A Dagger of the Mind (The Imperial Metals) (19 page)

Chapter
35: The Hunt

Duncan felt a warm, relieving sensation spreading across his chest as he awoke. He had felt it before, when Vye healed him from minor scrapes and bruises. But now it was a gash across his chest. And a broken rib. He opened his eyes to see Nuria leaning over him.

“How long--”

“Maybe three minutes.”

Noble hopped into the trench, checking on Duncan.

“You OK?”

“I’ll live. Landora?”

“The bear carried her away.”

“We have to move.”

“I don’t think we can catch it over this terrain. At night.”

“We have some time, but not much.”

Duncan sat up, stretching out his arms. He grabbed his sword.

“She’s probably dead already,” Noble lamented.

“No, that was a female.”

“You can tell?” Noble was shocked.

“I saw more of it than I ever wanted to. This time of year, she probably has young cubs. She’s going to carry her prey to the cave. The cubs are only going to want to eat if their meal is still alive.”

“You actually know this much about the Aceley White?”

“Benefits of a classical education.”

“So how much time do we have?”

“The cubs wake up hungry at dawn. That gives us just under two hours.”

“Can you walk?” Noble pressed.

“I can run.”

“I’ll take the girl.”

“The girl is named Nuria,” the girl chimed in, “And I don’t need to be carried.”

“Nuria, you are very brave and very smart,” Noble knelt beside her. “But you are also very short. That’s a foot and a half of snow, which means Sir Duncan and I will already be slow. You’ll be waist deep.”

“This is going to be very undignified,” Nuria concluded.

---

They were off and running in minutes. They buried most of their equipment in the snow, carrying only their swords and canteens. Duncan hoped that they could find their way back to camp, but for the time being, they couldn’t pack it all, and carrying it would slow them down even more.

None of them were particularly good trackers, but the White had made it easy for them. Paw prints accompanied a steady stream of blood. Just a few drops here and there, but after trekking a couple of miles over the snow, Duncan began to worry that Landora wouldn’t have much left for herself.

The sky had turned dark gray when they found the entrance to the cave. The sun wasn’t up yet, but it was thinking about it. Noble placed Nuria on the ground as the three of them crouched behind a ridge.

“Only one entrance,” Noble pointed. “It’s going to be hard to sneak in there.”

“Can we fight our way in?” Duncan asked.

“We don’t know what the inside looks like,” Noble said. “If we can’t stand and move, or swing our swords...”

“Nuria?” Duncan asked. It was sort of his blanket shorthand for, “Waddya got?”

Nuria closed her eyes, focusing on the cave. She had practiced this with Vye. Reaching out. Sending out magical tendrils, antennae...

She could sense the inside of the cave. Small. Cozy. Short. The men would have to crouch if they went in there. There was the mother. Tired. Hungry. And three sleeping cubs, also hungry.

And on the ground, somewhere between delirium and agonizing pain, was Landora. The blood was dribbling out of her shoulder. The warmth was seeping out of her body. She didn’t have much time, even if she wasn’t about to become breakfast.

“She’s still alive,” Nuria reported, opening her eyes, “Barely.”

“Can you bring her out,” Duncan asked, “Like you did at the temple?”

“It’s going to be much harder when I can’t see her,” Nuria confessed. “And I’m guessing the mother will try to keep her from moving.”

“Yeah, with her claws,” Noble pointed out. “Do these things have any natural predators?”

“They’re pretty much the top of the food chain,” Duncan said. He was running out of ideas, and the sky was growing brighter by the second.

“OK, I have a plan,” Duncan said.

“Is it a good one?” Noble asked.

“No. Nuria, can you grab one of the cubs and drag it out of the cave?”

Nuria cocked her head, staring at Duncan as though he had two heads.

“Yeah,” Nuria said. “I can also light all three of us on fire and make us dance like ragdolls.”

“Good,” Duncan responded. “I doubt Mama bear will try to grasp the cub too violently.”

“Duncan,” Noble objected, “If the cub makes it out of the cave, Mama bear is going to be right behind it.”

“Yeah,” Duncan said. “But at least it won’t be in the cave.”

