The Cadet of Tildor (20 page)

She sprinted for cover, Savoy’s footsteps tapping the stone behind her. Reaching the target, she lowered the boy to the ground and turned in time to see Savoy convert a rushing enemy into a human shield. He relieved his victim of a quiver and crossbow and leveled it at the oncoming wave.

Renee drew a breath. The corridor narrowed enough here to allow Savoy to block the passage. Realizing they could not approach en masse, the advancing guards slowed. Renee put a hand on Savoy’s back to guide him as he retreated toward the safety of the exit. He loaded the weapon while he moved. They had a chance. A small one, but a chance. She focused on that.

“Halt.” A voice boomed through the corridor.

The guards stopped.

Renee could not see who had spoken and continued moving until, from behind a wall of men, a ray of blue flame crept through the air. A mage. 

Savoy’s arm extended the crossbow. His muscles tensed and an arrow shot into the crowd. Despite someone’s shout of pain the ray kept extending. Renee’s gut dropped. Savoy had guessed wrong.

The mage fire approached Savoy, cleared his head, and arched toward Diam.

Renee shoved the boy back and Khavi leaped into the air, throwing his body into the coming stream.

Diam screamed.

The dog, shimmering in a blue glow, fell to the floor and whimpered, continuing to absorb the mage’s assault.

“Fighter, toss the crossbow into the walkway,” the booming voice commanded. “Or I will kill your party.”

Savoy turned his head toward Renee. “He can’t.” His voice was calm, almost bored. “Get them out.”

Her fists tightened. What the mage couldn’t do was kill them all at the same time. Savoy had as much chance of holding the passage and escaping as she did of flying. “You can’t—”

“We came for Diam. Get it done or he’ll die.” Reaching into his boot, Savoy handed her the light sac. And then he turned around, reloaded the crossbow, and presented his chest to a bolt of blue flame.

A few heartbeats later, his body thudded down to the stone floor.

CHAPTER 26

B
ack at Hunter’s Inn, Renee leaned against the wall, arms crossed over the front of her blood-soaked dress. The bureau on which Savoy liked to sit was empty. His sword hung by the door. Outside, it had started to rain, the drops pounding the window.

“We could speak to the governor.” Alec stared at his hands, which glowed and dimmed like flickering candles. Renee lacked energy to ask that he stop. “Tell him about the tunnels and—”

Seaborn shook his head, his gaze never wavering from the stormy window. “The governor bows to the Vipers. Korish would not survive if the Madam discovered his identity. Official help must come from Atham and the Seventh.”

Renee caught the hesitation in his voice, glanced at Diam, and knew he had heard it too. The Seventh would uproot the world to retrieve Savoy. But they could not bring back the dead.

“Korish is gonna come back for his sword.” Diam scrubbed his sleeve across his dirty face and limped to where his brother’s weapon hung on the wall.

Seaborn took down the sword and squatted next to Diam. “I think someone should take care of this for him.”

Diam grasped the hilt and wrestled the shining weapon into ready position. Savoy took care of his tools. “It’s heavy.” The blade’s tip brushed the floor. Diam’s lips pressed together. Then, jerking his chin up, he thrust the hilt toward Renee. “You take it.”

She looked over her shoulder at Seaborn. “When can you leave for Atham, sir?”

“In the morning.” His eyes narrowed. “I thought you wished to pledge to King Lysian, Renee. If you returned, given the circumstance, perhaps . . . ”

She took the sword from Diam, slid it into its sheath, and adjusted the buckle at her hip. If Savoy was alive, she would free him. And if he wasn’t, she would bring his captors to Crown’s justice. King Lysian had called on his champions to guard Tildor’s heart. She did not need a uniform to do that.

* * *

At dawn, Seaborn decided to kill himself. He was riding to the Academy, and he was doing it mounted on Savoy’s horse.

“I don’t have time to hike to Atham,” he said, clipping Kye into the crossties and ignoring all pleas for sanity. His hand narrowly escaped Kye’s snapping teeth; undeterred, the stallion laid his ears back and awaited the next opportunity.

They had agreed to let Diam stay in Catar, for now. Theoretically, this was to allow Seaborn faster travel and because returning the boy to the place from which he had already been abducted once
was arguably a bad idea. Privately, Renee feared Diam would simply run off if they tried. The speed with which Seaborn agreed to the plan suggested he had similar worries.

