The Pearls (24 page)

“If you refuse us now, then you condemn Lady Lea to death,” Hervan said, uttering the lie with such conviction he saw a flicker of uncertainty in Poulso's brown eyes.

Hervan gave Rozer a nod, and Rozer took his dagger away from the priest's throat.

Poulso lifted his hands to the cut and shut his eyes. He started trembling. “Merciful Gault, guide me now,” he whispered.

“Don't you care about her?” Hervan asked. “Can you live with the guilt of having failed her when she needed you most? Look at me, damn you, and stop sniveling your prayers! It's got to be done.”

The priest's eyes looked wet and terrified. “You would do this? Unswear yourselves, jeopardize your souls?”

Hervan lifted his hand. “For the lady, I will do it gladly.”

“And I,” Rozer said.

Poulso's gaze shifted to Thirbe. The protector hesitated long enough to make Hervan's stomach clench before he gave the priest a straightforward look.

“These are hard times, priest. I can't let her go to the clutches of Vindicants and worse. Can you?”

“Vindicants,” Poulso whispered. “I thought mercenaries had—”

“Who do you think has hired these scoundrels?” Hervan asked.

“But I have renounced my oaths. I have sworn anew.” Poulso clasped his thick hands together. “Gault will not forgive me for this. I am afraid, afraid!”

Hervan exchanged a glance with Rozer. “Then you're going to die here and now, for condemning Lady Lea to torture and agony in the hands of evil men. Gault may forgive you for remaining loyal at her expense, but on my honor,
I
will not.”

Rozer lifted his dagger, and the priest cried out, twisting as though to fend off the blow.

“All right! All right!” he gasped out. Tears ran down his cheeks. “I'll do it. But who will guide you? I can't do that. I—I—”

“That's for me to take on,” Thirbe said, his voice quiet and steady. “You're doing what's right. Think of the lady's sweet good nature. She's worth all we can give her.”

“Yes,” Poulso whispered. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Yes. She walks in harmony. What is my honor, in exchange for her safety?” He sat a moment, staring at nothing, before pressing his fingers to his lips. “We shall need fresh blood for the cups. Those of your men, Captain, who have never gone through the Hidden Ways must be prepared.”

Hervan frowned impatiently. “There's no time for that.”

“Better do as he advises,” Thirbe said. “This ain't—”

“I tell you there's no time!” Hervan struck the pommel of his saddle with his fist. “Gods, must the pair of you raise objections to everything? Let's get it done before we lose what scant advantage we have!”

Poulso gave him one last glance, his eyes like a whipped dog's, before moving his horse forward, a little apart from the others. He took off his Reformant ring, started to kiss it, but then did not. As he tucked it away, his face held shame and despair. Bowing his head, he spread out his arms and began to mumble a chant that sent an uneasy prickle through Hervan.

The horses nickered nervously and shifted about.

“By Gault,” Rozer said in excitement, his eyes alight, “we're finally going to do this!”

“Hush,” Hervan cautioned him, although his heart was thudding fast. “Tell Taime to pass the word among the men. When we come through, we must be ready to attack immediately.”

Rozer nodded but Thirbe caught his sleeve before he could turn his horse. “Tell them they must unswear their oaths to Gault,” he said in warning. “They cannot enter in a state of Light.”

“Done.”

Rozer rode off, and Thirbe turned back to Hervan. His weathered face looked grim indeed, while Hervan was drawing in deep breaths, feeling a swell of anticipation.

“I'll need that stone of yours, that opal,” Thirbe said. “And your map.”

Suspicious, Hervan drew back. “Why?”

“Not to keep, noddy! I have to have some clear idea of where I'm leading us.”

Hervan hesitated, finding himself reluctant to entrust Thirbe with either.

“Come on. Be quick about it, or he'll have the Ways open before we're ready.” Thirbe glared at Hervan. “I ain't going in if I don't know where I'm coming out.”

Hervan nodded and produced his doeskin map onehandedly, but he did not give Thirbe the opal. “We've marked the spot,” he said.

