The Quartered Sea (59 page)

He'd just moved a bit of water out of the way.

The xaan's guards shuffled in place, unsure of what to do. The xaan was dead, and they knew the means if not the method of her death. Should they not avenge her?

The tul's guards shuffled in response. Their god had spoken, and the enemy of the tul was dead.

Up on the
Kraken
, Cazzes felt the world tottering and came to a decision. Maybe the xaan's death was a judgment of Tulpayotee, maybe it wasn't. He didn't really care. From his vantage point it had seemed that Benedikt's one remaining blue eye had been slightly mad while he sang and Cazzes knew whom to blame for that madness.

"The peerless one asked for proof," he said into the rising tension. "The god did no more than give her what she asked for." As all eyes turned toward him, he took the quarrel from his crossbow and laid the bow down.

The xaan's First stared up at him for a long moment, then he glanced down at the body. Even the xaan's hair had gone dry and brittle and, while he watched, a breeze in off the harbor pulled half a dozen feathers out of the braids and danced them down the pier. "Stand away," he commanded.

Almost everyone stepped back a pace.

Ooman Xhai continued his prayers and beside him, Hueru stared at the wizened remains of his xaan, of his lover. He looked up at Benedikt, and one hand rose to touch the edge of his left eye. There had been one judgment of Tulpayotee, the gesture said. Why not another?

"Your protection, gracious one!" Diving forward, he threw himself to his knees at Tul Altun's feet. "I only did what she told me to!"

The tul stepped back in disgust. "Don't ever touch me." he said, drawing his robe out of the other man's grip. "You are no cousin of mine."

"See that this karjo stays where he is and doesn't crawl off." Pushing past the kneeling man, he glanced up at the
Kraken
as he walked to Benedikt's side. "And you two, release the friend of the warrior of Tulpayotee. No," he said quietly as Benedikt began to move forward. "Stay here. They'll bring him to you."

"A little," Bannon admitted, turning his head and spitting a mouthful of blood out onto the stone. "Mostly I'm stiff from being tied." He raised a hand and stroked the back of his fingers over Benedikt's cheek. "What about you."

There was a speculative, almost amused tone in the ex-assassin's voice Benedikt didn't understand. Nor, he found, did he want it explained.

"So these are
breeches
?"

It was an understandable assumption except that Bannon hadn't been on the
Starfarer
. "H-how?" he stammered.

"Did I get here?" Bannon grinned, winced as it pulled his torn lip, and stood, Benedikt reluctantly rising with him. "The kigh came to Shkoder and told us you were in trouble, so we came to rescue you."

"We?"

"Did you think I came on my own? Well, I would've, but three bards, two healers, and a whole shipload of people came along to help bring you back."

"Bring me back?" Benedikt shook his head in disbelief. This wasn't making any sense. "That's…"

"Not possible? Don't take my word for it, then." Placing both hands on the taller man's shoulders, Bannon turned him around to face the harbor. "Here comes our ride."

The crowned ship of Shkoder flying from bare masts, the
Vixen
made an impossible curve around three fishing boats and, at the last second, turned sideways to the House Kohunlich pier and came to a full stop.

"Assassins are trained to notice things," Bannon murmured at Benedikt's back.

Benedikt's knees felt as if they were going to buckle, and he couldn't catch his breath. The best he'd dared hope for was a protected life on Balankanche. He'd never dared to hope that one day he'd get to go home.
Fool. How else could Bannon have gotten here
?

The fingers of one hand dug into the wood of the railing and the other keeping Jurgis from leaping ashore, Karlene stared down from the forecastle at the incredible figure the kigh told them was a bard of Shkoder. "Are you two all right?"

Since Benedikt seemed no more capable of speech than anyone else on the pier, Bannon answered for them both. "More or less."

Jerked from his prayers by this new arrival, Ooman Xhai stared up at the ship and the golden-haired, golden-skinned bodies at the rail. "The ship of Tulpayotee!" he cried.

