Warsong

by Elizabeth Vaughan

  Rafe led them at a gallop, but he didn’t hold them to that pace long. He raised a hand, slowing as they hit the main road to the gates. These fields were usually under plow, with various crops. Lara had explained it to him and Simus one night. But now both sides of the road were lined with tents of the Plains, an army that spread out as far as the eye could see. Joden craned around, searching. Yes, there was Keir’s command tent, and the dance grounds where he had displayed his Warprize to his men…

  But that was in the past, and Keir’s army had returned to the Plains and disbanded. There were no tents—

  And like that, they were gone.

  Joden’s heart start to thump in his chest. He sucked in air, suddenly aware that he’d stopped breathing.

  The winds. Had they taken his wits?

  Tall plants, crops of some kind, danced in the breeze on both sides of the road. The tents, the army, gone as if the winds had taken them.

  Joden sucked in another breath, and another, trying to focus on his horse beneath him, the sun and the sky, and—

  Amyu coughed.

  He glanced to his right. She had urged her horse up, slipping in beside him, worry on her face. As if she sensed his pain. Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow in a silent question.

  He nodded, and gave her a weak smile.

  She frowned, but nodded back, and let her horse slow to resume her place.

  What was happening to him? The past as clear as the present? Was that the future he was seeing? Joden’s gut roiled and he rubbed a hand over his face. Were his voice and sanity both gone?

  “Heyla,” Rafe called out, waving toward the walls of the city.

  Joden straightened in the saddle, and faced forward. It wasn’t far now, the gates were growing closer. The guards on the walls had spotted them; Joden could see them moving about, preparing to allow them in. The tilled fields ended, as Lara had explained. There were only the mounds to pass, the mounds left by the mass burials of the dead, bodies of Xyian and Plains warriors both.

  Only, the dead were waiting for him.

  They lined the road, quiet and solemn, garbed as they had been in life, with armor and weapons at their side.

  Joden’s horse slowed, and stopped.

  The dead ignored Rafe as he passed, and the other warriors. But they turned to Joden, looking at him, all their attention focused on him.

  Joden sat and stared. So many dead, so many lives cut short. Yet in death, they stood side by side, waiting.

  Watching.

  There were no words, but Joden knew. They wondered if their sacrifice was worth the price. Wondered what they had given their lives for.

  They looked to Joden for answers.

  “Joden?” Amyu’s voice cut through his daze.

  He caught the scent of her hair, and it brought him back to the world. She’d brought her horse close to his, so close their legs touched. The others were ahead of them, quizzical looks on their faces.

  “Joden?” Amyu repeated. “Are you well?”

  “The dead,” he kept his voice low. “All around us.”

  Her eyes went wide, and she glanced around, shifting in her saddle. So did Joden.

  The dead were still there, still waiting.

  “Let me have your reins,” Amyu said softly.

  He nodded, but couldn’t seem to make his hands work. He felt her warm fingers on his as she slid the reins from his hands. He clutched at his saddle with a tight, desperate grip.

  Amyu urged her horse forward, and nodded to Rafe. Rafe took the lead again, but this time at a slow walk. The other warriors took up positions around them, and their little procession headed toward the gates.

  Joden felt his horse start to walk with the rest, heard the guards call out, heard the great gates start to swing wide to admit them. But he only had eyes for the dead, silent and watching.

  The dead, lining the roadside.

  The dead, who knelt, their heads bowed, as he passed. Row after row of endless, silent witnesses.

  “Our dead travel with us, ride along beside us,” Joden recited the ancient words in his head, words he’d heard from his theas. “Unseen and unknown, but knowing and seeing,” he choked as he continued the litany. “Until the longest night, when we mourn our dead, who are released to journey to the stars.”

  Yet these dead were still here.

  Joden kept his eyes open, and met the gaze of every warrior, every man and woman. It was the least he could do, maybe all he could do.

  He endured until Rafe lead them through the gates, and then he closed his eyes.

  It was enough.

  Amyu’s gentle hands led Joden into the Healing House. She didn’t question him, or ask him to open his eyes, just calmly put his hand on her shoulder and warned about steps and low doorways. He was grateful for her quiet strength at his side.

