Shadow Trapped

by D. K. Holmberg

  What would she say to them? How could she explain that Linsay had beaten her again? She was supposed to be the one to protect others, and she was supposed to be the one who outplayed others, but in this, Linsay had managed to outmaneuver her multiple times.

  “Were you going to join the rest of us?”

  Carth turned. Alayna stood behind her, her arms crossed over her chest. In the growing light of the morning, her green eyes had a faint sparkle to them.

  “Eventually,” Carth said.

  “Eventually?”

  “I found her.”

  Alayna took a seat next to Carth and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Linsay? She’s here?”

  Carth nodded. “She’s here. And she’s the reason the women have segregated themselves the way that they have.”

  Alayna groaned. “Don’t tell me that she thinks to recreate the same sort of network that you have.”

  “Unfortunately, I think that’s exactly what she intends. She claims that I gave her the idea.”

  “The idea to help the people of the city?”

  Carth shrugged. “I don’t know if the people of the city needed protection or not. I don’t know whether she rescued them from something”—and if she had, could Carth object? Hadn’t that been the sort of thing that she had wanted to teach?—“or whether she is simply using them.”

  “You know she’s using them, Carth. After everything she did, and the way that she used us, there isn’t another possibility. All she really is after is using these people.”

  “Like I said, I think that’s the most likely, but it’s still possible that she might have some altruistic motives.”

  “You can’t be serious?”

  Carth gave her a tired smile. “I’m not.”

  “Do you know what she’s after?”

  “She made it quite clear what she was after. Or rather, she made it clear who I should be after.”

  “Who?”

  Carth turned her attention back to the sea. If Ras had been captured, she had to help him. He had been more than her mentor. He had taught her about Tsatsun, and had taught her that there were other ways to power than simply the strength that she had developed. It was because of Ras that she had begun to understand the real key to power. Without him, Carth didn’t think that she ever would have understood that, not the way that he managed to teach her.

  “Someone who meant a lot to me and who was responsible for my education.”

  “Someone within the A’ras?”

  Had it been the A’ras, would Carth have cared? She hadn’t seen Master Invar in years, but had he needed her, she thought that she would have found a way to help him.

  “It’s not the A’ras. I’m not sure how much Linsay even knows about the A’ras.”

  Linsay had invoked the name, but had she actually known anything about them, she would have been more cautious in doing so. The A’ras were not to be trifled with, especially in Nyaesh. Not only were they fearsome and skilled swordsmen, but they were connected to what they referred to as the flame, the same sort of power that Carth connected to when she reached for the S’al.

  “This is the man who taught me how to play Tsatsun.” She looked over to Alayna. “Somehow, she has captured Ras.”

  “I’m so sorry, Carth.”

  They sat in silence for a while, and daylight began to stream over the horizon. Carth finally shook herself, standing.

  “How do you know that he was actually captured?” Alayna asked. She looked up at Carth, her arms still wrapped around her knees and a deep frown on her face. “With what you’ve told me, and what we know of Linsay, isn’t it possible that she’s only telling you something to get you to react in a specific way?”

  Carth smiled at Alayna. “Maybe you’re better at Tsatsun than you let on. Linsay wasn’t the only one pretending with her skill.”

  Alayna stood and she jabbed a finger in Carth’s chest. “I’m only doing what you’ve told us to do. Haven’t you said we need to think like our enemy? Well, if I were Linsay, and I wanted you to do something for me, it seems like I would tell you that I had someone close to you regardless of whether I did or not. Either way, you would be likely to do what I wanted,” she said.

  “You’re right. Except, she has promised that she would provide proof.” Carth wouldn’t have believed Linsay otherwise, and Linsay would have known that. “What’s more, I’m not even sure that she’s the one who has him.”

  “If not her, then who? Who would want to capture Ras?”

  Carth had given it quite a bit of thought, raising the same question. The Hjan wouldn’t have gone after him. Doing so would have violated the accords, especially as Carth had included the C’than within the accords. And she wasn’t convinced that it was Linsay. Linsay might have gone after Ras, and Carth would have understood, especially with his knowledge of Tsatsun, but Carth had a hard time believing that she would have succeeded. Ras would have known what she was after, wouldn’t he? He was such a master of Tsatsun that Carth still wasn’t certain whether she had ever beaten him, or whether he had only convinced her that she had beaten him.

  “That’s all part of Linsay’s mystery. She tells me that he’s captured and claims that she’s interested in helping him escape, but hasn’t yet told me what she will require in exchange for that knowledge. There will be a price.” For something like that, there was always a price, Carth didn’t know if it was one she was willing—or able—to pay.

  “Did she give you any idea of when you’ll know?”

  “We’re supposed to meet her at noon today.”

  “We?”

  Carth nodded. “I suspect that’s part of the price. She wanted to see us. All of us.”

  Alayna gasped. “But Talia…”

  “I know. I don’t know what Talia will do when we tell her that her sister is here, and that she wants to see her. I don’t know how she’ll react.”

