A stout wooden door was embedded into the wall at the other end of the room. Keira walked up to it.
‘A fucking door,’ she said. ‘So what?’
‘It leads outside.’
‘What?’ she turned, her mouth open. ‘But how? Why can’t the army just open it from there?’
‘The Rahain mages will have covered it with a skin of rock, so that it appears invisible.’
Benel approached the door, and ran his hand down its wooden beams.
He turned the handle, but the door wouldn’t move.
‘They must have jammed it closed,’ he said.
‘How thick is the skin of rock?’ Keira asked.
‘Only a few inches,’ he said. ‘You up for it?’
‘How will we explain the flames to the army?’
‘We’ll tell them we got lucky, and found a load of lamp oil, and made an explosion.’
She smiled. ‘Aye, let’s do it.’
Kylon scowled but said nothing.
‘We’ll need fuel,’ Keira said.
Benel nodded. ‘We passed a tonne of wood in the chambers on the way here, let’s gather it up.’
They smoked another stick of keenweed, and got to work, building a bonfire of tables, chairs and anything else wooden they could find, using the pickaxes to break it up.
Keira positioned herself between the stack of wood and the far wall.
‘Bring me a lamp.’
Benel passed her the one he had been carrying.
‘Now stand the fuck back.’
Keira closed her eyes, feeling the rush of keenweed surge through her.
She pulled the glass top from the lamp and tossed it aside, gazing at the small yellow flame. She weighed the lamp in her hand to judge the amount of oil it had left, then raised the fingers of her right hand. A tiny spiral of fire rose up from the wick, and she shot it into the pile of wood. A table leg caught fire. Keira swept her hand up in a slow motion, and within seconds the rest of the bonfire was blazing.
She staggered, having never felt so connected to the power within her. Her head swam with fire, her hand seemed to be physically linked to the flames. She stared at the bonfire. It appeared alive, and ready to obey her will. It loved her, and would do anything she commanded.
She lowered her hand, and willed the flames to move, and they jumped at her thought, roiling into a tight ball of blinding heat and light up by the ceiling, which scorched and blackened.
She glanced at the door, and the ball of flame raced to obey.
It crashed into the wall, sending a shockwave through the room that threw Keira to the ground. The flames surged, eating into the wood of the doors in seconds, then tearing through the thin shell of rock, sending fiery fragments hurtling out into the dark night sky. Then it was over, the bonfire’s fuel exhausted, and where the door had been, now stood a gaping hole into the darkness. A cold wind blew into the chamber, clearing the smoke and acrid fumes.
Keira stood, and walked to the hole in the wall, feeling none of the nausea she usually felt after such an intense surge of power.
She heard Kylon and Benel join her, and they gazed down onto the Plateau, where the great army of the alliance were camped out under the shadow of the mountain. To their right, fifty yards away, was the ramp leading to the blocked-up entrance. There was movement in the camp below, where troopers on guard duty were staring up the slope at them.
Keira smiled. ‘Did I pass the audition?’
Chapter 23
Mistress of the House
Plateau City, The Plateau – 19th Day, First Third Winter 505
The western sky glowed in deep reds and oranges, spilling its light onto the still waters of the Inner Sea, which reflected back the glory of the sunset. Wrapped up warm on the townhouse balcony, Daphne sat back and relaxed.
‘Okay, I admit it,’ said Shella. ‘It’s beautiful. Can we go back inside now? I’m freezing.’
‘You think this is cold?’ Bedig said. ‘Back in Brig…’
‘Oh for fucksake, Bedig, you great oaf,’ Shella sighed. ‘We know. Your winters are so cold and dark you all hibernate like bears in your mountain caves.’
‘We didn’t live in caves.’
‘Sanang or Kellach, it’s hard to tell who wins the competition for being the most barbaric race,’ Shella said. ‘Daphne, what do you think?’
Daphne smiled, resting her hand on the enormous bulge her bump had become.
‘Let’s see,’ Shella went on, counting on her fingers. ‘Neither can read or write, neither lives in anything bigger than a few shacks lumped together, both eat mud…’
‘We don’t massacre civilians,’ Bedig said.
