She stared at me for a minute, and somehow I was made more aware than usual of her crooked stance. “Child, I told you, I have come to this place to make my fortune, and with what I have gathered already my old age will be spent in ease. I have had a hard enough life thus far, and I have seen every kind of rogue there is over the years, and there are more than a few of them on this voyage. You were like a breath of clear air on that ship. I remember you

  asked my name, you brought me soup one night when I was tired so I needn’t stir. You probably don’t even remember, kindness is natural to you as breathing, but I do.” She stared into the bowl she carried and her voice dropped. “Besides, I had a daughter once. She’d have been about your age.” When she looked back at me her eyes were alight with a dancing admiration. “And I hope she might have been something like you, too, brave as brass and tell

  ‘em all where to go.” She grinned. “There’s even rumours Marik tried it on with you and you knocked him silly! He spent a while closeted away with his Healer, but not afore some’d seen his bruises. That was well done.”

  She started feeding me again, but for some reason simply looking at me seemed to catch her just so and she started laughing. “Ah, girl, never mind me—but dear Goddess, will I ever forget the sight of you, half dead and carried here by a Dragon! Or the look on Marik’s face, or the squeak he made when that Dragon told him to do well by you or he’d know of it! Marik would’ve killed the two of you for a pin if he could have, but he had to put a bold face on it.

  Ah, dear girl, you’ve made this a voyage to remember!” I had never heard her laugh before. It sounded a bit rusty, but it was a good laugh.

  “Besides,” she added, calming down, “you’ll find there’s another interested in your well-being now, even if his life didn’t depend on it. It’s not your kind soul has got you inside the only real walls on this forsaken island and a night in a real bed treated by his own Healer! Nay, there’s a price owing to Marik; and make no mistake, Merchants collect on then-debts.”

  I was instantly sober. In my pain I had forgotten just what Marik thought he was owed. And now here I was, in his power again, even in his debt. Why had he healed me, when surely he and his pet Caderan could have simply offered me to the demons? My heart sank. Of course. I was to be handed over to the Rakshasa whole. In any practice, sacrifices are better received if they are perfect before they are killed.

  “Rella,” I said, keeping my voice low as she bustled about, “I need your help. I don’t know if I can get out of here on my own.”

  “Not for a good few hours anyway, until those hands of yours are healed,” she said lightly.

  “Marik’s orders.”

  “No, I mean I have to get away. Now, if possible.” I reached out clumsily with my bandaged arm and blocked her path, looking her in the eyes. “He’s going to kill me, Rella, or hand me over living to the Rakshasa. Probably tonight. Please, for pity’s sake, will you help me?”

  “So—you know about that, do you?” she said very quietly, and in a voice I had never heard from her. I drew back in horror. Was she privy to Marik’s counsels, was she in league with him? But she smiled and put her hand oh so gently on my arm. “Come now, my girl, do I look like one of them?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  She grinned. “Like I said before, better late than never.” She pulled the chair next to the bed and sat, her face on a level with mine, and her whole demeanour was changed. Gone were the rough edges of a practical countrywoman. Her eyes were sharp with intelligence, her carriage even of that twisted body spoke of hidden strength, and her voice, low and intense, bore only a trace of a northern accent. “You are not the only one with secrets. I am a Master of the Silent Service in Sorun. I was sent to learn what I could of Marik and his doings, for he has gained power in too many quiet corners of Kolmar far too swiftly to suit us, even before he determined to come here. That he should set out on such a chancy venture drew our attention, for he is in all things a cautious man. We suspected he had foreknowledge of his success from—other sources. Caderan and his demons, for example.”

  I lay back and tried to grasp the change in her, tried to understand what she was so carefully not saying. “Rella, what are you talking about? I thought he sought only wealth.”

  “Child, child, since when has anyone ever sought wealth alone? Wealth is a means to an end, and mat end is power. There are more branches of the House of Gundar in the Four Kingdoms than of any other Merchant House, despite its relative youth.” Her voice was thick with disgust as she added, ”And each one is well supplied with men and arms, and each one has its own sorcerer.” She spat.

