He turned to a row of cottages. ‘This is where we’ll stay for the night.’
He walked to a low stone-built house and opened the front door. He gestured for them to follow, and they went inside, where Mannie closed the shutters and turned the lamp up full.
Killop gazed around the small living-room.
‘You can light a fire,’ Mannie said. ‘No one will see the smoke out here.’
There was coal sitting in the fireplace, and Killop dropped the two bags to the floor, went over and knelt by it. The two women sat close to the fire as he lit it, Chane unpacking their blankets while Daphne opened the bag of food.
‘Thank your mother for me,’ she said to Mannie. ‘This should keep us going for a few days.’
Mannie sat by them.
‘Are you really going to kill the Emperor?’
‘I wondered about that myself,’ said Chane, lighting a cigarette.
Daphne laid out her blanket on the floor. ‘I think we have to.’
Killop glanced at her in the firelight.
‘Otherwise,’ she went on, ‘he’ll destroy us all.’
Killop stepped away from the fire and sat down next to her on the floor.
‘I’m going to sleep,’ she said, lying down, and pulling a blanket over her.
He watched as she closed her eyes. Was she serious? He lay down next to her.
‘Nineteen miles today,’ he heard Chane mutter from her chair as he closed his eyes.
The endless line of wagons stretched into the distance, each one full of slaves. There were nearly a hundred crammed into the wagon where Killop, Bridget and Kallie were chained. Many had died, but there was no way to get the bodies out of the wagon, the steel and wire mesh keeping everything in. The smell was over-powering, and inescapable. Killop closed his eyes, his fingers stroking Kallie’s hair as she lay with her head in his lap.
‘The ocean,’ said Bridget, her voice a whisper.
‘We’re going to die on this journey,’ said Kallie. ‘Death is all that’s left for us.’
Killop said nothing, despair threatening to crush him.
‘Yer wrong,’ said Bridget. She attempted to smile from where she sat squashed up next to Killop and Kallie, her blood-streaked skin inches from them. ‘We’re going to live, ye fucking hear me?’ She rattled her chains. ‘These won’t last. The three of us sitting here together in this shithole on wheels, we’ll make it. I believe it. We’ve just got to stick together, and help each other…’
A long low plaintive wail entered Killop’s dream, and his surroundings dissolved as it grew louder, shrieking in pain.
Karalyn.
In a second, Daphne’s sleeping consciousness was by him.
She’s found us, she cried. Our baby’s found us.
Where is she?
This way.
She soared away, pulling Killop after her, and they flew south, tearing over the plains of the Holdings, the land a blur beneath them. His heart pounded as he heard the voice of his daughter again, crying out to them.
We’re coming wee bear, he growled.
He saw mountains ahead, and they rose up and rushed over the snow-covered peaks. Daphne increased her speed, and after a few moments they cleared the mountains and saw the Plateau spread out in front of them. They heard Karalyn cry out again, and Daphne raced down, towards a city on the shore of the Inner Sea.
The Imperial Capital.
Before Killop had time to think what that could mean, they were inside Karalyn’s head, somewhere within the great walls of the city.
Mama.
We’re here, Kara-bear, Daphne sobbed.
Help me.
We will, said Killop, aching at the pain his daughter was in.
Her thoughts were fading in and out, as if her mind was on the edge of falling into a deeper unconsciousness, like the one she had been trapped in for days.
We’re coming to get you, wee bear.
Daddy, she said, come soon.
Can you open your eyes for us, little bear? Daphne said.
Killop watched as Karalyn’s eyes opened a crack. Her vision was blurred. A cloth came down, and wiped her face. Her sight focussed on the face of a young Holdings woman as it loomed close.
The woman gasped.
‘Get in here,’ she shouted. ‘She’s opened her eyes.’
Two figures appeared at the door, and approached.
Keira and Kallie.
His heart froze. His sister was alive, and she was with Karalyn. He felt Daphne’s shock next to his own thoughts.
‘She’s a wee fighter,’ Keira said, her hand stroking away strands of Karalyn’s hair from her face.
