“Unfortunately it works too well. The problem we have now is that the person wearing it freezes to death.”
The tour continued through the workshop. Most of it made sense, although there were some items she was going to have to ask Tevi about later. The golems she understood, but Jemeryl had no idea of just how impressive it was for a crossbow to shoot a bolt through one eighth steel at four hundred yards, or why you might want self-destroying caltrops. Some of the inventions she found frankly horrifying. She had never realised that there might be so many ways to disembowel an opponent.
At last, as the tour was reaching its end, she was moved to ask, “Don’t you ever wish your work might do more to make people’s lives better, rather than killing them?”
Mavek carefully placed the war axe he had been demonstrating back on the rack. For a few seconds he stood staring at it, then he turned and looked down at her. His eyes held a sober intensity.
“Yes. Sometimes. But the easier Bykoda’s soldiers win, then the less of them that get killed. And if they don’t win there’s an awful lot of people whose lives would become an awful lot worse.” He shrugged. “And some of my work is harmless...like over here.”
He went to another bench. On it were a row of cushions with assorted weights balanced on top.
“What are they?” Jemeryl asked, confused.
“Inflatable cushions.” Mavek grinned. “Bykoda’s council meetings can go on forever. With the current stuffed cushions, after four hours, you can feel the imprint of each individual straw in your arse. I was hoping these would be more comfortable. But I’m having to sort out issues. At the moment they tend to deflate, and you get seasick if you shift around too much. I’m thinking about dividing the inside into dozens of individual compartments.”
Mavek turned away from the bench and sighed. His gesture took in all of his workshop. “But you’re right. The cushions are just a diversion. Nearly all my life has been spent working out better ways to kill people. Maybe I should have moved to your Protectorate when I was younger. Then I could have worked on designing a better ploughshare.” He shook his head sadly. “But it’s too late now.”
“It’s never too late.”
“Maybe.” Despite what he said, Mavek’s voice held no hope.
Jemeryl patted his shoulder in encouragement. “Believe it. But I’ve taken up far too much of your time. Thank you for showing me around. It was very kind of you.”
A ghost of a smile returned to Mavek’s face. “Anytime.”
*
Tevi lay sprawled on the sheepskin rug before the fire, staring at the ceiling. Running through her head was the last skirmish from the battle table. Her troops had won, but at a high cost. She needed to work out better tactics that would mean fewer lives lost. The sound of the door cut short her musing.
Jemeryl entered, stripping off her cloak. She smiled at Tevi in greeting. “Have you been back long?”
“Just a few minutes. How did you know I’d gone out?”
“You weren’t here earlier when I stopped by.”
Klara II had been riding on Jemeryl’s shoulder. The magpie swooped across the room, landed on a perch above the fire, and then buried her beak under her wing. Tevi watched her settle and then turned back to Jemeryl. “I was over at Yenneg’s. Playing on the battle table.”
“I guessed. How did you do?”
“I won. Twice.” Tevi sat up and was about to go into more details, but then she noted Jemeryl’s distracted expression. “Is everything all right?”
Jemeryl joined her by the fire. “I asked Bykoda about the tracer charm.”
“From your face, I’m guessing that the charm was nothing to do with her.”
“Not quite. She had one put in the box. But somebody made a swap.” Jemeryl quickly summarised her morning.
“So what does it all mean?” Tevi asked once the account was finished.
“Somebody got a new set of charms and made a switch. I’d guess they took the half from Bykoda’s study. The talisman box was locked up in her storeroom and a lot harder to get at.”
“Getting in the study without her knowing still can’t have been easy.”
Jemeryl wrinkled her nose. “Well, Kharel would be best placed. But over the years, I’d bet that all the acolytes have had a chance.”
“I still don’t see how it works out.”