  My head reeled. “Sorcerer? Blessed Shia, do you mean there is a demon master in each of the local merchant enclaves, even in the towns?”

  “At least one.”

  “Mother of us all,” I breathed, a curse and an invocation. “Rella, do you tell me he is using demons to gain power throughout all of Kolmar?”

  “As fast as he can. And you are the key, Lanen Kaelar.”

  My heart leapt with fear at that name, but her gentle manner stopped me from trying to get out of bed. She smiled, a smile full of knowing that somehow suited her far too well. “Never wonder, child. I told you I am of the Silent Service. We have ears everywhere. I risk my master’s wrath for speaking openly to you, but you are too vital a piece in this game to act in ignorance.”

  “How did you find me?” I asked softly.

  “Pure chance. My partner and I found ourselves trapped one night in a nameless village in central Ilsa, driven to the inn there by torrential rains. We rose late the next morning and sat in a corner in the tavern. The only others there when we sat down were an older man and a tall young woman with hair like ripe wheat. The older man did a great deal of talking.”

  Blessed Shia. The couple in the corner, sat there all the time, hearing every word. I had never looked close enough to have seen her crooked back. Dear Lady, how could I have been so stupid?

  “It was a fine tale, Lanen. Are you Marik’s daughter?”

  “I don’t know,” I said miserably. “I think I must be. If I were not and he knew it, he would surely have let me die.”

  “Mmm. You didn’t hear your Dragon friend speak to him last night. I think Marik would have tried to keep you alive for that one’s good will, at least for the moment. But probably best to assume for now that he is your father. In any case your time is short. The ritual is set for this very night, as soon as true darkness falls. We have only until then to get you out.”

  “Truth, then,” I said, my eyes locked on hers. “Why are you helping me?”

  One corner of her mouth lifted. “Marik’s as nasty and vicious a son of the Hells as ever drew breath, or hadn’t you heard? And I’ve no wish to live under the rule of demons. Besides,” she added, touching my cheek softly, “I spoke true about your kindness, and my daughter. Now, quickly, tell me what you can about the Dragons.”

  “Rella, I can’t, I promised—”

  “Idiot. I don’t want to know their secrets or yours. Just tell me how to get in touch with them if I need to. Just in case.”

  I was taken aback. ”Very well. There are three who might help you—us. Akor first, if he is there—that’s the Guardian, the silver one who brought me back. Or Kédra, or Shikrar. Go to the place of Summoning, or anywhere on the Boundary, and call out. Someone will come, and if it isn’t one of those three”—I grinned—“just don’t get them angry.”

  Behind her the door opened and the guard I’d hit with the sea chest came in. He had a horrible bruise on his forehead and he didn’t look any too pleased to see me.

  “Well, mother,” he said. “Is she fit to speak with my lord?”

  “Aye, soon enough, soon enough,” said Rella calmly, her accent thick with the north. “Just you tell M’lord Marik to wait a bit. There’s things unattended to yet. Tell him half an hour.”

  “Now, mother.”

  She whirled on him in obvious anger.
”If he fancies watching my lady make water, let him come now. She’s never even been to the necessary, and it’ll not be swift or simple with her arms as they are and all she’s been through. Half an hour!”

  The guard, looking daggers, nodded. “Half an hour then. Be certain she is ready.”

  “Yes, yes,” she replied absently, fussing with me as he left. Once he was gone, she caught my gaze. “Very well, my girl. We have only so long to make all ready.”

  We held a swift council of two.

  Akhor

  I bespoke Lanen quietly when I left the Great Hall some hours before dawn—she did not answer. I assumed she slept still. Shikrar had heard nothing from her.

  As soon as I reached my chambers I bespoke Shikrar once more. He stood guard still at the Boundary, waiting to hear my side of all that had happened. He had heard what I had said in Council and I filled in the few gaps in his knowledge, asked his pardon for keeping our twilight meeting secret, and told him all that a friend would want to know about my perilous love for Lanen, and of our Flight.

  ”And because of this, this Flight taken in your fancy, you consider yourself bound to the child? She is a singular creature, to be sure, but—Akhor, you must know such a thing is not binding.”

