Exile

by Rowena Cory Daniells

  ‘He claims he’s your spy, Imoshen.’ Arodyti sounded hurt and annoyed. ‘I’m your hand-of-force. Why wasn’t I told?’

  Imoshen swung her feet to the floor. ‘The fewer people who knew, the safer he would be.’

  ‘I’m afraid quite a few people know now. He came up here with two of Kyredeon’s warriors. I have him in your inner circle chamber.’

  ‘Are Kyredeon’s warriors here too?’

  ‘Waiting at the sisterhood gate.’

  ‘I’ll get dressed.’

  Arodyti left them.

  ‘You asked Sorne to spy for you?’ Frayvia whispered. ‘How could you?’

  ‘Just to let me know if his vision was likely to come true. Come on.’

  They dressed and went through to the chamber. Egrayne was there, along with Sarosune, Arodyti’s shield-sister, but no one else. Imoshen was grateful. She could tell Egrayne was hurt and angry. Imoshen should have consulted the sisterhood’s voice-of-reason before sending Sorne out to spy.

  He stood in front of the fire, sipping warm spiced wine. As soon as he saw her, he put the cup aside. She noticed how he glanced once to Frayvia, then away quickly. His emotions were close to the surface; she read him easily. He loved her devotee but never expected to share his life with her.

  ‘You asked to see me?’ She crossed the chamber.

  He nodded. ‘I have bad news, Imoshen. Really bad news.’

  ‘Go on.’

  His gaze flicked to the others.

  ‘You can speak in front of them.’

  ‘King Charald doesn’t want to banish your people. He wants to wipe you out. When you ride out of here next spring, he’ll wait until you’ve made camp, then he’ll kill everyone.’

  Arodyti swore.

  ‘But why?’ Egrayne asked.

  Imoshen was not surprised. It fitted with her reading of the king. ‘If he means to do this, why did he send his men to attack our estates? That makes him appear untrustworthy.’

  ‘You have to understand how Charald’s mind works. He thought you arrogant and took insult. He suspected you weren’t seriously considering exile. Destroying those estates was his way of asserting himself. I’ve served him since I was seventeen. He’s used the same tactics before to break the spirits of besieged cities.’

  ‘He’s a madman,’ Egrayne whispered. ‘Why would he massacre a whole race of people? That’s... that’s inhuman.’

  ‘Charald always intended to rid Chalcedonia of the Wyrds. The T’Enatuath,’ Sorne corrected himself. ‘It’s the only reason I wasn’t murdered at birth. I was raised to infiltrate this city and discover your weakness. But I never realised he meant to wipe you out. It takes a certain kind of mind to contemplate such a thing.’

  Arodyti had been whispering to her shield-sister, and now she turned to Imoshen. ‘If we broke out and tried to fight a rearguard action all the way to coast, our warriors would be overwhelmed before we were halfway there. To reach port takes three days by fast horse, or five or six by cart, and that’s when the roads are not choked with snow. Besides, we’d have no way of contacting our ships’ captains.

  ‘The only way any of us would survive is if, between now and spring, we sent out many small parties in different directions. It’s the worst time to travel and, if we ran into the Mieren, they’d kill us on sight. Only the young, healthy warriors would stand a chance of escaping Chalcedonia. The children and old would be murdered or die in the snow.’

  Egrayne, Arodyti and Sarosune all looked to Imoshen.

  ‘There must be some way we can convince King Charald to let us leave Chalcedonia alive,’ she whispered.

  ‘There is,’ Sorne said. ‘Can Reoden heal a club foot?’

  ‘The king’s crippled son?’

  ‘His heir.’

  ‘He loves the boy that much?’

  ‘Not the boy, the idea of founding a dynasty,’ Sorne corrected. ‘He’s been trying for a son since he married Queen Sorna, thirty years ago. Three queens later and all he has is one crippled prince. Meanwhile, Baron Nitzane married King Matxin’s daughter and produced a perfectly healthy son. That boy is Prince Cedon’s heir. The war barons will not give their allegiance to a king they don’t respect and fear. A king with a deformity cannot sit on the throne.’

  Imoshen nodded. ‘So we offer to heal the boy and–’

  ‘No. Charald will never hand him over. As much as he wants a healthy heir, his hatred for your kind clouds his thinking. You’ll have to abduct the boy.’

