Aerenden: The Zeiihbu Master (Ærenden)
Page 21
Mycale was the only survivor from the attack on Neiszhe's village, the only survivor aside from Cal and Neiszhe. And since neither of them had given Garon the village's location, Mycale must be the traitor.
The thought had flashed across Meaghan's mind at first, drawing her into the same dark place as Cal, but Cal did not have the advantage of her power. She focused it fully on Mycale.
The young man was terrified. Meaghan expected nothing less from someone facing the wrath of a man the size of Cal. Despite the fact Darvin had wedged his body between Mycale and the Elder, staring down Cal's murderous rage would bring ease to no man.
But fear did nothing to help or hinder Mycale's defense. Meaghan dug deeper, and waited for him to give her something that would help. She found only confusion.
“What's your problem?” Darvin barked, his own anger rising to match Cal's. “That's my son you're trying to attack.”
“Your son is a traitor,” Cal shot back. “And if you defend him, you are too.”
“He's no such thing,” Darvin said and slammed his palms into Cal's chest when he tried to advance again. “My son would never betray Ærenden.”
“You want to tell that to the people of my village? Go on. Tell their ghosts why he's not among them, why he's the only survivor.”
Mycale's eyes widened. Tears filled them, and below his sorrow, Meaghan felt horror, agony, and fear.
“Everyone's gone?” Mycale whispered. “What about Neiszhe? Did she…” he closed his eyes and tears spilled over. Élana moved to his side and put her arms around him. Cal stopped pushing against Darvin. He turned to look at Meaghan, his brows knit in confusion.
“You can sense him, right?” he asked. “Tell me he's acting. He has to be.”
“He didn't know,” she said. “His grief is real.”
Cal slumped forward. His eyes drew back to the young man. “I'm sorry, lad,” he said. “I didn't mean—”
“You did,” Darvin barked and shoved Cal backward. “You meant every word. Now leave.”
“Please—”
“Now!” Darvin roared. He grabbed a jar from the shelf and held it toward Cal. “This is wasp venom. Do you know what it does?” Cal nodded. “A drop will paralyze you,” Darvin told him anyway. “A single drop. If you don't go, I'll throw all of it at you.”
“There's no need for that,” Cal said. “Just let me get Talis and Meaghan and I will leave.”
“Meaghan?” Élana's eyes grew wide as they fell on Meaghan. “Darvin, please don't make her go.”
“She can stay,” Darvin responded. “The patient too. But Cal can't.”
“All right,” Cal nodded. He puffed out a breath in frustration, then turned and left the room.
“Wait, Cal,” Mycale said. “Please.”
Cal reappeared in the doorway. Meaghan let her power roam the room in preparation for a fight. Darvin's anger spiked, but he held firm to the jar in his hand. Cal ignored him and regarded Mycale with guilt and confusion.
“Tell me if Neiszhe's okay,” Mycale begged. “I need to know.”
“She's fine,” Cal responded. “It happened the week she and I left to visit Meaghan.”
“Good. Now that his question is answered,” Darvin stretched out his arm again in threat. “Go.”
Cal nodded, but Mycale stepped in front of his father. “Don't listen to him,” he said. “He won't actually hurt you.”
Cal looked at Meaghan for confirmation and she shrugged. “I don't know,” she said. “He's certainly angry enough.”
“He'd never be angry enough to waste wasp venom,” Mycale told her. “Their nests are nearly impossible to find and you have to have someone with you who can freeze them to collect their venom. Otherwise, they'll kill you. My Dad doesn't know anyone with that power.”
Darvin sighed and put the jar back on the shelf. “Mycale's right,” he said. “But the fact I wasn't planning on killing you doesn't make me any less angry.”
“I don't blame you,” Cal admitted. “I would feel the same way if he were my son.”
“Then why did you accuse him?” Élana asked. “You know our son. He trained under Neiszhe for some time and spoke highly of both of you. Did you think he could be capable of such a crime?”
“He couldn't know,” Mycale answered before Cal had a chance to speak. “Better people than me have turned out to be traitors.”
