Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) (65 page)

They picked their way past the wounded, freezing them as necessary to prevent them grabbing legs and dragging them down. Vigorre could look away from the furious hatred in their eyes, but it was harder to shut out the groans and curses and occasional sharp cries of pain. Kevessa gathered her skirts up and hurried by, Josiah shrugged and trotted at Sar’s heels, and Borlen watched closely for any surprise attacks. But Elkan kept looking back even after they were safely through.

Borlen said, “Master Elkan, sir, let me go in front. I don’t much like hurting them either, but we’ve got little choice if we want to escape with our lives, and it doesn’t bother me the way it does you.”

Elkan shook his head. “It’s within the Law. The familiars didn’t hesitate.” But he still looked bleak.

“Please,” Borlen insisted. “I’m trained for combat. You’ll need to help if there’s as many of them as that time, but I’ll take the brunt.”

Elkan looked like he was going to argue more, so Vigorre said, “We can talk if you’re next to me. There are things I need to tell you.”

Elkan looked at them both for a moment, then shrugged. “All right.” Vigorre could hear the relief in his voice even though he tried to hide it.

They rearranged themselves and pressed on. After consulting a window, Borlen led them down a side corridor. The route he chose was long and circuitous, but at the moment free of guards. That could change at any time, because as soon as news of their escape reached the Matriarch the hunt would be on, so they kept several windows open. But they encountered only a few small clusters of servants or courtiers. Most fled as soon as they spotted the determinedly advancing group of wizards. The rest they froze while they passed.

Vigorre grimaced as he glanced behind and spotted a footman racing away down a hall. “They’re going to carry word of where we are to the Matriarch.”

“Can’t be helped,” Elkan said. “We can’t harm bystanders who pose no immediate threat to us.” His tone left no room for argument.

“I know.” Vigorre sighed.

“What did you want to tell me?” Elkan asked after a moment.

Vigorre wished a troop of guards would spring from the shadows, but the corridor ahead remained clear. He stared at the thick loop of snake around the back of Borlen’s neck. “When Kevessa and I confessed, she told you everything she’d done. But I didn’t.”

“I suspected you hadn’t,” Elkan said, his voice calm and nonjudgemental. “Go ahead.”

It was easier to talk if he didn’t have to look at him. “The morning after you arrived, I… I went to Yoran Lirolla and swore myself to the Purifiers.”

He took perverse satisfaction from the startled intake of breath his words drew from Elkan. But the wizard’s voice remained steady. “I see.”

“He let me read their secret documents. They matched what Nirel had told me.” He couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been. Tharanirre’s presence was warm and bright in his mind. The thought of her being a demon was ridiculous. He would have laughed if that untruth, and his stubborn adherence to it, hadn’t done so much harm. “I was sure I’d done the right thing. So when he ordered me to join you, to spy on you and gain your trust, I did.” He risked a glance sideways. Elkan had his hand on Tobi’s head, his expression deeply thoughtful.

Vigorre hurried on, pouring out the rest of the story as succinctly as possible, but holding nothing back. No more secrets. He was a wizard now.

When he reached the account of the trap that had almost caught Josiah, Elkan’s eyes widened in alarm. At the news of how they’d agreed to keep it a secret, he made an exasperated sound and turned to glower at his apprentice. “I don’t suppose anything I say will deter you from such foolishness in the future.”

“Probably not.” Josiah shrugged, half sheepish, half amused.

Elkan smiled wryly, but it faded into an expression of concern. “You handled the experience all right? Having to kill your attackers? Even when it’s self-defense it’s not an easy thing to know you’ve helped end a life.”

Josiah shrugged again. This time his expression was bleak. His eyes slid to focus on the corridor ahead. “I doubt it will be the last time.”

Elkan’s expression was equally grim. “True.” He turned back to Vigorre with a grimace. “Go on.”

Vigorre set his shoulders and recounted the meeting at which the Purifiers and Dualists had made their fateful alliance. He outlined Elder Davon’s plan, and the way Keeper Yoran had modified it. For the first time Elkan showed true alarm. “That’s what this is about?”

Vigorre nodded.

“Burn and blast it,” Elkan swore. “If I’d known we might put Tevenar itself in danger we’d never have come. This Armada I keep hearing about really can make an effective attack so far away?”

