Proven

by H. M. Clarke

  “Okay then…” Ryn hesitated, unsure about what to say or how to start. “There is not that much to know about me. I’m an orphan. I was about three when I was taken to Evenstar to be bought up by the Sisters of Mercy, though I don’t remember it, with the intention that I join the order when I turned eighteen. That is why I have the last name of Weaver. It’s the Sisters little joke, they needed someone who could make decent cloth, and they were going to have me trained to do it. I was good at it too, until Sister Asada saw that I have a better talent for hitting things with sticks.”

  Ryn smiled as she remembered that day Asada caught her practicing swordplay with a broken broom handle instead of working the practice loom. She had been out at the market with Sister Asada a month before that and had watched a member of the Blackwatch deal with a group of thugs who were trying to stand over some of the shop owners for protection money. It was the first time she had seen swordplay and liked the idea of standing up for those unable to do it themselves.

  “And so she let you join the Blackwatch?” Dagan asked with a note of uncertainty. “The Sisters of Mercy are not known for supporting any of the martial arts.”

  “Sister Asada can be very convincing if she believes the matter is true. She knew that if I didn’t get the chance to do this, then I wouldn’t be happy and content if I joined the order.” Ryn smiled. “She knows me enough to realize that I would make everyone’s life miserable if I didn’t try.”

  “You and Sister Asada must have been close,” Dagan said.

  “She was like a mother to me. She schooled me, fed me, cleaned me, punished me and loved me. And I owe her everything.”

  Dagan nodded. “She meant a lot to you.” He cleared his throat. “I lost my mother when I was young. I never knew my father. My sisters and I were put in the care of relatives and then I was sent to be trained in magic.” Ryn felt a wavering over the link before Dagan spoke again. “My aptitude come to the notice of the Tribunal and I have been working for them on and off for the last five years.”

  “What’s it like working for the Tribunal?” Ryn asked.

  “It’s a job like any other. It has its moments of satisfaction that interrupt the long periods of boredom. At least it gives me the chance to travel and see places I would never otherwise have the chance to see.”

  “Now I understand why the Aequitas Tribunal doesn’t use you to help with recruiting. Which makes me want to ask, if you dislike this job so much, why do you do it?”

  “I never said that I disliked it. I want to ensure that you are aware of the reality of what you are getting into here.”

  “Dagan. Don’t mistake my enthusiasm for naivety. I might not know the exact ins and outs of everything you do in the service of the Tribunal, but I have a pretty good idea though.”

  Dagan gave her a smile but said nothing in reply.

  The two followed the same road that the Blackwatch cadets took to their Proving. This road hugged the boundary to the Daggerthorns, threading its way along the first solid ground out of the marshes. This road also led to Danzig which Ryn estimated that they should reach just before midday. She had given up trying to talk to Dagan, and the two had ridden in silence for most of the morning.

  As they passed the spot where she and Donal had waited yesterday morning to go into the Proving, Ryn wondered what would have happened if her name had been pulled earlier from the bag. Would she have woken up today with a different Pairing? She shook her head. No use wondering over something that can’t be changed. It was a saying that one of the Sisters at Evenstar Abbey used to say all the time and Ryn was only now beginning to think that she now understood what it truly meant. That memory got Ryn thinking.

  “It’s not really about a horse is it?” She asked out of the blue to Dagan who was riding next to her.

  He turned to look at her. “No, but if anyone actually asks, we are after the grey plough horse.”

  “Why? When we are not after a horse?”

  “You are not a member of the Tribunal. That is all I can tell you.”

  Ryn frowned and moved in her saddle. She was getting more than a little annoyed at Dagan’s obstinacy. “But, I’m traveling with you. I’ll see wherever you go and hear whatever you talk about.”

  Dagan sighed and adjusted the reins in his hand as his black horse tossed back its head. “There is nothing in the rules about ‘accidently’ letting you see things. I just can’t outright tell you.”

  “But we’re Paired? Doesn’t that count for anything?”

