Winterfinding (25 page)

“
So you know us.” Fery
said. She turned to her father and embraced him. “I’m glad you’re
well. You are well?” she asked.

“
I have been, I am, and am
better now that I know you are safe.”

“
So we’re all safe as
houses.” Declan rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t change the fact that I
don’t know what a theosopher is or why I’m talking to one,
especially one that serves a man who’s looking to kill my
friends.”

“
I like how direct you
are.” Pallas replied as he looked to Wynne. “Be quick about it,
it’ll happen soon.”

“
Let me explain.” Wynne
said, “Come inside.”

The crowd surged. Jena was pressed against
the throng. Her head darted around looking for Cochrane to see if
they had been separated. She saw him, about five or six heads
behind her. She couldn’t quite turn around. The mass of people kept
moving forward in a bizarre kind of shuffle.

Before her was a platform with a replica of
one of the golden pagodas held on the shoulders of about twenty
people. Every fifty feet or so the group carrying it would stop and
lift the platform up and down, then they would all begin to turn
and the platform would do an entire revolution. As it turned lifted
up and down, the doll-like icons that stood before the pagoda and
in the tiny nooks all around it looked like they were dancing,
their robes fluttering in the breeze and manufactured wind.

The two of them had entered the city earlier
that morning. The streets had been busy but it hadn’t been anything
like this. The buildings all looked the same no matter how far down
the street they walked or how many thin alleys that Cochrane took
them down. They tried cutting through some processions, escaping
others by staying close to the edges of the street or finding a
bisecting alley. Unfortunately, there was no avoiding the
processions.

They had successfully circumvented one only
to find themselves then pinched between it and the one they
currently found themselves enmeshed. The two had merged into a
single knot of standing bodies that inched along at a snail’s pace.
Jena tried to move back towards Cochrane but it was a vain effort.
She then stopped and tried to let the people go by her. It worked
and after about twenty minutes, she was next to him again.

“
This is madness.” She
said exhausted.

“
I told you. Fucking hate
festivals.” Cochrane grumbled.

“
This is almost as bad as
moving livestock.”

He gave a disgusted grunt of approval, “You
have no idea.”

She looked around and saw another alley a
little more than a hundred feet ahead of them. She gestured with
her head, “You think we can weave our way there?” Cochrane looked
to see what she meant. Frowning, he nodded and the two of them
tried their best to move a step at a time through the tight crush
of bodies.

“
At least the warm of all
these people keeps the chill at bay, eh?” She said after a few
minutes. Turning her head, she saw that they were separated again.
He caught her eye and gestured for her to keep on. It took Jena
nearly a half hour to get to the alley’s mouth. She rested for a
moment in the precious space, and then looked to see how Cochrane
was fairing. He was maybe a little less than half way to her from
where they started, not more than fifty feet. She raised a hand to
try to catch his eye.

Cochrane saw her and smiled. He swayed to
the side and looked towards the platform. It had stopped. Jena felt
exasperated as the carriers began their little dance. She flopped
her arms to her sides. This is going to take forever, she thought.
She looked back towards Cochrane and saw the annoyance on his face.
She smiled but then saw something strange.

Nearly everyone was looking to the platform,
watching the dancing icons on the golden pagoda and singing their
hymns. All but Cochrane and the man behind him. Tall with broad
shoulders, his face was unnervingly serene. Jena had never seen
someone with skin so dark. He wasn’t looking at her; his gaze was
burning a hole in the back of Cochrane’s head.

Jena called out to him but her voice just
evaporated in the din of song and cheering as the platform spun.
Cochrane was lost in his own immediate rage at the situation he was
in, glowering at everyone in front and next to him. The man didn’t
look like he was being jostled at all. He moved with precision
never letting his line of sight to Cochrane break.

Finally, Cochrane was close enough to hear
her. He winced and mouthed ‘what.’ Jena pointed behind him,
gestured for him to turn around and see. When he did, it was too
late. The man stood directly behind Cochrane. He spun and she could
tell he wasn’t just startled but panicked. The man didn’t look like
he could be moved. His head bent down looking at Cochrane. Jena
didn’t see either man’s hands move, but suddenly Cochrane turned
back around facing her. He was white, his eyes empty of life but
frozen in terror.

He wavered back and forth, as the people
around him began to move again. He wasn’t moving. His shoulders
were struck and then Jena saw him drop down into the sea of people.
The crowd was pushed too close together to take note of Cochrane
falling under its feet. She screamed out Cochrane’s name and
thought about trying to fight her way back to him. There were too
many people and nothing she could do.

The assassin was gone. She scanned the crowd
but he was nowhere to be seen. Jena had never believed anyone could
vanish. She knew how to make herself seemingly disappear; she knew
the tricks. There was a sharp burn of panic along her spine. Was
this a bounty hunter? Had he mistaken Cochrane and now after her?
But no, he was gone. She leaned against the alley wall and cursed.
She waited.

It took nearly an hour for the procession to
move on enough for her to reach the body. When she reached him, she
picked him up off the ground and dragged him to the alley. His eyes
were open. He had smudges on his face from where he had been
stepped on. His fingers were twisted and broken. There was a wet
red wound at the base of his skull. The man had pithed him,
severing his spine from his brain. Jena looked at him in silence
for a moment then slapped his body’s chest as she released a
bellow. Rage reddened her face. She sat back against the opposite
wall of the alley and just stared at the body.

After what felt like hours, she heard a
queer grinding noise that over took the distant noise of the
processions. It was the sound of stone on stone. A not too distant
rumble that she could feel in the ground, the vibrations giving a
tingling sensation in her legs and ass. The body slouched to one
side and then fell over. Jena stood, ran her hands over her face
and slapped herself a couple of times. She shook her head, turned
away from the body, and walked down the alley at a brisk pace. The
night before, he had told her what the sound would signal. The
Cathedral had drawn itself in; the rumble was the sound of the
promenade disappearing, of the Conclave beginning.

