The Stealers' War (15 page)

‘Rodal is stone,’ said Nima. ‘It does not burn.’

‘The people clinging to this windy, misbegotten country of yours will light up just fine,’ said the baron.

Nima’s eyes narrowed. ‘We shall see.’

‘Yes,’ grunted the baron, ‘I can see that you’re the daughter of the Rodalian with the big mouth we hanged.’

‘You think to provoke me into rash violence with your insults? You do not face the daughter of a murdered politician here. You stand before the newly elected Speaker of the Winds.’

‘Well-named,’ leered the baron. ‘Given that wind is all I’ve enjoyed since arriving in this shit-hole. Most of it’s been a freezing gale, but up here it’s all the hot kind.’

‘Then you shall have something else.’ Nima clapped her hands and a retainer came forward to present the baron with a wooden walnut case.

‘What is this?’ said the baron, examining the box. He opened the lid to reveal two ivory-handled daggers laid out on a bed of red silk.

‘It is traditional to present a visiting herald from a foe with gifts,’ said Nima. ‘These knives belonged to my father. One is for you as the empire’s emissary; one is for the master who holds the hound’s leash. Prince Gyal of Vandia, I believe.’

Machus snorted in amusement. The unattractive noise sounded like a swine rooting about a trough. ‘You think to buy us off with a brace of blades? Are you a fool?’

‘No, Vandian. They are my answer to you. I do not require a day to consider your Imperium’s terms. Those you spoke of are under the protection of salt and roof within Hadra-Hareer. The same protection you broke when you hung the previous Speaker of the Winds. The tradition of hospitality is the only reason you will leave Hadra-Hareer alive today, rather than having your severed head returned inside a sack. The knives are also our tradition, a different one. The
Blood Steel
. I present you with my father’s blades and my curse. I will recover them from you and your master’s corpse in due course.’

‘Then you are a fool after all,’ said Baron Machus, closing the case shut with an angry snap. ‘You think the Imperium lacks for provinces with high peaks? We’ve fought plenty of mountain tribes before. Your little cracks and crevices aren’t nearly deep enough to hide your people from our legions. I’ll bring your two knives back and stick them up your arse, though. I’ll do that for you.’

‘You are welcome to try. I’ll be waiting,’ said Nima.

‘I—,’ the baron stopped. He had noticed Sariel among the Rodalians standing behind the throne. With the sorcerer’s golden skin and long leather coat etched with hundreds of illustrations, Jacob was surprised it had taken so long. ‘That one!’ said the baron, pointing to the elderly bard. ‘He is a notorious outlaw wanted within the Imperium.’

‘This man too is under the protection of salt and roof here,’ said Nima.

‘Under which name do you impugn me as a criminal?’ demanded Sariel, stepping forward.

‘Sariel Skel-bane,’ said the baron. ‘Although I’ve seen a good few many more aliases on the posters bearing your likeness.’

‘Killing skels isn’t a crime, it’s a duty. And I have to say I feel much the same about Vandians. But you must be a wealthy man, my celestial caste friend. So many slaves to die and work for you. Why should a rich baron of the Imperium bother about the paltry reward on Sariel Skel-bane’s head?’

‘Killing outlaws is my duty,’ growled the baron. ‘And my pleasure.’

Sariel tapped his staff against the rock. ‘I suggest you find simpler ones. You’ll live longer to enjoy them.’

‘Old man, old man. You don’t look so much. I wonder what all the fuss is about. I suppose even our hoodsmen can get it wrong.’

‘Grit in the Imperium’s gullet,’ smiled Sariel. ‘But who’s to digest me?’

The baron’s hand dipped down towards the belt by his side, but his fingers were reminded by their empty touch that he and his retinue had been disarmed.

Nima rose up from her stone seat. ‘You will not have the Weylanders or any of our nation’s guests. Visit again, Vandian, befoul our air, and you and your allies will discover only blood here.’