“I see it,” Thirbe muttered, peering at the markings. “Thank Gault it'll be a short passage. I don't want anyone panicking and bolting off once we're inside. There's no coming back from that, you hear? And no hope of searching for the lost ones later.”

“I understand,” Hervan said, tired of his warnings. “We're not green recruits, old man. We do know what we're doing.”

Thirbe grunted, squinting at him as he handed the map back. “Some of your veterans will do fine. As for you, I think you'd better stay behind, or at least ride up this trail with part of the men to cut off their line of retreat.”

“What?” Furious, Hervan stuffed the map back into his pocket. “I've told you before that I'll never surrender command to you—”

“Hold that temper! Give the command to the lieutenant if you don't trust me. I don't care, only you can't fight like you are and—”

“I won't be left behind! I can't believe you expect it of me, not now, when we're so close.”

Thirbe cocked his head to one side. “Is it the lady's well-being you want, or glory in battle for yourself?”

Hervan bit back his retort. A roar of shame went through his ears, and he couldn't meet the protector's gray eyes.

“Thought so,” Thirbe said.

At that moment Hervan had never hated anyone as much as he hated this old man.

“Going to order me left behind now?” Thirbe asked, mocking him softly. “Going to let that fine temper get the better of your good sense? You know we need a contingency to cut them off, someone to hold this trail if I should miss with the Hidden Ways.”

Hervan's head lifted. “I know nothing of the kind. We'll surprise them, turn their own tricks against them, and catch them flat-footed. And I'm going through, no matter what you say.”

Exasperation flashed across Thirbe's face. “Then unswear your soul, boy, because the Ways are opening
now
.”

I
n
the palace, Caelan had for once shaken off his duties and was sitting at his ease with Elandra. Musicians were playing softly in the adjoining antechamber, but he and his wife were alone, discussing the festival that had taken place earlier that afternoon.

He was reaching for a scroll Elandra was handing to him when he felt a strange, unsettled sensation pass through him. Frowning, he let the scroll drop while the room went dim around him.

“Caelan,”
whispered Lea's voice. It reached his ears so softly he thought at first he was imagining it.
“Caelan.”

Forgetting Elandra, oblivious of where he was, Caelan rose to his feet. All his senses were alert. “Lea?”

“Caelan, help me!”

Alarmed, he
severed
and stepped
between
, finding himself in a pale, mist-shrouded place. He thought there might be trees behind him, but he could not truly see them. Before him rippled a stream of water, so faint and misty he could barely make it out. On the opposite bank stood Lea. Her clothing and hair shone with pale radiance.

Delighted to see her, aware that she was very far away, he started to call out, but she was stretching forth her hands in a gesture of warning.

“Caelan,”
she called so faintly he had to strain to hear,
“I have been taken hostage.”

“Who?” he demanded. “Who's done this?”

It was as though she couldn't hear him. Her message came again:
“I have been taken hostage. I am held prisoner. I need your help!”

“Lea!” he said sharply. “Where are you? Who has you?”

She wavered and almost faded from sight. His heart nearly stopped, and he took a step forward, although it brought him no closer. “Lea—”

“Caelan, help me! I am held by Commander…”

Her voice grew inaudible. He couldn't hear her at all. “Who? Lea, tell me again.”

“…a trap for…going to massacre the entire…beware, dear brother. Don't believe what they…I can't escape him. The shadow magic…strong…taken my necklace. Help me!”

Then she was gone. Frantic, Caelan called her name twice more, but there was no response.

Releasing himself from
severance
, he came back from
between
and found himself on his knees in Elandra's sitting room. His head was bowed, and he was breathing hard as though he'd been running. A cold sweat chilled him beneath his clothes.

Elandra was kneeling beside him, holding a cup in one hand, her fingers digging into his shoulder. “Caelan?” she asked anxiously. “Caelan, beloved? Can you hear me? Can you tell me what afflicts you?”

Expelling his breath, he brought up his hands to rub his face. “I'm well. I'm not ill.”

“You nearly swooned. Are you still dizzy? Drink this.”

