by Dawn Peers
Maertn nodded thoughtfully, happy with her explanation. They both knew that early on Quinn had had no control over her powers, and whilst Maertn had been embarrassed that she’d known what he was feeling, and angry that she hadn’t told him the truth about herself, he had had had the last laugh when Quinn had thought he was in love with her. Maertn had always considered Quinn to be a sister, never showing anything remotely like a romantic interest in her.
Quinn took a deep breath, and relaxed her hold on her power. There was nothing, at first. She didn’t direct it at Maertn, so unlike her younger days, she couldn’t sense what he was feeling. She channelled herself in the direction of the horizon, to the point where Maertn had said someone might be following them. At first, there was nothing, just the blank canvas of the rolling landscape. Then, as Quinn felt herself becoming dizzy through exertion, knowing she was pushing herself to the very edges of her capabilities, she felt it. There was someone there, following them. Quinn knew this, because she could sense the single-minded determination. Any lesser concentration, or wayward mix of emotions, and Quinn was certain that she wouldn’t have felt anything. This person, though, was determined to catch up to them. Quinn tried to find malice behind the intention. There was none, but she didn’t know if this was simply because the person was too far away. Like Maertn, though, she knew that person. She had sensed the same soul enough times to be able to tell who it was, without even needing to lay her eyes on them. Quinn gulped. This was not going to be good.
4
Eden stretched out, and was shocked into alert wakefulness when his roaming arm found nothing and he realised Quinn wasn’t in the bed any more.
“She can’t have. She didn’t.” Eden muttered angrily, hurling himself out of the bed and scrambling around for his trousers. The room was warm despite the brazier being empty and cold, and he didn’t bother looking for a shirt before dashing across the corridor to Maertn’s rooms. Eden knew before booting the door open that Quinn wouldn’t be in there. The door was slightly ajar, and Maertn never left his door open, whether he was in the room or not. Still, Eden had to see for himself. The bed was stripped. He threw the lid off the dresser chest with a snarl. It was empty. Eden whirled around, looking for any scrap of hope that Maertn hadn’t left. Because if Maertn was gone, Quinn would be gone too. That she would leave without him…his heart began to pump, his breath coming hard as he tried to control his anger. She had promised him. Of course she had. Anything to take you off guard.
Eden shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. This wasn’t about him. It was about Quinn. A glance out of Maertn’s windows showed him the sun was already well up. Vance had made it clear to Quinn, that she was not welcome in the city. Quinn had no choice. Trial, over exile? Certain death over a new life?
Eden had wanted to be a part of that life, though. He had thought Quinn loved him, like he loved her. Quinn had told him that his father needed him, but Eden didn’t think that was true. Shiver had betrayed Sevenspells and Everfell by his alliance with Sammah, and the man was going to get everything he deserved. Frustrated, pacing the room and running his fingers through his bedraggled hair, Eden began to rationalise. No, he couldn’t have gone with Quinn. He was an heir of Sevenspells, and with power now passing to Rowan, Eden was suddenly higher in the line of succession than anyone had anticipated. His brother would have to authorise his absence, and whilst he didn’t think Rowan could care less, they would also need Vance’s say-so. With their father standing trial for treason, Eden didn’t think that any of the Sevenspells retinue would be allowed out of the castle, let alone the city. He wouldn’t be surprised if messengers had been despatched to fetch their mother to court. She wouldn’t help matters one jot. How much of Shiver’s plans had she known?
With Maertn’s rooms empty, there was no point in looking for Quinn. Eden needed to take his frustrations out on someone though, so he stalked down the corridor looking for Ross. He’d be astonished if Quinn had snuck out of the city without speaking to him first. Eden found Ross in his quarters. The old mercenary-turned-chamberlain still looked battered from his fights with Sammah’s bodyguards the day before, and was avoiding the public eye in the hall for the formal dinnertimes, it seemed. Eden would be doing the same, more through shame than anything else, though he would need to find out where his brothers were, and what they were doing whilst their father stewed in the city gaols.
