Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) (4 page)

“How do you know you won’t be sensing
me?”

Quinn grinned genuinely, “I always know when
it’s you, Maertn, no matter what you’
re feeling.
I
’ve felt your mind for so long, whether I wanted to or
not,” Quinn added hastily, “that I just know it’s you.”

Maertn nodded thoughtfully, happy with her
explanation. They both knew that early on Quinn had had no control
over her powers, and whilst Maertn had been embarrassed that she’d
known what he was feeling, and angry that she hadn’t told him the
truth about herself, he had had had the last laugh when Quinn had
thought he was in love with her. Maertn had always considered Quinn
to be a sister, never showing anything remotely like a romantic
interest in her.

Quinn took a deep breath, and relaxed her
hold on her power. There was nothing, at first. She didn’t direct
it at Maertn, so unlike her younger days, she couldn’t sense what
he was feeling. She channelled herself in the direction of the
horizon, to the point where Maertn had said someone might be
following them. At first, there was nothing, just the blank canvas
of the rolling landscape. Then, as Quinn felt herself becoming
dizzy through exertion, knowing she was pushing herself to the very
edges of her capabilities, she felt it. There
was
someone
there, following them. Quinn knew this, because she could sense the
single-minded determination. Any lesser concentration, or wayward
mix of emotions, and Quinn was certain that she wouldn’t have felt
anything. This person, though, was determined to catch up to them.
Quinn tried to find malice behind the intention. There was none,
but she didn’t know if this was simply because the person was too
far away. Like Maertn, though, she knew that person. She had sensed
the same soul enough times to be able to tell who it was, without
even needing to lay her eyes on them. Quinn gulped. This was not
going to be good.

Eden stretched out, and
was shocked into alert wakefulness when his roaming arm found
nothing and he realised Quinn wasn’t in the bed any more.

“She can’t have. She didn’t.” Eden muttered
angrily, hurling himself out of the bed and scrambling around for
his trousers. The room was warm despite the brazier being empty and
cold, and he didn’t bother looking for a shirt before dashing
across the corridor to Maertn’s rooms. Eden knew before booting the
door open that Quinn wouldn’t be in there. The door was slightly
ajar, and Maertn never left his door open, whether he was in the
room or not. Still, Eden had to see for himself. The bed was
stripped. He threw the lid off the dresser chest with a snarl. It
was empty. Eden whirled around, looking for any scrap of hope that
Maertn hadn’t left. Because if Maertn was gone, Quinn would be gone
too. That she would leave without him…his heart began to pump, his
breath coming hard as he tried to control his anger. She had
promised him.
Of course she had. Anything to take you off
guard
.

Eden shook his head, trying to clear his
thoughts. This wasn’t about him. It was about Quinn. A glance out
of Maertn’s windows showed him the sun was already well up. Vance
had made it clear to Quinn, that she was not welcome in the city.
Quinn had no choice. Trial, over exile? Certain death over a new
life?

Eden had wanted to be a part of that life,
though. He had thought Quinn loved him, like he loved her. Quinn
had told him that his father needed him, but Eden didn’t think that
was true. Shiver had betrayed Sevenspells and Everfell by his
alliance with Sammah, and the man was going to get everything he
deserved. Frustrated, pacing the room and running his fingers
through his bedraggled hair, Eden began to rationalise. No, he
couldn’t have gone with Quinn. He was an heir of Sevenspells, and
with power now passing to Rowan, Eden was suddenly higher in the
line of succession than anyone had anticipated. His brother would
have to authorise his absence, and whilst he didn’t think Rowan
could care less, they would also need Vance’s say-so. With their
father standing trial for treason, Eden didn’t think that any of
the Sevenspells retinue would be allowed out of the castle, let
alone the city. He wouldn’t be surprised if messengers had been
despatched to fetch their mother to court. She wouldn’t help
matters one jot. How much of Shiver’s plans had
she
known?

