by Tanya Huff
The captain stared down into the sweaty depths of her helm, cradled in the crook of one arm, and pursed her lips. “So you’re suggesting, Lady Bard, that I allow you and His Highness to go out and search for this Kars?” She looked up; her eyes amid the dirt and exhaustion marking her face were hard and uncompromising. “I think not. We will all be returning to the Capital and you can thank His Highness that you won’t be gagged and under guard.”
“Captain.” Otavas sighed. He’d said it before, but he’d say it one more time. “Karlene and her friends rescued me. They had nothing to do with my abduction.”
“As you say, Highness.” The captain bowed. Had the old man been around, she would have cheerfully slaughtered him for the pain that continued to cling to the young prince. But the old man wasn’t around, nor was there any sign of him, so … “But I have seen what this bard is capable of and, begging your pardon, Highness, but she could have made you see things that weren’t there.”
Karlene threw up her hands, frustration fighting with rage. “Highness?”
“Let him go, Karlene.” The prince wrapped his arms around his body, unable to stop the shaking that memories brought. The beautiful dark eyes shone with sudden tears. “I want to go home.”
She wanted to hug him, couldn’t with the army so close, and settled for a light touch on one cheek. “Then that’s what we’ll do,” she said softly. “Will you be all right if I go and talk to Vree and Bannon?”
He nodded, fighting panic. “But don’t stay away too long.”
The captain watched the bard walk over to her friends and shook her head. She supposed that any woman who could sing herself invisible could do just about anything she wanted to—but the comfort in her voice when she spoke to the prince had sounded too real to be faked.
* * * *
“He wanted to kill me, Vree!”
“No, not you, he intended to kill the assassin who came to kill him.” Her back up against the rock out-cropping, Vree looked everywhere but at her brother. “They all would’ve preferred to kill us over us killing them. You can’t blame him for that.”
Bannon’s eyes narrowed. “I can slaughtering well blame him for anything I slaughtering choose! He broke my arm!”
“Half a hill fell on him!” Vree fought to keep her temper from getting the better of her and lost. “You’re the one who broke your slaughtering vows and tried to kill a member of the Imperial Family!”
All the anger seemed to leach away as the color drained from Bannon’s cheeks. “I wasn’t in my right mind. Vree, you know that; you were there, too. I never meant to. I wanted my body back and I wanted you to have yours back and …”
“It’s all right.” She felt as if she’d aged about ten years over the last few weeks. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” That Bannon could, in any state of mind, consider his life of more importance than the oaths he’d taken and the prince he’d sworn to serve didn’t actually surprise her much. She supposed she’d come to know him too well. “Do you really think I could have you executed for treason?”
“No.” Bannon brightened visibly, most of his cocky grin returning. “Especially since I was in your body when I did it.”
Vree sighed; she couldn’t remember ever having been so tired.
“You still haven’t told me why you did it.” He’d been alternately hurt and furious. He’d demanded an answer, begged for an answer, and snarled that he had a right to an answer.
“I know.”
“Vree, if you don’t kill him, we’ve missed a target.”
“I am not my … our …” She took a deep breath and tried again. “I am not Commander Neegan. I chose to miss this target.”
*Thank you.*
*Shut up.* “Nobody makes my choices for me, Bannon. Not any more. Not you and not him.”
“Is he listening?”
“You know he is.”
“Then tell him I will never forgive him for this. For the rest, maybe in time I might have, but never for this. Do you understand?”
Vree nodded. It didn’t really matter if that last question had been directed at her or at Gyhard. She understood. Probably better than Bannon did. Nothing would ever be the same between them again.
Karlene had intended to ask them if they were all right but decided upon getting close enough to see their faces that there was little point. Bannon, who should have been overjoyed at being back in his own body, looked almost petulant. Vree, who had stuffed herself into a situation far more complicated than the one she’d just gotten out of, looked almost at peace.
* * * *
The captain had wanted to wait until the rider she sent returned with the comforts necessary to an Imperial Prince but Otavas overruled her. He wanted only to get home.
“Can you Sing away the darkness?” he asked as the sun began to set, tears trembling on his lashes.
Karlene held him the way she’d hold a child that needed comfort. “I can do better than that,” she promised. If nothing else, Gyhard had given her the knowledge of the fifth kigh and Singing the fifth kigh would, in time, heal Otavas. She could Sing him, not back, but through the memories and safety out the other side. In spite of what Gyhard had done, what he’d been in the past, she owed him for that.
Just after they crossed the ford and retrieved their horses, the kigh returned. Karlene raised her chin, Sang one pure, joyous note, and was nearly lifted from the saddle.
Watching through Vree’s eyes, Gyhard murmured, *Kars is gone. I’ve lost my chance to make it right.*
*You’re not dead yet.*
*Neither is he.*
*Do you think he’s gone back to his place, to your place, in the mountains?*
*Perhaps.*
*Then at least we’ll know where he is.* It was almost an offer. Not quite, for the future was still far too tenuous for that kind of a commitment; but almost.
Although Gyhard was a constant presence in her mind, Vree found him easier to coexist with than Bannon had ever been. Unlike Bannon, his life had not been a part of hers from the beginning and there was no question of where she ended and he began.
