Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2)

by Dawn Peers

  Here, it seemed to be the norm, even some sort of competition between people to see who could wear the most garishly outlandish garments. Quinn did realise that she was staring, but no one told her to stop, so she didn’t. Here and there, she did send out tendrils of her power, trying to see how people in the city thought and felt, rather than assuming their anonymous smiles and the occasional ripples of laughter were signs of contentment.

  She couldn’t find much by way of ill-feeling, and decided to save her powers and her efforts for the council themselves. She wished she could see Maertn and Ross, if only to speak to them. She should be experiencing this with Maertn. She hoped that their sacrifice to protect her hadn’t all been in vain: that they wouldn’t be executed or banished as soon as they were presented to the council. Quinn didn’t think her life was in danger, but she couldn’t assume anything on the part of her friends.

  Despite Evander’s truthful words, her deep-set fears were realised. Without warning, Evander kicked his horse into a gallop. He left his men, and Quinn’s friends, far behind. Ignoring the cries around him, Evander skilfully led his horse through a black opening in a grey wall and slowing down, placed a dirty wet rag over Quinn’s mouth. She choked, panicking. The darkness swallowed Quinn. She was alone.

  21

  Quinn found out quickly that a bedroom in one city was much like any other. She had woken with a pounding headache, which had been anticipated by someone. A mug was on a table by the head of her bed, and she recognised the stench from concoctions Maertn had made for her before. She grabbed it, groggily, and choked it down without being forced.

  Quinn swung herself out of bed. Looking down, she was relieved to see that she was still in her clothes from yesterday. It was important that she hadn’t been undressed; that she had been left what little respect that gave her after being drugged. There was one curtained window in her room, though it did nothing to block the fact it was evidently day. Quinn had padded halfway across the room before realising she was barefoot, and treading on carpet. It was a delightful feeling compared to flagstones and wobbly decking, and she tried to crush her feet further down. Sliding her feet along the way, she pulled the curtain to one side.

  Quinn squinted against the bright sun. It was brighter than she remembered it ever being in Everfell. Her room overlooked an enclosed courtyard. At the centre was a bare, dead ash tree. There were people walking down there, and none of them seemed in any hurry. Sammah had been the lone voice against the overwhelming opinion that Sha’sek was full of lascivious barbarians. The serene courtyard below belied that opinion.

  A timid knock came at her door. Before thinking about it, Quinn answered, “Come in.”

  The door opened, and a young woman entered. She must have been around Quinn’s age, and curtsied as she came through the door. “Excuse me, my lady, but I’m here to get you bathed and dressed.”

  “Dressed? I’m already dressed?”

  “I don’t mean to be rude my lady, but… well… you’re…”

  Quinn felt the nerves roiling off the girl and gave her a break. “I know, I need a bath at least.” She looked down at the filth on her clothes. “And maybe I could change. Who’s asked you to do this?”

  “The council, my lady. They’ve requested to see you.”

  * * *

  “Why am I on my own?”

  “We didn’t need to see all three of you at once, child. We’ve already seen your friends.”

  “I’m not a child.”

  “You look like one. You sound like one. You have to change at least one of those things, for us to think about you differently.”

  Quinn jammed her mouth shut. That sounded like nonsense, and she didn’t want to get trapped into playing mind-games with a panel of councillors far more seasoned at political intrigue than she. The voices of the councillors echoed in the cavernous chamber, and this made Quinn feel infinitely small. It had been less intimidating when she’d stood in front of Vance, waiting for his judgement of exile. She had expected the council to be an intimidating prospect, but she hadn’t expected to come up against fifteen daunting people so soon into her stay in Farn.

  Seated at the centre of the long table was a man that looked so like Sammah that he had to be Pax. Of the others, she counted nine men and five women. So, this table constituted the ultimate power in Sha’sek. These were the men and women that would decide the fate of both kingdoms; whether or not they would again go to war.

