Tanza (33 page)

‘Isn’t Ravra an ally?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘but they do not have an easy way into our realm, nor do they often get involved in our conflict with the Zeikas. They offer us sanctuary within their borders, but expecting them to send soldiers to die in our land is another thing entirely.’

‘Most of them are not Kriites,’ I stated. ‘I wonder why they have one of the Anzaii artefacts mentioned in the prophecy.’

‘They do?’ he queried.

‘I believe so,’ I replied. ‘The Spring of Understanding is in Avion, near the border with Telby.’

‘When this is all over we’ll have to look for the tree,’ my Sleffion-kin said. The way he said that made it sound like we were just fighting a small battle. Without saying so, we both knew that when the dust settled, Tanza was going to be a very different entity than it had been before.

‘In the meantime, I want you to use the waves to kill Zeikas. Try to leave the communications to others where possible. Your entrapment and confusion abilities are going to be pivotal in the coming battles.’

‘Ciera’s right,’ Tiaro agreed. ‘Communication is taking its toll on our reserves. Your focus would be better spent on the front lines.’

Even though the two artefacts made using the waves easier for me, I tried not to reach out too far. People were perishing in every direction and the pain of those final moments was unbearable.

‘Good morning, Astor,’ Jett said as he came into the room.

Many of the furnishings had vanished over the past week; makeshift places of abode were popping up all over Condii and just about every room in the fortress had been converted into sleeping quarters for the Defenders. I was glad to at least be sharing my room with Jett and Jaalta. My aunt had already departed, leaving her bed neatly made.

‘Good morning, Jett.’

‘We are starting to see the effects of the rationing now,’ he told me as he handed me a small bowl of porridge and a buttered scone.

I waved my hand. ‘This is adequate. Thank you.’

Jett muttered something under his breath.

‘What was that?’ I asked, spooning the porridge up.

‘Oh… nothing, Talon, I was just complaining because even the prisoners are still getting their normal rations. I admit that prison food is a step below Defender food, but still…’

‘That reminds me,’ I began, ‘isn’t Corypha being held in the prison? I was hoping to have a talk with him.’

‘Can’t you just locate him in the waves now, like any of us would with our kin?’

‘You know what? I probably can, but I won’t waste the energy. Can we go to him?’

‘Prince Tyba has been to see him many times,’ Jett replied. ‘In fact, I believe he’s with the traitor again now, trying to unravel what’s been going on with that wave cult.’

‘Truly? You must take me there,’ I said. ‘Perhaps I can help Tyba persuade him to talk.’

‘Very well.’

I ate my scone on the way to the prison, which was located towards the back of Condii Fortress. A short flight of stone stairs brought us to the barricaded wooden entry where two guards were on duty. Recognising both myself and Jett, the pair stood aside. We passed dozens of iron-barred cells, most of which were empty, before coming to a more heavily fortified room.

A skyearl was imprisoned in a stone cell we passed, his fur matted and bloody.

‘What’s going on here?’ I asked.

The skyearl threw himself at the bars, claws lashing out for me as I passed.

‘What’s going on here?’ the creature mimicked savagely.

‘This was one half of a renegade pair,’ Jett explained. ‘The human died while fleeing capture and the Sleffion-kin went on a rampage. He’s deranged. We’ve had people trying to work with him, but it isn’t looking good.’

‘Where’s Corypha?’

‘Corypha, Corypha, Corypha!’ the skyearl chanted, turning his head sideways and showing me the white of one eye.

‘This way,’ Jett said, leading me further on down the hall.

We came to a room with just one cell inside. It was stone up to waist height with iron bars all around the top so the prison guards could see in. The traitor’s belongings were on a table not far from the cell and included a multi-faceted crystalline ring, the symbol of the Wavekeepers.

‘Let me get this straight,’ Tyba said as we came up behind him, ‘you admit to being part of the Wavekeeper cult, whose mission is to kill all Anzaii.’

‘I have nothing to be ashamed of,’ Corypha declared. ‘The Anzaii are an infection in our ranks, like a sniffle that soon leads to death chills. We must prevent them from being used against us. You have already seen the destruction that can occur—’

‘Enough!’ Tyba shouted.

The guard who was in the cell with them moved a little closer to Corypha, threatening him with his mace.

‘Did you or did you not poison the strike force?’ Tyba asked.