An older Holdings man, dressed as a physician, approached from the other side of the bed. Karalyn’s eyes flickered over as he held out a cup for her.
‘Drink this,’ he said.
Karalyn’s lips touched the cup, and at the same time the connection to her parents was severed, and their minds hurtled back to their bodies in Stringerton.
Both of them shot upright on the floor by the low fire. They embraced, sobbing, Killop holding her tight. For a long time they sat there, their bodies close as they wept in silence.
Killop opened his eyes. Chane and the Holdings boy were both sleeping on the big armchairs to either side of the fire. He took Daphne’s hand and they stood. They crept out of the cottage, and Killop gazed up at the seven stars in the night sky, wiping the tears from his face.
‘We know where she is,’ he said.
‘And who she’s with,’ said Daphne, lighting a cigarette.
‘My sister,’ he said, shaking his head, ‘and Kallie.’
Daphne frowned. ‘What are they doing with our daughter?’
‘Trying to help her, from what I saw.’
‘Kalayne, Kylon, Keira and Kallie?’ Daphne spat. ‘Tell me this is not some twisted Kell plot.’
‘But she’s off the dullweed,’ Killop said, ‘or whatever it was keeping her quiet. And they’ve got her a healer, that must have been Keira’s doing. And we didn’t see Kylon anywhere.’
‘Of course she’s off the dullweed,’ Daphne cried. ‘They’re in Plateau City, ready to do whatever insane plan Kalayne cooked up.’
She clenched her fist, her face dark with rage.
‘We need to get there as soon as possible.’
‘That’s what we’ve been doing.’
‘No,’ she said, ‘we can go faster. Did that boy in there not say there were wagons going up and down the road? If there are wagons, there will be horses.’
‘At the factories?’
‘Yes.’
He thought about the promise they had made to stay clear of the Rahain, in case they sought revenge on the townsfolk.
‘We should do it now,’ he said, ‘while there’s a few hours of darkness left.’
She nodded.
‘What about Chane?’ he said.
‘I’ve left her once before,’ Daphne said. ‘I won’t do it again.’
They went back into the cottage. Daphne went to where the boy lay on a chair, and raised her hand.
‘That should keep him asleep for a while,’ she said.
Killop knelt by the fire and rolled up their blankets, while Daphne crossed the room to Chane. She kicked the chair, and Chane opened her eyes and groaned.
‘Up,’ she said. ‘We’ve got work to do.’
The first glow of dawn was spreading in the east, lighting up the road as the six horses thundered down it. Far behind them, appearing as tiny wisps on the horizon, tendrils of smoke were rising from the cigarette factory they had raided. By that time, Killop thought, the entire garrison would be out searching for them. At least twenty Rahain soldiers lay dead, and over a dozen wagons had been destroyed, along with crates of food supplies and weapons.
As the sun rose, Daphne slowed her mount to a walk. Chane and Killop did the same, and they trotted three abreast, each trailing a spare horse connected to their saddles with ropes.
‘We’ll let these three cool down,’ Daphne said, ‘then we’ll swap over.’
Chane nodded.
‘Are ye alright to take a quick look back,’ said Killop, ‘just in case they’re following us?’
‘I’ve already checked,’ Daphne said. ‘No one’s on the road.’
‘The town?’ said Chane.
Daphne nodded. ‘Soldiers have gone in.’
‘Shit. I hope those people are alright.’
Killop caught Daphne’s glance, but they said nothing.
After a few minutes, Daphne halted, and they dismounted. They began to switch their packs over from the spare horses.
‘We need to talk about Keira,’ said Killop.
Daphne nodded, her eyes narrow.
‘I know you’re worried,’ he said, ‘but my sister would never do anything to hurt Karalyn, or allow anyone else to hurt her.’
‘She’s a sadistic maniac,’ Daphne said, fitting the saddle to her spare horse. ‘She’s slaughtered thousands without remorse. Forgive me if I don’t share your optimism.’
They walked their spare horses to the front, and re-mounted.
