Winter's Sword

by Alexandra Little

  "My friends," I said to the fouling, though speaking aloud was more for Iasul’s benefit than theirs. To all of them I said: "These are not wolves, or monsters, or any such creatures that cannot think. They are as smart as you and I. They know you are with me, and will know the moment they see your mother that she is with me as well. They will defend you from anyone who tries to harm you. You don't need to touch them, but you don't need to be afraid of them.

  “There is place, much more north of here,” I continued. “Where old magic wells up from the ground. You saw what it did to the mountain that we had gone exploring in. There are many creatures, like this fouling here, who are connected to it. If you have control of that place in the north, then you can control these creatures. That is why my father and I disappeared from Winter’s Crown—we went to destroy the monstrous Adhannor’s connection to it, so that he could not amass an army and sweep south. The elves aided us, but now even the Dagnar Queen grows greedy.”

  “That must be what she wants,” The other woman said, the one who had not spoken before. “Ellsmid wants that power, doesn’t she? I have heard her muttering about Adhannor, and ghosts and all such things.”

  “Who are you to her?” I asked, and I thought I heard Zarah’s bitter laugh echoing faintly around the room. It was the same question I had asked her about Ellsmid.

  “I was an aide,” she replied, and it was then that I observed the fine cut of her clothes,the velvet of her coat, the smooth leather of her boots, the fine sable fur that trimmed everything. “But she has gone wild, much more wild than she ever was in the Capital. I don’t know her anymore.”

  “I trust her,” Tunir replied firmly.

  Tunir had a crush on her, I thought to myself.

  Iasul knelt next to me, and held out a trembling hand to Annel. Annel licked it; Iasul gasped, but then scratched at the fouling’s chin. “Do they not attack me because you control them?” he asked.

  “I’ve asked them to serve me,” I replied. “I am not Adhhanor.” Not yet, and I thought I heard Zarah’s laugh again.

  “Taming a fouling is all well and good,” the big man said. “But ghosts and other stories are a whole other thing. We can shoot foulings. They’re flesh and blood.”

  “You think so?” I murmured.

  Whatever was in my voice had Annel stiffening, and I forced myself to relax so that she did not spook Iasul.

  “If I can touch it, it’s real,” the man insisted.

  “But if both Ellsmid and Lord Baradan believe in this Adhannor,” the aide replied.

  “You saw that…that thing we fought,” the second man insisted. “Outside the walls of Winter’s Crown during the summer. You saw Lady Eva come to fight it!”

  “And now she’s telling us she controls it!” the big man snapped. “This is all too much.”

  It was certainly getting there, yes. “What would you have me do?” I asked, standing at last. “I tell you plainly: I’ve come for my father. If you do not wish to come along, then you can stay and face Ellsmid’s consequences, or you can take the risk of winter in the mountains, and try to find the tunnels and caves that Eliawen says there are. She is telling you the truth—there are plenty of caves to be had—but she’s an elf, and can survive her longer, find shelter easier, than any of you can.”

  “How would you be any better than this Adhannor?” the big man demanded.

  “I will show you,” I replied.

  “Eva,” Dalandaras’ whisper was a warning in my ears, but I didn’t care.

  “Do you want to know what happened to Zarah Aros?” I asked. “I will show you what Adhannor did to her.”

  I took a breath, and found the lady within me. I found Zarah where she rested, her soul hard in my chest, and built her back up again. Like the colossi and the spirits I pulled her together, made her out of the air and stone. First there was the tiniest of whirlwinds in front of me, which tangled our capes and hair and blew the lantern out. And then there were limbs, perverted by the decay that had taken hold of both her body and soul alike. She came laughing, her face missing, her lips twisted, her skin sickly and half there.

  The humans backed against the walls of their little crevice, Annel standing guard in front of Iasul as Zarah laughed her way into existence again.

  Though she was there, the weight was still in my chest, the weight I had taken on when I had claimed her soul. From that weight I could feel the tiniest of threads, leading to Zarah. I was as connected to her as I was to the foulings. But the foulings were bound to me by love and loyalty; Zarah I had bound by hate, and I felt it.

