by Alisha Basso
No problem.
Finally, shaking her head slightly, she asked, “Which way to the Bitter Reaches?
Chapter 25
GEED pointed in the direction she faced.
Convenient.
“Let’s get going, then.”
The woods they had sheltered in gave way to open ground. They were northeast of the Resting Plains in what looked to Lauren like high desert. Low brush covered the dry ground in clumps. Here and there a stunted tree broke the monotony. There might be hills on the horizon, but clouds and haze blended with the skyline in the distance.
The afternoon wore on until the sun began to sink into a cloud bank to their left. Pheeso and Artepa led the way, and she trusted they knew where they were going. Geed positioned half the Horseguard to either side, although what they might be guarding against in this barren landscape, she didn’t know. She supposed there was always the chance of yekerk finding them. A shudder took her at the thought. Behind, the villagers who tagged along—about thirty more men and women of various ages—stayed together and matched pace. Armody and Jana were right behind her, but she couldn’t see Greffer. How would he keep up? Why had he come? Had he been sent?
These and other questions swirled around her tired brain, such as, how the heck were they going to feed all these people? And where would they find water in this landscape? Everyone carried provisions of some sort, but would it be enough? Geed marched at Pindar’s shoulder, using his stave as a walking stick. His other weapons—crossbow, various knives, quiver of blue-fletched arrows—clanked in rhythm with his strides.
Admiring the captain’s Golidlocks hair, she couldn’t help thinking it should be Leinos walking at her side. Sadness speared her from belly to chest, and she found her fingers first splayed over her heart, then fisted across her mouth to keep a sob from escaping.
She had to get Cirq’s horses. Had to. But there was so little time, and too many things to go wrong. She might not find them at all. If she did, she mightn’t be able to call them. That was her greatest fear.
Geed must have felt her scrutinizing the top of his head.
“What is it like?” he asked without turning.
Lauren squelched a stab of annoyance that he wasn’t Leinos and forced a smile into her voice. “What is what like?”
He stopped and faced her. “Being up there.” He gestured at the saddle. “Riding.”
How to answer such a question? They walked on before everyone behind them had to stop. She should have an answer for he surely wasn’t the only one with that question. But then, soon they would know for themselves.
“It’s like flying,” she said after a few strides, then wondered if that was a good analogy given that few Cirqians had ever seen a bird and the only other thing around with wings were yekerk.
He nodded and kept walking.
If only she could fly.
A short time later, he said, “I imagine this is difficult for you, as a Raver. Coming to a strange place and making your way among strangers.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” she groused.
He shortened his stride until he walked at her right knee, too close for her liking. With a slight squeeze of her leg, Pindar shifted in the opposite direction. She patted his neck.
“Should you have need of comfort of any kind, Lady Horsecaller,” Geed said, “do not hesitate to ask. I would be honored to provide such.”
I bet you would.
“Thanks,” she ground out. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Don’t hold your breath.
Then, to move to a more neutral subject, she asked, “How long until we get there?”
“Three days,” Geed answered without turning.
“And how long back to Lerom?”
“It is at least ten days’ march from the mountains to the capitol.”
Which left five days for her to find and call the horses. “Can we go faster?”
He looked behind them to the camp followers, and if he didn’t exactly roll his eyes, he came close. “We can, but they cannot.”
“Why are they here?”
He shrugged. “I expect they believe their prospects better with you than in the village.”
She’d been afraid of that. “Not concerned that I’m a Raver?”
Geed tilted his head to one side like her brother’s Labrador Retriever. “In truth, some of them fear you. But they are more afraid of doing nothing more than waiting to run out of food or die from the slumbering sickness.”
Not quite a ringing endorsement. She sighed. “You keep going. I’ll ride to the back, then catch up.”
“I will go with you.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“Orders of the Supreme Guardian, my lady. Even if he has been disrequired from that station, I ignore his command at my peril.”
Leinos would find a way to watch over her, even if he couldn’t be here in person.
The road they followed was barely a dirt path winding through the scrub, and the way mostly flat. She turned Pindar and took him to the side so they could walk around the outside of the group. She wanted to look into the faces of these people who had put their faith in her—however reluctantly—and make sure Greffer was all right.
She smiled and nodded at each person she passed, saying hello to quite a few. Some returned the gesture, some quickly averted their eyes when caught looking.
All righty then.
They found the scribe at the very back, his face grimed with sweat and dust. He moved at a good clip despite his handicap, but she could tell it took everything he had.
Lauren jumped to the ground and led Pindar alongside, deliberately slowing the pace.
“Can you bend that leg at all?” she asked.
He shook his head. “A bit.”
“I’d like you to ride with me, if you think you can.”
“Oh, no, my lady. I could never. Do not fret over me, and do not alter your progress on my behalf. This was my choice, and I fully understand the urgent nature of the journey. If I fall behind, I will catch up. Do not waste time looking for me. You must succeed in what you came here to do. What you were brought here to do.”
Clearly, he had given this some thought. “Why did you choose to come?”
