The Raven Coven

by Emma Miles

  Hacren took another two steps forward. ‘Choose now, or the deal is off.’

  ‘Get. Away. From. Her.’

  Kesta’s heart smashed against her ribs and she spun around, gasping in air. Jorrun leaned against Heara, barely able to stand, his face as pale as the foam of the sea.

  Hacren laughed. ‘Well, well. You’re determined, I’ll give you that, Jorrun. A bit selfish though, forcing your wife to watch you die for a third time.’

  Jorrun called power to his free hand as Heara adjusted her grip to hold him up.

  Hacren’s eyes widened and he stepped back.

  Jorrun sent fire streaming toward the demon as he moved around to place himself between Hacren and the Raven Sisters. Dia tore lightning down from the sky, circling to be closer to Kesta, the lightning hit the sand before Hacren’s feet, spraying it up against his shield.

  ‘The ssea, Kessta,’ Azrael hissed excitedly in her ear.

  Kesta didn’t understand what the fire-spirit wanted, but she drew the last of her power, sending a steady stream of weak flames toward Hacren. Dia and Jorrun continued to close in on either side of her, Jorrun’s attack ferocious, her mother’s waning. They came together, the Raven Sisters shielding with the last of their strength, Kesta and Dia joining them as Jorrun began to press forward toward Hacren, Heara all but carrying him.

  Lightning flashed and sparked around them, Kesta closed her eyes, concentrating only on drawing the dregs of her strength through her shredded and raw nerves.

  A shocked cry forced her eyes open. Jorrun ceased his attack. Kesta moved forward, her breath ragged in her throat, her heart pounding with exhaustion.

  Hacren was in the sea, lightning lit it from the inside and steam rose as Hacren’s body jerked, his arms flailing as he struggled to get free. Creatures as clear as crystal whose skin seemed to flow continuously had him in their grasp and were pulling him out and under. The demon’s fire and lightning were futile, air no more than an inconvenience to these liquid beings.

  Rey gasped. ‘What are they?’

  ‘Old friends,’ Dia replied. ‘Of a sort.’

  Kesta moved from the shelter of the Sisters and stepped down to the wetter sand. Hacren was below the water now, a dark shape. She flinched as he burst to the surface, but there was no life in his wide, reddened eyes. The sea spirits came up for a moment, not looking toward the larger group, but to Catya and Temerran who stood alone further down the beach. Temerran raised a hand and the spirits faded into the sea.

  Kesta drew in a breath, her eyes falling on the floating body that was already moving out on the tide. Hope bloomed painfully in her chest. She broke into a run.

  Someone called her name but she ignored it, wading out into the sea. She took hold of Osun’s arm and dragged him back toward the shore.

  ‘Kesta!’ Her mother was hurrying toward her.

  Kesta pulled Osun up onto the sand, looking around for help. ‘Heara! Temerran! Quickly, bring him back!’ She couldn’t understand why they were just standing there, why no one would help Osun.

  ‘No, Kesta.’ Her mother was shaking her head. ‘They are bound remember, if we revive him, it will be Hacren who comes back. Osun is gone.’

  She stared at her mother, glancing around at the others. She looked back down at Osun, at the wet, black curls that clung to his face, at the water trickling slowly from his mouth. At the dark-blue eyes that’d had the chance to smile too rarely. The blood seemed to leave her limbs, leaving them cold and weightless. Grief welled up deep inside her chest, exploding out and up, streaming from her eyes.

  Something heavy landed in the sand beside her and she turned to see eyes of a lighter blue. She reached up a shaking hand to touch his sandy face and pressed her forehead against his.

  ‘Jorrun.’

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Kesta; The Free City of Navere

  The lantern flickered, sending her shadow dancing up the wall. She held her breath, listening for the sound of the door or the soft tread of feet. Shaking her head, she forced herself to relax, putting down her book to look at the man who slept beside her on the balcony floor. His skin was still pale and looked bruised beneath his closed eyes, his short beard untidy where Hacren hadn’t trimmed it. Jorrun had vomited several times on their way back to the city, eventually having to sit and wait until Temerran had come back with Rece and a wagon. Osun’s body had travelled with them, Kesta insisting only a green cloak of the Raven Sisters be used to cover him. Kesta and Jorrun had huddled together, chilled and stiff from the salt water of the sea, his lips icy when she kissed him.

