Ice Forged (The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga) (65 page)

Judith sighed. “Niklas was the commander of the unit Carr signed up with. I felt a little better entrusting Carr to Niklas, although I hadn’t wanted Carr to go at all. Niklas promised he’d watch out for Carr,” she said, and her voice caught. She shook her head to dispel the emotion and went on.

“Niklas led a battalion that was sent to the Vellanaj front. Neither he nor Carr returned, and none of Niklas’s men have been seen or heard from since.” Her expression tightened with pain. “It’s been over half a year since the war ended. If they were going to come back, I imagine they would have by now.”

Blaine looked down. “I’m sorry to hear that. He’d have been a good man to have on our side. I’d hoped to recruit him to
give us a hand, or protect Glenreith while we see what can be done at Mirdalur.”

Judith gave him a worried look. “You’re still planning to go?”

Blaine shrugged and turned his hands palms up. “What else can I do? If there’s any chance that I might be able to bring back the magic, it seems worth the risk.”

“You’ve got a pocketful of old trinkets, some antique maps, and tall tales told by a vampire,” Judith replied. “You have no idea what will happen when you get to Mirdalur, or whether there’s even enough of it left to matter. You could put yourself, and your friends, at risk for nothing.”

“Maybe. But what if Penhallow and Grimur are right? What if I really am the last Lord of the Blood, and what if I could bring back the magic?” Blaine asked. “Granted, I’ve never had a lot of magic myself, but what if that spark is enough? If I try and fail, at least we know that the magic is really dead, and we can move on.”

“And if bringing the magic back kills you?” Judith asked, meeting his gaze levelly.

“Velant and almost seven years in Edgeland didn’t do the job, I doubt Mirdalur will,” Blaine replied, managing a wan smile. “But I have a responsibility to try, if there’s any chance at all.”

Judith’s gaze did not waver. “Would you have come back if it weren’t for Mirdalur?”

Blaine looked away. He was silent for a long time. “I’m not sure. I’d carved out a good life up there. I figured the rest of you had moved on without me. Maybe I’d have come back eventually, especially with the magic gone. That’s going to make Edgeland even less hospitable than it was, and it was rough country.”

Judith turned away. “And after you go to Mirdalur? What then?”

Blaine turned back toward the balcony rail. “Whether it works or whether it doesn’t, I’m here to stay. One way or another, I want to get Glenreith back on its feet. Without a king, and with the countryside in ruins, I figure we’ll need to make alliances, pool resources, see to the protection of our own.”

Judith gave a wan smile. “You almost sound like a warlord.”

Blaine chuckled. “Do I? A very unlikely one. But that’s exactly what men like Pollard are trying to become, and if we don’t have our own alliances, the next time, he’ll do more than camp here; he’ll lay siege.”

Judith shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “That thought has crossed my mind.”

“When I get back from Mirdalur, I’ll pay a call to the miller and to Lars. See who else is still alive and might be on our side. If we work together, we might be able to get through the winter.” Blaine was surprised when Judith moved beside him and laid a hand on his arm.

“Whatever you decide, I’ll support you, Blaine,” she said. “Before you arrived, I was afraid for the future. It didn’t look very likely that Edward and Mari and I could keep this place running, even with the servants who’ve stayed on. Now,” she said and paused, “I’ve got some hope for the first time since the war began.”

Blaine chuckled. “I’ll try not to disappoint you—again.”

“Mirdalur is a ruin,” Geir reported when he returned from his reconnaissance. Despite the hour, a small group was gathered in Glenreith’s parlor to hear the news. Judith sat on a small
couch near the fireplace, sitting as straight and prim as if at court. Edward was behind her with a hand resting on the back of the couch, watchful and protective. Blaine wondered whether their relationship had become more than employer and retainer over the harsh years since his exile. Mari had stayed in her rooms to tend her son, but she had made Blaine promise to give her a recap at breakfast.

Piran leaned against the back wall, arms crossed. Verran was studying the selection of small trinkets that lay about the room, and Blaine could guess that Verran’s past thieving had given him a good appreciation for their value. Dawe sat in a high-backed chair across from Judith. The lanky silversmith was bent forward with his elbows on his knees, playing with a bit of twisted wire.

