"Me too," Nahtan sighed. "Mallin's good at figuring out when they're sincere, though, so I trust him if he tells me someone's done fighting and wants to go back to their family. There have only been a couple that were able to fool him. It wasn't for long and they were found out before they were set free." He turned his attention forward as they continued to advance on the temple.
There were several guards outside what remained of the building, and while several rushed to attack them, a few immediately surrendered. Those who surrendered were escorted straight back with the others.
Once the area outside was secure, Nahtan started dispersing men to set up a perimeter and start searching the immediate hills around for any church guards lurking there. He didn't want any surprises while they searched the temple, and wanted to make sure they had time to cover each floor they could.
As the men moved out to take positions, Nahtan sat and stared at the temple while Asher began ordering others to start searching the burned building and bring any bodies outside. It seemed like he'd spent so much of his life fighting against Zared and now he stood before the center of his power only to find it destroyed.
Zared had tried to kill him so many centuries ago when he'd first come to Jensina in this world. The fallen god had hurt his friends, corrupted so many people, and tried to hurt Valry and Rena in Edgewind. He remembered how traumatized Rena has been after the sacrifice in Aarao. He hadn't fully understood then how terrible it must have been for her, only that she was hurting and he wanted to protect her from ever seeing anything like that again.
Then Thorvald had kidnapped Valry and turned her over to the priests here, where blood sacrifice happened daily. He couldn't imagine what that must have been like for her.
"I need to find Garren," Nahtan said after a minute. "If they find any bodies of priestesses, I need him to see if he recognizes any of them." He hadn't told Asher that his sister was one of Zared's priests, and wasn't really in the mood to now. He turned to ride back to where the others waited, finding Garren and Korrie by Lady Caya's wagon. Calan sat on the back step, his shirt off as Yenene checked the stitches in his side. Lady Caya stood behind them, watching quietly, while Trey stood nearby, his crossbow resting back over his shoulder. Both of them nodded to Nahtan as he approached and he nodded in return.
"I'm pretty sure you're still supposed to be laying down," Nahtan told Calan.
Calan glanced up at him, then went back to watching Yenene. "Four days of laying down and I'm going insane," he said. "I figured I'd recovered enough strength to get up, so I was fine."
Yenene shook her head. "Just once I want a patient who'll keep his arse down and stay there until I say they can get up," she said.
Nahtan turned to Garren. "I need to talk to you alone," he told him.
Garren looked at him, obviously noting the tone of his voice. Nahtan swung down from Renato's saddle and tied him to the railing on the back of Lady Caya's wagon. He glanced at Korrie and she took a couple of steps back.
"What is it?" Garren asked. He looked at Korrie, then followed Nahtan when he motioned for him to walk with him.
"I'm not sure the best way to say this," Nahtan began. "But I need you to come up to the temple. There are a number of priests and priestesses who were killed there, and I need you to see if any of them are Linah."
"Linah?" Garren's voice was surprised as he looked at Nahtan. "They kidnapped her and brought her here?"
Nahtan sighed. "No," he replied. "She was one of Zared's priestesses, Garren. She was his high priestess here."
Garren stopped walking, staring at him "That's not possible," he shook his head. "Nahtan, she wouldn't have done that, she wasn't like that."
"I know it's hard to hear or believe," Nahtan said, turning to face him fully. He met his brother's eyes, keeping his tone low and sincere. "But I found out a while ago she was here and who she was. I didn't tell you because I know how important our family is to you, and I just wanted to protect you from that if I could."
Garren stared at him for a long moment, and Nahtan couldn't begin to guess what he was thinking. Finally, he nodded slowly.
"If she's there, then we need to tell father," he said quietly. "And I want her buried, not burned."
Nahtan nodded his head. He could do that much for Garren, at least.
They went back to Lady Caya's wagon, and Nahtan waited while Garren got his horse. They rode back to the temple in silence, and when Nahtan would look at Garren, he could see he was struggling both with his emotions and the idea that their sister would have become one of Zared's followers.
