Angelslayer: The Winnowing War (17 page)

She wept quietly through it all, as he took her, as he laid her in the sand. She wept as never she had wept before.

I
n the courtyard beyond the castle, Aeson waited anxiously. He was surrounded by the same four warriors that had taken him that morning, but his day had been extraordinary. There were simply no words that could describe that particular day, but that was fine because it would be a day Aeson planned to never speak of to anyone. He felt such relief seeing Adrea coming toward him. Of course he was a bit embarrassed; surely she was going to have a good laugh, but at least it was Adrea. She could be trusted to keep a secret.

As they rode up to Aeson and the Daathan guards, Adrea at first did not realize who he was, even though Bobo and Runt were sitting at the heels of his horse. She was still filled with terrifying afterimages of the ring she had tucked in her belt pouch. She dared not keep it on her finger, not yet—even though Loch had told her to. It frightened her and so it remained in her belt pouch where its warmth was like a living thing against her skin.

After such visions it was good to know the world was still intact. It was dusk, cool, and riding through the streets of the Daathan city with its white spires was nothing short of ethereal. Then she realized the figure on the horse amid the guards they were approaching was actually Aeson. He was unharmed, but they had dressed him as royalty—the finest of royalty—as if he were about to attend a royal banquet or ball. The only problem—his clothes were of the wrong gender. They had dressed him as a girl.

“It looks as if they took him to the maiden's chamber,” Loch said as they approached.

“What?”

“I must apologize for my companions; they have an odd sense of humor. I am sure they led him to believe the maiden's chamber contained something other than maidens—torture devices and such. But it actually is the residence of the, ah, the women of the palace.”

“Your women?”

“Yes, once, but that has ended now. Be assured I have a single companion, here and ever after. Still, it looks as if the girls had a bit of fun with your little brother.”

They drew up beside him and Loch nodded with respect. “You must be Aeson.”

Aeson swallowed nervously, but attempted to answer unshaken. “Yes, and you are?”

“My name is Lochlain. I am the son of Argolis.”

Aeson's face paled. He glanced to Adrea, even to the other guards, before looking back to Loch. “You are the prince?”

“Yes. Your sister will explain everything. You both need to be leaving, I'm afraid. I have promised your sister you would reach home before sundown.”

Aeson nodded. “Yes, yes, a good idea. Our father, he has a short … what I mean is, he would be expecting us and he might be worried if we were … late.”

Loch smiled at Adrea; she half-smiled back.

“Well, we cannot have that,” said Loch.

It was strange, but part of Adrea didn't want to leave. She wanted to see the cottage, her mother, even Lamachus, but what she felt for Loch was something new for her, something she had never felt for anyone. She loved him. How odd. The morning before she hadn't known anything about him and now he was this someone she loved, this someone she couldn't live without. Her husband—this was her husband and a large part of her did not want to leave his side, even for one night. The ring's memories had so changed everything. She felt confused, lost between worlds.

Earlier, before they left the Dove Cara, Loch had explained why it was important to return home. He had told her that for now it was the only way to keep her safe—to hide her by letting it appear she was what she had been that morning before setting out to meet him—a maiden of Lucania, the daughter of a herdsman about to marry a horse breeder. Apparently, they would soon be hunted, now that she had opened the eye of Daath.

“We will hide you by pretending. The ring will help. It is not strong enough to hide you if any were close, but they are far from here and none were expecting what has happened this day. For now they can search using only their blind sight, the eyes they can send across the sky to find things hidden in far places. So what you do is pretend the day never happened.”

“Pretend? You can explain to me how I pretend all this away?”

“I know it will not be easy. Myself, I have been trained to block my thoughts. Eryian, my master, he can hide himself standing right in front of you. I have learned a similar skill of mind, though my skill is that of a child's compared to his. Still, I know how to hide in thought. Think of it as it must have been when you played with dolls. Assuming you did such things. And do not forget, you must use the ring, you must let it teach you hiding.”

“How?”

“Ask it—just will it to hide your thoughts. That is all I know to explain it. I never really understood how it works, how it does what it does. It belongs to a queen—it was never really mine. Mostly it teaches you. It has no secret powers, other than the power to teach. But I believe it can help you hide your thoughts, at least for one night.”

“One night?”

“Yes. I have a ship fitted and a crew of marines. They are deadly, very capable. And the ship is a runner, built to move swift. The pilot is able to navigate deep water. Most pilots must keep near the shore, but he is talented, which makes him expensive, but then—as you might guess—coin is not a problem. Still, he is not so talented as to attempt running unfamiliar deep water at night. So we will hide in pretense until tomorrow's dawn.”

“A ship? We are leaving tomorrow?” She was stunned, but he seemed to think little of it.

“There is no choice; we must become runners. Tomorrow we will vanish into the Western Sea.”

She sighed. Before, such news would have left her panicked, but the ring had already taught her enough to understand. She was to leave everything. There was no choice in it. Her whole world had changed completely, so quickly it seemed already only a memory. It struck her with sadness, but at the same time, the horse breeder, he was to have taken her away, as well. Marcian Antiope was planning to take her to his land in Galaglea to the north. She would have rarely, if ever, seen her family again. How was this so different—other than the eyes of the angels even now soaring through the skies hunting for her?