  “My brother sent us much about you. We feel like we know you already as one of our own. How was your journey?”

  “Is that why I’m here? Benign pleasantries?” Quinn couldn’t hold in her frustration, despite her trepidation. “Just tell me what you brought me here for, or ask me the questions you’ve already got planned.”

  Baron Pax laughed. “Sammah told me you were a timid thing, yet look at this lioness I have in front of me! It looks like my brother isn’t as good at examining people as he thought he was. You want me to be quick Quinn, so I shall be quick. Sha’sek needs you.”

  “Needs me for what?”

  “We’re not ready to say yet, but we do know that we need you. There are no more empaths. You are the last of your kind. My brother was studying you for a reason.”

  “You brother wasn’t just studying me…”

  “I know,” the baron broke in. “I know what he intended, and please believe me, Quinn, none of us knew that he was planning that. Sammah didn’t have our support in that, and he didn’t have our support in trying to dethrone King Vance either. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “It’s what everyone wants to hear. Is it true?”

  “You tell me.”

  Quinn rolled her eyes. Again, she had been reminded to use a power she had grown up fighting. Why did she have such reluctance to use her power here of all places, where people with abilities were so prevalent? “Fine. I…I didn’t want to just use my ability here, not without you all knowing. Not with the way the wars started. Not after what Nerren did.”

  “You’re nothing like Nerren, Quinn. You can’t get in trouble for being yourself here either, not like Everfell. You don’t have to hide yourself anymore. You’d have needed to hide, even if you hadn’t been Sammah’s. Believe it or not, he was doing it for your own good. You knew enough the truth of that, when they all found out who you were.”

  Quinn nodded. “I wasn’t surprised, really. Although I was surprised that I wasn’t just executed.”

  “We were pleasantly surprised by that, though I’m not hiding the fact that I’m delighted for you to be here.”

  “Delighted? Sammah always led me to believe that I’d be in danger here, too, after the Empath Wars.”

  “Empaths can be a sensitive subject amongst some of us. Notwithstanding the last war, we know very little about your kind. My brother was doing a great thing by studying you, though he did cross over the line somewhat. The part of the reason we need you here, is to control you.”

  “Control me? I’m hardly a spitfire, baron.”

  “Perhaps. That might be because you don’t know enough about your powers yet. You definitely haven’t been told enough about the politics between our two peoples. What Sammah has done in Everfell has thrown the council’s own plans into complete chaos, and there’s a lot of work in front of us to stop us from descending into all-out war.”

  “You don’t want war? I’m confused.”

  “Ah, we want war…just not yet.”

  Realisation dawned on Quinn. “Lord Shiver? Sammah was manipulating him, wasn’t he? And that you knew about.”

  “Yes, we knew what Sammah was goading Shiver against Vance, and the lord was more than willing to take the bait. The plan we had was simple. We need to get off the islands, for good. We don’t have enough of a force to wage war. We push Everfell towards civil war, and wait until the end. Then, we sail in, and pick up the pieces.”

  “That seems too simple.”

  “It was working. It’s the plan that results in t
he least Sha’sekian loss. You’re central to those plans Quinn, whether you like it or not. We don’t want you to be like Nerren. If you were like that, Sammah would have been ordered to kill you. But we do need everyone with your type of ability to be on our side in this.”

  “You said I was the last of my kind?”

  “You are the last true empath. There are others with similar abilities. None manifest themselves so completely as you. Some children have a vague sense of emotion. Others are able to inflict very particular thoughts. You, though, have all of their capabilities, and more. The more we know about you, the more we can know about them. You will be our most powerful weapon and ally, and you will lead the way when the Sha’sekians return to the mainland.”

  “What if refuse?”

  “Firstly, I doubt you will refuse. You might hate Sammah, but you’ve been rejected by the people of Everfell, and you are not welcome back there for as long as you live. You know your rightful place is here, so why reject helping us? Of course, if you feel so foolish, there is the small matter of our holding your friend and your guide captive. If you don’t help us, they will be killed.”

