The Burning Sea

by A. E. Rayne

  Eadmund nodded. ‘You go, I’d better sit near Lothar and Haaron. If they have a mind to talk about alliances we are involved in, then one of us should be there.’

  ‘Well, have fun,’ Jael muttered, rolling her eyes. That was one part of being a ruler that Eadmund could take on alone; she knew that she was incapable of making polite chatter with anyone.

  Jael led Eydis to the high table, but just before they arrived, Haegen helped Jaeger into the seat beside Amma, and Osbert limped into the seat next to Gisila. Jael stopped, her eyes roaming the length of the table, but Eadmund had taken the last seat, beside Lothar. She happily turned to the next table, where Axl and Fyn were talking with Gant and Aleksander, hoping that no one would notice if she disappeared to sit there. With a sympathetic look at Amma, Jael helped Eydis onto the bench beside Fyn.

  Amma forced her eyes away from that table, away from Axl, who she knew was sitting there. She could feel Osbert watching her every move, hoping that she was as miserable as she looked, as he was certain this wedding was going to make her. She would not give him that satisfaction.

  She smelled like the sea, salty, but with a hint of lavender, Jaeger noticed as he eased himself towards his bride-to-be. He was wistful for the familiarity of Elissa but also relieved that his new wife would be equally pleasing to look at. She was a Furyck, of course, which made her inherently grotesque in any true Hestian’s eyes, but in the darkness of his chamber, as she lay naked in his bed, it would be him who would have to touch her.

  So far, at least, he was intrigued.

  ‘Your sister is a queen?’ Jaeger asked, watching as Amma considered her plate of food with a frown.

  Amma shuddered, reluctantly turning to him. ‘Yes.’ She saw Osbert’s eyes shining with curiosity over the large leg of pork he was gnawing on.

  ‘And do you have similar ambitions?’ Jaeger wondered quietly, his sharp eyes resting on her full lips. ‘Do you wish to be a queen?’

  Amma blinked, uncertain whether to be more disturbed by his words or his eyes which were so invasive they terrified her. ‘No. I have no wish to be a queen,’ she said, her voice cracking. She reached quickly for her goblet, sipping on the sweet wine, grimacing as it burned her throat.

  Jaeger licked his lips, disappointed. She was a child, he thought. She dressed like a child, spoke like a child. But her body... his eyes were drawn down towards the swell of her ample breasts... her body might tempt him to ignore all of that.

  ‘Stop looking,’ Jael growled under her breath.

  Axl shook his head. ‘I know. I will.’ He dropped his eyes to his plate.

  The food was plentiful, but none of them had much of an appetite. Thorgils wouldn’t have let anything stop him, Jael was certain. She smiled to herself, hoping that he was safely returned to Oss.

  Hoping that Oss was safe from Ivaar for now.

  They had gone to bed early, too early for Evaine, and she could not sleep as she lay there, trying to ignore the twitching in her legs and the racing of her mind.

  The news her father had brought home had set her fears alight. Eadmund had not rushed back to be with her and Sigmund. He had stayed with his wife.

  His pregnant wife.

  Did he know?

  Her father had not mentioned anything, so perhaps not, but still, why had he stayed? Why didn’t he feel the pull towards her that Morana had insisted he would; the irresistible desire to be only with her. The clouding of his mind to all other thoughts but her and their son.

  Why? What had gone wrong?

  She shook her head, cold all over, listening as Sigmund started to stir and whimper next to Tanja.

  Evaine thought of her candle, of her stones, of the words of the spell. What had stopped it all working? And what could she do to make it right?

  She wished she could speak to Morana. She would know what to do.

  ‘It takes time,’ Varna insisted, sneezing and snorting as she pulled off her boots.

  ‘You know very well that it doesn’t take time!’ Morana spat, not at all ready for bed. ‘You should be down there, watching her, seeing what is going on.’

  ‘She is bound by my spell,’ Varna said firmly. ‘And tomorrow, we will put it to the test. Merely watching her is no test. Besides,’ she sighed as she stood up and padded towards her bed, ‘Meena is down there. She can tell us what she has seen in the morning.’

