Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (46 page)

The guardian on the left had an
older weather-beaten face, like a man who had spent too many days
at sea. His eyes narrowed. “The prisoner was returned from
interrogation only a short while ago. Our orders are that no-one be
allowed in to see her without Girmala’s express
permission.”

Lyall stood his ground. “We are
sent by Girmala. There is some information she provided that he
wishes to clarify.”

“Girmala sent you,
Keltar?”

“You doubt my word?”

“No–no of course not.” His tone
suddenly changed. “Forgive me, Lord.” He sounded solicitous–too
solicitous. “Do you wish us to accompany you or shall
we–”

In a split second, Shann saw the
steel in the man’s eye. The subtle shift of balance onto the balls
of his feet. The barest twitch of his fingers on the hilt of his
blade. Suddenly, Keris’ staff was in her hand like a living thing,
its movement a blur, faster than thought. The wood impacted against
the guardian’s temple and he dropped like a sack of moba root. She
shifted her attention towards the younger slender-faced, dark-eyed
guardian, but Lyall’s staff was already in motion. He swung it with
great force at the youth’s midriff. The youngster doubled up as
every ounce of breath was forcibly expelled from his lungs. A
moment later, Lyall brought the staff down on the back of his head.
The boy fell to the ground face down and did not move. Lyall looked
over at Shann, his brow knotted.

“He was going for his weapon,”
Shann explained.

An odd flicker passed over
Lyall’s face. “The key?”

Shann sheathed
the staff and ran her hand over the guardian’s serge until she felt
an irregular shape.
“Got it.”
She handed the large flat key to Lyall who opened
the door. They quickly dragged the supine forms
inside.

Shann peered
into the dimly lit room. It was featureless save for a pallet in
the far corner. As she moved towards the pallet, she saw a figure
lying motionless. A figure in a dark suit, with long black
hair.
Keris
.
Shann bent over her and felt the warmth of her olive skin, a faint
breath of air from her nostrils.
“She’s
alive.”
As she examined the woman she
realised with a jolt that the side of her face was badly bruised
and swollen and there were contusions on her forehead and neck,
smeared with drying white blood.
What have
they done to you?

Keris opened
her eyes slowly and looked up at Shann. Her expression turned to
disbelief.
“You.”

Shann’s
feelings of pity began to evaporate.
Maybe
we should just leave you here.

Lyall appeared behind her.
“Keris, are you all right? Can you move?”

With some effort, Keris propped
herself up on her elbows. “I’ll manage.” Her voice sounded thick in
her mouth. Shann helped Keris to her feet. She unsheathed Keris’
diamond bladed staff and handed it to her. Keris’ right hand was
covered with a makeshift bandage ripped from her own clothing.
Dried blood had seeped through. Shann wanted to ask her what
happened but was gagged by the bile rising in her
throat.

The solidness
of Keris’ staff seemed to strengthen her, and she drew herself
erect. She moved stiffly over to where the guardians lay and knelt
next to the younger one, grabbing him with her unbandaged hand and
shaking him by the scruff of the neck. He came to, groggily. Her
voice rasped.
“My things. Where are
they?”

The guardian pointed. “Two doors
down. Don’t–” Keris cuffed him back to silence. They exited the
detention room. Lyall locked it behind them and led the way down
the corridor. Stopping at the designated room, Lyall listened; then
tested the door. It was unlocked. They slipped inside. The room was
dimly lit, with a table at the centre and an assortment of cabinets
lining the walls. Lyall watched the door while Keris and Shann
began lifting lids and rifling through drawers. “Hurry it up,” he
hissed.

Shann glanced
across at the other woman, taking in the extent of her injuries,
the way she winced when her body turned a certain way. She realised
that her sense of shock derived not just from the damage done to
Keris but the damage done to her own expectations. Ever since the
Keltar had appeared in their path on the highway outside Gort,
Shann had been convinced that she was the enemy. Keltar are the
eyes and ears of the Prophet–everyone knew that. Later on the
Eastern Plains, when she caught Keris using the Speaker Ring, there
seemed no room for doubt. The timing of the woman’s ‘kidnap’ the
night before their departure seemed altogether too perfect. Shann
had fully expected to find a trap waiting for them. Now, seeing
firsthand the abuse meted out to her by the agents of the Prophet,
brought Shann face to face with a jarring
thought–
could I have been wrong about her
all along?

“Here it is.” Keris extracted her
pack from a small chest. She pulled out the flying cloak and cast
it about her shoulders, fumbling one-handed. Shann went over and
helped her secure the neck clasp. As their eyes met, Shann searched
the other woman for answers. The side of her face was puffy and one
eye was partly closed, but there was the same angular nose and lean
features–the same black eyes, hard as diamonds and just as
unfathomable. “Thank you.” Keris’ voice held an edge of concealed
pain.

“All right,
let’s move.” Lyall opened the door a crack; then motioned for the
others to follow. Retracing their steps, they turned the corner and
passed the stairwell.
Footsteps and
agitated voices from the floor below. The creak of heavy boots
ascending the stairs.
Lyall urged the two
women forward. “Get out of here,
now.
”

“What are you doing?” Shann
hissed.

“I’ll try and
slow them down.
Move
.”

No.
Shann’s protest died on her lips as she realised
with a sickening feeling that she had no staff with which to fight.
She could not ask Keris for hers back–the older woman was leaning
heavily on it, barely able to stand. Flushed with anger at her own
impotence, Shann turned and headed for the room at the rear of the
building where she and Lyall had entered earlier. Keris hobbled
along in her wake.
Shouts of surprise and
anger
. Shann checked over her shoulder and
was granted a vision of Lyall, feet firmly planted, staff held out
defensively against an onrush of attackers. She reached the door
and held it open for Keris.
“In
here,”
she called, a little too harshly.
Keris, who seemed to be expending every ounce of willpower in just
keeping moving, obeyed without comment or
argument.

