Chased By Fire (Book 1) (8 page)

“Lord Lind should meet with the Athan, not I.”
 

“He did. He requested your help.”

His mother frowned. “You have already been to Lind,” she said softly, dropping the formality of the title. “How is it you present him, Tan?” She looked past Tan and at the Athan as she spoke.
 

Tan decided to answer quickly. Anything he said now risked angering his mother more. “I met Roine in the forest.” She frowned deeply at him. “I finished my chores this morning and followed the Aeta as they left town. It was along the road to Velminth that I encountered Roine.”

“The Aeta have already left?”
 

It was not the question Tan expected. “Early this morning.”

“Toward Velminth?”

Tan nodded again.

“And you met Roine along the road?” She said his name with a strange inflection. The stranger smiled.

“My lady,” Roine said, bowing his head slightly. “You son was kind enough to lead me to Nor. I have learned much from him.”

His mother sniffed and then lightly shook her head before finally laughing quietly. “I am sure you have, Roine.” She made a point of pushing his name with the odd inflection. She leaned forward. “What is it you need?”
 

Roine laughed and stepped inside the door. He tilted his head. “Ephra.” He said her name with the same odd inflection. “Your son has been most helpful. He even secured me an audience with the manor lord.”

“I think as Athan you would have no trouble on your own.”

Roine shrugged. “I didn’t refuse his assistance.”

She snorted. “And what assistance do you require?”
 

Tan was taken aback by their banter. Like his father, his mother had studied in Ethea. That’s where they’d met. She was a senser, though claimed to have lost much of her ability and never spoke of it. Neither of his parents ever really spoke of their time in the capital, other than to encourage him to go to the university.

Roine smiled at the question. “I came looking for a shaper, one of great power.”

His mother blinked and waited.

“But seeing the Aeta raised a new concern. So it seems I need help.”

“What kind of help?” his mother asked.
 

Roine pulled the rolled parchment he’d shown Lord Lind and set it on the desk. “I was sent in search of an item. I thought this shaper I knew could help.” He shrugged. “Perhaps not. But to find it, I need to get through the mountains quickly.”

His mother stared at Roine for a long moment, the silence between them growing slowly palpable. Finally, she took a deep breath. “Why?”

“I was sent by the king.”

His mother shook her head. “Why?”
 

“My lady,” Roine began, more to silence her than anything else. His eyes darted briefly to Tan and his mother slowly nodded. Roine shrugged. “There is…an item…that must be found. Everything I can find tells me it will be near Galen.”

His mother unrolled the parchment and smoothed it out. She studied it and then flipped the page over, giving it more attention than Lord Lind had bothered. “This…”

Roine nodded. “You understand the urgency. I need to get through the passes quickly.”

“Why?” She let the parchment roll back up and set it to the side.
 

“I don’t think I’m the only one searching.”

“The hounds.”

Roine frowned. “Hounds?”

His mother looked to Tan. “He saw them yesterday. Chased the Aeta.”

The Athan studied Tan for a long moment. “Then it is even more urgent than I feared.”

“If Incendin seeks this item and you need to travel quickly, you need someone who knows the mountains well.”

“Better than me, at least.”

His mother nodded, a resolute expression coming across her face. “You will take Tan. He’s the best tracker in Nor and knows the mountains better than any.”

“That’s all?”

“He has some skill with earth sensing,” she added.

Roine smiled. “You didn’t send him to the university? Most go for the chance they may be shapers.”

“I’m not going to the university,” Tan said.
 

The smile left Roine’s face. “Your father?”

Roine couldn’t understand. More than just losing his father. He knew the terms of study at the university. And he had no interest serving the king after what happened. How he’d simply been summoned. Taken from them.

“Tannen—” His mother met his eyes, pleading with him. “If you won’t go to Ethea, at least do this for your king. You know these mountains better than any and if Incendin searches…”
 

“Father knew them better,” Tan said.

His mother nodded. “Perhaps. But he is gone. And he went willingly. He understood the need to serve.”

