Shonika stopped in front of one of the largest. She looked at Nirel expectantly.
Nirel gulped. Should she tap on the front door? She hadn’t arranged anything with Kevessa or Gevan. She swung down from her horse and gave the reins to Shonika. Her knees shook as she mounted the marble steps and crossed the porch to the imposing doors. Was she sure Shonika had read the map correctly and found the right house? What if guards or dogs raised an alarm as soon as she disturbed the silence?
She raised her hand, but before she could touch the door it swung silently open. Nirel choked back a yelp as Kevessa slipped out and eased the door closed behind her. Instead, she forced her voice to a whisper. “You startled me.”
“Sorry.” Kevessa grinned at her in the moonlight. She hefted a satchel to her shoulder.
“Is that all you’re taking?” Nirel doubted the small bag would hold even one of Kevessa’s voluminous dresses.
“I sent a trunk to the ship earlier. I told the servant to say it was for Father. Come on, let’s go.” Glancing back, Kevessa bit her lip, and a shadow passed over her features. But she gave Nirel another crooked grin and led the way to the street.
Kevessa settled her pack on the horse they’d brought for her and swung astride, her riding skirt fluttering around her legs. She nodded to Shonika. Shonika acknowledged her with a quick jerk of her head and kicked her horse into motion. Together the three of them rode down the sloping streets toward the docks. Nirel let herself breathe a little easier.
They were passing down a dark street, tall featureless warehouses on either side, when three horsemen emerged from an alley ahead and ranged themselves across the road. Behind the women, three more rode out of the shadows. Nirel jerked her horse to a halt, heart pounding.
“Excuse me, ladies,” said the man in the center of the three in front. He wore a dark robe, its hood hanging down his back. “We’ve been charged with the protection of Lady Kevessa Navorre. Lady Kevessa, allow us to escort you home. It’s not safe for a woman to be out on the streets of Ramunna at night.”
“Do you know them?” Nirel muttered to Kevessa.
“Never seen them before,” she whispered back. Louder, she addressed the man. “There’s no need, gentlemen. My friends and I are quite able to defend ourselves. I merely wish to ride down to the docks and bid my father farewell. His ship departs at sunrise. If you insist, you may accompany us there.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, my lady. Keeper Yoran has asked us to make sure you’re safe at home when your father sails.” The man kneed his horse forward a few steps. “If these women refuse to allow us to escort you home, we’ll be forced to assume they’re kidnapping you.”
Shonika shot Nirel a glance, giving one of her barely perceptible twitches to indicate the bow on her back. Nirel responded with an affirmative dip of her eyelids. She settled her legs firmly against her horse’s sides.
“Keeper Yoran need not concern himself with my safety,” Kevessa told him, lifting her chin and urging her horse forward. “My friends will take offense if you treat them with anything but the greatest respect.”
The man looked at each of his companions in turn, receiving acknowledging nods. He drew his sword with a lazy movement, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Kidnappers, release Lady Kev—”
Shonika’s arrow thudded into his chest and knocked him from his horse. Nirel’s flew only a breath behind, taking out the man on the left. Kevessa bent over her horse’s neck and kicked it into a gallop. It leaped over the fallen man and charged down the street. Nirel clung to her mount and started to send him after Kevessa, but pulled back when Shonika didn’t follow. Wheeling, she saw the man on the right advancing against Shonika.
The man slashed at Shonika, who drew her sword barely in time to block his thrust. He crowded his horse close to hers, bearing down, grinning as his superior height and strength forced her to give way an inch at a time.
The other three men converged warily on the battling pair. Nirel snatched another arrow from her quiver. Her hands shook so much she was barely able to nock it, but she forced them still and took aim. Even so, her arrow flew wide of her target, only grazing his companion’s arm. But her next arrow flew true and slammed into the man’s gut. He doubled over, dropping his sword.
Shonika twisted and gave her opponent’s mount a vicious kick in the groin. The horse reared, screaming, and the man grabbed to keep from being thrown. Shonika slashed her sword at the horse’s rear leg, hamstringing it. It fell atop the man, its thrashing legs hindering the other horses. Shonika drove her heels into her mount’s sides, sending him charging past Nirel. Nirel yanked her horse around and fell in behind.
