Artesans of Albia

by Cas Peace

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  According to Marik, it would take them just over a day to reach his mansion. In the wake of the rain, the wind was much colder. Rienne rode behind Cal, her cloak bundled tightly around her. The season was turning toward winter. The Count had predicted a frost.

  The heavy folds of Rienne’s cloak warmed the horse’s back as well as her own. Sullyan had also drawn a cloak close about her and was sleeping in Robin’s arms. Rienne marveled that she could sleep at all with the motion of the horse, but supposed that her half-healed condition and soldier’s ability to snatch sleep whatever the circumstances must help.

  Throughout the dark afternoon, the wind grew steadily colder and stronger. Marik led the way, Bull, Taran, and Robin taking turns to scout their surroundings. They saw nothing but wildlife and heard nothing but birds. As true twilight began to dim the countryside, Rienne suggested that Cal use the crossbow he had taken to carrying and try his hand at bringing down some game for supper. She was worried about Sullyan’s lack of appetite and thought a good, warm stew might tempt her. The others agreed, and Marik took Rienne onto his horse. He told Cal to look out for a small species of woodland pig that made especially good eating.

  The creatures were plentiful but shy, so Cal had to move apart from the group to stalk them. Instructed to keep in touch with Taran, he disappeared into the deepening gloom. Half an hour later Taran reported his success, and soon the Apprentice reappeared ahead of them, a small carcass slung across his stallion’s withers.

  Marik found a sheltered spot to make camp in a clearing in the woods through which they had been riding for the last couple of hours. Stars were shimmering in the crystal clear sky, the wind had begun to die, and the horses’ breath steamed in the frosty air. Robin roused the Major, who seemed much improved as Bull helped her down from the Captain’s horse. She stretched cramped muscles with only a tiny wince at the pull on her damaged ribs. Rienne guessed she had been using her vast powers to aid her healing while she slept, because the bruises on her face and arms were fading fast.

  The two women skinned and dressed the meat while the men kindled a fire and saw to the horses. Marik found some herbs that would complement the pig’s gamey flavor, and the resultant stew was welcome and heartening. Sullyan still didn’t eat very much. Rienne commented on it, trying to encourage her. Sullyan’s manner was vague and distracted, and her face was very pale. She sat in silence as the others consumed their meal, and Rienne noticed Robin watching her, concern in his dark blue eyes.

  Once the food was finished and cleared away, they sat around the fire for warmth, cradling steaming cups of fellan. Bull reported the area clear of people, and Cal took his longwhistle from his pack, playing softly into the night air. Smiling, Rienne recognized one of the folk tunes she and Sullyan had giggled over during the evening they had spent together. The Major, who was sitting to her right, had also recognized the tune. Her head was turned toward Cal, and her golden eyes glittered with tears that reflected the jumping firelight.

  When she noticed Rienne’s regard, she smiled warmly. The healer experienced a sudden rush of companionship, friendship, and pleasure in another’s esteem, such as she hadn’t felt since falling for Cal’s dark good looks. Then she heard Sullyan’s voice in her mind.

  I shall never forget your care, help, and friendship, Rienne. I could never thank you for what you have done for me.

  Rienne’s vision blurred and she had to turn away. Overwhelming grief welled inside her. Knowing what she would soon lose was too much to bear. She heard Sullyan give a tiny gasp and knew she felt it too.

  The Major turned to Robin, her voice husky in the peaceful night. “I need you to do something for me, Robin. I need you to find out where Rykan’s forces are. I dare not do it myself. Rykan is far too familiar with my psyche, and I would rather not reveal my whereabouts until I am ready. He may even think I am dead, and that sits well with me. If you look for his pattern in the substrate and read the emotions it contains, you should be able to glean some information without alerting him. Will you do this for me?”

  Robin nodded. “Of course. You’ll have to show me his pattern.”

  She did so, and they all waited patiently. Robin’s eyes lost their focus as he flung his metasenses out to search for Rykan’s psyche. After a few minutes, he came back to himself. His gaze found Marik’s with an expression both grim and amused. The Count raised his brows in query.

