Maleta finished, set everything aside and leaned her head back against the wall, eyes closed. Her exhaustion beat at him, and he set his own things to the side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him, took her free hand in his. "Clear your mind," he murmured. "Take a deep breath." She did, and he did with her. He felt her sliding toward sleep, and maneuvered her over onto her makeshift bed on the floor. She curled against his arm as he covered her with her quilt, pulling him down aside her. He gathered her close, as he felt her consciousness flee.
* * * *
The icy wind blasted Maleta's cheeks, stealing her breath as they rode out the west gate of Soto. The piebald tossed her head as Maleta nudged her into a trot. Kikeona and Cianan matched them stride for stride. She stared ahead at the three standard bearers leading the procession and looked up at the stag leaping its way back home. She and Jovan, as well. He rode in a wagon behind them, with Hajnal, Jana and Polkara. She'd worried about Jovan not eating or drinking for days on end, but Polkara had assured her his body required little in its present state, and he was in no danger.
She glanced over at Cianan, his dark hair spilling over his green cloak and blowing behind him in the breeze. She couldn't believe she'd slept with him, and in the middle of the day. One minute she'd been sitting up and leaning against him and then she lay flat on the mattress. The next thing she knew it was morning and she draped across Cianan like a second blanket. She'd awakened disoriented, to her body on fire, aching to the point of pain, but he'd grinned ruefully and reassured her it was his reaction to her, not the other way around. The strength of his body's demands had scared her, but somehow he'd laughed it off.
"When a man wakes up with his beautiful elingrena in his arms such a reaction is inevitable, but I am the master of my own body and I shall never, ever take you against your will," he'd promised her. "When we come together, it shall be your choice, and I guarantee you shall burn every bit as fiercely as I."
She was mortified still. She'd never be able to look him in the eye ever again. The pied shied beneath her, snapping her back to the present. The wind hissed through the trees. The bare branches seemed to be reaching for her. She shook off the feeling. I'm going home, she told herself. Kunigonde is still my home. We've been gone long enough. I won't give Sunniva this last victory .
It was well past dark when they found a semi-sheltered clearing to make camp. They maneuvered the wagons to block the worst of the wind, and set up tents. Maleta joined Gayle and others in scavenging firewood. Her arm ached from the cold, and she could barely feel her fingers around the wood she picked up. Would be a wonder if any of it burned. When they returned with the first batch, Cianan staked out the bay draft horses to forage what they could under the snow. Mrow and Ain directed setting up the tents. Raven and Jana collected pots of snow for water. Dagonet started a central fire with a surprisingly deft touch, and Polkara and Hajnal set up a cauldron of water for stew.
Maleta dragged armload after armload of deadwood to add to the growing pile. The sound of axes rang across the clearing as men cut enough to last through the night. She returned to see Cianan carrying her gear into a tent. Kunigonde's standard waved afore it. Kikeona stood at the entrance, head down and tail tucked against the wind. To her surprise, Cianan held open the flap and the mare stepped into the tent. Curious, she hurried over to the tent. Inside were Kikeona, Cianan and a couple of iron braziers. All their things were piled on two cots. It was a tight fit. She froze. "What are you doing?"
"Come over here and warm up afore you go see to your brother."
She eyed his belongings, and frowned. "You're staying here?"
"There are no single accommodations. We have our privacy, but there are still two cots, and a chaperone."
Kikeona tossed her head. Maleta got an impression of amusement. Was he laughing at her?
"That would be Kikeona, not me," Cianan assured her. "You should be able to feel her, through me. She finds the position of chaperone an amusing conundrum, since I always accuse her of mothering me and now she gets to mother you too."
At least the mare wasn't still harboring the impulse to smash her into a rug. A feeling of resignation brushed Maleta's mind. Apparently Kikeona had decided to go along with, if not support, the current situation. That more than anything reinforced the permanency of the bond. "A bit high-handed not to ask," she retorted. "Now everyone will think... " She felt her cheeks heat.
Cianan radiated satisfaction. "Good. We are not a secret. Couples are expected to stay together. Go see to Jovan. I shall finish up here."
Polkara was with Jovan. "He'll be fine," the old seer told her. Her gaze sharpened. "When you face the gods, do it together. You're stronger as one."
