by Anna Kashina
“Do you know how he and Kara managed to acquire this resistance?” the King asked.
The Keeper threw an uncomfortable glance at Kyth. “I am not exactly sure, Your Majesty. I believe that it comes from their deep ability to focus their minds.”
“Can other Majat be taught this?”
The Keeper kept his eyes on Kyth, making the Prince feel disconcerted. What does it have to do with me?
“Perhaps, Your Majesty,” Egey Bashi said. “I guess we’ll never know without trying.”
“Can it be used as a bargaining chip with the Majat Guild? We can offer that, if they accept our alliance, we could teach them to become resistant to the Kaddim. This way they would likely lend us more warriors than the crown could afford.”
Egey Bashi tore his eyes from Kyth and turned back to the King. “It’s a possibility, Your Majesty. But I believe Prince Kythar’s skill is the key to our resistance. He is the only one who can always resist their powers and, on occasion, protect others.”
I was also able to transfer this resistance to Kara. Kyth remembered how she first acquired the ability, defending him against an ambush in the castle courtyard. The memory stung him with new pain. She had been so close to him then. He believed that their love for each other had protected both of them – if indeed she had ever loved him. But he still wasn’t sure how Mai had been able to do it. Certainly not because of Kyth’s love for him.
“I can protect one person from their power,” he said. “But I’m not sure I can teach anyone to be resistant when I’m not around.”
Mother Keeper looked at him thoughtfully. “Perhaps, Your Highness, you can learn this with time – or at least learn to protect more people at once?”
Kyth thought about it. This possibility had haunted his dreams for quite a while, since he had first encountered Kaddim Tolos and his men. “Maybe. But I have no idea how.”
Mother Keeper nodded, as if it was a done deal. “The Keepers can help you to develop your gift, Your Highness. In the meantime, the Majat Guild does not have to know that you have not mastered it to the full.”
Kyth stared. “Are you suggesting we lie to them?”
The woman slid a calm glance over him and briefly met Egey Bashi’s gaze. “It’s called ‘diplomacy’, Your Highness.” She turned to the King. “If I may, Your Majesty, I suggest you send Prince Kythar, along with representatives of the major powers in this kingdom, to bargain with the Majat.”
Kyth opened his mouth to object but closed it at the look of enthusiasm in his father’s eyes.
“Do you really think it can work?”
“I don’t see why not, Your Majesty. I hope Magister Egey Bashi could also be included in the embassy. His experience with the Majat is unmatched, and he can also help to develop Prince Kythar’s ability during their travels. If I may, I suggest you also send Prince Kythar’s foster brother Alder, who is an emissary from the Forestlands. This way the Prince’s request will be backed by more representatives throughout the kingdom. It would also be prudent to send Ellah, whose gift of truthsense makes her indispensable in any negotiations.”
The King nodded. “Anyone else?”
“Lady Celana Illitand.”
“But she–”
“–is the heiress of a major royal house whose claim to the throne is second to yours, Your Majesty. Her cooperation would be invaluable, especially since she is also, as I heard, well read and very intelligent. You will find no better scholar of the kingdom’s law and politics, except, perhaps, Magister Egey Bashi himself.”
“She’s only seventeen!”
“All the more valuable, Your Majesty. The Keepers call this tactic ‘smoke screen’. She could be in the midst of action, giving Prince Kythar advice when no one else expects it. Who would suspect anything intelligent from a maid of seventeen?”
The King shook his head. “If any harm should come to her in my care, it would mean war.”
“If this embassy does not succeed, we are doomed anyway, Your Majesty. The Majat are our only hope. Remember the saying: ‘He who commands the Majat commands the Empire’? It couldn’t be more true in this case. We can only win this war if we can combine Prince Kythar’s ability to resist the Kaddim with a Majat fighting force.”
The King frowned. “The risk is too great, Mother Keeper.”
“Think about it, Your Majesty. A small party like this can make it through the lands virtually unnoticed, and Aghat Raishan is more than capable of providing necessary protection. And once they arrive, Aghat Oden Lan will have no choice but to listen. Even in his madness he is well aware of the danger posed by the Kaddim.”