  Morana watched as her mother pulled back the furs and groaned into her small bed. Her face flared in the flames. She was unable to sit still. ‘Well, you sleep then, Mother, and perhaps, I will tell you what I have seen in the morning.’ And with that, she stood up and rushed out of the chamber before Varna had even managed to prop herself up in an effort to stop her.

  Varna fell back onto the pillow, wondering just what damage Morana was about to cause and whether she had the strength left to do anything about it.

  Biddy stood at the door, calling for the puppies. She sighed irritably, not wanting to put on her cloak and boots and hunt them down, but not wanting anything to happen to them either. Since Evaine had been plainly marked as an enemy who meant them harm, she was determined to protect everything that was Jael’s.

  And Jael loved those puppies.

  ‘Goodnight,’ Edela called from her bed, blowing out the lamp beside her.

  Biddy turned, surprised. ‘Are you alright?’ she wondered, pulling the door to, and coming back into the room.

  ‘Yes, fine,’ Edela mumbled as she shuffled about on the mattress, wriggling her numb toes. ‘I have a lot of work to do if I’m to find out what is happening. It all feels like it’s getting murkier by the day,’ she yawned. ‘And now that they are all in Hest, I need to see if there is any danger there.’

  ‘Well, surely some,’ Biddy shuddered, worried. ‘Haaron and his sons are no friends of Brekkans or Islanders, are they?’

  ‘No,’ Edela agreed, ‘which poor Amma is about to find out. I must find some way to help her. There must be a way out of this mess that Lothar has made.’

  Biddy jumped as the puppies, damp from the cool night, came rushing into the house, sniffing the floor, licking their lips. She frowned; they had obviously been up to no good. ‘Well, you dream then, Edela. I wish you luck.’ She shook her head anxiously as she headed to close the door. ‘I know that I will not feel at ease until they are back. Until we know everything, how can we truly keep Jael safe?’

  Edela’s eyes were already closed, and Biddy’s words disappeared into the darkness. She breathed deeply, shutting out everything but the clouds of her mind as they appeared before her.

  Jael, she thought to herself.

  I need to see Jael.

  Jael’s eyes were drawn to the red-headed woman. She remembered her from the other day. The hairs on Jael’s neck stood on end as she picked at her food, pushing around some pork, ignoring the apparently tasty dumplings and lifting her head regularly to see those large, bulbous eyes staring at her.

  Frowning, Jael stood up. ‘I’ll be back soon, Eydis,’ she said quietly. ‘Fyn is here if you need anything.’ She nodded at Fyn, who looked surprised, and slipped away, avoiding everyone’s eyes as she walked slowly around the edge of the hall.

  Just as she was about to cross the room, another woman walked in, with even wilder hair, and stood next to the wide-eyed spy; both sets of eyes now trained on her.

  Jael shuddered but kept walking towards them.

  Jaeger stared at Meena as she curled herself against the wall, wondering what she was doing in the hall. As he drew his eyes back to his empty goblet, he caught sight of Axl Furyck, who looked ready to kill him; and not for the first time since he had arrived back from Skorro to find the place overrun with Furycks. ‘Your cousin seems very angry with me,’ Jaeger noted to Amma, who bit her lip in surprise.

  Amma’s eyes rushed towards Axl, who quickly looked away. ‘He is... protective of me,’ she tried to explain. ‘He is like a brother. Our parents are married now.’

  ‘Oh,’ Jaeger smiled, not caring. �
�I see.’ He reached out his goblet as a slave girl approached with a jug of wine. ‘You are obviously a very close family,’ he murmured. ‘So much closer than mine. I am not sure any of us have that much affection for each other at all.’

  Amma stilled, gripping her fingers together under the table. How could this be happening? She looked at Eydis, wishing she could see her, wanting to reach into her dreams and find a way out. She sighed, knowing that the only things Eydis saw for her were pain and despair. Amma watched as Jael walked across the hall towards two strange looking women. Perhaps her cousin could offer some hope? She was a queen now. There must be something she could do.

  Meena froze as Jael approached, her eyes darting towards Morana.

  Morana glanced at the high table, recognising Eadmund, then disappeared, hurrying out of the hall.

  Jael followed her.

