by Dawn Peers
"But if he did, you'd send word to the council?"
"Exactly. And the same is true of Sha'sek—Lynton would send word to Vance should they make any moves towards gathering troops together."
"That was the Sha'sek side of the bargain?"
"Yes. Because the states of Sha'sek are so separated, and its peoples partially nomadic, there is little way of us policing where people live. However, the states separately have very little by the way of military force. The agreement states that if Sha'sek begins a muster, if its troops ever gather together again, then that will be seen as a declaration of war, and Everfell can take the necessary steps to defend itself. There were many nobles on both sides that were unhappy with this solution. Your father was one of them. He'd won a number of decisive victories for Everfell, and he was convinced that, with the right application of men and tactics, Everfell would be able to defeat Sha'sek, and take control of its major island states."
"Would that have been enough?"
Sammah nodded. "Yes. The states of Sha'sek are all independent, but its larger states are the ones with the majority of the resources, the higher populations, and therefore, most of the power. The families in the smaller states would automatically accede to the new power, if only to guarantee they kept their own seats."
"So who had the ultimate decision?"
"Before the wars Everfell was split. Each land had a full ruler in its own right. Sha'sek objected to this. In the same way that all states followed the will of the council, we thought it best that all the rulers of Everfell followed the law of one king. In this way, one of the lords couldn't break away and violate the treaty. Despite their initial objections, all of the lords agreed to this."
"And the king was decided by a vote?"
"Yes, the king was decided by a vote. However, the Council of Sha'sek also had one vote each. The council, including its leaders, has eleven members."
"The vote of the council would have overridden the vote of the Everfell lords? How is that fair?"
Sammah dismissed Eden with a wave. "Fair does not come into the discussions of war. Sha'sek has many more people, the votes were proportionate to the number of people being represented. The lords agreed to it."
"And Vance was voted king?"
"Obviously, as he is king today."
"Was he a popular choice?"
"As I recall at the time, he was a surprising choice."
"And let me guess. My father thought he should have won the vote."
"He did. If the lords votes only had counted, Shiver would be king. But the council did not want a hot-headed war general to sit on the throne. That would have defeated the object of declaring the king; we were certain that one day, sooner than everyone wanted, Shiver would declare war again to get what he wanted. As a man, the council voted for Vance."
"No one respects Vance. They think he's weak, and leans on others too much for advice. That was true then, wasn't it?"
"Yes. Sha'sek didn't want a strong king on the throne. We knew that with Vance, no one would argue because, you are wrong that he is not respected. The men do respect him. Everfell is the largest city, and has the highest population. Beyond that, it has the highest revenues, and the best history of stability and peace. Vance's lineage is reputable. His fathers and grandfathers ruled in Everfell. He should have been ideal material to be your king. He was just more maleable than his ancestors. We knew that would work for others though, too. With a manipulable man on the throne, Shiver would still feel like he had enough of an ear to keep him in line."
"Keep him in line? Until Sha'sek were ready to strike again?"
"Not necessarily strike, no. Remember we lost as many people, perhaps more, than Everfell did. It was a hard time, and we are still not fully recovered from this. But Vance is reaching past his useful age, and we need to look for the future. So we are looking at making sure the replacement for this king is someone that is both a Sha'sek sympathiser, and someone that has an heir we can trust. All of the lords that signed the treaty are either dead or in their waning years. Broc was one of ours. It is unfortunate, what happened to him. Shiver, as I'm sure you have now gathered, is also with Sha'sek. Ross, he can be brought back to his old ways, I'm sure. So Everfell is a strong seat for us."
"Do you want Shiver to take the throne next?"
"We're still not sure Shiver is the right man for us. He is still hot-headed. Though he does covet Vance's seat greatly. Shiver feels like he earned it. Now, we have a lot more faith in his sons. Shiver may not be around for long. If Vance were to encounter some unfortunate accident, then I'm sure the same fate could befall Shiver. He is, of course, so fond of his drinking. Men have fallen from the parapets before. You don't have any love for your father, do you?"
