Zek's eyes were a little glassy, but he was sitting up, leaning against soft pillows. His wound was clean, stitched and bound, and he sipped delicately from the mug Deva had given him. “Even if Habred hadn't planned to include me in his attack, he did. And his guard sliced me, not in the heat of the moment, but deliberately. Susa, my liege, won't take this well.”
“What I'm worried about is that the attack may have been a distraction for something else. They barely made an effort.” It had been gnawing at him, a feeling of waiting for the real attack.
“To you, yes.” Zek gave a chuckle, then winced, his hand going to his side. “They didn't realize how strong you are. You're used to dealing with the Gara guard, and they've had two years to get to know you, to see what you're capable of. But Garek, you're like nothing these guards would have ever seen. And no matter what they've heard or been told, they couldn't imagine the reality of it.”
Garek looked over at Deva. “Vaar did say he'd tried to keep Habred unaware of me. But even so, Habred knew I'd flown to Shadow. If Luci and her people told anyone what happened there, he must have understood that I'm strong.” How ironic, if Vaar's bid to keep Garek's abilities secret in order to hold more power was the reason Habred thought the attack this afternoon would be enough to best him.
“The reason you think the attack was incompetent was because as far as they were concerned, it was six against one, and there was no way you'd get away.” Zek tried to find a more comfortable position. “And don't forget, Habred most likely only ordered the attack when you left his chambers. This wasn't well organized, it was thrown together at the last moment.”
Perhaps. He still wasn't convinced. “Whatever the reason, I can't stay in Luf anymore. Walking around questioning guards is no longer possible. My guess is Habred was hoping to pass my death off as a criminal attack of some kind, that's why they were told not to use their Change. But if he decides he doesn't care as much about how suspicious my death looks in order to actually kill me, he could use his archers. No matter how strong I am, I can't stop an arrow aimed at my back.”
He faced Deva. “I'm going to bring trouble to your door if I stay here, and I need you to be able to go about your business without watchers, and keep looking for signs of Taya. Falk and I will have to take to the skies. We might as well patrol the border and see what Harven, Kadmine and Fabre are up to, because I won't go back to West Lathor without Taya.”
“Is there room and time for a quick trip to Valian?” Zek asked. “I'd like to get home. I need to report to my liege, and I'm worried about the safety of my colleagues, too. Going in the sky craft will make my journey much more comfortable with this injury.”
The request eased something in Garek. It was a good way to atone for the fact that Zek had been hurt in the first place. “Send a message to your friends and as soon as they can get here, I'll take you all home in the sky craft.”
Zek smiled. “Get me a pen and paper and I'll write a note now.”
Garek stepped out of the room while the merchant wrote his message, and Deva walked with him, down the stairs and out the back to where Falk stood a little way away from the sky craft, chatting to the woman on watch.
“What do you want me to do when I do get word of Taya?” Deva asked. “Try to rescue her myself?”
Garek shook his head. “I'll come back each night for an update.” Garek tipped his head up to look at the sky. “Where is a good place to meet outside the city?”
Deva stood silent for a moment, then gave a decisive nod. “Land here at night. It'll be no more risky than sending a member of my staff off to meet you outside the walls, and there'd be no chance of the message being tampered with.”
Garek tapped his lips with a long, blunt finger. “Why don't you put a light in the garden if you have news. If you don't, keep it dark and we won't come in.”
She sent him a grin. “Good idea. That's a good idea.” She looked back toward the house. “This has changed things, hasn't it?”
She was thinking of Zek, he realized. Of his clear importance in Dartalia, and the fact that he had his liege's ear. “I think Dartalia will be a firm ally after this, yes. West Lathor is clawing back its place among the Illy.”
Deva rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. “All I can say to that is, thank the Star. We've been losing friends for far too long.”
SUSA, the Dartalian liege, eyed Garek thoughtfully as he carried Zek down the ramp. She was a tall woman, her age difficult to guess as her warm skin was still smooth over the fine bones of her face, but her dark eyes spoke of age and experience.
The other members of Zek's group shuffled out and followed Garek down the ramp, still intimidated and awed at their ride in the sky craft.
Susa was surrounded by a twenty-strong guard, but their weapons were lowered, and there was no sense of aggression coming from them.
They were alert, but not belligerent.
Falk stayed back, keeping watch.
“I think you have an interesting story for me,” Susa said when they got closer to her. “Can I ask if my guard master could have a look inside the sky craft? She has wanted to do so ever since you brought Zek back last week.”
Garek's gaze landed on the guard master, a woman perhaps ten years older than himself, her light hair pulled back from her face, her gaze steady. “You are welcome. Falk is watching for sky raiders, but he can show you the inside.”
They seemed surprised that he agreed, but the guard master didn't waste time. She nodded her thanks and approached the ramp, with some of her guards trailing in her wake.
They couldn't learn how to fly the craft by simply looking inside, and it would do good for them to see the extent of the wonders. The power of the craft.
It could only boost the respect for West Lathor in having such an advantage, by Garek's reckoning. And his agreement made them appear gracious, as well. Since Valtor, his liege, had descended into dark despair at his wife's death, grace had not been a trait associated with West Lathor overmuch.
