Fire of the Soul (24 page)

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “The
lives of young children are involved. Of course I’ll help.”
Durand’s proposal seemed to her to be the only way she could redeem
herself in Garit’s eyes. But he, it seemed, still nurtured doubts
about her.

“Can we be sure she’s trustworthy?” he asked.
“How do we know she won’t betray us to Mallory?”

“She’ll never betray us,” Durand said,
“because she loves – she loves Lady Elgida, and Mairne, too. You
can trust me in this, Garit. Over the years I’ve dealt with all
degrees of men and women, both highborn and low, and I recognize an
honest soul when I meet one. Calia will die rather than betray
us.”

“Yes,” Calia said, her voice trembling with
emotion. “I swear it.”

Watching her, noting the faint quiver of her
lips when she spoke and the way she drew herself up and squared her
shoulders, Garit wished he could be as certain of her as Durand
was. He no longer intended to court and wed her. Considering whose
daughter she was, he couldn’t even contemplate taking such a
step.

And yet, to his dismay, he still wanted her.
His arms ached to enfold her. Seeing the tears that stood in her
grey-green eyes, he longed to kiss that moisture away, and then to
settle his mouth over hers for a sweet, tantalizing, yet satisfying
kiss like those he had enjoyed during their tender interlude on the
deck of
The Kantian Queen.

But she lied to you,
he told himself,
and turned his back on her and on the temptation she represented,
to glare at his grandmother while he did his best to ignore the
painful void in his heart.

Lady Elgida paid no heed to his barely
concealed emotions. She was too busy listening to what Durand was
saying, and Garit realized that he’d do well to pay attention, too.
He’d need to know what Durand was planning so he could protect his
grandmother. After what he’d just heard, he held no doubt at all
that Lady Elgida, despite her advanced age, was prepared to rush
into danger as eagerly as any inexperienced knight rushed into
battle.

“We’ll need to remain here at Kinath for
another day or two,” Durand said. He looked slowly around at the
group assembled in Lady Elgida’s chamber, his glance including each
person there as an accomplice in his plans. “During that time we
will all gather as much information as possible about Mallory’s
intentions. We will not reveal what we are about, not to anyone at
all, nor will we react if provoked. So far as the inhabitants of
Kinath are concerned, we are merely travelers who are grateful for
a respite during a long journey, and for the promise of protection
as we ride to Kerun City under Sir Mallory’s leadership. Is that
understood?”

“Yes,” came the response from everyone,
except Garit.

“The journey ends here,” Garit said. “I will
not allow my grandmother to travel in company with Mallory. It’s
too dangerous.”

“Really, Garit—” Lady Elgida began.

“I quite agree.” Durand raised a hand to stop
Lady Elgida’s objection to what Garit had said. To Garit’s
amazement, his grandmother fell silent at once.

“My lady,” Durand said, “I hope you are good
at pretense, for I will require your help.”

“To do what?” Lady Elgida asked, looking
excited.

“First, to learn from Lady Fenella exactly
when she and her husband intend to leave for Kerun. I haven’t been
able to pry that information out of Mallory. Perhaps a woman will
prove more effective.”

“Fenella may not know Mallory’s plans,” Calia
said. “Her convenience will not matter to him. He will simply
expect her and all of their attendants to be packed and ready to
leave whenever he is.”

“At some point he’ll have to give the stable
hands a bit of notice, so they can prepare the horses and have the
baggage carts ready,” Anders pointed out.

“Yes, indeed.” Durand nodded. “Since Mallory
is going to court, he’ll be traveling in some state. That means he
won’t be able to keep his plans secret from everyone who’s going
with him. Now then; before Mallory’s departure, preferably when he
is so close to leaving that remaining here will seriously
inconvenience him, Lady Elgida will become ill.”

“Will I?” Lady Elgida grinned at him.

“You will be too sick to travel by land,”
Durand continued, looking suitably grave and sorrowful. “In fact,
you will be so weak that you won’t be able to sit a horse. We will
have to carry you down that dreadful, winding hill path in a
litter, and put you to bed aboard
The Kantian Queen.
Your
two women will attend you, of course, for you will need their
nursing skills. Garit will not want to leave his grandmother in her
distress. As for me, I have no reason to desert the ship on which
most of my worldly goods are presently stowed.”