  ‘Abduct him, then offer to heal him in exchange for safe passage to the sea.’

  ‘Make the exchange on your ships, near the headlands.’

  Imoshen nodded, but then she saw the flaw. ‘But if Charald hates us so much, won’t he reject the boy? Won’t he think the prince tainted by association with us?’

  ‘He should be grateful for his healed heir,’ Egrayne muttered.

  ‘If he were rational,’ Imoshen agreed, her gaze on Sorne. She could tell his mind was racing.

  ‘You’re right, but...’ He smiled grimly. ‘While Charald would never hand the boy over, he might be persuaded to take him back. I told the king I’d had a vision of his healthy son ruling Chalcedonia. Belief in the Warrior is the king’s flaw. He will rationalise anything if you dress it up in terms of religion.’

  ‘But we don’t believe in gods,’ Egrayne objected.

  ‘We don’t have to believe in Mieren gods to be their agents.’ Imoshen shared a wry smile with Sorne. She saw Egrayne didn’t understand. ‘The king knows T’En have visions. If the gods can speak to Sorne, they can send us visions.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Sorne said. ‘It would please Charald to think you did the gods’ bidding.’

  Imoshen gestured to Arodyti. ‘Fetch Ree.’

  Her hand-of-force had almost reached the door, when Imoshen stopped her. ‘Don’t tell her what this is about. No one must know what King Charald intends. If the brotherhoods got wind of this, they’d do something rash. I can just see them choosing to die in a blaze of glory.’

  Arodyti’s eyes widened. ‘It was Kyredeon’s warriors who brought him here. The all-father must already know.’

  ‘No,’ Sorne said. ‘They didn’t take me to Kyredeon.’

  ‘Why not?’ Egrayne asked. ‘Their loyalty is to their all-father, not the causare.’

  ‘They brought me straight up here.’

  Egrayne looked to Imoshen.

  ‘Perhaps Kyredeon’s own people don’t trust him,’ she said. ‘At any rate, they won’t be telling Kyredeon now. If their all-father knew they’d brought Sorne straight to me, it would cost them their lives.’

  Arodyti nodded and left.

  ‘At least we have hope,’ Imoshen said.

  ‘You think there’s hope?’ Sarosune whispered. ‘The prince lives in the royal palace in Port Mirror-on-sea, surrounded by Mieren. How do we get into the palace? How do we get him out? How do we get him across Chalcedonia in midwinter, past King Charald’s army and into the city?’

  ‘We’ll discuss this when we know if Ree can heal the boy.’ Imoshen’s mind raced.

  While they spoke, Sorne had gone to the courtyard window to check the sky.

  ‘You have to be back before first light?’ Imoshen asked him.

  He nodded, returning to the fireplace. ‘I don’t know if I can get away again. It was a combination of things that allowed me to escape tonight. Usually the Father’s-voice doesn’t drop his guard.’

  ‘You’re a prisoner?’

  ‘Of sorts. The Father’s-voice has my sister captive. If he suspected me of coming here–’

  ‘You didn’t find her? I’m sorry,’ Imoshen said. She turned to her voice-of-reason. ‘Egrayne, this is the injured Malaunje I asked Reoden and Ceriane to help heal. I didn’t mention his true identity because...’ Because she knew Egrayne would not approve. ‘After we healed him, he told me he’d had a vision of Malaunje and T’En children being loaded into a cart by True-men. I didn’t think our people’s leaders would
believe his vision, so I asked him to watch out and warn us if it looked like coming true.’

  ‘But I couldn’t,’ Sorne said. ‘I was drugged.’

  ‘Did you sacrifice our people?’ Egrayne asked, her voice cold.

  Sorne exhaled, the pain of loss aging him. ‘Just the once. I tried to save him, but–’ He looked helpless.

  ‘There’s a chance we could reach the prince and get him out, if...’ Sarosune turned to Sorne. ‘Is there a secret way into the palace?’

  ‘There’s the crypts. They connect all the churches, but not the palace. It was only built in the last thirty years. I suppose if it were possible to get maps of the crypts and maps of the palace dungeons, you could tunnel through. But–’

  ‘Too complicated.’

  Arodyti returned with the healer.

  Reoden’s eyes widened as she recognised Sorne. ‘Are you sure we can trust him, Imoshen? The king–’

  ‘He’s just revealed King Charald’s one weakness, Ree. I think we can trust him. Can you heal a club foot?’

