Exodus of the Xandim (GOLLANCZ S.F.) (43 page)

His eyes tracked across the chamber to Danel, who was prowling around the shed like a trapped animal, with a thunderous scowl on her face. The refugees kept distracting her with a complaint
here, a question there, a quarrel to be settled further on, but he knew that she was looking for him and spoiling for a fight because it had been his idea to come here. Well, as far as he was
concerned, she could stuff it. It was the ferals’ own fault that they’d been locked up and he was damned if he was going to take the blame.

Kelon’s eye fell on the cluster of long, straight planks, no doubt used in boat construction, that had been propped upright against the wall in the far corner, away from the stove. Taking
his blanket – another fisherfolk gift – he made his way across to them while Danel was preoccupied with handling a dispute over sleeping space, and wormed his way behind them, where he
found a pile of sawdust and curled, fresh wood shavings that must have been swept hastily out of sight when the shed was cleared for the visitors. He scooped out a nest, wrapped the blanket around
himself and settled down, breathing in the fragrance of the freshly planed wood with delight.

Peace settled around him, more warming than the blanket, as gentle and comforting as an embrace. A wave of relaxation spread through him as the tension drained from his muscles, and he simply
let himself drift in the flow. This was the first time since his escape from Eliorand that he’d had a chance to be alone, and he’d had no idea until this moment what a strain that had
been.

For once Kelon wasn’t thinking about Aelwen, or Danel, or the future. For a brief, charmed interlude he simply lived in the present, accepted its gifts with gratitude, and fell asleep,
happier than he’d been in many a long day.

~

S
haralind was surprised by how much she enjoyed the short journey on Captain Galgan’s boat from Tyrineld port to Freedom Cove. It seemed like
for ever since she’d been out in the fresh air, and though the bright sunlight could not lighten her grief for her son, at least it bolstered her spirits enough to give her the strength to
carry on.

She would need that strength, for there were so many burdens on her at present. Her days were all filled with plans and meetings, closeted in her chambers with the Luen Heads and others, ironing
out the thousands of tedious logistical details involved in putting an army together. She had to keep constant vigilance against dissenters who might ruin her plans, and now the fisherfolk had
dumped this mess into her hands.

If she had been surprised when the Captains had visited her in a deputation the previous evening, she had been absolutely stunned to hear what they had to tell her. She had been aware, of
course, of the bands of feral humans who dwelt in the forest, but the Wizards had tended to leave it to the Wild Hunt to keep their numbers under control, and it was generally agreed in Tyrineld
that at least the accursed Phaerie were good for
something.

She had never expected to find a bunch of them turning up on her own doorstep, and with the utter temerity to ask for sanctuary and protection.

Her first impulse had been to round up the lot of them and have the Luen of Warriors dispose of them quietly, but there was no rush. The fisherfolk had them contained and surely the morning
would do. Besides, she couldn’t pretend not to be curious. Why had the mortals come here? True, they had not thrown themselves on her mercy but had gone to the independent fishers – but
did they expect that they could simply become absorbed into the little seaside community without anyone noticing?

Sharalind needed answers. If these ferals were slaves who had escaped from Eliorand, she might be able to gain information that would be of benefit when she moved against the Phaerie. But what
could she offer them? Captain Galgan had already warned her that they were a pack of thieves with no idea how to behave in a civilised community. They could never be permitted to roam at large in
the Wizard realm. Well, she would just have to talk to them, and take things from there. Perhaps there was a way of involving the fisherfolk . . .

‘We’ll soon be there, Lady Sharalind.’ Galgan came up beside her and broke into her thoughts. ‘On behalf of the community of Independence, I would like to thank you for
taking this problem off our hands.’

Plague take it! The fishers have no intention of being involved.

However, Sharalind hid her chagrin behind a smile. ‘I’m grateful to you for bringing the matter to my attention. I understand that it may have been difficult for you to report your
fellow mortals to the authorities.’

‘Because we’re the same species?’ Galgan’s friendly mien darkened. ‘These are no people of mine, Lady. To the Wizards we humans may all seem as alike as a flock of
sheep, but just like you Wizards, we’re all different.’ He spat over the side. ‘And some of us are more different than others.’

