Darkfall

by Isobelle Carmody

  ‘I could not tell who it was,’ Ember said truthfully.

  Coralyn’s heavy eyelids drooped. ‘A pity. Well, it is no great matter. We are pursuing our own investigations. We have our suspicions.’

  ‘Suspicion …’ Tarsin echoed. His attention had shifted to the roof, his dirty neck visible above the collar of his suit. Ember stifled a wave of revulsion and wondered, as Feyt had once done in her hearing, what had possessed the Darkfall seers to choose such a king as this?

  ‘She must be rewarded …’ Coralyn was saying persuasively.

  ‘Rewarded!’ Tarsin echoed, seemingly jolted back to some sort of awareness. His eyes fell to Ember’s masked face and focused. ‘Why do you wear that mask? Is it true that you are scarred?’

  Ember nodded, pressing her hands between her knees to stop them shaking. What if he ordered her to remove the mask so he could see the wounds? Could she pretend to believe she was scarred? But Tarsin’s eyes drifted away vacantly.

  ‘Reward …’ Coralyn prompted.

  ‘Ah,’ Tarsin smiled craftily. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I want no reward,’ Ember stammered, then remembered she was supposed to ask about leaving.

  ‘You will have a reward!’ Tarsin screamed shrilly, madness jittering on the edge of his words. Again his eyes drifted as if they had no connection to his will or wit.

  Ember could feel her insides quaking like jelly, but she forced herself to speak calmly and graciously. ‘There is nothing I need, my Lord, save to return home …’

  ‘Of course she must go home if she is ill,’ Coralyn enthused. ‘We can hire a ship for direct passage to take her to the Sheanna isles to spare her discomfort. I myself will provide …’

  ‘No.’ Tarsin’s eyes shifted from his mother’s face to Ember’s. ‘No. She must stay here. The citadel is filled with assassins. Even in the palace …’ He looked sharply at his mother and for a moment there was no madness in his eyes, only a quick intelligence that told of what he had once been.

  ‘Tarsin, do not judge the loyalty of us all by this one treacherous assassin!’ Coralyn protested.

  Tarsin gave her a sneering look. ‘I know all about loyalty, mother, yours and Kalide’s and Asa’s. I know more than you think about your loyalty. And I know how to reward treachery as well.’

  This time Coralyn definitely paled. There was a heavy, dangerous silence and Ember felt like a chicken who had strayed onto a highway, about to have the life crushed out of her because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Maybe even Coralyn felt the same, because she rose with a whisper of silks. ‘I will return to my quarters, my son, since I cannot seem to please you.’

  ‘Yes, go!’ Tarsin snarled. He watched her depart with a vicious leer, but when the door shut behind her, the expression faded from his eyes and his mouth fell open slightly. Then just as suddenly he glared at Asa, who was now hovering in the doorway wringing his hands.

  ‘You go, too. I am sick of your fat, fawning face!’

  ‘But my Lord, someone must remain to protect you.’

  ‘You?’ Tarsin gave a wild laugh. ‘If it were left to you, I would be dead by now. Go, I say!’

  Asa backed out, and again the door closed.

  Ember tensed, thinking he would next send Feyt out, but instead he gave her a warm smile that seemed quite sane and genuine. ‘Do you like this room? I like it better than the court. Here, no eyes look at me, no ears can listen.’ His eyes flickered to the myrmidon but Feyt wisely stood still, her expression distant as a statue’s. Tarsin beckoned Ember to sit by him at his feet, as if he were a little boy calling a playmate over. She sensed the amazon willing her to refuse, but she saw no way to obey.

  Up close, Tarsin’s skin was greasy and pockmarked. He was wearing the same golden suit as at their previous meeting. It was now sweat-stained and marked with spilled food, and Tarsin smelled as if he had not bathed in months. Ember tried to breathe through her mouth inconspicuously.

  ‘I would have died if you had not cried out to warn me,’ he said earnestly, looking down at her with moist eyes.

  Ember’s senses swam at his breath.

  ‘I do not wish you to bide with Alene,’ Tarsin said. ‘She is a betrayer. I will give you your own apartment …’

  ‘I need to be with the soulweaver because of my illness, Holder. She heals me and holds it in check,’ Ember protested. She dared not explain now that Alene could do nothing more for her. The last thing she wanted was to be separated from the soulweaver and the myrmidons.