He was quieter, too, off guard and confused by what she’d done. Most of the time, he seemed content just to be. Three days passed before he found the courage to ask her why.
Vree thought about lying to him. but under the circumstances there didn’t seem to be much point, so she gave him as much of the truth as she’d been able to face herself. *Because I didn’t believe—don’t believe—you were going to jump to the prince.*
The silence lasted so long, she began to grow afraid he’d left her. When he finally spoke, she could barely hear him. *I wish I could be as certain, but I guess now we’ll never know.*
* * * *
Early in the march, Bannon stayed close beside her, sullen and uncommunicative. Once, she’d reached out to touch him, but he’d snatched his arm away.
*You risked your life for that little shit,* Gyhard snarled, jerked from his reflective mood not so much by Bannon’s reaction as by the way that reaction clawed bleeding chunks from Vree’s heart. *You’d think he’d remember what he owes you.*
Vree clenched her teeth and let her hand drop back to her side. *He doesn’t owe me anything.*
As they reached Shaebridge, Bannon began to spend time with the prince. The two young men were very close in age and Otavas, frantically clutching at the lives around him, could cling to a friend the way he couldn’t cling to Karlene. Flattered by Imperial attention, Bannon soon became charming and indispensable.
The captain didn’t like it, but even the captain had to admit that once or twice His Highness had smiled in Bannon’s company.
*It looks like he’s replaced you already.*
*Maybe it’s time.* No point in hiding the hurt.
Gyhard buried a strong desire to beat Bannon into a bloody pulp. *If he tells the prince about me …*
*He won’t.*
*How can you be so sure?*
Vree stared at the pale scar on
the back of her hand. Gyhard had defeated, humiliated, and brought out the worst in Bannon. For those reasons alone, Bannon would be unlikely to share the experience with anyone but, more importantly, withholding the knowledge of Vree’s betrayal meant he held new power over her to replace the old power that had been burned away.
*Vree?*
She tightened her grip on the reins, but all she said was, *I know my brother.*
* * * *
Unable to put it off any longer, Bannon having removed the need for her constant attendance on the prince, Karlene brought her horse up beside Vree’s and tried to think of the best way to begin. Bards were supposed to be good with words, but she couldn’t think of any that would lessen the impact of what she had to say. Finally, she said, “We have a problem.”
Vree looked surprised. “Just one?”
“This is serious, Vree.” She pitched her voice to carry to the younger woman’s ears but no farther. “What are we going to do about Gyhard?”
This time the surprise was unfeigned. “We? I thought that was my problem?”
*Our problem.*
Karlene shook her head. “Over the last hundred years, Gyhard has killed a number of innocent people. We can’t let him get away with that. He must be brought to justice.”
“Gyhard has killed to survive. So have I.” Vree’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s not the same. He’s removed himself from the Circle …”
Vree chopped her hand down and cut the bard off. “I don’t know about your Circle,” she snapped. “But I know about justice.”
*Vree …*
*SHUT UP!* Her horse danced sideways. She reined him in and fought for calm. “How are you going to put him on trial? You have no proof. You have no bodies. You have only his word for it that he’s killed anyone. In fact …”
Her expression lifted the hair on the back of Karlene’s neck.
“… you don’t even have him. I do.”
They rode in silence for a moment, every fall of hoof against stone, every creak of harness adding to the tension between them.
“So what do you plan to do?” Karlene asked at last. “Go back to the army? Go back to being a blade of Jiir? I don’t think you could do that even without Gyhard. I’m sure you can’t do it with him.”
“Bannon …”
“Leave Bannon out of this for now.” She reached between the horses and touched Vree’s cheek with the back of two fingers. “What are you going to do?”
Vree jerked away from the contact and at the same time turned almost desperately toward the older woman’s touch. “I don’t know.”
Karlene found herself suddenly willing to do just about anything to banish the stricken look from Vree’s eyes. She tried to fight it, sighed, and surrendered instead. “What do you want to do?”
“Start again.”
Only bardic training could have picked those two quiet words out of the surrounding noise. With Vree on one side of the scale and justice on the other, Karlene silently cursed Gyhard, Bannon, Neegan, the Imperial Army, and the Emperor himself.
* * * *
“Gabris, you’ve got to listen to me!” The prince had claimed Bannon and with all the excitement of the return to the palace, Karlene had somehow managed to keep Vree with her.
“But she’s got two kigh!” Gabris repeated.
“I know that.” Karlene grabbed the older bard’s arm and yanked him away from Vree before he did something foolish enough to push her over the edge and get himself kissed by an assassin’s blade. They had a lot to discuss before their audience with the Emperor and very little time to do it in. Eyes locked on Gabris’ face, Karlene began talking.
“… and although by now His Imperial Majesty will have heard the prince’s story,” she finished, “His Highness will have been able to tell him nothing about Gyhard?’
Eyes wide, Gabris waved both arms in the air. “Well, then he has to be told!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” His face flushed, he was almost shouting. “This man has removed himself from the Circle by the taking of innocent lives! Have you forgotten your vows?”
