The Whisperer

by Fiona McIntosh

  Griff thought that was fair. I’ll tell you everything I can. Griff proceeded to tell his astonished listener his story, pleased to see that the deeper he got into his own tale, Lute’s movement became more assured and he could sense his mind-companion’s alarm dissipating.

  At the end of it, he heard Lute give a soft sound of awe. You can hear what I’m thinking when it’s important enough? That’s amazing.

  I’m glad you see it that way.

  So we’re the same age and you seem to be in almost as much trouble as I am. Looks like our lives are running next to one another, even though I have no idea what you look like. They privately shared a smile across the miles that separated them. I’m going to tell you something very secret but first I have to ask you, what do you know about Duke Janko?

  Janko? Griff asked, surprised. Nothing, other than what I hear around the show’s camp fires. I’ve never been to Floris so I know nothing of the royals, never seen him in person but I hear things about him.

  Like what? Lute asked.

  Well, some people think he’s a hero. Others are more careful. Our showmaster thinks there will be trouble once he returns to the capital.

  In what way?

  I’m not sure. I think he was suggesting that his presence might cause trouble for the King, although I don’t know why. I’m just a grunter, I don’t understand politics.

  The fact you’re talking to me through magic tells us you’re far more than a mere grunter, Griff, and if the Stalkers really are hunting you then you are a lot more important than you think. In a different situation I would be able to help you with those Stalkers. He sighed.

  Help? How?

  And it was Griff’s turn to be astonished as he listened to the torrid tale of his new friend. When Lute finished talking, he was momentarily silent.

  You mean I’m talking to Crown Prince Lute? he asked, still finding it hard to believe.

  Er, well, no that’s not absolutely true. It’s King Lute now and the Stalkers answer to the Crown. In normal circumstances I could stop them. However, they seem to be following their own orders. Lute sounded angry.

  Griff’s mind reeled. King! And you think Janko will kill you if he catches you?

  Not think. I know he will. He’s very determined to steal the throne and as long as I’m alive, I’m in his way.

  That’s very scary. So you and your friends are running to the ocean in a bid to escape. But you’re hurt, another is seriously injured, and the dwarf is…well, on very short legs.

  Lute laughed and it was a nice sound in Griff’s head. That’s the sum of it, I’m afraid, but we can’t sit around and wait for them to catch us. There’s someone at Shearwater Cove who we’re hoping will offer aid called—

  Griff! Davren’s voice was urgent.

  Who’s that? Lute asked, alarmed.

  He’s a friend. What’s wrong, Davren?

  They’re onto us much faster than we thought. Hurry, we have to run. They’ve got a dog and it sounds like plenty of men.

  Lute, I have to—

  I heard. Run, Griff. We’ll talk whenever you can reach me. Be safe.

  You too.

  Griff cut the mindlink, the silver floated away from his vision and suddenly he was back in the woodland, gazing at the terrified face of Tess.

  It appeared that Davren had told her everything so she wasn’t asking any questions of him. ‘They’re close,’ she said.

  ‘He must have known, otherwise he couldn’t have caught up with us so quickly, but I don’t understand how he’d have dogs.’

  ‘Stalkers,’ she said, as though tasting something bad. ‘Tyren must have guessed we’d try and escape and already taken precautions by calling in the Stalkers.’ She sounded disgusted.

  ‘We’re as good as captured then,’ he said bitterly.

  She looked at him, eyes blazing in the early dawn. ‘No, I’m not giving myself to them as meekly as I did last time. I was frightened for the creatures but this time everyone agrees that we should take our chances and flee.’

  Griff nodded. It wasn’t as though they had much choice and he was reminded of what his new friend, Lute, was up against and took courage from his determination. ‘Come on, Helys. What about Elph?’

  ‘Don’t worry about him,’ Tess said, a fierce look on her face. ‘Elph’s strong. He can keep up for a while…until we lose them,’ she said as confidently as she could. ‘Rix will guide us from the trees and keep a lookout on our pursuers. He says there’s a stream not far from here. We can lose the dog, perhaps.’

  Griff nodded. They continued on their way, Tess and Davren leading, no-one speaking, everyone frightened but trying hard to remain calm.

