Bone Witch (Elemental Magic, #3)

by Thea Atkinson

  The remainder were to cast for Yenic. She had the ludicrous thought that Gael would be impressed that he was being saved for only the best of the Enyalia while Yenic was getting the leavings. The thought didn't last long. If she was to act, she had to act now.

  She stepped in front of Cai and threw down the only thing she had on her person that she could use to show she was a warrior: the small blade she used for scoring apples. She been allowed to keep it as a token of respect while her sword had been spirited away somewhere during the initial journey.

  "What is this, little maga?"

  "I wish to cast for the man," she said, hoping she was using the right terminology.

  Cai shook her head while Thera just glared at her. Alaysha thought she heard Bodicca somewhere to her left chuckling heartily. She didn't spare anyone else a glance, rather kept Cai's gaze as directly as she could.

  "Not possible."

  "Why not?"

  "You're not Enyalia."

  "You told me Enyalia is your word for a warrior. Do you disagree that I'm a warrior?"

  Cai said nothing for a moment and in the space of time it took for her to consider, Enud stepped forward, the circlets on her thigh chattering loudly. In one thrust, she had pulled them free of her leg and threw them down next to Alaysha's blade. "If the woman wants to cast, let her cast."

  Cai looked at the group of Enyalia that Enud had come from. Most of them shrugged indifferently, others made no motion of protest. It seemed none felt challenged enough to care. Then from the group, she turned to Thera. The bone witch shrugged indifferently. Alaysha noticed Enud stealing a look at Uta who stood to the side, her face a careful mask of disinterest.

  "Because the solstice has so few men, we will spare only five of our warriors to cast for this man. Understood?"

  Some of the Enyalia began to grumble then, but Enud's hard glare stopped some of the smaller ones immediately. "We understand."

  Cai sent Alaysha a look of sadness. "It seems it's done, little maga. Fight well."

  Three other Enyalia came forward, their circlets in hand, and threw them into the same pile, making a grotesque lump of teeth and sinew. Cai turned to Thera and extended her arm, touching the bone witch's fingers briefly, and then joining with her hand. The bone witch lead out a series of undulating shrieks that brought the hair on Alaysha's arms to a full stand.

  The whole of the village backed off as though they'd been given a command. Both Cai and Thera linked hands. In one voice they declared the solstice.

  "This man has been cast for. The woman who remains when the battle is done shall have the right to this man, to his seed, his life, and finally his death."

  It was only when two of the warriors came forward and knelt before both leaders, kissing their feet, taking their leaves of their Enyalian oaths that Alaysha realized that these women planned to battle to the death.

  And that in casting, she had pledged the same.

  Chapter 20

  There was time, evidently, to also take your leave of the people you loved just in case you lost. Alaysha couldn't stop chewing on her lip; four of the women strode off to what Alaysha assumed where their homes while Enud merely stood with arms folded, feet planted shoulder width apart, with her face an impassive mask of purpose. Once, she caught the woman exchange a silent glance with Uta who had taken to collecting bits of leaves from young barley plants. Why she'd do it herself when she so obviously preferred the chattel labor of the boys was a mystery.

  For the first time, Alaysha realized her plan was foolish, but then, what else could she have done? She had her doubts the Enyalia would let her leave peacefully; Cai and the witches knew her power. They surely understood the risks to their village if both Yenic and Gael were to die. She'd promised Cai she'd not bring the power, but she had no intention of keeping the vow; it had been made when she didn't understand the breadth of it. It would be impossible to spirit the men away now; with Theron and Bodicca in the village, the Enyalia were hyper vigilant.

  While Alaysha had been relatively safe in the village, she wasn't foolish enough to think she was free. Casting for Yenic would buy her time as well as Gael. Time just might mean Alaysha would be able to use their solstice against them.

  "He's not safe yet," Cai said from behind her.

  Alaysha waited for the woman to stand next to her before she spoke. "At least he has a chance."

