The Crimson League (The Herezoth Trilogy) (47 page)

“You’re not just saying that?”

“I mean every word.”

“Thank you. Thank you, Kora.” Bennie embraced her. “That brother of yours, he’s a special kid. He actually gave me courage, do you know that?”

“No more courage than you gave him. As for what’s next, you don’t have to decide anything right now about whether to leave or to stay.”

“I guess that’s true. What I know is we should probably go back in. It’s safer, and I’m sure you want to talk to Zacry.”

Kora took her upper arm and transported back to the loft. Zacry motioned for his sister to follow him down the ladder, and they moved to the far corner for some privacy.

“I’m glad you’re my sister,” he said. “And I’m sorry if I thought you were stuffy and dull, ‘cause you’re not. You’re not at all, I was worried I might never get to tell you that. Kora, I should have listened to you more.”

“Listen to this, then: I’m so proud of you. I think you’re braver than I am. I know how you stood up to Zalski, in the apartment. In the Palace too. Bennie told me all about it. I just wish Sedder could have seen you.”

Zacry breathed sharply, and drew back. “Was Sedder fighting an officer when he died? No lies.”

“The officer was Malzin, and she definitely held her own.”

“So Zalski told me half a truth. I figured it was something like that. Did he really want you to work for him?”

“When he learned I was a sorceress. I may not have asked to be here, but the time passed long ago when Zalski could call me a victim of chance. I’m in a lot of danger because of that.”

“I know what he did to Kansten. And to Bennie.”

“You know what happened to you the last time we were together. We have to find a place for you, someplace secure, far away from here. You understand?”

Zacry’s eyes glinted. His arms grew rigid. “I’m not going anywhere, not this time. Look, that man blinded Bennie and I want to make him pay.”

“He had his reasons. I’m not saying they were justified, I’m not defending him, but he had reasons.”

“He had her cornered! Tied up! He would have let me rot with her. I have the right to be angry, and I’m fighting back, with or without you.”

“He won’t just imprison you next time, Zac.”

“I realize that. I’m not stupid, I just don’t care. Look, I’ve gone from being stuck at Auntie Mader’s to that God-forsaken orphanage to Zalski’s hospitality, and I’ve had enough. Enough. I’m not hiding anymore.”

“Zacry, I can’t lose you. I won’t
lose you, not again. You’re all I have left.”

“And you think I have some other family? You think I like you risking your neck?”

“I’m not twelve.”

“And I’m not a baby! I’m proven myself, and I’ve got the right to join the resistance after what he did to me.”

“There is no resistance. We’re not resisting, we’re struggling just to feed ourselves. Tonight was the first decent meal I’ve had in I don’t know how long, and…. Zacry, let’s discuss this more tomorrow, what do you say? I’m so relieved to see you I can’t argue now. I don’t know whether to burst with pride or to smack you upside the head for provoking that man. He could have killed you.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me. I’m too valuable.”

“You still pressed your luck.”

“I owe you one, that’s for sure.” Zacry’s face turned red. “That doesn’t mean I’ll give in and go sit somewhere like a pet dog, I mean it.”

“Tomorrow, Zac.”

Zacry lowered his voice. “Is something wrong with Bennie? Besides….”

“She’s just shaken, that’s all. You can understand that.”

“I’m worried about her. She never mentioned being blind, not once. And we talked a lot back there.”

Kora did not keep watch that night. Hayden took double duty to relieve her, and she appreciated the gesture, but in reality she might as well have let him sleep—she got no rest herself. Her heart had not stopped pounding since she looked up at the tower; it nearly had cracked her ribcage when Zalski cast that spell from behind.

I was invisible. I could have been Laskenay, he had no way to know before my shell appeared, and he didn’t hesitate. He would’ve had no qualms about drowning his own sister. I used to wonder if she was safer than the rest of us….

