Fire of the Soul (26 page)

“Mairne,” Calia said softly, “I want you to
fetch fresh water. Draw it from the castle well with your own
hands. Rinse the pitcher twice, then refill it. Do not allow anyone
else to carry the pitcher for you. Do not set the pitcher down and
turn your back, not even for an instant. Do you understand what I
am saying?”

“I do.” Mairne’s dark eyes were huge with
comprehension of the reasoning behind Calia’s instructions. “I’ll
return as soon as I can.” She seized the water pitcher and
left.

“You will frighten the girl,” Lady Elgida
murmured. “She will imagine that you fear I’ve been poisoned.”

“What do you think?” Calia asked.

“That I am very glad to have you at my side,”
came the response. “I suppose we’ll have to tell Garit about this.
We both know that his first reaction will be to take me back to
Saumar Manor. But I won’t go. I must reach Kerun City before
Mallory can inflict any harm on little Belai and Kinen.”

When Mairne returned with the fresh water
Calia washed Lady Elgida’s cup, then made the sick woman rinse her
mouth twice more before she allowed her to rest. She was just
tucking in the quilt around Lady Elgida when Garit arrived,
followed by Durand and Anders.

“Mairne alerted us,” Garit said, his gaze on
Lady Elgida’s sharp profile.

“She needs to rest.” Calia tried
unsuccessfully to block his way to the bed. “Garit, she doesn’t
need company.”

He ignored her. Perching on the side of the
bed, he picked up Lady Elgida’s hand and held it to his cheek.

“Oh, Garit, leave me alone,” Lady Elgida
whispered. “I want to sleep.”

“Perhaps you ought not to sleep,” Garit said.
“Perhaps you ought to get up and walk.”

“She emptied her stomach of everything she
ate at the evening meal,” Calia told him. “There’s nothing left in
her to make her sick again.”

“You don’t know what caused this illness,”
Garit objected, “or what substance could have seeped into her body
in the hours before she became sick.”

“While you are imagining my death by some
unknown poison,” Lady Elgida muttered, “consider also the
possibility that Sir Mallory has employed his Power to bring me to
this condition.”

“No!” Calia exclaimed.

“Why not?” Garit demanded. “Do you think he
wouldn’t use the Power if it would serve his purpose?”

“Employing the Power requires an exhausting
effort,” Durand reminded Garit, though his gaze was fixed on
Calia’s face. “That’s why we don’t have mages running about using
their Power to make their daily tasks easier, or using it to defeat
their opponents in minor quarrels.”

“I know that perfectly well,” Garit said. “I
only asked because Mallory is Walderon’s son.”

“There’s another reason why Mallory won’t use
his Power unless he’s driven to it,” Calia said. “Our father taught
Mallory how to corrupt his Power in the belief that corruption
would make him stronger. But corrupt Power is even more exhausting
to use. Used too often, it can seriously weaken or even kill the
one who employs it.”

“What about you?” Garit asked. “Did Walderon
train you, too?”

“No, he ignored me. The only real training I
ever received was at Talier, from Mother Mage Adana, and that was
mostly in how to control and conceal what little Power I
inherited.”

“So you do possess Power.” Garit spoke
slowly, his gaze on her face. “I have wondered about that since I
learned who you are.”

“Mallory doesn’t know. Please don’t tell
him,” Calia begged.

“I don’t think this is about the Power,”
Durand said. He nodded toward the bed where Lady Elgida lay wan and
pale.

“No, it’s not,” Calia agreed. “It’s about
ownership of Kinath, about preventing Garit from asserting his
rights here. Mallory covets Kinath and he’ll never believe that
Garit doesn’t want it.

“Durand, I must have more false information
to offer to Mallory later this morning,” Calia added. “He won’t
accept excuses.”

“Kindly go away and let me sleep,” Lady
Elgida demanded. “All this talking wearies me.”

“Can you leave her with Mairne and Anders?”
Durand asked Calia.

“Yes,” she answered, “so long as we don’t go
too far away, in case she needs me.”

“I’ll watch over her,” Mairne promised.

“I’ll defend her with my life,” Anders
added.

“Garit, you come, too,” Durand said. “Our
chamber is only a few steps away. I need to speak with both of
you.”

“Ah,” murmured Lady Elgida, “another plot,
and more secrets. What an entertaining journey this is.”

