by Spurrier, Jo
Osebian frowned as he read through the letter once again.
Rasten had departed some time ago, but with the seasons turning, the thaw was already creeping north. The further Cammarian’s party travelled, the slower and more difficult the road would become. With the map, apprehending the prince would be child’s play.
‘Very well, I will sign, but I will add a condition of my own. This agreement is null and void unless I capture the prince as your chieftain promises.’
‘I’m sure Lady Tarya will have no objection to that, your grace,’ the messenger replied. ‘I must return the declaration to her. If you send a representative with me, he will return with the map and all other information we have.’
Osebian called for his servant and sent the man to summon a scribe. ‘I’ll require a copy for my own records, of course.’
‘Of course, your grace.’
Once the marriage was solemnised, he would present it to his new bride as her marriage gift. She ought to know, after all, just what her clan had done to see her securely wed.
Chapter 9
The first thing Isidro became aware of was the scratching of a pen and the rustle of turning pages.
For a long time he’d felt as though he was at the bottom of a deep, dark well. Occasionally something reached him from the surface — a flash of light, a fragment of speech — but it lasted only an instant before he was lost to the blackness once again. He waited for the tenuous thread of sound to drift away, but when it lingered, he levered his eyelids open. The only light came from a lamp resting at a low angle on the far side of the chamber.
Isidro shifted his head on the pillow and lifted his good hand to push the blankets away. The movement set his weak arm throbbing, and he lay back with a sigh that was definitely, he told himself, definitely not a groan.
The scratching of the pen stopped, and a chair scraped across the flagstones. A moment later, Delphine appeared, gazing down at him with eyebrows raised. ‘Awake again,’ she murmured. ‘But are you really here?’
‘Where else would I be?’ Isidro asked, and tried to sit up.
A faint smile crossed Delphine’s face as she moved to help him. Isidro would have warded her hands away if he hadn’t been so wretchedly clumsy, and if he hadn’t needed to lean against the wall until the room stopped spinning. ‘Is there any water?’
‘No water, but I have tea. I’ll bring you some, and I’d best send word you’re awake and making sense.’ She left the chamber briefly before returning to pour from a kettle resting on a pot of coals. She had to help him steady the bowl, and Isidro scowled down at his trembling hand, unable to work out how he’d grown so weak. ‘Where is everyone?’
‘Rhia was going to have a bath and get some sleep, and Amaya has the afternoon to herself, for once. I believe Lady Mira is writing letters to her kin.’ As she turned her head in the weak light, Isidro saw a dark smear on her face, a bruise marring the burnished brown of her skin. As his eyes adjusted, he made out the swelling around her cheek and her eye.
‘What happened to you?’ Isidro demanded.
Delphine sighed and prodded the bruises. ‘My wretched cousin, that’s what.’
‘The mage-captain was here?’ He couldn’t think with any agility; everything she told him only confused him further.
‘Yes, but he’s gone now, the vicious sod. The delegation came yesterday to see the wonders of this place. Lady Mira didn’t want me to speak to them: she was afraid I’d tell them all your secrets. I had to swear every oath I could think of to stay, and look what I got for it!’
Isidro still felt bewildered — and as stupid as a sack full of rocks. ‘Your own kin raised a hand to you? Why?’
‘Because I’m a whore and I deserve it, or so the wretched beast says. Apparently I’ve brought shame on all our family by being taken prisoner and letting all this come about. I tried to tell him that I’ve been treated rather well, actually, and certainly not required to whore, but it only made him more angry. There’s simply no reasoning with the man!’ She threw up her hands. ‘Demons take the son of a bitch. By the Good Goddess herself, I want nothing more to do with him.’
So the Akharian delegation had been and gone. Just what had caused him to sleep through it still eluded his sluggish mind. He was too outraged that his prisoner had come to harm to untangle those particular threads just yet. ‘He’s gone now?’
‘Oh yes. Lady Mira’s men marched him off right away. He couldn’t stop them: the Wolf people have more of those wretched suppression stones, and the mages all wore them on pain of losing the hostages they left with the clan.’
