The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) (17 page)

S
moke drifted
from the hearth and a familiar scent brewed in the teakettle sitting on the coals, that of mint and spice that reminded him so much of what Della brewed. The home was too small for all of them to sit comfortably, so Rsiran stood along the back wall and decided that was the better place, anyway. He could more easily watch Isander this way.

The old man moved with a fluid sort of grace, one that belied the age that the gray in his beard and the wrinkles around the corners of his pale blue eyes revealed. And Rsiran had seen him with the knives. The man was deadly, possibly more than most of the Venass he had faced. At least Venass made the mistake of carrying lorcith weapons. Isander made no such mistake.

“Why did you come to my home?” Isander asked as he stood at the hearth. He lifted the kettle and poured a mug of tea, offering the first to Valn.

The guild member took the mug and sniffed it carefully.

When he didn’t drink, Isander smiled, took the cup from him, and took a quick sip. “I think after what you’ve been through, you might appreciate something soothing.”

Isander handed the cup back to Valn. This time, he accepted it using both hands and took a careful drink, then lifted it up to his nose so he could inhale the fragrant aroma.

“We came because we’re searching for the man who was with us,” Rsiran said.

Isander looked over at him, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening, making his gaze appear harder, more angry in some ways. He nodded. “I know why
you’re
here. At least, why you claim to have come. But why is Haern here?” He handed a mug of tea to Jessa and then to Haern. After pouring one for himself, he set the kettle back onto the coals without offering one to Rsiran.

“I told you why I came,” Haern said. He held the mug of tea, but didn’t drink.

“You Saw something that prompted you to come for me.”

Haern nodded.

“I haven’t seen you in decades and now you return.”

“Can’t I need the help of my mentor?”

Isander grunted. “I think you outgrew me long ago, Haern.”

“I’m not sure that outgrown is how I would describe it. I was impulsive then, and thought I knew more than I did.”

Isander nodded. “Both are accurate.”

“Had I not left, I might never have ended up with the Hjan.”

Isander frowned. “Do you really believe that after everything you’ve learned?”

Haern looked into his cup and shook his head. “No.”

“Ah, now I see. The man I knew truly is gone, isn’t he?” His frown changed to a wolfish grin. “Was it a woman? The gods know my last student lost his way because of a woman.”

Rsiran had never heard Haern mention any woman other than Jessa, but didn’t know what really had prompted Haern to leave the Hjan. What had changed for him?

Haern ignored the question as he changed the topic of conversation. “Didn’t know that you took on another student.”

“You think you were the only one I would teach?”

Haern shrugged. “I liked the idea that I might be unique.”

Isander laughed. “You are. The only one I’ve ever met who might be as good with knives as me.”

“Your other student didn’t learn knives?”

“Knives, yes. But he preferred other means.”

“Who is he?”

Isander shook his head with a smile. “That’s not for you to know.”

Haern met Isander’s eyes, and neither man looked away. “I Saw something here. That’s why I came.”

“Did it involve me?” Isander asked.

Haern nodded. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come.”

“So you didn’t just want to seek advice from your old mentor?”

“I’m not that man anymore,” Haern said.

“No. You seem to be a different one. But you’ve taught this one,” he said, nodding to Rsiran, “haven’t you? The way he uses his knives… that’s something you picked up from me.”

Haern nodded. “I’ve worked with him some, but there’s only so much I can teach him. His abilities are much different from mine.”

“So I’ve seen. Almost like the Hjan that have come through here.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that.” Rsiran stepped away from the wall. They couldn’t simply stand around while Haern and Isander caught up on twenty years, not while the crystal remained missing, and Luthan had disappeared. They had to find him, and find what happened to the crystal. Now that they had Haern back, he could even help. “Why would the Hjan have attacked you?”

Isander took a sip of his tea. “The Hjan have always attacked me. They see me as a threat.”

“You are a threat to them,” Haern said.

“The Accords kept us neutral,” Isander answered.

“What changed then?”

Isander’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. The one who chases you might have answers, but something changed.”

“How long ago?” Haern asked.

“About a year. Maybe more. The Accords kept us at a tenuous peace.”

“What are the Accords?” Rsiran asked.

“Treaty between the Hjan and C’than,” Isander said. “One the Hjan sought, and then broke.”

C’than. Rsiran had heard that name before. “You’re like her,” he realized. “Carth.”

Isander shook his head. “I can’t make that claim.”

