The Crown of Silence

by Storm Constantine

  ‘I can do that,’ Merlan said softly. ‘You’ve never known it, but after you ran away from your problems, Valraven did try to help Tayven. He went to Bayard as you asked. He didn’t do this for himself, but for you.’

  ‘He took me out to battlefield and left me there?’ Tayven asked in a horrified voice.

  Merlan shook his head. ‘No, he was too late. Bayard’s people had taken you away by then. Valraven had his men search for what he presumed would be your body, but it was never found. We know why now. Valraven told me this the last time I saw him in Caradore.’

  ‘If what you say is true, it makes no difference,’ Taropat said. ‘That’s merely a convenient excuse. He didn’t go when he could have made a difference.’

  ‘He has tortured himself about it,’ Merlan said. ‘He knows he acted too late.’

  Taropat uttered a sound of contempt. ‘Poor Valraven. How that must hurt him. He should have seen what happened – to both Tayven and I. Then he might understand pain.’

  ‘Is your damage so sacred, Khaster?’ Merlan asked. ‘Are you so privileged? Other people have suffered at the Malagashes’ hands. Have you ever stopped to consider what changed Valraven from the friend you loved into the cold creature that could kill without thinking?’

  There was a brief silence, then Taropat said softly, ‘So, it becomes clear. My dear brother was the viper in our midst all the time. No wonder Maycarpe wanted you to accompany us to Recolletine.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t like that!’ Merlan said.

  ‘We should have left you at Malarena,’ Taropat said. He looked coldly at Tayven. ‘And you were the one to convince Shan and me otherwise. You haven’t truly revealed your thoughts yet, Tayven. Are you with Maycarpe, or with us?’

  ‘It is one and the same,’ Tayven said. ‘We are the company.’

  ‘I will never serve evil,’ Taropat said.

  ‘Nor I!’ Shan echoed.

  ‘You are dividing yourselves,’ Sinaclara said. ‘Think clearly.’

  ‘There is no company,’ Taropat said, ‘not anymore.’ He crossed the room and hefted his back-pack onto his shoulder. ‘Shan, come here.’

  ‘Don’t leave,’ Sinaclara said. ‘It would be the worst thing you could do.’

  ‘I will fight you,’ Taropat said. ‘Don’t ever doubt it. I hope you’re ready for it.’

  ‘Taropat, see reason,’ Sinclara said. ‘We must talk about this. We must exorcise the past, for it’s clouding your judgement.’

  ‘You know nothing,’ Taropat said. ‘Come, Shan. If we have to fight our way out of here, so be it.’

  ‘Shan,’ Sinaclara said. ‘Don’t listen to him. Stay. Listen to me. Let me tell you the truth, so you may judge for yourself.’

  ‘I know what’s right,’ Shan said and went to Taropat’s side.

  Merlan appealed to his brother. ‘Khaster, remember who you are. Remember the beginning. That is what you must fight for, not bitterness or anger.’

  ‘Khaster is dead,’ Taropat said. ‘He was killed by the man you would have me serve. You are all under his spell. I pity you.’ He addressed Tayven. ‘I’ll give you one more chance. Come with us. Help us fight for justice.’

  Tayven was silent for a moment. ‘You shouldn’t go,’ he said at last.

  ‘You had me fooled,’ Taropat said and marched to the long windows that led to the garden. Merlan ran after and tried to stop him, but Taropat threw his brother aside with little more than a flick of his hand. A display case went over. Glass, china and stone shattered as some of Sinaclara’s precious artefacts crashed out of it to the floor. The door opened and a group of Jessapurians poured into the room.

  ‘Stop!’ Sinaclara cried, more to her people than to Taropat, but the Jessapurians did not appear to hear her. They rushed towards the windows and Taropat and Shan fled into the gardens.

  Sinaclara pressed her fingers briefly against her eyes. ‘This must not be,’ she murmured.

  Merlan staggered to his feet. ‘They mustn’t be harmed.’

  ‘They won’t,’ Sinaclara said. ‘Taropat will get away.’

  ‘Let him calm down,’ Merlan said. ‘We can leave it overnight, then Tayven and I will go to his house tomorrow. Maybe he’ll talk to us when he’s had time to think.’

  ‘Too late,’ Sinaclara said. ‘They’ll be on their way to Cos by then.’

  ‘Cos? What are you talking about?’

  ‘They will seek out Helayna,’ Sinaclara said. ‘She and Taropat will fashion Shan into a rival of Valraven. I’ve seen this. I’ve dreaded it happening.’

  ‘Then you must stop it,’ Merlan said. He appealed to Tayven. ‘You must know where Helayna is. Go after them. They have the power of the Eye and the Claw. What will happen if those powers fall into the hands of what’s left of the Cossic resistance?’

  Tayven turned to Sinaclara. ‘Lady, is that my function? Must I go after them?’

  Sinaclara swallowed with difficulty. Her throat felt as if it was gripped by an iron hand. ‘It is not our place to end past conflicts. Only Valraven Palindrake can do that.’

  ‘I will seek out the Dragon Lord,’ Merlan said. ‘At once. He must be told of this.’

  ‘It is not yet time,’ Sinaclara said. ‘You can’t. It would do more damage than good. You must trust me.’