Three days later as they crested the final hill late in the afternoon, Maleta still reflected on that particular comment. There it sprawled, against the rocky backdrop of the Dragons' Back Mountains and Bronwyn's Pass. Kunigonde. The stone walls glowed red in the setting sun. Red like blood. She shuddered.
Aside her, Cianan leaned over to grip her hand. "Look up."
She did, and her gaze focused on the stag. Cianan and Kikeona had borne her father's standard this entire last day. Aside her, Gayle carried the guild standard, while on Cianan's other side, Dagonet held Wolf's raven, representing Lord Berend's Ravenscroft.
"Remember the cabbages," Cianan reminded her.
Startled, Maleta gave a burst of laughter. Cabbages and babies. Housekeepers stuck in rocking chairs. Gayle threw her a puzzled look but didn't ask. Maleta stared down at Sunniva's peacock banners, languishing over the drawbridge, and a sense of outrage filled her. Sunniva had no business there.
Ain strode up with a white parlay flag, followed by Raven. "Let's go give them one chance to leave quietly," her sister told her. Ain and Raven led the way. Surrounded by Shamar's new colors, Maleta followed. At their approach a horn sounded – just like it had on that fateful morning six years past. The familiar "ah-oom" made her shiver. She squared her shoulders. They stopped well clear of archer range and waited.
The drawbridge lowered, and three horsemen appeared. An unforgettable roan stallion bore the rider in the middle. He was much grayer now, swaybacked and a bit stiff-jointed, but he still carried his head high and his eyes gleamed in the waning sun. His rider wore the uniform of a guard commander – and a familiar angular face.
Maleta gasped. "Lieutenant Ford!"
"Commander Ford." His hazel eyes narrowed on Hedda's breastplate. "So, ye live, Van Marete."
She'd forgotten his sanctimonious tone. "Do you wish to say the same, Lieutenant Traitor," Maleta replied icily, "you and those you command shall vacate these premises at once. For the sake of the fools misguided into following you, I give you this one chance to spare their lives. Resist, and every murdering son of a whore you lead faces Hedda by morning."
Heavy brows lowered, and his face flushed a splotchy red. "You dare defy Queen Sunniva? You learned nothing from your parents' fate? Sunniva rewards those who support her and destroys those who oppose her."
"Why did you do it?" Maleta choked on the words.
"I tired of taking orders, of soldier's rations and soldier's pay. Sunniva granted me title of Commander and now I rule this fortress."
"Sunniva's dead, and her orders mean less than nothing now. Lord Berend is now king and hereby orders you to stand down. Kunigonde has been restored to Von Jereon's family."
"Leave or die, edimar," Raven added.
Gayle handed Ford the orders signed by Wolf and Tzigana. Maleta struggled to maintain her composure as she stared at Captain Tian's once-trusted second. Loyalty destroyed by ambition, so many dead, years lost. All because of one man's greed. She watched his thin lip curl as he read the proclamation and he glanced over at Dagonet.
"Shamari and Shamaru united? What nonsense is this?"
"A united Shamar, for the Shamaran people," Cianan corrected him, speaking for the first time.
Ford frowned at Cianan's breastpla
te. "Since when does Hedda take man servants?"
Cianan bared his teeth in a savage smile. "I do not belong to Hedda. Do not mistake the rising sun and the setting sun. Bow to your new commander and live."
Ford sniffed with disdain. "I no longer recognize the sovereignty of the stag and I will not yield. We can bar the gates and guard the tunnel." Ford stared hard at Maleta. "I remember that tunnel well. You'll never get in that way, and we can hold out against a siege for longer than you can bear to mount one. You have not the force to sustain it." He wheeled Von Jereon's roan stallion about and galloped back to Kunigonde, his aides with him.
"So much for negotiations," Maleta sighed, rolling her head on her shoulders. Sweet Hedda, she tired of the conflicts. Would it never end? They returned to where Mrow waited with the wagons and their troops.
The merc laughed. "So he chose the hard way, did he? So be it. Jana has something to tell ye."
Maleta dismounted and climbed up into Jovan's wagon. The little girl sat with her eyes closed, her hands hovering over a map with a bit of charcoal. "Jana?" Maleta asked.
