Tears of War (48 page)

“I will stand with you,”
Shryden sent.

Gratitude and love washed over him as he sent back,
“I know you will. Taela will eventually understand, and if not, hopefully forgive me.”

“She will understand. Because of her magic and your bond, she can see the memories you have of this place. But our bond goes much deeper. We are one. I can feel what you felt in those memories. We will do what has to be done.”

He continued to follow the subtle signs that led the way around Trilene and into the canyon that cut behind the southern side of the city. Kellinar halted in a clump of scraggly trees on the rim of the canyon. The others followed suit. He looked back at them. “The trail that leads to the bottom is long, narrow and steep. I’m sure the horses can handle it; however, I would feel better if we led them down rather than ride. As much as I would hate to lose one of the horses, I would hate to lose one of you more. I know your dragons would be quick to Slide into the canyon to keep you from dying, but I don’t want everyone to know about them yet.” He glanced up. High above, four dark specks circled in the washed out blue of the sky.

They reached the ravine floor without mishap over an hour later. Not far from the end of the trail, close up against the stone wall, stood a long tying post. Kellinar tied his horse there and waved to Serena, Anevay, and Taela to do the same.

Taela stopped him as he started to walk away. “What about the saddlebags? Are you just going to leave them there with a bunch of thieves around?”

“Taela, the thieves of the Mallay don’t steal from their own.”

“How do they know who these horses belong to?”

“They don’t, but no one except a thief comes here.” He cocked a grin at her and started walking again. “Don’t worry, the horses and saddlebags are safer here than they would be in the Dellar or the Trilene.”

Kellinar walked a short distance from the tying post. A narrow stream flowed in the middle of the canyon floor. Deep shadows shrouded everything, bringing much needed relief from the heat; the sun only shone down here when it was at its height. The wall of the ravine rose up rough and uneven. At one point, it jutted out in a curve, hiding the wall behind it. Kellinar stepped around the rocky outcrop. The solid wood door stood flush with the rock.

Serena looked around. “I always wondered where this was. Does Loki know where it is?”

“I never showed it to him; he was too young at the time.” Kellinar laughed softly. “I highly doubt that stopped him from finding it though.” He knocked three times on the door and waited. It wouldn’t be long; someone was always on the other side. Whoever had taken his place as the leader—or the leader’s second—would hear the bell ringing when the door watcher pulled the rope and make the trek down to the entrance.

“Please be careful in there, Kellinar.”
Concern filled Shryden’s sending.
“Once you’re inside, there is no way I can get to you if something should go wrong.”

“I will be fine in here,”
Kellinar sent. He tried to bury the seed of doubt deep inside him. Under normal circumstances, his words couldn’t be truer. These weren’t normal circumstances though; he used magic. Would they really welcome him or would they try to kill him?

“You can’t hide your doubt from me, no matter how hard you try. We are one,”
Shryden returned.
“Please be careful.”

Kellinar rubbed his forehead.
“I will be very careful. Besides, Taela will lose her temper with anyone who tries to kill me and probably stick them full of knives.”
His attempt to relieve the dragon’s anxiety with humor was only marginally helpful. He still felt apprehension flowing through his greatest friend.
“If you adjust your flight pattern over the Mallay, you will see a broad stone balcony that fronts the Thieves’ Caves, much like what is in front of your lair only sized for people. I will make my way there and do my best to stay within your sight. Will that make you feel better?”

“Thank you, Kellinar.”

He felt Shryden shift in his mind as the dragon angled toward the Mallay. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to make it out onto the terrace. As long as someone hurried up and answered the shadow-blasted door.

Finally, he heard footsteps on the stone floor beyond the thick wooden door. A square in the upper part slid open and a pair of intense, pale blue eyes stared at him for a long moment before it slammed shut and the heavy latch slid back. The door swung open on silent hinges and an older man stood before them; his short, nearly white hair and deep lined face at odds with his strong body.

Kellinar waited; his body tense and his magic held at the ready.

The man lunged at him and engulfed him in a tight hug. “Kellinar, my boy!”

The tension in Kellinar melted away as he returned the hug. “Belan, it’s good to see you again.”

Belan stepped back but he kept one hand on Kellinar’s shoulder. “What happened to you? Where have you been?” He frowned and cocked his head slightly to the side. “And what in the name of the Fates did you do to your hair?”

Kellinar couldn’t help laughing as he clasped his hand on Belan’s shoulder. “It’s a long story. May we have entrance? I don’t mean to be rude or push you, but I have someone very important waiting to see me on the balcony.”

Belan motioned to the door. “Of course, of course.” He looked at the three women behind Kellinar and inclined his head with a smile. “Serena, it is good to see you again. Still in the company of the less reputable I see.”

Serena laughed softly and walked forward to kiss him on the cheek. “You know me; I can’t seem to stay away from the scoundrel.”

He turned to Taela and his eyebrows rose as he clasped his hands behind his back. “And who do we have here?”

Taela raised her chin. “I am Taela Shamirrin, daughter of Bahar, King of Haraban and a senior member of the Tower of Spirit.”

Belan’s white eyebrows nearly climbed into his hairline as he looked at Kellinar. “You bring a princess to the Thieves’ Caves?”

Kellinar sighed, sensing the prickly indignation flowing through the bond. Bahar had lectured him on dealing with royals in a more diplomatic way; apparently he neglected to lecture Taela on the opposite. “I assure you, she is much more than a princess. In fact, she isn’t even a princess anymore; she gave up that claim in order to accept a greater one. Beyond that, she is my bondmate.” Seeing the confused look on Belan’s face he explained, “Like a wife, only more.”

The other man threw his head back and laughed. “A wife? You? I never thought I would see the day you would settle down.” He glanced at Serena. “I’m surprised it wasn’t you.”