“I liked it better when we didn’t have a plan,” Noble said.

“Nuria, climb up to that ridge. Grab the smallest cub and drag it out of the cave. Try to keep it away from Mama bear for as long as you can.”

“I’ll go into the cave and grab Landora,” Noble volunteered.

“No, I’ll go in and grab Landora. You’ll guard the cave entrance,” Duncan responded. “If the White comes back, you’re the only one who stands a chance of hitting it.”

“It’s really cramped in there,” Nuria warned. “And there’ll still be two cubs.”

“I’ll take a few hits, but hopefully nothing serious,” Duncan said. “We have to hurry, the sun is coming up. Sir Noble, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Nuria?”

“I guess.”

“Go...”

---

Nuria hopped up the snowy bank, finding the highest perch available. It was instinctual for her. Keep going until you could only look down. The sharp tip of the sun blazed out over the distant horizon, illuminating the white landscape in a blinding glow. When she reached the peak, she flopped onto her belly, wrapping her cloak around her, facing down the slope to the bear cave.

And once again she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. She quickly found Mama Bear again, and Landora, even weaker than she was moments before. And the cubs...

They were awake. Stirring. One was already pawing at Landora, ready for its first bite of breakfast.

It wasn’t the smallest cub, but it was still small enough. Nuria grabbed it with her mind, wrapping it in her magical tendrils. It resisted, but it was young, and its will was still developing. She swept the little fellow down the narrow chute of the cave. It spit out of the mouth of the cave on its bum, sledding over the flat, icy tundra. It would have been much easier to concentrate on it if it wasn’t so fucking cute.

---

Duncan and Noble waited above the mouth of the cave as the cub slipped past them. They held their breath as Mama Bear followed the script and sauntered out after her errant offspring. The cub kept zigging and zagging, giving its Mom a good chase. Mama Bear was wary. She was a bear, and maybe not all that sophisticated and worldly, but it did seem unnatural the way her cub kept breaking the basic laws of momentum.

Once she had cleared the entrance by a good twenty paces, Duncan hopped down and entered the cave. Noble held his hand on his hilt, his eyes locked on the huge predator, ready to jump into action if things got ugly.

Duncan crouched down the short tunnel until he got to the cozy recess of the cave. The other two cubs were awake now, though they hadn’t started in on Landora yet, possibly because of the strange punishment their sibling had received for trying.

Duncan was fighting the darkness. It hadn’t occurred to him that the bears had better night vision, and Duncan was relying on what little light leaked in from the morning sun. But he could make out Landora clearly enough, so he stepped in, lifted her, and turned to flee.

The two cubs finally leapt into action. Taking their breakfast was not the best way to make friends with them. One leapt onto Duncan’s back, clawing and scratching. Duncan shouted in pain. Those claws were pretty developed for such young creatures. His books never mentioned how much it would hurt if one of them ran its paw down his back.

The other one latched onto his leg with its jaw. Duncan jostled his way forward, now dragging the combined weight of Landora and the two cubs. The pain was searing, and his leg was dragging, and he smashed Landora’s leg against the cave wall, but eventually he could see the exit.

And he didn’t like what he saw.

Blood.

And Noble’s sword.

And Mama Bear. Who roared.

Acoustics being what they are, Mama’s roar exploded into the entrance of the cave and bounced around, hitting Duncan’s eardrums over and over. The good news was the cubs backed off. The bad news was Duncan dropped Landora and clasped his ears.

Duncan was about to become lunch when Noble charged in. He was bleeding, and he had lost his sword in the first face-off with the bear, but he was big enough and his armor made him heavy enough that when he leapt onto the bear’s back, she had to respect him.

Duncan’s head cleared just enough to see the opening. He lifted Landora again and scampered out of the cave, running past the third, confused cub, and trying to get as far from the danger as he could

He charged up the slope, hoping he was still facing in the direction where Nuria was waiting. Behind him, the growling, snarling wrestling match between Mama Bear and Noble continued. The sun had turned the world into a blank canvas. White on white on white.

