Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) (20 page)

As she went through that tunnel out into the
other side, Quinn’s jaw dropped. It was like she’d emerged into a
new world. The first thing that hit her was the noise. Everywhere,
and from all directions, she was bombarded. It was nothing like the
port either, because Kahnel had felt like sheer chaos. Here, it
seemed vaguely organised. The market lined the main roads,
filtering off into the side streets. Civilised, calm people drifted
from stall to stall. She could hear banter and bartering on top of
that too. No one paid them any heed as they passed, as if Evander
and his men were a common sight.

Perhaps the order came from the sheer number
of guardsmen. As they came to a crossroads, the captain brought
them to a halt. A smaller march, only six horses, came from a
street to the east. They shared a hushed conversation in a tongue
Quinn didn’t understand. Evander had been speaking to her in the
language of Everfell, and she had just assumed that this language
would be used throughout the city. That clearly wasn’t the case,
and whilst some of the words seemed familiar, apparently she had
more learning to do.

The got the other guards moved on, and Quinn
found her voice. “What language did you use then?”

“A dialect particular to Farn, but not too
dissimilar to the common tongue spoken by your people. You’ll get
them all over Sha’sek, and it’s one reason why we often tend to use
the common, instead. We all learn it as children. It’s key to us,
because it is the only language consistent across all of the
islands. Without it, there would be no kind of no alliances between
any of the islands. We wouldn’t be able to talk, so how could we
negotiate a peace?”

“Instead you can speak the language of
Everfell and negotiate a war?”

The captain laughed. “I’ll never be senior
enough to negotiate a war, girl, and you shouldn’t pretend to
assume that we were the ones that caused it."

Quinn settled back into silence, taking in
Farn’s details. She was obsessed with the colours. The walls had
been grey and dull, like the Everfell stone, but inside was a
totally different story.

The ground wasn’t cobbled, it was sandy and
hard. Hued with browns and reds, it didn’t look like it belonged
within city walls. The market stands were sheltered with silks in
places, though most were covered by canvases dyed in what seemed
like hundreds of different shades. The people, too, wore clothing
with vibrant and even garish colours, in stark contrast to the
boring grey trousers that she saw everywhere in Everfell. The only
people at court who seem to echo the fashions here were the
nobility, and sometimes that even seemed for the sake of being
different to the commoners.

Here, it seemed to be the norm, even some
sort of competition between people to see who could wear the most
garishly outlandish garments. Quinn did realise that she was
staring, but no one told her to stop, so she didn’t. Here and
there, she did send out tendrils of her power, trying to see how
people in the city thought and felt, rather than assuming their
anonymous smiles and the occasional ripples of laughter were signs
of contentment.

She couldn’t find much by way of
ill-feeling, and decided to save her powers and her efforts for the
council themselves. She wished she could see Maertn and Ross, if
only to speak to them. She should be experiencing this with Maertn.
She hoped that their sacrifice to protect her hadn’t all been in
vain: that they wouldn’t be executed or banished as soon as they
were presented to the council. Quinn didn’t think her life was in
danger, but she couldn’t assume anything on the part of her
friends.

Despite Evander
’s
truthful words, her deep-set fears were realised. Without warning,
Evander kicked his horse into a gallop. He left his men, and
Quinn’s friends, far behind. Ignoring the cries around him, Evander
skilfully led his horse through a black opening in a grey wall and
slowing down, placed a dirty wet rag over Quinn’s mouth. She
choked, panicking. The darkness swallowed Quinn. She was alone.

Quinn found out quickly
that a bedroom in one city was much like any other. She had woken
with a pounding headache, which had been anticipated by someone. A
mug was on a table by the head of her bed, and she recognised the
stench from concoctions Maertn had made for her before. She grabbed
it, groggily, and choked it down without being forced.

Quinn swung herself out of bed. Looking
down, she was relieved to see that she was still in her clothes
from yesterday. It was important that she hadn’t been undressed;
that she had been left what little respect that gave her after
being drugged. There was one curtained window in her room, though
it did nothing to block the fact it was evidently day. Quinn had
padded halfway across the room before realising she was barefoot,
and treading on carpet. It was a delightful feeling compared to
flagstones and wobbly decking, and she tried to crush her feet
further down. Sliding her feet along the way, she pulled the
curtain to one side.