  ‘With time.’

  ‘How much time?’

  ‘It depends...’ She made the leap of logic and her eyes widened. ‘The king’s crippled son. He’s only two–’

  ‘Three this spring,’ Sorne said.

  ‘How much time would you need?’ Imoshen asked.

  ‘I’d have to see how bad the malformation was. The bones must be encouraged to grow in the right way. The body must relearn how to walk. The mind must change its patterns of thought. The club foot is a deformity he was born with. It’s not like encouraging an injury to heal itself.’

  ‘But you can do it,’ Arodyti said. ‘All we have to do is work out a way to bring the prince here.’

  ‘We can talk about that later. Sorne has risked his life to come here tonight. He should go now,’ Imoshen said.

  ‘There is one more thing,’ Sorne said. ‘Charald has ordered the barons to raze four more estates. He wants prisoners, and I have to perform a sacrifice. The rest of the prisoners will be hung on scaffolds along the causeway.’

  Reoden moaned and sank into the other chair.

  ‘He’s retaliating for the burning of the effigy,’ Imoshen said and Sorne nodded. She’d feared as much. ‘Frayvia will escort you to the sisterhood gate.’

  Arodyti gestured to her shield-sister. ‘Saro can do that.’

  ‘We need her here.’ Imoshen turned to Sorne and took his hand. She could tell he was deliberately not looking at Frayvia. ‘Thank you. Whatever happens, I hope you find your sister. If we all get out of this, you can bring her to us. We will accept her as one of our own.’

  SORNE GUESSED IMOSHEN had read his longing for Frayvia but he didn’t care; right then, he would have followed Frayvia anywhere. She led him into a dark chamber and pulled him into her arms, her lips seeking his.

  When he could catch his breath, he whispered, ‘I only have a few moments.’

  ‘I don’t care. We could all be dead tomorrow.’

  It was like a madness took them both. Their love-making was intense and over far too quickly.

  ‘Each time we do this, it gets harder to leave you,’ he confessed. ‘Last time, I meant to find Valendia and bring her back here. But now...’

  Frayvia wriggled as she pulled her breeches up and tightened them around the waist. She shrugged into her knitted vest, tugging it down over her breasts, then pulled on her robe and slid her feet into her slippers. He watched, fascinated.

  ‘What?’ she asked. ‘You didn’t finish.’

  He had no idea what he’d been saying.

  She smiled and kissed his cheek. ‘Valendia.’

  ‘I hope abducting the prince will work, but the king is unpredictable and I don’t–’

  ‘Life is a gamble.’ She held his eyes. ‘But I refuse to give up hope. Imoshen has gotten us out of tight spots before.’ She took his hand. ‘Come on.’

  Frayvia led him out of the chamber, out of the palace, to the sisterhood gate. Tobazim and Learon were still there, stamping their feet to keep warm.

  They looked up with relief when they saw Sorne.

  Frayvia pulled him around and kissed him. ‘Don’t do anything brave.’

  He laughed.

  She pushed him away.

  The brotherhood warriors set off at a jog and he ran with them, down the causeway boulevard. They were clearly relieved when they reached the ruined palace and found their absence had gone unnoticed. They guided him through the ruined palace, right to his rowboat, and wished him luck.

  AFTER SORNE LEFT with Frayvia, Imoshen sent for the sisterhood’s gift-tutor. They explained the situation and discussed how to abduct the prince.

  Finally, Arodyti held up her hand. ‘This is how it stands. The lake’s too big for Charald to patrol. We can get to the shore and we can travel across Chalcedonia. If we disguise ourselves, we can get into the city, and if we choose a feast day when the servants and guards are lax, we can slip into the palace. But once the alarm goes up and the Mieren are looking for the prince, we’ll never get out alive.’

  At that moment, Frayvia returned, and Imoshen beckoned her to join them. ‘Sorry,’ she said to Arodyti, ‘go on.’

  ‘I just don’t see how we can bring the prince back here,’ the hand-of-force said.

  ‘I have a suggestion,’ Imoshen said. ‘We could use the gift-working technique of transposition.’

  ‘Transposition?’ Arodyti repeated. ‘Why haven’t I heard of this?’

  ‘Because it’s impossible,’ Vittoryxe snapped. ‘It’s mentioned in the sagas. The stories were old when they were first written down. They tell of T’En moving from one place to another via the higher plane. There are even tales of them taking someone with them. But they’re myths, nothing more.’

