The terrace had been carved through the hills many centuries before by the Rahain, Laodoc had told them, when they had been hunting for a way into the interior of the continent. The road that lay upon it hugged the coastline from the Tahrana Valley to the Plateau, and then ran all the way to Rainsby on the Inner Sea. This part of the route was barren, and Daphne looked forward to seeing the green lands beyond the mountains.
She would miss the ocean breeze, though.
‘Feeling better, ma’am?’ the sergeant asked her, trotting alongside.
‘How long to the Plateau now, do you think?’
‘Another eight days or so, ma’am,’ she replied. ‘The Grey Mountains are lower here, and they’ll end soon. Once we round the last foothill, we’ll be there.’
‘And then on to Rainsby.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Are you familiar with the town?’ Daphne asked. ‘I’ve only been there once.’
‘I’ve done business for the embassy there many times, ma’am. Can’t say I like the place, but if you have the gold, you can get what you need.’
Daphne nodded. In the bottom of her wagon was a chest, provided by the embassy, filled with gold for bribes and expenses. Daphne also had her own supply, money given to her by her father while she had resided in the Rahain capital. Money she intended to return to him as soon as she arrived home.
Home.
The thought that it was true, that she was going home, sent a thrill of energy up her spine. But first, she had to drop off her passengers to the King in the city he was building on the northern shore of the Inner Sea. When Daphne had passed through over a year before, it had been a walled town of ten thousand, small compared to the major cities of the realm. Now, she had heard that the King was transforming it into a great capital, with a palace, and a new cathedral for the church.
And then home. She wondered if her bump would be showing by the time they arrived at the Holdfast estate, and she realised that if so, her family’s eyes would be drawn there in an instant. What would her mother say? Her father? She started to feel sick again.
She nodded to the sergeant, and slid back into the wagon.
Inside, she noticed Bedig and the guard stop talking. The Kellach warrior looked away, his face turning as red as his long braided hair.
‘What did I miss?’ Daphne said.
‘Just Bedig being an idiot,’ the guard said.
‘Well?’ Daphne asked the Brig man. ‘Out with it.’
‘I was thinking, miss,’ Bedig began, ‘about your father. What will he think when he sees us arrive?’
‘I’m sorry, Bedig, but what’s that got to do with you? I can deal with my father.’
Bedig nodded, his eyes lowered.
The guard turned in her seat. ‘You stupid oaf, Bedig.’ She looked over and met Daphne’s eyes. ‘He’s shitting himself that your family will think he’s the father of your baby.’
Daphne started to laugh.
The guard and Laodoc joined in, and Bedig frowned. ‘Once he finds out the father’s Kellach Brigdomin, he’s going to think it’s me, isn’t he? After all, I’m the one accompanying you all the way home. Why wouldn’t he think it was me? Is there something wrong with me?’
‘No,’ Daphne said between laughs. ‘Don’t worry, Bedig, I’ll set him straight.’
‘He does have a point, I suppose,’ Laodoc said. ‘Why else would he have come all that way? It might be hard for your family to believe it was out of curiosity alone.’
‘Not just curiosity, Laodoc,’ Bedig said. ‘I was there, remember, in Akhanawarah City when the Rahain destroyed it. I was at Mage Shella’s side the entire time. I’m a witness, and I intend to make sure that the world knows what your people did.’
The laughter stopped.
Laodoc’s face went grey, and he lowered his head.
Daphne caught Bedig’s eye.
‘Sorry, Laodoc,’ he said. ‘That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean to blame you.’
‘Look,’ said Daphne. ‘We’re all on the same side now. Holdings, Kellach Brigdomin, Rakanese,’ she looked at the old man, ‘and some Rahain.’
The others nodded.
‘Will the King listen to us?’ Laodoc said.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘From what Father Ghorley told me it sounds like he will. The mage-priests will have informed his Majesty that we’re on our way, so at least they’ll be expecting us. I have no idea what the Holdings will decide to do, though.’
‘Could you use your powers, miss,’ he said, ‘to find out what’s happening in the King’s palace?’