Corypha sneered at him, with his lower jaw jutting forward. ‘As I’ve told you, it was a necessary part of our plan.’

‘Who’s plan?’ Tyba demanded, grabbing Corypha by the front of his shirt.

Corypha pursed his lips, defying his prince.

I pushed my way into the cell, pleased that the guard allowed me in. Jett watched through the bars.

‘Morning, Tyba,’ I said with a quick bow.

‘Talon,’ he responded, releasing Corypha from his grip with a shove.

Tyba’s brows were pinched tight, making deep vertical lines in his forehead. Although slightly shorter than me, his kingly demeanour was already apparent.

‘Vile demon—’ Corypha snarled at me, shoving me backwards into Tyba.

Without thinking, I slammed the base of my palm into Corypha’s face. He hunched down, stunned.

‘What other betrayal have you set in motion?’ I demanded.

Bent over before me, Corypha looked pathetic. I could sense that his fears and self-righteousness were what drove him to such extreme beliefs. He put up one hand to fend me off, while holding his chin with the other. I pushed past his defences easily and dragged him to his feet.

‘Speak!’ I commanded, pushing him back against the wall by his throat. The hair stood up all over my body and I noticed the mottled patterns of icetiger fur on my forearms.

I impelled him to speak not only with my words and my body, but also with the waves. The traitor didn’t have much mental fortitude so he found my words hard to disobey.

‘Very well,’ he gasped. I let him go and he sank onto his knees.

‘I sent the details of your kin in Lantaid,’ he said. ‘They were to capture them and the red-head, using them to lure you into a trap.’

‘Who?’ I half-shouted, half-roared.

He flinched at the sight of claws on my upraised hand. The teeth in my mouth had turned pointy, rage driving me into icetiger form through no conscious effort.

‘The others,’ Corypha stammered. ‘I don’t know who they all are.’

‘Fool!’ Tyba accused him. ‘How do you know they aren’t Zeikas, using you to gain information? You are guilty of the very crime of which you accuse others.’

‘No!’ Corypha cried, looking up into the prince’s eyes. ‘They are other Wavekeepers like me, unbound people… or people with maybe just one kin. We don’t use the waves to communicate; it is too risky.’ He cast an obstinate look in my direction. ‘Instead we use traditional, incorruptible means to contact each other over long distances.’

Tyba and I exchanged a look.

‘Incorruptible?’ Tyba asked in disbelief. ‘The waves were part of Krii’s original, perfect creation.’

‘And now fallen, like everything,’ Corypha stammered. ‘A penned scroll is more secure—’

‘It is less secure you imbecile,’ I interrupted. ‘The ideal way for missives to be sent and fall into the wrong hands, even turn up elsewhere completely changed.’

Corypha appeared stricken by this idea.

‘Why the elaborate deception?’ Tyba asked him, trying to keep him from clamming up. My presence had provoked a response in the prisoner and he wanted to take advantage of it. ‘Why not just kill the Anzaii yourself?’

Corypha rubbed at his head, clearly in pain. ‘Operatives like me don’t kill openly because we want to maintain our positions as spies.’

‘You are the cowards,’ I accused him.

Tyba shook his head at me and I fell silent.

‘That way we can keep sending information,’ Corypha continued quietly, ‘or take concealed opportunities to kill Anzaii.’

‘Like the poisoning of the strike force,’ Tyba said darkly.

Corypha’s face was dripping with sweat. Blood had collected under one nostril. He made no reply.

‘Come, Talon,’ Tyba said gravely. ‘I’ve heard enough.’

‘Yes, sire,’ I replied.

‘But what about me…’ Corypha murmured pitifully.

Tyba’s mouth was a flat line as he looked over the prisoner and his cell.

‘You will be tried for treason,’ Tyba said. To the guards he added, ‘For the time being, give him criminal’s rations, no privileges.’

Even in a time of war as desperate as this, Tanza was renowned for its humane protocols. There would be no starving of prisoners. No matter how Jett felt about it, there was still a duty of care on all Kriites to treat others fairly. Together, he, Tyba and I left the cell.

‘Do you really think the Zeikas might be behind all this?’ I asked Tyba.

He rubbed his eyes. ‘If it is being masterminded by the Zeikas, then I have to face the idea of there being intelligent Kriites out there who genuinely condone murder…’

‘We know there’s Corypha,’ I said.