  “Carth, she’s been hesitant about this from the beginning. She’s been so much a part of what has happened to her, and so caught up in everything that Linsay did to her, that it’s hard to imagine that Linsay won’t be able to manipulate her back into the fold.”

  “I think that’s what Linsay intends, but what if it’s not possible? What if she’s had enough time with us to recognize the value of working with us?”

  “I don’t think it’s so much of value of working with us, so much as it is trying to understand everything her sister did to her. Think of what you told me about Danis. The way that the Hjan controlled people when you faced them. I think what Linsay did to Talia is similar to it.”

  “You think that she was manipulating her sister in such a way that she was controlling her mind?”

  Alayna shook her head. “Nothing quite so dramatic as that, but I do think that Linsay has an influence over her sister.”

  “What if we have a stronger influence?”

  “Do you think that we do already? We haven’t been working with her long enough for us to have that much influence over her. Maybe in time, that will be different, but right now? I just don’t see that being the case.”

  “She has a right to know that Linsay is here. We’re going to need her involvement, especially if we’re going to get to Ras.”

  “And you intend to go after him.”

  “I have to.”

  “Even if it means that Linsay will be connected to him?”

  Carth had to smile. There was more to that comment than she would have expected from Alayna. It was the first consideration that Carth had had. She feared connecting Linsay to Ras as well because of his skill with Tsatsun. If Linsay wanted a master to challenge and didn’t think Carth posed enough of a challenge, it made a sick sort of sense that she would manipulate Carth into bringing Ras to her. If Carth did that, she was only doing what Linsay wanted, and not necessarily what was actually needed. It was even possible that Ras was in no danger and didn’t need her help. If Carth went after him, and if she subsequently brought Linsay to him, then she coul
d be responsible for placing Ras into danger. That was something Carth was not interested in.

  “We won’t know until we meet with her. If she has proof, then I will need to do what I can to help him.”

  “What kind of proof will make a difference to you?”

  That was a good question, and one that Carth didn’t have an answer to.

  12

  Carth led the others toward the women’s tower, making their way slowly along the street. Talia had been silent since Carth had revealed Linsay’s presence, much as she had expected. Carth continued to watch her. There was a part of her that wondered whether Talia had known that Linsay would be here. If so, could she trust her?

  Jenna had a tension to her that never left, as if she were a spring wound up tightly, ready to explode. Alayna remained on Carth’s left, keeping mostly silent as she walked, and every so often she would glance over at Carth, as if she were more concerned about Carth than the other women with her.

  As they went, Carth became aware of others joining them along the street. They remained hidden, concealed within buildings, but Carth could detect their presence, recognizing them as pressure against her connection to her magic.

  “How many are watching us?” Alayna asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” Carth said.

  Alayna glanced over. “That many?”

  Carth nodded. There were dozens all around them. Enough that were they to have the need to escape, Carth doubted they would be able to do so very easily. It would require fighting, and it would require attacking women that Carth had no interest in doing, especially not if her intent was to protect them from Linsay.

  The streetscape began to change, the brightly colored buildings becoming more visible, and with it, the tension to Talia increased. Carth quickened her steps and caught up to Talia. “You could remain by the harbor,” Carth said.

  “Could I?” Talia asked. “I thought you said she wanted me there.”

  “That’s what she said, but I think I would have been able to protect you from it.”

  Talia glanced over at her. “I’m beginning to think that you can’t protect me from my sister at all.”

  Talia turned away from Carth and continued forward, ignoring Carth. What was there to say? Talia was right. Carth hadn’t been able to protect Talia, regardless of what she’d wanted to do. She had intended to offer protection to her, but there had been very little that she had been able to do that had protected Talia. Everything that she had attempted had only brought her deeper into Linsay’s plans.

  Alayna rested a hand on Carth’s arm, and she shook her head. “She’s not mad at you. She’s mad at the situation.”

  Carth stared at Talia’s back. “No. I think she’s mad at me, and for good reason. I had promised to protect her, and I’ve not done that. All I managed to do is continue to place her in Linsay’s machinations, despite everything that I thought that I could do to outsmart Linsay.”

  “Maybe it’s not about outsmarting Linsay.”

  Carth glanced over.

  Alayna nodded to Talia. “For her, maybe it’s not about outsmarting Linsay. Maybe it’s more about offering what her sister hasn’t been able to offer her.”

  They reached a tall building painted a deep blue. There was nothing unique about the building other than its color, and nothing about it that screamed that it would be the place where Linsay led her network, but this was where Carth had seen her before. This would be where they would find the Cason.

  The Collector.

  When they paused at the door, Jenna’s hand went to her side, reaching for one of her knives. Tension filled her body, and she didn’t move. “This is it?” Jenna asked.

  “This was where I met her before,” Carth said.

  “I expected something more flamboyant from her. Maybe a palace, or an entire block of the city.”

  “She’s never wanted flamboyancy,” Talia said.

