The delicate touch of fingers upon her cheek woke Yim. A lantern illuminated the tent, and Honus was kneeling beside the cot, his eyes rimmed with tears. “Why did you come?” he asked in a mournful voice. “This is a deadly place.”
Yim didn’t answer. Instead she seized Honus and kissed him hungrily as pent-up passion overwhelmed her. Honus responded in kind, but after they kissed awhile, Yim sensed that he was fighting to rein his feelings. Then Yim broke off from kissing. “Honus, Karm has sent me here because I’m the Chosen. It’s you, Honus! You!”
“What?”
“It’s your child I’m supposed to bear.”
“You’ve had a vision?”
“I didn’t need a vision. When Karm helped me restore your life, your spirit and mine mingled on the Dark Path. That’s when I came to love you. Our love is Karm’s gift. It’s also her sign. I see that now.”
“Yim, I must set the lines tonight. My officers are waiting outside.”
“Don’t you understand?” said Yim. “I’ve traveled for days so we could couple. It’s important. I believe it’ll change everything.”
“Shouldn’t our child be conceived in tenderness, not haste? Yim, I must leave for a little while.”
“Why? Tell me what’s so important.”
“Five days ago, Lord Bahl seized the fortress before Tor’s Gate. He always follows the same pattern. First, he establishes a base to ravage the countryside and gather men to join his forces. Everyone else is butchered. A period ensues while growing madness enrages the recruits. Then Bahl’s army bursts forth again, and the rampage begins anew. That time draws nigh. Tomorrow or soon after, Bahl’s men will surge through this narrow way. If we’re to stop them, here’s where it’ll be. There’ll be no second chances, or hope if we fail.”
“Our child will be that hope.”
“Not if its mother is hacked to pieces. Oh, Yim, I fear for you!”
“Have faith, not fear. Father our child.”
“I will. Tonight, if Karm permits.” Honus embraced Yim and tenderly kissed her. “Sleep while I arrange my forces. I’ll return before dawn. Then we’ll have our time together and hopefully beget a miracle.”
As Honus rose, Yim could see that he was torn between love and duty. As his Bearer, she could command him to stay and he would. But that would reduce her time of bliss to a matter of breeding, a quick tup while Honus’s officers waited outside. Yim didn’t want to settle for that. She rose to give a parting kiss. “Come back as soon as you can,” she whispered. “I’ll be here, dreaming of you.”
When Honus departed into the night, Yim lay down on the cot. Her entire body felt alive with excitement, and she couldn’t imagine how she could possibly sleep. Yet somehow she did.
A presence in the dark tent woke Yim. “Honus?” she whispered. But the silhouette was that of a woman, not a man. Yim froze. Then the figure became more visible, glowing with inner light until Yim beheld Karm. As she had been in Yorn’s moonlit courtyard and outside Bremven’s gate, the goddess was stained by the blood of those she mourned. She regarded Yim with an expression that combined deep love and sadness.
Karm smiled. “I chose well. You’ve endured and overcome much to reach this moment.”
Yim bowed her head. “It was worth it. Thank you, Goddess.”
“There’s no cause to thank me. You made the choices that brought you here. You might have fled from the Seer and lived your life as a servant girl; or let the dark man steal Honus’s soul; or remained Commodus’s ward.”
Yim smiled. “But you knew I wouldn’t abandon my path.”
“I never know the future,” Karm said. “My children are free to find their way, although I know where each path leads. Even now, I don’t know if you’ll accept the man who should father your child.”
“Accept him? Of course, I will. I love him!”
“No. You love Honus.”
Yim felt a sudden, icy shock. Her hands began to tremble, and when she spoke, her quiet voice quivered. “But my love for him was your gift!”
“It was. Everything you’ve seen and everything you’ve endured has been for a purpose. You shouldn’t choose your path blindly. You had to see everything; what will be gained and what will be lost through your choice.”
“The Wise Woman always said that you’d reveal the father. I thought that you had.”
“I have not, but I’ll do so now.”
“Who?”
“Lord Bahl.”