“Very clever,” Garit reluctantly
acknowledged. “If your plan works, we will all be free of Mallory’s
presence until we reach Kerun.”

“A journey which we ought to accomplish more
quickly by sea than Mallory can do by land,” Durand added. “We
should have ample time to present the information we gather here to
King Dyfrig before Mallory arrives, along with the letter I am
carrying noting King Henryk’s suspicions about certain of the
Kantian nobles.”

“We will also have time enough to demand that
Dyfrig transfer guardianship of Belai and Kinen to Garit, who is,
after all, blood kin to those boys,” Lady Elgida said, looking
pleased. “Kinship counts for a good deal with the Kantians. Yes,
Lord Durand, I agree. That is how we will proceed. I do appreciate
a well-laid plan.”

Except that well-laid plans don’t always
unfold as intended
, Garit thought, but did not say aloud.

“What were you scheming about?” Mallory
demanded of Calia an hour later when he intercepted her while she
crossed the inner bailey. “Don’t think that I am unaware of what
happens in this castle. I know you and your friends were closeted
in Lady Elgida’s chamber for a long time, with that sour-faced
man-at-arms standing outside the door to prevent anyone from
hearing what went on in there.”

“Oh,” Calia said, doing her best to appear
innocent, though her heart was pounding in fear of him, “were you
trying to eavesdrop? And you couldn’t bribe Winn to listen for
you?” She kept walking across the inner bailey, heading for the
little chapel. Mallory grabbed her elbow, stopping her.

“I advise you not to tease me,” he warned in
a chilling voice.

Calia felt the cold touch of his corrupt
Power. Her well-trained barriers were firmly in place, so he
couldn’t detect her own Power. He never had recognized it in the
past. Mallory’s contempt for her ran so deep that he didn’t believe
she possessed any Power at all.

“When have I ever dared to tease you, or make
fun of you?” she asked. “Though you mocked me often enough for
being ugly and stupid and baseborn, I never found the courage to
taunt you.”
Until now,
she thought as Garit’s image rose in
her mind. For his sake, to help him and to regain his trust, she’d
face down all the demons in the world, even Mallory.

“Tell me what you’ve learned,” he
demanded.

“Not much,” she said, following Duran’s
instructions. “Lady Elgida rather likes Fenella and looks forward
to spending time with her during the journey to Kerun City.”

“Which says something about Lady Elgida’s
intelligence,” Mallory responded with a sneer. “She’s welcome to
Fenella’s company. The wench clings to me like a leech.”

“I gather that your wife is fond of you,”
Calia murmured, and forbore to comment on what that fondness said
of Fenella’s intelligence.

“She enjoys bed-sport and for the moment I am
keeping her content,” Mallory said. “But she is stupid and a bore.
I look forward to more lively and intelligent conversation with
certain women at court. What now, dear sister? You look shocked.
Every man is unfaithful when he has the chance. You and I know that
better than most; it’s how we were conceived,” he finished with a
wolfish smile.

“Don’t you care for Fenella at all? If not,
why did you marry her?” Calia cried.

“I married her to get my hands on Kinath.”
Mallory shrugged, closing the subject. “What else have you
learned?”

“Lady Elgida is overtired after the sea
voyage. She claims she’ll be well enough to undertake the long ride
to Kerun City with you, but I worry about her. She is quite old,
you know, and more fragile than she appears.” These revelations
were part of Durand’s plan to declare Lady Elgida too ill to travel
by land just when Mallory was ready to leave Kinath. Durand had
insisted they would need to drop a few hints in advance, to prepare
Mallory to accept the idea. Calia hadn’t expected her brother to
look so interested, though.

“Let us hope that by the time the old lady
reaches Kerun, she will be too tired and too unwell to cause any
trouble for me,” he said.

“She doesn’t plan to make any trouble,” Calia
insisted. “All she wants is to meet her grandsons. She talks about
them constantly. She is so proud that they’ve been made pages to
Queen Laisren. I think she sees their appointments as a tribute to
her late husband and her son.”