  “I know that, my friend. But I do not seek to escape this bond, mad though it seems, impossible though it is. She is my soul’s other half, Shikrar. I never knew it, but I have sought her all my life. It is the wisdom or the folly of the Winds that she has taken the form of the Gedri, not of the Kindred.” I did not tell him that I had seen her in our flight as one of us. I suspected even Shikrar would have had trouble with that.

  But I could not forget. I found that I now understood what Kédra had told me once, about the new song of the Devoted. The music was always there. I had only to think of her and I heard our voices joined as on that night, and saw her in her Kantri form. Her soulgem was clear as water; it had no colour, only light. And her armour was the dark gold of her hair….

  “How fares Mirazhe? And the newborn?”

  His tone shifted dramatically, I could hear his swelling pride. “Both well, both beautiful. Idai is trying to get rid of Kédra, but he cannot tear himself away yet. My son’s youngling! The thought is wondrous.”

  I reveled for a moment in his rejoicing. It gave me new strength, and a measure of hope. Surely he would not take my request in the wrong spirit.

  “Shikrar, I rejoice with you. In our decline, how bright shines such a birth. Yet I fear I have a request to make of you, even at this time. Believe me, were there anyone else I could call upon—but I have little choice. The Council debates now my fate and hers. There are no Elders there save Rishkaan, and he is shocked to his bones by everything I have said and done. He cannot separate my actions from Lanen’s.” I could not keep even my mind’s voice steady; it wavered like the rawest youngling’s. “Please, my friend, I beg you, let Kédra do as Idai asks that he may relieve you at the Boundary, and let you come to the Council. Rishkaan is the Eldest present, though he is so much younger than you, and that gives his words more weight than they deserve. He has already called for Lanen’s death—you know he can never forgive the Demonlord for destroying his ancestor Aidrishaan, and the making of Treshak into the first of the Lesser Kindred. To him the Gedri are makers of death and agony, Shikrar, nothing more, never capable of more, and he wills to return that evil to my dearling. Shikrar, soulfriend, I cannot bear it. I would never ask this at so sacred a time, but I have spoken already and they can hear no more from me; perhaps they will be able to hear you.”

  There was a long silence. When he spoke again his tone was somber and more kind than I had heard it since this all began. “Ah, Akhorishaan. I know now it is true, she is your mate no matter what anyone says. I know that voice. I heard it last when my dear one, my love Yrais, was dying, and it came from my soul. I will summon Kédra, Khordeshkhistriakhor. I will be there by morning.”

  ”Hadretikantishikrar, I thank you with all my heart.”

  Then he was gone. I reached out to Lanen again, but she was still asleep.

  There was nothing else I could do. I closed my eyes in meditation, took myself through the Discipline of Calm and waited.

  Towards morning I slept for a brief while, and in that time I dreamed. At first it seemed a dream of our Flight, for I saw Lanen in her Kantri-form, but it soon became something other. She had become more real, more fully herself in that form; I watched as we lived our lives together as one Kindred, brought younglings forth, raised them, taught them all our joint history and all we knew of the Two Peoples. It was full of joy, that dream, until the end. We both became Elders, well respected by the Kindred, and died so, but it was not our deaths that disturbed me. As I rose slowly to consciousness I saw the soulgems of the Lost flickering through our ashes, almost in accusation. We had made no difference to them, our lives though rich and well lived had made no difference.

  I woke some hours after dawn feeling disturbed, and obscurely angry at the Winds for such a vision of personal happiness that left me so deeply unfulfilled.

  I discovered on waking that Shikrar had been better than his word. Kédra had already arrived and taken up his station at the Boundary, and Shikrar stood outside my chamber, requesting entry. I welcomed him, trying to dispel the cloud of the dream that hung over me. “I thank you from my heart, my soul’s friend. You honour me.”

  Shikrar’s eyes smiled. “Yes, I do, and so does my son. I am glad you recognise it. Now, how may I help you and your dear one?”