Duncan’s back and leg stung. His lungs burned. Landora didn’t weigh much at all, but Duncan wasn’t the most athletic person anyone knew, and he was hurt. He collapsed halfway up the hill.

---

Nuria descended from her perch. She just rode the soft snow down, skidding down the slope in her boots. She was focusing on Noble, who was still tangled up with the bear, and wouldn’t last long in that showdown. But she was exhausted. She hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep, had been carried for miles, and had only moments ago dragged a cub around in the snow. She was having almost no effect on the raging bear.

“Nuria...” came a voice from the snow. She flopped to the ground, the only sure way she knew to halt her descent. It was Duncan, calling up from the pile of limbs that he and Landora had become.

“I have to help Noble! I’ll come right back,” she said, getting ready to move again.

“No...” Duncan wheezed. “She’s dying.”

Landora looked to be in awful shape. The trail of blood followed Duncan up the mountain. Some his, some hers. But the spot where they had collapsed was turning pink, then red, as Landora’s life oozed out of her body.

“Nuria... We need her to live...”

Nuria reached over and placed her hand on Landora’s shoulder. She focused on the wound, sealing the skin, healing the torn muscles and ligaments...

She heard Noble scream. In pain and terror. Mama Bear had gotten the upper hand. Noble was dying, if he wasn’t dead already. But Nuria knew what Duncan was saying. Landora was crucial to this quest. She kept her hand clamped on Landora’s arm...

And she stretched her other hand out to Duncan, and held it against the small of his back. And she focused on the cuts and tears that lacerated his body. From her one small frame, she leant her will and energy to them.

Landora snapped awake as Nuria passed out. Duncan came around a second later. He looked down the hill at Sir Noble, but there was no more Sir Noble. There was only a corpse, slaughtered by the Aceley White. The bear clamped her massive jaw over Noble’s ankle, dragging his limp body into the cave.

“Can you walk?” Duncan asked Landora. She nodded. “Grab her,” he said, indicating Nuria. “We have to go.”

Landora lifted the unconscious girl and followed Duncan down the far side of the mountain.

Chapter
36: The Return of Count Deliem

Twenty
Years Ago...

Michael knew he was in trouble the moment Landos knocked on the door.

His father had been gone for a total of six months, and for the most recent two months, Michael had been sleeping with Lady Vivian. He knew things would change when the Stormbearer returned to port. As it was just past midnight, he hoped to deal with it over breakfast in the morning.

But Michael had underestimated his father’s libido and lecherousness. If Michael’s father could do without Vivan for six months, surely he wouldn’t insult Michael’s mother by running to her the moment he got back. He would wait a couple of weeks. Or a couple of days. Or at least one night...

But there was that knock on the door, and there was Landos.

“Sorry to disturb you, Master Michael,” Landos said. “His Grace, your father, has requested your presence in the Audience Chamber.”

“Did you get the impression that I should bring a rapier and shield,” Michael asked.

“Your own casket might be more helpful,” Landos said.

“Well,” Michael said, pulling out a ducat, “Here, in case this is the last chance I get to tip you.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Landos said.

“Do me a favor?” Michael said, grabbing some parchment and scribbling down a note.

“Yes, sir?”

“Check in on Lady Vivian, on my orders,” handing Landos the note.

“At this time of night? Then I’d ask to borrow your rapier and shield.”

“Just check in on her.”

“To what end, My Lord?”

“This is going to have to be one of those times where you figure out what I’m asking without me asking it correctly.”

“I understand, My Lord,” Landos said, waving the ducat at Michael, pocketing it, and then heading down the hall.

Michael slowly made his way to the Audience Chamber. But no matter how slowly he tried to walk, still his feet kept bringing him closer, and his mind was nowhere near ready to deal with the situation.

He entered to find his father standing at the foot of the dais.

“Michael,” he said, with no patience in his voice, “Come here.”

Michael came closer, but intentionally stopped several paces away, clearly out of striking range. In case his father forgot he was eighteen and was planning to resort to a good ol’ fashioned spanking.

“Yes, Father?” Michael said.

