Doppelganger (15 page)

Miryo recognized the bite in Narika's tone for what it was, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. When Satomi-aken said I might have someone to give me counsel, I know that's not what she meant."

Narika crossed back to Miryo, looking rueful. "I snapped your nose off, didn't I? I apologize. You don't need that, not right now. I have little patience with that sort of question, but I understand why you ask it. I don't have any answers for you, and I don't know if there are any to be found, but I wish you luck if you search for them."

"Thank you," Miryo said.

The witch returned to the door. "If you need anything further," she said, "send… a Cousin. I'll do what I can for you."

Send a Cousin
, Miryo thought bitterly as the door closed. "
Send word," she was about to say. If I were really a witch, I could spell the message to her
.

And thoughts like
that
are getting me precisely nowhere
.

Tossing her hair from her face, Miryo turned to the empty trunks and began to pack.

The door to Miryo's room was flung open so quickly it rebounded against the wall and nearly hit Eikyo as she dashed through. Miryo, who had leapt up from the floor at the sudden entry, was almost knocked down again as her friend hurled herself forward and enveloped her in a crushing hug.

"I was worried you'd be gone already," Eikyo said into Miryo's hair.

"Not until tomorrow," Miryo said faintly, still dazed.

Eikyo stepped back and squeezed Miryo's shoulders. "Nobody will tell me what's going on. I've never hated being a student so much—nobody tells students anything." She reached out and touched Miryo's triskele pendant with one finger. "You
are
a witch, right? Some people don't seem to think you are—but you have this."

Miryo laughed shortly; it sounded bitter even to her own ears. "They're half right. I have the pendant, but what does it mean? Nothing, except that if I die I'll be buried as a witch and not as a student."

Eikyo's eyes widened. "What?"

"Sit down. It'll take a while to explain." Miryo swept a stack of papers off her desk chair, threw them into a trunk, closed the lid, and sat on that herself. Her bed was covered with saddlebags and clothing; she'd have to finish dealing with that before she could sleep tonight. "I'm technically a witch, but I'm not allowed to work magic yet."

Eikyo listened to her explanation, her blue-gray eyes solemn. When Miryo finished, there was silence in the room; the chirping of a cricket outside the window was shockingly loud.

"Well," Eikyo said at last, her voice heavy with unexpressed emotion, "I guess that's pretty cut and dried. You find it, you kill it, you come back and everything will be normal."

"Assuming it's that easy."

"What complications could there be?"

"Finding it won't be simple," Miryo said, rising. She tried to pace, but her scattered belongings got in the way. She controlled her urge to kick them across the room. "And killing it… I know I have to. But the thought of actually
doing
it, with a knife or whatever… I'm not
used
to that. It's not like I was trained as a soldier or an assassin; I'm a witch, for the Maiden's sake! I'm not supposed to kill people!"

"But crying over it won't do you any good," Eikyo said, sounding more like her usual solid self. "It's the only way through this. So you grit your teeth and do it anyway."

"I know. I'll deal with it when the time comes. But that still doesn't clear up
anything
about Ashin."

"Have you talked to her?"

"She's gone. Satomi-aken told me I could choose a witch to answer my remaining questions; I tried to pick Ashin, but she apparently left right after my testing."

"Who did you choose in her place?"

"Narika."

"Does
she
know where Ashin went?"

"I didn't think to ask," Miryo said thoughtfully. "That's a possibility. I'll find her tomorrow morning, before I leave. If Narika knows, I might try following Ashin."

"What will you do if she doesn't, and can't find out? Where will you go?"

Miryo shrugged. "Narika thinks that if I choose at random, instinct or some such will lead me toward it. But she admits that she doesn't know if that will really work."

"Have you tried it?"

"Not yet. I don't know how I go about 'trying' to do something instinctively."

"We could go up on the roof; then you'd at least have a clear line of sight."