“But you weren't even there,” Élana protested.
“No, but Cal thought I was. He and Neiszhe left before I did. I was supposed to perform her duties while they were gone, but then I received Dad's note about the emergency. The Guardian who brought it said he would fill in for me, so I left to come home.”
“What Guardian?” Cal asked. His head snapped from Mycale to Darvin. “What emergency?”
“One of the villages close by had an outbreak of bleeding fever,” Darvin told him. “The Healer in the village had already died from the disease when I got there and nearly everyone else was infected. I needed help.”
“So you sent for Mycale instead of notifying the Elders?”
“Of course not,” Darvin responded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I may not be a Guardian anymore, but I still know how to follow protocol. One of the villagers proved to be immune to the fever, so I dispatched him with a letter addressed to the Guardian at the closest village. The Guardian notified the Elders and they sent Mycale to help.”
Cal sighed. Closing his eyes, he pressed his thumb and forefinger against them. “This man who was immune to the fever, did he happen to ask why Mycale wasn't helping you?”
“Of course,” Darvin answered. “My son and I have been to that village before. Several people asked me that question.”
Cal dropped his hand and opened his eyes again. His weariness washed over Meaghan. “What did you tell them?”
“That he was training with a Healer in a valley to the east of Overlook Mountain.”
“Did you tell them the specific valley my village was located in?”
“I may have,” Darvin answered. “But it's not like that would give away your location. It's a big valley.”
“It is,” Cal agreed. “But the Mardróch had raided a lot of that area already. Pinpointing Overlook Mountain could have given them exactly what they needed.” He turned to Mycale. “How did the messenger get into the village?”
“Silas the shoemaker invited him,” Mycale answered. “He told me he was outside the village hunting when he spotted the Guardian. After he saw the letter, he brought the man straight to me.”
“Of course he did,” Cal said. “Anyone would have. How long after you sent the letter did Mycale show up?”
“About two weeks,” Darvin answered. He knit his brows, and Meaghan sensed both his confusion and his frustration. “Which is about what I'd expect. The Elders can get messages to people a lot faster than the rest of us can.”
“Through commcrystals,” Cal told him. “But not every village has one. We can't teleport anymore.”
“Why not? When did that happen?”
“Not long after you left. The Mardróch figured out a way to track our teleporting signals.”
“But they can teleport anytime they want,” Darvin guessed. Guilt filled him as understanding seeped through. “So if the Guardian showed Mycale my letter, it means he most likely got it directly from me. I sent the spy to your village. To my son.”
“Or Garon waylaid the villager and stole it,” Cal offered.
Darvin sank down onto the edge of an empty cot. “Are you certain the Elders didn't get the letter? The traitor could have come from somewhere else.”
“Positive. It would have taken them weeks to receive it.”
“And weeks more for Mycale to get here. He arrived too soon.” Darvin buried his face in his hands. “All those lives, lost because of me.”
“Lost because of Garon,” Cal corrected. “It's not your fault, Darvin. You did exactly what a Healer is supposed to do. Someone must have found out that Mycale was
training with Neiszhe and released the bleeding fever in order to manipulate you. If it wasn't a natural strain, it could have been designed to attack certain people and not others.”
“Which explains why the villager I sent didn't get sick,” Darvin muttered. “And why Mycale and I didn't. I fully expected we would.”
“If you had, you would have sent word to the Elders again. The second time, we may have received it.”
“We?” Darvin asked and looked up at him. Meaghan felt his pain, fear, guilt, and confusion snowball into an overwhelming mass and closed her power off to it. “You're an Elder now. That's why you're so certain the Elders never dispatched a Guardian to Neiszhe's village.”
“Yes,” Cal confirmed. “If we'd heard about the outbreak, we would have sent more than Mycale. We haven't seen the disease in almost a decade. It would've raised an alarm for May.”
Darvin nodded and dropped his head into his hands. “That should have occurred to me when Mycale came alone. I'm so sorry, Cal. I cost you so much.”