"No. But I am not sure I could be a party in his death."
"You wouldn't need to be Eden; it could all be arranged for you." Sammah took a quiet sip of wine. "Though there is the small matter of your brothers, who are both in line to inherit before you."
"I don't care for my brothers, either."
"I will have to check for the truth of that before I decide. Because I have taken you fully in to my confidence, Eden, you must do the same for me. Quinn is mine, and she always will be. If I ask her to read you, to tell me if you are being truthful, she will. She fears my blade more than she honours or needs your love. Ross, too, is mine to control. Whether he likes to acknowledge that or not, he cannot help you. Do not think to go to anyone with this. If you say anything to your father—well, he'll just come straight to me with the information, like he has done since the end of the war. I have roots in this court deeper than the tallest tree. I am immovable, and I am above all. Thanks to Quinn's efforts over the years, I have enough information on every single lord that, loyal to me or not, they will not get in the way when the time comes. And you wouldn't want to see the woman you love murdered horribly by an Everfell mob, would you?"
"No baron, I would not."
Sammah’s tight-lipped grin returned. “Good boy, Eden.”
40
They were all gathered, this time in Ross's rooms. Maertn and Eden stood, whilst Quinn and Ross stayed seated in chairs next to Ross's small functional table. Maertn stamped his feet a few times. "Don't you even have a brazier? It's freezing in here!"
"What do I need one of those for? I'm only in here to sleep, and I have blankets for that." Ross looked Maertn up and down. "Get some meat on your bones boy, you won't feel the cold as badly then. Or make up a potion. That's what you do, isn't it?"
Despite the apparent cold, colour rose to Maertn's cheeks.
"I know it doesn't seem like it, but we're close to having Sammah right where we need him."
"What about the threats to everyone? To Shiver, and Quinn, and all the other murders?"
"The murders have stopped for now. I think it's safe to assume Sammah has rid himself of anyone he thinks might talk about Quinn. The rest of us are considered either too useful or too trapped to move against him right now. His overconfidence is going to be his downfall. Sammah has been planning this for years, and now the time is coming for him to start moving his pawns in to place, he's going to find that the board has changed somewhat. Most of that is down to Quinn's change. Maertn told me about it, Quinn. He also told me about that book. We need to find it. There are weaknesses in there. Sammah wouldn't hide it so much, otherwise. It has to hold information about you that we can use."
"Don't you have any contacts in Sha'sek that you could use?"
Ross shook his head. "I do, but it's too dangerous. All of the correspondence between the two kingdoms is monitored. Sammah has ways and means of getting information past those guards, but that is only because his brother is the ruler of one of the strongest city states. I was a mercenary. All the dirty routes I had to pass information were closed down long ago.
Now, Sammah believes that he has me cornered, and that Eden is loyal, whether he wants to be or not. He thinks the same about you, Quinn. The only person that s
eems to be completely out of Sammah's scope of vision is Maertn. Do we know why?"
Maertn made a face. "I'm obviously not as important as empaths, lords, and mysterious war mercenaries."
Quinn clicked her fingers. "You're a level for me. That's why you haven't been mentioned. You've not disrupted Sammah; you said the right things in court. The only involvement you've had, as far as he knows, is to stop me from leaving the castle that night. As far as Sammah is aware, you're still loyal, and that is not going to change. Despite knowing the truth."
"Doesn't that make him the most vulnerable, though?" Eden asked "If Sammah knows that Maertn has such an influence over you, he's going to think the relationship works both ways. He could try to use Maertn's safety against you."
"He already has, in a way. I think that, if Maertn hadn't been here I would have already left, and Sammah knows that. Maertn is his best leverage against me. If all else fails, then you will be in direct harm, Maertn. I believe he wants an empath more than he wants a healer. Does that scare you?"