  Pax stated this so matter-of-factly; the rest of the council looked so stone-faced, that Quinn was shocked. “You wouldn’t. Maertn is a healer; one of us. How could you do that?”

  “We will do anything and everything necessary to preserve the future of our people. The more you learn about us, the more you will come to understand that. For now, we just need to keep you in line. This was the only way we saw it to be possible. I don’t like it, I know you’re going to hate it. You will come to understand the Sha’sekian way. And then you’ll understand why we’re doing this.”

  “I will never fight for Sha’sek.”

  “An understandable position, based on our first conversation. However, I don’t believe you. Your friend Ross is dangerous. He will be held comfortably, in a suite, but under constant armed guard. Your Maertn will work as a healer; he is useful, powerful, and I don’t want his talents becoming dull sitting in custody day-in-day-out.

  “You…well, you already know what you’re going to be for us. We are going hire a swordmaster to teach you to fight. You’re no use to us dead. When war comes, we need you to be able to protect yourself. You’ll be taken to your rooms now, and you’ll live in the lap of luxury. It will be the opposite of the life you had in Everfell, Quinn, and I cannot deny, I think you are going to love it.”

  The baron waved his hand, dismissing her. Some guards came forward to take her away, but Quinn stepped forward before they could grab her. Pax didn’t even look up, and those at the council who were looking at her, regarded her with disdain. Delighted you’re here. She wasn’t going to be dragged away like some criminal. She hated it, hated everything about Sha’sek so far. Tears started to stream down Quinn’s face, and she turned ashamedly away from the councillors, not wanting them to see the frustration and weakness. The thing she hated most so far, was that everything Baron Sammah had said, had so far been true.

  22

  The same maid who had bathed her earlier met her outside the council Hall. Expecting to go back to the same plain room, and preparing herself to mock Pax’s description of it, Quinn had been disorientated when she’d been taken through different hallways, through the ashen courtyard, and into a full suite of rooms.

  Quinn had never seen anything like it. They dwarfed Sammah’s rooms and made a mockery of the luxuries he surrounded himself with. She had a view across the entire city, not far removed from the view she had back in the room in Everfell she’d shared with Neyv. In Farn, she was the sole occupant. Her bed was huge, and could easily fit five people. She had her own cupboards, rugs adorned the walls, and she had a separate room with a tin bath just for her. The maid, Sara, had declared herself at Quinn’s disposal. Not so long ago, Quinn had been a Sara. Now, she was someone deserving of such a luxury, and she didn’t quite know what to think of that.

  She tried to guard her mind against it. She didn’t want to be bought, and Pax had said as much that they were trying to do that. They must know what growing up in Everfell would have been like, especially with Sammah, and it would be quite easy to counteract that hardship.

  Her door opened. Quinn turned, expecting to see Sara, so her heart leapt into her throat, tears springing to her eyes, when Maertn sauntered into the room. He whistled. “And I thought I’d been given nice rooms! I don’t think even Vance’s rooms are as big as this.”

  “You’ve been given nice quarters too?” Quinn wanted to make sure that, captive or not, Maertn was being treated well.

  “Not like this. I have a room. I’m living in a guild, Quinn, with other healers. Imagine that! A guild, full of people just like me! There are dozens of us, and that’s just in Farn! Sha’sek is everything I hoped it would be! I was terrified when that captain rode away with you. But it’s all fine. Look at what you’ve got! We’ve made it!”

  “How so?”

  “How? Look around you, Quinn! You’re being treated like a queen, and I’m going to learn with my own kind. That’s what we always wanted, wasn’t it, as soon as we found out where we were from?”

  “That’s what they want us to think,” Quinn replied, frustrated, “that we’re better here. Well, I’m not. I’m more of a prisoner here than I ever was with Sammah. Don’t you see? They’ve given you exactly what you want to keep you here, and Ross is being kept under armed guard. I have no choice Maertn. I must do exactly what they want me to do, otherwise you and Ross will be killed.”

