Elkan’s hand fell on Josiah’s shoulder. He tore his attention from the unfolding drama to look up at his master. “I don’t know what’s going on,” Elkan murmured, “but we need to be ready. Keep your hand on Sar, but wait for my word.” Tobi pressed to Elkan’s side; he caressed her ears, then settled his hand firmly between them.
Gulping, Josiah wound his fingers in Sar’s mane. The donkey blinked calmly at him, but Josiah could feel the alertness in his stance. He nodded at Elkan and followed his master’s gaze to the confrontation.
Keeper Emirre bowed to the Matriarch, then angled his body so his words would travel out to the crowd. His voice rang with the ease of one accustomed to speaking to multitudes. “Matriarch, I regret to inform you that I bear unfortunate tidings. I know how hopefully you greeted the envoys from Tevenar, how warmly you welcomed them, how eagerly you bargained with them. I know, therefore, that it will grieve you greatly to learn that they have deceived you.”
Elkan stiffened. “Smash it,” he whispered.
Josiah grimaced in agreement but didn’t tear his eyes away. The Matriarch drew herself up and glared at Emirre. “I have not been deceived. Their power has fulfilled and exceeded all my hopes.” She eyed Yoran coldly. “Those who slander my friends will feel my displeasure.”
Emirre appeared unaffected by the Matriarch’s words. “In the past, Keeper Yoran and I have disagreed on matters of theology. But a few days ago he showed me and those who accompany us incontrovertible proof that certain tenets of Purifier doctrine are, in fact, true. In light of that proof, I support his assertion that the wizards of Tevenar are neither Ramunna’s friends nor yours, your majesty, but our enemies.”
The crowd gasped. Josiah felt sick. “Kevessa,” he whispered to Elkan. “She thought only Yoran saw her, but—”
“Yes,” Elkan said. “Hush.” He put out a hand to halt Gevan’s furious surge forward. Gevan cursed again but subsided.
Josiah obediently fell silent, but he pulled Sar firmly against his side. The donkey was watching as intently as he was, ears tilted forward to catch every word.
“Proof?” The Matriarch laughed. “Proof of what?”
Yoran stepped forward, his voice clear and carrying. “Proof that the so-called familiars are demons, and the wizards their slaves.”
The crowd reacted with shocked gasps. Some raised their voices in denial, but others shouted them down, calling for quiet so Keeper Yoran could continue speaking. With a lurch in his stomach Josiah remembered that Gevan had said nearly a third of the city followed Purifier ways. They would be primed to believe whatever Yoran told them.
Gevan shoved past Elkan and confronted Yoran, his face red. “You lie! You were torturing me! Kevessa gave you what you wanted to see, but it was as fake as your devotion to the Mother!”
Heedless of Gevan’s rage, Yoran put a hand on his shoulder. Gevan batted it away. Yoran’s voice was rich with compassion. “Of course you don’t want to believe your daughter is lost to the demons. But we all saw her beast reveal its true nature. I would never have gone through with my threats to harm you, but it was necessary to give the impression I would to compel the creature’s compliance.” He turned to the crowd. “See what the demons have done. They’ve used his own daughter to corrupt one of Ramunna’s most brilliant scholars.”
Keeper Emirre raised his voice over the crowd’s horrified rumble. “I’ve examined the documents the Purifiers have guarded through the centuries, and I’m convinced of their authenticity. The Holy Yashonna left us an account of the demons and warned of their return. Now they’ve come among us, just as he foretold.” He pointed an unwavering finger at Tobi.
She crouched and snarled at him. Even to Josiah it looked as if only Elkan’s hand on her head restrained her from attacking the Keeper.
Elkan fixed Emirre with a level gaze. “Your son knows we’re not demons.”
Emirre didn’t flinch. “They tempt Vigorre with their power, and his generous spirit makes him vulnerable. In time he’ll see the truth.” He turned to the Matriarch. “Heed my counsel, your majesty. Expel the demons from Ramunna—before they destroy us.”
