Later in the day they passed a roadside stand selling food and watered wine, so they filled their packs before moving on. They walked until darkness fell and made sure no one was observing them, then turned left off the new road and headed straight for the old, making their way carefully through the night.
They were moving across an open area between patches of woods when Alain grabbed her arm and forced Mari down flat in the grass. Though uncut, the grass here grew not much higher than their ankles, leaving them far too exposed even when hugging the ground. Mari lay unmoving as the muffled clatter of armor and weaponry merged with the soft rustling sounds of legs striding through the grass. The half-full moon provided plenty enough light to see the shapes of the Imperial legionaries trudging by maybe fifty lance-lengths to one side of her and Alain.
Mari held her breath, one hand on her pistol under her jacket. If I have to use this, we’re dead. The sounds of the shots will draw every legionary within thousands of lances. The legionaries didn’t seem to be searching, though, instead slogging wearily along with the attitude of soldiers who have done the same thing too many times with nothing ever happening. None of them glanced in the direction of Mari and Alain, and after some heart-stopping moments the patrol was past its closest point to them and moving away.
Finally drawing a breath, Mari lowered her face to the soil. “This is going to be a long night,” she barely whispered to Alain.
“They cannot patrol the entire area between here and Marandur in strength,” he said. “Even the Empire does not have sufficient troops or wealth to keep such a large garrison in place. Once we get past this band of defenses we should find areas that are less well guarded.”
“I hope you’re right, my Mage.”
They dodged another patrol before dawn, then holed up in a shallow ravine cut by a stream, huddled against the raw earth of the banks as they tried to get some rest, one of them always awake and on watch as the other dozed.
No Imperial patrols disturbed their day, though, and as the sun sank to the horizon Mari and Alain started out through the dying light, quickly stumbling across the old road. Mari came to a halt on its verge, seeing that the road showed no sign of use for several decades at least. “They have troops around Marandur itself enforcing the quarantine, but they’re not using the old road to supply them or move them.”
Alain gazed at the old road, his expression uncharacteristically somber. “The emperors believe they have the power to force their illusions on all others. This is part of that. The road itself is declared dead, never to be used, and no one dares dispute the Imperial will.”
“Not much better than the Great Guilds, is it?”
“No, I do not think so. When you seek allies among the commons, Mari, I believe you should look to those who do not blindly accept the authority of their leaders.”
“Too much failure to accept authority and you end up with anarchy, like in Tiae,” Mari pointed out.
“That is so,” Alain agreed. “But as you told your elder, there is much that lies between total control and anarchy. The leaders of our Guilds and the rulers of the Empire would have us believe that only those two extremes exist, but I have been among the Free Cities and you have been in the Confederation. Their governing systems are not perfect, but they work while still allowing their people freedom.”
“Freedom?” Mari turned to Alain, surprised. “I’ve never heard you use that word. Hardly anybody uses it.”
“I was taught that freedom is an illusion, only one more illusion which distracts from the path of wisdom.” A flare of some deep emotion showed in Alain’s eyes. “But I have felt freedom, Mari, as I walked the road beside you, and I know it is no illusion. The will of the Great Guilds, of the Emperor, those things are illusions, and their images will not endure.”
She stared at him. “At times like this I really remember why I fell in love with you. You know, since you told me about…about the prophecy, I’ve been thinking more about overthrowing the Great Guilds, and I’ve realized that’s not a goal. That’s just something you do on your way to somewhere else. But where? What is the goal, what is it that would replace the Great Guilds? And you just said it. Freedom. To think, to act, to do new things and to make what we do matter. All my life I’ve wanted that. I bet most other people do, too.”
“A new day?”
Mari looked away, feeling uncertainty fill her. “I still don’t see how I can do that, Alain. And I have to wonder why things are like this. It’s been bothering me all the way down here from Severun. You may noticed I’ve been a little preoccupied.”
“I have noticed,” Alain said.
“Aren’t you the diplomatic one,” Mari said. “I have to wonder. Was freedom tried and did it fail? Is that the history before the history we know? Or has it ever been? Why are things as they are now? Is there a reason? Would freedom be a mistake?”
His brow creased ever so slightly, the equivalent of a major frown from a non-Mage. “I cannot believe it would be. I have been a servant to those who demand absolute obedience, and I am now free. I know which is better.”
“Me, too. But does that give me the right to make that decision for others? Do entire societies, do worlds, work better that way? I need more data, Alain. That’s one of the reasons we’re going to Marandur. Maybe along with the banned technology there will be some banned histories.” She frowned at him. “I know that not-a-look of yours. What are you thinking and not saying?”
“I…” He struggled with a word before getting it out. “Hope. I…hope you decide that freedom is the answer.”
Mari gave him her best reassuring smile. “No matter what we find, Alain, I will not believe that the answer is anything like the Empire.”
His eyes rested on hers, concern easy to see. “There may be many who want you to become an Empress.”
