‘This Unraveller …’ Ember began.
Anyi gave her a curious look. ‘It must seem odd to you waiting a millennium for one to come from your world.’
Ember had not thought of the Unraveller as coming from her own world, but before she could speak there was a loud banging at the door and they both jumped.
‘I will call out through the door so we can tell Alene who came,’ Anyi whispered. He went inside, and crossed to the entrance. ‘Who is it?’
‘It is I, Kerd. I must speak with Alene.’
‘She is not here …’
‘Let me in and I will wait for her. It is important.’
‘We cannot leave him out there yelling his head off,’ Anyi hissed.
Ember was indecisive. ‘Alene said to let no one inside.’
Anyi shrugged. ‘Kerd is no one’s enemy – except perhaps his own. I will let him in and lock the door again. Are you alone?’ he yelled.
‘I am.’
Anyi unbolted the door to admit the Vespian.
‘I am sorry about your brother, mermod,’ Kerd said gravely.
‘Do not be,’ Anyi growled. ‘Nothing will happen to him. He is no poisoner.’
Kerd said sincerely, ‘I did not mean to imply that I thought Bleyd guilty. That is to be judged by others. But I do not believe he can have done this terrible thing. There must be some mistake. Have you spoken to him yet?’
Anyi shook his head in deep dejection. ‘They will not let anyone see him. They claim he might incite his friends to try again.’
The Vespian looked troubled. ‘By Lanalor’s Charter, a person accused of a crime must be permitted to speak to those who may clear his name, or speak in his defence before judgment be passed. Mermod though you are, he is your brother still.’
‘They say that as mermod, I am not a blood relative so I cannot speak to him or for him.’
‘But how can he show his innocence, if he is not permitted to speak to someone who can organise his defence?’ Kerd asked.
Ember stared at him incredulously. The Vespian was so honour-bound himself that he could not imagine anyone acting dishonourably. That was certainly a kind of stupidity.
Anyi gave the wavespeaker a surprisingly adult look. ‘No one will be allowed to speak to Bleyd because he is innocent and may say something to help us prove it.’
The lock turned and the door opened suddenly to admit Tareed and the soulweaver.
‘What happened?’ Anyi asked, even before they were inside. Alene signalled the myrmidon to bolt the door and greeted Kerd before turning to Anyi.
‘I fear I may have worsened Bleyd’s cause,’ she said gravely. ‘Tarsin claims I show my disloyalty by wishing to speak to one who tried to murder him.’
‘He cannot accuse you of disloyalty because you wish to speak to Bleyd. That is as much as saying he is guilty before any judging,’ Kerd protested.
‘He can do anything he wants.’ Alene’s face was remote, as if she had suddenly drawn herself away from the whole affair.
‘We cannot just wait around and hope something happens to prove Bleyd is innocent!’ Anyi said, sounding suddenly young and frightened again. He turned to Ember. ‘You must ask Tarsin if you can talk to Bleyd, Ember. Since you saved his life, he will listen to you.’
‘No,’ Alene said sharply.
‘Why not, Alene?’ Kerd asked. ‘It is true the visionweaver has Tarsin’s favour. The whole court knows it. I do not know why the mermod would refuse anyone permission to see Bleyd, for he must want to know who tried to kill him, but if his … his illness clouds his reason, Ember may well reach him.’
Thus did he delicately circumnavigate the fact of Tarsin’s madness, which made it clear that he knew something about diplomacy after all.
Alene’s face was a study of indecision, and Ember wondered why the soulweaver was so opposed to letting her plead with Tarsin for Bleyd. Not that she thought she could convince him, but surely Alene ought to suggest it. It was hardly as if Tarsin would discover she was a stranger, and even if that was a danger, Bleyd and Anyi were more important than she was.
‘What possible reason would Ember have for asking to see Bleyd? Let us wait a little and see what Feyt has learned,’ Alene said.
‘I hope she finds something,’ Anyi said in a low, determined voice. ‘I pray to Shenavyre she does, but I tell you this, Alene. I am not my father and I will not sit by and let my brother be put to death tomorrow for something he did not do.’ There was a thread of steel in the boy’s tone, almost a threat, though what he could threaten was uncertain. Ember had the sudden thought that Anyi’s strength of character and his sense of honour were the reason he had been chosen mermod.
