Deadly Fate [Book 1 of the Teadai Prophecies]

by Dana Davis

  “Can you read this, Cousin?” Thad held the medallion out to Elder Siri. “What does this say? Who—” Despite the distance of his root life, thanks to the Energy, this place still meant something him. These people, these middlings, they were once his family and friends. His stomach knotted at the thought of the other farms along the river and a nagging urge to move on caught in his gut.

  “This is written in ancient Dumari,” Elder Siri said. “It’s a dead language that we stopped teaching years ago.”

  Xiath pointed to the symbol of a feather. “This means flight. And this one, the water over the skull, represents the ancient god of the underworld. The rest is about his freedom.”

  Siri nodded gravely. “Flight of Cholqhuin. They’ve assembled again.”

  Kal leaned in. “Who does it belong to, Cousin?”

  Siri didn’t look at the youngling. “The Order of Cholqhuin. They must be organizing followers. That’s probably what Lombreeth has been up to all these years, gathering a following for the ancient god.” Her eyes found Xiath again. “A raising?” The man nodded solemnly.

  “That doesn’t sound good.” Kal still held her throwing knife in one hand and the other hand stroked her braided wreath of hair.

  Xiath sighed. “When Cholqhuin’s name is involved, nothing is ever good.” He focused on Siri. “I would wager middling searchers are still looking for more Gypsies. They never seem to tire from that task.”

  The Elder nodded. “I agree. Younglings and errants will be in more danger now.” Her eyes flickered to a pile of rubble then back to Xiath. “We’ll need pigeons to notify the others.” She turned her attention to Thad. “Where is the nearest messenger post?”

  “This was the messenger post.” He barely kept his emotions in check at the smoldering ruins. “We might be able to find a runner but—” His voice cracked. Cass touched his arm, which under other circumstances would have excited him. Instead he took strength from the exchange. “We need to find out how much destruction there is along the river. I still have friends and an uncle.”

  A whinny caught his ears and he turned toward the river. A black horse, a stallion, bobbed his head up and down and stamped a hoof. “Looks like they didn’t get all of old man Joul’s mounts. He stepped cautiously toward the stallion, grateful to see something alive and careful not to spook him. He took the reins. Someone had prepared to leave in a hurry. The saddle straps were loose and the thing hung askew on the horse’s back. “Hoo, boy, hoo,” Thad crooned. He gently pulled the horse toward him and stroked its neck. “Good boy. Easy. Hoo. That good.” The horse trusted him and allowed him to readjust the saddle and tighten it. A small bag had been strapped to the saddle and Thad took it before pulling the animal toward the others.

  “What did you find?” Siri said. A somewhat recovered Bel’keive stood without assistance but stayed close to the Elder.

  Thad offered the bag to the Elder and watched as she took out a writing skin. There were letters on one side. “Under. And I think this says Wilam. There’s blood mixed with the ink. Can’t make out the rest.” Brown eyes focused on Thad. “You all right, boy?”

  He nodded and took the writing skin from her. “Under Wilam. Yes, that what this says.” The remainder of the note was just as she had described, blood and ink, nothing else legible.

  “Do you know what that means?”

  “No, Cousin.” His mind went into a frenzy trying to think of anything that made sense of the note. Wilam. Wilam. I know that name. “Wait. There’s a Wilambrooges family the other side of that hill. They have a farm.”

  Siri touched his arm and he focused on her. “We must be prepared for anything, Thad.”

  She expected the next farm to look very much like this one but he just couldn’t believe that. Not yet. “They have several children, Cousin.”

  The guards took the women’s packs and burdened the horse with them. The quest followed the river north and over the hill. This farm appeared completely untouched and Thad’s heart felt lighter, even though he could see no horses or sense any life larger than a goat. Xiath warned him to be cautious and he absently nodded. Something gnawed at his stomach but he moved toward the farmhouse. Six trunks sat to one side of the house.

  “Looks like they were planning to travel.”

  The female archer, Roone, inspected one of the trunks, the smallest, and a slew of curses left her lips as she let the top slam down. Thad stepped toward her but she held a hand up. “No, Thad. How many children lived here?” Her face was hard, angry.