“Oh, please!” Mari laughed at the absurdity of the idea. “I will guarantee that is never, ever going to happen. Can you see me on a throne?” Her laughter died as an awful thought struck her. “Have you? Have you seen me on a throne?”
“No,” Alain said. “I have never had such a vision.”
“If you ever do,” Mari said, “that is one future we will ensure does not happen.”
They veered off from the old road and a bare path alongside it that revealed the trail sometimes used by the legionaries. After getting far enough away from the road, they turned to walk parallel to it, watching constantly for more Imperial troops. The road to Marandur cut across a series of slight hills and shallow valleys, so as Mari and Alain traveled they caught sight of the old city while on the higher ground and then lose the view as they moved down into the low areas. The result was to create a series of images, each offering a slightly closer view and more detail than the next.
When first they sighted Marandur the city looked almost beautiful, gleaming in the distance under the last rays of the setting sun. From far away, the city could have been intact. Only the lack of any kind of haze over the city hinted that no people lived or worked there. A living city was always crowned by a haze made up of smoke from fires to heat and cook and work, and from the dust thrown up by the movement of people and animals, just as a living creature breathed out warmth. But the sky above Marandur was almost crystal clear, like that above a vast cemetery where no one moved or drew breath. Mari felt a chill at the sight, and she moved to walk a bit closer to Alain. “Hold on.”
She stopped walking, pulled out her far-seers, and studied the city. Under the magnification of the far-seers, gaps became apparent in the great walls. Towers were truncated, the upper stories fallen into the streets below. The huge gates lay sprawled next to the entrance they had guarded, an entrance with no traffic and lacking any sign of life. Mari moved the far-seers slowly as her head turned, spotting the ragged walls of lesser buildings standing vacant. In all the great city, it was hard to find any place where a roofline or a wall or even a window presented lines unbroken by damage.
Mari shifted her gaze
“We must not linger on the higher ground,” Alain cautioned. “It will make us to easy to see. We must get close enough to study the defenses and spot any weaknesses.”
“Fine with me.” Mari stayed close to Alain as she put away the far-seers. They went down into the next low area and quickly lost sight of the dead city.
There were more rises, and even though Mari and Alain stayed low and moved quickly across the crests of the high areas, each successive look gave them a better view of the city as the moon rose, its pale rays shining on the dead metropolis.
Outside the city, watch fires had been set at regular intervals, illuminating the ground and the outside of the broken walls. “I can’t see any gaps in the Imperial defenses,” Mari whispered to Alain. Even though they were still a few thousand lances from the Imperial watchtowers, she felt very exposed. She glanced up at the sky, where the stars were paler and the moon was close to setting. “It’s not long until dawn. I don’t want to try anything in daylight.”
Alain pointed toward a small patch of trees to one side of them. “That is wise. Those trees will offer a little cover during the day. We can lie among them, observe the Imperials, and make plans.”
Mari looked. “Why haven’t the Imperials cleared those trees?”
“It is a small patch, merely saplings, and more than a long crossbow shot from the towers. Still, the Imperials will probably clear it sometime during the winter to provide a little extra wood for their fires.”
They moved cautiously toward the small stand of trees, constantly watching for any sign that some Imperial sentry had glanced backwards and seen them. At one point, Alain came to an abrupt halt and stared into the darkness. “I sense a Mage, but he or she is distant, somewhere else among the defenses.”
“You can hide from that Mage?”
Alain nodded. “I believe so. The other Mage is not attempting to conceal his or her presence, and is so far off that I think a low-level spell would not be spotted, or if spotted the Mage could not reach here in time to know who had been casting it or why.”
“A spell?” Mari asked. “What spell?”
“My spell that bends light. If you hold me tightly and stay close to me, it will protect you as well. If we wait until night falls again, then use it only when we reach the area where the fires show everything, we should be able to get past the patrols without giving the distant Mage enough time to react.”
“You want to make us invisible? Even though I’ve seen you do that, it’s still hard to believe that’s possible. Are you sure that other Mage won’t know it’s you doing the spell?”
“Yes. Not at that distance.”
“I don’t see any other way in, so I guess we’ll have to risk it.” She looked over and grinned at him. “Your plan requires me to hold you tightly all the way into the city? Shame on you, Mage.”
Alain gave her a slight smile back. “I am not saying I will not enjoy it, despite the danger.”
They reached the saplings and lay down close to each other, screened as well as possible from anyone coming from the Imperial lines around the city. “I can just see the top of the Imperial watchtowers while lying down,” Mari said. “We’re going to have to stay as still as possible when daylight comes.”
It was a very long day. The thin patch of woods offered little cover, and the ground was scattered with drying leaves, making it hard to shift position without causing the leaves to crackle in a way that sounded far too loud. Mari managed to fall asleep now and then, only to awaken with a start of fear that she had been making noise. “Do I snore when I’m sleeping?” she finally whispered to Alain.
He didn’t answer.
“Alain? Are you awake?”
“Yes,” his reply finally came. “I just do not know which answer would be right.”