  He pulled his gaze from her face and returned it to the road ahead. “In the Blackwatch it does, but not in the Aequitas Tribunal. To them, you are an untrained interloper.”

  “What do you think the Tribunal is going to say about us?”

  Dagan shrugged his shoulders and kept his gaze forward. “There is not much that they can say. No matter what I spouted yesterday, the Proving cannot be broken once the spell has taken. For better or worse, you and I are stuck together.”

  “Then what does that make me? And you for that matter?”

  “I sent to Kaldor yesterday to tell the Tribunal what had happened, and that because of the Proving I have been ‘temporarily reassigned’ to the Blackwatch. I can guarantee that the Lord Tribune is not going to be pleased with the news. I expect a response back either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

  The mage’s gaze turned back to look at her and to Ryn, his golden eyes held a mix of reluctance and pity. “You should not be in such a hurry to want to join the Tribunal Kathryn. It is not all kittens and puppies and exciting fugitive hunts. The work can be downright dirty and deceitful and can do more to stain your soul than making a deal directly with the Old One.”

  Ryn was taken aback by Dagan’s words and they rode in silence for a period as she tried to organize her thoughts.

  “So, the whispers about the Tribunal are true? That they are responsible for more than just hunting down traitors?”

  “We are responsible for the security of the Crown and the Nation. Read into that what you will.”

  A caw from above caught Ryn’s attention, and she looked up to see Peck gliding right above her, his head tilted to one side allowing his small black eye to stare down at her. “There is someone coming after us.”

  “After us? You got all that from one squawk?” Dagan asked looking behind them down the road.

  “I told you he squawks certain ways and I know what those ways mean.” She turned in her saddle to look behind as well but could see nothing.

  “Whoever it is they are not within sight of us yet.”

  “This road is not often traveled. It might be someone following us from either the Keep or the town.”

  “Why would anyone want to follow us?”

  “There are many reasons. The Knights Commander might have sent someone to keep an eye on us. Someone may have taken a shine to our horses and accoutrements and want to relieve us of them. Or someone from the town might have heard that I am a Magister and is coming to deal with me for their own nefarious reasons.”

  “Does this happen to you a lot?”

  “More often than you think. It does not go well for the person following me though.”

  “Maybe it’s someone with a message from the keep?”

  “They would wait for us to return–unless it was urgent.” Dagan’s eyes closed in thought for a moment. “There might barely be enough time for a reply to my message to come back if the riders had ridden the post horses hard without rest. Or if the message had been sent by bird.”

  “What do we do? Do we wait or continue on?”

  “We’ll continue on. We are not that far from Danzig and if we can get our business done before our follower catches us, all the better.” Dagan then set his heels to his horse and urged it to a quick trot along the road. Ryn urged her roan to catch him.

  Dagan led them straight through Danzig without stopping. From the brief glimpse of the town–it w
as so small she only could glimpse it–Ryn could see that Donal did not exaggerate about the size of it. Donal’s parents now lived in Brookhaven so that they could be closer to their only child which made the population of the village even smaller than what it was. Donal had complained about it when they moved, but Ryn had been secretly jealous of it. She had never known her parents. Ryn had been raised with the other orphans at Evenstar Abbey and she was given the last name of Weaver as that was what she was going to be trained for. But her aptitude for hitting things led her down a different path from what the sisters had intended.

  “We are going off the road just up here.”

  Ryn broke out of her thoughts and saw that a small, overgrown trail broke off from the main road and led into a stand of scrubby trees. Peck was still circling overhead but showed no signs that he could see anything bad from his vantage point.

  “Dagan, where are we going?”

  “We are going up that path to see a man about a horse.”

  Ryn abruptly felt a tickle of amusement run through her thoughts and she nearly shook herself to be rid of it. She found nothing amusing about this. She then realized that the amusement she felt was not hers. Ryn glared with narrowed eyes at her companion.