“No more than I've cost myself,” Cal stated. “The Mardróch were there for me. I'm sure they were furious to discover I'd left. And fortunately, Mycale didn't delay in leaving. The only reason he's still alive is that it takes the Mardróch army time to mobilize.” He turned his attention from Darvin to study Mycale. “I should have realized you couldn't betray us. We mourned you. Neiszhe still does.”
“When you saw me, it made sense to assume I was alive because I'd betrayed you,” Mycale said. He pushed out a breath laced with sorrow. “I would think the same thing in your place. I'm sorry I caused you grief. I would have sent word to you, but I assumed the Elders had told you where I was.”
“Of course.” Cal allowed a broad grin to spread across his face. He crossed the room in two large steps and engulfed Mycale in a crushing hug. “It's good to see that you're still alive, Mycale. I shed a tear myself for you. I don't do that for everyone.”
“Why did you and Neiszhe leave the village?” Darvin asked, standing up again when Cal let Mycale go. “Your departure had fortunate timing.”
“Fortune had nothing to do with it,” Cal responded. “Vivian had a vision.”
“Vivian's alive?” Darvin asked. His eyes widened again. “I thought she and James died in the attack.”
“The Elders wanted us to believe that. My brother and Vivian were hiding Meaghan, but,” Cal looked at Meaghan and she understood his hesitation. He did not know how to share the news without hurting her.
She decided to tell it herself. “They raised me on Earth,” she said. “The Mardróch eventually found us there. They died protecting me.”
The joy fell from Darvin's face. “I'm sorry, Meaghan.”
“We all are,” Cal responded. “But Vivian and James used their lives wisely. Vivian came back several times throughout the years to deliver messages to us. The last time she came, she told me I had to take Neiszhe to Meaghan. She was specific about the date and time. Little did I know her goal was to save our lives.”
“She knew?” Mycale asked. He glared at Cal in lieu of the woman he had never met. “If she knew, why didn't she save the others?” He stepped forward as anger sparked hardness into his words. “Why didn't she just tell you about the attack so you could stop it? No one had to die.”
“Because being a Seer is a difficult job,” Darvin said, answering his son's question instead of Cal. “A seer has to be careful what parts of the future are altered. Changing the wrong things can make the future worse instead of better. Vivian was one of the best Seers ever to have been born. If she didn't save the rest of the villagers, it was because she couldn't. I'm certain of that. She was one of the kindest women I've ever known. Definitely my favorite of the twins.”
Cal chuckled. “I'll be certain to keep your opinion away from May.”
“I'd appreciate that,” Darvin said and returned the grin. “May frightens me. She's beautiful and she looks like she would be a kind-hearted woman, but I swear her hair is red because she's made of fire.”
Even Meaghan could not resist laughing at that comment. She tried to hide the noise behind her hand, but when Mycale's laughter joined in with Cal and Darvin's, she gave into it. Élana was the only one who did not seem to be enjoying the joke. She stared at her husband, a look of dismay pasted on her face.
“Is May's hair long and curly,” she asked after the laughter had died down. “Was she thin with pale skin and bright green eyes?”
“The last part is true,” Darvin responded. “But May has always kept her hair short, no longer than her shoulders. She likes it practical. Vivian was the one who had long hair.”
“I see,” Élana said. “She never told me her name.”
“Who?” Darvin asked.
“Vivian. She came to me in the woods one night and told me I had to finish the book.” Élana looked at Meaghan and her voice broke. “She said Ed's daughter would need it someday. I didn't believe her. I thought Meaghan was dead, but I wanted to get rid of her, and the book my brother had asked me to write. She took it with her.”
“She delivered it to May,” Cal said. “We never knew how it got to the village. Vivian wasn't supposed to be back in Ærenden. The Elders required her to get their permission before she crossed over, but she didn't have it that time. She never told them she visited.”
“Why not?” Meaghan asked.
“My best guess is she knew Angus would eventually betray you. If he heard about the book, it wouldn't be safe.”