‘I see,’ Isidro said, but he only barely understood. ‘Those bruises look painful. Have you seen Sirri about them?’
Delphine hesitated. ‘Do you remember what happened to you?’
‘I …’ he began, but the words escaped him and he broke off in confusion. ‘Mira. Mira was leaving.’
‘Yes, I heard about that. What else do you recall?’
Isidro tried to think, but his memory was full of holes and shadows. ‘Where’s Sirri?’
‘She … she left,’ Delphine said.
‘Left? Why? Where did she go? Delphine, what happened?’ he demanded.
Delphine sighed. ‘Sierra’s power grew unstable. You’re linked to her by the Blood-Mage rituals, and everything you were doing, training together, drawing power from each other, even sharing a bed, all strengthened the connection. She started draining your life-force, inadvertently, of course, but when she realised something was wrong, she panicked and tried to break the connection, but in doing that she tore a hole in the part of you that carries the Blood-Mage mark. You were bleeding to death, in a way, but bleeding life-force instead of blood. That’s why you’ve been asleep for so long — it’s taken some time for you to regain enough strength to wake up.’
For a long moment Isidro was speechless as all this sunk in. Oh, ye Gods, Sirri … She must have been terrified, thinking she’d almost killed him. ‘Is she alright?’
‘She’s fine. She wasn’t harmed, but the poor girl was inconsolable. You weren’t the only one affected, Cammarian and Lady Mira were struck, too, though nowhere near as badly. The connection you share with Sierra made quite a difference there.’
‘She … left?’ Isidro frowned. It was probably the wisest option, but he hated to think how she must have felt, leaving all her friends behind. ‘Where did she go? Up to the surface? I hope Mira sent trusted men to guard her, but why didn’t she take you with her? She can’t afford to interrupt her training.’ He closed his eyes and tried to make contact with Sirri, but he was far too weak — just reaching for the connection made his head swoop and spin violently. ‘I’d best write her a letter; Mira can send it with her messages. Where’s Cam?’
Looking faintly alarmed, Delphine glanced at the door. ‘Look, I don’t think I’d best tell you any more, not until Lady Mira or Rhia gets here.’
Even in his muddled state, Isidro knew those words could only mean bad news. He felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. His right hand twitched, wrenching another throb from the ravaged bones. Isidro seized her arm with his good hand. ‘Delphine. Tell me. Where is Cam?’
‘He … he went after her.’
Isidro misheard her at first. He thought she’d said that Cam went with her and started to relax. It was only once Delphine pulled free of his grasp that he understood her words.
A moment later, Mira was there, with Rhia on her heels. At once the chamber was full of light and noise, and everyone was talking at once. Mira was furious, berating Delphine while the Akharian stood her ground and argued back, stumbling over her explanation in the language she did not quite grasp. Meanwhile, Rhia urged Isidro to lie down, trying to distract him from the heated discussion behind her. In the end he simply couldn’t take it any more and shouted them to silence, and then had to sit with his head in his hands between his knees when the exertion brought him close to passing out.
When he could talk agai
n, he said to Delphine. ‘He went after her? Where did she go?’
‘I told you not to tell him!’ Mira hissed at Delphine.
‘I was told to talk to him and keep him calm! And even I know the man won’t accept evasions as answers. Doesn’t he deserve to know the truth?’
‘Oh, hold your tongue; you’ve done enough damage,’ Mira snapped. ‘Issey … Sierra left us in the middle of the night. We didn’t find out until it was too late —’
Isidro didn’t lift his head from his hands. ‘Mira, just answer the cursed question. Where did she go?’
Mira drew a sharp breath. ‘She went to Rasten. Issey, I’m sorry.’
For a long moment he simply couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even breathe.
‘She left a message with Nirveli,’ Mira said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘She said she’d only end up killing the people around her, and so she needed to be around the people who deserved to die.’