  “What’s so funny? Are you making fun of me?” The cadets had been warned of this side effect to the Pairing, that it would be near impossible to hide anything from your partner. But you would also know if they were in trouble and needed you.

  The feeling of amusement abruptly stopped and a look of contrition came over his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just can’t help myself sometimes.” He then turned to look at her and Ryn began to feel a little uncomfortable under the gaze of those honey-colored eyes.

  “Since you and I are going to be traveling together, there are a few things you need to know about me.” He held out his hand and began to strike each point off with a finger. “One, that I tell exceedingly bad jokes. Two, that I find humor in things that I have no right to. Three, you can guarantee that I will say the wrong thing at the wrong time in social situations. Four, I really have no respect for authority. And five, that I would never, knowingly hurt a friend.”

  “Are we friends?” she asked

  “I don’t know yet. I’ve barely known you for a day,” he replied with a smile. “Ask me again in a week.”

  “I don’t have a list like that for you to know about me. You basically have to take me as I am. I am loyal to my friends and if I give my word, I will not break it. That’s me in a nutshell.”

  “Those are admirable qualities Kathryn and those more than make up for my pitiable list.”

  The two moved their horses onto the side track and as it narrowed, Dagan took the lead with Ryn following close enough behind that her roan could nibble the base of the black’s tail.

  “What is so special about this grey plough horse then?”

  Dagan looked back at her over his shoulder. “We need to get him to help us.”

  “Help us?” Ryn could not keep the combination of joy that he said us and the confusion she felt from her voice and she sensed the amusement rise again in Dagan over their shared link. “Why convince a horse to help us?”

  “Because only he has the connections we need to get the job done right.”

  “And the job is to find this Ben Henly?”

  “Correct.”

  Ryn closed her eyes and shook her head a little as she realized that this was going to head into yet another circular conversation. But she could not help herself and still asked the question burning in her brain. “Forgive me for being slow, but how can a horse help us find Ben Henly?”

  “If you ask the horse the right questions, he can lead you to a myriad of things. Not all of them would be too savory though.”

  “What treason did this Ben Henly commit? Did he steal the King Regent’s horse? Does he have a penchant for fondling royal steeds? What crime did this man commit that would warrant consulting a horse about it?”

  “His treason you will find out soon enough. Once you meet the Grey, you will understand everything.”

  Ryn nearly groaned in exasperation. She was a straight talking person, and she appreciated it when people were straight with her. But this? Chasing around after one's tail just to get a simple answer? If this is what working for the Tribunal does to its people…. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

  She opened her eyes and looked up at Peck again and saw that he was still circling leisurely above them. Whoever was behind them on the road must have stopped in Danzig. “Alright, Dagan. I’ll stop asking questions. For now.”

  Dagan laughed, and it was so infectious that Ryn found herself wanting to join him. Maybe that was another side effect of the Pairing, shared emotion. “I’m glad you put that last caveat in, otherwise you would make a pretty poor student,” he said once his laugh died away.

  CHAPTER NINE

  They followed the small path up the crest of the hill and paused to look down into a pine wood, across a slope littered with boulders and heavy brush. The trail flowed down the hill and disappeared into the trees below.

  The sun felt nice on Dagan’s back and the smell of field grasses, pine and birch mingled in the clean midday air. He drew in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. This would be a perfect day for riding, if they were not trying to bring in a traitor.

  Ryn turned and flashed a grin at Dagan, her hands tightening on the reins. The roan mare reared as it caught her excitement. Her pent up excitement rolled and crashed against the beach of his mind, Dagan could feel Ryn’s restlessness over the link. She had not been out on a horse in a while and longed to stretch her roan’s legs and feel the speed of the horse rush through her body.

  “Since you won’t tell me what’s really going on about this horse, what do you say to a race then, down that hill?” Ryn jerked her head in the direction of the wall of trees below them, a large grin across her face.

  Dagan grinned back at her, Ryn’s excitement was infectious. On impulse he gathered his reins and rapped his heels on the horse’s ribs. Dagan’s horse burst into a lope, straining at the pull of the steep slope.