“I’ve been thinking it through. What probably happened is that someone went into the workshop, got a pair of charms, and hid the caller in the nearest spot. They took the hearer away and kept hold of it until the opportunity arose to make the swap. Once they’d done that, they then had the hearer that was linked to the box, so they could trace the talisman. And all Bykoda had was a useless charm that would just lead her back to the forge. But unless she looked carefully, or tested it out, she wouldn’t know.”
“How hard would it be to get the charms from the forge?”
“Really easy. A couple of spare sets were just sitting in the work-room. Anyone could walk in and pick them up. Nobody noticed me.”
“So it doesn’t help us narrow down the suspects?”
“Nope. No help at all.”
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Tevi went to answer. One of Yenneg’s officers was outside holding a small glass bottle.
“Captain Tevirik. Commander Yenneg sends this as a token of his admiration for your victories this morning.”
Tevi took the offered item. “Please thank the commander for me.”
“Yes, Captain Tevirik.” The officer went.
Tevi wandered back to the fire and carefully removed the stopper from the bottle. The scent of sweet musk filled the room. “Perfume?”
Jemeryl took the bottle and examined it. “I know this. It comes from the islands out on the eastern ocean. And it’s the genuine stuff, not magic. It must have cost Yenneg a fortune to get.”
Tevi frowned. It was not the sort of gift she would have expected from a commanding officer, but then the casual acceptance of bribery at Tirakhalod always felt alien to her. “I guess Yenneg is hoping to impress me.”
“Oh yes, he must really want to have Captain Tevirik in his army.”
Tevi put the stopper back and placed the bottle beside the talisman box. She gave her lover an accusing look. “It’s bad enough all of them calling me Tevirik. There’s no need for you to start.”
Jemeryl smiled, unrepentant. “It’s your own fault for telling them what Tevi was short for.”
“Somebody asked me, but I never said it was my name.”
“But Tevi is such a blatant diminutive. People clearly didn’t think it was the right thing to call an officer. But if you like, I’ll let people know even Tevi is just a nickname, and that you should really be called Strikes-like-lightning.”
Tevi’s glare only had the effect of sending Jemeryl into a fit of giggles. The women of the Western Isles had unconventional ideas about suitable names for warriors. Her real name was something that Tevi had been very pleased to leave behind. Jemeryl was the only person on the mainland in whom she had confided. Some days, Tevi even regretted telling her.
*
Bykoda’s face was dispassionately thoughtful as she examined the twin tracer charms laid on her desk. “So someone has outmanoeuvred me. It’s about time that one of them managed it.” Her tone even sounded admiring.
“Do you have any idea who might have done it? Or when?”
“No. Mavek brought me the box with the charm in it. I tested it out to make sure I was happy with the workmanship. Then I put the hearer in the cupboard over there and haven’t touched it since. There’s been no need. And at one time or another, all of them have been left alone in here. Anyone could have made the swap.” Bykoda drummed on the desk with the fingernails. “A quite unforgivable oversight on my part.”
“You understand that I’m worried.”
“Oh yes. I am too. The chances are far too high for comfort that my killer is the one who wanted to trace the talisman. And
I don’t like the thought of them getting their hands on the talisman any more than you like the thought of being ambushed on the way back to Lyremouth.” Bykoda left her desk and went to stare out through her study window.
“I’m afraid that finding out about it hasn’t really told us much.”
Bykoda turned back to face Jemeryl. “On no. It has told us a great deal. On a practical level, it has told us that we need to take much more care over your return to Lyremouth than we had supposed. Also it tells us that my killer is working to well laid-out plans, rather than merely seizing an opportunity. And that they are capable of subtlety and inventiveness. Which I find rather satisfying. I would so hate to be murdered by a lucky fool.” She sighed. “I only wish that circumstances would allow me to make a decent fight of it.”
Jemeryl felt a half smile touch her mouth, but then she looked again at the expression on Bykoda’s face and it died. Beneath the placid exterior was a cold-blooded resolve, far more dangerous than any screaming rage.
