Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6)

by D. K. Holmberg

  As he stepped over the man, he reached for Endric’s foot, so Endric kicked, sending his boot into the side of the man’s head.

  He glowered at the others. “Enough,” he said.

  Everyone slowly took their seats and Endric righted the table that had been tossed. They watched Endric warily, as if trying to determine whether he would snap and attack them.

  When he was convinced the commotion within the tavern had settled down, he took his place back at the table with Senda. The waitress appeared and set two mugs of ale down, nodding at him. “It’s on us,” she said. “We’ve dealt with that one for long enough.”

  Before she turned away, she winked at Senda.

  When the waitress was gone, Endric turned his attention back to Senda. “What was that about?”

  “What was what about?”

  “That interaction. That wink. What was it about?”

  Senda shrugged. “I don’t really know what you mean.”

  Endric grunted. “I think you do.”

  “I have an asset here.”

  Endric stared at her. “That’s what this was about?”

  “I’ve heard that they were having difficulty and I figured you might be able to intervene.” She glanced over at the two men who had started the commotion. They were still getting up, dusting themselves off. “I have a sense those two won’t be causing the same troubles here as they were before.”

  Endric laughed to himself. “Assets?”

  “You worry about the term, but assets are friends. I offer my protection—as much as it is—and they provide information. Sometimes it’s a few words, sometimes it’s things they didn’t realize were important. Such as the presence of those two men who have been coming here for the last month. They have no love for Vasha, yet they’ve been here. From what I can tell, they would like to infiltrate the Denraen.”

  “Men like that would never make it onto the Denraen.”

  “You and I know that, but they don’t. They think they can, and they think they would be allowed to gain access to the assets of the Denraen.”

  “Is the point that you’re trying to make that everyone is using everyone else?”

  “My point is that we are all interconnected, and sometimes the connections are more formal than you realize. Sometimes they are not. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that we are connected. Even without stating what you’re doing, you’re using those connections.” She looked over at him, holding him with her gaze. “And when it comes to Elizabeth, you have to know that to her, everything is an asset in much the same way. She’s the one who first instructed me.”

  “You think I should take this mission, too.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. “She might view you as an asset and might view your connection to Novan as one as well, but in doing this, you’re likely to be able to turn Elizabeth into an asset, too. That, Endric, is incredibly valuable. If you ever decide to lead the Denraen, having someone like her connected to you would be useful.”

  “Someone like her? You mean someone from the university.”

  “I mean someone like her.”

  If he thought that she might explain more, she didn’t. Instead, she only smiled and took a drink of her ale.

  6

  Endric’s return to the university was less eventful than the first time he’d gone. He didn’t feel the need to threaten to gain entrance, and he was guided to Elizabeth by a junior-level acolyte who wove through the streets as if to attempt to confuse him, though Endric had an excellent mind for direction and knew exactly where he was being guided. He had come alone, not wanting to force Pendin to confront his mother again, and while he had considered asking Senda to accompany him, he was concerned there might be some talk about the Conclave and didn’t want to risk it.

  The sky was even more overcast than usual, and it was difficult to tell how much of it came from low-lying clouds and how much of it came from a real risk of a storm.

  The acolyte leading him was quiet as he hurried through the streets, seemingly not wanting to be there at all. Endric smiled to himself, choosing not to press, but could imagine that this acolyte had heard from the others the way Endric had treated them, along with how he had been received by Elizabeth.

  When they finally reached the building—the same one, this time—the acolyte stopped and knocked. They didn’t have to wait long before Elizabeth pulled the door open. She waved the acolyte away, quickly dismissing him.

  “Have you made a decision?”

  “First, I want to know what you intend to get out of my presence.”

  “What I intend to get out of it?” She shook her head. “I think you get ahead of yourself, Endric. It’s not anything I intend to get out of your presence other than safety.”

  “There’s something more than safety that you’re after. Whatever it is, I would prefer to know it ahead of time.”

  She hesitated at the door for a moment before waving him in. Once inside, she quickly guided him through the outer area and into her office. She motioned for him to take a seat, but this time Endric preferred to keep standing. He watched her, curious how she would interact with him.

  “There is something more that I’m after,” she admitted. She took a seat, looking around the room for a moment before settling her gaze back on him. “As you’ve heard, I’m worried about the guild and the silence that has come from them.”

  “If I’m going to help you, I need you to be honest with me.”

  “And will I be able to have the same expectation from you?”

  “When have I not been honest with you?”

  “There is quite a bit that you’re not honest with me about, Endric. If I ask questions you feel you are unable to answer, you can simply tell me that.”

  “And if I tell you, it seems as if you will use that against me.”

  “Ah, Endric. You think I’m playing a game with you when I am not. All I’m trying to do is understand the guild.”

  “You’re after more than simply an understanding of the guild, but I will take you at your word,” he said.

