Heroes' Reward (19 page)

How the hell
would we get out of there?

It was only a
short time before Mazin and Postel returned. They were scowling and moving
stiffly, their steps short and abrupt.

Postel grabbed
my arm and jerked me towards the entrance.

That was it,
then. We’d taken a gamble and we’d lost.

Taro was usually
a better gambler than that.

Oh, gods.

I could barely
breathe. I blinked tears from my eyes.

I was so wrapped
in panic, it took me a while to realise we weren’t being dragged back to the
Emperor’s tent. Instead, Mazin and Postel took us straight north, past all of
the soldiers who were lingering by their fires because they were too emotional
to sleep. I imagined a lot of them were terrified, but possibly some of there
were looking forward to the clash. They might be thinking of the whole thing as
a grand adventure.

Because there
were a whole lot of idiots in the world.

And then we were
clear of everyone and I realised Mazin and Postel really were taking us to the
Triple S forces.

I began to
breathe a little more easily.

“Anything goes
wrong with this,” Mazin muttered, “and we’ll kill you both, no matter what
comes after.”

And then, as if
Mazin words had called them, two men came into sight. Both Guards, bearing
torches. Sentries.

Fabulous. Here
was where things were going to go horribly sideways.

“Where are you
taking a Pair?” one demanded.

After a
horrible, obvious pause, Mazin said, “She’s a caster. She needs practise.”

“Because of the
attack tomorrow,” Postel added.

Clearly, these
two had never worked the stage, going by the wooden delivery of their words. I
had the feeling the sentry was only humouring them when he said, “She doesn’t
need to do it way out here.”

Another pause.

“Emperor’s
orders,” said Mazin.

This was
painful.

I suspected the
sentry didn’t believe that for a moment. “The Emperor has ordered four people
to station themselves out of sight of everyone else,” he said flatly. “When
traiters are deserting every night.”

“Not my place to
question the Emperor’s orders,” Mazin retorted. “Yours neither.”

“Sure,” the
sentry drawled. “How about we all go back and ask him? Just to be certain?”

“Hell,” said
Mazin. Faster than I would have thought him able, he pulled out his sword and
shoved it through the first man’s throat. The second sentry swore and shoved
his own sword at Mazin, slicing Mazin’s right arm. Postel, inspired by his
partner, took advantage of the second sentry’s brief exchange with Mazin by
slitting his throat.

I stared,
speechless, as the two men dropped and fell, spurting blood and emitting
horrible choking sounds.

Obviously anyone
who defected to the other side was going to have to clash with people they
might have known earlier. Maybe someone they’d eaten with, shared a tent with.
Maybe even laughed with. But for Mazin to do it so abruptly, it was just ….
Mazin had shown no hesitation, Postel no shock.

What kind of
people were they?

Postel grabbed
my arm, in the exact same place he always did. “Move.”

We circled wide
to the north of Cracked Plains, probably to avoid any residents who might be
guarding the settlement. Did the residents know Gifford’s plans? Were they even
there at all? Maybe they’d destroyed their city as so many others had.

Mazin then led
us west, and finally back down south, where the Triple S caravan was reported
to have settled. I couldn’t estimate how long the walk had taken, but it felt
like a good while.

I wondered how
it would go, meeting the Triple S’s sentries. Most people knew Taro’s name and
might have a sort of vague description of his appearance, but that didn’t mean
everyone would recognize him on sight. And even if they did, the Triple S had
had no word from us since we’d left Shidonee’s Gap. They might assume we had
betrayed them.

Gods, I hated
this mess.

In the distance,
we saw four torches.

“You’ll be
talking, Karish,” Mazin ordered. “You don’t say the right thing, this one gets
her throat cut and you both die. We can take those four if we have to. Everyone
knows the Triple S fighters are useless.”

I wondered if
anyone drilling Gifford’s soldiers had needed to read the manoeuvres out of a
book.

“Ho!” Mazin
called out. “This is Source Karish! We helped him escape!”

The torches
moved a lot faster.

I blew out a
hard breath. Please let them believe us.

The Triple S
sentries wore armour identical to what Gifford’s soldiers wore, except it was
black. Everything they wore was black, armour, gloves and boots, fabric. The
uniforms would certainly stand out against Gifford’s shiny armour and bright
colours.