*
Except for Klara dozing atop a bookcase, their rooms were empty when Tevi returned from a ride beyond the castle walls. The magpie was such a constant companion of Jemeryl’s that Tevi was surprised to see her.
“Where’s Jem?”
The magpie lifted her head at the sound of the door closing. “She’s talking to Bykoda.”
“Why didn’t she take you along?”
“She didn’t tell me.”
“Did she say when she’d be back?”
“No.”
“Any idea what it’s about?”
“No.” Klara’s beak twitched petulantly. “Nobody tells me nothing. A bird of my talents and I might as well be a blackboard.” She pointedly tucked her head back into her breast feathers, still muttering indistinctly.
Tevi grinned. The sarcastic ill-humour that Jemeryl had bestowed upon her familiar was not meant to be taken seriously, although Tevi suspected Jemeryl often used her alter ego to vent her own irritation.
The familiar was little more than an extension of the sorcerer’s own intellect. Jemeryl described the link as being so close that she was literally performing some of her own thinking in the magpie’s head. The practise was not without hazards. If anything happened to Klara, Jemeryl would also be at risk. Tevi assumed that the benefits of a familiar justified it. Magic, and the worlds that Jemeryl saw, were not something she could ever understand.
Tevi dumped her riding gear by the door and wandered across to the window. Apart from horse riding and reading, not much in the way of entertainment for the ungifted was available in Tirakhalod. Boredom had been yet another reason for joining the army. Tevi idly picked up a book that had been left on the window seat. She could read while waiting for Jemeryl to come back, or she could go and try a new skirmish on the battle table.
Tevi caught the corner of her lip between her teeth. She knew that Jemeryl was questioning just how much time she was spending on the battle table. But Jemeryl had other things to do, and the battle table was fun. Tevi’s expression changed to a grin as she headed back towards the door.
Was it not poxy bad luck that she would only start to enjoy herself in Tirakhalod when it was nearly time to leave? Yenneg was also a pleasant surprise. Previously she’d had little to do with him, but he was proving to be easygoing and considerate. He had even asked whether Jemeryl was showing signs of objecting to being left alone so much.
“Klara. I’m nipping over to Yenneg’s battle table. If Jem returns, tell her I won’t be long. I’ll be back before nightfall. I promise.”
“Would you like me to find a piece of chalk so you can write that on my back?”
Chapter Five—Star-crossed Lovers
Two dozen ogres ploughed ahead in a fury of fists and feet. The shield wall crumpled before the onslaught and broke. Howls of triumph drowned out the screams of the dying. On the other side of the field, phalanxes of enemy pikemen pushed back Tevi’s forces, step by step. Defeat was imminent.
The ogres chased after the fleeing swordsmen, stopping only to tear fallen soldiers limb from limb—gruesome to watch, but ultimately their undoing. Within minutes of breaking through the shield wall, the ogres were no longer a cohesive force. Individual monsters were scattered across the right side of the field, spread out and vulnerable.
The cavalry charge put an end to their triumph. One by one the ogres went down. But the day was not yet won. Tevi’s outnumbered swordsmen could hold out against the pikes no longer. They fled back to the ridge, where those who had survived the ogres were regrouping. The enemy phalanxes marched forwards, pikes lowered.
Fortunately, the cavalry had the discipline that the ogres lacked. Having driven their enemy from the field, they broke off the pursuit and wheeled around. A second cavalry charge hit the pikemen in the rear where they were most vulnerable. The tightly packed phalanxes began to disintegrate. With fresh hope, Tevi’s infantry went on the offensive, and at last, the enemy, assailed to both front and rear, faltered and fled.
Tevi contemplated the scene. A victory, but not a very good one. Scarcely half of her troops had survived. The ogres were the problem. Tevi studied the twenty-foot-tall behemoths, wondering what deranged sorcerer had created them. She would have to ask Yenneg about the history of the battle. But in the meantime, maybe if she started with a cavalry charge on the ogres, they could be routed early on. The combined infantry should be capable of pinning down the phalanxes until help could arrive.