Susa's gaze was back on his face, looking interested, as if she had some inkling of his thoughts, but as soon as they were a few steps away, her focus switched to the man he carried in his arms. “Zek, are you badly injured?”
“A knife wound in the side,” Zek told her. “Garek got me to the West Lathorian ambassador's doctor quickly, and she did an excellent job.”
“This happened in Luf?” Susa's eyes widened, and then she closed her mouth, lips in a thin line, and gestured them ahead of her. “We'll speak in comfort inside.”
They were led into the liege's low, sprawling residence, perched haphazardly on the rocky hillside on which the town of Valian lay. Rooms were connected by stairs, by corridors, by open hallways--following the lay of the land, rather than overcoming it.
When they reached a large room with windows overlooking the valley below, the furnishings low and plush, Susa pointed to a cushioned couch, and Garek laid Zek down on it.
When he straightened, he saw the other four colleagues Zek had brought with him were in the room, too, as well as Susa, two guards, and two people Garek guessed were councilors.
Despite the crowd, the room was large enough to still feel spacious.
“You've brought my people home a second time.” Susa tilted her head as she spoke.
“It wasn't safe for them in Luf, and with Zek's injury, it was much quicker and more comfortable for him to be flown home.”
“And you are inclined to make my people's lives safer and more comfortable?”
“Zek's, certainly,” Garek answered. “We walked the walls of Shadow together, in a sense. Those of you who are or were guards will know what I mean.”
The two guards beside Susa gave a quick nod of acknowledgment. Susa nodded, too. “I have walked the walls myself. I know the truth of what you say. But it pleases me to see that you don't simply talk of loyalty. You show it. There are other things you could be doing in your sky craft, yet you are happy to play cart and zanir for my own
, when they need it.”
Garek looked down at Zek. “Zek was harmed because he was with me when Habred sent a team to kill me. Even if we hadn't escaped from Shadow together, I owed him for his being hurt because of his association with me.”
Susa had gone still. “Habred tried to kill you? In Luf?”
Garek nodded.
“He wanted Garek abducted, but that went wrong for him.” Zek spoke for the first time. “So he decided if he couldn't have Garek, West Lathor couldn't either.”
“How did you come to be in Luf?”
Garek could see Susa understood the intricacies of the problem. How he arrived in Luf mattered. If he was an interloper, while the attack on him was unprecedented and probably illegal, Habred could say he was dealing with a spy.
“As far as the people of Luf are concerned, I was there at Habred's invitation.”
Susa crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows raised. “And as far as Habred was concerned?”
“He was confused, thrown into panic, but outwardly confirmed my assertion that he'd invited me.”
Susa's mobile mouth curved into a smile. “I see this is going to be very interesting. What was the impression of the Dartalian diplomatic team?”
Her gaze had gone to Zek and his four colleagues, and Marin, the woman Zek had introduced Garek to in the tavern, stepped forward. “We met Garek in Habred's antechamber. We'd just been told the liege couldn't see us as agreed that morning. Garek was accompanied by General Faloni, who was escorting him to a meeting with Habred. We had a brief discussion with Garek and the general, in which Garek told us he'd been invited by Habred to Luf. This was not contradicted by the general. We later heard gossip that Habred had given Garek free entry to Harven in thanks for his rescue of their people.”
Susa's smile widened as her gaze alighted back on Garek. “And what is the real story?”
Garek looked over at the two guards and the councilors.
Susa hesitated, and then nodded toward the door, and they reluctantly obeyed her.
When they were gone, Garek waited another beat for the door to close. “The real story is that Gara's town master was in collusion with Habred. He agreed to abduct my intended and me for Habred and bring us to Luf. I wasn't home when they came for us, so they decided to just take Taya. So I went to Luf, behaving as if Habred's plotting with the Gara town master was a formal invitation.”
Now Susa laughed, a deep, belly laugh that made Garek want to smile in response. “Hence Habred's panic and confusion. You went there to look for your intended?”
“Yes, but they have to take her through the Dartalian Range, so they haven't arrived yet. I delayed meeting with Habred for days, just missing him, arriving at inconvenient times, but eventually I had to see him. He's desperate to learn how much I know, what the Gara town master told me, and how I could have misinterpreted his order for my abduction as a polite invitation. Of course, by arriving in the sky craft and spending my days walking around Luf, chatting to the people, it was extremely hard for him to do anything but back up my account.”
“But eventually, he decided it was safer for him if you were dead.” Susa looked down at Zek, and Garek saw genuine concern in her eyes.
Garek nodded. “Zek and I were walking to the West Lathorian embassy when we were attacked by six guards. They weren't in uniform, though, and there's no way to connect them with Habred. It couldn't be anyone else, though.”
“No.” Susa rocked back on her heels. “But hard to prove, as you say.” She turned to Marin. “Did you take your leave officially?”
The diplomat shrugged. “Not in person. I wrote a formal letter to the liege, explaining the head of our mission had been badly injured in an attack on Luf's streets, and that we needed to get him home urgently. I said West Lathor had extended an offer of help and we had accepted it and would have to conclude the business we came for by letter, rather than in person, given he'd been unable to see us.”