"All of this scares me. In the past moon, I've performed a healing on my best friend when I didn't know what I was doing. I've seen her pass out in a stampede of men and stopped her from running away from home. I've found out that she's a mysterious killer—except that she isn't—and that I'm not a fantastic student, just a healer by birth. I've found out that Ross didn't fight for Everfell in the war, and everyone I thought was loyal to the king is just waiting for him to die or be ousted. Broc and Sirah have been murdered, and men keep on turning up dead. Through all of this, no one has asked me what I thought, or what I felt, not really. So yes, I'm scared.
But I'm not someone that Sammah is either interested in manipulating, or waiting to kill. I've just been able to carry on healing people, reading my books and seeing my friends. For that, I'm grateful. And I'm willing to do anything needed to make sure we bring an end to Sammah and his plots."
"And what do you think, Eden? I think, except Quinn, you stand to lose the most. When Shiver's involvement with Sammah comes out, your family stands to lose its standing."
"I haven't had a part in that. Rowan is old enough to inherit. The sons shouldn't be held to account for the crimes of the father."
"No. But the world does not always work that fairly, and that is not an answer to my question. I asked you what you think."
"I'm scared, too. I came to Everfell this year expecting another boring meet. I was preparing myself for a torturous time of waiting on my father as he drank and whored his way through the majority of the court women, until he got bored or ill and decided to come home. That's what usually happened—or at least that's how it seemed to my younger eyes. What do I find instead? I...well I don't need to tell you, do I? I have been so desperate to please my father for so long that I haven't seen what was beneath my nose the whole time. The shadow of the Lord of Sevenspells is getting long and fat. I've stepped out from underneath it, and I prefer what I see. I'll do what it takes to bring justice to Sammah. Even if it means my father is implicated, and he loses his seat. For his greed, he deserves whatever the law brings to him."
"And you, Quinn? Of all of us, you could lose the most?"
"I don't have a choice, do I? I'm the Satori. I'm the one Sammah has used. It's my fault that he's been able to blackmail the lords for so long, and that he has the power he does. He's going to keep on using me until I'm past my purpose, and then he's going to kill me. I can't cross the border, and I can't leave Everfell, not knowing everything I do now. I have to stay here, because he has to be defeated. And I have to be the one that does it."
"It's going to happen quickly. When we act, it will be perhaps less than two days before Sammah realises what is happening. You won't have long to prepare. Are you sure you want to do this Quinn?"
Her green eyes glistened with tears. Ross couldn't tell whether they were happy or sad, and seeing them crushed a corner of his heart. "Since when have I ever been given a choice?"
"Right now, Sammah isn't giving anyone a choice. And what do animals do when they are trapped?"
Eden grinned. "They bite."
41
"Do they all think you're supporting them, then?"
Ross took a sip of water. "Aye. They were hanging on my every word. It was inspirational. Poets will sing about it one day."
"It's a shame none of it was true."
Ross fingered the pouch of coins in his lap. It was heavy. He smiled through gritted teeth. "You know me, Sammah. Once a mercenary, always a mercenary."
"I have to take my leave. Finish that. See yourself out."
Sammah rose and headed towards his bathing room. Even his statuesque mercenary, usually ever-watchful, left Ross to his own devices. Ross's eyes roved around the room, allowing himself to relax in to the chair and take in the luxury which Sammah allowed himself.
This room was a world away from what Sammah would have enjoyed—or perhaps more endured—in his life in Sha'sek. Ross's own quarters reflected more accurately what their status was in their native society. Ross hadn't been Sha'sek by birth, but his parents had moved their early on in life, preferring its open society and warmer climates. Despite his size and the colour of his skin, Ross considered himself more Sha'sek than Everfell, though his years spent with both sides meant he could empathise with each side of the border. For a long time, he had resented the power that Sammah was clearly nurturing. He had been powerless to stop the rise of the baron; a mere mercenary, with all the lords knowledgeable of his past, he would have little to no credibility in exposing the wanton ambition and greed; he would just be accused of harbouring his own type of greed. The pouch that lay in his lap told him just how much Sammah respected him now, more than words ever could. Ross grasped it hard. Accepting this pouch had never been his intention. He wanted the words he had exchanged between Eden, Maertn and Quinn to be true. The hope on their young faces; the expectation that they had a strong ally, and he would provide them with a route to success, was unbearable. Quinn and Maertn especially, whom he had seen grown and somehow flourish under Sammah's harsh patronage. Telling Sammah that he had been seeing them as part of a wider and more elaborate plot had been Ross's way of gaining Sammah's trust. He couldn't have met so frequently with them without it coming to Sammah's attention otherwise.