If he’d cast that awful spell at her back, God only knows what he’ll do when he gets his paws on me. Zacry can’t stay. He can’t be within a hundred miles of me.

But would distance keep Zacry safe? Kora could not see how. Zac refused flat-out to sit quietly, and his mind was set. He would never survive striking out on his own for revenge. He deserved revenge, she understood that; his determination alarmed her, but was nothing to fault him for. Maybe to keep him with her, beneath her supervision, would be best. She could work with him, could channel his passion once again into defensive training. If only she could teach him enough to stand some kind of chance against Zalski!

He’ll come after us. After me. A hole that size in the Palace wall’s like….

Like an open mouth she had deliberately spit into. It was an insult on that scale. She had pulverized a tower; no spell she ever heard of would be able to fix the damage, surely not
Desfazair
. Restore the dust to a solid somehow? The wind would have scattered it for miles. The Palace’s gaping wound would be visible to all until Zalski had it sealed the old-fashioned way, until new stone had been cut from a quarry. Maybe magic could speed the process, but manual labor would be involved, and Zalski….

Kora tossed beneath her blanket, imagining the sorcerer’s rage. The chain of red gold lay stowed in her sack, at her fingertips, or, literally, at her feet. She would not have used it for a banquet. Some things were better left unknown.

We’re all sitting ducks, Bennie. It’s a matter of weeks, maybe days.

What most frightened Kora was seeing Bendelof broken. Bennie had always been the one with perspective, the one who carried on without romanticizing the League’s fate, or Herezoth’s, as Neslan did when he swore someone would pick up the League’s banner when it fell. As Lanokas did with his absurd ideas about the Marked One. Maybe that was why Kora set such store on the girl’s unique o
ptimism;
it was not founded on desperate dreams or empty discourse. Hadn’t Bennie predicted Zalski dying in his bed? Dying naturally at a ripe old age? If anyone could hold the balance between accepting a bleak future and not underrating small victories, it should have been Bennie, the Leaguesman who fought on principle, who held that filling a stranger’s stomach was worth risking a guard cut out her own.

Z
alski had done the impossible. H
e had gutted her faith, perhaps cleanly. That was a power beyond sorcery, and to see its effects disturbed Kora enough to keep her up until the sun rose.

Laskenay returned as everyone was scrounging to put some kind of breakfast together. She was closing the door when she noticed Zacry speaking with Neslan, then Bendelof’s red head leaning close to Lanokas, telling him something in a low voice. The building fell silent. The sorceress clutched her chest.

“How long have I been gone?”

Neslan took out his battered timepiece. “Fourteen and a half hours.”

“But who…?
How
…?”

Kora stepped forward. “I transported to the tower roof last night. Blew a wall away.”

The prince said, “It was a group decision.”

“The only thing to do,” said Neslan. “Frankly, I’m amazed we didn’t think of it sooner. We discussed the likely aftermath.”

“All right then,” said Laskenay. Zacry smiled up at her.

“I know they went behind your back. No offense, but I’m glad they did.”

Laskenay told them all, “You don’t answer to me anymore. There’s no League to be bound to. Bennie, I don’t think I’ve ever been this glad to see you.”

“Same here. I mean….” Bennie’s face flushed as crimson as her hair. Lanokas patted her shoulder, while Laskenay turned to Zacry.

“I should never have left the possibility open….”

“Please,” said Zacry. “How could you know he’d find us? Laskenay, nobody hurt me.”

“Not as yet,” said the sorceress. She sent Kora an inquisitive look, to ask whether she should speak in front of Zacry. Kora could not see how to avoid the situation, and nodded; she trusted Laskenay would talk around any sensitive information. “So where do we go from here? Zalski’s hounds will be out within the hour.”

Lanokas countered, “He’ll have sent them out last night.”

“You’re probably right.” Laskenay sighed, and magicked over her sack. Hayden spoke for the first time since the sorceress returned.

“What are you doing?”