Shann dashed to
the open window and climbed onto the ledge. Grabbing the rope, she
turned back to address Keris. “Wait here.” As she abseiled down the
side of the building, her only thoughts were of Lyall.
Stay alive
. Her boots
settled down onto the hard packed dirt of the alleyway. She
released the rope and flared both the bronze and upper lodestone
layers of her cloak. As she looked up, Keris’ head appeared at the
window.
“Jump,”
Shann commanded.

She watched as
Keris climbed awkwardly onto the window sill, opened her cloak and
stepped into empty air. Shann felt the sudden pressure on her
shoulders, as Keris used the lodestone in Shann’s cloak to slow her
descent. The tall woman touched down beside her, and Shann saw her
shoulders sag. Shann fixed her eyes once more on the upstairs
window, looking for signs of Lyall.
Come
on…
Moments stretched and attenuated into
spans. Keris stood beside her and sighed.

You would
abandon him again, wouldn’t you? Just as you did in the
Pits.
“We are
not
leaving without
Lyall.”

“I had no
intention of doing so,” Keris said.
No. Of
course you didn’t.

There was a commotion from above.
Suddenly a dark silhouette launched itself from the window. Shann
felt a downward push once again as Lyall dropped towards them,
framed by the crimson night sky. He landed lightly. Above them,
figures at the window scanned the alley below.

“Let’s go.”
Lyall led the way as they rounded the building and came out onto
the main thoroughfare. A knot of people were gathered up the hill,
still preoccupied by the mysterious fire at the blacksmith’s shop.
The party set off in the opposite direction, down the hill towards
the docks.
Shouts behind
them
. Shann glanced back as an armed group
spilled out onto the street and started after them. There were no
Asoli anywhere nearby–by accident or design? There was no time to
speculate. Keris was doing her best to keep up, but it was apparent
that she was struggling. Lyall grabbed her arm, pulled it around
his shoulder and propelled them both forward.

As they reached
a crossroads, Shann looked over her shoulder once more. The others
were gaining on them. They would catch them before they reached the
docks for certain.
An odd roaring
sound
. All of a sudden, a large cart
trundled out of the side street and onto the intersection. The cart
held barrels of pitch. They were on fire. The cart skidded to a
halt and barrels dislodged themselves, bursting and spreading
burning tar over the cobbles. At the same moment, three figures
jumped from the buckboard; one a strange shelled creature, one in a
light blue dress and short fair hair, the last with a round face,
topped off with an absurd red cap. Alondo, Oliah and Boxx hurried
to catch up to them.

“How’d we do?” Alondo asked
Lyall.

Behind them, the pursuers had
been stopped dead in their tracks by the flaming barrier. The
shouts had risen in pitch to cries of anger and alarm. “Well done,
indeed. Let’s hope that holds them for a while.”

They hurried
past deserted stalls and shadowed doorways, finally bursting out
onto the open wharf. The sky above the rooftops to the west was
lightening with the promise of dawn.
Annata’s Reach
lay alongside two
square rigged caravels, like a small child flanked by parents that
towered over it. At the top of the gangway, Patris was beckoning to
them urgently.

Lyall supported Keris up the
gangway. Shann embraced Oliah and they held on to each other for a
long moment. Shann felt the tears welling up in her eyes and let
them flow. They released each other and Oliah embraced Alondo. He
whispered something in her ear and she buried her head against his
shoulder. Boxx stood on its hind limbs, head cocked to one side,
and watched them curiously.

Patris called out from the top of
the gangway. “Come on. They’ll be here any moment. We have to
leave.”

Alondo released Oliah, reached
out and brushed her face with the back of his hand. “Get away from
here, quickly.”

She smiled through her tears and
touched his cheek in return. The Speaker Ring was visible on her
finger. “I’ll be fine. Be well. You too, dear sister.”

“I’ll make sure he stays out of
trouble,” Shann promised.

Alondo and
Shann tore themselves away and ran up the gangway, Boxx scampering
behind them. Shann glanced back in time to see Oliah slipping into
the entrance of a building adjoining the wharf area, seeking a safe
vantage point from which to watch the ship’s departure.
When will I see you again, my sister?

As they reached the foredeck,
Patris cut the ropes securing the gangway. It fell into the water
with a satisfying splash. Lyall was already at the cathead, hacking
with his diamond bladed staff at the hawser which secured the ship
to the dock. After a few strokes it was severed and the ship
floated free.

“Grab a pole,” Patris called to
Alondo and Shann. They followed Patris’ lead as he and Lyall picked
up one long oar between them, while she and Alondo hefted the
other. They manhandled their oars on either side of the bowsprit
and shoved off from the dock. They heaved together. Slowly, the
ship began to back out from its mooring, slipping past the hulls of
its larger neighbours until there was clear water on either side.
Patris went to the stern and pulled the rudder hard over. The small
ship began to turn until its prow was pointing out to
sea.

“Where did Keris go?” Shann asked
Lyall.

“She’s in the stern. Boxx is
caring for her. She is badly injured, Shann.”

Shann felt sick
at the injuries inflicted on the older woman. But that did not
change who and what she was. She may have turned against her former
masters but that did not absolve her from the crimes she had
committed, not as far as Shann was concerned.
Can you bring back the people you sent to the ore camps to
die? Can you bring back my mother and father? No
.
I risked my life to rescue you.
But don’t expect any sympathy
.