The way of courage, p.22
The Way of Courage, page 22
“You ordered it to leave without birds, and you searched it yourself before letting it leave the dock.”
“As is my right as Duke and Head of this House. I suggest you moderate your tone.”
“Duke Gareon Seafarer, Duke of the Eastern Sea, I, Mage Marin Seafarer, Representative at Large for the Academy of Magic, require a direct answer. Where is the Vengeance? Where is Bess?”
“Really, you want to try and pull rank on your own father. Then, truth read this, Mage Marin Seafarer, Representative at Large for the Academy of Magic, I don’t know where either of them is.”
“I can bring you before the Emperor’s Mage Advisor and a magistrate and demand an answer.”
“And all you’ll get is the same answer.”
Marin sat and stared at her father, then sighed and said, “Why?”
“Because she asked me to.”
“She asked you to! Of course she did. So, she’s been gone for over two eightdays. I want to take the whole fleet with me.”
“That won’t be possible. The entire Seafarer fleet will be leaving with me in an eightday for an extended cruise. We’ll be out of sight of land but somewhere off the Kishmeld coastline. You may join me if you wish. I could do with a competent assistant.”
Marin stared at her father, and then as she smiled, she saw a matching grin appear on his own face. She wondered if hers looked as predatory as his did.
CHAPTER 7
The head of the palace guards, Guard Colonel Dawn Forester, waited for one of the keepers to arrive to look at the body they’d found on the lower level of the kitchens. She wasn’t surprised it was Serak. Not only was he one of the best fighters, but he was able to leave Flame with Desali. He stepped into the room, and after seeing the body, he walked around the room, looking in each corner. When he’d finished, he came to a form of attention and said, “Guard Colonel Dawn, how may I help the palace guards?”
“Keeper Serak, you’d make a terrible guard. Checking with me was supposed to be the first thing you do, not something you say after checking everything first.”
“I needed to make sure my blood was safe.”
“Is he?”
“No. He is, however, safe from whoever killed the woman. They left through the tunnel.”
“What makes you say that?”
Serak showed the scuff marks and explained how they most likely were the last of the marks made and were indicative of someone entering the pipe, not leaving it. Guard Colonel Dawn nodded and said, “I came to the same conclusion. From her features, I’m going to suggest this is one of the seekers we’ve been worried about. We found several other bodies near one of the exterior walls.”
“I would agree, Guard Colonel Dawn. The bolt in her head is also used by Skaria, and I would suggest she was killed by one such as herself. The killer waited in that corner, and they talked. From the marks over there, I’d suggest he had a rope or string tied to the trigger and waited until she moved into position before pulling the string.”
“Why would they kill each other?”
“They had competing objectives. Her bag is here, and I would look through it with care as it may be booby-trapped. I suggest that as Duchess Fielding is not in the palace, that she was here to kill Flame and that doing so would have upset the seeker aimed at the duchess.”
“Thank you, Keeper Serak. I’ll keep you informed concerning our investigations. Thank you for your help.”
Serak nodded, then after another look at the seeker, hurried back to take charge of Flame. Guard Colonel Dawn turned to one of the guards and said, “Arrange for the tunnel to be filled in and for some eyes to come to look at the body. I’ll go see the mage advisor and see what he can suggest to ensure people can’t tunnel into the palace.”
Stone had found a small overhang and, using the weatherproof cloth, created a small cave just large enough for the three to lie in and be kept from view, not that anyone was likely to be traipsing around on the top of the Desolations. That night they all ate cold rations as Bess lay unmoving, her eyes closed and her focus carefully monitoring whatever she’d discovered on the other side of the mountain. The next morning she moved close to the rise and spent the day doing the same as she had all night. Neither Stone nor Efren did more than glance in her direction. Instead, Stone drilled Efren in the moves he’d seen Bess teaching and then taught him some of the survival skills that he’d learned as an imperial hand.
That night, Bess returned to her prone position under the small overhang and considered what to do. It wasn’t until the following morning that she turned to Stone and said, “Sorry for the silent treatment. I needed to think.”
“I worked that out. What’s the problem?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Again, I worked that out. What is it?”
“OK, most mages, until they have either a lot of experience or a lot of aether, struggle to identify other mages readily unless the mages are using aether. I can, and as you saw on the way here, I can do a sweep of my surroundings and discover both mages and non-mages. Finding mages is harder, especially if they’re trying to hide. Jenifer is the second best I’ve seen, and she’s hard to pick up unless she’s within a hundred paces. The way-lord was better than her, and for him, I had to use something I’m not sure most other mages even know about. The Kish are doing something much simpler, but I’m not sure how. No, that’s not quite true. I know what they’re doing, but I’ve no idea where they’re getting the aether from.”
“Bess, you’re not explaining it very well. What are they doing?”
