The Wayfarer King (23 page)

Gavin realized with a sick feeling that until he sealed the rift, beings from other realms were in just as much danger as his own people were. This made it all the more imperative that he seal the rift at once.

“We’re almost there, Emtor,” Bahn said, stopping. “Before we continue, I must warn you about Bahnna. You won’t like her. She’ll do and say things that tempt you to let the kho dominate you. You can curb those desires by addressing me rather than her.”

Gavin had dealt with plenty of dark, wicked people in his lifetime. He could handle himself.

Chapter 30

Ahead, Gavin made out the dark form of a cave in the side of the rock. “Your people live in caves?”

“For all of our history, we lived in villages. When the dark ones started to come, our kho-bent could slay the occasional one that came too close to the village. Ten full moons ago, the dark ones started coming more often and in greater numbers. We split into small family groups to ensure entire villages are not slain at once. Bahnna and I have not yet begun our families, so we live together.”

Ten months ago would have been when Gavin had first started deciphering the runes. Yeh, he noted, that was when he’d first started noticing an increase in beyonder invasions in his realm as well.

“Our elders believe the increased number of dark ones means the champion would soon close the gap. And here you are.” Bahn smiled.

Gavin hoped they were right. “What are your people called?”

“We call ourselves the Elyle.”

An Elyle, similarly dressed in a loincloth and sandals, exited the cave and made its way toward them. Judging from its slightly smaller stature, Gavin surmised this one was female, but there was a hardness about her that would have made even the toughest Viragon Sister seem like a wilting flower in comparison. Her green eyes fixated on Gavin, and her tongue trilled a long note that he had no translation for, though it annoyed him fiercely. Something about her unsettled him, like the many beyonders he’d slain, though Aldras Gar didn’t whisper a warning in his head. The closer she came, the more he wanted to distance himself from her.

“Emtor, please allow me to introduce my complement, Bahnna.”

Gavin was hesitant to offer his hand, though he did so anyway to avoid insulting his polite host. The instant he touched her, he felt hot, like his blood was bubbling in his veins. Her presence— no, her very existence— angered him. He dropped her hand as quickly as he could. She had a pleasant face, but her presence, her proximity, inspired such intense misgiving that he wanted nothing more than to walk away before he did something he would regret. He gripped his will and forced a smile. “My pleasure,” he said, though the snarl in his voice made the words sound as insincere as they felt.

“Mine too,
Uckod,
” she said. Gazing at him with steamy, lustful eyes, she ran a hand over his chest.

Gavin jerked back, but she persisted. He grabbed her wrist and shoved her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Ohhh,” she cooed. “Your hostility arouses me, Uckod.” She darted out a hand to slap him, but his reflexes were quick enough to block it.

“What the hell?” He had a strong urge to slam his fist into her face. He wanted to push her against the rock wall — no, pick her up over his head and heave her against it, hear her bones crack as she hit and fell to the ground. His sudden rage shocked him. Never had he felt such unwarranted loathing. Never had he struck a female in anger, and now he wanted so badly to hit her, to hurt her, as though she were a child-killing beyonder. This was madness. What the hell was going on here?

Gavin clenched and unclenched his fists as he backed away, trying to rein in his hatred. He remembered Bahn’s warning not to address her directly. “Why does she anger me so much?”

“She represents the kho,” Bahn replied simply. “Her kho-ness kindles the kho within you. I help you connect to your zhi-ness, so you feel more balanced.”

Hearing Bahn’s pleasant whistles and clicks did calm him. In fact, it was Bahn’s entire being — his gentle and yielding nature — that made Bahnna’s vile, aggressive presence easier to bear. “Why did she want to see me?”

“You’ve come for what I can give you, Uckod,” Bahnna said.

Gavin felt anger rise to the surface again, and he renewed his effort to focus his attention on Bahn.

“My complement travels the knowledge path of Rarga,” Bahn said.

“What’s Rarga?” Gavin asked.

“Rarga was a who, not a what, Emtor. She crafted the Runes of Carthis for the last Wayfarer King and taught him the skill.”

“Can your complement make the summoning rune I need?” Gavin asked, glancing at Bahnna. He instantly wished he hadn’t, as his anger returned. Fighting it was giving him a headache.

“That knowledge was forbidden long before we were born. She can craft a Rune of the Past that will enable you to visit the previous Wayfarer to discover where he left the Rune of Summoning Rarga made. Perhaps you can find it and use it.”

“He died two centuries ago,” Gavin argued, growing more frustrated.

“Yes, exactly. Use the Rune of the Past to travel to the time in which he lived.”

Gavin jerked in surprise. “You’re jesting.”

“Or perhaps you can travel to the midrealm’s past and receive instruction from Rarga herself to craft the rune you need.” The two Elyles stood silently for a moment, looking at each other. Bahnna grew more tense, while Bahn became calmer, if that was possible. Bahnna’s ears shifted forward, then lay flat on her head as her eyes went from purple to red. Bahn’s shoulders slumped, and his eyes became a serene green color. After a moment, they turned to Gavin.

“She has agreed to craft the rune for you.”

“My price is a single mating, Uckod. I’m fertile now. A child of our union would be most interesting, wouldn’t it?” Bahnna smiled wickedly and walked into the forest.

“What?” Gavin’s hands balled into fists on their own. “No, no and hell no,” he shouted at Bahnna’s back.

“She wanted more, but I convinced her that you’re going to save our realm and she should be more reasonable.” Bahn’s expression looked hopeful, as though he believed he’d negotiated a good bargain for Gavin.