‘In theory,’ she said, ‘though I’ve never tried to see over such a long distance before, and to be honest, I don’t know what effect being pregnant might have. I always get sick after using my vision, unless I smoke, and Shella’s hidden all the weed. She says it’s bad for the baby.’
‘You should listen to her, miss,’ the old man said. ‘Smoking all those Sanang narcotics can’t be good for your health, either.’
‘Easy for you to say,’ Daphne said. ‘You’re not the one being sick every day.’
Laodoc nodded, and picked up a notebook, which he used as a journal. He took his pencil, and began jotting something down.
‘What you writing in your little book, Laodoc?’ Bedig asked.
‘Still working on my speech to King Guilliam, my boy,’ he said. ‘I’m thinking of adding a passage on the danger posed by the tunnel the Rahain mages are digging through the Grey Mountains.’
‘Do you think it will open soon?’
‘At the rate they’ve been burrowing through the hills, I would estimate they’ll reach the Plateau in the early days of the last third of summer.’
‘That’s just two thirds from now,’ Daphne said.
‘It’s a pity they couldn’t have opened it earlier,’ Bedig said. ‘We could have gone through, and saved ourselves over a third’s travel.’
Laodoc shook his head. ‘Firstly, the tunnel is fortified at several locations along its length, and I hardly think the guards there would allow us passage. And secondly, the first ones to go through the tunnel will indubitably be troops, and plenty of them. The Rahain government will be able to move their forces up to the Plateau in days rather than thirds. The King of the Holdings must be warned.’
‘I’m sure he already knows about the tunnel,’ Daphne said.
‘I’m sure he does, miss, but I have seen the plans, and know the work schedule, and the geography of the area, where the forts and suchlike are situated.’
‘You’ve been there?’
‘No, but the City Council had to approve the tunnel’s budget, and I examined the plans thoroughly at the time.’
Daphne nodded.
‘Whoa,’ said the guard from the front bench. ‘The lead wagon’s pulling over.’
‘It’s not dark yet,’ Daphne said, ‘can you see…?’
The canvas to the left of her head rustled, and the sergeant’s face peered through.
‘Something’s up ahead, ma’am,’ she said. ‘I’m going to check.’
Daphne watched her trot off on Jamie as their wagon lurched to a halt.
‘Help me get down,’ she said to Bedig. ‘May as well stretch our legs.’
‘Sure, miss,’ he said. He pushed the canvas flap open at the rear of the wagon and jumped down onto the baked earth. He held out his arms for Daphne.
She eased her way to the rear of the carriage, nausea rippling through her body. She looked at Bedig, and saw a crossbow bolt strike him in the leg.
He called out, and fell to the ground.
‘Get down,’ the guard shouted, pulling Daphne and Laodoc to the floor of the wagon as bolts ripped through the canvas above their heads.
There was a cry of pain from behind them that sounded like a Holdings voice and Daphne guessed the rear wagon was also under attack.
The crossbow bolts ceased.
Daphne tried to edge her way to the back of the wagon, but the guar
d tightened her grip.
‘You stupid bastard!’ she heard Bedig yell. ‘I’m Kellach Brigdomin, why are you shooting at me?’
‘I don’t give a fuck where you come from,’ a voice said. ‘You’ll give us your wagons, or we’ll kill you.’
‘We are a delegation from the Realm of the Holdings,’ she heard the sergeant call out. ‘You will not obstruct us.’
‘The Holdings?’ another voice said, deep and guttural. ‘Bitch, you’ve just made my day.’
Daphne heard a chorus of laughter from outside.
‘My friend here,’ the first voice said, ‘is from Sanang, and has often told us what he’d enjoy doing to Holdings prisoners if we caught some, especially any females.’
‘Fuck,’ the guard whispered, her face inches from Daphne’s ear.
Daphne closed her eyes. Wasn’t she supposed to be the one protecting the rest of them? Wasn’t that why she had been assigned the mission? She hated being pregnant.
