Killop picked up the shield of a fallen Kellach warrior and led the militia through the trees. Daphne fought next to him, carving her way through the fleeing Rahain.
He signalled a halt to the charge, and she glanced up at him, then around at the corpses of the Rahain littering the forest floor amid the patches of red snow.
‘They were slaves a year ago,’ she said.
‘Like we were,’ Killop said as he watched the Kellach re-group, their blades dark.
The militia walked back to the border, where a crowd of Kellach from the town had gathered, their weapons unsheathed. A group had formed around the wagon where Kalden had been killed, his body lain out on its flat carriage-bed. No living Rahain was in sight, though many lay on the cold ground where they had fallen.
Bridget nodded as Killop approached.
‘We got them,’ he said.
Bridget said nothing, her eyes red.
‘They might retaliate,’ Daphne said. ‘The New Free. They might come back.’
He glanced at the forest.
‘We’ll build a timber stockade.’
‘How long is the border?’
‘Eight miles on this side.’
Daphne frowned. ‘That could take a while.’
Killop approached the wagon, his eyes falling on Kalden’s body. He shook his head as he stared at his dead friend. Daphne and Bridget stood to either side.
‘When the New Free return,’ said Bridget, ‘they’ll be bringing a shitload more than they did today. That buys us some time.’
‘There’s an hour of light left,’ Killop said. ‘Get teams sent to the forest with axes. We start now.’
Chapter 29
Graveside
Plateau City, The Plateau – 30th Day, First Third Winter 506
Shella awoke shivering. She opened her eyes and sat up.
‘Close the fucking window, you imbecile,’ she cried to Benel. ‘I’m freezing.’
The Holdings mage flicked the ash from his weedstick over the ledge and smiled.
‘But you complain about the smoke if I don’t.’
‘Right now my comfort is more important than the smell,’ she said. ‘Close the window, and get your ass over here.’
Benel held the smokestick in his lips and swung the heavy shutters across the window, dimming the light in the room. Shella watched him as he neared, one of her dressing gowns over his narrow shoulders.
‘And take that off. You look like an idiot.’
‘At once, your Highness,’ he said, bowing. He untied the belt and let the dressing gown fall to the floor. He stood before her, naked and smirking.
‘You need some exercise,’ she said. ‘You’re getting flabby.’
His face fell.
He got into bed next to her, but looked away.
‘You were crying in your sleep again.’
She glared at him.
‘You must have really loved Jayki.’
‘Fuck you,’ she said. ‘Of course I loved him. The shit that boy took because of me...’ Tears came to her eyes, and she tried to shake them away. ‘Nobody else would have stayed. But he did.’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Fucksake Benel, this is not about you.’
‘I know you blame yourself for his death.’
She bared her teeth, gripping onto the covers of the bed, her knuckles white.
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ he said. ‘You made the hardest choice possible, and gave him the peace he needed. He was in pain, and you acted with mercy and kindness. I couldn’t have done it.’
Shella put her head in her hands and wept.
Like putting a sick animal out of its misery, that’s what the old Kell bastard had said, when he had informed her that Jayki’s mind was in torment, and that she needed to do the merciful thing. She had sat on the information for four days, spending most of that time by his bedside, gazing at him in unsleeping exhaustion. He looked at peace, but Kalayne had insisted that what was left of his conscious mind was screaming in agony. On the fifth morning she stopped his heart.
Benel took her hand, but she pulled it away.
‘You did a good thing,’ he said, ‘but there was a price, and you’re paying it.’
He passed her the weedstick, and she took a deep draw. Her tears subsided, and she blinked.
‘What are you doing today?’ he said.
‘Same old shit,’ she said. ‘Nothing.’
‘No invitations to any parties?’
She snorted.
Benel shrugged. ‘I suppose you can’t host a party if your guests are likely to be arrested by the One True Path for going out after dark. And with no booze it’d be a terrible party anyway. It’s a pity. In these end days, you’d expect a few decent nights out at a minimum.’
