The Key To The Grave (#2 The Price Of Freedom)

by Chris Northern

  Jocasta hadn't looked at me once. Her expression intent, puzzled yet concentrated; trying to make sense of it and trying to ask questions that would help her understanding. “How did he let go the ties and become a spirit?”

  “His body burned low,” Quickmoon said.

  “I think he took a poison,” I chipped in.

  Jocasta glanced at me but Quickmoon cocked his head to one side, as though listening. “Time to go. Dubaku is coming. Pity you didn't want to have sex with me,” he smiled at Jocasta. “Dubaku thinks about sex a lot; his body remembers it fondly.” He looked down, his body suddenly relaxed to the point that he nearly toppled over, but then he caught himself, and when he looked up, he was Dubaku. Personally, I could have lived without that last revelation; it made it hard for me to think of something to say.

  “Welcome back,” I said at last.

  He ignored me, turning first to Jocasta. “Quickmoon is not well versed in social matters. Forgive him his rudeness.” Then he turned to me. “It was a poison, but I thought we had settled that?”

  Well, that answered one question that I had not even thought of. Dubaku remembered what Quickmoon did with his body, just as Quickmoon clearly had access to Dubaku's memories. I still had some trouble imagining someone as old as Dubaku thinking about sex 'a lot,' but it wasn't a matter I felt I wanted to pursue.

  I shrugged. “Just curious,” I offered. “What happened?”

  He sighed. “No. I will not tell you. You are not my son and my secrets are not for you. Are you not content with your city magic? Is it not enough power for you? Or do you seek a more harmonious path?”

  I had no idea what he meant. I had hardly any magic to speak of, and as for harmony... what did that have to do with power?

  When I did not answer he stood up. “I need to eat and rest.” He turned to Jocasta before moving away. “I am glad to see you free and well,” he said, and left us alone.

  “And are you well?” I asked her.

  “They didn't rape me, if that's what you are asking,” she met my gaze defiantly.

  It was, in a way. We were not married yet, and for any man of my class it would be a primary concern. But that wasn't why I'd asked. I could see she had not been beaten or tortured. Yet I knew from my own experience that the Necromancers are not kind to their prisoners, not lacking in ruthlessness when pursuing their goals. “I am glad, but only because you do not have that scar in your mind.”

  “They would have. Not, I think, Ishal himself, he didn't seem interested. No passion. Yet he threatened to let the men have me if I did not cooperate. Tahal also made threats, but he is still a man of the city at heart. He would not violate a woman, at least not one of his own class.” Her voice wasn't as steady as it could be, though she was putting on a good show. “Dammit, I don't want to talk about this now,” then her voice broke and she held in a sob, but couldn't hold back the tears. I moved closer and held her; she resisted for a moment, then gripped me hard and wept in earnest, face pressed to my chest.

  I just held her for a while. Then, as I felt she had cried out, spoke softly. “I tried to get to you sooner, but the first night I was close enough to try he was surrounded by an army, then twice he stopped at settlements along the way.”

  She nodded against my chest. “I know,” she said. “I was there, remember?” She sighed, her body relaxing. “It was the same for me at Undralt; I knew you were there, but I couldn't get you out, not right away.”

  I couldn't think of anything to say. We sat in silence for a short while. I hoped she took some comfort from me, and knew I was relieved that she was there, with me, safe.

  “You stink,” she said after a while.

  I laughed. “I haven't bathed properly in days. I'm looking forward to it.”

  “Me too.” she laughed with a hint of a sob still in her voice, getting control of herself. “So,” she pushed back from me, but not far, and wiped her eyes and face dry with one hand, “still want to marry me?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Nothing would ever change my mind about that.”

  “Nothing?” Now she met my gaze, looking to see if I spoke the truth.

  I touched away a tear, then cupped her sweet face with my hand, looking into her eyes. “Nothing,” I said, and realized it was true as I said it. Not love. Not yet. But the beginnings of it, perhaps.