‘And this is really the message you want me to relay to His Highness Prince Gyal . . . a son of the all-mighty emperor? Do you have any idea of what you are facing across the border in Weyland?’

‘Just brutes with expensive, elaborate machines. Rodal has known many enemies over the ages. You are just one more. It’s never the steel that counts, only the soldiers who come bearing it.’

‘You’re savages in need of an education.’ The baron spat on the rock in front of the throne and stalked away with his retinue. ‘That must have felt good,’ said Jacob.

‘I feel only sadness,’ said Nima. ‘I have not just given them my Blood Steel. I have given them the nation’s.’

‘You give to them only what they would have arrived to take anyway,’ said Sariel.

‘I sleep no easier for knowing the truth of that,’ said Nima, grimly. The speakers and soldiers and priests parted for the Speaker of the Winds as she departed the court. Unlike the Vandians, she did not follow down the exposed steps leading to the canyon floor below. Nima headed for a door hidden in the cracks of the heights behind them, steel painted as black as rock and as thick as the vault of a bank. An interior stairwell down to the hidden depths of Hadra-Hareer.

‘Quicksilver has his war after all,’ said Sariel ‘How do you feel about it, Your Grace?’

‘Cold,’ said Jacob, honestly.

‘I hope you are as effective a general as you believe yourself to be.’

‘You should know. You joined with my mind inside the sky mines.’

Sariel grunted. ‘The man who can beat the Imperium and destroy King Marcus is the man who would have stayed in the Burn. United the shattered lands and ruled them. Not won all those victories and murdered all those kings, only to toss them aside and flee and hide himself behind a pastor’s cant and scripture.’

‘I am who I am.’

‘But will it be enough?’

‘Reckon it better be. I’m finished with hiding and running. I’ve got just one last king to strangle before I’ll call matters done.’

‘King Marcus and Emperor Jaelis, they are only a rash on the skin. The true sickness runs far deeper,’ said Sariel. ‘You saw the stealer I fought in the shadow of the stratovolcano, you sensed its kin beating on the doors of this world when we travelled using the gate of stones. There is a reason that my face is on wanted posters in every Vandian garrison, and it has little to do with a little mischievous tweaking of the emperor’s nose decades ago. The battle you would wage is only a tiny shadow of the real war. There are schemes and plots across Pellas that are almost beyond your comprehension.’

‘No point in a simple man worrying about them, then,’ said Jacob. ‘One enemy at a time, one bullet at a time. That’s the only philosophy I’ve ever needed.’
And look where it’s got you
, Mary’s voice whispered.

‘Your son will be of assistance to me, however,’ added Sariel.

Jacob nodded. ‘Take Carter. Far away from Rodal.’

‘He’ll hear of what you do here,’ said Sariel. ‘Even if he doesn’t have to see it.’

‘Might be all of Pellas will hear,’ said Jacob.
But only if I arrange the slaughter right. If I fail, I’ll just be a forgotten footnote in a long, sad history.

FOUR

THE SORCERER’S JOURNEY

Carter’s new quarters weren’t that different from his cell and incarceration. He wasn’t sure if that was because the Rodalians treated their prisoners in a civilized manner, or they housed the capital’s citizens like prisoners. Two rooms instead of one now, the cold hard carved rock of the wall softened by a few rugs and tapestries. Everything lit during the day by a strange soft light. The illumination caught by mirror arrays inside chimney stacks that protruded from the surface of the wind-blown canyons and mountain slopes. And, of course, his old accommodation had lacked one important thing – the most important thing of all. Willow. She had come to Carter and he had known she wanted to be reassured, even as she had grabbed him and kissed him and they had fallen to the bed and made love in this strange place. After all, she had said, she couldn’t get any more pregnant than she already was. But Carter didn’t care about that, beyond the hurt Willow had already taken getting to this point. A forced marriage he couldn’t protect her from. Carter still felt guilty about that. Sometimes it seemed that guilt was all he had to offer Willow Landor.
I’m not good for much else, these days. But at least we’re free. I’m free
. Even if that was free to face Willow’s unhappiness about how little time he would spend in Hadra-Hareer.
Freedom always comes with a price attached, it seems
. Freedom as a slave of the empire had been paid in blood. Freedom in Rodal came with Willow’s tears. Carter truly hated to be the cause of any more suffering for her. They rested together in bed, warm under the woollen blankets and looking at the ceiling. There weren’t many answers there, Carter realized.

