by R S Penney
“Took a few bumps and bruises,” the other woman grumbled. “Nothing the Ether can’t fix. But the fact that you didn’t even know proves my point. When Adele left, we spent an hour putting out those fires, and where were you?”
“Scouting the Eradian camps,” Desa growled. “Making sure they had no plans to attack again. They’ve departed, by the way. Even the ones on the far side of the swamp.”
Kalia folded her arms, her mouth twisting in disgust. “You didn’t even think to check in with us,” she said. “Miri can scout just as well as you. But you have Heat-Sinks that would have been of use to us. We could have decided as a group who should perform what task.”
Raising her hands defensively, Desa grunted. “Your point is made,” she said. “I will endeavour to be more considerate in the future.”
“Well, it’s a start,” Kalia muttered. “Miri and the others are burying the dead. It would mean a lot if you joined us.”
As much as she would have preferred to be alone, Desa couldn’t say no to that request. Not in good conscience anyway. She followed her love through the camp to the south side of the hill.
For the first time, she noticed the extent of the damage. The trees here were all charred black, broken branches hanging limply. Some of the tents had been scorched, others flattened. One was nothing but a pile of rags.
Tommy, Dalen and Miri stood in a line, holding hands, their heads bowed in mourning. Desa noted the three shrouded bodies atop three piles of wood.
There were others present as well: a young woman with red hair who couldn’t stop crying, a bald man who stared dejectedly at nothing at all, a girl who could not have been more than twelve. And four others that she could not name. She had not had the chance to introduce herself to any of them. Perhaps it was best if it stayed that way.
Tommy placed himself in front of the bodies, drawing in a breath. There was a quiet serenity about him. Where was the stammering boy that she had befriended a year ago? Much had changed in five short months. “We come here to honour those friends who gave their lives today,” he said. “Petra Arneli, Billy Potts, Kaylee Dualo. They stood bravely against those who would put them in chains. We are standing here because of their sacrifice.”
Two young men – one pale, one dark – came forward with burning sticks. One by one, they ignited the three piles of wood.
And Miri began to sing.
Desa recognized the tune; it was an old Aladri funeral dirge. Something on Miri’s face made her think the other woman was remembering her brother. Poor Marcus. True, he had forced Miri’s hand, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Daresina had charged him with recovering the Spear of Vengeance, and Marcus would never refuse an order from his Prelate. One day, Desa would return home.
And then she would settle a few scores.
A glowing rock on the old, brown rug illuminated the blue walls of Desa’s tent. It gave off light but not heat. She had been practicing Field Binding for twenty years, and she still wasn’t used to that. Her mind insisted that anything that glowed must be warm to the touch, but if she threw that stone into a snowbank, it would be ice cold in seconds.
The night’s chill was held at bay by a Heat-Source coin that she had placed on top of the rock. It offered just enough warmth to let her take off her coat without freezing. She would have to renew its connection to the Ether before she went to sleep.
“Desa?” Tommy called to her from outside. “May I come in?”
“By all means.”
The man who entered her tent was not the youth that she had taken from a sleepy village almost a year ago. Tall and lean, he stood before her in unrelieved black. She had to admit she was having a hard time getting used to the beard. “The rest of us are trying to plan,” he said. “We can’t stay here.”
Kneeling on the floor about an inch away from the glowing rock, Desa lowered her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her shame at leaving the others to fend for themselves while she chased Adele was too great. “No, you can’t,” she agreed. “Do you know where you’ll be going next?”
“We were hoping you might help with that.”
Desa stood up, knuckling her back. A woman of thirty-one was hardly a crone, but she was already starting to notice aches and pains that lingered a little longer than they should have. Sleeping on the ground often left her feeling stiff when she woke. “I will be leaving in the morning,” she said. “I really can’t say what the rest of you should do. You will have to decide for yourselves.”
Tommy approached her with his arms crossed, frowning at her. “You know, it’s funny,” he began. “This tent belonged to Brian Hanson.”