  My heart was warmed, enlarged by him. Of all my Kindred, only Shikrar had yet referred to Lanen with anything but a curse; his words were balm on a raw wound. ”Bless you for that, my friend. As for helping us, I beg you, go into the Great Hall and find how the Winds blow in the Council. I must know what they say now about me—about us.”

  “Bespeak me in a few moments, you shall hear with my ears.” He turned to go.

  “Shikrar, I—”

  “Be at peace, Akhor,” he said gently, turning his head towards me, answering my thought. “Our friendship is old and tried. You and Kédra alone in this world know my true name, and for you as for my son I would do whatever lay in my power. Now your Lanen has given me the free gift of my son’s dear one and their child when death seemed inescapable. How shall I not do my utmost?”

  I bowed to him. I had no words. He smiled back at me and left.

  Lanen

  As Rella and I were making our plan of escape, I rose and tried to dress. I had forgotten that much of my clothing, of course, was still at the Birthing Cove—I had arrived in leggings and my shift, both of which were now a pile of rags against the wall. I sighed, only once, for my ruined cloak. Rella had to send one of the guards to fetch the contents of my sea chest from our tent (he refused to bring the chest itself).

  It may seem a small thing now, but I remember clearly my intense relief—almost delight—at discovering not only a spare shirt, clean leggings and an old patched tunic, but the extra pair of boots I had bought in Corli (with my boot knife tucked away inside, little use though it might be) and my old black cloak. I felt a thousand times better when I was dressed.

  The lan fruit had worked wonders. There was no pain when I tried using my hands, and when I dared unwrap the bandages a little, from the shoulder end, I found pale skin underneath, delicate but whole. And it was not even the pale pink of a normal healing burn—it looked like ordinary skin. I did not dare hope that I would avoid the scars of such a burn, but perhaps they would not be so bad as I feared. And still no pain. I understood then why lan fruit was so valuable. The Healer’s efforts had drawn me back from the edge of death, but without the lan fruit, I would still have needed weeks to heal fully. With it, I was nearly healed within hours.

  It almost passed belief.

  I left the bandages on for the moment, to give the illusion that I was still injured enough to need them.

  The guard, unfortunately, was true to his word. The first fingers of
sunlight were just reaching into the clearing when he returned with his master. Despite my efforts I shivered when I saw Marik. Dear Lady, that this vile creature might be my father—it was all I could do not to retch.

  I watched him from my sickbed, for after the effort of dressing I had found I needed to lie down again. I was desperately weary, despite the lan fruit and the healing. Healers use their own power, but the body of the one being healed must supply the materials and bear the changes enforced on it by another’s will. I felt I could sleep for a week.

  “Go,” Marik told the guard. When he saw that Rella lingered, he snapped, “You, too.”

  She sneered behind his back. “You’re welcome. I’ll expect those three bags’ credit.”

  “Go!” She closed the door behind her.

  Marik turned to me and bowed, his lovely voice warm and his eyes unreadable. “Lady Lanen.” He seated himself in the chair by the bed.

  “Marik.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “My hands don’t hurt anymore,” I said, truthfully.

  “I am delighted to hear it, lady. I do not wish to shock you, but have you any idea how close to death you were last night?”

  “No. I remember I couldn’t stop shaking.” I hoped he wouldn’t notice that I still hadn’t.

  “Maikel drained himself saving you, lady. He will be no good for anything for two full days, and without the Ian fruit you might have died anyway. That is his calling, of course, and he is well paid for it—but we feared you would not see the morning. Aside from the fever, your hands”—he let that glorious voice falter—“your hands and your arms had but shreds of skin left on them.” He moved closer to me, concern writ large on his face. “What happened, Lanen?” he asked in husky tones. “What did those creatures do to you?”

  “It was—my choice,” I said at last. “There was a way I could help them. They didn’t know it would burn me.” I think I managed to sound pitiful enough, and wished that more of my weakness were an act.

  “What happened? You must tell me, lady.” He smiled gently, his whole demeanour intent on kindliness, the amulet around his neck brilliant in the bright dawn light. “Come, Lanen, I have saved your life, surely you owe me so much.”