by Jane Glatt
The room was much as Kane remembered from his last visit years ago. Ewart’s father had been alive then, as had Feiren. While the two of them had sequestered themselves in the old Duke’s study, Kane and Ewart had been forced to wait in this salon. He smiled as he remembered the way they had pushed the delicate furniture out of the way to give them room to spar. They’d been warned not to draw their weapons inside so they’d made do with the tools from the hearth. Kane sat down on a silk-covered settee, his finger trailing a deep gouge in the table I front of him.
“I never could bring myself to replace that table,” Ewart said, smiling at him from the settee opposite him. “It’s proof of my superiority with an iron poker.”
“Ewart,” Brenna said as she sat. “I’d like you to meet my grandmother, Madelay Kerrich and my grandfather, Yowan Sellars.”
Ewart stood back up and bowed to each of them.
“Kerrich, is it?” He peered at Madelay. “You’re related to the Duchess?”
“She’s my sister,” Madelay said.
“Yowan is Bodan’s son,” Brenna said.
“Cousin.” Ewart’s gaze went from Madelay to Yowan back to Brenna. “You have the most interesting relatives. Are there any more of us to be found?” Ewart grinned at Kane. “And you my friend, must have some unusual stories of your own.”
Kane smiled. “My life was decidedly duller before I met Brenna.”
“And safer,” Ewart said. “But all this excitement is what young men yearn for, isn’t it?”
“I must be getting old then,” Kane replied. “Less excitement sounds healthier.”
“Shall I order a pot of tea and we can catch up on our news?” Ewart asked.
“Better make it two pots,” Brenna said.
“Two, really? I remember the last time our conversation required two pots of tea.” Ewart rose and headed to the door. “I suppose I should request some food as well, then.”
Brenna sat back and listened as Dasid recounted his activities of the past few months. They’d told Ewart of their journey - his face had gone especially still when Madelay had explained how indenturing was used to conscript mineworkers.
Brenna recounted their meeting with Stobert’s men. When she’d explained that some of the men may not survive Madelay’s cooking Ewart nodded and smiled grimly. Now Dasid was detailing the troop strength and position of the Brotherhood.
“It would make sense to combine the Brotherhood and my militia under one command,” Stobert said. “As well as any forces Aruntun can muster.” He looked directly at Brenna.
“Aruntun has very little in the way of a fighting force,” Yowan said. “But we do have magic.”
“Do you have the authority to commit Aruntun?” Ewart’s blue eyes swung from Yowan to Madelay and then finally rested on her. “Brenna?”
“I believe we can get the commitment,” she said. “Madelay and I are in contact with Avery’s daughter.” She looked up at Ewart’s grunt of surprise. “It’s part of the magic that’s available. We can ask Laurel to muster the healers, witches and Seers. I don’t know what the combined power might be but they certainly are able to keep a barrier over their border. I’m sure there will be other uses.”
“Once we rescue Neal and Avery they’ll be able to direct the Aruntian forces,” Madelay said.
Brenna nodded. Aruntun could not sit idle - it was their way of life - their gods and their people - who would bear the brunt of the consequences from the edict.
“You have a plan to get the Duchess out?” Ewart asked.
“Yes,” Brenna said.
It took some time but eventually Ewart grudgingly accepted their plans for the rescue.
“I don’t like it Brenna. You are not expendable,” Ewart said.
“But I’m the only one who can do this.” He’d made that same comment a few times already and Brenna was frustrated. “No one else has the magic to get in and out without being discovered.”
“I understand that but you’re more important than Avery and Neal. You must see that.” Ewart looked from her to Kane, who simply watched their exchange. “Who else can we all unite behind? The Brotherhood, Fallad, Aruntun, even Kingsreach and Comack have some claim on you. With you leading we have a chance, without you Soule may be lost.”
“He’s right you know,” Kane said.
She watched him peel off his travel-worn tunic, enjoying the way his muscle tensed and bunched with the simple movements. “You are more important than Avery and Neal.” He turned to face her and she sighed and sat on the bed.
“I know.” Brenna ran a hand through her hair. “But I must do this.” She looked up at him, her heart heavy. “I will not stand by and let Thorold and the High Bishop destroy two more fine people. Not after Feiren.” She dropped her head. “I know what they’ll do to them and I can’t let them.”
Kane sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms.
“I know,” he murmured into her hair. “Which is why I didn’t try to talk you out of it. But I am glad that you’re beginning to understand your worth.” He pulled back and looked at her. “How long do you want to stay here in Silverdale? Dasid and Ewart want to start combining forces as soon as possible but they need us here to do it.”
“That will have to wait until after we save Avery and Neal,” Brenna said. “I can’t bear to think of the torture Neal will endure if we spend even a few more days here, let alone a week.”
“My thought as well,” Kane said. “I told Ewart we would leave in the morning. Dasid has asked if Gaskain can come with us. The lad grew up in Kingsreach and recently spent time on duty near the church of the One-God. He’ll know better than any of us what the schedule and habits of the guards there are.”
