Griffin's Shadow (25 page)

“No, no! Take ‘im alive!” a harsh voice barked.

Ashinji looked around wildly, seeking any opening that would allow him to live, and caught sight of the unknown horse and rider, standing a spear’s toss away in the darkness. His heart leapt into his throat.

“
Help me!
” he screamed.

No! It can’t be happening! I won’t let it!

The rider shifted a little in the saddle as if trying to get a better view of the unfolding violence. At the same instant, Ashinji caught a glimpse of the rider’s armored chest and the intricate designs lacquered onto its surface. Even in the dim starlight, he recognized the pattern.

“Sadaiyo,” Ashinji whispered.

“
Help me, Brother!
” he screamed again.

A sharp blow to his shoulder, followed by searing pain, cut off his next cry. He looked down to find an arrow sprouting from the narrow, vulnerable space between the edge of his breastplate and his left pauldron.

“Sadaiyo…help,” he gasped, and slumped to the ground.

As he lay bleeding, his body slipping into shock, his mind drifted along the threads of several thoughts. First, he felt admiration for the skill of the human archer, then profound sorrow for all he was about to lose, and finally, bitter hatred for his brother’s betrayal.

“You idiot! I told you I wanted ‘im taken alive!”

Ashinji struggled to raise himself off the ground so he could face his slayers with some semblance of dignity.

The humans closed in, weapons raised; intent as they were on killing him, none of them had spotted Sadaiyo. Through a gap between two of his attackers, Ashinji watched Sadaiyo wheel his horse and lash the animal’s flank with the quirt-end of his reins. The horse snorted and sprang away, disappearing into the dark.

Ashinji choked back a sob and forced his face to settle into a calm, expressionless mask, determined to meet his death with bravery.

I’m so sorry, Jelena my love
!
I tried to survive for you…and for
our child. I guess it’s no longer up to me to be your protector. I’ll see you again, when we are reunited in the loving embrace of the One.

The humans had formed a tight circle around him, looking down on their victim.

“Hurry up and do it!” Ashinji snarled in Soldaran.

A man stepped forward, raised the butt of his sword and swung downward. Ashinji’s head exploded in pain and his mind dropped away into oblivion.

~~~

“Hmmm. You are asking for a very difficult manipulation, my lord. Very tricky.”

“Can you do it, old man?”

“Yeeees…I can…but…”

“The memory must be completely erased and replaced by a new one, and the tampering must be undetectable.”

“Memories cannot be erased, young man. They can, however, be walled away behind barriers and made inaccessible to the conscious mind.”

“Can you render the barrier itself invisible, so that even a high-level mage can’t detect it?”

“Depends on how high.”

“The highest. A Kirian.”

“Oh, my. That is high…. I can disguise the barrier, make it look like part of the background, so to speak. It will for all intents and purposes be invisible to all but the deepest probe, but if this Kirian you wish to hide from knows what to look for, it won’t remain hidden very long.”

“What about the replacement memory? Will it feel authentic?”

“Oh, yes. You, yourself will believe it to be true, and so will anyone casually scanning you. I must warn you, though, there is a chance, especially as time goes by, that the barrier will eventually break down and allow the genuine memory to reemerge.”

“Yes, well…I don’t care. I need only hide it for awhile. So, mage. We come to the last detail. Name your price.”

“I can ask for no less than thirty gold, my lord.”

“Thirty…! My entire monthly allowance is only twenty!”

“Nevertheless, that is my price, young man.”

“Goddess’ tits! If my life didn’t depend on this…Very well. Thirty gold. Do I need to count it out for you?”

“Oh, no, my lord. I trust you. Now, I’ll just put this away and you lie back and make yourself comfortable…”

~~~

Sadaiyo emerged from the mage’s cottage, feeling a strange mixture of sadness and relief. He had come to the old man’s home on the advice of Lanic, seeking respite from the tormenting guilt of witnessing Ashinji’s death at the hands of a human raiding party, nearly three weeks ago.