  She kissed me, just a fleeting kiss and I didn't press it. “Good.”

  “I think so. Hungry?” I had become aware of the smell of food cooking.

  She nodded emphatically. “I'll go get it.” She shot a look at me, her expression wry. “It's a woman's job.”

  I laughed. “Feed me, cook, clean, rescue me from my captives when the need arises. A woman's work is truly never done.”

  She laughed a little but quickly turned serious. “I think we'll be all right, don't you?”

  My eyes locked to hers, I nodded slightly. “Yes, Jocasta. I think we will be all right.”

  “Good.” She gave an emphatic nod and turned away to fetch me some food.

  #

  “What?” Jocasta looked amazed at my suggestion. “Tahal may not have one tenth my skill but he is still a rogue sorcerer; he has an eighty carat stone and ten carat stone; of course we have to go after him.”

  I knew what magic Tahal Samant had, or at least what he had told me when we had been imprisoned in the Eyrie together. A few personal offensive and defensive spells, and not much more. At that time I had given him the ten carat stone so that he could get us out of there; instead, when Sapphire had been thrown into the same cell, he had simply left with my one-time friend, Kerral. I had seen him again when I had killed the lich, Kukran Epthel. I'd been burned. I hadn't thought to challenge Tahal at that time; and had not thought to do so later. But now I would. That we would go after him wasn't at issue in my mind. Or, more accurately, only the 'we' part was. I had a job to do in the north and while I was here, clearly I would make every effort to find Ishal and Tahal and take back our stone. Sapphire was part of my mission in the north. No one else needed to be here. Least of all Jocasta, who I wanted safe back in the city. I had expected her to assume that her rescue was the only reason I was here, and that we would head back at once. But when I had suggested getting her back to the city - and I had phrased it exactly that way - she responded with that.

  “Sapphire and I can take care of them,” I said, trying to sound casual and idly poking at the fire we shared, edging the fresher looking wood to the middle and stirring a few flames to life.

  “I hope you are not suggesting sending me back, either alone or in company.”

  I glanced at the next fire over, where Dannat and Dubaku slept. Sapphire was out in the night, keeping an eye on the trail. When he returned it would be Dannat's turn, and lastly, mine. I hoped to get some sleep before then, but the wounded Alendi needed watching as well and that was half the reason I was still awake. The other half of the reason sat next to me.

  “I don't know what the situation is in the north, or how dangerous it will be; but I do know that I didn't come here to put you at risk. In the city, you would be safe.”

  She made an exasperated noise. “Safe?” She leaned closer, grabbed my arm and my attention, forcing me to look at her. “Sumto, in the city I would be alone. My brother is dead, my sister is a fool but still my elder and the head of the family; my reputation is ruined, society will shun me, we cannot be wed until a senior magistrate is available to preside and I cannot live under your roof until then. What, I ask you, am I supposed to do? Live at my sister's tolerance so long as I keep myself invisible to her friends and suitors? She will not thank me or make my life easy. There is no going back except with you. So, tell me you were not thinking of sending me back, because I won't do it.”

  I grinned my best 'I'm lying and we both know it' grin. “Of course not, my love. I had no such intention.”

  “Liar,” she laughed.

  “Yes, but if you know I'm lying it doesn't count; so that's all right, then.
”

  She cocked her head to one side, thinking that one through. “Hmmm, as long as you know that I know what the truth is, there is no intent to deceive?”

  “Exactly. The only reason to lie is to control someone's actions by feeding them false information. In short, an attempt to make someone your slave.”

  “And you hate slavery...?” She left the sentence hanging.

  I sighed and poked at the fire some more. “I think it's fundamentally wrong for one man to own others and profit from their labor. But I can't think of anything better to do with our enemies. Leave them free to attack us again? Kill them all, just for opposing us or being a party to that opposition?” I shook my head. “If I had a better idea than taking them into our society and trying to turn them into citizens, or at least their children into citizens of the city, then I would advocate it. But I don't.”