Kerd coughed apologetically. ‘I am sorry to intrude at such an unhappy and controversial time. Especially when I came only to give you good news, Alene. I fear my visit and my news are ill-timed.’
‘What news?’ Alene asked sharply.
Kerd blushed and a smile forced itself over his face. ‘Unys has agreed to handfast with me.’
There was dead silence, and his smile faded. ‘I had hoped you would be pleased for me.’
‘Of course we are pleased,’ Alene said. ‘You love Unys and I am glad she loves you.’
He nodded a little sadly and, not for the first time, Ember wondered if he was really as naive as everyone seemed to believe. Then the smile was gone. ‘Perhaps I could ask Unys to speak with her half-brother on Bleyd’s behalf.’
Alene shook her head hastily. ‘No, Kerd. We appreciate your offer but you must see that Unys would have no reason to help us, given the position her mother has taken on Darkfall.’
‘Of course she would,’ Kerd protested. ‘This is not a matter of politics but of justice. And Unys has a keen sense of honour.’
‘Honour? Unys?’ Tareed echoed in disbelief.
Kerd gave the myrmidon a cool look. ‘Do you say other?’
‘Of course she does not,’ Alene said wearily. ‘It is just that you should not ask Unys to become involved in such deadly matters as these.’
Kerd’s eyes widened appreciatively. ‘Lady, you are wise always. I am a cur for failing to see that Unys would be put in danger by this poisoner. I will go now, for I have intruded in your affairs long enough. I pray this trouble will soon be healed.’
‘A moment,’ Alene said wearily. ‘We need to know what ship brought the poisoned cirul to Ramidan. Feyt has gone to get the pier manifest for the day the message arrived for Bleyd. There will probably be some ships on the manifest on that day which are not in port now, and I would be grateful if you would call to your father to find their scheduled locations so that we can question them.’
‘You can rely upon me to contact him as soon as you send me a list of the ships,’ Kerd promised. He bowed and Tareed let him out, then locked the door behind him.
‘Acantha in the hands of the Draaka, Fomhika isolated and in danger, and now Kerd is to handfast with Unys of Iridom,’ said the amazon. ‘Do you still say Coralyn does not throw her net for some special catch, soulweaver?’
‘Unys is not innately evil and Kerd is no fool, for all Coralyn thinks he is. But I wonder if he has told his father yet of the poisoning attempt or of his betrothal.’
‘As I was saying outside, Alene, I spoke to the servitors while you called to Darkfall and Poverin. Three servants saw Bleyd leave Tarsin’s apartment the very morning the cirul was delivered. It was left on a table with the note purporting to be from Poverin. Two green legionnaires also supposedly saw Bleyd arrive with something in his arms. They are too smart to say it was the bottles of cirul, but that he was carrying anything is incriminating. Maybe Coralyn’s men lied, but the servants as well? They have been with Tarsin from the beginning and are loyal to him. I think Bleyd went to the Holder’s apartment that morning.’
‘Perhaps he did bring the bottles, thinking they had been sent by his father,’ Alene speculated.
‘Then why did he speak of a fool’s errand? Alene, we need …’
There was a knock and the soulweaver made an impatient gesture for Tareed to open the door, saying it was Feyt.
‘I will get Kerd to come back …’ Anyi began eagerly and slipped out the door as Tareed opened it.
‘Where has he gone?’ Feyt demanded.
‘To get Kerd so he can call to Vespi right away to locate the ships,’ Tareed said. ‘He left but a moment past.’
‘There is no point.’
‘You were not able to get the manifest?’ Alene asked.
‘I have it,’ Feyt said, ‘and I spoke to all but three of the ships who were here that day. All had been visited by Bleyd looking for a package from his father, so he did go to the pier. It seems neither Asa nor the legionnaire who took the message from the urchin could recall which ship had sent it, or so Bleyd told the shipmasters he approached. None of them had the parcel, but one of the shipmasters saw him board two of those three ships which are not now in port, before coming to him.’