“They’re sweeping the entire southern side of Kishmeld. The spell passes over the section just over that rise once every five minutes, day and night. Their sweep looks for mages and uses something similar to that used in one of the testing orbs. Anyone, mage or potential, who has a weaker than normal barrier will trigger something on their sweep. I doubt any mages who’ve tried to infiltrate Kishmeld have even felt it. If Efren hadn’t been here, I might not have sensed it either. The pulse of aether leaked over the edge and reacted to Efren. I’ve been keeping the lightest weave on him to check his barrier and felt the tiny pulse.
“I used a shield to hide all three of us, and I’m confident it was successful. What worries me is they registered that faint response that Efren gave and, within half a minute, sent several more pulses over this area. They kept that up for several hours before returning to the same regular pattern they use everywhere else. The amount of aether it would take to cover the entire country is scary. I assume they’ve spent decades fine-tuning it, but even so, I’d imagine the mage doing it has ten or even twenty times the aether I have and maybe more than that. There is a slight change in the feel of the aether every six hours, and I’m comfortable saying they have at least four mages that strong or more. The pulse I can get around with a shield, but if they had focused that amount aether to just find us, then they would have.”
“They may have sent someone to check this area.”
“It’s possible. From what 138 described, I imagined it would take them a few days to get here and thought working through what was happening was better than rushing off.”
“Agreed. Can you keep the shield on both of you as we move?”
“I can if the pulse is all I have to deal with.”
“Will it pick me up?”
“They could, but only if they change the weave they’re using. I suspect they use this to keep an eye on every mage. Honestly, it’s a tedious chore, so I’m a little worried about how strong some of their higher-up mages might be. I’m going to tentatively suggest we need to change the focus of the mission slightly. We need to find out if it is a mage and not some piece of equipment from the ancients. If it’s a mage, then we’ll need to rethink how to get Marina away.”
“Do you know where the aether originates from?”
“I think so. I know the direction, and there’s a Kish garrison city in that direction. As we get closer, we’ll get more of an idea, but I’m almost certain it’s coming from what they call Fort Karlton.”
“You want us to head for Fort Karlton, the garrison town where they train the main soldiers for their permanent army? Several hands have visited the city, but none have been inside the fort itself.”
“No, I’d rather head to Fort Kishton, the main garrison city where Lord Kish lives with his many thousands of already fully trained soldiers, his best mages and Marina. If, as we head down the mountain, we discover there is also a pulse coming from there, then we’ll change our mission parameter again.”
Stone stared at Bess and, after a moment, nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Bess shook her head and said, “No need. I overreacted a little. I’m just scared, and the power they have is phenomenal.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t doubt you’re right about the aether involved. I’m just not sure you need to be as worried as you are. Whoever is doing it either isn’t the one in control or is not as skilled as you think. Sure, they’ve this one spell, but from what you said, that’s all they tried. That doesn’t make sense. If their mages are as strong as you suggest, they would welcome an attack by the Seafarers or Tarlonin as they’d decimate us. No! I like the idea this is a piece of technology or something limited to this single spell. Having said that, I agree we need to check it out. Let’s move. Efren, stay close to your master.”
Ten minutes later, after everything was cleared away, Stone slithered over the ridge and down onto the southern slope.
It took five days to make their way through the maze of rockfalls, deep valleys, crevices, scree slopes and sheer cliffs to reach the lowlands where most Kish lived. While Bess rested each evening, she never slept. While her breathing and focus kept her energy levels up and refreshed her somewhat, she was slowly feeling the drain of the constant shield she kept over herself and Efren. That night, after a fresh rabbit and tubers Bess had collected, they rested in the shelter Stone had set up between some trees and an overhanging rock. He said, “Bess, we’ve put it off, but it’s time. Knife or magic?”
Bess just nodded and said, “Magic.”
With that, she took hold of her long ponytail and lifted it free with a simple weave, leaving her with a bald pate. Stone tried not to smile and failed. Even so, Bess grinned back and said, “OK, make me ugly.”
“Uglier.”
“Just do it.”
Stone had already prepared what he needed and after oiling and cleaning her skin, applied some glue and put the wig they’d had made in place. He then added a fake nose, cheeks and a mole. Bess stepped away and used some bands to bind her breasts, then added padding and wraps to reduce her curves. Once she was finished, she practised some of her martial moves and then retied several of the wraps. When she was satisfied, and after slumping her shoulders, she looked like an older man. Stone used paint to cover her hands and forearms, adding wrinkles and age spots.
The transition had taken almost an hour. When he was finished, Bess settled herself against one of the trees and said, “I’ll keep watch.”
Closing her eyes, she slowed her breathing and as well as the shield, she sent a faint weave out several hundred paces so nothing could sneak up on them.
Information had been pouring in for days from all over the city. Earnest had people looking for anything and everything which might be used to send messages out of Tar Eylia. His people watched every ship, every wagon, every bird and flashing light. Every person leaving the palace or Academy was observed, their names recorded along with who they talked with and who they brushed up against. Each of these was followed, and their routes were recorded.
Earnest, Jenifer and Dreyton knew that regardless of how thorough they were that Earnest’s people missed hundreds of people every day. Each day, Jenifer and Dreyton would go through the data and cut people from the surveillance for one reason or another, hoping to have Earnest’s people freed up to keep track of the rest.
