Thawed Fortunes (The Guadel Chronicles Book 2)

by Murray, Dean

  On the table to Va'del's right was an open copy of the Teachings. His slowly-improving vision was just up to making out the underlined verse.

  Prized is he who saves his brother though he must strike down evil to do so.

  Secure in the knowledge that Tim'i must be okay as well, Va'del settled back into the bed, only to find a nearby shadow had resolved itself into Ah'bi's weary face.

  "I'm glad to see you're awake, how do you feel?"

  His throat was dry, but Va'del found that he was just able to speak. "Okay I think, but I hurt almost everywhere."

  Ah'bi nodded. "That's to be expected. We did everything we could for you, but we didn't have enough energy to take care of all the pulled muscles and bruises too. On the plus side, you should be up and about in a day or so rather than the weeks it would have taken normally. On'li and Jain both used themselves up. We had to force them to stop and sleep, but they'll be fine in a day or so."

  Va'del cleared his throat again. "What happened?"

  Ah'bi shrugged. "Only the biggest ruckus since the last time you put the collective Council on its ear by doing what they couldn't."

  Va'del's hazy mind tried to make sense of what the Guadel was saying. He knew the words, but they wouldn't string themselves together to convey any kind of real meaning.

  "You knocked Be'ter out as he bowled you over. Jain knocked Mali out before she could cause any more problems, and then sent Tim'i for help while she tried to keep you from dying. Tim'i found Fi'lin, who was on his way back up from the blacksmith because he figured you were probably lost."

  Ah'bi was making sense to Va'del now, and he weakly gestured for her to continue.

  "Fi'lin got you to a healer in the nick of time, sent Tim'i to go get me, and then went back for Be'ter. Believe it or not, he actually dragged that piece of filth all the way to the Council chamber and gave the whole group a good tongue-lashing for letting Be'ter get so bad."

  Va'del felt his eyes go wide as he imagined Fi'lin storming into the meeting and telling them exactly what he thought of them all.

  Ah'bi smiled, apparently understanding exactly what he was thinking about. "I haven't heard exactly what he said, but I imagine it was fairly spectacular. By all accounts, once he was gone On'li proceeded to do much the same, but her focus wasn't on the fact that they'd let Be'ter pick on all the younger kids. She let them know exactly how unjust they were being to you, and then essentially threatened to pull what was left of the Stephens bloodline out of the Council if they didn't shape up."

  Va'del had been astonished before, but what he felt now was something so powerful he didn't even have a name for it. "Can she even do that?"

  "I don't know. It seems to have caused quite the stir though. The Council has been in session continuously for the last eight cycles."

  While her patient tried to process everything he'd just been told, Ah'bi reached over and picked up a plate of sweet bread. "This is from Mar'li. She brought it by herself. Tim'i, Javin and Fi'lin were all here until a cycle or so ago. I sent them all home because they were taking up so much room it was starting to get hard to breathe and I didn't figure you'd wake up for quite a while still."

  Va'del found that his throat was tight and his vision was starting to swim a little. "Thank you."

  A hand reached out and squeezed the teenager's arm. "No, thank you for everything you've done. You deserve so much better than you've been given, and I owe you an apology. Fi'lin wanted to sponsor you weeks ago, but I just can't bring myself to do it."

  Va'del felt a sense of wonderment as he realized just how fond Fi'lin must be of him. Unfortunately, Ah'bi's statement could only be construed as to indicate that her feelings towards him must be as negative as her husbands were positive. Mindful of the fact that he'd been silent for too long, and that it wouldn't be wise to further alienate the older woman, Va'del nodded. "It's okay, I understand."

  "I don't think you really do, but thanks for your forgiveness anyways."

  A stirring at the foot of the bed distracted both of them from what could have turned into an awkward moment, and then Jain was clinging to his arm crying. "I was so worried about you. There was so much blood and I wasn't strong enough to stop it. I'm so sorry I didn't link with you sooner."