The mage had helped Lanic in the past with some painful memories; for a reasonable sum, the old man entered a person’s mind, softened the edges, removed the hurt, and soothed the guilt, thus allowing acceptance and healing.

Now, Sadaiyo could begin the process of forgiving himself.

As he rode back to Kerala Castle beneath a sky heavy with storm clouds, he thought of the last moments of Ashinji’s life—he’d tried so hard to reach his brother, but the humans had rushed him and beaten him back.

There were just too many of them! I tried, Ashi, I really did…but by the time I could get a few arrow shots off, they’d already cut you down. I couldn’t even retrieve your body…they dragged you away across the river. Ai, Goddess! How will I tell our parents? How will I tell your wife?

A cold drizzle pattered down from above, and Sadaiyo pulled the collar of his heavy, fur-lined cloak close around his neck. Tomorrow, he, along with a small contingent of troops, would leave Kerala and head back to Sendai to report on the actions at the border.

Within the last week, the weather had turned, and with the first frost, the Soldaran army had withdrawn to Amsara Castle. The bulk of the elven force that had marched out from the capital would remain in Kerala to serve as a deterrent against further incursions, but no one expected the humans to return before spring. Winter had brought an end to all military operations.

I’ll be glad to get back to Misune
, Sadaiyo thought. He spurred his horse and the stallion sprang into a gallop, throwing up clods of mud with each stride.

~~~

The old mage hunkered down by his fireplace, savoring the heat of the flames. In his wrinkled hands, he held a small glass sphere. The sphere glowed with a soft white light, like a large, illuminated pearl.

Good thing I thought to make a copy of this memory,
he thought as he rolled the sphere gently between his palms.
Never know when it might come in handy. Always prudent to keep a little insurance.

The old man chuckled and began recounting his coins.

Shattered

Eight weeks after Sadaiyo led his army out of Sendai, a small contingent returned to the city. A messenger arrived midmorning, sent ahead with news of the expedition’s success. The human army had withdrawn to Soldaran territory, and Sadaiyo had left behind the bulk of his forces to guard the border. They would remain encamped around Kerala Castle for the entire winter and into the spring. The loss of their numbers would no doubt prove a serious blow to the defense of the Tono Valley, but the elves dared not leave their vulnerable southeastern flank unprotected.

Jelena heard the news as she finished her morning routine, assisted by Eikko, the hikui servant girl whom she had met soon after her arrival in Sendai. Eikko’s duties had gradually shifted as she and Jelena had become better acquainted. Now, instead of helping Lady Amara with the twins, the young servant spent most of her time as a companion to Jelena.

A note, delivered from her father, informed Jelena of the company’s imminent arrival. Brimming with excitement, she threw on her clothes and hurried down to the parade ground.

The weather had grown much cooler in the weeks since the army had left, and today, a chilly wind numbed Jelena’s cheeks as she exited the castle’s main entrance. Eikko, who followed dutifully after, clucked in dismay. She shook out the heavy woolen cloak she carried and flung it around Jelena’s shoulders.

Jelena murmured her thanks and pulled the warm folds close about her body, shivering a little from both excitement and apprehension.

For the last few days, she had been unable to shake the feeling that all was not as it should be with Ashinji. She could not lay her finger on it; no unusual dreams disturbed her sleep nor had she any flashes of prescience. Nevertheless, she felt unsettled and out of sorts.

Part of it, she knew, could be attributed to her advancing pregnancy. The child had grown quite active in recent weeks. Perversely, she—Jelena’s doctor had informed her that she carried a girl—seemed most energetic at night, when her mother wanted to sleep.

“Your Highness, you really shouldn’t wait out here in this wind,” Eikko admonished. “It’s too cold. I know you want to be here to greet Captain Sakehera, but he won’t arrive for a while yet.” The hikui maid tugged gently on Jelena’s sleeve, a liberty she never would have taken with an okui mistress. “Come back inside,” she coaxed.