  “Five were still at home last time I lived around here.” He felt the blood drain from his face as he realized what she was saying.

  LeChamb joined the archer and the two inspected each of the trunks. “They’ve been branded.” LeChamb lifted the lid of the sixth and largest. “The mother, I assume. She’s branded as well.” He leaned down. “And her fingers have been broken. Probably tried to wrench information from her.”

  Siri stepped to her mate and glanced inside the trunk. Thad wanted to see. He wanted to make certain that these were bodies and not some fakery to frighten intruders but his legs wouldn’t move.

  “Cholqhuin’s mark.” Siri’s face was unreadable. She touched LeChamb’s arm briefly then turned to Thad. “Was there a father?”

  He studied her and realized that there was no mention of a man’s body. Then he remembered the note. Under Wilam. He cursed under his breath as anger filled him and bolted inside the house, throwing belongings out of his way. Someone came in behind him but he didn’t stop and explain. He toppled chairs and unlit lanterns, tossed dishes and threw back shutters.

  “Thad!” a voice boomed at him. When he turned, Siri stood much taller than he remembered. “What in blazes are you doing, boy?” The towering woman’s head nearly touched the ceiling and Thad watched in awe.

  Bel’keive cowered by the wall, wide-eyed and focused on the Elder as Kal stood near her without much expression, eyes gazing at him. Cass had one hand on her belt knife and kept her distance. The others didn’t seem to notice any difference in Siri or else they had seen this before. She was very tall now, and infuriated.

  “I asked you a question, Thad.”

  He glanced around the dim room. Furniture and belongings were strewn everywhere and scorch marks donned some of the wood. The damage had come from him but the memory seemed that of another person, dim, unfocused. He turned to Siri again and watched as the large woman shrank back to her original size, a finger length shorter than he was.

  “I know you’re upset, Thad. But using the Energy this way isn’t going to help matters. All you’ll do is bring unwanted attention and frighten the younglings.”

  He held the Energy even now. The wreckage around him was severe and he took in a deep breath. His memory was fuzzy. “What did I do?” he finally said, surprised at how young he sounded.

  Siri raised a dark brow at him and placed hands on her thick hips. Those multiple braids whipped as she cocked her head, bangles tinkling. “You mean to tell me you used sparking Energy to make this mess and don’t even remember?”

  Sparking? He was weak in that Energy. Or was he? When he first got the sight, he had started a small fire to his bedding. He had told himself it was from a lantern but the one in his bedroom hadn’t tipped over. That was so long ago and it hadn’t happened since.

  “Thad.” Xiath stepped next to Siri. “I never would’ve thought this kind of anger could come from you.” He focused on the Elder. “Blind Energy surge. It must have been. He’s never shown anything above a double orb.”

  Siri nodded and stepped close to Thad. “You control that temper or I’ll bind you.”

  Thad stared at her. She would think him rude but that didn’t concern him. What held his attention was that the Elder had binding Energy. He hadn’t known that about her. Why hadn’t he known that?

  “Are you listening to me?”

  “Yes, Cousin Siri. My anger is under control now.” And it was, at that instant anyway. He had done th
is. This disturbing mess was a result of his sparking Energy, the Energy he thought too weak to do anything except light his way in the dark. The Elder studied him a bit longer before he remembered what he had been searching for in his anger.

  He stepped around a toppled chair and into a bedroom, when he spotted it, the old sign embedded in the floor, the one that used to hang over the door when he was a child. Wilambrooges Finery, it read. Thad’s father had helped Dom build the sign into his floor. It had belonged to Dom’s parents and when they died, the business died too. The Wilambrooges took up woodworking after that, trunks, cabinets, wardrobes and such. Simple designs for simple folk along the Tandiar River.