She gave him a look of such withering disdain Josiah was surprised Emirre didn’t cower before her. “You’re the one who’s deceived, Keeper. I thought better of you. You and I have fought the Purifiers’ attempts to take over Temple and throne for years, and now you crumble at Yoran’s first blow? He’s desperate because he knows the wizards are exactly what they claim. Their power will end his hope of conquering Ramunna forever.”
She whirled on Yoran. “But it’s too late! Even now I carry the child who will become Matriarch after me. My cousin will never deliver Ramunna into your hands. My people aren’t fools. They know your pathetic lies are nothing but a transparent bid for power!”
The crowd buzzed with reaction, some crying out in support of the Matriarch, others loudly denying her words. Yoran met her ringing declaration with a smile and beckoned to the cluster of men below.
One emerged from their midst and pushed through the guards and up the stairs. He reached for the Matriarch’s hands. “Verinna,” he said gently. “It’s true. I saw the demon reveal itself.”
The Matriarch jerked away, staring at him. Josiah’s throat caught at the betrayal in her eyes, then tightened as it changed to cold fury. “Renarre,” she snarled. “How dare you contradict me? In public? You humiliate me!”
Lines of pain etched Renarre’s face. “Only to protect you, my love. Only to save you from greater humiliation, and danger as well. I saw, Verinna. You can’t trust them. The power that touched us, that healed us—it’s a snare that will destroy us if we don’t reject it. I pray it’s not too late already.”
Her hand lashed out and struck his face with a ringing smack. “Get out of my sight, traitor. I never would have believed they could turn you against me. But it doesn’t matter. I have everything I need from you.” She put her hand proudly on her belly.
Renarre gave her a bleak look, then turned and walked away, descending the stairs with heavy steps. The Matriarch stared after him for a moment, then jerked around to face the crowd again. Her voice rose nearly to a shout, and her sweeping gesture included the whole cluster of men below. “All these men are liars and traitors! They seek to overturn my rule. Guards, arrest them and throw them in the dungeon!”
The crowd rumbled. Emirre stepped forward, hands spread placatingly. “Your majesty, we’re your advisors. Would you imprison us for offering advice you don’t wish to hear? That’s the action of a tyrant, not the wise ruler I know you to be. We offer no violence, no attempt at force, only words. If you choose to refuse our counsel, we’ll defer to your decision as our loyalty demands.” He made a great show of bowing his head in submission. Beside him, Yoran did the same.
The Matriarch hesitated, looking at the hostile crowd. They might be divided on the question of the wizards, Josiah saw, but none of them approved of her seizing and imprisoning the two most revered religious leaders in Ramunna, not to mention the others. Even Gevan looked upset. He kept his voice low. “Your majesty, a number of professors from the University are among them.” He studied the cluster of men. “Many leading merchants, Keepers, powerful members of the aristocracy.” He leaned forward, his breath catching. “My sister’s husband—”
A bright streak caught the edge of Josiah’s vision. Instinctively he spun and flung out a hand. Sar!
Golden light shot from his fingers and caught the flaming arrow an instant before it struck the hull of the Verinna. More arrows arced from a dozen places scattered around the harbor. Shrieks filled Josiah’s ears, but he couldn’t focus on anything but spotting the missiles and directing Sar to send the Mother’s power against them. One eluded their grasp and hit the deck of the third ship. Sailors rushed to douse the flames with buckets of seawater.
Beside him, gold light blazed over the water as Elkan and Tobi joined their efforts. The Matriarch’s voice rose in command. Guards shoved through the milling cr
owds, seeking the archers. Others surrounded the cluster of men and seized the two Keepers. The ships’ captains ran for their vessels.
The rain of arrows finally abated. Josiah scrubbed sweat from his eyes and looked around. A few archers had been seized, but others had vanished among the frantically fleeing masses. The platform was empty except for a cluster of guards. The Matriarch’s carriage lurched uphill toward the palace.
“Well done,” Elkan told him, his eyes searching the crowds. “Stay and watch until the ships are away. We’ll help the guards track the rest of the archers.”
“Did Yoran send them?” Josiah jerked around as something flashed in his peripheral vision, but it was a guard’s sword reflecting the rising sun.