Jelena pursed her lips in irritation and snapped, “Stop fussing, Eikko!” Immediately, she regretted her ill temper
. Eikko is only concerned for my well-being and that of my daughter,
she thought. Chagrined, she apologized. “I’m sorry, Eikko. I didn’t mean to be cross with you…I miss my husband so much and I want to be right here when he rides in.”

“‘Course you do, Highness,” Eikko replied. “I understand.” She flashed a quick smile.

“We’ll wait just inside the door.” Jelena waved toward the castle’s entrance. “There’s a bench we can sit on.” Eikko nodded and the two young women retreated out of the chill wind into the relative warmth of the entrance hall, where they settled on the bench to wait.

They sat for a time in comfortable silence. Jelena tried to relieve her anxiety by practicing the meditation taught to her by Princess Taya. In recent weeks, the Kirians had stepped up her training, and Jelena was now proficient in many of the basics. She could mindspeak with ease, perform a simple surface scan on another person, and maintain a shield against unwanted mental intrusions by any non-mage-trained attacker. Her swift progress had surprised her.

Jelena’s dreams of learning to control her Talent, and more specifically, the blue energy the Kirians referred to as the Key were being realized, but she now found herself in a strange and tense situation. Jelena had known for some time that Taya and Sonoe were, if not outright enemies, then rivals, for sure, and each one believed she knew best how to conduct Jelena’s training. Consequently, they often clashed, and only the moderating presence of Amara kept a lid on things.

Ever since spotting Sonoe standing below her bedroom window, Jelena had felt uneasy in the presence of her father’s Companion. The red-haired sorceress had offered no explanation for her behavior; in fact, she had said nothing at all about the incident. Soon afterward, however, Sonoe had become very solicitous towards Jelena, going out of her way to offer gestures of friendship. She did seem genuinely interested in Jelena in a sisterly way so, in time, Jelena’s unease abated. Lately, she found herself more and more in Sonoe’s company. It felt good to have the friendship of an older, more experienced woman.

“Are you warm enough, my lady?” Eikko inquired, breaking the silence and recapturing Jelena’s attentiton.

“Uh…Yes, Eikko, thank you.” Jelena turned to gaze with speculation at the hikui maid. “Eikko, do you have any Talent?” she asked.

Caught off-guard by the question, the other girl stammered, “I…I don’t know, Princess…I mean…I’ve never thought about it.” She shrugged her plump shoulders. “I s’pose I must have, at least a little. Our elven blood gives us all a touch. Both my parents, though, are hikui, as were their parents, so it’s been a few generations since there’ve been any purebloods in my family tree. I suspect most of the Talent’s been lost in us.” She regarded Jelena with a puzzled expression. “Why, if you don’t mind me asking, would you want to know?”

“I’m curious, I guess. There must be some hikui who have strong Talent,” Jelena mused.

“If they dared show themselves, you can bet the okui wouldn’t allow them to use their abilities. They might even be killed.”

“You can’t mean that, Eikko! There’re laws against murder. Even the hikui are granted that protection.”

Eikko snorted. “There’re laws for okui and laws for hikui, Princess. Surely you know that by now.”

Jelena sighed, realizing the futility in arguing the point; besides, Eikko’s frank statement contained an undeniable kernel of truth. “I’ve been working hard on my father, Eikko, to get him to see the injustice of having a different set of laws for hikui,” she said. “The good news is that he is listening to me. How could he not? I’m hikui and his daughter.”

Eikko looked dubious. “Begging your pardon, Highness, but okui folk have lorded it over us since…well, since always! It’ll take nothing less than a miracle to change ‘em.”

“Then get ready for a miracle, Eikko, because it’s going to happen. I’m determined,” Jelena replied.

The heavy main entrance doors of the castle stood ajar. From somewhere outside, faint shouts drifted in on a chilly breeze that swirled around Jelena’s toes. She shivered and pulled her cloak more closely around her. An instant later, a messenger burst though the doors and pelted across the broad hallway to the sweep of the staircase, heading up toward the king’s private quarters.