Treason Keep (42 page)

“Before I tell you where R’shiel is,” Brak began, looking at each one of them in turn, “I have to explain a few things.”

They had gathered around a brightly burning fire, safe in the knowledge that Brak’s magic concealed them from prying eyes. Tarja was sceptical when he promised they wouldn’t be seen, and his men were decidedly edgy, but even Almodavar seemed satisfied with the Harshini’s assurance that he was protecting them. The fire warmed them more than it should have, and he wondered if Brak’s magic was responsible for that too. The half-Harshini’s eyes were completely black, a sure sign he was drawing on his power. It reminded Tarja sharply how alien the Harshini really were.

“You’d better tell them the rules, too,” Dace added.

“What rules?” Tarja asked warily.

“I’ll get to that. There are other things you must understand first.”

Tarja shifted restlessly. He knew from experience how futile it was to demand answers from Brak when
he wasn’t ready to give them. Damin sat on his left, with Adrina curled up beside him. On the other side of the fire sat Almodavar, Ghari and Dace, who seemed quite content to let Brak do the talking.

“As you’ve probably figured out by now,” Brak continued, “the Kariens were waiting for us when we reached the Citadel.”

“I tried to warn you,” Dace interjected.

“You
knew
they were waiting for you? Why in the name of the Founders didn’t you turn back?”

“Dace warned us Xaphista had believers in the Citadel, Tarja. Even he didn’t know Terbolt and his priests were there.”

“So much for the infallibility of the gods.”

Dace glared at him, but let the comment pass.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if Dace had given us the disposition of every Karien on the continent, there were forces at work that would have seen to it that we didn’t succeed.”

“How could you fail with the gods on your side?” Adrina scoffed.

“That’s just the point. The only side the gods care about is their own.”

Dace snorted with disgust at the comment, but he seemed unusually reticent tonight and offered no other sign of his displeasure.

“Anyway, we reached the Citadel and everything went according to plan until Joyhinia appeared at the Gathering. The real Joyhinia that is, as lucid as she ever was.”

“How? I destroyed her wit. Her mind was gone.”

“The Karien priests found her another mind and transferred it into her body. Once Joyhinia appeared
things fell apart fairly rapidly. The demon meld collapsed and R’shiel couldn’t hold the coercion. She was discovered within minutes of Terbolt’s appearance. Mahina was arrested. Draco’s dead, by the way. So is Affiana.”

“And just what were
you
doing while R’shiel was being arrested?” Tarja asked, his voice dangerous. The news that that man who fathered him was dead meant little to him. He was more concerned about Mahina. He was sick with worry about R’shiel.

“I was also being detained—by Zegarnald.”

Damin sat bolt upright and stared at the Harshini in astonishment. “The God of War prevented you from going to the demon child’s aid? That makes no sense. He delivered her to me for safekeeping. Why would he allow her to fall into the hands of his enemies?”

“The Kariens are
your
enemies, Damin, not Zegarnald’s. Xaphista is
his
adversary and that’s all he’s interested in.”

“I don’t understand,” Adrina said, giving voice to Tarja’s own confusion.

“The only reason the gods allowed R’shiel to be created was their need to destroy Xaphista. They’re not interested in anything else. The demon child has a job to do and they want to be damned sure she’s capable of doing it.”

“You mean they want to know if she can kill?”

“She can do that readily enough,” Ghari warned her. “Ask anyone who knew her in the rebellion.”

Brak nodded. “That’s not what concerns them. They’re more worried that Xaphista will win her over to his cause. She can kill a god.
Which
god she destroys is entirely up to her.”

“So they let the Kariens capture her? Isn’t that rather counter-productive?” Damin asked.

“Zegarnald’s theory is that if she is going to succumb to Xaphista, he’d rather know now, before she fully realises what she is capable of.”

“He wants to find out while there’s still a chance she be can killed,” Tarja translated for the benefit of the others. “That’s
your
job, isn’t it, Brak?”

The Harshini dropped his eyes.

Adrina looked at Tarja in confusion before turning back to Brak. “But what happened to R’shiel?”

“She was taken prisoner.”

“And then what?” Damin asked. He knew Brak, too; knew they had yet to hear the worst of it.

