Trial of Fire (24 page)

When Robert didn’t continue, Jenn guessed the rest. ‘And you think that you can use the orb to create the kind of protection the Key gave us at the Goleth?’

‘Yes.’

‘And then what?’

But Robert ignored her question. ‘We’ll do it tomorrow night. I’ll leave once it’s set.’

Robert could feel the tension fluttering in his stomach. He was tempting fate with this plan; every time he’d tried that before he’d failed miserably, sometimes almost lethally. But, as usual, he had no choice: no matter what he did, what he said, it always came down to where he had no choice.

He had his back to the fireplace, where the coals had burned low. After three days of continual occupation, some of the caves were finally beginning to warm up, and the atmosphere was almost comfortable.

This particular cave was almost bare of furniture now, to create as much space as possible for this … working. Everybody was here, except for Martha and Ronald, who were masking the Key. The children stood with their parents in a circle, filling the cave, all facing the centre and the small orb he’d placed there. Years ago, the Key had given Jenn a vision of how it had been created by the Cabal at the Palace of Bu. The vision had been awesome in its detail, giving Robert as much help as possible. If he could create another like the Key – if
they
, working all together could – then the Key would be safe within these caves, and he could leave knowing Nash wouldn’t come and get Jenn.

He didn’t dare look at her; everything was so much harder now that he could no longer pretend he didn’t love her, or she him. He could no longer ignore how she felt or thought; to break the bonds that joined them now was unthinkable. But still he had to hold to his plans, however harsh that might seem, or they would both be lost. He simply couldn’t tell if Jenn fully understood that.

He took a deep breath and turned his focus on the orb sitting almost innocuously on the floor before them. The room was lit with three lamps suspended from the ceiling, which gave out enough light for him to see a little fear in all those there. The orb was the same one he’d taken from Kenrick, the one the monster King would have used to absorb Helen’s blood. How perfect that it would now be used to help defeat him.

He had nothing but his instincts to guide him, but he had read much over the years, and observed even more, and his own experiments with the orb had suggested this would probably work. It appeared that the mechanism
to create the protection existed in the orb itself, in how it had been constructed.

‘Please, everyone, take a deep breath,’ he began softly, ‘and you’ll find it easier if you close your eyes.’ He waited until he was sure they were all ready before shutting his own. Instantly, the aura of the orb appeared before him, like a ghost, insubstantial, but present. In the darkness of his closed eyes, it cast a greater shadow on the floor.

The last time he’d tested it, the orb had absorbed some of his power, had tried to draw him in further, as though its goal was to swallow him whole, so he knew it would be dangerous for anyone to get too close, much less touch it. Perhaps this was how the Key had got the Word of Destruction: because one of the men making it knew the Word.

Robert stopped, his eyes snapping open. If that was the case, then how was he to prevent this orb from taking the Word from him? Perhaps it was simply a matter of control. When the Cabal had made the Key, they had intended it to be a power in itself, but Robert wanted this orb purely to provide protection.

He closed his eyes again; he would have to be extremely vigilant. The moment he felt
anything
dangerous, he’d have to pull out – and everyone along with him.

Of course, that assumed he’d be able to.

‘Focus on the orb before you. You should be able to See it.’ He knew Andrew would be frowning and shaking his head – that boy had powers coming out of his fingers, but he had no idea how to wake them up. Still, it would be a good experience for him, and who knew what it might do. ‘Now, open your Senses to the orb. At first, you’ll feel a little cold, but then it will get warmer as it begins to do its work.’ He didn’t elaborate on what that work was: he didn’t want the children to misunderstand the concept of the orb absorbing their power.

He fell silent then, concentrating with his own Senses, but even though the ghost remained before him, nothing else happened: the orb felt entirely dormant, as if it was unwilling to absorb a single shred of power. This wasn’t how it had worked before: though he had barely touched it, it had begun drawing in his power – and there was more than enough power in this room now for touch to be unnecessary.

So why wasn’t it working?