  “And you will do this?”

  “I will escort you on this journey. Now, where does this journey take us?”

  “Ultimately?”

  Endric nodded.

  “Ultimately, we need to make our way south, across the sea, and toward a place the guild protects.”

  “Why have they protected it?”

  “Why do men protect anything?” She leaned forward, resting her arms on her desk. “They protect it because they value it.”

  “You said ultimately. Where would you have us go first?”

  She smiled widely, and Endric didn’t necessarily care for the way that she looked at him. “That is a different matter. We need to head north and west, and from there we will meet a contact who can provide some information as to what’s been taking place.”

  “What sort of contact?”

  “You will see that once we’re there.”

  Endric hesitated, staring at her for a moment before shaking his head. It seemed as if Elizabeth would continue to challenge him, and to be honest, he didn’t really expect anything else. The fact that she wanted to remain secretive fit with every experience he had with her.

  “Will it just be you? Or do you intend to bring others from the university with us?” Endric asked.

  “For this, it will just be me,” Elizabeth said.

  “Not Gresh?” Since meeting Elizabeth, any of Endric’s interactions with the university had all been with her. He wondered why that should be, and whether there was a reason that her husband seemed to be kept from the same interactions that Elizabeth was a part of.

  “Gresh is busy with his own assignments,” she said.

  “Are they assignments you gave him?”

  “Would it matter if they were?”

  “No, it’s just—”

  “You have a hard time understanding the structure of the university, but that’s only because you have never both
ered to spend any time here.”

  “I’m not necessarily welcome when I come.”

  “That’s because you come as one of the Denraen.”

  “How else would you have me come?”

  “You could learn so much were you to come to the university, submit yourself for testing, and see if you were capable.” She smiled at him. “I would be quite curious to learn whether or not you were capable.”

  “I’m not sure that the university fits what I’m after,” he said.

  “And what are you after?”

  “I’m after answers. I’m after a chance to serve. And after…” He didn’t know how to finish. What was he after? Having spoken to his father and hearing about the question about whether he served the Denraen or whether he genuinely served the Conclave, Endric wasn’t entirely certain.

  Elizabeth watched him for a moment. “It’s normal for you to question,” she said softly. “All men must learn to question why they choose the path they do. Until you question, you aren’t able to truly embrace it.”

  “You question my commitment?”

  “Not at all. All I’m saying is that until you have made your own choice, you won’t be nearly as devoted to your path as you could be.” She shrugged. “Once you decide what it is you are after, you—and particularly you, Endric—have the potential to be unstoppable.”

  “I haven’t had any trouble choosing what I want to do before.”

  “You’ve chosen what you want to do in the short term. When you went after Urik or when you traveled north. Even when you went to help Tresten, it was all about you choosing something in the short term. What I’m saying is that when you decide what you want to do in the long term, you will become much more formidable.”

  “I serve the Denraen.”

  “And why do you serve the Denraen?” She stared at him for a long moment. “That’s the question you must answer. When you can come up with your answer as to the reason why, then—and only then—will you truly have focus.” She smiled, and there was a hint of her maternal nature in it. Even if Pendin didn’t see it, Endric still could. “Too often, young men choose a path but rarely question why they have chosen that path. For some, it could be choosing to take the path of the soldier. They do as their families have done, and they serve. They never take a moment to consider whether the path they go down is the one that is meant for them. Other times, the path is different, but the outcome is not. That is what we would ask of you. Consider what is important for you and pursue that.”

  “If you want me to make such a decision, why are you upset with Pendin for having done the same?”

  “Do you believe I am upset with him?”

  “It seems that way.”

  “Then you would see things wrong,” she said. “I asked my son for the same respect as I ask you. He needs to find his own path, and if that is not in following his family into the mines, then he must still find out what matters to him.”

  “He is content serving the Denraen.”

  “No, Endric. He is content serving you. I would much prefer that he find his contentment with a path that doesn’t involve serving someone else.”

  Endric actually didn’t disagree. He felt the same way about Pendin, and while he appreciated his friend’s loyalty, he also wanted Pendin to find his own path, but he wasn’t always certain whether he could. Since Endric had helped Pendin get away from his attachment to ale, he had followed Endric. Mostly that meant he served the Denraen, but what Endric needed from Pendin was for him to attach to the Denraen.

  Was that so different than what his father wanted from him?

  “Is that part of the reason you want me to accompany you? Are you hopeful having time with Pendin will somehow persuade him to do—or be—something else?”

  “I don’t think that having time with my son will convince him of anything.”

  Endric regarded her for a moment. “When would you like to leave?”

  “When would you be ready to leave?”

  Endric laughed softly. “Seeing as how I have only just returned, I would prefer to remain in Vasha for a little while longer, but…” He shrugged. “I’m a soldier. I’m accustomed to being away from my home.”