Their two remaining foes raced after them. At least they didn’t seem to have bows. Nirel urged her horse to greater speed.
Ahead, she spotted Kevessa, who’d slackened her speed and was looking back. “Go!” Nirel shouted. “Don’t wait for us!” But they were nearly on top of Kevessa when she finally turned and drove forward.
The pounding of her horse’s hooves rattled Nirel’s teeth and blurred her vision. It was all she could do to cling to its back without falling off. The dark buildings of the city flashed by. Kevessa and Shonika pulled ahead. They were both far better riders than Nirel. She hoped at least one of them knew the way and that her horse would follow theirs, because she didn’t think she could make the beast turn even if she knew where to guide him.
She glanced back. Their two pursuers weren’t any closer, but they still stubbornly followed. Just then her horse lurched violently left, sending her sliding out of the saddle to the right. She grabbed for its mane but missed, and for a breathless instant fell. She slammed into the hard dirt of the street, her hip and shoulder taking the brunt of the impact, and rolled until she came up short against the wall of a building.
Pain exploded in her head. She couldn’t breathe. She fought to make her lungs obey, oblivious to anything else, until finally a rush of air stabbed her chest like fire.
Rough hands grabbed her and pulled her up to a sitting position, sending a new wave of pain through her body. Darkness swam in front of her eyes. Dim and hollow, as if from far down the length of a stone corridor, she heard a man’s voice. “You’ll pay for killing Kerol, you—” She didn’t know the Ramunnan word he used, but he pronounced it with such venom she could easily guess its import.
She couldn’t black out. She might never wake. Terror flooded her with strength and cleared her vision. She saw the fist coming at her face just in time to twist out of its path. Her body screamed at her, but she could move all her limbs. She kicked in the direction of the man’s crotch. She must have missed, for he only cursed again and grabbed at her, his fist going back for another blow.
He grunted and his eyes bulged. Then he collapsed, his body falling heavy across her legs and hips. She cried out and writhed to free herself. She couldn’t heave the dead weight off until hands came to her aid, rolling the man away. Nirel saw the fletched shaft of Shonika’s arrow protruding from his back.
“Nirel, are you all right?” Kevessa’s voice was high with panic. Nirel tried to reassure her, but she couldn’t seem to make her lips and tongue work. She managed a nod that sent the world spinning wildly around her. She had to close her eyes and gasp for breath lest she vomit.
Firm hands ruthlessly prodded the places Nirel hurt worst: her hip, her shoulder, the back of her head. She swallowed and bit her lower lip to keep from screaming. Shonika’s voice was calm. “I don’t think she broke anything. She’ll have a lump on her head, and a lot of bruises. Nirel, get up. You have to ride.”
Nirel couldn’t imagine standing up, let alone getting back on her horse. But Shonika didn’t leave her any choice. She grabbed Nirel’s hands and pulled her to her feet. Nirel lurched, but didn’t fall. Her head swam for what seemed a long time, but eventually cleared. She opened her eyes to see Kevessa’s anxious eyes studying her. One of Nirel’s arms was slung around Kevessa’s shoulders, the other around Shonika’
s.
“Shonika, we’ve got to get her back to the palace,” Kevessa said. “The Matriarch has the best physicians.”
“Only if you want the Purifiers to capture you. I expect they’ve got a lot more than six men at their disposal. They’ll be after you as soon as they learn what’s happened. I don’t care one way or the other, but if you want to escape, you need to be on that ship.”
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me. I can’t let Nirel—”
Nirel forced her mouth to form words. They came out weak and breathy, but loud enough to interrupt Kevessa. “I’m fine. I can ride. Shonika’s right. We’ve got to get you to the ship.”
She straightened, putting her weight on her legs. They held her up. She pulled her arm away from Kevessa, swayed a little, and removed the other from Shonika’s shoulders. She looked around, and saw her horse standing, reins dangling, not far away. She limped in that direction, ignoring the pain that shot through her hip.