  Again, the madness disappeared from his eyes and Tarsin merely looked like a weary, ill-used, middle-aged man. ‘Do not make the mistake of thinking that Alene cares about you. She cares about nothing but Darkfall. That is the beginning and end of her loyalty. If she drains your pain there is a reason for it, and that reason leads back to Darkfall. Do you know that there was a time when she loved me? Not as her Holder, but as a man?’

  Ember did her best to keep incredulity from her expression but she could not in her wildest dreams imagine the cool, elegant soulweaver loving anyone, let alone the unkempt Tarsin. He could not be the man Alene had met and loved on Myrmidor, that Anyi had spoken of.

  ‘You do not believe me, do you?’ Tarsin asked. ‘It is true though. Before I was Holder and she was a soulweaver, we loved as man and woman. Or in truth, as girl and boy for we were little more than that. Those two young lovers had no idea where the Song would weave them …’

  Ember was startled to hear Tarsin say almost the same words the soulweaver had said to her in the garden. Was it possible that what Tarsin was saying was true? It was something of a shock to learn that if Alene and Tarsin had indeed been children together, then Alene must have originally been Iridomi.

  ‘Betrayed!’ the Holder snarled, and Ember’s heart ricocheted against her ribs. ‘First she sold her soul to Darkfall, betraying me as a man, then she betrayed me as her Holder. Well, that’s past. I care nothing for her now, you understand that?’ His eyes were eager and Ember shrank back as he leaned nearer. Fortunately he appeared oblivious to her reactions. ‘Is it true that you are dying?’ he asked.

  Ember nodded.

  ‘You have tried all Iridomi medicines?’

  ‘My illness cannot be healed.’

  A thread of music wove through her thoughts and this time Ember tried to catch hold of it, but it remained elusive.

  She was startled to find that Tarsin was now smiling at her. ‘Then that is what I will give you as a reward! I will instruct my healers to find a cure for your sickness. You saved my life and I will save yours. A life for a life. I will offer a wondrous prize to the olfactors and healers.’

  Ember found she could no longer be afraid of Tarsin. He was pathetic and pitiable. She could see he had no intention of letting her go.

  ‘I thank you, my Lord, and I pray your efforts to find someone to heal my illness bear fruit.’

  He nodded, but absently as if he had not heard her. ‘My mother thinks I do not see what she intends,’ he said confidingly. ‘Her plots are as obvious as she is.’

  Confused at yet another abrupt change of subject, Ember could think of nothing to say. Tarsin rose and strode down the steps to stand before Feyt. ‘You are all the same. You women. You want a man’s soul.’

  Feyt said nothing, but Ember was frightened for her. The Holder wore a dagger in his belt. How easy for him to draw it and stab the amazon.

  Heart beating swiftly, Ember got up and went to stand beside Feyt. ‘I am tired now, Lord. Please, let Feyt help me to my bed.’

  The Holder studied her fondly. ‘Of course you must lie down. You must take care of yourself until I can find a way to heal you, for I have need of you.’ He frowned. ‘What is your name?’

  Ember told him and he smiled, baring his teeth. ‘An ember is the banked heart of a fire.’

  The door slammed open violently and they all turned to see the urchin boy, Anyi, hurl himself across the room.

  ‘Anyi!’ Ember ga
sped.

  He confronted Tarsin, eyes ablaze. ‘What have you done with my brother?’

  ‘Your brother, mermod? I do not know what you rave about,’ Tarsin snapped.

  Mermod! Ember’s mind was reeling. Anyi was the mermod?

  28

  It came to Lanalor that the Unykorn had stolen Shenavyre from him.

  Black hate filled his heart, but he could not challenge the Unykorn,

  for it was the Firstmade and immortal,

  yet he Vowed he would have revenge …

  LEGENDSONG OF THE UNYKORN

  ‘Please do something, Alene!’ Anyi begged. ‘They claim Bleyd poisoned Tarsin and they have imprisoned him. They will not let me see him.’

  The soulweaver sighed. ‘The difficulty is in knowing what course to take.’

  ‘You must make Tarsin free Bleyd!’

  ‘Would that it were that simple. I cannot make Tarsin do anything, Anyi. You of all people know that. Have I not instructed you at length about the relationship you will have with your own soulweaver when you are Holder? A soulweaver can only advise. Once that would have been enough, but I suspect you would know better than many how things stand between Tarsin and me.’

