“I would worry less if your Hedra master would surrender,” Harwood responded. “If only he did not have Yarrow and Asra as hostages.”
“If wishes were fishes,” I said more sharply than I had meant to, because I worried about the coercers, too, despite Sabatien’s certainty that it was only a matter of time before everyone surrendered.
Harwood gave me a faint smile. “Gevan would be gratified to know that you have taken his pet sayings to heart.”
“Gevan will be gratified if you would cease demanding to get up and relax and heal. Tomrick and Ode have coerced a veritable army of Hedra now, and Ode is ordering them hither and thither, warning the Herders of the plague-crazed Hedra who is setting off explosions within the compound and bidding them lock themselves up tight until he is caught. Tomrick, meanwhile, has coerced and chivvied the inner-cadre priests into agreeing to hide in the cells of the correction house where you found me, if you can believe that. And we have all the other Hedra generals well coerced. They are busy either hunting down their own men or cleaning up the rubble from the explosion under the supervision of a handful of novices and shadows.”
Harwood sighed and lay back against his pillows, visibly relaxing. “I must say, I can’t believe Elkar did not mention that one of his friends was a renegade Herder.”
Elkar had told Sabatien about us, of course, and the Herder had counseled patience and watchfulness, feeling we were too few to truly take over the compound. He had instructed the novices to aid us as much as possible without endangering themselves, but neither Sabatien nor the novices had realized how strongly the shadows would react to the vision of freedom.
Sover entered with a Herder healer, and I shifted out of the way as Harwood’s bandage was changed. Sover had told me that Reuvan had found Hilder carrying an unconscious and badly hurt Colwyn from a mess of rubble. Hilder had been in the midst of describing the collapse of the underground cell in which they had been confined for interrogation when another explosion sent a piece of stonework flying, killing him instantly.
Shocked at the suddenness of Hilder’s death, Reuvan had shouldered Colwyn and carried him back to the healing center, where he now lay, still unconscious. Reuvan had gone out again to bring in Hilder’s body and then again to look for me, Geratty, and Yarrow. I had met him on the way to the healing center after the defeat of the Herders in the laundry.
Looking back, I realized it had been madness to set fire to the armory, for we might have guessed one explosion would set off the rest of the black powder. It was only luck that we had not set off some truly dreadful Beforetime weapon, such as those with which the Herders had destroyed the city of Hevon.
Harwood was convinced that the many subsequent explosions were the result of the black-powder fire reaching hidden weapon caches within the wall tunnel I had taken to the mine. A small explosion in the wall tunnel near the library had set off the much larger explosion that destroyed the library and Ariel’s chambers, and given my earlier premonition, neither of us had any doubt that Ariel’s chambers lay at the heart of the explosion. Harwood thought that a cache of black powder or something more potent had been set to explode as soon as the chamber’s door was forced; he had pointed out grimly that it was proof enough that Yarrow had been right in guessing Ariel had never intended to return to Herder Isle.
The earlier explosions had weakened the wall surrounding the compound, so when the library went up, a great wedge of the wall broke away and fell into the channel, forming a stone ford that had effectively reconnected the islands. When he had brought Cinda to the healing center, Elkar had told me that this fulfilled a legend that claimed the Norselanders would be free when the Girdle of the Goddess had been restored.
“I meant to ask, is the One dead?” Harwood inquired after Sover and the healer had gone.
“Sabatien thinks he is,” I said. “He says that as far as he can make out, the One died after the Hedra master killed the healer tending him. But we will not know for sure until the Hedra master surrenders. Sabatien told him if he kills Asra or Yarrow, he and all of his men will be killed, but if he surrenders them, he and his men will be taken prisoner.”
Harwood ran a hand through his hair. “What of those poor wretches from the mine?”
“The female shadows are moving those not too badly injured into the inner-cadre cottages in the walled garden. It is a good deal closer than the healing center. The rest are gradually being brought here on stretchers. Indeed, between the mine shadows and those hurt by the explosions, there is not an empty bed in the place.”