“Friend of yours?”
Tossing his head back with a grin, Tommy rolled his eyes. “Hardly,” he replied. “The man was a constant thorn in my side. He eventually demanded that I give him crystals so that his followers could remove their brands. I did, and they left.”
Desa raised an eyebrow. “You gave away five crystals?” she asked. “Tommy, if you had kept them, your friends might not have died today.”
He raised a hand to silence her, a snarl betraying his anger before he smothered it. “Miri said the same thing,” he admitted. “But you can’t free a slave and then use their branded flesh to coerce them into working for you. We had to give them a choice. They chose to leave.”
“I’m glad to see you’re still an idealist.”
“And you’re even more of a grump,” he shot back. “Why are you avoiding us, Desa?”
The bottom fell out of her stomach, but she managed to keep her voice even. Barely. Had her former protégé become more perceptive? Or had Kalia been telling him about the journey north from Ithanar? “I’m not avoiding you,” she lied. “But I will be setting out on a long journey tomorrow, and I need rest.”
He turned his back on her, ducking as he passed through the tent flaps. He paused there, half in, half out. “You know,” he began. “Even if you won’t be coming with us, you can still help us plan.”
Exasperated, Desa threw on her coat and followed him into the cold night. It didn’t quite get down to freezing on the southern coast of Eradia, but in winter, it got pretty damn close.
Tommy’s tent was on the eastern edge of the camp. She could already hear people talking inside as she drew near. What was she doing? She had no business taking part in any of this. But if she tried to slip away, someone would come along to collect her. So, she steeled herself and went in.
The entire camp had gathered here.
Dalen stood over a small, wooden table with one hand clasping his chin, studying a map. Several young men had gathered around him. She could see it on their faces: they were afraid and trying to hide it. Boys of that age often tried to project confidence when they were overwhelmed by doubt.
Miri stood with her arms around the redheaded girl. The child kept sobbing while Miri whispered comforting things. Some of the others were milling about. And then there was Kalia; she stood in the corner and barely looked up when Desa came in.
“All right then,” Tommy said, approaching the table to stand across from Dalen. Desa waited near the entrance. “We’re all here. We need to plan our next move.”
An old woman with curly, gray hair stepped forward, wiping tears off her cheeks. “Begging your pardon, Thomas,” she said. “But I don’t think there is a next move. We should scatter.”
“It’ll be hard to get by on your own,” Tommy countered.
“Maybe so,” the woman replied. “But if we go anywhere together, they will hunt us down.”
One of the young men next to Dalen perked up at that. “Well, Mum,” he said. “Maybe we need to go after the hunters.”
“We can’t take on the entire army.”
“Maybe we don’t have to,” Tommy replied. He spun around, regarding Desa with that inquisitive stare she recognized from their first days together. Something told her that she was not going to like what happened next. “What can you tell us about the Eradian commander?”
Shutting her eyes, Desa heaved out a breath. “It’s Adele’s uncle,” she said. “Timothy Delarac: the mayor of Ofalla.”
“Former mayor,” Dalen corrected, never taking his eyes off the map; this was just an academic conversation to him. Factual errors ought to be rectified as a matter of principle, and that was all there was to it. “I reviewed the records in the Hedrovan library. The thirty-third Eradian parliament took office last fall, and Timothy Delarac was elected to a seat. The latest reports say that Prime Minister Sharro has made him the Minister of Defense.”
“Well,” Desa said. “That explains a few things.”
“I don’t see how,” Miri muttered.
Striding over to the table, Desa folded her hands behind her back and looked up at Tommy. “We encountered Eradian soldiers in Ithanar,” she explained. “They were trying to conquer the Al a Nari.”
“Sweet Mercy,” Miri whispered.
“Eradia’s borders have been fixed for almost a century,” Desa went on. “They’ve learned the hard way not to threaten Aladar. They’ve never moved further west than the Molarin Mountains, and we all know the legends about Ithanar. This expansionist policy is new.”