Kestel perched on the arm of the couch, still dressed in the gown she had worn to dinner. It was one of Mari’s old gowns, which Kestel had reworked. The dress was in a light-brown satin that might not have flattered Mari’s coloring, but on Kestel, it played up her red hair and made her green eyes sparkle. Kestel shifted just a bit, and the light from the lamps caught a glint of metal in the folds of her skirt. Blaine smiled. He had no doubt that Kestel had more than one slim knife concealed in the folds of her gown.

Blaine realized that it was the first time he had ever seen Kestel dressed in anything better than Edgeland’s homespun finery, and it struck him just what a beauty she was. A blush crept across Kestel’s cheeks, and Blaine realized his appreciation had been more evident in his expression than he thought. He chuckled and looked away.

“We knew the keep was destroyed a long time ago,” Dawe replied. “Is there anything left?”

“I’d expected to find nothing left,” Geir said. “But I was
wrong. Sometime between the old war and the Meroven strike, someone had obviously tried to rebuild at least part of one wing. I’m guessing that was a while ago; even the new ruins seemed to have been deserted for quite a while.”

“What was left? Enough to chance a trip?” Blaine asked.

Geir frowned, nodding. “Yes. I believe so. While the keep is a ruin and the walls are broken down in many places, there are several outbuildings that are still standing and in fairly good shape. What’s more interesting is that, from the air, those outbuildings are laid out in the pattern of Esthrane’s constellation,” he added.

“One of the outbuildings housed a large cistern,” Geir continued. “That building is at the fifth point, the ‘child’ in the constellation. The well house was solidly built; it looked as if it lasted until the Great Fire. Kept the cistern protected from the elements, and when the roof collapsed, it covered the cistern so it didn’t get clogged with debris. It’s quite a large, deep cistern; I’d guess it to be about four paces by three paces. I went down it to have a look. The cistern is functional, but about halfway down there’s a ledge, and off the ledge is a small passageway that branches off from the wall, and at the end is a locked door. I didn’t try to open it, and it didn’t look as if it had been disturbed in a long time. I’m willing to lay bets that’s where we need to go.”

“Might be nothing but a secret hiding place for the old lord’s treasures,” Piran said, looking on skeptically from his spot against the wall.

“Was there anything special about the door?” Kestel asked, her eyes alight with interest. “Anything that might have been magical?”

Geir nodded. “There were runes carved on the lintel of the door, and some markings that looked like the ones on the
obsidian disks. If the door leads to an area underground, there’s a chance it survived both attacks.”

“The hills around these parts are riddled with caves,” Edward said. “It’s not uncommon for the old manors to incorporate the caves as storage chambers beneath the house, or even as escape routes for the manors that were once fortresses.”

Blaine looked thoughtful. “If there was another entrance through the keep, the building’s collapse would have blocked it off long ago. No one except the
talishte
will have seen it from the air.” He looked to Geir. “Any evidence that Reese has already been there?”

Geir shrugged. “No way to tell, really. If Reese has been there, he didn’t leave any trace. And there’s no reason why he would have seen it from the air. I just went up on a whim, not really expecting to find anything. There are no nearby cliffs, so no one is going to see the pattern by accident. From the ground, it’s not noticeable.”

“How about Pollard’s men? Can we get there without a fight?” Piran asked.

Geir nodded. “Pollard seems to have thrown a wide net without anticipating that we’ll go anywhere in particular. He had the largest force on the road to Castle Reach, like the spy said, so my bet is he expects us to go back to the city, maybe even to what’s left of Quillarth Castle.” He paused. “He’s got groups of about a dozen men on all the main roads leading away from Glenreith. But there are too many side roads and farm lanes for him to watch them all.”

“You think he expects us to travel the king’s highway?” Blaine asked with a chuckle.

Kestel looked up. “Pollard’s thinking like a lord, not a colonist. A group on horseback with guards would be easy to spot.
A covered farm wagon, a couple of tinkers, and a few vagrants all heading the same direction on farm lanes wouldn’t be worth anyone’s attention.”

“Why do I have the feeling Piran and I get to be the vagrants?” Dawe asked, not really expecting an answer.

“I don’t mind being a tinker,” Verran spoke up without looking over his shoulder. “You’d be amazed how much a good tinker can steal by the time he leaves town, if he’s careful.”

“Would you two be serious?” Kestel chided. Her eyes were alight with the challenge. “We can hide several guards in the wagon. That way, if we find anything at Mirdalur, we can bring it back with us without attracting notice.”