Upon hearing those words, the world seemed to fall away for Yim, and she felt suspended over an abyss. There seemed to be no future other than endless despair. For a long time, she couldn’t speak; she felt too numb. Then a spark of anger flared in her chest. It grew to resentment approaching rage. “All my life! All my life for this!” For a long while, Yim’s outrage silenced her. When she spoke again, her voice was taut with bitterness. “If you can foresee where a path ends, how could you think I’d bed a monster?”
“Because you’ve seen what’ll happen if you don’t,” Karm replied. “Lord Bahl is the Devourer’s incarnation, and every violent death heightens his power. Honus can’t stop him. He’ll be swept away in the wave of slaughter that will overflow the world. You’ve seen its horrors. No one will be safe.”
“I don’t understand. How can I do anything about that?”
“If Lord Bahl conceives a child, he’ll lose his power.”
“But won’t it pass to his son? Isn’t that why his line waxes and wanes over time? The son always becomes his father.”
“But this time there’s a chance to break that cycle,” Karm said. “Take the child north and raise him apart from strife. Meanwhile, Honus will live and so will Cara and countless others. There’ll be hope.”
“And if I stay with Honus?”
“You’ll have your moment of love. But as you hold Honus in your arms, you’ll know he’s doomed. He already suspects he is, and you won’t be able to hide the truth from him.”
“But if I go to Bahl, he’ll live?”
“If you conceive a child with Bahl.”
“But that’s not certain?”
“Nothing’s certain.”
“Just Honus’s death if I fail!” said Yim, not bothering to hide her bitterness. “And how can I get Bahl to tup me? I’ve no experience in such things.”
“You’re a clever woman, and a beautiful one. And part of Lord Bahl remains a man. As the Devourer overtakes him, his human part craves earthly pleasures all the more desperately. Bahl’s not wholly one thing. He’s mostly monster now, but desire can still sway him.”
“But the Devourer part will know me for what I am.”
“I’ll hamper that. I’ve struggled with the Devourer before. If you’re quick, you’ll have time to do what’s necessary.”
Yim began to sob quietly as she realized what she must do, knowing that she would try to do it. She would sacrifice her happiness to give others hope and save Honus’s life. Is it really such a sacrifice? she asked herself. My happiness has been mostly an illusion. But I did have that one morning with Honus. That’s the treasure I’ll bear to the Dark Path . Yim wiped her eyes and turned to tell the goddess that she would go to Lord Bahl, but the goddess had already vanished.
Yim sat awhile in the dark tent, summoning her courage. She felt that she must do it quickly, for she didn’t want to face Honus again. The thought of that was far too painful, and it spurred her into action.
First, Yim rummaged through the pack until she found the slave’s tunic that she used as a nightgown. It was her only garment that didn’t mark her as a Bearer. Yim shed her clothes and put the tunic on. Then she groped around in the dark until she found Cronin’s dagger. She used its blade to cut away the cloth around the flimsy garment’s neckline. Working mostly by feel, she cut and tore the fabric until the upper swells of her breasts were exposed. She thought the hemline was short enough, having once been cut to make a bandage. However, she made a slit to provide a glimpse of leg.
Havi
ng decided that her outfit was sufficiently provocative, Yim neatly piled her Bearer’s clothes on the cot. She wanted to give Honus some message to show that she hadn’t abandoned him uncaringly. Knowing that he couldn’t read, and not wanting anyone else to read her message to him, she wondered what to do. Then she had an idea, and began rummaging through the pack again. When she found what she was looking for, she placed it atop her Bearer’s clothes.
The item was the scrap of embroidered fabric from Mirien’s wedding gown. It had been given to Yim on her second morning with Honus, and it seemed a perfect symbol for their fate. Mirien had never worn the gown. Like Yim, Mirien’s hope for bliss had been shattered. In the girl’s case, death had intervened. Yim felt her fate would be a form of death. At least it’s my choice , thought Yim. Mirien didn’t have even that .
Yim clung to that meager bit of solace as she strapped on her sandals. Then she found Cronin’s cloak and helm and donned them as a makeshift disguise, hiding her hair beneath the helmet. With that done, Yim slipped into the dark to find Lord Bahl.
