The Prince of Exiles (The Exile Series)

by Hal Emerson

  Welcome to the Exiled Kindred.

  Chapter Six: The Call

  Raven met up with Tomaz and Leah soon after leaving the Pass – he was able to pick out the giant’s form through the crowd easily enough. They were waiting for him, knowing that over the next two days, the time it would take to get from the Pass to the city of Vale, he would need their help.

  The illusions that guarded the Kindred were deceptively simple to explain. The enchantments that covered the land south of the mountain range didn’t actually change anything – all the time Raven and the others traveled they were moving through grassland and forest. What it did do was disassociate the un-Anchored mind from the real world around it, forcing a person’s mind to fill in the landscape unconsciously. This meant that if you were un-Anchored and you accidentally thought of a river, you’d suddenly find yourself in the middle of one. Or, if you thought of a time you’d visited a set of rooms, you’d find yourself walking down the hallway outside them.

  So, when they first crossed the invisible line between the Pass and the enchantments and the grassy plain around them morphed into a Seeker’s prison cell, Raven knew that it wasn’t real. His mind, however, certainly made it feel that way. He gritted his teeth and pushed forward, doing his best to keep his horse going straight, following the rest of the Kindred, walking through what appeared to be a solid stone wall, and passing into a long corridor beyond.

  “You’d think they’d just give you an Anchor and be done with it,” Leah said as they made camp that night. They were only a day outside Vale, but pressing on during the night through a dense forest, even through land familiar to the Kindred, was a likely recipe for disaster.

  “They did give me one,” Raven said through clenched teeth. The scene around them had just shifted to a windswept fjord. When in the seven hells of the Kindred had he ever seen this? It must have been something dredged up from the back of his mind from the memories of another man. That was part of why the whole experience was so difficult for him in particular – not only did the landscape around them shift and change, but there were dozens of lives worth of memories in his head with which the enchantment could play. True, they weren’t pure memories, only second hand impressions, but they were still images that could be thrown up on the blank canvas the enchantment presented him.

  “They gave you one?” Tomaz asked; he sounded hurt.

  “Yes,” Raven said, confused. “Crane did the whole thing with me during the ride through the pass.”

  “That’s what he wanted to talk to you about,” Leah said, nodding her head, looking satisfied now that she knew. There was nothing she hated more than an unanswered question.

  “Yes,” Raven repeated before turning back to Tomaz. “But why are you offended?”

  “Because you didn’t tell me you idiot!” The giant roared, putting on his most solemn, disappointed face.

  “I was supposed to?” Raven asked confused.

  “You just really don’t understand the concept of friendship do you?” Leah said with a mocking grin.

  “You’re my friend too?” He asked, realizing with a strange kind of lurching in his stomach that he hadn’t really been sure how she felt about him. He knew that Tomaz was his friend – the big man had said so. And he had said so back. So it was confirmed, and that was that. But the girl hadn’t said anything – so how was he supposed to know?

  “Are you saying you don’t want to be my friend?” She asked, suddenly rounding on him, looking seriously offended.

  “No! I mean – yes I want to be, but no I’m not saying I don’t want to be your friend, I would, yes, like to be your friend, and no I would not like to not be your friend.”

  There was a pause here as the two Rogues both took a second to mentally unwind what he’d just said.

  “Do they teach all princes that kind of double talk?”

  “Just the lucky ones,” he said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. He was still trying to get used to his shorter hair – he’d been in need of a hair cut for some time now, but there hadn’t been a chance to get it properly done. So one night he’d simply taken a dagger and hacked most of it off. Davydd had actually complemented him on it the next day. Apparently it looked good, though function had been Raven’s main concern, not style.

  “Well then count yourself lucky to be our friend,” Tomaz said, including Leah in his look, “and tell us about things like that. It’s important – and it’s cause for celebration! Just wait until we get back to Vale –”

  The landscape shifted around them, and suddenly, to Raven’s eyes, they were in Vale, standing in the middle of the town in the large square outside the huge white-stone Capitol building where the Elders met in council.

  He gritted his teeth and tried to breathe in deeply through his nose as Tomaz continued.

  “ – we’ll have a feast of some kind. We’ll invite Davydd and Lorna too. And anyone else you feel like bringing.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s the extent of my peer group,” Raven said, trying to be cheerful about the proposition as well, though he could think of nothing he’d like to do less than have a bunch of people congratulating him for confirming his Exile.

  Tomaz came over and clapped him on the shoulder. Raven looked up into the wide, bluff face, with the immaculate beard and dark black eyes.

  “I’m joking,” the giant said, and Raven felt a huge swell of relief. “But it is an important event; it’s not everyday you join a new nation. I mean, I’ve always considered you one of us, but I’m excited you’ve made it official.”

  The big man grinned again, looking for all the world like a small child told his friend could come along to play, and Raven couldn’t help but smile back. The big man’s optimism was infectious.