‘Keira’s coming, and you’re worried about not being able to go to a good party?’
‘If the city’s going to burn, then I would rather be drunk when it happens.’
‘A mad barbarian’s going to end the empire,’ she said, smoking. ‘Seems fitting.’
‘Maybe she’s tired after annihilating two imperial armies,’ Benel said. ‘Do you know, she must have killed more people than anyone in history. Rahain, Rakanese, more Rahain, Sanang, Holdings and even more Rahain. It’s quite a list. And I must admit, we had fun times together, me and Keira.’
‘I bet she hated you.’
Benel nodded. ‘Without a doubt, but I certainly enjoyed it. Well at least until we got caught, and it ruined my career. That wasn’t so good.’
‘What was she like?’
‘Madder than Kalayne, and cocky. A cocky little bitch.’
‘Little?’
Benel grinned. ‘Well not exactly little. But when I saw her incinerate a hundred Rahain soldiers when we took their gatehouse…’ He shook his head. ‘I thought, she could do anything. With that power, anything she wanted. Unfortunately for us, she’s decided to destroy the world.’
‘I wonder if Kylon ever found her,’ Shella said. ‘He’d stop her.’
Benel raised an eyebrow. ‘Kylon?’
‘A Kellach guy that helped us during the siege in Akhanawarah.’
‘You had Kellach with you?’
‘Just a few. Kalayne had given them a vision, and they came looking for me. Anyway, Kylon was their leader, and he was also Keira’s lover, or at least he claimed to be. When we parted, he said he was going to look for her.’
‘Kalayne sent him to find you?’
‘So he could save my life, which he did, a couple of times. He said it was because Kalayne believes I have some sort of role to play in the future, though fuck knows what. That old bastard spouts so much shit it’s hard to tell if any of it’s true.’
Benel’s grin faded.
‘Kalayne might be an arsehole, but what he says invariably turns out to be true.’
Shella shrugged, and stubbed the weedstick out into an ashtray on the bedside table.
‘I should get up,’ she said.
‘Why?’
‘With the entire city under curfew, the morale of the staff downstairs is rock bottom. Daly said I should go down and talk to them.’
‘Are you not worried that one of them will tell the church about you?’
Shella frowned. ‘For what?’
‘For ignoring the summons for all mages to report for service to the empire?’
‘Fuck that,’ Shella laughed. ‘I’m the ambassador, not to mention a princess, in case you’d forgotten. There’s no way they’d lay hands on me. And as long as Kalayne’s protecting the embassy, the mage-priests can’t see that you’re here. We’re safe if we stay indoors.’
‘You think you’re above the law?’
‘We have diplomatic immunity,’ she said. ‘Why do you think they let us drink and smoke? That fuckwit Rijon told me they had a pile of evidence on us for possession of illegal substances.’
‘This is different,’ Benel said. ‘They need mages for whatever they’re doing
at the institute. Some of them must have died in the earthquake, and they need replacements. This is more important to them than weed and booze.’
Shella looked away. ‘Whatever.’
‘Did Kalayne tell you about the fighting in the Kellach district?’
‘Yeah,’ she lied.
‘Well?’ he said. ‘If the One True Path are prepared to go in there dressed for a battle, all because of a rumour that there was a fire mage in hiding, then…’
‘Shut up,’ she said. ‘What is it that you think I should do? Hand myself in? Run away?’
‘I think you should at least consider running.’
‘Fucking coward. The embassy will evacuate when we get orders to do so.’
She swung her legs out of bed and stood. She bowed her head, trying to summon the will to get dressed. With the streets empty except for patrolling church wardens, she had been confined to the embassy for days, passing the time with Benel and his supply of alcohol and drugs. She glanced at the bed, where the Holdings man was preparing another weedstick.
He looked up at her, his eyes lingering on her naked body.
‘You know what?’ he said. ‘Forget drinking when Keira gets here. I want to be fucking you when the city burns.’
