by Spurrier, Jo
‘But people have searched for them ever since Leandra the First sealed the caves. They’ve had a hundred years to find them,’ Sierra said. ‘If no one’s discovered them by now they must be gone for good. Perhaps Vasant outsmarted himself and hid them too well.’
She frowned up at the roof of the tent and the globes of light clinging to the chimney. Ever since she’d come to realise just what she was, she’d wondered what it would have been like to be born a hundred years before, when mages where honoured for their talents, not reviled. None of this would be happening now if there were still mages in Ricalan.
Whenever Sierra could pull herself back from the immediate danger to see the greater threat that stalked the north, she felt overcome by a rush of fury. She was enraged that this invasion had occurred, and that their foreign king had brought this upon them and yet would not raise a hand to defend the people he ruled from being slaughtered and enslaved.
She wanted to fight — what use was this power she’d been given if not to defend the only home she’d ever known? But how could she, with Rasten snapping at her heels and Kell determined to reclaim her, no matter what it cost? But even if she could shake them from her trail, she knew the clans would never accept a creature like her, whatever the threat they faced. The clans had decided long ago that they would rather accept foreign rule than share Ricalan with mages.
Contemplating the greater threat left her feeling more dejected than before. The only people in the world who wanted her were the monsters she had fled from, Kell and Rasten — well, them and the warm, kind and quick-witted man who was sharing her tent for the last time. Tomorrow they would reach the cache and then go their separate ways, swept apart by the winds of fate as swiftly as they’d been brought together.
Sierra rolled over with a sigh and closed the book. ‘Well, if the wretched thing is as good as useless, I won’t waste any more time on it tonight.’
Seeming as pensive as Sierra felt, Isidro lay back beside her. He touched his fingers lightly to his splinted arm with a frown creasing his brow, and she wondered if he was thinking of the pain that would return once she was forced to leave.
‘It’ll get better,’ she told him. ‘Once you’re in a safe place and have time to rest and heal it won’t be so bad.’
‘That’s what Rhia tells me,’ he said.
If Rasten found her Isidro and Cam would be safe for a while. Rasten would be fully occupied with containing her and bringing her back to Kell, with no time to spare to chase a pair of fugitives.
‘Will you head north?’ Isidro asked.
‘And east, I think,’ she said. ‘Just because it’s away from Kell. If I can stay ahead of Rasten until the fighting gets truly fierce, then Kell might have to call him back to help him …’ She took a handful of the blankets beneath her and crushed them in her fist until her knuckles turned white. ‘I wish I could stay, I truly do, but I’d only bring you danger …’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘Sirri, do as you must. I’m just grateful for what you’ve given me, and the time we’ve had …’
She squirmed closer and laid her hand on his chest. He was stronger than he had been the night she woke in a strange tent and he hailed her in the dark, even with the exertion of travelling. Was it just relief from the pain that had changed him, or was there something more going on within his lean and battered frame? Sierra supposed she’d never get to find out. ‘I just wish that we could change this road we’re on. There must be something that can be done — against Kell, against the Slavers — but I just can’t see it.’
He said nothing and, as the silence grew unbearable, Sierra hauled herself up and kissed him, hungry and demanding. ‘Make me forget,’ she said. ‘Please, Issey, one last time. Make me forget and I’ll do the same for you …’
‘The cache is just down in that copse,’ Cam said. They stood in the shelter of a few trees, gazing across an avalanche-cleared slope. ‘Looks like there’s someone down there already.’
Sierra adjusted the twisted leather cord of her snowgoggles. They left welts in her skin, but she didn’t dare take them off. Even a few moments of exposure would risk another bout of blindness. Once she was on her own that would be a disaster.
Through the narrow field of view the goggles allowed she spotted the figure Cam was talking about. He was wearing a white coat but made no other effort to conceal himself. His hood was thrown back and he held a spear in one gloved hand, gazing about the open slope with a mixture of watchfulness and boredom.
‘Looks like a sentry,’ Isidro said. ‘You told Mira where our cache was, didn’t you?’ he asked Cam.