“I am so sorry,” he said.

“Are you?”

“Yes. It does not present the same problems to me, but for you, I can only imagine. And yes, Adrea, I am truly sorry.”

She glanced downward with a sigh. None of this was his fault. If she had anyone to blame, it might be Elyon Himself, but since she was but a small girl, even from the time she had begun to understand her world, there had been this love for whatever or whomever He was, and it came from her heart and soul. It had never left her and never would.

She could tell Loch was struggling to make this as easy as he could for her, but how could he do that?

“The deep waters of the west will cloak us,” he explained, “the same waters you have so often felt drawn to. It is because they are the realm of the Followers and the place where lies the island that bears the city of Enoch. Even the angels have trouble hunting those waters, seeing through them. The faith of Enoch obscures their sight.”

“But did you not say the city of Enoch would be destroyed?”

“In time, but even then, I could be wrong. I have not studied the futures with devotion. Still, think about it, Adrea, if we can find him, who better to guide us than a prophet who has looked upon the very face of Elyon? We have the Western Sea to hide us and a prophet to tell us how to survive whatever must follow. And we have each other. We are neither of us ordinary, we will learn. Do not be frightened.”

She nodded, but she was frightened, very frightened—she could almost picture them, the blind sight, the angel eyes that flew, searching, the hunters already hunting—not things easily dismissed.

Seeing her fear, his eyes went from brown to black; they changed as she watched, even their shape, narrowing. Suddenly, he was the Daath. The Shadow Walker had stepped into his skin. He looked less human now, but determined, strong, even assured. Perhaps he thought that was what she needed.

“They will not get to you,” he said, a promise. “I am not going to let you be harmed, Adrea. I will protect you. Why else have I trained all my life if not for this?”

“I believe you, Loch.”

“And the one in the dream, the reason we have joined, I will not let any harm come to him, either. You are both my charge, why I have been trained since birth, since I could walk or speak. Eryian, my master—every day of my life I have studied, trained. It is no mere illusion. I am a Shadow Walker, so now comes the time I walk the shadows, and you will walk them with me.”

“Why not make our stand here, surrounded by the invincible legions of the Daath?”

“A legion can protect against armies, against satraps and kings and princes—but not assassins. If the shadows of the night want us, legions are useless against them. We must become runners.”

“Forever?”

“Who can see forever? Let Faith's Light hold forever. We will focus on the path directly before us—and the path for now is that we become runners.”

She took a long breath. He was being as careful as he could with her, but there was a vapor of anger running through him and she knew him well, from memories. She knew his anger could quickly become rage, though she understood it was not against her, the anger was from his frustration, how they had lost time, how their lives had literally been stolen.

“It will be as you say, Loch. I will start pretending now. Aeson and I, we need to be back before dark, and not let Lamachus get angst ridden and riled as he did yesterday.”

“Yes, yes, it seems silly, considering all we face, but those are the kinds of thoughts you must put in your head. Use the ring, it will help.”

She nodded.

“Tomorrow's dawn we leave for the protection of Enoch's sea.” “I will be ready.”

“I am not certain exactly when I will come for you, but it will be early dawn, so stay near the cabin and keep watch.”

“I will.”

“And your good-byes …” he paused. “Let your heart speak them as you wish. I do not have family, but you—family is your world. I know how hard it must be. At least I can guess how hard.”

“You have no family, Loch?”

“The warlord, but he has kept his distance. He cares, but is a strict master. Whatever his reasons, he has never gotten close. I guess emotions are not part of becoming a Shadow Walker.”

“What about these girls? They say you have girls, women—people whisper of it.”

“My harem?”

“Yes—are they not like family?”

“No. They are companions. And it is not as people say. I have kept myself pure. I just … they are friends, that is all. Finding me gone, I suppose some will weep. A few of them care. I keep them because I have always preferred the company of women, but I have never loved any of them. I have not loved anyone since the death of my mother.”

“Why?”

“You cannot guess?”

“No.”

“I have kept my mother's ring about my neck on that silver chain all my life. The reason I have loved no one is because of the girl in the dreams. The ring left her as real as flesh. I have loved only her, with all my heart. The Water Bearer. You. I have only loved you, Adrea.”

She nodded. She well understood the power the ring had over memories. “What about your father?”

“We will not talk about my father.”

“Why?”

“Not ever. We do not even mention his name.” He clenched his teeth. “I have no father,” he swore. “Understood?”

“Very well, Loch. We will not speak of him.”

He took a breath, burying some emotion. “When you speak your goodbyes, one thing you must remember is that you cannot tell any of them the truth. Even your brother, no matter how close he is to you. No matter how much you trust him. You cannot leave any truths behind that can be traced. I am not you, but if it were my decision—I might just let them believe in this rumor that the Daath sneak into the village of Lucania and steal women, and it turns out you were one of them.”