He opened his Senses wider, taking in everyone in the room, recognising each aura, seeing each full of energy and bright, just as a Salti should be—

Except for one: his mother, Lady Margaret. She had a normal, human aura, gentle and soft, but entirely devoid of power, at least, of the arcane kind. Robert opened his eyes.

She was standing next to him and sensed his attention. She looked up at him and smiled a little. ‘It’s me, isn’t it?’

‘I’m sorry, Mother. I’d thought it would work with us all here.’

Her smile deepened and she squeezed his hand. ‘I shall watch, and be here anyway.’ With that, she stepped back out of the circle and moved to the arch of the doorway.

Robert closed his eyes again and continued his sweep of the group. Now all the auras glowed brightly. Once more he focused his attention on the orb, opening his Senses to it, waiting for the catch, the moment when it began to draw him in as it had done before.

Still nothing. Not a flicker. Not a breath’s worth of attention. It was as though the orb was ignoring them, ignoring him because of some offence he could not—

Again he opened his eyes, but this time, he found Jenn’s gaze upon him. Nobody else in the room moved. They were all focused on the orb.

I can’t do this, Robert
. Her words came to him soft and personal, as all mindspeech. The apology was in her eyes.
It won’t let me in. Every time I open my Senses, it feels like the Key throws up a barrier of some kind. It must be because
I’m
joined to the Key already. Will it matter if I step out?

What choice do we have? But if you do step out, you can still help. I need to be careful that the orb wont take control of this gathering. If you Sense anything like that building, or if I call you for help, will you—

I’ll do what I can. Good luck.

He nodded and closed his eyes; this time he was there, almost instantly, in the darkness,
feeling
the contours of the orb, touching the depths of the ghostly shadow as though it were real and substantial. Now it was working. He could feel it, almost see it: a thin tendril of connection to each person standing in the circle. They’d begun with seventeen, now they had fifteen, but the Cabal had made the Key with twelve. Well, this orb seemed to think fifteen was enough.

So he could get it to absorb power – now the only problem was to persuade it to mask the Key. Certainly, he laughed silently. Easy.

And then the darkness crashed in.

*

Jenn found she was holding Margaret’s hand, her grip so tight it must be causing bruises, but Margaret said nothing to stop her. Instead, their eyes were firmly fixed on the circle of intense faces, the children showing the strain the worst, but most of all, on Robert, who looked pale and tired and stretched too far to be trying this so soon.

And then he gasped, his features contorting in pain the others obviously did not feel.

Robert?
He did not answer.
Robert? Are you all right?

He said nothing, but gave a tiny shake of his head, so small she wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t been watching so closely. Damn! All this effort just to protect the Key – why couldn’t it keep protecting itself? Of course, she didn’t dare ask it now that it was joined to the Calyx. She had no way of knowing what would happen if she placed that much strain on it.

The Key had given her this vision, of how it had been created – but in the vision, one of the creators had been killed by the Key, struck down even as he fought to keep his place in the circle. Her feet took an involuntary step forward, her hands out ready to pull Robert from the circle, but Margaret stopped her, pointing towards the orb.

‘Look, it’s glowing. Does that mean it’s working?’ she whispered.

‘I don’t know,’ Jenn whispered back. That was the whole problem with this – they were relying on guesswork, never sure of anything until it was too late. When the Key had been created, there was no doubt nobody in that room really understood what it was they were doing. It would have come as a surprise to the man who’d been killed, and of course, the man who gave the Key the Word of —

‘Serin’s blood!’ Jenn gasped, her gaze snapping back to Robert. If he couldn’t control—

Robert let out a soft moan, then, without warning, he fell to his knees and the glow from the orb died. There was a heartbeat of silence, and then everyone was talking at once. Jenn ran to Robert’s side, put one hand beneath his elbow, another on his cheek, drawing his face up to hers.

‘Robert? Robert, talk to me. Are you …’

He gave her a slow grin, then opened his eyes. ‘I wouldn’t want to be doing that every day, but as far as I can tell, it worked.’

Jenn helped him to his feet as everyone gathered around. It was Finnlay, of course, who asked the obvious question. ‘How can you tell if it
did
work?’