  Imoshen knew Vittoryxe was going to hate her, but it had to be said. ‘I’ve done it.’

  The gift-tutor’s eyes widened. ‘Impossible.’

  ‘The night the theatre burned.’

  Frayvia gasped. ‘That’s why you appeared naked and smelling of smoke?’

  Egrayne looked grim. ‘I think you have some explaining to do, Imoshen.’

  She had never intended to tell them about that night, and now she gave them only the bare bones. ‘After the performance ended and everyone went home, I happened to get locked inside the theatre. When I realised it was on fire, I tried to get out. But I couldn’t. I was trapped, and when I knew I was going to die, I felt my gift take over. It happened between one breath and the next. Before I knew it, I was back here with Frayvia.’

  ‘Their link...’ Reoden whispered.

  Imoshen nodded. ‘My gift took me onto the empyrean plane, but because I shared a deep link with Frayvia, I was drawn back here, straight to her.’ She turned to the gift-tutor. ‘You remember how I asked you about transposition the day after the theatre burned and you told me where to look it up.’

  ‘Did she?’ Egrayne asked.

  Vittoryxe nodded, her reluctance clear. ‘But this is madness. You’re suggesting Arodyti grab the boy and transpose herself and him here, to Sarosune’s side. She’s had no training.’

  ‘Neither had I,’ Imoshen said. ‘It was an instinctive reaction. Instead of going to the higher plane to gift-work, she passes through it to reach someone on this plane. But it has to be someone she shares a deep link with, like a devotee or her shield-sister.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ Arodyti said. ‘At least I’ll try to. The sooner we leave the better. It has to be a voluntary mission. Everyone who goes with me will be sacrificing themselves. The sooner Imoshen has the prince, the sooner she can negotiate with the king. When’s the next Mieren feast day?’

  ‘Midwinter’s day,’ Imoshen said. ‘The next feast after that is spring cusp.’

  Arodyti nodded. ‘We might just reach the city by midwinter’s day, but I don’t know if–’

  ‘I can’t believe you’re going ahead with this,’ Vittoryxe muttered.

  ‘Then give me an alternativ
e,’ Imoshen challenged. ‘If there is another way, I want to know. None of the all-fathers have come to me with a workable suggestion.’ When Vittoryxe had no answer, Imoshen turned to her hand-of-force. ‘Prepare to leave.’

  ‘I already know who I trust. I’ll ask them.’

  ‘Good.’ Imoshen nodded once. ‘Vittoryxe, can you find the passages on transposition?’

  ‘You’re forgetting one thing, Imoshen,’ Egrayne said. ‘If you plan to take an action against King Charald that can impact on all of us, you are supposed to call an all-council to get their approval.’

  ‘I know. I’ve been debating whether to ask Saskeyne for a loan of his mind-manipulators, but–’

  ‘How can you expect your hand-of-force to work with brotherhood warriors?’ Vittoryxe protested.

  ‘We are at war with a common enemy,’ Imoshen reminded her. She turned to Arodyti. ‘They could be helpful.’

  ‘Only with Mieren who don’t have natural defences,’ her hand-of-force said then grimaced. ‘Besides, I need to know I can trust the warriors who have my back. I don’t want to give an order and have them refuse it.’

  ‘And you’d be asking Saskeyne to send his warriors into almost certain death,’ Sarosune added.

  ‘You’re right,’ Imoshen conceded. ‘I can’t take this to an all-council. I’d have to tell the brotherhood leaders King Charald means to wipe us out. The hot-heads amongst them would do something noble and heroic. They could precipitate the destruction of all our estates, or even another attack on the city.’

  ‘So you’re not going to tell them,’ Egrayne said.

  ‘I think it’s for the best. Besides, if we fail, we don’t raise everyone’s hopes.’

  ‘What do we do if Arodyti fails to deliver the prince?’ Reoden asked. ‘We can’t leave the safety of the city if we know the king means to massacre us on the road.’

  Everyone looked to Imoshen.

  She didn’t want to contemplate this, but... ‘We have around forty estates scattered across Chalcedonia. When the barons ride off to plunder them, we turn the brotherhoods loose on what remains of the army. While they are distracting the Mieren, the rest of us sneak out of the city and break into small groups to travel across Chalcedonia.’