He could see the thought behind her actions. Either Rasten would teach her to control her power and she would use it to kill their master; or she would die in the attempt and do her best to take them with her.
‘And Cam?’ he asked.
‘He and Ardamon went to bring her back. She blocked her trail, and by the time they reached the outside Rasten and Sierra had already ridden out. Ardamon talked Dremman into giving them an escort and went after them. Issey, he left a letter for you — he promises he’ll take every care, but he’s determined to bring Sierra back.’
‘She won’t come,’ Isidro said. ‘If she’s made up her mind, she’ll stick to it. How long ago was this?’
There was a pause as Rhia and Mira shared a glance over his head.
‘Cam and Ardamon left six days ago,’ Delphine said.
He’d been lying unconscious all that time. ‘Has anyone been in touch with Sirri?’
‘How?’ Delphine asked. ‘You’re the only one who can reach her.’
‘Isidro, we’ve told you everything we know,’ Rhia said. ‘Now you need to eat and rest. Are you hungry?’
He wasn’t, but he had to eat if he was to regain his strength, so Isidro nodded, and then hid his face in his hand once again. Sirri … oh ye Gods, Sirri.
Isidro turned to the wall and clenched his right hand, feeling the muscles and tendons bunch around the misshapen bones. She must have been desperate. Nothing but utter despair could have driven her to Rasten. And yet … how could she leave without talking to him? She hadn’t waited for him to wake up, hadn’t discussed her options and choices, hadn’t asked him for ideas. Betrayal and anger burned within his heart like he’d swallowed a hot coal.
If he’d known what she was contemplating, he would have done everything in his power to prevent it. She must have known that, and so she left while he couldn’t do anything about it. She had made him helpless to protect her, and that hurt the most.
And she’d drawn Cam into danger as well. So what if she told him not to follow — she knew Cam well enough to know he’d go after her anyway. And what would this do to Mira and Ardamon, and all the others who had sacrificed to keep the Wolf Clan and the Akharians off her back and give her time to learn her mage-craft?
His arm throbbed, a deep, fiery ache that distracted him from his warring emotions. As angry and wounded as he was, the thought of her in Rasten’s arms made him sick with worry. How could you do it, Sirri? How could you give yourself to him?
When Rhia returned with a bowl of plain broth, Isidro took one look and set it on the shelf beside him. ‘Out, all of you.’
Rhia and Mira exchanged a glance. ‘Issey,’ Mira began.
‘Get out! All of you, just go away and leave me alone.’
Delphine tapped her stylus against the page. As a servant passed the library door carrying a basket of dirty dishes, she fell still. Once the halls had been silent for several long moments she lay down the stylus and pulled back the sleeve of her jacket.
A handful of days had passed since Isidro awoke, but Delphine felt no more settled or certain than she had before.
The murky green stones gleamed dully in the lamplight, but a crevice of the gilded fittings still held a smear of chalky paste. With a muttered curse Delphine snatched up the stylus and tried to scrape it out with the tip. Once the stones disintegrated she’d cleaned the chalky residue away as best she could, but the fine dust had a way of clinging to the smallest spaces, no matter how hard she scrubbed. Now that Isidro had returned to his senses, Delphine wasn’t sure how much longer her deception would hold. To an ordinary mage, the decoys might pass as suppression stones, but he wouldn’t be fooled.
She would have to make a decision soon. Stay or go, what will it be? A month ago, it would have been clear, but now the thought of walking away left her with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Delphine thought her path would become clear when Isidro recovered or died — with the wrist-bands neutralised, she could leave any time she wished … only now she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go back.
At the same time, Delphine couldn’t say why she stayed. Isidro was improving, slowly but steadily, even if he was mired in a depression as deep as she’d ever seen. Delphine told herself a hundred times a day there was no reason to stay, and yet she couldn’t disengage from these folk who had fought so desperately, and were now on the point of losing everything.
