by H. A. Harvey
Looking back at the city, Nian saw the blanket of dust coated the military camps, the town and field outside the gates, and halfway up the cliff that served as the city’s outer wall. The nixies scattered out from the ramparts along the cliff face and dispersed quickly into the sky in every direction. Nian bent and picked up the silk purse and was surprised to feel several smooth, hard objects inside. Upon opening the drawstrings, he found three crystalline vials within, each filled with what looked like colored sand of incredibly fine grain. One vial’s sand was gold, another silver, and the third was dark purple. Nian looked up to thank the fairies, but they were already well on their way back toward the vale, so he turned to Malor instead.
“What is this?”
“Two vials of fairy dust and, unless I’m mistaken, one of star dust.” Malor answered, “Fairies shed the stuff whenever they change forms. It’s supposed to have temporary but profound effects on a mortal’s mental state. The normal stuff, the gold dust, is supposed to waken desire and is used in love potions and the like. The purple dust is from fairies with strong ties to Entropic, Soul, or Astral energy, like nixies, and has the reverse effect, as you can see.”
“What about star dust?” Nian tinked the silver vial with his fingernail.
“That I know little about beyond rumor and that it is very rare.” Malor frowned, “All the dusts dissipate quickly in open air, so star dust is almost impossible to find in time to seal and preserve it . . . which reminds me, we need to move before this window closes.”
The wizard leapt to his feet and splashed a fresh handful of water from his wineskin over his mask. He then started quickly out toward the gates of Kadis. Nian waved for the others to follow and trotted to catch up with Malor.
“But what does it do?” Nian asked again. “The star dust I mean.”
“I’m not certain, Nian. It’s supposed to be able to be used to do anything from grant wishes to restore lost youth.”
“How do you use it? Just sprinkle and say your wish?”
“Confound the dust!” Malor snatched the purse from Nian’s hands and stuffed it into the satchel at Nian’s hip. “I don’t know how it’s used. I said all I know about it is rumor, and this isn’t the time to worry about it.”
“But how do you even know that it’s star dust?” Nian pressed.
“Because there aren’t any other silver versions of fairy dust I’ve ever heard of,” Malor answered shortly, “And if anyone besides the Golden Emperor himself were to have some just ‘lying around’ to hand off, it’d be a fairy queen. While we’re on the subject though, I thought the queen had refused to send any of her fairies anywhere near this place. When exactly did she change her mind?”
Nian didn’t answer, and he was glad that the wetted bandage over his face likely masked the rosy hue that likely accompanied the heat he felt in his cheeks. He didn’t really want to discuss how he’d convinced the queen to play a game that risked the wrath of the Incarnates, as well as the fate of her children if she hadn’t managed to alter the Fates of Xain and Autumn more than Nian could. Nian supposed it could be called a draw. After all, Xain might not have stayed back if the queen’s party hadn’t purchased Nian a head start, and though she brought Autumn back, she’d still died, so her fate hadn’t been really altered, just cheated a bit. Nian half-wondered if his ploy of giving her what she really wanted had worked and led her to find some way to send him some measure of aid after all.
The carpet of purple was already vanishing when they reached the gates of Kadis. It seemed that enough of an alarm had been raised that the gates had been thrown shut before the nixies reached the gatehouse. Still, no arrows or stones hurtled down at them, so the fairies must have considered the guards on the walls and in the gate to be part of their job. Axios thumped a fist against the thick, iron-bound, oaken gate experimentally. When it didn’t give in the slightest, he threw a shoulder against it, but Malor gave a shout.
“Stop!” The wizard pointed his staff at a small collection of rocks trickling down the slope overhead. “Even if you can, ramming this gate down is likely to collapse the tunnel through the mountainside, leaving us no entrance at all.”
“Then we’ll be subtle.” Rowan chuckled softly and walked to the edge of the gate. Stooping down, he drew out Karen’s doll and plucked a bit off her dress. Setting the stem into the loose earth at the edge of the road, the Desaid whispered softly to the plant. A second later, it rooted itself in the soil and began to extend and branch, crawling up the side of the gate and the wall.