Ross didn’t look up from his breakfast as Eden took the only other seat in his sparse quarters. “Would you like something to eat?” Ross asked around a mouthful of food. Eden actually thought about it for a second, his empty rumbling stomach overriding his usual stubbornness. Instead of answering, he grabbed a bread roll and tore it apart, popping shredded pieces into his mouth and chewing on them miserably. On the way, his mind had been full of angry things to say. With Ross’s mute reception, they had all dissipated. “Don’t be so angry, lad. She didn’t say goodbye to me, either.”
Eden glanced up. Ross was studying him carefully. He swallowed the bread dry, and struggled to get it down his parched throat. “I was meant to be going with her.”
“You didn’t think that would actually happen, did you?”
Eden’s ire rose at Ross's sarcastic response, but he quelled it. Ross was right, and Eden had worked that much out for himself now. “She’s not safe out there on her own.”
“She’s not safe here,” Ross took a sip of water, “and she’s not on her own.” The facts didn’t help to calm Eden’s mood.
“If I had to bet on one of them in a fist fight, Quinn would be the winner, and that’s not saying much. Maertn’s not going to be able to protect her,” Eden replied bitterly.
“She’s spent enough years doing Sammah’s dirty work to know when someone is trying to hurt her. Don’t forget, she’s better prepared than most, to find out others’ ill intent.”
“I’m not worried about ill-will killing her. It’s the daggers in her back in the middle of the night that she needs to worry about.”
Ross kept on chewing for a few moments of silence, considering Eden’s words. “You’ve given her a route through Sevenspells? A seal? Letters?”
“Of course. I suspected I might not go with her, but I would never let her go without any support.”
Ross grunted. “Good. The journey through Sevenspells is the only part of the journey through Everfell that Quinn and Maertn need to worry about. The lands are still peaceful, for now, and having consent from a lord to roam freely through his family’s lands is going to make their passage that much easier.”
“And what about when they get to Sha’sek? Aren’t those lands dangerous?”
Ross smirked. “What do you know about Sha’sek lad, beyond what your father and teachers have told you?”
Eden opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to form a response that didn’t sound like it had come straight from his father’s mouth.
“Well,” Eden stalled to give himself time to search for appropriate answer before clearing his throat. “It’s simple, isn’t it? I mean, they’re just barbarians, aren’t they?”
Ross chuckled, a deep rumble that came from the very pit of his chest. Eden had the decency to blush, before remembering that the huge chamberlain had been a mercenary in the last war, and had fought on the side of Sha’sek. He was speaking to the only man in the castle with the exception of Sammah, who would be able to properly educate him on the islands.
“You see Eden, that’s the problem we have. And that was the problem Quinn was always going to face. No one here knows what it’s like to live in Sha’sek. No one here even asks. Everyone is quite happy to tell each other stories of what it was like during the war, and how it felt to face an army that let women fight alongside men, where all of them had mystical talents. What no one talks about is what it’s like to live in Sha’sek. That’s not because no one knows. That’s because no one here believes what you have to say.”
“So tell me. I want to know.” Eden leaned forward
across the table, planting his elbows firmly in place and planting his pleading eyes on Ross. Fine, Sha’sek might not be the place of horror he’d been brought up to believe it to be. He could deal with that, if it meant Quinn was going to a better place.
Ross’s eyes twinkled. “Okay lad, I’ll tell you about Sha’sek. And I know why you’re asking as well, but you not going to like what I have to tell you.”
“Why? If it means Quinn is going to be safe, why should I have a problem?”
“Because she won’t just be safe, Eden, she’ll be with her own people. She’ll be safe, for the first time in her life, and she won’t feel isolated or segregated from the rest of the people around her.”
“But Sammah was gifted, and everything that happened to Quinn was down to him. It was his fault she was isolated, and treated the way she was.”
“Do you know that, for sure? What proof do you have? Did Quinn ever say that to you?”