‘Which means it was not on either of them or he would not have continued his search,’ Tareed mused. ‘It must have been on the third ship. That makes it easy. I do not understand why you say it will do no good to recall Kerd. It will be a moment’s work for him to call his father and ask him to give the co-ordinates for the scheduled position of a single ship on a single day.’
Feyt’s expression was so bleak that Ember felt frightened. ‘Kerd will not be able to help us because the third ship will not be on Fulig’s master schedules.’
‘All Vespian ships are on the schedules and keep them, on pain of banishment,’ Alene said, looking puzzled.
‘Except those already banished.’
Ember had absolutely no idea what was unfolding, but from the expressions on Tareed and Alene’s faces, it was clear they did.
‘The third ship in port that night was the Vespian renegade, Nightwhisper,’ Feyt said flatly.
‘The blackwind has wrought this evil chance, for how will we call the Nightwhisper without knowing where she is?’ Alene said. ‘We will have to set watchers on all septs …’
‘I doubt that will help us, had we all the time in the world,’ Feyt said. ‘Don’t you see that it cannot have been a mere chance that the Nightwhisper was here that one day? The very fact that it was in port is more damaging for Bleyd than anything else. Everyone knows its reputation. No vessel could be better fitted to carry poison and betrayal. Worse, the pier master told me he heard a shipdaughter from the Nightwhisper say they were bound for Fomhika to collect payment for some cargo they had delivered.’
Alene said slowly, ‘Then the Nightwhisper brought the poison from Fomhika to Ramidan.’
‘It hardly matters if it did or not. Sharayde will certainly have been paid to make it seem that way. I have no doubt that if we locate the Nightwhisper, the crew will incriminate Bleyd. I fear we have run up against a wall.’
Alene frowned worriedly. ‘Anyi has been away too long and I do not like him wandering about alone. Bring him back, Tar, but say nothing of this until you are both here.’
Tareed left and Feyt closed the door behind her very carefully. She turned to Alene.
‘You know there is only one way now to save Bleyd.’
Alene’s brows drew together. ‘That is?’
‘He must escape. Poverin will have to exile him, of course, which leaves Gedron in line to inherit the chieftainship, but I think we have little choice. Alive and exiled he can have his name cleared. Dead he is only dead.’
‘Can he be freed from the dungeons?’ Alene asked.
Staring out the window, Ember watched dark clouds moving along the horizon. A storming, Anyi had said, and it seemed to be coming nearer.
‘No one could escape the cliff cells,’ the myrmidon said. ‘But if we can contrive to have Bleyd brought out of them, I believe the Shadowman can produce a band of ruffians to spirit him away. I have been thinking about it all the way from the pier. If ruffians take him, it will make it difficult to discern whether Bleyd escaped or was taken. That will give Poverin an excuse to hold his hand on the exile for a little while at least. He can say he must definitely know that Bleyd escaped before he disowns him. That will put the onus on the citadel legionnaires to prove he went by his own will and was not kidnapped.’
‘If Tarsin will let no one see Bleyd, why would he agree to have him brought out of the cells?’
‘Ember must ask it,’ Feyt said bluntly.
‘No!’ said Alene.
‘All she need do is tell Tarsin she fears for his life and her own at the hands of Bleyd’s unknown accomplice. She can say she wants to vision so as to identify the accomplice, but to do that, she must see Bleyd. She will not even speak with him in the end, because the ruffians will take him as soon as the legionnaires bring him from the cells.’
‘Then what? Bleyd vanishes and Tarsin will hold tighter than ever to Ember as his only hope of recapturing Bleyd and keeping himself safe. Ember cannot be made a pawn in this.’
‘I have considered Ember’s plight. She must leave Ramidan immediately Bleyd escapes. The Stormsong is in port and Revel will carry her without notification.’
Alene shook her head. ‘I understand that your plan barely involves her, but still you risk Ember’s life. If she announces her intention to learn the name of the poisoner’s accomplice, Coralyn will act against her immediately, fearing she will be named, or Asa. Or in case Ember says Bleyd is not the poisoner. Ember’s life would be in danger from the moment she spoke and that I cannot allow. There is more here at stake than one Fomhikan’s life.’