Tyba raised an eyebrow at me. ‘I said “intelligent”. Corypha is a follower; both he and his Sleffion-kin are, you might say, “easily lead”.’

‘How did they get into your elite guard in the strike force, then?’ I queried.

Tyba threw his hands up. A group of people was approaching from down the hall, eyes fixed on the prince. Jett headed them off so we could keep talking. Tyba and I hurried past them.

‘Throughout our history,’ he said quickly, ‘there have been certain traditions like family honour that affect things in the military. My father has never sought to change those traditions because many of our citizens are conservative and resistant to change.’

‘Family honour,’ I repeated, ‘you mean there are noble families in Tanza just like there are in Telby? Families with higher social status and rights simply because of their birth?’

‘Not so much,’ he replied, ‘but there are some families who have more influence than others due to their wealth or long service with the Defenders. When families like Corypha’s request a station for one of their children somewhere, they’re not often denied.’

I sighed. ‘Corypha is a fool, but I am an even bigger fool for telling him about Sarlice going to Lantaid.’

‘Hopefully nothing will come of it,’ Tyba said. ‘We don’t even know who Corypha’s information was given to.’

I nodded. ‘I have warned her about the Wavekeeper plot, but I wish there was more I could do to protect her.’

‘Do you want me to order her to be taken somewhere safe, with guards?’ Tyba asked.

‘No,’ I replied, ‘she wouldn’t appreciate that.’

Tyba smirked at me. ‘She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who needs protecting.’

‘That’s true,’ I agreed. ‘She will not put herself before Tanza. Nothing will stop her from fighting, not even me.’

‘It sounds like you both consider yourselves Tanzans, now,’ the prince observed.

‘We are Kriites,’ I responded. ‘Tanza is the last great Kriite nation. Soon, I think nations will not be important.’

‘You see the world differently to me,’ Tyba said. ‘Perhaps that is why you’ve been called by Krii to your specific task.’

‘Aye, perhaps,’ I ruminated, slowing my steps, ‘whatever it may be.’

Despite Jett’s efforts, our conversation was soon interrupted. On our way to the Vista, Tyba was trailed by at least six people trying to relay messages to him. I overheard that the civilians from Centan could no longer fit inside the walls of Condii. Ten or twenty thousand had started to make camp between the six towers at the front gate.

‘There’s naught we can do,’ Tyba replied. ‘Have the reinforcements been sent to aid the spy-hunters around Centan?’

‘Yes, sire,’ came the reply.

More Zeika movements were reported than I cared to comprehend. I was wearing the Jarian belt; I wore it everywhere now. I used my enhanced wave-senses to detect all the scurrying people in the corridors ahead of us. I held my hand in front of Tyba as we reached an intersection and enabled a group of thirty footsoldiers to pass.

‘Thank you, Talon,’ Tyba said.

The messengers started up again the moment we were moving. I screened them out, trying instead to narrow my wave-perceptions down to a few select individuals… here was Corypha stewing about his treatment and wishing he hadn’t told us so much about the Wavekeepers… there was strategist Saned, still fretting and worrying so much that he couldn’t sleep. As I suspected, using the waves to locate people was taxing. I stopped when my vision began to swim, I concentrated on my own kin instead, which was much easier.

Tiaro was here in my ear and her presence was close to all my thoughts. Ciera had made his way back to Condii Fortress and now sat in the shade conversing with about two dozen skyearls. The skyearls were attempting to tighten the net of flying skyearls around Condii. I was surprised to find that one of their aims was locating Miletus, Corypha’s Sleffion-kin.

Tyba and I had to push past crowds of people to gain entry to the Vista. Although mostly military personnel, there were countless people milling around. I recognised some faces from the strike force. Most hailed me with a wave or a salute. I found myself smiling in their company. At last we were all together.

King Crystom, Queen Em, Commander Varal and Captain Dathan were at the head of the strategy table, each looking fresh and clean if not exactly rested. Strategists Ervan and Sigthan were present as well as two whose names I didn’t know. The others were on their rest break.

Jaalta was seated at the table, with the Centan shield in front of her. I took off the Jarian belt and placed it next to the shield. Crystom and Em gave Tyba and I a welcoming smile.

‘…not much time now,’ Captain Dathan was saying. ‘If the new legion from Lokshole has made good time, they will reach us tomorrow.’