“And you think Timothy Delarac is its architect,” Tommy said.
“I’m sure of it,” Desa growled through clenched teeth. She took a moment to collect herself; anger would accomplish nothing. “Somehow, he has discovered a way to control Adele’s power.”
Tommy nodded slowly as if that made perfect sense. “So, if we capture him…”
“We get her as well.”
Turning his back on her, Tommy bent over the map and began running his finger over it. “Dalen, you said he’s a member of parliament now,” he said. “That means the best place to find him would be-”
“New Beloran,” the other man confirmed.
Tommy stood up straight, looking to each of his followers. “Well,” he said. “It seems we have a destination. I’ll understand if anyone doesn’t want to come with me. In fact, I think some of you shouldn’t.”
He turned to the old woman, placing a hand over his heart and bowing low. “Mrs. Potts,” he said. “We still have some of the money we took when we raided the army for supplies. I’m giving it to you.”
The woman blinked, stunned by this declaration. “But-”
“I want you to take Sarah, Jeff and anyone who wants to go with you,” Tommy went on. “Where you go doesn’t matter. As long as it’s somewhere far away from here. Look for somewhere safe to settle down.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The rest of us will be going to New Beloran.”
Working up her courage, Desa cleared her throat. Tommy turned around, and she could see the disappointment in his eyes. He knew what she was going to say, but that didn’t make it any easier to get the words out. “I won’t be going with you. I have to go back to the abandoned city. To find Mercy.”
“Not sure we can do this without you, Desa.”
She answered that with a small smile. “Of course, you can,” she said. “You’ve come a long way, Tommy. All of you have.”
He didn’t protest. He just gave her a hug that almost had her tearing up. Now, that wouldn’t do at all. The others gathered around her, each offering a fond farewell. For a little while, they talked amicably, sharing stories, enjoying each other’s company. But the night wore on, and good-byes only got harder when they were prolonged. Desa forced herself to say good night before she started crying.
And then she made her way back to her tent.
An hour later, she was lying in her bedroll, the Heat-Source coin keeping her warm. It was dark and eerily quiet. Idly, she wondered how long it would take her to fall asleep. She kept rehearsing a speech that she knew she would have to give in the morning. She hated good-byes. This was why she had traveled alone for so many years.
A soft, rustling sound announced the arrival of Kalia who muttered as she slipped into the tent. Desa sighed. It seemed she would be giving that speech sooner than she had expected.
Kalia dropped to her knees in the darkness, pawing at the floor until she found a blanket. “So, when do we leave tomorrow?” she asked. “I assume you’ll want an early start.”
“Not we,” Desa lamented. “Just me.”
A heavy silence hung over them for what felt like several minutes. In reality, it was probably less than one, but time always seemed to stretch during those difficult, painful conversations. “I see,” Kalia said at last. “Does that mean it’s over?”
Sitting up, Desa bent forward and massaged her eyelids with the tips of her fingers. “Of course not,” she said. “I adore you. But you can’t come with me on this journey.”
“Why not?” Kalia protested. “Desa, you need me.”
Taking her love by the shoulders, Desa pressed her lips to Kalia’s forehead. “The others need you more,” she murmured. “They’re in way over their heads, and we both know it. They need another Field Binder.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
Desa licked her lips, shutting her eyes as she worked up the courage to say what she needed to say. “You won’t be,” she promised. “You will be with me every day. As soon as I’m finished in the desert, I will ride for New Beloran. With any luck, I’ll find you there. Please, Kalia, take care of my friends.”
Kalia sniffled but nodded reluctantly. “All right,” she whispered. “But I expect you to keep your word. As soon as you’re finished-”
“I’ll set out for New Beloran.”
Her sadness evaporated when Kalia kissed her. Conscious thought drifted away as they snuggled under the covers. For a few precious moments, Desa was able to forget about the cold.
