Shatter (The Children of Man)

by Elizabeth C. Mock

  Gazing sidelong at Faela, Kade remembered the words of the lullaby he had heard in his mind that night beside the Foster River before Eve had found him, the lullaby she had sung to keep his heart beating when the binding was killing him. He didn't have to ask; he knew it would be the same song.

  "You were the one who brought me to Ianos?" Faela said as if confused. "Why did you never tell me when you visited? Why did Ianos never tell me?"

  "Very little good comes from knowing prophecies like that," Tobias explained with a gentle voice. "What good would it have done to tell a little girl that her life held that kind of destiny? I'm just thankful I found you in time."

  "Before I had completely lost my mind, you mean," Faela said with a touch of bitterness in her voice and a melancholy shading her eyes.

  "You're not wrong, Rafaela," Tobias said bluntly. "You know better than anyone the dangers and struggles faced by a mind healer. The only reason you survived past childhood was because Rivka sent me for you. With the rarity of those born with the gifts of a mind healer, your parents never would have recognized the signs and gotten you to the right people in time. I believe that it's no coincidence that Ianos has the gifts he has either. Without them you never would have survived adolescence, I'd wager, not with the strength of your abilities."

  "Is that why you visited, Tobias?" Faela asked her eyes staring at the floor. "To check up on me for Scion Rivka? To make sure I hadn't gone mad and killed the entire temple?"

  "Yes and no," Tobias answered truthfully. "Rivka wanted to keep up with the progress of your training, but I wanted to make sure that you were safe and happy. But that is neither here nor there. This brings us to why you came to find me. Ianos told you to find me so you can find the Shrine, correct?"

  "Yes, he did. He said that the key to my penance would be found there."

  "He would phrase it that way," Tobias said mostly to himself. "What you must find is at the Shrine. You will find what you seek there, but only a Gray and a Nikelan can together unlock its hiding place within the Shrine. What I have told you is only a small portion of what and who you are. You will understand more once you arrive at the Shrine. You must travel northwest to the Boundary and enter Vamorines. Continue north once you cross the Boundary. Half a day’s ride in head east and you will come to a peninsula. From there, Mireya will be able to find the Shrine. Trust me, you won't be able to miss it. Once you've found it, you'll know what to do from there."

  "Could you have been a bit more cryptic?" Kade asked his voice dry.

  “Information is not understanding,” Tobias replied, his light-hearted tone replaced with sobriety. “You can give information, but you can never give understanding and what Faela needs is understanding. Do not make the mistake of confusing the two, son.

  “Now, I don't know about you folks, but my throat is mighty parched and I'd wager you could use something in your bellies if you came all the way from Moshurst today,” Tobias guessed getting to his feet. “I'll get Rick to send in some food.”

  “Yes!” Sheridan agreed enthusiastically. “I'm starving.”

  “Hey,” Jair objected, “stay out of my head. That's what I was going to say.”

  “Of course it was,” Faela said soothing his wounded pride. “Don't worry, Jair. No one here doubts your voracious appetite. Your position is safe.”

  “For now,” said Eve her tone ominous.

  Not expecting humor from that particular source, Faela's shock escaped as a laugh, breaking the emotional tension surrounding them. The laughter rippled around the room until it rendered them all breathless.

  Tobias peeked back through the curtain with a mug in hand. Wiping the foam of the ale off his beard, he asked, “Did I miss something?”

  Wes blew hot air into her cupped hands trying to unstick her fingers, stiffened by the cold. Shadows kept the alley where she waited shrouded in a deeper darkness than the gas lit street she faced. Next to her stood the man who had hired her a few days back. Hired was a word Wes was unaccustomed to hearing attributed to her. Men didn’t hire girls like Wes to sneak around storehouses and Wes had sworn that she would die before any ever hired her the usual way.

  This man seemed different to her though. Different from the kind of men who ran in the areas of Lanvirdis she frequented. He kept his distance and his hands to himself. When he said he would pay her, he did. When he said he just wanted information that was all he wanted. But in Wes' experience, everyone was working an angle. She just hadn't pegged his, but she would.