“You recall I said the Kariens transferred another mind into Joyhinia’s body? Well it wasn’t just any mind.” Brak looked straight at Tarja. “It was Loclon’s mind.”

Tarja experienced a moment of such blind, mindless rage that he thought he might explode from it. He didn’t say a word. He just sat there, trembling, clenching his fists in helpless fury. The others looked at him curiously, sensing his mood but unaware of the reason for it. Nobody but Brak, Dace and Tarja knew of what Loclon had done to R’shiel in the past. They didn’t understand.

“I gather from the look on Tarja’s face that this Loclon is not a very nice person?” Damin asked flippantly. Tarja turned on him with such fury that the Warlord leaned back, out of his reach. “Sorry…Just trying to lighten the mood. I’ll shut up.”

“That would be a very good idea,” Adrina agreed sternly.

Brak resumed his narrative, looking almost as annoyed at Damin as Adrina was. “If you need details, I’ll let Tarja fill you in if he wants to. Suffice to say that Loclon has harmed R’shiel in the past. Enough that he’s probably the only thing in this world she truly fears. R’shiel’s feelings for Joyhinia aren’t much better. Being confronted by both of them in the one body was more than she could take.”

“Did he kill her?” Tarja asked. His voice was colder than the night.

Brak shook his head. “He roughed her up a bit, but he couldn’t risk killing her. But for a few cuts and bruises, physically she’s fine.”

“Physically?”

“You remember the night we escaped the Grimfield?”

“I’m not likely to forget it.”

“Then you recall what happened to R’shiel after she tried to kill Loclon? How she retreated into herself?”

Tarja nodded. “She was like it for days.”

“Well that’s basically what’s happened to her now. She’s alive, she speaks, she eats; but R’shiel is not there.”

“You mean she’s in some sort of coma?” Adrina asked.

“Not exactly. Tarja knows what I mean. He’s seen her like this before.”

“Then how do we wake her?”

“We can’t. She has to come back of her own accord.”

“If she wants to come back,” Dace reminded Brak.

“What do you mean?”

Brak sighed. “Wherever she is, it’s more than likely Xaphista is there too.”

“Then only the gods can reach her? Why don’t you do something, Dacendaran?”

“I’m not allowed to, Damin,” the young god replied. “Zeggie says she has to turn away from Xaphista of her own accord, or when it comes time to face him she’ll simply give in.” He looked around the fire-lit circle of faces, begging for understanding. “Look, I’m going to be in enough trouble for freeing Brak. I’d help if I could, but with all these wars going on, Zegarnald is as strong as he’s ever been. Unless you can start some sort of worldwide crime wave, I haven’t the strength to defy him.”

“Then how can Xaphista get to her?” Tarja asked. He didn’t have the benefit of a pagan education. He was floundering with all this talk of gods.

“Xaphista gains his strength from his believers and he’s got millions of them. That’s why the Primal Gods fear him.”

“But she’s half-Harshini, isn’t she?” Damin pointed out. “Why didn’t she just call on her power and escape herself?”

“The priests have blocked her power. They’re using some sort of collar I’ve never seen before. If she tries to touch the source of her power it burns. If she manages to get past that, the pain is intolerable. Not even the demons can reach her.”

Tarja watched Brak, wondering how much of what he told them was conjecture and how much he knew to be fact.

“So what is Xaphista doing to her?” Adrina wondered aloud.

“I doubt if he’s hurting her,” Brak shrugged. “If anything he’ll be trying to coax her to follow him. He doesn’t need to kill R’shiel to remove the threat. He just needs her on his side.”

“So if she defies him, he’ll kill her and if she doesn’t, you’ll kill her anyway,” Tarja concluded bleakly.

Brak didn’t answer; he didn’t have to.

“Where is she, Brak?”

“With the Defenders camped less than two leagues from here. Terbolt is escorting her back to Karien.”

The stunned silence lasted only a moment.

“We have to rescue her,” Almodavar announced.

“How?” Tarja demanded.

“We’ll think of something,” Damin said, with a nod to his captain. “You’re surely not suggesting that we leave her there?”

“Why not? She’s as safe there as anywhere. I’m not going to risk the life of every man here, just so that the moment we get her back Brak can kill her.”

The Harshini stared at him with unreadable black eyes.

“Brakandaran would never…” Damin began, then saw the look on the Harshini’s face. “Gods! You can’t be serious!”

