The Lost Daughters

by Leigh Grossman

  Ketya

  Could Guthre really be Sperrin’s lost daughter? It seemed like such a huge coincidence, but could the name really be an accident? I sat at the table in my chambers and wrote down all the details I knew about Lynniene and about Guthre, and tried to match them up.

  If Sefa was lying, it seemed at least possible that Guthre and Lynniene were the same person. Only one person in Whitmount could give me a definite answer, though. My father. He’d hinted as much in the barrows. He knows Sperrin’s situation. That would mean, though, that he knew Sperrin was sending his own daughter on a suicide mission against the giants, and had said nothing.

  Speculation will only get you so far, I realized. You’re going to have to ask him. And if you want an answer, he’s going to have to think you’re on his side.

  And I was on his side, probably more than anyone in Whitmount—not that many people in Whitmount even knew of his presence, of course. But I doubted my father would believe I supported him while he remained captive and I stayed free. I went back to my piece of paper, carefully planning out what I needed to do. Afterward, when I felt confident I had all the details clear in my mind, I neatly folded the paper and dropped it in the charcoal brazier that heated my chambers. I stared at the fire till the heat consumed the paper utterly.

  Sperrin

  The morning breeze on the battlements felt bracing. Normally I didn’t miss the cold, but I had been too long in the moist lowland warmth of the Drowned City. The crisp dry breeze on the heights of Whitmount’s defenses refreshed me.

  Nemias and I had been walking the defenses together since the sun first crept over the eastern ridge beyond the valley. A small group of junior officers behind us carried rosters, supply inventories, and written notes on all the other information a staff channeler would usually have at hand. Messengers ran back and forth fetching additional information as needed, or carrying requests to shift soldiers or add supplies to particular strongpoints.

  The process went slowly; we spent time with the officers of each company as we inspected its position. This had the dual purpose of giving me a chance to meet all of Nemias’s captains, as well as building confidence among the defenders: They might be nearly besieged and awaiting a battle with enemies that possessed the magic they lacked, but my reputation for lethal trickery had reached legendary status by the time stories of the scouts’ encounter with the giants had spread through the garrison.

  I had given particular thought to opposing some of the flying creatures that had attacked refugees outside the Drowned City and had been sighted elsewhere in the mountains. In my eyes, flying attackers would be the principle threat to Whitmount’s defenses. By late afternoon, when our inspection tour began winding down, the battlements rang with the clank of metal and shouted orders. Ancient war machines dating back to the Holy War and its aftermath were being hauled up from the catacombs and assembled by soldiers and engineers. I intended to put the antiquated weapons to new uses.

  Nemias and I found ourselves alone at the top of an observation platform, staff officers keeping a discreet distance just out of easy hearing.

  “So tell me about this meeting you’re going to with the chancellor,” Nemias said. “What do you think his daughter expects out of it?”

  “She’s trying to convince herself that she was wrong about him without feeling like an idiot,” I answered. “She thinks if she spends time with him, he’ll give himself away to her—or maybe prove her right.”

  “That’s all?”

  “No, I don’t think so. She may not want to admit he was involved, but I know she thinks her father holds the key to restoring Ananya’s magic. Which makes some sense, if he was involved in taking it away. I don’t know what she’s looking for—I’m not sure she does, either—but she’s been studying the Talisman of Truce, looking for something. Maybe for what her father did, or even how to undo it.”

  “You think she’ll find it?”

  “No idea. She knows the Talisman better than anyone here but the chancellor, I think. So if not her, I don’t know who.”

  “And you said she can be trusted.”

  “She’s still more than a little blind to her father, but otherwise I trust her completely.”

  “Well, you came around when you saw the evidence. Hopefully she will as well.”

  “She will. But it may take some time,” I said.

  “Before the battle?”

  “Hard to say. Let’s plan on fighting without magic.”

  “Of course,” said Nemias. He put an arm on my shoulder. “I know it’s not your choice, but I’m glad you’re here. Nobody is better at this than you.”

  I nodded, acknowledging the truth of Nemias’s words without wanting to say them out loud.

  “And do what you can with the chancellor and his daughter. We can hold here for a year or two if we need to, but without magic the rest of the empire will starve.”

  “He’ll want us to give him something to tell us what he knows.”

  “I know that,” said Nemias, “and so does Burren. Let’s make sure he really does know something before we start making choices. I’d love to toss him off this platform and be done with him, but while there’s a chance he can tell us how to restore the magic we’ll leave his head on his shoulders and keep him hidden away in that cell.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “We treat it like another battle to be fought. But like any battle—when the time comes to act, we may need to act fast.”

  “I’m sure I’ll trust your judgment when that time comes,” said Nemias. “But I’ll need you to help me win this battle first.”

  Ketya

  “I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I may need to stay with my father,” I told Sperrin as we began the long descent to his cell.

  Sperrin didn’t seem as surprised as I expected.

  “You thought I might say that, didn’t you?”

  “I had a feeling, yes.”

  “It doesn’t mean I believe him or don’t believe him. But I need to find out for myself. He’s my father. I’m sure I can figure out the truth.” I tried to make the words sound confident, less like wishful thinking.

