Shard & Shield

by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

  The sun was nearing its zenith when the guard captain suggested, “Let’s take a leak and eat something. That hill looks like a soft spot.”

  Shianan dropped gratefully to the grassy hillside, closing his eyes. He felt as if he could sleep immediately, but someone shook his arm gently. “Not yet,” Luca said. “I have water for you.”

  Shianan opened his eyes to see Luca drawing a stoppered bag from his small pack. Beyond Luca, the guard captain was frowning at them, but he said nothing as he withdrew his own lunch. They didn’t have to provide for the prisoner, but there was no reason another shouldn’t, if he’d keep a better pace in the afternoon.

  Luca removed the cork and pushed the bag into Shianan’s fettered hands. “Drink. And I have some food, too.”

  The water was mixed with a salted broth of some kind. Shianan sucked at it eagerly though it stung the cuts in his mouth. Luca munched an apple, one eye on his master and his back to the road so he could see the guards.

  Torg sat behind Shianan and kept his eyes on his meal, meat and cheese rolled into brown bread. The keys at his belt clinked as he shifted away from his commander. He did not join in the guards’ small talk.

  Shianan finished the watered broth and lay in the long dry grass, his back to the guards. He stared at the road, empty but for a single traveler following, and then closed his eyes.

  “Master, do you want something to eat?”

  Shianan shook his head without opening his eyes. He wanted sleep more than anything else—preferably in a soft bed with several feather pillows and fluffy warm quilted blankets, and as long as he was dreaming fantasies, with Ariana beside him, talking happily of flowers and sunlight and deeds well done….

  He slept.

  Hazelrig left the road and chose a place beside prickly bushes which still held their leaves. Most of the guards were enjoying the pause, stretching their legs and drinking. They had been roused early for this duty. Luca was sitting near Shianan, glancing from the commander to the guards, who ignored him.

  Hazelrig sighed. If he’d known from the beginning Luca would be with them…. But the slave had slipped out of his present master’s house to follow his former master. There was a story there, Hazelrig thought, if only there were time to pursue it.

  Shianan seemed to be sleeping, which made sense. He would have to take rest when he could. Hazelrig could not act now, but he could prepare for when the moment was right.

  He opened the bag slung across his chest and withdrew a vial of coarse sand, another of powdery particulate, and a tiny athanor and crucible. He poured the sand into a shallow dish and arrayed his materials before him, and then he began to sketch patterns into the sand and the grass.

  “That’s long enough,” announced the guard captain. “Time to go.” He turned toward Luca. “Get him on his feet, or I will.”

  Shianan stirred reluctantly at Luca’s urging, disoriented for a moment, and then sat up. He raised his joined hands to rub dried blood from over one eye. Luca stood and extended a hand. Shianan blinked blearily at it.

  A sudden breeze wafted by them, carrying a smattering of dust. Luca automatically lifted a hand to shield his face, still holding the other out to Shianan. And then the breeze exploded into a whirlwind and smoke enveloped them.

  The guards gave startled cries as they disappeared from view. Luca could just make out Shianan as he leapt from the ground and spun, blurring into the dusty wind.

  “Grab the prisoner!”

  Luca moved after Shianan and saw him jerk a flailing Torg backward and drive his shackled hands downward like a hammer.

  “Get the keys!” Shianan snapped.

  Luca leapt forward. Torg lay still as he yanked open the buckle and pulled free the ring of jangling keys. Shianan must have hit him hard. But then Luca heard a hoarse whisper, “Run!” and he knew the captain had chosen not to resist.

  “Who has him?”

  But Shianan was already running, slipping on the grass as he struggled up the hill. Luca followed, the smoke dissipating around them. He glanced back to see the whirlwind still obscuring the group, coughing guards stumbling to the edges. He turned forward again and seized Shianan’s arm, pushing him over the crown of the hill and down into overgrown concealment.

  The guard captain waved his arms through the fading smoke as if it would disperse more quickly, cursing violently. “Which way did he go? Why didn’t you stop him?”

  Torg was kneeling, one hand clutching his bloody mouth. “It wasn’t as if I simply handed him the keys,” he retorted.