The horse edged away, but Shonika caught it easily and held its head while Nirel mounted. It was a long way up; she didn’t protest when Kevessa, still fretting under her breath about going for help, gave her a boost.
Once mounted, Nirel felt better. She still hurt all over, but she could think clearly. She watched Shonika stride over to another fallen figure, grab the hilt of her sword where it stuck out of the man’s chest, and brace her foot against his ribs while she extracted it. She wiped it clean on the man’s breeches and sheathed it. Then she mounted her horse and rode to join Nirel and Kevessa, who had also caught her horse and mounted. “Do you still have that map?”
Nirel groped for her belt pouch. “I think it’s here.”
“I know the way.” Kevessa looked down the street to where the horses the two Purifiers had ridden wandered loose. “Should we do something about them?”
Shonika shrugged. “They’ll find their way back to their stables. Of course, then their friends will learn what’s happened. Do you want me to kill them?”
Kevessa shuddered. “No. I’ll be long gone before the Purifiers can send anyone else after me.” With a deep breath, she settled herself more firmly in the saddle. “Come on.” She kicked her horse into a trot, and Shonika and Nirel followed.
The jarring gait sent agony shooting through Nirel’s hip and shoulder and head, but she ground her teeth together and endured. No one else accosted them. They rode through the deserted predawn streets until they emerged from between two buildings into the open space that led down to the shore. Starlight and moonlight glimmered on the water. Clustered along the docks, tall dark masts swayed.
Kevessa slowed her horse to a walk and picked her way down a steep section of road. Close behind, Nirel looked nervously around. They were much more exposed here than they’d been among the closely packed buildings.
As they neared the dock, a man’s form separated itself from a pile of crates and barrels. Nirel’s heart raced until she heard Kevessa’s glad “Father!” and saw her slide from her horse into Gevan’s arms.
“You made it,” he murmured. “Was there any trouble?”
Kevessa swallowed. “Nothing to worry about. I’ll tell you later.”
Gevan frowned and turned to look at Nirel and Shonika. His searching gaze continued past them to the empty road. “I thought there would be more—”
Nirel pushed her horse past Shonika’s. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get anyone else to come.” Her voice was rough with the effort not to let her pain show. “I tried, but my father… But Shonika and I brought her here safely.”
Gevan still looked doubtful, but he nodded graciously enough to her. “Thank you.”
Kevessa twisted away from her father’s embrace. She put one hand on the neck of Nirel’s horse and reached the other up to clasp Nirel’s hand. “Come with us. Father, we can take her with us, can’t we? I’d greatly appreciate having a female companion on the voyage. And she can help you learn more about how the language of Tevenar has changed from that of ancient Marvanna, so you’ll be better prepared to serve as the Matriarch’s ambassador.”
Gevan looked back and forth between the two girls. “I suppose—”
Nirel tried to pull her hand away, but Kevessa refused to release it. “Kevessa, I can’t. You know I can’t go back there. I told you why we had to escape.”
“You could stay aboard the ship. The law of Tevenar couldn’t touch you there, for it remains part of Ramunna, under the rule of the Matriarch.” She dropped her voice low. “You told me about your father, also. If you disobeyed him to help me tonight, I think I know what awaits if you return to him.”
Nirel drew a shuddering breath and looked past Kevessa and Gevan to where Captain Yosiv’s ship bobbed against the dock. It would be so easy to accept Kevessa’s offer. Part of her wanted to. She would enjoy the voyage in Kevessa’s company. She could learn a great deal from Gevan. And she could see her home again. Her stomach twisted with longing for the familiar sights and sounds of home, far from this alien place with its bizarre customs and baffling politics, where she would never truly belong.
But Tevenar wasn’t home either, not any more. Her family’s farm stood empty, unless they’d already given it to some other member of the Farmers’ Guild. She’d be going to Elathir, which was nearly as foreign to her as Ramunna. And the wizards would be there, with their cursed power. They might not throw her back in jail, but she’d be in danger every minute she was near them. They always acted so kind and compassionate, insisting they only wanted what was best for her, but their interference had never done anything but destroy her life.
