Goldenfire

by A. F. E. Smith

  ‘Of course,’ Caraway said gratefully. ‘I’ll see you in training. Second bell. Don’t be late.’

  Once Ree had vanished down the hill after the others, he turned back to Ayla – but now Sorrow was awake, glaring at her newly strapped-up foot as if she took it personally. So he sat down and listened to her story. It was almost too much to take in all at once, but one fact stood out: Sorrow had discovered how the Kardise were smuggling firearms into the country. Maybe that knowledge would slow the growth of the gun trade in Arkannen for a few years. He’d have to send a message out to the borders and airship stations as soon as possible.

  ‘Thank you, Sorrow,’ he said once she’d finished her narrative. ‘You risked a lot for this information.’

  ‘It’s going to cost you,’ the sellsword said, no trace of a smile on her face. ‘I had to leave everything I owned behind me, and so did Elisse.’

  Caraway nodded. It was no more than she deserved – and besides, if she’d really meant to extort money from him, she could have kept secret what she knew until after he’d paid.

  ‘Are Elisse and Corus all right?’ he asked. ‘It must be strange for the little boy, losing the only home he’s ever known.’

  Sorrow gave him a sly sideways glance. ‘They’d have had to move anyway. Since you knew their old address –’

  And then he had to explain to Ayla why he’d kept his knowledge of Elisse’s whereabouts a secret. Once that was done, Ayla turned to Sorrow.

  ‘Where are they now?’

  ‘Elisse doesn’t want you to know, Lady Ayla.’

  ‘Please …’ Ayla bit her lip, then said stiffly, ‘I’m grateful for what you’ve done. Really I am. But surely such a narrow escape must have proved to you how dangerous it is for a Nightshade child to be out in the world without protection.’

  Sorrow’s lip curled, and she jerked her head in Marlon’s direction. ‘From what I overheard, living in Darkhaven with a bunch of Helmsmen didn’t keep this one safe.’ Her eyes cut towards Caraway. ‘I did just as good a job protecting Corus as you did protecting Marlon, captain.’

  ‘Yes,’ Caraway admitted, ignoring the fierce glare Ayla directed at him. ‘You did. But really, it’s beside the point, isn’t it? If I can find you in Sol Kardis, I can find you anywhere in Mirrorvale. It would save us all a lot of time and effort if you’d simply agree to give us your new address.’

  ‘Corus belongs in Darkhaven!’ Ayla snapped.

  ‘That’s for his mother to decide,’ Sorrow shot back.

  They were as stubborn as each other. Caraway rubbed his hands over his face and tried a compromise.

  ‘Ayla … I don’t see that we need to force Corus back to Darkhaven. He’ll come to us of his own accord, when he’s old enough to Change. In the meantime, surely you agree that Elisse has a right to determine his upbringing.’

  Ayla’s lips pressed tightly together. Fearing that she didn’t agree, at all, Caraway ploughed on.

  ‘But Sorrow … surely you must realise that we need to know where the boy is. We need to be kept informed of his progress. And we need to be assured that he’ll learn about his heritage. It would be a strange and terrible thing, for a boy to reach adolescence and discover the gift in himself unawares. We can take a step back, agree not to interfere, but we need these assurances.’ He paused, before adding, ‘And Corus needs to be guarded by more than just you.’

  Sorrow’s chin shot up. ‘I’m perfectly capable –’

  ‘I know,’ Caraway said. ‘But you won’t be there all the time. Unless you’re telling me you plan to give up city life entirely for a farm and children? Because that’s not what you did in Sol Kardis.’

  To his surprise, a slight flush stained the sellsword’s cheeks. She hesitated, then gave him a brusque nod. ‘All right. I’ll talk to Elisse. See if she’ll agree to your terms.’

  Ayla began to say something, but Sorrow shot her a fierce look. ‘That’s the best I can offer you, Lady Ayla.’

  ‘All right,’ Ayla said softly. ‘But Sorrow, please … try to convince her. He’s my brother.’

  Clearly surprised by her lack of anger, Sorrow studied her for a good while without speaking, then nodded again.

  ‘Will you stay tonight?’ Ayla asked. ‘We’ll give you money for an airship in the morning –’

  ‘I’d rather have it now,’ Sorrow said flatly.