  There were exclamations, and various people speaking all at once, but Master Eln’s voice cut through the confusion. “Bring him in here, Amyu.”

  Amyu moved and he moved with her, sensing the walls of the hallway.

  “Joden?” came a shocked exclamation. “Amyu?”

  Joden opened his eyes. Lara, Warprize and Queen of Xy stood there in tunic and trous, confused and anxious.

  Behind her, Joden caught a glimpse of an old woman lying on a bed, staring at the ceiling, with others standing around her. There was something familiar about that profile, something—

  The old lady turned her head, taking them in. Her eyes reminded him of the Ancients.

  A soft exclamation from Amyu and he was being tugged further down the hall, to the door where Eln was standing. Joden caught a last glimpse of the old woman as Lara shut the door and followed them. “Joden?” she started. “How did you—”

  “Questions can wait,” Eln said, ushering them in. “We need to see to injuries first. On the table, Joden.”

  Joden pulled up short, jerking Amyu back.

  Eloix lay on the table, her back wounded, raw and festering. Master Eln stood over her with a handful of bloodmoss, his face grim. Amyu knelt by Eloix’s head, and yet she was guiding him in. Master Eln was behind him.

  Yet they were there, at the table. Master Eln plunged his hand into the wound, and the bloodmoss withered away.

  Joden reeled back, swaying. Amyu moved to support him, even as Master Eln moved in from the other side. Lara’s hands were on his back.

  “Joden?” Amyu said, her worry clear. “What are you seeing?”

  “Y-y-you tried b-b-bloodmoss on El-l-loix?” Joden closed his eyes, and shook his head, willing the image away. But the vision was still there.

  “Amyu told you?” Eln sounded resigned. “I’d hoped it would counteract the poison of the wyvern sting.”

  Joden watched as Eloix plunged her dagger into her own throat. “S-s-she didn’t let you g-g-give mercy.” he looked at Amyu.

  “She considered me a child,” Amyu said, her brown eyes open and staring at Joden. “And I did not tell you that.”

  Joden was shaken, but he caught the glance that Lara and Eln exchanged.

  “Let’s get him on the table before he falls,” Lara said. “We can start on answers then.”

  Amyu pressed herself into a corner of the room, and watched as the two healers examined Joden. She was grateful that their focus was on their patient, but she knew her reckoning for her actions was due. Any delay in that was welcome.

  Still, for now all that mattered was Joden.

  “Sweet Goddess,” Lara frowned as they stripped Joden of the white cloth, little more than rags now. “What happened to you?”

  The healers were looking at his body, only Amyu was focused on Joden’s face. His expression was one of pain and sorrow. “I-I-I,” he grimaced as he tried to force out the words.

  Lara froze. “Joden?”

  Master Eln was pulling down bottles and jars from his shelves. He looked over his shoulder with raised eyebrows.

  “Joden doesn’t stutter,” Lara said grimly. “At least, he
never has before.” She turned, and those fey blue eyes pierced Amyu like an arrow. “What happened?”

  Amyu tore her gaze away, and looked at Joden. Joden sighed, then nodded his permission.

  “I went into the mountains, searching for airions,” Amyu started.

  “We will speak of that later,” Lara’s words were crisp and firm, but without heat.

  Amyu nodded. “I failed. I’d just decided to give up, when I…” she hesitated, then made a decision. “When I saw a flutter of white. I climbed higher, and—” she kept to the essentials of the tale.

  Lara and Eln listened in silence. Amyu couldn’t tell if they believed her or not, but that mattered very little.

  “That is all I know,” Amyu said finally.

  “Let us check you over,” Eln said. “And treat these cuts. Not much we can do about the bruising…”

  With relief, Amyu saw that they were going to drop the issue for now. They went over Joden’s body, using bloodmoss and ointments and various creams.

  Finally, Master Eln stepped back. “Well, you are clearly in a weakened state. You need food, water, warmth, and sleep.” He hesitated. “There is no sign of a head wound. Do you remember any blows to the head?”