With Maertn’s rooms empty, there was no
point in looking for Quinn. Eden needed to take his frustrations
out on someone though, so he stalked down the corridor looking for
Ross. He’d be astonished if Quinn had snuck out of the city without
speaking to him first. Eden found Ross in his quarters. The old
mercenary-turned-chamberlain still looked battered from his fights
with Sammah’s bodyguards the day before, and was avoiding the
public eye in the hall for the formal dinnertimes, it seemed. Eden
would be doing the same, more through shame than anything else,
though he would need to find out where his brothers were, and what
they were doing whilst their father stewed in the city gaols.

Ross didn’t look up from his breakfast as
Eden took the only other seat in his sparse quarters. “Would you
like something to eat?” Ross asked around a mouthful of food. Eden
actually thought about it for a second, his empty rumbling stomach
overriding his usual stubbornness. Instead of answering, he grabbed
a bread roll and tore it apart, popping shredded pieces into his
mouth and chewing on them miserably. On the way, his mind had been
full of angry things to say. With Ross’s mute reception, they had
all dissipated. “Don’t be so angry, lad. She didn’t say goodbye to
me, either.”

Eden glanced up. Ross was studying him
carefully. He swallowed the bread dry, and struggled to get it down
his parched throat. “I was meant to be going with her.”

“You didn’t think that would actually
happen, did you?”

Eden’s ire rose at Ross's sarcastic
response, but he quelled it. Ross was right, and Eden had worked
that much out for himself now. “She’s not safe out there on her
own.”

“She’s not safe here,” Ross took a sip of
water, “and she’s not on her own.” The facts didn’t help to calm
Eden’
s mood.

“If I had to bet on one of them in a fist
fight, Quinn would be the winner, and that’s not saying much.
Maertn’s not going to be able to protect her,” Eden replied
bitterly.

“She’s spent enough years doing Sammah’s
dirty work to know when someone is trying to hurt her. Don’t
forget, she’s better prepared than most, to find out others’
ill intent.
”

“I’m not worried about ill-will killing her.
It’s the daggers in her back in the middle of the night that she
needs to worry about.”

Ross kept on chewing for a few moments of
silence, considering Eden’
s words.
“You’ve given her a route through Sevenspells? A seal?
Letters?”

“Of course. I suspected I might not go with
her, but I would never let her go without any support.”

Ross grunted. “Good. The journey through
Sevenspells is the only part of the journey through Everfell that
Quinn and Maertn need to worry about. The lands are still peaceful,
for now, and having consent from a lord to roam freely through his
family’s lands is going to make their passage that much
easier.”

“And what about when they get to Sha’sek?
Aren’t
those
lands dangerous?
”

Ross smirked.
“What do you know about Sha’sek lad, beyond what your father and
teachers have told you?”

Eden opened and closed his mouth a few
times, trying to form a response that didn’t sound like it had come
straight from his father’s mouth.

“
Well,
”
Eden stalled to give himself time to search for
appropriate answer before clearing his throat. “It’s simple, isn’t
it? I mean, they’re just barbarians, aren’t they?”

Ross chuckled, a deep rumble that came from
the very pit of his chest. Eden had the decency to blush, before
remembering that the huge chamberlain had been a mercenary in the
last war, and had fought on the side of Sha’sek. He was speaking to
the only man in the castle with the exception of Sammah, who would
be able to properly educate him on the islands.

“You see Eden, that’s the problem we have.
And that was the problem Quinn was always going to face. No one
here knows what it’s like to live in Sha’sek. No one here even
asks. Everyone is quite happy to tell each other stories of what it
was like during the war, and how it felt to face an army that let
women fight alongside men, where all of them had mystical talents.
What no one talks about is what it’s like to live in Sha’sek.
That’s not because no one knows. That’s because no one here
believes what you have to say.”

“So tell me. I want to know.” Eden leaned
forward across the table, planting his elbows firmly in place and
planting his pleading eyes on Ross. Fine, Sha’sek might not be the
place of horror he’d been brought up to believe it to be. He could
deal with that, if it meant Quinn was going to a better place.

Ross’s eyes twinkled. “Okay lad, I’ll tell
you about Sha’sek. And I know why you’re asking as well, but you
not going to like what I have to tell you.”