“Obviously, you are feeling better,” Garit
told her.

“Better, but extremely sleepy. Go away, boy.
Your chosen guards will keep me safe.”

Garit bent to kiss her cheek before he
followed Durand and Calia out of the room. He paused to give
instructions to the man-at-arms outside the door, telling him to
allow no one inside except Mairne and Anders, and to raise a loud
alarm if anyone attempted to enter.

“Someone tried to poison her,” Garit said the
moment the door to his own chamber was closed and bolted. “We can
all guess who that was.”

“It could have been an accident,” Calia
protested. “Bad eggs, spoiled milk, even something in the honey.
She said the custard was much too sweet. Such illnesses happen all
the time. Not to mention that she is exhausted after the sea
voyage. Garit, it could have been something she ate aboard
ship.”

“Is anyone else sick?” Garit demanded.
“Someone on
The Kantian Queen?
Or is someone in the castle
kitchen ill from tasting that custard while it was being made? My
conclusion is that Mallory wants her dead, probably in hope of
making me leave Kantia before I reach Kerun City, so I won’t claim
Kinath as my own. Don’t defend your brother.”

“I wasn’t defending him,” Calia responded
hotly, “only pointing out that Lady Elgida’s illness could have
some other cause than deliberate poisoning. Garit, you cannot
challenge Mallory over this. We need you, if only for your sword
arm when it’s time for us to leave.”

“She’s right, you know,” Durand said.

“Of course, I know it,” Garit snapped. “I’m
worried about my grandmother, and uncertain whom we can trust, but
I’m not fool enough to challenge Mallory on what is, in effect, his
own territory.”

“Good. I’m glad you understand,” Durand said.
“I’m sure once you calm down a bit, you will also understand that
if Mallory wanted Lady Elgida dead, you would be speaking to the
castle carpenter at this moment, to order a coffin for her. Now, we
need to think of something for Calia to offer to Mallory in lieu of
real information.”

“I have an idea,” Calia said. “He admitted to
me that he wants to be ruler of Kinath in title, not just as
guardian.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Garit snarled at
her, looking furious.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak to you
privately until now. That’s hardly a detail to mention in a great
hall full of folk who depend on Mallory for their very lives,” she
said.

“What else did he say?” Garit demanded.

“Will you listen to my idea?” she responded,
speaking to Durand, knowing he’d be more likely to agree with her
than Garit would.

“What is it?” Durand asked.

“Why don’t I tell him that Lady Elgida’s
dearest wish is to take Belai and Kinen back to Saumar Manor with
her and then to send them to the royal court at Calean, so they can
train as knights in King Henryk’s household?”

“He won’t allow it,” Garit said at once.
“While the boys remain in Kantia, he can keep watch over them. Send
them to Sapaudia and he loses control of them. King Dyfrig is
Mallory’s friend; King Henryk is not.”

“He doesn’t have to allow it,” Calia said.
“He only has to believe it is what Lady Elgida wants.”

“Then you would put my grandmother into even
greater danger,” Garit said. “If he thinks she’s going to escort
those boys into safety, the next dose of poison will kill her.”

“Why can’t you see what is clear to me?”
Calia cried. “For Mallory to achieve his goal of becoming lord of
Kinath, both of those boys will have to die. Lady Elgida has been
most outspoken about her fear of their deaths.”

“What we are going to do,” Garit told her,
“is carry my grandmother to
The Kantian Queen
just as soon
as she’s well enough to be moved. Then you and Mairne and two of my
men-at-arms will escort her across the Sea of Lestrac to Port
Moren, and thence to Saumar Manor.”

“No!” Calia cried. Her genuine worry over
Lady Elgida’s condition battled with concern about the stone box
that Ultan had entrusted to her. She
had
to reach Kerun City
if she was to deliver the box. She scrambled through conflicting
loyalties to think of a reason to make Garit give up his plan. “If
you do that, Lady Elgida will never speak to you again.”

“Perhaps not. But she will be alive. I will
personally see to the safety of my half-brothers.”

“You can’t,” Calia began, but Durand came to
her aid.

“If you try to remove Lady Elgida from Kinath
against her will,” Durand said to Garit, “she is perfectly capable
of pleading with Mallory to take her to Kerun City in defiance of
your wishes. Just think how that would please him. Or, if you
actually succeed in hauling her aboard
The Kantian Queen,
she could convince Captain Pyrsig to sail to Kerun, rather than to
Port Moren.”