For the first time in a third, she pulled on her battle-vision, and her nausea cleared in seconds, energy and power soaring through her body.
‘If you’ll excuse me a moment, trooper,’ she said, brushing off the guard’s hand.
‘Ma’am?’
‘Could you pass me my sword, please?’
The guard pulled a sword from under a bench and handed it to Daphne.
‘What are you doing, miss?’ Laodoc whispered.
‘My job.’
She leapt from the back of the wagon, landing next to where Bedig lay holding his leg. He looked up at her in astonishment. She scanned the scene in an instant, her battle-vision taking in everything. Before her stood seven men and a woman, and above them on the low cliffs were another five, armed with bows. Their chief, the one who had been speaking, was a tall, blond Kellach man, hefting an enormous axe. Next to him was a Sanang warrior, the first she had seen since fleeing the forest land when she had escaped from Agang Garo. He was stripped except for a kilt, and was armed with a Holdings longsword.
For a fraction of a second they stared at her in surprise.
It was enough.
She dodged to the side as a crossbow bolt sped past her, and sprang at the leading pair, going for the Sanang first. Before he could react her sword was through his throat, then she spun and dived low as the Kellach’s axe swung over her head. Rolling under his wide stance, she slashed the backs of his knees, severing deep through muscle and tendon. He screamed, and collapsed. More bolts were fired down at her, and she blocked two with the armour enclosing her maimed left arm as she raised it to protect her head.
Over to her left she saw the sergeant spur Jamie into a charge, her cavalry sword extended.
The rest of the band, made up of more Kellach, Sanang, and a couple of Rahain, split into two. Three came at Daphne.
Her movements became automatic, the battle-vision sensing movement almost before it happened, and driving her trained fighting instincts, honed through experience. She slashed and stabbed, moving faster than any foe could keep up with and in a minute all three were dead at her feet. She heard the sergeant call out, and ran to her assistance, ducking as more crossbow bolts flew past.
She could feel her energy ebbing. If only she had some keenweed.
The sergeant had killed one of her attackers, but the other two had her pinned against one of the wagons, blood flowing from a wound to her shoulder. Daphne covered the distance in an instant. She swept her sword down in a powerful arc, cleaving the red-haired Kellach woman from shoulder to waist, then punched out with her left arm, battering the armoured fist-guard into the Rahain’s face, smashing through the front of his skull.
The sergeant stared down at her, her mouth wide open.
‘Look out!’ someone shouted, and more crossbow bolts spat through the air. Daphne threw herself under the wagon as the firing stopped. A strange half-choking, half-screaming sound echoed from the hills, then went silent.
Daphne crawled out from under the wagon. To her right stood a woman dressed in black, her hand raised, her thick dark hair tumbling about her shoulders.
‘Looked like you needed a little help there, Daphne.’
‘Thanks, Shella,’ Daphne said. She was about to get to her feet when she felt her vision drain away, her energy exhausted. Nausea filled her, and she collapsed, her right arm hugging her waist.
‘Daphne!’ Shella called out, running to her side.
Pain streaked through her, pushing aside the nausea. Her head felt like it was exploding, her sinuses, ears and teeth were throbbing. Cramps gripped her abdomen, like the worst period pain she had ever gone through, and she clenched her eyes shut. She felt one hand on her forehead and another below her waist. She cried out in agony, and the cramps ceased, as if they had been switched off.
She lay back sweating in relief, and let oblivion take her.
When she came to, she was in the back of a wagon. As soon as she opened her eyes the nausea returned, along with the toothache, but her cramps were gone.
‘The baby’s fine,’ she heard Shella say.
She looked up. Shella and her brother Sami were sitting on the wagon’s inside bench, watching her. Sami was wrapped in a blanket, his face grey from the illness caused by the poisoning of Akhanawarah City. Their fellow Rakanese, Jayki, was at the front, guiding the slow moving gaien as they lurched down the road.
‘What happened?’ Daphne said. ‘Was I having a miscarriage?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Shella said. ‘I know fuck all about the bodies of Holdings people, especially down there. I know how to relieve cramps though, that’s something I can do.’
