* * *
Kerok
I wondered if sleep would come if I bothered to lie down. The day had been long and filled with events ranging from aggravating to infuriating.
Merrin lay at the root of all of it, too.
I sat heavily on the edge of my bed and considered whether to spend the energy to remove my boots.
That's when the knock came on the outer door. Rising, I strode out of my bedroom and through the sitting area to answer, expecting Barth or Hunter to be on the other side, with perhaps more bad news.
I staggered backward after pulling the door open; Adahi stood there, a frown on his face.
"The escort's shield is quite strong," he snapped and pushed past me into the room. The doorknob pulled away from my nerveless fingers, while the door closed and locked on its own.
Whirling, I stared at Adahi.
He'd done that. How?
"It's time you learned what I am, and have been for centuries," he shrugged.
"What's that?" Unconsciously, I strengthened the shield about me.
"Something the enemy is truly afraid of," his grin shocked me. "I'm a sorcerer," he added. "Your Sherra is a sorceress. You have sufficient talent; therefore, I will attempt to teach you as best I can. You're going to need everything I can give you in the coming days."
"Sherra?" I'd locked onto what I considered the most important word.
"Relax, dear Prince," he held up a hand. "Kyri is teaching her. If I read things correctly, she may return to you soon. Let's hope Az-ca doesn't go to hell between now and then."
* * *
North Camp
Instructor Falia
Ana set her mug of tea on the table across from me at breakfast, before sitting down with a sigh.
"Not hungry?" I asked. She hadn't picked up a plate from the drudges.
"I'll eat in a bit," she waved a hand. "I just-had a strange dream last night. About Sherra."
"She's dead," I pointed out.
"I know. I need to tell you anyway," Ana said.
"All right."
"I saw her clearly," Ana began. "But she was standing on the other side of a line. I knew we couldn't touch each other, even though we were close enough. Then, she said really strange things."
"What strange things?" I sipped my tea.
"She said that I could mindspeak, and that she wanted to bring my power back, so I could send a message to Colonel Armon."
"Wishful thinking, Ana," I said. "As much as we want things to be different, the power was burned out of us long ago. That's all this dream was-a wish."
"I'm not finished," Ana snapped. "This morning, after I dreamed of Sherra and what she told me to do, I did this." Ana held out her right hand, palm up.
My gasp when Ana made fire was heard by Miri, who'd just walked through the door.
* * *
Secondary Camp
Armon
Armon, this is Ana, from North Camp.
The mindspeak made me drop the razor I held into the pan of water.
Ana? There was no doubt of it, however-I recognized her voice. How? I sent a second question.
I dreamed of Sherra last night, she told me. Sherra told me to contact you. To tell you that all personnel at all training camps and outposts should be gathered to Secondary Camp-to save their lives. She also said that if anybody could, that the power should be wakened in all who wished it, and that they should be trained quickly.
I, I floundered. I didn't know how to respond to this. Let me get back to you, I said before shouting for Levi.
Kerok
Ana had a dream about Sherra? The day before, I'd have called it only a dream and dismissed it.
Here we were, the morning after Adahi told me Sherra was alive, and Ana, the last person I thought capable of mindspeak, had done just that.
Yes, Armon responded. Ana says she can make fire and mindspeak as of this morning. I'm inclined to err on the side of caution, my Prince.
Pass the message to Weren when he arrives. Tell him I want warriors sent to all training camps and outposts, to transport all personnel to Secondary Camp. It won't hurt to leave the camps and outposts empty for a while.
It will be done, Armon agreed.
I'll have Barth send diviners capable of restoring power, I added. We'll see what can be done with all of them.
I'll hand those orders to Weren, so he may take command and issue them formally.
Thank you, Armon.
* * *
Merrin
"We'll take Central Outpost tonight," I drew a rough map on paper I'd filched from Drenn's suite. The outpost in question was halfway between the battlefield and the King's City, which held at best two or three older warriors to protect it. It was the one that was used as a waypoint for vehicles stolen from the enemy.