‘When we joined the Key and Calyx together, I was right there, almost on the inside looking out. I got a very clear idea of how the barrier worked and this one looks exactly the same.’

‘Really?’ Murdoch said sceptically. ‘Then perhaps later you can show a few of us what that looks like, just in case we need to reinstate it once you’re gone.’

‘Good idea,’ Robert said. ‘In the meantime, let’s get the furniture back in here.’

As they began to move, Robert added, ‘And it’s time Andrew and I were moving on.’

Jenn caught an odd look from her son. Finnlay waited until everybody
else was engaged in shifting furniture, then said quietly, ‘I don’t think you should go tonight – and I don’t think you should go alone.’

Robert was obviously expecting opposition; he raised his eyebrows, his good humour still intact, and asked, ‘Why not?’

‘There are things we need to discuss: the Calyx and how we use it, and what exactly are you going to do with Andrew, and do you think it’s such a good idea for you to take him away from here when you’re still tired after such an exhausting working.’

‘Oh.’ Robert’s smile became a little stilted.

‘Please, Robert.’ Jenn joined in the fight, prepared to do almost anything to keep him here as long as possible. ‘Stay until tomorrow. You need the rest and Finnlay’s right, we do have things we need to talk about.’

Robert’s gaze landed on Andrew. He remained silent for a moment, then said, ‘Very well. We’ll leave tomorrow. Now let’s put my bed back together, eh?’

*

Margaret sat on the stool Murdoch had made her and rested her back against the cave wall. Thanks to the vagaries of the cave floors here, she had a perfect place to rest her feet, on a ledge of rock jutting out from the wall. With a candle stuck to another tiny niche in the wall, she had enough light to see to her mending. Though the stitches were getting more fuzzy as each year wore on, her eyes were still good enough to make this shirt wearable for a bit longer.

Of course, how long depended entirely on what her elder son intended on doing in it.

She couldn’t tell if he was avoiding her. She didn’t want to believe it so, but he’d hardly said a word to her, and there was so much that needed to be said between them. And she was not afraid to admit how terrified she was for him. He took on so much, more than any one man should, and yet, was about to take on yet more. Only Finnlay and Jenn appeared to have any sway over him.

The truth was, it was Jenn’s fear which really drove Margaret’s. Though nobody else could or would see it, the fear sat clearly on Jenn’s face, every time she looked at Robert, every time she spoke to him.

Robert, as usual, was utterly oblivious to it – as he should be. The last thing he needed was their fear to infect him; Margaret knew he had plenty of his own.

‘So this is where they’ve hidden you.’ Robert stood at the crooked entrance to her small cave, his head ducked down a little to peer in. The doorway was at least two feet shorter than he was; he bent double to step inside. ‘Very cosy. Are you comfortable?’

Very well, so he was not avoiding her. ‘As comfortable as I can be. I’m told the floor of this cave can be levelled a little to make walking around easier. For the moment, I’m just very careful where I put my feet.’

‘And you have a bed on the floor, I see.’ Robert smiled a little as he said this, hiding his merriment – he’d obviously heard the story. ‘And tucked away down here, you have less need of a proper door in the short term.’

‘I …’ Margaret paused. Should she mention this or not? So far, nothing had been said. Nevertheless, ‘I asked Edain if he would put up a curtain of some kind across the door to your room. So you can have a little privacy.’

He looked at her then, searching a little, but giving away nothing – as usual. Unrepentant, and rather enjoying herself, she continued, ‘It must be uncomfortable having your bedroom in the same room we all cook and eat. If you were staying longer, I would suggest you choose another cave for your own.’

‘Mother, what are you trying to say?’

‘I thought I’d just said it – or weren’t you listening?’ He wasn’t the only one who could be contrary when he wanted to be. ‘Here, I finished mending your shirt. If you wash it out now, you can take it with you.’

She held it out to him, doing all she could to ignore the way her hands trembled, and the way he saw them. Without a word, he took the shirt, folding it as carefully as if it were silk. But he’d never treated silk so well, back in the days when— Suddenly swallowing was painful, and her eyes stung awfully. By the heart of Mineah, she hadn’t wanted to do this to him.