Nian watched in silent awe as he remembered Elliastrea talking about Desaid Lifeweavers being able to shatter castle walls. The roper’s vine blossomed and grew, creeping along the surface of the stone archway until the gate was completely encircled. Rowan furrowed his brow and the air was filled with sharp cracking sounds as shards of stone shot like sling bullets out of the archway. There was a groaning like a giant with a toothache, then the hinges of the great gate popped loose from their fittings and the impregnable barrier toppled with a resounding crash that sent dust barreling both ways through the tunnel.
22
A Promise Fulfilled
It was hard to count the days, harder since the voices started. They lied. At first it seemed like they could read thoughts, but they just guessed well. What they wanted was harder to tell. Sometimes, they offered gifts. Other times, they jeered and taunted and told half-truths or outright lies about friends and loved ones. Karen knew what they wanted though. They wanted her to hate them, or beg them to help her. Either way, they were never going to get what they wanted. Karen was good at mind games, and this was one she didn’t intend to lose.
“Karen? Karen, we’re coming for you.”
They did guess well. It had taken them a while, but they’d figured Ourei out. Karen guessed it wasn’t too hard. Magic seemed to be everywhere, so Karen was more surprised that it took them this long to work it out. She ignored them this time. They learned to guess better based on her reactions, or at least they had at first, but she figured that out too. Now she picked her reactions, sometimes to mislead them, and sometimes she picked a reaction at random for no reason in particular, just to mislead them even more. She frustrated them, made them angry. Karen had learned to feel for how they really reacted, the one truth under their lies.
Then something new happened. The door opened and even though only a single torch burnt somewhere down the hallway, it was intolerably bright and Karen had to look away for a moment. When she was able to look back, she saw Captain Gerizim standing in the doorway, glaring down at her. He was garbed in his heavy plate armor and wore his maul over his back.
“Get up, Raven.” Gerizim growled.
“My name is Karen.” She growled back, “And whatever you’re here to do to me can be done without me standing or doing anything else you tell me.”
Then, Gerizim surprised her. Rather than roar in rage at her insolence, he smiled. The Dracis beckoned to someone beside the door and Ourei stepped into view, holding a stiff bundle of silk wrapped around the dusksilver blade.
“Dress her.” The captain ordered as he turned to walk further into the dungeon. “I will fetch his lordship.”
Ourei nodded and knelt next to Karen. She set the sword off to the side and lay the bundled silk in front of her with a metallic clank. The Falon smiled as she drew a pair of silk stockings and a short-sleeved slip that looked a size too small for Karen.
“You’re with them now?” Karen asked incredulously, trying to ignore the hissing laughter of the voices.
“He is with us.” Ourei corrected. “I still cannot read him, but I think he always has been. He said it is time for us to leave.”
Karen glared suspiciously at the clothes and Ourei. Her eyes drifted to the open doorway and she thought of making a dash for it. She probably wouldn’t make it far, her instincts told her that her legs would be only a little sturdier th
an wet noodles at the moment.
Karen had eaten next to nothing for however long she’d been down here, and no meat. She was pretty certain that she’d never touch meat again. At length, Karen decided that she’d be better off with some clothes, a weapon, and time to get her legs under her, especially if she had to kill Ourei. Kill Ourei? Had that been her or the voices? The noble girl hadn’t given her any reason to distrust her, let alone consider killing her. Karen shook her head to shed the thoughts and collapsed against Ourei’s shoulder to weep. Ourei wrapped her satiny wings around Karen in a brief but tender embrace, then grabbed Karen’s shoulders and forced her to sit upright.
“We have to move quickly.” Ourei explained as she tugged the soiled sackcloth garment off of Karen. “They sent the captain to fetch me for Tyvus once the coronation is over. Here, put these on first.”
