Night Quest

by Susan Krinard

  “I knew Daniel in the south. And I know why we were brought here as prisoners. Apparently there are humans helping to steal children for the rogues.”

  “Humans?” she asked. “Like the ones in the other colony who sold Beth?”

  “I don’t know if they’re connected in any way,” he said, “but the soldiers who found us thought I might be one of them. They’ve seen more than one kidnapped child pass through this area, and have been intervening whenever they can.”

  “And they thought a human would work so closely with a Freeblood?” she asked.

  “You’re not a Freeblood, remember?” he said, touching her face with his fingertips. “You’re the Bloodlady Aresia. And I’d like to keep pretending that you’re my wife.”

  Her heart thumped heavily in her chest, but not with fear. “You think I would be in danger if they knew who I really was?” she asked.

  “They’ve been under nearly constant attack by Freebloods,” he said. “They’ve seen citizens killed by rogues who have no regard for human life.” His hand slipped down to her wrist, and he lifted her hand as if to expose the cuff marks that had already disappeared. “If they’d hurt you—”

  He broke off, but he didn’t need to finish. Artemis knew what he’d wanted to do, because she would have done the same thing herself.

  Too many feelings, she thought. His very nearness made her entire body vibrate with desire—and hunger. The barriers in her mind were holding, but barely. In such a crisis, it would be all too easy to let go.

  Stop, she told herself. Think.

  “Was your colony like this?” she asked.

  “No. Avalon’s leaders didn’t take the necessary steps to protect its citizens, including my son. Daniel has corrected that problem here.”

  “By assuming guilt in any Freeblood they bring in?”

  “I told you that Delos has been continuously attacked. Their suspicions are not unjustified.” He hesitated. “There are no Freeblood colonists here.”

  “Your friend’s decision?”

  “The colonists’.”

  “Human colonists?”

  “Opiri as well.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Artemis. There’s one more thing. They’ve taken Pericles.”

  “He must have been following us,” she said. “You told your friend that he was with us?”

  “No. Daniel seems to think Pericles is a spy for the child-stealers. They say he’s a scout who looks for vulnerable settlements with half-blood children.”

  “Surely you do not believe this?” she asked.

  “We’ve taken Pericles’s word about everything that happened to him and Beth. The part about her colony was true, but we’ve only assumed that the rest of what he told us is also the truth.”

  Artemis lowered her voice with an effort. “Before we came here, you believed that Pericles was like me. Yet now you would accept the judgment of those who assumed you to be a criminal?”

  Garret got to his feet and paced across the cell. “You’re convinced Pericles has been telling the truth.”

  She gripped the edge of the cot until her fingers ached. “Did you wonder if I might also have been lying to you?” she asked. “If perhaps I knew about Pericles’s true purpose and was protecting him from you?”

  “No. Never.” He returned to the cot and looked down at her, deep creases between his brows. “I do think even you might have been deceived.”

  Could he be right? Artemis thought. If Pericles had fooled her, how could she ever be certain that any of her fellow Freebloods could learn a new way of life, completely separate from the influence of the Citadels and the old customs?

  “Will you tell them how he helped Beth?” she asked. “Or will you stand by and let them punish him for crimes he may not have committed?”

  “I’ll do what I can for Pericles,” Garret said. “But if we can’t get him released, we still have to go on with our search.”

  “And what if I should choose to admit that I am a Freeblood like him?”

  “To punish me?” He took her by the shoulders, squeezing just enough so that she knew how serious he was. “If you do, I won’t be able to leave you. And I can’t stay here, Artemis. I’ve delayed far too long already, and Timon...”

  He had pushed his worry for his son so far back in his mind that Artemis had been mercifully spared from sharing his fear. Now it flooded over her again, freezing her blood and filling her mind with the terror of unbearable loss.

  Close your mind, she told herself. But even when she tried to block him out, the echo of his emotion was still within her. The effort left her breathless and dizzy.

  I won’t be able to leave you, he’d said. And he’d meant it.

  Her knees gave way.

  “Artemis!” Garret said, easing her back down on the cot.

  “I’m fine,” she said, scraping her hair away from her face. “Garret, promise me one thing. Ask the commander to let Pericles and me speak to him with Beth present. Let him see Pericles’s compassion for her, and her feelings for him.”

  The expression in Garret’s eyes shifted from worry to one of deep consideration. “That’s a reasonable request,” he said. “I’ll tell Daniel everything we know about Pericles, and ask him to give Pericles a chance to speak for himself. That’s all I can promise.”

  “That is all I ask.”

  For a time, neither of them spoke.

  “You know I didn’t intend to cause you pain,” Garret said at last.

  “I know.”

  He expelled his breath. “It’s time to get you out of this cell. You and I have been given our own quarters, if you have no objection to staying with me.”

  “You know I have not.”

  “Good. I think you need rest.” He pulled her up. “You need blood, too.”

  She tried to pull away from him, but he put his arm around her shoulders and didn’t let go. “Come,” he said gently.

  The compound looked very different by night. Torches and lanterns atop high poles had been lit to accommodate the few humans moving about, and Artemis could identify far more Opiri, as well as a few dhampires. Some of the colonists glanced her way, but none showed any overt signs of suspicion or hostility.