If Josiah saw her injured like this, he’d want to send his golden light into her body, wiping away her pain and tainting her with contamination that could never be cleansed, dragging her even farther out of favor with the Lord of Justice and the community of the Faithful. Her bruises would be long healed by the time they arrived, but what if something were to happen to her while she was there? They’d never listen to her refusal, never understand that she’d rather die than let their foul magic invade her again.
She thought of Kabos, not angry the way she knew he’d be if she returned to the palace, but the way he’d been in the shrine, eyes bright with devotion, voice rough with the love he couldn’t express any other way. She wanted that love, hungered for it in the deepest places of her heart. If she went with Kevessa, she’d lose it forever. Kabos would never accept her back if she left him now, not even if Elder Semanel and the Faithful did.
The only way she could win back her father’s affection was to return to him. Face whatever punishment he deemed appropriate for her disobedience. Accept it, let it drive the wicked willfulness from her heart. Give herself with renewed commitment to the task of honoring his word as she would that of the Lord of Justice himself. Then, when the storm of his rage had passed, he would put his arms around her, and tell her that he loved her, and she would know it was true.
Nirel pulled her hand away from Kevessa’s. “I can’t,” she repeated. “I have to stay here. Father won’t—I’ll be fine.”
Kevessa studied her, brows drawn together, teeth catching her lower lip. “If you’re sure.”
“I am.” Nirel looked away, out toward the horizon, anywhere but at Kevessa’s concern. “Um, when you’re there, if you meet a boy named Josiah, he’s a wizard… Tell him I’m sorry. I know he only wanted to help me. But I had to leave. My place is with my father.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“Thanks. He’ll understand.”
Josiah would know what Kevessa referred to, but he wouldn’t understand why Nirel had made the choice she had. Right now, Nirel’s thoughts and emotions were such a confused muddle, she wasn’t sure she understood, either. But she knew she had to follow through on it.
She leaned down, though it made her ache all over, and put her arm around Kevessa’s shoulders. She couldn’t expect her friend to understand, either, but maybe she’d at least accept Nirel’s choice. “May your voyage be smooth.”
Kevessa stood on tiptoe and hugged Nirel back. “And may your path also be smooth, wherever it leads you, until we meet again.”
Nirel returned her embrace. After a moment Kevessa released her. Silently Kevessa went to her horse, unfastened her pack from its saddle, and slung it over her shoulder. She handed the reins to Shonika and went to stand by Gevan. “I’m ready, Father.”
He looked back and forth between Kevessa and Nirel with a puzzled frown, but at length he nodded. “Thank you again.” He took Kevessa’s hand and led her toward the plank that stretched from the dock to the deck of the ship.
Nirel watched until they were safely aboard and vanished down a hatch. Then she kneed her horse around and nodded to Shonika.
Shonika didn’t speak, just inclined her head in return and set off toward the palace. They rode in silence through the dark streets. The sky in the east was just beginning to lighten when they returned their horses to the stable. The guards let them enter the palace without comment.
Shonika headed to her room without looking at Nirel. Nirel stopped in the corridor and watched until the door closed behind her. Then she took a deep breath and opened the door of the suite she shared with Kabos.
Her heart jumped when she saw him sitting on the couch in front of the hearth, gazing into the banked ashes. But as he rose and turned to face her, calm settled over her. She shut the door behind her and went to stand before him, bowing her head.
His voice was rough. “Where have you been?”
She kept her voice calm, meek but not pleading, matter-of-fact. “I disobeyed you, Father. I went to Shonika, and the two of us rode out and escorted Kevessa to the dock.”
For a long time he was silent. Finally he said, “I have to punish you.”
“I know, Father.” Nirel sneaked a glance at his face. There was anger there, though not the rage she’d feared. His eyes were cold and bleak. She looked down again and clasped her hands in front of her, staring at them. “I submit myself to you as to the Lord of Justice.”
The Law of Isolation Page 27