All around him there were reasons why he should help Quinn. Apart from the obvious; Ross did not want to see a man like Sammah condemn a girl—woman—like Quinn to death for his own gain; Sammah had an insatiable greed. It was there in his exquisite hanging rugs, his expansive hardwood table, polished and immaculate. It showed in his taste in wine, and the size of his suite. It was seen with his personal retinue, hand-picked and voluntarily mute, following wordlessly their master's every command. Sammah was building his own empire in Everfell. It started with these suites. With men like Shiver having his ear, it would not end with the throne room. Sammah was ambitious enough to want it all, and he had the cunning to take it.
Ross shook with adrenalin at the thought of finally standing in this man's way; he relished, for once in his life, the opportunity to do the right thing and for the right reasons, not for cold hard coin. Standing, he moved over to Sammah's bookcases. Neither Eden nor Quinn had had the chance to get this close and retrieve the book. Well, Eden had, but he hadn't been able to sway the conversation his way, Sammah instead bullying the young lad in to the direction the baron wanted. Typical of him, really.
Ross ran his eyes along the rows of volumes. None fit the description he was after; a large volume bound in old green leather. Massive in its size, and therefore apparently easily distinguished from Sammah's other tomes. The problem was, that there was just so many of the damn things. Getting more and more nervous as he heard movements from Ross's bathing rooms, he downed the rest of his water and placed the glass on the table, getting ready to make a hasty exit if it was required. Eyes working like wild wind, he saw what he needed on the top shelf, to the top left. It was part of the bookshelf next to the bathing room
door, so he would have to be quiet if he were to get it without Sammah knowing. He peered up on his toes. There was disturbed dust around the shelf. It had been placed here only recently, but the buildup to each side of the slot indicated that Sammah did not need to refer to it often. Perhaps they would have more than the day or so that he had guessed, but they would have to act quickly whether Sammah identified that the book was gone or not.
Ross wrapped his giant hand around the spine of the volume. Maertn had done well to heft this—Ross could barely get his fingers around it, the text was so thick. Sliding it out of its place, Ross watched the other books to make sure that none would collapse in its place. Thinking on his feet, he grabbed a couple of smaller volumes from the lowest shelf, well out of eye level, and filled the gap he had left behind. Grasping the precious book from the table, he made a sharp exit out of Sammah's suites, which had suddenly become hot, uncomfortable and claustrophobic.
Panting heavily as he moved through the halls to his own quarters, he kept on looking nervously over his shoulder. The back of his head tingled irrationally, as if someone watched him go the entire way. He kept on expecting to see Elias, somehow freed from the gaol and bearing down on him. Or even an entire cluster of Sammah's silent and deadly mercenary assassins. No one came. When a dog scampered out of the rooms and into his legs, Ross nearly jumped out of his skin. He was followed by Grainne, who knocked into her master without looking up. She dropped a bundle of cloth in her hand, and Ross dropped the volume into them.
“I’m sorry! I should have been looking where I was going!”
Ross crouched down, picked up the volume and bundling the cloth into his arms. “Don’t worry girl, nothing’s broken. It’s fine.”. He looked back over his shoulder. There was still no one coming. His nerves were bending beyond reason, now. “Get the dog, and I’ll take this to the cleaning ladies. It’s been spoiled by the floor. We can’t use it in the rooms. Go on, quickly now.”
