From Across the Clouded Range (60 page)

“
So you see Warlord
Rammeriz. You were a fool to think that you could ever be Emperor.
The Order would never stand for it. Yuelle came to me a week ago
and told me of this plan. He offered me the throne, offered me his
power and all I have to do are a few simple things such as aid his
masters when they invade Liandria. I would have done that anyway,
but now I will have his power to aid me. With it, I will be
unstoppable.

“
And I have you to thank,”
he brought his face to within inches of Jaret’s and sneered. “Thank
you for killing the Emperor. Who would have imagined that a peasant
would be the one to help me fulfill my destiny?”

Nabim turned around and marched toward
the throne. As he wove around the bodies to ascend the dais, he
waved to his new servant. “I am finished with him. You know what to
do.”

But the little man was not finished.
Jaret slowly spun so that he looked into the man’s horrible eyes.
He smiled sadly. “It is as it must be,” he said. “Nabim serves the
interests of my masters. I wish I could spare you this, but my
power is now his to command. And you will have no choice but to
watch as everything you love is torn apart, as the very foundations
of your world crumble.” The little man sighed again, looked with
dismay at his master then cast his hand out and away.

As the man had spoken, Jaret had
realized that he was speaking a language that he had never heard,
but he could understand it perfectly. He was just pondering the
impossibility of that, piling it on top of the towering mountains
of impossibilities he had witnessed, when he began hurtled through
the air. He flew faster and faster until he struck the far wall.
The air was smashed from his lungs, his bones cracked, and his head
split. He fell to the floor in a heap but barely noticed as the
world faded to black.

Chapter 27

The town of Potter's Place was little
more than a few rugged buildings huddled together in a large
clearing where the trees had been pushed back by human expansion.
It was well smaller than Randor’s Pass and had the ramshackle look
of a village under long siege by the trees that surrounded it. But
the trees were nothing more than the patient beneficiaries of the
town’s hardship. Poverty was its true enemy, an invisible wasting
disease that could not be defeated by anything as simple as axes or
fire. Unlike some of its neighbors, Potter’s Place had nothing to
distinguish it, nothing to sustain it. It was not at a crossroads,
did not have a river to turn a millwheel or transport lumber to
market, had no special resources or commerce. One could easily
wonder why the town had ever been built, but they would be left to
wonder. It had stood for as long as anyone could remember,
stoically resisting the irrelevance that threatened year-after-year
to end it.

On this day just past the height of
summer, Potter’s Place was facing its most difficult test. The
people remained huddled in their houses no matter the urgency of
their need. No shops were open, no children played in the green, no
women talked on their porches or tended their gardens. Smoke did
not rise from the chimneys. If not for the occasional head peeking
furtively from behind drawn curtains or cracked shutters, Teth
would have thought that the village truly was abandoned. Abandoned
that is except for the main road that connected it to the rest of
civilization. Along that road, stretching from one end of the
village to where it disappeared again into the trees on the other,
were thousands upon thousands of men marching steadily
east.

Teth watched those men from the top of
a small bluff overlooking the village. Dasen lay beside her, hand
clenched in hers, fingers intertwined, squeezing so that they hurt.
They had only just arrived at their perch, having had to pull
themselves up the steep, damp hill with their hands as much as
feet. It has been exhausting, dirty work made harder by a cool mist
that had accompanied them throughout the morning. They were now
every bit as dirty and desperate as they had been the previous
night, and as the scene below showed, no help was
imminent.

We don’t need
it
.
No one is
chasing us. If they were, they’d have taken us.
We don’t need to run.
Let the
invaders be.
It was a revelation sent by
the Order itself.
Why run? Why try to
outpace an army?
We can stay in the
forest, use my shelter, sneak in to see Milne.

She spared a look at Dasen. A few days
ago, he would have laughed, but now . . . .

Last night, when they had collapsed
into the hay, he had held her, his body pressed against her, warm,
gentle, reassuring. And everything had felt right. She had enjoyed
that comfort for the barest moment before she fell into the
deepest, most peaceful sleep she remembered having since she was a
child. Then she’d had that dream. She could still almost feel the
way he had touched her in those too real images. It was probably a
good thing he was not there when she woke. She was not sure what
she would have done if he’d have been holding her when she’d woken
and wanted more than anything for the feelings from that dream to
be real.

As it was, she had come down and acted
like some spellbound girl. She had bathed right in the middle of
the yard, exposed herself to the risk that the freeholders or
invaders return, had hoped that he was watching. Then she had
nearly attacked him in the barn, had barely been able to tear
herself away, could still feel his hands on her, his tongue, lips,
coarse facial hair.

She shook her head to dispel the
memories. She was still more than a little embarrassed. Dasen had
been shocked, but at least he hadn’t pushed her away. In fact,
following a breakfast of flavorless oat cakes and a rabbit she shot
in the garden, they kissed quite a few more times on their way to
this place. Following the road from the trees, they had held hands
and spent their breaks locked together. In the beginning, Dasen had
seemed shocked but willing, by the time they reached this final
hill, he almost seemed to accept a girl who took what she
wanted.

He gets
it
, she thought again.
He has seen who I am, and he doesn’t care. He wants me
anyway.
Sure she had initiated nearly
every contact they’d had, but he accepted her, took what she
offered, did not demand more.
And isn’t
that indication enough that he isn’t locked into the traditional
roles, that he accepts me as I am, aggressive, assertive,
undaunted.
Certainly any other boy she
knew would rather be joined to a goat than have a girl dictate
their courtship.
No
, she decided,
Dasen is different.
He is nothing like those lugs in Randor’s Pass. Milne was right all
along.