A crooked smile lit his strained features. “When I explained to Queen Naele that you had been brought here against your will, and therefore had no designs on her seat, she said that if I were so enamored of you, then I could walk your path.”
Greffer wiped his glistening forehead on his sleeve. “I do not believe she expected me to accept her…offer. In the past, I have always done as she wished without question.”
And the queen knew full well that the scribe would slow them down. Lauren couldn’t let that happen. She would leave him behind if she had to. But for now…
“I need your assistance. A lot of people need to be trained. It would help if you made notes for me.”
“I am at your disposal, Lady Horsecaller.”
“You’ll have to ride.”
The young man blanched, then appeared to gather his courage as he looked up at Pindar’s back. Up and up. Lauren mounted, and nodded to Geed, who took Greffer by the waist and hoisted him into position. The scribe let out a grunt of surprise. It took a moment for him to settle and find a comfortable position for his bad leg. This required Lauren to give up her right stirrup for him to rest his foot in. And they were once again on their way.
But not before Lauren saw a flash of something on a small rise to the south.
“Captain Geed,” she said. “Did you see that?”
He nodded. “It is a contingent of the queen’s guard. She ordered them to give chase.”
By this time, their entire party had ground to a halt. Pheeso and Artepa had come to the back to see what was going on.
“They’re chasing us? Surely they could have caught us already if that was their intention.”
“Indeed,” the Captain said.
Lauren’s stomach did a flip. B
ut the comment lacked the rich layers of patient forbearing, gentle self-mockery, and intrigued musing that Leinos managed to infuse that one word with. She missed him.
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“They are following, but will not interfere,” Pheeso said.
Lauren looked at the older man. He had aged. Quick on that awareness came the thought that he and Artepa had to have been disrequired as well. Being separated from Leinos would be even harder on them than it was on her.
“Was my rescue staged?” When Artepa nodded, Lauren asked, “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
The two old guardians exchanged one of those looks she was learning to dread.
“It is nearly time to stop for the night,” Artepa said. “Let us make camp, and I will explain.”
Lauren didn’t want to stop. She wanted to gallop Pindar north, keep going until she reached the mountain and the herd. And then she wanted to run them all the way to Lerom. The persistent longing she felt grew stronger with each stride nearer the Bitter Reaches, like a craving that could be satisfied by only one thing. And that thing was Cirq’s horses.
They made camp, even though Lauren thought they could continue for another hour or so at least. Her body ached, and her head felt fuzzy, but that hardly mattered. While Pheeso put together a pot of soup, Artepa led her a short distance away from the rest.
“I have known Leinos for most of his life,” Artepa said. “Watched him grow from a quiet and thoughtful boy into a strong, courageous man who cares deeply for family and country. I have seen him killing fierce and been frightened by the ferocity in his eyes. And watched those same eyes shed tears over the dead.”
Lauren nodded.
“Yes,” Artepa said. “In only a few days, you have come to know this man.”
A week, Lauren thought. They’d lived a lifetime in a week.
Artepa brushed a strand of Lauren’s hair out of her eyes, tucked it behind her ear. “In only a few days, you have come to esteem him very highly.”
Not quite a question, not quite a statement.
“I love him.” Lauren hadn’t thought it possible to feel so deeply for someone in so short a time, but there it was.
“Good,” Artepa said. “Know that with every fiber of his being, he fought. He argued and reasoned and pleaded. We had only moments when he came out of that room. He could not reveal all they had discussed. Unbeknownst to us, our queen has been negotiating with the rebel lords of Derr. They want access to our southern ports in exchange for taking in the last of our people. The queen believed it to be her only recourse.”
Artepa stared in the direction of the Bitter Reaches. “Everyone would have enough food and shelter.” Her eyes met Lauren’s. “It was a concession to allow you to escape. Do you understand?”
“Is that why she sent some of her guards after us? So it would look like she was trying to capture me?”
“Yes. To assuage her keen sense of pride and also for the benefit of any Derriens who might hear.”
“We call it plausible deniability where I come from. Why did she have to take Leinos and Malek?”
The older woman gave a delicate one-shouldered shrug. “Control. You had a better chance of succeeding with his aid. In her heart of hearts, I believe she wants what is best for Cirq. But she is also…”
“Afraid.”
“Yes. Because one Horsecaller long ago developed a following, and this threatened the throne. That division created the weakness that eventually led to our downfall. She also recognized that Leinos’s devotion to country no longer aligned solely with blind fidelity to her ideals.”
“By controlling him, she controls me.”
“Yes. If you do not deliver the horses before the Derrien lords arrive in Lerom, she will relinquish control of the ports to them. It is not what she wants. Who knows what it will lead to? If you do deliver the horses, you will be escorted to the Ravery and sent back to your world. If twenty days pass without success, her guards will execute you.”
“They’ll have to catch me, first,” Lauren said with more bravado than she felt.
Artepa smiled and hugged her. “That is the Horsecaller I have come to know and love.”