Tan considered refusing but what she asked meant he’d be free to wander the forest. If he could serve the king doing that, would there be any reason not to? At least this way he got away from the city for a while, away from an already-annoyed Lins. Maybe he could stop disappointing his mother, if only briefly.

He sighed. “I’ll go.”

She watched him before finally nodding. Turning to Roine, she asked, “How long?”
 

Roine shook his head. “I don’t know. A week. Maybe longer.”

“Prepare for longer, Tannen. You will leave in the morning?”

Roine nodded.

His mother stood at her desk. “Then take tonight to gather what you need, Tan. And be safe.”

He nodded.

“Roine, a word?” she asked.

Tan turned and left his mother’s office, pulling the door closed behind him. As he did, a snippet of unexpected conversation wafted through the door. He paused to listen and what he heard left his heart hammering in his chest.

“I know this must be important if you were sent.” The door muffled her voice.

“It is.”

“Your name…Roine?”

Roine said nothing.

“Reminds me of the ancient language.
Roinay
.”

“Not many know the ancient language.”

She snorted. “It’s no secret I studied at the university. But
roinay
? Tainted?”

“Your point?”

His mother paused before answering. “No point, then. But with Grethan gone, Tan is the best we have. If what he told me yesterday is true, you face a danger like we’ve not seen in the kingdoms in years.” There was a pause. “Theondar…” She paused again and Tan frowned, wondering why his mother would mention the name of that warrior. “You must protect him.”

“I will do my best, Zephra.”

Tan sat in his small room, staring at the wall. A small lantern sputtered, the oil already burning out. Had he not planned on leaving, he would have collected more lard oil. The stuff smelled foul and burned with a thick, pungent smoke. Nothing like the clean lamp oil Lord Lind used. Probably Lins, too.

The bed was shoved against the wall, but still there wasn’t much space in his room. The place his mother managed to secure for him was in the servant quarters. And even then most of the other rooms had more space. They were certainly warmer in the winter than his room. At least with the heat of the summer, his room finally had some benefit.
 

A small trunk rested near the end of the bed. Inside was everything else he owned. Not much, really. A few changes of clothes. Some books his father had long ago given him. A necklace given to him when he’d turned sixteen that he never wore. A long hunting knife. His bow hung on a hook he’d worked into the stone, the quiver laying on the floor near it.
 

Emotions rushed through him. He should be thrilled his mother asked him to lead Roine through the upper reaches, but he couldn’t help but feel hesitation. The only other time he’d traveled that far had been with his father. And he had nothing like his father’s skill. Besides, going with Roine—the Athan to the king—meant serving the king. Did he really want to serve?

A light knock rattled the thin door. Tan jumped off his small bed. Other than his mother, he didn’t have any visitors. Well, Bal sometimes, but she usually got in enough trouble that she spent most evenings in the kitchen cleaning.
 

Cobin waited for him on the other side. “Gonna let me in?”

Tan pulled the door open and Cobin stepped in. Since he’d moved into the manor house, he didn’t think Cobin ever visited. Once Cobin had visited often, but that had been before.

“You gonna come to me?” he asked.

“About what?”

Cobin grunted and scrubbed a hand across his face. “About what. You think I haven’t heard?”

Tan shook his head. He should have gone to Cobin to tell him about Roine. Might be that Cobin would be better to travel with him than Tan anyway, but a part of him really wanted to get away from Nor for a while, even if only for a week.

“Yeah, I should have said something. When I saw—”

Cobin grunted again. “When you saw them. After what happened yesterday, you’d think you’d know better. Your pa would have, and I don’t mean that to hurt you, but it’s the truth. Didn’t I warn you about the hounds?”

“Hounds? What are you talking about?”

Cobin jabbed him in the shoulder with a thick finger. Tan winced. “You went off on your own and killed three wolves. Thought you said it wasn’t wolves you tracked yesterday. You’re the one who got me fired up about the hounds, and then you leave the wolves. Not sure why you felt the need to burn them.”

“Cobin,” Tan began, backing into the wall, “I didn’t kill any wolves.”

Cobin’s hand froze in the air. “Not you? Then who?”

