FORBIDDEN TALENTS (52 page)

They stopped again and slept where the natural passage emptied into a tunnel shaped by men. Lord Fendrikanin recognized the place. They were half a day from Quartzholm.

Half a day
. Half a day until she had to say goodbye to Ragni. It had been hard enough to leave him the first time. She didn’t know where she’d get the strength to do it again. She couldn’t go back, no matter what Ragni might imagine. Even if she vowed to renounce her magic, Father Wirmund would never allow her any peace, and if Ragni tried to protect her, he would only drag himself down with her. Assuming his will carried any weight now with the Overprest. What influence would Ragni have if he was no longer the Second? What place would he have?

A small hope whispered in the back of Saeun’s mind. Perhaps Ragni would be willing to stay with her. Perhaps they could live together among the Elves.

She looked over at him talking with Lady Utta, his mittened left hand resting in his lap. The echoing stone allowed them little privacy, especially when Utta’s voice grew sharp.

“
We’ve been over this, Ragni. No and no. I do not want my freedom, and I do not release you from your oath. And I do not want to discuss this again. Now do something useful with your mouth and eat your journey bread.
”
Utta got up and stalked to the edge of the light.

Saeun’s small hope died. If Lady Utta would not release him, Ragni would not forsake his promise to her. But at least Ragni wouldn’t be alone.

Saeun hesitated, then went to join Utta.
“
I’m glad he will have you when this is over,
”
she said softly.

“
And you, too,
”
Utta answered in the same soft tone.

Saeun looked away.
“
No. He belongs to you and Quartzholm. I can’t go back.
”
She was as uprooted as the little sapling she carried.
“
I violated the law.
”

“
An unjust law.
”

“
Father Wirmund won’t agree.
”
Especially when it comes out that I have tree-folk in my lineage
. His heart was as cold as an Ice Jontun’s breath.

Utta said nothing for a moment. What
could
she say?

“
He needs you. I need you. Our lives will be better if your love and friendship are part of them.
”

Saeun stared for a moment, astonished and honored by so open a declaration from Ragni’s betrothed. She blinked back tears.
“
Thank you for that. Nothing would please me more than to become your sister through Ragni’s choice. But the world is as it is.
”

Utta’s lips pressed tightly together, but then a slight smile curved them.
“
Was Ragni always this stone-headed?
”

“
Only when he cares about something—or someone.
”

“
Then he won’t let you go.
”

“
He won’t have a choice.
”

Utta sighed and offered a wry smile.
“
You’re as block-headed as he is.
”

They slept and went on again. Lord Fendrikanin led them. Their progress was easier and faster, now that they traveled tunnels made by men. They rested once, and then at mid-day they stopped. After some discussion, they decided against heading directly for Quartzholm. Instead, Lord Fendrikanin brought them by a roundabout path to an egress on the side of the hill a little beside and behind the castle. From there they would be able to look down the hillside and take a measure of the situation, avoiding any Dark Elves that might be trying Quartzholm’s defenses from below.

“
There should be an exit just around that bend up ahead, but I don’t see any light.
”
Lord Fendrikanin said.
“
I’ll scout it out. It may just be blocked by a heavy snowfall,
”

“
Of course there’s no light,
”
Fallir said.
“
It’s night.
”

“
Night?
”
Lord Fendrikanin asked.
“
Are you sure? How do you know?
”

Fallir just returned him an arch look.

“
It is part of our nature to know the turning of the spheres,
”
Valender said.

“
It would be nice if you’d told us,
”
Lord Fendrikanin said.

“
Would that have helped you?
”
Fallir asked in a manner that made it clear he didn’t care.

Saeun knew how Lord Fendrikanin must feel. It seemed strange to think they’d been walking at night and sleeping during the day without knowing it.

Treskin moved forward.
“
I’ll scout outside.
”

“
I’ll go, too,
”
Utta offered.

“
You will not!
”
Ragni declared.

“
My Talent allows me to see as well as Treskin does.
”

“
Nay, lady,
”
Treskin said.
“
Though you can see in the dark even better than we can, you cannot move as lightly nor as silently. You must remain behind.
”

Utta frowned but nodded with a sharp jerk of her head.

“
Fallir?
”
Treskin asked.

The other Elf rose and they left.

The rest of them settled down to wait for the two Elves, the glow globes half shielded in their carriers.

What forces do the Dark Elves command
?
Has Quartzholm already fallen
? She couldn’t return, but she’d made friends there. Saeun started to fidget, picking at her roughened cuticles until Valender stilled her restless hands with a brief touch. The minutes crept by.

Soundlessly, Treskin and Fallir were among them again.

“
What’s happening out there?
”
Lady Celia asked, leaning forward.