  “The road will be difficult,” Elizabeth said.

  “I’ve traveled plenty of difficult roads,” he said.

  “I don’t know what we will encounter.”

  He debated a moment and then said, “Dendril worries about the silence coming out of the guild as well. What is it? Why do you fear it?”

  “There is much about the guild we don’t fully understand.”

  “Tell me about it. I tried to uncover anything I could about the guild, but they keep records of their inner workings secretive.”

  “It’s more than simply keeping them secretive,” Elizabeth said. She reached beneath the surface of her desk and pulled out a thin binder and set it on top of the desk. She folded it open, pointing to the page. “I’ve taken notes over the years of everything I can understand about the guild itself.”

  “In that?”

  “Would you have me take notes somewhere else?” she asked.

  “It’s just that it’s not that extensive.”

  Elizabeth glanced up at him. “Exactly. As I’m sure you’ve already begun to understand, the knowledge we possess about the guild is limited. We know members are selected from those who apprentice with another member, but we know so very little about how they are given access to the guild. And we know so little about how they function. So when the guild goes silent, it leaves those of us who typically work with them, and typically rely upon communication with the guild itself, to wonder what happened.”

  Endric glanced down at her binder, wondering how much detail she had uncovered in the time that she had been trying to research the guild. Were there things within those notes that would help him?

  “How much of that will you share?”

  “About as much as you will share about your experience in the north.”

  “You know why I can’t share that.”

  “I know why you say you can’t, but there are things that you have chosen not to reveal, and there is much that others of us could learn.”

  Endric smiled at her, and she smiled back. Neither would relent, though he hadn’t expected her to do so. “What now?”

  “Now we will make our journey.”

  “Now?” Endric asked.

  “There is something we should do before we depart,” she said.

  “Why do I get the sense that I’m not going to enjoy this?”

  “It’s more that I will probably not enjoy it rather than you.”

  He frowned and she shrugged, standing and heading out. She took the back door from her office rather than heading back out through the main part of the university, and Endric realized it was connected to the tunnels he knew wound beneath the entirety of Vasha. Those tunnels wove through everything, interconnecting the various terraces, though very few people were aware of that. They were once all part of the network of mines that weaved through the mountain, the constant drawing of teralin out of those mines allowing the Magi to create various sculptures from the uncharged metal.

  That was before Tresten had convinced them of the dangers of teralin.

  Knowing what he did now and knowing that Tresten was what the Antrilii would refer to as a damahne, he wondered why Tresten had not charged the teralin before.

  Then again, there probably was no need. Teralin wasn’t dangerous unless someone knew how to use it, and until the Deshmahne had appeared, bearing negatively charged teralin, there had been no evidence that anyone even knew how to manipulate teralin in such a way. There had been no reason to change the polarity.

  “You can feel it, can’t you?” Elizabeth asked as they made their way through the tunnel.

  A few lanterns were hung along the walls, giving off a soft light. Endric was thankful for that, as he still occasionally had memories of his first experience in the mines. He had nearly been lo
st, trapped within these tunnels. Though he’d traveled through other mines since, these still made him uncomfortable. “I’ve always been able to feel it.”

  “That’s an interesting trait for someone who is not born to the mines.”

  “I would argue that is an interesting trait even for someone who is.”

  She smiled at him. “You don’t care much for the metal, do you?”

  “It’s not what I care about. It’s more about my concern with what the metal can do.”

  “And what can the metal do?”

  Endric unsheathed his sword, motioning toward it. “A sword like this, made of teralin, can be either incredibly useful or incredibly dangerous. I’ve seen it used in both ways,” he said. “For those who would use the teralin for dangerous purposes, for deadly ones, I have seen that intention within them turn the metal toward the negative polarity.”

  “You believe the bearer affects the polarity?”

  “I know that it does.”

  “What if it’s the opposite?” Elizabeth asked. “What if it’s the metal that affects the bearer?”

  “That happens, too,” Endric said. “It’s just that there are some who can influence the metal. That’s all I’m getting at.”

  “Is there a reason that matters?”

  “Is there a reason you question me?” Endric asked.

  Elizabeth laughed softly. “You really are difficult to get information out of, aren’t you?”

  “If you want information from me, you need to ask me directly.”

  “Fine. What do you know of teralin?”

  It was Endric’s turn to smile. He would much rather deal with someone directly rather than trying to dig information out of them. He had dealt with that often enough with Urik and hated the fact that he had worked so hard merely to acquire information. The worst part about Urik had been the fact that anything that he learned was even more dangerous, given his past.

  And it was that past that Endric missed right now. If Urik had been able to somehow infiltrate the historian guild, he would have had information that would be beneficial to Endric, and maybe Endric would be able to understand what was necessary now.