“Karish, eh?”
one of the sentries demanded.

That was Taro’s
cue.

“Thank gods,” he
breathed, sounding relieved. “Yes. This is Shield Dunleavy Mallorough, Third
Sergeant Postel, Third Sergeant Mazin. This was our first real chance to get
away.”

Three of the
sentries looked suspicious. The other’s expression had gone blank.

Taro didn’t
hesitate. “Do you know Gifford plans to attack first thing in the morning?”

The sentry who
had spoken before crossed his arms. “Yes.”

“Do you know
casts don’t work here?” I asked quickly.

The sentry
looked puzzled. “What?”

“Casts don’t
work everywhere,” I informed him. “They don’t work here. I tried. Everyone
knows you don’t have nearly as many soldiers as the Emperor does. You’re hoping
your casters and Pairs will even things out.”

The same sentry,
apparently the spokesperson of the group, drawled, “And we’re just supposed to
believe you, is that it?”

“Of course not.
Go ask one of your own.” Er, should have said
our
own.

“Fine. You two,
hand over your swords.”

“No,” said
Mazin.

“You want to get
into it now? Four against two? Four with whistles that will call a whole lot of
other people to us?”

They weren’t
quite as stupid as I’d thought. Mazin handed over his sword and then his knife.
After a few moments, Postel followed suit.

A chunk of panic
fell right out of me, as unexpectedly as a row of ice falling off the eaves
trough. Warmth flooded through my limbs and I could breathe a little more
easily.

Someone would
vouch for us. It would be all right.

No, no, it
wouldn’t be all right, but at least we would be on the right side.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Despite all of
the reports I’d heard while standing beside Gifford, I had been hoping to see
more soldiers in the Triple S camp. After all, so many of Gifford’s people were
defecting. Weren’t most of them going to the Triple S?

Everyone seemed
to be wearing black uniforms. Some were less elaborate than the sentries,
others more. On the whole, their uniforms were in much better shape than those
worn by many of Gifford’s people.

From what I had
witnessed with Gifford’s forces, even those who had uniforms didn’t wear them
all the time. While not on duty, or while engaging in tasks that would turn
their uniforms into a mess, they wore whatever regular clothing they had
brought with them, transferring their frogging to make sure everyone knew who
were the ones who gave the orders. Did the Triple S people not do the same?

Of course, if
they knew Gifford’s army was just on the other side of Cracked Plains, they
might have been expecting a clash at any moment and wanted to make sure they
were prepared for it.

Our sentries
took us directly to another small team of sentries. We didn’t know any of them,
either. “These people claim to be Karish and Mallorough. And their … friends.”

One of the
sentries – she appeared to be around thirteen years old, and I desperately
hoped she was much older than she looked – crossed her arms. “The Erstwhile
Pair? Hung around the Emperor all that time with no word to the council?”

I would have
expected that information to have been kept within the council. Had it leaked
out, or had everyone just been told? If it were the latter, that was bad.
Right?

“We don’t have
time for that,” one of our sentries snapped. “Mallorough says casts don’t work
here. We need that confirmed. Get someone who can do that. Murdoch. Or Browne.
Tell the Commissioner, too.”

“Browne?” I was
surprised into asking. “Healer Nab Browne? She’s here?”

The sentry
ignored my questions. He nodded at the girl. “Go.”

The girl who
looked too young to be there trotted away.

As we waited,
others wandered close, staring at us. No one spoke, but when they drew near
enough I could see that they weren’t as gaunt as many of Gifford’s people. No
one was carrying any spare flesh, but at least they weren’t disturbing to look
at.

Did the fewer
numbers mean it was much easier to take care of everyone? Would that provide a
real advantage over larger but starving numbers?

Then I was
shocked down to my toes to see some of Fiona’s whalers among the group. Dressed
in black. Clearly part of the Triple S forces.

Fiona had sent
people to support the Triple S? Not only the best healer and caster she had,
but some of her most valuable tenants as well? How could she afford to do that?
Didn’t her other tenants resent losing such important members of the community
to the dangerous efforts of the Triple S?

That question
would keep: Browne was the first to arrive. I almost hugged her.

She was wearing
the uniform, too. The healers among Gifford’s people had never worn uniforms.
It made Browne appear a little intimidating. That was part of the purpose of a
uniform, but it felt melodramatic.