  She looked at me for a long moment. “I'll give it some thought for when you are king and can change the constitution.”

  I laughed. “Oh, no. Two things wrong with that idea, my sweet. One, I will not likely make it that far up the course of honors, and more importantly, I don't like the idea of standing in front of the patrons with a noose around my neck to propose a change of any kind, let alone one so likely to get the chair kicked out from under me. It wouldn't even come to a vote. Three hundred patrons racing toward me; I can hear the thunder of their feet now.”

  Now we were both laughing. It was one of the few privileges of what was for the most part a purely honorary post consular title; the king had the right to propose a change the constitution, the basic set of laws of society. The snag was that the king literally had to advocate the change in the assembly with a noose around his neck and standing on a chair; and anyone of the patrons present could kick the thing out from under him if too outraged by the proposal. If he lived, the idea was at least voted on. It was a little extreme, but it did stop people attempting self-serving or stupid changes to a constitution that basically worked well enough as it was. For a moment I began to wonder what change I might propose, but then Jocasta interrupted that line of thought.

  “Where do you think they will go?”

  “Ishal and Tahal?” I cast the seeker spell and knew at once in what direction they now lay. I pointed, “They are there, or at least that direction. I can't tell how far.”

  She turned to look the way I pointed. “How do you know?”

  “ A seeker spell, the same you used, I'd guess,” I touched the stone set in my forehead. “It's still twinned to my stone, and Tahal has that.”

  She smiled, almost proudly, her gaze resting a moment on my sword and armor, which lay nearby. “Of course, I had Urik buy it back when it was found, the ring with the armor. And Tahal stole it along with the other stone. I hadn't noticed; he wears the eighty carat stone but not yours.”

  I shrugged. “He can only use one at a time, and would choose the large no matter what his skill.”

  She nodded agreement. “Pride. He knows nothing that needs that much stone. He's not that knowledgeable. I could make a good guess from the questions he was asking...” Her gaze turned inward, remembering, then she shook her head and looked up. “I don't have any stone at all.Without it I'm not much use to you.”

  It was worse than that. We had been speaking our native tongue the whole time, and it occurred to me then that she knew none of the Gerrian language. Every time she opened her mouth she would declare our origins, so travelling incognito was out. I didn't mention it then, though. She looked forlorn enough. “Magic isn't your only skill.”

  She tried to look demure, but her smile put the lie to it. “Really, Sumto, my reputation may be in ruins but I still think that was a little forward of you.”

  I chuckled and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Not what I meant, but still... my skin won't always be a mess.”

  She looked at me appraisingly. “How bad is it?” He eyes danced with wicked humor.

  “Too bad to even try,” my disappointment was genuine.

  “Does it hurt?”

  I shrugged. “Not so bad as it did. Another week and I'll be fine.”

  She leaned in and ran a finger gently over one eyebrow. “Your hair is growing back, a little.”

  “Good. I looked ridiculous.”

  “Not to me,” she said. “Never to me.”

  Our first real kiss was sweet and lingering, a promise of pleasure to come. Still, I really was in no condition for more, and we were hardly alone. But then, I had nothing more to say that was worth interrupting a genuinely delightful kiss for. “Ow,” damn. Burns.

  “Sorry.”

  I laughed. “Not half as sorry as I am. I think you'd better get some sleep, while you can.”

  “I'm fine.” A moment later she yawned. “Okay, I'm tired.” She arranged some blankets and made herself comfortable.

  I kept watch over her.

  #

  A kick in the ribs had me moving, reaching for a weapon. Sapphire took a seemingly casual step back as my blade came to hand. “Not bad,” he said. “next time, attack first, a weapon is a luxury.”

  I put the sword back where it lived and looked around at the burned-out fires and my companions. Dubaku was awake, watching us and the prisoners. It wasn't yet dawn. I'd had about an hour's sleep. It felt like it. “What is it?”