The King leaned back in his chair. “You are asking a lot, Mother Keeper. You want me to send my only son–”
“–into the safest stronghold in the world, Your Majesty. If you wish for his safety, no place could possibly be better than the Majat Guild.”
“Last time he was there it didn’t quite work. Besides, if what I heard about Master Oden Lan’s feelings for Kara is true, my son may not be the most welcome sight in the Fortress.”
Mother Keeper turned and met Kyth’s eyes. “On the contrary, Your Majesty. If I’m not mistaken, the Guildmaster would likely take pity on the Prince.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kyth demanded.
“She’s left you, hasn’t she?” the older woman asked quietly. “She broke up with you so that she can follow Aghat Mai to the Guild.”
Kyth felt as if she had hit him in the gut. As long as he was the only one who knew the truth of what had happened in Kara’s room behind a closed door, it felt as if it wasn’t real, as if things still might change. By saying it out loud, Mother Keeper had just made it all true. Kara was no longer with Kyth. Whatever her decision, he had no claim on her anymore.
It hurt like hell to think about it. It hurt so much that he couldn’t even find enough fire to get angry at Mother Keeper for throwing it out into the open like this, in front of Egey Bashi and Raishan; in front of his father, who met the news with an inappropriately hopeful look.
Kyth let out a sigh. In the bigger picture, these things didn’t matter anymore. And if Kyth could indeed lead this embassy, and fast, perhaps he could manage to trade his offer of protecting the Majat against the Kaddim for Kara’s and Mai’s lives?
He turned to the King.
“Let me do it, Father,” he said. “We must act without delay for me to secure an alliance with the Majat Guild.”
6
PURSUIT
Kara pulled her horse to a stop, peering into the tracks ahead. Mai had been covering an amazing distance each day, especially considering the fact that he had been avoiding the main road, leading the chase almost entirely over raw terrain. He was also being tricky, keeping mostly to the rocks so that his trail would be especially hard to follow. If, at the start of her chase, she had been secretly hoping to catch him by surprise, the last few days left her with no doubt that he knew she was following and was doing everything possible to prevent her from overtaking him. It took all she had just to keep up, without any signs of gaining on him.
She peered closer. There. A barely perceptible trace on the stone marked the hoof print she was looking for: a horseshoe with a slightly chipped surface, right near the middle. She smiled. If he kept this kind of pace over the rocks, his horse would lose its shoe in no time. And then, there would be no way for him to prevent Kara from catching up.
She urged her gray mare on, patting the tired animal on the neck. Just a couple of hours before dusk, and then they could finally have a good night’s rest.
She raised her head from the trail and looked around. The glimmering shape of the Crown Lake at her back had disappeared days ago, giving way to the duller landscape of the Ridges’ outcrops. She could see the snowy mountain peaks rising in the distance ahead, their gleaming white caps floating over the bluish haze at the horizon. Gray splotches of boulders rose out of the open fields spreading to either side of the trail, with patches of coarse si
lvery grass growing in between. Here and there she could also see the groves of mountain hazels, fleshy bushes huddled together against the bitter gusts of mountain wind. She could bet Mai spent each night hiding in one of those. Yet, with the way he kept off the main road, it was difficult to find which one.
The air here smelled of pine and wild aemrock, stirring up memories. She had grown up with these smells, roaming the Ridges’ wilderness for as long as she could remember, until the Guild took her under their control. She shivered at the memory, fighting an unbidden sting in her eyes. The Guild’s training had been cruel, yet it was the only home she had ever known. And now, she was unlikely to ever live there again.
She shook off her sadness. Life at court had made her soft. With the challenges she was facing she couldn’t possibly afford to feel emotional at a simple gust of wind.
She urged her horse toward the hazel outgrowth looming up ahead. The sun was setting. This would be as good a place as any to spend the night.
