The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘How are you?’ she said, her smile receding.

  He shook his head, then leaned up, coughing. Daphne slipped a pillow behind his neck to prop him up, and he sank back into it.

  ‘Do you know where you are?’ she said.

  He nodded.

  She filled a mug of water, and put it into his hands.

  ‘You should drink,’ she said. ‘You must be dehydrated. It’s been hard work getting water into you while you were unconscious.’

  He took a sip, soothing his dry, cracked tongue. He took a bigger gulp, sensing for the first time how thirsty he was. He drained the mug, and put it back down onto the side table.

  ‘Do you remember what happened?’ she said.

  Did he?

  He paused, frowning. An image of Daphne, drunk and shouting at him, flashed through his mind.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I’m sure it’ll all come back in time.’

  He felt tired, and closed his eyes, meaning to rest for a moment.

  When he awoke again it was still light, though the shadows in the room had lengthened. Daphne was sleeping curled up on the bed next to him, while Karalyn lay talking to herself in the cot.

  He sat up, and drank the full mug of water on the table.

  His legs ached when he tried to move them, but he persisted, knowing it would be worse the longer he left it. He swung them off the bed, and placed his feet onto the rug. He rubbed his thighs as cramps bit hard. He gasped, pulling up his toes until it passed.

  When the pain disappeared it was replaced by hunger. His stomach rumbled and growled, and he scanned the room. On the big table by the window a plate was sitting, with leftovers on it. He braced himself, and stood. His joints screamed in agony, and he grimaced, remaining still. He reached out with one leg, wriggling his toes, and began walking to the table. When he had made it as far as the cot at the end of the bed he halted, sweat rolling down his cheeks. He glanced down to see Karalyn standing, her hands gripping the top of the cot.

  Before he could blink, she was in his head.

  Instead of pain, this time was more like his dreams. She filled his thoughts, with love and a desire to please. She repaired more damaged strands in his mind, laughing.

  He bowed his head under the weight of it, catching sight of Daphne, lying asleep on the bed. In a flash, Karalyn sensed his thoughts, and he found himself in Daphne’s mind. It took him a moment to understand where he was, but he stayed quiet, and watched as the Holdings woman dreamed.

  This is what it must be like for her, he thought, when she looks into someone’s mind.

  Then he was back in his own head, alone. He opened his eyes. Karalyn was smiling at him.

  ‘Dada,’ she said.

  He stared at her.

  Until that moment, Killop had never loved his daughter. He understood he was supposed to, and wanted to, but he found that he couldn’t turn it on like a lamp. She was beautiful, she was adorable, but she didn’t feel like his own blood.

  Now, as they gazed at each other, he realised that he loved her. Not an ordinary love, but a love that consumed. Her green eyes bore through him. His daughter. His girl. He would never let anyone hurt her.

  She seemed to pick up on his thoughts, and he felt a surge of happiness flow through him. He picked her up, and she cuddled into him.

  He heard an intake of breath, and turned. Daphne was sitting up on the bed, watching them.

  She smiled. ‘You look good together. But we need to talk.’

  He nodded, and placed Karalyn back into the cot. He hobbled to the table, picked up the plate of half-eaten food, and returned to the bed.

  ‘I was meant to protect you from her,’ Daphne said. ‘I can’t do it. She’s broken through every defensive web I’ve woven around you. The last one, that I set up a couple of hours ago when you were sleeping, I thought would do it, but then I wake up and she’s back in your head.’

  She lit a cigarette.

  ‘Maybe she healed your mind in such a way that made it easy for her to come and go as she pleases. If Kalayne were here, he might know what to do, but she’s moved past my abilities.’

  Killop turned to glance at Karalyn, who was sitting in her cot, playing with her toy figure.

  ‘Your two minds are linked now,’ Daphne said.

  She waited for a moment, but Killop said nothing, eating the bread from the plate.

  ‘Anyway,’ Daphne went on, ‘this means we have a problem.’

  He turned to look at her.