“You don’t truly think I’m going to...” He pointed in the direction Bahnna had gone. “...lay with
that.
I’m desperate for the rune, but I ain’t perverted.”

“I’m so very sorry, Emtor. It was the best I could do.” Bahn’s whistles and clicks came so rapidly, Gavin had to concentrate to understand the words as they were translated in his thoughts. “Our people think she’s quite beautiful. Many of our males—”

“Well, I ain’t one o’your people. I ain’t doing it.”

“Then you should leave now,” Bahn said.

Gavin gaped at Bahn. Was he saying he wouldn’t help Gavin get the rune from someone else?

“When she comes back, she’ll sing to you. Her song is enchanting. You’ll be unable to resist her.”

“Don’t worry about me. I got a strong will.” After all, he hadn’t choked Bahnna yet. “Is there someone else who can craft it?”

Bahn sat on a rock and began to shuck the seeds he’d gathered earlier. “I’m sure many Elyles throughout the land have traveled the same knowledge path.”

“Do you know any?”

“I’m sorry to say I do not, Emtor. It’s a craft studied by those who are kho-bent. As one of the zhi-bent, I’m unacquainted with many of the kho-bent, even within our own clan.”

Gavin paced anxiously while he waited for Bahnna to return. What was he going to do? There was no possibility he would lay with that thing, but without the rune, he didn’t know how he could defeat Ritol. He set a pine cone on a tree stump and practiced throwing his dagger at it. After a few practice throws, he hit it square in the center, embedding the tip into the cone and knocking it off the stump. Between Brodas Ravenkind’s tireless pursuit of the throne, and the constant invasion by beyonders, a lot more people would die in the days to come. It was up to Gavin to do what had to be done. No one else could. At one time, he thought there was nothing he wouldn’t do to save his people. Now, he would be forced to put that conviction to the test.

“She’s ready to carve it,” Bahn said.

“Uckod,” Bahnna shouted.

“Why does she call me that?” Gavin asked.

Bahn laid his ears back. “She’s kho-bent. I’m sorry, Emtor.”

“Uckod, come. Help me make your rune.”

Gavin dreaded going to her without Bahn to temper her foulness. He peered in her general direction, considering whether he should go or ignore her.

“She’ll need your help to craft the rune. Go on. You’ll be safe,” Bahn said.

“Will she?”

Bahn warbled his laugh. “She wouldn’t let you hurt her, and you wouldn’t want to kill me by killing her. She’s safe.”

Gavin grumbled and went off to where the loathsome Bahnna waited by the stream.

Chapter 31

Brodas arrived in Saliria the evening of his third day of travel. While he was tired from long days of sitting astride his horse, he wasn’t too tired to find the Kinshield farm. The entry he’d written in his journal so long ago stated only that it was north of town, but the first person he asked on the street knew exactly where to find it and directed him without hesitation.

To Brodas’s utter disappointment, the Kinshields had fled. When he thought about it, he wasn’t terribly surprised that Gavin would send his brother away after receiving his cousin’s head in a box. The ’ranter might have been foolish, but he was no dunce.

Brodas questioned the butcher’s son, who was charged with caring for Rogan’s livestock in his absence, but didn’t learn much more than what he’d already guessed: Rogan took his family to Tern to visit relatives. They were expected back in a couple of weeks. If Brodas had his way, they wouldn’t return at all.

He and Red stayed the night in Saliria before continuing on.

The first thing he did after getting a room at an inconspicuous inn in the center of Tern was to leave a message for Cirang at the Swift Flight Messaging service. As he’d hoped, she found him at the inn shortly.

“I hope your journey was pleasant,” she said as she followed him into his room. Red came in behind her and shut the door.

Brodas wasn’t interested in exchanging pleasantries with her. He sat on the bed and gestured to the only stool in the room. Red stood by with his arms crossed, sucking his teeth. “Have you seen Rogan Kinshield?” Brodas asked. “Are he and his family staying at Gavin’s inn?”

She sat with her knees spread apart like a man. “The day after I dispatched the message to you, Rogan Kinshield, his wife and sons and two Sisters arrived at the inn. Most travelers have been turned away at the door, but they were let in. After an hour or so, they left and went to a home in the Jade district where they’ve been ever since. Their two guards followed. I had to be careful to keep Dona and Nasharla from seeing me, but I discreetly asked some neighbors and discovered that the wife’s relatives live there — aunt and uncle, I think.”

Brodas smiled, pleased with her investigative sense. “Very good work, Cirang. Before we continue, there’s the small matter of your salary I’d like to settle.” Her eyes lit up, and he knew he hadn’t misjudged her. “Four dyclen — two for what I owe you, and two more for what’s to come. See me through the next few days and you’ll earn a bonus.” He’d paid Red more, but she didn’t need to know that. Men deserved more pay than women anyway.

She took the money eagerly into her cupped hand and put the coins into her pouch. “Thank you, my liege. You can count on me.”

“Is Gavin back?” Brodas asked.

“I’ve been trying to watch both the inn and the home where his brother’s family is staying. It takes twenty minutes to ride from one to the other — longer if I have to circle to avoid a Sister — but I don’t believe Gavin has returned yet.”

“Red, you’ll need to keep an eye on the Elegance Inn and watch for Kinshield’s arrival. Cirang, you watch the brother.”

“I don’t know what he looks like, m’lord,” Red said.

Brodas strengthened his patience with a deep breath. “Considering the inn is closed to travelers and guarded by women battlers, any swordsman arriving with a Viragon Sister and not turned away is likely to be him. If that’s too complicated for you, he’s quite tall — probably three or four inches taller than you are — with dark hair. You’ll know him by the two scars that run down one cheek.”