  The boy was too upset to be chastened by hints about his eavesdropping.

  Ember’s heart went out to him, though she was still astounded that the grubby urchin was to be the next ruler of Keltor. If he lived. That was less certain with his brother and protector imprisoned for attempting to poison the current Holder. Thinking of Bleyd’s laughing green eyes and daring smile, Ember felt guilty and confused. She had seen that smile only once, and henceforth he had not smiled in her presence. That was her fault, of course, at least in part. Yet though it was true that she had not let herself know Bleyd at all, she was certain poisoning would not have been his way. He might very well run his sword through someone in a fight, but if she was any judge of character there was no slyness in his makeup.

  ‘If there were not so much evidence …’ Tareed sighed.

  ‘He did not do it!’ Anyi stormed.

  The myrmidon held her hands up pacifically. ‘I did not say he did, mermod. Only that there was much evidence against him. We should have realised what would happen the moment the cirul was pronounced poisonous. Did not Tarsin himself say the brew had been brought to his apartment by Bleyd as a gift from Poverin?’

  ‘That was a lie!’ Anyi announced hoarsely.

  ‘Shouting it will not free your brother,’ Alene said, crossing to the window and seeming to stare out. ‘What do we have?’

  ‘We know for certain someone tried to kill Tarsin using two innocent compounds which, together, would form a deadly poison. We know it through the tests the healers performed and from Ember’s vision.’

  ‘Mm,’ Alene reflected. ‘Why two bottles?’

  ‘To confound the tasting-boy, as it did,’ Feyt said.

  ‘So it would appear. Yet this seems to me a precarious murder plot since Tarsin may have chosen not to drink the two potions one after the other.’

  ‘There was the note …’ Tareed said.

  ‘Even so, the tasting-boy might have obeyed this instruction, too. Truly as you say, Alene, it was a risky game someone played,’ Feyt agreed.

  ‘Perhaps … too risky,’ Alene said delicately.

  The myrmidons exchanged puzzled glances, but Ember thought she understood what the soulweaver was getting at.

  ‘Yes …’ Alene went on dreamily. ‘Perhaps murder was only one aim of this plot, and perhaps not even the main aim. We should consider what else was achieved.’

  ‘Nothing was achieved, because Tarsin lives.’

  ‘Bleyd is in prison,’ Anyi said.

  Feyt slapped a hand on her bare knee. ‘By the Horn. Of course! All the evidence points to him. It is so blatantly damning it must have been arranged with Bleyd as the scapegoat, whether or not the plot succeeded!’

  An alarm bell rang distantly in Ember’s head, for in her vision Coralyn had spoken of a scapegoat, and of killing two birds with one stone. Half-stuttering with excitement, she told the others what she had seen.

  ‘Why did you wait so long to speak of this vision?’ Feyt demanded.

  ‘It was the first vision I had and I supposed I was dreaming until I saw Asa. I tried to tell you but something interrupted me, I forget what, and when Alene foresaw a danger to Anyi, I thought we had seen the same thing so there was no need to speak of it. It was your mention of scapegoats that recalled it to me …’

  Anyi leapt to his feet. ‘I will tell Tarsin what Ember saw and he will have to set Bleyd free!’

  At a sign from Alene, Feyt dragged the boy back to sit. ‘Anyi, think! What will Tarsin say if you tell him about Ember’s vision?’

  ‘He will …’ Anyi’s face fell. ‘He will demand proof.’

  ‘Exactly, and there will be none, you can be sure of that. It is no surprise to me that Coralyn would attempt this poisoning and Asa has always been her creature. But Tarsin’s name was not mentioned in Ember’s vision, and I daresay Coralyn will invent some innocent meaning for her words if accused. There was no talk of poisoning in what was said, and even if there had been, poisoning is nothing unusual on Iridom. She may even admit to it but say she spoke of some other person. One does not accuse the chieftain of a sept and mother to the Holder of treason and attempted filicide without substantial proof of her guilt. And she could reasonably claim to have no motive for this poisoning for, with Tarsin dead, you would rule.’

  Anyi subsided completely. ‘What then? How can we get proof against her?’

  I doubt we will be able to prove anything against Coralyn,’ Alene said. ‘But I think we must give serious thought to why she would poison her son.’

  ‘She wants Kalide on the throne because she will be able to control him whereas no one can control Tarsin,’ Tareed said.