They left early the next morning, leading their horses single file through a back gate. Brenna’s hat was pushed down low on her head and her hair was piled under it. It wasn’t a real disguise but if the church was watching it would be a little harder for them to recognize her. Once they were a few streets from the square they mounted up and rode through back alleys to the edge of town.
Now that she was on her way to Kingsreach Brenna was thinking about the people she knew in town. Would she be able to see any of them? Thorold knew she was alive – did they? She wondered how Pater was faring, and his nephew Martyn and all of the other people she’d known before the Brotherhood came into her life. She nudged Blaze forward and caught up with Dasid.
“Have you had word from Eryl?” she asked. She didn’t think Eryl was in danger - he had no great preference for the old gods over the church.
“He was acquiring artifacts of the old gods and trying to sell them to Aruntians, last I heard,” Dasid said. “He and Guild Master Brunger were forming quite a partnership.”
Brenna smiled. “Is Eryl working within the law or is the Guild Master being corrupted?”
“Perhaps a bit of both,” Dasid said. “When I last saw Brunger he smiled whenever he mentioned Eryl. I think he’s found a worthy opponent.”
“Who do you think will win the contest?” Brenna asked. She could imagine Eryl’s delight in trying to out barter the Guild Master. In his own way he was a skilled merchant.
“I don’t think a clear winner will ever be declared, partly because they are both having too much fun,” Dasid said and Brenna laughed. They rode in companionable silence for a few minutes before Dasid turned to her.
“There is one thing I need to discuss with you.” He looked over at her, his green eyes serious. “The weapons school has set up a forge but they haven’t been able to recreate old steel. They follow the texts to the letter but they stumble with one of the passages. It describes using blood from the man the weapon is being made for but then there’s a passage the smiths can’t quite decipher. Some feel it’s another source of blood but they can’t agree on what that source is. I was hoping you might have an idea.”
Brenna sat back in her saddle. “The weapons are definitely tuned to the blood of the family. I think anyon
e in the family can supply the blood that’s used in the forging process.” She fingered her mother’s knife - when she’d cut herself it had reacted to her blood. “But the weapon’s owner may be able to bind it even closer if they shed a small amount of their own blood on it.” She closed her eyes - each old steel weapon reacted to her blood. If blood from another source was required, she was that source. “If the prophecy is correct,” Brenna said. “The final ingredient must be my blood.”
nineteen
They rode through Falladian fields of corn and wheat for four days. The green shoots of early summer barely reached Kane’s boots as he urged Runner through yet another field. The Godswall Mountains dominated the horizon, snow still covering some of the highest peaks.
They were staying off the main road by cutting through fields and following the Silverdale River. Kane grew increasingly wary the closer they came to Comack. They had more than a day’s travel through Comack before they reached the city and before that they had to cross the river by ferry. That was when they would be the most vulnerable to attack - they would be in Comackian territory and could be trapped on the ferry with few good options for escape.
“You’re sure there are no other ways to cross the Silverdale this time of year?” Kane asked.
He was sitting with Brenna, Dasid, Gaskain and Tobias in the tavern of the same inn they’d stayed in just over a week ago. Madelay had taken a small room as her place of work and was busy mixing potions and pastes for a variety of folk in need of a healer. Yowan was standing guard while keeping her company.
“Not unless you were to travel east a few days,” Tobias said. “Even then you couldn’t be sure. The run-off from the mountains hasn’t yet let up and the rains are still heavy enough to keep the water high in the river.”
“That’s too long.” Brenna leaned forward. “We can’t add days when we don’t know what condition Neal is in.”
Kane nodded grimly. “But we can’t have all six of us at the ferry - it’s too exposed and they may be watching for us.” He didn’t like the ferry crossing but he couldn’t see an alternative.
“We’ll travel in smaller groups,” Dasid said. “And stagger our crossings so only a single group is out in the open at any given time.”
“We need disguises,” Gaskain said. “In case they are watching for us.
Brenna grinned and she leaned further forward.
“I love disguises,” she said. “Kane, remember the couple we played in Silverdale when we first were there with Stobert?”
“I remember,” Kane said. “But we’d need a carriage for that. That woman would never ride a horse.”
“So someone simpler,” Brenna said. “Someone no one would bother.”
“Yes,” Kane agreed. “Plain folk just going about their day. Yowan and Madelay could dress as a farmer and his wife - Dasid can travel as their son. Brenna and I will go with Gaskain.” He turned to Brenna. “Even better if you can keep the two of us invisible. Then Gaskain becomes a lone traveler.”
“I can do that,” Brenna said. “But maybe we can both ride one horse?” She leaned back, her face serious. “The fewer horses we have the easier it will be for me.”
Kane nodded. “We’ll be invisible on Runner and Gaskain can load Blaze with some trade goods of some kind.”
“I shared barracks with a man who grew up tending sheep,” Gaskain said. “I know enough to fool any but a real wool merchant.”
“Good,” Kane said. “Now we just need to figure out what to do with the ferryman and his wife.”
A slow smile spread across Brenna’s face. “Leave that to Madelay and I,” she said. “We’ll see to it that they aren’t sure what happened to them.”