  ‘Do I know you?’ Jael called loudly as she entered the great entranceway that flowed from the hall to the stairs. The black and white haired woman appeared to be heading straight for those stairs.

  Morana’s heart had stopped, she was certain, as she spun around. She was barely breathing as she stood there within a fingertip of touching the woman who could stop them all. And her sword. Her eyes flitted quickly to that sword, then back up to Jael’s cold face. ‘Know me?’ Morana rasped harshly, her eyes challenging, then running away from Jael’s. ‘No, you don’t.’

  Jael felt an overwhelming surge of nausea. This woman was familiar, but why? Who was she? ‘Why did you run away?’

  Morana didn’t blink. ‘I am not supposed to be in the hall,’ she said quickly, dropping her head to her chest, hiding her face beneath masses of unbound hair. ‘I did not wish to get in trouble.’

  Jael watched Morana’s eyes as they retreated; not as defiant or challenging now. She cocked her head to one side, considering this strange creature. ‘You know who I am?’ she asked. ‘What I can do?’

  Morana shuddered. Angry. ‘I know.’

  ‘Perhaps not all,’ Jael said slowly. ‘Perhaps you don’t know that I am a dreamer, like you. I see things, like you. And if anything happens to my cousin, to anyone I care about, I will know that it was you.’ She stood back, surprised by the words which had suddenly burst forth without any thought of her own. She didn’t know who was more taken aback: her or the dreamer.

  Morana shivered all over, desperate to accept the challenge, to throw down her own.

  She stepped forward, her fingers twitching.

  ‘Daughter!’ came the hackled call.

  Jael’s eyes snapped to the curling, stone staircase as an ancient crone crept towards them, slithering across the flagstones. Another strange woman. Another dreamer.

  Another threat.

  Why? Jael frowned. Why did she suddenly know these things?

  Morana didn’t turn, but her shoulders tightened, as did the smile on her lips.

  ‘We must be going,’ Varna croaked, approaching Morana, snatching her arm between two long, misshapen fingers. ‘You are not supposed to be here,’ she muttered.

  Jael eyed the new arrival suspiciously. ‘Perhaps you would like to come into the hall?’ she suggested. ‘I’m sure King Haaron would be interested to know what you are doing here, when, as you say, you are not allowed to be. Or perhaps he would tell me, why you are not allowed to be here? I am suddenly very curious.’

  Varna’s white eyebrows shot up, her eyes bursting with fire. Jael Furyck was not bound in the slightest; she could see that very clearly. ‘We must be going,’ Varna growled, pulling Morana around. ‘If you wish to speak to the king, then please, do as you wish. My daughter has been punished for being slovenly and not completing her tasks, so she was confined to her chamber. If you wish to make her troubles worse, there is nothing we can do about that.’

  Jael said nothing as she watched them scurry away.

  ‘Jael?’

  Eadmund.

  Varna gulped and pulled Morana even quicker now, and Morana actually followed her. Eadmund would know her, surely.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Eadmund asked, his attention on Jael, barely noticing the two women hurrying up the stairs together. ‘Who were they?’

  Jael said nothing as she stood there, her entire body throbbing in shock.

  What had just happened?

  39

  It had taken Eydis a long time to fall asleep in the small cot in the corner of Jael and Eadmund’s bedchamber. It was larger than their own on Oss and furnished in a far more elaborate way. There was a double-sized bed and two finely carved chairs, which sat before a stone fireplace. Rugs and skins covered the flagstones, and its walls were draped with tapestries, but there was no window. And despite the presence of the fire, it felt cold and smelled of disuse.

  Eydis had fretted all evening, overwrought and anxious; everything about Hest had unsettled her. Jael wished Edela were here, or Biddy. They always had a bundle of herbs on hand to steep in hot water; a cure for every ailment. Although, in truth, there was no cure for the loss of a father, Jael knew.

  Eydis was breathing steadily now, quiet at last, and Jael was able to let herself think about what had happened in the hall. She sighed and sunk back into the pillow. Who were those women? Three of them and each one strange.

  Dreamers. Haaron had three dreamers. Why? She shook her head. Well, why not, she supposed? It was his prerogative to have as many dreamers as he liked.

