by Mary Corran
Avorian was standing halfway across the room from them, an imposing figure in grey riding leathers, tall and vigorous despite the long journey north. He reached out an inviting hand to Menna, waiting, expectantly, for her to go to him. She stayed in her place between Asher and Mallory, a stiffly upright figure.
‘What have you done here, Avorian?’ she asked coldly.
The outstretched arm was not withdrawn. ‘I came for you, as you knew I should,’ he said, speaking with an intensity that told Asher he had misunderstood her. ‘Come to me. Have these people harmed you in any way?’
‘They have not.’ Still she did not move, and Avorian frowned.
‘Come, Menna!’ He was impatient with her continued recalcitrance. ‘Come to me at once.’
‘I asked you a question.’ Her manner to him was quite altered from the filial deference Asher remembered. ‘What have you done to these people, to their home?’ She gestured to where Bran and Soraya stood, close together, then at the broken furnishings, evidence of wanton destruction.
‘Nothing they did not bring upon themselves when they refused to tell me where you were hidden.’ He met her stare with a look of suppressed irritation. ‘What does it matter, now you are safe?’
‘Safe? Safe from whom?’ Her voice was cold, and Asher, listening to her, remembered Mallory asking Avorian much the same question. ‘From what I see here, I am safer with my new friends than with you.’
He took a step toward her, as if he would take her from her companions by force. ‘What have they said to you? What lies?’ he demanded. ‘Surely you aren’t afraid of me. You know I would never harm you.’
Menna swayed, recoiling as if he had hit her. ‘What did you say?’ she whispered. ‘Say it again.’
‘I asked what lies these two have told you!’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Although they have said nothing, not even why they took me away from you. But from the few questions they asked, I am not so great a fool that I cannot see they wish me to recall something from my past, something I have forgotten, and I have tried. No, say those other words again.’
She was looking at Avorian as if he were a stranger, and, seeing it, he was silent. No one spoke or moved but Asher thought she heard in the distance the screeching cry of an angry bird of prey. The stillness in the farmhouse held a tangible quality, a sense of expectancy that shivered in the air, until Menna stirred and pierced the quiet with a whispered denial.
‘No.’
The whole world changed at the word, all possibilities and probabilities altering in a split second of time that yet seemed to endure for hours; Asher was dizzied by a rush of darting images in her mind, showing her unfinished fragments of future time. Where before there had been only two shadowy paths of choice, now there seemed to be thousands, all in constant motion in rainbow shades that blurred together; she felt them as a physical weight, pressing down on her, and might have fallen if Mallory had not held her up. She thought it would be like the landslide they had barely missed, that soon sound would return, and there would be a crash louder than any she had ever heard as the world settled once more in its new balance, and was surprised to find there was still silence.
Lassar, standing behind his master, was deeply shaken; his world, too, had been broken apart in the same moment, but Avorian seemed oblivious to any alteration.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ he demanded shortly. ‘Are you ill?’
Menna slowly raised her head, her eyes bright with shock. ‘You spoke those same words to me once before, in a garden, many years ago. I had forgotten it until now,’ she said quietly.
Avorian stiffened. ‘What words? What are you talking about?’
She answered him, speaking in a slow, halting voice, as if each word were new and unfamiliar: ‘I heard you say them to me.’
‘What nonsense is this?’ He strode forward and would have put a hand on her arm, but Mallory stood in his way. Menna drew back.
‘It means you came too late, Avorian. It means I have remembered — remembered that I have another name.’
‘This man and woman have lied to you, if they told you any such thing!’ He shot Mallory a furious look. ‘You are Menna, my child by adoption, my betrothed by my choice!’
‘No.’ Her pale face registered sharp pain.
‘No?’ He was unaccustomed to refusal, and her denial plainly shocked him. ‘How can you say so?’
‘No,’ she repeated dully. ‘I am neither Menna, nor your betrothed. Neither exists, never existed.’