She turned her head and stared at him.
He was nothing like the man she’d always thought would claim her.
She’d imagined a woodsman as strong and savvy as her, someone who
loved the forest, knew the animals, lived from the land. She’d
imagined that he would hunt her like a prize buck, would eventually
find her and take her away to live far from the judgmental eyes of
others. He would be strong and fast and sure. Handsome, of course.
And in awe of a woman who was every bit as strong as him, the only
match he had ever found. They would hunt together, explore, sleep
under the stars, spend their winters in bed. Their children would
ride on their backs until they could run at their sides.

Dasen was as far from that fantasy as
a man could possibly get, but he was something far more important.
He was kind. He cared for her. She was more and more convinced that
he understood her, was brave enough to accept a misfit for what she
was. And, most important, he was real. Milne had said that she was
living a lie, and she had been right. Her fantasy had been just
that. Dasen was real, he was right here, and he was
enough.

“
Stay here with me,” Teth
said before she realized the words were out of her
mouth.

Dasen tore his eyes from the village
with some effort. “What?” he whispered, but his wide eyes drifted
back before she could answer. “What are we supposed to do now?” he
mumbled. “By the Order, we’ll never get ahead of them. We might as
well surrender.” He sounded defeated, clearly overcome by what they
were seeing below.

Teth licked her lips and built up her
courage. She grabbed Dasen’s arm. “Look at me, Dasen.” He only
glanced toward her, so she shook him. “No, look at me.” Finally, he
pulled his attention fully from the village. Teth took a deep
breath. “We can stay here,” she said, nearly begging.

Dasen looked confused. “Here? In
Potter’s Place?”

“
No, in the forest. On the
other side of the river if we can get there. We’ll build a bigger
shelter, maybe even a cabin, and wait this out.” Dasen drew the
breath to speak, but Teth continued over him. “Just listen for a
minute. The invaders aren’t looking for us anymore. I’m sure of
that. If they were, we’d have seen them. And once they’re across
the river, there’s no reason for them to stick around. This will be
the safest place to be. I have arrows now. We can hunt and forage
our food. We can even sneak in to visit my aunt. Her house is
outside the village, so no one will need to know we are around. It
will . . . .”

“
Stop, Teth. You know that
will never work.” Dasen did not leave any room for doubt. “What
happens when you run out of arrows again – you only have eight. We
don’t have a pot, blankets, clothes. How will we build a cabin
without tools? I couldn’t build one even if we had them. And what
do we do when the winter comes?” He paused and shook his head. “I
know you want to see your aunt, but what about my father and Rynn?
We have to get the information we have to the Chancellor. It’s the
only chance they have. And even if we didn’t have to think about
them, that life is over. We’re joined. You don’t have to keep
living like this. Once we get to the city, we’ll have everything we
need. We’ll have a real life. We won’t have to worry about what
happens when you catch a baby. We wouldn’t be able to attend the
university, but with all this, that might not be possible anyway. I
mean, what would we do if it happened out here? We’re not raising a
pack of wolves.”

Everything Dasen said made
sense. Teth knew that it was true. Staying in the forest had been a
fantasy every bit as far-fetched as her old musings, but to have it
so thoroughly and cruelly dismissed took her breath away.
Catch a baby.
She had
not even considered that might be the result of what she’d wanted
to do that morning. She stared at Dasen and stammered. He reached
out a hand and stroked her hair back, held her cheek, stared at her
in the most patronizing way she could imagine, like she was a child
that had just suggested they plant coins to grow a money tree. She
slapped his hand away, anger flaring. “Who ever said we’d be
raising anything?” she hissed.

Dasen was set back, but that
patronizing look remained. “I just thought that was the way things
were going. It didn’t seem like you wanted to wait. I mean, there
are ways to keep from catching a baby, but I . . . .”

“
You think that is what
this has been about?” Teth seethed.

“
What else would it be
about?”

“
Just forget it.” Teth
shook her head, ground her teeth, then turned and scrambled down
the hill far faster than Dasen could ever hope to
manage.

“
Teth, I’m sorry,” Dasen
called after a moment of shock. “Where are you going? What’s
wrong?”

Teth spun. “We’re not
going to get to your precious city by sitting here feeling sorry
for ourselves. Our only hope is that we can get ahead of them.
Given the lead they already have, that means we’ll have to move a
lot faster than we have been. So let’s get going.” With that, she
turned and practically ran down the hill.
Stupid! Stupid, foolish girl
, she
scolded herself with every step.

#

Dasen was still not sure where it had
all gone wrong. A few hours ago he had been holding Teth’s hand as
he walked, kissing her every time they stopped, dreaming about what
would happen when they found a real bed. Di Valati Alsance’ warning
had seemed like a lifetime gone. He had been prepared to risk it
all to be with Teth – who knew if they’d be alive tomorrow, let
alone attending a university. Now, he panted, gasped, and stumbled
just to keep her in view, as if she now wanted to be rid of him, as
if she hoped he would fall so far behind that she could forget he
had ever been following.

Even when they stopped, a rare event
since Potter’s Place, she kept moving, kept him away from her, did
not turn and throw him against a tree as she had that morning,
leaving him more breathless than he had been from the walk. They
did not talk. Every time he tried, she answered with silence. He
had even tried to apologize. He was not sure what for, but he had
tried nonetheless. Surely, he could have been more sympathetic at
Potter’s Place, but what did she expect? Did she really think they
would live in some mud covered shelter like animals? The very idea
had been a joke. He was glad he had kept himself from laughing. And
now he was supposed to feel sorry for stating the obvious, for
saying that they couldn’t raise their children in a cave? It was
just more evidence of the hold that chaos had on her, of its
attempts to pull her back into its embrace. It reinforced Dasen’s
belief that she needed a strong hand to bring her back to the
Order. Just as soon as they got out of this cursed forest . . .
.