by JANRAE FRANK
The tall youth fitted an arrow to his bow, pausing and firing, then walking again. His first arrow caught it in the back. The bear rose onto its hind legs with a shattering roar of pain.
Talons snarled, breaking into a run before Blackbird could stop her. Blackbird signaled a lowering of the ranged weapons. "Lizard, Birdie, Jysy give her some back up. She's as stupid as some paladins I know."
Talons and the bear met at the base of the rise. Claws out, she danced around the beast, spinning out of the path of its claws, laying it open with her own. She moved like a dancer, finding her rhythm, strike and dance and strike again. Blackbird's eyes lit at the exquisite deadliness of the young assassin, signing the three older Urchins to hang back: they would only complicate the battle for Talons.
"She's not stupid," Blackbird amended, watching her systematically shred the bear to ribbons.
Talons bounded onto a low stone outcropping, sprang up in a high back flip that dropped her behind the bear. Before it could turn on her, she had taken its eyes and throat.
She kicked it as it staggered, weeping and falling. The noises were strangely human. The Urchins gathered around her, watching as the bear's form withered away, leaving a naked mon in a golden collar bearing the dragon and rowans charm.
* * * *
Ladonys' six ha'taren retainers were the first to reach her. Blackbird rose from her fire, standing to meet them. Birdie, rinsing and replacing a cool cloth on Ladonys' brow, shot her ma'aram a questioning glance. Blackbird shook her head and the youth continued tending Ladonys. Talons and the rest had gone on, carrying Wilstryn Hornbow to a safe house Blackbird had set up long years before. A child of the streets, Blackbird had gone back to them without missing a beat.
They rode at full gallop, pushing their wynderjyns to the limits, desperate with fear and worry. Ladonys' household, before she married Aejys, had always been small despite the fact that she came from an ancient and honored lineage; they were all fiercely loyal. The oldest, Soren, a gaunt, gray-haired woman who stopped counting her birthdays when she passed a hundred, sprang from her wynderjyn to kneel by Ladonys' side. "Mei Ajan," she cried, her voice catching as she brushed Birdie aside, cradling her tenderly. "Mei Ajan!"
Ladonys' eyes opened, she could not focus, and everything was blurred. "Shifter..." She groaned, breaking into a fit of coughing which brought up flecks of blood. "Laeoli... They got her..." Then she fainted.
Soren looked now to Blackbird. "What happened and what the hell are you doing here?"
"We were coming back from Toomei. Visiting my sister. Saw it all from the hillside," Blackbird nodded in that direction. Then the old campaigner thrust a brand into the fire. Blackbird led Soren from bear to bear, each wore that same charm, stopping finally at the shifter's body.
"The heir. Where is the heir?" Soren asked.
"Slain," Blackbird said bluntly, and then told her everything she had seen from the hill as they returned to Ladonys' side, leaving out Talons and Wilstryn.
The youngest dropped to her knees beside them, her eyes filling with tears as she handed the older woman a satchel of medicinals and a skin of water. "How bad is it?"
"I won't know until I've checked her wounds," she said, adding to Birdie, "You've done a good job of tending her." She turned to the others who now stood in a circle around them. "Yavran, we'll need a litter. All of you, listen to me, the heir is slain."
"Laeoli!" A sob broke from the youngest, Maranya's throat. They had been friends, not as close as Laeoli and Tamlestari, but very close. Soren pulled the youth into her arms, letting her sob against her shoulder.
"Blackbird, tell it again." the aged ha'taren said. And Blackbird did. When she had finished, the six retainers were grim, several with tears in their eyes, but no other sign of grief.
"You three," Soren jabbed a finger at each, "See if you can find any thing that might let Sonden's people read what happened here." She started briskly to work cleaning and bandaging the wounds.
The three started searching instantly, their faces grim.
One ha'taren followed the bloody trail to the water's edge and shouted for the others. Soren left Maranya to help Yavran get Ladonys onto the litter. Blackbird trailed after her. "I'd appreciate it if you could forget I was here. I don't want to bring these folk down on my children ... you know..."
Soren nodded absently as she joined the others at the stream. "Consider it done, Blackbird."