Tan shrugged.
 

“Then what were you talking about?”

Tan slumped onto his bed. “I thought you knew.”

Cobin leaned against one wall. As small as the room was, he practically filled it with his bulk. “Knew what?”

“When I went after the Aeta, I met someone.”
 

Cobin’s eyes narrowed. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”

“One of the Athan. Here for the king.”

Cobin snorted. “Definitely don’t like the sound of that. Last time we had a messenger from the king—”

Tan nodded. “I know.” He’d tried not to think about the last time. A letter sent, sealed with the king’s own sigil, asking his father to return to service. And his father had gone, giving everything.

Cobin’s face softened. “Of course you do, Tan. I don’t mean to keep throwing that at you. Great Mother knows how hard all this must be on you. Wounds still fresh and all.” He looked as if he wanted to either punch him or hug him. Either seemed awkward with Cobin. “Why did one of the Athan come to Nor?”

Tan shrugged. “Don’t know. He met with Lord Lind and was sent to my mother.”

Cobin coughed. “I’m sure that went over well.”

“It was…strange. Almost like they knew each other.”

“Well, your parents both spent time in Ethea back when they studied at the university. Could be they knew him there. What’s his name?”

“Roine. Gray-haired. Older. Something dark about him, though.”

Cobin frowned. “Can’t say I recognize the name, but not that I would. Darkness probably comes with the job, too.” He paused. “Wait—what did he need from your ma?”

“He needs help getting through the passes quickly. He’s after something—he didn’t say what—and thinks Incendin is after it too.”

Cobin scrubbed a hand across his face. “Incendin?” He shook his head and a pained look pulled at his cheeks. “First the hounds and now this. Can’t help but think they’re tied together, but we haven’t heard anything from Incendin in over twenty years, and even then the passes kept us pretty protected from the war.”

Tan’s parents spoke rarely about the war with Incendin, other than to say how bloody it had been. Fire shapers from Incendin battling with the warriors of the kingdoms, each pushing against each other. The war was the reason they’d been allowed to study at the university. Anyone with potential had been allowed to study.
 

Cobin studied him. “Don’t worry. Incendin hasn’t had the strength to fight us in a long time.”

“And we haven’t had the strength to fight back in a long time. There haven’t been any warriors since then.”

“We still have plenty of shapers. That’s enough to keep the barrier between the kingdoms and Incendin intact. Not much can cross the barrier.”

“The Aeta did.”

Cobin nodded. “They’re given free reign. That’s how it is with their people. They can travel freely and trade so long as they don’t stay too long or settle.”

“Other traders aren’t given the same freedom.”

“Other traders aren’t the Aeta,” Cobin said.
 

Tan didn’t push. There was more to the story of the Aeta but he’d never really gotten a clear understanding. Traveling merchants, but more than that. They traveled as familes, each caravan connected to the Aeta whole. Most really didn’t understand more than that anyway. Maybe Cobin did. Tan suspected his mother did. But now that the Aeta had departed, it didn’t really matter. It’d be years before they returned.

“So who did your ma send to help?” Cobin asked. When Tan didn’t answer fast enough, Cobin’s eyes widened. “She sent you? Thought she’s been trying to get you to go to Ethea? Now she sends you the opposite way?”

“She wants me to serve the king.”

Cobin took a slow breath and then laughed softly. “That’s what it’s been about with you? Serving? I always thought you just didn’t want to go to the capital. Plenty of folks don’t, especially those who live most of their lives out here, disconnected from everything else. Barely feel like you’re a part of the kingdoms, let alone think you need to go off to the capital to study. But service?” He shook his head. “We all got to serve something. Time you discover what that is.”

Tan hated the way everyone seemed to know what he needed. “And you? What do you serve?”

His face took on a serious expression. “I serve plenty. Since her ma died, I keep Bal fed and sheltered.”

Tan shook his head. Cobin had lost as much as any in Galen. “My mother wants me to study in the universtiy knowing that doing so puts me in debt to the king. Like my father.”

“And your mother,” Cobin said softly.