We were silent a moment, and then Harwood said, “What news of the shipmaster?”
“Veril came in half an hour past to say that Helvar and the Norselanders had come across from Fallo. It seems they actually witnessed the fall of the compound’s outer wall.”
“That must have been a splendid sight,” Harwood said. “What of the Stormdancer? How long will the repairs take?”
“Veril left the shipfolk as soon as they had crossed the channel,” I said. “I sent Reuvan to assure the shipfolk that we have control here.”
“So we do,” Harwood said soberly. “Still, Geratty and Ode are dead, and Yarrow and Asra prisoners.” He looked at me. “You ought to go down to the ship and talk to the shipmaster yourself.”
“I mean to,” I said. “I just wanted to see how you were first.”
“What happened to Zuria and Grisyl?” Harwood asked as I rose.
“They were killed in the wall passage when it collapsed,” I said.
Cinda followed me out into the passage, and I was about to bid her go and lie down when I noticed the fragile-looking Sabatien talking with Sover. Mouse was sound asleep on the older man’s shoulder. I approached and asked for news of the Hedra master, but there was none.
Sover took the sleeping child from Sabatien, who said, “I will return soon. I just wanted to bring the boy to have his sores tended.” He kissed the child’s head tenderly and added, “His friend Terka is here. Put the child with him.”
Sover carried the boy away, and I asked Sabatien, “He is your son?” He nodded. “He told me his father was an acolyte.”
The older man sighed. “I was when he was born. You know, I have spent a lifetime creeping up the ranks of the Faction, hoping I would one day manage to change it, but you and your friends come here like a storm and scour the place out in mere days. I can hardly believe you have managed it, but I am more grateful than there are words to tell.”
“It is not finished, and it was not only us,” I said. “We could not have done it without Elkar and the other novices, and the shadows.” I smiled at Cinda.
Sabatien’s thin face grew sad. “The shadows,” he murmured. “Some can never regain all that the Faction has taken from them, and yet who would have guessed there would be such ferocious courage in them? Yet was not my beloved Matty brave and strong? How she would have rejoiced to see her sisters rise up as they did.” He sighed again and said he must go and try again to convince the Hedra master to surrender sooner rather than later.
“You think he will surrender?” I asked.
“What else? He knows it is only a matter of time before we send his own men against him. That we have not done so already is only because of his hostages, and your Asra is badly hurt.”
“I wish to come with you,” Cinda told me when I had taken my leave of Sabatien and Sover. I was going down to see to the Stormdancer and was about to suggest she wait until daylight, but then it struck me that this would be the first time she had been out of the compound in years. How should I tell her that she had better wait until the sun shone?
It was close to dawn, but still pitch black and raining hard as we stepped out of the healing center. Cinda volunteered to run back and get lanterns, but then we heard boots on the cobbles. My heart sped up as I turned, but it was only Elkar and several novices bearing lanterns and leading a hobbling line of mine shadows.
Seeing me, Elkar sent off the other novices. He spied Cinda.
For a moment, he froze. Then he laughed aloud, took two steps toward her, and enclosed the startled shadow in an exuberant embrace. Cinda’s face above his shoulder was suffused by delight as she hugged him back. It was all at once borne home to me how very much had been accomplished.
“Where are you going?” Elkar half shouted to be heard over the rain. She lifted her hands and her fingers flicked. Releasing the shadow but keeping his arm about her shoulders, he looked at me, and I said resignedly that he had better come with us since he had a lantern.
It was raining harder than ever by the time we reached the black gates, but there was no difficulty passing through, for the Hedra guards had been thoroughly coerced by now. The gates swung open, and as we passed out through them, it was hard for me to believe that only a few days had passed since I had been marched inside, and harder still to believe that we had accomplished so much, so quickly. But our victory was already eclipsed by my knowledge that, even now, the Black Ship might be sailing toward the west coast.