Blackbird gestured to Birdie and they put out their torches, disappearing into the night.
Soren knelt, touching the dried blood and crushed grass.
"They probably walked in the water to lose the trail," Soren stated. "There are not enough of us to split up and track them."
"I want to try," a young ha'taren, Arvath, said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Soren looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, "Don't play hero, Arvath. If you find them, come back and tell us. The Mar'ajan can send a larger force of arms than we can muster."
Arvath nodded, "I'll be careful."
"Don't do anything stupid either," Soren sounded almost cross.
"By my life and honor," Arvath replied. Then she whistled her wynderjyn to her and set off alone along the river, searching for the place where the shifters had left the water.
Soren pulled Ladonys' axe from the base of the bear's head. As she did, she noticed the charm on its leather thong. She looked at it and her face flushed with anger. "Margren!" she snarled, spitting on the bear. "Margren stinks of evil. Kaethreyn cannot or will not smell it." Soren slid the charm into her pants pocket.
When they had the litter ready, they suspended it between two wynderjyns. Soren walked beside Ladonys, praying she would wake again; wondering how to break the news to Kaethreyn that her only grandchild was dead. Yavran walked beside the lead wynderjyn. The five moved in slow sad procession back to the castle.
* * * *
The Mar'ajan Kaethreyn watched them come from the battlements above the city gates. She wore a simple dark green shirt and pants, legs stuffed into tall deerskin boots with high, horsemyn's heels. Her long black hair hung loose, held in place by a simple golden circlet. The heavy braided chain of her office with the Rowanslea crest cut into the face of a large ruby set in gold hung beside the silver Aroanan Rune of a consecrated ha'taren. When they drew near, she descended.
A crowd had grown to immense proportions at the gates to the City of Rowan after word had spread about Ladonys' wynderjyn returning alone and wounded. Many had seen the animal pass and recognized the crest on the saddle. Word spread through the city swiftly; more than half the citizenry knew about it before Kaethreyn and were already gathered when she first came to the gates. They gave way as she approached with a handful of her elite guard.
A tall mon in long black robes trimmed in silver runes arrived. He walked with a silver crozier in his left hand adorned with the Aroanan Rune. His beardless face, delicately boned, with large black eyes and a wide thick-lipped mouth, held both serenity and compassion. His long black hair hung to his knees, caught in three places by silver clips. Six warrior priests flanked him wearing black breeches, boots, and tunics.
When the crowd saw him, they started dropping to their knees with murmurs of "Your Holiness."
Ordinarily High Priest Sonden would have acknowledged their homage and blessed them. This time he moved with a gliding step past them. He reached Ladonys before Kaethreyn, kneeling beside the litter. Sonden handed his staff to a priest who stepped forward to receive it. He placed one hand on Ladonys' forehead and gripped her wrist with the other. Sonden's eyes closed. His mouth tightened as his awareness extended itself through Ladonys' body, Reading her wounds.
"Take her to my manor house, it's closest," he said. Two priests took the litter loose and began to walk away with Ladonys.
"Your Holiness," Kaethreyn began.
"Your Grace, she is better off in my care. Infection already spreads through her blood."
"Laeoli..." The Marajan's voi
ce caught strangely. "She was with her."
"The young heir!"
"Forgive me, Mei ajan," Soren dropped to one knee before them. "Ladonys' regained consciousness long enough to say she was slain. She fell into the water ... her body was swept away..." She pulled a tuft of bloody grass from her pouch, extending it to Sonden. "Your Holiness."
He closed his hand around the grass, sensing the pattern of the blood on it. "It is Laeoli's." His eyes lifted to Kaethreyn's. "I am so very sorry..."
Kaethreyn went deathly pale, her mouth narrowing until her lips disappeared. She walked beside the litter; Sonden led them through the streets to his house in Rowan.
Kaethreyn turned aside there, "You will let me know..."
"Of course, Your Grace," Sonden said with gentle politeness.
Soren approached him, "By your leave, Your Holiness," she said, "we would like to attend our liege." She is all we have left.
Sonden gave her a look of such compassion it brought tears to the old ha'taren's eyes. "Of course. You are all welcome in my home."
