Changing Fate [Fate series] (24 page)

"Certainly the only one I've seen any sign of,” Akila agreed, “but the Queen ordered her to watch you and Briam, so that won't help us much.” She smoothed her bodice in place. “Lace me up, please; I have enough work to keep me blamelessly occupied until well after midnight. And you had best find something innocent to do—why don't you start embroidering some baby clothes?"

Druscilla laughed. “I shall! Then the Shield-Bearer can watch me all she wishes, and I hope she dies of boredom!” Her hands made quick work of fastening Akila's bodice. “I'll go to the sewing room with you and you can help me chose fabric and thread.” They left the room arm in arm, with the wolf trailing behind them.

Within the hour Druscilla had made a good start on what promised to be a very elaborate embroidered baby smock. She sat working on it as they sat around the Queen's bed, while the Queen went over their duties for the festival one more time. Akila had difficulty believing that Wesia needed any reminders about her part; she would have wagered that the swordswoman didn't need even to be awake to direct traffic and keep order among the crowds of people who came in from the surrounding country to see the Year-King. Druscilla and Briam had to process from the palace to a dais at each gate, sit there for a time, be admired and bless the people, then proceed to the next gate and repeat the performance, ending back at the palace again, where Druscilla would receive the first-fruits from the farmers and present awards to the craftsmen.

Akila's job was to keep the food coming from the palace kitchens to the tables set up in the square outside the palace. She was nervously hoping that there would be enough food. She knew she was worrying needlessly; with the amount of food in the kitchens now she could have fed her household, her father's treacherous mercenaries, and Lord Ranulf's entire army, but still she couldn't seem to help worrying. She felt restless, sitting quietly under Wesia's watching eyes, and wished she had followed her own advice to Druscilla and started some embroidery of her own. Tomorrow—no, the day after—she resolved she would start something; it was such a useful way to hide one's face, especially if one had long loose hair.

The apparently placid quiet lasted until Akila, Briam, and Druscilla went to their own rooms. Druscilla went to hers instead of the room she had been sleeping in, but she barely entered the room before she backed out again, screaming. Briam ran to catch her as she fainted gracefully into his arms. Akila cast a bewildered glance at the tableau as she stepped into Druscilla's room. From his den, still in the corner, Wolf looked innocently up at her. Akila sighed wearily and leaned against the door frame.

"What is going on here?” the Shield-Bearer demanded from behind them. Rias popped out of his room at the end of the corridor to see what was causing all the racket. Wesia glared at him, but he just looked innocently at her and stood his ground.

"Nothing, Shield-Bearer,” Akila said wearily. “Just Druscilla and her fear of wolves.”
And, personally, I think she's overdoing the stupid and helpless routine. Even if this is intended to distract Wesia, what if the servants tell her that we changed rooms days ago? That's bound to make her even more suspicious.
Rias snickered softly, but everyone ignored him.

The swordswoman looked over Akila's shoulder into the room. “Just terrifying,” she said dryly. She stepped back and plucked Druscilla from Briam's arms, just as Druscilla's eyelashes began to flutter. “Go to bed, Lord Briam,” she ordered. “Your sister and I will take care of the Lady Druscilla."

Briam hesitated, and Wesia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Akila moved from the doorway and brushed against his hand.
Just go
, she thought at him.
I'll look after her, and you'll only make the Shield-Bearer angry if you insist on remaining
.

Briam bowed stiffly and retreated to his own room. Akila opened the door to the room where Druscilla had been sleeping. “Put her to bed in here for tonight,” she said, being careful to voice it as a suggestion. “We can move our clothes around as needed tomorrow. I forgot when I ordered my things moved out of her room to tell them to move the wolf's den.” This isn't going to work, she realized, Wesia knows that Druscilla has been here more than one day—she's bound to ask what's going on.

But Wesia didn't; she strode into the guest room and dumped Druscilla unceremoniously on the bed. “The den wouldn't fit in here anyway; her room's the largest on this hall. She'll have to chose between sleeping in here or sharing her room with the wolf."

