by Tim Susman
“Well put.” Emily folded her arms. “Then yes, I can do all that. You’re not worried about the Dutch sorcerers knowing where we’re sending everyone?”
“I can’t think of a way around it,” Kip said, “and nor can Captain Lowell. We’ll have to trust that what we’re offering them, contingent on their cooperation, will be enough to dissuade them from betraying us.”
“I believe it should be,” Emily said. “You didn’t see their faces when I said I knew you, Kip.”
Kip’s ears folded back, and he looked down at the floor. “Well,” he said, “if they will help us then I will be just as glad to meet them.”
“Right.” Emily turned to Lowell. “You’ll be coming with me?”
“Aye,” he and Malcolm replied at the same time.
“But first,” Kip said, “let’s you and I go to the place.”
Emily blinked. “The place? I thought we were sending them all to New Cambridge.”
Kip shook his head as Captain Lowell said, “Take O’Brien as well. You should be warded at all times.”
“Oh, ah, I see.” Malcolm smiled. “Take O’Brien, whether he likes it or not.”
Emily reached out to take his hand. “Do you like it?”
“As it happens, I do. Very much so.”
“All right then. Stop complaining about it.”
He laughed and pulled magic into his arms so they glowed orange, then cast his spell. “Right. We’re all three warded and ready to go.”
Kip leaned up to Emily’s ear and whispered, “The cabin where Windsor took us.”
She startled. “Seriously?”
“To start with.”
“It’ll be—”
“Captain Lowell thinks that the fewer people who know the place we’re going, the better, so let’s just go and have the discussion there. Can you get us all three there?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
And a moment later they stood on the floor of a cabin, the door open to a cool fall night outside with the sharp scent of eucalyptus. Ash, fluttering from Kip’s shoulder, flew outside immediately.
Below the eucalyptus, though, the smell of
“Kind of fitting in a way that we’re using this place,” Emily said. “Don’t you think?”
Kip nodded. “I don’t want to use this cabin, though.”
“Too small, for one thing,” Malcolm said, reaching his arms out. “I can feel the air hitting the wall.”
“I wanted to pick a location we could see easily from here. Ideally a ridge that we could send people down the other side of, so they aren’t visible from here, but…” He moved to the doorway.
By the dim light of the cloud-covered moon, Kip looked out over a field of low scrub. Behind the cabin, some distance away, the tall trees that gave off the eucalyptus smell loomed dark, and before him, a dirt path wound through the scrub.
An impact on his shoulder made him jump, but it was only Ash, beak open in a silent laugh at Kip’s reaction. He tapped the bird’s beak affectionately and then beckoned the others forward. Alert for any noise or danger, they walked about a quarter mile until they rounded a bend and looked down on a gentle slope, at the base of which lay a shimmering inlet. The wider end gave onto a larger bay, and the smell of salt told them that this was ocean and not a lake. “There,” Kip said. “Can you see the area down there, the little valley?”
“Barely,” Emily said. “But I can see this place. You say there’s room down there for thousands of Calatians?”
“Yes.”
Behind them, Malcolm said, “You should get yourself a demon, Em. They’re grand for seeing in the dark. Dar can see the bay as clear as day.”
“I have quite enough to worry about,” Emily said.
Kip cleared his throat. “I wanted to ask you two one last time if you’re sure you want to help with this. I know we’ve been through a lot together, but not all of it’s been by choice. If you help me—help us—you might be called race traitors.”
“Kip,” Emily said, “I’d sooner betray my race than a friend.”
“Aye.” Malcolm moved to put a hand on Kip’s shoulder. “You should know better than to ask.”
He looked back at the cabin. “It’s just that I’m terrified of something going wrong. If I’m captured, imprisoned, even killed…I brought it on myself. But here I’m pulling all of you into it with me. And you’re not even Calatians. Alice, Bryce—if he agrees—they stand to benefit if we can negotiate terms. But—”
“We benefit by the war being over,” Emily said.