For Carol
THIRTY-THREE
YIM EMERGED from the tent into an encampment that was mostly empty. The few soldiers that remained were caught up in the confusion that precedes a battle. Thus she was able to pass unchallenged. She reached a wooded slope and began to climb it. Yim assumed that Honus would position his men so they could descend from high ground upon Bahl’s soldiers as they marched through the narrow gap between the hills. Accordingly, she avoided those places, choosing a route through the hills that stayed far from the gap.
In imagining Honus’s strategy, Yim envisioned him choosing ground and placing men for combat. While he’s doing it, is he also thinking of me? Yim was sure that he was. The idea of Honus returning to Cronin’s empty tent tortured her. For a while, she wavered and seriously considered going back. How much is a moment of love worth? Yim felt willing to die for it. She imagined that Honus was willing also. But others would die because of that moment. Too many to count . Yim sighed and continued onward.
The terrain was rugged and trees blocked the moonlight. Yim made her way cautiously through the shadows, fearful of blundering into soldiers. Yet the soldiers she sought to avoid were friendly. Her goal was to reach the enemy. Yim had no idea what she would do when she encountered her foes. Dying was a possibility, but she believed that if death were certain, Karm wouldn’t have urged her to go.
Yim remembered from studying Cronin’s maps that hills lined both sides of the passage known as Tor’s Gate. The hills merged with the mountains that flanked the Gate’s entrance. The maps had also depicted a fortress constructed on one of those mountainsides. Yim assumed that it was the fortress that Honus had spoken about and that Lord Bahl would be found there. When the first light of dawn appeared in the east, Yim reached the last hill. She climbed to its top, but it was wooded, forcing her to descend the other side before she could view what lay ahead.
When Yim passed beyond the trees, she saw that the gap between the peaks did indeed resemble a natural gate. To her left and right were tall mountains that extended into the plain to create a funnel leading to the gap. Hills were visible in the distance, but the nearest ground was flat. To her right was a fortress built near the bottom of a mountain slope. Portions of the structure were blackened, but its outer walls remained intact. Scattered around the captured stronghold were the makeshift encampments of the troops that had taken it. They comprised a chaotic sprawl that extended into the despoiled countryside. Yim glimpsed a few fires with men roving about them. Even from a distance, the men seemed to possess the agitated manner of disturbed ants.
They will be my first obstacle , thought Yim, my first chance to die . She pulled off Cronin’s helm and cloak. Their purpose was accomplished. After some consideration, she also shed her sandals, reasoning that a barefoot woman seemed more vulnerable. Yim planned to pose as a camp founder willing to betray others to save her neck. By wearing only her flimsy tunic, she hoped to give the impression that she had just fled from some man’s bed.
Yim was terrified as she walked toward the men, and her terror grew as she advanced. Her short journey was a descent into a nightmare. The land about her had been fair and populous, but all that had changed. Nothing remained whole. All the houses were in ruins, and their inhabitants slain as if their killers had competed to see who could commit the worst atrocity. Yim turned from one horrific sight only to behold another: Heads hung from branches like fruit. A fence had been constructed using death-stiffened limbs. A burnt child dangled from a doorway. While Yim viewed these horrors, she approached their perpetrators.
The army’s encampments seemed flung down haphazardly. Some featured crude tents or makeshift shelters, while others were merely spots where men sprawled in clusters on the ground. One site had a cold cooking fire with a spit that skewered a charred human leg. Because it wasn’t yet dawn, most of the men slumbered. By weaving a route between the scattered sleepers and avoiding the few who were awake, Yim penetrated the army’s lines a short distance before she was stopped. A huge unkempt man in blood-caked peasant’s clothes rose from a sleeping mass of men and strode up to her, a bloody hatchet in one hand.
Yim folded her arms across her chest and squarely looked the advancing man in the eye. “You!” she said in a loud voice that she hoped masked her fear. “Take me to Lord Bahl at once!”
The man halted. “Why ye wanna see the master?”
“Because I’m his.”