‘I can come with you and Sariel,’ said Willow at last, but the madness of the notion must have occurred to her even as she spoke it.

‘You’re in no condition to travel,’ protested Carter.

‘Plenty of travellers give birth in their caravans.’

‘They’re born to it. Every day of their life they travel surrounded and protected by their clan,’ said Carter. ‘Won’t be much trading where I’m going with Sariel by the sounds of it. And we’ll be travelling light and fast.’

‘Sariel can convert the stone circles into portals that touch the farcalled side of Pellas,’ said Willow. ‘Surely he can protect one woman, even if that woman is carrying a child in her belly?’

‘The steppes are dangerous,’ said Carter. He slapped the chamber’s heavy stone walls. ‘Without this in the hordes’ way . . .’

‘Is that meant to reassure me? The steppes are where you’re heading. When I was trapped in Arcadia I thought I’d lost you forever. Now, just as soon as you’re free of your jail cell, you’re straight back putting your neck on the block again.’

‘It’s not as though I want to leave you here,’ said Carter. ‘HadraHareer is safer than Weyland.’

‘The Vandians will travel to Rodal. Hunting for rebels and everyone who took part in the slave revolt.’

‘They might,’ said Carter. ‘But there are some things I trust in.’

‘Rodal’s caverns and thick rock walls?’

‘My father,’ said Carter.

‘He scares me now, Carter,’ said Willow. ‘He’s nothing like the pastor I grew up with.’

‘I know. That’s why I trust my father to keep you safe. He travelled across the world to rescue us. He survived that journey against all the odds.’

‘Your father doesn’t want justice for the nation,’ said Willow. ‘He’s just fixing to kill anyone who had anything to do with your mother’s murder.’

‘I can hardly fault him for that.’
I’ll see them dead myself for killing her
.

Willow grabbed Carter by the arms. ‘You live for life, not revenge. I don’t care what the risks are out on the plains. All I’m asking is to brave them alongside you.’

‘I don’t think it’s an accident the way the rebellion played out,’ said Carter. ‘It’s as though my father planned for Midsburg to fall, just so the army would end up under his command. I think he’s been saving Rodal like a stone in his back pocket to sling against Vandia.’

‘You know how many people we lost in Midsburg? Half the army and city dead and those who survived in chains. And you think the pastor
planned
that?’

‘I know it sounds crazy, but yes. I think he planned that.’

‘Then I have even more reason to leave with you,’ said Willow. ‘I can’t stay here and play the part of your father’s conscience. And that’s what he wants from me.’

‘You’ve got someone else to think about,’ said Carter, placing a hand gently against her belly.

‘How can you say that? This baby won’t be yours. It’ll be that evil bastard Wallingbeck’s. Let me travel alongside you and Sariel, maybe the journey will
—
’

Carter reached out to reassure Willow. ‘That’s no way to think. When your baby comes into the world, they won’t be an
it
, only a little
he
or
she
. And they’re not going to care then that Benner Landor and his wife drugged you and kidnapped you and forced an unwanted marriage on you. The baby won’t care about King Marcus or Vandia and whatever Sariel has got planned. Vandia, the civil war, it’ll mean nothing. The child will just love you and you’ll need to love them.’

‘I need you to live,’ pleaded Willow. ‘How can I go on without you? Don’t make me face this without you.’

‘I’m sure as hell not planning to die for Sariel,’ said Carter. ‘I’m coming back. For you and the baby both. He’ll have a father and it won’t be some southern nobleman paid to give Benner Landor’s daughter a courtier’s title.’

