Etchings of Power (Aegis of the Gods) (60 page)

Remembering not only Teacher Galiana’s but Kachien’s warning about control and the way Kachien looked when she gave in to her power, Ancel took a deep shuddering breath. His heart was still pounding as he sought the serenity he used when he practiced. Wiping away the blood from his mouth, he pictured a tranquil lily pond. His heart calmed. Once again, he found the Eye.

He opened his Matersense and traced the essences in his father again. The shade dominated all else, seeping in and out of his father’s wounds. Light waxed and waned like dusk’s weak fingers trying to penetrate thick, dark clouds. “I can’t tell…the shade…Why not just strip the shade from him. It’s killing him.”

“Concentrate; remember all living beings need the harmony of all the elements, all the essences to live, even the shade.” Her voice sounded tired and distant. “Banishing the shade as you suggest and tried would only ensure his death.”

Ancel focused, and then he saw it. The shade in his father resided in clumps within the wounds and prevented them from mending. At the same time, the essence helped to keep the rest of his body sealed against disease while restricting veins for proper blood flow. Light essences worked to ease certain blockages to increase the flow, or open shade’s seals and force out possible infection.

He could also see how water, air, and flesh came together, but most of it was so complicated, the workings were a blur. One thing became obvious. If shade was completely removed, the body’s balance would fail, as the harmony of Stefan’s Mater would be irreparably damaged. Instead, the Forging Shin Galiana used allowed the light to work with the taint, pushing it back to where it belonged—balancing it. In turn, the Forging mended the wound while maintaining his father’s life. Ancel couldn’t see all the intricate strands Forged together to accomplish this, but he was no less awed. He released his Matersense.

He realized something else. By focusing on what ailed his father, he had fully calmed and his emotions no longer controlled him. He faced Galiana and smiled. “Thank you, Shin Galiana.”

She gave him a weak nod. “I wish I could do the same for all the others.” Her gaze swung around the room, and her shoulders sagged.

Silence hung around the room like the somber weight of gloom at a funeral. Every eye watched them. The faces were expectant, forlorn, many without hope. From his brief memory of what he’d seen, Ancel knew the majority of the wounded in the room would die. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Da, please survive this. I pray the gods make it so.

The lost eyes and pained expressions still lingered as people returned to tending the wounded and dying. Prayers and whispers resumed, building into quiet sobs and soft wails.

“Shin Galiana, how did the shadelings manage to cross the Vallum?” Ancel asked, still holding his father’s hand.

She regarded him, strained lines etching her eyes. “I do not know, but I intend to find out. Alys should have his medicine shortly and something for you also. I need to go meet with the Council. I shall return.” She gathered her white dress and strode from the room.

A mender’s apprentice, in their customary blue garb, brought Ancel a chair. Ancel thanked the woman and sat next to his father. It took a great deal of effort for him not to open up to his Matersense again. He reminded himself trying to help might hurt his father more.

Still, nothing about his father’s appearance eased Ancel’s concern. Only a head shorter than Ancel himself, his father’s frame appeared not only shorter but smaller. Sunken cheeks and bones protruding at his jaw line didn’t help. Neither did his unintelligible mutterings.

“The Tenets, no, the Disciplines…Ancel…We’re free. The kinai…how? Jeremiah, are you there? They seek us. They created a breach…”
Who were they?
Who was Jeremiah?
The unfinished sentences continued. “The Eztezian…Ilumni, O Ilumni save…Thania, are you there?”

“No Da, mother isn’t here.” Ancel grabbed his father’s hand and squeezed. The flesh was now hot to the touch like heated waves above a roaring hearth.

His father’s garbled words continued. Tears came to Ancel’s eyes at his delirium.

Sweat beaded Stefan’s brow, and his eyes shot open. “The keys…Ancel,” he whispered and his eyes closed again.

“I’m here, Da! It’s me,” Ancel exclaimed but his pleading went unacknowledged
. What’s he talking about? What’s he trying to tell me?

Just as sudden as the mutterings began, they stopped. His father’s breathing evened out. Ancel touched the back of his hand to his father’s head. It was cool to the touch, almost normal. A relieved sigh escaped Ancel’s lips.