“And what’s more,” Malcolm added, “we benefit from your situation improving. Everyone benefits. Why, you’re only asking to be treated the same as everyone else, to be given the same chances, and if Calatians can do it, then perhaps so can women, and all of our friends who aren’t white-skinned.” He gave a dry chuckle. “And when that’s all been done and settled, mayhap they’ll even get around to the Irish.”
“I shouldn’t have come to the cabin,” Kip said. “I can’t get the smell out of my nose now.”
Emily put her arm all the way around his shoulders. “What happened here—neither of us could have done more than we did. But we’re not being pulled into it at the last minute. We’re setting the terms now. If someone else comes in, we’ll be ready for them. Eh, Mal?”
“More than.” Malcolm cracked his knuckles. “Let that Albright try something.”
“All right.” Kip exhaled through his nose, trying to replace the
“It will work, Kip.” Emily sounded as confident as he wanted to feel. “It’s well thought out and as long as everyone does their part, there won’t be much time for anyone to respond.”
He nodded. “Promise me something, both of you.” They watched him steadily from the near-darkness. “If things go bad, keep yourselves safe. If anything happened to one of you—”
“Only if you promise the same,” Malcolm said.
Kip thought of Alice, of Abel. “I’ll do the best I can,” he said. “But as I said, if something happens, I brought it on myself.”
“That won’t be much consolation to us if you’re gone at the end of it.” Malcolm squeezed his shoulder and let go. “But we’re all of us bound to be who we are, in the end. Me ma…” He coughed and smiled. “Me ma used to say, if the Lord wanted you to be different then He wouldn’t have made you the way you are.”
“What I think he’s trying to say,” Emily said, “is that we appreciate how much you care for other people, but also try to take care of yourself.”
“We’ll all sit down at the end of this together.” Kip smiled. “Succeed or fail.”
“God willing.” Malcolm turned to Emily. “Best get us back to Boston now.”
“I’ll go directly to New Cambridge,” Kip said. “Send Alice along and I’ll see you there in a few hours, hopefully.”
He embraced them both and then stepped back. Emily took Malcolm by the arm and a moment later, they vanished.
Under the dim cloudy light, he picked his way down the path to the water and looked around. Night birds called, and a few things that were not birds flew overhead—giant bats? He could send Ash up there, but the raven did not seem inclined to go investigate, so Kip let her sit on his shoulder. The smells here contained different plants, different animals: an alien world. But the soft, warm sand felt welcoming to hi
s feet, and the water warmer than he expected.
He reached a finger up to stroke Ash’s beak, and she rubbed back. “I suppose I brought you into this without asking as well,” he said. “But we’re a team now, aren’t we?”
She gave a croak, soft and contented. Kip looked through her eyes to see if the view would be very different.
Ravens’ eyes did not have the light-gathering capability that foxes’ eyes did, so her view was darker than what he was seeing, but sharper at a distance. She could see down to the land around the inlet, see the small coves and the flat grass on the softly rolling hills that surrounded the water. The land looked welcoming enough. “We complement each other, I see,” he said to Ash, and brought his sight back to himself.
There was room enough. Soon, if things went well, this inlet would be crowded with Calatians—most of the Calatians in the world. He couldn’t imagine it, but he hoped he would get to see it.
He waited outside the Founders Rest Inn, not wanting to talk to Old John for fear of giving something away, until Alice appeared near him. “Emily and Captain Lowell and Malcolm went off to—”
“Shh.” He put a finger to his lips.
She looked around, and then looked indignant. “I wasn’t going to say where, only that they’re on their way.”
“All right.” Kip looked up the hill. “Then let’s be on ours.”
A dark-haired man showing a little bit of stomach on his physique had come out of the guard house and was talking with one of the guards when they approached. Kip recognized him as one of the military sorcerers maintaining the wards and greeted him. “Oh, Penfold,” the sorcerer said. “What are you doing here?”