With a sigh Delphine pulled her sleeve down again and turned her attention back to the books that had become her refuge. Studying Ricalani mage-craft was difficult given she was still learning the language, but Delphine welcomed the challenge. She immersed herself so thoroughly that she often failed to notice the people going back and forth beyond the library door. It was only when someone came into the room itself and stood inside the doorway for a long moment that Delphine pulled herself away from the text to look up.
Isidro leant against the doorframe, watching her with dark eyes. Days of lying unconscious had left his cheeks hollow, with dark circles under his eyes, and Delphine could see he was far from steady on his feet.
‘My apologies,’ he said at last, turning away. ‘I didn’t mean to disturb you.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Delphine said. Seeing him on his feet again made her feel unaccountably relieved, and to cover her confusion she beckoned him over. ‘Come and sit. You can help me understand this wretched text, if you like.’ The moment the words left her lips, Delphine realised she’d made a mistake. He was bound to sense the changes in the wrist-bands and what would she do then?
It was too late now. Isidro seemed surprised at the offer, but after only a moment of hesitation he came to sit beside her. ‘Rhia said you saved my life, again. From what I hear you received scant thanks for it.’
Delphine shrugged and fiddled with her stylus. ‘After all your people have suffered at the hands of mine, I don’t expect gratitude. Don’t trouble yourself over it.’
Isidro leant back and regarded her from beneath half-lidded eyes, his gaze cool and assessing. Delphine pressed her lips together, trying to imagine what he was thinking. Back when he and his people turned the tables on her so thoroughly, she’d thought she’d entirely misjudged this man, but as time passed she’d realised she hadn’t been so far from the mark after all. The flaw in her thinking had been her own fault — she’d misjudged how far he was willing to go for those he loved.
‘You’ve changed your tune since our first days here,’ he said.
Delphine looked down. ‘Please don’t throw it back in my face. I’m well aware I behaved atrociously … looking back, it feels as though I went mad. But,’ she lifted her chin, ‘it’s not the first time I’ve made a fool of myself, and I doubt it will be the last.’
‘You did take a few knocks to the head,’ Isidro said. ‘It takes people strangely sometimes.’
‘Does it?’ Delphine rolled the stylus between her fingers. ‘Actually, that makes me feel a little better. Now, of course, I understand why you did it all, but back then I didn’t care. I didn’t want to
understand. I hate to think of the things I said to you and to that poor girl.’
‘But it was true enough, wasn’t it?’ Isidro replied, and abruptly, he stood. ‘Wait here.’
He left without another word, leaving Delphine scowling at his back. Well, she told herself with a shake of her head. I thought I understood him …
A good ten minutes passed before he returned, carrying a pair of shears. Isidro sat again, facing her this time instead of sitting at her side. ‘Delphine, I knew taking you prisoner would put you in an awkward position, but I needed the best teacher for Sierra. Now that she’s gone … well, there’s no reason to keep you here. Give me your hand.’
When Delphine realised what he meant to do, she froze. By touch he would certainly sense the decoys, but she could think of no excuse to refuse him, and so she held her breath and stuck out her right hand.
He turned her wrist over to expose the wires that bound the wrist-bands, and slipped the shears under it. With one snip, the cuff clattered to the floor.
Isidro stooped to pick it up, his head brushing near Delphine’s knee. The moment his fingers touched it, he went very still.
Delphine knew that pose. He always froze when some revelation unfolded in his mind. In the old days, when she was the master and he the servant, she had enjoyed watching out for it.
He straightened slowly, and set the bracelet on the table with a dull metallic thunk. ‘Was this Sierra’s doing?’ he asked.
There was no reason to prevaricate. ‘Yes,’ Delphine said, rubbing her wrist. ‘She blew them out when she wounded you.’
With a sigh Isidro reached for her other cuff and cut it free as well. ‘You could have walked out of here whenever you wished …’ he said, setting shears and stones on the table beside her books. ‘Why didn’t you?’
‘I don’t really know. I suppose I don’t have anywhere else to go.’
He glanced down at the books. ‘Even with all you’ve learnt? We couldn’t stop you from taking these with you.’