  It was almost as if the entire tenor of the place had changed now that the humans had retreated into their barracks. To an Opir, Artemis thought, darkness smoothed away the rough edges and lent an air of civilization absent in the presence of daylight.

  But she knew that was her own prejudice speaking. The Opiri who had taken her and Garret had been no more sympathetic than the human patrollers. As far as she was concerned, that was only more proof that mixed colonies created a poisonous atmosphere for both humans and Opiri alike, a place where ordinary suspicions only festered and increased with proximity.

  Garret seemed blind to such possibilities. He took her elbow and led her to a cluster of small, cabin-like buildings branching off from a path near a sandy area that Artemis assumed to be some kind of training ground. He stopped before the smallest cabin, opened the unlocked door and stood aside to let her precede him.

  The single room was furnished with a cot, a desk and a chair. The wall behind the desk was covered with pinned maps, a few handwritten lists and what looked like a child’s drawings, scribbled in charcoal. Artemis’s pack lay on the cot, along with her knife and bow.

  She stopped just inside the door and leaned against the wall, trying not to stare at the bed. She hadn’t slept in one for many years.

  But she wasn’t thinking of sleep just now.

  The room suddenly seemed very small. Too small to contain her and Garret at the same time. She tried not to look at him again, though she would have felt his presence even if he had been halfway across the settlement.

  “I asked if you could bathe,” he sai
d. “I can escort you to the women’s bathhouse. And Daniel has arranged for us to have clean clothes while ours are washed.”

  “Very hospitable of him,” she said. “But then I am a Bloodlady, not a monstrous Freeblood.”

  “Artemis—” Garret began.

  Someone rapped on the door. “Fox?” a man’s voice called.

  “Daniel must be ready to see us earlier than I expected,” Garret said. “Are we all right, Aresia?”

  He was asking again if she agreed to his deception, Artemis thought. But what choice did she have, if she wanted her words to be acknowledged and accepted by Delos’s tyrannical human commander?

  She followed Garret outside, where Cody was waiting for them. He turned away without comment and set out along the torch-lit path toward the commons.

  Their destination was one of the separate buildings near the barracks. Inside it stood a large table and a dozen chairs—a conference room, Artemis guessed, currently unoccupied except for a single light-haired human.

  The colony’s leader rose from his chair, looked Artemis over with a frank, assessing stare, and gestured for her and Garret to be seated.

  “Lady Aresia,” he said tersely. “I won’t waste your time with trivialities. I assume Garret informed you of the situation here. I apologize for our error.”

  “I understand the reason for it,” she said, drawing upon the gracious manners of a Bloodlady. “But we have certain concerns about your other prisoner.”

  “The Freeblood, Pericles,” Garret said. “I should have told you before that we’ve been traveling with him, and have every reason to believe that he has severed any ties with the rogues who are taking the children.”

  “In fact,” Artemis said, “he had been caring for the little girl, Beth, even before we met him. He is no criminal.”

  Daniel tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I am sorry to disappoint you,” he said. “We interviewed him in depth and called witnesses who had seen him with other children, delivering them to packs headed north. This testimony upheld our original assessment of his guilt.”

  Chapter 13

  “You mean that you have already tried and sentenced him,” Artemis said.

  “I intended to ask you to let him talk to Beth in your presence,” Garret said. “You’d see that he never harmed her. He protected her from other Freebloods and saved her life.”

  “Even if he was sincere in his feelings for the girl,” Daniel said, “his behavior with her does not mitigate his previous bad acts.” He met Artemis’s gaze with a probing stare. “I admit to wondering why a Bloodlady is so intent on defending a mere Freeblood rogue. The elite of the Citadels regard them as hardly better than animals.”

  “You’re speaking to my wife, Daniel,” Garret said, half rising.

  Artemis held up her hand. “I am no longer of the Citadel,” she said, “and I clearly have greater hope for all my people than you do.”

  “Pericles could have betrayed us at any time on our way here,” Garret said, “but he didn’t.”

  “He ran from our patrol,” Daniel said.

  “Given the circumstances here, he would have had reason regardless of his guilt or innocence.”

  Daniel’s face was grave, but there was no regret in his light blue eyes. “We have too many enemies outside our gates, and no margin for error. I’m sorry, but we cannot set him free.”

  Artemis began to rise, but Garret stopped her with a firm hand on her arm. “What do you plan to do with him?” he asked.

  “Keep him confined, for the time being. When I return, we will make the final decision.”

  “Return?” Garret asked, speaking again before Artemis could protest.

  “I’ll be going with you to find Timon.”

  Some wordless, very private communication passed between the two men, a reflection of a shared past that Artemis knew she could never fully understand. She felt strangely bereft.

  At that moment, she hated Daniel for more than his ruthlessness.

  “With so many enemies at the gates, as you said, won’t you be needed here?” Garret asked.

  “There are many competent men and women who can take my place,” he said. “As a dhampir, I can be of use to both of you.”

  “A dhampir?” Artemis said, startled out of her anger. “But your eyes...your teeth...”

