by R S Penney
She opened a tent flap and peeked inside to find Tommy and a group of his students sitting cross legged in a circle. They all had their eyes closed, deep in concentration. Miri felt a burst of pride when she looked upon her love.
Tommy now had a thick, golden beard that made him look at least five years older. His face had filled out a little, no longer quite so gaunt-cheeked. “Let your mind drift,” he said. “Don’t try to find the Ether. Let it come to you.”
Letting the tent flap fall, Miri strode away, shaking her head. “They’re never gonna pick it up,” she muttered. “Not in time to be of any use, anyway. Most of them will go years without finding the Ether.”
A large, maroon tent stood at the end of the street, nestled under the bare branches of a towering oak. She could already hear Dalen puttering about inside. What exactly had her other love discovered?
When she went in, she found the young man standing with his back turned and talking to himself. His books were strewn over the floor so that there wasn’t a clear inch of space to set foot on. Even her bedroll was covered with ancient volumes of Aladri and Eradian writing. He had “borrowed” some of those from Hedrovan’s grand library.
“Still looking for a legal remedy to our problems?” she asked.
Dalen tensed up, only just realizing that she was present. He turned and greeted her with a sheepish grin. “I may have something. Seventy years ago, a farmer near Fengen’s Wake was ordered to free his slaves after it was discovered that he was essentially starving them.”
“Is that so?”
Dalen tripped over one of his books as he strode toward her, nearly falling flat on his face. Righting himself with a grunt, he waggled his finger like a professor giving a lecture. “That set a precedent that a master is responsible for the well-being of his slaves.”
Cocking her head to one side, Miri raised an eyebrow. “And you believe that you can use this…precedent to what? Compel the Eradian troops to stop hunting us?”
“A cursory inspection of the living conditions at The Golden Sunset ought to reveal something that we can use. Some failure by Sirilla Althari to properly care for her slaves. At which point-”
“And who will conduct this inspection?”
Dalen blinked.
“Well?”
He stood before her with his eyes downcast, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I suppose,” he mumbled. “A magistrate.”
Miri sniffed derisively. “Yes, I suppose that could work,” she said. “We’ll just go to the magistrate’s office and politely ask him to-”
Dalen raised his hands to forestall her, backing off and stumbling over another book. “All right,” he said. “The point is made. It’s just…Tommy has the Ether; you are proficient in just about every weapon known to man, and I have books. Books that seem to be of little use out here.”
“Are you feeling useless, love?”
“A little.”
Miri stepped forward, grabbing his shirt and pulling him close. She kissed him softly on the lips. “Don’t.”
His face was beet-red, his eyes fluttering as he tried to catch his breath. “Right,” he said, nodding. “I’ll just…stop feeling useless.”
“Excellent.”
The tent flaps parted, allowing a copper-skinned girl with long, dark hair to poke her head inside. Mikala was barely fifteen years old, scrawny with a dimpled chin. The Seaside Jewel had been using her to wait tables when Miri and Tommy liberated her. Given that place’s reputation, they would probably have used her for other less reputable services when she got a little older. “They’re calling a meeting,” the girl said.
Miri stepped out into the open, holding her coat closed with one hand as the chilly wind assaulted her. “A meeting,” she muttered. Already, she could see that many of the camp’s other residents were moving toward the tent where Tommy taught his classes.
Dalen followed her out, hopping to keep up. He looked this way and that with obvious anxiety on his face. “Oh, this isn’t good,” he muttered. “Look at them. They’re quite unhappy.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The sour expressions she saw on pretty much every former slave she passed told her that this would not be a pleasant meeting. People only looked like that when they had a grievance to share, and for so many to look so dissatisfied…Yes, they had been talking behind her back. And behind Tommy’s as well, she suspected.
The large, blue tent was packed with bodies when she entered. Everyone stood in three tight circles, pressed so close together there was barely space enough to breathe let alone move. No one wanted to be out in the cold. She had to see what was going on. Thankfully, people shuffled aside to let her enter the innermost ring.
Brian Hanson, a tall man with a barrel chest, pale skin and a dark beard stood with his arms folded. The brand on his cheek was still plainly visible. He had not yet found the Ether.
Tommy stepped forward with his hands clasped behind his back, greeting the other man without a hint of anxiety. “What’s the trouble, Brian?”
“We want to leave,” Brian replied.
Closing his eyes, Tommy let out a breath. “You’re free to go at any time,” he said. “You know that. But there’s very little food to be had out there, and you’ll probably run afoul of some Eradian patrol.”
Brian sneered, baring his teeth. “We know the risks,” he spat. “And we want out. We want nothing to do with you.”
“You’re safer here.”
In two quick strides, Brian was toe to toe with Tommy. He reached out to seize Tommy’s shirt, but Miri caught his wrist and twisted it just enough to make him hiss. The man gave her a threatening glare.
She smiled.
Cowed by that, Brian pulled his hand free and took control of himself. Good. That one had been trouble since the day he arrived. Best that he remember who he was dealing with.
“Your revolution is no concern of ours,” Brian said calmly. “We’re free now. And we’re not going to risk being recaptured. Some of us want to get as far away from here as possible.”
