But she was too late. The black-clad men were walking quickly and silently up the path towards the front door of the cottage. Even as Sorrow watched from the shadowed shelter of the hedgerow, they opened it and went in. She caught the glint of the covering pistols through the dusk. They were going to take Corus, and Elisse was bound to fight back, and then she’d end up being killed –
A whisper sounded, startlingly close, in Sorrow’s ear. ‘Naeve!’
Sorrow jumped and spun, knife at the ready, but her heart had recognised the voice before her brain did; it was already flooding her body with pure, joyful relief.
‘Elisse!’ she hissed. ‘What are you doing out here? Where’s Corus?’
‘Hid him in the hay store, jus’ like we said. The two o’ us were picking berries in the top meadow when the first lot came. They didn’ look ta me like people we wanted ta meet, so I figured we wouldn’ go back ta the house jus’ yet.’
‘Perfect,’ Sorrow said. ‘If we can get away without them noticing us, they’ll probably stay here all night, waiting for you to return.’
‘Who are they, Naeve?’
‘The Kardise Brotherhood. They’re after Corus, just as we feared.’
Elisse’s face paled, but her lips set in a grim line.
‘We have ta go back ta Mirrorvale, don’ we?’ she whispered.
‘It’s what I’ve been telling you.’
‘I know.’ Elisse frowned. ‘If they know Corus is in the country, won’ they be watching the border?’
‘Maybe not yet,’ Sorrow said. ‘At the moment they still think I’m locked up and you’re out for the day. But that’s going to change very soon. Sooner than we can get to the border, I reckon.’
‘What if we wen’ back to the city and caught an airship?’
Sorrow shook her head. ‘It’s not that easy. The Kardise place strict restrictions on who can fly where. All the captains are thoroughly checked and are only allowed to carry approved passengers. And I don’t have any favours left to call in – not in Kardissak, anyway.’
‘Then what? Are ya saying there’s no way out o’ the country?’
‘No.’ Sorrow grinned. ‘I’m saying we indulge in a spot of theft. The Kardise came in small airships that are designed to carry two. And since I’ve already stolen and destroyed one of those today, I might as well steal another.’
‘Oh. Right.’ Elisse brought her right hand out from behind her back. ‘Then ya might be wanting these.’
She was holding the case that contained Sorrow’s spare pair of pistols.
‘I could kiss you,’ Sorrow muttered. And promptly did. ‘All right, then. Let’s go get Corus, and find ourselves a getaway vehicle.’
The Kardise had left a couple of armed men to guard their skyboats, of course – they weren’t stupid. But they were watching for a mother attempting to flee with a young child, not a pair of women wielding pistols of their own. And besides, on their way to the hay store and back again, Sorrow had come up with a plan. As soon as they neared the bare crest of the hill, she swung Corus down off her back onto the ground.
‘Are you ready?’ she asked softly. Elisse clasped her son’s hand and gave a grim nod; her free hand held one of the pistols, concealed in the folds of her skirt. Sorrow nodded back. Then she began to edge quietly along the treeline, whilst Elisse stumbled out of the shadows into the moonlight, head down, dragging Corus with her. Surprised at the sudden change, he began to wail. Immediately the guards set off down the hill towards them.
‘Stop right there!’ one of them called, raising his own gun. Elisse jerked her head up – Sorrow couldn’t see the expression on her face, but she could imagine the shock and dismay; the woman was a damn good actress – and promptly tripped over her own feet, tumbling to the ground.
‘Mama, get up!’ Corus tugged at her sleeve.
‘I can’t, it’s my ankle – run, Corus, remember wha’ we talked about? Run!’ And then, with an artistic flair that Sorrow couldn’t help but admire, she pretended to faint.
When I tell you, she’d said to Corus earlier, run as fast as you can back to Naeve. It’s a game. You have to try and get there before the man catches you.
So Corus ran for the spot in the woodland where he’d last seen Sorrow, and one of the guards promptly followed him.