Daphne groaned. ‘Can you do anything about the sickness?’
Shella shook her head.
‘What about some dreamweed?’
‘No, Daphne, I threw it all away.’
Sami’s eyes went wide. ‘You liar!’ he said to his sister. ‘We smoke it every evening.’
‘Do you want me to punch you in the face you little halfwit?’ Shella said. ‘Fucksake.’
‘Well,’ said Sami, coughing. ‘Doesn’t seem fair.’
‘It’s bad for the baby, you idiot.’
Shella frowned at Daphne, pursing her lips.
‘Please,’ Daphne croaked.
‘Okay,’ Shella said. ‘Just this once, and only because you used your powers. I can only imagine how shit you must be feeling.’
She reached into her robes and pulled out a wallet. She opened it, revealing several dozen small smoke sticks.
‘Here,’ she said, handing one to Daphne. ‘This one’s a mixture of dream, keen and dullweed.’
Shella lit a match, and Daphne put the smokestick to her lips.
She inhaled, and her nausea lifted, along with the last of the head pains.
Gasping in relief, she lay back down onto the makeshift bed on the floor of the wagon.
‘I hate being pregnant,’ she said.
Shella smiled.
‘You seem to be in a much better mood,’ Daphne went on. ‘That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile in ages.’
Sami chuckled. ‘She got a kick from killing those bandits.’
Shella frowned. ‘What are you trying to say?’
‘Well, didn’t you?’
Shella laughed. ‘Yeah, okay, I admit it. First time I’ve felt useful for the entire trip.’
‘You killed the bandits on the hillside?’
‘Yeah,’ she grinned, raising her right hand. ‘Flooded their lungs. Drowned them.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I tried to get out of the wagon to help you earlier, but our guard was basically sitting on me, for my own protection he kept saying. By the time I could push him off, you’d already killed most of them.’
‘You were amazing,’ Sami said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought the Kellach were the best fighters I’d ever seen, but the way you tore through them…’
‘Stop gushing like a teenager,’ Shella said.
Daphne smi
led, the drugs relaxing her. She felt better than she had in days.
‘How’s Bedig?’ she asked.
‘Takes more than a crossbow bolt to put a Kellach down,’ Shella said. ‘He’ll be fine in a few days. The sergeant, on the other hand…’
Daphne’s mouth opened. ‘I forgot. She was wounded in the shoulder.’
‘Yeah,’ Shella said. ‘She took a sore one. Might take until Rainsby before she heals. She’s recovering in your old wagon. I’ll check on her every day, and keep any infections out, she won’t die.’
‘Thanks, Shella. Who’s riding Jamie?’
‘We tethered your beast to the middle wagon,’ Shella replied. ‘He has a few scratches from the fight, but nothing serious.’
Daphne nodded. ‘Was anyone else hurt?’
Shella and Sami shared a glance.
‘One of your soldiers, Tommy, was killed,’ Shella said. ‘Bolt through the chest.’
‘Damn,’ Daphne said. ‘He was a fine trooper. Are we going to bury him?’
‘Already done,’ Shella said. ‘We laid him in a pit and covered him in rocks.’
‘I should have been there.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Shella said. ‘Everyone saw what you did to the bandits, no one thinks bad of you for taking some time out to recover.’
Shella plucked the smokestick from Daphne’s fingers, took a puff, and handed it back.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘our guard has taken over the rear wagon, where Tommy used to be, which explains why Jayki is in control of the reins.’ She nodded over to the Rakanese male up on the front bench. Jayki turned and smiled at Daphne.
‘I figured,’ Shella said, ‘it’d be useful if he learns a trade. That way at least one of us will have a job when we get to Plateau City.’
Daphne let out a long breath. She felt exhausted, despite the keenweed in her system.
‘Thanks for looking after me,’ she said.
Shella smiled. ‘No problem. Reminds me of when I used to help our sister Noli when she was pregnant. Though she was nowhere near as sick as you, and she had sixteen of the little brats swimming about inside her.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 48