‘So what?’ Keira said. ‘It’s not like I need more hangers-on. I’ve already got you.’
Flora stood. Keira expected to see rage on her face, but she seemed calm.
‘I know what you’re doing,’ she said. ‘You’re trying to push us all away. It won’t work with me.’
She walked over to the front doors and left the tavern.
Keira narrowed her eyes. ‘What the fuck was that about?’
‘She means,’ Laodoc said, ‘that, consciously or not, you are attempting to show us how undeserving you are of our loyalty and friendship, perhaps due to a deep-seated realisation that you are not a nice person.’
Keira burst out laughing. ‘I think ye might have me confused with someone else.’
Agang’s face reddened.
‘You got something to fucking add?’ Keira snarled.
‘I think the way you treat Flora is abysmal.’
‘There ye go again,’ Keira said, ‘sticking up for poor wee Flora. Is there something going on between you pair?’
Agang shook his head, sighing. ‘How can you say that?’
‘Say what?’
‘You know what Niall told us.’
‘What?’
‘Niall,’ Agang said. ‘That night we were up talking, right before we were attacked by the flying lizard carriages. Do you not remember what Niall said? About Flora? ’
Keira frowned. ‘Was I drunk at the time?’
‘Yes,’ Agang said, ‘you were. But still, I thought you’d remember.’
‘Well? What the fuck did he say?’
Agang looked down. ‘Shit,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure if I should tell you now.’
‘If it’s important, then I should fucking know.’
‘All right.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Flora prefers girls.’
‘Is that it?’ Keira scowled. ‘Big deal. Wait a minute, she doesnae fancy me, does she?’
Agang shrugged.
Keira sipped her ale.
‘Fuck.’
Kendrie arrived with a large tray. He deposited three bowls of porridge and a large plate of fried meat and eggs, nodded, and went back to the bar.
Keira picked up a fork. ‘Ya fucking beauty.’
‘Madam Keira,’ Laodoc said, ‘as we eat breakfast, I was wondering if we could resume our conversation from last night?’
‘What was that, then?’
‘About searching for Mage Shella.’
Keira groaned and put down her fork.
‘Kalayne said she was essential to achieving victory over the Emperor,’ Agang said. ‘His vision showed you and her together.’
‘Shella’s the last person on fucking earth that I want to see,’ Keira said. ‘I hear she can kill folk with a wave of her hand.’
‘I’ve seen her do it,’ Laodoc said.
‘Then she’ll try to kill me for sure if she ever catches sight of me. The only thing I can do is blast her with a fucking firebolt before she can raise her arm.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Agang said, ‘you and her are on the same side.’
‘So she’s just going to forgive me for wiping out her city of frog-folk? Hardly.’
‘But you’ll have to meet her some time,’ Agang said. ‘Kalayne saw it.’
‘Fucksake, eight-thirds, I remember when you used to laugh whenever we mentioned that mad old bastard’s visions. Now yer more of a devoted believer than Kylon was. And anyway, if me meeting her is destined to be, then I may as well stay here and get drunk. I mean, she’ll come here eventually, won’t she?’
Laodoc frowned. ‘It pains me, I admit it, to sit here in Domm, while the rest of the world endures the rule of this new, powerful Emperor. I yearn to know what is happening elsewhere.’
‘Then go,’ Keira said. ‘No one’s keeping ye here.’
‘I would,’ Laodoc said, ‘but according to Agang you are the key to everything. Only you can save the world. As much as my sceptical mind finds it hard to understand, let alone believe that an old Kell man can somehow see into the future, I have come to trust Agang, and am ready to accept what he has told me. Therefore, madam, if we do leave, then you must come with us.’
‘Fuck off.’
‘The world needs you, Keira,’ Agang said.
Keira picked up her ale, and smiled. ‘The world can go fuck a donkey.’
Chapter 6
Mirren Blackhold
H old Fast, Realm of the Holdings – 17 th Day, Second Third Summer 507
‘Keira’s more fragile than you think,’ Kylon said.
Killop gazed out at the sunset from the guesthouse terrace and raised an eyebrow. ‘She is?’