Karen stood shakily and had to rely on Ourei more than once to slide the tight-fitting silk clothes on. When she went to don the main garment, Karen realized why the tights were needed. All of the garb she had been given before had been regal, if revealing, court attire made to look like armor. This was the opposite. Not only was the gown by far the least revealing thing she’d worn since arriving in Kadis, but it was an overlay. The flowing garment of silk cleverly concealed a bodice and skirt of segmented steel.
Karen had barely finished lacing up her sandals when Gerizim returned with a Falon man braced against his shoulder. The man’s angular features were markedly similar to Ourei’s, but even slumped against the Dracis, Karen could tell that he was easily a head taller than Gerizim. The man didn’t look to be in poor health, but he was anything but steady on his feet. It occurred to her that he might be one of the Wind Lords that spent their lives airborne, and some said were clumsy and awkward if ever forced to walk. She looked back at Gerizim.
“Why?”
“Because to a parent, their child will always be the truest incarnation of Hope.” Gerizim replied. “I have spent my life in service to War, but only a fool would believe in one of the Twelve and ignore the others entirely. He who opposes Kadia must surrender all Hope.”
“Brenna.” Karen breathed in realization, “Nothing but your blood is worth more than your home. You’ve been doing all this for Brenna the whole time.”
Gerizim nodded to Ourei, who took Karen by the arm and started helping her along in front of the Falon lord and the captain. At the end of the dungeon corridor were four soldiers. Two stood watching out the door, one of which Karen recognized as one of the guardswomen who had been watching the rear keep. The other two were carrying the limp form of the jailer between them and tossing the body into a vacant cell. The soldiers fell into escorting Karen and the captain, two ahead and two behind, as they headed out into the lower reaches of the keep where the slaves slept and worked.
“I thought praying to the Incarnates was a waste of breath.” Karen looked back over her shoulder at the captain.
“Words mean nothing to them,” Gerizim grumbled as they wound their way up a narrow stair. “By begging for favor, you demean yourself for no purpose. Like gears, they grind upon their path, and if you stand in their way, you will be crushed. But perhaps, if you find yourself upon their path anyway, helping their motion may do something.”
“He’s trying for nothing.” The voices hissed. “Brenna is dead. Long dead.”
Karen ignored the voices and turned back to focus on the stairs. Gerizim caught her shoulder and turned her back to face him. She must have reacted at least a little, he never missed anything.
“What was that, Raven?” The captain glared at her.
“Nothing.”
Karen shook her head. They lied about everything, and were just trying to get to her again. Whether they knew something about Brenna or not, they’d lie just to twist her or Gerizim using her. But it was clear that the Dracis was not going to dismiss what he saw, he held her fast and his eyes demanded more answer.
“There’s something, or things in the back wing of the keep. I felt them when I first got back there, but it wasn’t until a little after you caught me that I started hearing them.” Karen’s explanation seemed to suffice enough for Gerizim to release her. However, Karen liked the idea of giving the voices a taste of what she’d been able to learn from them as they tore at her in the dark. “They’re all one . . . thing, but it’s like there’s hundreds of them. The most confusing part is this group . . . or principality isn’t the only one. The others were sealed somewhere by what they call ‘the usurpers’ and this one was caught half here, half there. There was something about ‘less is more’. They feed on anger, pain, and hatred. And this . . . legion is trying to bring some of the others that it favors back.”
“Legion?” Gerizim interrupted. “There are that many? Or is that what they call themselves?”
“They don’t call themselves anything, and I wouldn’t believe them if they gave me a name. I don’t know what else to call them.” Karen explained as they exited the stairs onto the ground floor of the keep. “Most of what I know I heard when they were bickering among themselves. Whatever they did that keeps me from shutting them out works both ways if I pay attention.”
“Not that way.”
Karen paused and looked back, “This goes to the back of the keep. I’m not leaving without Kelly.”
“Tyvus is in there, and she is almost certainly dead by now.” Gerizim countered, “Don’t forget that he is waiting for me to deliver Ourei. We have only a few moments to get you out of the keep while the coronation is being held in the market. After the barons and their men return to the keep, escape will be impossible.”
Gerizim’s head snapped up sharply as the deep tones of a bell rang through the windows of the keep.
