Shatter (The Children of Man)

by Elizabeth C. Mock

Jair and Faela continued down the main avenue toward the well in the center square of the town. Shimmying off her water skin, she took a swig and handed it to Jair who drained its contents and handed it back to her.

  Kade watched his two companions and considered what he had witnessed of each. Given her own injuries, Faela had risked her life without a second thought when she healed his chest wound. Before that, she had taken a complete stranger as a traveling companion to ensure his safety. Jair had always had a cheerful attitude regardless of his circumstances. He had helped Faela without any clear benefit to himself time after time.

  Yet, both this man and this woman had violated the most basic and sacred laws of the Light and they were forever marked for that exploitation. They were fugitives running from the justice of the Daniyelan Order, the Order entrusted with enforcing the laws of the Light, his Order. Jair had committed a taboo that Kade previously would not have thought possible, upsetting the balance of green magic, the very energy that fueled their abilities. Faela was responsible for the death of her father and while Kade still did not know how, it had to involve her unique gift for red magic. Regardless of how contradictory this information might seem, he knew it all to be true.

  Following Faela and Jair, Sheridan picked up their previous conversation. "Hold up. If Caleb caught up with you, why is Jair here?"

  "It's why I'm here now."

  "Which means?" Sheridan prodded both verbally and physically.

  "I was looking for Caleb," Kade admitted, "when I left Montdell."

  Sheridan said nothing to this revelation, but waited for him to continue as she drug the soles of her boots along the street to kick up small clouds of dust.

  "I don't know how much you uncovered in your investigation, but you need to know that Gareth Burke was a member of the Brethren. I never believed they truly existed, until Gareth used Nessa as leverage to ensure I vetoed a law on the council for them." He paused. "I'm sorry, Sheridan. I underestimated him. He managed to kidnap her during the council session. I tracked him, but I was too late. When I confronted him, he killed her. Even though I didn't kill her myself," Kade looked at Faela who had just elbowed Jair in the side for whatever he had said, "her blood is on my hands."

  Sheridan cleared her throat before she spoke. "I know, Kade. I saw the confrontation."

  "I should have made sure she was stable before I left."

  "You couldn't have let him escape."

  "Was it worth her life though?"

  "Kaedman." Sheridan took him by the elbow and made him look at her. "You couldn't have saved her. I examined her body and the black magic he struck her with had twisted her insides. Whether you stayed by her side, she would have died."

  Before Kade could answer her, he heard a familiar voice call out, "Hey there, little bit."

  "You and your grand entrances," Faela said with a disapproving cluck of her tongue.

  Turning from Sheridan, they both looked to where a man and woman dressed in black sat on the rim of the well, their feet dangling freely.

  "I mean, really, Caleb?" Faela said with a shake of her head. "How long did you know we were in the area?"

  "A couple hours," he conceded.

  "And you decided to just kick back and wait for us to come to you?"

  Caleb nodded, his mouth wide in a grin. "Pretty much. But c'mon, you have to admit. It makes us seem mysterious and enigmatic, like we knew you would be here before you came. Try to deny that you're impressed." Without waiting for a response, he continued. "See, you can't. Because words cannot describe how awe-inspiring we are."

  "There are definitely no words to describe you." Faela agreed with his statement in part.

  "Well, she looks better than she did when I left her with you." Caleb peered over Faela's head to Kade. "So, you're safe."

  "When you last saw her, she was trying to fight off a poisoned wound," Kade said trying to give Caleb some perspective. "If she didn't look better, she'd be dead."

  "Which is why you're safe," Caleb explained. Seeing Sheridan with Kade, Caleb's knuckles flexed one after another in a wave. "What is she doing here?" He directed his question to Kade.

  "Tomas sent her and Eve to investigate the matter we discussed."

  Caleb didn't bother to hide his obvious anger at this news. "Eve is here as well?"

  Kade nodded.

  Caleb swore colorfully, suggesting that Tomas do several anatomically impossible things in rapid succession. "Kade, we need to talk," he said getting up to usher Kade aside. When he stood, he saw Jair for the first time.