* * * *
Soren set a watch in Ladonys' room. They occupied a chair beside the window, out of the way of the priests working on their liege's wounds. One of the five remained with her at all hours. If Sonden thought anything about this he did not mention it until the next morning as Soren was taking breakfast in the kitchen. The five ha'taren chose not to eat with the priests, although they had been invited to the table: they wanted to make their presence as unobtrusive as possible.
Soren rose from her seat at a table in the far corner as Sonden approached her. "Your Holiness." She bowed her head briefly in acknowledgement.
"None of that," he said gently smiling, "I have as little formality in my home as I can get by with. I get enough of it at the temples."
"Ladonys?"
"Resting comfortably. But there is something we need to speak of. Bring your food and drink and follow me."
She followed the High Priest up two flights of stairs to a little garret room with two large windows. Soft, deep carpets woven in bright geometric patterns covered the floor. The curtains were pale, almost transparent white linen, letting the sun fill the room with warmth. In a small alcove stood a statue of the God, Aroana, kneeling with her arms around two children. A white votive candle burned on a private altar before it. Bookcases lined the walls. The furniture sat in the middle; a gold couch with deep cushions, bright pillows propped in the corners; two claw-footed chairs with generous cushions; and a small table with an inkwell and some papers spread over it.
Soren's ha'taren sensitivity to magic told her the room was shielded.
"Please, sit," Sonden said, waving his hand at the couch. Soren did so. Then he pulled a chair close and sat down. He leaned forward as he spoke. "There is more to this than you have told me. Your people are standing guard because they believe Ladonys threatened by more than her wounds. Am I right?"
Soren drew a deep, ragged breath, reached into her pocket, and handed the golden charm to Sonden.
A shadow passed over his face as he studied the charm. "This is what I feared." He laid the charm on the table, laced his fingers, and pressed them to his mouth for a long silent moment. "When the lifemages in Armaten disappeared I sent word to the main Guild hall in Charas, asking if they had been recalled. They replied that no one knew what had become of them. Two weeks ago all their guild houses in Shaurone were closed and the mages summoned home. No one could offer an explanation. I see my explanation here. Where did you find it?"
"Sire Sonden," Soren said, unable to completely dispense with formality, "I found it around the neck of a dead shifter, killed by Ladonys."
"Do you suspect who made this thing? Who would want to harm Ladonys and Laeoli?"
Soren was silent, her expression uneasy.
"What you say will not leave this room."
Soren shook her old head regretfully, speaking as if the words were being pulled from her mouth, "Margrenan brye Rowan."
"Yes, that one's aura is quite black."
Soren looked amazed. "You see auras?"
Sonden smiled at that, "I have more gifts than I allow to be known." He picked up the charm. "May I keep this?"
"Of course, Sire Sonden," Soren said.
"Good. Now you may finish your breakfast here or in the kitchen or wherever you like. But I have many things to attend to."
* * * *
WindHawk,
I regret to inform you that a pack of bears, possibly led by a 'shifter attacked Ladonys and Laeoli as they hunted alone two days ago. One of those charms such as John Dawn gave the Grand Master was found around the neck of a slain bear. Ladonys has not yet regained full consciousness and is badly mauled. Laeoli is missing. My people are looking for her.
Archer
Aejys shook with rage and shock as she read the letter. "Tag, get our forces ready to march in the morning."
"But Aejys..."
"Now!"
Tagalong sighed, departing immediately.
Hanadi sat quietly in a corner, her hand on Brundarad's head. "Only if you had traveled with a handful could you have left any sooner, Aejystrys Rowan. And that would have played into Margrenan's hands. You must move with caution and power."
Aejys did not reply to her statement. She stared out the window, "It looks as if I may already have nothing left to lose."
"You still have your life and that is always something. What is more it may be that Laeoli has escaped."
"I don't know that, Hanadi. I would appreciate it if you asked Cassana and Tamlestari to come up. I'd like to speak with them alone."
"So be it." Hanadi rose with a deep bow and left with Brundarad at her heels.