“This man doesn’t even exist anymore except as a part of Vree.”
“Then we Sing him out of her!”
“How? The little I know about Singing the fifth kigh does not include forcing apart two kigh that don’t want to be separated. How do I get him out of Vree’s body without destroying her?”
At that, Gabris turned and pointed a shaking finger at Vree. “You push him out!”
“No.”
There was such a complete and utter finality in that quiet syllable that it formed an impenetrable barricade. Under other circumstances, Karlene would’ve been amused to see Gabris stopped cold by it. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to have Gyhard make amends for what he did in the past?”
His angry gaze still locked on the assassin, Gabris muttered, “How?”
“The fifth kigh. No one knows more about it than he does—than they do. We can’t throw this opportunity away.”
* * * *
Having heard the story of his son’s ordeal as Otavas sat cradled in the safety of his mother’s arms, forgetting age and dignity in the need for comfort; having seen the shadows that lurked behind each word and would forever scar the prince’s heart; having been told by the captain how the bard had placed herself between the boy and the darkness during the return to the Capital, the Emperor chose to believe the tale she told.
* * * *
“For your part in the rescue of my son, I grant you both Imperial pardon. As you remained in my service, we will consider that your desertion never occurred.”
And Commander Neegan never died? No. There were limits to Imperial power after all. Heart pounding, Vree shot a look at the elderly bard out of the corner of one eye. If he was going to say anything, inform the Emperor that Gyhard did not die during that heavily edited final confrontation, this would be the time.
Gabris looked uncomfortable, but Karlene’s arguments held.
“Take these also.” The Emperor continued, indicating the two fat purses resting on the edge of the dais. There were no servants, no officers of the court at this very private audience—only the two kneeling assassins, the bards, and Marshal Usef—so he waited until Vree and Bannon had each taken up a purse before he continued. “It is little enough for the safe return of my son.” His gaze moved to Bannon alone. “His Highness has requested that you remain in his service as a bodyguard-companion.” For a heartbeat, his expression softened, the pain of the father replacing the authority of the Emperor. “I have agreed.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As Bannon spoke, Vree suddenly found it difficult to breathe. It was happening. It was really happening. From this point on, her brother would officially no longer be a part of her life. She felt Gyhard stir and fiercely willed him to be quiet.
“And you, Vireyda?”
Startled by his tone, she looked up and found him studying her with a mix of sympathy and curiosity. The sympathy was almost more than she could bear. She swallowed hard and tried to keep her lower lip from trembling. Then she remembered how Gyhard jumped his kigh and hastily dropped her gaze.
“You’ve been through a great deal these last few weeks with this man who lived so long by leaping his spirit from body to body. Are you certain you don’t want to return to the security of what you’ve always known?”
From the moment she’d left Ghoti carrying her brother’s kigh with hers, she’d wanted nothing more. From the moment she’d left Ghoti until the moment she discovered she couldn’t allow Gyhard to die. “No, Majesty. The bards, they say they can learn about the fifth kigh by studying me and I’d like to help them.”
His Imperial Majesty shifted so that he could include the two bards in his gaze. “You are certain, Lady Bard, that you can stop this ancient Cemandian who brings the dead to life should he return again?”
Karlene bowed. “It is unlikely, Majesty, that
he will return again. According to the kigh, he was heading toward the mountains where he feels safe.” According to Gyhard’s kigh—which made it not exactly an untruth. Someday, it would be necessary to go into the mountains after him, to not only lay a tormented fifth kigh to rest but to protect the other four from his insanity. That, however, was bardic business and none of His Imperial Majesty’s.
“I did not ask you if you believed he would return, merely if you could stop him should he return.”
Her second bow was considerably deeper than the first. “Yes, Majesty, I am certain we can stop him.”
“Good.” There was a certain amount of threat lurking behind the word. Turning Imperial attention back to the assassins, his voice took on formal cadences and drew the full attention of everyone in the small audience chamber. “While we are loath to lose your skills in the service of the Empire, we grant all that you have asked in appreciation of the return of our son. Vireyda Magaly, Albannon Magaly, from this moment on, you are released from your duty to the Imperial Army and released from all oaths pertaining to that duty.” He leaned forward, away from the brilliantly enameled sunburst carved into the back of the small throne. “We welcome you as private citizens of the Havakeen Empire.”
In his place behind the Emperor’s left shoulder, safely out of sight, Marshal Usef turned purple.
* * * *
“I don’t approve of this,” Gabris muttered as they left the audience chamber and passed through the first in a series of reception rooms. “Bards should not lie.”
“Who better than a bard to judge the damage the truth can do?”
“I think you’re on dangerous ground,” he growled, “but I reluctantly agree that there’s no point in ruining the young woman’s life further.”
“And you have no real urge to study the fifth kigh?” Karlene grinned at him, feeling almost giddy with relief. Considering what could have happened, she thought the whole thing had gone rather well. Then she sobered as she caught sight of Vree. “What is it?”
Vree gestured at Bannon, vanishing around a corner with a senior member of Prince Otavas’ household. “What,” she asked, trying to keep her voice from quavering, “do I do now?”