Quinn squinted against the bright sun. It
was brighter than she remembered it ever being in Everfell. Her
room overlooked an enclosed courtyard. At the centre was a bare,
dead ash tree. There were people walking down there, and none of
them seemed in any hurry. Sammah had been the lone voice against
the overwhelming opinion that Sha’sek was full of lascivious
barbarians. The serene courtyard below belied that opinion.

A timid knock came at her door. Before
thinking about it, Quinn answered, “
Come
in.
”

The door opened, and a
young woman
entered. She must have been around Quinn’s age,
and curtsied as she came through the door. “Excuse me, my lady, but
I’m here to get you bathed and dressed.”

“Dressed? I’m already dressed?”

“
I don
’t mean to
be rude my lady, but… well… you’re…”

Quinn felt the nerves roiling off the girl
and gave her a break. “I know, I need a bath at least.” She looked
down at the filth on her clothes. “And maybe I could change. Who’s
asked you to do this?”

“The council, my lady. They’ve requested to
see you.”

* * *

“Why am I on my own?”

“We didn’t need to see all three of you at
once, child. We’ve already seen your friends.”

“I’m not a child.”

“You look like one. You sound like one. You
have to change at least one of those things, for us to think about
you differently.”

Quinn jammed her mouth shut. That sounded
like nonsense, and she didn’t want to get trapped into playing
mind-games with a panel of councillors far more seasoned at
political intrigue than she. The voices of the councillors echoed
in the cavernous chamber, and this made Quinn feel infinitely
small. It had been less intimidating when she’d stood in front of
Vance, waiting for his judgement of exile. She had expected the
council to be an intimidating prospect, but she hadn’t expected to
come up against fifteen daunting people so soon into her stay in
Farn.

Seated at the centre of the long table was a
man that looked so like Sammah that he had to be Pax. Of the
others, she counted nine men and five women. So, this table
constituted the ultimate power in Sha’sek. These were the men and
women that would decide the fate of both kingdoms; whether or not
they would again go to war.

“My brother sent us much about you. We feel
like we know you already as one of our own. How was your
journey?”

“Is that why I’m here? Benign pleasantries?”
Quinn couldn’t hold in her frustration, despite her trepidation.
“Just tell me what you brought me here for, or ask me the questions
you’ve already got planned.”

Baron Pax laughed.
“Sammah told me you were a timid thing, yet look at this lioness I
have in front of me! It looks like my brother isn’t as good at
examining people as he thought he was. You want me to be quick
Quinn, so I shall be quick. Sha’sek needs you.”

“Needs me for what?”

“We’re not ready to say yet, but we do know
that we need you. There are no more empaths. You are the last of
your kind. My brother was studying you for a reason.”

“You brother wasn’t just studying me…”

“I know,” the baron broke in. “I know what
he intended, and please believe me, Quinn, none of us knew that he
was planning that. Sammah didn’t have our support in that, and he
didn’t have our support in trying to dethrone King Vance either. Is
that what you wanted to hear?”

“It’s what everyone wants to hear. Is it
true?”

“
You tell me.
”

Quinn rolled her eyes. Again, she had been
reminded to use a power she had grown up fighting. Why did she have
such reluctance to use her power here of all places, where people
with abilities were so prevalent? “Fine. I…I didn’t want to just
use my ability here, not without you all knowing. Not with the way
the wars started. Not after what Nerren did.”

“You’re nothing like Nerren, Quinn. You
can’t get in trouble for being yourself here either, not like
Everfell. You don’t have to hide yourself anymore. You’d have
needed to hide, even if you hadn’t been Sammah’s. Believe it or
not, he was doing it for your own good. You knew enough the truth
of that, when they all found out who you were.”

Quinn nodded. “I wasn’t surprised, really.
Although I
was
surprised that I wasn’t just executed.”

