The Restorer

by Sharon Hinck

  “Nolan, which part of Hazor are you from?” Kieran slouched back in his chair, his voice almost casual.

  Nolan stared hard at the floor. He swallowed.

  “Come on. This is an easy one. Where were you born?”

  “I’m from Trezald,” Nolan said softly.

  Kieran grabbed Nolan’s chin and tilted his head up, his eyes hard. “Don’t lie to me again.” His tone was lethal in its blandness.

  Nolan’s eyes widened, and he pulled back. Tristan stood behind him and clamped his hands down on the boy’s shoulders.

  “I’ve been to Trezald,” Kieran said. “Let’s try again. Where are you from?”

  Nolan looked down again, his chest moving in and out faster. I was breathing harder, too. “Sidian,” he mumbled.

  “Hmm. And how many troops does Zarek command in Sidian?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The words were barely out of Nolan’s mouth before Kieran backhanded him across the face. Tristan kept his grip on Nolan’s shoulders to keep him from falling out of the chair. I jumped up.

  Tristan pointed at me. “I’m serious, Susan. Don’t interfere.”

  My mouth hung open. They couldn’t be doing this. They were supposed to be the good guys.

  Kieran didn’t even acknowledge that I was in the room. He sat back casually and kept his eyes on Nolan. “How many troops in Sidian?”

  “Maybe two thousand. A little more.” Nolan closed his eyes.

  “Is he bringing in his army from the Grey Hills, or just using his Sidian troops for the attack on Braide Wood?”

  Nolan’s face was pinched with fear. “I don’t . . . I mean, yes. Yes, he’s called in the Grey Hills army.”

  “What are the numbers?” Kieran’s voice was smooth, insistent.

  Nolan opened his eyes wide. “I don’t know. Really. I don’t.”

  Kieran shook his head. “We’ll come back to that. Why does Zarek want the Braide Wood children?”

  Sweat beaded on Nolan’s forehead. He looked at Kieran’s eyes and started shaking.

  “It’s a surety. To prevent war.” Nolan squeezed his eyes shut again, shrinking as far down as Tristan’s grip would let him.

  “So what do you think?” Tristan said in a loud voice that made Nolan and me jump.

  Kieran shrugged. “He could be telling the truth. It’s a good thing the Council voted to surrender the children. There’s no way we could stand up against those numbers.”

  I blinked, confused. Tristan shot me a warning look.

  “We can barely muster a hundred guardians. We’d never be able to defend the Wood,” Tristan said to Kieran. “But are you sure he’s telling the truth?”

  “I will be.” Kieran slid the dagger from his boot sheath and eyed its edge. “And I’m sure there’s more he can tell us.” He turned his gaze to Nolan. Kieran’s expression was set, remorseless. Nolan cringed and looked over at me, his eyes pleading.

  I shivered. My heart ached for the terror the boy must feel.

  “Not here,” Tristan said.

  Kieran shrugged. “Fine. I’ll take him up to the caves. I’ll be back before nightfall. Come on.” Kieran jerked Nolan to his feet and propelled him toward the door.

  “Tristan, no,” I said. “Don’t let him do this.” I tried to follow Kieran.

  Tristan grabbed me and pulled me back. “He’ll do what has to be done.”

  “He’s going to kill him,” I shouted, turning on Tristan. “How can you let him do this?” I was so furious when he didn’t release my arm, that I threw an uppercut with my free hand and hit Tristan squarely on the jaw.

  “Ow!” He let go of me in surprise.

  Shaking my throbbing hand, I turned to storm out of the house, but Tristan grabbed me again. “Susan, listen.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s not going to kill the boy. He’s going to let him escape.”

  I froze. “What?”

  Tristan let go of me and rubbed his jaw. “I told you not to stay and watch.” He turned away and muttered under his breath. “Messengers of the One, deliver me from women Restorers.”

  “Would you just explain this to me?” I yelled.