  The other captain regarded him suspiciously. “You have a history with the commander, Captain Torg,” he said darkly. “A long history, don’t you?”

  “I have a longer one of fighting the Ryuven,” snapped Torg, spraying blood. “I have as much reason to want the shield in place as anyone.” He glared at the guard captain. “If you’ve got something to say, you’d better say it.”

  The captain scowled. “Maybe the two of you staged this to free him.”

  “Maybe, but I’m no mage—I couldn’t have done that trick of the wind. And Shianan Becknam’s no mage. And I’m reasonably sure his slave is not a mage, either. So either there’s someone else here working magic on his behalf, or he had a Ryuven ally who did this, or that really was some freak gust of wind that caught the dust. I don’t know. But I do know that while you’ve stood here arguing about who let him escape, he’s made his way well out of here.”

  The guard captain swore again. “Separate and find him,” he ordered. “Captain Torg, you go—”

  “No, sir, thank you.”

  The captain stopped and stared. “What?”

  Torg shook his head. “Shianan Becknam is a commander, and yet he still trains the troops for combat. Think on that. Ask anyone who’s worked with him and they’ll tell you he’s a fearsome fighter.” He rubbed blood from his face. “He knows we’ll be following after him. And you want me to walk alone into whatever trap he’s setting? No, sir. This is your command, but I’ll take my chances with a military court before I’ll take on Shianan Becknam in a real fight.”

  The guards exchanged glances, suddenly less willing to plunge into the growth around them. The captain clenched his fists. “I don’t care if he can sprout horns, we’ll find him! He’s the only one who knows where the Shard is hidden. Which would you rather face, Becknam or Pairvyn ni’Ai?”

  The guards shifted and fingered their weaponry.

  “Spread out and look for him or his trail. And if there’s a magic user about, find him, too!”

  Chapter 59

  Luca fitted the third key and twisted, and this time it slipped into the mechanism. The shackles opened and Shianan cradled his bruised and torn wrists. “We have to hurry. How far is the Shard?”

  “The Shard?”

  “I won’t leave this land open to the Ryuven,” Shianan said firmly. “And unless we return it, I have no chance of ever earning clemency. How far?”

  “Two hours or so if we hurry.”

  “Let’s go.”

  They chose a line parallel to the road and set a brisk pace. Luca naturally dropped behind Shianan.

  “What are you doing?” Shianan demanded. “You should know by now we don’t hold the usual rules. Come beside me—it will make talking easier, anyway. Who was that?”

  “What?”

  “Who worked the magic?”

  Luca shook his head. “I don’t know, Master Shianan. It surprised me as much as anyone.”

  “Then who?” He frowned. “Only Mage Hazelrig would have any reason….” He looked at Luca. “Did you know he would come?”

  Luca shook his head quickly.

  If Shianan noticed his anxiety, he gave no sign. “Let’s get to the Shard.”

  Shianan ran unevenly, panting audibly. Luca reached into the bag slung around him and felt for an apple. “Master Shianan, take this. You need something.”

  “I need that Shard,” he answered, but he took the apple.

  Despi
te his beaten frame and fatigue, Shianan set a grueling pace. Finally Luca panted, “Wait—wait, this is it.”

  Shianan stumbled to a halt and dropped his hands to his knees, bracing himself to catch his breath. “Here?”

  Luca looked at the trunk broken over a rock and the two oaks to their right. “I think so.” He moved, breathing hard, until he could see the two white birches fall into alignment. The grass seemed a little less full where the two lines intersected. “Yes, it’s here.” Luca looked around for the digging stick he’d abandoned. When he found it, he glanced back at Shianan and saw him on the ground, bent over his knees. Luca, alarmed, started toward him. “Master Shianan?”

  Shianan drowsed where he sat. He lifted his head. “Do we have it?”

  “In a moment,” Luca said. “Rest a moment, and I’ll bring it up.”

  Shianan did not protest, and he lay down and did not move again. Luca returned to the buried Shard.