What if they shoot him? Elisse had asked, and Sorrow had shaken her head.
They need him alive. At least until they know Ayla’s dead.
Now, as the guard was about to pass her, she moved swiftly and silently out of the trees with her pistol trained on his head. ‘Stop. Drop your weapon.’
He skidded to a halt, the pistol falling from his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Sorrow saw the other guard – who’d holstered his gun and crouched down at Elisse’s side – begin to straighten up; but Elisse’s eyes opened, her arm came round to jab her own pistol into his belly, and her voice said in accented Kardise, ‘Don’t move.’
‘Naeve!’ Corus had veered off course as soon as he spotted her, and now stood at her side, grinning up at her. ‘Did I win?’
Sorrow used her pistol to gesture the first guard up the hill. Beyond her, Elisse had scrambled back to her feet, the weapon in her hand never wavering as she directed the second man.
‘Yes, son,’ Sorrow said. ‘You did.’
As well as Corus, the hay store had yielded some handy bale twine. Sorrow and Elisse herded the guards to the top of the hill, where Elisse kept them in place with both pistols whilst Sorrow began trussing them up. She’d been ready to kill them, earlier, but Elisse had dissuaded her.
Ya only kill if ya being paid for it, she’d said with unshakeable confidence – and Sorrow couldn’t argue. It was, after all, one of the guiding principles of her life. So they’d agreed simply to gag the guards and leave them in the gondola of one of the skyboats.
‘Naeve?’ Corus said from where he was crouched on the ground, a short distance away. Stay there and be good a lil’ longer, Elisse had told him gently. And then we’ll get ta have a ride in an airship. That’ll be fun. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Don’t worry,’ Sorrow told him, looking up from her second set of knots. ‘It’s all part of the game.’
Next moment, though, she regretted even that slight distraction. The man she was tying lashed out with his half-bound feet, catching her squarely in the chest and sending her flying backwards. Then he scrambled upright and made a break for it, shaking the twine away from his legs in a curious half-dancing step as he ran –
Elisse didn’t hesitate. She swung one of the pistols round and pulled the trigger. The bullet took him squarely in the back; he staggered, pitching forward onto his face, where he scrabbled a little and then went still. Elisse cast the pistol aside and switched the other one to her dominant hand, swinging it back to point at the second guard before he could try anything. He stared at her mutely, not putting up any resistance. As Sorrow checked his bonds and then stuffed a gag in his mouth, she found herself smiling with an odd kind of pride. A good actress and a good shot. She’d have made a damn fine sellsword.
‘We’d better be quick,’ she said when she’d finished. ‘They’ll have heard that down the hill. We need to leave as soon as possible.’
‘No need ta cry, sweetheart,’ Elisse said briskly, handing Sorrow the remaining pistol before picking up a snivelling Corus. ‘The man’s only sleeping. Let’s pick an airship, shall we?’
Whilst Elisse installed the boy safely into the gondola of their chosen craft, Sorrow dragged the living guard and the dead one out of sight. No time to conceal them properly, now; she could already hear faint rustles in the woodland below, some of the ambush party returning up the hill to find out what was happening, and she had another task to perform first. When that was done, she unhooked the skyboat’s tethers as rapidly as she could, leaving it weighed down only by the anchor, then jumped into the gondola and sat down at the controls.
‘Right.’ She didn’t bother telling Elisse that this was only
the second time she’d flown an airship. Second was far better than first, after all. ‘Let’s get going.’
Anchor up. Crank the engine to get it running – though she wouldn’t be able to steer until it had built up enough steam. Open the valves to replenish the depleted air inside the gas chamber and make the skyboat rise …
As they lifted rather jerkily into the air, Sorrow glanced down and saw the first figures emerging from the trees onto the bare hilltop. She couldn’t hear their shouts, but she saw one or two flashes as a couple of them fired on her. Since a bullet piercing the envelope would result in a second airship inferno, she was lucky it wasn’t more – but then, it was their own craft. They couldn’t be certain who was in it.