  ‘Then what should we do?’ Merlan demanded. ‘Clearly, we have to do something.’

  Sinaclara reached out and gently touched the crown. ‘We have this,’ she murmured, her fingers running over its delicate tines. ‘That was the aim of your quest.’

  ‘But what of the company?’ Merlan said. He punched a fist into his open palm. ‘Oh, I have to go after them. It can’t end like this!’

  ‘Stay,’ Sinaclara said sharply, then more gently, ‘You have to let them go. It is their choice. They have yet to find their own silence.’

  The Jessapurians were coming back to the house, muttering among themselves, angry at having lost their quarry. ‘We must wait,’ Sinaclara said. ‘We have waited before. The Crown has been given back to humankind. That was the purpose of your quest. Valraven Palindrake must seek the way of light, for only then can past wounds be healed. Only thenc’ Her voice trailed off.

  ‘I will return to Akahana,’ Merlan said abruptly. ‘Tayven, will you come with me and report to Maycarpe?’

  Tayven nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And after, will you go to Cos?’

  Tayven paused. ‘I feel it is out of my hands.’ He pulled a die from his pocket. ‘Six options, Merlan. Will you name the first?’

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Holme

  On their way to Cos, Taropat and Shan passed close to the village of Holme. Shan, riding a mare they had purchased from some forest travellers en route, asked if they could visit the site of his family home.

  ‘Are you sure of this?’ Taropat asked.

  ‘Yes. Here, my story began. Now I feel as if another story’s just beginning. I want to face the past.’

  They rode past Shan’s old home. The site had been claimed by another family, who had built a new house on it. A woman sat in the garden with her baby, peeling potatoes. That could be me, Shan thought, me and my mother.

  The woman looked up at them and smiled. Shan was about to say he used to live there, but for some reason didn’t want to bring that dark memory into her innocent, summer garden. He would not be the shadow at the gate for the child playing among her skirts. ‘Is there an inn nearby, madam?’ he asked.

  The woman pointed up the road. ‘The Roan and Furrow, just five minutes away. Have you travelled far, sirs?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Shan. ‘Very far.’

  ‘Come on,’ Taropat said and clucked to his horse.

  The villagers had done much to restore their homes since Shan had left. No one recognised him as he dismounted his horse in front of the small tavern. The church had not been rebuilt and children played, shrieking, among its ruins, which were covered in bright yellow weeds. Popp
ies grew there also, and foxgloves.

  Shan and Taropat went into the tavern and sat drinking cold ale in the shadows. ‘This is a different place,’ Shan said. ‘I don’t know it.’

  ‘You could find yourself here if you looked hard enough,’ Taropat said, ‘but I don’t think you should.’

  ‘How do you feel?’ Shan asked, the first time he’d dared pose the question since they’d run from Sinaclara’s house.

  Taropat took out his pipe and stuffed it. Shan thought he wasn’t going to answer, then he said, ‘When I took you away from here I had plans for you. Formless, vague, idealistic, perhaps, but not without potential. Seeing Tayven again, the betrayal by my brother, these things were just trials to test my courage and determination. Part of the lakes quest. Part of all we have to do.’

  ‘But we’ve attained the Crown for them,’ Shan said. ‘It’s such a waste. Will you try to get it back?’

  ‘It will never be theirs,’ Taropat said. ‘I have that much faith. I could have given myself to Tayven again so easily. It’s what he wanted. Power, control. But some part of me resisted. I’m glad of that now.’

  Taropat had left his house in Nip’s charge. She had been confused by their rapid departure, but Taropat would tell her nothing other than that they had business elsewhere and didn’t know how long they’d be away. He seemed serene and confident, but Shan wasn’t sure how reliable this image was. ‘If you are hurt, you should say so,’ he said carefully.

  Taropat gave him a hard glance. ‘That’s enough of that, boy. I’m not the lily-livered Khaster who used to mope around, hoping someone else would make his life better. Merlan and Tayven wanted me to be that, but I’m not and that’s all there is to it.’ He lit his pipe with abrupt and jerky movements.

  ‘If we find Helayna,’ Shan said, ‘and if you can help her build an army, Merlan and Tayven might be your enemies. What if you had to kill to take the Crown?’

  Taropat laughed. ‘What is this? Are you trying to be my conscience?’

  Shan said nothing.

  ‘We will both do what we have to do when the time comes,’ Taropat said.

  As they rode away from the village, a woman stepped out of a farmyard into their path, trying to shoo a dozen young ducks away from their horses’ hooves. Shan experienced a sickening jolt of recognition. The woman was his aunt. She looked so much older, and one side of her face was drawn down and paralysed, but he still knew her. She looked up at him. ‘Excuse me, sirs, the gate was open. They got away.’

  ‘Do you know me?’ Shan said.

  The woman frowned. ‘No, sir.’

  ‘She doesn’t,’ Taropat said. ‘Come along. Quickly.’ He urged his horse into a trot and Shan’s animal followed.

  ‘Butc’ said Shan, pointing behind him. ‘She’sc’

  ‘Don’t look back,’ Taropat said. ‘People are never how you remember them.’ He kicked his horse to a gallop, and they were flying up the road, away from Holme, from Breeland, to the wild lands of Cos.