  Thad pushed the bed away and left scrape marks on the wood floor. Then he felt along the seam of the sign and found the hidden groove. He pulled. The sign lifted out to reveal a compartment just below the floor. Still holding the Energy, he pushed a spark from his fingers and mixed it with the surrounding air, the way he had been taught in youngling classes. The orb wasn’t very large and quivered a bit but there was enough light for him to see inside the shallow hole. Where had that destructive Energy come from? He couldn’t even keep a single orb steady now.

  A small chest, larger than both his hands, sat at the bottom and he lifted it out, releasing the orb. There was no lock so he placed the chest on the bed and opened it. Inside, was a scroll. The ribbon came untied easily and he unrolled what looked like smoothed bark fiber with writing on it.

  Siri and Xiath peered over his shoulders and he held the scroll up for them to see because he couldn’t read what was written.

  “Good finding, Thad,” Xiath said. “This is one of the ancient texts we were sent us to locate.”

  Confusion must have been apparent on his face as he looked up at the man. “What it doing here?”

  “We can figure that out later. How did you know where to look?”

  “The message. In the saddle bag. Under Wilam.” He pointed to the sign. Roone huffed and he snapped his head to her.

  “You river folk certainly have an unusual code,” she said.

  Thad would’ve smiled if things weren’t so desperate right now. “That not a code, Roone. I remembered this sign from my childhood. Fada helped Master Wilambrooges, Dom, install it here.” He pointed to a corner of the room. “I sat there, playing with my toy horse, while they—” He took in a long breath and stood. “Well, that the past and most of my root family are gone. I want to get to my uncle’s farm. See if he was spared.”

  Siri nodded and took the scroll from him. “We should see if there are any more texts here.”

  Thad shook his head. “That not necessary, Cousin. Dom Wilambrooges knew the value of this one. Though I can’t imagine how he came by it. He would’ve put any others in that chest. And I don’t think his body is here, either. His head would surely have been on a stake.”

  Xiath stepped close. “He may still be alive. Gotten himself involved with Cholqhuin’s followers.”

  “No,” Thad said with more force than he intended. “He a good man. That a fact.”

  Siri placed a hand on his arm but he pulled away from her. “Sometimes men change, Thad. Even good men.”

  How could she say such a thing? “I won’t believe that about Dom, Cousin. He was friends with my root father. He wouldn’t have gotten involved with anyone who could murder children. Much less his own blood kin.”

  Anger swelled again and suddenly he was filled with the Energy. He turned to the bed and his sparking lashed out and knocked it over so quickly that he hardly had time to realize what was happening. Instantly, he used a blanket to smother the flames.

  “I warned you.” Siri placed her large body between him and the younglings. A glow of green Energy surrounded her then moved to completely encompass Thad. This was different than a sparking blanket since he felt no pain. He felt the Energy within him but he also sensed something containing that Energy. Out of curiosity, he tried to create his orb again but nothing happened and he stared at the Elder.

  “You’ll remain bound until you calm enough to keep those surges under rein.”

  Frustration built but Thad forced himself to calm. He looked at the bed. There were scorch marks where his Energy had made contact with the wooden frame and the bedding was blackened with ash. He suddenly he realized the danger he had put the others in, younglings as well as servants. He lowered his head. “My apologies, Cousin.”

  Siri didn’t try to comfort him nor did she utter an acceptance. She merely nodded and latched onto the younglings. “Outside.” When Thad stepped to her, she gave him a hard stare. “You stay close. We’ll go to your root uncle’s farm but you must be prepared for anything.”

  He nodded, knowing she was right, and cursed that fact as he and the others followed her out.

  “What about the ancient wall?” Cass said once they were past the trunks. She stayed ahead of Siri, as though she didn’t quite trust the woman. One hand rested on her belt knife.

  The Elder must have noticed. “Foolish girl. You planning to use that?”

  Cass’s face grew red and she dropped her hand. “My apologies, Cousin. I hadn’t realized what I was doing.”

  “Accepted. You’re new-oathed now, Cass, but there are many things you still need to learn.” She didn’t seem to care that she spouted Gypsy terms now. “Be aware of your reactions. I expect you to behave properly.”

  “Yes, Cousin.” Cass pinched her lips together.

  Xiath stepped to her. “You’ve done well, so far, Cass. Don’t disappoint your kin.”