  Uncovering it went more quickly, as the dirt was already loosened and he no longer cared to make the site appear undisturbed. “Master Shianan!” He carried it to the sleeping figure. “Here it is.”

  “Hm?” Shianan roused and then abruptly seized the Shard. “I want to see it.” He ripped back the protective wrappings and exposed the jagged crystalline stone. He sagged with relief. “Now, let’s get it back to Alham.”

  “But—”

  “I won’t let people die for lack of the Shard,” Shianan said. “And if I return it, maybe there will be some lenience for me.”

  “No!” The word burst from Luca before he could think. “You should flee. Leave the Shard for them to find and run!”

  Shianan pushed his hair back, moving his hand gingerly over his swollen face. “And how will they find it, when they don’t know where to look? Should I send you to carry it to them? No. I’ll take it.” He swallowed. “Perhaps I can give them some story about reclaiming it from thieves. Maybe they’ll even believe me.”

  Luca shook his head and clenched his fingers on the digging stick. “No—Master Shianan—don’t do this.”

  Shianan struggled to his feet. “Running is futile, Luca. I know this. I’ll only die panicked and exhausted.”

  “And in doing this you’ll only die tortured and sooner!” Luca was beyond himself now, no longer thinking of his proper slave’s position. “Why escape at all if you will only surrender yourself to them again?”

  “I will prove I am doing this of my own will,” Shianan returned sharply. He pulled the wrapping around the crystal again. “I was not forced to return the Shard—I brought it myself.”

  “Do you think they will allow that?” Luca grabbed for Shianan’s sleeve, leaving muddy streaks. “You got away—that endangers those guards. They won’t admit you escaped them. They will take you in chains again and carry back the Shard themselves.”

  Shianan moved toward the road with long strides. “Every person who died in Caftford died because of me, Luca. I won’t be a murderer again. I will return the Shard.”

  Luca hurried beside him while Shianan cradled the wrapped Shard. “But—”

  “But what?” demanded Shianan. “Do not presume to tell me what to do. My life is my own, unlike yours. And I see precious little else I can yet do with my life, given they will never let me hide and I will never let myself keep back the Shard, and I have received precious little help from Ewan Hazelrig in this matter.”

  Luca seized on this. “He might be helping you—maybe that was his magic that—”

  “If he intends to help me, then where is he?” Shianan made a sharp gesture that encompassed the road and both sides.

  “How could he find you?” Luca pleaded. “He might be with the soldiers by now. How would you expect him to find you here?”

  Shianan rolled his eyes. “He’s a mage, Luca—and not just a mage, but the White Mage of the Great Circle. He can track a charm across the countryside as easily as you can mark a fly crossing a room. If he did not even give you a trailing charm to carry, then—” He saw Luca’s expression and stopped mid-sentence. “No. Luca, you did not. Tell me you didn’t!”

  Luca gulped. “I could not leave you. Not to this. I couldn’t let them torture you when you didn’t even know….”

  “Luca, you stupid, stubborn….” Shianan sounded angry, furious, more than Luca had ever heard him. “It was almost the last thing I did, but I found a place where you would be safe and well-used and away from suspicion. Did you not think for a moment what you were doing?” His pace quickened as he looked ahead. “Did you think they would hesitate for a moment to rip you limb from limb if they thought you knew where the Shard was hidden?”

  “Master….”

  “And now you’ve thrown away your safe place. My final order to you, Luca, and you stupid, stubborn, recalcitrant, insubordinate….”

  “Master, I only wanted—”

  “You are a slave!” Shianan snarled, making Luca flinch. “It does not matter what you want! You are only to obey my orders, and I ordered you to be safely away from this!” He half-turned and shoved the Shard into Luca’s chest, taking the digging stick. “Carry that.”

  Luca took it numbly.

  Shianan faced forward again, charging up the road’s incline at an angry walk. He threw an arm across Luca’s chest, shoving him backward. “And get behind me.”

  Luca hesitated and then stumbled after him at a slave’s distance. “I’m sorry, master….”

  “Quiet!” snapped Shianan. “This has nothing to do with your glaring, stupid disobedience. It’s only that I don’t want you killed in your first fight.”