  “Riders on the trail.”

  I got to my feet, bringing my sword with me, suddenly much more alert. “How many?”

  “I counted twenty-two torches. They are coming from Learneth, so I'm guessing Ishal reported being attacked by bandits on the trail. Or has allies there. What do you think?”

  I cursed. “I think the first story told is the one believed, and that Learneth has a vested interest in keeping her trade route clear of bandits. I think it doesn't matter right now.”

  He nodded. “That's what I thought.”

  “Twenty-two is too many.”

  “I thought that, too.”

  I thought of the seeker spell; it would give me an indication if Tahal was with the riders or not. Ishal too, by association. “Wake the others and get the horses ready, I want to take a look.”

  He didn't say anything, just moved away from us as I squatted by Jocasta and shook her gently awake. She was a light sleeper, eyes open in sudden fear, then relaxing as she saw my face in the glow of the fire's embers. “What is it?”

  “Riders. Get ready. I think we are going to run.”

  “Ishal?”

  “I'd guess that it is. I'm just going to check. Back in a moment.”

  She was already moving as I left, hurried but calm. I liked her for that. No panic, no nonsense, just getting on with what needed doing.

  Picking my way through the dark wasn't easy. Just a short distance from the low gleam of the fire I might as well have had my eyes closed for all the difference it made. I could hear the horses in the distance as I moved to the trail, one careful step at a time. It still wasn't long before I could see the light of their torches. Habitually, I did a quick count, twenty-two, just as Sapphire had said. They were still a good way off, maybe two miles away. Without waiting longer than it took to count them, I cast the seeker spell. Tahal was either there or in a direct line between us or beyond, and that would have been too much of a coincidence.

  Damn. Now what? Declare myself and face them? It would take a brave ruler to have me publicly executed but it had been known to happen and these things could be done quietly. Or be 'accidents.' Not that that was likely, in any case; much more likely Ishal would cut a deal with one or some of the magistrates to take custody of us – of Jocasta and myself at least. If he had already cut such a deal we would never get to Learneth to dispute the matter and find allies of our own amongst the magistrates. Best assume the worst, and act accordingly. I did not relish being in the power of a Necromancer again, and I had only just got Jocasta free of him.

  I realized I was standing in the night debating with myself when I should be acting. The time to think is
over, I reminded myself; now it's the time to act. I moved. Going back to the camp was a little easier; the three dim beacons of light that were the burned down fires showed me the way, one or another suddenly dimming and brightening as people moved about the camp. I was glad no one had stirred the fires to life; not that they were in line of sight of the enemy but even so, the brightening of the area would be seen, no doubt, and tell them not only that we were here but that we were aware of them. Even as I was moving, I was thinking. They wouldn't be riding fast, even with torches, no one would be inclined to take the risk of moving faster than the horses cared to walk. We had an hour or less to put as much distance between them and us as possible; but which way? I was betting that the city guard would not pursue us forever; at some point, some distance from the city or some period of time – maybe a number of days – they would give it up as a loss and return to Learneth. Back the way we came seemed like a bad choice for us; Darklake had been stirred up like an ants' nest. Bad idea to try and pass there again. Maybe Meran and my two centuries were close to there by now, but maybe not. Not worth the gamble.

  I was almost smiling as I walked into the organized chaos of the camp. “We take only as many horses as we need. We'll need torches, unless you can make a light, Dubaku? I can, but it won't be much, roughly twenty candles-worth.”

  Dubaku was saddling his own horse, for a wonder, and paused to answer. “Lareto can make light, as much as a large campfire would give. But won't stay long. It's hard for spirits to maintain focus. They come, they do, they go.” He shrugged.

  “Good to know, but we take torches anyway. We'll have to be quick.” Even as I spoke I was rummaging into the baggage, after oil and some cloth that I didn't mind too badly to burn. “We will head back of the trees there and then cross country. Sapphire? Wasn't there a way up at the end of the gully?”