Dyam frowned. ‘What?’
Nyane turned to Karalyn. ‘Why didn’t you tell me what was going to happen?’ she said, her voice rising. She closed her eyes as tears began to well. She concentrated – she wouldn’t cry, not in front of Dyam. ‘I could have prevented it.’
‘What’s she talking about?’ said Dyam.
‘I made contact with Nyane earlier today,’ Karalyn said, ‘and I got a flash of Isobel’s murder.’
‘What?’ Dyam cried. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell Nyane?’
‘There’s no point!’ Karalyn snapped back. ‘Nothing you could have done would have changed it.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Dyam said.
‘I do,’ Karalyn replied, her eyes narrow. ‘Do you not think I’ve tried? Over and over, when I was younger, when I saw something bad was going to happen; trying to prevent it always made it worse, no matter what I did. I was tormented for years with the helplessness of failing to stop what I’d foreseen. So eventually I learned. I realised that I had to accept the visions.’
Nyane and Dyam remained silent.
‘So,’ Karalyn went on, ‘that’s why I didn’t tell Nyane.’
‘I think I understand,’ Nyane said.
Dyam glanced at both of them.
‘Do you think you could work together?’ she said. ‘I have an idea.’
‘Of course,’ said Nyane. ‘I’d be honoured to, and I’m always ready to serve the Empress.’
Dyam smiled. ‘Karalyn?’
‘Aye, I could work with her.’
‘Good,’ Dyam said. ‘Nyane, you’re promoted to acting Chief of Intelligence, with Karalyn as your eyes and ears. You’ll be in command of the empire’s vision mages, whose names and locations I’ll inform you about later, but you’ll also use Karalyn to send messages anywhere we require, and to investigate the assassination of Isobel.’ She looked Nyane in the eye. ‘You’re drawing closer to the throne, and your access to imperials secrets will be as open to you as it was to Isobel. More in fact, as she never knew a thing about Karalyn.’
‘Thank you, Herald,’ Nyane said. ‘I’m deeply honoured.’
Dyam turned to Karalyn. ‘Are you happy with the new arrangement? It means you’ll answer directly to Nyane from now on, but I’ll always be here if you need me.’
Karalyn smiled. ‘Aye, I’m fine with it. But if she gets to know the secrets then I’ll have to as well, if I’m going to be her eyes and ears.’
‘Aye, I suppose so.’
‘Right,’ Karalyn said, ‘who is the other mage? The one who’s best at vision along with Isobel and my mother?’
‘Her name is Sable,’ Dyam said, ‘and her powers might even be better than your mother’s. She’s a master of battle and inner-vision, and everything in between. Right now, she’s in Silverstream, delivering weapons and a clay mage to help with the town’s defences.’
‘Ravi?’ said Nyane.
Dyam smiled. ‘How did you know that? Never mind, I can see I’ve made the right choice for the new Chief of Intelligence.’
‘I have another question,’ said Karalyn, ‘about something I could look for, but know I shouldn’t.’
‘Aye?’
Karalyn’s eyes lit up. ‘Who is the father of the Empress’s children?’
Dyam shrugged. ‘Some things,’ she said, ‘not even the Imperial Herald knows.’
Chapter 21
Dissonance
Liberton, Rahain Republic – 18th Day, Last Third Spring 524
‘I’m going to tell you a story,’ said Koreen, as the prisoners ate their breakfast in silence. ‘I’ve told it before, a few times, to the younger folk mostly, and to those who just like to hear it.’
She lifted a mug to her lips and took a drink as Lennox watched her. For ten days they had been prisoners, seven of which he had been chained to the wall of the small cavern with the others. In that time no one had beaten or mistreated them, though he longed to get outside and feel the sun on his skin again.
‘I used to know a man,’ Koreen went on. ‘I fought alongside him and his sister back in Kell when the Rahain invaded; I was in their squad. The shit we did together! In the Kell Pass, at Marchside, and under the Fire Temple.’ She shook her head. ‘I stood by his side when the Rahain obliterated Fire Mountain, and our dreams of Pyre died.’