  “N-n-no,” Joden managed, and tried to continue, but Master Eln cut him off.

  “And you say that the stammer started before the fall, is that right? Are you sure?”

  “Y-y-yes,” Joden took a breath. “I-I-I wo-wo-wo—”

  “Joden is a Singer,” Lara said. “He’s never had trouble with speech before this.”

  Joden started again. “I-I-I—”

  “Well,” Master Eln talked over him. “The convulsions are a concern. When did the first one occur?”

  “I-I-I d-d-don’t-” Joden said.

  “Then I suspect that—”

  “Stop that,” Amyu stepped forward, furious. “Stop cutting him off. Joden can talk, you just have to give him time to get the words out.”

  Both Lara and Eln stared at her, and then glanced at one another. Master Eln bowed his head in her direction. “I am sorry. You are correct, of cour—”

  “Apologize to Joden,” Amyu snapped.

  “I offer my apologies, Joden of the Hawk.” Eln inclined his head again, this time talking directly to Joden.

  Joden nodded back. “F-f-forgiven.” He gave the healer a small smile. “F-f-frustrating.”

  “Infuriating as well, I imagine,” Eln said. “So. Let me try again. This started before you fell?”

  “Y-y-yes. I-I-I wo-” Joden grimaced, but fought on. “Wo-wo-woke this way.”

  Eln waited to make sure that Joden was finished speaking. “I am not sure about the cause. Especially with no head wound, and no sign of a brain storm.” Master Eln hesitated. “Sometimes, rarely, I have seen where there has been a blow to the heart—not a physical blow, mind, but one of…” Eln stopped. “You are a warrior of the Plains, Joden and I would offer no insult but where there has been such pain of the heart, speech has been affected.”

  “What is the remedy?” Amyu asked, her heart almost bursting in her chest. “With all your skills, why aren’t you reaching for a jar or ointment or one of those awful teas?”

  “The only remedy we know of is time,” Lara said sadly.

  “And that is not a complete cure,” Eln warned. “The damage may be permanent.”

  Joden’s shoulders sagged, and he nodded.

  Lara’s face was the picture of grief, reflecting Amyu’s own pain at the news. She wasn’t sure how Joden could bear this.

  But then Joden straightened, and took a deep breath. “At-at-at l-l-least c-c-can still t-t-t,” he hesitated. “S-s-peak.” He gifted them all with a smile.

  Amyu’s heart broke a little more as her eyes teared up.

  Master Eln cleared his throat. “As to those awful teas,” he said, reaching for another jar. “I have one here that will aid with the bruising, and help you sleep.”

  “And you, young lady,” Lara turned on Amyu. “I see those bruises you are trying to hide beneath your armor. You took the same fall as Joden. Let’s see to you.”

  Amyu swallowed hard. The reckoning had come. She knew her duty. She knelt at the feet of the Warprize, and pressed herself to the floor, her hands out in supplication. As required of a child of the Plains who had disobeyed her thea.

  There was silence above her; all she could hear was her pounding heart and her harsh breath against the stone floor.

  “Amyu, stand before me.” The Warprize commanded.

  Amyu rose, afraid to look her in the eyes.

  The Warprize’s voice shook, “I confess I was furious when I realized where you had gone, but I was angry because I feared for you. I was worried sick. The mountains hold their own dangers, as you have learned.”

  Amyu nodded, still staring at the floor.

  “I have told you before, and will tell you again, you are an adult in my eyes. I may not agree with your choices,” and now Amyu felt fingers under her chin. Lara lifted her head so that Amyu had no choice but to look her in the eye. Lara was smiling, and had tears in her eyes. “But I also know what it is to go after something you want more than life itself.”

  Now they were both crying.

  “So let’s see to you,” Lara stepped back, and gestured. “Get out of that armor so we can treat your injuries.”

  “I can promise you,” Master Eln said drily. “It will involve those awful teas.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It was only after she had been treated with bloodmoss, had creams and ointments rubbed on every bruise, and been handed a cup of vile tea that Amyu worked up her courage to ask. “How does Kalisa?”

