‘I’m a queen’s trooper at heart,’ the sergeant said. ‘Faith should be a private thing, between you and the Creator. The church should keep out of people’s business, and stop telling us what we can drink, or who we can love.’
Daphne raised an eyebrow. ‘Who we can love?’
‘Haven’t you heard?’ the sergeant said. ‘The Emperor has declared it illegal for folk of different races to have any kind of sexual relationship with each other.’
‘Illegal?’ Daphne frowned. ‘Am I liable to be arrested?’
‘No, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘The proclamation said “As of today”, so I guess that means from now on, at least that’s how we’ve been told to interpret it.’
‘But I’m on my way to see the baby’s father, and I suppose you know…?’
‘Yes ma’am, if you’re referring to him being of the Kellach variety.’
‘Is the new law saying that if the father and I get together, then we’re committing a crime?’
The sergeant nodded. ‘Looks that way, ma’am.’
Daphne shook her head. The One True Path must be laughing at her.
She noticed Bedig’s face was pale.
‘Just as well you ended it with Celine,’ Daphne said.
The Brig man said nothing. Karalyn was squirming again.
‘Are we far?’ Daphne asked. ‘The baby’s hungry.’
‘Nearly there, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘Not many decent places to stay in Rainsby.’
‘I was wondering,’ Daphne said, ‘if you knew of anywhere I could buy a wagon, horses, and supplies to last a third?’
‘We can sort that for you ma’am. Just give me a list and the money, and we’ll take care of the rest.’
‘You’d do that for us?’
‘Ma’am, it’s in our interests, and yours, to get you on your way with as little fuss as possible. Once we get to the hostelry, I would ask that you stay inside for your own safety, and we’ll come round as soon as we’ve bought everything on your list.’
‘How long will it take, do you think?’
‘We should have it all by lunchtime tomorrow, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘I’ll get a squad on it. You got the money?’
She patted her belt pouch.
‘Miss,’ Bedig said. ‘You can’t be thinking of handing gold over to a stranger?’
‘The sergeant’s not a stranger, Bedig,’ Daphne replied. ‘She’s Queen’s Cavalry.’
Daphne looked up from stirring the powdered cows’ milk into a bottle of water. Karalyn was sitting on a rug, watching her.
‘Hi, Bedig,’ Daphne said. ‘You get everything?’
‘Aye, think so,’ he said, laying a basket down onto the room’s only table. ‘White bread, sausages, oysters, and the weakest ale the bar sold.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Don’t see the point.’
‘I don’t want to get drunk,’ she said, ‘and I don’t trust the water.’
‘What’s wrong with the water?’
‘It’s rank. You Kellach forget that the rest of us can get sick from bad food and water.’
‘You’re giving it to Karalyn.’
‘Did you know, Bedig?’ Daphne said. ‘She’s never been ill a day in her life. No sweats, no fevers, none of the normal sniffs and coughs. I almost feel I have to pretend that’s she’s been sick when other people ask, otherwise they’ll think there’s something not right about her.’
She glanced over at Karalyn. The infant reached out for the bottle. Daphne passed it to her, and she grasped it in both hands and began to drink.
‘And see that?’ Daphne said. ‘She shouldn’t be able to do that yet.’
‘It’s normal for Kellach babies,’ Bedig said, ‘though it’s weird seeing a Holdings-looking bairn do it. She looks like you, you know?’
‘I hope Killop sees something of himself in her,’ she said, gazing at the child.
‘It’s getting dark,’ Bedig said. ‘Will I close the shutters?’
‘Thanks.’
Daphne stood, and examined the food on the table. She prepared two cold meals from it, and poured the ale into pewter mugs, while Bedig secured the windows and door of their rented room.
‘Dinner’s ready,’ she said in Kellach.
Bedig smiled.
‘I think we should start speaking in your language,’ Daphne said, ‘whenever we can. I need to practise.’
Bedig laughed and sat at the table. ‘You’re already fluent. I don’t understand how, mind.’