  I didn’t know I had staggered back until Dalandaras caught me. He held me until I was certain I could stand on my own, and even then he kept an arm around my shoulders.

  “Do you see the power now?” I asked. “This is what Ellsmid will do to anyone who stands in her way, if she gets her hands on the old magic. This is what Adhannor did to Zarah Aros. Zarah committed patricide, killed her own father simply so that she could be a servant to Adhannor. Do you see what this power does now? Do you see how this fight is bigger than just Ellsmid’s rule over Winter’s Crown? She abuses you all, but imagine what she will do to you and yours if she has this. Do you think she will need the Emperor’s seal and orders then?”

  Zarah laughed, and laughed, a wheezing laugh that came out of mouth and throat alike.

  “Do I tell it true, Zarah?” I asked, my voice light but my burden heavy.

  “True enough,” she grinned, and turned slowly about the cave, facing every one in turn. “Bardol, hello again. Oh, and Tiri, I should not be surprised to see you here. Ever Lady Ellsmid’s lapdog.”

  The lady aide shook a little, but her voice was firm. “Not any longer, Zarah.”

  “My my, the lapdog is going to bite the hand that throws her scraps. I am quite proud of you, in a way.”

  I stepped between Zarah and Tiri before the undead creature could take a step closer. “Shall I ask Tiri what you mean to Ellsmid?” I asked Zarah, and her eyes widened as they had before. “Or shall I just wait until we’re face to face with Ellsmid to see how long it will take for her to turn on whatever loyalty lies between you?”

  “Tiri knows nothing,” Zarah hissed.

  “That is true,” Tiri confirmed. “I only know that they were very close. Will Ellsmid do this to all of us if she gets her hands on that power?”

  “If she can wield it,” I said. “So will the Dagnar Queen. Do you see now that you are stuck in a fight much larger than any of you?”

  I looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone there. Slowly, they all nodded.

  “Will you help me then?” I asked. “I promise you, that if all else fails, if Ellsmid and the Dagnar Queen get this power, I will at least get you and yours to safety.” If Aerlad’s ships came as she said. Otherwise, that would be a promise I could not keep.

  One by one again, they all nodded.

  CHAPTER NINE

  I let them circle Zarah, examine her decrepit form, and I let her sneer at them in turn. When dusk came and the snowfall lessened, I claimed her back and we headed towards Winter’s Crown.

  Tunir and Iasul whispered into my ear about how many men and women they thought to be on their side, how many might follow me or my father, if I could release him. They thought that showing them Zarah would do the trick to keep people from joining Ellsmid. They spoke as if I could take Winter’s Crown itself, but I knew that would be impossible. They were still thinking about the small goals, of freeing my father and their mother. I had to think about Tal Aesiri and the Dagnar Queen, not just Ellsmid.

  We crept under the tall parapets and between snow-covered rocks. From a distance, no one would think that there was an entrance into Winter’s Crown here. It was well-camouflaged, barely a hole in the ground. But with darkness descending I could see the lines of the rocks better, and the old magic creeping up from the ruins below. My hunch had been right—the old ruins were providing the entrance and exit.

  I hel
d Iasul back, and Annel went down the hole first. It was steep but Annel’s claws clung hard to the scraggly rocks and she descended in. Dalandaras followed, and then I let the humans down as the other foulings joined me.

  “How did you find this place?” I whispered to Tiri. The rocks nearly bled old magic. I stood taller here, as if I was being rejuvenated. The foulings seemed to gain strength, to grow slightly larger, to slink more silently than they had before.

  “Iasul did,” Tiri whispered back. She kept her eyes on the foulings, but did not tremble as she had with Zarah. “He said he was looking for a way out, and seemed to find it.”

  The old magic was doing me favors even here, even when I had not noticed its presence. Maybe it knew, somehow, that Iasul was my friend.

  I nearly called to Dalandaras, but at my need for him he slowed until I caught up. “They know I’m here,” he murmured, referring to Lorandal and Eliawen. “They will help if they can.”