Kane nodded - no doubt they had more of what they’d used on both the councilmen and Stobert’s men. “Make sure they live,” he said. He didn’t like unnecessary deaths and the ferryman and his wife weren’t their enemies. Beside, bodies would draw unwanted attention to their passage.
“They’ll live,” Brenna said. “But there’s no guarantee they won’t wish to die.”
Brenna tugged on her boots before she gathered a few remaining items and shoved them into her pack. Kane and Gaskain were out getting the horses ready - all she had to do was show up and invoke the invisibility spell. She left the room and knocked on Madelay’s door. There was a muffled response and entered.
“You look good, a very faithful portrayal,” Brenna said.
Her grandmother wore a dusty dress and stained shawl with a well-worn kerchief tied around her head. She carried a small sack that no doubt held her healer supplies.
“You know a lot of farmer’s wives, do you?” Madelay grinned.
Brenna gasped at the stench that came from her grandmother’s mouth.
Madelay laughed. “Bad teeth,” she said. “This is a woman who would never have seen a healer in her life - not even when she birthed her son.”
“It smells about right,” Brenna said, thinking back to poor Sneath from the Red Anchor in Smithin. The man’s breath had been so bad no one had wanted to be around him. “It should keep most folk from looking too closely at you.”
“All they’ll remember is the bad teeth, even though my teeth are fine.” She opened her mouth to show intact teeth covered in a greenish coating of slime.
“You remember who to contact?” Brenna asked.
They planned to meet up at the Crooked Dog but Brenna had also given Pater’s name and description to Madelay, as well as directions to the Wheat Sheaf. She didn’t like being separated from her grandmother, especially when she knew no one in Kingsreach. Mistress Mundy would keep her safe, if that’s what was needed, and Pater could help get her out of the city.
Brenna hugged Madelay tight. She, Kane and Gaskain were leaving last. They’d circle around and come into Comack from the east while Madelay, Yowan and Dasid took the most direct route.
Brenna reached up and stretched her arms then lowered them, letting her hands fall across Kane’s shoulders. She gently massaged the muscles under her hands and smiled when he grunted softly. They’d been in the saddle for over six hours - there was nothing fun about riding double. They had tried their best to make a comfortable spot behind Kane’s saddle but her thighs and buttocks ached and chafed with each step Runner took. The first chance she got she was using the salve she had in her pack.
Much of her gear was hidden under bales of wool on her horse, who trailed after Gaskain. Poor Blaze looked as miserable as she felt and silently Brenna promised she’d make it up to her with extra apples and carrots. When the wind blew she could smell the oily scent of the filthy wool. Blaze’s skin twitched and she hoped the wool didn’t have fleas. How anything could live in that was beyond her but her bedroll and blankets were under that. She did not want to end up scratching all night.
She dropped her arms down and hugged Kane tight, trying to shift her weight onto less painful parts of her body. She leaned her head against his back and closed her eyes. She couldn’t sleep, not and keep up the invisibility spell so she looked inward and concentrated on the flow of her blood through her body – the steady thump, thump of her heart and the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She increased the flow of blood in her head to ward off the headache she knew was coming, then searched for the most painful areas in the rest of her body. She sighed in relief when the pain subsided. Her heart started to race and she knew she’d done too much so she eased off. Every time she overdid magic she was reminded that there was always a price to pay, even when she tried to help herself.
Brenna knew she was awake - knew this was a Seeing - because she was still aware of Kane’s strong back under her cheek, the gentle side to side sway of Runner’s walk and she could feel herself maintain the invisibility spell.
But she could also see the light shining dimly under the wooden door and feel the scratch of straw on the floor. She sniffed the air and smelled the bitterness of alegria. She turned her head and noticed a dark form stretched out on the straw
. She heard a rasping breath and stepped closer. There was enough faint light leaking under the door for her to recognize Avery Kerrich. Brenna tried to reach an arm out but it was a vision - she wasn’t there, not in any form that could help Avery. She eyed her critically – drugged but otherwise not injured.
The small cell didn’t look like the jail in the castle but it was familiar. On impulse Brenna moved to the back wall, her feet making no sound against the straw. There - she reached a hand out and traced a dark line on one of the stone blocks. She knew where she was.
She moved back to Avery again and spoke a small healing spell over her. Would magic work within a vision? It shouldn’t, since she wasn’t there, but she had to try something. Brenna she stepped away and concentrated on what her body felt - the movement of the horse - the feel and smell of Kane in the saddle in front of her - the aches and pains from riding.
She opened her eyes to the brightness of midafternoon and hugged Kane tighter. Time enough to deal with Avery once they got to Kingsreach.
They reached the dock at dusk to find the ferry on the other side of the river. Gaskain raised the flag and they settled in to wait. The ferry was mid-river before Brenna realized Dasid was manning it. The ferry docked, they quickly loaded up and Dasid pushed off again.
“Madelay was kind enough to share her tea with the ferryman and his wife,” Dasid said softly as he poled them across the river. “Unfortunately she added something that didn’t quite agree with them. She assures me they’ll wake up and hardly remember a thing.”