  This gave Maertn some pause. “What have they asked?”

  Quinn open her mouth, then closed it again. Nothing. They hadn’t asked her to do…anything. They’d told her she’d be taught melee combat, presumably to be able to defend herself, and that they wanted to learn from her. They hadn’t told her what part she would play. The baron had told her explicitly that they didn’t want to directly fight Everfell. Sure, picking up the bones after the men of Everfell had already hacked each other to pieces wasn’t exactly a noble gesture, but he was trying to protect his own people. Was that, in isolation, such a terrible thing? “You know what, Maertn, I don’t know what they want me to do, and I think that’s what’s scaring me the most. I actually miss Everfell. I miss being told what to do by Ross, and I miss Eden.

  Maertn’s eyes softened. “You couldn’t stay there, Quinn. You weren’t given a choice.”

  “That doesn’t make it any easier. You remember what kind of man Shiver was, and his brother Rowan isn’t much better. The baron told me they didn’t support Sammah, not directly. They don’t want to go to war. They are waiting for Everfell to fall into civil war. With men like Shiver nipping at Vance’s heels, he’ll get his wish. Then, when the men of the provinces have finished killing each other, the Sha’sekians will make their move. Where will Eden be whilst all this is happening? As a…” Quinn spat bitterly. “Proud son of Sevenspells?”

  “He’ll be fighting with his brothers.”

  “And where will Sevenspells be?”

  Maertn’s hands dropped. “The same place Sevenspells has always fought. At the front.”

  Quinn clutched onto her bed, her head in her hands. She mumbled into her fingers, her voice miserable and full of tears. “Exactly. If civil war breaks out, Sevenspells will be the first land involved, and Shiver will have Eden leading the charge.”

  23

  “I can’t believe that base-born bastard is making demands of me!” Vance paced up and down in his quarters, and Eden had given up trying to follow his footsteps.

  “Call his bluff, sire. Summon the guild and ask them if he’s correct.”

  “That’s what he wants Eden! He wants me to embarrass myself. I knew perfectly well he was entitled to having Quinn at that trial, I only sent her away in the hope that Sammah would either forget, or think her dead. It was foolish of me, I know. Now I will have to send someone to Sha’sek to get her back. That’s not going to be easily accomplished.”

  �
��Can’t we just send messages to Lynton?”

  “The council won’t accept something so anonymous. Seals can be forged. They won’t release one of their own to my custody just because a letter asks them to.”

  “Can’t you send a page? One of your courtiers?”

  “Spirits, no! The only reason Quinn and Maertn got into Sha’sek is because of who they are. Ross can work his reputation as a mercenary, but I’ve got no doubt he’ll end up captive or dead within weeks of getting there. Now who have I got to send? I can only hope their new emissary gets here soon enough that I can send them back on a return boat to bring Quinn to me. If one of their own asks, then they can’t really refuse without causing trouble.”

  Eden saw his opening, then. It was a slender opportunity, and he knew that it was risky even contemplating it. It might, though, be his only chance of seeing Quinn again before all-out-war was declared.

  “What about me?”

  Vance stopped pacing. “What about you?”

  “Think about it, your highness. Who better to bring her back than me? Quinn doesn’t trust anyone in this city, other than the men you’ve already sent away with her. You don’t want to send anyone common, but think Sha’sek wants war? Well then, why risk any man you care about?”

  “I care about your welfare, Eden.”

  “That’s not what I mean, sire. I’ve been doing what you asked; listening. Much of the court feels that Sevenspells doesn’t deserve its place any more; that we’re a province of traitors. Well, if that’s what they think, then I’m expendable. It doesn’t matter what happens to me in Sha’sek, your lords won’t think anything of it. My brother is disliked; my father is a traitor. My other brother is an anonymous fop. What’s the life of another Sevenspells son?”