  Carth glanced over. “I wouldn’t say that she’s never wanted flamboyancy.”

  “You don’t know her the way that I do,” Talia said.

  “Careful,” Jenna warned.

  “It’s okay. I don’t know her the way that Talia knows her, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know Linsay. My knowledge of her is different than yours, but that doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate.”

  When Carth reached for the door, Alayna leaned toward her. “Are you sure this is what we want to do?”

  “We need to know what she’s after,” Carth said. “I need to know whether she did something to Ras.”

  “And once we do? If it seems as if she’s after Talia, or if she’s intending to harm you again?” Alayna asked.

  “I won’t allow that,” Carth said.

  “It might not be up to you,” Talia said.

  She pushed past Carth, opening the door. The room on the other side was empty, though a thick woven rug spread across the floor. Two small tables were set on either side of the room, with lanterns resting on them. They glowed with soft orange light, creating all the light that was in the room.

  “Through here,” Carth said. She led them through the room and past another series of doors. The sense of others near them remained, though she didn’t see anyone.

  They continued from room to room, Carth remembering the way that she had come last time, and after a while, the others with her began to look a little less certain.

  “How far are we going?” Jenna asked.

  “All these buildings are interconnected. This was the way I knew how to get in.”

  They stopped at the door leading into what Carth could only consider a throne room. She paused with her hand on the door, certain that there would be others on the other side of the door, ready for whatever Linsay might have in mind for them here.

  “She’ll be here,” Carth said. “Don’t do anything impulsive. And please, know that I will do everything I can to protect all of us.” The last was more for Talia’s benefit, but Jenna nodded, some of the tension leaving her shoulders.

  They entered the room. As she had before, Carth saw Linsay sitting on the throne, lounged back, as if waiting for Carth and the others to appear. A playful smile curled her lips as they entered, and her gaze drifted past Carth to her sister. Talia immediately tensed, and Carth worried what she might do.

  Arranged around the walls of the room were the dozens of women that Carth had detected before. They all stared at her, none of them moving, but there was something to the way that they watched Carth and the others that gave her reason to hesitate.

  “What’s wrong with them?” Alayna whispered.

  “Enhancements,” Carth said.

  “All of them?”

  “All of them. She used what Boiyn taught and changed it, somehow adding to it and making them something else.”

  “Welcome, sisters. It feels like it’s been so long since we’ve had time together,” Linsay said.

  “As agreed, I have brought everyone here to you,” Carth said.

  Linsay flashed a smile. “As agreed? So formal. I thought that my sisters would want to see me again. After everything that we’ve been through, I thought that they would appreciate the opportunity to see how well I’m doing.”

  Jenna leaned forward, and Carth took the other woman’s hand. Linsay couldn’t help but smile.

  “Don’t tell me that you’re still angry about the little game I played with Carthenne. How else was I supposed to challenge myself? Carthenne has been so helpful to all of us, and has said that she wants nothing more than to help us grow as people. My growth has required me to challenge myself and to discover whether Carthenne is really the master of Tsatsun that she has always claimed.”

  “You’re half the woman that Carth is,” Jenna said.

  “Were that the case, you wouldn’t have been my guest for as long as you were.”

  “Guest?” Jenna asked. “You captured us. You tormented us. You would have—”

  Alayna was the one who attempted to silence Jenna by pulling on her
arm, something Carth had not been willing to do. Having Jenna and her anger was beneficial, especially for these other women, so that they could see just how much Linsay had hurt others. They needed to witness that it wasn’t only Carth who had been injured by Linsay, and then hopefully they would see that Carth offered an alternative. She wasn’t convinced that it would make a difference, especially not unless—or until—she was able to offer them anything similar to what Linsay offered them.

  “They always try to silence you,” Linsay said, glancing from Carth to Alayna. She studied Alayna the longest. “You have such valuable insight, and they never allow you to share it. Were you to join with me, I wouldn’t silence you quite the same way.”

  “And in what way would you silence me?” Jenna asked.

  Linsay feigned a look of shock. “I wouldn’t silence you at all. I value all of the women who work with me. Without them, where would I be? What would I be?”

  “Why did you want me brought to you?” Talia asked.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  Talia shook her head. “You used me to help capture them.”

  “I didn’t use you for anything. I helped with your training. I wanted to ensure that you were given an opportunity to learn.”

  “Learn what? All I’ve learned is that both of you think to manipulate and use others.”

  Linsay almost smiled. “I would not use you in the same way as Carthenne. You are my sister—my true sister. I need you to be a part of everything that I do. Without you, none of this would be possible.”

  A part of Carth worried that Linsay would be able to sway Talia, and that if she did, there might be little that Carth could do. She couldn’t force Talia to remain with her, but she thought that she might need Talia, especially as she went to save Ras.

  Of those who had come with her, Talia was the one person whose response Carth wasn’t sure of. Would she remain angry at what she perceived Linsay had done to her? Or would she decide that their sisterhood meant more to her?