Lauren should have been relieved to hear she would return home, especially with a death sentence hanging over her head. But she was having a hell of a time mustering enthusiasm for the trip. And that’s when it hit her. She didn’t have to reinvent herself or learn to live big. This place had already molded her into someone who cared about more substantial things than hot running water and dark chocolate. Passion and willingness were all that were required.
And the truth was, she’d never give up on dark chocolate.
“I’m sorry you and Pheeso have been separated from Leinos,” she said.
“We are your guardians, now. It is all he asked.”
“But—weren’t you disrequired when he was?”
Again, the exquisitely dainty and expressive lift of one shoulder, this time accompanied by a sly smile. “Unfortunately, the sage had to leave for Elaz before he could extract our guardian faculties.” She put her arm around Lauren’s shoulders. “Come, let us go and taste what magic my Pheeso has made of grass and water.”
Lauren didn’t know if the soup really was made from only grass and water, but it filled the empty spaces, and she felt fortified. Pindar wandered freely and cropped grass of his own making. That was real magic.
Or so she thought.
She was about to borrow Greffer’s glasses and settle in to tackle the notebook, when she saw Pindar pawing a sandy patch. Thinking he was getting ready to roll, she walked closer. She never tired of watching him fold his seemingly too-fragile legs, lower his big body to the ground, and revel in rocking and wriggling from side to side to scratch his broad back.
But he didn’t lie down. He dug deeper, with a look of intense concentration in his eyes, like a dog burying a bone. Flinging dirt. And then mud. Then water poured out of the dry ground, quickly forming a puddle. Pindar slapped the surface with one hoof a couple of times, splashing them both.
He shook himself, then looked at her. If horses smiled, he was grinning. If he could speak, he was saying, “Cool, huh?”
Lauren walked through the growing pool and patted his wet shoulder. “Very cool, my friend. Very cool indeed.”
Chapter 26
FROM the single window in his tower, Rezol watched the latest group of workers being herded in to the courtyard below. They looked frightened and travel worn and hungry, as they always did. This group included a few light-haired Cirqians and a few of the darker Derrians, but altogether only a handful.
Never enough. There would never be enough of them to dig as far into the mountain as he needed them to and also bring out the mined rock. He needed the horses. Had allowed himself to become obsessed with them. As it was, only his power enabled the workers to assail the mountain at all, so strong was the spell put on it long ago.
Wheedling his away under the ancient aegis had taken too much time. He had known it would not be easy, yet the mountain’s defense had yielded, though the protection endured. Keeping the mines accessible required constant concentration, but even he had to rest. Then, the curtain descended, and whoever was inside stayed until he returned his attention to the mountain. Progress was slow.
Cirq’s horses would change that. With their strength to pull wagons of stone out of the deep shaft, he could put more to work digging. And, if what he had read about the combined power of Horsecaller and horses was true, they could do even more. He would have The Absolute. Then, woe to Elaz for what they had done to his family. But before he exacted his revenge on the other sages, he would find his daughter and protect her.
The Horsecaller had to live. He knew her name now—Lauren—knew she had come through the Ravery with a horse when Vraz and that ancient hag had opened it. How well Lauren fulfilled the prophecy.
She would call the horses. Then, he would pounce.
A scra
p of vellum slid beneath the heavy door barring entrance to his refuge. He stared at it for a moment. His agents knew better than to risk speaking directly to him. Coming to his tower thusly to deliver a missive could be deathly hazardous. The contents must be momentous. And that gave Rezol a rare moment of apprehension.
He crossed the room and snatched the slip of paper from the floor, then sat at his desk before unfolding it.
A few coded words conveyed the blow. Rast had done the worst possible thing—sent a sortie into Cirq to look for the Horsecaller. He was overeager for conquest, and destroying the Horsecaller qualified.
Rast had also sent a message to Cirq’s Chancellor commanding her to stop the Horsecaller if this attack failed. Rezol closed his hand around the note and crushed it, then dropped it in the fire and watched it turn to ash.
He left his tower, considering how best to thwart this scheme, but every time he turned his thoughts to Lerom, he found himself searching for his daughter’s spirit. He could not let himself be distracted and risk Marzak learning his intent.
Rezol invaded Rast’s private rooms without knocking. “What have you done?”
A young woman perched on Rast’s lap slid to the floor as the King rose. She gathered her things and slipped past Rezol, looking relieved.
“How dare you!” Rast fumed. “You cannot barge in here. Guards!"
No response. Rast blustered past Rezol to look outside his door. The guards were there, they were standing, their eyes were open, but they neither heard nor saw him.
“You will regain their full attention soon,” Rezol said. “Now, tell me what disaster you have invoked in Cirq.”
Rast moved to a window before speaking. He tucked in his shirt with jerky movements. “What do you mean? We needed to get rid of the threat. I have taken steps to do so. That is all you need to know.”
Before moving toward Rast, Rezol pulled in a deep, sustaining breath. Otherwise, he would fly across the room and strangle the squat monarch or simply toss him through the window. Better not to put his hands on the man. He stalked up to the king and hissed in his ear.