* * * *
Sonden's healer priests, while not lifemages, were still quite skilled. A week after the attack by the shifters, Soren was delighted to find Ladonys sitting up in bed, speaking with quiet stoicism of the attack and the death of Laeoli.
Maranya gave up her chair beside Ladonys' bed to Soren. The old ha'taren sat down and took Ladonys' hand, clasping it in both of her and then kissing it. "Mei Ajan," she said, "it is good to see you up."
Just then Yavran burst into the room, "Soren!" Then she saw Ladonys sitting up, "Mei Ajan. Arvath is dead."
"Damn it! I told her to take no chances!" Soren cursed angrily, masking her sorrow.
Ladonys paled. "How?"
"Two hunters found her and her wynderjyn. They'd..." Yavran choked on her words, halted and started again. "They brought her body back. Someone – something had nailed her to a tree and disemboweled her."
Silence fell in the room: It must have taken at least a day or more for her to die in unimaginable pain.
Yavran mastered herself, beginning again. "They laid her wynderjyn's head at her feet. The monsters must have made her watch them kill him."
"Soren, please tell his holiness I wish to speak with him." Ladonys looked deeply shaken, but in control.
Soren nodded and left.
"What are you going to do?" Maranya asked.
"I'm going to ask for sanctuary. For all of us."
* * * *
"I don't understand any of this!" Kaethreyn paced angrily back and forth in her study. "Ladonys is perfectly safe here. This is her home!"
"Apparently she feels the source of attack came from within your household," Sonden said, imperturbably. "Arvath's murder, and I would not call it anything less, adds weight to her claims."
"I have lost my only grandchild. My rangers and scouts can find no trail, no sign that leads anywhere. My eldest daughter abandons me. My son-in-law is slain and now my daughter-in-law is frightened of my court?"
"A member of your family is in league with Waejontor," Sonden replied, tapping the charm. "I would like to have your entire household read for the taint of Waejontor. Especially Margren and all of her cousins."
"That's out of the question!" Kaethreyn snapped. "There is no treason in my household! I will not tolerate the humiliation of a mass rea
ding. Clearly that charm was wrought to mislead us."
"I wish I could believe that, my old friend, but I cannot."
"Then we have nothing more to speak of!" Kaethreyn stalked out of the room.
Sonden sighed deeply, pocketing the charm. His heart felt heavy and a weight lay on his shoulders such as he had not felt since the war's end. There had to be some way to make Kaethreyn see reason though he could not think of any just then. Sonden rose and departed Castle Rowan. He had many last minute details to attend to before he returned to Armaten on the morrow. Ladonys would ride in a carriage he had hired to lessen the pain of her wounds while they traveled.
* * * *
Margren rose as the assembled nobility took their dinner, taking a very subdued Juldrid by the hand bringing her to her feet. "I have an announcement to make!"
All eyes turned to Margren and Juldrid. "My beloved ma'aram, ajans, and consorts, my friends all. This is a sad time. Just days ago my beloved niece, the heir, was slain by a ravening beast sent by powers out of hell. Yet there is also joy. We are with child."
CHAPTER SEVEN. THE ROAD TO SAINT TARMUS
The morning was as chill as the afternoons were hot. The night mists, smelling of salt and pine, still lay heavily upon the broad green beyond the walls of Vorgensburg where Aejys' company assembled in a long column three myn wide. The citizenry of Vorgensburg filled all the open spaces around them, leaving only the far end of the road open where the city guard held them back. They stood in little patches of family and social classes, here a group of brightly clad syndics and their equally attired wives and children; there a poor mother in patched clothing holding her child up on her shoulder to see; carpenters in leather aprons; clusters of sailors; and the blacksmith standing spread-legged, broad as a tree. Becca and Clemmerick stood close to Aejys flanked by those members of the household that were being left behind. Josh was not among them. He had vanished in the night to one of his hidey-holes that only Clemmerick knew of.
The tavern master did not even attempt to smile, but wore her misgivings on her face in grim silence. Clemmerick, standing at her elbow, leaned on his huge staff and nodded to his companions fortunate (or not as the case might prove) enough to be included on this riding. "You be careful, Aejys," he admonished her.