Serena shook her head. “Kellinar and I are very good friends, nothing more.”

Belan turned to Anevay. “And we have another stunning woman of an unusual but beautiful skin color. Who might you be?”

Kellinar laughed inside; if Belan was surprised he had a wife, he was about to be even more so. “That is Anevay, also my bondmate, my wife.”

“Your…” Belan looked at him like he’d grown and extra head. “
Two
wives? You truly are crazy my old friend. One wife to nag is enough for any man foolish enough to settle down and yet you have taken two. I’m not sure if I should envy you or feel sorry for you.”

Two sets of eyes, one dark blue and one rich brown, narrowed at Belan. Kellinar cleared his throat. “We are happy enough.”

He glanced at Taela again and shook his head before looking at Kellinar. “Two wives and one a royal no less; you have changed, my friend.” He waved them toward the passageway beyond the door. “Come, come, join us. You will have to tell what has happened all this time to change you so much.” He held his arm out to Taela. “My lady, allow me to escort you in so that you may see how the other side lives.”

Kellinar stepped smoothly between them. Belan was a good man despite his status as a thief; his touch shouldn’t bother her through the shield, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

At the same time, Anevay flowed forward and gave Belan a dazzling smile as she laid her hand on his arm. “I would be delighted if you would escort me. Taela will prefer to walk with Kellinar.”

Belan seemed briefly stunned by Anevay’s beauty for a moment before he recovered. “It shall be my pleasure, my lady.”

They followed the dim tunnel through rock. Behind them the watcher closed the door. Just above their heads the long cord that ran from the door to the upper chambers and connected with a bell, draped along the hooks set in the ceiling.

Kellinar looked at his old mentor and noticed the new lines the last couple of years had carved into his face. “So, you are the leader of the thieves again?”

Belan nodded and ducked under a low spot in the ceiling. “That I am. I thought when you took over I was set for a nice retirement here in the Thieves’ Caves. But when you left, there really wasn’t anybody else that could do it. A few of them are good, real good, but they lack other knowledge, like the ability to read or count properly. There are a couple of men that stepped forward to learn. They are doing quite well now and have begun to take over a lot of the duties, but no one seems anxious for me to step down.”

He glanced back at Kellinar. “Honestly, I think they have been holding out in the hopes you would return.”

“Even with the charges that were laid against me when I left?”

Belan waved his words away. “We all know you didn’t really do it. They caught and put to death the man that did. Caught him right outside the gates of the Mallay the next morning they did. You didn’t have to leave.”

Oh Fates, they had killed the man they dragged away that day. It seemed so long ago now. Guilt tightened his chest. The man had fallen right in front of him, the memory of his terrified screams as he pled his innocence echoed through his memory. The man had died for no reason.

Not only had they killed the man, they had done it in cold blood. They knew exactly who they were looking for. Keepers had shown up at that inn looking for him and Serena a full five days after they escaped. They must have covered up their failure to find the true magic user by making one up.

He looked at Belan, feeling the weight of the senseless death on his shoulders. “What was his name?”

Belan stopped and rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “Felnar? Yes, that was it, Felnar.” He shrugged and started walking again. “Not that it really matters. He is dead. His magic can’t ruin the rest of us and we have far greater problems now.

It did matter though. Felnar had died in Kellinar’s stead. Died because Kellinar had been a coward and ran. He vaguely remembered Felnar. He had worked in the fishery gutting fish. He didn’t remember if he had a family.

“You were not a coward. You had to run. How else would you have come to me?”
came Shryden’s sending.
“If you had turned yourself in, I would have died with you. Taela would have no shield, Anevay would have no bondmate.”

Kellinar’s heart clenched at the thought of Shryden dying, still trapped inside his shell and a new guilt weighed him down. Even if he had known then that Felnar would die, he wouldn’t have stepped forward to save Felnar’s life, not since the trade would have been the death of Shryden.

“It isn’t your fault they falsely accused this Felnar, nor is it your fault they executed him.”

“I know, Shryden. I still feel bad about it; partly because even if I could go back and save his life by turning myself in, I wouldn’t. I didn’t even think of him after we left. I never wondered about his fate. I guess I just assumed the Keepers would realize they had the wrong man and let him go. I would gladly give my life to saves yours, but I would never condemn you to a certain death to save another. Even Taela and Anevay, if the choice had to be made between them or you, as much as it would hurt me to lose them, I can’t lose you. Perhaps that makes me a bad person.”

He heard Shryden’s mental snort in his mind.
“Nonsense. Taela and Anevay love you dearly, but if they had to choose between your life or that of their dragons, they would choose their dragons. They would be devastated by your loss, but Paki and Latia are their first priority. We are one with our riders and our riders are one with us.”

A rush of love for the blue dragon filled him and he sent it through the bond to Shryden. It was returned full force, washing away the guilt he felt over Felnar’s death.

They wove their way through the tunnels and chambers that made a massive honeycomb under the plateau of the Dellar District. As they came closer to the upper chambers, more people began to fill the halls. Men in worn clothing, women in dresses that barely clung to them, baring large expanses of breasts. Younger boys and a few girls dashed through halls.

Kellinar raised his eyebrows. “Since when are girls allowed in the caves?”

Belan glanced down a connecting tunnel where two girls who were both probably between eight and ten spoke quietly to each other. “Girls become orphans too. I decided it seemed an awful shame that they had so few options other than becoming a whore. They have proven to be just as skilled as the boys at the trade of thievery. It took a bit of getting used to for everyone, but they have gained the respect of their peers and mentors alike.” He smiled at Kellinar. “Besides, they can often get where the boys can’t. People aren’t used to female thieves. They still think only the boys take up the trade. They don’t watch the girls as closely.”