  ‘I told Bridget,’ she said, ‘that I’d be able to protect everyone from Karalyn. I had to tell her that, otherwise she might not have allowed us to stay here. After what happened to you, I’m not surprised Bridget reacted the way she did. But her condition for letting us stay, and not telling anyone else about Karalyn’s powers, was that I protect everyone, and I can’t.’

  She bowed her head, and for a second Killop thought she was going to cry.

  ‘So,’ she said, ‘do I tell Bridget the truth? Or do I lie to her?’

  Killop frowned. Bridget. He knew she was important to him, but the details were hazy.

  ‘Please say something, Killop,’ Daphne said. ‘Even a grunt will do.’

  Killop grunted.

  Daphne sighed. ‘If I lie to her, you’ll have to lie as well. But if I tell her the truth, we’ll probably have to leave, maybe go back up to the cabin on the mountain, where everyone will be safe from our daughter.’

  Daphne stubbed out her cigarette.

  ‘That might not be so bad, actually,’ she said. ‘I don’t think anyone here likes me, aside from Bridget, and I’m on borrowed time with her. Not that I really care to be honest, but I might get some peace up there.’

  She leaned over and filled the mug with water, Killop watching her lithe figure as she stretched close to him. She sat back down on the mattress, and handed him the mug.

  ‘Drink,’ she said. ‘You need to be knocking back mug after mug for a few days. And I’ll get some proper food sent up. Anything you want?’

  He shrugged.

  She sighed again. ‘Are you able to speak,’ she said, ‘but just don’t want to?’

  He felt like he had forgotten how.

  She put a hand out and touched his arm.

  ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I should be happy you’re awake, not complaining. I know you need time but, you know, it’s frustrating, talking to myself.’

  He tried to smile, but had no idea how it looked to her.

  ‘I’ll tell Bridget the truth, then,’ Daphne said, ‘and take the consequences. I won’t bother asking Bedig if he wants to come, he’s fallen for Bridget in a big way, and I doubt he’d be willing to leave her side. What about you?’ She smiled at him. ‘Will you visit us in the cabin?’

  He drank the mug of water.

  ‘If they send you away,’ he said, ‘I’m going with you. You’re my family now.’

  Daphne half-laughed, half-sobbed, and flung her arm around his neck. They kissed, and the touch of her lips made him feel more alive than he had in a long time.

  Karalyn let out a squeal, and they pulled apart, grinning at each other like children.

  ‘Do you want to get married?’ she said.

  ‘I do.’

  Bridget’s mouth opened when she saw him, and she ran into his arms, almost knocking him over.

  ‘Careful,’ he laughed. ‘I’m still fragile.’

  ‘Fucking Pyre’s arsehole, Killop,’ she said, her head buried into his shoulder. ‘Thank fuck you’re all right.’

  He put his hand onto the table by the window to steady himself, as Bridget untangled her arms.

  ‘Daphne told me you woke up yesterday,’ she said. ‘Can’t blame her for wanting you to herself for a day before letting the rest of us know.’

  Killop sat by the table, and poured himself some water.

  Bridget sat across from him.

  ‘So you’re protected now?’ she said.

  ‘Aye.’

&
nbsp; ‘Karalyn won’t be able to do that again?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘She put you in a coma for days,’ Bridget said. ‘We all thought you were going to die, or that you’d never wake up. Even Daphne was despairing, I could sense it, but I kept giving her more time to fix you, and she did it.’

  She gazed at him.

  ‘You are fixed, aren’t you?’

  ‘I think so, Bridget. Some memories are still hazy, and my body’s weak, but I’m all right.’

  She pursed her lips. ‘Okay. Fuck knows when you’ll be able to go back to work, but I think you need to let more folk see you. Daphne’s been watching the door like a mountain bear guarding her cubs, and since she had that row with Draewyn, she’s not let anyone in.’

  ‘She fought with Draewyn?’

  ‘Aye. It was about Daphne smoking in here, with you and the baby. She made Daphne open the window. Got a bit nasty.’

  ‘What about Bedig?’

  Bridget flushed. ‘What about him?’

  Killop frowned. ‘Are you and him…?’

  ‘Aye, well, maybe,’ she said. ‘Aye.’