  “I don’t know,” Leah broke in as she unrolled her bedroll and a blanket, “I’m still a little mad he didn’t think we were friends.”

  “I apologize,” Raven said, stepping toward her. “I consider you a friend.”

  He wasn’t sure if it was something in his tone that made her stop and look up, or if it was the words themselves, but her look was one of pleasant surprise and amusement.

  “Well good,” she said. “Now go to bed and stop bothering me.”

  “I thought friends were supposed to be polite to each other?”

  “They are. So go to bed and stop bothering me.”

  “No, I meant, shouldn’t you say please or something? That’s friendly.”

  “I have a knife. I am refraining from using it. That’s friendly.”

  “Ah, I see. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight princeling.”

  “Stop calling me that, I’m not a Prince.”

  “Shut up princeling.”

  The next day passed much the same, with Raven staying close to Leah and Tomaz and doing his best to not get caught up in the strange landscapes that continued to flicker across his vision. The swirling images made him nearly sick on numerous occasions, but when it got that bad he was able to close his eyes and trust Leah and Tomaz to lead his horse while he waited for the world to stop spinning.

  Halfway through the day, the newly minted Major Autmaran in his red cloak and armor rode up beside them. Tomaz and Leah made room for him and they all talked amiably for a time, though Raven was mostly silent, doing his best not to think of anything.

  “Would you mind if I spoke with Raven alone for a moment?”

  Tomaz and Leah hesitated, but Raven nodded and they acquiesced, though not without some measure of reluctance. They were the only ones helping Raven continue on in the right direction – if they left and Autmaran was careless, he could end up wandering back through the army the way they’d come and getting lost for days.

  “I’ll take care of him you two,” Autmaran said, “don’t worry. I know he doesn’t have an Anchor. I’ll stay close. I’ll wave you over when we’re done talking.”

  “It’s all right,” Raven said through clenched teeth. To his eyes it appeared they w
ere currently riding through some kind of frozen tundra, and he was shivering even though there wasn’t any actual cold. When Leah and Tomaz were about ten yards away they simply vanished, cloaked by the illusions, and it was only Raven and the Major.

  For a moment they rode in silence, which began to annoy Raven. Leah and Tomaz knew to keep up a pretty steady stream of conversation to help him keep his mind off their surroundings – Autmaran didn’t.

  “Pleasant day,” Autmaran said, looking around them.

  “I couldn’t tell,” Raven said, somewhat sour. The tundra became a misty forest, and then a burning desert. The sun shifted overheard, going back and forth, morphing into a moon, then breaking apart into a thousand stars.

  “Right!” Autmaran said too loudly, with a laugh.

  Raven eyed him, suddenly curious. Autmaran was not one for idle chatter – and nor was he one for strained conversation. What was going on here?

  “I suppose it would be pleasant if I could see it,” Raven amended, trying to give Autmaran an opening. “Though I haven’t been this far south in my life for winter. I was hoping it might be warmer in the Kindred lands.”

  There, he’d told Autmaran he was staying with the Kindred through the winter. It was an overt opening for questions – was this what the Major wanted to talk about?

  “Yes!” Autmaran said loudly, seizing on the subject just a touch too quickly.

  All right, so he wants to talk about me staying with the Kindred.

  “In fact, I just had a conversation with Elder Crane,” Raven continued slowly, trying to move delicately but without too much subtlety. He wasn’t sure how well versed Autmaran was in the double-talk of politics – best to keep things simple. “He seems to think I have an opportunity to stay longer – for quite a while in fact.”

  Strange, he thought to himself, for the first time in my life I’m wishing we could talk openly like I did with Crane. Unorthodox and uncivilized but … easier.

  Autmaran looked sharply at Raven, and the quick motion sent the world of illusions spinning in Raven’s head and he was again almost sick as the ground heaved up and became mountains; a river sprang from the rocks at their feet and began to rush across the ground before them. Their horses, not affected by the illusions, walked right through the rushing, violent deluge, and while Raven knew they weren’t actually in danger of being carried away, he still felt like they should be. The water looked so damn real!

  I wish I were in a simple hallway, he thought with an inward grimace.

  And just that quickly he was – a long, endless hallway, with just him and Autmaran.

  Thank the Empress.

  “So you’re one of the Kindred now,” Autmaran said, not really asking.

  “Yes,” he said reluctantly. “Crane had me swear the oaths. I have an Anchor, though the blasted thing doesn’t work yet of course. I’m pretty sure that’s it … except for whatever official ceremony there may be.”

  “There isn’t one,” the Major said before falling silent again.

  Autmaran watched him for a long moment, and Raven started to feel a little self-conscious. What was the man looking at? Did he have something on his face? Was he making a strange expression?

  “You were trained in how to lead an army?” Autmaran asked abruptly. “As part of your up-bringing among the Children, they taught you tactics, strategy?”