‘Really?’ Shella said. ‘Not once in the entire war with the Rahain? The Kellach behaved like paragons of virtue throughout?’
Bedig reddened.
‘Ah,’ Shella said, glancing at Daphne. ‘He knows something.’
‘There was one time,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t there mind. It involved Killop and Keira.’
Shella cackled. ‘This gets better.’
Daphne turned. ‘What exactly involved Killop?’
‘At the battle of Marchside,’ he said, ‘Killop led a company round the back of the Rahain, and slaughtered the campfolk there, to distract the army, so Keira could torch the lizard’s catapults.’
‘So it was during a battle?’ Daphne said.
‘Aye,’ Bedig said. ‘The way I heard it told, the Rahain catapults were pinning our army down, and Killop took command of a company, and went off on his own initiative. We sang songs about it. Guess we weren’t too bothered about the fact they were civilians back then.’
‘I’ve murdered people,’ Daphne said, wishing she had a cigarette, ‘and not just in war. I’ll not condemn Killop for doing what he felt he had to.’
‘I suppose none of us are innocent,’ Shella said. ‘I killed more than my share during the Migration. I stopped counting when I reached a hundred.’
‘What’s wrong with us?’ Bedig said. ‘There are only five races in this world. Can we not just live in peace with each other?’
The light faded, as the sun dipped below the horizon.
‘Bedig,’ Daphne said, ‘could you help me up, please?’
He came round to her right side, and held her arm as she grunted and stood. She had needed to remove the moulded armour from her left arm, as it was as bloated as the rest of her, and no longer fit. Her limb felt vulnerable again, and she tried to keep it close to her side.
Shella shook her head as she got to her feet.
‘Praise the gods you’re due soon,’ she said. ‘It’s not possible that you could get any bigger.’
‘Thanks, Shella. That’s just what I needed to hear.’
‘You’re not that big, miss,’ Bedig said, as he helped her walk back into the house. ‘I’ve seen pregnant Brig women who looked like they’d eaten a house.’
Daphne felt the baby move within her, squirming and kicking. Not long to go.
A servant was coming up the stairs as they crossed the landing.
‘Mistress,’ he said, ‘there are troopers at the door.’
‘Really?’ Daphne frowned. ‘What do they want?’
‘They’re escorting someone who wishes to see you.’
Daphne turned her head, and saw a long comfortable couch by the wall.
‘Can you bring them up here, please?’
‘Yes, mistress,’ the servant said, then turned and hurried back down the stairs.
Daphne noticed Bedig and Shella share a glance as she sat on the couch.
She heard the sound of footsteps in the hall below, then saw the shining armour and helmets of the cavalry come up the stairs. At their head was a tall officer, and behind, two troopers held the chains of another man, dressed in prison clothes and keeping his head bowed.
‘Baoryn,’ cried Bedig.
The Rahain lifted his head, and nodded in recognition.
The officer stopped in front of Daphne.
‘I am Captain Suthers, of the Plateau City Port Authority,’ she said. ‘We’re here to let you know that we are releasing this prisoner, and putting him on a boat in the morning back to Rainsby. He asked to see you before he departs, and we knew it was unlikely you’d be able to travel to the harbour cells in your condition.’
‘Very considerate, Captain, thank you.’
‘No problem, ma’am.’
Suthers gestured to the other troopers, who led Baoryn to the top of the stairs.
‘Daphne,’ the Rahain said, his eyes glimmering yellow in the lamplight.
‘Baoryn.’
‘Thank you for getting me released.’
‘I’m only sorry it took so long. The authorities had trouble believing that a Rahain arriving in the middle of the siege wasn’t a spy. Where will you go?’
‘Look for Kylon,’ he said. ‘Daphne, Killop thinks…’
‘I know,’ she said. ‘Leah told me.’
He bowed his head.
‘Sorry.’
‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I know Kylon thought he was doing the right thing.’
‘You will be together again,’ the Rahain said. ‘You and Killop. Kalayne knows it. He has seen it.’
She smiled. ‘More Kellach prophecies?’