  She nodded and her face relaxed a bit. Xiath kept them moving and Thad walked next to the man, leading the way to his uncle’s farm. Knots curdled his stomach as they walked along the edge of the river. Numerous farms and cottages along the way to his uncle’s place were decimated and his stomach burned by the time the farm came into view. Smoke rose from the ruins and three horses roamed about inside a fence, the only thing left standing. There were no stakes, no heads to stare vacantly at him, and he ran to the ruins, searching for anything that might indicate life.

  The others walked silently around the debris and Siri watched Thad often. What was she waiting for? Another outburst of anger, another blind Energy surge? She still had him bound. His Energy was useless. Perhaps she searched his face for tears, remorse, any emotion, but he would show nothing. Not now. He held a mental image of the devastation around him. Whoever did this would pay. Middlings had just as much right to live in safety as Gypsies did.

  “There’s no one here,” Xiath said in a low voice. “Thad, there are no bodies.”

  Thad nodded. At least that was something, some semblance of hope that his uncle might still be alive. But part of him feared that too. If his root uncle and the man’s workers had been taken by raiders or Cholqhuin’s followers, they would probably beg for death. And death wouldn’t come for a long while. Thad steeled himself and helped the guards calm the horses. Two still wore bridles and one a saddle. His uncle had tried to escape. Perhaps he succeeded. People in these parts knew the forests well. Thad couldn’t think of that now, though. They had enough mounts for all the packs and they were distributed among the four horses. No one rode.

  The cook, Anais, shook her head and made pleas to the Goddess until Siri berated her then she simply shook her head in silence. Thad didn’t blame her. He expected Bel’keive to be ill but the youngling kept her stomach under control this time.

  Kal crouched and studied the ground. “They headed north. Eight riders. Nine horses. One mount could be carrying the weight of two men.” Her tattooed wrist moved just above the grass.

  Greges stepped to the youngling. “Can you tell how long ago?” He had come as a hunter, separating him from his Maricari friends, and his usual jovial mood had been dampened since they reached the river.

  Kal frowned and rubbed her cheek then met his gaze. “Not long. Probably just after sunrise.”

  “Why didn’t you notice tracks at the Wilambrooges?” Thad said calmly. H
e would keep control of his emotions and Siri would release her hold on his Energy. The Energy he would need to take revenge on these raiders. These murderers.

  Kal stood. “Someone took the time to brush them away back there and then took to the water. The tracks only led to and from the water at each farm. I didn’t think it worth mentioning something I couldn’t track.”

  “Then why did they leave these?”

  The listener shrugged.

  “Carelessness?” Roone offered. The archer had an arrow knocked and her bow ready.

  LeChamb shook his head and his long braid seemed to whip as his temper began to show. “I don’t think so. They’ve been too careful on the previous farms. My guess is they didn’t think anyone was left to follow them.” His voice was low and deep, and anger kept those large hands clenched, but he still wore his sword on his back.

  Siri stepped to him and placed a hand on his large arm. The woman was shorter, reaching only his chin but no one would ever call her small. “Love?” she said in a low voice. “We have younglings.”

  Her voice was gentler than Thad had ever heard, and he felt somewhat embarrassed at witnessing this conversation. No stranger might have thought them intimate but what he knew of these two, they may as well have been discussing their wedding night.

  LeChamb drew in a long breath and briefly touched his wife’s hand before she took it from his arm. “We need to find shelter for the night.” This time his voice was commanding, in control. Thad nearly jumped when the large man turned his entire focus on him. His eyes showed no power, unlike a Gypsy, but he was an opposing man. “We should go back and stay at Wilambrooges’ farm. Since the raiders have already been there, they won’t come back. And we could take care of other business there.”

  Thad swallowed hard. The “other business” would be burying the dead, the wife and children of Dom Wilambrooges, and LeChamb wanted to take them the safest route back.

  “The forests,” Thad said. “If the raiders are traveling along the river the trees will keep us hidden.”

  LeChamb’s large hand fingered his beard and he nodded.