Daphne sat opposite him, biting her lip, too embarrassed to tell him the truth, that Kalayne had imprinted into her head the structures of Kellach grammar, and a large vocabulary. It had been a slow and painful process over several days, but the language felt almost as natural to her as her own.
‘Quick learner, I guess,’ she said. ‘Helps that some words in both Kellach and Holdings are quite similar, you know, like beer, bread, mother, that sort of thing.’
‘Aye,’ Bedig said, ‘so they are. Never thought about it before.’
‘Laodoc had a theory,’ she said, ‘and so did Kalayne. They both said that maybe our two lands used to be joined together, thousands of years ago.’
‘But they’re at opposite ends of the continent.’
‘I’m only telling you their theory. Didn’t say I believed it. It is odd, though.’
‘Just random, probably.’
She bent down to pick up Karalyn, who was crawling past on the rug.
‘Up you come, Kara-bear,’ she said. ‘Time for bed.’
She carried her over to a dim corner of the room, where a cot sat. Karalyn cried out as she lay her down on the mattress, so Daphne sent a soothing feeling of love into her. She started to settle.
From the room next door came a loud grunt, and then a long moan.
‘Dammit,’ Daphne said, as the sound of the couple in the other room continued. ‘That’s all we need.’
She leaned over the crib, stroking her daughter’s head. ‘Go to sleep, little bear, the noise will be over soon.’
‘I’m not altogether sure about that,’ Bedig said as he ate. ‘When I was downstairs at the bar, there was a whole alcove of folk offering their wares for a price.’
‘You mean this place is a brothel?’
Bedig shrugged. ‘A brothel and a hostelry.’
The sound from the other room stopped, and Daphne sat down.
She picked up a piece of bread.
‘Maybe they’re guests, like us,’ she said after a few moments of silence. ‘Well, not exactly like us but, you know, a couple.’
‘We might be lucky,’ Bedig said.
There was a loud groan, and the sound began again, this time accompanied by the regular beat of a bedstead hitting the wooden wall.
Karalyn stirred, and began to cry.
Daphne sighed. ‘It’s going to be a long night.’
Apart from the bonfires of rubbish burning at street corners, there was very little light coming from the town of Rainsby. Daphne gazed over the settlement, and the sprawl of slums beyond the wall to the south. The seven stars were obscured by cloud, and a deep silence was on the land and the Inner Sea. A few troopers patrolled, enforcing the curfew, and a small collection of ships bobbed with the winds in the bay off the harbour. Street children played by the fires, throwing in whatever had been left on the roads during the day, while wild dogs yapped and barked around their heels.
She had fallen asleep faster than she had thought likely, once she had learned to ignore the noises of bartered passion coming through the wall, and slipped into a lucid dream. Her vision had risen above the town, her sight focussed north in the direction of Plateau City.
After an hour, she saw what she had been waiting for. A short burst of inner-vision shot out from the centre of the town, aimed towards the imperial capital. A few moments later, a much more powerful beam appeared from over the sea, and headed to the spot from where the first burst had emanated. Daphne soared down to m
eet it; her vision alighting on a tall building, one of the few stone constructions left standing in the town.
The powerful beam of inner-vision entered the building, and Daphne followed. In a room in the attic a priest was kneeling, facing north. The thread of vision connected with his head.
I received your signal, said the voice from over the sea.
Thank you for responding so quickly, my lord, the priest replied.
I assume you have news.
Indeed, Lord Vicar, the priest said. Daphne Holdfast has arrived. I thought you should know.
My thanks. Have you seen her?
No, Lord Vicar. I have received confirmation from the harbour that her ship arrived this evening. I have an agent out looking for her current location.
Good, the Lord Vicar said. I’m hopeful that she can slip through the town without any trouble. Deacon Yosin, I am sure, will have sent word ahead to the One True Path chapter in Rainsby, informing them that she is coming, and passing on my orders to leave her be.
The priest nodded. May I ask, Lord Vicar, why does the One True Path hate this woman?
They believe her child an abomination, and that she is a dangerous renegade against the church.
And are these allegations true, my lord?
