Shadow Trapped

by D. K. Holmberg

  The door to the cabin opened, and Carth spun. The captain stood framed in the doorway, watching her with a hint of a smile on his face.

  “You’re still here.”

  “Did you think that I would attempt to run?”

  “Not run, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if you had attempted to escape.”

  “And go where?”

  “You are the Rel. I have little doubt that you would have figured out some way of escaping.”

  She smiled. “Maybe I have.”

  “And yet here you remain. Perhaps you really are after information as you claim.”

  Carth twisted toward him, ready to fight were it to come to it. There was something disarming about the man. “What’s the disagreement you have with the Collector?”

  “You assume that it’s just one disagreement?” He made his way into the room, closing the door to his cabin firmly behind him and taking a seat at his desk. He pulled a piece of paper out from beneath his desk and made a few notes on it before stuffing it back into his desk. When finished, he looked up at her, his hands clasped on top of the desk.

  “I am curious what she’s done to anger you.”

  “I imagine much the same as she has done to anger you,” the captain said.

  “I doubt that.”

  “If you are the Rel, there are rumors of your interest in particular things.”

  “There are many rumors about me, but I’m curious as to which ones you believe.”

  “Should we begin with the rumors of your violent destruction of the A’ras? Even here, stories of the A’ras have reached my waters, and we know that they are fearsome fighters. If you have destroyed the A’ras, then you would have much power.”

  “Do you want the truth, or do you want to believe the rumor?”

  The captain barked out a laugh. “The truth, of course. Did you not destroy the A’ras?”

  Carth shook her head. “I trained with the A’ras. I helped save them when they confronted a threat that was greater than even the A’ras could manage.”

  The captain regarded her for a long moment, and then he pulled his paper out of the drawer again, making a notation on this page before stuffing it back into the drawer. Was he some sort of scholar? Carth had plenty of experience with men who thought themselves scholars. Even Alistan had believed himself to be something more like a scholar, drawing Linsay’s attention when he had continued to pursue rumors of the Elder Stone.

  “Then there is the rumor of your destruction in Asador. Did you not destroy the entire circle of guilds?”

  “There are particular guilds that were not as functional as they needed to be,” Carth said. “I might have intervened to ensure that they functioned the way that they needed to, but that’s not really what I did in Asador.”

  “No. What you did in Asador is a consolidation of power that surprised many people.”

  “There wasn’t an intent to consolidate power. The intent was to ensure that the women that I gathered to me were able to be safe.”

  “Is it only women that you gather?”

  “Not only women, but I have a tendency to focus on protecting women.”

  “In most lands, women have a tendency to need someone to focus on them.”

  “It’s not like that in your lands?” Carth asked.

  The captain studied her for a long moment, and Carth thought he might answer, but instead he reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a stack of paper. He made a series of notes on the surface and then stuffed them back into the desk.

  “Why do you hesitate to tell me about your lands?” Carth leaned on the edge of the chair, not wanting to take a seat. Being able to remain standing gave her a position of power, and with the captain, she was not only aware of that power, but she needed to take advantage of it.

  “There isn’t much we allow known about my homeland. Unfortunately, the Collector managed to discover more than what has been revealed for many years and has attempted to use that knowledge against my people. It has taken everything in my power to thwart her.”

  “Why? What has she intended to use from your homeland? What does she intend to do?”

  “She is the Collector. She gathers knowledge and artifacts and has managed to grow her influence beyond what I thought her capable of. Had I known…”

  Carth shook her head. “I tell myself that same thing every day.”

  The captain regarded her for a moment. “Who did you lose?”

  She snorted. “I’ve lost many people over the years, but she took from me someone who had wanted to have only peace. Because of her, a man who suffered throughout his entire life was tormented at the end.”

  “A man?”

  Carth met his gaze. “He was a man of study, as I suspect you are. He helped those who worked with me, and together we were able to help so many more. Without his assistance, I wouldn’t have managed to have reached nearly as many as I did.” She swallowed as she thought of Boiyn, the same sadness that she’d felt at his death returning. It never seemed to get any easier, mostly because it felt as if his death was senseless. There were many senseless deaths, and she had been around long enough to know that oftentimes people were harmed simply because someone more powerful thought they needed to be, but with Boiyn, it felt particularly painful, if only because he had helped Linsay.

  “I am sorry for your loss,” he said.

  Carth pushed away the thoughts, trying to tamp down the emotion. What good did it do for her to allow herself to feel such anguish? It served no purpose and only prevented her from acting in ways that she needed to.

  “I’m sure she took others from you.”

  He leaned back in his chair, and his eyes took on a distant expression. “Where I am from, we grow accustomed to loss, but there are times when it hurts more than others.”

  “I understand that,” Carth said.

  He blinked and turned his expression to her. “Did she send you here?”