"I'll sleep here,” Druscilla said faintly. “You can have my room, Akila, with my blessing."

"Very well,” the swordswoman said. “That's settled then. “I'll get my bedroll and sleep in the hallway; that way you won't have to worry about the wolf prowling in the night and disturbing you. I'll send your maids to you.” She stalked out of the room.

Akila grinned after her, feeling limp with relief. “I'll bet you're not worried about the wolf's sneaking into your bed one-half as much as she's worried about your sneaking into Briam's!"

Druscilla's eyes opened wide. “Why would she expect me to do that?"

"I thought they were training you as the Queen's heiress,” Akila said softly. “What do you think binds Briam to the Queen?” Then, warned by the sound of footsteps in the hall she continued in a slightly louder voice. “I'm glad that you're feeling recovered, Lady Druscilla. I bid you good-night.” She stepped into the hall, nodded to Druscilla's maid in passing, and went to Druscilla's room where a maid was turning back the bed.

Wesia arrived while Akila's maid was still brushing her hair, a luxury she had never properly appreciated before spending several months as a wolf. By the time Akila was ready for bed, Wesia had set up her bedroll next to the hall torch outside Druscilla's door and was sitting on top of her blanket, apparently meditating. The maids stepped softly as they passed her, and Akila closed her door quietly and slid the bolt into place as silently as possible.

Akila looked longingly at the bed. It would be wonderful simply to slip between the sheets, close the curtains, and let the world and all its problems go away for a while. But she had been abruptly reminded of how little time they had left, and how large the holes in her plan were. If she was going to take Briam's place on a dive into the river, it behooved her to investigate what she was going to dive into. She blew out the night-candle, shed her bedgown, perched on the windowsill, and turned into an eagle.

The wolf came and sniffed at her in apparent concern, and Akila prayed that he wouldn't start howling when she left. If he did, she'd have to return immediately and explain the noise to the Shield-Bearer, something she was not at all anxious to do. But when she pushed off the windowsill and flapped her wings to catch the wind, he simply rested his jaw on the windowsill and watched her silently as she rose high above the palace, out of the glow of the torches in the courtyard.

She swooped out over the waterfall, being careful to stay far enough away to avoid the worst of the spray. Even with eagle's eyes, it was too dark to see the rocks below it clearly, so she flew downstream to where the water was calmer, dove into the water as if she were about to catch a fish, and began to change again.

She needed to breathe, so she developed gills as she changed her feathers to scales and elongated her body to adapt to currents in water instead of air. Her beak merged into her throat, which was now part of her chest, but she kept the eagle's eyes, adapted slightly to see under water; she didn't particularly want to lose the ability to see ahead of her. She knew that she must look strange indeed, but, after all, she wasn't likely to encounter anyone she knew.

Her wings, or arms, were now small steering fins, and her legs had become a forked tail fin. She spent several minutes maneuvering about under water, getting a feel for how this shape responded to both her attempts to move it and the water currents, before heading upstream toward the waterfall. She wished that she had seen a sacrifice before, but she would just have to do the best she could with what she knew. She also wished that she had been getting more physical exercise—swimming against the current was hard work, especially as she got closer to the waterfall.

She got to the area just under the fall and was relieved to discover that the rocks were not as bad as she had feared. Apparently the sacrifice drowned in the undercurrent, rather than being smashed on underwater rocks. If she wore padded clothing under the ritual robe, which would also help her look like Briam, who was certainly bulkier than she was, that would help keep her from being hurt by the rocks. The fall was high enough so that it would take her a few seconds to reach the water, and during those few seconds nobody would see her too clearly—after all, anyone watching would be above her, and once she disappeared into the water, nobody could prove they'd seen anything unusual. The spray would probably help, too. So she could use those few seconds to start the change into water-breathing form and to shrink enough so that her entire body would be protected by the robe when she hit the water.