“Why? If it means Quinn is going to be safe,
why should I have a problem?”

“Because she won’t just be safe, Eden,
she’ll be with her own people. She’ll be safe, for the first time
in her life, and she won’t feel isolated or segregated from the
rest of the people around her.”

“But Sammah was gifted, and everything that
happened to Quinn was down to him. It was
his
fault she was
isolated, and treated the way she was.”

“Do you know that, for sure? What proof do
you have? Did Quinn ever say that to you?”

Eden sat back in his chair. No, Quinn had
never said it was just Sammah’s fault. And it hadn’t been Sammah,
who made her leave Everfell. “I never made her feel unwelcome,
surely that would make a difference to her?” Eden said desperately,
trying to cling to some hope that this conversation would have some
positive bearing on his future.

Ross shook his head forlornly. “I’m afraid
not lad. You see, after it came out that Quinn was an empath, there
were never going to be a future here for her. Despite the fact that
she’d only been Sammah’s puppet, Vance wouldn’t have wanted someone
like her around. Think about it. Even if Vance had the balls to use
Quinn for his own ends, what would the rest of the lords think at
having someone like her in court? Before long, Quinn would have
been murdered. I think Vance knew that, and he did want to at least
reward the girl for saving his throne.”

“I’m confused. Vance has sent Quinn away as
a reward? But, if she had stayed, he was going to have her put to
trial and we all know full well, that had she gone to trial, she’d
have been executed.” Eden baulked at the using word “So, Vance
didn’t really give her a choice at all, did he?”

Ross gave Eden a lopsided smile. “Now you
get it Eden. See this conversation we’re having here, this is how
Quinn has felt her entire life. She’s been told by people what to
do, where to go, even who to speak to. And even though the king
made it feel like she had a choice, she didn’t. The
choice
was exile or death. What would you have done?” Eden didn’t respond.
Ross ploughed on. “So, she’s done the only thing she could. Quinn
has left for Sha’sek, and what she’s going to find in those
islands, are hundreds upon hundreds of gifted people just like
her.”

“But, I thought empaths were rare?” Eden
said, confusion now clouding his face.

“
I don
’t mean like
her; I mean, just folk with abilities. It’s not just the empaths
that are gifted Eden, haven’t you been paying attention? What’s
Maertn?”

“He’s a healer.”

“Exactly. Not like Torran, though; Maertn
was born to be a healer. It’s a natural skill, in his blood.
Healing comes to him like breathing comes to me and you. Empaths
and healers aren’t the only type of gifted in the islands. Why do
you think the people from Everfell fear them so much; hate them so
much?”

“Why do you think we want to go to war with
them?”

Eden rolled his eyes around, searching for
an answer again. He didn’t have one. No one had ever given him a
good plausible historical reason for the war against Sha’sek. All
he knew, was that the last one had been started by an empath. Even
the actual reasons behind it had never been clarified to him. It
was all conjecture now he realised, and whenever anyone challenged
the truth, it was hidden underneath layers of hypocrisy and
lies.

“The men of Everfell have no idea what they
face in those islands. The population of the seven provinces here
outnumbers Sha’sek perhaps, what, five to one? But take into
account Sha’sek allows their women to fight. That helps even out
the numbers. However, the people of the islands are used to
fighting on ships. The only reason Sha’sek were never going to win
the war, was their reluctance to fight on land. Then again, from
what I could understand, they just wanted the war to end. They were
reacting in self-defence, they just wouldn’t let the men Everfell
force them into submission. That’s why they hired men like me. I
was the intermediary, the kind of man that could fight on land. I
could see the battleground from their standpoint. No, I don’t want
to see my countrymen die against Sha’sekian swords, but the men of
Everfell only attacked Sha’sek out of fear.

“You see, their talents stretch far beyond
healing and emotion. I’ve seen boys cry blood. I’ve seen a child
control the winds, and have seen a blind boy spot rabbits from
two-hundred paces. The range of their abilities is virtually
unimaginable, and though not all of them can be put to war, all of
them can be seen as strange and definitely daunting when you’re a
man of Everfell blood.”