“
There is little we can do,
”
Treskin said in a dull voice.
“
There are at least three hundred
Svart Alfar
warriors ranged outside the walls.
”

“
Only three hundred? This is good news! Lord Dahleven can wait them out,
”
Lord Fendrikanin said. Then his voice changed.
“
Unless they have siege engines. Do they?
”

“
No. They don’t need them. They have a hundred stone-warriors concealed by a
myst
,
”
Fallir answered.

“
A hundred!
”
Baruq exclaimed.

“
A
myst
!
”
Valender said.

“
So there’s a mist. So what?
”
Lady Celia said.

“
All right, there are four hundred ranged against Quartzholm. That’s still not that big a threat,
”
Fender said.

“
You don’t understand. The stone-warriors will bring down the walls, and the
myst
is a conjured fog, which will allow them to work even during the day,
”
Eska said.
“
Quartzholm may have greater numbers, but your Lord Dahleven has no Khryss blades and no one to wield them. There is little time, and we are too few to oppose them.
”

Saeun’s heart froze in her chest.

“
No!
”
Lady Celia cried.
“
We have to do something!
”
She jumped up, one hand straying to her still flat belly.

Lord Fendrikanin stood and reached for her, as Treskin moved between Lady Celia and the exit. She stopped, looking from one to another of them as if for some sign of hope.

Quartzholm would fall without help. Saeun looked down at Dances-in-Light beside her and remembered the Mother’s promise.

“
Take me to the edge of the forest,
”
she said.

“
What?
”
Ragni asked.

“
Why?
”
Utta demanded.

Treskin nodded, reaching out to help Saeun to her feet.

“
Wait!
”
Ragni said.
“
You can’t go out there!
”

“
He’s right,
”
Lady Celia said.
“
There are three hundred Dark Elves waiting out there to shoot your ass.
”

“
They are preoccupied with the siege,
”
Treskin said.
“
And what patrols there are we will evade.
”

“
At least tell me what you think you’re doing,
”
Ragni said.

Saeun paused. She’d evaded his questions about the small tree she carried, saying only that the tree-folk had asked her to bring it. He’d accepted her silence, but she’d seen him looking at it, the question in his eyes. Now the time had come to act. Lady Utta was right. Ragni wouldn’t let her go, and that would harm his standing even more than his withered hand. She had to tell him of her lineage. Then he would put her aside himself.

She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t do it. Feeling like a coward, she said,
“
I don’t know what help this will be, if any. But the Aspen-Mother asked me to plant this tree near Quartzholm, and she promised help.
”

“
How can a
…
a twig
…
help against Elves and stone-warriors?
”
Ragni demanded.

“
I don’t know!
”
She wished she did.
“
I just know I promised to do this.
”

“
You told us that before. Why would you give such an oath to the tree-folk?
”

Saeun looked away and saw Treskin arch a brow. He saw no reason for her to prevaricate.
He
thought her lineage was an honorable one. Of course he did. He was an Elf.

Saeun stared into Ragni’s upturned face and swallowed hard.
“
Because they’re my kin,
”
she said.
“
Some great-great-granddam of mine was well and truly Fey-marked.
”

Ragni stared, saying nothing.

Treskin touched her arm.
“
Let’s go while it’s still dark.
”

Saeun nodded and turned from Ragni’s astonishment before it could change into disgust and horror. Treskin led her out of the tunnel and slowly through the forest, stopping at the edge. Her heart ached, but she forced herself to think only of the job at hand. Saeun looked down at the sapling strapped across her chest, then out into the starlit meadow. She would be visible out there if any Dark Elves were looking, but she didn’t think Dances-in-Light would want to be planted under the canopy of the other trees. She walked out into the starlight and knelt some fifty feet from the giant pines.

She cleared away the layer of snow, brushing and pushing it from the not quite frozen ground. She hacked with her dagger at the soil until she’d dug a small cavity, growing sweaty with the effort despite the cold. Treskin stood over her, silently keeping watch. Finally the space was big enough.

Saeun gently placed Dances-in-Light’s silver wrapped roots in the hole. She started to push the dirt back around the sapling’s roots, and stopped, stilled by an almost heard whisper. What was it the tree-woman had said?
I must gift of myself
.

Quickly Saeun cleaned her dagger in the snow, then sliced her newly healed arm. She felt Treskin startle behind her, but he said nothing as she let her blood flow onto the aspen’s roots.

How much
? She let the blood continue its steady trickle. She wouldn’t be stingy with her gifting. She pumped her fist to increase the flow. They needed a lot of help.

“
Enough.
”
Treskin knelt beside her and pressed his hand over her wound.
“
The Mother asked only for a gift, not your life. Your sister will thrive.
”