‘Do not believe, my child, that you have the right to refuse my wishes. In law I may dispose of you as I please,’ he advised. ‘I have protected you all your life, and you owe me this, at least in gratitude if not from affection.’ He tried to smile, as if nothing had changed. ‘But when we have returned to Venture you will be yourself again, and there will be no more of this!’
‘You must believe me a sorry fool,’ Menna said, still in the same dull voice. ‘You have no rights in law while my true father lives, and no moral right either, though I acknowledge that some of what you say is true: for yes, you have protected me. For that I do thank you, Avorian. But not for the rest. Not when you would have married me, all unknowing, nor that you have lied to me all these years.’
‘Tell me, then, who you think you are?’ he challenged her. ‘What dreams have you made for yourself, to find a reason for failing in your duty? Tell me, and I will tell you your error. Prove to me you are not Menna, whom Katriane and I cherished as our own daughter for so many years.’
Instead of answering him directly, she turned to Asher, speaking to her and to Mallory rather than Avorian.
‘This was what you wanted — that I should know my true name, my true birth?’
‘It was,’ Mallory affirmed.
‘Then I do, and much more besides.’
‘Give us this dream then,’ Avorian said, in scornful tones. ‘What has your imagination conjured, child?’
Menna stiffened. ‘I am not a child now, although I was then, when first I saw you. When you stole me from my father’s house.’
Avorian made an impatient gesture. ‘Enough!’
‘I was in the gardens with my nurse.’ She spoke clearly, over his interruption. ‘I remember now, for it was a very still day in summer and there had been comings and goings at the palace all morning. I suppose it was the news that Omen had fallen, but I did not understand that at the time; only that I was to be kept out of the way.’ She gave a half-smile. ‘I knew, as children do, that something was amiss, and since no one would tell me I plagued my poor nurse, running off from her and hiding until she should be worried enough to come searching. I must have been five years old or more, and she spoiled me dreadfully.’
‘Menna — ’ Avorian began; she paid him no heed.
‘There were many hiding places but I chose the maze because I knew its secret and thought my nurse did not. When I would have entered it, a strange man came and called to me.’ She paused. ‘There were so many in the palace that day I did not think it odd. I went to him hesitantly, thinking — nothing in particular. My nurse was not far away, and I was safe enough. And he spoke those same words he said just now: “Surely you aren’t afraid of me?” Then he held out some sweetmeat or other, and I took it. And that is all I remember until I woke in an unknown house with strangers all about me who told me my name was Menna.’ She glanced toward Avorian. ‘At first I cried each night, until they dosed me with poppy-juice to make me sleep and memories became only dreams of a hawk and a cage. But I remember it now. I am Vallis, daughter to Lykon.’
‘You are Vallis,’ Mallory said briefly. ‘Our fortune.’
‘That, too, I remember. How often have I heard the tale and the Oracle’s words, and never thought they held any relevance to myself.’ She returned her attention to Avorian. ‘Did you ever intend that I should?’ she asked bitterly. ‘Or are you worse than I now believe, not only vicious and a thief but a collaborator, too?’
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p; ‘I have heard enough!’ He turned abruptly to the four of his men who were in the room, all of whom were listening with close attention. ‘Menna, I will hear no more of this. Come with me!’ I have spent five days following you, and my patience is exhausted!’
‘You should return to the city. The tribute ships will sail in eight days, and you should be there to see them go. No doubt the people of Venture will be glad of your return,’ she said, with bitter scorn. ‘You paid a high price for your popularity, and now I see the cause.’
‘And what do you propose to do?’ Avorian asked angrily.
‘Go to Saffra, as was intended. Amrist cannot touch me there.’
‘Why?’ he challenged her. Even he seemed to have recognized at last that there was no point in continuing his denial. ‘Why go there, when you can stay? If you become my wife, my luck will continue to protect you until the Dominus dies, and the prophecy may still be fulfilled.’ As she was silent, he went on with greater confidence: ‘I would have told you, in time, who you really were. Ask that woman at your side — she can bear witness what I say is true. What difference do a few days or weeks make? It was my destiny to save you, and our country with you. Our son will rule Darrian as a sovereign state, not as a tribute nation.’