  Ryn let out a yell in surprise. “Hey, no fair!” and he heard the sound of her horse as she urged the mare to thunder after Dagan’s horse.

  Dagan tightened his reins to give his horse something to lean on. A fallen tree trunk rose out of the grass like a low wall, and the ground all around it was littered with branches. The horse gathered itself like a bow and sailed over the trunk, its neck and head stretched long. Dagan clutched a handful of black mane and watched the trunk fly beneath them. The horse landed and stumbled and then flung itself at a full gallop downhill. Ryn’s horse pounded after him with wild, drumming hoof beats.

  Dagan shouted in joy as the speed of the horse and the feel of the wind whipping at his hair took hold of him.

  The wood rushed toward them, thick and dark, full of low branches. They swerved into the mouth of the narrow trail. Birds screamed and fluttered in the trees overhead as they passed. Dagan crouched in his saddle as the ground flattened out and his horse lengthened its stride, pricking up it ears. Glancing back, Dagan saw Ryn crashing along after him, ducking branches; her horses nostrils were red and wide, pumping.

  A fallen tree appeared in the trail, and Dagan’s horse hurled itself over it almost without checking. Branches scraped Dagan’s back, and he grunted as the pommel of his saddle struck him hard in the stomach.

  He pulled his head down to protect it from the whipping branches. His guidance was of no use here. Let the horse find its way through. He used his hands and legs to steady it and urge it on. The shifting of the horse’s balance delighted him, its quick coordination and speed through the trees made him glad he wasn’t the one running–the horse knew what it was doing. A tree whacked his leg as the black maneuvered close around it at speed.

  The horse crashed through a narrow place between two clumps of yew and burst out onto a large meadow. Behind him, Ryn
yelled, and the sound of her horse’s hooves drew nearer. Dagan’s horse flattened its ears to its head and drove on, straining its body for more speed. Dagan headed it for the other side of the meadow. Ryn’s horse was faster and with each stride flew closer.

  The lean roan head of Ryn’s horse drew even with Dagan’s knee, sweat had stained it as dark as Kuma’s armor. Dagan pressed his rein against his horse’s neck, moving it over against Ryn’s roan, trying to keep the other horse behind him. The rein shaved the thick lather from his horse’s neck in plumes.

  Ryn shouted. Her horse surged up head to head with Dagan’s and in two strides, right before the trees, the roan pulled out in front. Dagan sat back to slow his horse before the two plunged head long into the trees. Dagan sawed hard on his reins.

  Skidding on the turf and leaf litter, the roan tried to stop but could not gain a purchase on the leaf litter and pine needles. The horse slid right into a large oak tree, hitting the truck hard on its shoulder, and Ryn fell off into its branches.

  Dagan wrestled his horse to a stop and burst out laughing.

  The roan horse stood shaking its head and snorting. Ryn clawed her way out of the tree, her hair in her eyes, and looked dazedly from side to side. She then bent at the waist, her hands on her knees and drew several deep breaths.

  Dagan bent over his saddle pommel and sobbed with laughter.

  “I won, at least,” Ryn called as she straightened up and went toward her horse. When Dagan looked up, she was laughing too. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and rode over to her and dismounted.

  “Are you okay? That looked like a hard hit.”

  Ryn smiled and shook her head as if that would help bring her back to normal.

  “I’m fine. I’ve had horses, and trees, do worse to me.”

  Dagan held back a smile and reached out to pluck a snippet of oak leaves from her dark hair. She glanced sharply at him before hurriedly plucking out the rest of the errant twigs from her hair and smoothing the thick strands back into place.

  Dagan knew he was staring but could not help himself. The excitement of the ride still twinkled in her gray eyes and her face was still flushed from the exhilaration of her win. The emotions were strong over their Link. And she was happy. He was struck by how pretty she now looked under the dappled shade of the oak tree. Without thinking he pocketed the snippet of oak leaves he still held in his hand. She looked at him again and gave him a tentative smile.