In the early days of the following summer Ilkehan of Kehannasekke threw down his father Rafekan and, being a capable man, was acclaimed as Clan Chief At the time of hay and harvest, Ilkehan of Kehannasekke and Kolbin of Dachasekke divided the Grey Seal Isle between themselves. The Clan Chiefs of Thrielsekke and Evadasekke both demanded they justify this action before a Law Speaker but none could be found whom all could agree on.
At the time of goat killing, the Clan Chief of Kehannasekke raised a circle for the men of the Grey Seal Isle now of Kehannasekke on a rocky knoll where there was no soil for plough nor yet fodder for grazing.
Kehannasekke, Islands of the Elietimm,
11th of For-Summer
My first thought on waking was astonishment that I could have closed my eyes long enough to fall asleep. The second was utter determination to get out of this black hole. I was on my feet with my next breath.
“Livak?” Ryshad’s voice came from somewhere in the blackness.
“Who are you expecting?” Sorgrad’s voice was amused.
“Some long-dead Elietimm?” queried ’Gren with relish.
“That’s not funny,” I said severely. Realising Ryshad’s jerkin had pillowed my head, I bent down to pick it up. No one could see me so I held it close to breathe in the reassuring scent of him.
The stones began to glow with the nimbus of magelight. “Good morning.” Shiv unfolded his long limbs from the niche and yawned. “You wouldn’t believe how stiff I am.”
“Trust me, I can.” I stretched my arms above my head in a vain attempt to ease the kinks out of my back. “Let’s sleep in proper beds tonight.”
The strengthening light reached Ryshad sitting at the base of the stair. He smiled at me with unmistakable promise. I winked pertly at him before turning serious. “Do we have any notion if Elietimm are still netting this burrow?”
“I went up top when I woke.” ’Gren shrugged in the pale light radiating from the far wall. “I couldn’t hear a thing.”
“That’s the good news.” Sorgrad perched unconcerned in one of the bone-filled niches. “The bad news is that’s definitely the only way out of here.”
“Definitely.” Ryshad confirmed our predicament. If the brothers brought up in the cave-riddled mountains and Ryshad with his knowledge of stone working couldn’t find another door, there wasn’t one to find. “Shiv, can you tell if there’s anyone up above?”
The nondescript light deepened to a pool of mossy green around the mage and a puddle of water coalesced in his cupped hands. He grimaced. “Can someone drop some ink in here, please?”
Ryshad obliged from his belt pouch.
“Why are you carrying ink?” asked ’Gren with interest.
“You never know when you might want some.” Ryshad was looking at the mage as intently as the rest of us. “Just a quick look, Shiv. We don’t want you falling foul of some adept out to revenge Ilkehan.”
Shiv nodded. “There’s no one waiting for us.” He splashed the water into his face to wash the sleep from his eyes. I was about to point out there’d been ink in it but, with blue paint still coating us all, there wasn’t much point.
“Where are we heading?” Sorgrad jumped down to the floor and crossed to the stair, his boots echoing on the stone floor. I joined him, ’Gren ushering Shiv ahead and taking up the rearguard.
“We get well away from here, then we let Halice and Temar know Ilkehan’s out of the game. They can set about throwing Muredarch and his wharf rats into the ocean.” Ryshad reached down to my raised hand and pulled me up beside him. I brushed a brief kiss across his cheek as I returned his jerkin.
“I need a shave,” he grimaced.
“I’ll forgive you, just this once,” I mocked affectionately.
Sorgrad led the way up the narrow and deliberately disorienting stair. I followed Ryshad, so glad to be leaving this eerie charnel house I had to hold back from shoving him along as he deliberately placed his boots noiselessly on each slab. That reminded me we weren’t safe till we were well clear of all the Elietimm with their mysterious powers and intrigues. Until then, we needed to watch our every step. No one ever got hung for being too cautious.
Mind you; no one ever got rich, either. I wondered privately just what kind of reward the Sieur D’Alsennin might be inclined to give us. With Halice to lead his troops, Temar should win enough booty from the pirates to remedy Kellarin’s woeful lack of coin. I’d need a reasonable coffer to get myself launched into the wine trade, after all.