Soon enough, the shots became more numerous and Sorrow guessed that the ambush party had discovered their incapacitated guards. Yet by then, the skyboat was already out of range.
‘Won’ they come after us?’ Elisse asked. Out of the corner of her eye, Sorrow could see her peering down at the scene on the ground.
‘They would.’ Sorrow grinned. ‘But unfortunately for them, the rest of their craft have developed unfortunate gas leaks. The envelopes on these small ships are far too prone to damage from sharp objects.’
Elisse chuckled, and she was still chuckling as Sorrow swung the rudder round to point the nose of the skyboat north. It probably wouldn’t be that simple, of course. The Kardise would fix the damage, or call for backup, and then they’d be in pursuit. But they were flying at night, and if Sorrow kept her craft’s lights off and went as fast as she could, without bothering to conserve fuel …
They’d make it. She was sure of it. They just had to reach the Mirrorvalese border.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ayla opened her eyes to discover the familiar canopy of her bed above her. It wasn’t morning, though, surely? The light was wrong. She struggled to sit up, but a gentle hand restrained her.
‘Take it slowly, Lady Ayla,’ a familiar voice said. ‘That was quite a faint.’
She turned her head slowly in the direction of the sound, to find Darkhaven’s physician sitting at her bedside.
‘I fainted?’
‘In the transformation room,’ he confirmed. ‘Your alchemist sent for me.’
Ugh. How embarrassing. Ayla let her head fall back on the pillow. The memory was coming back to her now, albeit in pieces. She and Miles had been performing tests. He’d shot her a few times. But after that, it was all a blank.
‘The pistol?’
‘Back in the armoury. The alchemist insisted upon it.’
Ayla smiled. She’d have to let Tomas know. After the day’s events, he’d surely agree that Miles was wholly to be relied on.
‘I’d been Changing back and forth a lot,’ she said. ‘Is that why –’
The physician nodded. ‘It’s highly likely that your condition makes you susceptible to overexertion.’
‘My … condition?’
‘Yes, Lady Ayla.’ He smiled at her. ‘About eight weeks along, I’d say.’
Eight weeks along. Again Ayla tried to pull herself up to a sitting position, and this time she succeeded. ‘I’m pregnant?’
‘Yes.’
‘I – are you sure?’
‘As sure as I can be.’
She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. A million questions clamoured for attention, but for some reason the one that came out was, ‘Can I still Change?’
‘I believe so.’ The physician looked uncomfortable. ‘The truth is, Lady Ayla, I have not had a great deal of experience in that area. The last pregnant Changer I attended was your late brother’s mother, and that was a quarter-century ago. Besides, your father …’
‘Kept her in Darkhaven for her own safety,’ she finished for him, and he nodded.
‘Exactly.’
Ayla repressed a shudder, something coiling inside her that was too complicated to untangle. Sadness, on her predecessor’s behalf. Guilty relief, that Florentyn wasn’t alive to impose the same on her – and of course, if he had been, most likely her child would have been Myrren’s, despite their combined protests against it. A far purer relief, that Owen Travers hadn’t succeeded in his plan to incarcerate her and subject her to his own twisted desires. So many ways she could have been expecting a baby that she considered not a blessing but a violation of her will.
She was lucky.
And she really ought to apologise to Tomas. Because she’d accused him of stifling her – of being like her father – and yet Tomas would never use her pregnancy as an excuse to control her. She knew that before even telling him about it. In fact, she was pretty sure that after she’d delivered the news, he’d do anything she asked of him.
Since she wasn’t her father either, she was determined not to abuse that power.
She wanted to run and find Tomas straight away, but by now it must be afternoon – which meant he’d be bringing the potential Helmsmen up to Darkhaven. And he’d asked her – no, begged her – not to make an appearance. Please, he’d said. I know you don’t believe you’re in danger any more, but with so many new people up at the tower … please. Stay out of the way, and let me post a guard.