  ‘About time. But what I meant was, where was Bedig when this was happening? Was he not standing up for Daphne?’

  ‘He was too busy playing with Karalyn,’ she said. ‘The great oaf’s besotted with that wee lassie. I think Daphne’s taking her to see him just now.’

  ‘And you?’ Killop asked. ‘Were you standing up for her?’

  ‘Fucksake Killop,’ she said. ‘Daphne can handle herself, she doesn’t take shit from anyone.’

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘We’re getting married.’

  ‘Alright.’

  ‘Is that it, “alright”?’

  ‘You’re starting to get right on my tits,’ she frowned. ‘What’s wrong with you? You’ve no idea the shite I’ve had to put up with since Karalyn turned your brain into mince. And knowing that at any moment she might do the same to someone else just because Daphne gets annoyed at them, and having to keep that a secret, well fucksake. I wouldn’t have covered up for anyone else, you fucking know that, right?’

  He sat back into his chair and started to smile, unable to stop himself.

  ‘Fuck off,’ she said.

  He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Bridget, maybe I’m not altogether fixed. I know it must have been rough for you.’

  She regarded him with suspicion.

  ‘What’s been going on, then?’ he said.

  ‘Rahain’s gone to shit,’ she said. ‘Or it’s heading there fast.’

  ‘Nothing new.’

  ‘It’s getting worse, but,’ she said. ‘Laodoc’s big new army marched south to find the rebels, but the Old Free aren’t stupid, they led the army on and on into the mountains, then outflanked them and cut their supply lines. So right now the army is traipsing all the way back with no food, while bands of rebels are wreaking havoc up here. They’ve hit alliance bases, assassinated Holdings priests and members of the government, and get this Killop, they’ve started targeting free Kellach.’

  ‘The Old Free have come into Slateford?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not yet, but they’ve been attacking groups out on the road, and have burned down a few isolated Kellach farms.’

  He nodded.

  ‘Our folk are also getting shit from the New Free.’

  ‘Who?’ he said.

  ‘The New Free,’ she said. ‘That’s the name the old Rahain slaves are calling themselves, the ones that worship the Holdings’ Creator. Them and the One True Path are demanding that the Kellach convert to the same faith, or get out of Rahain.’

  She caught his eye and held it.

  ‘Folk are starting to leave,’ she said. ‘Slateford town’s practically a transit camp these days. Small groups are coming in every day from the rest of Rahain, and larger bands of hundreds at a time are setting out, heading home.’

  ‘I thought this was our home.’

  ‘So did I, Killop,’ she said, ‘but some folk don’t think it’s safe for us here. They want to be in their own land, where no one will hassle them.’

  ‘Slateford is our own land.’

  ‘But for how long, Killop?’ she said. ‘The rebel insurgency is turning into a religious war. Any peasant who doesn’t believe in the Creator is being treated by the New Free as a rebel sympathiser, and many of them have moved out of the capital, leaving before they could be lynched. And every follower of the Creator is on Laodoc’s side, desperate to stop the Old Free from enslaving them all again. And we’re stuck in the fucking middle.’

  ‘But we’re not neutral in this,’ Killop said. ‘We support Laodoc’s government.’

  ‘But Laodoc aside,’ she said, ‘the rest of the New Free hate us, because we won’t allow missionaries in. They think we’re just as bad as the rebels.’

  Killop bowed his head.

  Bridget pulled a hip flask from her jacket pocket and took a swig.

  Killop sipped his water.

  ‘How’s everyone else?’

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Lilyann’s still mental, she’s turned her room into a shrine to the fucking Creator, and she’s even stopped boozing. Draewyn’s got a wasp in her hair about Daphne. I think deep down she just doesnae like Holdings folk, or any other folk for that matter. Kalden’s exhausted, trying to keep order in Slateford town.’

  ‘And Bedig?’

  ‘Hung like a donkey.’

  Killop grimaced. ‘Are you trying to put me back into a coma?’

  She grinned, sipping from the flask.

  ‘He treating you all right?’ he asked. ‘I heard a few stories about what he got up to in Plateau City.’