Really, talking to these free mortals was like trying to pick a way through a forest filled with bear traps! ‘I had no intention of offending you,’ Sharalind said stiffly. If he
wanted an expression of regret from her, that was all he’d get. She, soulmate to the Archwizard, was certainly not going to lower herself to
apologise
to one of these creatures.
Still, the fisherfolk were helping to feed her army. She needed them at present. Maybe pretending to ask the Captain’s advice would smooth things over – and in truth she had no idea
what she was going to do with those wretched ferals. She had a feeling that they would make very bad slaves, and she wasn’t for a single moment going to allow them into the city to carry
intelligence of Tyrineld back to their former masters. The Phaerie were notorious for being cunning and devious, and it had just struck her that these so-called escapees might not be what they
seemed.

She turned to Galgan. ‘Captain, would you and the other fisherfolk be prepared to help these people and teach them to support themselves from the sea as you have done?’

‘No, I wouldn’t.’

The abruptness of the flat refusal shocked her, but before she could ask him why, he anticipated her. ‘Why should we teach this bunch of foreigners to take the bread out of our own
families’ mouths? That – and I don’t apologise for saying it – would be a downright stupid idea.’

Undaunted by the shocked gasps and ominous mutterings from the Warrior escort she had brought with her, he continued. ‘Lady, I’m going to be frank with you. If you give this lot
precedence over your own humans who’ve been born and bred in Tyrineld and have served the Wizards all their lives, you’ll have an uprising on your hands – and deservedly so. If
you’re handing out freedom then they should have it, not a crowd of filthy, thieving outsiders who’ve done nothing to deserve it.’

He faced her eye to eye, without a trace of deference or fear. ‘Why don’t you send these ferals out with your army? Of all people
they
should want to get their own back on
the bastard Phaerie.’

Why, the man is brilliant!

Sharalind was too delighted with Galgan’s suggestion to be annoyed at his temerity – but she didn’t have to tell him so. ‘Thank you, Captain, for your frankness, and for
your most interesting suggestion,’ she said frigidly. ‘I will certainly take it under consideration.’

He shrugged. ‘Better consider fast, because we’re here. I’ll need to go and bring us into the dock now.’ With that he walked away.

Sharalind felt uneasy in the fisherfolk village. This was the first time she’d ever been here, and the cluster of neat little houses that snuggled into the curve of the bay surprised her
with their cleanliness and the skill with which they had been constructed. Who would have thought that mere humans could accomplish so much, without being instructed and supervised by a Wizard
master? Though in principle she had been in favour of Cyran’s plan to grant the fishers their autonomy, she had never really thought that the former slaves would amount to much, but seeing
this place, its neat gardens with their colourful flowers, thriving rows of vegetables and washing flapping on the lines, she was forced to make some rapid readjustments to her thinking.

The trouble was, she really had no idea how to treat these fishers. What she could see here was a community filled with people, just like Tyrineld but on a much smaller scale. She simply
wasn’t accustomed to viewing mortals as people. Until now, she’d considered them to be little more than animals – but these were certainly more than that, as was so clearly
demonstrated by the forthright Galgan.

Is it the same for the entire human species, I wonder? Or is there something special about the fisherfolk that makes them different? But I’ve no time for that sort of conjecture at the
moment. Right now I have a sizeable problem on my hands.

‘Here we are, Lady Sharalind.’ Captain Galgan drew her attention away from her thoughts. ‘As I told you, we shut them safely in the boatshed for the present.’

Sharalind nodded. ‘Very well, Captain. Let us go and deal with your unwelcome guests.’

Kelon’s interlude of peace couldn’t last, of course. When he awoke, stiff and hungry, he saw narrow strips of daylight glimmering through the gaps between the
stacked planks. Another day had dawned – and by the sound of the raised voices that had awakened him, it had already brought trouble. As soon as he emerged from his den behind the timber,
Danel was ready to pounce. ‘
There
you are.’ She seized his arm. To his dismay, she didn’t look any more friendly than she had done the previous night. ‘While
you’ve been skulking in your hiding place, I don’t suppose you’ve thought of a way to get us out of this mess you’ve put us in?’