The Futuretell guildmistress, Maryon, had told me that I must travel to Sutrium to prevent trouble on the west coast, and I had wondered, leaving Obernewtyn, what she could mean. Now I understood that I must find Ariel’s plague null in time to prevent the west coast’s destruction. I did not know how we were to find a single null, but I told myself that Maryon would not have sent me if there was no possibility of succeeding. I knew too well that even though the chance might be terribly small, still it must be taken. Time was of the essence now, and though the repair of the ship lay in the Norselanders’ hands, its course would be of my choosing. I felt that Ariel would take the null to Morganna, Aborium, or Murmroth, because they were the largest and most populous of the west coast settlements. But we dared not neglect the smaller towns, because it would take twice as long to backtrack.
I fell twice in the dark and turned to ask Elkar to walk ahead with the lantern. At the sound of footsteps, I swung round and saw Reuvan coming toward me with a lantern. Beyond him, farther along the shore, I saw a dim shifting cluster of lights near the hull of the Stormdancer.
“Are you all right?” Reuvan said, clasping my arm.
“I am,” I said. “Do the shipfolk know yet how long it will take to complete the repairs?” I asked.
“They are still assessing the damage.” Reuvan’s gaze slipped past me, and I glanced back to see Elkar smiling at Cinda over the glowing lantern, which she now held. But even as I watched, her smile faded as her gaze shifted beyond him to the dark, heaving waves now illuminated by the lantern light. She walked down the sand until a wave ran over her sandaled feet; then she stopped and gazed out. As we walked back to where Elkar stood watching her, I noticed that the rain was beginning to abate.
“She was six when she was brought to Herder Isle with her brother, and she remembers nothing of the journey but sickness and fear,” Elkar murmured. “It is different for me. I was ten when the Herders came to the village on Fallo and took me. They said it was an honor, but I knew I would never see my mother or father again. I can hardly believe that we are free. I pray it is not a dream.”
“If it is, then we are all dreaming it,” Reuvan said gently, laying his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Come. Let us find out what Shipmaster Helvar has to say about the Stormdancer, for the tide is almost out.”
Elkar went to take Cinda’s hand and draw her away from the sea, and as we moved on, she lifted her fingers and moved them gracefully. He said, “She says it is hard to believe that so few could bring down the Herder Faction.”
“We would never have managed it if we had been attacking the compound from the outside,” Reuvan said. “The Faction sets itself up to appear impregnable. That is a defense in itself, for if something appears impossible to break, then no one even tries. But that same appearance of invulnerability is a weakness if those maintaining it believe it, too. The Herders believed their compound was so fearsome that no one would dare enter it save those who had no choice, so they did not defend themselves within its embrace. In a way, taking over the compound has been like taking over the Land in the rebellion. The Councilmen had run things for so long, they could not imagine truly being challenged, yet most of the Council’s power rested on our accepting that it could not be challenged.”
“When you speak of it in that way, it seems that power is like some strange agreement between the oppressed and the oppressor,” Elkar said.
Cinda lifted her hand, and as it flickered, Elkar translated. “She says that power is not a real thing, like a ship, but an idea. And only by accepting the idea do we make it real. She says that freedom is the same sort of thing—an idea that is nothing, until people believe in it enough to make it real.”
I turned to look at the slight girl with faint wonder, aware that Reuvan was doing the same. Then I heard my name called and turned to see Lark running along the beach toward me, his face near split in two by his smile. “We saw the compound wall fall! I can hardly believe that you did it!”
I laughed. “I did not do it alone, and we have not completely won the day. But I don’t think you need to fear being turned into a novice any longer. Now let me introduce you to my friends and fellow fighters. You have met Reuvan, I think, but here is Elkar, who has been a novice and is no longer, and Cinda who was once a shadow.”
Lark looked with open curiosity at the older youth and then at Cinda beside him, her black hood slipped from her head to reveal the dark fuzz of hair above her thin, sweet face. Then his eyes returned to Elkar, and he asked, “You are a Norselander?”