She’d argued with him, of course, because she always did. Somewhere along the line, it had become less about what she actually thought was right and more about proving something to him. Proving that he didn’t have the authority to keep her locked in Darkhaven, as she had been for the first eighteen years of her life. Only that was stupid, because he’d never claimed he did. He just wanted to keep her safe, because he loved her.
‘Thank you,’ she told the physician. ‘Please keep this to yourself for now.’
‘Of course. And I would advise you to avoid doing anything strenuous for the rest of the day. Perhaps stay here a little while longer.’
Ayla nodded meekly. In all honesty, she was still tired from the morning’s activities. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Do send for me if you feel worse.’ The physician stood up, giving her another kind smile. ‘Your guards are just outside.’
‘Thank you.’
He left the room, and Ayla heard him speak to the Helmsmen on duty. She lay back on her bed and took a long, deep breath. A baby. A cousin for Marlon. A niece or nephew for Corus, wherever he was. Maybe the Nightshade line wasn’t doomed to extinction after all.
After a while, she sat up and reached for the pile of petitions at her bedside. Might as well use the time. But she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind kept wandering with unabashed excitement to the baby, to what she imagined Tomas would look like when she told him – and then plunging into dread each time she recalled the possible lingering assassination threat, which had become all the sharper with the news of her pregnancy. If Tomas was right, there could be someone in the grounds of Darkhaven right now with the intent to kill her.
But they’d have to get past Tomas and Art and the rest of the trainees first, she reminded herself. And then the guard at the gate. And then my own two guards.
She considered those guards. They’d stood outside the transformation room earlier, when she was working with Miles, and now they were standing outside her bedroom. No doubt when they’d joined the Helm, they’d expected a little more swordfighting and a little less standing. Maybe she should send one of them for Tomas – but just as quickly, she dismissed the idea. Tomas was busy. The danger was no more acute now than it had been before; only her perception of it had changed. And besides, when she pressed her ear against the door, her sharp senses detected the rattle of dice on the other side of the thick wood. Not standing, then. They’d found something to do.
Leaving them to their game, she returned to the bed and, with a supreme effort of will, forced herself to concentrate on her petitions. Magistrates requesting that she uphold their judgement, a factory owner asking for a change in city regulations, the Captain of the Watch wanting her to sign a warrant of execution – all familiar tasks. And so she was able to lose herself in the
m, until she heard a soft thud on the other side of the door.
Again she crossed the room and put her ear to the wood: the sound of dice had stopped. She couldn’t detect anything except her own blood rushing past her ears. Maybe they’d had enough of gambling for chicken stakes. Maybe one of them had gone to relieve himself. But Tomas had taught her caution, and so she retreated towards the window in search of a weapon. She carried a knife with her, sometimes, and she’d left it on the table this morning –
Before she was halfway there, a sudden volley of knocks on the door made her start. ‘Lady Ayla! Lady Ayla!’
It was a girl’s voice, light and urgent. Ayla strode back to the door and wrenched it open. One of Tomas’s trainees stood on the other side, dancing from foot to foot in a state of panic. Her side and one leg of her trousers were drenched in blood.
‘What’s happened?’ Ayla demanded. ‘Are you hurt?’
The girl shook her head. ‘It’s not serious. I –’
‘It looks bad enough. Let me call the physician back for you.’ Belatedly, Ayla realised that the bloodstained trainee in front of her was standing there alone. ‘Where are my guards?’
‘I don’t know! Maybe the assassin is here already …’ The girl glanced in each direction down the silent corridor, biting her lip. ‘I came to warn you. Zander is innocent, and the real assassin is somewhere in Darkhaven.’
So Tomas had been right. The knowledge descended through Ayla’s body like a stone through water, leaving bubbles of fear in its wake.
‘Come in,’ she told the girl, standing back far enough to admit her. ‘Tell me everything you know. Hurry!’
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