  “She warned me that you are dangerous, and I think she intended for me to be the one to take you on, but she made it seem as if she feared you.”

  He chuckled softly. “Perhaps she does fear me. And if she does, that would please me. But I doubt that fear is the reason that she sends you after me.”

  “Why, then?”

  “It’s about utilization of resources. Everything is a resource to her, and she cares no more for you than she does for anyone else.”

  Carth smiled. That was a similar sentiment to the one Carth had about Linsay, though it was interesting hearing it from someone else. “I came here of my own volition to find out more about you.”

  “And?”

  “I still haven’t learned anything of use.”

  He flashed a smile. “Haven’t you? You’ve learned that myself and the Collector share a disagreement.”

  “And yet you haven’t told me why, or even where you’re from.”

  “There are reasons that I can’t tell you those things.”

  “It’s because you choose not tell me that you will allow the Collector to grow stronger.”

  “Others sharing with the Collector what they should not is the reason she has grown stronger. Had they managed to keep from her what she should not know, there would be nothing for me to fear.”

  Carth studied him. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to protect his homeland, as it was much the same as her wanting to protect those that she cared about. Yet, concealing from her what Linsay had taken from him, the knowledge that she had acquired that would grant her the ability to negotiate with him, made it so that Linsay was more powerful than she had a reason to be. It made it so that he feared Linsay.

  “You will have to trust that the Collector has taken knowledge of my homeland that she should not possess. This knowledge puts not only my people in danger, but a great many others.”

  “Why?”

  “Know that it does.”

  They stared at each other, neither of them looking away. After a while, Carth shook her h
ead and sighed. “What is your plan for me?”

  “Do you intend to destroy my ship?”

  “Not right now.”

  “Then my plan for you is to release you. I doubt that I would be able to hold you were I to want to.”

  Carth had tested her connection to the flame, attempting to push it through the deck of the ship around her. There was a faint resistance, but it was nothing that she couldn’t overcome. She suspected that she would be able to press through it and ignite the ship were she to want to.

  That was what Linsay wanted her to do, but Carth wasn’t convinced that was what she should do. She needed to discover more about Linsay’s relationship with this man and his people, which was the reason she had come here, but she wasn’t going to be able to do that—not without taking other risks.

  Anything that she did placed Jenna and Alayna into danger. She needed to return before her absence was noticed—if Linsay had not already noticed it.

  But then, it was possible that she was already aware that Carth had disappeared. If that was the case, then what would she do to Carth’s friends?

  What would she do to her ship?

  “No. I don’t think that you would,” she said finally.

  “You will tell her that you were here?”

  “That wasn’t my intention,” Carth said.

  “Ah. I understand. You came to find out whether you should comply with what she’s asked of you.”

  Carth nodded.

  “And what will you do when you return?”

  “Hopefully, I will discover what she intended for you.”

  “I’m not certain that you will be able to. The Collector is nothing if not deceptive. She will have her ways of preventing you from knowing what she would ask of you.”

  “You say that as if you speak from experience.”

  “Much experience.”

  “Then help me. Give me something that will allow me to counter her. All I need is information. Anything that will allow me to understand why she thought to attack you the way that she did, and anything that will help me know what I can do to protect you.”

  The captain smiled slightly. “Protect? Do you think that we would require your protection?”

  “I think that I can help, but only if I know what it is that she’s after. Otherwise, there is nothing that I can do that would be of any use to you.”

  The captain regarded her for a long moment. She could see the debate waging behind his eyes as he struggled with what to tell her. Would he reveal to her what it was that Linsay hoped to accomplish?

  Maybe there was only one way for her to convince him. Maybe she needed to prove to him that she could be trusted. But how?

  “I have already revealed to you enough about my experience with the Collector.”

  “And if I share with you her name?”

  His brow furrowed. “Her name?”

  Carth nodded. “You refer to her as the Collector, which tells me that you don’t know nearly as much about her as I do.”

  “You have referred to her the same way.”

  “I have, but only because doing so prevents you from knowing exactly what I know about her. If I share with you her name, will you tell me what she was after?”

  He clasped his hands together. “Are you certain that you have her real name?”

  Carth shrugged. “I have not only her name, but that of her sister.”

  He regarded her for a long moment. “That would suffice.”

  “I know her as Linsay Thandil. I don’t know how much of that name is real, but I suspect that Linsay is her real name.”

  “And her sister?”

  “First you share what you know.”

  “How do I know that you will follow through?”

  “I’ve already followed through. Now it’s your turn to prove that you will do what you promised.”

  “Ai’thol.”

  Carth frowned, studying him. “That’s your homeland?”

  He smiled tightly. “It’s not a place that’s well known to many. Somehow, the Collector discovered secrets to a place that should have been long forgotten.”

  “What kind of secrets?”

  “The kind of secrets that place my people in danger. Now, who is her sister?”