‘Aye,’ Kylon said. ‘I could see it getting to her after a while. The burden.’
‘The poor dear,’ Chane said, flicking ash from her cigarette. ‘After killing hundreds of thousands of people, you mean she actually started to feel bad?’
Killop shook his head. ‘Hundreds of thousands? No way.’
Chane shrugged. ‘Add ‘em all up. ‘
‘Three, at the most,’ Kylon said.
‘Oh sorry,’ Chane said, ‘a mere three hundred thousand people. I apologise. She’s barely a mass murderer at all.’
Killop frowned at the Holdings woman. ‘Mass murderer or not, she’s still my sister.’
‘And we’ll need her to defeat the Emperor,’ Kylon said, ‘no matter what she’s done.’
‘Didn’t you already try that?’ Chane said .
‘Then we’ll try again. Would you rather the Emperor remained in power?’
‘I honestly don’t know. He does appear to be insane, I’ll grant you that, but if the alternative means the return of the fire witch, then frankly, both options seem shit.’
‘The Emperor will destroy the world, Chane. He’s already devastated the Kellach quarter in Plateau City, and laid waste to the town of Rainsby. And now his army is poised to enter Rakana, which, I’ll remind you, has no armed forces to speak of, just a few militia with sticks. And when he’s finished there? Where next?’
‘But he’s Holdings,’ Chane said. ‘Why would he injure his own country? The soldiers would rebel for one thing. The majority of recruits in the imperial army are from the River Holdings, do you think they’d be happy to rampage through their own towns?’
‘I used to think the same about Rahain,’ Killop said, ‘but once the bloodshed started, they couldn’t stop hating and killing each other. Brother against brother. Parents against their own children.’
He paused, and gazed at Chane. ‘What is that you’re smoking?’
‘This?’ she said, holding up her lit smokestick. ‘River Holdings dreamweed. Not bad.’
‘They’re growing that shit in the Holdings now?’
‘Yeah. Some enterprising troopers returned with cuttings a few years ago. It’s not as good as the Sanang stuff obviously, but it’s getting there. Their keenweed’s pretty decent as well.’
‘So Daphne’s been getting it from you? I did wonder.’
Chane smirked. ‘Has Daphne been a bad girl? She been keeping her weed habit from you?’
‘It’s her business.’
‘But I get the sense that you don’t approve?’
He picked up his glass of rum. ‘She’s a grown up.’
Chane smiled. ‘I was there when she started smoking. She was in excruciating agony from the injury to her arm, so a friend of Agang’s got her some dullweed. Then it was dreamweed and keenweed to relieve the boredom of captivity. ’
‘I’ll take some,’ Kylon said.
Chane passed him the weedstick. ‘I thought you were on duty tonight.’
Kylon took a draw and shook his head. ‘Celine’s doing it.’
‘How did you talk her into that?’
‘She offered.’
Killop shook his head. ‘You guarding Karalyn I can understand, since Kalayne asked you to, but Celine? I don’t get it, why?’
‘I told you,’ he said. ‘She came to me and asked. Daphne h
ad mentioned to her that I was being taken on as an estate worker, but that really I’d be watching Karalyn’s back, and Celine told me she wanted to help.’
‘And you trust her?’ Chane said.
‘Karalyn trusts her,’ he said, ‘and Daphne told me she’d read Celine’s mind, and she’s happy with the arrangement. I mean, have you seen her with Karalyn?’
‘She’s a changed woman,’ Killop said. ‘When we first got here she hardly said a word, mourning for her husband.’
‘Do you know what I believe?’ Kylon said. ‘I think Karalyn has been altering Celine’s mind. Changing her. Kalayne told me something like this could happen.’
Killop nodded, recalling when Karalyn had repaired his own mind.
‘That would make sense,’ Chane said, ‘but we should keep this to ourselves. You must have seen the way Daphne’s mother looks at the girl. I don’t think she likes her at all.’
‘Of course,’ said Killop. ‘The fewer folk know about what Karalyn can do the better.’ He bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying more, still rankling that Kylon had seen fit to inform Chane of everything Kalayne had told him about Karalyn.