Pushing the cup away impatiently, he got to his feet. On some level he was aware of Elandra's anxiety, but he had no time to reassure her. Lea needed his help, and immediately. But how was he to reach her? Where
was
she? If she could not slip across
between
and elude her captors, she must be in terrible jeopardy.

“Caelan!” Elandra said sharply, breaking through his frantic thoughts. “Speak to me! Tell me what is happening!”

He swung around and gave his wife a blank stare, finally noticing her pallor and the worry in her eyes. Contrite, he gripped her hands. “I'm sorry,” he said. “It's Lea. She's in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble? What's befallen her?”

Caelan beckoned to his protector, who crossed the room to him at once. But before issuing orders to the man, Caelan turned to Rumasin, on duty as usual. “I need armed men, my horse, weapons,” he said to the eunuch who ran Elandra's household. “Summon the Imperial Guards and tell them so.”

“Yes, Excellency.” A swift flick of the eunuch's finger, and a servant hastened out the door.

Another servant brought Caelan his boots, while a third took the elaborate overrobe he was flinging off.

Elandra hovered over him. “Can you tell me nothing more? Please!”

“She's been captured, abducted, held hostage. I don't know by whom. I don't know where she is. She said it's a trap, and that she's in danger and cannot escape.” He raised troubled eyes to Elandra's. “They've taken her emeralds.”

“Her necklace?”

“Yes. Which leaves her vulnerable.” He stared down at his weaponless belt with exasperation. “Where's my lackey? I'll need a cloak and provisions. Better—”

“Dear one.” Elandra dared interrupt him. “Where are you going with your horse and men?”

He shrugged a trifle ruefully. “I don't know that either. I must take action.”

“Of course. But sensible action.”

He frowned, standing there with fists clenched, muscles rigid with the need to
go
. And he knew Elandra was right. A terrible weight began to press on his heart. Feeling damnably helpless, he swallowed hard.

Elandra gripped his sleeve. “I beg you to take care,” she said. “Are you certain it really was Lea and not some trickery put into your mind?”

“I don't know. I don't know!” He struggled to master his emotions and think. “The voice was right. She looked right. But…”

“Yes?”

Doubt trickled through him. “How could she reach me at all without her necklace?”

“Didn't she call out to you like this when you were children, and separated?”

Grimly he shook his head. “She had her emeralds then, but she hadn't been taught how to use them.”

“So you don't think she could reach you without the
gli
-stones enhancing her natural powers?”

“Perhaps.” He shrugged. “If this message
is
a trick, why mention her necklace at all?”

“True.” Fresh worry puckered Elandra's face, and she turned away.

He knew that tense line of his wife's back very well. Elandra seldom admitted her concerns; she tended to hold them inside and let them gnaw at her. He pulled her close against him in comfort. “I had no sense of a lie,” he murmured. “I believe it was really Lea. Yet something was wrong. I can't put my finger on it, but it wasn't quite like the Lea I know.”

“Do you think she was afraid? Did you sense fear in her?”

“Not that. More…” Sighing, he gave up. “I can't explain it.”

“And what if it
wasn't
Lea at all?”

Anger swept him. “Am I supposed to ignore her call for help? Pretend it could not possibly be her? What if it is? What if she needs me desperately right now, as she said? Why do I stand here discussing it, when I need to go to her?”

“Caelan, hear me,” Elandra said. “If you jumped on the fastest horse in your stables you could not reach her for days, possibly weeks. A dragon—even if you consented to ride one—could not fly you there fast enough. You don't know where to begin your search. Be calm, beloved.
Think
this through. This is no time for you to be gone from the palace.”

“Don't you think I know that?”

She flushed. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound heartless. If she can guide you to her, then I shall hand you your sword and wish you a speedy journey. Until then…”

A muscle was twitching in his clenched jaw. He nodded agreement, knowing Elandra was giving him sensible advice. He hated being helpless like this, but Elandra was right.

After a moment, he said grimly, “She told me a commander had taken her.”

Elandra drew in her breath audibly. “Which one?”

He shook his head.

“The army again!” Elandra said. “An officer!” She turned suddenly pale. “Do you think it's Captain Hervan?”