Asher would have spoken then, but saw there was no need. Vallis swept Avorian’s assurances aside. The Oracle did not speak of you. You lie, Avorian. You have always lied to me, as well as to yourself. You would have married me, keeping me in ignorance that you might take all Darrian as my dower, and all our good fortune, too; that alone proves you false. Whatever destiny you speak of, I know it and acknowledge it not.’
‘You are the renewal of the good fortune of our land,’ Avorian said stiffly. ‘But you are also a woman. You exist to pass on that gift to your sons — to our sons. You cannot lead an army, nor even lift a sword. How do you think our liberation is to be accomplished by a mere girl? But with me at your side — ’
‘You have always said you believed in the Fates. Amrist will fail because the balance of good luck in our world will change and fall to us, weighting the scales against him,’ Menna answered impatiently. ‘Your prejudice blinds you. It was my survival to inherit my father’s place that Amrist and his folk had to fear, not an army, as the Oracle foresaw. That, indeed, you have assured; even if now you seek to betray what you have preserved.’
‘He can father no children, an aftermath of disease,’ Asher observed dispassionately, savouring her moment of vengeance. Avorian looked murderous. ‘Even there he lies.’
‘Then his intent is wholly evil. I am the last of my direct line.’ At last, she sounded angry. ‘For vainglory, Avorian, you would have destroyed us all.’
‘That is not the truth!’ he answered heatedly. ‘It was for me to save, to rule in your name; the Oracle spoke of it to me.’
‘You have been gifted with more than your share of good fortune, it is true,’ Vallis went on, more coldly. ‘And such men rarely look to their own motives, for they must always imagine themselves in the right when Lady Fortune herself seems to uphold their conduct, good or bad; yet there is still a balance to be maintained between good fortune and ill, that we may never be certain one will not turn and become the other. And that is your fate, Avorian.’ She spoke with authority, seemingly attuned to some voice inaudible to the rest. He shivered at the chill finality in her tone. ‘Your luck deserts you now. Your ships will sink, and your clan will fail.’
‘It will not be!’ He took another step towards her, half in fury, half imploring. ‘My luck has never failed me. It cannot.’
‘She speaks truly, Avorian.’ Mallory stepped into his path, preventing him from coming closer. ‘You told us so yourself. The Oracle warned you, but you would not listen, preferring to believe yourself favoured above all others because you wished it to be so. Greed — that was the key. If you had not presumed to try to marry Vallis, unsuspecting, then you would indeed have been honoured by all. But when you sought to go beyond your remit, the Fates take back what they have given, and your luck fails.’
‘I don’t believe you!’ He faced Mallory, the two men much of a height. ‘Is this your doing?’
‘You should have listened to Lassar. Didn’t he say that nothing is certain, save death? The flaw was always in your nature as the Oracle foresaw. You chose wrongly, and yours is the loss. What was it you promised me — that you would ruin my clan? But it is you, Avorian, who will suffer that fate, through your own doing, none of mine.’
‘It will be, Avorian,’ Asher added softly. ‘I can see it is true; your charmed life is at an end, now Vallis reclaims what is hers. There never was a way for you to win; and if you had, we would all be the losers. That was what the Oracle meant: “destroying and preserving both”. That is the nature of Fate, that there are no certainties, that it is we who shape our own future; nothing is written, no path predestined.’ It had taken her a long struggle to reach such understanding, but now she wondered why it had not been obvious to her long before. ‘Our lives are a chain of accidents from birth to the grave, and though some are favoured above the rest by Lady Fortune, yet it is in fighting against our perceived lot that we have free will, for good or evil.’
‘Lassar!’
Avorian spun round to discover his diviner edging discreetly backwards. He halted in his flight, finding his way blocked by Bran and Soraya who stood together, listening in frozen fascination to what was going on at the far end of the room.
‘Chief Councillor?’ he answered nervously.