Ahead of me, Ryshad stopped, bringing me rudely back to the here and now. He bent beneath the stone slab, braced to lift it. Sorgrad had a dagger in each hand. He nodded and Ryshad heaved the solid slab up to drop it with a thud.
They were both out of the hole together. Ryshad swung round to his offside, alert for anything unexpected. Sorgrad met him coming the other way.
“All clear.”
“No one here.”
That was enough for me and I scrambled out. It was well into morning up top, the light painfully bright for the first few moments. The sky was pale blue with improbably fluffy clouds rising in serried ranks from the west. The breeze was cool and refreshing on my face after the hushed stillness of the hargeard chamber. Then the acrid sharpness of burnt timber caught me by the throat and I coughed uncontrollably. I tried to stop but only succeeded in half choking myself.
Ryshad caught me by one arm. “Watch your step.”
Blinking through tears, I saw the top of the mound was strewn with fragments of shattered stone and burnt, splintered timber.
“That’s a good job done, I’d say,” remarked Sorgrad with pride.
“Definitely,” Shiv agreed wryly.
“Has anyone got any food?” ’Gren walked cautiously to the edge of the mound, shielding himself behind the broken stump of a sarsen.
I got my coughing under control. “Not me.”
Ryshad shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Save the day in a ballad and your hero gets a banquet and a willing princess,” ’Gren grumbled. “Let’s see if we can get back in time to help Halice fight the pirates.”
“The faster we let them know what’s happened, the better,” Ryshad allowed.
“Do I work the spell here?” Shiv looked at him.
“Time’s pressing,” I pointed out.
Ryshad shrugged. “Let’s see what happens.”
“I’ll work the spell with as much finesse as I can.” Shiv dug in his pack for his silver salver and then swore. “I’ve no candles.”
Sorgrad picked up a dewed fragment of blackened wood. “Try this.”
“I’ll do my best.” Shiv managed to summon a subdued flicker of scarlet from the brand. “Usara?”
We all waited expectantly. Nothing happened. Shiv frowned and snuffed out his flame with a workaday gesture. “He must be asleep.” Squaring his shoulders, he brought renewed fire to the wood. “Allin? Allin, it’s me, Shiv.”
The shining silver stayed obstinately blank. We all looked at Shiv and I wasn’t reassured to see his face mirror my own confusion.
“Do you want something else shiny?” ’Gren reached for his pack’s buckle.
Shiv frowned. “That won’t make a difference.”
“What would?” Ryshad asked bluntly.
Shiv didn’t answer, lifting the salver again and focusing all his attention on it. “Larissa?” The wood burned with a ferocious crimson. “Curse it!” Shiv swept the brand through the air to kill the flame, relighting it in the next breath. “Darni!”
“They can’t all be asleep, surely?” I heard concern catch in my voice.
“Is there some aetheric hindrance?” Ryshad asked, perplexed
“There’s no power here any more.” Sorgrad spoke up as Shiv shook his head. “It’s like the Shernasekke hargeard; nothing to react to the magic.” He walked round in a slow circle. “We’d have heard that bell sound if there was.”
Ryshad’s thoughts were long leagues away. “We have to let Temar and Halice k
now they can attack the pirates. Shiv, what else can you do? Livak, do you have any Artifice to contact Guinalle?”
“I’m afraid not.” I was sorry to have to disappoint him.
“Let’s see what scrying can show us.” Shiv cast aside the blackened wood and knelt on the damp grass. He laid the salver flat and dew sparkled briefly as it rolled across the turf, oozing over the metal to form a thickening emerald skin. Ryshad handed over his pot of ink and Shiv let a single drop fall from the stopper.
We crowded round. It took me a moment to realise the green mists had dissipated because initially all we saw were green leaves of almost exactly the same hue. Shiv drew the vision along the shore until we saw the camp laid out before us, neat campfires with people busy about them.
“That looks orderly enough.” I held both relief and worry firmly in check. There were more campfires than I expected but nowhere near enough people.
Ryshad was seeing the same as me. “Where’s Halice? Temar?”