She rummaged for an inkwell. “Setting up a conference with Zalski.”

“
What?!
” cried the group. Kora grabbed the inkwell from Laskenay. “He’ll kill you on sight after what I did. He’d kill any of us.”

“He has a sense of honor. He won’t settle for slaughtering us when we walk up to him to negotiate.”

“Who’s we?” asked Hayden.

“Neslan, Kora, and I.”

Lanokas pointed perplexedly to himself. “Um….”

“Three to speak with three: Zalski, Malzin, and Argint. Neslan has a way with words that we’ll need and that frankly, you lack. I can’t risk you losing your temper.”

The prince replied, “In case you haven’t noticed, Kora’s no kitten.”

Neslan said, “Kora defaced his palace. For all in the capital to see. She needs to explain why she did it, she herself.”

Lanokas argued, “You think he’ll accept her apology?”

Neslan said, “She won’t be apologizing. She’ll be explaining, not for Zalski’s benefit but for Argint’s.” He looked to Laskenay. “That’s what this is about, no? Making sure Argint knows the man he serves imprisoned a twelve-year-old for being brash. Preparing the general so that when we approach him for help, he might give it.”

“Exactly,” said Laskenay. “We must have the general’s support.
Last night changed everything
.
Argint’s our only chance now.
” Zalski’s sister let out an exhausted sigh.
“
While I was out I performed some calculations about a spell, one of Hansrelto’s. It can freeze, in a sense, a sorcerer’s Lin, eliminate his powers, temporarily if nothing else. I wanted to see how many sorcerers we would need to even consider casting it on Zalski.”

“How many?” asked Hayden.

“Three ensures a strong enough effect. Well, we lack three. We could still attempt it with Kora and myself, but we’d have to physically get to Zalski. It’s strategically impossible without Argint.”

“You have three sorcerers,” said Zacry.

Kora trembled. “Absolutely not. No. Zacry, you’re going nowhere near that man ever again, and that’s final.”

“There’s no other way!” Zacry cried.

Lanokas rubbed his chin. “There might be, actually. If we could convince the man.”

“Petroc?” said Kora. She leaned back against the wall. “You think Petroc…?”

“I think it’s an option.”

“You do
remember Petroc?”

“I remember that spell that broke Kansten’s back. I’d like to see him do the same to Zalski.”

“And if he casts it on one of us when we approach him for help?”

“I never suggested you go tromping to the Hall. I’m saying that if worst comes to worst, it’s a plan to fall back on.”

Laskenay said, “I agree. It seems odd, but I feel safer turning to Zalski’s general than sending you back to that lone wolf. Even Kansten said things about him that disturbed me, and I tended to take Kansten’s gripes with a grain of salt, God rest her. She had a propensity for…. For overreacting.”

Kora said, “Not when it came to Petroc. Do you really think Zalski will go for this meeting?”

Laskenay told her, “He’s always been curious, and he hasn’t spoken with me since the coup. He’ll want to know what could bring me to…. No, he’ll guess. But he’ll suspect there’s more. Neslan, I need you to help me word this.”

“How will you get it to Zalski?” Zacry asked. He had been hanging on the League’s every word, though he had no idea who Petroc was.

“I’ll magic it through that hole your sister left in the Palace. He’ll find it.”

Kora tossed Laskenay the inkbottle. Neslan and Zalski’s sister sequestered themselves in the loft; their heads together, they spoke low and continuously, except when they bent over to write. The others sat below, more or less in a group but lost in their own meditations.

Given the chance, what would Kora say to Zalski? She pondered the question for about seven seconds, then decided it was moot. No syllable from her, blunt or barbed, would do anything more than bounce off the armor-like coat of his resentment. The most she could hope was to prevent a ricochet word from striking her compatriots; one unfortunate turn of phrase could put all their lives at risk. To be fair, that was equally true of all three of them, but somehow she suspected Zalski would have less patience with her.