Betrayal (44 page)

Tor finally spoke in Merkhud’s soft voice. ‘Look out for Sallementro, Alyssa. He is Paladin.’

The guards moved on with Alyssa in tow. She looked back over their burly shoulders and Tor blew her a kiss.

What an odd thing for the old man to do, Herek mused, standing next to the physic. ‘Are you feeling yourself, sir?’ he asked.

A sly smile twitched at the edge of the man’s mouth. ‘No, Herek. I am definitely not feeling myself today. Thank you for your concern, though. Is the cart readied?’

‘It is, Physic Merkhud. All as you instructed.’

‘I am grateful to you. You are a good man, Herek.’

‘There is something I need to tell you, Physic Merkhud. We have withheld it from the King thus far and I am on my way now to give him the bad tidings.’

‘Tell me.’

‘Goth escaped last night. I have men searching. We will find him.’

Tor felt as though this body too had been hit by one of Jod’s stones. Terror for Alyssa struck him. He coughed with frustration and anger, feeling despair course through the old man’s body but knowing it was all his.

‘Does the girl know?’ he asked sharply.

‘Not yet, Physic Merkhud; I must tell the King first. I’m only telling you because I know you are involved and that you are leaving us now.’

Herek watched Merkhud lean against the wall. He felt sure that the old man would not make it back from his journey with Tor’s body.

‘Promise me you will protect her, Herek. And in the meantime, find him!’

Herek nodded. ‘On both counts, sir, you have my word.’

Tor continued his unsteady path until he was outside the Palace. It was a ghostly place at the moment. His former home had come to a standstill for a few hours; there was not even a hint in the air of food being cooked. He was grateful for the quiet at this time.

He spied the cart and its cargo. His own body had been wrapped in muslin but the blood was already soaking through. He looked at it for a few moments; he needed to be sure. With great effort, he heaved himself up into the driver’s seat and took the reins of the horses who had been waiting patiently. He heard a noise and looked up. As he had expected, Cloot flew overhead as his guide.

Is it you?
Cloot asked cautiously.

I am with you, Cloot,
Tor answered.

The old man clicked softly to the horses and began the slow journey with Torkyn Gynt’s body to the Great Forest and to Merkhud’s final resting place.

T
he Great Forest had wielded its peculiar magics to bring this precious load to its destination in the Heartwood within hours rather than days.

Arabella the priestess watched as the old man called Merkhud almost fell from the cart in front of her.

‘I am here as instructed,’ Tor croaked in Merkhud’s voice. ‘His…my body is in the cart.’

‘You made very good time.’

‘Time, I was told, is our enemy.’

‘We shall not waste another moment of it,’ Arabella replied. ‘Help me get your body into the clearing.’

‘I fear it will be the last act Merkhud’s body does on this earth,’ Tor said tiredly.

They struggled with Tor’s cooling body and finally laid it out on the forest floor. Together, without
speaking, they stripped it of its muslin shroud. Arabella winced at the oozing, gaping head wound which had ended a life. She put her hand on Merkhud’s wrist to calm Tor inside. She couldn’t imagine how grisly this must be for him. He was breathing very hard now.

‘It’s time,’ she said.

‘I know.’ He took her hand and kissed it. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

Arabella watched Merkhud struggle to lie down next to the corpse of his apprentice.

‘Farewell,’ was all he said before closing his eyes. As Tor had done earlier that day, he dropped all veils and opened up his considerable powers.

Tiny flames erupted and chimed gently around them, encircling the trio. Darmud Coril was present. The power was daunting.

Arabella was no longer looking at Merkhud. Instead she stared into the bruised and battered face of Tor’s corpse, watching his once-beautiful eyes for the sign. She was patient but nervous. It had been a dangerous plan from the start; fraught with so many problems she dared not think on them. Now was the moment. She pushed her nails hard into the palms of her clenched fists to steady herself and continued to watch the broken face.

She heard a slight noise, like a sigh, next to her. She knew it was Merkhud. The act was done. He had performed the final task required of him by the Host in his quest to secure the Trinity. She glanced towards him and felt a small surge of shock to see only
rumpled clothes and a pile of dust where Merkhud’s centuries-old body had been. Its dust was already blowing away in the soft breeze.

The great Merkhud was gone but in truth she knew that he had died many hours earlier, when his spirit had entered Tor’s body to take his punishment. He had breathed his last within a different person.

Arabella looked back to Tor.

A moment or two later she closed her eyes in prayer to the gods and silent elation after witnessing Torkyn Gynt’s beautiful blue eyes flare into life again.

The vines were already snaking their way around Tor, wrapping him gently. The trees bent and their branches lifted the barely alive body into the arms of their god. The Flames of the Firmament burst into glorious rainbow colours.

Cloot, high in the whispering trees, wept. Torkyn Gynt lived and the next part of the journey had begun.

For information about Fiona McIntosh and her books, plus all the latest science fiction news visit ‘Voyager Online’: www.voyageronline.com.au—the website for lovers of science fiction and fantasy.

Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollins
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First published in Australia in 2001
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollins
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Copyright © Fiona McIntosh 2001

The right of Fiona McIntosh to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
(Cth).

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

McIntosh, Fiona, 1960- .

Betrayal.

ISBN 0 7322 8279 9.

ISBN: 978 0 7304 4582 1 (epub)

I. Title. (Series : McIntosh, Fiona, 1960- .

Trinity ; bk. 1).

A823.4