“So she delivered it to May, who gave it to me.” Meaghan turned to study Élana. “And it led me straight to you. Why does it do that? Why do stories appear when I need them?”
Élana smiled. “Because it's magical,” she said. “But now isn't the time to explain it all. We'll have plenty of time to discuss it over the next two days while we travel.”
“Travel where?”
“Up the mountain,” Élana answered. “That's where the book has been leading you.”
“You wrote it to do that?” Cal asked.
“No,” Élana responded. “I wrote it to provide information to the reader as it's needed. Vivian told me Meaghan would need Ed's tribe to win the war. My cousin may think he's done with Ærenden, but I have a feeling Meaghan will soon change his mind. And I'm going to help her.”
“How?”
“I'm going to take her straight to them.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
NICK WHEELED his horse, turning her with the slightest movement of her reins, guiding her with the smallest pressure on her sides. She reacted with a speed he never thought possible and an intuition that evidenced her building trust in him. Another slight pressure and she halted, waiting with perked ears for his next move.
“Good girl,” Ambler murmured to the horse, drawing his hands to her muzzle. He moved his grin to Nick. “You did well too. You're improved a lot.”
“Thanks to my good teacher,” Nick responded, feeling rewarded for the extra effort they had devoted to his equestrian training. They had sacrificed early morning and post-dinner hours since the day after his arrival. He had hated it at first, considering his skill with the horse to be non-existent, but Ambler proved otherwise. The young man, though socially awkward in every other situation, became confident when he taught. Both encouraging and patient, he coaxed the best from Nick, even on the most frustrating days. Now Nick felt as if he had always been riding. Equus no longer irked him, and by the ease at which she carried him, he guessed she no longer felt the same about him.
Ambler grinned again and turned his eyes toward the horizon where the black night yielded to creeping yellow. “The sun's coming up,” he said, then pointed at the timekeeper in the center of town. Its magical light mixed with the soft rays of the morning sun, creating an almost ethereal glow. “I love how the stone looks when the sun crests over it. It doesn't look real, does it?”
“I still have trouble believing it is most days,” Nick responded. “I keep thinking it's a dream.”
“Your secret's safe,” Nick promised. “Speaking of your father, I'm sure he'll want you at the breakfast table soon.”
“My stomach will too,” Ambler said, pressing a hand to the mentioned body part. “I'm starved.”
“Head home then. We'll meet back here tonight.”
Ambler nodded and ran off, casting a wave at Nick from across the courtyard before dashing down a street still buried in shadows. Nick watched him disappear and then dismounted. Taking Equus's reins in his hand, he led her toward the stable. He needed to meet Miles at the guest cottage within the hour. He and the Elder had a meeting to discuss their plans for this village and the others in the area. Tomorrow, Miles would be taking over the job while Nick traveled to the next large village on his list.
Nick sighed and tried not to think about the trip he needed to make to get to the Village at Mountain Shadow. The most direct route would lead him through the burned wasteland that had once held his and Meaghan's cabin, and past the gutted structures that had stood proudly as Neiszhe's village. There would be ghosts there—ghosts of his mind's making, but ghosts nonetheless. Too many lives had been lost in those parts, and he knew the one who would haunt him the most as he pushed through the oppressive sorrow claiming the land was that of Faillen's wife, Ree.
Closing his eyes to chase away the pain of her death, Nick stalled in his footsteps. He did not stay still long before Equus nudged his shoulder. He opened his eyes and reached up a hand to stroke her muzzle.
“I know, girl,” he said. “We have too much to do. We need to stay focused.”
She whinnied as if in agreement and he pushed forward again. The large wooden structure serving as the horse stable on the edge of town loomed fast before him. A boy who looked a lot like Ambler stood in front of it. His younger brother, Nick had no doubt, and offered the boy a friendly greeting as he handed over Equus's reins. With only the slightest grunt in response, the boy turned and drew the horse through the double doors to her home. Nick smiled at the boy's back and wondered at what age he and his brother would learn that people deserved the same attention as their beloved animals. Soon, he hoped, though their father had barely developed the rudimentary skills himself.