No, it might be better to change to something very small and heavy, so that she would sink to the bottom as soon as possible. She thickened her scales and pulled herself in towards her heart, quickly reaching the point where she was too small and heavy to keep swimming. She sank like a stone, skittering over the rocks in the river bed on her way down. She landed on the bottom, feeling mildly abraded about the edges and very much aware that she couldn't stay in the form for long—she couldn't breathe!

She stretched out again into something midway between a fish and an eel—after all, she would have to get out of the clothing once she reached bottom—and wiggled her way through the rocks. Once she was clear of the worst of them, it was easy; she floated downstream, relaxing in the current ... peacefully resting, drifting...

She shook herself and headed for the surface. This was no time to fall asleep! She swam to the bank of the river, developed arms, and pulled herself out, starting to turn human as she did so.

At this point she discovered that the transition from water-breather to air-breather was not as easy as changing the other way. When she changed to a fish she had simply released the air from her lungs and taken in water, but the water was in no hurry to leave her lungs now. She couldn't breathe; she was drowning!

She slipped back into the water, developed gills again, and took stock. She now had a human face and hair, gills on neck and shoulders, a human torso, and the body of a fish from the waist down—that part of her had stayed in the water and she had never gotten around to changing it. This arrangement reminded her of something she had seen in one of the scrolls in her library—a creature half-woman and half-fish, which was reputed to sing and lure sailors to their deaths. It sounded silly to her; certainly the idea of eating a sailor was just as repulsive to her in this form as it had been in human form.

Well, she couldn't stay here forever; she had to supervise the food for the festival tomorrow.

And won't you be wide awake and alert!
her other self pointed out sarcastically.

Do you have any helpful suggestions?
she shot back.

Try going out feet first, upside down. Maybe then by the time you get your head out, you will have been able to drain the water out of you. And if that doesn't work, figure out what Lord Ranulf would do—after all, he survived it.

True, but Druscilla's description wasn't very helpful; apparently it made no sense at all to her until he turned into a wolf—come to think of it, it might be easier to cough up the water in that form!

A minute later a wolf stood by the river, apparently choking to death. It was miserable, but it worked. When the coughing stopped and Akila's vision cleared she looked up at the stars.
Oh no, I've been gone for hours! I hope nobody missed me
.

She changed to eagle form, flew back to her room, changed back to human, and collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor. This was not much help; even with the furs on it, the floor was cold, and she was upsetting the wolf. He whined and shoved at her until she finally managed to drag herself as far as the bed and crawl into it. Her bedgown still lay beside the pillow, but she didn't care; she didn't have the strength to put it on.

You'll be freezing by morning
, the voice in her head told her, but she didn't care. She fell asleep so quickly that she scarcely felt the jolting of the bed as the wolf scrambled up and curled up on top of the blanket, practically on top of her, in a position guaranteed to keep her warm, as well as in one place, until he deigned to move.

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Someone was banging on her door. “Akila!” Briam sounded worried. “Open the door! Are you all right?"

Akila opened her eyes. The sun was just starting to rise, and she wished with all her heart that she didn't have to follow its example. But Briam seemed about ready to break down the door she had bolted last night, so she had to get up and reassure him before he wakened everyone in the palace.

"I'm coming, Briam, just a minute!” She jumped out of bed and almost fell over as everything turned black before her eyes. She grabbed the bedpost to steady herself until normal sight returned, then carefully picked up her bedgown and put it on before opening the door.

Briam looked at her and said, “You look awful! Have you been changing again?"

"Hush, for the love of the Lady! Do you want Druscilla and the Shield-Bearer to hear you?"

"They're with the Queen,” Briam said sullenly. “I'm not an idiot, you know."

"No, love, I know you're not,” Akila said hastily. “I'm just worried, that's all."

"What have you got to worry about?” Briam asked. “I'm the one who has to spend all day being on display. I only hope I remember the right words to the blessings. Oh, well, no doubt it will be easier next year."

"I certainly hope so,” Akila said, reaching for her clothes.
I wonder where we'll be next year
. “As long as you're here, Briam, would you please lace me up?"