  Tristan winced and rubbed his ear. “Kieran will get all the information he can from him, then get careless and let him escape. We needed him scared enough so he would risk running. He’ll head straight back to Hazor and tell them our Council voted to surrender the children, and we have less than a hundred troops. It’ll buy us some time, and it might even mean that Zarek won’t call up his Grey Hills troops.”

  I collapsed onto a chair by the table and lowered my head into my hands. “And you couldn’t have explained this to me?”

  “I told you to leave. When you insisted on staying, I figured you’d catch on. All we did was shake him up a little.” Tristan sat down at the table, concern on his face. “You’re as white as a Kahlarean. Are you all right?”

  “No thanks to you and the Braide Wood repertory company,” I snarled. “Why didn’t you just send him back to Hazor with a message that we agreed to their terms?”

  “They’d know it was lie. If he escapes and brings them information he overheard, they might believe it . . . if they don’t have spies in the Council to give them the truth.”

  “But what’s going to happen to him back there?”

  Tristan shrugged and didn’t try to answer.

  I didn’t know what I had expected. Maybe I thought Tara could adopt Nolan and he could learn the Verses and live a happy life in Braide Wood. Of course, that fantasy was built on the hope that the village would still be standing a few weeks from now. Tristan was doing everything he could to see that it would be.

  Tristan rubbed his chin again and waggled his jaw side to side. “Well, your arm is getting stronger. That’s good. You’ll start training with the other guardians tomorrow. Now that we don’t have to keep you a secret, you can work with everyone else.” He grabbed his pack and started gathering supplies and cleaning his weapons.

  I sat and seethed. The scene I had watched was a ploy. But when Kieran told Kendra, “We’ll do whatever we have to,” he had been dead serious. They didn’t question the equation. Cruelty to one enemy boy didn’t budge the scale when weighed against the defense of their home.

  Tristan ignored my sulking. He whistled as he moved around the room preparing to head out to his troops. Halfway to the door, he stopped and turned to me. “If I had told you what we were planning, Nolan would have taken one look at your face and known. You aren’t much good at hiding your thoughts.” He wasn’t apologetic, but his eyes were compassionate.

  I remembered the moment he had handed me my sword in the doorway of the house in Shamgar. That felt like years ago. Even that first day, he had guessed at my purpose. Then, as now, his face had reflected a weary resignation for the things I would probably have to face.

  The afternoon rain began to fall. Scattered drops slapped the ground with a sound like bugs bumping into a screen. The rhythm quickened steadily, until the sounds of the rain melded into a continuous rippling noise. Tristan shouldered his pack and left, closing the door behind him.

  I lowered my head to rest in my arms. You’ll have to make me strong, I prayed. I don’t know how to be tough enough for what’s coming. I’m not even sure I want to be. I need your help.

  The rain continued to permeate the earth and drum against the roof. I dozed, my sleep plagued by fitful dreams.

  Some time later, Kendra came back in, carrying the empty basket. She shook the rain from her cloak and hung it near the door. My lids felt dry and tired, and I watched her but didn’t lift my head.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked.

  I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Kieran took Nolan out to the cave clearing. He and Tristan have some plan to interrogate him, give him false information, and let him escape.”

&nb
sp; To my surprise, Kendra nodded. “I’m glad they found a way to let him live.” She sat down at the table with a sigh, stretching her legs out on a second chair.

  “How was your visit?” I asked.

  She ran a hand through her hair, which was damp from rain. “Not great. Father was never easy to live with. And lately . . . I don’t know. The tension with Hazor makes it worse. But he’s getting used to me being well again.” She smiled. “It’s one less grudge he can hold against Tristan.”

  “They don’t get along?”

  “Father doesn’t get along with anyone. The only things he has a real affection for are his magchips and machines. He doesn’t understand Tristan.”

  “You and Tristan are perfect for each other. Anyone could see that.”

  She jumped up and patted my shoulder. “I know. Want some clavo? I’m cold.”

  “Sure. No, wait. I’m supposed to make an herb medicine to drink every day. I promised Mark. Will you help me make it?”