‘Daphne’s mother could be a problem,’ Kylon said.
‘I don’t think she’s a threat to Karalyn,’ Chane said. ‘She actually seems to be afraid of her.’
‘I wasn’t meaning that,’ Kylon said, ‘I was referring to her professed love for the Emperor and his holy church. ’
‘Daphne thinks she’s just putting it on,’ Killop said. ‘If her father says white, she’ll say black. They oppose each other in everything apparently.’
‘Why?’ Kylon asked.
Killop tried to remember anything Daphne might have said.
‘I think there was a rumour going around that Daphne’s father was having an affair with the old queen, Guilliam’s sister. Daphne said it wasn’t true, but maybe her mother believes it.’
‘I can believe it,’ Chane said. ‘Her father’s eyes do have a tendency to wander, and if I had to put money on it, I’d be prepared to bet he’s having an affair with Annifrid, the commander of the local guard.’
‘Nah, you think?’ Killop said. ‘He seems like a good guy. Always treats me with respect.’
‘Well, no offence, but he doesn’t want to fuck you.’
Kylon’s eyes darkened. ‘Has he behaved in any way dishonourably towards you?’
‘And what would you do if I said yes?’ Chane smirked. ‘Would you rush to protect my fragile honour, and challenge him to a duel, or would you just punch him in the face? And here I thought you were Kellach, not Sanang.’
Kylon took a draw of the weedstick. ‘I would punch him in the face.’
Chane laughed. ‘My hero. But the answer is no. Dear old Godfrey has been nothing but a gentleman, aside from the half-dozen times I’ve caught him checking me out.’
‘You are an exceptionally beautiful woman,’ Kylon said.
‘You know,’ Chane said, ‘I used to fancy a guy like you. He always said that I was beautiful, but whenever I tried to get him into bed he would push me away. Turned out in the end he preferred guys.’
‘My heart belongs to someone else,’ Kylon said. ‘The woman you referred to moments ago as a mass murderer.’
‘You told me she dumped you.’
‘She did. It didn’t affect how I feel about her.’
‘In that case you shouldn’t be calling another woman exceptionally beautiful. ’
‘But you are.’
Chane sipped her rum and turned her gaze out over the plains before them, the last light of the day fading. The temperature was starting to drop, and Killop relaxed in the cooler air.
‘Kylon of Kell,’ Chane said, ‘you’re not right in the head.’
Killop stood. ‘I’d best be off, I’m meeting Daphne.’
‘Yeah?’ Chane said. ‘What’s she been up to?’
‘More meetings with the Holders. More plotting.’
‘Good,’ said Kylon. ‘We should all be preparing.’
‘Unless you’re Rakanese,’ Chane said, ‘then you should be running.’
Killop nodded, and left the terrace by the sliding doors into the guesthouse. Apart from Kylon and Chane, the large building was empty, another sign adding to the sense of anxiety evident in Hold Fast. When the imperial army had left Plateau City, the Holdings had held its breath, and when they had turned east towards Arakhanah City, the relief had been palpable. And then the nervous rounds of chatter started all over again, the worry that sent Godfrey, Daphne, and whichever other aristocratic Holder was visiting, into endless secret meetings. Everyone came to Hold Fast, Killop had noted. Godfrey never left to visit anyone, his seat was the centre the others attended.
Lamps were being lit along the main street as Killop stepped outside. To his left, the fountains glistened in front of the mansion, and he began to make his way there. An old woman curtsied to him as he passed, his position as Miss Daphne Holdfast’s consort long established among the estate workers.
To the right of the mansion, Killop noticed a cluster of carriages parked along the route to the market square. Handlers were out, leading the horses to the nearby guest stables. Killop smiled. Another Holder must have arrived, filled with their tales of woe and outrage at the Emperor’s latest unreasonable demand.
At the back porch Celine was playing with Karalyn. The woman was holding onto the girl’s arms and spinning, so that Karalyn was flying through the air, screaming with delight.
‘Evening,’ Killop said as he ascended the steps .
‘Hi, Killop,’ Celine said, coming to a stop, and swaying.