‘What do you see now? Do they speak the truth?’ Finding an outlet for his frustration, Avorian grabbed the other man by the sleeve. ‘And if they do, why have you betrayed me all these years!’
‘Betrayed?’ Lassar sounded surprised. ‘I have foreseen what you required — that the odds were in your favour that you would marry the girl and rule through her. That was always the most probable outcome.’ He added stiffly: ‘You never asked me if that would fulfil the Oracle’s prophecy.’
‘Then why has this happened — that this man and woman should intervene, when you assured me they would fail and the girl be mine!’ How should they emerge the winners when my luck has always been unrivalled, the odds always in my favour? Tell me that!’
‘If you recall,’ Lassar said smoothly, trying to extricate himself from Avorian’s grasp, ‘I said the danger lay in that the man and the woman had the effect of making the least likely possibility become a probability; that is something I could not see with any clarity. Equally, if you had had them killed when you wished, there was a clear danger to yourself and to your plans.’
‘Then is what they say the truth?’ Avorian shook him roughly. ‘Have the Fates deserted me now, and must I wait and watch while my clan fails? I must know!’
Lassar’s protruberant eyes, unblinking, bulged further in their sockets. ‘It is true. I see only disaster ahead. The death of your nephew, without issue; of yourself, in due course, with no son, nor daughter, and in poverty. Menna was a part of your luck, but no more. Your contribution to the tribute has stretched even your empire too greatly, and your ships will sink far from home — ’
With one swift movement, Avorian drew the knife from his belt and stabbed Lassar to the heart, killing him instantly. He then whirled back to face Mallory, bloodied knife in hand, unabated fury in his eyes.
‘At least that has put an end to his litany of doom and disaster! And you — I should have killed you, and the woman, that anti-Fate, when I first learned you were a threat to me and mine!’ He was breathing hard. ‘I can still do it, and take back the girl. You carry false papers, and no one would ever learn the truth. What does it matter if the girl knows? She will be my luck once more, as she has lost me my own.’ He glanced round at the four of his men who were still present. ‘Well?’ he demanded. ‘What are you waiting for? Take him — and the woman. Do what you want with them, so long as they die!’
The two in livery who stood in the doorway drew their swords, but not i
n response to Avorian’s commands. Instead, they took up position to front and rear of him, keeping a wary distance; the taller, a lean, grey-haired man, shook his head.
‘I may not be a good man, or even an honest one, Councillor, but I take no orders from a filthy traitor!’ He kept his eyes on the knife in Avorian’s hand. ‘And what else’re you, when you would’ve stolen our luck from us! I’d sooner kill you.’ He made a practice lunge with his sword. Avorian stepped swiftly back, only to meet its fellow between his shoulder blades.
‘Leave him.’
Vallis still watched Avorian; Asher wondered what she must feel, to know herself betrayed by the man who had proclaimed himself her rescuer, with whom she had lived most of her life.
‘Menna.’ There was still a lingering affection in his voice when he spoke her name. ‘Come with me. What I have done, it was for you, and for our country. Let me guide and protect you, as I have always done.’
The arrogance of the speech demonstrated he had still not allowed himself to accept his plans had gone awry, believing even now that an appeal could re-establish his fortunes; but if Asher feared Vallis would succumb, it was without cause.
‘There is no Menna. What was it you always said to me: “Even a man of straw is worth a woman of gold”.’ There was no pity in her face or voice. ‘You place little value on women, I think, until now when you find yourself in need of me. I remember I was to be grateful for your attentions, that you thought me worthy enough to become your wife. But you will have no immortality, Avorian. This you have brought upon yourself, and I would not change it if I could. You believe that strength is right, that the ability confers the right. It is not so. We are given minds that we may learn to restrain our baser instincts, that we may know that what we desire may not be what we should be given. Every gift but one was given to you, but you coveted more than your lot, and would have stolen what you wanted like any petty thief — and worse, for you would have lost us our only hope of freedom from the grey men.’