  ‘But your foot –’

  ‘It’s fine.’

  Seeing that she wouldn’t be dissuaded, Caraway sent a Helmsman for some coin. Once the sellsword had departed down the hill towards the seventh gate, he turned to Ayla. She was sitting very still, Marlon on her lap. His head lolled against her shoulder, and he was fast asleep.

  ‘Saydi killed the men you set to guard me,’ she said quietly. ‘And Lori. She fooled everyone, Tomas. Despite all our care. Despite everything.’

  He nodded. ‘But you’re alive, and Marlon and Corus too. The Kardise failed, Ayla. We have to be thankful for that.’

  She looked down at the sleeping child she was holding.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, so softly he could barely hear her. ‘We do.’

  TWENTY-NINE

  Bryan sat behind his desk and fixed the lad standing in front of it with a glare. He still found it hard to believe what he was about to say, but Caraway had been adamant.

  ‘All right, Penn. It turns out you have a choice. You’re lucky to still have choices, but there it is.’ He scanned the boy’s face, waiting for his nod before continuing. ‘Captain Caraway has made things right with the Spire of Air, but there’s still the kidnapping. You can’t threaten a member of the Nightshade line and get away with it.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have hurt Marlon,’ Penn mumbled. ‘Caraway knows that, doesn’t he?’

  Bryan snorted. ‘It’s the only reason you’re still standing, boyo. If you’d so much as scratched young Marlon, Captain Caraway would have gutted you like a fish.’ Shaking his head, he went on. ‘Anyway. If you choose, you can leave Arkannen and never come back. That would have the effect of keeping you away from our overlords and from Captain Caraway himself, but you would be free to go anywhere else in Mirrorvale without restriction. It’s a lenient punishment, and more than you deserve.’

  Staring steadfastly at the floor, Penn nodded again.

  ‘Alternatively –’ and this was the part Bryan didn’t approve of – ‘if you want to stay here in the fifth ring and train as a Helmsman, you will still be allowed to do so. You’ll be on polishing duty for months, and you won’t have the freedoms the other trainees have. But should you wish to, you can still try and be accepted to the Helm.’

  Penn looked up sharply. Bryan could almost have laughed at the expression of utter shock on his face.

  ‘Are – are you sure, sir? I mean, Captain Caraway can’t want me to –’

  ‘This is Captain Caraway’s decision,’ Bryan said. And one I don’t approve of, he didn’t add. They’d had a brief conversation about it at the Spire of Air before Caraway took Marlon home and left Bryan to deal with Penn. Caraway had been adamant that Penn should be given the opportunity to stay. Too forgiving for his own good, if you ask me.

  Now Penn frowned in confusion. ‘I thought, after he left without speaking to me again –’

  ‘Oh, grow up, son. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Tomas has gone home to be with his family. Don’t you think he has a right to that, after what you’ve done?’

  Penn didn’t answer, but the droop of his head spoke for him. Bryan sighed.

  ‘Listen, boyo. If it was up to me you’d have been chucked out already, but Captain Caraway thinks you deserve a second chance. So bear that in mind when you’re deciding what to do, ’cos I won’t make it easy on you. If you still want to be a Helmsman, you’ll have to work three times as hard as everyone else even to be considered.’

  Penn nodded. His face was pale, his eyes shadowed. Genuinely repentant, or simply regretting his failure? Bryan wasn’t sure.

  ‘Captain Caraway
says he knows what it’s like to live with a terrible mistake, and it’s punishment enough,’ he said. ‘Myself, I think what you did was more than a mistake. But he’s in charge of the Helm, and he wants you to train. So give it some thought, and I’ll hear your decision in the morning.’

  ‘Y-you mean, you’re not going to lock me up?’

  Bryan gave him a look. ‘Are you going to try and run away?’

  ‘N-no …’

  ‘Well, then. Think about it. Sleep on it. And I’ll see you again tomorrow.’

  As the door closed behind the bewildered boy, Bryan sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his head. What a day. He couldn’t imagine what Penn’s decision was going to be – didn’t have the lad pegged at all. It had always been difficult to see beyond the prickly exterior. But Caraway had, and apparently was continuing to do so despite the small matter of a kidnapping attempt. Which probably meant that Penn would surprise everyone and stay on. The fact that Caraway had offered it at all suggested he saw some metal in the lad that would be tempered by their encounter today.

