Declan nodded and then turned to Arkady, his eyes full of fear. She knew him so well; it wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking. Will she hate me? Will she look at me differently?
Arkady stepped closer and put her hand in his. Since she’d seen him last she’d been sold into slavery, willingly whored herself to a mass-murdering member of the Senestran Physicians’ Guild to keep herself out of a brothel and murdered a few score innocent Crasii herself.
On balance, Declan’s new status as an immortal seemed quite tame by comparison.
PART III
What fates impose, that men must needs abide;
It boots not to resist both wind and tide.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Chapter 33
“Where are we?”
“Back at the Outpost.”
Tiji pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around. It was dark, a single candle flickering on the table beside the bed, but sure enough, the walls of her small room were the rough planking of the Outpost, rather than the bamboo walls of the cottage in Watershed Falls. Her head was pounding, she had a gnawing emptiness in her belly and felt completely wrung out, but the cramps and her blurry vision were nothing more than a distant memory.
“What are we doing back here? What happened? Last I thing I remember was visiting the Port Traeker doctor.”
Azquil sat on the edge of the pallet and smiled comfortingly. “Well, you won’t have to worry about him or his makor-di again. The Trinity took care of them.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “What are you talking about?”
“That tonic they were handing out so generously. It wasn’t a cure, Tiji; it was mostly wood alcohol with a bit of cream and a few herbs thrown in to mask the smell.”
“But that’s a poison . . .”
“Which is what they were counting on. Apparently, the Physicians’ Guild’s plan was to kill the disease at its source. Literally.”
“That’s monstrous!”
Azquil nodded and took her hand in his. “Thank the Tide we arrived when we did, or you’d be dead by now.”
She stared at him for a moment, and then her eyes widened as she remembered at least one thing that had happened in Watershed Falls that morning. “Tides! The doctor. He gave me the tonic! I drank it! Lots of it!”
Azquil nodded. “I know. By the time we arrived you were already unconscious.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know to come looking for me?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “It was just luck we found you when we did.”
Luck. Or perhaps fate. Tiji wasn’t so dismissive of either, lately. “I thought you and Tenika would be gone for weeks.”
“We planned to be. After I left you at the cottage, I brought the tonic here, with the intention of helping the Trinity with their healing work. Arryl and Medwen started using the tonic on the less serious cases in some of the nearer inland villages, hoping it would ease the burden on their healing powers. The Tide’s still on the rise, you see, and there’s a limit to what they can do magically. But everyone who took the tonic died, and much more rapidly than one would expect swamp fever to take them. It took us a few days to realise why, and as soon as we did, we headed back to Watershed to confront the doctor. By the time we got there, you were almost dead.”
Tiji tried to recall what had happened this morning—Tides, was it only this morning—after she arrived at the clinic, but she couldn’t remember much beyond the doctor giving her that burning tonic and that wretched feline telling her to move along. “What happened to him?”
“The doctor? We strung him and his wretched makor-di up on the Justice Tree for the gobie ants to feed on,” he said, with unaccustomed savagery.
“And how is it that I’m still alive?”
“Arryl saved you.”
“With Tide magic?”
He nodded.
“You let a suzerain use Tide magic on me?”
“The alternative was to let you die, Tiji.”
She was horrified. “What if they’ve done something to me? What if they’ve changed me so I have to obey them, or something? What if . . .” Azquil silenced her fears with a kiss. It took her so completely by surprise, she forgot what she was going to say. “Um . . . what if . . . they made me . . . not love you anymore,” she added lamely, when they came up for air.
“I didn’t know you loved me in the first place,” Azquil said with a grin.
Oh, Tides, I didn’t mean to say that . . . “Well, it’s just I . . . I mean, I meant . . .”
Leaning forward and taking her gently by the shoulders, he kissed her again, his delightfully flickering tongue making her heart pound. “It’s all right, Tiji. You don’t have to apologise,” he breathed against her skin. “But you do have to get better.” He let her go, stood up and offered her his hand. “And I’m guessing you’re probably starving, given you’ve kept nothing down for the past day or so.”
Tiji nodded, as she realised the gnawing emptiness in her stomach really was hunger and not just a reaction to Azquil no longer kissing her. “I think I might be a bit peckish, now you mention it.”
“Then let’s go fix some food,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “Ambria’s still in Watershed Falls with Arryl and Medwen. I’m not sure they’ll be back tonight, so we have the run of the place. Let’s go raid the Trinity’s larder.”
Tiji smiled and nodded, feeling her skin colour flicker. Azquil was too much of a gentleman to remark on it, though.
Smiling at him, she let him take her hand and lead her back through the house to the Outpost’s large, homely kitchen, where—as if they were an old married human couple—he began to fix her dinner.
“So . . . what is this?” Tiji asked, as Azquil placed the steaming bowl on the table in front of her.
“Grasshopper and cockroach stew,” he said. “With a bit of small human child thrown in for good measure. Ambria has a couple of them hanging in her larder.”
Tiji hesitated, then spooned a healthy portion of the spicy stew into her mouth. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” she said, her words muffled by her mouthful of food.