CHAPTER 6

7
^th
of Winterfinding

Spires Army

“
That,” Evness stood at
the entrance of the tent with his hands behind his back surveying
the camp, “was the sound of our defeat.”

The rumbling had started nearly an hour ago.
It was deep and constant, not enough to make things shake but you
felt it. When the sound reached the camp, soldiers had stopped in
their tracks. They looked to the sky and at each other in complete
confusion. A storm, distant thunder? Was something coming, a great
horde? Had a piece of the sky fallen? An earthquake? Had the
buildings of the city collapsed? Had the siege begun? Everything
was questions. Every face bewildered and nervy.

Evness was in Vikram’s tent when it
happened. They both looked out towards the city. Then, the older
man had started to laugh, a cackle possessing a kind of proleptic
desperation. It made Vikram visibly recoil.

“
They have no idea what is
going on.” Evness pointed.

Vikram tapped the desk absentmindedly, “The
Cathedral or us?”

“
Yes.”

“
I need to go and present
to Matis.” Vikram could see Evness tense. “You need to go back to
Ardavass.”

Evness half-turned, “I’m being exiled back
home?”

“
That is not the
case.”

“
Then what is?” Evness
barked. “I’ve served this army and, more importantly, that boy’s
family for faithfully for years. And now this.”

“
Matis isn’t fit to lead.”
Vikram didn’t look at Evness but felt his eyes on him.

“
Say that
again.”

“
No, I won’t.” Vikram
shook his head casually and collected three tiny scrolls in one
hand. “I am going to take these reports to the Grand General. I am
going to tell him I’ve sent you away, as he asked and that will
make him glad. You are going to ride hard and fast. You are going
to walk into the assemblage and tell the kyrios exactly what Matis
has done, and when you return, you will bring among other things a
command to remove him.”

Evness tapped his sword hilt as he mulled
over what Vikram had said. He moved back into the tent. His voice
was low, “That could take longer than you have.”

“
It’s the only choice
available to us.”

“
To you.”

Vikram raised an eyebrow. “And what would
you do? Sulk.”

“
Watch
yourself.”

“
Would you raise a hand?
Split this army apart for your vanity.”

“
I would
never…”

“
Or just take out your
frustrations by giving sour advice?”

Evness’s brow furrowed and jaw clenched. “I
am a proper soldier.”

“
I know you are.” Vikram’s
voice changed as his gaze met Evness’s. It was harsh and for the
first time in a long time, Evness felt a twinge of fear. “This is
what we do. This is how it’s done.” Vikram hissed through his
teeth. “Now get on a horse and do what needs be done. It might end
up being too late here, but that’s inconsequential. We have to look
ahead.”

“
He would never attack
during the Conclave.” Evness asserted.

“
He will not attack but
not because the Conclave has been convened. The Bandrans won’t
allow him to move on The Cathedral. He won’t risk losing their
allegiance. They’re all that props him up, and he knows
it.”

“
I’ll go.” Evness said as
he moved out of the tent. “It’ll take me a few weeks, maybe more if
the weather doesn’t cooperate.”

“
The Light will shine on
you.” Vikram patted him on the shoulder. “I hope to see your face
again.” Vikram left the tent and made for Grand General Matis’s
pavilion.

12
^th
of Winterfinding

The Taiga

The wind was constant though not
overwhelming. Snow from the sky merged with snow from the drifts on
the ground leaving no horizon to speak of. Shades of white were
created the only contours. Soon a figure emerged from deep within
the whiteout followed by another smaller figure struggling to keep
pace.

The first figure paused looking back. The
pair in layers of blue-grey clothing each worn dark black wrappings
around their heads. Their movements were slow as though they were
under water due to the weight of their packs and the thickness of
their coverings. There was a slim brim above the space each had
made for their eyes. Snow had collected in every crevice on them.
The smaller figure was having difficulty making its way through the
drifts even as it followed in the first figure’s tracks.

Finally, the second made it to the first.
There was no speaking. Rather the first and taller figure pointed
downward and the smaller nodded. Both began digging. Slowly the
pair began to disappear as the snow around them increased. Finally,
the pair had dug enough sown out and deep enough that the quinzhee
was complete almost looking like just another snow drift.

Inside the snow cave, the larger figure was
gently patting the snow above and around the pair smoothing out the
pseudo-walls and roof. Roth paused and pulled down the wrappings
around his face and let out a long, exhausted sigh. He looked Colm
over and smiled. The boy was still covered having nestled himself
between their two packs.

“Not really enough time for this to sinter
properly but it’ll do. Keep us warm enough to rest for a bit. You
feeling well?” Roth spoke to Colm in the cant.

Colm was breathing heavy and just nodded.
Roth was reclined on his side, his knees brought up nearly to his
chest. “Alright then, well, if this collapses while we sleep, we’ll
make for a lovely dead couple come the thaw.”

Colm said something but it was muffled by
his scarves. “I can’t hear you.” Roth said.

He pulled his wrappings down. “I said that’s
not funny.”

“Course it is.”

“I hate this. I’ve never been so cold.”

Roth waved him off, “It’s going to get a lot
colder.”

“Why couldn’t we just wait for the
others?”

“You know why.”

“But why.”

“Because you aren’t part of this. You’re not
one of ‘the others.’”

“I rather Jena had come with us.”

Roth nodded and looked wistful, “Aye, I
would have liked that too.” Colm looked at him, and Roth smiled.
“Another body would lighten the load and increase the warmth.” He
smiled at him.

Colm rolled his eyes, “You shouldn’t brush
it off so. One day you might joke and hurt her feelings.”