The man moved forward, his eyes taking in Yim’s body. As frightening as that was, it seemed a hopeful sign to her. At least , she thought, he’s not a raving killer . When the man groped at Yim’s breasts, she slapped him hard across the face. “I belong to Lord Bahl. Touch what’s his and feel his wrath!”
Rage filled the man’s face after Yim struck him, and for an instant, she thought that he would slay her on the spot. Then that rage gave way to fear, giving Yim her first glimpse of the terror that Bahl inspired in his men. “I’ll take ye ta the master,” the man said in a meek tone.
Yim grabbed the man’s arm as she walked beside him. By that ploy, she hoped that they would be seen as belonging together. They had made only a little progress toward the fortress when Yim began to sense the same malign presence that she had at Karvakken Pass and the ruins of Karm’s temple. Karm said Lord Bahl is the Devourer’s incarnation . Then Yim realized that she had fulfilled Theodus’s quest and found the source of evil. If she fulfilled her own quest, she would mate with it.
The closer Yim and her escort came to the fortress, the more densely packed were the men around it. They were rising with the sun, and Yim could view them better. She thought they scarcely comprised an army, for she associated armies with discipline. What she saw seemed more a mob of armed peasants. An air of madness pervaded them. Wildeyed men paced about, glancing balefully at their fellows. Savage fights broke out spontaneously. Yim passed a man who repeatedly punched the bloody mush that once had been another man’s face. Like the malign aura, the madness increased with each step toward the fortress.
Only when Yim reached the entrance to the stronghold did she encounter some military discipline in the form of armored guards. They barred her and her escort’s way. “What’s yer purpose here?” asked one.
“She says she belongs ta the master,” said Yim’s escort.
One of the guards grinned. “That could be said of every bitch. What makes ye so special?”
“I have something he wants,” replied Yim.
“Mayhap,” said the guard. “That leg will yield some nice filets. And ye’ll look comely writhing on a stake.”
“I think your master will find other uses for me,” said Yim. “Since it’s his choice, you’d best take me to him.”
“He’s not awake yet,” said the guard’s companion, as he squeezed Yim’s buttocks through her tunic. “So we’ll just tup until he rises.”
“So you’d dare taste your master’s meat before he sups? Perhaps I’ll let hi
m know.”
“Not if I cut yer throat!” replied the guard, drawing his dagger.
“And when he looks for me, just lie to him about what you did,” said Yim. She flashed a taunting grin. “I’m sure he’ll believe you.”
The guard scowled. “Ye’ll see him soon enough. And when he’s done with ye, mayhap he’ll toss us what’s left.” He turned to another guard. “Put her in a box till the master rises.”
The third guard grabbed Yim’s arm. “Come on, birdie.” Then he marched her inside the fortress. Beyond the gatehouse was a cobble-paved courtyard. The men milling about it wore armor or at least items of it, but they seemed more like lunatics than soldiers. Many had vacant expressions, and Yim sensed that the only thoughts within their heads would be those Bahl placed there. Other men glared at her with hate that inspired terror. A few men wept openly.
A large stone keep dominated the fortress’s interior, and Yim thought that she would be taken there. Instead, the guard dragged her toward a side of the courtyard where there were several large piles of ashes. In the center of each was a blackened rectangular box that was sized to accommodate a squatting person. One side of each box was a latched door. The other sides had bands of tiny holes.
The guard walked over to one of the boxes, unlatched its door, and swung it open. Then he tilted the box so the charred corpse inside it tumbled out. It was so badly burnt that Yim couldn’t tell if it had been a man or a woman. The guard kicked the blackened body, and it crumbled into pieces. Then he grinned at Yim. “Yer room’s ready. Get in.”
Yim had no idea whether she was passively submitting to an excruciating death, but she seemed to have little choice but to climb inside. A squatting position was the only one she could assume. As she did, the guard closed and latched the door. It was dark inside the iron box and its interior was coated with greasy soot that had a nauseating smell. Yim felt a rush of panic that she had to struggle hard to subdue. The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll die , she thought. But then she realized that wasn’t the worst thing. If I die, I fail. Then many others will die also, and Honus will be among the first .
[Shadowed Path 02] - Candle in the Storm Page 24