  "You've got to be kidding," Caleb said looking from Jair's eyes to his sister's. "No, you've got to be kidding." Turning on Faela, he demanded his voice rising, "How did this happen?"

  "I take it that you didn't know why the Phaidrians had hired you?" Faela asked wincing on her brother’s behalf.

  Caleb looked at his sister impressed. "You always were too blasted smart for your own good, Ella."

  Attracted by Caleb's ranting, Mireya and Dathien entered the square. Caleb turned at their entrance his hand on the grip of the revolver. When he realized who and what stood before him, his hand fell to his side.

  "Well," Caleb backed up against the side of the well and draped an arm over Talise's leg and addressed her, "this is starting to make more sense, wouldn't you say?"

  Talise nodded a secret smile playing on her lips that matched the light dancing in her blue eyes.

  "Mireya made something make sense?" Jair questioned. "I think that's the first time those words have ever been uttered with sincerity."

  "I guess we don't have to sneak away to talk, Kade, because the news I bring concerns all of you, if she’s here. I didn't go to Finalaran like you asked," Caleb confessed his free hand resting on the hilt of the knife at his waist. "I went to the Boundary of Vamorines."

  Kade gave no audible response to this revelation, but Sheridan felt his muscles tense at Caleb's declaration.

  "Kade, I went to see Rivka Peacemaker to bring formal charges against Tomas."

  It was Sheridan, not Kade who exclaimed, "You went to the Nikelan temple?"

  Caleb leveled the woman with a stony gaze. "I formally petitioned the Nikelan Scion to strip Tomas Segar of his rank and office within the Daniyelan Order and to appoint a new Scion. Clear enough for you?"

  "On what grounds?" Kade asked as Sheridan just stared mouth agape in disbelief.

  "As a member of the Brethren."

  "Oh," Sheridan said in response, but not in shock, but as an epiphany. "Oh, that’s not good. That means it’s true."

  "What’s true?" Caleb and Kade asked at the same time.

  "I discovered a hidden room in Gareth's quarters. The room housed books by the Brethren, spells, rituals, and letters. He had instructions from the Brethren to recruit Kade. They'd been following his career since before the war."

  When her words confirmed what he had feared, Caleb's eyes darkened and the air around him sparked with orange crackles of light.

  "For the Brethren to pull off positioning Kade where they did, I knew they had to have influences high up within the Daniyelan Order,” Sheridan continued unaffected by Caleb’s quiet fury. “There was also something shady about Eve and me getting this assignment. The instructions we received from Tomas, the fact that we were chosen at all given our close relationships to the victim and suspects, none of it made sense, unless–"

  "Unless Tomas orchestrated the whole thing to either turn me or get rid of me," Kade finished for her.

  Sheridan nodded. "He knew how Eve would react."

  Faela's gaze mirrored her brother's. "Sounds like he was counting on it."

  "Counting on what?" Haley asked as he and Eve joined them.

  "Hail, Evelyn Reid of the most noble of the Noble Houses," Caleb greeted the woman who looked as though she had seen the dead, "but not well met, I'd wager."

  "Come to collect your prize, bounty hunter?" Eve demanded refusing to use his name.

  “Alas, no,” Caleb admitted
with exaggerated sorrow. “As much as I'd like to fatten my purse a little more, that young lady,” he pointed to Mireya, “has a higher claim than mine."

  "What did Rivka say?" Kade asked bringing the discussion back to Caleb's confession.

  "She said she would investigate my claim."

  "That was all?" Sheridan pressed for more information.

  "No, Sheridan," Caleb said locking eyes with her, "that was not all. But unfortunately, I'm not sure you should be privy to that information. It doesn't concern you."

  "That might not be entirely true," Mireya said walking toward Caleb.

  "Care to elaborate, little one?" Caleb invited.

  "Sheridan and Eve have a role in the prophecy. If you spoke with Rivka, then you know something about it, yes?"

  "I know that I've been given a duty to fulfill," Caleb evaded.

  Mireya cocked her head to the side and touched Caleb's cheek lightly and the back of her dark hands flared with blue lines. "Yes," she said, her voice far away as she looked at Caleb's face, but seemed to see through him. "You are the guardian. You must protect that which is most precious."