  Luca blinked. “Wha—”

  The attack came from the side, as a swordsman leapt from cover. Shianan angled to meet him, sweeping the stick to check the strange swordsman’s advance. The attacker beat once against the stick’s return and then moved, trying to get inside the range of the makeshift staff. Shianan whipped the staff vertically to reverse it and drove the end into the other’s midsection as he dropped low, so the swordsman’s downward cut fell uselessly across the staff. He rose, stepping forward, and the rearward end of the staff swung around and crushed the swordsman’s neck.

  Luca almost missed the second attacker. “Behind—!”

  The stick dropped from the first swordsman’s neck and reversed in Shianan’s hands as he spun, whipping outward to meet the incoming sword.

  The stick splintered with the impact, cracking audibly. Luca gasped as the sword went through. Shianan seemed to be jarred by the collision but he let the disruption turn him, stepping forward and bringing the rear of the shortened stick into the attacker’s temple even as the sword continued on its path. The man staggered, and Shianan hit him again to knock him down. Luca stared as he rammed the broken stick down to make sure he stayed. Shianan lifted it for another driving blow and shouted, “Luca!”

  Luca spun and stumbled as something crashed hard into the Shard, knocking him backward. He stared in horror as the swordsman advanced, swinging the blade back toward him, and he thrust the Shard from him as he fell.

  The swordsman recoiled and then fumbled to catch the Shard. Luca saw Shianan plunge the broken stick into the prone body again and start forward. The man with the Shard whirled, slashing with the sword, and ran the way they’d come.

  Luca dug his fingers into the rutted road and scrambled to his feet. Shianan was a few paces behind the fleeing swordsman, wasting no breath in demands or threats. The swordsman whirled and swung one-handed toward Shianan—

  Shianan’s next stride ended in a lunge that took him low to the ground and far forward as he braced the broken stick with both hands. The makeshift staff caught the descending arm just above the elbow, snapping it with its own force. Shianan drove forward from his lunge and into the stunned attacker.

  Someone seized Luca and twisted him to the ground, wrenching his arm behind him. He gasped as a hand slapped against his shoulder, pinning him on his knees. Other guards ran past, plunging down the incline toward Shianan and
the strange attackers. “No!” he screamed.

  Shianan, inside the reach of the sword, shoved the stick through the crook of the arm which cradled the Shard. The swordsman recoiled but Shianan had already wrenched the stick down and around, snapping the arm back at an unnatural angle. The swordsman pitched and screamed as the Shard dropped to the road and rolled.

  The guards swarmed them. Luca tried to rise—“No!”—and was forced down again by his shoulder. He twisted his head and saw Shianan dragged backward over a guard’s knee by a stick across his throat. Two other guards were wrapped about his arms, pinning him in place.

  “No! He has the Shard!” Luca screamed. “He was bringing it back! Stop!”

  Shianan choked against the stick. Another guard put a sword’s point to his stomach.

  “He found the Shard!” sobbed Luca. “Stop it!” A figure moved beside him but he could not look away. “He was bringing it back!”

  Someone seized a handful of Luca’s hair and twisted his head. “You’re making a lot of noise,” the guard captain growled. “You’d better—”

  “Don’t do this!” Luca begged. “He was bringing back the Shard!”

  The captain frowned. “What do you mean, bringing it back?”

  “They were trying to kill him,” Luca sobbed, and as suddenly as that, inspiration struck him. Perhaps I can give them some story about reclaiming it from thieves. Luca gulped and continued, “They tried to kill him weeks ago. They lied, they had a man lie to say he saw him steal the Shard, but it was only to have you kill him since they couldn’t do it themselves.” Luca barely knew what he was saying—he’d planned none of this—but he plunged on recklessly. “Don’t you see—”

  “Captain!” One of the guards looked up from a swordsman’s prone body. “This is Vagus!”

  “Vagus?” repeated the captain. “But—he’s not under the commander. And there was no guard assigned here.” He took a step toward the still swordsman, scowled, and then turned on Luca still kneeling in the road. “Explain!”