  Va'del shook his head as he reached up to wipe Jain's tears away. "You don't have anything to be sorry about. If you hadn't healed me, I'd be dead. As for the linking, I'm glad you did it when you did, but any sooner and it would have been us that broke the rules instead of Be'ter."

  On'li was standing now, and Va'del met her eyes. "Thank you for helping patch me up."

  The old woman shook her head. "I should have done so much more before now. Maybe if I had, you wouldn't have been on death's doorstep for the second time in as many months."

  Va'del's response was cut off by a quiet clap from outside. Ah'bi called out for whoever it was to enter, and Per'ce walked into the room followed by Javin, Fi'lin and Mar'li.

  Someone had once pointed Per'ce out to Va'del in passing, and at the time the Guadel had worn one of the sternest expressions the young man had ever seen. In fact, that seriousness had engraved itself so deeply in Va'del's mind that for a second he didn't recognize the older man.

  He still looks serious, and very tired, but he's somehow happy too.

  Per'ce held up a hand to forestall any questions. "I wanted to be the first to let you know, and I thought it only right that the rest of Va'del's family be here. The discussion that took place over the last eight cycles is one I hope to never have to repeat. Opinions are some of the most heated I've yet seen, but we just voted on a motion to grant Va'del candidacy. Assuming that both On'li and Javin retain their seats and vote in the affirmative, it passed by one vote."

  Chapter 12

  Fi'lin stood along the wall in the Council chamber. He'd wished for a way to remove Be'ter from the candidate pool hundreds of times, but he'd never suspected it might be at the price of almost losing Va'del. Just as bad was the way a promising young Daughter had been all but ruined, and the way so many of Be'ter's peers were refusing to see the truth that he'd gone too far.

  Tim'i, Va'del, and Jain had all been deposed prior to the actual trial, and none of the other Daughters or candidates had any legitimate reason to attend, but the last few people to enter the room had indicated there was a fairly sizable contingent of candidates and Daughters both, who'd gathered as close to the Council chamber as they could, quietly making their support of Be'ter known.

  Someone probably should have cleared them out, but every single Guadel currently in the Capital was attending and nobody wanted to miss out on the trial to discipline a bunch of children who'd eventually have to see reason regardless.

  Even Se'ath will eventually have to admit that Be'ter was a liar. At least I hope he does, if not the boy will never amount to any good at all.

  Be'ter's sponsors had tried to intervene on his behalf a number of times both before and during the trial, but A'vril had finally barred them from the proceedings and ordered them out on patrol. Fi'lin had always known that Be'ter had some kind of hold over his sponsors, but nobody had expected them to continue to defend him like that after all of the evidence had come to light.

  Be'ter strode into the room flanked by Fi'lin's assistants, both of whom had volunteered to serve as bailiffs during the proceedings. More than anyone else, those two had seen just how much influence Be'ter had on his peers, but their eagerness to help had been more than just payback for how hard he'd made their lives. They'd taken an incredible shine to Va'del, to the point where Fi'lin wouldn't have been surprised if they'd offered honor duels to anyone who'd tried to deny them this right.

  Both of the men moved with the sure grace and controlled menace of Guadel who were actively linked to their wives. Ja'dir, as the head of the boy's bloodline, had objected on his behalf to the measure, under the grounds that it was excessive, but Ah'bi, serving as the prosecution, had pointed out that Be'ter was guilty of attempted murder and tha
t he had received the standard set of permanent augmentations that were typically reserved for full Guadel. A'vril's eyes had widened slightly, but she'd overruled the objection, and things had then progressed more or less as Ah'bi had told him they would.

  The nine Guadel selected at random from the individuals available at the Capital had listened impassively to the evidence and then closeted themselves away for the better part of two cycles.

  A'vril conferred with two of the members of the jury for several minutes and then nodded. "On the question of whether the accused is guilty of an unlawful link, the court has carefully weighed the defense's argument that the pair fully intended to marry and finds it lacking. The defendant is found guilty on this charge."