"Here." Jana drew a line from the mountains to the fortress. "Plan C."
Maleta's jaw dropped. "There's another tunnel?"
"Many." Jana opened her eyes. "The fortress is older than you know, built by others afore yours. It once guarded mines – there are many other tunnels from the fortress to the mountains. This one comes out behind the stables."
"What did they mine?" Maleta asked.
"Silver, mostly, and opals."
Cianan had followed Maleta in. He took the charcoal from Jana. "We are here. Follow around these foothills and come into the mountains up here, and we pick up the tunnel?"
"Aye." Jana nodded.
"So be it." Maleta turned to Cianan. "Leave Dagonet and a dozen men here to guard the wagons, in case Ford gets any ideas. Everyone else comes with us."
It was a long, cold walk, hidden from the gaze of Kunigonde, followed by a short brutal climb. Ain and Gayle proved to be expert rock climbers, with ice-climbing gear. Maleta stretched up to the next piton hammered into the rock face, grateful she'd never been cursed with a fear of heights. Soon enough she was squeezing through a crack in the rocks and into the tunnel leading to the Kunigonde stables.
"I'm sick of impersonating a mole," she groused.
Aside her, Cianan laughed. "Remind me to tell you about my own days as a gopher." He drew his sword and light filled the tunnel. Even forewarned, there were murmurs of awe from the guild mercs. "Time to go home." Evidence of the tunnel's previous pastime was everywhere – an abandoned lantern, bits of chain and frayed rope, a forgotten pick-axe that Cianan picked up. After one harrowing crossing of a dubious bridge, they began the descent into Kunigonde.
Maleta searched the walls for the trigger, and found a brick with a tiny stag head carved in the lower right corner. When she placed her hand over it a curious tingling sensation warmed her hand. The brick slid back with grinding ease, and a metallic click of gears. The wall opened a crack, and there it stuck. Age and disuse had taken its toll. Cianan handed his sword to Maleta. Taking hold of the pick-axe with both hands, he used it as a pry bar to force the door open.
The sword glowed in Maleta's hand and she felt the warmth of its Light flow around her, through her, easing the chill within.
Aside her, Raven glared. "No mercy for Sunniva's men."
Cianan turned at that. "They are professional soldiers sworn to follow the lead of an arrogant fool. Do they lay down their arms and yield, you shall spare their lives."
"Would they grant us the same clemency?" Raven demanded.
"We are not them." He stared at Maleta. "Justice and mercy. It must begin somewhere. Do we show people a better way, a new Shamar, let it begin here. If they fight, take them down. Do they lay down their arms and yield, spare their lives. Any unarmed civilians, servants, spare them as well."
Maleta choked on a momentary urge to kill all the invaders, but the Light gentled it away. "Listen with thy heart," a silvery voice whispered in her ear. She shook her head and stared at the sword. She lifted her gaze to Cianan's.
"It shall be all right," he assured her.
Maleta handed the sword back to him, drew her own and slid through the opening into the dark courtyard. She crouched betwixt the stable wall and a mound of dirtied straw bedding piled higher than her head. Cianan and Raven were right behind with weapons drawn. She scanned the battlement walls, trying to count heads.
"Thirty," Cianan whispered. "Archers. Keep to the shadows."
She nodded, motioning Mrow to the armory. He slid away with a dozen guild.
Cianan sheathed his sword and strung his bow. "I can cover you from here. Head for the kitchens."
Maleta reoriented herself. The kitchens were clear across the yard. They'd have to move fast. She took off running. A shout from above told her she'd been spotted and men poured down a stairwell to intercept them. Several fell to Cianan's white-fletched arrows, and Ain moved to block the rest.
"Keep goin'!" he yelled.
Maleta continued with Raven, Gayle and a handful of men. The kitchen door was unbarred and when she entered, there stood a familiar old woman with a raised skillet in one hand and a rolling pin in the other. Maleta froze. "Ana?"
The woman's eyes filled with tears and she lowered her weapons. "Van Marete? Ye're alive?"
Maleta grabbed her in a fierce hug. "Jovan too. Sunniva's dead. We've come home."
Gayle cleared her throat. "Touching as this reunion is, we've got a traitor to capture and a gate to open."