It took them until late afternoon to search the temple and clear it of any bodies. Nahtan stayed with Garren as he checked each body in a robe that was brought out but none of them were Linah. Once they knew the temple was secure and there was no longer any threat there, Nahtan and the others returned to the road. They moved the army about a league up away from the temple, then started setting up camp for the night.
There were still a couple of hours' of daylight, so Nahtan figured he'd make some use of it. He sent patrols out to scout up the valley and hills, beginning the search for any church guards hiding there. Seeing that everyone was settling in, he took Renato and led him out of the camp, riding slowly up the valley, looking for any sign of Valry or Rial.
Fifteen - "Where's my daughter?"
Rial crouched behind the boulder, watching the church guard pick his way over the smaller rocks below. He glanced down the hill to his right and saw Inacia had managed to circle behind the guard without him noticing. She nocked an arrow on her bow and nodded to him.
He stood and began working his way around, choosing each step carefully so he didn't send any loose rocks down the hill. More than once he had to pause for a moment to find where to step next, making sure the rocks he chose were large enough to keep his balance. Once he was close enough, he flipped his light dagger around, then threw it at the guard, hitting the spot in his neck just above the top of his armor.
The guard dropped to the ground, struggling and trying to reach the blade in his neck. Inacia fired her arrow immediately, hitting him in the chest. He stopped struggling, but as Rial drew closer, he could see he was still breathing. He grabbed the guard by his hair, pulling his head up. He twisted his dagger in his neck, then cut sideways before pulling it free. A gush of blood surged from the wound and the guard fell still.
Rial pulled Inacia's arrow free and handed it to her when she walked over. After she'd taken it, he leaned over, cleaning his dagger on the guard's cloak, then sheathing it.
"That's three of them," she said.
"Two more to go," he nodded, looking around them for any sign of the last two from the group of five they'd been tracking through the hills all afternoon. They'd come closer to the cave they were hiding in than Rial was comfortable with, so he and Inacia had decided to hunt them all down instead of hoping they'd just move on. "They're probably looking for water.”
Rial and Inacia both turned when they heard a horses' hooves behind them. He couldn't see the rider because of the slight curve of the hill they were by, but there was no mistaking the sound of an armored horse approaching. He motioned up the hill and they both climbed, looking for rocks large enough to obscure them from sight.
When the horse came around the base of the hill, Rial blinked in surprise, recognizing the rider immediately. Nahtan's red cloak alone drew attention, but the gold embroidery around the hem seemed exceptionally obvious when the sun hit it.
He motioned for Inacia to stay hidden, then drew his short dagger. He moved around the boulder to get a better angle, then threw the dagger, barely skimming past Renato's nose. The Dweller's horse reared up, startled, and Nahtan was just reaching back to draw his sword when Rial stepped out from behind the boulder.
"Just how many times do I have to kill you?" Rial asked.
Nahtan stared at him as Renato snorted, taking a threatening step forward.
Rial glanced at the Dweller's horse, then walked
to retrieve his dagger. He didn’t really understand how the bonds between the Mo’ani and Dweller’s horses worked, but he knew Renato wouldn’t charge him unless Nahtan told him to.
"Rial?" Nahtan asked, as if he could barely believe he was there.
"I'd certainly hope there aren't two of me," Rial replied. He kept his dagger ready, knowing how his interactions with Nahtan usually went.
"Where's Valry?" Nahtan asked. He turned when Inacia stepped from behind the rock she was hiding behind, her bow drawn and an arrow aimed at Nahtan. He looked back at Rial. "Where's my daughter?"
"She's safe, Nahtan," Rial nodded to him. "It's not, however, safe out here, so I'm not inclined to reveal where she is to you right now."
"Rial--" Nahtan swung down from his saddle, walking over to him. "Where is my daughter?" Rial could tell he was struggling to control his temper, and noticed the clenching of his left fist. He really didn't intend to keep Valry from him, but also wasn't going to tell him where to find her until it was safe. He was also sure if there had been a wall nearby, Nahtan would have pinned him against it.