“In fact,” Mallory told her, his gaze
icy-cold on her face, “my efforts gained them their positions.
My efforts,
Calia, not the reputations of two men who are
long dead.”

“I rather thought that was the case, though I
did not say so to her,” Calia said, wanting to pacify his easily
stirred temper. “I’m afraid that is all I have to tell you at the
moment. Garit and Lord Durand are concerned about Lady Elgida’s
health. That’s why they were in her chamber.” To her relief,
Mallory just shrugged at the explanation.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

“To the chapel, to say a few prayers to the
Great God Sebazious,” she answered. “I’ll offer a private
thanksgiving for our safe sea voyage and a plea that the land
portion of our journey will prove equally safe.”

“Womanish prayers achieve nothing in this
world,” Mallory declared with fine masculine arrogance. “Well, go
on then if you must. But don’t linger too long. I want you at Lady
Elgida’s side, or at Garit’s, to listen to everything they
say.”

“Yes, Brother.” Calia bowed her head meekly
and stood where she was until Mallory made a disgusted remark about
her religious devotion and stalked away.

The chapel was small, damp and, like
everything else Calia had seen at Kinath, it was utterly devoid of
decoration. A plain wooden sun disk hung on the wall behind the
altar, but no candlesticks or fair linen cloth softened the block
of pale stone. Nor could Calia detect any lingering sign of a
castle mage. Just as she had expected knowing Mallory, there were
no prayer cushions to ease the discomfort of knees bowed to the
stone floor.

Feeling a little guilty for craving that bit
of comfort, Calia bunched her wool skirt and her cloak together and
knelt on the fabric. She wondered how often in the past Lady Elgida
had come to the chapel seeking comfort. Then she made a promise to
herself that she’d bring a pillow along if her mistress decided to
visit.

She didn’t know where Lord Belai or Garit’s
father, Kinen, were buried. When she looked around she saw no
indication of a crypt below the chapel. Perhaps the two previous
lords had been interred where they died, near a field of
battle.

Slowly the silence began to envelop her.
Calia bowed her head to whisper the ancient invocation re-enforcing
the barriers that kept her Power hidden from others. As always, the
phrases she had memorized during her time at Talier Beguinage
cleared her mind, allowing a certain degree of peace to descend on
her. The profound quiet filling her soul gave her comfort, eased
her guilt over having deceived Garit, and allowed her to offer up a
sincere prayer for the safety of everyone in Lady Elgida’s party
and also for the two little boys who were the focus of Mallory’s
evil menace.

She was just about to rise when a step behind
her made her turn.

“I beg your pardon,” Garit said. “I didn’t
mean to interrupt your devotions.”

“You aren’t interrupting. I have finished.”
She trod on her hem as she tried to stand, then stumbled and almost
fell. Garit caught her and for just a moment she was safely
encircled by his strong arm. She longed to rest her head on his
shoulder, but he stepped away.

“Please,” she whispered, “here in this sacred
place, tell me the truth. Can you forgive me?”

“For lying?” His voice was so cold that she
shivered to hear it.

“I never lied to your grandmother. You know
as much from her own lips. You also know that I wanted to tell you
who my father was, but she would not allow it. She has her own
reasons for what she does and they are usually good reasons, but I
hated misleading you, Garit.”

In her eagerness to convince him, she put out
her hand toward him. To her surprise, he caught it and carried it
to his lips. Then she was in his arms, crushed against his chest,
and he was kissing her. Calia found little tenderness in his
embrace. He was angry still, and he no doubt felt betrayed by her
deception, despite her reasons for it. Those violent emotions were
evident in the way he ravaged her mouth, forcing her lips apart,
his tongue surging into her, taking, taking, until her knees
buckled beneath her and only his arms kept her upright.

He thrust her away suddenly and with a
roughness that told her he didn’t really want to end the
embrace.

“Dear heaven,” he growled at her, “will you
attempt to seduce me even here in this place of sacred Power?”

“I was not seducing you!” she cried. “I was
asking for your forgiveness. But if you cannot bring yourself to
understand that I was only obeying your grandmother’s wishes, then
I have nothing more to say to you. I will not beg again. Forgive me
or not, as you please.”