‘I too doubted them at first,’ Baoryn said. He motioned to the guards. ‘I am ready. Daphne, farewell.’
‘Goodbye, Baoryn,’ she said.
Bedig stepped forward and embraced the Rahain, lifting him off his feet. ‘Pass on my love to the others when you find them.’
Captain Suthers saluted, then turned and the troopers went back down the stairs, Baoryn walking between them.
‘Did you see that?’ Shella said once they had gone. ‘He didn’t even look at me. In the entire fucking time that little reptile spent in Akhanawarah, he never spoke to me once, not one fucking word. Just followed Kylon around like a Holdings puppy.’
Bedig shrugged. ‘He hardly spoke to me either.’
‘It was good of him to come,’ Daphne said.
‘Must have been feeling guilty,’ Bedig said, ‘after what they did to you and Killop.’
Daphne raised her right hand for assistance, and Bedig helped her to her feet.
‘Let’s get some tea,’ she said.
They went to a large, warm sitting room, with a wood fire burning. Daphne rang the bell, and got settled into a huge armchair. Shella and Bedig found seats close by.
Servants brought in tea, and set up a table by the fire.
‘Could you pour, Shella?’ Daphne asked after they had gone.
Shella wrinkled her nose. ‘Yuck. I don’t know how you can drink that stuff.’
‘It’s all that’s keeping me going,’ Daphne said.
The door opened and Celine walked in.
‘You heard the news?’
Daphne looked up as Shella poured.
‘The alliance has broken into the tunnel. Whole army’s storming through, apparently.’
‘I thought Rahain mages had blocked it up,’ Daphne said, picking up the sugar bowl.
Celine rolled her eyes. ‘The whole town is in raptures over some crazy vision mage, who scaled the mountains, got past a fort and into the tunnel, and then blew out the blockage from the inside.’
Shella laughed. ‘Do we have a name for this dashing hero?’
‘Benel.’
Daphne shrugged. ‘Don’t know him. But then, I’m not exactly close to any of the other Holdings mages.’
‘That’s because most of them are priests,’ Shella said.
‘Benel’s not,’ Celine said. ‘He’s a mage-scout, belongs to the army.’
‘That’ll be why they’ve made his name known,’ Daphne said. ‘The mage-priests creep about in the shadows.’
‘Or just lie to your face,’ Shella muttered.
Celine looked around, and lit a cigarette. ‘Got anything to drink?’
‘Tea,’ Daphne said, stirring sugar into her cup.
Celine sighed, and sat. ‘We can’t be out of booze.’
‘We’re not,’ Daphne said, ‘I’m just rationing it. It’s costing me a fortune, and we need to be more discreet anyway.’
Shella winked at Celine. ‘She’s just pissed off she can’t have any.’ She laughed. ‘Don’t worry, Daphne, in half a third or thereabouts, you’ll be able to drink again. By then you’ll have a baby, so you’ll have plenty reason to drink.’
‘I wish Ariel was here,’ Daphne said. ‘No offence to you three, but she knows what it’s like.’
‘My sister Noli had sixteen brats,’ Shella said. ‘I have experience, believe me.’
‘Sounds like a nightmare,’ Celine said. ‘Sixteen in one go. I mean, how could you even remember which one was which?’
‘It took a while,’ Shella laughed. ‘I think I was still getting some of their names wrong before I left. But the mothers see their spawn in the pools for thirds, when they’re still swimmers. Apparently that’s when they bond.’
‘Spawn,’ Celine said. ‘Sounds…’
‘You can say it,’ Shella said. ‘Sounds like frogs.’
Celine flushed. ‘I didn’t mean that!’
Shella laughed. ‘It’s okay. I don’t expect mere monkeys to understand.’
‘That’s what you say,’ Celine said. ‘I don’t think we come from monkeys.’
‘Come on,’ Shella said, ‘you and the Kellach? And the Sanang are practically swinging from the trees.’
‘Apes,’ Daphne said, pouring some milk into her cup.
‘What?’
‘We come from apes, not monkeys.’
Shella rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever.’
‘But you believe in the Creator,’ Celine said.