"There are two church guards out here somewhere," Rial told him, his voice lowering. "That's who we're hunting." He paused. Nahtan had an entire army with him, and they would be able to flush out the guards much faster. "You charged me with keeping her alive and safe, and I fully intend to continue to do that. So long as those two guards are here, it is not safe." He turned, pointing to a large rock further up the hill. "I will leave you a trail starting there," he said. "When those church guards are found and dead and you're sure the area's safe for her, then start there and you'll find us." He glanced at Inacia and turned his wrist, pressing his thumb against his third and fourth fingertips, telling her to keep watching but there was no immediate threat. He looked back at Nahtan. "I trust your Mo'ani can make shorter work of finding them than we can, at least."
Nahtan took a slow breath and exhaled it. Rial could tell he was struggling, and he could understand why. Valry had been gone for months, and he knew it had been hard on the young king. But he also had a responsibility to make sure she was kept safe, even if that meant keeping her from her own father for a while longer right now. With no army right here and no idea how far behind Nahtan they were, he wasn't about to just lead him to her.
"You'd better not be lying to me, Rial," Nahtan finally said. "Or I will kill you."
"Nahtan," Rial sighed. "I may withhold information from you, or only tell you select details, but in the years we've known each other, I have never lied to you. Valry is alive and safe, though she will likely need Yenene's care for some time. She's very anxious to see you again, and quite honestly, she's becoming quite obsessive in talking about you so the sooner that can happen, the better."
"Only two guards?" Nahtan asked.
"That we know of, though we've been picking them off since we left the temple, so there may be more."
Nahtan nodded and turned to pull himself back onto Renato's back. "I'll be there tonight," he promised him.
"I'll be surprised if you're not there before dark," Rial nodded as Nahtan turned to go. "Oh, and Your Majesty," he called to Nahtan before he could leave. "You'll need to signal it's you, or you probably won't like the outcome of just coming up on where we are. Find three rocks, and before you get near the entry, throw one, count to three, throw the second, count to two, then throw the third."
Nahtan nodded and spurred Renato into a gallop.
Inacia walked over to Rial and he could see a slight shake to her hands.
"I'm really glad I didn't have to shoot a king to protect you," she said.
Rial chuckled. "If you're going to stay around me, you'd probably better get used to that," he nodded at Nahtan's retreating back. "That was actually one of our more peaceful exchanges."
He turned to walk up to the boulder he'd indicated. Starting behind it, he deliberately pressed one foot harder into the ground pointing the way to the cave and giving a slight twist to make sure his whole boot print was clear. "We usually end up with him pinning me against a wall and me holding a dagger on him. Threats are exchanged, I usually get hit once or twice and he gets a few minor puncture wounds or cuts."
"Why?!" Inacia stared at him as they walked a few feet then Rial paused to nudge a couple of rocks aside, exposing the dirt underneath.
Rial shrugged. "Neither of us is afraid of the other," he said. "And we both know it. His Majesty likes to think he can control me, so I allow him to believe he can. Letting him pin me against walls makes him think he's gained the upper hand on me." He paused again, this time nudging three rocks into a line. "Nahtan is more than smart enough we could play a more subtle exchange, but I'm afraid it's habit for him to fall back on all of his warrior training, so I oblige. His instincts when faced with an immediate threat are to react physically, as you saw by the way he dismounted and came up on me with no hesitation." He paused again, flipping a fist-sized rock over so the dirt clinging to the bottom was exposed. "Sometimes it takes me a minute or two to get his mind to switch away from the warrior, so we play our little bit of violence, then eventually he starts to think."
Inacia only shook her head, watching as he continued to mark a trail leading back to the cave. He left the last sign several yards below the cave opening, sliding a rock forward through the dirt, the line pointing toward the opening.
"Are you sure he's going to be able to follow that?" she asked, looking back. To most anyone else, there was no apparent trail.
"He can track anything," Rial assured her. "That's one skill of his that I neither underestimate nor doubt. That trail will be as obvious as if we painted it." He led her up to the cave, not saying anything when they entered. He didn't want to get Valry's hopes up now just in case it took Nahtan through the night to get the church guards found and the area safe for her to come out.
Valry was kneeling by the fire, turning the rock chuck Inacia had caught earlier. Her feet were still wrapped and so far she'd listened to Rial and not tried to walk on them. He didn't want to risk any dirt getting into the wounds through the cloth he had wrapped around them.
