‘But she went there to save me. That’s what she said.’
‘So you know you were touched by black fire?’
‘She showed me what it did to me. None of you thought I would live. That’s why she went. She thought she could do something to save me.’
‘It’s true, you did survive beyond the odds, but I cannot think how your mother causing Shift would save you. Your father had no idea your mother would change the True Map. He only wanted possession of it. He wanted to stop the Map Makers making Shift.’
‘I don’t mean to break in on these reminiscences, but my people need help.’
‘I take it these bandits are seeking Sharra? That they have been hired by Ivory or Camden?’
Maven nodded.
‘Is this revenge for the past?’ asked Sharra.
Gareth turned his hands up in a gesture of helplessness. ‘How can I know? It may be that. It may be fear of what you can do. It may be that they are desperate to prevent Milton returning to the Central Archive because his theories begin to hold sway. He believes we have less than five decades left for the world to endure.’
Maven gasped. ‘So little time?’
‘He believes that changes can be made now that will prevent this, but it is almost too late.’
‘So he is intending to steal this True Map again?’ asked Maven.
‘No, this time he goes with the support of many and with a lifetime’s earned respect behind him. He hopes to persuade them.’
‘Will they listen?’ asked Sharra.
Gareth didn’t answer, instead he said, ‘How many people saw you cause Shift?’
‘Three.’
‘And you trust them?’
Sharra glanced at Maven. ‘They wouldn’t mean us any harm.’
‘But can they be relied on to keep silent?’
Maven, who had been scowling, suddenly spoke. ‘If you’re thinking of silencing them . . .’
‘Don’t tell me. What I don’t know I can’t say.’
‘Gareth, no, Father would never do such a thing.’
‘You don’t understand, Sharra. Your mother was too dangerous to be allowed to live and your father was too valuable to lose. I believe he would do anything to save you from her fate. But now you have caused Shift this complicates matters. You will be drawn to Maps as she was.’
Sharra stood up. ‘I could help him!’
‘You are more likely to be his undoing. Few people may be able to comprehend Milton’s theories, but they all remember what happened when his wild, talented wife touched the True Map. For him to have such a daughter . . . Camden and Ivory may even believe this is a second attempt to hold the world to ransom.’
‘He’s right,’ said Maven. ‘Besides, you can barely control your power. Who knows what would happen if you came near the True Map? Your mother didn’t follow your father’s plan, did she?’
‘That’s outrageous!’ said Sharra.
‘Your friend is right. We don’t know what effect the True Map would have on you, Sharra. Maybe your mother looked at it and saw how it could be better, but she didn’t have the knowledge not to cause harm. I know you, Sharra, you would fall into the same trap. For as long as you have been able to walk you’ve been trying to get into the Cartography Halls. Can you deny it?’
‘No. I’ve always felt the pull towards Maps. But I wouldn’t do anything.’ She bit her lip hard. ‘I know better.’
Gareth smiled. ‘You’re young and my words are only words.’
‘No,’ said Sharra in a tiny voice. ‘I’ve learned because of Frangelli.’
Gareth waved his hand. ‘That was only a tiny rockfall.’
Sharra’s eyes met Maven’s across the room. ‘I’m sorry. I tried to tell you so many times.’
Maven frowned, puzzled. Then his frown deepened into anger. ‘That time by the harbour.’
‘When I first saw Frangelli I knew. I tried so hard to convince myself it wasn’t true, but I think I always knew.’
Maven said nothing.
‘It was me,’ said Sharra. ‘I had no idea. I didn’t know what I was doing. I am so sorry.’
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Gareth.
Maven turned away from Sharra. ‘She is telling me that she killed Yasmeen. The woman who was going to be my wife. She Shifted the harbour wall in Frangelli and caused a tsunami.’
‘It was you? In the library? Who destroyed that Map? Sharra, I never dreamed . . .’
‘Yes. I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. If I could take it back I would.’
Maven sneered. ‘I imagine your mother said the same thing.’
Chapter Sixteen
Lord Milton sat motionless behind the desk. His hair was grey and there were lines on his face, but she saw now the young man her mother had known. ‘Gareth tells me we have a young fisherman to thank for your safety?’
‘Maven, yes. He’s with Gareth. He’s very angry with me. I don’t think he will ever –’ She gulped back tears.
‘Sit down, child. You care for this boy?’
Sharra sank into a seat. ‘He’s moody and sullen and angry and annoying, but he’s looked after me. He’s been kind when he had no reason to help someone from the Holds.’
‘You trust him?’
‘I feel safe with him. He is unlike anyone else I have ever met.’ Sharra took a deep breath. ‘Do you know what I’ve done? What I did to him?’
‘Yes,’ said Milton. ‘You have tampered with things you should never have touched. You are too much your mother’s child.’
‘I killed the woman he loved.’
‘From what Gareth has told me, Yasmeen may not be the only woman he loved.’
Sharra covered her face with her hands ‘But that makes it worse.’
‘I am going to need his help if I am to keep you safe. Gareth is far too old for what I have in mind. I have already sent men to liberate Frangelli. Hopefully, this may make him more inclined to help us.’