  You’ll believe anything your father tells you, part of me knew. But something had changed, at least a little. I still wanted to believe him, but I realized that ever since I had taken the Talisman in the Drowned City, a part of me had been unsure of whether to trust him. I had to at least entertain the possibility that what I had taken for madness in my father was instead deceit.

  “Thanks again for coming with me,” I told Sperrin.

  “You did the same for me,” he said. “Not that my wife even noticed you were there until you spoke. I think that would be too much to hope for from your father.”

  “As you said, he doesn’t like you. But that isn’t the only reason I asked you to come with me,” I confessed. “No one asks you any questions. I would have to explain where I was going to every set of guards at the top of every set of stairs. And I just don’t think I can do it. Knowing what everyone thinks he’s guilty of, it would just make me feel dirty having to talk about it.”

  “I understand,” said Sperrin.

  We didn’t speak for another stairway downward, but at the next landing I turned to him. “You think he’s guilty, don’t you?”

  “I didn’t at first. But the more I think about it, the worse it looks. I’m not the one who has to judge him. But right now I don’t think I would want to be asked to defend him, either.”

  “I appreciate your not judging him.” We went down another flight, the sentries nodding to Sperrin but not challenging him. By now we had almost reached our destination.

  “One last thing,” I asked as we approached the prison level. “If I do stay, I need to ask another favor.”

  “If it’s in my power.”

  “It is. It isn’t difficult, really. I need you to look out for Guthre.”

  “I’ll visit her. The hospital is caring for her.”

  “They are,”
I said, “but it’s more than that. I need you to promise to look out for her after she leaves the hospital. To do what you can to keep her safe.”

  Sperrin raised an eyebrow. “You know she’s a soldier, right? None of us are safe.”

  I sighed. “I know. But at least try to keep her from doing anything stupidly suicidal while I’m not there.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” he said. He looked at me inquisitively. Not that I could explain my real reason, at least not until I asked my father to confirm whether Guthre and Lynniene were the same person.

  “She’s a friend. I’m not very good at making friends, and all the other ones I had died in the palace. It would mean a lot to me to know I have another friend who will be happy to see me return if I have to stay with my father for a while.”

  “I’m a friend, too,” Sperrin said.

  Impulsively, I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much for helping her, and for being a friend. I really can’t thank you enough.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, but his eyes had a sort of knowing look to them. The same look Talye had when she had warned me to avoid Guthre’s friendship.

  Everyone seems to think there’s something dangerous about me being her friend.

  “I’ll do what I can,” Sperrin repeated, and then we had reached my father’s door.

  Chapter 22

  Ketya

  Whitmount: Five weeks after the Loss

  A familiar red-bearded figure stood before the door. “Hello, Kern,” Sperrin said to the sergeant. “This is an odd place for a scout, isn’t it?”

  “Some of us volunteered. There isn’t as much scouting to be done with the battle on its way and the fey closing in. I wanted to do something useful. I couldn’t think of anything more useful than keeping this god-sucking scoundrel behind bars, except maybe taking his worthless head off his shoulders.”

  Kern looked at me challengingly, as if daring me to respond. I said nothing.

  “We need to see him, sergeant,” Sperrin said.

  “Why would you want to—” Kern caught himself. “Not my place to ask, sorry.”

  “No it isn’t,” Sperrin said, a bit more gently than I would have liked.

  The sergeant unlocked the door and let us into the prison suite. “Knock twice to leave,” he said. “I’ll be here until the watch ends if you need anything.”

  “Thank you, sergeant,” Sperrin said, and we entered. The door shut and locked behind us as soon as I cleared the doorway.

  Although clearly a prison—we had traveled deep underground to reach my father’s windowless chambers—the room we stood in looked considerably larger and more luxurious than my own. The sitting room contained a low table, three overstuffed chairs, and a charcoal stove for warmth. A narrow side table against one wall held a small library, presumably accumulated by previous inmates. Three rooms opened from the sitting room—two bedrooms and a servants’ room.

  My father came out of one of the bedrooms, wearing a lounging robe that he hadn’t owned before. He looked freshly bathed and shaved. His eyes went to Sperrin, not to me.

  “Welcome, overcaptain,” he said. “Have you come to gloat at my imprisonment? Be assured that I will not be here long.”

  “Good evening, chancellor. I don’t have any particular business with you tonight. Your daughter asked me to escort her here.”

  Sperrin gestured to me, but my father’s eyes didn’t shift. He motioned Sperrin to one of the chairs. “Would you care to join me for a drink, ’captain? I have an abundance of food and drink here and no one to share it with.”

  Sperrin sat wordlessly. I took the third chair, and the chancellor seemed to notice me for the first time.

  “I hope my daughter has come to stay a while,” he said to Sperrin. “I can use her assistance here. I will need someone who is not a spy to tend me while I prepare my defense for trial.”

  “You would have to ask her,” Sperrin answered. “And your defense may not be so simple a matter as you think. I have heard the evidence against you, and it is compelling.”