The child is no threat to us, the Lord Vicar said, but Miss Holdfast is indeed a powerful and dangerous mage. That’s why the sooner she’s as far away as possible from Plateau City the better. We cannot afford the risk that she would interfere with the church’s holy purpose. If you come across her tread warily. Her skills rival the best in the church.
I will, my lord.
Very well, the Lord Vicar said. Contact me again if anything untoward occurs, otherwise ensure Miss Holdfast is on her way as soon as possible.
Yes, my lord.
The vision receded in a flash, and was gone. As Daphne watched, the priest swayed, and put a hand to the floor to steady himself.
Daphne smiled at the words Lord Vicar Arnault had used about her. A powerful and dangerous mage. Arnault’s own powers had impressed her. He had reached out so far over the sea with such ease, a distance she had never even attempted. She would need to practise her range. She had no true idea how far she was capable of going, a few miles the furthest she had ever achieved.
As she was withdrawing from the building, a sharp flash of raw panic and terror tore through her mind.
Karalyn.
In an instant Daphne’s mind whipped back to her body, and she opened her eyes.
The room was dark, and quiet, except for the baby’s cries. Daphne pulled on a thread of battle-vision, and her sight improved as if a lantern had been lit.
She rolled off the bed as a knife plunged down, striking the mattress where her body had lain. Daphne flooded herself with battle-vision. She hit the floor and reached for the blade she had placed under the bed. Her left arm came up as a sword was swung down at her. The steel edge struck the mage-hardened stone plates of her armour, and sparks flew.
Daphne leapt to her feet, and plunged her knife into the chest of the first assailant. There were two others, the one with the sword, and one who had been crossing the room towards Bedig’s bed, but who was now turning in alarm. They were Rahain.
She ducked under another swing of the sword, sprang past the assassin’s guard and rammed her blade up into the underside of his chin. She withdrew the knife, turned, and threw it at the last attacker, piercing her through the throat.
Bedig sat up. ‘What the fuck?’ He crashed out of bed, landing on the floor, and gazed around, his eyes wild.
‘I got them,’ Daphne said, ‘but I appreciate the effort.’
‘This is why I’m carrying the baby, isn’t it?’
Daphne lit a candle, and walked over to Karalyn.
‘Sorry you had to see all that, Kara-bear,’ she said, picking her up, ‘and thanks for the warning.’
As her battle-vision faded, she began to feel pain in her left arm, from where the sword blow had struck her armour. She sat the baby down on the bed, and unbuckled the straps attaching the arm-guard to her limb.
She winced as she looked at the red weal developing on her withered forearm.
‘They get you one?’ Bedig said, examining the three bodies.
Daphne nodded. ‘Just as well I was wearing the armour. Would have taken my arm off otherwise.’
‘Sorry about calling you paranoid earlier.’
She grimaced in pain. ‘Throbs a bit.’
‘Pity we haven’t anything to smoke.’
Daphne smiled, and reached deep into her pack. She brought out the pouch Shella had given her at Plateau City harbour before they had left.
She put Karalyn back to bed, and lit a smokestick. At once her pain and fatigue receded. Bedig opened the ale, and they sat at the table, sharing both drink and smoke.
There was a thump at the door, and it burst open.
The sergeant they had met in town ran into the room, followed by several troopers. They halted when they saw the bodies.
‘Shit,’ the sergeant cried. ‘Are you all right, ma’am? And the baby?’
‘We’re fine, Sergeant,’ Daphne said.
The sergeant scanned the room, nodding in relief. Her eyes passed over the sight of the weedstick in Daphne’s hand without comment.
‘My deepest apologies, ma’am,’ she sighed. ‘We don’t know how they got past our perimeter, but rest assured we’ll find out. Squads have surrounded the building, and no one is leaving until we’ve questioned them all. I’ll post guards right outside your door from now on. Fuck being discreet.’
‘One True Pathers, Sergeant,’ said a trooper, kneeling by one of the bodies. ‘All Rahain, two males, one female.’
The sergeant shook her head. ‘Fucking Pathers.’ She turned to Daphne. ‘What happened?’