  There was a rustle of movement throughout the court as everyone nodded or shook their heads depending on where their sympathies happened to lie.

  A'vril swept the court with a stern look that settled everyone down before they could really even consider getting out of hand, and then continued.

  "After examining the wounds of candidate Va'del, comparing the testimonies of all parties present for the incident, and the pattern of behavior existing previously, the court finds the defendant guilty of attempted murder."

  The noise from around the court was louder this time, but A'vril slapped the stone table before her and the blow rang out like she'd used a hammer. "The jury was very specific regarding the punishment. Although there is no wish to create a precedent for interference with the sponsoring decisions of individual Guadel, we cannot tolerate the presence of a murderer in our ranks. Be'ter is consequently stripped of all rights and privileges, and sentenced to be exiled from the caves of the People. We leave his fate to the winter snows and the Goddess he's abandoned by his actions. If he is found among the People again he will be summarily executed."

  ##

  Va'del scanned the sky and once again suppressed worry at how unpromising the weather was starting to look. His instructors had escorted a group of candidates out nearly two days' journey from the Capital and then told them that their score would be based on how quickly they could make it back. On their own, without any worked stones.

  Depriving them of gurra would have been plenty draconian enough, but the route they'd taken meant there weren't any way caves, so they had to spend each night in the thin way tents that were generally only used in an emergency.

  Va'del sighed, his face buried beneath his gurra-cloth hood, and wondered why he'd somehow thought his life would be easier once he was a candidate. To be fair, it probably would have been a little easier if everything had stayed the same other than his status. Having them throw in the tests for him to become a sub-Guadel represented a pretty broad departure from what everyone had expected to happen, and having Se'ath in the same batch of candidates being tested only made things worse.

  Anyone with even an ounce of intelligence would have looked at the weather, weighed the very good odds that a storm was on its way, and hunkered down in their tent. Se'ath had shot Va'del a nasty look, muttered something venomous, and headed towards the Capital.

  By the time Va'del came to his senses and decided that becoming a sub-Guadel very much wasn't worth dying for, it was too late. There wasn't enough light left to turn back to the sheltered spot he'd noticed a couple of cycles previously.

  A large drift situated between a pair of rocky outcroppings suddenly sparked Va'del's memory. It'd been no way cave, but the night they'd passed in the bandit's snow burrow had been a huge leap up from the cold hell of an emergency tent. If I work quickly enough I just may survive to make it back home and learn that my scores in diplomacy and religion were too low to pass regardless of how well I did out here.

  Se'ath had kept moving when Va'del paused to examine the drift, and was nearly to the next turn of the trail when Va'del yelled for him to turn around. It was possible that the wind really was strong enough to drown out the shout, but Va'del couldn't escape the suspicion that Se'ath had just been convinced Va'del had been trying to slow him down.

  As Be'ter's best friend vanished from sight, Va'del was momentarily torn between following him and leaving him to the fate he probably deserved. A sudden gust of wind pushed with nearly enough force to knock a person over, and Va'del's mind was made up. He'd never catch Se'ath now.

  The outer crust of the drift was incredibly hard, but Va'del's snow axe was just up to the job and he quickly cut out a rough circle and began digging into the softer snow underneath.

  Even being extremely careful not to overexert himself to the point of sweating, the initial phases of the burrow went quickly, and Va'del soon found himself protected from the raging wind. Progress slowed further once he finished the downward shaft and began tunneling upwards. Not only was it hard to use his snow axe in the cramped confines of the tunnel, the snow he did manage to break loose would partially fill the tunnel and have to then be pushed outside in a separate step. Va'del briefly considered using his dagger instead of the snow axe, but the weapon had belonged to his late sponsor I'rone, and not wanting to risk damaging it, he decided to stick with the now unwieldy axe unless circumstances became even more desperate. Even so, the work was enjoyable enough that he lost track of time, and it was several moments before he was able to separate the sound of someone yelling from the continual howl of the wind.