Shiv wasn’t listening. He betrayed a sigh of release as the scrying found Pered standing outside the hut the pirates had left us, deep in conversation with someone I didn’t recognise. Whoever he was, someone had given him the worst beating I’d seen outside a mercenary camp.
I held my peace, counting a silent handful of heartbeats so Shiv could be sure his beloved was fine.
’Gren had no such delicacy. ”Where’s Halice, curse you!”
“Give me a moment.” Pered’s face faded and the water dulled to a stagnant jade before new magic suffused the water with verdant brilliance.
“There she is,” said Shiv with fervent relief.
I squinted at the image confined in the silver platter. “Where?”
“They’ve taken the Suthyfer landing,” exclaimed Ryshad.
“They have?” Sorgrad abandoned his thoughtful circuit of the mound to join us.
“We’re totally after the fair.” ’Gren was seriously displeased. ”No one to fight and no chance of any share in the loot.”
Shiv was still intent on his spell. “What do you suppose happened here?” The scrying showed us the burnt-out remnants of the pirates’ stockade, a group of mercenaries getting filthy tearing it down.
“Looks like you’re not the only ones who got carried away with your fire starting.” I smiled at Sorgrad who was studying the scene with interest.
“How did Halice know they could attack and be safe from the enchanters?” Shiv wondered aloud.
“Good question.” But Ryshad was well enough satisfied. “Still, the fight’s done and we won.”
“It can’t have been an easy fight, even without the Elietimm,” I pointed out. “If ’Sar and the others were using all their wits and wizardry, they’re probably still sleeping.”
There was no doubt our friends were masters of the landing. Like those miniature ships that sailors too old to be hired like to sell, we saw the Dulse and the Fire Minnow riding blithely at safe anchor. Solitary watchmen paced their decks with none of the fearful urgency of men expecting attack. Halice’s troops were reclaiming Kellarin’s cargoes from the ramshackle remnants of the pirates’ encampments, sentries circling with the same desultory stroll.
“Rosarn, Vaspret, Minare.” I ticked off faces I recognised on my fingers before chewing my lip as Shiv’s roving spell swept across callously piled bodies. Those had to be pirates. Our dead would be treated with far more respect lest Ostrin turn up in one of his legendary disguises to ask the reason why.
“No mages, nor Guinalle,” observed Ryshad.
“They’ll be sitting down to a rich breakfast aboard ship,” said ’Gren scornfully. “Noble born pay mercenaries to sit and eat their gruel on the cold ground.”
“Shiv, can you see inside the cabins?”
Not without—” The wizard froze and I heard a most unwelcome sound carried by the questing breeze.
“Goat bells.”
“Goat pizzles,” growled ’Gren. “I’d have bet yesterday scared them off for a season and a half.” He drew his long knife.
“Let’s leave them to it,” I pleaded. “We’ve seen Suthyfer’s secure. Let’s not risk our necks in some pointless scrap with the locals.”
“This is supposed to be the work of vengeful Eldritch Kin.” Ryshad waved a hand around the ruined circle. “Some gutted goatherd will set everyone looking for a man with a blade instead.” He ran a hand through wind-tousled curls. “Shiv, can you get us back to Suthyfer with Sorgrad’s help?”
Shiv shook his head. “Only one at a time. That would take the better part of two days and I’d need to sleep safe in between times.”
“We’re not splitting up,” ’Gren warned. “Not us and not her.”
“We need to lie up until we can get a nexus worked to lift us out of here together,” said Sorgrad with authority.
“The safest place will be Olret’s fiefdom,” Ryshad pointed out.
“I could take us all that far with one spell,” said Shiv confidently.
“About Olret.” I’d pushed him and his secrets to the back of my mind while Ilkehan dominated the foreground. “Are you suggesting we go back to his keep?” I sat on a convenient stump of rock.
“His laundresses could spare us some soap.” Sorgrad scratched at the soot-smudged and smeary colour still greasy on his forearm. “I’ll never hear the last of it if Halice sees me painted up like a masquerader.”
“Some of those pretty girls might be interested in finding out just how far the blue goes.” ’Gren’s lascivious chuckle ruined his air of spurious innocence.
Ryshad looked closely at me. “What about Olret?”
’Gren was still pursuing his own line of thought. “He should be a sound bet for a good breakfast.”
