The Voice of Prophecy (Dual Magics Book 2)

by Meredith Mansfield

  Behind you! Thekila’s voice said in his mind. Vatar wheeled his horse in the opposite direction and saw the next enemy struggling to move a sword apparently stuck in midair. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, one side of his mouth quirked up. Thekila’s work, without a doubt, freezing that sword in place. Vatar swung the butt of his spear up into the man’s jaw, laying him out unconscious.

  Another wash of fear from Thekila hit Vatar like a wall, just at the moment that both Savara and Zavar wailed in terror. Vatar turned his horse. Quetza gripped Zavar tight to her left side with one hand and used Orleus’s old sword to parry the blade of an enemy that had slipped past Vatar and around the shield he’d cast. If she was impeded by Zavar, the attacker was at least equally hampered by the three dogs snapping at his legs. Vatar dropped the now-useless shield and urged his horse forward. At the sound of the approaching hooves, the man turned, and Quetza, taking advantage of the opening, drove her blade clean through his sword arm. The man dropped his sword and Thekila, with a glance, sent it spinning deep into the tall grass.

  Vatar forced himself to ignore Thekila and Quetza trying to soothe the sobbing children to check what was happening on the other side. Arcas fought with one of their attackers. Orleus’s two dogs had pulled another of the enemy down. Even as Vatar watched, Orleus war-trained horse, Racer, reared up and struck Orleus’s opponent with his hooves, hard enough to knock him to the ground. Only one foe remained unfought, and he tried to run back toward Caere. Orleus spurred Racer after him. Arrow, the lighter and faster of Orleus’s dogs, left the downed man to chase the runner. That man didn’t have a chance of getting away. Vatar left Orleus to it and went to help Arcas.

  Seeing another rider barreling down on him, the remaining attacker threw down his sword. Vatar kept his spear leveled at the man’s chest while he fished in his saddlebag for a length of rope. He tossed the rope to Arcas, who dismounted and started tying up their captive. As Arcas worked, the man’s dun-colored cape twitched aside, revealing the blue and green uniform of the Temple Guard. Vatar and Arcas exchanged a glance and Arcas pulled the bonds tighter. Finishing with the first, they moved on systematically to the man still held captive by Orleus’s bigger tracking dog, Seeker, and the one detained by Quetza and the herding dogs, and finally the one Vatar had knocked unconscious.

  By then, Orleus and Arrow came back, driving a fifth man before them. Arcas quickly tied him up with the others.

  “They’re Temple Guards,” Orleus said.

  Vatar nodded. “We know.” He drew his Dardani long knife and advanced on the nearest man. With the blade to the man’s throat, he asked, “Who sent you?”

  The man said nothing, cold eyes daring Vatar.

  This was the man Quetza had wounded. Orleus twisted his injured arm savagely. “You were asked a question. I’d advise you to answer it.”

  “Gerusa!” the man said, gasping from the pain. “It was High Councilor Gerusa. She paid us to kill you.”

  Vatar narrowed his eyes. This one had been caught while attacking Quetza—and Zavar. “Who, exactly, were you supposed to kill?”

  The man clamped his mouth shut until Orleus twisted his arm again. “All of you.”

  “All of us?” Thekila’s voice held an unaccustomed tremor. “Even the babies?”

  The man had the grace to avert his eyes. “Yes.”

  Vatar closed his eyes and drew in several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. When he felt he could control his voice, he gestured to the fallen men. “Gather up the bodies. I’m going to bespeak Father. He needs to know about this.”

  Orleus and Arcas nodded.

  “Father!” Vatar called with his mind.

  “Vatar? What is it? I thought you were leaving for Zeda today.”

  Vatar gritted his teeth. “We did. We were ambushed soon after we reached the plains.”

  “Are you all right? What about Thekila and the children?” Father’s mental voice was immediately concerned.

  “We’re all fine, Father. We have five prisoners. The other three are dead. They’re Temple Guards. Gerusa sent them.”

  Father huffed in anger and frustration. “That bitch never did understand the concept of defeat. Are you going to bring them back?”

  Vatar shook his head, even though he knew Father couldn’t see it. “We’ve tied them up and we’re going to leave them right here. The High Council can send someone for them. Or not. If not, the lions will likely find them.”