If we were lucky, we'd find a few vehicles parked there, for the army's use. Most others were sent to the farms-to transport fruit, vegetables and animals. A waste of resources, in my mind.
I surmised, too, that most of the remaining army was at Secondary Camp, and wouldn't give the targeted outpost a second thought. It could be days or weeks, even, before anyone thought to check on the outpost, and we'd not only have its store of food, supplies and beds, but we could begin filling it with villagers wishing to join our uprising.
"How would you like to get the word to Thorn, when we turn the country against him while he's not looking?" Gram laughed.
"I stepped right into the palace," I shrugged. I'd taken the gold from Drenn's suite, and then two more small chests from the treasury, in addition to the coronet and the King's dagger. All those things lay on the rough floor nearby; evidence that we could do whatever we wanted in the King's City and nobody could stop us.
"The gold I took can be used to entice reluctant villages. Couple that with the promise of plenty of food and we'll have as many willing bodies as we want."
They'd have no idea we'd use them as living shields if it came down to it.
"What do we do with the girls in the villages-the ones with the rose marks?" Derk asked.
I took a moment to study Derk. He had an immoral preference for young girls. It was one of the things Drenn liked about him.
"You know the law," I said. "They have to be virgin when they're tested again, or they're dead."
A slow smile spread across Derk's thin mouth.
* * *
Sherra
"Sherra? Daughter?" Pottles patted my cheek until I came back to myself. I'd taken the dagger sheath into my hand at the breakfast table, thinking I'd attempt to get past the blocking spell Merrin had placed upon it.
I'd gotten past it. Far past it, and looked straight into Merrin's evils.
"It was a spell that Merrin did, Pottles," I blinked at her to bring her face into focus. "Merrin is planning something awful. I mean, I had a dream last night about Ana, and I was warning her about something, but this is-horrible."
"What happened?" Kyri strode quickly into the kitchen.
"She saw something that Merrin's up to," Pottles snorted.
"What is it?" Kyri sat at the table and took my hand in hers.
"I can show you," I breathed, and sent the images I'd received to Kyri.
* * *
"The youngest is six," Kyri paced the kitchen floor. "The King's Diviner may be the only other one to know that a black rose girl hasn't been born in six years."
I'd never seen Kyri this upset before. I felt helpless in the face of this new threat. How could we save them? Pottles, I sent mindspeak, what about the young boys selected for warrior training?
They didn't have a tattoo readily marking them as a target, but if Merrin wanted to harm them, or pervert their talents to his ways, he could do that easily by threatening parents or friends.
Pottles transferred my message to Kyri, who stopped pacing and turned toward me. "Also in danger, but not as much as the girls," Kyri replied.
She looked pale to me, her mouth tight and brow wrinkled with though
t and worry.
"Sherra, I need your help," she said.
"I'll do anything," I said immediately.
"It will require that I pull from your energy," she responded. "Something I never thought I'd have to do again."
Her last words were spoken in a whisper.
"I'll do anything," I repeated.
"The older ones-sixteen or more, will be invited," Pottles began moving chairs back from the table. "They'll be informed of the danger and the choice will be theirs. Those younger ones Kyri will pull away, but that will take a great deal of energy. I'll alert the others in the city that we'll be bringing in children who need our help."
"There aren't that many," Kyri sighed. "Less than sixty, of all ages, between six and twenty. We'll be taking those as old as fifteen, and there are thirty-four of them. Sherra, drink plenty of water and remain seated. I'll need a great deal of your energy to do this."
Table legs scraped across kitchen tiles as Pottles moved it out of the way. Kyri needs room, she informed me before walking toward the back door to deliver Kyri's message.
With hands shaking, I took the glass of water Kyri handed me and drank it dry.