‘You’re wrong,’ he said, gathering the reins, and securing the rope of the horse trailing behind.
‘Yeah?’
‘Aye. This is different.’
‘How?’
They began to trot down the road, the sun’s rays shining onto the plains and warming the land.
‘Keira gets it,’ he said. ‘It’s family.’
She glanced at him, kicked her heels, and they took off down the road.
Chapter 31
Four Mages
Southern Plateau – 13th Day, Second Third Winter 507
‘This is a lovely part of the world,’ Laodoc said from the wagon’s bench as they travelled down the narrow path. On their left a steep cliff rose, but to their right they had a grand view over the rolling foothills of the Plateau. They had followed a river from close to its source, where it had emerged as a patch of boggy ground, before widening as the miles went by. According to their map, it meandered all the way across the Plateau, before emptying into the Inner Sea.
‘At least the snow’s gone,’ Shella said. ‘Hate the stuff. It’s still freezing though.’
‘It’s warmer here than it was in Silverstream,’ Bridget said, sitting in the empty space at the back of the cart. ‘Fuck knows what it’ll be like further north when summer comes.’
Shella smirked. ‘I can’t wait to see you Kellach savages sweating your asses off. Even Plateau City’s roasting in summer. The Holdings will be like a furnace.’
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ said Agang, walking alongside the wagon. ‘All this cold down south, it’s not for me.’
‘Will our skin turn dark like the Holdings folk?’ asked Dean from the other side of the wagon.
Shella frowned at him.
‘No,’ said Laodoc, ‘though you might tan a little.’
Shella laughed. ‘Yeah, Dean. You’ll go bright pink.’
Laodoc shook his head. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, Shella. The Kellach Brigdomin don’t sunburn. It might be something to do with their healing powers, but I never saw a single one with burns when we were last in the city.’
‘Fucksake,’ Shella said. ‘Those big bastards get all the breaks.’
‘The poor wee Rakanese,’ Dyam smirked as she walked along beside them. ‘Shit eyesight, shit hearing, keep catching stupid wee diseases like colds, whatever the fuck they are, being short as fuck, not able to eat loads of stuff in case ye get poisoned…?’
‘Come on,’ said Shella, ‘there must be some poison that’ll kill you.’
‘I don’t believe there is,’ said Laodoc. ‘Back when Bridget was my captive in the Rahain Capital, a professor belonging to my research institute once tried to prove it.’ He glanced at the Brig woman. ‘Do you remember?’
‘Aye,’ she said, rolling her eyes.
‘I was unaware at the time that the experiment was going ahead, but I read the results afterwards,’ he went on. ‘The professor administered a dose of cyanide to Bridget and Killop that should have killed them in seconds. She had a hypothesis that the Kellach constitution would be able to expel it before death occurred, and she was proved right.’
Shella stared at him.
‘You experimented on them? Like animals?’
‘We did. We believed at the time that the Kellach were inferior beings. Some argued that they were barely sentient, and unfit for anything other than manual labour.’
Bridget laughed. ‘Fucking charming, eh?’
‘You seem surprisingly okay about it,’ Shella said.
‘There’s no point dwelling on it now,’ Bridget shrugged. ‘Past is past, and anyway, Laodoc was quick to realise the error of his ways.’
‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘In fact, my sympathy for them led to my downfall at the time. We did some good work, once they’d been moved to better accommodation and the physical experiments ceased. We wrote volumes of research on Kellach culture and history.’
‘I have a small confession to make about that,’ Bridget said, stifling a laugh.
He frowned.
‘We might have made a lot of that up,’ she said.
Shella sniggered.
Laodoc said nothing.
‘It was me and Kallie, mostly,’ Bridget said. ‘We had a right laugh inventing stuff for your book.’
Laodoc’s tongue flickered as the two women chuckled.
‘But why?’
‘There were things we didn’t want you to know about,’ she said, ‘in case the Rahain used it against us. We were your captives, and you were going on about getting your book published. We didn’t want all your folk knowing our secrets.’
‘What secrets?’ said Shella.