  Elves had that type of connection, but my connection was limited to Dalandaras. “We will need Lorandal for his healing skills. But we may need Eliawen to stay here and play ambassador.”

  He nodded.

  At the end of the long, narrow tunnel the rock walls smoothed, and I recognized the work of the colossi. I tugged off my gloves and let my fingers skim the walls, taking comfort in the presence of the magic. I wondered if I could call to the colossi from here? But the quarters would be close, too close to prevent innocent casualties. I couldn’t blame those who wouldn’t want to be involved in this fight, to wait and see which side came out the winner. Nor would I want to harm the families that lived in the Fort and the town. No, the colossi could not help me in this. It would be down to which humans I could get on my side.

  We came to a narrow crevice, with warm torchlight beyond. The humans crouched, and Dalandaras and I followed suit.

  “You have men and women who will follow me?” I asked them.

  The big man—Bardol, as Zarah had named him—nodded. “If you pull that trick with Zarah again, I think you’ll get most of them to follow you anywhere.”

  “Then I need you to take a message to them,” I replied. “If even half of the Fort comes with me, it would be too many people to get to safety. And the tradesmen and women, and children, I cannot take them.” Nor was I optimistic that I could get that sort of following. “How many are loyal to Ellsmid?”

  “Enough,” Tiri replied. “She’s brought her own soldiers, her own scribes, her own servants. And your father has instilled the concept of loyalty a little too well—I mean no offense, Lady Eva—and many of the soldiers will stay loyal to whoever is Governor here.”

  I nodded. “Then here is what I need all of you to do: decide amongst your group who can go, and who needs to stay. Those with wives or husbands and children, who maybe fear reprisals, would be best to remain and not help.” I held up a hand before there was a protest. “You want Ellsmid gone, and you want you and yours safe, but I cannot guarantee that. Winter’s Crown has provisions and water and warmth, and if enough people come with us it should ease up the pressure on the stores here. Nor do I want any children caught in the fight between Ellsmid and the Dagnar and the old magic.”

  Bardol nodded reluctantly.

  “Then at midnight, Tunir and Iasul, you will help myself and Dalandaras free your mother and my father. Can their guards be talked down?”

  “Mayhap,” Iasul replied. “If you use your foulings. But they’re Ellsmid’s men.”

  Tiri nodded. “They’ll stay loyal to her.”

  Then they would have to die. I could only afford to be nice to those who stayed out of the fight. Dalandaras shifted, but said nothing.

  “Bardol, do you have anyone in the storehouses who could loan us some brutehaulers and carts?”

  “Are we making a parade of getting out of here?” the lady tavern owner asked.

  “If we wish to get out of here alive, yes,” I replied. “And we need some supplies of our own. Black powder, in particular, would be useful. We need to stall Ellsmid’s men from coming after us, but we also need our own supplies.”

  “Are we blowing up the Fort?” Tunir asked.

  “Not quite,” I replied. “But blowing up the gates would be useful.”

  Bardol nodded. “We can arrange that.”

  I gestured to my foulings, and Dhreo came forward. He was no jester here. “Go with them,” I ordered. “Guard them. Alert them to anyone who may disturb them.”

  The other man’s neck bobbed as he swallowed. “I think people will notice a fouling, Lady.”

  Now they were calling me Lady as well. Did they know what it meant? “You will be surprised,” I said instead. “How well they can go unnoticed. Do not worry for Dhreo. Set charges at the gates, enough to halt any exit of a mass of soldiers from the Fort. Then prepare enough that we can collapse the main gate at our exit.”

  Bardol and the others slipped out, Dhreo trailing them, his skin already changing to match to the color of the stones.

  “Lead us,” I ordered Tunir and Iasul.

  We slipped into the hall. Bardol had claimed the torch that had lit the hallway, casting us into darkness. Annel stuck beside me as her foulings spread out ahead of us, crouched low, their noses sniffing and their ears alert. We were still in part of the colossi’s ruins, a part of the Fort I had not seen before. And then as quickly as we passed through it we came to the human Fort proper, the stones dark and damp.