  Robin said, “I don’t know whether this will please you or not, my friend, but it seems your reputation has gained notoriety among Rykan’s forces.”

  The Count looked puzzled. “Oh?”

  “Rykan has issued a death warrant in your name for abducting the Lady Ambassador here.” Robin grinned at Marik’s expression, then related what he had learned about Rykan’s movements.

  Sullyan nodded in satisfaction. The Duke had acted according to her expectations.

  “Can he win a pitched battle by strength of arms alone?” Taran asked her.

  “He has to try now he has issued a formal challenge,” she replied. “The Andaryan Codes of Combat do not permit a lord to recant once such a challenge has been accepted. He must either win or concede defeat, and if he concedes then he submits to the victor’s will. But Rykan has been circumspect, and he did not pin his entire strategy on forcing me to surrender my metaforce. It is my duty to make sure he cannot win by might of arms, no matter how many men he fields.”

  She didn’t elaborate further and Taran didn’t press her. Rienne thought she knew why. Taran feared that the three of them would be sent back to Albia once they reached Marik’s mansion. He would be trying to deal with his feelings about that. She caught his eye and saw that he knew she was aware of his turmoil. He turned his face away.

  They retired to sleep soon after that, the men agreeing on watches. None of them would wake Sullyan until morning.

  Chapter Seven

  It froze hard overnight, but a glorious morning met their eyes as the sun climbed a brittle, blue sky, striking sparks from the frosted trees. The ground crunched under the horses’ hooves as the animals foraged beneath the boughs.

  After a warming breakfast and copious amounts of fellan, Sullyan astounded Robin by asking him to fence with her. He protested, but she growled at him and he fetched his weapon with no further comment. Rienne strongly suspected that Sullyan had spent the night in healing rather than sleeping, for her face was paler and thinner than ever and she gave no sign of feeling the ribs that had only been set two days before.

  She made a good showing against Robin and chastised him for going easy with her when she wanted his full commitment. After she nearly disarmed him with an unexpected move, he made no further concessions. Rienne surprised herself by watching the graceful, agile, but deadly moves with delight and some envy. She had intended to monitor Sullyan’s condition, but instead found herself admiring the Major’s skills. For the first time in her life, Rienne thought it might feel good to be able to handle a blade that well.

  Both Robin and Sullyan were perspiring by the time the Major ended their bout. Panting, she dropped to the ground. Robin was only marginally less winded, and he leaned on his sword, regarding her with exasperation.

  “Did you really have to push that hard? You’ll do yourself some damage if you’re not careful.”

  She glared at him, and Rienne thought she would deliver a hard reply about it being far too late to worry about damage. Instead she said mildly, “I thought you needed the exercise, Captain. I believe you are growing a touch lazy.”

  This was so patently untrue that Robin snorted. He held out a hand to help her rise. Sullyan’s fingers brushed his face gently as she walked past him to stow her weapon. Robin watched her, an intense expression in his eyes.

  Soon they were on their way again, Marik estimating that they should reach the mansion by mid-afternoon. As before, Sullyan slept in Robin’s arms, and they didn’t bother with a noon meal as they were so close to their goal. Once they were within a fe
w miles of the mansion, Sullyan roused and looked around.

  “Robin, will you scout the area? If Rykan is as avid for the Count’s blood as you suggest, then he will have sent men to watch his home.”

  Robin glanced at Bull, and the two men merged their power to search the area for patrols. As the Major had expected, they found two units of Rykan’s men stationed to guard both approaches to Marik’s mansion. There were no other signs of life. The servants who had been chased off had sensibly stayed away.

  Sullyan paused before regarding them all. “I cannot afford for any of those men to report back to Rykan. They will have to be dealt with.”

  Robin and Bull were unfazed by this, but as Marik, Cal, and Taran were not under her authority, she needed their acceptance before commanding them. Taran and Cal were more than happy to follow Robin, and Marik was fatalistic about his future.

  “I’m caught between Rykan and the Hierarch anyway,” he muttered. “Either one is entitled to kill me on sight, so what do I have to lose?”