  Chills arced their way down Va'del's neck as he realized just how vulnerable he was, trapped in the burrow, completely unable to turn around or do anything more than slowly inch backwards back into the elements, I'rone's knife now clasped firmly in his right hand.

  Temporarily stuck halfway in the burrow as he was, it was a surprising relief when Va'del finally recognized the voice as belonging to Se'ath.

  "Powers, it was you. I wasn't sure if this was where I last saw you or not. If it wasn't for your pack I would have kept going."

  Va'del brushed snow away from his gurra-wool hood and looked at his pack, barely visible in the failing light, still sitting where he'd anchored it in the snow before beginning to work on the burrow.

  "We don't have much time, it's nearly dark, and if the wind picks up much more it will be strong enough to blow an unanchored person right off of the mountain. I'll go back in and continue clearing the inside of the burrow, you move the snow outside as I push it down to the low point in the initial tunnel."

  Se'ath seemed to bristle at having to take orders from the half-breed. For a moment Va'del was worried that the other boy would draw his weapon, but he finally nodded and anchored his things next to Va'del's pack.

  Va'del didn't feel completely safe even once he was inside the burrow, but he put his concerns aside and began digging into the relatively soft snow as quickly as he was able. Half a cycle later the burrow had been completed with as many of the finishing touches as he could both remember and execute in the dark, and he called for Se'ath to grab both packs and then follow them in.

  As amazing as gurra wool was at shedding moisture while still retaining a person's body heat, even its near-magical abilities had met their match when faced with digging a shelter out of nothing more than a large drift, and despite the relatively warm environment of the burrow, Va'del knew he needed to shed the wet outer layer of his clothing and replace it with something dry before his core temperature started dropping.

  Se'ath more or less cooperated, but there was a grudging feel to the silence. Finally, the surly candidate broke the silence. "I suppose I owe you. As rapidly as the temperature was dropping I wouldn't have been able to make one of these by myself in time."

  That's of course assuming that you'd both known how to make one, and thought of it before the cold stole your wit. Mindful of the fact that his thoughts were less than charitable, Va'del tried to be a little conciliatory. "I was to the point where I couldn't have finished it off very quickly by myself. Having you here to help sped things up dramatically."

  Somehow the words weren't the right ones. Even through the darkness Va'del could feel Se'ath bristling with indignation. "W
hatever. Once the storm abates and the sun rises the truce is over and I'll beat you back to the Capital. Your lucky breaks with the bandits let you wrap everyone on the Council around your finger, just like Be'ter always said. You'd think they'd have been smarter than that with all the trouble you've caused since you got here. Somehow I'm going to prove you're nothing special, that they exiled the wrong person. And when I do, I'll make sure I'm there to see them send you out into the snow with nothing but a couple of days' worth of food and the clothes on your back."

  ##

  Va'del tried to stretch and loosen up for his next set of tests, but his muscles had been through far too much in the last two days to forgive him that easily. Se'ath hadn't waited for the storm to break properly before setting out, and the pair had fought the wind the whole way back. If Jain and Guadel Ah'bi hadn't augmented Va'del's muscles he'd never have managed to win. Even with those advantages, Se'ath had stumbled in less than a quarter cycle after Va'del. Measuring based on sheer will, he'd been the clear victor.

  The instructors who'd met them at the entrance to the city hadn't known whether to give the boys high marks for having completed the nightmarish journey so much quicker than anyone had expected, or fail them soundly for having thrown out all of the important things they'd ever been taught, pressing on under conditions which should have probably killed them.

  At best the test seemed to have been a draw, not bringing Va'del any closer to advancement, but not edging him any further towards failure either. He'd done passably on the verbal law test, which helped some but didn't feel like enough to swing the tide in his favor.

  Va'del knew that carrying so many worries into his next task would be a bad idea, so he tried to clear his mind as he carefully put on his protective padding. Weapons skills. If he could do well enough on this last set of tests, maybe that would be enough to impress the instructors.

  The teenager turned around to see who his first opponent would be, and felt his confidence drain away as Fi'lin saluted him and dropped into a ready stance.