  She shivered. They’d boarded up the library window she’d destroyed but there was still a draught. Dia had tried to get Jorrun to use a smaller room where he could sleep next to a fire, but of course he’d refused.

  ‘Kesta?’

  ‘I’m here.’ She shifted down under the blanket, laying her head on his chest and finding his right hand with her left. His heart was racing and he still felt much too cold.

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry I let you down.’

  His chest moved and she realised he was crying.

  ‘No, no you didn’t.’ She pushed herself up to look down at him. He wouldn’t meet her eyes at first but when he did Kesta felt pain lance through to her own heart. She remembered he no longer had his mother’s amulet, but she didn’t call up her knowing. ‘Why would you think that?’

  ‘I brought us to Chem. I couldn’t stop Hacren.’

  ‘None of us could have stopped him on our own.’ She stroked his hair. ‘And if we hadn’t come here Chem would now be ruled by a powerful and evil spirit, not to mention those dreadful priests.’ She shuddered. ‘Sleep, please, you’re still fighting that poison.’

  He nodded, but his eyes were still wide and almost desperate. She kissed him and lay her head back on his chest. His arms went around her, uncomfortably tight, it was a while until he slowly relaxed his hold on her.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about what to do with Osun,’ he said quietly.

  Kesta bit her lower lip, feeling pressure build at once behind her eyes. ‘He should stay here, where he was loved, where … where people knew what a great man he was.’

  She felt Jorrun’s lungs still.

  ‘You really mean that.’

  She nodded against his chest, feeling the grief build up again inside her. ‘I do. I still hate what he did to Milaiya, I always will, but he wasn’t the selfish man he thought he was, not deep down. It makes me so angry that he won’t get to be the person he could have been.’ She rubbed hard at her eyes with the heel of her hand. ‘I’m angry at myself that I didn’t start to get to know him until it was too late but at the same time my morality couldn’t have let me do anything differently. Although when you look at what he’s done for Naver—’

  ‘Kes.’

  She swallowed, waiting for him to find the courage to say what he needed to.

  ‘We need to think about what we’re going to do about Chem.’

  ‘We’ll have to stay,’ she replied without hesitation.

  His chest rose and fell beneath her cheek. ‘Not forever.’

  ‘No, not forever.’

  ***

  Kesta knocked softly at the door, steeling herself to enter the room that had so very much been Osun’s. It was Jorrun who took the handle and pushed it open.

  Dia smiled to see them, handing the parchment she was holding to Arrus. Jagna was sat at the desk and quickly stood, but Jorrun waved at him to relax. Dia searched Jorrun’s face, frowning a little at what she saw.

  ‘I’m fine.’ He sighed. ‘I need to talk to you about what happened in Elden.’

  Dia nodded. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’ll leave you,’ Jagna offered.

  ‘We also need to discuss what we will do about Navere, and Chem,’ Kesta said. ‘Could you get the coven to meet?’

  ‘Of course.’ Jagna hurried off at once.

  ‘Perhaps you should consider losing the name “Coven” for the city�
��s ruling body for a start.’ Dia raised her eyebrows. ‘Anyway.’ She frowned down at the paperwork on the desk. ‘I’ve been looking through all of Osun’s plans and his proposed laws for Navere, they really are rather brilliant. He has put a lot of consideration into consequences.’

  Kesta and Jorrun looked at each other but said nothing.

  ‘Anyway. Elden.’

  Jorrun didn’t protest when he was offered a chair. Kesta and Arrus also sat while Dia perched on the edge of the desk. She went over everything that had happened in greater detail than Kesta had heard from Worvig. When she finished, Jorrun sat silently looking down at the floor. He took in a deep breath.

  ‘I had another brother.’

  ‘One that hadn’t been taken away from Chem and Dryn Dunham,’ Dia said slowly.

  Kesta watched Jorrun’s face and with a sharp intake of breath she recalled the torn page in Dryn’s book. ‘Do you think Inari was bred to be stronger than you, to be able to conquer Elden?’