7
The train car window gave Tommy a view of endless fields under an overcast sky. Now and then, he spotted a tree or an outcropping of rock, but it was mostly just yellow grass as far as the eye could see. Winter was finally releasing its grip on this land. Maybe the snows will have melted when they reached New Beloran. He certainly hoped so. A winter of drizzle and damp air had given him an appreciation of southern weather.
They had boarded this northbound train yesterday in the town of Albraem. Tommy had wanted to go to Colman’s Gate – the small city was only a day’s ride from Hebar’s Hill – but Miri had been opposed to that plan. “The Bandit will be on every wanted poster from here to Pikeman’s Gorge,” she insisted. “The last thing we need is for some Eradian soldier to recognize us.”
So, they had ridden for over a week through cold rain and dense fog, crossing some remarkably difficult terrain. There were easy paths that ran parallel to the train tracks, but Miri had been unwilling to risk being seen. Someone might wonder why Tommy and his friends were riding for several days instead of getting on at the first available station.
They had crossed through Colman’s Forest and the Aldridge Downs, a maze of meandering paths that skirted around grassy hills. Finding a good place to make camp in that mess was no easy task. The ground was covered in rock. Hardly ideal for sleeping. Miri had been worried about the possibility of thieves lurking around every corner. Tommy had assured her that he could sense no one when he communed with the Ether, but she never let her guard down. She was beginning to take on some of her brother’s more abrasive qualities.
Jim, Zoe and Victor had come with them on their journey. The rest had gone with Mrs. Potts. Whereto, Tommy could not say. He had forbidden Mrs. Potts from telling him her destination. If things went according to plan, Tommy and his crew would soon be the most wanted criminals in all Eradia. If they were captured, they would almost certainly be tortured. He couldn’t reveal what he did not know.
On their second night in the Downs, Jim had suggested climbing one of the hills to make camp there. His first attempt had him sliding down the muddy slope and landing hard on his bottom.
Tommy had decided that the climb would be easier with Gravity-Sinks; so, he and Kalia spent an hour making enough for everyone. He had no idea why the former sheriff had c
hosen to come with him instead of going west with Desa, and he was not foolish enough to ask. A wise man learned to keep his nose out of women’s business.
The plan had worked, allowing them to set up their tents on the hilltop, but that only meant more exposure to the wind and the rain. If not for Heat-Sources, they would have been shivering in their tents. By the time they reached Albraem, Tommy was aching for a warm bed and a hot meal.
“You’ve been staring out that window for an hour.”
The sound of Dalen’s voice drew Tommy out of his reverie. He found the other man standing in the aisle that ran between the benches on either side of the train car. “Whatever you see out there can’t be that interesting.”
“I was just thinking,” Tommy replied. “Sit with me?”
Accepting the invitation, Dalen sat down beside him and cuddled up with his head on Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy’s first impulse was to discourage such affection while they were in public, but he ignored that inclination. In Aladar men pursued relationships with other men, and no one batted an eye. Dalen wouldn’t understand.
Closing his eyes, Tommy touched his nose to the other man’s forehead. “You know that I love you, right?” he whispered. “That you mean the world to me?”
A slow smile blossomed on Dalen’s face. His eyes fluttered open, and he gazed adoringly up at Tommy. “Of course, I know that.”
“Good.”
Tommy was about to say more, but the warmth of the other man’s hand on his cheek made him pause. The next thing he knew Dalen’s lips were pressed against his. Panic welled up – what if someone walked in on them? – but it was overwhelmed by a haze of lust and heat.
Heat that vanished like a flame snuffed by a strong wind when he heard the train car’s door opening. At first, he thought it might be one of the crew. Explanations flew through his mind, things he might say to prevent the newcomer from revealing what he had seen to anyone, but they flitted away before he could grasp them. He ripped himself away from Dalen, causing the other man to grunt.