Adrina glanced around at the men angrily. “This is insane! You can’t leave her there. You can’t let them take her back to Karien. They would destroy her, and trust me, I know what I’m talking about! You have to rescue her!”

“It won’t be easy,” Ghari warned. “And if she has turned to Xaphista, she may not want to be rescued.”

“Bollocks!” the Fardohnyan princess spat angrily. “You don’t know what’s happened to her. You have to give her a chance.”

Tarja nodded in agreement. “Nobody wants to get her back more than I, Adrina, but she’s being held in the middle of a thousand Defenders.”

“But we have the Harshini on our side,” Damin pointed out. “We could be in and out before anyone knew about it. That’s assuming you’ll help us, Brak.”

“I’ll help you as much as I can, but you must understand that I can’t do anything for R’shiel. She has to make her own decisions.” He turned to Dace. “I’m allowed to do that much aren’t I, Divine One?”

Dace nodded miserably. “I suppose.”

“And once we have rescued the demon child?” Ghari asked. “You forget the Karien force approaching from the north. Unless Lord Brakandaran can magically transport us away from here, we’ll have little hope of escape. Cratyn is angry enough to hunt down his wife. I imagine losing the demon child will do nothing to improve his temper.”

“We need something to distract him,” Damin agreed.

“That’s easy,” Adrina said. “I’ll surrender.”

“No!” Damin cried.

“What else will turn him back, Damin? He seeks his wife. He doesn’t know that the Defenders approach, or that they have the demon child. If you can get R’shiel out of the Defenders’ camp, Terbolt will be furious certainly, but the Defenders will not pursue you with the same dedication that Cratyn will. With Brak’s help you can get clear. If Cratyn joins the hunt, nothing will deter him.”

Tarja could see the logic in her plan, but remained silent, as did the others. This was something they needed to decide between themselves. He wondered if Damin was beginning to realise just how hard he would find it to let Adrina go.

“I can’t let you do it, Adrina. If Cratyn suspects for a minute—”

“I’m prepared to take that risk, Damin.”

“Well, I’m not. You’re not going back to him and that’s final. We haven’t come this far to quit now.” He turned to Tarja, his face chiselled in determination. “We’ll get R’shiel back, Tarja, then we’ll run like hell. We’ll split our forces and scatter them so wide, Cratyn and Terbolt won’t even begin to know where to look. Brak can conceal us and—”

“And his priests will think I’ve lit a beacon for them,” Brak warned.

“But you’re shielding us now. Can’t they feel it?”

“I’m helping,” Dace admitted.

“Then you can help us when we flee.”

The God of Thieves shook his head. “That would be interfering. If you take R’shiel and try to stop what’s happening to her, and Zegarnald catches me helping you…” Dace left the sentence hanging ominously.

The gods couldn’t destroy each other, Tarja knew that much, but he wondered what one god could do to another that would cause Dacendaran such concern. He had a feeling he didn’t really want to know.

Damin thought for a moment then shrugged. “What the hell. I wasn’t planning to live forever anyway. What say we go and rescue the demon child anyway, and to hell with the risk?”

“You’re mad!” Adrina declared, but she didn’t offer any further protest, or repeat her offer to return to her husband.

One by one the others nodded their agreement, including Brak, until Damin turned to Tarja questioningly.

“Well?”

Tarja looked up and met Brak’s unwavering, alien eyes. He wanted to rescue R’shiel more than he wanted to keep breathing, but he could not shake the feeling that saving her from her current predicament might be placing her in even more danger.

“Let’s do it,” he agreed, sounding far more certain than he felt.

It was too late by the time they finished their discussion to take any action that night, so they planned their rescue attempt for the following evening. The delay made Tarja nervous. The Kariens were already too close for comfort and the wait served only to bring them closer.

The Defenders had stopped for the night so Damin sent out scouts to spy out the lay of their camp as it was more than likely the camp would be set up in the same way each evening. Two Hythrun Raiders and two Defenders, hand-picked by Tarja for both their experience and their common sense, were despatched to learn as much as they could before sunrise—specifically, where the occupants of the coach were camped. Tarja didn’t need a spy to tell him they would be in the centre of the camp, but it would simplify things considerably if he knew exactly which tent and the disposition of the guards.