  They wanted to hurt her. Her certainty in that feeling was a powerful sensation. Jael sat up and touched her shoulder.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Eadmund wondered as he watched her move about in the shadows. ‘Are you hurt?’

  Jael had thought him asleep. ‘No,’ she mumbled. ‘I was just thinking about my tattoos.’

  ‘Why?’ Eadmund moved towards her, concerned. ‘What’s happened?’

  Jael didn’t know what to say. He had come back to her, and she didn’t want him to disappear again. ‘Those women I saw tonight are dreamers,’ she said quietly. ‘I feel unsafe.’

  Eadmund frowned, sitting up. ‘You feel unsafe? That sounds bad.’

  ‘Mmmm, it does,’ Jael murmured. ‘But, I can’t explain why. I don’t know what to tell you. This is not a place any of us wants to be.’

  ‘No,’ Eadmund agreed. ‘But it’s only a few days more, and then we’ll leave for Oss.’

  Jael wasn’t listening. She was remembering the look on the black and white haired woman’s face; the hate in her eyes, as though she wanted to kill her. And if she was a dreamer, there was much she could do to make that happen.

  If they were going to get out of here and come up with a way to rescue Amma, then she had to stay safe.

  She had to protect herself from those women.

  ‘She’s a dreamer?’ Morana cried, incredulously. ‘How is that possible?’

  Varna was too surprised to answer. She sat in her chair by the blackened embers of the fire, staring at Meena who shuffled about, preparing for bed.

  ‘She’s not a dreamer! She’s a warrior!’ Morana insisted, pacing the room. ‘She’s a warrior. Our enemy because she’s a warrior! Because she has the sword. Because of what she is meant to do with that sword!’

  ‘Her grandmother is a dreamer,’ Varna sighed. ‘Perhaps that is it? It must be.’

  ‘So, why is she not bound to us?’ Morana grumbled, sitting down at last. ‘Does she see what we are doing? Has she warded herself against us?’

  Varna shook her head, worried. ‘I do not know. The prophecy tells of Furia’s daughter as a warrior queen. But perhaps she is more than anyone knew.’

  ‘Well, we have to do something! If we cannot bind her, if we cannot put any spell on her, then we must try something else,’ Morana said forcefully. ‘We cannot let her leave Hest alive!’

  Varna wasn’t listening; she was too busy wading through the ancient reaches of her memory, trying to find a clue as to what Jael Furyck might actually be.

  It was Andala.

  Edela smiled at the familiar paths and
houses; at the hall, the square, the road that led down to the piers. Everything looked newer and cleaner, though. She looked around as people ambled about in the sunshine, seeing to their tasks. No one appeared in a hurry. There was a comfortable peace about the place that put her at ease. Edela’s eyes wandered towards the training ground, where a dark-haired little girl sat frowning on a white pony.

  Edela almost cried. She knew that little girl.

  Jael.

  Edela hurried towards her, stopping suddenly as she reached the railings. Fianna was there. Fianna Lehr, Aleksander’s mother. She was walking beside Jael, her hand near her back, worried that she might topple over but not wanting to fuss. Jael never liked to be fussed over, even as a child.

  Perhaps she was only four.

  Fianna was smiling as she spoke. ‘There is no need to be scared, my sweet girl,’ she cooed. ‘You are Furia’s daughter, and she will always watch over you.’ Fianna glanced around, but there was no one near. ‘You are the one they say will save us, and Furia will protect you. And your father will protect you, and I promise you, I will protect you with my life. I will never let anything happen to you, Jael.’ She reached down and kissed the top of that little head.

  Edela was puzzled, watching as Jael smiled, gripping onto the reins with her chubby little hands; so much determination on her young face.

  ‘You are more special than you know,’ Fianna whispered to her. ‘More special than almost anyone knows.’

  Axl was relieved that Osbert wasn’t there. They had happily left him in the hall, drunk and pawing at an exotic looking woman who had obviously been far too drunk herself to see what a pathetic piece of useless shit he was.

  ‘You should sleep,’ Gant grunted from his bed. ‘It won’t help Amma if you’re out of your mind. Not the way that bastard was looking at you.’

  Aleksander nodded as he pulled back his fur. ‘It’s easier to say than do, but your father always taught me that your mind is your strongest weapon.’