“No, she said commander, quite clearly. That's an army rank, not cavalry.”

“Yes, of course. Do you suppose this plot is part of the latest legion mutiny? Or someone discharged in the reforms, trying to take revenge against you?”

Too frustrated to speculate, Caelan spread wide his hands.

“You need answers. Until you have them—”

“I must wait,” he said. “Damn and damn and damn.”

Commotion sounded outside, and a centruin of the Imperial Guards rushed inside. He saluted the emperor and empress smartly.

“Centruin Lucrux, Excellency. Yours to command!”

“Thank you, Centruin. I've received a message from my sister, saying she's in danger and taken captive.”

Shock paled the centruin's face. “Sir!”

“I do not know as yet if it's a true message or false,” Caelan said. He wondered now if the prior feelings of uneasiness he'd experienced had also been Lea's attempts to reach him. Yet what good did frantic speculation do? He reminded himself to not let his boiling emotions cloud his judgment.

Studying the centruin's young face, he found no guile there. “Has any report of trouble come in her escort's dispatches? No matter how trivial or insignificant. Any indication of something gone awry?”

“Their weekly report is now two days overdue, Excellency.”

It was like being hit with a war hammer. Caelan took an involuntary step forward. “Why wasn't I informed?”

“The reports have been delayed before, Excellency. Hazards of travel, and so forth.” The centruin's gaze wavered briefly. “It's procedure to take no action unless a report is delayed by a week at—”

“A
week
!” This time, Caelan could not restrain his outburst. “She could be in the hands of Gault knows what kind of scoundrels, and we are to wait a
week
before we grow concerned? Who issued such a stupid order?”

The centruin looked like he'd been carved of wood. “Official procedure, Excellency.”

Quelling the urge to strike him, Caelan began pacing back and forth. Several moments passed before he trusted himself to speak. “What did the last message say?”

When the centruin hesitated, Caelan spun around to glare at him. “Well?”

“I cannot tell you, Excellency. I—I am not privy to Captain Hervan's reports.”

“Get them!” Caelan roared.

Saluting, the man fled.

Caelan resumed pacing, fuming with every step. His suspicions were on fire. “It's a plot,” he muttered. “Not road bandits at work. Has to be a plot. The palace in league with—”

“Perhaps,” Elandra broke in. “Let us assess this cautiously, and not mistake inefficiency for treason.”

“Inefficiency!” He felt like he was choking. “If she's—”

“Caelan, you must stay calm. You are not thinking, dearest. You are far too upset. I know this is hard, very hard. I love her, too, but a web is growing around us, and we must take care.”

Troubled, he blew out his breath and nodded. “Vindicants at work?” he asked. “Hiring mercenaries to abduct her, perhaps?”

“Led by a disaffected officer swept out of the army by the reforms?” Elandra said thoughtfully. “Perhaps. Such a large convergence of woes is coming at us too quickly to be accidental.”

“Agreed. The Vindicant brotherhood reached deep into the army. Its influence isn't going to be easily erased.”

Elandra hesitated. “If it
is
Vindicants who hold her hostage, they will ask you an awful price for her ransom.”

Caelan sighed. He needed no such warning from Elandra to see the implications Lea's abduction would have. His sister was as precious to him as his wife and Jarel, and who in the empire did not know this? Who in the empire, who among his numerous enemies and detractors hated and resented him more than the priesthood he'd abolished along with the shadow god?

If the Vindicants haven't abducted her, they will take her from the one who has,
he thought.
They will hurt her, as they long to hurt me
.

The thought of Lea being mistreated almost unmanned him. He knew she would be used as leverage to bring him down, and he did not know how he would be able to withstand their terms.

Too late now to tell himself he shouldn't have sent her to Trau as his representative in the upcoming
holdenthal
, a festival where, by Trau tradition, the hold masters gathered to forge trade and property agreements with each other and renew fealty to their emperor. Their loyalty oaths had of course been sworn at his coronation, according to imperial law. But the
holdenthal
was an old custom, as old as the ancient kings of Trau.