  Master Eln snorted as he handed a cup of the same tea to Joden. “The only thing wrong with her is old age and attitude, neither of which I have a tea for.” He glared at Amyu. “Drink.”

  Amyu took an obedient sip, then shared a glance with Joden, who shared a grimace with her.

  “I fear it comes down to just that,” the Warprize said softly, casting a look at the door behind her. “Her family told me they had never seen her so angry as she was before she collapsed. She’s not really been coherent since they got her here, and she’s not eating. I fear her time is near.” She narrowed her eyes at Amyu. “I haven’t pressed for more information. She gets upset and agitated when we do. Why were you asking her questions about airions?”

  The door burst open, and Prest ducked into the room. He dropped his armful of chain armor, leathers, and weapons on the table. “Joden,” he said, then nodded to Amyu. “Rafe told me of your need. We are of a size.”

  “P-p-prest,” Joden exclaimed. “Wh-wh-wh—”

  Prest waited patiently.

  “Wh-what are you doing here?” Joden finally got the words out.

  “Guarding a stubborn Warprize, who insists on coming to the Healers without proper escort,” Prest growled. “One that needs to return shortly to nurse the babes.”

  Lara gave them an impish smile. “I sneak down in healer’s robes and a cloak and no one is the wiser. But he’s right, I need to get back to the castle. Answers can wait. I will say my farewells to Kalisa’s family while you dress.” She slipped out the door.

  “Rafe said your leather trous were torn.” Prest handed Amyu a bundle from the pile. “This is from him, he is closer to your size.”

  Amyu took the bundle with a nod of thanks.

  “I must keep an eye on my charge,” Prest said. “She is as slippery as a snake, and I do not trust her.”

  “She is the Queen of Xy,” Master Eln said with a huff. “Her people love her.”

  “I do not trust them, either,” Prest said, as he disappeared out into the hall.

  “I am going to make up packets of tea to take with you,” Eln said, as he too went to leave. “Dress quickly. I need the room for people who are actually sick.”

  Joden started dressing, feeling better at the touch of cloth and the weight of the chain on his shoulders.

&n
bsp; Amyu was quicker, pulling on leathers and tightening her belt. She fussed with the buckle, not looking up. “The visions,” she said quietly. “You did not tell them.”

  Joden adjusted his own sword belt, making sure both dagger and sword were secure. He shrugged, not willing to try to speak.

  “You saw Eloix die?” Amyu spoke in the barest of whispers.

  Joden glanced at the table, which thankfully remained empty. He nodded.

  Amyu bit her lip, frowning. “The next time it happens, put a hand on my shoulder. No one needs to know until you are ready to tell them.”

  “M-m-my thanks,” he managed to get out.

  Amyu gave him her soft smile. “Ready?” she asked, looking around the area.

  Prest stuck his head in. “Come, quickly. The Warprize is ready to leave. Rafe and the others are waiting.”

  Joden felt more like himself with armor over his chest and a sword and dagger at his side. The weight of the chain and the leathers was a comfort.

  Not to mention boots.

  Even better was the lack of visions as he went toward the Castle of Water’s Fall.

  They’d slipped through the back streets with Lara leading the way, over Prest’s protests. But even Prest had to admit that she knew the ways better than he, but that didn’t stop him from grumbling.

  Once through the gates of the castle walls, Lara took them through the gardens toward the kitchen. “I’ll get Anna to feed you,” she said as they crossed the yard, past a sparring circle. “I need to check on the babes.”

  A shriek split the air. Joden spun on his heel, and watched as two naked bodies tumbled off the roof and hit a small wooden structure, shattering it beneath them. Chickens squawked, and feather flew into the air.

  “Joden?”

  Heath rose first, moving stiffly, helping Atira to her feet. They were both laughing and shushing each other as they fled the scene, climbing the large tree and disappearing into a window above.

  “Joden?”

  Amyu was at his side, the others staring at him in confusion.

  He gave them a weak smile, intending it to be reassuring even as he reached out and squeezed Amyu’s shoulder. But Lara’s frown deepened.