  ‘Undoubtably. We will probably never know the whole story. He may have always been intended to go to Elden to defeat me and take the country, or perhaps he went of his own accord to take revenge.’ Jorrun glanced at her. ‘I’ll have to go to Taurmaline.’

  Kesta felt panic hit her. If he went to Elden, then she’d have to stay here without him to take care of things in Chem. The thought of being separated from him again so soon filled her with dread.

  ‘Yes, you should both go to Elden.’

  Kesta stared at her mother.

  ‘Deal with Bractius and then spend some time with Tantony and Rosa at Northold, give yourselves some time to rest and recover.’

  ‘Bu—’

  Dia raised a hand to stop Jorrun. ‘Arrus and I will stay to help here, for a month after you leave, no longer. Calayna and Jagna both seem very capable, as are Rece and Estre, but they’ll need guidance and protection for a while longer. I’ll send Worvig and Everlyn back to the Fulmers.’

  ‘You’ll really do that?’ Kesta looked from her father to her mother. ‘But after everything you went through in Elde—’

  ‘We need Jorrun to sort out Elden,’ Dia said. ‘And he can’t go if people aren’t protected here.’

  Jorrun nodded, his eyes seemed distant.

  ‘Thank you.’ Kesta jumped up to kiss her father’s cheek and hug her mother.

  ‘Temerran has already agreed to take you on the Undine in a week,’ Dia told them.

  ‘Actually, I have my own ship,’ Jorrun said.

  ‘Actually, you’re still sick.’ Dia looked him up and down from under her lashes. She grabbed up a handful of the papers on the desk. ‘And there are a lot of things that need sorting before you go.’

  Jorrun sighed and nodded. ‘Very well, a week.’ He reached out for Kesta’s hand. ‘We had better let the Raven Cove—’ He glanced at Dia. ‘We had better let the Ravens know our plans.’

  They made their way to the audience room. Nearly everyone seemed to be there, very few sitting, most standing in small groups to talk. Kesta looked around, a frown in her face.

  ‘Where’s Cassien?’

  ‘He’s up in his room,’ Beth replied, overhearing, her baby snugged in a sling against her chest. ‘He won’t come down.’

  Kesta turned to Jorrun and he nodded. ‘Go on, I’ll let everyone know what’s happening. Join us when you can.’

  Kesta touched his arm and then hurried back out into the hall. She took the stairs up to what had been the coven’s quarters two at a time. Cassien wasn’t in his own room, but it wasn’t hard to guess where he’d be. She knocked at the door to Osun’s old chambers and opened it without waiting. She found Cassien curled up in a chair.

  ‘Oh, Cass.’

  He sniffed loudly, wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve. He didn’t look up. Kesta walked over to the chair and crouched beside it, reaching out a hand to rub his shoulder. She used her knowing to send him comfort, knowing that it would never fill the hollow ache of the boy’s grief.

  ‘I never knew who my father was,’ Cassien said quietly.

  Kesta waited.

  ‘Never even thought about it. As far as I know I was born a slave, all I had were masters. I spent so many years wishing I was dead, and yet I couldn’t stop fighting to live. Crazy eh?’ He looked up at her, his eyes bright. ‘Then Osun came and bought me and I found I had something to really fight for and someone who …’

  Kesta squeezed his shoulder, trying to hold back the wave of pain that tried to break free from her own chest.

  ‘You can still fight for him, Cass, for what he believed in, for what he died to protect. It will be harder for you to do it without him, but you can do it. Osun was so proud of you, Cass, he saw something special in you the moment he spotted you in the slave pen. Come here.’

  Cassien sat up and fell into her hug; shaking against her as she rubbed his back.

  ‘Jorrun and I will be sailing for Elden in a few days, would you like to come?’

  ‘Me? Me, sail over the sea to another land?’

  ‘If you want to.’

  ‘I want to.’

  ‘Come on, your sisters need you downstairs.’

  He nodded, slowly sitting back and wiping at his face with his sleeves, a flush on his cheeks. Kesta stood and led the way back down to the audience room. He paused outside to straighten his clothing and flatten down his hair.

  ‘You look fine.’ Kesta smiled at him.