"She's right," Ana sniffled. "I'll take care of the gate. Ford's in your father's chambers, gathering up funds for a quick escape."
That tunnel Maleta knew well. "I don't think so," she stated. "You men comb the keep. Gayle and Raven, you're with me." She ran up the servant's stairwell to the second level, slipping into a sewing room where a handful of female servants cowered. "Don't be afraid," she whispered. "You'll soon be free of him." They stared at Hedda's breastplate and remained silent as Maleta led her two companions into the passage concealed behind the loom.
The torches flared to burning life as Maleta entered the narrow corridor. She hurried to cut off Ford's escape, catching him just as he emerged from the tiny doorway and forcing him back with a sword point to his throat. Gayle circled around to block the door to the main hallway.
Maleta knocked the leather money pouch from Ford's hands with her sword. "Going somewhere?" She eyed the belt around his waist, holding more bulging pouches. "Take it off."
"It's my money. I earned it."
"From the blood and sweat of my people!" Maleta cried. "Take it off with your own two living hands or I swear to you I'll take it from your cold dead body."
Raven moved behind him, slid her own sword over his shoulder. "You can bleed while you watch her do it, traitor. To betray your captain and your master was bad enough, but the blood of an unarmed woman is on your hands. I can smell it, even now."
He paled at the venom in her tone, the ice in her eyes. The bags and belt dropped to the floor with a heavy clanking of metal on gemstones, followed by his weapons.
Maleta shivered at the new Raven as well. What had been her friend was mostly gone, gone over to Hedda and darker than Maleta had ever considered becoming. "And the ring," Maleta added, staring at his right hand. "I'll take my father's ring, as well."
"It's my ring – "
"It is worn by the Lord of Kunigonde. That's not you. It passes from Von Jereon to Von Jovan. Give it to me or I'll take the hand that wears it."
Ford slipped the ring from his hand and tossed it to Maleta. She caught it and curled her fingers around the stag seal that had marked every document that had left her father's pen.
"Let's go," Gayle ordered. They escorted him down the main stairwell, into the grand hall and out into the courtyard where Maleta's men guarded the few remaining from Ford's force. The gates stood open, as Ana had promised. The two wagons, escorted by Da
gonet, approached.
"How many?" Maleta asked.
"Eleven captured," Cianan reported. "Eighty-two dead."
Something flickered in Ford's eyes, even as Maleta did the math and came up short. A burst of alarm flared in Kikeona, and Cianan turned back toward the wall as an arrow streaked down from a hidden bow. A sudden tearing pain sliced betwixt Maleta's neck and shoulder, and she couldn't breathe. The ring dropped from her nerveless fingers onto the stone and Cianan caught her as she sank to her knees. She saw the shaft of the arrow from the corner of her eye. She couldn't turn her head. The drowning sensation was horrible. She tried to cough it away, but it didn't help. "There... were no arrows in the vision," she whispered.
Cianan's arm held her up, but it didn't help. Hedda's cold spread, she could barely feel him holding her. "You cannot leave me."
Maleta clawed at the stone. "The ring... " Cianan stared at her, uncomprehending. She felt him willing her next breath, the one that seemed so elusive. Gayle knelt aside her, curling Maleta's fingers around her father's seal. Maleta forced it into Cianan's hand. "For Jovan. Your promise... I hold you to it." She searched his eyes. The world narrowed to his face. "Was... " she coughed again "... not meant to be."
"Stay with me," Cianan ordered.
She felt him reaching for her, trying to hold onto her as she began to lift free of her body. "We're free," she whispered. "I... love you." She heard a faint "Nay!" as she sank into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-three
"Nay!" Cianan reached desperately to catch Maleta's fading spirit, unable to comprehend he could lose her just that quickly. "You stay with me. You hear me? You hold to this plane." Rage flared. They had only just bonded. She could not leave him now.
The vow they had taken but days ago came back to him. Unbidden, the words came to mind with an overwhelming compulsion to speak them anew. "To you do I answer with body or blood. My life for yours. My soul as yours. Your life, my death, 'til our last breath. Never again shall you be alone. You are mine, in this lifetime and the next. I shall ever be yours, for always. We are now one. One heart, one breath, one soul."
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