Tevi was about to go in search of a witch to reset the table when she spotted the candle in its holder on the wall. Only a stub of wax remained. Hours had passed. Tevi’s shoulders slumped in disbelief. Where did the time go? She had promised Jemeryl that she would be back early, but she was going to be late. And this was the fourth time it had happened in the space of eight days.
Angry with herself, Tevi grabbed her cloak and dashed from the room. She paused on the steps outside. Night had long since fallen, and a ring of mage lights lit the path around the perimeter of the bailey. The setting moon was only a thin sliver above the battlements, casting the weakest glimmering. The shortcut across the unlit central gardens would be hazardous. Tevi was about to go the long way round, but then she took another look at the moon’s position and realised just how late she was. She bounded down the steps and hurdled over the box hedge that surrounded the garden.
By the time her eyes adjusted to the dark, Tevi had already acquired a range of minor injuries. She had tripped twice, encountered a particularly thorny rosebush, and got a wet foot from misjudging the leap across a pond. She was just thinking that things were getting better when she ran up against a tall hedge of conifers.
Rather than detour around the obstacle, Tevi dropped to her hands and knees and crawled through where the network of branches was thinnest, at the base of the trunks. Her head emerged on the other side. She was about to drag herself out onto a gravel path running parallel to the hedge when she froze. Someone was creeping stealthily along the path towards her. From Tevi’s low vantage point, the figure stood out in stark silhouette against the stars.
Even with the darkness, the person was evidently worried about being spotted, or followed, and hugged close to the firs. Yet Tevi was able to make an identification. As the figure turned to look behind, the clear outline of half a left arm was displayed briefly, ending at the elbow. Ranenok.
Tevi pulled her head back into cover as the army commander passed. Ranenok showed no sign of knowing that she was there. He carried on cautiously up the path without pausing.
Hunting a sorcerer was dangerous. Tevi had no illusions about being a match for him if events should lead to conflict. Regardless of how weak Ranenok’s magical abilities might be, they were more than sufficient to deal with one ungifted opponent. However, Tevi could not let the chance go by. Ranenok was engaged in some illicit activity, else he would not be creeping around in the dark. She had to learn more.
Once the soft sound of footsteps on gravel had faded, Tevi reversed thr
ough the branches and snuck along the outside of the hedge. The row ended on the banks of a large lily pond. Tevi crouched in the shelter of the last of the firs. The moonlight was just sufficient for her to see Ranenok climb the steps of a wooden summerhouse overlooking the water.
Tevi crept back a few yards, then wormed her way beneath the hedge, crossed the path, and slipped into a patch of bushes on the other side. The most likely explanation for Ranenok’s behaviour was that he was meeting someone in the summerhouse. Tevi wanted to get close enough to hear what they were saying.
An open patch of lawn lay between her and the wooden building. Tevi worked her way around the edge, although she knew that keeping out of sight was pointless. If Ranenok was looking out for her using his sorcerer senses, she would not be able to keep hidden. Yet being under cover made her feel safer.
The last few yards were through a high border of delphiniums and foxgloves. As she got close, the low murmur of voices confirmed her guesswork. At least two people were in the summerhouse. Tevi crouched beside the back wall and pressed her ear against the wooden slats. Immediately it was clear that the soft whispered tones were not due merely to the need for secrecy.
“I wish we were snuggled up in my bed. I could warm you properly then.”
Tevi bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Nothing sinister, just a lover’s tryst, although the clandestine venue and Ranenok’s behaviour implied that whoever he was meeting was not free of other entanglements. Tevi was about to slip away and allow the commander privacy for his liaison, when the second voice made her stop.
“I agree we’d run less risk of splinters. But if Bykoda found out, splinters would be the least of our problems.” The speaker was Kharel.
“I wish there was some way we could get free of her.”
“There isn’t.”
“You should be more positive.”
The Empress and the Acolyte Page 9