“Orders of Colonel Jackson. Master Colonel Jackson,” he corrected as Alice nudged him. “I’m to talk to the newly arrived refugees and settle them down, tell them we’ll be moving them along very soon.”
“Oh, will we?” The man shook his head. “All right, let him in, he’s one of ours.”
“I know.” The other guard moved to open the gate. “Was in and out of here the other night, wasn’t he?”
Kip acknowledged him and turned back to the sorcerer as the gates creaked open. “Any attempt on the wards?”
“Nay. Britain’s licking her wounds and leaving us be for the moment. Reckon they didn’t think our Master Colonel was such the strategist, eh?”
“I suppose not.” Kip smiled thinly.
“Say.” The sorcerer peered at Ash. “That your raven?”
“She is now,” Kip said, and walked on into the College.
The smell of Calatians reached him even outside on the lawn. The large tents where he’d practiced spells and eaten meals now held perhaps two hundred Calatians each, crowded together on top of each other. Another fifty or so wandered around the grounds, and Kip thought he saw some over in the orchard. He wanted to tell them to be respectful of the trees, but he had more urgent business.
Alice went off to get Bryce Morgan, while Kip found Abel and asked him which of the Calatians from the Isle would be considered most in charge. “Wilton Blaeda, but he’s still on the Isle.” The fox put a paw to his muzzle. “Mmm, I suppose of the people that came with us, probably Grinda. I think she’s in the basement telling stories to the children. I’ll go get her.”
Kip’s whiskers twitched at that. He’d hoped that he wouldn’t have to confront Grinda again, but maybe it was for the best. If he could convince her, he could convince anyone.
The tents held most of the Boston and New York Calatians, so Kip went there next. By the time he’d located a middle-aged vixen from Boston and an older rat from New York willing to represent their communities, Abel and Grinda had joined Alice and Bryce Morgan around the back of the tower, out of sight of the gates. Alice’s father had also come along, and Kip supposed he had as much right to be there as anyone, so he didn’t object. “Gentlemen and ladies,” he said, “I need to speak to you in private, so Alice is going to take you all up to the roof. I wanted to warn you so you won’t be alarmed when we lift off. You will all be perfectly safe. Are you ready?”
They murmured among themselves, except for Grinda, who stared silently at Kip, and Thomas Cartwright, ears up, who stood beside his daughter. Alice gathered magic, and at the glow on her arms, the murmurs grew louder. Then she cast the spell, and everyone startled as they were lifted from the ground. Kip remained calm, tail swishing as Alice lifted the group of them to the roof, over the parapet, and down onto the warm stone.
When she released the spell, the Calatians took a few steps in different directions. The rat from New York walked to the edge and looked down as though he couldn’t believe they’d actually been lifted to the roof. Bryce Morgan, more used to sorcery, said, “All right, Penfold, what’s going on?”
Kip stepped back to face the group, Alice at his right side. Abel stood off to the left, between Kip and the others, and having the two other foxes flanking him reassured Kip. “I’m here,” he said in a low voice, “to ask all of you to take a small risk to advance the position of Calatians everywhere.
“The American army has decided that we are a resource in need of guarding, but won’t spare more than a single guard to do it, and as a result we find ourselves crowded two, maybe three thousand strong into this space meant to hold two hundred.
“The British crown thinks us valuable enough to attack our settlements in Savannah and Peachtree, and disposable enough to kill us when we try to escape, as they did on the Road.” Grinda and Abel looked down at the memory. “We are reckoned valuable in the whole and disposable in the individual—unless the individual happens to be a fire sorcerer.” He gathered magic and conjured a fire in the space between sentences, which caused the Boston vixen and New York rat to step back. “Or an air sorcerer.”