Magister Egey Bashi set a punishing pace. Kyth welcomed it, since it provided good distraction. He secretly wished they could arrive at the Majat Guild before Mai and Kara, to have another chance to talk things out and possibly soften whatever welcome was waiting for them there, but that was too much to hope for. Still, he was glad of the strenuous marches each day that kept his mind fully occupied, even if he couldn’t help feeling guilty every time he watched Ellah and Lady Celana dismount in the evening and get into their saddles in the morning.
Even the presence of Ellah and Alder, the people he had grown up with and always thought of as part of his family, could not ease the emptiness in his heart. Kara was no longer a part of his life. Worse, she was heading toward what would likely become her execution. And, despite the rush, Kyth and his party seemed to have no way of catching up with her.
Lady Celana had been surprisingly agreeable to the trip. She also looked amazingly fit in her pants outfit, riding a horse like a man, with her long Lakeland bow flung over her shoulder. Kyth had never imagined she would be such good company on the road. Yet, her presence brought him no comfort either. Worse, he found her longing glances disconcerting. If she truly cared for him, he pitied her. But he couldn’t escape the feeling that the affection she showed him was more of a political nature. It must be, for he failed to see what a dashing lady like her could possibly see in him, besides the fact that he stood to inherit the throne. Everyone spoke of her as a woman with a highly calculating mind.
On the fifth day of travel they set camp in a hazelnut grove, one of those so abundant along the road from Tandar to the Ridges. Raishan and Alder busied themselves with the fire and Egey Bashi took a kettle to the nearby spring to fill it with fresh water. Kyth unrolled the blankets, watching Ellah and Celana talking quietly by the horses. He felt a sting of pain as he remembered the last time he had camped here. Kara had been with them then. They’d even kissed when they went into the grove to collect wood. It was when she had first told him how different she was, but he hadn’t believed her. Had she been right all along?
A quiet chuckle on the other side of the glade drew Kyth’s attention. He turned, feeling the small hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
A robed man emerged from the shadows and walked toward them across the glade, leading a lizard beast by the reins. As if in a nightmare, Kyth recognized his slight, bird-like features, disheveled brown hair standing in a halo around his head, his eyes, so dark that they seemed to have no irises, like the eyes of an owl.
Nimos.
“Long time no see, Your Highness,” Nimos said.
Kyth’s skin prickled. “It can’t be you.”
Nimos’s smile widened. “And yet, here I am. Just like old times.”
Kyth swallowed, half aware of Raishan, Alder, and Egey Bashi crowded by his sides.
“I saw you die.”
“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?”
“More like a bad dream all over again.”
Nimos cocked his head to one side, running a glance around the group. “I think of it more as an old friends’ reunion. We have so many memories to share, haven’t we?”
Ones I’d rather forget. Kyth drew himself up. “I can protect Aghat Raishan from your power, and he will kill you.”
Nimos’s smile widened. “Haven’t you learned, Your Highness, that killing me simply doesn’t work? I have been killed before by Aghat Mai, as you were kind enough to remark on just now. I assure you it wasn’t the first time, either.”
A chill crept down Kyth’s spine. He knew the Kaddim Brother was deliberately trying to unsettle him and he hated to admit it was working. The thought of this man coming back from the dead after Mai’s perfect blow was just too frightening to dwell on.
Grass rustled behind him and he saw a slender figure with flaming red hair step up to his side. Lady Celana.
Nimos turned to her in surprise.
“I read about Kaddim resurrection in the old chronicles,” Celana said, keeping Nimos’s gaze. In the sudden silence her voice rang clearly through the glade. “Even though you can indeed make a complete recovery, the experience is quite strenuous and requires considerable skill from other members of your Brotherhood. If Prince Kythar and Aghat Raishan cannot kill you forever, they could at least put you through the inconvenience again, and hopefully spare us the trouble of your company for quite some time.”
Kyth looked at her in surprise, which was reflected in Nimos’s eyes as he continued to stare. It was compelling to watch the discomfort her words caused the Kaddim Brother, even though he put on a great show of hiding it.
Nimos stepped back, folding into an elaborate court bow.