Daphne shrugged. ‘I didn’t say I understood it. I read some science books in Rahain while I was there, and it was enough to convince me, but I don’t know how to reconcile that with the existence of the Creator.’
‘It’s all just folk guessing,’ Bedig said, the teacup tiny in his massive hands. ‘None of us know anything about the world, or the gods, or how we got here. I remember back in Brig, when all we knew was Pyre, the fire god. This was before we knew there were any others races in the world, or religions. We were so sure. Even though we were doubtful about some of the legends, most of us still believed. And it was all a load of crap. The Rahain proved that when they destroyed the god’s mountain. The bastards levelled it.’
The others listened in silence.
‘And then we knew,’ he went on. ‘There was no fire god coming to save us. There had been no fire god all along. Out of all the Rahain we met, none of them believed in any gods either. It was only when we arrived at your city, Shella, that we realised that other people had their own gods.’
‘The Rakanese are so gullible,’ Shella said. ‘Back home there are thousands of gods and demi-gods and spirits and everything in between. Some people even worshipped my sister as a god during the Migration. She had her own cult priestess.’
‘So not only are you a princess,’ Daphne said, picking up her tea, ‘but you’re related to a god.’
Shella smirked. ‘I could handle that. I think I’d make a pretty fucking good god. Except for the living forever shit. I mean, who wants to live forever? How excruciatingly dull, having to watch feeble mortals fighting each other for all eternity.’
Daphne smiled and drank her tea. There was a loud thump to her right.
Shella slapped the teacup from Daphne’s hand, sending it flying across the room. The Rakanese woman pounced on her, putting her right hand on Daphne’s chest, her eyes fierce.
Daphne felt her stomach tighten in a burst of agony, and she gagged, bringing up the hot tea and spewing it over the front of Shella’s housecoat. Shella backed off, and Daphne retched again, her chest burning with pain.
Shella raised her hand. ‘We got it all out.’
She turned to where Bedig was on his knees, vomiting. She walked over to him, and ran her fin
gers down his back.
‘You’ll be okay, Bedig,’ she said. ‘You Kellach seem to throw up poison on your own.’
‘Poison?’ Daphne said, gazing around the room, her throat on fire.
Shella pulled off her housecoat, sick dripping from it.
‘I’ll get the servants,’ Celine said, getting to her feet.
‘No,’ Shella said.
She walked over to the table and extended her hand towards the teapot.
‘Fungal spores of some kind,’ she said. ‘Toxic. Well, except to those brutes.’ She nodded at Bedig, who was sitting on the floor, rubbing his stomach. ‘Water’s clean, though,’ she went on, and poured a glass.
‘Here,’ she said, passing it to Daphne. ‘Swill it round your mouth and spit it out.’
Daphne took the glass. ‘Thank you. For saving me, I mean.’ She filled her mouth with the cool water, and spat it back into the glass.
‘It was one of the servants,’ she said, trying to clear her thoughts. ‘Is the baby all right?’
‘Sure,’ Shella said. ‘We got it out in time.’
‘You got it out, you mean,’ Daphne said. ‘That’s twice you’ve saved me.’
Celine sat back down, staring at the teapot. ‘Who would do this? Why would anyone try to kill you, Daphne?’
‘Maybe they weren’t after me,’ she said.
Shella gave a wry smile. ‘The servants all know I hate tea, and I hardly think that Bedig is worth assassinating. No offence.’
The Brig grunted, wiping sick from his face.
‘And the tea was already served when I came in,’ Celine said. She shook her head. ‘Listen, I probably should have told you before, I mean I guess you already know…’
‘What?’ Daphne said.
Celine flushed. ‘There are people in the city who don’t like you.’
Daphne frowned.
‘As your sister-in-law,’ Celine went on, ‘people don’t say much to my face, but I can sense the hostility from some quarters, and I get hints and insinuations, and groups stop talking when I enter a room. Some are old enemies, who’ve never forgiven your part in the conspiracy a couple of years back, and others hate you for a different reason.’
Daphne narrowed her eyes, trying to remain calm.
The Magelands Box Set Page 76