Child of the Ghosts Page 6

  "That's him," said the cold-voiced man. "We have to go, now."

  "But...you poisoned them all," said Caina.

  "It would take more than poison to kill Maglarion," said Halfdan.

  "He must be gone," said the cold-voiced man, looking back and forth.

  "I don't understand," said Caina.

  "We're only still alive because Maglarion isn't here," said the cold-voiced man. "And if we're still here when he returns, we won't be alive for long. Or we'll wish we were dead before much longer."

  Caina stared at the metal table, a scream rising in her throat. The thought that Maglarion might return, that he might shackle her to that table once more...

  "Go!" said Halfdan. "Now!"

  Caina staggered to her feet, almost lost her balance.

  "Halfdan!" said Komnene. "She can't walk on her own."

  "Riogan," said Halfdan to the cold-voiced man. "Take her!"

  Riogan grunted, shifted his spear to one hand, and reached for her. Caina tried to flinch away, but Riogan's arm felt like a bundle of iron cords, and he scooped her up as if she weighed nothing at all.

  "Quickly, now," said Halfdan.

  They hurried through the vaulted room, past the table of dead magi. More of the slavers littered the floor beyond the table, their mouths black from the poison. Halfdan's poisoned wine had indeed killed them all.

  All except for Maglarion.

  Something glittered in the light of Halfdan's torch.

  "Wait!" said Caina.

  "What is it?" said Halfdan.

  She pushed out of Riogan's grasp and fell to her knees besides one of the dead slavers. She pawed at the man's shirt, pulling it open.

  Her father's heavy signet ring rested against the dead man's chest, hanging from a leather thong. No doubt the slaver had looted it from Sebastian's corpse. Caina tugged at the cord, but it would not give.

  Riogan snorted. "We're stopping to loot corpses, now? This is folly, Halfdan. We should be gone."

  "This was my father's!" said Caina, pulling. "I can't leave it, I..."

  Steel flashed, and Halfdan's sword severed the thong. Caina fell back, the heavy ring clutched in her hands.

  "Now," said Halfdan, "we must go. Riogan!"

  Riogan picked Caina back up, and broke into a run, the others following. An archway on the far side of the vaulted chamber opened into a spiraling staircase, and Riogan headed up the steps. Despite sprinting up the stairs while carrying Caina, his breathing remained slow and steady.

  Then sunlight stabbed at Caina's eyes, and she cried out. She had spent too long in the darkened gloom below the earth, and her eyes had grown used to the shadows.

  When her vision cleared, she saw that they stood in the ruins of a long-abandoned villa. The roof had fallen in, and only the walls remained, rising out of a field of jagged stones and tall weeds.

  "What is this place?" said Caina.

  "It was once the seat of a noble house, extinguished during the War of the Fourth Empire," said Halfdan, beckoning them around a corner. "Forgotten by almost everyone living, save a few scholars and priests of Minaerys. Maglarion likes to use forgotten places for his lairs."

  "The hills," said Caina. "We're in the hills above Aretia."

  Halfdan nodded, heading towards a stand of trees. Three horses stood tethered there.

  "Where are you taking me?" said Caina. "Are you..."

  She started to ask if Halfdan would take her home. But that didn't matter any more, did it? Home was where her father was. And her father was dead.

  "We'll talk later," said Halfdan, untying the horses. "First, we need to flee. We need to be well away from here by the time Maglarion returns."

  Halfdan swung into the saddle, and Riogan passed Caina up to him. She clutched as the saddle's pommel, just barely keeping her balance, and Halfdan's hand settled upon her shoulder. Riogan and Komnene climbed into their own saddles, Riogan with considerably more grace.

  "Where?" said Riogan.

  "South of Aretia, I think," said Halfdan. "Somewhere along the Imperial Highway. Maglarion is probably in Aretia. We'll want to be well away by nightfall."

  "Agreed," said Riogan.

  They rode along a narrow, weedy track winding its way back and forth down the hill, shaded by stubby trees and piles of boulders. The constant jouncing rhythm of the horse's stride made Caina's legs hurt, but she didn't care. At least she was in the sunlight again. At least she was leaving that horrible vault behind.