“Great gods.” Renee stepped back as a hoof flick caught Seaborn’s thigh. He grunted, his face pale and sweaty, set his jaw, and picked up the bit.

Never mind the beast’s pastime of destroying people who
weren’t
afraid of riding.

“Find nobles who bet on Predators.” Seaborn’s fingers fumbled a simple girth knot. “If Korish is alive . . . he’s prime for the cages. Hells, the lunatic might actually enjoy it.”

She forced a chuckle. “How long until you have news?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “With clear weather and a mount, I’ll be in Atham in two days. I’ll need a day or two after that.”

Renee nodded, adding another two days for the messenger to return. Under a week, then. Better than she dared hoped. “Get the Seventh here, sir. I’ll find Savoy.”

Seaborn returned the nod, as if he believed her, then stepped back from the horse, who now stood ready for the journey. Provided the rider managed to mount. “I don’t wish an audience,” Seaborn said quietly.

“Gods’ luck.” Renee bowed her farewell and withdrew inside the stable. Her ears strained for signs of trouble as she leaned against the wooden wall. Savoy’s sword, too big for her, weighed down both her hip and heart. In a week’s time, her world had morphed from theory to reality. Just months ago she cringed at push-ups, agonized over rebuke-filled glances, and sobbed over strikes from a wooden practice blade.
They are but bruises,
Savoy had told her at Rock Lake, but only now did she understand his words. A hill feels like a mountain until the real thing laughs in your face.

Renee reconvened with Alec and Diam in their Hunter’s Inn room. The adjacent chamber, where Seaborn and Savoy had been staying, now housed other guests. Her impulse to return to the underground entrance at Duke Leon’s estate met with raised brows from Alec.

“In daylight?” He shook his head. “That’s crazy, Renee, even for you. Plus, Diam needs a Healer. Seaborn gave me a name.”

She crossed her arms, looking from Diam to the forest of stone buildings that hid the estate from view. That Alec was right did little to soothe her stomach. Each moment they waited worked against them.

“Wait for sundown.” He touched her shoulder and steered her toward Diam. “Then we’ll go.”

Despite matching Seaborn’s descriptions, the old, cracked streets and sad-looking buildings did nothing to inspire confidence. People scurried about the slushy roads, sharp eyes full of scrutiny and warning. Even the sun shone more dimly, as if the clouds conspired against the neighborhood. Renee pulled her coat tighter. “Alec, you sure about this?”

He nodded, guiding her around a pile of dog excrement on the sidewalk. At least she
hoped
the excrement came from a dog. “Scouted this morning and made inquiries on top of that.” A hint of excitement fueled Alec’s voice. “I don’t know how Seaborn knows old Zev, but the word on him is . . . reverent.”

Beside her, Diam struggled to keep up with Alec’s too-fast stride.

“Slow down,” she told Alec for the third time and frowned at Diam. Despite gripping his left side, the boy gazed around all too curiously. Renee fought down burbling panic. Neither his brother nor the Academy instructors had been able to contain Diam’s wanderings through Atham. How were she and Alec to manage him in Catar? The weight of the world gained several stone.

Old Zev lived in the basement of a run-down shack, which threatened to collapse under a bout of hard wind. The bald, sagging old man who cracked open the door refused to let them inside until hearing a whisper of Seaborn’s name. Even with that he hesitated, yellow eyes piercing each newcomer until his gaze found Khavi and his pupils widened.

“A unique pleasure,” Zev murmured, letting the quartet inside.

The mage’s apartment smelled of sweet herbs. Piles of wide pillows lay on the tattered carpet in the center of the room, where Renee expected a couch. Zev settled himself on one of the pillow piles and crossed his arms, his eyes growing hard as he stared at her. “You don’t belong here.” He shook his head. “Not like Connor to forgo warning.”

“Our apologies.” Kneeling on a pillow next to the little man, Renee sketched the story of Diam’s abduction. “Will you help him?” she asked upon concluding the tale.

Zev smiled. “Which one? The little lad with the hurt side or the big one without a rein on his power?”

Her eyes darted to Alec in time to see him startle and hide a blue-glowing hand behind his back.