‘Should you be getting her all excited before bedtime?’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Celine said. ‘Do you want to do her story?’
‘Celine do story!’ Karalyn yelled.
‘I don’t mind,’ Celine said.
‘I should do it.’
Karalyn started to cry. ‘Daddy not do story. I want Celine do story.’
Killop sighed.
Celine went down on one knee. ‘You know your daddy has been looking forward to telling you a story all afternoon. I would be very happy if you were a good girl and listened to daddy tell you a story.’
Karalyn sniffled.
‘I’ll be in the next room,’ Celine said, ‘and I’ll come and see you before you fall asleep.’
Karalyn smiled, and took Killop’s hand.
‘Come on, wee bear,’ he said, ‘let’s get you to bed.’
Daphne flicked the ash from her cigarette over the edge of the balcony into the dark night air.
‘I need to spend more time with Karalyn,’ she said. ‘I seem to sit all day in stupid meetings, or doing the paperwork my father can’t be bothered to look at. How did she go down?’
‘Fine.’
‘And did you see Kylon?’
‘It was Celine,’ he said. ‘They’d swapped shifts.’
Daphne shook her head. ‘They’re both insane.’
‘Kylon thinks that Karalyn has changed Celine’s mind.’
Daphne took a large sip of rum. ‘He’s right. Our daughter has bonded with her. Celine’s mind was a mess, she was overwhelmed with guilt when Vince was killed, and tried to blot it all out with dreamweed and alcohol. Karalyn’s been in her head. She saw that Celine was in pain, and I guess she’s trying to heal her. ’
‘Like she healed me?’
‘Emotions are different from memories,’ Daphne said. ‘With you she was helping you remember, but with Celine?’
‘She does seem devoted to Karalyn.’
‘And knowing Celine’s vulnerability, how much of it is due to her own free will?’
Killop said nothing, not wanting to imagine his daughter capable of what Daphne was suggesting.
He frowned. ‘Guilt?’
‘What?’
‘You said Celine was overwhelmed with guilt. What did she have to feel guilty about?’
Daphne frowned. ‘She’d been ha
ving an affair with Bedig, back when we lived in Plateau City. At the time I’d hoped that she and Vince would get back together when he returned home after his service, and it would all be forgotten about.’
‘I assume your parents don’t know?’
‘No one else does, I think, apart from a few servants at the old Holdfast townhouse in Plateau City. Celine was as down as anyone I’ve ever seen when we got here, but now she’s like a blinding ray of sunshine whenever she’s in the company of our daughter. I wish I knew what to do, but Karalyn’s powers are beyond my control. She can break through any protection I put over Celine, they don’t even slow her down any more.’
Daphne bowed her head.
‘I worry about my own thoughts. Whenever I feel annoyed at Jonah, or my mother, I picture what Karalyn could do to them if I allowed my anger to develop. It frightens me.’
‘What’s the alternative?’ he said. ‘We go and live in the mountains until she’s old enough to control her powers?’
‘She’s never going to fit in, is she?’ Daphne said. ‘She’s never going to have a normal life.’
Killop gazed at her, his heart aching as he thought about their daughter’s future .
There was a knock on the glass door, and Godfrey stepped out onto the balcony.
‘Apologies for interrupting,’ he said.
‘That’s all right, Father,’ Daphne said. ‘Is the meeting ready to restart?’
Godfrey closed the door behind him. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Something rather curious has occurred. A new guest has arrived at Hold Fast.’
‘Not just another Holder, I presume?’
Godfrey smiled. ‘We’ve arranging a spot of late supper for them in the old library. I think you should attend. In fact, you should both come.’
‘All right,’ Daphne said. ‘Who is it?’
‘Why,’ Godfrey said, ‘only the queen.’
Queen Mirren Blackhold was seated in the high-backed chair usually reserved for Holder Godfrey. She was clad in long black robes, and a hood half-covered her face. To either side stood stern-faced guards, while Faden Holdwick sat a few seats down.
A servant held the door open for Godfrey, Daphne and Killop to enter, then left the room, closing it behind her.
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