He smiled and took the seat opposite her. “Just a little bit. And the truth is, I’m not sure what it is. I did find the meat in Ambria’s larder. It could be a small human child, for all I know.”
“Just so long as it’s not cockroach,” she said, reaching for the bowl of salt. “I draw the line at eating cockroaches.”
“But small human children are fine?”
“With enough salt.” She said it with a grin, deciding to play along. Tiji had never really had someone like Azquil to trade silly banter with before. Except Declan.
Tides, I should get a message to Declan . . .
Azquil laughed, and began eating his own meal. Ravenous, Tiji put all thoughts of her former life out of mind and wolfed down the stew, wondering how she’d go about asking for seconds, when she caught a whiff of something rank.
“Ambria’s back.”
Azquil sniffed the air for a moment and then shook his head. “I can’t smell anything.”
“You’re used to the scent of them,” she said. “Trust me, there’s a suzerain coming.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t call them that,” Azquil said, frowning. “The Trinity are our friends.”
“Your friends, Azquil, not mine.”
“Arryl saved your life.”
“I didn’t ask her to.”
“Are you saying you’d rather die than accept help from an immortal?”
Yes! Tiji wanted to reply emphatically, but she had a feeling this was such a pivotal issue between them, she would ruin whatever hope she had of a future with this handsome young lizard if she said it aloud. So she shrugged, spooned the last of the stew into her mouth and hedged around the issue with a noncommittal, “Maybe.”
“You’ll change your mind once you get to know them.” His head came up and he sniffed the air again. “You’re right, though
. They are coming.”
“They?”
“Arryl, and Medwen must be with her. The scent is too strong to be a lone immortal.”
Tides, that’s all I need. A whole clutch of suzerain.
“I can’t wait,” she forced herself to say with a smile. “I suppose I should thank Arryl for saving my life while I’m at it.”
“It would be a good start, Tiji. Are you finished?”
She nodded, showing him her empty bowl.
“Then let’s take a torch down to the dock to meet them.”
Tiji smiled through gritted teeth. “Good idea.”
The nights were loud, raucous affairs out here in the wetlands, Tiji had discovered, and this night was no exception. The chirruping of insects filled the darkness, as millions of nocturnal creatures went about their business, apparently determined to share every intimate detail of their lives with all the other insects in the swamp.
Why else, Tiji wondered, would they have so much to say?
They heard the boat before they saw it, the splash of the amphibians towing it along the shallow channel only just audible over the racket of the insects. Azquil raised the torch and waved it back and forth to make it easier for the amphibians to find the dock. As the boat neared the outpost, Tiji found herself wanting to gag on the stench of the suzerain. Tides, this was worse than when she’d hidden in the Ladies Walk of the Cycrane Palace in Caelum and listened in on the plans of the Empress of the Five Realms and her kin.
There were three passengers in the boat, although it was impossible to tell who they were in the dark from this distance. Tiji thought one looked male. The others were obviously women.
So I finally get to meet all three of the Trinity. What Declan and the Cabal would give to know what I know now . . .
Not wishing to get too close to these creatures that—by virtue of both instinct and training—she so despised, Tiji hung back as Azquil helped tie up the boat, exchanging a greeting with the amphibians before they swam off toward their homes further along the channel. She couldn’t understand why Azquil thought so highly of the Trinity, certain there was no power in the universe, up to and including Tide magic, that could force her to like or trust a suzerain.
There were greetings all round and apparently some introductions, and then the boat passengers turned and headed for the Outpost. Tiji watched them warily, her caution turning to delighted surprise when she realised that the tall human woman wearing only a slave skirt and a hastily tied shawl around her breasts was Arkady Desean, and the man walking a pace behind her was . . .
“Declan!”
Tiji flew across the narrow patch of ground between them, ready to hurl herself into his arms. She had so much to tell him . . . about her journey here, her news about the Immortal Prince, about finding the other chameleons, about the suzerain . . .
She skidded to a halt a few feet from him, as it occurred to her that he already knew about the suzerain, because he had arrived with them.
And then she noticed the stench, the rank aroma of immortality that her Scard nose could not deny.
“Tides . . .” she murmured, taking a step backward. “No . . .”
Azquil and the suzerain were staring at her in surprise. Arkady looked relieved for some reason. Declan . . . Declan just looked filled with regret.
“You know this child?” Arryl asked.
“It’s a long story,” Declan said, his eyes fixed on Tiji. He reached out his hand to her. “Tiji . . .”
“Don’t you touch me!” she spat, her eyes filling with tears. “You’re not Declan Hawkes.”
Declan looked at her helplessly and then threw his hands up and glanced at Arkady, as if he’d known all along how she’d react to meeting him like this, and was telling the duchess I told you so. “I’m sorry, Tiji.”
Sorry! She couldn’t believe he was apologising to her. Declan Hawkes, her saviour, her hero . . . he stank like a suzerain. It was the ultimate betrayal.
He had joined the ranks of the enemy.
Sorry? It was going to take a damn sight more than a simple sorry to make things better between them.
Tiji turned away, storming back toward the Outpost, unable to bear looking at Declan. Azquil hurried after her, grabbing her arm before she could disappear inside.