“The alarm sounds.” The captain growled, “None have seen us but those I am certain are loyal to myself over Kadis or have similar reason to side with your brother, so there must be enemies at the gate. Your brother chooses a poor time to make his move. Kadis is impregnable and already has one of the strongest armies in Baeden, but now it is reinforced with the finest soldiers from every barony.”
“Or,” Ourei’s hand squeezed Karen’s shoulder reassuringly, “The Emissary came when the irresistible power of the Incarnates would be proven beyond doubt. It is in the deepest darkness that Kadia’s light shines brightest.”
“Even if she’s dead, I’m not leaving without Kelly.” Karen resolved aloud. “They feed the dead girls to the live ones, and perhaps to themselves. I won’t leave her to that. If Brenna were in such a place, would you leave her?”
Gerizim glared at Karen for several moments before he finally nodded. “Alright, but not this way. Tha upper floors will be largely vacant, and there is a hidden passage at tha back of tha main hall that leads straight to tha rear wing.”
. . .
Axios sprang forward as soon as the gates were down, and was met by a hail of arrows from the hastily assembled guardsmen inside the gate. The majority of the barbs either glanced off of the bony callouses along the ogre’s hide or lacked enough force to bite deeper than his thick skin. One lucky, or perhaps not so much so, archer managed to strike a soft bit of skin in Axios’ stomach. The ogre bellowed as the Warbrigner’s Gift rippled through his body. He tore a hunk of stone from the wall that equaled his own torso in size and hurled it back at the archer, crushing the unfortunate man as well as those to either side of him. As Axios barreled down the short hallway with his blade at the ready, Nian tugged Kaesa’s elbow.
“You and I need to protect Corina with our shields.” He instructed, “Without her, we’ll get lost in the streets and never make the keep. David, you ride better than I do anyway, take Gatefyre and try to keep Axios from getting flanked. Rowan and Xain watch our rear and sides. We need to stick together to keep from getting cut off. Mal-“
“I have a few tricks ready in my satchel to help you out, but I’ll mostly be misdirect
ing reinforcements and keeping an eye out for magic.”
Nian paused and nodded. That sounded about right, he guessed. The small company rushed through the gate tunnel to aid Axios, though the initial resistance had already been driven back from the plaza by the time they arrived, leaving seven soldiers hewn nearly or completely in half to add to the crimson streaks that had been their comrades. Most of the city’s common folk seemed to have been scattered at the sound of an alarm ringing through the basin. Those who hadn’t yet sought shelter appeared to have changed their minds when Axios exploded into the gate square. Corina tugged at Nian’s sleeve and pointed to the right.
“That road’s tha shortest ta reach tha keep, Master Nian.” The Sattal nodded, “Oh, sorry, I mean Nian of course dear. But tha other road ‘round the market would take ya right ta the Iron Garrison.”
Nian started towards the right-hand road, but Xain stopped him short. The Dwarf pointed back out over the field. The nixie dust seemed to have vanished from the ground, but the enchanted guards had yet to stir. However, from the road that led back toward Wolf Hill, a cloud of dust hailed the approach of cavalry. Nian quickly ushered Corina onward toward the road to the keep.
They rushed along the cobbled street with Axios at their head, bowling aside the few soldiers too brave or foolish to make way for his onslaught. Kaesa’s axe and Nian’s own blade made short work of the few who tried to rush in from the sides, but most seemed to fade back readily into the alleys and side-streets. Their progress was even better than Nian had hoped. He’d expected to have to fight for every inch, but he supposed most of that credit went to Axios.
When they emerged into a small plaza, Nian realized too late that things were easy for a reason. The road on the far side of the plaza was blockaded by a hasty pile of carts, tables, and other odds and ends from inside and on top of the nearby homes and soldiers armed with bows and javelins lined the square stone rooftops ringing the plaza. Only a few narrow alleyways were not barricaded, and those were both too narrow for Axios to hope to squeeze down and manned by soldiers with plate armor and heavy shields.