‘But I need to help you. We need to get the True Map. If I have the wild talent . . .’
‘I don’t know what you are,’ said Milton.
Sharra raised her head from her hands. ‘I’ve caused Shift.’
‘I know, but the talent never passes from mother to daughter. To be honest when the old Map Makers weakened the blood-power by marrying outside the talented families I thought we had lost it for good – and then your mother.’ He stopped and looked past her into the distance.
‘But if I don’t have the wild talent . . . ?’
‘You are something different, Sharra. Unknown, unquantifiable and thus even more dangerous.’
‘But I want to help you.’
‘You can help me best by never going near another Map as long as you live. The world has little time left. But now I have been elected, now people have started to believe and accept my theories, I will –’
‘But it will take too long! Ivory and Camden are already scheming against you. Gory’s no doubt helping them. Who knows who else they have convinced.’
‘That is because of you, daughter. I shall make them think I have had you executed. Then they will be appeased.’
Sharra’s heart turned over. ‘You’re going to send me from the Hold forever, aren’t you?’
Milton smiled sadly. ‘My intention is to send you far away until this time of crisis is over. My preference would be for Maven to accompany you for protection.’
Sharra flushed and lowered her eyes. ‘You can’t ask him to do that.’
‘As we speak Gareth will have convinced him it is a condition of my helping Frangelli. He doesn’t know I have already sent the men. He cared for you once and in time, when he understands more he may care for you again. He knows what you are and you must keep him close.’
Sharra’s head jerked up. ‘Or you will have him killed?’
‘I would very much regret any such course of action. I could not save your mother, but I can protect you.’ Milton reached across the desk and touched her hand. ‘My
dearest daughter, I almost lost you once before. I could not bear to lose you again.’
‘Father, what did my mother do to the True Map?’
‘I don’t know. Since that day it has been forbidden to lift the Map from its case. Oh, it’s been studied by the greatest minds, but no one can see what she did. It’s one of the reasons so many of them are afraid . . . of you. I tried as hard as I could to keep the story from you. I tried to hide you among the other children, but you’re like your mother, unmistakable and strong of spirit.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘She had committed High Treason. Her punishment was never in question. I only wish I had shared it.’
‘Why didn’t you? Is Gareth right, is it because you are too valuable?’
‘Partly. And partly because your mother begged that I be saved. She wanted me to raise you. She knew you would need my protection. No one expected you to survive so it was agreed. When you did they tested you and found nothing. Then Ivory petitioned to marry me and I agreed as long as you were kept by my side.’
‘Why did she marry you?’
‘She’d been your mother’s closest friend. We knew each other. She was different then. I didn’t know how much Theo Camden’s death had affected her. I thought together we could make a new start. She had lost her status and her home to the new Lord of Camden and his wife; I could give her status as Dame Mother at Milton. Her offer to me I hoped would help repair the rift between Camden and Milton Hold. For the sake of the world the Holds must work together.’
‘And all that time she was planning her revenge?’
‘I hope not. I will not claim we were happy, but we had regard for each other and have run Milton well. But as you grew, as you became your mother’s image, I knew old wounds were opening in Ivory’s heart.’
‘You sound like you’ve forgiven her!’
‘Your mother and I killed her husband. She fears for the reputation and status of her own child. Camden has convinced her my theories are wrong. Whatever she is now, Lady Camden was a happy, good woman.’
‘So you’re going to let her go free?’
Milton’s face assumed an expression she had never seen there before. His eyes glittered coldly with determination. ‘Have no fear, I will deal with Ivory. I have always been clear to her that you are my priority.’
Sharra came out of the sluice room. Her hair was wet and tousled. The only dresses she’d been able to find in the clothes chest that fitted had been celebration dresses, so she’d dug down until she’d unearthed an old tunic and leggings and put those on. She had argued with her father for a long time, but he had not given way. She knew at this moment he was speaking to Maven. She did not dare to imagine either their conversation or its outcome.
She’d been put in one of the guest suites, a long way from the main Hold. It was far out beyond the Winter Courtyard, a bedchamber, a sluice-room and study. It was normally reserved for visiting clerks of important lords and their wives. While she had been in the sluice someone had readied the room. She suspected it was Gareth. A warming fire burned in the small stone hearth. The many candle-sconces around the room had been lit ahead of nightfall. Twilight fell soft through the unshuttered windows. The room flickered with shadows. On a table was spread cold meat, fruit, bread and wine. On the deep ledge by the window lay a book. She picked it up and stroked the old, green cover. How had Gareth known this had been her favourite story as a child? She had spent so many hours between these covers, losing herself in fantasy worlds. She sat down by the fire and opened the cover. Her eyes slid unheeding over the words. She tried again to read the page and failed. The world was too solid, too real and too dangerous for her to escape into fantasy now.
What was happening in Frangelli? Were Scarlet and her children safe? Had her father’s men reached them in time? And all this time she had been running, what had Camden and Ivory been doing?