  "Don't you realize you've not bought him any time but wasted yours?"

  Alaysha ran a toe across the grass, watching the blades fold over and spring back upright. "If I win then your village is safe from my power."

  "It is safe at any rate."

  The oath Alaysha had made or just arrogance? It didn't matter in the end.

  She felt Cai's hands on her shoulders and she was spun to face the warrior who pulled her close, lifting her just a bit so that her face upturned. "Foolish maga, you have no chance of winning."

  "Then you have a problem."

  "Do you think Uta or Thera will let you live long enough to test your powers? That threat is weak by now, and I would think more a problem for you than us."

  Alaysha studied her bare foot. "How so?"

  "What if by some miracle you do win—what then? You'll have to take his life. It's what you cast for."

  Alaysha met the pull of Cai's green eyes, so much like Yuri's she realized now, except a softer shade than Yuri's icy blue, somehow more emotive. "I'll refuse. Like Bodicca did. Like Alkaia."

  "Little maga, they were true Enyalia." There was a chuckle in Cai's tone, but it wasn't mocking. Her palm traveled down Alaysha's back, pressing gently. "Your flesh is not nearly so hardened. Your spirit isn't made of the same steel."

  Alaysha licked her lips. "I'm his only chance."

  "And what happens to his chance when your power in its fear drains the fluid from the entire village, including your man?"

  Alaysha shrugged in the woman's hold and her eyes moved to the pulse in the woman's neck; she couldn't hold Cai's gaze anymore. It was probing far too deep for her liking. "That won't happen. I'm not afraid."

  Cai let her arms fall and folded them across her chest. She seemed to want to say more, to be searching for words that might change the outcome. Instead, she settled on ordering Enud away from Yenic. When Enud went storming across the compound and into a small hut made purely of animal skin and wooden poles, Cai nodded to Yenic. "There's no need to stand there longer, man," she said. "Go find a boy to feed you."

  "And dress him," Alaysha said.

  Cai gave her a queer look. "No reason not to," she said. She flicked her wrist, and a young boy came running, the same boy from the previous night. He stole a quick peek at Alaysha and the small tremor that crossed his face could have been meant as a smile if she cared to interpret it. "Get the man food and clothes," she told the boy.

  Alaysha made to follow behind the two of them, thinking she could spend some time talking to Yenic, work out a plan that had them disappearing through the night, but Cai stopped her.

  "You asked me what I would do for the person I cared for."

  "Yes," Alaysha said.

  "If I couldn't save them, I would do what Enud is doing. I would find a way to hurt the person who harmed her."

  "I've done nothing to Enud."

  Cai smiled slowly. "No, but your man in Thera's Lodge did. And he loves you."

  The realization struck Alaysha in the middle of her solar plexus. The woman Enud had wept over: not a sister, a lover.

  "Enud will kill you, little maga. She will not let the others win the chance to fight you."

  "I won't let that happen. I have skill, yes; but I know I can't win against the likes of Enud. Except my father taught me not to fear, not feel." She met the warrior's gaze stubbornly. "Trust me. I can take this whole village if I need to without a single care."

  "There's no need for threats," Cai said. "I told you that if I couldn't save the woman I cared for, I'd do what Enud is doing. But if I could, the person I loved would not fee
l one moment of pain. And so there is also no need for fear."

  She left Alaysha standing alone, watching her back as she strode away through the crowds of stock women chattering noisily and threatening young boys with their spoons.

  Chapter 21

  The battles began with much less ceremony than the casting. Alaysha wasn't able to spend even a few moments with Yenic; he'd been dressed by the boys and fed, obviously. He sat next to the fire, untethered, but guarded by several large warriors. Alaysha remembered the story Edulph had told her about Yenic taking on three of his best soldiers without so much as a blade. Yenic had used anything he could put his hands to, and in the end he used his powers over fire to scatter them. She tried to catch his eye, thinking he could use the flame even now to cause bewilderment, that they could run. But she knew it would be a waste of time.