  “There are a few dhampires who don’t have the usual features, and Daniel’s father wasn’t the usual kind of Opir,” Garret said, sliding his hand down her arm to clasp her hand. “His father was a Bloodmaster in Erebus.”

  “Erebus?” Artemis echoed. “How is that possible?”

  “We were serfs together,” Garret said. “But Daniel was born in the Citadel.”

  “And you were permitted to live?” Artemis asked Daniel.

  “My father, Lord Ares, didn’t know who I was until shortly before Garret and I escaped from Erebus. Only his greatest rival knew of my true parentage, and he kept me alive to spite Ares.”

  “Then you have good reason to despise my people.”

  “I don’t, Lady Aresia. My father and his Opir allies helped save my life, and the lives of many other serfs.” He glanced at Garret with a slight frown. “You didn’t tell her everything.”

  “Evidently he did not,” Artemis said, freeing her hand from Garret’s. “But I wonder, Daniel, if your experiences have not made it easier for you to pass overhasty judgment on the least-powerful Opiri who fall into your hands.”

  “Aresia,” Garret said, “you have no idea what he suffered in Erebus, and what it took for him to get to where he is now.”

  “Garret overstates his case,” Daniel said to Artemis. “I am sorry that your traveling companion is not who you believed him to be.”

  Garret stared at the tabletop, his fist clenching and unclenching on the chair. “Daniel, what if Pericles could help us track down some of these other packs? Would you reconsider?”

  “He would require constant watching,” Daniel said. “We can’t do that and concentrate on finding your son.”

  “Let me speak to him,” Artemis said, beginning to rise. “There must be a way for him to prove that he has changed.”

  “That will not be possible,” Daniel said.

  “What do you think she’ll do?” Garret asked, leaning over the table. “Help him escape?”

  “Would you?” Daniel asked her.

  “Either you trust my judgment or you don’t,” Garret said to Daniel.

  “Stop,” Artemis said. “I am not a child to be argued over.” She pushed away from the table, nearly upsetting her chair, and strode out of the room.

  Walking blindly, she started across the commons. She avoided contact with the colonists she passed, including the Opiri. Pericles was being held in some detention facility, and she knew she could find it easily enough by scent, if not by simply looking for it.

  But it would surely be guarded, and she wasn’t prepared for another confrontation. She walked once around the camp, observing silently, and then returned to the cabin. She threw open the door and walked inside.

  Garret was already there, one of the child’s drawings in his hands. He didn’t seem to hear her come in. She knew he was thinking of Timon, and her anger drained away.

  “I did not intend for the conversation with your friend to end as it did,” she said.

  He looked up slowly. “I should not have spoken to you as I did, especially in front of Daniel.” His gaze focused on her face. “You look even worse than before,” he said, setting the drawing on the desk.

  “What is it you humans say?” she asked. “You are like a hen with one chick.”

  “I would never mistake you for a chick, Artemis,” he said with a wry smile. “Not even an eaglet. I’d say you’re fully grown.”

  She felt
her tension give way to the soothing warmth of his voice. She sat on the cot. “I know you did what you could for Pericles,” she said. “I thank you for that.”

  He knelt beside the cot. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” He took her hand, turned it over and kissed her palm. The brush of his lips startled her as much as if he had never touched her with his mouth, though she remembered every caress with excruciating clarity.

  Apparently his memory was equally keen, for he quickly let her go, rose and stepped back. “I know how you feel about Delos, and Daniel’s judgment,” he said. “You have doubts about humans and Opiri living together. There are times I’ve had the same doubts. I told you that Avalon made mistakes. So did Beth’s colony. Daniel has managed to avoid those mistakes.” He moved to the door. “There’s something I’d like you to see.”

  Reluctantly, she went with him. They followed one of the paths between the individual cabins back to the commons, passing a dozen dhampires and Opiri engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. Lights flickered behind the small windows of the barracks, suggesting that their human occupants were engaged in their own evening activities.

  “This is the mess hall,” Garret said, indicating a building about half the size of the smallest barracks. “Many of the human citizens are eating their evening meal.”

  Artemis balked. “If it is a human place...”

  “Everyone is welcome.” Tugging gently on her hand, he led her to the mess hall and opened the door. Immediately Artemis was struck by a blast of scent and sound—humans of every age gathered around long tables, eating with obvious pleasure, engaged in dozens of conversations, laughing and clearly enjoying themselves. In addition to the tables, there were clusters of mismatched, much-mended chairs scattered around an open area at the far side of the single room, also occupied with people lost in discussion or playing unfamiliar games on smaller tables.

  The contrast to what Artemis had seen outside was great, but most surprising was the presence of children. Children with adult kin, or playing with balls, cloth dolls and wooden horses.

  And not all of the children were human. Artemis saw that several had the distinctive eyes of dhampires, and once she had noticed them, she also realized that there were a number of full-blooded Opiri among the humans. One male Opir was at the table opposite a human female, gazing at her with rapt attention, while a dhampir child sat beside him, scribbling on rough paper with a piece of charcoal and kicking his legs vigorously under the bench. In the open area, a female Opir was holding an infant on her knee while a male human looked on with obvious pride, as if the child were his own.