Zev’s grin grew. “Young idiots. You think Connor sent you here for a few bruises when you have a brewing disaster walking among you?” A scowl replaced self-content mirth, and he glared at Alec. “Stupid, careless boy. You will kill someone. What in gods’ realm possessed you to hide your head in the sand?”

Alec stuffed his hands in his pockets and said nothing.

“He didn’t hide.” Renee stepped in for him. “He chose. Chose to become a fighter Servant for the Crown.”

“He does not get to choose!”

“Registration—” Alec began, but Zev cut him off.

“Is a Crown-forged set of whips and shackles. And it still exists because of self-centered hooligans like you.”

Zev’s accusation ushered in silence. Renee glanced at her friend, but saw no more comprehension on his face than she felt. 

The old man climbed to his feet and fed a log into the fire. “Young mages speak of choices,” he said quietly. “But the energy we feel grows like this flame. If we fail to control it, it will consume us. And the house. And everyone inside.” He turned, pinning Alec with his eyes. “Learning to rein in the energy flows takes years. And years more to make something useful of your skills. Unschooled mages harbor disasters. As long as those like you think they have a right to forgo training, neither I, nor Connor, nor anyone else battling registration has a leg to stand on.” He shook his head.

Several seconds passed before Renee remembered to breathe. To her left, Alec’s sad eyes watched the fire, his head bowed. Old Zev limped over to Diam and said something into the boy’s ear before laying a blue glowing hand on him. The boy cried out, fresh tears leaking down his cheeks, but quieted quickly, and the room returned to silence.

Khavi curled at the boy’s feet.

“We should get back,” Renee said, placing a hand on Alec’s shoulder.

He ignored her touch. “May I stay here a little longer, Master Zev?”

The old man nodded and, that evening, Hunter’s Inn was emptier still.

CHAPTER 2
7

A
n hour after the midnight bell echoed through Catar, Renee headed to Duke Leon’s estates alone. And this time, she came better prepared.

She wore dark clothes, Alec’s sword, and a pack with a lantern. She had extracted Diam’s promise to lock himself inside the room, but welcomed the company of Khavi, who trotted beside her, their breath visible in the frigid night air. It was a scouting mission. No more than an hour. Descend underground, map the passages, get out. Unlike her last visit here, she would leave no bodies, take nothing, stay hidden. If she found Savoy on this first foray, she would memorize his location to give it to the Seventh. She would not attempt rescue by herself. She knew better than that.

Renee repeated the last instruction to herself again and again until it stopped feeling like a cold hand clamping her heart. Having a plan was her only advantage.

They had snuck into the estate from the forest side, staying clear of the duke’s mansion with its guards and lanterns. She had counted her paces when making her escape with Diam, and now retraced the steps, planning to enter from where they had last exited. Khavi stayed close in what Renee hoped was approval of her route.

The ground under her feet shifted in texture. Khavi pawed it, wagging his tail and whining softly. Holding her breath, Renee crouched down and ran her hand over the cold dirt, feeling for the crack of the trap-door edge. It was there.

And it was locked. Bolted shut, from the feel of it.

Khavi sniffed the ground and gave Renee a
something’s there
look. That was all. She sighed. Diam had done his best to explain Renee’s intentions to Khavi, but whether the dog failed to understand or saw nothing he could do, she didn’t know.
Not that it matters,
she thought, giving the unbudging door another pull and cursing. Either way, she wasn’t getting in, not through here.

Next morning at Hunter’s Inn, Alec took a book from his pack and climbed onto his bed. “It does make sense they’d lock it after you and Savoy snuck in, Renee,” he told her. “Or change the lock. Or add a dead bolt. Or whatever they did.” An aura of contentment clung to him, something Renee had not seen in some time. Alec ran his fingers down the book’s cover before setting it on the bed. “You should have waited for me last night.”

“I did.”

“I . . . ran late.” He shifted his weight. “Zev introduced me to some people. Others, like me.” Alec stared out the window. “Catar isn’t like Atham. No one here thinks mages are property or dangerous animals to be broken to saddle.”

“They
aren’t
like you. They never wished to serve the Crown.”

“I wished to choose my own path.” His contentment vanished. “It didn’t work at the Academy. Here, it may.”