  He wouldn't use his connection to his mother for fear it would reveal them, and even if it might mean his escape, Alaysha knew he wouldn't risk it. Too close, he'd said, and she hadn't understood, but she decided to trust his decision. Whatever too close meant, in the end it meant he feared it. Aislin might never cross the burnt lands herself, but she obviously had some skill Yenic feared.

  Alaysha began to understand why Cai said it would be a long day. She could imagine in Theron's time when there were a dozen men to cast for and fight over, that the solstice battles must have gone on for weeks. With one man and only five fighters, it would certainly go faster, but these were no ordinary soldiers. Each Enyalian, whether blonde or brunette, whether thin or squat, had skills that would surpass most warriors Alaysha had met. The only person she'd seen with such natural gifts for battle was Gael, and even he didn't possess the coldness it needed to take a comrades life so mercilessly.

  These women had grown together, trained together, and yet here they were fighting against each other, to their ultimate demise, over a man that none of them found desirable. They fought for the right to continue their line, and obviously saw each sword sister as secondary to that duty.

  The lots had been drawn by small stones scratched on by soot from the fire. By some odd chance, neither Enud nor Alaysha's stone was selected first. Rather, two women of equal size drew their blades against each other.

  It began when the Sun was at its zenith, and that battle still drug on now far past that.

  Alaysha was as entranced as if she was watching a dance and no more. Without the emotional connection to the assailants, she could study their movements, examine any habits that were born of the same training bidding them to move with instinct. She wasn't certain that all of the women would fight the same way, but she was confident they would have similar battle habits.

  What she noticed was that the women used both arms equally skilfully. Sword in one hand, blade in the other, those lengths of steel were extensions of their arms and where they bid them strike, they struck. The muscles in their thighs never quivered with effort even when they squatted to avoid a blow, or when they leapt to advance. She expected to see movements like Cai had practiced in her lodge, but if those were movements of battle, they were not put to use during this fight. There was very little of beauty in the battle, and more of pure brutality.

  At first, Alaysha believed she could watch each movement and study every minute swing, but when the fight wore on into the early evening with no seeming victor in sight, she actually grew bored. She scanned the crowds, hoping to see Bodicca or Theron. She was surprised to see Enud and Uta in deep conversation, seemingly oblivious to the battle unfolding. A tap on her shoulder startled her.

  "They conspire," a voice said.

  Theron. The wrinkles in his face were dirt filled and the alert black eyes were red rimmed.

  "I thought they –"

  "Hid this poor shaman away; yes, yes. But they have more to concern themselves with than the activities of a weak-willed man." He seemed entirely pleased with himself.

  Alaysha wasted no time. "When it's my turn to fight," she said. "I need you and Bodicca to retrieve Gael. Get him out of here."

  "So this witch thought she would use the solstice to create a distraction? Does she not see she cannot win?"

  "Whether I beat Enud or not isn't the question, Theron. I only need to empty the village of as many of my people as I can."

  "And this witch will bring the power, yes yes? A good plan if not flawed."

  "How is it flawed? If they can't be bothered to watch over you, then surely the same is happening to Gael. Bodicca is strong enough –"

  "The same is surely not happening to Gael."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Gael is even now performing his service."

  "He can't be. The solstice hasn't begun."

  "Solstice begins today. Yenic's casting isn't complete, no, no. But the large warrior—well, his fate is sealed already."

  "He can't be. He's drugged –"

  "Drugged, yes yes. But not in the way you think. That demon chalk witch uses my own sacred brew against us."

  "We have to stop it. Theron, we can't let Gael be debased that way."

  Theron's eye traveled to the two Enyalia battling in the dirt. A collective sigh went up from the crowds when one fell, and a wiry stock woman ran forward, throwing herself onto the prone body.