* * *
King's City
Kerok
Hunter smothered a shout when Adahi appeared inside my study, shortly after I'd held a mindspoken conversation with Armon.
Warriors would be dispatched quickly, to empty training camps and outposts. I still didn't understand the danger, but, as Armon said, we'd err on the side of caution.
"Calm yourself, Advisor," Adahi lowered his hood and nodded at Hunter.
"Hunter, this is Adahi, who is also the phantom." My introduction lacked finesse, but it was the best I could do for someone who insisted on stepping inside the palace rather than going through the front door.
"I came to warn you, and to give needed information," Adahi growled. That's when I knew he withheld a seething anger. Something had enraged the phantom, and I had no idea-it's Merrin. Isn't it?
"The black rose girls aged fifteen and under will disappear from the villages," Adahi said. "Merrin has targeted them for his and his followers' lasciviousness, to render them useless to the army later."
Hunter's gasp sounded through my now-silent study. "Kyri is taking the younger ones, to keep them safe. An invitation will be issued to those sixteen and older, to go to her. It will be their choice." Adahi's words were flat, to hide his inner fury.
"How many?" I asked.
"The numbers are worse than you've imagined," Adahi informed me. "Kyri will pull away thirty-four girls, leaving twenty-three older ones behind. A black rose girl hasn't been marked in the past six years."
"May the first warrior save us," Hunter breathed.
Chapter 5
King's City
Kerok
Barth had joined Hunter and me inside my study shortly after Adahi's departure. "Weren and Armon are clearing out the outposts and training camps," I said after Hunter informed Barth of Adahi's messages. "Barth, were you aware of the low number of black rose girls?"
"I guessed. The itinerant diviners your father employs always sends those records straight to him, you understand, but for the past six years, no records have arrived. Only brief messages came to him."
"What about the warrior boys?"
"Better than the girls, but not overly so," Barth shrugged. "Those numbers stopped coming roughly three years ago."
"Do you think Drenn was made aware-that numbers were dwindling like that?" I asked.
"No idea. If he had that information, he hid it well," Barth observed.
"He would have been terrified if he knew there wouldn't be an adequate army under his rule," Hunter shook his head.
"So Merrin wouldn't have that information, either," I mused. "He has no idea."
"Neither does the Council," Barth said. "And it's just as well. Most of them are bloated with their own self-importance, and have forgotten the villages they are supposed to represent."
"Father should have examined each of them years ago," I fumed. "To determine whether their service was still needed by Az-ca."
"We agree," Hunter said. "But we will never criticize your father's rule-he has been steadfast in most things, you understand."
"I know. Barth, bring me the records-all of them-on the remaining Council members."
"It will be done, my Prince."
* * *
Doret
We'd never brought children from Az-ca before-not more than thirty at once, anyway. People from Kyri's City had shown up by the dozens, to offer their help as one by one, children appeared in her kitchen.
The youngest were weeping, which was understandable. The oldest, at fifteen, looked terrified.
The girl's power was sufficient to tell her something was amiss in Az-ca, but she didn't have the experience to determine what it was.
Kyri would explain things to her, and to the others twelve and over. They'd be told that many of those in Kyri's City had been rescued from faraway lands-across oceans, even.
They'd been rendered childless by the poison still present in their homelands; poison released in wars centuries ago. These children would be more than welcome in their homes.
"That's the last of them," Kyri announced as Nguyen-Mei lifted the seven-year-old in her arms and held her close, comforting and soothing away her tears.
Sherra, who'd sat still while Kyri's hands were on her shoulders, opened her eyes. "Done?" she asked.
"We're done. That's-some talent you have, granddaughter."
I saw Nguyen-Mei out the back door, promising to check with her later, then turned back to Sherra and Kyri.
Sherra didn't even stagger when she stood.
"I'd suggest food and rest for today," Kyri advised. "I'm going to do the same."
Sherra's a dreamwalker, I informed Kyri, as I filled glasses of water for her and Sherra. I'd find something for both to eat, too, while they drank.