“You changed the Fenrow,” his father started with. Not what Michael was expecting. But he could play that game.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Why?” Alexander asked.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Do you have anything else you’d like to confess?” Alexander continued, pacing in a wide circle around Michael, establishing a predatory dominance in the conversation.

“Nothing comes to mind, Father.”

“Nothing at all?”

“No.”

“Not even about Lady Vivian?”

“What sort of confession did you have in mind?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think that Vivian would just go back to me without mentioning you?”

“I thought no such thing?”

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what, Father?”

“You know damned well what! You slept with my mistress!”

“I know, I was there!”

“Michael! Why would you do such a thing?”

“You sleep with her. You should know.”

“Michael, this level of disobedience—”

“Disobedience?!” Michael now started walking around his father. “You never gave me an order not to sleep with her. But you did make a promise not to sleep with anyone other than your wife. Or did you forget?”

“Vivian’s older than you.”

“Only by a few years.”

“She’s not that pretty.”

“She is, if you know how to look.”

Michael had completed a lap around his father, and now stood defiantly at the foot of the dais, while his father was now out on the carpet.

“Michael,” his Father said, “You’re a bright young man. You could have found another wench to warm your bed. Why would you choose her? Are you in love with her?”

Michael was caught off guard by this question.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve never been in love. I don’t know what it would feel like.”

“If that’s your answer,” Alexander said, “Then your answer is no. And if that’s the case, I can only think of one reason you chose her.”

“Me too,” Michael said, “So that you would stay away from her.”

A dead silence filled the room. Michael had never spelled his plan out, to himself or anyone. It dawned on him that in his attempt to stop his Father from being an asshole, he had possibly done worse.

“What makes you think I’ll stay away from her?” Alexander asked.

“Because whatever else you were to her,” Michael said, “You were less of a man than I was.”

“I’ll draw a sword on you, son,” Alexander said, but his uncertainty undermined his rage. “I’ll fight you.”

“Over her?” Michael said. “Over Vivian, who neither of us love?”

“You know I’ll just find another girl,” Alexander said. “You know I would have anyway. Vivian was getting a bit old for my taste. I can find another young girl who would enjoy living on the shore for a few years.”

“Perhaps,” Michael said, “But I’ll just stop you again.”

“You think you’ll be able to seduce all the women I find?”

“Maybe not,” Michael said. “But I can find other ways.”

“Why do you hate me, Michael?”

Well, now it was out there. Michael would never have said it out loud, but he did hate his father. He hated him something fierce. And Alexander knew it too. But it should never have been said out loud. It should have gone to both of their graves.

“I don’t…” Michael tried, but his voice faded.

“Just answer the damned question!” Alexander said, his rage storming through his voice.

Michael gave it a good thought. He knew it was true. And he knew why. But even his desire to crush his father’s spirit wasn’t as strong as his compassion. He wanted to word it well.

“Because you’re the Count of Deliem,” Michael said. “On our continent, you are one of the twelve most powerful people under the King. You are a leader of men. They will follow your banner. They will die at your orders. You are a leader among men, and you have to act like it. You have to lead by example. You have to behave in the way you would want your subjects to behave. Honorably. And what does it say if you behave this way toward some people, but not to the woman you promised yourself to?”

“I was betrothed to your mother by my parents,” Alexander said. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“But you do love her,” Michael said.

“Yes,” Alexander said. “Very much.”

“So it doesn’t matter. This is about your word, as a man. You promised to be hers, forever. And if you don’t love her, or if you don’t want to, we can figure it out. I’ve studied these laws. I know how to nullify a marriage. Is that what you want?”

“No.” Alexander was now very solemn. He was still angry at his son in a fierce way. But suddenly, he was also proud.

“Then be a man,” Michael said. “Don’t make a fool of your wife.”

“Lorraine is no fool,” Alexander said.

“I know,” Michael said. After a moment of silence, he left the room.

That was as close as either of them would get to reconciliation. They still dined together, and they still spoke in a civil tongue in formal occasions. But they would never be alone in the same room again, not for the next six years, leading up to the carriage ride that killed both Alexander and Lorraine Deliem.