  The horses rounded a stand of trees, and Caina saw the blue expanse of the Bay of Empire, the town of Aretia standing at its edge. She also saw her father's villa, standing on its hill overlooking the town.

  Or, rather, the burned ruins of her father's villa.

  The roof was gone, the remaining walls blackened with soot. Caina stared at it in horror. It was all gone. Her bedroom, Azaia's kitchen, the garden with the fountains, the courtyard and the dining hall, all gone in ashes and smoke.

  Her father's library. All his books. Gone.

  "They burned our home," said Caina. "Why?"

  "To cover their tracks," said Halfdan. "Maglarion doesn't like attention. So he burned your father's villa to throw us off the trial. It worked, too. We only found his hiding place when we saw those slavers buying supplies in Aretia."

  Caina said nothing. But the tears trickled down her face, and her fists squeezed against the pommel, so hard that the leather started to crackle.

  ###

  They stopped well after dark, maybe twelve miles south of Aretia. Komnene tended to the horses, Riogan walked about, sweeping everything with his cold green eyes, while Halfdan started cooking supper.

  Caina watched them in silence.

  "What are you going to do with me?" she said at last.

  Halfdan looked at her. "I don't know. We can't take you anywhere near Aretia. Maglarion may not care that you’re still alive. Or he might come after you." He shook his head. "And it's certainly not safe for us to remain near Aretia. Once Maglarion realizes we killed his students, he will try to kill us, if he can find us. And if he finds you with us, well...he'll either kill you or take you captive once more."

  Caina shivered. "I can't go back to Aretia, then." Not that she had any reason to, with her father dead and his house burned.

  "Do you have any other family?" said Halfdan. "Elsewhere in the Empire?"

  Caina shrugged. "I don't know. My father's parents died when he was a boy. My mother's parents, perhaps. Not that I want anything to do with them."

  Halfdan nodded. "Once we reach safety, we'll decide what to do with you. Until then, you'll stay with us. You should eat something."

  Caina shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

  "You should eat anyway, child," said Komnene. "And let me find you some better clothes, and treat some of those cuts."

  Caina did not care, but she let Komnene give her clean clothes, and bandage the cuts and scrapes she had acquired. Komnene sucked in her breath at the sight of the scars across Caina's hips and belly, but said nothing.

  Afterwards, Caina wrapped herself in a blanket and fell asleep by the fire.

  ###

  Halfdan volunteered to take the first watch, ordered Komnene and Riogan to get some sleep. Komnene made some effort to protest, but Riogan rolled himself in his cloak and fell asleep at once. He knew how to take his rest when he could.

  Not surprising, given his background.

  Halfdan sat by the fire, thinking. Nearby Caina thrashed and muttered in her sleep. Of course the girl had nightmares. Probably she would have nightmares every night for the rest of her life.

  No surprise there.

  What did surprise him was how the girl had responded to her pain. Halfdan had been with the Ghosts a long time, and he had seen people endure every kind of pain and loss and tragedy. Very often they went numb, stunned into catatonia.

  Caina had not. He doubted that she cared if she lived or died. But she had rage. He had seen it in her face, as she gazed at the r
uins of Count Sebastian's home.

  And they had found her wandering through the chamber of dead men.

  Which mean that, somehow, she had gotten herself out of her cell.

  Halfdan thought about that for a long time.

  ***

  Chapter 6 - A Keen Eye

  The next day, the Ghosts disguised themselves.

  A wagon had been hidden near their campsite, concealed beneath loose branches and piled leaves, the bed empty save for a few empty wine barrels. Halfdan cleared it off, dressed himself in an old cloak and a worn cap, and hitched the horses to the wagon. Komnene dressed herself in a plain gray dress. Riogan kept his armor and weapons, though he concealed them beneath an old cloak.

  They looked, Caina thought, like a common-born farmer and his wife, accompanied by a caravan guard chance-met on the road. Which Caina supposed was the point.

  No doubt people would think that she was Halfdan's daughter. That made her think of Sebastian, and she wept a little.

  Still, she did not mind the wagon. Sitting in the wagon's bed was an improvement over the horse's jouncing back.