Eden sat back in his chair. No, Quinn had never said it was just Sammah’s fault. And it hadn’t been Sammah, who made her leave Everfell. “I never made her feel unwelcome, surely that would make a difference to her?” Eden said desperately, trying to cling to some hope that this conversation would have some positive bearing on his future.
Ross shook his head forlornly. “I’m afraid not lad. You see, after it came out that Quinn was an empath, there were never going to be a future here for her. Despite the fact that she’d only been Sammah’s puppet, Vance wouldn’t have wanted someone like her around. Think about it. Even if Vance had the balls to use Quinn for his own ends, what would the rest of the lords think at having someone like her in court? Before long, Quinn would have been murdered. I think Vance knew that, and he did want to at least reward the girl for saving his throne.”
“I’m confused. Vance has sent Quinn away as a reward? But, if she had stayed, he was going to have her put to trial and we all know full well, that had she gone to trial, she’d have been executed.” Eden baulked at the using word “So, Vance didn’t really give her a choice at all, did he?”
Ross gave Eden a lopsided smile. “Now you get it Eden. See this conversation we’re having here, this is how Quinn has felt her entire life. She’s been told by people what to do, where to go, even who to speak to. And even though the king made it feel like she had a choice, she didn’t. The choice was exile or death. What would you have done?” Eden didn’t respond. Ross ploughed on. “So, she’s done the only thing she could. Quinn has left for Sha’sek, and what she’s going to find in those islands, are hundreds upon hundreds of gifted people just like her.”
“But, I thought empaths were rare?” Eden said, confusion now clouding his face.
“I don’t mean like her; I mean, just folk with abilities. It’s not just the empaths that are gifted Eden, haven’t you been paying attention? What’s Maertn?”
“He’s a healer.”
“Exactly. Not like Torran, though; Maertn was born to be a healer. It’s a natural skill, in his blood. Healing comes to him like breathing comes to me and you. Empaths and healers aren’t the only type of gifted in the islands. Why do you think the people from Everfell fear them so much; hate them so much?”
“Why do you think we want to go to war with them?”
Eden rolled his eyes around, searching for an answer again. He didn’t have one. No one had ever given him a good plausible historical reason for the war against Sha’sek. All he knew, was that the last one had been started by an empath. Even the actual reasons behind it had never been clarified to him. It was all conjecture now he realised, and whenever anyone challenged the truth, it was hidden underneath layers of hypocrisy and lies.
“The men of Everfell have no idea what they face in those islands. The population of the seven provinces here outnumbers Sha’sek perhaps, what, five to one? But take into account Sha’sek allows their women to fight. That helps even out the numbers. However, the people of the islands are used to fighting on ships. The only reason Sha’sek were never going to win the war, was their reluctance to fight on land. Then again, from what I could understand, they just wanted the war to end. They were reacting in self-defence, they just wouldn’t let the men Everfell force them into submission. That’s why they hired men like me. I was the intermediary, the kind of man that could fight on land. I could see the battleground from their standpoint. No, I don’t want to see my countrymen die against Sha’sekian swords, but the men of Everfell only attacked Sha’sek out of fear.
“You see, their talents stretch far beyond healing and emotion. I’ve seen boys cry blood. I’ve seen a child control the winds, and have seen a blind boy spot rabbits from two-hundred paces. The range of their abilities is virtually unimaginable, and though not all of them can be put to war, all of them can be seen as strange and definitely daunting when you’re a man of Everfell blood.”
Eden thought on it. Yes, crying blood was certainly a petrifying trait, but it wasn’t a threat. None of the things, really, that Ross had said, were threatening to him. Perhaps someone able to control the winds would be a scary thought, but think of the benefits? Such a boy in the hands of the right fleet, and your ships could go anywhere. Imagine the lands that could be discovered. No, fearing these people wasn’t the right thing, and he told Ross as much.