Susa sent her a pleased smile. “Well done. Very well done.”
“You could write to him, saying you're pleased he's abandoned his ideas on invading West Lathor, given the new friendliness he's shown toward them, and that of course we're in the same position. Having had West Lathor come to our aid numerous times, we could no longer support any action against them.” Zek's voice was stronger than it had been before, and Garek thought his color was better, too.
“Yes.” Susa turned to Garek. “Your ruse to find your intended has worked very well for me. It's given Dartalia a very good excuse to withdraw from an agreement we never liked in the first place. But I have to ask. What is Valtor's mental state now? Is he behind these new moves, or is it his son?”
“It's his son, Aidan, and his advisor, Hector Dartan.” There was no sense providing false hope of Valtor's recovery. Even if he did manage to regain his wits, he had lost the respect of too many to rule effectively again.
Susa gave a thoughtful nod. “I thought so. And it's better this way. Valtor has been too erratic for too long. It's best Aidan step up.”
Garek nodded, but he knew Aidan wasn't in full control yet. The princeling had better make his move soon, or all the gains of the last few weeks would be for nothing.
He saw the sun was almost set, pouring thick pink light over the houses tumbled down the hill and into the valley below. “I need to go, but I'll be patrolling the skies for West Lathor, and I'll try to fly this way every few days. If you have a message for me, you can signal me to land by setting a light where I landed the sky craft.”
Susa's gaze sharpened. “Patrolling?”
“Watching Kadmine, Fabre and Harven to see what is happening on their borders.” Might as well start treating Dartalia as the ally they were clearly becoming.
“We would be interested in the information, also,” Susa said.
Garek smiled. “I'm sure you would be. I'll share what I can.” He gave a formal bow of farewell.
As he walked back to the sky craft, despite the weight of worry he carried over Taya, he sensed a glimmer of light for West Lathor.
As Deva said, they were finally making friends again. Gaining power.
It was about time.
TWENTY-TWO
She was almost back to normal.
Taya turned her face to the midday light, keeping her body relaxed, her eyes closed, and soaked up the warmth as she listened to Gaffri moving around close by.
The stream they'd camped beside the night before was full, and the noise of it, gurgling and tumbling, soothed her and gave her some comfort.
She lay on the stretcher, although she'd been able to walk for short stretches at a time as they'd gone through the relatively gentle hills over the last two days.
She could probably walk completely on her own now, but she feigned dizziness and slowed her steps whenever she got tired, giving her body time heal.
As she'd done every few hours since she'd realized her knife was in Gaffri's pack, she reached out for it and felt the sweet zing of connection to the shadow ore.
The pack fell over, in her direction, and Gaffri muttered to himself as things spilled out and he was forced to crouch down and repack them.
One of those things was a piece of flexible metal, taken from a sky craft crash site they'd found in the rocky foothills of the mountains as they'd come into Harven.
They'd turned a corner and found it, smashed on the rocks, spread across a considerable area. It had clearly been there for some time, perhaps even from the first few months of the sky raider invasion, because moss grew on some parts of it, and bushes and trees that had obviously been damaged in the crash were already recovered and growing again.
She'd approached the wreck curiously, and only after she was crouched in front of a piece of debris did she realize Gaffri and Fek were hanging back, afraid.
She wondered how many other people had come across the site. They were on a little-used path, having turned north and taken the harder route to Luf to minimize their time on the open, busie
r roads to the capital city.
They hadn't met a single traveler since they'd entered the mountains, so it could be that only a few others had seen this, and most likely, they were up to something illegal themselves to be taking this harder, very obscure path, rather than the established routes.
It was possible no one in authority knew the sky craft was here.
That had occurred to Fek, too.
He'd taken out the map he'd referred to constantly on their journey, and made a mark on it to indicate where the wreck was.
Then he and Gaffri had hunted for a piece each that would fit into their packs as proof.
Taya left them to it and looked for the pilot.
There was no sign of one, nor of a body. But if the sky craft had come down because it got too close to the shadow ore in the mountain, perhaps before the sky raiders had a chance to pull up, it had obviously tumbled through the skies and landed far enough away from the mountains that another craft could have come in from the opposite direction and picked up the survivor, or the body.
There was no helmet. No thick, dark blue suit like the sky raiders had worn on Shadow. Nothing but the debris of the craft itself.
They had left the site faster than she would have liked, but Fek and Gaffri were nervous, wanting to get away from it, while at the same time excited and gleeful that they had another gift to present to the Harven liege in addition to herself.
That had been a day and a half ago, and they'd discussed it ever since.
Gaffri saw it as another way into the Harven's liege's favor, and he was already imagining the accolades. Fek was much more cautious, but Taya thought he also saw the find as something special, something that would bring him some benefit.
The birds in the trees around their camp site suddenly stopped calling and then, over the sound of the stream, she heard leaves crunching and branches being pushed aside. She turned her head warily, and Gaffri stopped moving completely.
Calling the Change (Sky Raiders Book 2) Page 15