‘My child needs that father
now
. I had a terrible premonition last night,’ said Willow. ‘Nothing good is going to come from you following that rascal of a sorcerer away from Rodal.’

And I’ve been touched by little but bad dreams of late.
But Carter didn’t want to load any extra worries on Willow’s shoulders. ‘I cut a deal with the old dog in Midsburg,’ said Carter. ‘I told Sariel that when you and my father were rescued from Arcadia’s hospitality and safely out of the usurper’s clutches, I’d help him in return. I owe the old coot.’

‘Sariel rescued your father from King Marcus’ dungeons, but he never saved me. I did that all by myself. Isn’t there war enough in Weyland? You don’t have to travel on a wild goose chase with Sariel to find blood.’

‘Sariel needs me to help track down his friends: to heal them like I did him in the sky mines.’

Willow shuddered as though someone had walked over the soil of her grave. ‘You unlocked his soul and released a storm into the world.’

‘Something happened to me when I fell inside the stratovolcano during my botched escape attempt,’ said Carter. ‘I know it sounds crazy, but my mind filled with the entire world’s dreams. When Sariel appeared at my deathbed and healed me; those dreams, my memories, they flooded out from my mind and went into his.’
Where they belonged
. And Sariel had been changed by those echoes of the past. From a half-mad bard recounting insane tales and making fanciful boasts, into something far darker. Willow hadn’t known Sariel before the awakening to realize the difference.
If Willow had
, Carter suspected,
she would never let me leave Hadra-Hareer with the peculiar wizard
.

‘We could become travellers,’ said Willow. ‘We have more than enough money to buy a sturdy wagon and a train of healthy horses. We can put Weyland behind us . . . leave the entire League. We could travel south into the Great Gaskald forests. Follow the forests into Tresterer and join one of the free caravans heading east. My false husband and my wretched father would never find us.’

Carter cringed at the thought of what she’d endured down south. ‘Don’t call Wallingbeck your husband. Owen annulled the marriage.’

‘And my father’s barely my father anymore. Only Leyla Holten’s husband and cat’s paw. But the Landors and their rich friends have ended up in control of Weyland all the same. There’s no future for us in the Lanca.’

‘The royalists might have boots in the north, but they don’t control the land yet. This is not like you,’ said Carter. ‘You’re always the optimistic one, hoping for the best and finding it in other people too. We survived as slaves in the sky mines. We did the impossible and escaped. We’ll survive the rebellion against the usurper, too.’

Willow rubbed her extended belly. ‘Carrying the viscount’s baby turned me into a realist, Carter. I watched Midsburg burn and the assembly’s army smashed and scattered like straw falling to wildfire. Our army’s living in the wilds like a gang of marauders and we are now all exiles. We’re barely welcome in Rodal, even with the new Speaker of the Winds supporting Prince Owen and the north. How can we possibly win against the combined forces of Vandia and King Marcus?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Carter.
I really don’t
. ‘But it’s a fight we have to win.’

‘The plan was to get the assembly to vote the usurper off his stolen throne, to ratify Prince Owen’s claim to it. That hope dissolved along with parliament. We tried fighting . . . and look where that’s got us. Civil war and defeat in all but name. Even taking Lady Cassandra as a hostage failed. Kerge and Sheplar lost her to raiders and Vandia’s arrived to punish the slave revolt just the same. If we don’t flee the league, we’ll end up dead or back as slaves inside the sky mines. King Marcus has won. The Imperium has won. I don’t care what your father has planned; nobody can survive against such terrible odds. We’ve slipped, Carter. We need to lift ourselves out of the dirt and flee while we still can.’

A voice sounded behind them.
Sariel
. ‘You are in Rodal, now. The Walls of the World. Nobody trips over a mountain. Only small pebbles cause you to slip. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.’

Willow’s glanced irritably at the interloper, as though here was the author of all their misfortunes. ‘You! What are you doing here?’