“Where is C’than?” Jessa asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Few have. It’s not like Venass where they wave their tower proudly. Were they not so damned powerful, they might be interesting,” Isander said. “The C’than prefer a more secretive approach.”

“That’s why Carth has spies?”

Isander shook his head.

“What then?” Rsiran asked.

“It’s not for me to share. Unless you are of C’than, you can’t understand.”

Rsiran looked over to Haern. “Are you of C’than? Is that where you learned what you did?”

Haern looked away from Isander. The other man stared at Haern, his eyes blazing with heat. “I was of Hjan,” Haern said.

“Because you were impatient,” Isander said. “You could have learned. You could have stayed with me. In time, they might have called you.”

“They were never going to call me,” Haern said.

“Because you didn’t believe.”

“No,” Haern said. “I Saw that they would not. There was only one way for me to learn what I wanted at that time, so I took it.” He looked up and met Isander’s eyes. “I paid the price for what I did, and have been paying it every day since I left.”

Isander watched him for long moments. “I can’t call her off, Haern. I don’t have that authority.”

Haern nodded. “I didn’t think you did.”

“That’s not why you came, then.”

“It’s not.”

“Why then?”

He nodded to Rsiran. “Like I said, I Saw something. Now that Lareth is here, I think I know what it is. You need to help us—help him—so he can face the Hjan.”

“From what I saw, he doesn’t need my help with facing the Hjan.”

“He’s got some ability,” Haern admitted, “but he still needs help. There are things the C’than might know that could help him.”

“You know I can’t do that, Haern.”

“Why? The Accords have been broken, and all of the Hjan come for him.”

“For him? What could he have done that would have gained the attention of all the Hjan?”

“For starters, he stopped an attack.”

“That’s not reason enough for the Hjan.”

“No,” Haern agreed. “The reason he needs help is that his grandfather leads Venass.”

Isander stiffened and set his mug down. “Danis?” he whispered. “He’s your grandfather?”

Rsiran nodded.

“Gods. You’re lost, then. Too bad. I was starting to like you.”

R
siran stood outside
of Isander’s home, Jessa at his side, watching the street. Nothing moved. A few other doors down the street remained closed, and in spite of all the noise from the attack, they hadn’t seen anyone appear. Either this place was accustomed to such things, or the homes were empty.

The sky had begun to lighten in the time that they’d been in Isander’s home. A knot of worry twisted his stomach that only partly came from his fear for what might have happened to the crystal. Hearing Isander speak so callously about his grandfather—even though he knew what his grandfather might do—had affected him more than he would have expected.

Rsiran glanced to Jessa. “It’s time for us to go.”

“Where? We don’t even know where we can look, Rsiran. Without Luthan, we don’t have any way of knowing what might have happened to the crystal.”

And even that hadn’t been guaranteed. Luthan had been able to See
around
him, and that had been the way that Rsiran thought they would come up with answers, but without help, they would just be blindly searching. What good would that do anyone?

Maybe the crystal really was gone. How it disappeared and where it was in that “blue in a field of white” was anyone’s guess.

How long before Venass discovered it? How long before they were able to use the power of the crystal against Elaeavn, and add that to what they could do with shadowsteel?

Not long, he knew. Once they discovered that it had disappeared—if they hadn’t already—they would come after it, bringing every power, skill, and weapon they could to possess it. Which meant that Rsiran had to be ready to bring everything he could against them.

“Maybe Haern can help us,” he suggested.

“Haern doesn’t have nearly the same skill as Luthan. He hasn’t ever since he left Venass.”

Haern stepped out of the shadows of a pair of nearby buildings. Rsiran hadn’t known that he was even there, and the shimmery cloak he wore—so similar to the black shirt they’d found in his house—caught the light and reflected it.

“Why did you really come here?” Jessa asked Haern as he approached. “If it wasn’t for us, why did you come?”

“After Carth appeared in Elaeavn, I knew I needed to leave. I thought Isander might be able to help…”

“Why won’t he help you?” she asked.

“Because I abandoned what he tried to teach me and went to Venass.”

“Why?” Rsiran asked.

Haern shook his head. “I didn’t know anything about Venass at the time. I was on a job with Isander and one of the Hjan recruited me. I saw what he was capable of doing and wanted the same level of skill.” He sighed. “You can’t know what it’s like to have nothing and be offered everything. That was what I had. What I was.”

“You were a Seer,” Jessa said.

“And what does that do for someone not Elvraeth? They’re the only Seers worthwhile. And I was promised more than Seeing.”