“Mirdalur is a three-days’ ride from here,” Judith warned. “Won’t it be suspicious if such an odd group of strangers make camp together?”

Geir considered for a moment, then shook his head. “Not necessarily. With the brigands and the magic storms, I’ve seen some motley groups on the road. There’s safety in numbers, and conditions nowadays don’t favor the lone traveler. Few are willing to ride alone unless they’re a skilled fighter or
talishte
, and even my kind are wary with raiders about.”

“Knowing that even the undead don’t feel safe on the road makes me feel so much better about this,” Piran grumbled.

“Any other hazards on the way?” Blaine asked Geir, ignoring Piran.

“Interestingly enough, Pollard’s men are something of a deterrent for the usual highwaymen,” Geir said. “None of the roads are in good shape, and the farm trails even more so, but I mapped a route without missing bridges or downed trees. It’s not without risk, but I think we stand a good chance of getting there and back with Pollard none the wiser.”

Blaine looked to Dawe and Edward. “How much longer do you think it would take to pull together what we need: provisions, wagon, disguises, and a half-dozen guards for backup?”

“I’ve been helping your captain at arms repair the weapons in the armory,” Dawe replied. “I’ve enjoyed being back in a forge again. Point is, both the guards who come with us and those who stay behind will be well armed. I believe the captain could have his men ready on a few candlemarks’ notice.”

Edward nodded. “Wagons we have aplenty, and we can spare the horses you need, both for your ‘tinkers’ and for your wagon team. As for the vagabonds, we’ve taken in some stray horses that wandered loose for a while after the Great Fire. They’ve regained their strength, but they look a little ragged. They’ll do just fine.”

Kestel and Judith were conferring in quiet tones. Kestel looked up with a broad grin. “Leave the disguises to Lady Judith and me. Give us a day, and we’ll have what we need. We’ll look the part—I promise.”

“Give me an old nag or a mule and a small cart and a few odds and ends from the rubbish pile and I can put a tinker’s buggy together,” Verran said. “Won’t take but a couple of candlemarks.”

Geir cleared his throat. “There is one more thing to consider.” His expression had grown even more serious than before, and Blaine thought he saw worry in Geir’s eyes. “Penhallow has contacted me through the
kruvgaldur
.”

“Do you know why he hasn’t joined us?” Blaine asked.

“Did he get Connor to safety?” Kestel added.

Geir shrugged. “The connection was strained. At best, I receive images and impressions. This time, it was fragmentary. That could be because of distance or because of the presence of magic storms near either of us. I saw Connor’s face, and a fortified
castle. Penhallow’s frustration was high. I believe he and Connor are either prisoners or perhaps under siege.” He frowned. “I didn’t get much more, but I did receive a clear sense of warning coupled with images of Mirdalur.”

“Meaning what?” Blaine asked cautiously.

Geir grimaced. “That’s where it’s open to interpretation. Penhallow was alerting me to danger, but whether it was a caution to avoid Mirdalur or to tread carefully, I don’t know.”

“That’s just great,” Piran said, adding a potent curse. “We could be in danger if we go, or in more danger if we don’t go—with no way to tell exactly what we’re being warned about.”

“The
kruvgaldur
is not precise at a distance,” Geir replied. “I debated whether or not to share it with you and decided that I owed you full disclosure, even if the information isn’t complete.”

Blaine began to pace. “The longer we wait here, the more likely it is that either Pollard or Reese will return with more troops to bottle us up. Once that happens, we won’t get to Mirdalur without a fight. Without more information from Penhallow, we have no way of knowing whether he’s saying ‘stop’ or ‘wait.’ But I can’t shake the feeling that standing still is a mistake.”

“If we go to Mirdalur and you can unlock the magic, we gain a weapon against Reese and Pollard,” Kestel said. “Once the magic works, if we can find Vigus Quintrel, he might even be able to help us go up against them and win.”

“We’ll need an army, not just a few mages for that,” Piran muttered. “I don’t like any of it. I don’t really trust Penhallow, so getting a muddy message from him doesn’t carry a lot of weight with me. I don’t much like magic, but things were better when we had some, so anything with a chance of getting the magic back seems like a good idea to me. Sitting still waiting to be attacked, not so much.”