  “That's it,” she said, pointing toward the small door in the side of the large rectangular brick building in front of them. “That's where the Daniyelans keep the grain.”

  Vaughn bobbed his head slightly and uncrossed his arms. “You have my thanks, Wes. You can go now.”

  “Whoa,” she exclaimed. “You're not going in there are you?”

  Vaughn looked down at her over his shoulder. “I am.”

  “Then you're crazier than I thought.” She shook her head. “Ain't no one want to get caught breaking into Daniyelan property. I'll steal from just about anyone, but even I ain't fool enough to cross the Daniyelans.”

  “Then I just won't get caught,” Vaughn said to reassure her.

  “It ain't that easy, Vaughn. You can't just walk on in there. They got wards, warning spells on their buildings. You can't just sneak in through a window or pick the locks.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Wes,” Vaughn began.

  “I ain't concerned,” she objected, her hands tucked under her arms. “I just want to get paid.”

  “Fair enough.” Vaughn removed a gold coin from his bag that he tossed to her.

  Catching it easily, even in the darkness of the alley, Wes had it tucked away somewhere out of sight before a beat had passed.

  “Well, you're on your own then,” Wes said a little too fast, “'Cause I ain't crazy or stupid.”

  “I just needed you to get me here, Wes,” he explained. “I can take care of myself.”

  She believed him. This man who had seen her lift a purse when no one else ever did, not since her first months of lifting, who carried more money than she had seen in her life, whose efficient movements told her to run rather than fight. She trusted his quick smile and few words. That was another concept foreign to Wes - trust.

  “Fine,” Wes said her voice hard, “get yourself strung up by the Daniyelans. I'm gone.”

  Wes shoved her hands back under her arms and spun on her heel to march back down the alley. When she looked over her shoulder, Vaughn had already disappeared.

  A tiny smile tugged at Vaughn's mouth as the girl stalked away fuming. Her reaction to his plan told Vaughn more about the storehouse's contents than a week of questioning workers would have. The Daniyelans in Lanvirdis terrified her. It wasn't unusual for people to be wary of the Daniyelans. People tended to feel nervous around anyone who enforced the law and were she caught by a Daniyelan working her chosen profession, she would face judgment, but the judgment she faced would sentence her to work off her debt, nothing more.

  As they had approached the storehouse, however, Wes' agitation had increased. Her fear surpassed the prospect of indentured servitude to repay her crimes; she feared for her life and for his. But Daniyelans did not kill without due cause. Their work required it at times, but none he knew relished it or did it for the sake of expediency. Were the Daniyelans adhering to the proper role of their Order, Wes had nothing to fear, but just restitution for her crimes. Not a pleasant prospect, but by no means fatal.

  Something festered in Lanvirdis and Tomas seemed the root of the infection. Appearances and conjecture, however, provided no evidence for Rivka. Vaughn needed proof of Tomas’ violation of his vows. Nothing less could justify his removal.

  Vaughn saw no visible guards outside the storehouse. As Wes had said, wards and shielding spells guarded the building, not men. Nothing could get through without activating them. Even trying to dismantle the spells would trigger them.

 
; Slipping through the shadows, Vaughn reached the small, wooden door. The bricks around its frame were pitted and stained with streaks of rainwater. Dark, inky blue lines glowed encircling his wrists. The light bled through the fabric of his cuffs as he lifted the latch. The door opened without any resistance. Extending his senses, he felt the shielding wards stretching over him as he passed through the invisible membrane.

  Grinning, Vaughn cushioned the door as he pulled it closed behind him. Not even the strongest Daniyelan shielding spell could repel a Grier. Their magic existed to protect their oracle. They existed as shields and, as such, their very presence nullified the effect of any magic turned against them. Only a Grier could breach Tomas' defenses undetected.

  Sliding along the rough and gritty wall, Vaughn analyzed the storehouse. Stacked five high, rows of crates covered most of the floor. Prying open the nearest with the blade of his dagger, it held milled wheat. He dug his fingers in and scooped out its contents. Shaking his hand, he sniffed the grain. It smelled earthy with a metallic tang. The grain slid through his fingers and he tilted his hand letting it flow back into the crate.