Renee poured water into the basin and washed what little sleep she got from her face. A day and a night had passed with nothing to show for it. “I need to find Duke Leon.”

“And do what?” Alec leaned back against the wall, interlacing his fingers behind his head. “Inquire as to what he knows about a secret passage to a Viper prison that you found in his back woods?”

She slammed the water jug down. If Alec could offer none of his own solutions, he could at least support hers. “I don’t know!” She wheeled to face him. “What would you have me do?”

“I’m sorry.” He held up his palms. Whether the apology was for upsetting her or his limited interest in Savoy’s fate, Renee could not tell. He picked up his book. “You are right—try the nobles and Duke Leon again. It helped the last time.”

The nobles attending court at the governor’s manor welcomed Renee with courteous but reserved bows. Her novelty was spent, her house a minor one, and her disgruntled-Academy-reject tale unverified. Putting on a demure expression, Renee stalked the edge of the gathering and awaited the chance to engage her prey, whose green neckerchief she spotted in the crowd.

“The curtain is setting on Lysian’s nonsense,” Duke Leon told a group assembled before him. “The Devmani empire nips Tildor’s western border but instead of addressing it, the king arrests his own subjects and threatens to assault Catar! He’s tasting the Family’s coin, you mark my words. Tildor monarchs have long pandered to wealthy merchants instead of seeing to those in need. Whatever quarrels some have with Predator competition, none can deny its role in holding Catar’s economy.”

“Catar’s economy or Madam’s coffers?” The man beside him stroked his mustache. Several of the guests’ lips tightened into lines. A woman excused herself to the privy.

Taking a breath, Renee strode up to fill the gap before it closed. “Both, my lord.” She curtsied to the mustached man and continued quickly, before they could parry the intrusion. “Shops, inns, taverns, even the meat pie carts, all rely on the fights to bring business,” she said, hoping she guessed true. Her eyes found Duke Leon. Whatever his connection to the Vipers, it likely touched his purse. “Would you agree, Your Grace?”

He tilted his head. “Lady . . . Renee. It is a pleasure seeing you again.” He bowed. “I fear your keen mind puts mine to shame. Perhaps my daughter would prove more entertaining company? It would please me to introduce you.”

Too hard, too fast. Renee cursed herself. “I beg you forgive the brash intrusion, my lord.” She curtsied again, spreading the skirts of her dress. “It was only that I heard you discussing Catar’s economy and hoped you’d consider indulging my curiosity. My father’s estate breeds goats, you see, and his view of trade is somewhat narrow, unlike yours.”

“Kind words to an old man’s ears, but I would not presume to take advantage of a maiden’s good manners with my tedious musings.” A smile that stopped short of his eyes signaled the end of discussion.

Swallowing both the polite dismissal and the colorful words she’d picked up from the Seventh, Renee glided away. She kept her pace slow, but the men refrained from conversation while she was in earshot. Whatever they knew of Catar’s dark market, they did not mean to share.

Returning to Hunter’s Inn, Renee sprinted up the stairs and slammed the door to their room. Alec was gone. She tore loose the laces on her dress and jerked open a drawer, flipping through its contents for a shirt and beaten trousers. The underground entrance was locked. The nobles said nothing. She knew no one in the city to query. And Seaborn wouldn’t have news for days yet. By then, Savoy might be dead. Where in the Seven Hells did that leave her? Or Savoy?

“Who peed in your oatmeal?” Diam’s voice speared her to a halt.

She looked up, startled to find the boy sitting atop her bed, two paces away. “Who did
what
?”

“Peed in your oatmeal.” He repeated the words as if trying them on for size.

Closing her eyes, Renee counted to ten. “When did you start talking like that?”

“This morning.”

“This morning.” She stared at her new eight-year-old responsibility. He needed a change of clothes. And tutors. And structure. And another dozen things she couldn’t think of, much less make happen. Her eyes found her practice sword and her hand ached for its feel, for the clarity of the world when viewed over a weapon’s edge. “Do you know where Alec went?”
And why he left you alone?
she groused silently.

Diam shrugged and jumped off the bed. “The Underground
,
that tavern near Zev. Same as yesterday.” Diam blocked Renee’s way and opened a grubby fist to display the contents of his palm. Predator chits. “Found ’em in Korish’s coat. Alec said Korish bought them.”