  “Yes,” Raven said, haltingly. What was this about? “I have been trained in all the essential areas of governance – economic and tax policy, war games, the optimal levels of labor distribution between industry and agriculture … just to name … a few areas … why did you ask me that?”

  “And you were good at them?”

  “Yes,” Raven said, still unsure what was going on. “Not to be immodest, but yes. My Talisman … it helps with learning. I was the first of the Children to complete the required study courses before reaching my eighteenth nameday.”

  Autmaran nodded, not looking at him.

  “That’s settled then,” he said, almost to himself.

  “Settled?” Raven asked.

  “Leah! Tomaz!”

  Autmaran had turned in his saddle and was waving off to their left, ignoring Raven’s incomprehension. A few seconds later the Rogue pair came riding back though the wall of the hallway – which, thank the Empress, seemed content to remain a hallway – and Autmaran rode off.

  Raven, too bewildered to saying anything, just watched the man go. What in the world had all of that been about?

  “Autmaran!” Called Leah, looking just as confused by the abrupt departure as Raven. “Where are you going?”

  “To Vale!” He called back as he disappeared. “I’ll see you there!”

  And then, in a swirl of his red cape, he was gone.

  For a moment none of them spoke.

  “All right, what did you say?” Tomaz asked.

  “What? Wait – no! He just asked me a bunch of questions; he wanted to know if I had joined the Kindred, then he asked about what I’d been taught in the Fortress – and then he just left!”

  “You’re sure you weren’t rude?” Tomaz rumbled.

  “Yes,” Raven insisted. “He was the one who was rude! Just came up, asked his questions and left.”

  “Strange,” Leah said. “He’s been acting funny ever since we left Roarke.”

  “How so?” he asked, watching the Exile girl. She had her thinking face on – brows drawn together and eyes far away.

  “Abrupt – absent even when he’s there. Like he’s got something important on his mind and can’t think about anything else. I don’t know if I trust him in that mood. It usually means he’s getting ready for a battle.”

  “Eshendai,” Tomaz rumbled softly, “you know he is a man of character. Our lives have been in his hands multiple times and he has never let us down. The least we can do is give him our trust.”

  “We still haven’t found the rest of the Seekers who sabotaged our forces in Vale and at the Stand,” she said.

  “Eshendai!” Tomaz rumbled warningly. “Suspicion is one thing – but you need to learn to trust what you know to be true. If Autmaran were an Imperial spy, he had the chance to prove it at the battle of Cartuom Pass.”

  “You’re right,” Leah said hastily, “I spoke without thinking.”

  Tomaz nodded slowly, eyeing her, but letting it slide.

  “Besides,” he said, “you know as well as I do that Ishmael has been hunting the Seekers since the day Raven found them in the Ox Lord’s memories.”

  “I just wish we knew their names,” Leah said. “Their faces are helpful, but it’s easy to change hair length and color, and the men could easily have grown beards. And there are one or two sent by Symanta that even Ramael didn’t know about.”

  “I heard Ishmael got another one the day before we left Roarke,” Raven said quietly. He felt awkward talking about it, the way he felt about most things now that were connected to the Empire. But the Seekers of Truth – the Empire’s spies, who reported directly to his sister Symanta, Prince of Snakes – were not something that he should stay silent about.

  “That makes almost ten,” Tomaz said quietly. Well, quietly for him, which meant that only the people nearby could hear him, not the whole army. “We suspected there were that many.”

  “Almost a full clan of thirteen,” Leah nodded. “If what you heard is right, then we’ve caught seven, three have escaped, and none of them have given us anything. Even under Ishmael’s … ministrations.”

  Only one man in all of the Kindred was allowed to perform torture, and it was Elder Ishmael, the Imperial Liaison. Raven found this odd – torture was commonplace among the Baseborn and any prisoners captured by the Empire. Even some of the Elevated who fell into disfavor had been subjected to the Seekers for such questioning. In fact, to Raven’s mind, one could barely be said to have received proper interrogation if thumbscrews hadn’t been involved. Not that he had ever been involved in such things himself– the Children never dirtied their
hands with such mundane activities. None except Tiffenal that was, who actually enjoyed it.

  “So there are at least three left,” Tomaz said slowly. His tone suggested he was counting limbs of a diseased tree that had yet to be trimmed.

  They fell silent then. Seekers were just as dangerous as Death Watchmen in their own way. More so in some cases, despite their lack of supernatural power, though they made up for that in single-minded religious zeal. But there was nothing the three of them could do to help find the spies – they’d only get in Ishmael’s way.

  When they were only a few miles from Vale the illusions faded, and Raven was able to once more see the land around them. It was deeply forested, and showed the evidence of the changing seasons in the early trappings of winter. Most of the trees had lost their leaves as the temperature plummeted – though a goodly number of what Tomaz called evergreens were still quite verdant.