  Halfdan drove the wagon south along the paved stones of the Imperial Highway, while Riogan walked besides it, hand beneath his cloak, eyes cold and suspicious. Komnene rode in the bed with Caina, attempting to talk to her from time to time.

  Caina didn't care. She sat slumped, swaying with the wagon's motion, lost in her own grief.

  The nightmares came again when she slept, worse than before.

  ###

  The next morning, though, she was curious.

  "Where are we going?" said Caina.

  Not that she cared. But perhaps asking questions would keep her mind from dwelling on the nightmares.

  On what she had endured.

  Komnene looked at her in surprise, and then at Halfdan.

  "Mors Anaxis," said Halfdan. "It's a town..."

  "About forty miles south of Aretia, along the Imperial Highway," said Caina.

  Komnene smiled. "How did you know that?"

  "I read it in one of my father's books," said Caina.

  "Do you know why it's called Mors Anaxis?" said Komnene.

  "The Emperor Anaxis," said Caina, remembering. "His tomb is there, along with his funerary cult. He was buried there in ancient times, during the Second Empire."

  "Very good," said Halfdan.

  "I didn't even know that," said Komnene.

  Riogan snorted. "Not that it matters. The bones of one dead Emperor are much the same as another."

  "Why are we going there?" said Caina. She looked at Riogan. "Do you want to pray to the Emperor's bones?"

  Riogan scoffed and looked away.

  "Mors Anaxis is a port," said Halfdan. "We'll hire a ship, and sail to the eastern side of the Bay of Empire. Maglarion would expect us to flee north, towards Malarae. Hopefully this will throw him off our trail."

  Caina nodded.

  "How are you feeling?" said Komnene.

  Riogan snorted. "A foolish question."

  Komnene gave him a withering glance. "I meant physically. She took some terrible wounds."

  Caina shrugged. "They hurt. But not as bad as they did." She closed her eyes. "Maglarion always healed them when he finished."

  "Hardly from charity," said Riogan. "He only wanted to keep you alive so he could drain more blood from you."

  "I know that," said Caina.

  "It's well that he did," said Komnene. "You would have died from infection, had he not."

  "Maybe that would have been better," said Caina.

  They rode in silence for a moment.

  "After Mors Anaxis," said Caina. "Where then?"

  "Then, I think," said Halfdan, looking back at her, "we will take you to Malarae. The Ghosts have many friends in the Imperial capital. One of them will take you in."

  Caina didn't care. But Halfdan had been kind to her, and her father had always said to thank those who did you kindnesses. "Thank you."

  Halfdan nodded.

  "And thank you," said Caina, "for taking me out of that...that place."

  "I would leave no one in Maglarion's clutches," said Halfdan.

  "You should eat something," said Komnene.

  "I'm not hungry," said Caina.

  "You should eat something anyway," said Komnene. "You were starved for all those weeks. You need to keep your strength."

  Caina looked at her, looked at her for so long that Komnene started to frown.

  "What is it, Caina?" said Komnene.

  "You used to be a priestess of Minaerys," said Caina, "didn't you?"

  Halfdan snorted in surprise and half-turned in his seat. Riogan looked at Caina with cold eyes, reappraising her.

  "How did you know that?" said Komnene.

  "Did you read her mind?" said Riogan. "Perhaps you learned a spell or two from Maglarion?"

  "What?" said Caina. "No. I don't have any arcane talent. My mother said so. Maglarion said so."

  Halfdan watched her for a moment. "Then how did you know Komnene used to be a priestess of Minaerys?"

  Caina shrugged. "I just did."

  "How?"

  Caina thought it over. "She was the one who looked at my cuts. And I saw all the drugs and potions she has in her bags. You said she brewed up the poison that killed the magi. So that means she's a physician. And the only women who become physicians are priestesses of Minaerys."

  "So?" said Riogan. "Practically every village from here to Marsis has a shriveled old crone who knows a thing or two about herbs."

  "She also swore by Minaerys," said Caina. "In the vault. 'Wisdom of Minaerys', that's what she said. Only the priests and priestesses of Minaerys talk like that."

  "Maybe she's still a priestess of Minaerys," said Halfdan.

  "No," said Caina. "She's not. Physicians in the service of Minaerys are not allowed to brew any drug to cause harm. So if she made that poison, she's not a priestess of Minaerys any more."