‘Maybe if your people hadn’t started out by stealing from the fisherfolk, they might have received us more kindly,’ Kelon retorted, ‘and if you had taken my advice about
sending in a small deputation to speak to their leaders and explain the situation, instead of turning up in one great mass, then we wouldn’t be in this situation. It might make you feel
better to shift all the blame onto me, but if you were any sort of leader you’d—’ He broke off and shrugged. ‘We’ve already had this argument over and over, and
I’ve better things to do with my time than dig up the same old grievances again. Just leave me out of it, Danel, and deal with your own problems. I’m done with it all.’

He started to turn away from her, but suddenly her fist slammed into his gut. Kelon doubled over, gasping for breath, pain exploding through him.

‘I should have killed you at the start,’ Danel snarled. ‘I should have sliced you open and splattered that Phaerie blood of yours all over the forest. I’d do it now, save
that it would ruin the one slim chance we have of these smug, arrogant pricks ever taking us in. But I
am
the leader here, and I’ll get my people out of this somehow, even if it
means we have to fight our way out with our bare hands. And when we do escape you’d better run, Kelon. Run fast and far, because if I ever see you again I promise you that I’ll take you
apart piece by piece.’

Wheezing, Kelon straightened up to find himself surrounded by a hostile ring of ferals, all with murder in their eyes. Even as his mind raced to find something – anything – he could
say to diffuse the situation, he was saved by the tortured squeal of the great door sliding back on its runners. The ferals blinked, their eyes watering in the bright daylight, and Kelon was no
longer the focus of attention as everyone looked towards the entrance of the shed.

A knot of people stood there. Kelon recognised the fisherfolk Captains – and with them, flanked by a half-dozen warriors who were grim of countenance and armed to the teeth, was a tall,
stately woman with silver-threaded dark hair braided into a coronet on top of her head.

Wizards. Kelon felt his heart thump hard against his ribs. The fisherfolk had betrayed the ferals, and sold them back into slavery to a different set of masters. He closed his eyes, as if by
erasing the sight of the ancient foes of the Phaerie he could also blot out all the implications. Danel had been right after all, and he’d been wrong. By bringing them here, he, Kelon, had
betrayed her people. For a moment his mind went utterly blank, and when he got hold of himself again the tall woman was speaking.

‘I am Sharalind, soulmate of the Archwizard Cyran. As you may be aware, your former masters are no friends of my people, which is why you still have your lives, at least for the
present.’ Her eyes swept across the crowd of mortals, cool and calculating, then she surprised them with a smile. ‘It may be, however, that you will find us more reasonable and
compassionate than your previous owners, and you will have the chance of making a good future for yourselves and your families, even as these good fisherfolk have done.’

Again, there was that sweeping look, as though she were trying to search out their very thoughts. ‘Of course, there are conditions. But if you earn that precious freedom, I promise that it
will be yours. I need everything you can tell me about the Phaerie; information about Eliorand, its defences, the Phaerie numbers and weapons, the speed and scope and secrets of their renowned
flying steeds. Have any of you been in Eliorand recently? Can any of you tell me what I need to know?’

Almost light-headed with relief, barely able to believe his good fortune, Kelon took a deep breath and shouldered his way through the enclosing ring of ferals. ‘I can help you, Lady. Not
only have I recently escaped from Eliorand, but I was formerly the head stableman to the Forest Lord’s fabled steeds.’

Sharalind’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re no mortal,’ she said. ‘You’re Hemifae. How came you to be here, with these ferals?’

‘You are most perspicacious, my Lady.’ Kelon inclined his head in a respectful half-bow. ‘I am Hemifae indeed, and recent events in Eliorand have given those of us who carry
mortal blood an uncertain future, to say the least. I escaped when the chance arose and fate threw me in the path of these ferals, who sheltered and helped me as well as they were able, though to
them I was tainted with the blood of the Phaerie. I owe them a debt of gratitude, Lady. If you’re willing to help them as you have said, then I can tell you everything you need to know
– and a great deal more besides.’