  They slipped into the room quietly, everyone was silent and still but for servants who were handing out drinks and Jorrun who was mid-flow in a speech. Kesta touched Cassien’s arm and they moved through the others to be closer to Jorrun.

  ‘It isn’t going to be easy, there will be a huge amount of resistance and no doubt many setbacks, but we can do this, for Osun and for ourselves. The Fulmers are with u—’

  There was a cheer from Arrus, which made several people laugh.

  ‘–s and Elden too. Soon, through Osun’s careful planning, we will have other city provinces with us also. We will only trade with provinces that prove they are making efforts to give freedom to women, we will only offer aid to help those covens that do the same. When they see our stability, when they see our prosperity, they will join us.

  ‘But what they won’t join is a coven.’ He drew in a deep breath, looking around at them all. ‘We are not a coven, brothers and sisters, we are a family. We are The Ravens, protectors of what is right, defenders of our land. And our land …’

  He paused, Kesta found herself holding her breath, her heart beating faster. This wasn’t the Dark Man, this was her Jorrun, the man he always should have been had he been free of Chem and Bractius. The type of man Osun too, could have been. His eyes met hers.

  ‘Brothers and sisters, where we stand, what we defend, is the Free City of Navere.’

  Kesta choked, her hand going to her mouth as she blinked rapidly. There were several gasps in the room, then applause and cheers rang out. Kesta had to shut down her knowing, the emotions overwhelming. Some people, men and women, broke down and cried. She found herself grabbing Cassien’s hand.

  Jorrun raised his glass, his cheeks a little red.

  ‘Raise your glasses, my family. To the Free City of Navere!’

  ‘To the Ravens!’ Arrus bellowed.

  ***

  ‘What’s happened?’ Jorrun asked before they even got through the door to what they would always think of as Osun’s old study. Their few belongings had been packed alongside a whole crate of books and taken down to the ships already. They were supposed to be saying their farewells, but Captain Rece had warned them of a disturbance in the audience room.

  Dia breathed out loudly through her mouth, glancing at Calayna and Jagna. ‘Three men came in to complain that the women they’d bought for breeding had run away here to the palace. They demanded to know what we were going to do about the loss of their property and how they were expected to have heirs.’

  ‘What did you do?’ Kesta demanded. Jorrun
tensed beside her.

  Calayna grinned and Jagna gave a snort.

  Dia raised her hands at her daughter’s worried face. ‘Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t incinerate them! Much as I wanted to. I told them they’d have to get married in a consensual relationship, the same as everyone else. It got me thinking though, perhaps we should draw up contracts, instead of a man buying a woman from a merchant, he pays her an … an independence fee, so she can escape if she needs to. It would mean a man would have to consent to treating her well.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Jorrun looked down at the floor. ‘That could be complicated, but it’s worth considering. I certainly wish I’d put more consideration into my marriage contract.’

  Kesta’s eyes widened and she looked up at him.

  He grinned and she punched him in the arm.

  ‘See?’ Jorrun turned to Dia, his grin not fading.

  Dia sighed and shook her head at them. Kesta felt warmth flowing from her heart, it was the first time she’d seen Jorrun really smile since his brother’s death.

  ‘It’s had us talking about a difficult subject also.’ Jagna frowned, not looking up at them. ‘We want to close the skin houses but fear it will increase attacks on women. We …’ He looked at Dia for help.

  ‘It makes me feel sick to say it,’ Dia said. ‘But it seems the best way forward might be to see if there are any women who would work voluntarily in skin houses, run themselves. They would be paid, have strict rules of conduct.’

  ‘They would likely be richer than any merchant in Navere,’ Jagna added.

  Kesta felt Jorrun tense beside her.

  ‘They would need to pay guards to protect them,’ Kesta said quickly. ‘And it would have to be strictly monitored by the Ravens to ensure no one was there against their will.’ She shuddered. ‘Though I couldn’t imagine anyone choosing such a life.’

  ‘Small steps, subtlety,’ Dia said, looking around at them all. ‘Just as Osun suggested.’

  Jorrun closed his eyes, his fists clenched. ‘I don’t like it, but it makes sense.’

  Kesta rubbed at her temples, it was still too awful to contemplate, but they had to think of the stability and long-term future of their province.