“Probably,” Elkan said, his voice grim. “We’ll find out.”
“He must have known we’d stop them. And the Matriarch was going to let them go, but now I bet she really will throw them in prison.”
“Maybe that’s what he wanted.” Elkan raked a hand through his hair. “Watch your back, keep Sar close, and stay with the Matriarch’s guards. As soon as the ships are beyond your range have them escort you to the palace. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”
“But what about going to Professor Gevan’s workshop? Nalini was supposed to meet us.” He looked around for the healer. She’d probably taken off at the first sign of trouble.
“It might be too dangerous. We’ll see.”
Josiah’s heart jumped. “Kevessa’s out there somewhere. Vigorre and Nirel, too.”
“We’ll find them as soon as we can.” Elkan gave him a strained shadow of his usual encouraging grin and strode down the steps, Tobi loping at his side.
Josiah watched them move through the crowds until he lost them among the press of bodies. He didn’t dare spare the energy for a window. He and Sar went back to scanning the shore and sky for more attacks, but none appeared. One by one the ships cast off and were towed by rowboats to open water where they could spread their sails and catch the wind.
When the last of the three passed out of his and Sar’s range, it was nearly noon. Most of the commotion had died down, although guards still patrolled the harbor area, sending curious onlookers away. Elkan hadn’t returned.
Josiah looked up at the palace and scowled. He didn’t want to hide like a scared child. He had to make sure Kevessa was safe. She and the others would have arrived at the square in the Beggars’ Quarter long since. He couldn’t leave her to shoulder the burden of healing alone.
He turned to find Borlen watching him. The young soldier always insisted on being part of the detachment of guards assigned to the wizards. Josiah shot him a grin. “Elkan told me to go back to the palace. Will you escort me? The square’s on the way, right?”
Borlen returned an understanding grin of his own. “If we take the route through the Beggars’ Quarter.” He gestured for the other guards to fall into formation around Josiah and Sar. “Come on.”
No one tried to hinder them, or even seemed to notice them. The line in the square was the shortest Josiah had seen it, but it still snaked back and forth between the ramshackle buildings at least a dozen times.
Nirel hurried to greet them as they entered the roped-off corner. “Where have you been? What’s going on? We keep hearing crazy rumors. The ships were attacked? The Purifiers tried to depose the Matriarch?”
“Sort of.” Josiah was relieved to see Kevessa healing while Vigorre spoke with the next patient in line. “Come on. Kevessa probably needs a break.”
Nirel scowled. “I’ll say. She’s been trying to do the work of three wizards all morning.”
Josiah returned her scowl. “We were busy.”
“I hope it was important.” Nirel strode off to hover by Kevessa’s side as she finished working on an elderly woman.
Josiah waved at Borlen, who saluted and left to join the other guards. Josiah headed toward the table where the midday meal had been delivered as usual by the Matriarch’s servants. Today it was a tureen full of hearty stew.
He was halfway through his first serving when the others joined him. Kevessa dove ravenously into the bowl he’d prepared for her. Vigorre scooped up a portion with almost as much urgency. “What happened, really? None of us know what to believe. We decided the best we could do was keep things going here until somebody came who knew the truth.”
“I’m sure Elkan will say you did exactly the right thing.” Josiah eyed the young Keeper with sympathy. He wasn’t going to like what Josiah had to tell him, but there was no easy way to convey the news. “We got to the docks just before sunrise. The ships were fine, nothing happened until the Matriarch got there and started her speech. Then Yoran Lirolla showed up with a bunch of people, aristocrats and rich merchants and Keepers. Um…” Josiah bit his lip and stared at his hands. “Your father was with them.”
Vigorre blinked at him. “What?”
Josiah miserably continued. “He and Yoran confronted the Matriarch. Your father said he’d seen proof that our familiars are demons.” He raised anxious eyes to meet Vigorre’s. “When Yoran forced Kevessa and Nina to do the thing with the glowing eyes, somehow all those people were watching. Including your father.” He gulped. “From what he said, he’s in league with the Purifiers now.”
Vigorre took the news better than Josiah expected, only closing his eyes briefly and drawing a deep breath. “How did the Matriarch react?”
