at the sight of her magic, some stood, wide-eyed and dumfounded as they looked her up and down. Kesta made her flames dance higher. ‘That’s right,’ she snarled. ‘Women have power here now.’
She spotted the ruin of the great temple and stopped abruptly. She couldn’t help it, she laughed. She lowered her hands to better see it through the heat haze of her fire. Azrael had told her the fire-spirits had destroyed the temple, but she’d never thought to see it for herself. She narrowed her eyes. Oh, how she longed to burn this whole city down!
‘We’d best get to the palace,’ one of the guards urged nervously.
She nodded, letting her flames subside, with a last glare at those who hadn’t run away. As they passed the temple, she realised it was totally empty, with any luck, she thought, all the vile priests were dead.
Word had obviously gone ahead to the palace as a servant was waiting to take them directly up to where the Overlord waited. Kesta’s pulse hammered in her throat, she couldn’t wait to see Jorrun, but at the same time her fear had become intense. She realised she was beginning to feel light-headed and she forced herself to breathe more deeply. They were taken along a corridor to a small, plain, door outside which stood two guards.
‘Just you.’ The servant looked at Kesta. ‘The others are to wait here a moment.’
Vilai let out a small whimper.
‘It will be fine.’ Kesta looked at them all. ‘Just stay together and remember what I taught you.’
The servant knocked and opened the door a little, looking in before widening it and indicating Kesta should go in. Her eyes immediately found Jorrun and relief made the muscles of her knees go weak.
‘You’re all right!’ She grabbed for a table to steady herself.
‘Kesta?’ Osun’s eyes were huge as he stared at her, glancing at Jorrun. ‘Why are you here? Why have you come?’ He stood frozen, he looked … terrified.
‘You … Jorrun didn’t tell you he’d called me?’ She tilted her head to look at Jorrun who was grinning at Osun.
Jorrun snorted. ‘Osun doesn’t know much, do you Osun?’
Osun looked down at the floor and didn’t respond.
Jorrun turned to her and held out a hand, looking her up and down. ‘Welcome, my love.’
She rushed forward around the table, wrapping her arms around him to hold him tightly. His right hand travelled down her back and she tensed, stepping back a little. He smelt wrong. She looked up into his eyes and he quickly looked away.
‘You brought the women?’ he asked.
‘I did,’ she replied.
‘Good.’
Someone knocked at the door and Osun opened it, Kesta could see from Osun’s expression he wasn’t happy to see whoever it was. ‘It’s Garva,’ he said to Jorrun.
Jorrun nodded and reached out to touch the side of Kesta’s face with his right hand, stroking her lower lip with his thumb. ‘Please excuse us, Kesta, I have some things that must be attended to. The women will be taken to their rooms, but you should wait for me in mine. Someone will show you the way.’
She nodded, fighting her annoyance at being dismissed. She glanced at Osun who was still holding the door slightly ajar and staring at the floor. She decided not to protest, after all, she had no idea yet what the situation was here and she didn’t want to cause Jorrun any unnecessary trouble.
‘All right, I hope I’ll see you soon, though.’
He smiled. ‘I hope so too.’
Osun opened the door wider to let her out, his eyes still on the ground.
‘All right, Osun?’ she asked.
He nodded, glancing at Jorrun.
She froze, coming face to face with two priests in the red robes of Hacren. Instinctively she drew power to her hands, but they barely gave her a glance as they passed her and went into the room.
‘Everything all right?’ Estre asked anxiously.
Kesta nodded, although she wasn’t so sure. ‘We’re to be shown to our rooms for now. Make sure none of you is alone, try to stay in groups of three and don’t wander from your rooms except to gather in each other’s.’
They all nodded, including the guards and Eldemen.
They were led by the servant to some guest quarters, Kesta waiting to ensure they were settled and obeying her instructions before allowing herself to be led away to Jorrun’s room. She smiled to herself, it was up in a tower.
She sat on the edge of the bed and looked around, it appeared to have hardly been used. His small travel bag still sat on a chair and a single shirt hung over the back of it. She spotted a familiar shape on the desk and walked over to pick it up, running a finger down the green book and feeling the dents of the embossed letters, the jagged edge of the hole that ran through it where it had caught the dagger aimed at her heart.