  My father smiled. He actually looked cheerful. “Bah,” he said. “Schemings of political enemies. They will come to nothing. I respect Burren for trying—I might do the same in his place—but of course I will beat him.”

  “There are many witnesses,” Sperrin said.

  “There always are when they tell you ahead how guilty someone is. Have you met these witnesses, outside of Burren’s imagination?”

  “Chancellor, I’m not involved with your case, and I would prefer we not discuss it further. My job was to get you and your daughter here safely. I did that. Now my job is to help defend Whitmount.”

  “I see,” the chancellor said, still smiling. “One would almost believe that my well-being was your primary reason for coming here, if one didn’t know better.”

  Sperrin opened his mouth to reply, then seemed to think better of it. “Is there anything I can get for you and your daughter, chancellor?”

  “We have been well provided for. If I need something further for my defense I will certainly ask. As I said, I do not expect any difficulties.” My father’s smile never wavered. “I suppose I should thank you for your role in getting me and my daughter here alive. It was unneccessary and unasked for, but I must admit that it was well done.” He nodded to Sperrin. “I hope your other endeavors in the city go as well.”

  I had a feeling that my father knew a lot more about the status of Sperrin’s relatives than he was saying. But if I wanted actual answers to my questions, I needed to wait until Sperrin left to ask them.

  “I think perhaps I should take my leave and allow you and your daughter to enjoy each other’s company,” Sperrin said, as if reading my thoughts. “I have other duties, I’m afraid.”

  “Nonsense,” the chancellor said. “I am certain you have already worked all day. Whitmount stood without you for a thousand years, and I am certain it will continue standing for a little while. Take the time to enjoy a drink or two with an old man.”

  You’re the same age, I thought. You even have daughters the same age. Why is my father trying to delay Sperrin? They don’t even like each other.

  “It’s aged tamindraught,” the chancellor said. “It will ease your muscles.”

  Sperrin did look tired. He accepted the proffered drink and they sat quietly sipping the rust-colored liqueur.

  A loud clattering of boots on the stairs outside disturbed us. Someone pounded loudly on the door.

  “Overcaptain Sperrin!” came an out-of breath shout. “Overcaptain Sperrin! Come quickly! You’re needed urgently. The fighting has begun.”

  My father bowed his head in farewell as Sperrin strode to the door and exited. The smug smile had never left my father’s face.

  He couldn’t have known, could he? Then I pushed the disloyal thought away. There’s no way he could have known. I wasn’t even convinced of his role in the tragedy at the Drowned City yet. Accusing him of other conspiracies while he sat in a cell deep underground seemed delusional.

  And yet, I couldn’t help wondering.

  Sperrin

  Talye had been sent to get me. The excitement of the fight had sent her voice even lower.

  “They’re everywhere, ’captain. Giants at the gates and flying ones above. Little ones everywhere, getting into everything.”

  I asked questions as we climbed the stairs, but the answers helped less than I expected. Trained for scouting and light infantry work, Talye couldn’t tell me much about how well static defenses were holding against creatures who before a few weeks ago had never attacked static defenses in living memory. I thanked the sergeant and told her to return to Nemias and tell him I would be there shortly.

  I had decided to do a quick check of key defensive points on my way to report to Nemias. No point in reporting to him without information I could act on. At the next landing I drew my blade.

  The idea of drawing blood had already pushed the bad taste of the encounters wi
th my wife and the chancellor out of my mind. In the distance I could hear shouting, and the clatter of metal on stone. It was going to be a very good night.

  Ketya

  The bolt on the door clicked back into place before the clatter of feet running upstairs had died away.

  “Well, that was a short visit after all,” my father said drily. He poured himself a small refill of the tamindraught, only a few sips. “Now that he’s gone, and not to imply that I am not happy for your presence, but I begin to wonder why you are here.”

  “I had some questions that I wanted to ask you in private,” I said.

  “I am at least heartened that you did not pretend it was simply a social visit.”

  “It’s a social visit too,” I protested, “but I know better than to lie to you. It’s more than a social visit.”

  “So ask,” my father said. “I am in a talkative mood, and for once we have privacy. Ask before we are hounded by guards and spies again.”

  “You’re not worried about the attack?”

  He sipped from his glass of tamindraught. “I am not worried. Captain-general Nemias and Overcaptain Sperrin have many failings, but they are both more than competent as battle commanders. We are deep underground. There may be lapses in their plans that will lead to many deaths, but I am confident they will address those lapses long before the fighting reaches this level.”

  Putting the glass down, my father leaned back in the cushioned chair. “But surely that isn’t what you came here to ask me.”

  It took me a few tries to get started. “I met Sefa,” I finally managed.

  “Did you? I’m a little surprised the overcaptain brought you along to what must have been a very painful scene.”

  “It was painful,” I said. “More than he expected, I think.”

  “Our friend Sperrin is very good at addressing problems that can be solved with that blade of his. He has more difficulty with problems that don’t lend themselves to violent solutions. Witness his attempt to leave the battlefield. It made his life worse on every level, and here he is a decade later right back where he started.”

  “What did he do wrong?”