  Would the captain be able to use this information against Talia? It was possible, but only if he somehow managed to reach Talia. For him to do that, he would have to get aboard Carth’s ship, and then he would have to take her from Carth’s protection. Talia was as safe as Carth could make her.

  “If I share her sister’s name, you will share yours.”

  “That’s not a fair trade.”

  “Isn’t it? I suspect the Collector already knows your name, which places me at a disadvantage with her. You don’t know the Collector’s sister, which places you at a disadvantage when it comes to her. This way, we will all be placed on more even footing.”

  “It is an interesting idea, Carthenne Rel, but once I share with you my name, how will I know that you will share with me this piece of information?”

  Carth glanced at the desk. “Perhaps we could write it down. You write your name, and I will write the Collector’s sister’s name.”

  The captain pulled a slip of paper out from the drawer and tore off a strip, handing Carth a pen. He tore off another strip and quickly wrote something on the page. He kept his hand over it, protecting what he’d written from Carth, keeping her from seeing.

  When he was finished, he looked up, watching her with an expectant stare.

  Carth took a moment to debate what she would do. If she revealed Talia’s name, she placed her in danger, and she had made a point of telling her that she would keep her safe. On the other hand, she worried that the captain would know if she attempted to deceive him, and she needed to know his name in order to have the advantage with Linsay. Even knowing his name might not give her the advantage she sought.

  She scrawled a word across the scrap of paper and slipped it over to the captain. He slipped his toward her.

  They each grabbed the name, and Carth looked at it, her brow furrowing. He smiled when he glanced at her.

  “Were you telling the truth?” he asked.

  “Were you?”

  “I guess we will have to wait and see.”

  17

  The water was cold, and Carth was ready to be out of the sea, but getting out would require her to throw herself back onto the deck of the ship, and she needed to be cautious. She crawled up the figurehead on the bow and tucked herself between an arch on the figurehead and the ship. She breathed in the salt air, trying to catch her breath. It had taken quite a bit of strength to return to the ship, exploding through the water with each stroke, trying to hurry back. She had lost track of time, uncertain how long she’d been gone. Probably too long, but hopefully she could explain that away.

  When she had dried enough, she crawled along the side of the figurehead and reached for the railing onto the ship. With a surge of shadows, tossed herself back onto the deck and strode toward the mast. She passed Rebecca standing near the bow, staring out at the sea, and when she passed her, Rebecca glanced over at Carth, her brow furrowing.

  She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Carth ignored her and climbed up the mast to join Jenna as she was looking out. “Did anyone ask where I’ve been?”

  “Not so far. I made a point of saying that you were watching.”

  Carth discreetly looked down at the deck. Not only was Rebecca looking up at her, but so was Alessa. Carth worried more about Alessa than she did about Rebecca, though maybe she didn’t need to. Maybe Alessa was meant to be nothing more than a deterrent, someone that Linsay intended to intimidate Carth—or at least make her feel as if she needed to explain herself. There was no sign of Linsay, but maybe there wouldn’t be one.

  “Did you find anything?”

  Carth fingered the strip of parchment in her pocket. She still hadn’t decided whether the captain had told her accurately or not, but she
thought that he was telling the truth. If that was the case, then she could use that against Linsay. It would give her a piece of information that might be enough to help her with making the right move. She needed to be ready, prepared for whatever Linsay might throw at her, and she felt increasingly uncertain about whether or not she had enough information to effectively counter Linsay. She thought that she did, but it was possible Linsay had played her in such a way that she would think that.

  “I found the ships. I found a captain who apparently has a grudge against Linsay.”

  “Should that surprise us?”

  “I found out where he was from.”

  When Carth told her, Jenna frowned. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

  “No. And it means nothing to me, either. It’s just that knowing that there is a place that Linsay knows about that we didn’t places us at an advantage. Besides, we have someone we can approach to question.”

  “Only if we can return to Keyall.”

  Carth shrugged. “We need to complete whatever task Linsay has in mind for us, and then we can go to Keyall, find out where this place is, maybe find out whether or not the name this captain provided to me is accurate. Then we can see if we can outmaneuver Linsay.”

  Jenna looked at Carth for a long moment before turning her attention back to the sea. “I know that your intention is to outmaneuver Linsay, but after what she did to me, I want to hurt her.” Jenna glanced over at Carth, and there was pain written on her face. “She deserves more than to simply lose whatever game the two of you are playing. She deserves to suffer as she made Alayna and me suffer. She deserves pain the way that she brought pain to Boiyn.”

  “I understand what you want. What you need. I can’t promise that we’ll be able to cause pain to Linsay the same way that she has caused pain to you and Alayna.”

  “And to you, too.”

  “Mine was not nearly as miserable as what she did to you.”

  “Right. You only had to find a way to escape from an impenetrable prison, and you lost someone you had promised to protect, but other than that?” Jenna shrugged.