She jumped when someone knocked lightly at the door. She opened it and was disappointed to find it was Osun and not Jorrun standing there. He looked around the room, even glancing under the desk.
‘You’re alone?’
She nodded, watching in puzzlement as he closed the door and slid the bolt across. ‘Kesta, something’s really wrong with Jorrun.’
‘What?’
‘I mean …’ Osun clenched his teeth, seeming to struggle to find the words. He was breathing hard and his fingers were curled into fists. ‘Sit down.’
He grabbed the bag off the chair and turned it so he could sit and face her. She sat slowly on the bed.
‘Kesta, when we got here, we found it was a trap, as we feared. But we won. We defeated Feren. The moment Feren fell, though, Jorrun collapsed. He was unconscious for several days. When he woke … when he woke, he seemed different. Very different. Azrael … Azrael fled.’
‘What do you mean Azrael fled?’ She stood up, her breath caught in her throat, her heart racing.
‘I mean he took one look at Jorrun, flew into a lantern and hasn’t been seen since.’ Osun reached out a hand toward her. ‘Kesta, I had no idea you were coming here, if I had I’d have tried to warn you to turn back and get yourselves the hells out of Chem.’
Goosebumps rose on her arms. ‘But … it’s Jorrun.’
Osun leaned toward her. ‘Kesta, after he awoke two covens arrived here. He slaughtered them all. All. He didn’t speak to them, not even to ask their names. He just killed them. I persuaded Tembre to return to Margith, I feared Jorrun would kill him too.’
‘No.’ She shook her head, sitting back on the bed and nearly missing the edge. ‘He must have had a reason.’
‘I don’t know, Kesta.’ He regarded her unblinking. ‘I don’t know. But please, Kesta, don’t be alone with him. Please. Please, Kesta.’
‘All right.’ She realised she was shaking and pulled her arms in tightly around herself.
Osun stood and reached out a hand to briefly touch her arm. ‘I have to go, he’ll wonder where I am. I’ll try to think of something.’
She nodded. Osun went to the door and un-bolted it, glancing at her once before slipping out.
She stood at once and began to pace up and down the small room. She didn’t want to believe Osun and she knew he was a brilliant actor, a brilliant liar. She cursed herself that she hadn’t used her knowing, but deep down, she knew she hadn’t nee
ded to. She’d sensed a wrongness about Jorrun herself, but she’d been so happy to see him she’d dismissed it.
Unable to keep still, she opened the door and hurried down the steps. She went straight to the rooms where she’d left the women and checked with her Navere guardsmen that all was well. Rather than frighten the women, she decided to tell them nothing for the moment and do a little investigating of her own. She feared she wouldn’t be allowed the same freedom here she’d had in Navere, but no one she saw tried to stop her, they just threw frightened looks in her direction and hurried on their way.
‘Is there a library here?’ she asked one of the palace guards. He nodded and gave her directions without looking at her, her knowing brought her his fear, his resignation, and deep sadness.
She shook herself and hurried on.
When she came to the library doors, she hesitated only a moment before pushing them open. What she saw froze her to the core and welded her feet to the stone ground.
Jorrun stood in the centre of the library with his arms around Vilai, his head bent to kiss her passionately. He paused, sensing Kesta there, and looked up, a smile slowly spread from his lips to his eyes. Kesta’s heart stopped, the floor seeming to rush away from beneath her feet.
She couldn’t speak, couldn’t tear her eyes away.
He’d betrayed her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dia; Kingdom of Elden
‘Dia?’
She drew in a sharp breath, standing up from the hard-wooden plank that served as a bed and flinging herself against the bars.
‘Heara?’
After three days of silence it was shocking to hear a voice, let alone one she’d so longed to hear. For the first two days of her imprisonment Merkis Dalton had questioned her endlessly, asking the same things over and over again until she’d finally lost her temper. Demands to see the King had been ignored, as had requests for news about her husband. Every night she’d endured the same nightmare, Fulmer Hold burned to the ground, walkers hanging from trees like hideous vine-fruit. Worst of all were the dreams of her kneeling over Arrus’s grave, her fingers that dug in the dirt to get to him covered in tattoos. She’d tried not to sleep, but it somehow made the dreams worse, as though her weakness left her more vulnerable to their grip.