  They’d paused for a few moments so Little Thom could sip more of the revival remedy. ‘It’s less effective already,’ he grumbled.

  ‘It will be,’ Bitter Olof said. ‘But we knew that.’ He turned, watched Lute spit out the husk of the painkilling seeds. ‘You’re quiet.’

  ‘Worried, that’s all.’

  ‘How come you ignored us talking to you then?’

  ‘What? Er, sorry. I didn’t hear you.’

  ‘That was obvious,’ Bitter Olof replied.

  ‘My mind is all over the place—I’m sure you understand. Who is Calico Grace?’ he asked, deliberately changing the subject. He was still feeling unnerved by Griff’s appearance in his mind but he liked the sound of his voice and he needed time to think about what he’d said. It was such a curiosity and although he didn’t understand it, he was glad of it.

  Bitter Olof grimaced. ‘We’ll tell you when we hit the beach. Let’s go,’ he said, sourly.

  ‘I’m not feeling too good,’ Little Thom told them.

  Lute had to agree that as the morning lightened he could see that Little Thom’s face was ghostly grey and glistening with sweat. Thom sank to his knees and gave a sad glance towards Lute. ‘I’m sorry, your majesty.’

  ‘We can’t carry you, Thom, old friend,’ Bitter Olof said, his voice suddenly gentle. ‘Be strong now. I need you to be as strong as you’ve ever been, get to your feet and help us get to Grace.’

  ‘You don’t even want to see her,’ the big man groaned.

  ‘No, that’s true, I don’t, because we both know what it’s going to mean. But she can offer us help and she can offer it quickly. And the person standing behind me is no ordinary child. This is our King. I’m no friend of the royals, you know that, but I’ll be damned if I sit by and watch that black-hearted brother steal this boy’s crown, especially when I know Lute is our friend and therefore more likely to be…well, shall we say understanding of us when the need arises. Janko has already put an arrow into your shoulder. The next one will be aimed to kill, not to maim or slow you down.’

  Little Thom looked up at Lute through glazed eyes. He swayed slightly.

  ‘He’s just a boy,’ Bitter Olof added softly.

  ‘Never known you to be so sentimental,’ Little Thom muttered and his focus seemed to clear. Lute could see it took a mighty effort for the giant of a man to haul himself back to his feet. He looked fully spent and yet he found a grin. ‘I’m sorry about that weak moment, your majesty. Shall we try again?’

  Bitter Olof nodded smugly. ‘Indeed.’

  Lute could hear the dogs were close now. ‘I think we should run.’

  ‘I think you should,’ Little Thom replied. ‘Lead the way, friend,’ he said to Bitter Olof. ‘I’ll bring up the rear this time.’

  And then they were running, Lute’s mind empty of everything except the need to follow the dwarf’s footsteps.

  Not so far away Griff was running, too. ‘Tell me more about the Stalkers?’ he asked Tess, catching up with her. ‘I need to know as much as you do if we’re going to avoid them.’

  ‘They’re a force unto themselves.’

  ‘They’re not run by the Crown?’ Griff said, surprised.

  She scoffed. ‘Not likely. Duke Janko set them up years ago as a sort of constabulary. They keep an eye on affair
s at a very local level, so he can focus the army’s attention on the realm’s borders and any outside threat.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘I made it my business to learn as much as I could about my captors,’ she replied, anger in her tone. ‘They should answer to the King, but they ignore that line of command. They’re puppets to the Duke as I understand it.’

  ‘But why does he have so much authority?’

  She frowned at Griff. ‘You really are quite ignorant of our realm’s politics, aren’t you?’ He found it hard to shrug as he ran but he managed to convey the same message of indifference. ‘I’m no expert,’ she admitted, ‘but the Duke runs the army and his role is to keep the realm secure. The Stalkers were his way of keeping out undesirables but the Stalkers run themselves and hire out their services to people like Tyren.’

  ‘I’m sure if the King knew this was going on he’d stamp it out.’

  It was Tess’s turn to shrug awkwardly. ‘That’s how it is. They hunt down everyone from criminals to people like me—and for a hefty price.’