  “Of course.”

  I got up and dug through my pack, pulling out the cloth bag of herbs.

  Kendra sniffed it and groaned. “I think the healers search the woods for the most foul tasting plants they can find.” We both laughed, and she adjusted a heat trivet and started some water warming. “Susan, are you all right? I mean, is it something serious?”

  I would have loved to toss off a blithe reassurance, but I didn’t want to lie to her. “I don’t know. The Lyric healer seemed to think so, but it doesn’t make sense. Every injury I’ve had since I’ve been here has healed so fast. I really don’t know what’s going on.” The hike up from the Braide Wood station had been a sharp reminder that something was wrong. I had been short of breath, though I tried to hide how quickly I grew tired. Yet most of the time, I felt fine. I wondered how I would do with training tomorrow.

  Kendra put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “Let me know if I can help. With anything. All right?” She ladled the brew into a mug and handed it to me.

  “How about if you drink this mud for me?”

  “Oh, no. I’m not that good of a friend.” We walked back out to the table, and Kendra grinned when I sipped my herb concoction and shuddered. “Susan, would you help me with something?” she asked, becoming serious.

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  “Will you convince Kieran to ask our father for help?”

  I choked on a swallow of tea, and it took a minute of coughing to catch my breath. “What good would that do?”

  “We think my father could develop a defense against the syncbeams.” She saw my eyebrows go up and spoke faster. “Nothing forbidden in the Verses. Not a long-range weapon. Just some kind of field to keep their weapons from working.”

  “Okay, but what I meant was what good would it do for me to talk to Kieran? He won’t listen to anything I say.” I sipped more of the herb drink. The marshy flavor must be an acquired taste—and I doubted I’d ever acquire it.

  “I think you’re wrong. He respects you. He doesn’t have many friends—”

  I snorted. “I’m not his friend.”

  Kendra frowned.

  “His words, not mine,” I said quickly. “He doesn’t trust me, he doesn’t like me, and he wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say.” The damp cold of the day was soaking into my bones. I went to dig through my pack for a sweater.

  “The thing about Kieran is you have to ignore half of what he says and pay attention to the things he doesn’t say,” she said. “I do think he’d listen to you. Please try?”

  “How about if I visit your father with you tomorrow? I could try to convince him to help.”

  “He doesn’t like strangers. Even more than he doesn’t like people he knows. But Kieran’s been gone so long. I think seeing him would really make a difference.”

  I pulled the sweater over my head. “If I get a chance, I’ll see what I can do.” I had a few other things I planned to say to Kieran when he got back, especially if he had done anything else to hurt Nolan.

  Kendra pulled out a basket of fibers from a cubby in the common room. The earth-toned strips reminded me of strands of yarn. She had started making a new sweater for Tristan, and she showed me the technique for weaving together the strands. It looked like way too much work to me, but she smiled as her fingers moved over the fabric. I dug into my own pack and pulled out the Rendor emblem Mark had given me. Kendra helped me sew it onto my best tunic. We were just finishing when the door swung open and Kieran walked in, looking grim.

  “Did it work?” Kendra asked.

  He let his breath out in a huff. “He’s gone. I don’t know if it will work.”

  “Well, I’m getting tired. I think I’ll go lay down for a little bit before supper.” Kendra smiled at me and slipped out of the room.

  “What’s wrong? Is she all right?” Kieran’s face darkened with worry.

  It took me a moment to realize that to him, Kendra’s return to sanity and health was still a new and fragile miracle. “She’s fine. It’ll take a while for her to get her strength back, but she’s doing great.” I set Kendra’s basket back in the cubby she had drawn it from. “And she knew I wanted to talk to you.”

  He sank into a chair in the corner of the room and let his head tilt back so that he was staring at the ceiling. “About?”

  I walked over to him and crossed my arms, waiting for him to lift his head and look at me. “What did you do to Nolan?”

  “You don’t want to know.” He gave me a level look and then dropped his head against the high back of the chair again and closed his eyes.