“I’ve brought his medicine.” Alys’ soft voice sounded behind him.

Ancel turned to face her. Her eyes shone wetly. In her hand, she carried a tray with two teacups.

“And a cup for you. Shin Galiana said it will help with what you feel now.” Alys’ gaze met his for a moment before her attention shifted to his father.

Ancel nodded, released his father’s hand, and pushed his chair out of her way.

“Could you please help me with him?” Alys stepped up to Stefan and placed the tray on a tiny table next to the bed. “Sometimes when he mutters like this, he fights when we try to give him his medicine.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold him up while I feed this to him.” She leaned down as she spoke, and her hair brushed past Ancel.

Her hair carried the perfumed scent of bellflowers. Ancel fought hard against the urge to touch her hair, instead reaching down to his father. Stefan’s weight mattered little as Ancel drew him up into a sitting position. Ancel frowned at not only his father’s weight, but also at Stefan’s body, which was now not just cool, but cold like the icy chill of death.

Hands trembling, Ancel tried to keep his father steady as Alys held his mouth open. With a teacup in her other hand, she poured red tea down his throat in short doses. From the tea’s scent, Ancel knew it was kinai tea. One of Shin Galiana’s favorite mending tonics. When Alys finished, Ancel laid his father back down. Color returned to Stefan’s face, and his body warmed in that small period. Alys studied his father, and after a moment, she nodded in satisfaction and picked up the tray.

“This is for you,” she said, holding the other cup out to Ancel

He almost protested, but he remembered Shin Galiana’s words. Moreover, Alys had made the tea. Things were already bad enough between them without him making them worse. He took the cup and sipped. The warm, sweet tasting tea slid down his gullet, and its warmth invigorated and calmed him at the same time.

Her green eyes met his. “Ancel, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine, Alys…” No, he couldn’t lie. “I mean, it’s not fine, but I understand.”

A deep breath released from her at his words. “You’ve never been the same since—”

“I don’t think I’ll ever truly get over her, Alys. I’m sorry if I led you on, but that’s the way of things. Whether I like them or not.”

Her lips trembled and her eyes became downcast. “I know. I just hoped…I won’t ever forgive her for leaving, for what she did to you.”

Ancel smiled and touched Alys’ hand tenderly. “Thank you for that. Maybe you’re stronger than I’ll ever be.”

A faint smile crossing her lips, she gave his hand a brief squeeze.

“I’m glad we had this talk,” Ancel said.

“Me too.”

“How’re you handling all this.” Ancel pointed to the other cots.

“I’m managing. Barely. How could this happen, Ancel? Without anyone knowing?” Alys’ eyes glistened.

“I-I don’t know. Have you heard anything from your father about Council’s plans?”

“No, they’ve been in meetings all day. Mother has been quite flustered though. And Shin Galiana has acted strange. She’s been staying close to your father ever since they brought him in. A few times she wrote something down during his rambling, but later burnt it.”

Ancel studied his father’s face. Since drinking the kinai tea, Stefan had regained some of his color and his chest rose and fell in even breaths. Why did Shin Galiana write down what he said?

A commotion to the other side of the room drew Ancel’s attention. About twenty Dagodin followed a senior officer with the crossed swords signet on his arm that named him a Knight. The black-haired, hook-nosed man strode next to a mender who pointed out men on cots. Two Dagodin marched to each cot chosen, positioned themselves to either end, lifted and headed to the hall leading upstairs.

“What are they doing?” Ancel asked, amid women’s panicked wails from across the room.

Each time the menders pointed out a man, cries burst out from a woman. A few tried to reach the cots picked out, but the soldiers restrained them.

“When someone dies from the taint they’re cremated. Shin Galiana hasn’t given a reason for this, but her orders were explicit.” Tears streamed down Alys’ face.

Ancel watched in stunned silence as the Dagodin took ten dead men. He took a step forward, before he fought back to urge to help the townsfolk, his arms tight from the effort. An Ashishin’s orders were not to be disobeyed, no matter how gruesome.