“I am,” Elkar answered with pride. They began to talk, and I left them to it and continued along the beach toward the cluster of lanterns. I recognized Oma among the men standing in a huddle talking, and when he caught sight of me, the scarred seaman strode over, grinning, and swiftly clasped my hand.
“I did not imagine we would see you again,” he said, suddenly solemn.
“I did not imagine it either,” I admitted. “I am glad we were both wrong.”
Oma hailed Helvar, who was coming up the beach with a preoccupied look, and the shipmaster came to join us, smiling his welcome and laying a warm hand on my shoulder. “When I first heard your voice inside my head, I little thought how much of a change you would bring to us,” he said. “We owe you much, for it seems as if you and your companions have freed us from the Faction’s long tyranny.”
“I am afraid there is still a good bit to do, for there are Hedra to be captured, and the Hedra master and some few of his men are barricaded inside the One’s chambers with two of our people as hostages. But I think he will surrender in the end. I only hope it will be soon enough for my friends. But now comes a hard task, for you and your people must decide what to do with the Hedra and Herders. Indeed, the sooner you can send some of your Pers up to the compound to take charge, the better. I suppose Reuvan spoke to you of Sabatien?”
The Norselander nodded.
“You must meet him and those novices who worked against their masters in secret so that together you may decide what will come next for Herder Isle.”
“I would not usurp your place for the world, lady.”
I laughed. “I am no more than a friend, Helvar. Indeed, with your help, I will soon depart.”
He took my meaning at once and glanced toward the ghostly bulk of the Stormdancer. “Veril has told us of your need of our Stormdancer to seek this plague-bearing null, which the Black Ship will transport to the Westland. Of course, it will be at your disposal as soon as it is repaired.”
“Do you know yet how long it will take?”
He sighed heavily, and my heart sank at his expression. “If the damage were no more than when we sailed into Hevon Bay, we could have patched the ship more easily. But we were not able to haul the ship onto the beach, so the damaged portion of the hull has been gnawed at by the currents, and the sea has filled its hold.”
“How long?” I repeated.
“A sevenday at the least,” Helvar said. “I am sorry.”
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22
THE RAIN CEASED, and the shipfolk began to make preparations to haul the Stormdancer higher up the beach once the tide rose, but I was shattered by the realization that nothing I could do would help the thousands on the west coast that would perish of plague. There was no question that Ariel would have left his null ashore to spread plague long before a sevenday passed. Despair extinguished all the joy I had felt upon overthrowing the Faction.
Leaving the others, I walked along the beach toward the mounded boulders where Lark had once bidden me hide. I sat on a smaller stone rising from the wet sand, trying to accept that it was no fault of mine or Maryon’s that something had occurred to disrupt the future she had seen, in which I had the chance to stop the spread of the plague. Perhaps it was no more than the accidental damaging of the hull that had ended that possibility, and there was nothing I could have done to avert that.
So why did I feel as if I had failed?
I buried my head in my hands, unable to bear the thought of what was to come, and yet unable not to think of it either. There would be death on a scale unequaled since the Beforetimers had lived, for the last plague had killed only some of those who had contracted it. It had caused hundreds of deaths, and many more had been left scarred or permanently weakened, but the One had said this plague would be caught by everyone who came in contact with it, and all who caught it would die. All. And among the thousands of innocent people I did not know who would die were the few I did, those whose presence on the west coast was my doing: Merret, Blyss, Seely, Ode’s sister, and all the others from Obernewtyn whom I had sent to the west coast. All of them would die because of me.
“It is not your fault,” Reuvan said softly, kneeling beside the rock where I sat. He pressed a mug of something hot into my hands and wrapped a warm cloak around my shoulders, bidding me come back to the compound, for nothing could be done until the tide was right. Helvar wanted to meet Sabatien and speak of the future. “Come back with us, Guildmistress.”