“We were pleasantly surprised by that,
though I’m not hiding the fact that I’m delighted for you to be
here.”

“Delighted? Sammah always led me to believe
that I’d be in danger here, too, after the Empath Wars.”

“Empaths can be a sensitive subject amongst
some of us. Notwithstanding the last war, we know very little about
your kind. My brother was doing a great thing by studying you,
though he did cross over the line somewhat. The part of the reason
we need you here, is to control you.”

“
Control
me? I’m hardly a spitfire,
baron.”

“Perhaps. That might be because you don’t
know enough about your powers yet. You definitely haven’t been told
enough about the politics between our two peoples. What Sammah has
done in Everfell has thrown the council’s own plans into complete
chaos, and there’s a lot of work in front of us to stop us from
descending into all-out war.”

“You
don’t
want
war? I
’m confused.”

“
Ah, we want
war
…just not yet.”

Realisation dawned on Quinn. “Lord Shiver?
Sammah was manipulating him, wasn’
t he?
And
that
you knew about.”

“Yes, we knew what Sammah was goading Shiver
against Vance, and the lord was more than willing to take the bait.
The plan we had was simple. We need to get off the islands, for
good. We don’t have enough of a force to wage war. We push Everfell
towards civil war, and wait until the end. Then, we sail in, and
pick up the pieces.”

“That seems
too
simple.”

“It was working. It’s the plan that results
in the least Sha’
sekian loss. You
’re
central to those plans Quinn, whether you like it or not. We don’t
want you to be like Nerren. If you were like that, Sammah would
have been ordered to kill you. But we do need everyone with your
type of ability to be on our side in this.”

“You said I was the last of my kind?”

“You are the last true empath. There are
others with similar abilities. None manifest themselves so
completely
as you. Some children have a vague sense of
emotion. Others are able to inflict very particular thoughts. You,
though, have all of their capabilities, and more. The more we know
about you, the more we can know about them. You will be our most
powerful weapon and ally, and you will lead the way when the
Sha’sekians return to the mainland.”

“What if refuse?”

“Firstly, I doubt you will refuse. You might
hate Sammah, but you’ve been rejected by the people of Everfell,
and you are not welcome back there for as long as you live. You
know your rightful place is here, so why reject helping us? Of
course, if you feel so foolish, there is the small matter of our
holding your friend and your guide captive. If you don’t help us,
they will be killed.”

Pax stated this so matter-of-factly; the
rest of the council looked so stone-faced, that Quinn was shocked.
“You wouldn’t. Maertn is a healer; one of us. How could you do
that?”

“We will do anything and everything
necessary to preserve the future of our people. The more you learn
about us, the more you will come to understand that. For now, we
just need to keep you in line. This was the only way we saw it to
be possible. I don’t like it, I know you’re going to hate it. You
will come to understand the Sha’sekian way. And then you’ll
understand why we’re doing this.”

“I will never fight for Sha’sek.”

“An understandable position, based on our
first conversation. However, I don’t believe you. Your friend Ross
is dangerous. He will be held comfortably, in a suite, but under
constant armed guard. Your Maertn will work as a healer; he is
useful, powerful, and I don’t want his talents becoming dull
sitting in custody day-in-day-out.

“You…well, you already know what you’re
going to be for us. We are going hire a swordmaster to teach you to
fight. You’re no use to us dead. When war comes, we need you to be
able to protect yourself. You’ll be taken to your rooms now, and
you’ll live in the lap of luxury. It will be the opposite of the
life you had in Everfell, Quinn, and I cannot deny, I think you are
going to love it.”

The baron waved his hand, dismissing her.
Some guards came forward to take her away, but Quinn stepped
forward before they could grab her. Pax didn’t even look up, and
those at the council who were looking at her, regarded her with
disdain.
Delighted you’re here
. She wasn’t going to be
dragged away like some criminal. She hated it, hated everything
about Sha’sek so far. Tears started to stream down Quinn’s face,
and she turned ashamedly away from the councillors, not wanting
them to see the frustration and weakness. The thing she hated most
so far, was that everything Baron Sammah had said, had so far been
true.