“I have to go console them,” Alys said, her tone painfully soft. She crossed the room and spoke to the women, touching a shoulder here, squeezing a hand there, or whispering in an ear. Sometimes, the sobs increased, and she would hug that woman until her display of grief lessened.

Another Dagodin squad entered, and the process repeated. Ancel swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and scrubbed at the wet warmth that ran down his face. He reached for his father’s hand.
Dear Ilumni, spare my father such a fate.

Ancel’s head spun for a moment. This time he quickly sought the Eye and brought himself under control. He frowned. Was it the third time that had happened? All after a prayer to Ilumni? He said another prayer in his mind for the well-being of Eldanhill, but nothing happened. Shaking the idea off as ridiculous, Ancel returned his attention to his father. Anything so he wouldn’t count how many people he knew were being cremated.

His father’s confusing words continued from time to time. Often his face would revert to its pale appearance. Every hour Alys dosed him with kinai and the color returned. Eventually, Ancel took over the doses.

Ancel was sipping his second cup of kinai tea when Mirza and Danvir visited.

“Sorry, Ancel. We didn’t know.” Danvir patted Ancel’s shoulder.

“Not many did,” Ancel said.

“How’s he doing?” Mirza asked, his gray eyes steady.

Ancel shrugged, trying not to show how torn up he felt inside. “Not as bad as some. He keeps coming in and out of consciousness.”

Dagodin carried away another group of men.

“What’s that about?” Danvir nodded at the commotion and crying women.

Ancel explained Shin Galiana’s orders. Both his friends stared.

“Any idea why?”

Ancel shook his head.

“Hmm, I’ll ask my father when I go home, see what he says,” Danvir mused.

“How’s everything outside?”

Mirza raised his eyebrows and shook his head slowly. “Bad. They deployed Dagodin to the south of town. The Sendethi have gained reinforcements. But there’s no sign of the shadelings. You should see all the lightstones and lamps they have out there. You can hardly tell moonrise is com—”

“M-m-moonrise?” Stefan sputtered painfully.

“Da!” Ancel exclaimed.

His father’s face had retained its color since the last kinai dose. The man’s cheeks appeared fuller even as his emerald eyes watered. He gripped the sheets as a spasm wracked his body.

Ancel squeezed his father’s arm. “Take it easy, Da.”

“An—” His father coughed. “Ance, Ancel what are you doing here. W-w-where is your…mother?”

“She’s fine. At least that’s what Guthrie said. Why—”

His father struggled to sit up. “You need to go to your—” He coughed. “Your mother. S-s-she will need your help. Get… get to her before moonrise.”

“Da—”

“No, boy.” His father’s voice became steel. He hacked another cough. “Take my sword. It’s a
divya
. You’ll need it.” He pulled the sword, in its white and gold scabbard, from under the sheet. With his other hand, he made the sign of an X over his heart. “Release—” He collapsed.

White heat flashed through Ancel. “Alys! Alys!” he yelled. The heat sucked at him as if it wanted to swallow him. Chest heaving, shoulders knotting with strain, he fought against the feeling, and it subsided to a comfortable warmth. Warmth he could sense outside himself, on his chest, and in his father’s hand.

The sword and the pendant. He could sense them. Ancel’s eyes bulged.

Alys appeared by his side. Danvir and Mirza tried to help, but she shooed them away. She motioned for Ancel to help her with the medicine, and he did, all the while hoping to ignore what he felt. His father sputtered as he drank.

Stefan’s hand rose feebly with the sword in it. “Go,” he whispered, then his body sagged and his eyes fluttered shut.

“No. No. Alys is he…”

She touched his neck. “He’s asleep. What happened?”

“He woke and asked after my mother. Then he said she’ll need my help and to take his sword.” Ancel refused to touch the weapon, but he could feel it all the same. “He said I needed to reach her before moonrise.” He wiped tears he didn’t realize he’d shed from his face.

“He always feared this.” Guthrie’s grim voice sounded from behind them. He still wore his armor. His massive greatsword rested on his shoulder. “Take the sword. If we’re to save your mother, we must go now.”

CHAPTER 47