Cam nodded. ‘She was going to leave some more medicines there.’ In the first few days after Isidro’s rescue, when he had been too ill to be moved, Cam had taken two of the horses and ridden hard for Ruhavera, the seat of the Wolf Clan, to beg them for the medicines Isidro desperately needed. ‘She must be here,’ Cam said, ‘or one of her kin, maybe. I don’t think they’d bother with guards for a mere messenger.’
Sierra shrugged deeper into her fur, but it did nothing to dispel the chill that gathered inside her. Cam had been cool but civil to her ever since the day of Isidro’s vision. He’d not said one word to her about Isidro spending most of the nights since then in her tent, but Sierra had the impression that it was only because the arrangement was temporary. The previous night had been the last. She was leaving them today, probably within the hour. She had been doing her best not to think about it.
‘I should go now,’ Sierra said. ‘Better if they never see me.’
‘We don’t have enough supplies left,’ Isidro said. ‘There’s another day’s worth for the lot of us, but that’ll only keep you for a week.’
‘There’s the grain for the horses …’ Sierra said.
‘But you’ll need more than grain to keep you fed.’
‘With the Wolf men to help us dig, it won’t take long,’ Rhia said quietly from behind them. ‘You will be able to go on your way while it is still light.’
Sierra tossed her head, about to reply when her eye fell on Isidro, standing by his horse with the reins held loosely in his mittened hand. For his sake, she wouldn’t make a scene. Unlike Cam, the others had made no effort to hide their disapproval of the time he spent with her, and she had no wish to make things any more difficult for him.
Isidro turned his back on Rhia and caught Sierra’s eye with a smile and half-shrug that made her stomach twist. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe it was love they shared after knowing each other for little more than a week, but it was comfort and affection and a mutual regard. The others treated him like a child. Even Cam. They meant well, but it made her grit her teeth to see how they spoke around him and shared glances above his head, as though Kell had robbed Isidro of his wits as well as his independence.
Their pace had slowed considerably these last two days. They’d been pushing the horses hard and they were showing the strain. Cam had been planning to let them have a day of rest once they reached the cache, and Sierra had been half hoping, half fearing, they would reach the site so late in the day it would be too dark to move on once they did uncover the supplies. The thought of being on her own again filled her with dread. The night before, she’d dreamed of the dark, solitary cell where Kell had kept her for months after her capture. She’d woken sobbing at the memory, but couldn’t bring herself to tell Isidro. He had enough troubles without bearing hers as well.
‘Don’t worry,’ Cam told her. ‘They won’t hold you up for long. We’ll have you on your way soon enough.’
Cam started across the slope, leading his horse behind him. As he stepped out onto the clear ground, the sentry barked a warning, bringing a few other warriors to his side at a run. But by the time Cam had covered half the distance across the bare slope, they were lounging against their spears again, so Sierra assumed they had recognised him, though no one shouted his name. She dropped back in the line, letting Isidro and Rhia go ahead before she led her horse across.
Even before Kell had taken her to Lathayan, Sierra had heard of Mirasada of the Wolf. The Wolf was the largest clan left in Ricalan, but even before the clans of the southern coast had been driven off their lands and scattered, they had been among the wealthiest, with a vast territory to their name. Mirasada had been the unofficial heir for years, but the king had only formally accepted her mother’s choice of a successor a few months ago — and only then on the provision that she marry his cousin and heir, the Grand Duke Osebian.
Like Cam, Mira was of mixed blood — the colour of her hair was ample evidence of that. This wouldn’t be the first foreign marriage in her clan. Her clothes were particularly fine — a lacy cowl hung around her neck in luxurious folds and at the open neck of her coat Sierra could see a flash of patterned fabric dyed in brilliant greens and blues.
Sierra realised she was staring and quickly looked away. She ought to be careful not to draw attention to herself — Kell might not have sent her portrait this far. Faced with proof of her identity, the clan wouldn’t willingly hand her back to Kell to be trained as a weapon to be used against them. Instead they’d kill her as quietly and as swiftly as they could and bury her so deep Kell would never find so much as a trace. Or at least, they’d try.