They did not head for their usual sheltered pit; instead Miryo and Eikyo climbed to the highest point they could easily reach. Above them Star Hall vaulted up into the night sky, blotting out stars, but neither of them was about to attempt that climb.

"All right," Eikyo said when they reached the top. "Which way?"

Miryo glanced around. The peak the students' quarters and Star Hall were perched on was the highest in the immediate region; to the east and west the mountains marched on in a jagged line. South, the land rose up into the bulk of the mountain range, then fell away sharply into a narrow coastal plateau; that region was inhabited by witches and Cousins and no one else. To the north the heights shrank to foothills, and then to plains, until they spread out into the patchwork of domains ruled by various Lords and Ladies, which spread out for weeks of travel in all directions.

And my doppelganger could be anywhere out there.

It was unlikely to have chosen the south. So Miryo would have to head generally north, but she could tend to the west, the east, or any line in between. None of them stood out in her mind as being more likely than any of the others.

I guess I just pick at random, then
. Miryo thought about reciting a children's counting-rhyme to choose, but discarded the idea.
I have to head somewhere. I guess it'll be west
.

Miryo raised her arm to indicate this, and found herself pointing east instead.

Eikyo looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Shrugging, Miryo lowered her arm. "Nothing. East it is."

Vilardi was a much smaller town than Breiano, and seemed an unlikely place to hold such an important series of meetings. But Breiano, perched on Insebrar's coast a few days' ride away, was the headquarters of the Silk Consortium, and as such was hardly neutral ground.

So they made do. Vilardi did not have enough inns to house everyone, but the shipping families didn't care; they were accustomed to living in their wagons and tents, leaving the much pricier hotels for the silk men. Mirage and Eclipse, approaching the town from the west, encountered the perimeter of the tent city long before they reached Vilardi itself.

"Looks like most of the major overland shippers in the east," Mirage said to Eclipse as they drew closer. The large wagons at the heart of the tent circles had sprouted poles from which an assortment of banners flapped. "What do you want to bet there are at least three Wind-blades in there?"

"Might be some other Silverfires, too," he replied, scanning the area.

"Marell would've mentioned it if there were. Most of them are probably hiring bodyguard specialists." That might very well be why the Silk Consortium had gone for Avalanche; Hunters were dedicated to their employers above their schools, but not everyone believed that. "Let's go ask a few questions. Vilardi's not large, but they could save us some searching."

The perimeter guard eyed them suspiciously as they approached; Mirage belatedly wished that she had covered or dyed her hair. Then again, maybe that wasn't what was putting him off. Neither of them was in uniform, but it didn't take a genius to recognize Hunters, or to at least guess that they were dangerous. She relaxed her posture and held both hands out wide; beside her Eclipse did the same. The guard did not seem reassured by this indication of goodwill.

"What're you after?" he muttered, flexing his hands on the grip of his pike. The man was thick around the middle, but he still looked like he meant business. "What business do you have here?"

"None in your camp," Eclipse said. "We're not trying to enter. We're just looking for where your leaders are meeting with the Consortium's men."

Mirage knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment the words came out of his mouth. The guard's eyes narrowed further, and he stretched the pike forward threateningly. "I'm not telling you that. Get gone, before I call more guards on you! And if you show your faces around here or near any of our people, it'll be more than a warning!"

Swearing inwardly, Mirage nevertheless composed her face and bowed in her saddle. "We apologize for bothering you."

"Get out of here!"

They wheeled their horses and left the camp's entrance it a fast trot. Once they were a safe distance away, they pulled up and eyed each other wryly.

"Stupid of us," Mirage said. "They're so nervous they're hiring bodyguards, and we ask them where they're meeting?"

"Not the brightest idea we've had," Eclipse agreed.

They veered south, giving the encampment a wide berth, and circled around to the eastern side of the town. Mirage fumed at the delay, and at their own foolishness, tat there was no help for it now. They'd just have to hope the shipping guards didn't cause them any trouble in the town itself.