She was returning the book to its resting place when she felt a tremor. Confused, she put out a hand to the table to steady herself. It moved beneath her hand. A low rumbling sound rose from the ground. An apple rolled across the table and bounced onto the floor. Sharra held her breath. Then suddenly the whole room began to shake violently. Plaster fell from the ceiling. Outside she heard shouts and screams. Without thinking Sharra dived beneath the table. The room bucked around her. In the distance came a loud bang. Then the sound of tiles falling from the roof and smashing in the courtyard. A series of sharp, spiky noises echoed across the room. From underneath the table Sharra saw the window cracking from side to side. Something heavy landed on the surface above her. Sharra screamed.
Then as suddenly as it had begun it ended. The world was still. Cries and shouts came from all around her. Sharra crept out from under the table. The greater part of the ceiling plaster was lying across the room and one of the ceiling beams had come loose. If she hadn’t been under the table . . . Sharra tried not to think about that.
A coal had rolled out of the grate. Automatically she picked up the fire-irons to retrieve it. Her hands could hardly operate it she was shaking so much.
The door flung open. Maven stood on the threshold. ‘Are you all right?’
‘That was a Shift! A Shift at Milton Hold! There has never been a Shift here. My father is right, the world is failing!’
‘I know.’ Maven crossed the room quickly to come towards her. He stood close, but did not touch her. ‘Are you sure you are unhurt?’
Sharra nodded. The lump in her throat wouldn’t let her speak.
‘Then we must go. Quickly, can you find your things in this mess?’
Sharra found her voice. ‘I can’t go with you. I can’t go into hiding. My father . . .’
Milton pulled her bag from under a lump of plaster. ‘Who said anything about going into hiding?’
‘But my father’s plan –’
‘Would suit neither of us.’ Maven met her gaze levelly.
‘Then where are we going?’
‘Your father is never going to do what is necessary. He’s too afraid.’
‘My father is afraid of nothing!’
‘He’s afraid for you. He’s afraid for himself. He failed once and he won’t try again unless we make him. He’ll talk and talk and the world will die around us. We have to succeed where he failed. We have to steal the True Map and bring it to him. Do you think you are strong enough to resist it?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘It’s what you’ve been thinking, isn’t it? You and your father could redraw the world. Set things right. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?’
‘He says I don’t have the wild talent.’
‘Do you believe him?’
‘No.’
‘Neither do I. He’s still trying to protect his little girl, but you’re not a child any more. You have responsibilities.’
‘Atonement,’ said Sharra.
Maven nodded.
‘Will it make things right between us?’
Maven came over and placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘Would you draw Yasmeen for me? Could you bring her back?’
‘You cannot ask me that!’
‘I will ask you every day we are together. If there is any hope the life you cut short can be restored I must ask.’
‘It would be wrong!’
‘She will always stand between us.’
‘I see.’ A tear rolled down Sharra’s cheek. She brushed it away quickly. ‘Will you still help me?’
Maven put his hand to tilt up her chin so they looked into each other’s eyes. ‘I will help you because I want no one to suffer as I have suffered. But then we will part.’ He released her and stepped back.
Sharra picked up her pack and followed him from the room.
The courtyard was in terrible disarray. People were milling everywhere. Sharra pulled up her hood and followed Maven into the shadows. ‘How are we going to get there?’ she whispered.
‘We’re going to ask for help,’ said Maven and darted through a door.
‘Gareth?’
‘Yes. He’s wise enough to understand what needs to be done and too old to do it himself.’
When they finally gained the halls they were deserted. Sharra went straight for Gareth’s office. She didn’t knock. Gareth was sitting behind his desk. He looked up. ‘Good. I didn’t want to have to come and find you in this chaos. You realise it is impossible for me to arrange carriages to take you to the Great Archive?’
‘You know what we’re doing?’ said Sharra.
‘I am assuming that you have reached the same conclusions about the latest Shift as I?’ He frowned at Sharra as he had when he had set her a hard piece of homework. ‘That the Shift means either Milton is right and the world is failing or Camden has used Shift against us.’
‘I never thought of that!’
‘I did,’ said Maven.
‘Such a pity you don’t have talent,’ said Gareth. ‘You have a good, if uneducated, mind, Maven. But whatever the cause of the Shift it is clear that the time for talking is passed. Sadly, I suspect it will take Milton some time to accept this. If you bring the True Map to him then he must act. Ownership confers absolute authority. None will dare stand against him for fear of the reprisals he could unleash.’ He smiled at Sharra. ‘I do not pretend to understand your talent, Sharra, but I believe with your father’s guidance you may yet save us. But if you give into the True Map we will all be lost. I know you are stubborn. This time you must be more stubborn than you have ever been. You must resist its call.’
‘I take it you have a transport system of some kind?’ asked Maven.
‘Yes.’ Gareth met Maven’s eyes levelly. ‘Tubes that are intended to carry people. Each Hold has one that leads to the Central Archive. I will show you.’
All too swiftly for Sharra they were hurrying down the lonely passages under the Hold. This hatch was bright red. Gareth pulled a long lever. The hatch popped and opened. ‘This is as far as I go,’ said Gareth. ‘On the other side you will find another lever you must pull. It will release the chamber. Good luck.’
Maven touched her gently on the shoulder. ‘This is it if you want to turn back.’
The Map Maker's Daughter Page 19