Black Sun, Sierra prayed silently, just let them send me on my way. Cam and Isidro were depending on Mira and her clan for their safety — if she was forced into action, she would be endangering their future as well.
Mira’s hazel eyes widened when she saw Isidro standing behind Cam and she held her gloved hands out to him in welcome. ‘Isidro, it’s so good to see you! After all I’d heard I was afraid I’d never lay eyes on you again!’
‘Mirasada,’ Isidro said. He took her fingers and bowed low to kiss the back of her gloved hand.
‘Why so formal, Issey?’ Mira said with a laugh. ‘Ten years in the wild and you still have better manners than half the men at court.’
Isidro smiled faintly. Mira was every inch a politician, raised from birth to follow in her mother’s footsteps and lead the clan. She never quite knew what to make of him. Too often he had failed to bounce in the precise direction she pushed him. For a while, he’d enjoyed sparring with her, but now he was too weary and too heartsick to take any pleasure in the game.
Mira frowned and quickly pulled her glove off to lay her hand on his forehead.
He pulled away. ‘Mira —’
‘You are ill, aren’t you? You’re so thin and pale. Here, you really ought to sit down. Someone fetch him something to drink!’
‘Mira, it’s not necessary.’
Cam came to his rescue, just as one of Mira’s men hurried over with a flask wrapped in felt. Rhia pushed her way through the crowd to his side and tried to get him to sit, kicking off her snowshoes to make a platform in the soft snow. Isidro refused, even though he had grown dizzy. He felt helpless enough as it was without having to stare up at everyone.
All at once, Isidro felt the hair on his arms prickle and rise; he looked up quickly, catching Sierra’s eye across the crowd. She was nervous and his discomfort was making her more so, feeding her restless power. Isidro turned to his brother. ‘Cam,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Better get on with it.’
Cam understood him at once and nodded. ‘Mira, we need to get digging.’
‘No you don’t, Cam. I was going to leave a message, but it’s so much better to find you like this. I’ve arranged for the clan to shelter you and Isidro for as long as you need. Your companions are welcome to stay with us, or we can help them settle in another clan’s territory if they’d rather be further away from the troubles here.’ Mira scanned the faces of his companions. ‘You told me of a man with mourning tattoos who might be recognised as one of the Raiders …’
‘Garzen,’ Cam said. ‘He died. We had to buy supplies, but there were some soldiers in the village who recognised me and followed us back to camp. They took us by surprise.’
Mira’s lovely face grew sombre. ‘Oh, how awful! And I remember how much help he was when you were with Charzic’s band. Did the poor man leave any family?’
Cam shook his head. ‘They were all killed when the Mesentreians took their lands.’
‘Black Sun rest him,’ Mira said. ‘But I see there is another addition to your group since I saw you last, Cam. You told me of Rhia the physician, as well as the sisters and their husband. But who is the other woman?’
Sierra had positioned herself on the other side of her horse, fussing with something out of sight as an excuse to hide her face.
‘We only met her a few days ago,’ Cam said. ‘She was in some Mesentreian lord’s retinue and slipped away when she had the chance.’
‘Ah,’ said Mira. ‘That’s a familiar story. Well, we can shelter her as well. What’s her name?’
‘You can offer, but I doubt she’ll take it,’ Cam said. ‘Here, I’ll call her over. Kasimi!’ he said. When Sierra looked up, Cam beckoned her over.
She came warily. Isidro frowned, hoping her nerves wouldn’t get the better of her. One wrong step would put all her plans awry.
Mira looked her over, taking in the worn and faded clothes Lakua had picked out for her. ‘Cam tells me you’ve escaped from the army.’
‘That’s right,’ Sierra said.
‘Well, you’re welcome to take shelter with the Wolf Clan. Do you have family who will take you in? We can help you find them.’