I guessed that when she connected with me, Kyri admitted. It's-next to impossible. The dreamer knows more than the conscious one, she added. There hasn't been one since before the End-War.
I knew, as did Kyri, that the dreamwalker then had ensured that the race survived, in one way or another. It had been on his advice that the domes and infrastructures of Az-ca had been built-well enough to last for many centuries.
* * *
Sherra
After eating, I'd napped on Pottles' advice. When I woke, I found the rosewood box and the dagger sheath on the small table beside my bed.
Merrin would tell me more secrets through those things; I was sure of it. Just not today-I still felt tired from helping Kyri pull young roses away from Az-ca.
Perhaps some families would miss their children. Some would miss the King's gold more.
I found myself hoping that Kyri's invitations to the older ones would bear fruit and soon-any delay would increase their danger at Merrin's hands.
Closing my eyes, I considered another nap.
* * *
Secondary Camp
Caral
"There are messages-from Thorn and Hunter," Armon joined me in the mess hall. "There's quite a crowd coming in, if I understand things properly. I also have this, relayed by a messenger."
Armon handed a sealed note to me. My indrawn breath told Armon I recognized the handwriting.
Derissa.
Derissa had sent a message to me. With nerveless fingers, I broke the seal to read what she'd written.
Dear sister, Romma's daughter has disappeared, she wrote. We are terrified. Mari is only seven, she added. Please, if you know anything about this disappearance, let us know-Derissa.
Armon read the message over my shoulder, and he and I exchanged a glance after finishing it.
"Armon, I need Kerok's permission to visit my sister," I begged. Mari was a black rose girl. If Romma didn't care about her, my sister surely did.
"I'll get it," Armon gruffed. "I'll send you, Misten and Levi," he added. "Give me
a moment to alert Thorn."
Ten minutes later, I had permission, a bag of gold from a messenger and terrifying news.
Merrin had somehow threatened all the black rose girls. Someone, Armon didn't explain who, had pulled the youngest girls away. The rest of the message was murky at best, and involved an invitation for the older girls to go elsewhere.
I didn't ask where elsewhere could be; my concern was for Derissa.
"Bring her back with you, if she's willing," Armon said after consulting Kerok again in mindspeak. "Her family, too, if she has one."
"She didn't when I left," I said. "I'll ask her."
"Then go, and return soon," Armon said. "Thorn says we can hire your sister to help with the new arrivals in camp, if she so desires."
"Thank you." I hugged Armon hard. He chuckled when I let him go. The moment Levi and Misten joined us, I handed the gold to Levi, told him where to set his feet and he stepped us away.
* * *
"Caral," Derissa shouted my name and came running the moment she realized we'd arrived. Levi had set down right outside my family home, although only Derissa lived there, now. Mother was dead and Father had remarried, then moved into his new wife's home, leaving Derissa and me behind.
I didn't miss him.
Derissa threw herself into my arms; she was shorter than I and had been since I was twelve. After an embrace that lasted forever and not long enough, she pulled away. "You got my message," she wiped tears away.
"I did," I told her. "I came to tell you that Mari is safe; the Crown Prince says so. He also says that we can offer you paid work if you want it, at a training camp."
"Wh-what?" She blinked at me in confusion.
"Captain Caral knows what she's talking about," Levi came to my assistance. "Mari is indeed safe elsewhere, and you may come back with us, if that is your wish."
"I can see Caral? Every day?"
"Unless she's on the battlefield or on assignment for the Prince or General Weren," Levi confirmed.
"Caral?" Romma, Mari's mother, approached us warily.
"Mari's safe. The Crown Prince says so," Derissa turned toward Romma.
"Where is she?" Romma demanded.
It was easy to see that she was more concerned for the King's gold instead of her daughter.
"Levi," I turned toward him.
Rose and Thorn: Black Rose Sorceress, Book 2 Page 6