“He did.” Her shoulders sagged and she reached to take the chits from Diam. “But it wasn’t for sport. He was looking for you.”

Diam jerked his treasure from reach. “I wanna go.” His chin set. His hands gripped the metal bits as if they were a message from his brother. “Korish bought these. He bought them, so we have to go.”

Renee was about to reject him again, but Diam’s desperate eyes halted her. She took a breath. He asked for so little. Yes, the scraps of information a spectator could gather from watching the pointless killing would be meager, but there was little else she could do. And if . . . “Will you promise to stay within sight of Hunter’s Inn and mind the innkeeper’s wife?” she asked, and was rewarded by immediate head bobbing. “Very well.” Renee squatted down to the boy’s level. “But you must keep to your word. Your brother offered his life for yours. Don’t squander his sacrifice.”

Diam’s green eyes widened and he nodded again.

Renee prayed to the gods that was enough.

The Underground
took time to find. Hidden in plain sight, its facade blended with the crumbling brick of the rest of the block. Inside, it bustled with youthful energy. Adolescents crowded the mismatched tables, shouting and laughing over one another.

Renee expected to find Alec in a corner and swallowed surprise at seeing him amidst a thick crowd. Several girls around him leaned forward in their seats, their eyes glued on his moving lips. Smiling, Renee wondered whether her friend even noticed the attention. His muscled body, so typical among the fighter cadets, here drew admiring gazes.

When she approached, a boy with skinny shoulders and black curls smiled a greeting. His eyes traced her curves, and he blushed when she raised an eyebrow. Hers was a fighter’s body too. The corners of her mouth twitched.

The boy grinned. “I’m Ivan. What’s your name?”

“Renee,” Alec answered for her. He sounded more startled than pleased. “Good to see you.” He gave her his seat and pulled up another chair for himself. A pause stretched several heartbeats. “Uh, let me introduce you. Renee, uh, meet Ellina, Sheri, Ivan, Jasper, Timon . . . ” He motioned to each companion in turn, continuing around the dozen people at the table.

She forced a smile, infected with her friend’s discomfort. The group smiled back. The boy with black curls held out his hand, a tentacle of blue glow snaking its way to her. She frowned, looking at Alec for clarification.

Her friend blushed, and a light stream of his own swam out, meeting the boy’s. “No, she isn’t, uh—”

The boy’s glow and smile died together. “She’s a blinder?”

Alec’s lack of answer ushered in a heavy silence. Her skin crawled. Blinder. Under their scrutiny, Renee scraped back her chair, collected her dignity, and faced her friend. “I found practice swords and came to see if you wished to spar.”

“Sure,” Alec answered too quickly and bid the table farewell, promising to return.

“Nonsense.” A pretty boy with peach-fuzz cheeks and glasses rose with Alec. “We’ll watch. I love a fight.”

Shushing the warning bells in her head, Renee headed for the door.

The small clearing they found offered privacy from pedestrians, but felt wrong nevertheless. Backs of buildings surrounded three sides of the patch of dirt, and a small fence in the corner blocked the pile of trash, but not its stench. The handful of youths who followed them from the tavern gathered near one of the walls. Standing with her back to them, Renee brought up her blade in salute, and let her body’s cry for exercise drown out all else.

Alec secured his stance and engaged, the weapon dancing its way toward Renee’s abdomen. She parried the attack easily. Too easily. Then again. The strikes labored to pick up speed, the rolling beat of wood on wood growing in cadence, yet stopping short of climax, as if dulled by invisible cotton. Renee lunged toward his head. Alec missed the parry and, unconcerned, reset for the next bout.

Blood pulsated in her temple. “Are you paying attention?”

“Mage zero, blinder one! Scary.” The sideline jeers rose between them.

Alec rolled his eyes. She glared, and his gaze chilled in reply. When he attacked, his blade sailed full force. Renee redirected the strike moments before it could welt her arm. Her breath stilled in surprise, but he granted her no time for reflection. A second attack followed, and a third, each pregnant with power. She switched her stance to favor the speed-based game Savoy had taught her, staying ahead of the blows whose force she couldn’t match. The fight morphed from dance to death match. Pouring her frustrations into action, she met him step for step, countering his strength with angles of her blade. It was exhilarating. And frightening.