‘There’s no chance of that,’ she said, getting back into bed, and pushing him onto his back.
‘Why not?’ he grinned, as her hands pinned him down.
‘Because I’ll be fucking you.’
There were three tombstones in the small garden at the rear of the embassy buildings. Rose bushes at each corner extended up wooden trellising, providing shade in summer, but casting a long shadow in the winter thirds.
Shella sat on a bench opposite the three graves, her eyes resting on the lettering on Jayki’s headstone, the words cut into the hard, grey surface.
Jaykimolina. Born Switchback District, Arakhanah City. Died performing his duty.
A chill breeze blew through the garden and she huddled into her overcoat, a woollen hat pulled down over her ears.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, her breath misting. ‘Why did you come back? You should have quit when you had the chance, you stupid asshole.’
She looked away blinking, fighting the tears that were leaking from her eyes.
‘Do you know who the other two graves are for?’ asked Kalayne.
Shella turned, scowling. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’
She noticed Thymo sitting next to the old man on the bench.
‘Thought I’d take the boy out for a walk,’ Kalayne said. ‘He needed some fresh air. No one will notice us. Now, do you know who the other two graves are for?’
‘Of course I fucking do.’
Kalayne stared at her. ‘Do you mind? I’m talking to the boy.’
‘No, grandpa,’ Thymo said.
‘Well,’ the old man said, ‘buried under that one there,’ he pointed with a walking stick, ‘is one Kadisutana, who was once a humble clerk working in the embassy, until one night nearly two years ago, when he decided to go out for a drink in the Kellach district, which was nothing more than a refugee camp at the time. Are you listening?’
‘Yes, grandpa.’
‘Kadi was a young man, and like many young men, he thought nothing of risk, feeling himself indestructible, and he ended up in a bar fight with a drunken man from Lach. One punch, Thymo, and he was dead. When his killer stood on the gallows that the Holdings soldiers had put together, he was asked if he had anything to say. The Lach man shrugged, and told the crowd that he had hit Kadi, but he hadn’t meant to kill him. Then he stepped into the noose.’
Kalayne looked down at the boy. ‘Two died, over nothing. You still listening?’
‘Yes, grandpa.’
‘You’re a good boy. The second gravestone is above the body of Aurroballini, a guard that died seven thirds ago. Her story is simple. An accident. Another guard, who happened to be the woman’s best friend, misfired her crossbow. The bolt struck Aurro through the eye, killing her instantly. No one was to blame, despite her friend’s guilt-stricken grief. It could have happened to anyone, there was no higher purpose behind it, and there’s no point in asking why.’
Kalayne glanced down at Thymo again, and smiled as the boy gazed back at him.
Shella tutted. ‘You should be showing him how to run away when Keira gets here, not wasting your time with this bullshit.’
‘I’ll make sure he’s safe from Keira,’ Kalayne said. ‘You too, if you wish.’
Shella laughed. ‘You think you can save us from a fucking inferno?’
‘I could always put in a word for you.’
Shella’s smile faded. ‘What?’
Kalayne looked at her as if she were stupid.
‘It’s always so tedious to explain myself to you,’ he sighed. ‘I’ve lost count of the times you’ve given me that vacant expression and said “what?” after I’ve made a simple statement.’
‘You can put in a word for us?’
‘That is indeed what I said.’
‘You’re in contact with someone in the invasion?’
‘Madam,’ Kalayne said, puffing out his chest, ‘I organised the entire thing. The empire will fall, and the Creator’s plans will be in ruins, all because of me. I would have told you before, but who knows when a priest will read your mind.’
Shella’s mouth dropped open.
‘You can thank me now,’ Kalayne said, ‘or when it’s over.’
‘But, how?’
‘Kylon, of course,’ Kalayne said. ‘Are you really so stupid? Kylon is by Keira’s side, and I’m the one telling him what to do.’
‘Kylon is helping Keira?’
The old man laughed. ‘No. Through Kylon, I am wielding the power of Keira, as a weapon in my hand to strike down the church. Time is running out, and Keira is the best chance we have of stopping the Creator’s plans.’