Ross patted his hand in what Eden supposed to be a fatherly way, but Eden pulled it back, feeling patronised. “Quinn liked you, because you feel like that. She spent her entire life knowing—not thinking, but knowing—that people were scared of her. You’ve tried to tell her that’s not true, that not everyone is scared of her, and I’ve told her the same. She fell in love with you—that’s how much she believed you. But the first time she has revealed herself to the world, she’s been met with revulsion. Not just that, but threat of death. You’ve got an uphill struggle, if you think you’ve ever got a future in this country with Quinn.”
Eden ran his hands through his hair, trying to ease his frustration. “But if I can’t have a future with her here, what future can we have?”
“Eden, that is up to you. You’re the only person that can make that decision. Yes, you have obligations to Sevenspells, but you’re still just a youngest son. Rowan is going to have his own sons, and so is River. One day, you’re going to be given the freedom to leave, because you’ll be so far down the line of succession that they won’t care what you do.”
“My father made me captain of the guard, despite my age. They do care, Ross.”
“They care now Eden, but will they care in ten years’ time? And when you realise that they don’t, that you’re too old to swing a sword, and you’re still not married, what decisions will you regret then?”
Eden was stunned into silence. He was still young enough that he hadn’t considered his future beyond his current career in his father’s guard, and he’d never really given any thought to his brothers having heirs ahead of him. In many ways, Eden hadn’t even considered life beyond his father’s death.
Eden had believed that, since his father had survived the wars and they were now living in an era of peace, Shiver would die peacefully and an old man, in his own bed and surrounded by family. It seemed, however, that Shiver’s fate rested at the end of a hangman’s noose, and Rowan’s hand in marriage would finally be forced. What should he do, then? Should he placate himself, find his own happiness, or should his dedication be to Sevenspells and the land that had brought him up? Eden didn’t know the answers to those questions, but thinking on them brought his mind back to his brothers, and the fact that he hadn’t really spoken to them since their father’s arrest.
“I’m still frightened for her, Ross.” Eden’s voice was quiet in the chamber.
“I know you are, I am too.”
“I may hope that they going to respect her in Sha’sek, she might even be revered if empaths are as rare as you say. But what happens if she is not revered Ross? What happens if she is attacked? If the Sha’sek don’t want war, like you said before, are they going to let another empat
h roam free around the islands? She doesn’t know where she is going, or what she’s doing. Yes, she should make it through Sevenspells, and they might even make the crossing without a problem. But what then? Which island do they go to, and which noble can they seek out without putting themselves in danger? Did Quinn ask you any of this?”
“No, she didn’t, and I didn’t volunteer any information to her either.” Ross dropped his head.
“Why not!” Eden stirred in fury, his fist thumping down on the table and his chair scraping to the floor. “You’re the only person in this entire damned city with the knowledge that would help Quinn over there, and you let her go without a word? How dare you?”
Ross rose to meet the young lord, his face flushing red with temper and his eyes flashing with ire. “Know your place Lord of Sevenspells. I would have freely given Quinn the information she wanted for the asking, but my loyalty is to the king. That’s the reason I’m not in the gaol and your father is. If I’d have helped a woman sentenced to exile, do you know what the king would have done to me? If our king commanded me to give her a safe passage to Sha’sek, a route to the right nobles, I would have given them. But I was under no such orders, and Quinn made no such requests.”
“And that’s it? Your king hasn’t ordered, so you haven’t provided? That didn’t stop you during the wars did it, chamberlain?”
Ross reeled back as if he’d been struck, and Eden kept pushing his point home. “You say you’ve been looking out for Quinn all this time, trying to shield her, and now you’re just going to let her walk straight into a land she’s never seen, to people she doesn’t know? Quinn’s never even lived outside of this city. She doesn’t stand a chance!”
“You keep forgetting, young lord Eden, that she is not on her own. She does have Maertn with her.”
“And what more does he know about the islands? He wasn’t sentenced to exile, so did you tell him everything he needed to know? Or did you let them both go out there, blind?”