  “That’s not like you, Vatar.”

  Vatar drew a few more deep breaths before answering. “It wasn’t just me they were sent to kill. They would have killed Thekila and my children, too. And they took Gerusa’s orders with that understanding. They don’t deserve any better.”

  “I’ll send someone out to retrieve them. And to arrest Gerusa.” Father’s voice vibrated with an echo of Vatar’s anger.

  “Thank you, Father. I’ll contact you again when we reach Zeda.”

  “Have a safe trip. The rest of it, anyway.”

  The five survivors were dumped together in the sparse shade of a bush, upwind from the place where the three bodies had been collected.

  Vatar rode up in front of them. “I’ve informed High Councilor Veleus that you’re here. He’ll send someone to retrieve you. You’d better hope that they find you before the lions do.” He half closed his eyes in concentration and gestured to the south. “There’s a pride of lions about two miles that way. They’re not quite ready to hunt, yet. So you have a chance. Of course, the smell of blood may draw them.”

  Before they started forward again, Vatar took Savara back from Thekila. She clung to him as he set her in front of him. “I told you I’d never let them hurt you again.”

  Savara nodded.

  “Let’s ride,” Vatar said as Thekila moved her horse beside his.

  ~

  When they reached Zeda late on the third day, Vatar smiled to see his whole family, including Thekila’s younger brother, Theklan waiting for them. Clearly, Thekila had forewarned her brother and he’d shared the information. There might be some advantages to having just these few Dardani know about his magic after all.

  He waited until they were settled into the coolness of their sod hut, which had already been prepared for them, before contacting his father again. “Father?”

  “Yes, Vatar?”

  “We’ve arrived safely at Zeda. I said I’d let you know.” Vatar paused a moment. His earlier anger had faded days ago—and become tinged with just a hint of guilt. He didn’t think he’d guessed wrong, but . . . “Did the men you sent find those who ambushed us? Before the lions got there?”

  Father chuckled. “Not exactly. But the lions started with the ones that were already dead, so the live ones were brought back without any additional injuries. But you knew that would happen, didn’t you?”

  Vatar let out a relieved sigh. “I thought it would. Lions usually won’t waste energy when they don’t need to. What about Gerusa?”

  Father sighed. “Gerusa seems to have had more friends among the Temple and Palace Guards than we realized. Before I could get the High Council to arrest her, she knew that her ambush had failed. She has fled Caere. It’s almost certain that she took ship to Kausalya.”

  Vatar grimaced. He hated having an enemy—and there was no doubt Gerusa was his enemy—on the loose. Still, Kausalya was a small city on the coast south of Caere, founded mostly on farming the rich river delta. Vatar had no plans to go there. “Hopefully, she’s far enough away.”

  “Watch your back, Vatar. If I know Gerusa—and I do—she hasn’t given up. It’s not in her vocabulary. She can’t reach you among the Dardani. But be careful when you come back.”

  “I will, Father.” Vatar paused. He’d given this some thought during the rest of the journey. “We’re not planning to stay longer than necessary this trip. I may hire a few sturdy Dardani to come back with us to help manage the herd. With the three children along, it’d be hard even with the dogs. And there should
be plenty of time for them to get back to Zeda before the clans break up for the autumn.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.”

  ~

  The next morning, they gathered again on the edge of the village to say goodbye to Orleus and Quetza.

  Thekila looked between the two. “Be careful.”

  Orleus shrugged. “Oh, I don’t think even Mother could pay anyone to come this far to attack us. No, that danger will always be closer in to Caere—and Kausalya, now, I suppose. That could cause some inconvenience in the future.”

  “Still . . . just take care of each other,” Thekila said.

  Quetza grinned. “We will. Don’t worry about that.”

  Vatar clapped Orleus’s leg. “Fair skies, you two.”

  Orleus smiled. “For you, also. We’ll meet again. Maybe this winter. Or next year, here at Zeda.”

  “And, in the meantime, we’re never farther away than this.” Quetza tapped the side of her head to indicate Far Speech.

  With a final wave, the two turned their horses toward the south and rode off. Orleus’s dogs gave a joyous bark and ran ahead.

  Thekila leaned against Vatar. “I hope they’ll be as happy as we are.”