  Still, Bryan would have to wait and see. For now, he just wanted to get home, see Miles and have a cup of ale. He was locking the office door when a Helmsman arrived with a message from the tower.

  ‘What now?’ Bryan grumbled. He scanned the message quickly. Then he read it again more slowly. And then he began to laugh.

  Art –

  Saydi was the assassin. She tried to kill Ayla. Ree and Ayla between them finished her off. Please release Zander from jail with our sincere apologies, and tell him I’ll talk to him as soon as possible.

  In addition, you may want to let Miles know that Ayla thinks his collar saved her life, and she’d like to see him tomorrow to thank him.

  Oh, and Naeve Sorrow has crash-landed an airship in the grounds of Darkhaven.

  Today has been interesting.

  Tomas

  ‘Interesting,’ Bryan said aloud. ‘That’s one word for it.’ He nodded at the waiting Helmsman. ‘You tell your captain he can rely on me, and I’ll see him tomorrow.’

  And with a sigh of regret for the ale and Miles, both of which would have to wait, he set off in the direction of the cells.

  Once Bryan had finished with him, Penn left the training hall and tried to think what to do next. He didn’t want to return to the barracks in case he met one of the other trainees. He certainly didn’t want to see Saydi. Yet nor did he want to descend into the lower rings and seek oblivion in one of the many distractions available down there. He had a lot of thinking to do, and he owed it to himself to be sober while he did it. So in the end, he returned to the sixth ring.

  The guards at the Gate of Ice waved him through as if they didn’t know what he’d done. In fact, they probably didn’t. Though he felt it must be branded on his forehead for everyone to see, only the people who’d been up at the tower that afternoon were aware of the truth. Captain Caraway certainly hadn’t had time to revoke the permission he’d given Penn to visit the sixth ring. It made Penn uncomfortable, as if he were adding insult to an already fatal injury. Yet the sixth ring was the only place in Arkannen he’d found where he could really clear his mind.

  He didn’t return to the Spire of Air; he suspected Air would never hold the same comfort for him that it always had, and he couldn’t yet face the inevitable apology he’d have to offer the priestesses. Instead he walked slowly the other way until he reached an open space between two temples. The path terminated at a stone seat with a view out over the east of Arkannen. Penn sat down and tried to work out what he’d say to Bryan the next day. Would he accept Caraway’s offer and stay to train, despite the taunts and dislike that would no doubt come his way? Or would he turn and run?

  I was given a second chance. I try to remember that. Caraway had said that to him, up by the Spire of Air before any of this had happened. Before he’d given Penn the freedom of the sixth ring. If you like it here, I see no reason to keep you from it. Maybe if he hadn’t offered that freedom, Penn would never have thought of taking Marlon to the Spire of Air. But then, Caraway wouldn’t have guessed where to look for him, either. So it had probably all happened for the best.

  Maybe.

  Penn still had no idea how to feel about any of it.

  He couldn’t shake all his resentment of Caraway, even now. Whatever the circumstances, the man had killed his cousin. And Owen had been a good man, once. He’d overcome the tragedy that killed his father and brother – Penn’s uncle and other cousin – and gone on to make a life for himself. I always wanted to be of use to the Nightshade line, Caraway had said; and the funny thing was, Penn had heard his cousin say something very similar on more than one occasion. Yet at the end, Owen’s dedication had turned into something darker – so how could Penn blame Caraway for stopping him?

  It was all very confusing.

  And if Penn stayed to train, he’d have to see Caraway every day. He’d have to face the stares and taunts of his fellow trainees, who didn’t like him anyway and who by now must know exactly what he’d done. Maybe he should just take his shame and go – not back home, to be shamed anew by a father who wouldn’t understand why he’d failed to follow through on his oath, but … somewhere.

  Owen wouldn’t have run away, the dark part of him said. Whatever his faults, no-one could accuse him of cowardice.

  Penn shook it off. He didn’t want to be like his cousin, subverting a decent principle to his own twisted ends. He didn’t want to be like his father, either, consumed by anger and resentment. He wanted … he just wanted …

  Before I can assess whether any of them would make good Helmsmen, I have to untangle their skills from all that wanting.