“They do all the time when we’re at war with Marvanna. Even when we’re at peace they spend years at a time at sea, blockading them.”

Elkan looked into the distance for a moment, then shook his head. “I guess the only thing I still don’t understand is where the Matriarch got the idea that we’re Marvannan agents and that we lied about the sex of her child.”

“Nirel,” Vigorre said. Behind him, Josiah made a strangled sound. “A few hours ago I got a message from her, summoning me to an emergency meeting.” He went on to describe everything that had happened there, the decision he’d come to afterward, and the events in the throne room. When he finished, he felt wonderfully light.

“This is all my fault,” Josiah said, sounding stunned. “I told Nirel about the baby. That’s what gave her the idea.”

Elkan turned to him, frowning. “You spoke with her?”

Josiah flushed. “She was at Gevan’s workshop this evening. Nalini said she wanted to talk to me, but I had to keep it a secret.”

Elkan rubbed his temple. “You shouldn’t have agreed to that, and you certainly shouldn’t have mentioned the child. But still, it’s hardly all—”

Tharanirre’s harsh cry called Vigorre's attention to their window. A mass of guards waited around the next corner. They were armed with bows. “Here we go again,” he said, striving to keep his voice light. “How’s the Mother’s power against arrows?”

“Effective, but you’ve got to be fast enough to spot them first. Josiah, Sar’s got experience with this.”

Josiah rubbed his upper arm with a rueful grin. “I remember.”

“We’ll concentrate on stopping the arrows. The rest of you disable them.” He settled his hand on Tobi’s back. A twang of a bowstring and an arrow’s hiss signaled the attack.

The conflict was brief and intense. At the end of it, all the Matriarch’s guards were incapacitated except one who’d raced off as soon as the encounter began. A few arrows had slipped past Elkan and Josiah’s guard. One had grazed Kevessa’s arm, and one had caught Sar in the leg. They paused to heal the wounds, then hurried on.

They were almost at the main gate of the palace. Vigorre gulped as the windows showed what waited there. A huge number of guards packed the entry. The gates were closed and barred.

Elkan pushed a strand of hair out of his face. “Borlen, are you sure there’s no other way out of the palace?”

“Just the servants’ entrance, down on the other side of the kitchens.” A quick scan showed that it, too, was heavily guarded. “Other than that, the only places that aren’t solid stone are high above ground. The terrace, the battlements, the balcony where the Matriarch addresses the people—”

Elkan’s head jerked up. “The balcony. Take us there.”

Borlen stared at him, his brow creased. “But it’s twenty feet up!”

Elkan grinned. “The Mother’s power can handle it.”

Sure enough, after they’d broken through a few locked doors and defeated the small contingent of guards protecting the route, it was simple. The courtyard was deserted, the guards usually stationed there recalled inside the gate. One by one they took turns floating each wizard and familiar down, encased in glowing spheres of light. Two familiars working together handled each of the humans, and all four of the rest lifted Sar safely down while Josiah watched anxiously from below. Finally Tobi, disdaining any help, gave a great leap and landed lightly beside Elkan on the cobblestones.

They hurried from the courtyard and followed Borlen down narrow, winding streets. When they were certain they were well out of sight of the palace and hadn’t been pursued, they paused to catch their breath. Vigorre leaned against a rough stone wall, panting. He’d never felt anything quite like this weariness. He wanted both to devour large quantities of food and collapse into sleep.

Josiah voiced what he was thinking. “Now what?”

Elkan dug his fingers into Tobi’s fur. She laid her head against him, her deep rumbling purr vibrating into Vigorre’s bones. “If I thought it would do any good, I’d insist on trying to talk the Matriarch out of this madness. But I’m afraid she’s beyond reason. You heard her. She’s fixated on the idea that we manipulated her into killing a daughter. I wonder if Nirel realized how potent her lie would be. It taps into all Verinna’s deepest fears, all her guilt…” After a long moment he shook his head. “It’s hopeless to try to reach her. She needs to believe this too much. Windows will be dismissed as false, physical evidence discredited, witnesses branded liars.” He scowled. “The Mother’s power terrifies her. If she can’t control it, she’ll have to destroy it.”

He looked at the three Ramunnans. “Is there any way to stop her orders from reaching the Armada? If we sink the ship in the harbor, would that prevent her from launching an attack on Tevenar?”