‘You’re lying,’ said Libby. ‘That’s not what happened. The Kellach Brigdomin were worshipping an idolatrous, corrupted version of the true god. We now know that Pyre is just another name for the Creator. The Rahain mages were cleansing the land of a sinful temple to a false god.’
‘Aye,’ Koreen said, ‘Pyre was false right enough. Didn’t do fuck all to stop the Rahain from destroying our land and enslaving our folk. It nearly broke me, watching the mountain come down. He was probably the only reason I didn’t give up, but instead got into a slave wagon with the others.’
‘What man are you talking about?’ said Darine.
‘Killop,’ Koreen said. ‘Chief of the Severed Clan. The greatest champion the slaves of Rahain ever knew. Have you heard of him?’
The captives shook their heads.
‘Doesn’t surprise me. The lizards control everything you hear; they’ve twisted reality so you’d fight for them, not realising what brought you here in the first place. The Kellach settlers in Rahain weren’t invited in, they were carried here as slaves. I know, because I was one.’
Libby snorted but said nothing.
‘I was in the same slave wagon as Killop,’ Koreen continued, ‘but we were separated, and I didn’t see him again for a couple of years. By that time he had achieved the impossible. He had escaped from the most secure prison in Rahain and raided mines, and farms, and work camps; freeing the slaves and arming them. In the end he helped the Alliance army bring down the Rahain regime, which led to all of the slaves being freed. All except the folk you four are descended from. In the south of Rahain, the new government didn’t take hold, and there was a civil war. In the end Ghorley won it, but instead of freeing your families, he kept them here, imprisoned within the valley of Liberton. Why? For one reason. To build an army, an army of slaves.
‘Killop had gone by then. He tried to make a life of it here, in Rahain, but both sides in the war wanted him and his clan out, the old government because they were escaped slaves, and the new government because they wouldn’t convert to the creator-faith.’
‘Where did he go?’ said Darine.
‘Back home, to Kellach Brigdomin.’
‘But there’s nothing there,’ Cain said. ‘It was totally destroyed.’
Koreen smiled.
‘Why didn’t you go with him?’ said Darine.
‘I liked it here,’ she said. ‘I lived alone in the hills for years, paying no attention to what was going on, but then I met some Kellach Brigdomin, who told me they had escaped from Liberton, and that’s when I found out what Ghorley had done to you all.’
‘When I was in Liberton having my boys,’ Darine said, ‘it didn’t seem like a prison. The folk I saw looked happy.’
‘Aye,’ Koreen said. ‘It’s true that some prefer the life they have. After all, the valley is wide and fertile, and Ghorley makes sure no one starves, and that the children are well looked after, especially those born to women serving in the Army of Pyre. Some folk never leave the town, unaware of the chains that bind them, and pretending not to notice the regular, systematic abduction of their children into the army. I’m not here for them. I’m not going to waste time on folk who would rather blind themselves to what’s happening. But I will help those who long to leave, who yearn to taste freedom again.’
Libby shook her head. ‘You’re endangering the souls of every person in Liberton who listens to your lies. You’d take them back to the dark times, before we learned the truth.’
‘Answer me this, Libby of the red hair,’ Koreen said. ‘Why aren’t the folk of Liberton allowed to leave?’
‘They’re being protected,’ Libb
y said, ‘the way a mother or father protects their children.’
‘So the Kellach folk are children?’
‘We are all children before the Creator.’
‘What, all of us? Including Ghorley?’
‘The Lord Protector has been given the burden of ruling this land under the laws of the Creator,’ Libby said. ‘His vision powers have marked him out as one of the chosen few, granted the right to govern.’
‘And who told you this? Let me guess, was it Ghorley himself? A wee bit convenient, don’t you think?’
Libby smiled and shook her head. ‘It’s pointless arguing with you. If you wilfully turn away from the blessed Creator, then I can’t force you to change your mind. You have damned your own soul.’
Koreen nodded at her. ‘You know, I was in the same room as Chief Killop when he outlawed the creator-faith from the lands of the Severed Clan. I thought at the time he was over-reacting. Ha. Now, I only wish I’d urged him to kill every missionary he could get his hands on.’