  "The first loser, yes, yes." Theron's face clouded over and he swallowed repeatedly. Alaysha noticed he shivered and pulled his arms together over his chest. "We can smell hair burning, yes we can. Such a terrible smell."

  Alaysha reached out to touch him on the arm and he startled. The eyes that he turned on her took a moment to focus. "We will do what we can for the warrior, but know that Uta will not let you win."

  "I told you that doesn't –"

  "Matter. Yes, yes. The shaman knows that. But what the witch doesn't know is that Uta is not honourable. Even her general doesn't understand that."

  "Uta wants me dead."

  "Uta will do what she needs to, to keep this witch from draining the village. She will believe it's the right thing, oh yes she will. Her komandiri might even come to believe it too in time."

  "Because the men will die anyway," Alaysha said, letting what she'd known all along settle into her psyche. They used the casting as a distraction, letting Alaysha believe she was buying time for Yenic, for Gael, when all along they knew that so long as the men lived, Alaysha wasn't a threat. Once they died, things would be different. And they knew Alaysha was capable of killing the entire tribe. She began to wonder if the dead Enyalian raid party had actually encountered the wind witch at all. If those women cast for Edulph somewhere out past the village. Why else would they let such a ceremony occur if they were under threat of attack? Of course there was no threat of attack. She realized that now.

  She even started to think that if Enud succeeded in killing Alaysha the problem would be solved—if Alaysha died fast enough that she couldn't bring on the power. That made her wonder if she would be fighting one warrior, or one warrior with an assassin nearby, ready to strike before Alaysha could bring the power to save herself.

  Chapter 22

  Alaysha did her best to look as though her entire being was focused on the battle she would have to undertake, but her mind was racing behind the mask of composure she wore. She couldn't bear to watch the next battle as it began; this one was between Enud and the victor of the first, and both of them were vicious, not dancing at all. This time, there was a desperate ferocity to the battle. The victor used her feet as well as her sword, kicking at Enud, her entire body twirling full circle, sweeping Enud's feet from beneath her. Enud recovered quickly enough, but she came up bloody from a grazing of her opponent's blade. Three movements later and it actually appeared as though this battle would be over quickly. Alaysha scanned the women watching the battle, searching for evidence of an assassin. Could it be that stock woman there who hung a little too close to where Enud had placed her belongings? It might even be that young girl who was lifting pikes from a pile, testing their weight, thrusting them almost playfully at
the air.

  In truth, if she examined the area it could be any one of these women. The boys had been set to work collecting wood and tying thatch and dried rushes to a formation that looked like a large sword stuck deep into the ground. It was far back enough into the woods that she hadn't noticed it before, but as it became thicker with tinder, it grew more noticeable.

  Outwardly, she knew her posture was straight, but she couldn't stop the fidgeting her toes had started doing. She kept stealing glances at Yenic, his face kept turning into Gael's, and she found herself cursing her stupidity over and over. She glanced at Yenic again now. He stood between two large women, swaying just a bit as though he too had been drugged. No wonder he did nothing to save himself. She wondered just what kind of brew Theron knew how to make that could lay a man as large as Gael out cold on the bed and yet leave Yenic, much more wiry, much slimmer, standing swaying on his feet. His eyes held a far-off look, and he kept straining to stare into the fire pit, shaking his head when nothing rose from it but smoke from a dampened fire.

  If only she'd tried to get to Gael earlier. If only she hadn't trusted them to see he was healed. She should have thought it was too easy. But she'd been so worried about him. It was a mistake to think that women of this sort, who cared nothing for men, could be interested in his welfare. She only hoped that Bodicca and Theron could manage to get him out of the bone witch's lodge. She hadn't had contact with Aedus at all since that first day, but she hoped against hope that the girl was somewhere safe.

  But Yenic. Even if Theron and Bodicca managed to get Gael away, how would Alaysha rescue Yenic?