“What did they promise you? What would you have wanted that would have made it worthwhile?” she asked.

“Jessa—”

“Don’t, Haern. I’ve seen what they’ve done. I didn’t realize that you were so willing to sacrifice others.”

“I’m not that person anymore.”

“Why? You didn’t tell Isander, but why? What changed?”

Haern closed his eyes. “I did something… It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

Rsiran waited to see if he would say anything more, but he didn’t. “Can you help us?”

“Not if you needed Luthan.”

“One of the crystals is missing, Haern. Luthan said Venass didn’t have it yet. But we need to find it before they do. There has to be something your Seeing can help us with.”

Haern looked over to Isander’s house. “Not that way, but maybe there’s another.”

“What way?”

“When something is stolen, there’s either a use, or there’s a market. If Venass doesn’t have it, maybe we can look for a market.”

“How do you intend to look?” Rsiran asked.

“Isander won’t like it, but he’s going to have to help.” Haern flung open the door to the house.

Rsiran followed, expecting to see Isander inside, still sitting by the hearth drinking his tea, but the fire in the hearth had burned down to embers, and a lazy trail of smoke swirled around it, but nothing else moved.

“Damn him,” Haern said.

“Where is he?”

Haern shook his head. “Gone. Damned man is gone.”

“Are you sure?” Rsiran asked.

“Can’t See him. And I did when he was here.”

“Why would he have disappeared?” Jessa asked.

“Because we found him. And he thinks the Hjan are after him. Considering what we know, that’s likely to be true.” Haern grabbed an iron poker from next to the fire and jabbed at the embers as he threw on another log. “Thought that he might help me, but that was too much to hope for, I guess.”

“Your idea won’t work without him?”

Haern sighed. “It’ll work, but it won’t be quite as easy or as neat.”

“Why do you say that?”

Haern glanced from Jessa to Rsiran. “Because it requires that we get someone on the inside who can get access.”

“Not you?”

Haern tapped his scar. “Once that might have worked, but I’m not the same person that I was.”

“What do you intend, Haern?”

Haern closed his eyes. “That’s the part that I can play. We’re going to make a trade.”

* * *

“
I
don’t think
this is a very good idea,” Jessa said.

They sat on the rooftop of a flat-topped building in Cort. The streets below were still noisy in spite of the late hour, and the air carried with it the stink of filth that he never got from Elaeavn.

“I don’t, either.”

“If she helps with this, why can’t she simply help us find where the crystal might be?” Jessa said.

Haern raised a finger to his lips. “She might know. That would be the best-case scenario. But if she doesn’t, then this is our other option.”

“You’re giving yourself up,” Jessa said.

“Not yet.”

Jessa peered around the buildings. From where they crouched, they could see the tops of all the neighboring buildings. “Still don’t like it.”

“I don’t expect you to,” Haern said. “Now quiet. Keep your eyes open—”

“Yes. Keep them open,” came a voice from behind.

Rsiran Slid toward the sound of the voice, emerging with a pair of knives already
pushed
out from him.

The woman stood across from him wrapped in a dark cloak that drew the night around her. A soft smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Careful,” she said.

How had she managed to sneak up here without them knowing? He didn’t think that she could Slide, but then, she had managed to detect his Sliding before, almost as if she had some thenar ability.

Haern rose and held his hands in front of him. “We came willingly, Carth.”

“Seems that way, but you have the numbers, don’t you?”

Haern grunted. “Do we? I imagine you have a dozen of your people surrounding us.”

“Haern, you think too much of yourself. There’s no need for a dozen when only a few will suffice.” She nodded to Rsiran. “Guildlord. Good to see you again.”

Rsiran blinked, unable to hold back the shock that he felt. Even in Elaeavn—and even among the guilds—his position as guildlord wasn’t well known. For her to know of his position meant that she
was
every bit as connected as Haern suggested.

“Thank you for coming,” Rsiran said.

“I didn’t come for you,” Carth answered. “I came for Haern.”

“And Haern came for me.”

Carth raised a hand.

Rsiran pushed a dozen knives all at once. They surround Carth, all from different angles. “You might be fast, but how fast are you?”

Carth smiled and lowered her hand. “Interesting. And yet you claim you’re not of the Hjan. I would imagine they are most interested in you.”

“They might be interested, but they’re not about to get to me.”

“I hope so, guildlord. You and I have much to discuss when this is all settled.” She touched the tip of one of the knives he held hovering in front of her. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind removing this. I would hate for you to sneeze and send these through me.”