“My dear Lady Celana, I have no choice but to bow before your wisdom. What a change from the innocent young lady I had the pleasure of encountering in your father’s castle.”
She smiled but did not reply, her calm gaze smoothly reflecting his disconcerting look. Somewhat deflated, Nimos turned back to Kyth.
“All I wanted to do, Your Highness, was to express regret at my former actions and to share your joy that Aghat Kara is still alive. You know by now that I have, shamefully, been plotting her execution. Yet, when I learned what Aghat Mai had done, I felt so relieved. She truly deserves to live, and I am so glad that my plans for her did not work. You see, when I was planning this, I was not aware of Aghat Mai’s feelings for her.”
Kyth’s heart missed a beat. His feelings for her? That couldn’t possibly be true. As far as Kyth knew, Mai had no feelings for anyone. He was just a highly skilled man who always did the right thing. This was what made Mai so trustworthy. And yet... to think that Kara ran away from Kyth to join the man who had feelings for her...
He caught Egey Bashi’s gaze. The Keeper’s frown did nothing to reassure him. Did Egey Bashi know about this? Was Kyth the only one oblivious to what was going on? He glanced at Ellah, who, he knew, could sense if Nimos was telling the truth, but her face was carefully blank.
Nimos is just trying to disconcert me. He forced down his racing thoughts. Even though he hoped, against reason, that Kara would survive her ordeal and come back to him, at this moment in time it hardly mattered. He should focus on the upcoming bargain with the Majat Guild, which hopefully could include Kara’s and Mai’s lives. He should not give in to unreasonable jealousy.
He met Raishan’s gaze. “Are you ready, Aghat?”
Raishan nodded and drew his sword. Nimos backed away.
“No need to get violent, Your Highness,” he said. “I only came to apologize for the past, that’s all. And now I’m leaving, with promises not to bother you for the rest of your trip.” He jumped into the saddle and threw his lizard beast into gallop, disappearing around the bend of the road.
Egey Bashi sighed, watching the retreating dust cloud. “Here we go again. Another ride to the Majat Guild, with Nimos at our heels.”
“Let’s just hope this trip ends better than the last one,” Raishan mumbled and busied himself with the preparation of t
he meal.
7
WORTH DYING FOR
Kara slid down from her saddle and picked up the cracked horseshoe. Her heart leapt. In this wilderness, without the horseshoe, Mai couldn’t possibly have gone very far. He was very fond of his horse, and she knew that, urgent or not, he wouldn’t drive it hard enough to risk an injury.
A search of the tracks ahead confirmed her suspicions. A set of prints indicated the place where Mai had noticed the loss and dismounted. She saw some of his tracks going backward, likely in an attempt to recover the lost horseshoe. He must have been hard pressed indeed not to notice it right away. From here, his prints went parallel to the horse’s, showing that he had continued on foot, leading his horse over the terrain. Furthermore, the three-legged horse track indicated that he must have wrapped a cloth around the bare hoof to prevent further injury.
She raised her head, surveying the surroundings.
The light of the setting sun painted the landscape with deep fiery strokes. Long shadows crept off every rock in sight. Ahead of her she could see a hazel grove, with the gleam of a brook running through.
She smiled. She was willing to bet Mai was camping in there right now, trying to find a temporary replacement for the lost shoe. The nearest blacksmith lived in Middledale, a day’s travel ahead. Without a shoe, this was a considerable distance to cover.
She urged her horse onward, keeping to the shadows, until she spotted a faint wisp of smoke rising through the hazel crowns on the distant end of the grove. Good. She hoped he was sufficiently occupied not to keep watch on this side of the tree line.
When she reached the hazel shade she dismounted and let her horse wander, using all her stealth to creep to the campsite without making a sound. In the gathering dusk, she paused at the edge of the glade and looked into the circle lit by the campfire.
Mai was sitting with his back to her, carving a piece of wood with his boot knife. She noiselessly drew her weapon before approaching further, not sure how he would react. Then, she cautiously stepped into the glade.