  “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t be asking. Did you hurt him?” I dropped my arms to my sides and clenched my fists. Kieran wasn’t the only one I was angry with. I was frustrated at the impossible situation we all faced. But I couldn’t confront Zarek. I couldn’t yell at Cameron. On the other hand, Kieran was right in front of me.

  He opened one eye. When I didn’t go away, he sighed and pushed himself out of the chair. He went to stand by the window and looked out at the trees. “Yes.” His voice was almost inaudible.

  My stomach lurched.

  “Happy now?” He continued looking out the window. “I hurt him. I scared him. He stopped lying. I got plenty of information. Some of it I already knew, but some could help us. Then I let him escape.” His shoulders tensed. He turned around slowly; fury lay in a thin mask over the pain in his face.

  I couldn’t speak.

  “Satisfied?” His voice was hoarse. “I hurt a scared, unarmed kid. I didn’t enjoy it.” His eyes were glassy again.

  I stepped closer and pressed the back of my hand against his forehead.

  He swatted my hand away. “What are you doing?”

  “Your fever’s back. Where’s your medicine?”

  He blinked at the change in subject and walked heavily over to his pack near the chair. He crouched to rummage in it, but swayed and finally sank to the floor, leaning on a wall for support.

  I went to get him a mug of water, and when I came back, he was still fumbling with the drug patch he had unearthed. I shook my head, took it from his hand, and slapped it onto his arm in the same place the healer had yesterday.

  He drank most of the water I handed him, watching me over the rim of the mug. “You are the oddest person I’ve ever met.” He handed the cup back to me.

  “Why?”

  “Never mind.” He closed his eyes.

  “Don’t worry, I’m still furious. But I’ll argue with you later. It wouldn’t be a fair fight right now.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up as he leaned his head back against the wall, eyes still closed. “Just like Tristan. Have to keep things fair. Wouldn’t be honorable otherwise.” His voice dropped to a mumble. “Bunch of dimwits.”

  Kieran’s fever had peeled away a few layers of the aloof
distrust that usually surrounded him. It occurred to me that he might be easier to talk to right now.

  I sat down next to him against the wall and planned my attack. So much for fighting fairly. “Why won’t you go talk to your father?” I asked in what I hoped was a casual voice.

  His head came up, and he turned to glare at me. Every plane and angle on his face became sharp-edged again. “Don’t.”

  I swallowed. This was like poking a stick at a wounded, snarling tiger. Kendra was going to owe me. I took a moment to breathe before I met his glare. “Look, I don’t know the whole story. I don’t need to know. But if you and Skyler can come up with some way to disable their syncbeams, it could save a lot of lives.”

  “Why bother? Maybe the One will just—zing!—make them disappear right out of their hands.” Kieran waved one hand around.

  “Maybe He will. But maybe He wants to use you.”

  He sneered and turned away without answering.

  Time for a new tactic. “Kieran, you may be paranoid, selfish, and pretty much heartless, but I didn’t think you were a coward.” I steeled myself to face his rage.

  Instead, his shoulders moved, and he coughed. The cough changed into a low chuckle. Finally, he was laughing so hard that he had to wipe his eyes.

  I gave him my fiercest frown.

  He looked over and started laughing again. “That was—” he coughed and shook his head. “That was a good try. Really. You’re learning. The glare needs a little work, though.”

  So much for my feeble attempt to manipulate someone who could have coached Machiavelli. Still, I wasn’t going to back down. “This is serious. You’re going to have to convince him to help us. Kendra’s already tried.”

  Kieran gave a long sigh and shifted his body to face me. “I know. I planned to talk to him tomorrow.”

  “Well why didn’t you just say so?”

  He ducked his head down to dig in his pack, but didn’t answer until he produced a shiny black half-sphere. “Here. This will help.” The device was a little too large to fit comfortably in the palm of a hand. As Kieran turned it, I could see the inside was hollowed out and lined with crystals, like a geode.