“Well, I regret your choice,” Tommy said. “But I won’t stop you.”
Miri saw a dangerous glint in Brian’s eye. The man was about to push his luck; she knew it. “We want you to heal our brands,” he said. “So that we can leave this camp and pursue work as free men.”
Tommy looked up into the other man’s eyes. To his credit, he never flinched. “The best way to remove those marks would be to commune with the Ether,” he said. “If you stay, I can teach you.”
“No!” Brian growled. “No more lessons! No more promises of magic that we will never possess. You think we don’t see through your charade? You have the crystals. We have seen what they can do. You can use them to heal all of us now.”
“The crystals are for treating severe injuries,” Miri insisted.
Brian turned his gaze upon her, every last scrap of fear gone. “And who decides that?” he barked. “You? If we stay here, we’re as good as dead.”
“No one is stopping you.”
Pointing at the mark on his cheek. Brian snarled at her. “And if I leave with this, I’m still as good as dead! Did you free us just to turn us into soldiers in your little war?”
“Brian,” Tommy said. “Those of us who put ourselves at risk to free the slaves of Hedrovan will eventually be injured. We need those crystals to keep ourselves alive. You are free now. Don’t you want the same for your brothers and sisters?”
“Piss on that,” Brian spat. “I’m free, and I won’t go back. Those who are still in the city can fend for themselves.”
“Charming,” Miri murmured.
Brian ignored her, stepping forward to tower over Tommy. “The real question is,” he began, “will you live by your word? Are we free? Or will you use these brands to coerce us into obeying you like the masters did.”
Heaving out a sigh, Tommy looked down at the floor. He licked his lips, trying to decide what to do. “I’ll give you five crystals
,” he answered in a rasping voice. “Five to share with anyone else who wants to leave. That should be enough. You’ll only need a small fragment to remove a brand.”
“That will do.”
“I don’t think you should have given up those crystals,” Dalen said. He knelt behind Tommy, who sat on the floor of their tent, gently massaging the other man’s shoulders. Miri watched them silently. Her instincts said that Dalen was correct, but if her boys were about to have a spat, she wanted no part of it.
Tommy winced, groaning in frustration. “I’m not going to force people to stay here,” he replied. “They’re free now. They’re not obligated to fight for our cause.”
“And we’re not obligated to give aid to those who don’t fight for our cause,” Dalen countered. “We’re gonna lose people this way. And I don’t just mean those who intend to walk away. Once the fighting starts, those of us who stay will die without those crystals.”
Tommy shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the other man’s chest. “We still have ten of the shards the Al a Nari gave us,” he said. “That’ll be enough for now. Once we have liberated all the slaves in Hedrovan, it will be time to move on.”
Miri had serious misgivings about that plan. They had survived thus far because Field Binding and Ka’adri training gave them a clear advantage. But the Eradians would not sit still while Tommy “stole their property.” They would step up security. Guns were dangerous, even to Field Binders. And she suspected they would eventually come up with something to counter that advantage as well.
The crystals were such odd things. A clean cut with a knife only segmented them into smaller fragments, but crushing them released the power within. Why that should matter was beyond her. When you broke a crystal, it was broken! Why should the method make a difference? It was almost as if these things were alive. As if they had intent.
“We’ll just have to see what happens tomorrow,” Tommy muttered.
They did indeed find out the next morning. Miri walked through a camp of empty tents, silent and desolate under the gray, winter sky. Not a soul in sight, not a sound to be heard. She wandered for nearly five minutes before she found Zoe standing outside of her tent.
The girl was hugging herself, rubbing her arms and shivering. She looked up when she heard Miri drawing near. “They’re gone,” she said. “Most of them anyway. Run off with Brian. A few of us stayed behind.”
Head hanging, Miri touched fingertips to her forehead. A groan escaped her. “How many?”
“There are ten,” Zoe answered. “Ken is still here, and my mother. And Jeff as well. Kaylee and Victor and Michael. Old Mrs. Potts and her two boys. And Sarah. I wasn’t able to find anyone else. We…We still believe in the cause, ma’am.”
Perhaps they did, but thirteen people weren’t much use against an army even if one of them could Field Bind. It seemed the revolution was over.
3
A crackling campfire sent tiny flickers of flame up to an overcast sky. The night was cool, but at least it wasn’t raining. Desa felt exposed, sitting in the middle of an open field with no one but Kalia and Midnight for company. The stallion waited patiently at the edge of the firelight with their packhorse. At first glance, he almost seemed eager to press on, but Desa knew that he would appreciate the rest. They had been traveling hard for the last six days. Soon, they would reach the northern shores of Ithanar.
Desa knelt in the grass with her coat off and the sleeves of her blouse rolled up, heat from the flames leaving sweat on her brow. “We’ll make an early start tomorrow,” she said. “If all goes well, we’ll reach the Halitha in a few days.”
Kalia stood on the other side of the fire with her back turned, peering off into the distance. The woman said nothing, lost in her own thoughts. Not a good sign. Desa had come to know her well enough to realize that silence almost always meant that Kalia was trying to decide how to bring up a difficult subject.