‘Oh, about fire mages and the existence of sparkers. And stuff about being twins, and what that meant to us.’
‘Twins?’ said Agang.
‘Aye,’ she said, her smile fading. ‘It seemed so important to us back then, but it means nothing any more. It’s all gone.’
‘What does it mean, though?’
Bridget turned to him. ‘All Kellach Brigdomin are twins, well most of us. There are the odd few singles about, like Dyam.’
‘So you have a twin?’ Agang said.
‘No,’ Bridget said, ‘I’m different again. I was part of triplets. I had two sisters, who were identical. We were all born on the same day, but.’
‘Had?’
Bridget nodded. ‘Both died in the war.’
‘Sorry,’ said Shella.
Bridget shrugged. ‘Seems a long time ago now. And most of the other Kellach survivors, the same thing happened to them. I doubt that many twins are still together, except maybe in the deepest glens of the Domm Highlands.’
‘It’ll return,’ Laodoc said, ‘once new generations are born.’
‘Aye,’ she said, ‘as long as the Emperor never goes down to Domm, and the folk there are safe.’
Agang frowned. ‘Would I be right in saying that Killop and Keira are twins?’
‘Aye,’ Bridget said, ‘and ye could see it, whenever they worked together, like two halves of the same person, even though they’re completely different.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ laughed Shella.
‘I know,’ Bridget said, ‘but the fact that they’re both mages only adds to it. A thrower and a sparker together, the two sides of Pyre’s gift. That’s what we believed anyway.’
‘A sparker?’ said Agang.
‘Aye,’ Bridget said, ‘someone who can generate fire from nothing. Keira can throw fire that’s already there, but she can’t make it. Only a sparker can do that.’
‘Did you know this?’ said Agang to Laodoc. ‘This is all new to me.’
‘Killop never told me anything himself,’ he said, ‘but I had a fair inkling, from listening to people talk in Slateford.’
‘I knew,’ said Shella. ‘Daphne told me about Killop,
and Bedig told me about twins.’
Laodoc glanced at Bridget, but the Brig woman didn’t react.
‘So the Kellach mage powers are split between twins?’ Agang said. ‘Do you think the Emperor possesses both?’
‘You were the one who was there,’ said Bridget, ‘you saw him.’ She turned to Shella. ‘You did too.’
‘I saw him throw fire,’ said Agang. ‘He destroyed the Sanang regiments that had breached the city walls by hurling balls of fire at them.’
‘The Kellach mage he killed in the ritual,’ said Shella, ‘she was a thrower. That’s what she told me anyway, while we were all in a cell together.’ She shook her head. ‘She was crazy. She actually volunteered, can you believe that? She gave herself up to the Emperor, even though the Kellach in the city were trying to hide her from the One True Path.’
Bridget gazed out at the vast land to their right, the foothills undulating in the morning sunshine.
‘Do you remember her name?’
‘Lilyann,’ said Shella. ‘Young. In her teens, I would guess.’
Dean let out a cry, and wept, putting his head in his hands. Dyam strode over, reaching her arm over his shoulder.
‘Fuck,’ said Bridget. ‘Lilyann.’
‘You knew her?’ said Shella.
‘Aye.’
Dyam looked up. ‘She was the fire mage that fought under Killop at the battle for the gates of the Rahain Capital. She practically won the war for the alliance.’
Bridget’s eyes hardened. ‘Then the religious fanatics from the Holdings poisoned her mind.’ She glanced at Dean. ‘They tried to get to him too.’
Shella pulled on the reins, bringing the wagon to a halt, as Dean remained standing, tears flooding down his cheeks.
She glanced at Bridget. ‘Were they…?’
Bridget shook her head. ‘Just friends. We found them in a camp for slave children in the Rahain highlands, where the authorities had forgotten all about them. That prison was all they’d known for years.’
Laodoc clenched his fist. ‘How I wish I could undo the evil that my nation brought to yours, my Kellach Brigdomin friends. How I wish I could erase the past few years and start again.’ He paused, tears coming to his eyes. ‘I’m so sorry.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 190