Sierra shook her head. ‘No, no family. And thank you, but no. I can’t stay here.’
‘Why not?’ said Mira. ‘Who did you escape from? Will he try to hunt you down?’
Sierra shook her head again. ‘He’ll make things difficult for anyone who shelters me. It’s better if I just keep moving.’
Mira hooked her thumbs into her sash and tilted her head to one side. ‘The Wolf Clan is not easily pushed around,’ she said. ‘If he has no reason under the law to keep you, then you will be safe … unless he intends to bring some charge against you?’
Sierra looked away, casting around as though hoping to find a way to escape. It was the worst thing she could have done and told Mira clearly what she was really afraid of.
‘Mira,’ Cam said, ‘Just let her go. It’s for the best. The charge against her is false but there’s no easy way to prove it; the taint will cling to her forever. It’s easier if she just disappears.’
‘Really?’ This time, when Mira frowned it was in honest puzzlement. ‘Well, now I am curious. But very well, you know your own mind best, I’m sure.’
‘We promised her supplies from the cache,’ Cam said.
Mira shrugged. ‘Show the men where it is, then, and they can get digging.’
While Cam was getting his bearings on the trees surrounding the little clearing, Sierra turned away with an air of relief — but Isidro saw Brekan sidling towards Mira with a smirk on his lips.
Isidro went to head him off. ‘Brekan —’
Brekan ignored him. ‘They’re lying to you, my lady! Cam and Isidro — they’re hiding something from you.’
Mira turned to him with a small frown of confusion, but then she laughed, and Brekan flushed bright red.
‘Oh, come now,’ Mira said. ‘I’ve known Cam and Issey for years. Why would they do a thing like that?’
‘I’ll tell you,’ Brekan said. ‘That woman —’
‘Hold your tongue, Brekan!’ Isidro said with a warning glare.
Mira turned to him, suddenly suspicious. ‘Isidro,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Is there something to what he’s saying?’
Brekan smirked.
‘We’ll explain later,’ Isidro said. ‘In private. Trust me, Mira, it’s better to keep it quiet.’
Mira cast a narrow glance over at Cam and Sie
rra, who had once again ducked behind her horse and out of sight. ‘Are my people in danger?’
‘Not at the moment,’ Isidro said. He laid a hand on Brekan’s shoulder on the side of his broken ribs in an effort to steer him away from Mira.
‘Well,’ Mira said. ‘I hope you know what you’re talking about.’ To Brekan, she said, ‘Come and speak to me later this evening and I’ll hear your concerns if you still have them.’
It took Brekan a moment to recognise the dismissal in her words, but once he understood his face darkened even further. ‘What? No! My lady, you have to hear this! That girl —’
Isidro tightened his grip. ‘Brekan, shut your mouth —’
‘No! And don’t you talk to me like that, you useless cripple! I’ve had enough of being treated like the lesser man when you’re nothing but a traitor!’ Cam was striding back towards them with a face like thunder. Lakua, standing by the sleds, hid her face in her hands. Eloba was furious, but Brekan ignored them all. ‘You couldn’t even last a day before selling us all out to the king’s men! And what are you now? So worthless that the only woman who will take you to her furs is a cursed sorcerer! Get your wretched hands off me!’ Brekan turned and shoved Isidro hard enough to send him sprawling in the snow.
For a moment the only thing he was aware of was the pain in his arm. Somewhere in the distance he seemed to hear a sound like the world itself was being ripped apart as the clearing erupted into light. Men were shouting in alarm as horses reared and screamed. Cam, a mere silhouette against the blaze of blue light, bunched one fist and swung at Brekan, but Sierra got him first.
She flung out one hand and a bolt of energy as thick as her wrist burst from her palm and struck Brekan like the lash of a whip. It caught him on the chin and whipped his head back so hard it lifted him into the air and threw him back and out of Isidro’s line of sight.
The next thing Isidro knew, Cam and Rhia were kneeling beside him. Sierra stood a few paces away, still blazing with light, while Mira’s men held her at the centre of a circle of spears.