‘We see your true face at last,’ Libby crowed.
‘Shut up, Libby,’ said Darine. ‘Open your eyes. Can’t you see the suffering the creator-faith has brought to everyone in Rahain, apart from a few “chosen ones” at the top? The peasants endure grim, hungry lives in the darkness of the caverns, and the Kellach are bred like gaien for the slaughter. What holds true for Liberton, that no one can leave, applies to the whole country. How can we be free if we can’t leave?’
‘The rest of the world is allied against us,’ said Lennox. ‘The empire rules everywhere, except here. The government has to keep the borders secure. I agree that some things might be unfair, but the government’s just trying to protect us from imperial aggression. The Empress wants to make us a colony, so that we have to submit to her and bow before her throne.’
‘Well said, Lennox,’ said Libby. ‘And if it comes to war with the empire, the Army of Pyre will be in the vanguard as the shield of the faithful.’
Koreen shook her head and got to her feet. She walked towards the door, then stopped. She turned to Darine.
‘I want to talk to you alone.’
Darine said nothing, her eyes wide.
Koreen took a set of keys from a pouch on her belt and unlocked the shackles attached to the young woman’s ankle. She put her hand out and Darine took it. Koreen pulled her to her feet.
‘Remember you’re a soldier,’ Lennox said to her.
She smiled at him, then she and Koreen left the room, closing the thick wooden door behind them.
‘That’s it,’ said Libby. ‘Darine’s going to turn. Koreen could see it, shit, we could all see it.’
‘Aye,’ said Cain. ‘I think you’re right.’
‘No,’ said Lennox, but he didn’t mean it. He lowered his head. Darine had been drifting further from them as the days had passed. Koreen had visited them often, sometimes coming more than once a day. She had spoken to them at length about life in the old Kellach Brigdomin, and about her experiences as a slave, and he had noticed Darine listening to her every word, her eyes full of admiration for the rebel.
He had to admit that he liked her too. Koreen had been friendly, and had talked to them instead of interrogating them. It did seem at times as if she really believed what she was telling them but if so, she was misguided, and her words of freedom were nothing but a trap. And now she had ensnared Darine.
‘You’d better not be thinking about copying her,’ Libby said. ‘I know you think you love her, but if she sides with the rebels she’s betraying us all.’
Lennox stared at the ground. ‘I remember my oaths.’
‘Good,’ Libby said. ‘We have to stay strong. An opportunity to escape could come at any moment. We need to be prepared.’
‘Escape?’ said Cain. ‘We’re in the middle of a fucking mountain, surrounded by dozens of armed rebels. They’ll try to wear us down, one by one, and if we don’t turn, then eventually they’ll kill us.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ said Libby, ‘but I’ll never turn, and if it means my death then so be it. I’d rather die than fight against Pyre.’
‘My faith is not as strong as yours,’ said Lennox. Inside, he wasn’t sure what he believed in any more, but didn’t want to say it in front of Libby. ‘But I know my duty.’
Hours went by while the captives sat in silence in the cold, dark cavern. A solitary oil-lamp burned by the door, its light flickering across the walls. Lennox tried to rest, lying down on his straw mattress, the shackles digging into the skin of his ankle. He felt lost. For the previous couple of years he had been devoted to Darine, and he knew that the young Domm woman had been what had kept him going. She was slipping away from him. She had been his friend, but had wanted nothing more from him, and if she turned to the rebels then he had lost her forever. Like waking up from a dream, he realised that they would never be together. He felt sad, though not as devastated as he had thought he would be. But without her, what would he hold onto? He had no interest in religion. He followed the rituals when he had to, but didn’t care about the Creator, or any of that stuff. He was a soldier. He loved his squad, and he loved the Army of Pyre; that should be enough.
His mind drifted to Logie. His squad-leader he didn’t love, in fact Lennox realised he hated him more than he hated the rebels, and he imagined how satisfying it would be to strangle the bastard until his eyes popped out.