“After that, we press north,” she went on. “North and west. We should be able to reach the desert’s southeastern border in about two weeks. Assuming no major setbacks, of course. We’ll have to pass through Pikeman’s Gorge. Not an easy trip. Bandits like to take refuge in the caves. But you and I can handle-”
“Tommy and the others might still be at Hedrovan,” Kalia cut in. “We should try to find them.”
Desa wrinkled her nose in distaste. “No,” she insisted. “Kalia, we don’t have time. We have to get to Mercy as quickly as possible.”
The other woman turned, looking over her shoulder, watching Desa out of the corner of one eye. “With every passing day, you grow more desperate,” she said. “Will a day’s delay make that much difference? The others may need our help.”
Desa stood up with a sigh, reaching up to thread fingers through her short hair. She blinked a few times. “The world needs us more,” she said. “You saw what Adele did.”
“I did.”
That should put an end to any further discussion on the matter. Any delay, no matter how small, put more lives at risk. Adele would attack the Al a Nari again. It was only a matter of time before their defenses fell. Desa had to find a way to thwart the other woman’s power before that happened. If Mercy had the answer…
She ignored the niggling thought that had been plaguing her for days. What if Mercy didn’t have the answer? If the goddess knew something, wouldn’t she have shared it by now? Instead, she sent Desa and Kalia on a quest to recover artifacts that had been buried under the earth for millennia. Artifacts that told the secret history of her people.
Desa had activated the strange crystal a few times on their journey back to Te’Alon. She would have combed through it for every last scrap of knowledge she could find, but the device required a great deal of power, and she was often too tired after a day in the saddle to Reinfuse it. Still, she had pieced a few things together.
Mercy had once been a human woman, a scientist who specialized in expanding her people’s knowledge of Field Binding. They seemed to have been trying to Infuse living tissue with a direct connection to the Ether. Just as Bendarian had. Was that what had roused the Hanak Tuvar? She would have to watch more of Mercy’s diary.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Kalia asked.
Nudging a rock with the toe of her boot, Desa clamped a hand onto the back of her neck. “Talk about what?” She had no idea what her lover was getting at, but she was sure that it would be a most difficult conversation.
The fire cast flickering shadows over Kalia’s face, but her eyes were like daggers, trying to pierce through Desa’s armour. “Your growing desperation,” she said. “I hear you talking in your sleep some nights.”
“You do?”
“You blame yourself for what happened at Te’Alon.”
Clenching her teeth, Desa turned her face away from the other woman. “I gave Adele the lightning that she used to kill those people,” she said. “I didn’t think. I just attacked. Threw everything I had at her in pure desperation.”
Kalia seated herself on a rock, folding hands in her lap. She looked up at Desa. “And that’s not like you,” she noted. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been careful, methodical. There’s only one thing that sends you running headlong into danger without considering your options.”
Desa arched an eyebrow.
“Guilt,” Kalia explained.
“You’re exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not,” Kalia breathed. “Eleven years ago, you blamed yourself for teaching Bendarian Field Binding. So, you left everything you knew behind and chased him into the wild, nearly getting yourself killed in the process. You felt guilty for killing Tommy’s lover; so, you took off again, racing into the desert for a final showdown with Bendarian. No doubt you expected to die.”
“All right,” Desa said. “Your point is made.”
“You can’t let guilt drive you, Desa,” Kalia pressed. “If you do, you’re going to make the same mistakes. So, tell me, why do you feel guilty?”
A single tear slid down Desa’s cheek. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. “It doesn’t matter,” she croaked. “Just another failure in a long list of failures.”
Sighing softly, Kalia stood up and made her way around the fire. She put her hands on Desa’s shoulders, leaning in close to kiss her forehead. “Don’t run from it, my love,” she murmured. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s my fault.”
“What is?”
“Adele,” Desa growled. “I trusted her, and I shouldn’t have. If not for me, she would have never gotten anywhere near that pyramid. She would have never become whatever it is that she is now.”
“Trust is not a sin.”
Desa backed away from the other woman, shaking her head in disgust. “It is when you know better,” she said. “Something about her seemed off from the very beginning. But she was so insistent.”
“Is that why you took her with you?”
“No,” Desa muttered. “We took her with us because she said that she could track Bendarian.”
Sucking on her lower lip, Kalia looked down at the ground under her feet. “And stopping Bendarian came before everything else,” she sighed. “Desa, you weren’t blinded by Adele. You were blinded by your obsession with Bendarian.”
“I created him. I had to stop him.”
“No!” Kalia insisted. “You helped a man in need by teaching him a valuable skill. That he went on to abuse the knowledge you gave him is not your fault. The real problem here is that you went against the customs of your people by teaching Bendarian how to commune with the Ether. You decided that the philosophies of Aladar were misguided; so, you rejected them. And when that resulted in disaster, you were humiliated. You’ve been living with the shame of it ever since. It consumes you.”
Shutting her eyes tight, Desa buried her face in her hand. “What do you want me to do?”
When she looked up, Kalia was watching her with such sincerity. “I want you to forgive yourself,” the other woman said simply. “To let go of the shame.”