‘They woke Karalyn, and her crying woke me. Battle-vision took care of the rest.’
The sergeant smiled. ‘Nice work, ma’am. We’ll get these bodies out of here, and leave you alone for the rest of the night.’
As the sergeant finished speaking, there was a scream from elsewhere in the building, and the sound of a struggle.
The sergeant ducked out of the room, and troopers began picking up the bodies of the dead Rahain, while two of the squad took up position outside the door. As the last body was being carried away, the sergeant re-entered.
‘We got her,’ she said. ‘It was a Rahain woman that worked here, she let them in. Another Pather.’
‘The deacons getting others to do their dirty work for them?’ Bedig said.
‘Either that, or they went rogue. Some of the Rahain converts are more fanatical than the deacons. They might have gone against orders for all we know.’
The sergeant turned to leave.
‘Have you questioned her?’ Daphne said.
The sergeant shook her head as she stood by the door.
‘She’s beyond questioning now, ma’am. Sleep tight.’
Chapter 7
Food for Crows
Broadwater, Kingdom of Sanang – 16th Day, Last Third Summer 506
‘I’m tempted to strip you of your command for this, Echtang,’ Agang said, almost shaking with rage. ‘Your behaviour is unacceptable.’
‘But uncle…’
‘Don’t interrupt me.’
Chane, Hodang and Gadang looked away.
‘Perhaps you’re too immature to be given such responsibility,’ Agang went on, pacing the floor. ‘The army needs strong leadership to defeat B’Dang and his firewitch.’
‘Gadang was the same age when you gave him command of a regiment,’ Echtang said.
‘I said don’t interrupt. And your brother has always been more reliable than you.’ He shook his head. ‘But it’s too late now. We’d all look stupid if I removed your commission on the day the army departs for the south. And maybe it’s better if you’re out of Broadwater for a while. After what you and your officer friends did last night, the town needs some time to rec
over.’
Echtang hung his head.
‘Threats, assault, destruction of property,’ Agang said. ‘And I’ll have to compensate that girl’s father.’
‘She was a whore.’
‘You’re a fucking liar,’ Gadang said. ‘No, she wasn’t.’
Echtang bristled. ‘She was in a bar, at night, alone. She was a whore.’
Gadang moved to face his brother, his fists clenched.
Echtang met his stare. ‘She got what she deserved.’
Gadang’s fist rose, but his brother was quicker. Echtang flung a punch at his older brother, connecting with his nose. Gadang yelled in pain, his hands covering his face, blood running down his chin.
Agang stepped in, and pushed Echtang back.
‘Enough,’ he cried. ‘Nephew, you have shamed me. Get out.’
‘Do I still have my regiment, uncle?’
Agang glared, but nodded.
Echtang snapped his heels together and saluted. ‘At once, your Majesty.’
Agang turned to Gadang once his brother had left the tent. Chane was holding a handkerchief to the young man’s nose.
‘Get yourself back up to the citadel,’ Agang said to him. ‘We can’t have you all bloody-faced at the ceremony.’
Gadang nodded, and turned to leave.
‘And,’ Agang said, ‘next time, move faster.’
Agang fell into a chair and picked up a cup of mead.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he said to his advisors.
‘You’re letting Echtang keep his command?’ Chane said.
‘As I said, we’d look like idiots if I changed my mind now. People would think I’d made a mistake.’
‘You are making a mistake,’ she said. ‘That boy doesn’t respect you any more.’
‘He’s just at an awkward age.’
‘Awkward?’ Chane said. ‘You call what he and his friends did “awkward”? They behaved like fucking savages.’
‘A spell in command might do him good,’ Agang said. ‘Teach him some responsibility.’
Chane shook her head. ‘Hodang,’ she said. ‘Tell him.’
‘Sorry, Chane,’ Hodang said, ‘but I agree with his Majesty. It’s too late to change the regimental command structure. Besides, at least we won’t have to deal with Echtang moping about here. Hopefully the town will have forgotten last night’s indiscretions by the time the army returns.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 100