“All right, I grant you she won’t be pleased
to have her cherished plans circumvented,” Garit said. “Have you a
better idea?”

“Yes. It’s a perfectly simple idea, too.”

“Do you intend to reveal it to us during this
present lifetime?” Garit demanded with some asperity.

“Calia, will Lady Elgida be well enough to
travel today?” Durand asked.

“Not well enough to sit a horse, certainly,”
Calia answered. “She’s weak after being so violently ill and I
doubt if she can tolerate any solid food that would strengthen her.
I wouldn’t offer her meat or cheese or vegetables until tomorrow.
She ought to drink a little broth later today, and perhaps eat a
bit of bread. But if you mean, can she be taken down the cliff path
in a litter, as we originally planned, then yes, I think she could
easily survive that.”

“Then we will advance our plan for leaving
Kinath. First, we will explain matters to Lady Elgida. Then we will
inform Mallory that because of her illness, we are taking her home
to Saumar,” Durand said.

“Yes, I see.” Garit began to smile. “We will
include her in this little intrigue. She will enjoy outwitting
Mallory. We’ll leave him believing he has as much time as he wants
to travel to Kerun City and deal with Belai and Kinen.”

“Once we are well out to sea, we’ll change
course and head for Kerun,” Durand said. “We should reach there
long before Mallory can ride the distance.”

“Mallory is no fool,” Calia said. “He will
post lookouts on the cliffs to report back to him if we do change
course.”

“By then it won’t matter,” Durand said.
“We’ll be halfway to Kerun City before Mallory can organize his
people and leave here. Don’t forget, he intends to make a grand
progress to the royal court.”

“Don’t you forget,” Calia warned, “that he
can easily send men-at-arms riding fast ahead of his main party, so
they’ll be waiting for us in Kerun. They may even have time to
locate and dispose of the boys before we arrive.”

“In that case, we ought to leave here as soon
as we can.” Durand started for the door. “Garit, if you will speak
to Lady Elgida, I’ll notify your men-at-arms to prepare to leave
and to signal Captain Pyrsig to send a rowboat ashore to await
us.”

“Yes, do that,” Garit said, though he didn’t
move. Durand raised his eyebrows, looked from Garit to Calia, then
shrugged and left the room without another word.

“I’ll find Mallory and tell him we must go,”
Calia said.

“Wait a moment, if you please. I owe you an
apology, Calia.”

“How so?” He was too near and she wanted too
much to touch him, to feel his warmth and his strength.

“Because you kept your relationship with
Mallory a secret, I suspected you of working with him to harm my
grandmother and, by extension, to cause me great grief. Now I see
that you truly do love my grandmother. I don’t doubt that you are
afraid of Mallory, yet you are willing to help us, not him.”

“My feelings about Mallory are more complex
than just fear,” she said. “When I was a young girl, what I felt
toward him was part fear and part a desperate kind of love. Yes,
love, Garit. Don’t look so surprised. I had no one else to love, no
mother, and a father mostly absent while he pursued his own
ambitions. I wasn’t allowed to have a horse or a puppy, or even a
kitten. All I had was Mallory. He did protect me, because I was his
blood kin and, therefore, a part of his honor. I knew I dared not
spoil my very tenuous position with him.

“But he used me, too. He ordered me to spy
for him and report at once any action or any word spoken that could
undermine his authority at Catherstone. That was the price I paid
for an occasional quick hug or a pat on the head. Mallory showed
more true affection to his horses”

“Do you love him still?” Garit asked.

“In a strange way, I do, though I fear him
more than ever and I know he won’t think twice about killing your
little brothers. He’ll probably rid himself of Fenella, too, before
he’s done. He is determined to rule Kinath. Nothing will stop him.
He will use his corrupt Power if he must, to get what he
wants.”

“Once he removes the obstacles in his path
and Kinath is his, will he then decide he wants all of Kantia?”
Garit asked. “His father’s ambition knew no limits; is Mallory’s
craving for domination as large?”

“I don’t know. If I were to ask him,” Calia
said, guessing at Garit’s next question, “he wouldn’t tell me. He’s
trying to use me against you, but he doesn’t trust me enough to
reveal his ultimate plans. I’m sure he hasn’t told Fenella,
either.