  Vatar put his arm around her waist. “It’ll be different for them. But they’ll make their own kind of happiness together.”

  She looked up at him. “Does that feel true?”

  Vatar gave her a squeeze, knowing she was referring to his Talent of Fore Sight without mentioning the word magic around the superstitious Dardani. “Yes. Yes, it does.”

  Chapter 2: Trust

  Vatar and Thekila watched until the departing horses were almost lost to sight before turning back to the village. When they came in sight of their hut, they found Avaza watching hungrily as the twins played under the watchful eyes of Theklan and Vatar’s younger sister, Kiara. They giggled as Vatar’s little brother, Fenar, just a year older than the twins, jumped out at them from hiding. Vatar laughed, too.

  Thekila pulled on his arm to make him stop. She cast one distrustful look at Avaza before looking up into his eyes, which wasn’t necessary with Far Speech, far less communicating through their bond, but it would make better sense to any casual observer. I overheard a few comments about possession this morning when I went down to the waterhole. Avaza hasn’t stopped spreading those rumors. Don’t trust her.

  Vatar nodded, his eyes narrowing. Thanks for the warning. He stepped forward, making his footstep deliberately loud so that Avaza would hear him.

  Avaza turned toward him, smiling insincerely. “Hello, Vatar. I . . . I wondered if you’d let me have the twins again, for as long as you’re here at Zeda.”

  Vatar looked past her to where the twins were now piled on top of Fenar. “We’re not going to be here that long this year, Avaza. Only a seven-day or two at most.”

  Avaza bit her lip. “Even a little time is better than none. It’s been almost a year since I last saw them. They’ve grown so much.”

  Vatar was silent for a moment as if he was considering it. Actually, he would have been reluctant to let Avaza take the twins even without Thekila’s warning. The winter had been eventful for Zavar and Savara—kidnapped, rescued with considerable use of magic, carried to safety by Quetza transformed into a white wyvern, and Savara’s injury magically healed. It’d be only natural for Avaza, as their mother, to ask about their winter and it was entirely too much to expect four-year-olds not to talk about adventures like that. And Vatar knew it would be as much as his life was worth to trust Avaza with knowledge of his magic among the superstitious, magic-fearing Dardani. Bad enough she’d started talk of possession. He could defend against that, knowing that it wasn’t true.

  Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t think so, Avaza. They are growing fast. It’s important at their age to have good examples to follow—honorable examples. I’d trust Ariad with that, of course.” He turned his head to meet her eyes. “But not you.”

  Avaza reeled back as if he’d struck her. “What do you mean by that?”

  Vatar sighed. Avaza never seemed to expect her actions to have consequences. She never seemed to learn, either. “Avaza, last year you as good as admitted spying on me and my family while we conferred with the shaman. That can hardly be considered honorable. It would take a real fool not to connect that with the rumors that I’m possessed that started shortly after that. Which—again—is not true, Avaza.” Vatar had to hold his voice steady not to betray himself with that statement. He wasn’t possessed—exactly. The fact that one of his distant ancestors sometimes spoke to him in his mind was irrelevant. Taleus couldn’t actually make Vatar do anything. All Taleus could do was offer occasional advice and sometimes help to keep Vatar calm in a crisis. Not the same thing as possession, though Vatar seriously doubted Avaza would see the distinction.

  “I didn’t—”

  “Don’t make it worse by adding lying to the list,” Vatar interrupted. “I’m not a fool. And I know you too well.” He drew a deep breath. “Avaza, once before you asked me to name the price of your honor for spreading stories about me. That time, I thought Maktaz had tricked you into it, so I set the price of your honor low. To make the same mistake twice . . . Well, I’m not inclined to set a price this time. I won’t stoop to your level and spread the word that you are without honor—unless circumstances force me to it. You might want to bear that in mind.”

  Vatar shook his head again. “You know, you haven’t really thought this through, Avaza. If your rumor-mongering makes things too uncomfortable for me among the Dardani, I’ll simply take the twins back to Caere—and stay there. You’d never see them again if that happened. Or, if anything did happen to me, my family would take Zavar and Savara and raise them alongside little Fenar. I expect Mother would be even less sympathetic than I am in that case. Your best course is to try to mend your errors—and not repeat them. I wish I had confidence that you were actually capable of that.” He looked back toward the romping children. “As for the twins, you’ll have to prove to me that you understand your wrongs—and sincerely correct them—before I’ll trust you with them.” Vatar strode on past Avaza toward the hut.