"Look, the brat can cook," Rial said.
Valry smiled at him. "Better than you," she returned.
Rial raised an eyebrow at her as Hun-Ki met Inacia, licking her hands, his tail wagging so fast it became a blur. Tion looked up at Rial, his expression curious.
"I think someone's feeling better," Rial said, sitting down by the fire.
Valry nodded and sat back as Inacia came to check the chuck.
"Mama says papa's close," she said.
"I'm sure he is," Rial nodded. Inacia cut some of the meat from one of the legs and handed it to Valry along with some dried fruit from one of her bags.
"Thank you," Valry said, wiggling into a more comfortable position. She set the fruit on her knee, then started picking pieces off of the meat. She licked the grease off her fingers, then giggled quietly.
"Mama says ladies don't do that," she said, smiling.
"You know," Rial said, leaning back against the rock wall of the small cave. "Your mother wasn't always that stuffy."
Valry turned and stared at him.
"You knew mama?"
Rial nodded. "I gave them permission to stay at Valin for a winter when they were turned out of the BishopLord's Manor," he told her. "She came with the former BishopLord's wife and son, she was their adopted daughter."
"What was she like?" Valry asked him. She pulled another piece of meat off, taking a bite, then offering the little bit left in her fingers to Hun-Ki. "Papa never talks about her, it hurts too much inside."
Rial watched her for a moment, his eyes picking out tiny details in how Valry moved, from how she held her fingers as she ate to the way she shared each bite with Hun-Ki. He noticed some subtle similarities in how Valry held her fingers to how Rena had moved her hands. "Rena was bold," Rial said after a moment. "Lord Olorun wasn't sure if he could trust her, so he assigned a Mo'ani to watch her whenever she left
the cottage I'd allowed them to stay in. She kept slipping away from whoever was assigned to her and finding her way to wherever your father was so she could watch him training."
Valry smiled. "She was supposed to be there for papa," she told him. "That's why she came from Jensina."
"Perhaps," he agreed. "When she looked at him when he was busy working with Lord Olorun or wrestling with Sewati, just the right corner of her mouth would quirk up a tiny bit." He reached over and tapped the corner of Valry's mouth. "And when your father would catch her looking at him, her cheeks would get just a little pink, right here." He tapped the tops of her cheekbones.
Valry's smile grew. "What else?" she asked, leaning forward slightly. Rial realized for all the time she spent listening to her mother, Valry really didn't know her. She'd never known the little quirks and nuances that made a person unique.
"Your father was the same way," he continued. "He'd glance at her when Lord Olorun would be lecturing her for sneaking away from the Mo'ani who was watching her, and he'd fidget, like he had ants in his boots."
Valry giggled again, taking a bite of a piece of fruit, then feeding the rest to Hun-Ki.
"I think your father had never had a girl like him the way Rena did--and he'd never liked a girl the way he liked her."
"What did mama look like?" Valry asked next. "I asked papa once, but he just said she was pretty and had my eyes."
Rial paused. "You never saw her?" he asked. For some reason it surprised him to hear her ask what her mother had looked like.
Valry shook her head. "I just hear her," she replied. "I can't see her and papa doesn't have any pictures of her. She died when I was born."
Rial frowned and glanced at Inacia, then nodded at Tion. Tion met his gaze, nodding his head. Inacia pulled one of the packs over and handed it to Tion. He rummaged around in it until he found some parchment and his pieces of charcoal.
"She was pretty," Rial began. "A bit skinny, though. I think a good wind could have blown her over." He paused while Valry giggled. "She wasn't quite as tall as Inacia, but she was taller than the mutt." He ducked when Inacia threw a rock at him. "She probably came up to about your father's shoulder at the time, maybe a tiny bit taller." He threw the rock back at Inacia. "Her eyes were a little rounder than yours, but just a bit, you've got more of your father's eyes in by your nose. She had very long dark hair that was just a bit curly. When she'd sit and watch your father, she'd pull it in front of one shoulder and play with the ends, twisting them around her fingers and making the curls all come together."
Basiyr: Chronicles of Nahtan: Book 6 (The Herridon Chronicles) Page 26