“She was furious. She told them all off. Said she was pregnant already, and the Purifiers would never take Ramunna. Although she must be bluffing. It hasn’t been long enough for her to know for sure.”
Kevessa shook her head. “Master Elkan sped things up last night. By a couple weeks, he said.”
“Oh.” Josiah considered that. “Anyway, right after that a bunch of flaming arrows were shot at the ships. Sar and I stopped most of them with Elkan and Tobi’s help, and the sailors doused the ones that got through. The Matriarch had Yoran Lirolla and the others arrested. She ordered them thrown in the dungeon.”
Vigorre went pale, and Kevessa gasped. “Dear Mother, no!”
At Josiah’s puzzled look, Vigorre grimly explained, “The Matriarch’s dungeon is notorious. Most of those she sends there never come out.” He turned to stare at where the palace rose above the building, his hands clenching into fists.
“Oh. I just thought it was, you know, a prison. A safe place to lock up criminals.”
“Not just criminals. Anyone who dares oppose her too openly, or gets in her way, or is inconvenient. A few months ago she threw a whole village of Dualists in there so she could give their land to Ozor.”
Nirel stiffened. Vigorre’s voice was bleak as he went on. “The conditions are terrible. Wet, cold, filthy. Prisoners are kept chained in tiny dark cells. They’re fed gruel, and not much of that. They’re stripped, beaten, tortured. If they’re not killed outright, they rot in their own waste until they die.”
Josiah stared at him. “That’s—awful. Surely not even the Matriarch—” He broke off at Vigorre’s and Kevessa’s grim nods.
Suddenly he remembered something. “Oh, no.” He grabbed Kevessa’s hands. “Gevan said he saw his sister’s husband with them. That’s your uncle, right?”
Kevessa’s mouth fell open, and her eyes grew round with horror. “Papa?” She jerked away and jumped up, reaching blindly toward where Nina was eagerly devouring a pile of nuts. “I’ve got to get him out of there!”
Vigorre seized her shoulder as Nina bristled and leaped into her arms. “You can’t defy the Matriarch. She’ll lock you up, too.”
Kevessa glowered at him and clutched Nina. “She can try.”
Josiah sprang up, heart pounding. “Kevessa, no! It’s too dangerous!”
She glared at him, angry tears in her eyes, and evaded his touch. “I don’t care!” She whirled on Vigorre. “You might be willing to leave your father to die in that horrible place, but I’m not!” She yanked away from him. “Either come with me or get out of my way.”
Josiah rounded on her, his pride stung. “I’m not afraid!”
“You’re acting like it,” she taunted. “Why else would you let your sweetheart go into danger alone?” As Josiah stammered, she whirled on Vigorre. “You’ll come with us, won’t you? Or are you worried the Matriarch will think your precious animals really are demons if they dare stand up to her? I guess it would look bad if they start breaking open cells and ripping down walls.”
Vigorre opened his mouth, then paused, blinked, and shut it. He shot a look at Nina. “Would the Mother let them do that?”
Kevessa nodded, eyes blazing. “To rescue helpless victims of torture, she would. Right, Nina?”
The squirrel bristled and bared her teeth. Josiah felt Sar bump against his side. Would she?
If the dungeon is as they describe, to liberate people from such conditions would be in accord with her will.
Vigorre clenched his fists. “All right. I’m with you, Kevessa. If there’s really a chance we can get Father out of there. What about you, Josiah?”
He couldn’t let his friends take such a risk without his help, and Sar was willing. He pictured them charging into the grim, stinking warren, the Mother’s golden light blazing from their hands, bringing freedom to those unjustly imprisoned, the grateful captives cheering them on, Kevessa’s papa embracing his adopted daughter and wringing Josiah’s hand in gratitude. He nodded, his heart quickening. “Let’s go!”
Nirel flashed him a grin, Vigorre thumped him on the back, and Kevessa flung her arms around him for a breathless instant. The four of them headed for the far side of the square, hashing out a plan of attack in low voices.
As they reached the entrance of the healing area, Elkan’s voice cut into their discussion. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) Page 26