‘Bleyd is not just one Fomhikan, Alene,’ Feyt snapped, then visibly reined her temper. ‘He will be chieftain of Fomhika after Poverin and we need him in that position. Not only that; if you let Bleyd die, Anyi loves him too much to forgive you or Darkfall for failing to save him. So perhaps a Holder will again turn his back on the misty isle.’
‘Do not lecture me about politics or about love,’ Alene said frigidly. ‘I cannot base my decisions on whether one person will find them overharsh. Ember is a stranger – one of the Unraveller’s kindred – and Lanalor commanded us to defend and protect those who come to Keltor through his portal. I cannot knowingly put her in danger.’
Feyt sighed. ‘Very well. Then Ember must act in such a way that Coralyn will regard her as an ally.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ember can suggest that Bleyd’s accomplice was one of Coralyn’s enemies. Coralyn would insist that Tarsin bring Bleyd to be scried, if she saw a chance to harm an enemy. She would know Ember was lying, but would just assume she intended blackmail. She would understand that because it is how she, herself, thinks.’
Alene blinked once and very precisely. ‘Better still, if Ember suggests the accomplice was from Darkfall …’
‘Are you insane?’ Feyt cried.
The soulweaver shook her head, her expression almost dreamy. ‘You are right in saying it does not matter if Coralyn thinks Ember a charlatan who plays at visioning, so long as she thinks it will be to her advantage. To be offered proof of Darkfall’s infamy would be impossible for her to resist.’
‘No,’ Feyt said, as absolutely as the soulweaver had said it a little time before. ‘There is but one soulweaver on this isle. If Ember implicates Darkfall, you will be the only suspect.’
The soulweaver raised a pale hand, silencing the myrmidon. ‘I know that, Feyt. But either we will do it this way, or not at all. I will not risk Ember. If you are right in saying it will happen too swiftly for her to be in danger, then the same applies to me.’
‘Naming Darkfall will just confirm in people’s minds that the misty isle is corrupt,’ Feyt shouted. ‘Even if Ember says she made a mistake, or saw wrongly, or cannot confirm her notion without seeing Bleyd, who will be long gone by then and hidden within the citadel, you will still be under suspicion. Ember will be safe because Tarsin does not hate her!’
Alene said with a slight, sad smile, ‘He does not hate me either, Feyt. He will do
nothing to me without absolute proof that I am his poisoner.’
‘Are you so certain Tarsin will not just have you killed?’
‘I am. This I know both as a woman and as a soulweaver. Ember may implicate me in order to bring Bleyd out so you can spirit him away. Given that she will not have had a chance to see Bleyd, Ember can say she can not vision his accomplice until he is found. For that reason, he must be hidden very carefully.’
‘I dislike this plot,’ Feyt said at last. ‘It risks too much.’
‘Perhaps more than any of us know,’ Alene said cryptically, her silverblind eyes crossing to where Ember sat. ‘But Ember has not been asked whether she will take part in this scheme. We have spoken as if she has no choice.’
‘What say you?’ Feyt asked impatiently.
‘I can’t see anything,’ Ember whispered. ‘I am blind.’
segue …
The watcher dared not concentrate on the red-haired girl’s illness. Too much was at stake in her and there was nothing it could do, for healing was not in its power. Besides, the mere sight of the girl was almost unbearable, given her resemblance to Shenavyre. Instead, it focused on the link between the worlds. It focused on compassion and need …
It entered the mind of a girl on the Unraveller’s world trudging along a path swinging a bucket of horse feed. Some of the lucerne spilled out but she didn’t care. It was just dinner for Comet, her mother’s old horse. What a name to give the sway-backed horse with its lop-sided eyes and dirty white coat. The original owners must have been kidding themselves to think the horse was anything like a comet.
Her eyes lifted to the sky. It was cloudy and approaching dusk and that grey and ambiguous hour at which neither artificial light nor remaining daylight seems to illuminate anything.
She hoped it would not be like this when the real comet passed the earth because it came only once in a hundred years or so. Her teacher said it was approaching not just the earth, but the solar system. How big must that make it! The tail must be hundreds of kilometres long, which was why you could see it, though only as a fuzzy blur. It was so rare that people saw it as an omen for good or evil. Her father said it was nothing but a physical phenomenon.
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