Rsiran
pulled
the knives back but kept them in the air, ready to move if she threatened to attack.

“I came here. I think you have little to fear from me.”

“You came for Haern. That’s reason enough for me to fear,” Rsiran said.

Carth made a small circle atop the roof. From the light glowing off his knives, Rsiran noted that her eyes darted around her, as if seeing things that even Jessa couldn’t see. What powers did she possess? Not abilities—she was not of Elaeavn—but she possessed power of some kind that made her difficult for him to attack.

“What is this, Haern? You sent word that you’d meet. I should know better than to trust the word of one of the Hjan.”

“I’m not one of the Hjan.” He moved past the knives Rsiran held hovering in front of her, standing within the ring of knives. “As I told you in Elaeavn, I’ve changed.”

“And as I said then, men don’t change.”

“This one did.”

Her eyes flicked to Rsiran and then Jessa. “You came. And now you’ve attacked me. That is a mistake.”

She whistled, a sharp sound against the night.

Haern spun and motioned to Rsiran, but he wasn’t fast enough.

Three women appeared, each dressed much like Carth with long cloaks, and surrounded Jessa. Carth stepped forward, a knife pointed to Haern’s back.

“Now, guildlord, I think we can talk.”

Rsiran glanced to Jessa. She stood motionless. One of the women, with short dark hair and a slender face, held a knife beneath her throat. The other two stood behind her, each holding an arm.

He might be quick, but could he reach her in time? Even if he could, he doubted that he could reach Haern in time. If he acted, someone with him would die.

Rsiran
pulled
the knives back to him.

Carth nodded, and the knife beneath Jessa’s neck was pulled back. She continued to hold the one in Haern’s back.

“Carth—” Haern tried taking a step forward, but she jabbed her knife at him, quicker than Rsiran would have been able to Slide, and Haern winced.

“You came, but you did not come,” Carth said. “Tell me why.”

“Others are in danger,” Haern said. “I… I thought you could help.”

A hint of a smile pulled on Carth’s mouth. “Haern of the Hjan thought that he would ask for help? That, I think, is interesting. Tell me, Haern of the Hjan,
why
do you think I should help you?”

“You wouldn’t be helping me. You’d be helping them.” He nodded to Rsiran and Jessa.

“Seeing as how they came with you, it appears that helping them would be helping you.”

“Help them, and I will come with you willingly.”

Carth laughed softly. “I think that you’ll come with me willingly or not.”

Haern twisted, moving in a blur, and spun around, a pair of knives suddenly appearing in his hands. He flicked two of them at the women holding Jessa’s arms, and caught them in their foreheads, somehow managing to hit them with the handle of the blade. As they fell, Jessa jerked free and ran to Rsiran.

The other woman lunged toward them. Rsiran
pushed
on his knives, and she stopped.

One of the fallen women moaned softly. Rsiran glanced at them, realizing that Haern hadn’t killed the other two women.

“Call off the others.” Haern spoke in barely more than a whisper. “I might not still be with the Hjan, but that doesn’t mean I don’t recall my training.”

Carth made a motion with her fingers, and the woman still standing jumped back, grabbed the other two, and dragged them off the rooftop and into the darkness.

“You will talk. I will listen,” Carth said. “When you are done, you will come with me, willingly or not. Even one of the Hjan can’t outrun me forever.”

Haern nodded. “Fine. As I said, we need your help. One of the Great Crystals of Elaeavn is missing, and we need to recover it.”

Carth’s eyes twitched, more emotion than she’d shown before. Haern had hoped that Carth might have heard something that would tell them where the crystal might have ended up, but the show of emotion from her made it likely that she hadn’t heard anything.

“Such a thing would be incredibly valuable.”

“It would be.”

“Powerful as well, if the stories about it are true.”

What kind of stories had Carth managed to hear about the crystals? He hadn’t even known they existed until relatively recently.

But Venass had. And the Forgotten. It was possible—likely, even—that others knew about them as well.

“Stories would not do them justice,” Haern said.

“Why should I help you retrieve this crystal?”

“Because Venass seeks the crystal, and I fear how powerful they would manage to become if they succeed.”

Carth sniffed. “No doubt the Hjan would use something like that in dangerous ways, but helping you might be equally dangerous.”

Haern nodded to Rsiran. “That’s why he’s here.”

“Explain.”

“The guilds protect the crystals. Or had, until Venass damaged one of the Elder Trees. Rsiran needs to return it to the guilds’ protection.”