Alice summoned an air elemental and sent it through the group, ruffling fur and causing the Calatians to look around nervously. Kip went on. “We have an opportunity here, when their need of us is greatest, to show them that we matter, each and every one of us. We have an opportunity to be people to them, not just reserves of magical ammunition to be bled dry and then discarded.” Abel looked alarmed at this, and Kip remembered that not everyone here was a calyx or even knew the calyx ritual. He hoped his words would stand as metaphor. “One of my most trusted friends has accompanied a diplomatic mission to foreign countries and has secured a promise from another country’s sorcerers to help us move the Calatians.” He gestured around the Tower. “All of us.”
Grinda spoke for the first time. “One of your human friends, no doubt.”
“Yes,” Kip said. “But I trust her completely.”
The wolf folded her arms. “And what price do these sorcerers ask?”
Kip took a breath and looked back at her steadily. “They want a small group of Calatians to settle in their country and join them as calyxes.”
“I knew it!” Grinda barked sharply. “He pretends to be so concerned with the welfare of ‘his people,’ but he’s a sorcerer through and through. He sells us out just as surely as the Americans or British do.”
“Penfold—” Bryce Morgan began.
Kip held up a paw. “I don’t like this bargain, but it’s better than any we’ve ever had.”
“It’s still a violation.” Grinda growled.
“It’s a contract on our terms.” Kip tried to remain calm. “They have never used calyxes. We can tell them how best to use our help. Limit the number of consecutive days a calyx can be used. Require healing, require comfortable housing for us and our families.”
“Until they talk to their British and American friends and realize that they don’t need to do any of that.”
Kip breathed in, but Alice stepped forward before he could respond. “Maybe they will,” she said. “Maybe it will all go back to the way it was. But if we don’t do this then it definitely won’t change. And it’s the chance to grow a community in another country. Britain won’t let us go abroad to other countries; this could grow our numbers worldwide. I
sn’t that what we talk about at the Feast? Growing our families and keeping our communities strong?” She stopped and took a breath. Everyone’s eyes were on her. “And even if it does all go back to the way it was, the way it is now…” She took Kip’s paw. “At least we’ll have done it. At least we’ll have tried. And Calatians in the future will remember this, will know that it’s possible. That’s something they can’t ever take away.”
The roof fell silent. Kip squeezed Alice’s paw. After a moment, Grinda spoke, but the snarl was gone from her voice. “Pretty words,” she said. “From another sorcerer, and another fox.”
“That’s my daughter,” Thomas said sharply. “She’s speaking what’s in her heart, not parroting someone else’s words.”
“I suppose you’re very proud of her,” Grinda said. “But—”
“I am.” He looked directly at Alice. “More so than I’ve ever been in my life. I believe her, and Kip Penfold, and whatever they need, I will do my best to provide.”
Alice made a small choking sound, and when Kip looked down, she was smiling and her eyes were bright. He gave her paw another squeeze and then let go. “There will be some danger,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said otherwise, and you wouldn’t believe me. We are defying two great human powers and there are still many things that could go wrong.”
“Of course there’s danger,” Bryce said. “We know that. Tell us what you need from us.”
“Thank you.” Kip rubbed his foot on the warm stone. “All of us must undertake this together. The more we have, the better our chance of success, and any left behind here at the Tower will still be in danger. I need all of you to go to your communities and tell them that we’re striking a blow for our people, and convince them all to go along.”
The New York rat laughed. “Oh, is that all? Get a bunch of New Yorkers to agree on something?”
“We’ll do what we can,” Abel said, with a look at Grinda. “Tell us what happens next.”
Kip nodded gratefully. “The other sorcerers will be here in a few hours. They are rescuing the Calatians taken prisoner from Savannah and Peachtree. If something goes wrong with that and they don’t appear, then…none of this will work anyway. But if they do, and I believe they will, they will translocate all of you to a safe location, where you will be warded and hidden. We will do it inside the Tower, and we’ll need everyone to come in small groups so as not to alert the guards. Alice and I will be here in case there’s a problem. It should take two hours to get everyone. And—I’m sorry about this—anyone who can volunteer to be a calyx should do so. We will need the sorcerers at their fullest power to move everyone quickly, and the longer it takes, the more risk of being caught.