  ‘True, but Anyi stands in the way of that. Unless …’ Alene bit her lip. ‘Unless the main aim of this plot was to achieve exactly what it has achieved: Bleyd in prison, and Anyi vulnerable. Perhaps this is the danger I foresaw.’

  ‘She might have succeeded in killing Tarsin,’ Feyt objected.

  ‘Yes, and still Bleyd would be imprisoned,’ Alene said, ‘leaving Anyi vulnerable and not officially Holder until a meeting of all sept leaders could be called. If he was killed, she, being the only chieftain here, would invoke martial law. That could be the reason for the build-up of her legionnaires. Then she would set Kalide on the throne as an interim Holder.’

  ‘That sounds true enough to be a woven fact,’ Feyt said.

  ‘And Bleyd?’ Anyi asked in a small voice, fear for his brother shining in his eyes.

  There was a small, telling silence, then Alene laid a hand on the boy’s arm. ‘It has not happened, though it may well have been planned and longed for. Tarsin lives and so do you and Bleyd. But, Anyi, you see that we cannot accuse Coralyn without proof, and so we must find another way to prove that Bleyd is innocent.’

  ‘The evidence against him is strong, and what is worse, it implicates your father as well,’ Feyt said. ‘If Poverin were judged guilty of masterminding the plan, or even of being an accomplice, the Holder would have the right to command Vespi to form a Keltan legion to bring him to be judged. With Bleyd in prison, and Poverin under arrest, Gedron would be chieftain of Fomhika, and he hates Darkfall.’

  ‘Gedron is hungry for power,’ Anyi said contemptuously. ‘He hates me and Bleyd; me especially because Darkfall chose me to be mermod to Tarsin instead of him.’

  ‘For Gedron to succeed Poverin would be more disastrous than you can imagine,’ Feyt said. ‘Duran’s message said that he had been officially named Prime draakira of the Fomhikan haven by the Draaka, while she visited the green isle.’

  ‘How did he dare?’ Anyi gasped.

  ‘That means the Draaka operates with sanction on Fomhika and Acantha,’ Feyt continued grimly. ‘She has no love for us and very likely sails now to make pact and common cause with Co
ralyn.’

  ‘Be calm,’ Alene said gently. ‘I say again we must concentrate on proving Bleyd’s innocence.’

  ‘How?’ Anyi asked.

  ‘Bleyd did not poison Tarsin,’ Alene said simply, ‘therefore all evidence that he did is an illusion. We must find the flaw that breaks the illusion by sifting through all that transpired from the moment Ember stopped Tarsin drinking, back to the plot that set the poison on its way.’

  Feyt nodded. ‘Alene, you are right, but this is not a moment’s work and there is only Tareed and I here to guard you and Ember and now Anyi. We do not have much time, either, for Lanalor’s Charter says a person may not be held captive more than three days before being judged. Bleyd was taken yesterday, which means we have only what is left of today and tomorrow until Kalinda sets, to come up with the grounds for a stay of judgment.’

  ‘You have a suggestion?’

  ‘You must allow me to use the Shadowman’s people.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then there is no hope for Bleyd.’

  ‘If I allow you to use his people, then all his claims that we need him, long denied by my sisters and I, will be made true.’

  ‘Is that not pride that speaks?’ Feyt asked very softly. ‘He offers aid and you have long refused it because his ways were not yours and Darkfall had no need of him. But we need him now.’

  Alene was very still.

  ‘Please, Alene,’ Anyi begged.

  At last she nodded. The smallest movement. ‘Do what you must.’

  ‘Very well.’ Feyt was brisk now. ‘The bottles containing the poisoned cirul were a rare gift sent from Poverin, collected directly from the ship in port by Bleyd, and left in Tarsin’s apartment. Asa claims to have brought a message from one of the gate legionnaires who had taken a message from an urchin, on behalf of the shipmaster who had received the package from Poverin.’

  ‘Asa did give Bleyd that message,’ Ember said. ‘That was the day he took me to the mermod’s … to Anyi’s apartment to avoid Coralyn. I heard Asa tell him there was something from his father at the pier. He said he would go right away to get it.’

  Anyi leaned forward. ‘Maybe it was just a thing he said and did not do. Surely it was a ploy to draw Asa away from the apartment where you were hidden. He could easily have sent someone else to pick the bottles up and deliver them to Tarsin’s apartment.’