  About to dig further into the container, he heard the door, he had just entered, creak open. Flattening himself between two rows, he inclined his head to peek between the columns created by the stacked boxes. Two men walked down the open row running through the middle of the storehouse. Both were hooded.

  "Have you contracted enough ships to transport the supplies?" asked the taller of the two figures.

  "We hired the last captain this afternoon. They should be ready to sail within the week."

  "Excellent. We need to make sure this arrives in Kilrood in time."

  "Yes, master," replied the shorter man.

  Vaughn's eyes narrowed hearing the last word. He recognized the taller man’s voice. It belonged to Tomas Segar. While no law existed regarding their titles, no Scion would condone someone calling him master.

  "Are our people in place? Ready to receive the shipments?"

  "Yes, master. They are ready to strike at your orders."

  "Excellent. After they have seized the Tereskan stronghold, you must ensure they do not harm Ianos. I need him alive. I trust that he will eventually see reason, but they may spread the rumor that the Nabosian rebels have killed him. That should be enough."

  "Undoubtedly, master. With a massacre at Kilrood, the people will demand you remove the Nabosian monarch and council. And with no suitable replacement they will hand over control of Nabos to you."

  "I do not want that power, my dear friend. I simply want peace, for this petty bickering to stop. I want the people to be safe."

  Vaughn's nails dug into the wood of the crate at Tomas' words. This was far worse than he had feared.

  "Of course, master," answered the smaller man. "We are the servants of the people."

  “I hate to put Ianos through this,” Tomas said, his voice holding genuine regret, “but he stubbornly refuses to see what must be done to keep the people safe. He forces my hand."

  "Of course, master. You would never choose this unless there were no other way."

  "Ianos is a gentle soul," Tomas observed, stopping by one of the crates to slide its lid in place. "As he should be as the Tereskan leader. His concern is healing, not ruling, but it is different for me."

  At Tomas' words, Vaughn felt the bite of splinters under his nails as his grip tightened. Daniyelans enforced the law to keep the people safe, not to rule them. If those with the authority to use force against the people also ruled them, it wouldn’t take long for the people to become the enemies of those rulers. The mission of the Daniyelan Order was to ensure justice, not to govern a particular territory. A cold knot of dread grew inside Vaughn.

  Tomas wiped the dust from the grain off of his hands. "Mine is a heavy burden to make these decisions for the people. They cannot be expected to carry this weight. I would have everyone work together for the good of the people, but when they cannot see what must be done, what choice is left to me? This sacrifice of those in the Tereskan Order will never be forgotten. Their blood will forge a new world, a peaceful world. These deaths that are required for the sake of peace are regrettable, even tragic, but it is a necessary loss. I hate to make this decision, but I must do what I must for the good of all."

  "The people, as always, are your primary concern, master."

  "Listen to me, lost in my own thoughts." Tomas sighed. "Let us have this ugly business completed as swiftly as possible. Inform me the moment the shipment reaches Kilrood. Please make sure that the grain makes it to the proper facilities to be distributed as soon as can be. We don't want families starving in those coastal towns."

  "Of course, master," answered the shorter man. "I will make all the arrangements, but we must return to the keep. King Phineas will be expecting your presence at the feast tonight."

  "Naturally," Tomas said his voice filled with scorn, "that man would have a feast while his towns starve with such a weak harvest this year. This is why I do what I must, Stanley, because no one else will."

  Taking one last look around the storehouse, Tomas exited through the door and Stanley pulled it shut behind them.

  His legs feeling weak, Vaughn leaned into the corner of the column of crates. Running his palm down his face, he covered his mouth and exhaled. Controlling the urge to run from the storehouse, Vaughn waited to ensure no one noticed his exit.

  Though Tomas failed to mention the Brethren, he had unquestionably overstepped his bounds as Scion of the Daniyelans. By his own actions, he had already abdicated his office. Now, he had to be removed.