“You recall those locked gates on his stairs?” I said casually. That won me everyone’s attention.
“Yes,” said Shiv slowly.
This wasn’t the time for dancing round the truth. “Olret keeps a handful of women locked in cages up there, penned like animals in their own filth. They claim to be from Shernasekke, taken captive by Olret when he joined Ilkehan in attacking their house.”
“You didn’t think to mention this before?” Shiv was incredulous.
“You didn’t believe them?” Ryshad wasn’t wasting time with recriminations but the stern glint in his eye warned me to explain myself when we were alone together.
“I didn’t know what to believe. They have powerful Artifice but Olret somehow limits their powers to that one room. They wanted me to get word to their kin in Evadasekke.” I racked my memory. “And Froilasekke and somewhere else.”
“Why’s Olret holding them?” Sorgrad demanded as Shiv fumbled for his map.
“To try and get a blood claim on the Shernasekke lands when one of the girls decides his bed is a better place than a prison.” I scowled at ’Gren who looked ready to make some inappropriate quip. “And it seems they keep their lore very close, these Elietimm adepts. The Shernasekke women reckoned they could work Artifice that Olret couldn’t master. Those secrets were something else he wanted.”
Sorgrad shrugged. “That sounds fair enough, if you’re Olret.”
“Or they could have been lying,” Ryshad said reluctantly. “Olret could have perfectly good reason to keep them locked up. I hate to sound like Mistal but you’ve only their word to go on.”
’Gren was looking confused. “Ryshad’s brother,” I reminded him. “The advocate before the law courts.”
Shiv looked up from his map. “I can’t find Evadesekke but I think this may be Froilasekke.” He held up the parchment and pointed.
“That’s clear over the other side of the islands,” I said without enthusiasm.
“I’d go further than that for the right kind of gratitude from a rescued maiden.” ’Gren’s mood was brightening again.
Ryshad shot him an unreadable glance before returning to me. “You didn’t think we should involve ourselves before. Why tell us now?”
“Those goats a
re getting nearer,” warned Sorgrad.
“Olret was happy to help us as long as we were going to kill Ilkehan.” I met Ryshad’s gaze with a challenge of my own. “I’m not sure how he’ll react to us coming back, if he’s got secrets of his own to protect.”
“He doesn’t know we know about the women.” Ryshad looked thoughtful.
“I say we steer clear of Olret and let him do as he pleases.” Sorgrad scowled at ’Gren who was predictably bright eyed at the prospect of some new excuse for a fight. “Rettasekke or Shernasekke, they’re nothing to us. We owed Ilkehan a full measure of vengeance and killing him served everyone’s purpose. Now that’s done, let’s go home and reap the rewards.”
“I agree.” I raised my hand to stay Sorgrad’s approval. “But I don’t want to find myself coming back here next summer, because Olret’s set himself up in Ilkehan’s place.”
“So what do you propose to do?” Sorgrad challenged me and Ryshad both. “Kill Olret as well?”
“I don’t know what to do.” I’d had enough of killing, even of those we knew without doubt to be guilty but I didn’t bother telling Sorgrad since he wouldn’t consider it relevant.
Ryshad sucked his teeth. “Olret showed us a fair enough face but as our host he would do, of course.”
“And if Olret keeps these women locked up, they’re bound to blacken his name.” I spread my hands. “Now do you see why I didn’t muddy the waters stirring all this up?”
“We are going back then?” ’Gren glanced from me to Sorgrad, long knife ready in his hand.
“Not to the keep, not unless we have to.” Ryshad looked to us each for agreement and then at Shiv. “Can you take us to some quiet spot inside Olret’s boundaries until we can raise Usara and leave this all behind?”
The mage nodded. “There’s a place I saw as we rowed up the coast.”
“What about breakfast?” ’Gren complained.
“What about these women and their claims?” Shiv was looking dour.
“Maybe Guinalle can read the truth of it all in Olret’s dreams or some such,” I suggested.
“Shiv, get us out of here, please.” Ryshad cocked his head at goat bells again. “Whatever Olret may be, his people should be friendly to us and, Dast knows, no one hereabouts will be.”
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