  Her hand dropped and she blinked her eyes refocusing on Caleb. "Do you understand?" Mireya asked him.

  Caleb's eyes slid over to Faela. "I'm beginning to."

  Motioning with his eyes to a wind-scoured building across the square, he stood and left the crowd around the well. His hand still resting on his weapon, he took in a breath preparing for what he had to tell his sister. Taking the hint, Faela detached herself from Jair and joined her brother. The others watched with curiosity, but none intruded on their desire for privacy. Though Eve clearly disapproved of their departure.

  "What is it?" Faela’s irritation and nervous fidgeting made it obvious that she preferred her question to remain unanswered.

  "Ella, I think I understand what Rivka charged me to do."

  "Which is?"

  "Is Sammi still with Ianos?" Caleb asked ignoring her terse question. He knew she wasn’t upset with him.

  "Yes," Faela said slowly, "why?"

  "I know you think that you're going to find some kind of resolution by finding this Gresham, and I'm not saying you won’t or that you shouldn't. But there's something much bigger going on here, Ella. Something I can't stop and something that you're caught in the middle of."

  "I," Faela began shuffling her weight from foot to foot.

  "Look, just listen, okay? On our way back from Vamorines, I stopped by The Otter's Tale. Remember the hunters I told you about? They roughed up Nathan's eldest, Sara, looking for you. He thought he sent them heading in the opposite direction from you."

  Faela's throat felt dry.

  "They told him that you had stolen something from Nikolais and he just wants it back, so he sent them to Oakdarrow."

  Repressing a moan, she clutched the fabric of her coat. "No. I wouldn't tell them. I wouldn't tell them where he was."

  Caleb put a finger under her chin forcing her to look at him. "I don't think you would."

  "I'd die first," Faela promised, the same hardness that had been in Caleb’s eyes now resided in hers.

  "That's what I'm afraid of, little sister. Which is why I'm going to see Ianos, so I can move Sammi somewhere safe. You won't know where, so you won't be able to tell. I'm to guard that which is most precious, right? This has to be what Rivka meant."

  Faela nodded unable to speak. Her throat felt thick, but she held back the tears stinging her eyes.

  "You need to stay with the Nikelan girl and do whatever it is that you are meant to do, Ella. I'll keep him safe. Okay, love?" When Faela did not respond, he repeated, "Okay?"

  Faela gulped and nodded forcing out the word. "Okay."

  *****

  Chapter Fifteen

  Over the past century, Lanvirdis, the capital city of Nabos and the home of the Phaidrian Order, had changed marginally. Vaughn leaned back in the saddle to take in the ingenuity of the walls circling the bayside city. Easily twenty feet thick, a mix of loose stone filled its hollow walls, allowing the structure to move with the earth tremors that plagued the northeastern coastline. This barrier that withstood the upheaval of the earth itself had stalwartly repelled all invaders and many good men and women of the Orders had died before these walls trying to liberate their imprisoned comrades.

  Though evidence of the last war still marred its buildings and outer walls, the reconstruction of Nabos had begun over a decade ago. Piles of rubble still littered its base. These remains of the buildings outside its protection silently testified to the destruction wrought by a war of this city's own making.

  Though he had little fear of being seen, Vaughn entered through the trader's gate where the traffic would be heaviest this time of day. No living citizen of Lanvirdis would recognize Vaughn. It had been well over a century since he last entered those gates. While Vaughn preferred anonymity, the mission Rivka had sent him on demanded it.

  He thought back to his last night with his wife before he had left their home. On the terrace overlooking the bay, they had shared a bottle of red wine from the Vinfirth region of Isfaridesh. The bay had once been the center of the grand, sprawling city of Gialdanis several millennia ago, long before Vaughn had been born. The antiquity of the city made even his nearly four hundred years seem short in comparison. Rivka never liked it when their duties forced them apart, but he had to leave. No one else could be trusted with this task. As her Grier, it was his responsibility to be the eyes and ears of his Scion.

  Vaughn’s wandering thoughts turned toward Tomas Segar and the first time they had met, when the Daniyelan council had elevated him as Benjamin's successor. To Vaughn, he seemed a charismatic and passionate young man, if a little ambitious. His installation had gone smoothly enough, but Benjamin's death had never sat well with Vaughn.