Turning, Benedikt stared down into the heat of the tul's gaze. He still couldn't Sing fire, but now it didn't matter. It had taken him this long to remember that water could put fire out. "Yes, I am. Really.
Because
of everything that's happened. Besides, you don't need me. You have all of House Kohunlich now."

He was smiling so broadly his cheeks hurt. "And there're three archers in the lookout who'll kill anyone who tries to stop us getting on that ship."

"I had noticed that, yes."

Eyes on the tul, recognizing the only other predator on the pier now that the woman was dead, Bannon pushed forward. "Come on, Benedikt. We're leaving."

"Leaving?"

"As in going. Now."

Benedikt took a deep breath and let Petayn drop away. As he turned, he met Xhojee's gaze and raised a hand in farewell. "Thank you for being my friend."

* * *

The
Silver Vixen
sped out of the harbor as fast as she'd sped in, and no one followed—a sudden torrential downpour probably as much to blame as anything for the lack of pursuit. Propelled by the kigh instead of sail, the
Vixen
raced through the nearly solid sheets of rain like a fish.

Everyone but the helm and the lookouts crowded belowdecks while Benedikt was thoroughly examined by the two healers—although he kept sending one of them to Bannon who kept sending her back.

It took the rest of the afternoon and into the night to tell the bare bones of his story to an enthralled audience, and by the time he got to the death of the xaan, he was too tired to make excuses.

"I must have known that the kigh had taken my pain all the way to Shkoder? That my
pain
would be enough to change Kovar's mind about sending a ship across the sea when nothing else of mine—except the unfortunate fact that I only Sang one quarter—had ever made the slightest impression? That Her Majesty would think one bard worth the risk of so many other lives? Especially when that bard had failed her so badly?"

"Her Majesty doesn't believe that, Benedikt; or do I need to give you her message again?"

"No." Bardic recall had insured that none of the queen's words had been forgotten and bardic mimicry had provided the tone and timbre of the queen's voice, but he wouldn't really believe until he could kneel at her feet and she forgave him. He stiffened, ready for an argument.

To his surprise, Karlene only shrugged. "We all screw up sometimes—as Bannon keeps reminding me—then we make what amends we can. We learn from our mistakes, and…"

"… and eventually, we get on with our lives. But what about the families of the dead?" He stared searchingly into her face. "Is it enough to say that if I'd been given a choice I would have died to save them?"

"You're a bard, Benedikt, they already know that."

Some of the tension left his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess they do." Ducking his head, he stared at his new reflection in the waves below. "When I saw Bannon, all I could think of was… I mean, I couldn't… I didn't…" He sighed and surrendered. "You know."

"I know." Karlene copied his position on the rail. It was cute that this new, self-assured,
bardic
Benedikt couldn't put his feelings into words any better than an ex-assassin, but it didn't solve their problem. "You used the kigh to kill that xaan woman."

"I know. I called it something else, but I knew I was doing it. At the time, it seemed worth it."

"And now."

She was standing on his blind side, so he had to turn most of his upper body to actually look her in the eye. "If you're asking if I'd do it again under the same circumstances, then yes. If you're asking if I regret doing it…" He paused and examined what he felt. "I had two choices: Bannon's death or hers."

"What about yours?"

"No." To Karlene's surprise, he smiled. "I didn't want to die, but I would have if had been the only way to protect the island."

"That you just moved a bit of water." And the opinion of the kigh would weigh heavily when it came time for Benedikt to face judgment. "There isn't another bard in Shkoder who could have done what you did."

He watched the kigh retreat, then turned back to Karlene. "You didn't expect to rescue an oath breaker. I've complicated things, haven't I?"

"All lives are compromises, Benedikt. Don't let the bards tell you different. Look at me, I had to stop killing people."

Benedikt looked at him. After a moment, he smiled. "Yeah. Me, too."