  Hearing this made Griff even more determined to beat them.

  ‘We can’t keep this pace up for much longer,’ Tess urged.

  He knew she was right.

  ‘Can you hear what they’re thinking?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Use your skill, Griff. Try and listen in on their thoughts. Perhaps you can hear something that will help us.’

  He’d never really tried or wanted to deliberately use his skill to find someone in particular but he’d been able to with Lute. Perhaps he could do the same thing with the Stalkers.

  ‘I’m not sure I can do it while we run.’

  ‘Then we’ll stop,’ she said, and did so, breathing deeply. They all were. ‘Try now. Whatever you can do, Griff, just try.’

  He nodded and glanced at Davren, who’d heard the conversation and now trotted back to where they’d stopped.

  Griff reached out with his mind and instantly was in the silver void. Well done, Davren said. That was fast. No dreaming or half sleep. You’ve done that with skill.

  Thanks, Griff said, self-consciously. I’m glad you’re here with me.

  You brought me with you, Griff. I had nothing to do with it. But time is short. See if you can find Tyren, perhaps he can lead you to the Stalkers.

  I know his trace well. Here goes, Griff said, and without really understanding what he was doing, Griff recalled Tyren’s ‘signature’ as he thought of it. It was a familiar trace and he found it relatively easily. I’ve got it! he yelled across the mindlink.

  Again, well done. Now follow it and see where it leads you. I can’t help.

  Griff followed it and at lightning speed found himself hearing Tyren’s thoughts that were, predictably, a mess of anger connected with the loss of Tess and her creatures, and amongst the ranting he heard thoughts of how the creatures would be branded with Tyren’s name and chained permanently, even when on show. Tess would no longer be in charge of them. They would have a keeper who would answer to Tyren. Tess herself would be locked into her wagon at night and she too would be living with a keeper. Griff shuddered as Tyren’s thoughts revealed that he’d already chosen Widow Klenk for the role. The widow was in charge of all the sewing for the show and she was a sour, bad-tempered sort on a good day. Tess and her feisty personality wouldn’t survive long under Widow Klenk. But Tyren’s most savage thoughts were about the loss of Griff, and Griff learned that he would be in leg irons from now on, released only for shows, but with minders surrounding him during showtime. Tyren planned to make it look like protection when in fact it was imprisonment. He too would be locked in at night but also chained to a metal bar that Tyren was planning to install in a special reinforced wagon. Griff would be under guard constantly and, as punishment, kept apart from not only Tess but also his brothers. He reeled backwards to hear his own name being raged about with such poison, pulling away from Tyren as fast as he could.

  Davren guessed what had happened. Do it again, he said gently, but hurry.

  Griff tried again, this time ignoring Tyren’s bitter thoughts and searching through them for anything that might lead him to the Stalkers. It was strange to be invading someone’s thoughts and seeking something specific. He identified his goal within moments, a man called Snark. Using Tyren as a curious sort of leaping platform, Griff did something he never imagined he was capable of and diverted his skills, linking onto a new trace and following it. He found himself hearing Snark’s thoughts in seconds.

  We’ve got you cornered now, you curs. Once my men come around from the sides you’ll have nowhere to run but deeper into the forest and we’ll just keep closing the circle—

  Griff snapped back away, and found himself meeting Tess’s troubled expression.

  ‘What?’ she asked, searching his face for clues.

  He couldn’t tell her everything he’d heard. It would break her. What he did choose to say was bad enough. ‘We’re surrounded,’ he gasped. ‘The Stalkers are closing in from several directions. They’re deliberately trying to drive us deeper into the forest.’

  ‘Wait,’ she said urgently, ‘let me check with Rix.’

  Moments later she looked back at Griff. ‘He’s been gliding at lower levels, trying to keep us in sight. That’s why he missed what they’re up to but you’re right. There’s three separate groups.’

  ‘How long?’ Griff asked.

  ‘Just minutes, I think,’ she replied, ashen-faced.

  ‘There’s only three groups. Ask him if he can guide us through a narrow route—a way to slip through them.’