  Thekila smiled as she caught up with him. “Nicely handled. I wonder if she’ll mend her ways after she chews that over.”

  Vatar shrugged. “Knowing Avaza, I wouldn’t count on it. It’d be like her to try even harder to discredit me. Good thing Trev told all the chiefs—and the new shaman—that I’m not possessed before he went home. Pa saw to that. Won’t stop the rumors, though.”

  ~

  Vatar looked up and sighed when he saw Ariad standing outside his workshop. He should be happy to see his old friend, but he had a feeling that his appearance now had more to do with Avaza, now Ariad’s year mate, than with Vatar. He set aside the repair he’d been about to start. “Fair skies, Ariad.”

  Ariad nodded. “Fair skies, Vatar.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  Ariad shifted uncomfortably. “Avaza is very upset. Could you see your way clear to let us take care of the twins for even just a couple of days? As a favor to me?”

  Vatar drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Ariad, there’s very little I wouldn’t do for you. But I won’t let my children become part of whatever Avaza is up to this time. That, I can’t do.”

  “I know she crossed the line last summer, prying into your business with the shaman. But she really is just concerned about the welfare of the children,” Ariad said.

  Vatar shook his head. “I don’t really care what she thinks she’s going to accomplish by spreading rumors again, Ariad. I can’t just ignore that. Not after what happened last time.”

  Ariad spread his hands out, palms up. “She’s . . .” He paused, blinking. “Wait. What do you mean again?”

  Vatar picked up the bent hand weeder he’d been about to straighten. How could Ariad not know this? “You remember three years ago, all the rumors that sprang up before I was forced to challenge Maktaz to the Ordeal
?”

  “Y-es.” Ariad made two syllables of the word.

  “Well, all of those rumors were based on things—perfectly innocent things—that Avaza told Maktaz, because she was upset that I had been forced to take our children into the Lion Clan to protect them from Maktaz. She came to me at midsummer and confessed what she’d done. Ask Pa or Mother. Or old Draza of the Raven Clan. They were there. Avaza asked me to set the price of her honor. I thought that Maktaz had tricked her, so I set a simple price. Only that she tell the truth—even if no one believed her.” Vatar sighed. “Now, I think I set the price too low. She thinks she can get away with pulling the same trick that Maktaz tried. But I told her and now I’m telling you, I won’t set a price for the same breach of honor twice. And I won’t trust her with the twins until I’m sure I can trust her not to use them as Maktaz once used her. They’re at a very impressionable age. I don’t want them learning to follow Avaza’s example.”

  Ariad swallowed. “I . . . I didn’t know any of that.”

  Vatar smiled wryly. “I didn’t think you did. I trust your honor implicitly. Avaza will have to prove hers to me. I’m sorry, but that’s my final word.”

  Ariad nodded. “I understand.” He winced. “Avaza’s still not going to be happy.”

  Vatar thought back on what living with an unhappy Avaza had been like for the few months they were year mates. “My sympathies.”

  Ariad drew a deep breath and let it out. “We should have become life mates last year. She wants to have more children—children she can keep, this time. But then when she . . . spied on your interactions with Trev. I thought maybe she still . . . had some feelings for you. So, I put it off. Now . . .”

  “Oh, she has feelings for me all right. She hates my guts.” Vatar closed his eyes, briefly. “Ariad, Avaza and I were always a mistake. We’d never have been able to stay together for a second year even if we hadn’t complicated things for ourselves by going to Caere. If we’d taken the time to know each other better first, we’d have known that and never become year mates in the first place. The stress of being in Caere just made things worse. By the time we returned, we were barely talking to each other. And then I had to take our children from her to keep them safe from Maktaz. I can’t really blame Avaza for having a very particular kind of enmity for me.” He grimaced. “Her actions are another matter. She can hate me all she wants, but trying to harm me or mine is something entirely different.” He let out his breath. “What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t judge based only on how she behaves toward me. What’s important is whether you think you can trust her.”