“Just tell me!”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Mari moved her eyes enough to glance at Alain. “Loud or soft?”
“Sometimes.”
“Does it ever bother you?”
Alain hesitated again. “Sometimes.”
“Are you going to give me any plain yes or no answers to this?”
“Not if I can avoid doing so,” he replied.
“I guess you’re learning social skills.” Mari watched an insect clambering across the dead leaves in front of her nose. A chill breeze was coming down from the north again, but she was afraid even to shiver for fear the motion might be seen from one of the guard towers. “I wish we were talking about this in bed. A nice warm bed in a nice warm room and nobody trying to capture or kill us.”
“That would be nice,” Alain agreed.
“Do you remember the first time we slept nearby each other? On that ledge looking down on the wreckage of the caravan to Ringhmon?”
“I will never forget that.”
“Would you have stayed there if you had known you’d end up with me here?”
His voice was barely audible. “If I had known I would end up with you, no matter where, then I would have known that night what happiness was.”
She smiled despite the situation they were in, then tried to get some more sleep as the distant calls of the Imperial sentries echoed off the walls of the dead city.
They waited in the small patch of woods for full night to fall and the bustle of activity involved in lighting the watch fires to diminish, then waited a while longer for the sentries to lapse into the boredom of another night of guarding a dead city. Finally, Alain rose into a crouch. “The other Mage remains far from us in another part of the Imperial lines, but we should wait to use my spell until we must. The less time I am revealing my presence, the better. But remain close.”
“Not a problem,” Mari assured him, wincing as she tried to stretch out stiff and sore muscles. As night had fallen, the eerie silence and emptiness of the city had become more unnerving. Alain’s presence was even more comforting than usual. “Let’s head for that gap in the city wall there. It’s about equally distant from the guard towers on either side, and looks like it extends low enough for us to climb in easily.”
They went out into the open, hunched over, moving slowly and carefully toward the guard towers. All of the Imperial sentries, their postures relaxed, were once more facing toward the city. She wondered at that, since it implied that the Imperials were more worried about someone leaving Marandur than they were about someone entering. Why? But the open ground and the fires between the towers and the walls made it almost impossible for anyone trying to enter as well, so in practical terms the sentries’ focus inward made little difference.
As Mari and Alain got closer to the towers, they began to hear snatches of conversation. The legionaries were talking about their homes, their families, their girlfriends and boyfriends, how bad the food was, and what they would be doing once they got off guard duty. Mari listened, realizing how human these Imperial men and women were, yet also knowing they would not hesitate to kill her and Alain in the course of following their orders.
Alain stopped short of the guard towers, beckoning Mari over. She wrapped one arm tightly around him. “Both arms,” Alain breathed at her.
“You’re doing this on purpose,” Mari mumbled under her breath, but she brought the other hand around and hugged him with that as well, clinging to his back as tightly as she could.
Alain held still for a moment, then Mari saw her view blur slightly. He started walking slowly so that Mari could keep pace and her hold. It was awkward walking with both arms around Alain, but the sight of the watch fires burning ahead was enough to keep Mari clinging to the Mage. They reached a point from which they could watch a patrol walking between the towers. Mari held her breath, staring straight at a legionary who seemed to be looking right at her. No, right through her. The Imperial soldier showed no sign he had seen Mari. The patrol passed, then Alain went ahead again. Mari found herself breathing as shallowly as she could, trying to make as little noise as possible, even though the Imperial soldiers made plenty of noise themselves tramping through the grass.
She relaxed a bit once they had gotten past the line of fires, then almost fell when Alain stopped abruptly. He bent his head over and back to breathe his words in her ear. “Mage alarms. I do not see any way around them. We will have to go through. It will be difficult to avoid the alarms and maintain my spell to keep us hidden. Do not distract me.”
Mari waited, trying not to do anything distracting. It was very hard not to move while holding Alain tightly, very hard to keep breathing shallowly so the motion of her chest rising and falling against Alain’s back wouldn’t be too obvious to him. She could feel his own breath coming more heavily. Was that because her body was pressed tightly against him, or because the exertion of maintaining the spell was wearing on Alain? There wasn’t much she could do about it if Alain was being distracted by her, but as Mari thought about it she doubted that was happening. She had seen how the often-brutal training Alain had undergone as a Mage acolyte had taught him how to block out physical discomfort and distractions. More likely he was being tired out by the Mage spell. Despite Alain’s attempts to explain to her, she had never been able to grasp exactly how tiring doing spells was for a Mage. But she knew it took work, and she wished right now that she could lend some of her strength to him instead of just standing here uselessly.
“Now,” Alain whispered, and started moving ahead. She kept locked onto him, matching his slow steps with her own as Alain moved through alarms which Mari couldn’t see. Alain had described them to her as looking like gossamer spider web strands drifting through the air but confined in one area. Getting through them undetected required Alain to use his mind to move the strands enough to each side to allow him to pass through the gap that created, without pushing so hard that it alerted the Mage monitoring and maintaining the alarm.
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