  She shook her head helplessly but obviously tried. ‘There is a wider opening in this direction,’ she pointed. ‘But they’ve got a dog, Griff, they can just keep on tracking.’

  ‘Well—’

  ‘Then we go deeper. We’ll have to figure out what to do as we run. If we wait here a moment longer, they’ll be upon us.’

  He held up his hand to stop her speaking. ‘Just run, Tess!’

  27

  It felt to Griff as though the dog was all but snapping at their heels. He scooped up Helys, threw a sympathetic glance at Elph, who rallied once again, and they all ran for their lives.

  But it was Elph who gave up first.

  ‘He can’t go any further,’ Tess said, sadly, flopping on the ground next to the deeply panting sagar, she herself barely able to speak. ‘His heart will give out.’

  Griff was bent, breathing hard. He’d put Helys down and she went to Elph to comfort him, her colour turning paler by the moment in her anxiety. Even Rix came down lower to watch from midway in the trees, whilst Davren, the least breathless, arrived to stand next to Griff. He placed his fist on his chest. Griff understood the centaur was telling him to be strong, have heart. But Griff didn’t know how to find that hope, not without a weapon and so many to protect from men, the dog and no doubt plenty of weapons.

  ‘They won’t hurt us, Tess, I promise,’ Griff said. ‘We’re his prize acts, remember?’

  ‘I don’t care about me, Griff, but he may hurt one of the creatures to remind me he owns me! That punishment will be too much to bear and you know he’s capable of it.’

  Griff nodded forlornly. ‘Tell Davren and Rix especially, not to fight back. I’ll say it was my idea and I’ll take the blame. But they mustn’t anger him. Promise me.’ He waited while she used her mindlink to talk with her friends and felt a knot of fear tighten as her eyes began to water. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Rix,’ she said, fighting back her sorrow. ‘He’s not coming with us. He says he can’t go back into a cage, says he’ll die if he’s imprisoned. I understand, don’t blame him. Veercats need space and need to use their wings, otherwise they lose the will to live. I’ve told Davren to go but he refuses to leave me and the others.’

  ‘Listen to me, Tess. I can talk to Rix using the Silvering. I can always find him for you, I promise.’

  She looked at him as though he was speaking gibb
erish.

  ‘I’ve got a lot to explain to you—what the Silvering is, who I found there.’

  ‘I know you’ve been speaking to the Whisperer because Davren told me.’

  ‘And I haven’t had a chance to tell you what I discovered but right now I just want you to know that Rix is not lost to you. I’m glad at least one of the creatures is getting away and I promise you that I’ll keep you in touch with him. Tell him to go and not be caught.’ He looked at Davren. ‘You shouldn’t stay but I understand why you will. Just don’t fight them. I know you refused to be scared by Tyren and after watching you deal with Mad Dog Merl I know that you’re strong enough to fight back, but right now being meek and acting scared is our best protection.’

  Davren gave a small smile of understanding and it broke Griff’s heart to see the fine, proud creature of the forest accepting that he must be humbled by a greedy, cruel man but Griff knew it was the only way that they might come out of this without any of them being physically hurt.

  They gathered under a huge old oak and anxiously awaited their pursuers, chilled by cool shadows beneath great branches where the sun could not penetrate. There was no point in running any longer. Their pursuers were getting closer by the minute.

  In his nervousness at what was about to occur, Griff’s thoughts fled to Lute. He was still shaken that the Whisperer had turned out to be the Crown Prince, now apparently King. He hoped Lute was faring better right now than they were. His mind was dragged towards the sounds of riders. They were upon them.

  Into the clearing they came and in no particular hurry—not that the horses could travel quickly through this dense part of the forest. But the dog travelled with ease and suddenly Griff and Tess and the creatures were faced by the snarling, panting beast. It nipped at Davren’s hooves and he kicked out at the animal.

  ‘Call it off!’ Tess screamed as the men came into view.

  Griff saw Tyren. He was surprised the fat showman had bothered to come along. He expected Tyren to leave his dirty work to be done by others. ‘There’s no point in hurting your prize, Tyren,’ Griff yelled, no longer paying the man any politeness.