“Tiji, wait . . .”
She shook free of him, her eyes blurred with tears. “You asked me earlier if I’d rather have died today, Azquil, and I said no. I lied. I wish you had let me die.” She turned and pointed an accusing finger at Declan. “Then I wouldn’t have to deal with him.”
Leaving Declan to explain, Tiji fled, not into the house, but into the surrounding jungle, where the cacophony of insect noises was so much louder and might have some hope of drowning out her tears.
Chapter 34
Ambria’s kitchen was a homely place, about as far from the majestic marble temples of Tide Lord legend as it was possible to get. Arryl lit a few more lamps and indicated they should sit at the long, scrubbed wooden table. She sat opposite Declan and Arkady, who hadn’t left his side since he’d found her as if she was afraid that if she lost sight of him, he’d disappear. The young male chameleon had gone in search of Tiji.
“Do you think Azquil will be able to find her?” Arkady asked, as she took a seat beside Declan. He thought she was making conversation rather than genuinely inquiring about Tiji’s fate. Azquil, after all, was the one who’d tied her to that tree and she was probably glad not to have to face him just yet.
Arryl nodded. “He’ll find her. I’m not certain we’ll see either of them again for a while, though. They can be emotional little creatures, the chameleons, and they don’t forgive easily.” She looked at Declan. “She appears to have quite a bit to forgive.”
“I would have counted Tiji among my best friends until a few minutes ago,” Declan said. “And I can’t, for the life of me, imagine how she finished up here in the first place.”
“I think she was following me,” Arkady said.
Arryl shook her head. “She was brought here by the Retrievers.”
“Who?”
“A team of specially trained chameleons,” the immortal explained, standing up to poke around the stove to see if it was alight. “They search for chameleons stolen as younglings. They found her on the streets of Elvere, I believe. Would anyone else like some tea? I’m going to make a pot, anyway.”
Only Arkady indicated she wanted tea. Arryl bustled around the stove for a moment, got the kettle heating and then stared at Declan in a very disconcerting manner.
He stared back and said nothing.
After a moment, Arryl shifted her gaze to Arkady. “And you. What brings you to the Senestran Wetlands?”
She hesitated before answering. “It’s a long story.”
“Believe me, my dear,” Arryl said, “everyone here can afford the time.”
Arkady glanced at Declan for a moment and then took a deep breath. “All right, then. It goes like this . . . My husband was the Duke of Lebec. For reasons too complicated to go into, we were exiled to Torlenia. Trouble is, he had a lover who turned out to be your friend Jaxyn. Oh, and the girl we thought was his niece turned out to be Diala. While we were away, the King and Queen of Glaeba died in an accident, so my husband returned home for the funeral. Kinta invited me to stay at the Royal Seraglium in Ramahn while he was gone. Then we got word my husband had been arrested and stripped of his title and estates. Figuring Jaxyn was behind his downfall, I asked Kinta for asylum. She sent me into the desert to stay with Brynden, but I met up with Cayal along the way—”
“You what?”
“Let her speak, Declan,” Arryl scolded. She turned to Arkady. “Please . . . tell us the rest of your remarkable tale.”
Arkady looked as if she was biting back what she really wanted to say, merely complying with Arryl’s instructions out of politeness. Declan put his hand over hers encouragingly, but all he could think was, Tides, she’s been with Cayal again.
“When
I got to the abbey, Cayal and Brynden talked and agreed that I would stay at the abbey while Cayal went off to fetch Lukys, because Cayal thinks Lukys has found a way for him to die,” Arkady continued. “As soon as he was out of sight, Brynden sold me to a slaver in Elvere, because he’s still angry with Cayal. That’s where I was batch-bought by the Senestrans. As I didn’t fancy being passed around the crew for their entertainment, I offered myself to the ship’s doctor on the voyage here. After we docked in Port Traeker, he kept me on as his assistant because my father had also been a physician and I knew enough of his trade to be useful to him. About three weeks ago the Senestran Physicians’ Guild sent us here to the wetlands to implement their grand plans for the eradication of swamp fever.” She took another deep breath. “That’s about it really.”
The immortal was staring at her in amazement. Declan wasn’t sure what to say, but one thing he was certain of—Arkady’s explanation was meant for him as much as it was for Arryl.
And she’s been with Cayal again.
Arryl shook her head in wonder. “You’ve met all those immortals in the past few months?”
Arkady nodded. “I met Cayal first . . . actually, that’s not strictly correct. Jaxyn was the first, followed by Diala, but I didn’t know who they were until after I met Cayal.”
The immortal shook her head in despair as she turned to lift the boiling kettle from the stove. “It doesn’t take them long, does it? The Tide’s barely turned and they’re already on the move.”
There didn’t seem to be an answer to that, and Arryl didn’t seem to expect one. She filled the teapot, took two cups from a shelf, and sat down again, waiting for the tea to draw. After a moment, she turned to Declan. “And what’s your story?”
“Arkady’s one of my oldest friends. When I heard she went missing I came looking for her.”
“Aren’t you leaving out a few important details? Like you being the Glaeban spymaster?”
The Palace of Impossible Dreams Page 24