Already, the two eyes had identified five spies working for foreign nations and had evidence to bring eight nobles up on charges of corruption; this ignored all those they’d found to have mistresses or masters hidden away in the city for the occasional dalliance. Earnest was free to use most of this information, and coupled with what he was finding out about the various nobles, he was confident he’d make a healthy profit, even without the million golds.
It was Dreyton who teased loose the thread they were looking for; not that it was evident as such just yet. It was late at night, and only he and Jenifer were still working. He said, “Why would a renderer have a roost?”
“Anyone can have a roost.”
“True. Why would he have birds from someone else’s roost?”
“I have a friend who uses birds to play chess with another player on the other side of the city. Which way did it head?”
“North, toward the centre of the city.”
“OK, nothing suspicious there. He might have a business he uses to source chemicals or dyes?”
“It’s cheaper to get them from the docks.”
“OK, fair enough. What else do you have?”
“I think the bird made its way to one of the temples. There’s a record of a bird, at about the right time, landing at the temple belonging to the Bloodless.”
“That would be strange. They’re against all killing, people or animals.”
“An hour later, their high priestess and several acolytes made their way into the markets to buy some fruit.”
“That’s not strange.”
“Of course it is. Why would a high priestess buy her own fruit? She’s got lackeys to do that.”
“Maybe she’s just ‘one of the people’?”
“She’s a viscountess, the third ladyling of the Earl of the Northern Meadow.”
“OK, unlikely to get her own fruit. Why would she be involved with the Kish?”
“Point to you. Maybe she’s a pawn?”
“Follow it up. How many weird connections does that make?”
“Eighteen. When we report everything back to Nasir, he’ll need to recruit another couple of dozen eyes just to run everything down.”
“Are we ready to share anything yet?”
“No. Everything we have are side issues and probably nothing to do with Bess. We’ll survive using Earnest based on the five spies, but I’d rather something more.”
“Agreed.”
CHAPTER 8
As he woke, Stone looked over at Bess and shook his head. He was as fresh as he’d ever been on a mission, but Bess was looking haggard. If nothing else, it added to her disguise as an old man. Each night Bess spent time focusing on her body, and while this helped with her overall energy levels, she was still feeling the effects of not sleeping. They’d been moving slowly westward toward Fort Karlton for five days and, by keeping to the foothills, had managed to remain hidden from the roving patrols and the Kish who lived in the small villages and farms dotted across the countryside. Just the night before, Bess had removed the wig and cleaned it, then re-shaved her head before Stone had reapplied all the camouflage.
He shook Efren, then moved close to Bess, who opened her eyes and said, “Good morning.”
“For me, maybe, you look awful.”
“Thank you. At least the end is in sight. We should see what we need to later today.”
“I’d like to change the plans a little.”
“How?”
“I’ll go reconnoitre first. Efren’s not the best actor, and all it takes is one mistake, and it’s over. I won’t enter the fort but only visit the town itself.”
“Won’t it be strange for you to visit, leave and then return with Efren and me?”
“A little.”
“Stone, we’ll do it however you think is best. You’re the one with experience. Be objective, though; what’s the best for the mission?”
“Fair point. OK, our best option is to stay together. Honestly, I’m also a little worried about you. I’ve never seen you lose control of yourself, but the Kish have no inhibitions regarding how they treat women and girls. They don’t have wives, partners and daughters. They have livestock that they work and breed to increase their wealth, standing and sate their sick desires. You’ll see girls beaten for the most minor infraction of a man’s idea of what is right.
“The everyday, regular Kish owns his females and has a say in what happens to them. Here, in the city, his rights are always overshadowed by the rights of the Kish who make up the government and the armies. They can take what they want and do what they want. I know you know this, but it’s harder to see it than it is to hear it. You don’t really understand something until you live it. Empathy only goes so far toward understanding, and the gap between understanding something intellectually and experiencing the terror and pain are far apart.”
Bess smiled and said, “You forget, I have lived it.”
“I didn’t forget, not really. I just pushed it aside. I’m sorry. You’re so strong it’s hard to see you as a victim.”
“Being a victim has very little to do with strength. Regardless of what people think, I don’t even think of it as a mindset. It can be both of those, but from my experience, it resulted from being alone, having no support, no allies, and no one to lean on. The bullies and oppressors work together, and they work to isolate. Isolation: physical; mental; or emotional; is all it takes to set someone up to be a victim. Sure, people isolate themselves, but they have no choice at times, especially if the ones they love are threatened.
“I’m sorry to bring it up but think of Halo. She’s strong, intelligent, and skilled, but she was a victim because she was alone. I don’t say that to blame you or Lessa, but to say that she tried to survive on her own so she wouldn’t hurt you both, and the end result was she was caught in a spiral she couldn’t escape. Give the women of Kishmeld a chance, a goal, a friend, some support, even an identity which doesn’t isolate them, and I suspect you’d be surprised what they’d do.”