  As Marik knew the terrain best, they took his advice on how to lure the patrols out. It was decided that Sullyan and Rienne would be left in ambush with a crossbow apiece, and the men would draw the patrols into range of their bolts. Sullyan seemed satisfied with this plan, but Rienne was far from happy. She wasn’t at all sure she could aim a weapon at another living being.

  “Do not try, then,” said Sullyan. “Aim for the ground in front of the horses. Knowing you are shooting at them will be enough to distract the riders. Leave the killing to me.”

  The men rode off to alert the first patrol while the two women concealed themselves in a thicket with a good view of the land before them. The Major kept a link with Robin so she knew what was happening, and she relayed the information to Rienne.

  The first patrol, ten men strong, was pathetically easy to lure out. Seeing only five men on horseback riding, as they thought, unsuspecting toward them, they wasted no time giving chase. Robin gave the order to run and the enemy closed the gap, soon coming in range of the crossbows.

  Sullyan had no scruples about shooting Rykan’s men, and despite telling Rienne she didn’t have Robin’s level of expertise with the crossbow, she brought the odds down to seven to five in the patrol’s first pass across their position. Rienne’s distracting shots had the effect of breaking up the group, and Robin gave the order to engage the Andaryans hand-to-hand. This made it more difficult for Sullyan to pick them off, so she stopped Rienne from shooting and had her wind each crossbow in turn. The five men maneuvered the enemy riders so their backs were to the crossbows. Soon, it was over.

  Once the loose horses were rounded up, Bull tethered them out of sight. The others disposed of the bodies as best they could, so as not to warn the second patrol. Rienne took back her own horse and Marik took one of the spares. The Major also claimed one, and they rode cautiously toward the second patrol. The enemy seemed unaware that their comrades were dead, so Sullyan decided to try the same tactic as before. She guided Rienne into a nearby copse.

  The second patrol also had ten men, but their leader clearly had greater experience. He refused to be drawn out and waited for the Albians to come within range. This was inconvenient for Robin, as it meant revealing he knew where the patrol was hidden. He relayed this to Sullyan, and she immediately abandoned the ambush ploy. Telling Rienne to follow her, she leaped onto her borrowed mount and galloped off to join the others.

  As they pulled up alongside the men, Sullyan said, “We will have to do this the hard way. Marik, Bull, come with me. Robin, you take Taran and Cal. We will come at them from both sides at once. Let me know when you are in position. Rienne, stay close behind me.”

  Rienne watched uneasily as Robin took Cal and Taran off to the right flank. She kept her horse close on Sullyan’s heels as she, Bull, and Marik worked round to the left. On receiving Robin’s signal, Sullyan told Rienne to stay where she was, and the healer urged her horse behind a tree as the two groups charged the patrol.

  Unaware that their enemy had split forces and confused by the sixth rider, the Andaryans were slow to react. Their commander rallied well, but not before four of his men were dead. Unhorsed, he suddenly found himself facing Sullyan’s sword. Rienne sucked in her breath.

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  Up to this point, Sullyan had managed to suppress her shock and fury at Rykan’s abuse, using the practicalities of their situation to distract her. However, the look of stunned recognition that crossed the Andaryan commander’s eyes caused Sullyan’s control to crumble. He was, she realized, one of the guards who had restrained Marik the first time Rykan raped her. The suppressed boil of hatred within her abruptly burst, and a killing rage flooded her soul.

  Unable to stop herself, she attacked him ferociously, raining blows he couldn’t counter on his blade. Shocked, he fell back before her, his movements ever more frantic, until she disarmed him with a flick of her wrist. Her blade drove through his side and he fell, pinned to the ground while she stood over him, straddling his body and leaning on the sword embedded in his flesh.

  Sick with terror, he stared up at her, seeing his death in her eyes. In the turmoil of Sullyan’s mind, it was Rykan lying at her feet, exposed and helpless, just as she had lain. All the pain, horror, and madness that this sorry specimen had witnessed surged hotly into her breast. She wanted to torture and to terrify him, to use his pain to dull the anguish eating into her heart.