  He had known seven Daniyelan Scions in his lifetime and few had displayed Benjamin's quiet leadership. During the war, Benjamin had evaded or foiled countless assassination attempts by the Nabosians. His understanding of strategy seemed as much a part of him as his own skin. He knew where ambushes would be set, where to reinforce troops, and when to sacrifice. For Benjamin to fall to a stray arrow seemed unlikely at best and treachery at worst. It was that nagging suspicion of treachery that had never quite left Vaughn and now a decade later he rode into Lanvirdis to finally investigate that suspicion.

  As he entered the dirt-packed streets just inside the Trader's Gate, the dust churned around him. Soon the dirt gave way to cobblestone streets that widened to make room for two carts to drive abreast. Though Lanvirdis was the seat of the Phaidrian Order, Tomas had visited regularly from Finalaran to aid in the reconstruction effort after the war. All these years later he had become an established institution within Lanvirdis. It had been a simple matter to find him.

  Vaughn had played spy for Rivka many times before this mission and he knew where to begin. If you wanted to know the simple and uncensored truth about the current happenings of Lanvirdis, you went to the taverns down at Diarmid Bay Harbor.

  Vaughn's horse, Mesa, picked his way carefully through the throng of people who crushed into one another and into the brick buildings to make room for the horses, carts, and carriages moving along the avenue.

  Vaughn caught sight of a young boy navigating through the sea of bodies. He had to look twice before he realized that it was not a young boy, but a girl. Her hair spiked around her head like a purplish black sea anemone and dark streaks of cinder smudged her face.

  She tripped and bumped into a man wearing a tailored tweed suit and a rounded felt hat. The man helped her up and she rewarded him with an innocuous smile. Patting her on the back after he righted her, he continued on his way. Vaughn's mouth drew into a smirk as he watched the girl move in the opposite direction of her mark toward a narrow alley between a baker’s and a butcher’s shop. Her fingers never once going for his money purse that she had slid under her shirt.

  Wheeling Mesa’s head toward the alley, Vaughn cut
off the girl's escape. Instead of altering her course, the girl aimed for the horse. Vaughn smiled again; she was audacious.

  "Mighty fine beast there, ser," she commented her voice lower than he expected.

  Vaughn leapt off his horse’s back and reached behind the girl to where she had hid the money. The girl cursed in surprise at his proximity. With one deft movement, he removed the purse and dangled it in front of her.

  "I believe this belongs to the gentleman you accidentally fell into," Vaughn said to the flushed girl.

  She glared at him, then blurted out, "How'd you see? No one ever sees me lift."

  "Sweetling, I've seen it done a thousand different ways," Vaughn said the corners of his eyes crinkling when he smiled. "I almost missed it, but your hand off stumbled enough for me to catch it."

  The girl sucked in her bottom lip and eyed him. The cuffs of his shirt tapered at his wrists with a series of four bone buttons. She had seen women who worked as domestic help wearing shirts like this, but never on a man and certainly not one who could spot a pickpocket. "How's an upstanding gentleman like you know about the lifting lay?"

  "Because for one, not everyone starts out upstanding," he answered as he flipped a gold coin across his knuckles and back. "And, two, looks, as I'm sure you well know, can be very deceiving."

  At that Vaughn flipped the coin up and caught it in his palm. Pushing it up in between his forefinger and thumb, he held it in front of the girl’s nose. "You return this purse to the man you lifted it from and this is yours. Honest pay for honest work."

  "I'd make five times that lifting another purse," she lied as naturally as breathing in.

  "Well, you lost this one. So, if you don't want it to be a total wash, return it or I will."

  The girl didn't stare at Vaughn, but at his horse. Mesa was strong, well fed, and his coat shone from a recent grooming. Vaughn insisted on currying Mesa himself every night, even when they were home at the temple, but she didn’t know this. To her, the horse simply seemed content and well tended. She looked back to Vaughn and had no doubt that despite the crowd he would catch her before she made it two shops away. She held out her hand. "Fine."