He glanced at Libby and Cain, his friends since they had been thrown together at the age of four. He looked back on the nightmare years of training, and thought about what Darine had said. ‘Like gaien bred for slaughter.’ And she was right, in a way, about Liberton. But what choice did the government have? Rahain had to be defended from the aggression of the empire, even if that meant that the lives of some were hard. He may have cared nothing for the Creator, but he would always stand in the line to defend Rahain.
The door creaked open and a guard came in, bearing food.
Lennox sat up. ‘Where’s Darine?’
The guard ignored him.
‘Hey!’ Lennox cried. ‘I said, where’s…?’
He paused as the door opened again and Darine walked through. The guard nodded at her, put down the food in front of the prisoners, and left the cavern.
‘Are you alright?’ Lennox asked.
‘Aye,’ she said. She stood for a moment as if unsure what to do, then sat on the stool that Koreen used when she visited.
The three captives stared at her. Lennox could see Libby straining to speak.
‘Well? said Lennox. ‘Did you talk to Koreen?’
‘Aye, I did,’ Darine said, ‘and I’ve got something to tell you. I’ve decided to join the rebels. It wasn’t an easy choice – you guys are like family to me, but I can’t go on fighting for a regime that I hate, and for a god I don’t believe in.’
Libby’s face went red, and Lennox thought she was about to start raging and shouting, but instead a tear fell down her cheek.
‘Oh, Darine,’ she said. ‘Please don’t say that.’
‘Sorry, Libby. I can’t live a lie any more.’
‘You fucking traitor,’ spat Cain.
‘Shut up,’ said Lennox. ‘This can’t be right. Darine, you’re only pretending, aren’t you? You’re only telling them what they want to hear, so that you can free us, and then we can all escape. Right?’
Darine shook her head. ‘I disavow the Army of Pyre, but like you said, I’m a soldier. I want to fight for something, but I’ll no longer fight for Ghorley.’
‘We should pray together,’ Libby said. ‘It’s not too late.’
‘It is for me,’ Darine said. ‘I’ll never go back to believing in Pyre. It’s nonsense, all of it. If you look inside your hearts, maybe you’ll see that you only believe in it because without your faith, your whole lives would fall apart. It’s hard to accept that everything you’ve been taught is a lie. Very hard. Just open your minds…’
‘Stop it,’ said Libby, weeping. ‘I can’t bear to hear you
speak such blasphemies.’
‘So what happens now?’ said Lennox. ‘Are you going to visit us every day, to try to turn us?’
‘I’m not sure what Koreen wants me to do,’ she said. ‘She’s not given up on you, though. She’s going to keep trying to persuade you of the truth.’
‘She’s wasting her time,’ Lennox said, ‘and so are you. Thanks for telling us to our faces, at least you had the guts to do that, but I think it’s time for you to leave.’
Darine stared at him, her eyes wide, and for a moment his heart almost broke, but he steeled himself.
‘Get out,’ he said.
She stood.
‘I know you’re angry now,’ she said, ‘but I’ll come and see you in a few days. Maybe…’
She paused as a low rumble sounded, as if the mountain itself was shaking.
‘What in Pyre’s name was that?’ said Cain.
A guard burst through the door and glanced about.
‘What’s happening?’ said Darine.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Stay here. I’ll be back soon.’
He left the cavern, locking the door behind him. Darine tried the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She turned.
‘Ha,’ said Cain. ‘Looks like they don’t trust you.’
Darine sat, then nodded. ‘I don’t blame them. They might think it’s like what Lennox said, that I’m only pretending. I know it’ll take time for them to realise I’ve changed.’
Lennox heard a low mumbling from Libby, and he glanced at her. She was clasping her hands together, her eyes closed, praying.
The walls and floor shook as another rumble passed through.
‘You know what that feels like?’ said Cain. ‘Stone mages.’
‘Shit,’ said Darine. ‘Have they found us?’
‘Don’t speak to us,’ said Cain. ‘You’re nothing now. There’s no coming back from what you’ve done.’
Darine glanced at Lennox.
He shrugged. ‘You’ve picked your side.’
The young Domm woman lowered her eyes and the cavern fell into silence, apart from the low murmured prayers of Libby.
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