  Komnene looked away, as if in sudden pain, and Caina felt a brief twinge of guilt.

  "You are," said Riogan, "a clever little thing, aren't you?"

  "Indeed," said Halfdan. "What kind you see about me?"

  Caina shrugged. "You're...harder. It's like...it's like you went out of your way to disguise yourself, to hide things about yourself. Riogan, too, except he's better at it."

  Riogan guffawed.

  "Well, you're right," said Halfdan. "We did go out of our way to disguise ourselves."

  "I think...I think you used to be a farmer," said Caina, frowning. Thinking about the puzzle kept her from thinking about the grief. "Or...a vintner? Yes, a vintner. Your arms...you look like you're used to lifting things."

  "True," said Halfdan. "But why a vintner?"

  "Wine barrels," said Caina, kicking one of the empty barrels. "I watched you move them around when we started. You looked like you had done it before."

  "So I have," said Halfdan. "And I was indeed a vintner, long ago. What do you see about Riogan?"

  Caina shrugged. "Not very much. I think he's spent a lot of time practicing with weapons."

  "Why?" said Halfdan.

  "Because he's been carrying that spear for days," said Caina, "and I've never once seen him trip over it. And he doesn't make any noise when he walks."

  Riogan's face went blank as he looked at her.

  "You're very observant," said Halfdan. "Who taught you to do that?"

  "I don't know," said Caina. "I used to watch my mother. She'd get angry for anything, start hitting me, or start hitting the servants. Or casting spells on us. So I'd have to watch her, in case she got angry."

  "You're very clever," said Halfdan.

  "My mother always said I was stupid," said Caina.

  Halfdan gave sharp shake of his head. "Then your mother was a fool, not to see a treasure when it was before her eyes."

  Caina blinked, wondering what he meant by that.

  ###

  They arrived at Mors Anaxis later that afternoon. r />
  The town held perhaps five thousand people, and did not look very different from Aretia. The same houses with white-plastered walls and red-tiled roofs, the same wooden warehouses, the same stone wharves cluttered with fishing boats and the occasional merchantman. The half-ruined tomb and mortuary temple of the long-dead Emperor Anaxis stood on a hill over the town, looking desolate. Evidently very few pilgrims came to pray to Anaxis's bones.

  "To the docks, I assume?" said Riogan as Halfdan steered the wagon through the town's narrow streets.

  "Almost," said Halfdan, bringing the cart to a halt. He swung down from the driver's seat and passed the reins to Riogan. "You and Komnene go to the docks, find us a ship. One heading to Craton, preferably, but Mors Nicoron or Kratekon will do. Hire a fishing boat, if necessary. I'd like to put on tomorrow's tide."

  Riogan frowned, but took the reins. "Where are you going?"

  "Caina and I will be visiting the market square," said Halfdan.

  "Why?" said Caina and Riogan in unison.

  "Indulge me," said Halfdan.

  Caina shrugged, climbed out of the wagon, and followed Halfdan. In truth, she did not mind. Other than Aretia, she had been to only a few other towns, and never to Mors Anaxis. She rather enjoyed looking at the people going about their business, the men with tools and wagons, the women carrying jars of water or bundles of laundry.

  It made her think of her father's promise to visit Malarae and the Imperial Library.

  Tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them back and followed Halfdan.

  They came to town's market square, a broad space ringed with merchant shops and stalls, a fountain bubbling in the center. A magistrates' hall stood on one end of the square. No doubt ten decimvirs judged in Mors Anaxis, as in Aretia. On the other end of the square stood a high building of timbered stone, and Caina supposed it was an inn or a drinking house.

  "What do you think?" said Halfdan.

  "It seems busy," said Caina.

  Halfdan snorted. "Not quite. The Great Market in Malarae, that is busy. Or the Plaza of the Tower in Marsis, or perhaps the Grand Bazaar in Istarinmul. This is a quiet little town in the heart of the Empire."

  "If you say so," said Caina.

  "Your father," said Halfdan, "he never took you to the capital? Or to any of the Empire's great cities?"

  "No," said Caina, blinking back tears again. "We...were going to go to Malarae soon. But...other things happened."