  The revelation that Tomas planned a massacre at Kilrood, the heart of the Tereskan Order, paralyzed Vaughn. Besides the Lusicans, they were the only Order welcomed without question in every country. No one turned away entertainers and healers, nor did they attack them. Tomas' plans exceeded mere avarice and ambition. He had calculatingly planned the overthrow of a fellow Scion and sanctioned mass murder. Despite the bloodshed and fighting Vaughn had witnessed over the centuries, he had never seen a Scion plot the strategic slaughter of another Order. Yet, as he stood in the warehouse, he could not expunge Tomas' own words.

  Vaughn had to warn Ianos, but he couldn’t endanger the local temples by involving them. Word of this had to remain secret to keep them safe from retaliation. Only once he was behind the Boundary in Vamorines could Vaughn do anything for Ianos. Should they fail to get word to Kilrood in time, however, the world would suffer a loss the likes of which had not been seen since the Cleansings. He had to return to Rivka immediately.

  Convinced that Tomas would be halfway to the keep by now, Vaughn left his hiding place and slipped out the door. Keeping to the shadows, he made his way back down the alley where Wes had led him. When he approached the Vine and Reef Tavern, he found Wes pacing outside. Her head snapped up when she heard him step into a puddle.

  "Huh," she said looking him up and down, "made it out in one piece, I see. Would've lost that wager."

  Vaughn merely smiled. "As I said, I would be fine."

  Wes shook her head and smacked her lips together. "Find what you was looking for?"

  "More than I expected, to be sure," he answered without revealing anything. The less Wes knew, the safer she would be.

  "Be needing me for anything else?" she asked kicking the toe of her worn boot against the ridge of a stone sticking up from the road.

  "I'll be leaving tonight," Vaughn informed her.

  "You be leaving Lanvirdis tonight?" Wes repeated trying to mask her shock. "I may be a cutpurse, but I don't want to meet the fellas outside these walls after the sun be down."

  "Thank you for your help, Wes. You've done more than you know."

  "What be so important that it can't wait until morning?" Wes said with a skeptical rise of her voice. "What you be looking for in them storehouses?"

  "Leave it be, Wes," Vaughn warned. "The less you know the better things will be for you."

  "Who you really be?"
Wes asked her eyes narrowing.

  Vaughn grabbed her arm and pulled her under the eaves of the tavern.

  "Oi!" Wes protested as he easily maneuvered her out of sight.

  Thinking back to Wes' self-espoused dislike of Tomas, Vaughn explained, "You’ve good instincts, child. Trust them. I can tell you nothing more without endangering your life further. I am sorry for that. But I must return to my lady with what I discovered immediately. I know I’m telling you something you would already do, but stay away from the Daniyelans here in Lanvirdis. Do not trust them."

  Wes nodded, her hands tucked around her stomach. Catcalls, discordant singing, and laughter spilled into the street as a dockworker staggered out into the night. Vaughn stood blocking the patron's view of Wes until he turned the corner out of sight.

  "You must forget that we met and what you did for me, Wes. Do you understand?"

  She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "Ser, what was in them storehouses?"

  Vaughn closed his eyes, his hand that rested against the wall closed into a fist. "Wes, you can’t ask any questions like that. Promise me you won't go poking around after I leave?"

  Her eyes shadowed, she pursed her lips to the side clearly unhappy with this request.

  "Wes, promise me," Vaughn demanded.

  "What if I don't?" she asked, her fierce independence asserting itself.

  "Then you would leave me no choice," he said his voice quiet.

  Those words roused Wes' survival instincts and she stood perfectly still, repressing the urge to run. She knew she didn't stand a chance against this quiet man.

  Vaughn's face softened when he recognized her fear. "Wes, I'm not going to hurt you."

  Her fear turned to confusion. "Then what?"

  "I can't leave you by yourself here in Lanvirdis," he explained. "With your less-than-legal trade, if you get picked up by a Daniyelan the fact that I was here would get back to Tomas. I don’t doubt that he would kill you and I will not have that."