Sariel stared knowingly at Willow. ‘Father Carnehan told me his son was due to discuss our journey with you, Miss Landor. I have come calling because you deserve to know the truth and the stakes of that journey.’

‘It’s arrant foolishness,’ said Willow. ‘Weyland is burning to the ground in civil war and that’s not enough for you? You have to venture off in search of mad fancies out on the steppes where the savages will skin you alive just for not having blue skin?’

‘I am sorry,’ sighed Sariel. ‘I have endured for so very long. Seen so many things. Miss Landor, there are always wars in Pellas. Revolutions and rebellions and invasions. Men and women squabbling over thrones and councils and who is to sit on them. What seems to you to be so important is merely the wind rustling the leaves to me. Part of the natural order of things.’

‘This is our
lives
,’ said Willow. ‘I want to have one. With Carter. You offered to take us to the other end of Pellas once. Somewhere safe and far from this madness. Will you not make that offer again if I ask? If I
beg
you?’

‘I made that offer when I thought the rest of my kind lost,’ said Sariel. ‘Following my travels across Pellas, I now have reason to believe they are very much alive. I require Carter’s assistance to quicken what has been forgotten inside them.’

‘Why me?’ asked Carter. ‘Why now? I know you’ve kept your word to me. My father’s free of King Marcus’ chains and Willow is safe. I’ll return the courtesy and hold up my end of the bargain. But before I take one step away from Hadra-Hareer, I need to hear the truth.’

‘There is a wider war raging across Pellas than the one being fought inside Weyland,’ said Sariel. ‘Although, I grant you, the civil war is a very small part of the larger battle. Do you really want to know who the true foe is? You glimpsed our enemy briefly during the last battle in Vandia. A stealer. Their kind is at work across Pellas, scheming to eradicate humanity. They have tried many different methods and many times across the millennia. Plagues and wars and unrest are their tools. Stealers love nothing so much as power. It attracts them like insects swarming honey spilt across the grass. As you might imagine, they find the Imperium a very comfortable nest. All the resources and might they need to advance their schemes.’

‘And you and your people oppose them?’ said Carter.

‘We do. Like the enemy, my kind possesses many names in Pellas. In Weyland, we are often referred to as the
ethreaal
.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Willow. ‘Stealers and ethreaal. Those are names from the scriptures. You expect me to believe you are—’

‘My people are neither saints nor angels,’ said Sariel. He rubbed his back with one hand, the wound where his wings had been ripped from his spine. ‘And outside of what passes for prayers, I have never communed with your God or any other deities. Although I was once able to fly. The ethreaal and stealers have always wandered at the world’s margins, mistaken for shadow and light. If we have been written into your holy texts, it is solely because our struggle concerns humanity’s very survival.’

‘Why would the stealers want us dead?’ asked Carter.

‘Why do bacteria want to make you sick? Because that is the purpose of disease. The point of their existence.’

Willow shook her head, ‘And what evidence do you have to convince us of any of these tall tales?’

‘Now your eyes have been opened to the truth, you will begin to find evidence all around you,’ said Sariel. ‘You may start by looking west across the Lancean Ocean. The Burn is the stealers’ handiwork. They sowed seeds of hatred in the west across many centuries, stoking resentment and turning tribe against tribe. Helped provide tools of devastation to the kingdoms across the water, pouring as much fuel as was needed to spark the war-to-end-all-wars. The Burn was a failure that helped convince the stealers that more powerful means needed to be sought to extinguish mankind.’

‘A failure?’ said Willow. ‘Blood is still being spilled in the Burn! The war’s raged for centuries.’

‘Precisely,’ said Sariel. ‘Even in the blackened wasteland of the west, humanity still lingers to fight on. Plagues and famines and endless warfare and yet still people cling grimly on to life across the ocean. The stealers set fire to the house, only to watch beetles crawl out of the ashes, using blackened, dead wood to feed and survive.’