Vigorre exchanged glances with Borlen and Kevessa. “Not for long. She’s got messenger doves, runners, signal towers… If it were easy to disrupt communications, our enemies would be quick to take advantage of the weakness.”

“I feared as much.” Elkan focused on Vigorre. “Do you think it would be possible to negotiate with Yoran Lirolla? He offered to cease hostilities if all wizards left Ramunna. Would he still be open to that bargain? Enough to use his influence to stop the Matriarch’s vendetta against Tevenar?”

Vigorre considered the question. Finally he shook his head. “I don’t think so. This new alliance with the Dualists offers him too much. Power in Ramunna in the near future instead of many years from now. The Dualists leaving willingly, paying for the privilege, instead of having to be driven out.”

“What about Davon? Large portions of the Tevenaran continent are uninhabited. If we offered him his choice of locations for his people to relocate, help getting their new settlement started, complete independence from Tevenar except as they chose to establish trade or other ties—would he listen?”

Vigorre had to think longer about this one. “Maybe. But I doubt it. Not as long as he hopes to take over existing cities and towns and farms. The Dualists in Ramunna are city-dwellers; they’ve been confined to the Quarter for centuries. They’d have no idea how to build a settlement from scratch.”

“What about your father, Vigorre?” Elkan’s voice was gentle. “Was he sincere in his renunciation of the Purifiers? Can he use his influence with the Matriarch to help us?”

Vigorre clenched his fists and stared blindly at the blank wall across the narrow street. “No. He lied to the Matriarch. He thinks the window you showed him was fake. I persuaded him the familiars are demons, and he still believes it. He wants them destroyed.”

“Will it make any difference if you tell him about Tharanirre?”

With all his heart Vigorre wished he could say yes, but he shook his head. “No. He’ll think I’ve been enslaved like the rest of you.”

Elkan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Does anyone else have any idea how we can stop the Matriarch from sending the Armada against Tevenar?”

Josiah straightened, eyes bright. “Maybe Gevan—” He deflated. “But the Matriarch thinks he’s working for Marvanna, too.”

For a long moment more Elkan searched all their faces. No one spoke. Vigorre swallowed and looked away.

At last Elkan took a deep breath. “That settles it. Ramunna’s not safe for us any more, and Tevenar must be warned of the coming attack.” He fondled Tobi’s ears with a hand that wasn’t quite steady. “We need a ship to take us there.”

Borlen stared down toward the harbor. “Impossible. No ship’s captain will defy the Matriarch that way. The Armada ship would destroy any vessel that tried to sail without permission.”

Josiah scowled. “Captain Yosiv would have helped us, but the
Verinna
is halfway to Tevenar now.”

Vigorre chewed his lip. “Do you think Keeper Seshone’s ship could be persuaded to take us?”

“Perhaps, but more likely the captain would refuse.” Elkan turned away from the harbor and gazed northward across the city. “Besides, I have a better idea.”

Thirty-Nine

J
osiah trudged down the dirt road at Sar’s heels. It was nearly dawn, and the only sleep he’d gotten all night had been the hour before the Matriarch’s guards had rudely awoken them. He hadn’t eaten since then, either, and he and Sar had expended a lot of energy during their escape. He’d almost welcome being captured and thrown in the dungeon, as long as they let him sit down and gave him some food. Dry bread would seem like a feast.

Thank the Mother, they were nearly at their destination. When he’d first realized where Elkan was taking them, he’d protested vociferously, but his master refused to be swayed. When Josiah had pointed out that they’d never make it past the guards at the gates of the Dualist Quarter, Elkan had turned to Borlen and Vigorre to see if they knew a way around. Vigorre did, a long, winding route that led through the upper reaches of the city and cut across a spur of the mountains before rejoining the direct road to the village. First, though, they’d detoured to the Mother’s Hall to pick up Nalini and Thanna, and to the University for Gevan. Elkan insisted they’d be in danger from the Matriarch, too.

Josiah grew increasingly miserable as they walked, but he couldn’t complain, because none of the others said a word. Even Kevessa plodded stoically beside her father, occasionally turning her cheek to rest against Nina on her shoulder. Josiah would have liked to offer her his arm for support on some of the steeper mountain trails, except he had to cling to Sar’s mane to make it himself.