She grinned.
“Shield Mallorough, Source Karish, it is a relief to see you.”

The soldiers
around us relaxed at having our identities verified.

“You, too,” I
said.

She eyed me and
then Taro. “You’re thinner than I like. We have to get you something to eat.”

“Not yet,” said
our most talkative sentry. “I expect the Commissioner will give us some orders
about what to do with them.”

But the
Commissioner didn’t. Instead, the man himself arrived, and more quickly than I
would have anticipated. He wasn’t hurrying, his gait long and smooth. Though
I’d never actually met him, I’d seen him about the Arena in Shidonee’s Gap, and
he had always seemed calm. I liked calm. It was handy.

“I’m honoured to
finally meet you.” He held out his hand. “Source Karish. Shield Mallorough.”

He had a lovely
deep voice.

Taro and I shook
his hand and murmured our pleasure in meeting him. It was surreal, such stiff
courtesy in the middle of this mess.

The Commissioner
looked at Mazin and Postel. “And who are your companions?”

“Third Sergeant
Postel and Third Sergeant Mazin,” said Taro. “They decided to change their
loyalty to the Triple S and helped us escape.”

Too bad we
couldn’t speak directly into the Commissioner’s brain and warn him that these
two weren’t to be trusted.

The Commissioner
nodded, gesturing at some of the sentries around us. “Fine. Slean, Dyva, Yoj,
Wells, take these two to Lieutenant Vimi. She’ll vet them.”

Good. Four
sentries for two unarmed men. No speaking directly into the Commissioner’s mind
was necessary.

“We’re going
with them,” Mazin objected, pointing at Taro.

The Commissioner
responded in a bland voice. “Surely men of your quality understand there is
information only you can provide and information only a Pair can provide. If we
question you independently, we can gather all of the facts we need much more
quickly.”

Mazin looked
suspicious and mulish but he probably didn’t want to dispute the assumption
that he was a man of quality and intelligence.

The Commissioner
gestured at Mazin’s bloody sleeve. “You’re going to want to have a healer see
to that.”

After a moment,
Mazin nodded reluctantly.

“This way,
then,” said one of the sentries.

Both Mazin and
Postel sent us warning glances before following the sentries away.

As soon as they
were out of earshot, Taro said to the Commissioner, “They were guarding us for
Gifford. If they have any new loyalty to the Triple S, it’s only because I
promised them they’d get land and riches if they helped us escape.”

The
Commissioner’s eyebrows rose. “And you believe you can make such promises on
behalf of the Triple S?”

“Of course not.
I was just saying whatever I had to, to get us out of there.”

“Ah.”

We were taken to
a large tent, tall enough to stand in, wide enough to accommodate a table and
about half a dozen people. Of course, there were more than half a dozen there.

Murdoch was
standing near the back of the tent, and he greeted me with a smile. I was
surprised to see the Premier Pair, Sato and Zoffany, there as well. I hadn’t
expected them to leave Shidonee’s Gap. The three others in the tent I couldn’t
recall ever seeing before.

There was a
large map on the table, displaying the entire continent.

“This is Deputy
Commissioner Khouri,” said the Commissioner, gesturing at one of the strangers.
“Assistant Commissioner Perovic, and Assistant Commissioner Barhom.”

I wasn’t
familiar with the latter ranks.

“We’ve been
informed you believe casts don’t work here,” the Commissioner said to me.

“Aye.”

“Healer Browne?”

“I haven’t had a
chance to try it yet, Commissioner.” Browne opened her bag. “But I have no
doubt Shield Mallorough’s assessment is accurate.”

It was nice to
have someone express unequivocal belief in my words. It had been a long time.

“There is no
harm in performing your own test.”

It was good that
the Commissioner was cautious. Really. Even if it was a little insulting.

“Shield
Mallorough, what cast did you attempt?” Browne asked.

“I first tried
the communication cast. When that didn’t work, I used the flame cast. The basic
one.”

Browne looked
surprised for a moment, then shrugged. I watched her combine gray ash, ground
white stone, and ground quartz. “Flare,” she ordered.

Nothing
happened. It was almost a relief. At least it meant there wasn’t something
wrong with me.