  Penn sighed. He was remembering enough of Captain Caraway’s words that they’d clearly made an impact on him. Maybe he should stay.

  Maybe he should follow in his cousin’s footsteps, but get it right.

  Maybe his shame would keep him from going the wrong way.

  Captain Caraway says he knows what it’s like to live with a terrible mistake, and it’s punishment enough. Yes. And somehow it was made even harder to live with by the fact that Caraway – the man against whom Penn had committed his crime – had forgiven him and wanted him to succeed. Retribution bred resentment; only mercy could breed genuine regret, and all the pain that came with it. A second chance could be a sharp-edged thing.

  And that was the test, wasn’t it? If Penn didn’t seize the opportunity, even though it cut him, then he wasn’t worthy of it anyway. Caraway didn’t lose anything by this gesture. He either gained a potential Helmsman, or he lost someone who never would have been good enough.

  Clever. Penn couldn’t help but smile. And even as he thought it, he knew he was going to stay. His pride wouldn’t allow anything less.

  Now he just had to figure out how to live with it.

  ‘Penn?’ That voice was familiar. He glanced back over his shoulder to find Ree walking towards him. What is she doing here? ‘Are you all right?’

  He just looked at her.

  ‘What?’ she said. ‘I know what you did. But Captain Caraway said he was letting you stay, so …’ She shrugged and repeated, ‘I just wanted to make sure you were all right.’

  He kept looking at her. She was a kind girl. A kind person. Not at all the shrill caricature he’d been so ready to despise when they first met. And he’d been nothing but dismissive of her so far. Second chances.

  ‘Thanks,’ he muttered, and made space for her on the bench. They sat together in silence, gazing out over Arkannen.

  ‘I’ve already been to see Zander,’ Ree said after a while. ‘Weaponmaster Bryan let him out of prison after what happened with Saydi. Captain Caraway’s going to let him stay on the training programme, even though he’s not Mirrorvalese.’

  ‘That’s good,’ Penn said, and meant it. Then, belatedly, the other part of what she’d said registered. ‘Wait … what did happen with Saydi?’

  Ree froze, looking at him with the expressio
n of a deer faced with a hunter’s bow.

  ‘I forgot you wouldn’t know,’ she said finally. ‘Er … Saydi was the assassin, Penn. She tried to shoot Lady Ayla while everyone was running around after you and Marlon. And, er …’ She hesitated, the panic intensifying on her face, then admitted, ‘She’s dead. Lady Ayla killed her, and I … sort of helped.’ She looked at him helplessly. ‘Sorry. Really. I know you two were … um. Close.’

  Penn couldn’t work out how to feel about that, either. He was already several straws past his last.

  ‘Thanks for telling me,’ he said uncertainly.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ree said again. There were tears in her eyes. And then both of them were crying, and it turned out he did know how to feel about Saydi’s death after all.

  Once the tears had passed, leaving them leaning rather drunkenly against each other like a couple of ships blown together by a storm, Ree said in a small voice, ‘When we were fighting, she said some cruel things about me. Most of them were true.’

  Penn nodded. ‘I think she saw us all quite clearly.’

  ‘Not clearly enough, though,’ Ree said. ‘I never would have wanted Lady Ayla to be harmed. And you wouldn’t have hurt Marlon, either.’

  Penn sat bolt upright and turned so he could look at her. ‘You know that?’

  ‘Of course.’ Dislodged from his shoulder, she blinked up at him. ‘You’re a surly bastard, Penn, but you’d never have hurt a child.’

  He didn’t have anything to say to that. He thought he might cry again, but once in a day was enough for a grown man – even a grown man who sometimes made bloody stupid choices. So he leaned against the back of the seat once more, and Ree returned to her slumped position against his shoulder. Together, they gazed out over the flat grey roofs of the fifth ring.

  ‘You know what?’ Ree said after a while. ‘Maybe we won’t make such bad Helmsmen after all.’

  Penn managed a shaky smile. ‘Maybe you’re right.’

  THIRTY

  Ayla and Miles sat in the library while she related the events of the previous day. When she’d finished, she handed him the iron collar she’d been wearing when it all happened. He took it from her with a grimace.