  “If you simply gesture,” I whispered to the two boys. “The foulings will know where to go.”

  Iasul pointed left, and the foulings scouted down the narrow passage before we followed. The boys felt at the walls with their hands, but I could see every crack and crevice in the darkness. We came to another split, and Tunir gestured another left and angled his hands downward.

  The foulings went, and through their eyes I saw a door, bolted, its small window barred. We had found the place.

  I passed ahead of Tunir and Iasul, keeping low, my footsteps silent, until I came to the door. There was light beyond, and murmuring. I knew my father was beyond it.

  I pressed a hand to the lock, felt the metal with the old magic until I knew just how hard to twist it to break the metal. My foulings readied themselves to pounce. I severed the lock and opened the door. Barred cells lined the right side of the hallway. Several tapers sat on a table, where two guards sat in the middle of a card game. Just as one of them met my eyes my foulings leapt. Both of their throats were severed before they knew what had attacked them. The only sound they made was the clatter of their chainmail as they fell to the floor, dead.

  Captain Ehledrath was in the closest cell, stripped of the uniform of her office and left with nothing but a tunic and trousers. She stood when she saw who followed me in. “My boys!”

  I let them have their reunion and left Dalandaras to find the keys or break the cell lock, whichever he chose. I passed several empty cells until I came to the end, and found my father.

  He was thin, worn, faded even, curled under what passed for a blanket. His face was mottled purple and blue.

  I tore his lock without a second thought, and knelt next to him. He didn’t even move. It took the Lady’s hearing to know that he had a heartbeat.

  “Salvage what you can from the guards,” I heard Dalandaras say behind me. “You’ll need their armor and weapons.”

  I brushed my father’s dark locks back from his forehead. There was a sizable bump there. With the old magic, I could feel a fracture in his skull, a hairs’ breadth in width. But the size of such a break didn’t matter much where the head was concerned.

  “I need Lorandal,” I murmured. Or I could heal him myself.

  “Wait for Lorandal,” Dalandaras said behind me, touching my shoulder.

  He could read me too well.

  “He was tortured, my lady,” Ehledrath said, and I glanced at her. She was stripping the guards, dividing the loot between her sons. She wanted them protected first. “For information.”

/>   Ellsmid would be paying for many things.

  I pressed my hand to his head wound, and willed him to take my strength.

  As sure as you could hear a bone crack, I could hear his bones heal, his head fuse back together and a rib pop back into place. Father awoke with a gasp, his eyes wide, drawing in breath, and I sank to the floor.

  “I told you to wait,” Dalandaras said as he gripped me. My foulings whined.

  Father’s eyes met mine, and he slid off the bed and wrapped me in his arms. “You little fool!”

  “Did you think I would leave you?” I asked. It had taken more strength than I thought. What benefit there had been in passing through the old ruins left me, and I trembled.

  “I had some idea,” Father replied, and he only gripped me harder.

  “What did Ellsmid want with you?” Dalandaras asked.

  “She wanted to know the weaknesses of Tal Aesiri,” Father replied. “And the weaknesses of my own daughter. She had some idea of Adhannor. No: she knew far too much about Adhannor.”

  “She knew Zarah,” Dalandaras explained. “Either Zarah wrote to her, or left a record for her to find.”

  “I have a little surprise for her in that regard,” I managed to say. “She will regret coming here to meddle.”

  “My lord,” Ehledrath slid into the cell, chainmail and sword in hand. “For you.”

  I forced myself to stand, though everything ached again.

  “Go to your tavern,” I told Ehledrath. “Take your sons. The foulings will get you there safely, unseen.”

  Annel whined, and I buried my fingers in her fur. “For me. Please.”

  She whined still, but I felt her assent to the plan.

  “You cannot confront her alone,” Father protested.

  I would not be alone. “You’re not strong enough,” I replied. Dalandaras had to help him with the chainmail, and he grasped the sword weakly. “If we hope to halt the threat from her side, then I must get to her before the alarm is raised. I would have you on the way out of the place before it is even discovered that you’ve escaped.”