Shella edged back along the bench. ‘But the slaughter, the people who’ll be killed…’
‘They mean nothing when weighed against the destruction of the world,’ Kalayne said. ‘People die every day, for boring reasons mostly, like Kadi and Aurro. If I had the choice of how to die, I would rather it meant something.’ He stared at Shella. ‘Anyone who dies, in fact all those who have so far died at Keira’s hand, everyone of them will be a martyr if she succeeds, and prevents the Creator from killing us all.’
‘Stop,’ Shella cried, standing. ‘Are you out of your fucking mind? You’re justifying that mad bitch slaughtering thousands by calling them martyrs?’
‘Aye.’
‘Fuck off,’ Shella said. ‘Go on, fuck off out of my sight. I can’t bear to look at you.’
Kalayne shrugged at Thymo and got up, taking the boy’s hand.
When they had gone, she sat back down on the bench, put her head in her hands and wept.
Hours passed, and Shella remained by the graves, shivering from the cold despite her overcoat. Again and again her mind replayed the memories of Akhanawarah City burning in the inferno caused by the fire mage. She stared at Jayki’s tombstone, paralysed by the words of the old Kell man.
‘Your Highness?’ Jodie said.
Shella looked up.
Jodie’s eyes widened. ‘Are you all right?’
Shella said nothing.
‘We have a problem, your Highness,’ her secretary carried on. ‘The One True Path are at the gates of the embassy, demanding to be let in.’
‘Wardens? Shit.’ Shella stood.
‘Father Rijon is leading them, your Highness.’
Shella paused, her heart sinking.
‘What should we do?’ Jodie asked.
‘We’ll play it cool,’ Shella said, walking towards the building. ‘Might be about nothing.’
They entered the embassy through a side door, and Shella unbuttoned her overcoat in the warmth of the passageway. As they walked there was a scream, and a crashing sound. Shella started running.
They came out into the main entrance
hallway, and Shella skidded to a halt, as over twenty crossbows turned to aim at her.
‘I want two wardens behind the mage at all times,’ Rijon cried. ‘If she raises a hand, shoot her.’
Shella stared. The front doors were hanging off their hinges, and dozens of wardens from the One True Path were inside the building. Embassy staff were being shepherded towards the side walls, their hands over their heads, as crossbow-wielding wardens lined them up.
‘This is fucking out of order,’ Shella said. ‘This is an embassy.’
Rijon smirked and unrolled a scroll.
‘Shellakanawara, you are under arrest for defying the law by ignoring the summons for all mages to report for imperial service.’
Shella said nothing.
‘Did you think you could get away with it?’
She shrugged, keeping her hands low. Behind her, she could feel the crossbow bolts pointed at her, and knew she would be dead in seconds if she used her powers.
Jodie stepped forward. ‘This is the Ambassador of Arakhanah, who…’
‘Not any more,’ Rijon said. ‘Her position has been rescinded. Your government will have to appoint a replacement.’
‘But she’s also a princess,’ Jodie cried. ‘You can’t take that away.’
‘True,’ Rijon said. ‘However, the Emperor has decreed that young Prince Thymo shall take up the mantle of your nation’s royal figurehead.’
Rijon turned as a door was opened, and wardens dragged in Sami. He was struggling and shouting.
‘Bring him here,’ Rijon said.
Shella watched as her brother was hauled across the floor, while Daly joined Jodie at her side.
‘This is an outrage,’ Daly said.
‘Be quiet, old man,’ Rijon said. ‘We’re only here for members of the Kanawara family. If the rest of you behave, you’ll be left in peace. But,’ he went on, glaring at the lined-up staff and disarmed Rakanese guards, ‘if there’s any trouble, I’m prepared to kill everyone in this building. The mightiest horde of savages this world has ever seen is burning its way towards this city, and I won’t hesitate to act in its defence. Flow Mage Shella is coming with us.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 132