Browne threw
together another quick cast and that didn’t work, either. My faint relief
evaporated as it became clear to everyone that our most powerful caster was
useless. As a caster and possibly, to an extent, as a healer, as she frequently
used casts in her work.

Browne was
clearly astonished. I had no doubt she’d believed me. She just hadn’t really
expected to fail, having the talent that she did.

“They’re using
human ashes,” I announced bluntly. “Would that enable them to cast here even
though we can’t?”

Browne’s eyes
widened with shock, and then narrowed in disgust. “Did you – ?”

“Gods’ no!” I
would never use human ashes, no matter what the circumstances. The practice was
reprehensible. “They didn’t even tell me they had them. Taro and I discovered
them in Gifford’s office and we mixed them with some wood ashes and ink. I have
no idea whether that will counteract the effects, though. Do you?”

“No. None.”

Damn it, Browne
was supposed to know everything. “I think that was one of the reasons why they
were killing so many titleholders. To get their ashes.”

Khouri gasped,
appearing horrified. Everyone looked appalled.

The Commissioner
sharply shook his head. “Right,” he said. “Premier Source, Premier Shield, I
recommend we get everyone moving, pull back to Slick Side.”

I wondered if
the Commissioner was really making a recommendation or giving a polite order. I
had been told back in Shidonee’s Gap that he had been put in charge of the
Triple S forces, but did that mean he was in charge of the Premier Pair as
well? I didn’t care for that possibility. It felt wrong.

The Commissioner
looked at Murdoch. “Your casters were able to function there, yes?”

Murdoch was
directing the casters, not Browne?

Murdoch nodded.
“We were able to practise there.”

Sato cleared his
throat to draw everyone’s attention. “We really need to speak with Karish and
Mallorough. It’s urgent that we learn of the abilities of the Pairs working for
the Emperor.”

“With respect,”
said the Commissioner, “that needs to wait until we get to Slick Side. If we
let Gifford engage us here, we’ll be slaughtered.”

Did he have to
use that particular word? The images it put in my head …. I’d rather he just
say killed. It seemed cleaner and faster.

“If they follow
their usual behaviour, they’ll ransack Cracked Plains,” said Sato. “We can use
that time to learn what we can from Karish and Mallorough.”

“Or they might
decide to engage us immediately,” the Commissioner countered.

“In the middle
of the night?”

“Gifford has
been increasingly unpredictable. He has scores more soldiers than we do. We
can’t afford a clash if we don’t have casters to balance the numbers.”

That seemed a
lot of responsibility to be putting on the casters.

“So we run, and
they chase us.” Sato was letting his annoyance show. “Will it be nothing more
than a test of who can run the farthest and the fastest?”

The Commissioner
dragged the tip of his finger along the map, between our location and Cracked Plains.
“Your Pairs can create some kind of barrier there, can’t they? A ravine or some
such?”

Sato looked at
Taro.

“Yes, sir,” Taro
said promptly.

“How wide?” the
Commissioner asked.

“Unfortunately,
only as far as we can see.”

And it was still
dark.

“How long?”

“Again, only as
far as we can see.”

“Gifford’s Pairs
can stop you, can’t they?” Sato pointed out.

“No one can stop
me
,” Taro answered. “But I can’t speak for the other Triple S Pairs. I
don’t know what kind of progress they’ve made while I was in Erstwhile.”

“And Gifford’s
Pairs will have the easier task,” said Sato. “They don’t need to see you to
fight you.”

“We have more
Pairs,” the Commissioner reminded him.

“I don’t like
the idea of having our people left behind,” Sato responded curtly.

“They won’t be
alone. Soldiers will be escorting them. And they’ll have horses. They’ll be
able to leave quickly, if they have to.”

“The horses will
probably spook,” said Taro. “Some of them get uneasy with regular channelling.
Something as big as creating a ravine, I can’t imagine them standing for it.”

I thought I saw
the Commissioner clench his teeth, just for a moment. Frustrated, perhaps. “Let
the soldiers worry about controlling the horses while you channel.”

“And how long
will our Pairs be expected to linger performing this difficult task?” Sato
asked sharply.

“Someone there
needs to be able to make that call.”

“I will,” said
Zoffany.

“With respect,”
said the Commissioner, “this conflict is not the place for the Premier Pair.”