  ‘I’m not a bairn,’ she said. ‘I know what he’s like. We’re just having a bit of fun.’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘So,’ she said. ‘You’re getting married.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘as your herald, I’ll organise the biggest fucking party Slateford’s seen. Nothing like a chief’s wedding to cheer folk up.’

  ‘I think Daphne was hoping for something low key.’

  Bridget laughed. ‘Then I guess you’d better break the news to her.’

  Chapter 17

  Sister’s Son

  Arakhanah City – 30th Day, Second Third Autumn 506

  A large rat ran across the road in front of them, before scampering into a boarded-up tenement block, its bricks crumbling and sagging.

  Jayki swore.

  ‘Stop worrying,’ said Shella.

  ‘I’m not happy about this trip, miss,’ he said. ‘We should have brought guards with us. This area’s not safe.’

  ‘It’s just poor,’ she said. ‘Doesn’t mean the people living here are all criminals.’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m from a poor district,’ he said. ‘This is different. Rotten.’

  They paused to allow a bent-over old woman pushing a cart to pass them on the narrow pavement between the tenements and a slime-covered canal.

  Jayki wrinkled his nose.

  Shella noticed several pairs of eyes watching them from the broken windows of a dilapidated tenement on the other side of the water. More street children, abandoned and feral. She had seen groups of them on her tour through Arakhanah, squatting in deserted districts, living off the enormous garbage dumps that bordered the slums.

  ‘Not far to go,’ he said, as they began walking again.

  ‘Thanks for finding them for me,’ she said. ‘Didn’t realise it would be so hard.’

  ‘Would have been easier if they hadn’t changed their name. They didn’t want to be found.’

  ‘You want me to turn round? I can’t come all the way to Arakhanah and not visit them.’

  ‘I don’t like all the sneaking about,’ he said. ‘What if someone sees you?’

  She pulled the hood further over her face.

  They halted at a tenement, one of a few on the street where most windows weren’t boarded up.

&nb
sp; ‘Here we are, miss,’ Jayki said. ‘Are you sure you…?’

  Shella snorted and barged past him, pushing the door open and entering a shadowed stairwell.

  ‘Which floor?’ she said.

  ‘Fifth.’

  She nodded, and began climbing, Jayki following in silence.

  Shella was out of breath by the time they reached the correct floor. Jayki shook his head at her, and began reading the nameplates attached to the four apartment doors.

  ‘This one,’ he said.

  Shella walked over.

  ‘Yalopo?’ she read. ‘What kind of stupid name’s that to choose? Noliyalopo? I can’t even say it right.’

  She knocked.

  After a moment, the door opened a few inches, a thick entry chain across the gap. A face appeared.

  ‘Hi, Zonnie,’ Shella said.

  Her sister’s face froze in a look of terror. She began to push the door shut.

  Shella put her foot in the gap. ‘Wait!’

  Zonnie turned, and ran down the dark entrance hall.

  ‘Shit,’ Shella muttered, glancing at Jayki.

  She heard more steps from inside the apartment, then saw Noli charging towards the door. She crashed into it, jamming Shella’s foot.

  Shella let out a yell, and fell to the floor.

  She rolled over in agony. ‘Ahhh, fucking fuck, my foot!’

  Noli unchained the door and came out onto the landing.

  ‘Get in,’ she snarled, ‘before the neighbours hear you.’

  Jayki helped Shella up, and supported her over the threshold. Noli shut and re-chained the door.

  ‘Follow me,’ she said.

  Shella staggered with Jayki’s help, and Noli led them into a small room where Zonnie stood waiting, her hands clasped together, and a forced smile on her face. Their brother Lenni was also there, sitting and looking amused.

  Noli pointed at a chair, and Shella fell into it.

  ‘How dare you come here,’ Noli said, her face red with rage.

  Shella took off her shoe and rubbed the sole of her foot, the pain receding.

  ‘Am I to conclude from this welcome,’ she said, ‘that you won’t be calling me your Highness?’

  Lenni let out a snorted laugh, silenced by a glare from Noli.