  He made a small whimpering sound, and it inflamed her further. For all the agony and desperation she had felt at Rykan’s hands, she had only allowed herself to scream at the most extreme pain. As soon as she recovered from the drug he had given her, she made up her mind not to betray a single sign of pain or terror, no matter what he did. Mostly, she had succeeded. She wasn’t shamed by the times she had begged, pleaded, and cried, for eventually her choices ran out. By that time, her hopes of rescue had vanished and it no longer mattered.

  Now, seeing this reminder of what she had endured lying so craven before her, the crushing despair came back. The man’s palpable fear and whimpering pleas disgusted her, and a ferocious need for revenge overwhelmed her. If she could not yet have Rykan, then one of his men was almost as good. An enveloping surge of fury rose within her and she grasped the hilt of her sword, intending to twist it in the wound.

  A restraining hand clamped onto her arm and she spun round, staring into Robin’s dark eyes. He recoiled from the savagery in her face. She tried to shake him off, enraged at being held back from her prey. The others were staring, not sure what was happening. Robin stood his ground, radiating unease. He almost didn’t recognize her.

  A flash of movement caught her attention. She swung round just in time to see Marik bend and slit her prisoner’s throat. The Andaryan died in a gurgle of blood, and the Count stood up to face her.

  “How dare you?” she hissed.

  Marik shrugged and stared back at the dead man. “I was owed that. Besides, you’d already killed him.”

  He walked away. Wordlessly, she stared after him. His undeniable right to vengeance—as urgent and valid as hers—drained her anger and resentment, leaving her lost and empty. She gazed down at the dead man, scarcely seeing him. Abruptly, she pulled out her sword and thrust it at Robin. When he took it, she stalked away.

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  Rienne’s heart was in her mouth as Robin moved over to the horses. He shrugged off her questioning look, cleaned the sword blade, and returned it to Sullyan’s pack. Then he sent Cal to collect the other horses while he, Bull, and Taran unsaddled the remaining Andaryan mounts. When Cal returned, all the riderless horses were set free with a slap on the rump.

  Finally, Robin approached Rienne. “Would you go talk with the Major?” he said. “I’ve never seen her like this before. It was as if a kind of madness went through her. I hardly recognized the look on her face. She isn’t armed at the moment, so she’ll do you no harm.”

  “Surely she wouldn’t…?” Rienne stopped when she saw the tea
rs in Robin’s eyes. “Very well,” she said, “I’ll see what I can do.” Moved by his distress, she added, “Try not to worry, Robin. Remember what she’s been through and what she carries inside her. She isn’t the person she was before Rykan raped her.”

  Robin hung his head. Rienne moved over to where Sullyan was sitting on a fallen log some distance away, staring out into the woods. She made sure the Major heard her coming and tried to project feelings of friendship and understanding as she approached. She stopped a few feet away, unsure of her reception.

  “Oh, Rienne, you are quite safe. I would never hurt you.” Sullyan’s husky voice radiated grief.

  Rienne sat down. The Major turned to face her.

  “It is beginning to erode my control, Rienne.”

  The healer was under no misapprehension as to her meaning. In the pallor of the Major’s skin, her golden eyes seemed feverishly bright.

  “If I am to succeed in thwarting Rykan’s plans, then I shall need all the control I can muster. I cannot give in to it yet, it is far too soon.”

  Rienne knew she had to quell the rising panic in Sullyan. Taking her hand, she spoke calmly.

  “We’re nearly at the mansion now. Once we’re there, perhaps Marik and I can do more to help you seal it away. The others will help too, you know that. We’ll do everything we can. And you’re still exhausted. You’re nowhere near full strength. Perhaps that’s affecting your resistance too.”

  Sullyan returned the pressure of Rienne’s hand, tears sliding down her face. “What have I done to deserve such good friends?” she whispered.

  Rienne smiled. “Given as much, if not more, than you’ve ever received.”

  Sullyan released Rienne’s hand and rose to her feet. “I am going to miss you all so badly. But I know that all the healing in the world will not avail me now. I shall have to find the strength to deal with this myself.”