Lord of the White Hell book Two lotwh-2 (34 page)
"I missed you so much," Kiram whispered.
"I'm just glad you're all right," Javier murmured in nearly the same breath. "They wouldn't tell me what had happened to you. Only that you were fevered. I feared-" His voice caught, almost breaking on the emotion beneath the simple words. "You can't know how good it is to see you."
"It will be better when we're away from here." Kiram drew back. Up close he could see how very lean Javier had grown, but the force of his embrace assured Kiram that he still possessed the strength to run and ride.
"The royal bishop is on his way," Kiram informed Javier.
Javier nodded. "Sevanyo told me as much."
"We need to get you out of these chains." Kiram hoped the tools he'd packed would be enough. He hadn't reckoned on having to dismantle such massive shackles. They looked like things meant to restrain bulls, not men.
"I think I can crack through the links-"
"It's all right, Kiram."
Then Javier opened his hands and white sparks skipped up from his fingers and darted over the locks of the dark shackles. The chains clattered against the floor as they fell aside. Kiram stared at Javier. He'd made it look so easy-almost as effortless as in the days when he'd worn Calixto's medallion.
"If you could have done that for yourself, you should have already have been out of here," Kiram told him.
"I couldn't just leave you." Javier looked almost embarrassed. "So I decided to wait."
"In chains?" Kiram demanded in a hash whisper.
"If my guards thought that chains were enough to hold me, then it kept them from using anything stronger and it allowed me to stay here at the academy." Javier spoke as if this were what any sensible prisoner would do.
"The bastards could have at least given you a bath," Kiram muttered. He handed Javier fresh clothes and tried not to feel a pang of guilt. While he had been tended and gently treated, Javier had been living like an animal.
Javier tossed his blood-caked clothes aside and dressed quickly. He took his sword with a look of relief, as if he'd felt the absence of a weapon as sorely as a bath.
"I think most everyone is eating right now. Hopefully we'll be able to get to the stables unnoticed," Kiram informed Javier.
"Are you sure you want to come with me?" Javier gave him a hard, appraising gaze. "There'll be no coming back if you do, you know."
Kiram knew.
If he rode away with Javier now he would leave everything behind: steam engines and the Crown Challenge, his appointment to the royal court and the accolades of his fellow scholars. Beyond even that he risked losing both friends and family. The uncertainty of it all frightened him, but not enough to make him believe that he could simply let Javier go and live with the regret. He'd seen what became of men who sacrificed their hearts' desires for security. He'd seen what it had done to Musni.
With Javier, the reality of all those adventures he longed to live stood before him. Certainly, they would come at a cost and without assurances. But he had never wanted anything more.
"Of course I'm coming," Kiram responded. "I'm the one with the maps."
With that they slipped out of the room. A quick glance down the stairs sent Kiram's heart racing. Far too many of Prince Sevanyo's retainers lingered around the statues and portraits that filled the entryway of the dormitory for he and Javier to simply walk past without notice.
"We'll have to take the gear lift down," Kiram said.
Javier nodded and they fled upstairs and picked their way through the wreckage of Donamillo's machines. As Kiram ducked under rusted, arching ribs he felt a fleeting pang of betrayal but then pride in his own triumph. He stepped between panes of milky, cracked glass and realized that they were like fragments of naive childhood that he'd torn apart and scavenged to build his adult life. He'd seen both beauty and horror here and now he was moving on.
If Javier felt anything looking at the wreckage, he didn't show it.
Once they reached the lift Kiram worked the gears while Javier hauled them down to the ground. Outside the shadows of dusk disguised their flight across the grounds. They crept into the stables, unnoticed.
Lunaluz gave a soft snort of welcome when Javier reached him. Kiram gazed at Firaj and then realized that the old horse was not alone.
Fedeles stepped out from the stall as quietly as a shadow. Kiram's pulse pounded and a cold sweat pricked his brow. Javier glanced to Kiram and then catching sight of Fedeles, he froze in place.
Hurt flickered through Fedeles' expression, but then he turned and stroked Firaj's nose. The old horse leaned into his hands.
"Where will you go?" Fedeles asked.
"North." Javier relaxed and led Lunaluz from the stall. "We'll make for the Mirogoth border."
"You don't have to go." Fedeles gazed at Javier. "Rauma could stand against the royal bishop. We could fight him."
"Too many people have already died." Javier shook his head. "Besides, this isn't just because of the royal bishop. I'm a Bahiim now. I can't retain my title."
"But I don't want you to go," Fedeles said. "I don't want to be the Duke of Rauma."
"I'm sorry, Fedeles. But this is what must happen." To Kiram's surprise Javier closed the distance between them and pulled Fe- deles into an embrace. Kiram realized that this was how they had been before Donamillo had assaulted Fedeles.
"I'm depending on you," Javier told Fedeles. "You're the only one who will be able to provide sanctuary for Kiram and I when we need a place to rest and recover." Javier stepped back slightly and Kiram could see that Fedeles took Javier's words to heart. He straightened, obviously emulating his older brother, and nodded.
"You will always be welcome in Rauma." Fedeles glanced to Kiram. "Both of you. Always."
"Thank you, Fedeles," Kiram replied. He forced himself to move closer to Fedeles, despite the memory of so much pain. Fedeles had not been to blame for any of it.
He stood beside Fedeles and stroked Firaj's jaw. Even in the dim light of the stable he could see that the horse looked more glossy than usual.
"You've really taken good care of my horse," Kiram commented.
Fedeles gave him an easy smile and Firaj leaned forward to allow Fedeles to pet him.
"We like each other," Fedeles said. "We both know what it's like not to be able to say what you feel. He's always telling me things with the angle of his ears and the set of his head. And I think sometimes he understands me."
"His spirit has survived hard battle," Javier said quietly. "And so has yours."
Fedeles shrugged Javier's sentiment aside, but Kiram thought that Javier was probably right. Firaj had been a warhorse. Doubtless he had seen horrors and yet he still retained his gentle nature. Kiram wanted the same to be true for Fedeles.
"Promise me you'll take care of him," Kiram said.
Fedeles looked at Kiram in surprise.
"Firaj deserves to live an easy life in his old age, and I know I won't be able to give that to him. But you could."
"He'll live like a prince," Fedeles assured him.
"Good. Then I'll take Verano. He certainly doesn't spook easily," Kiram decided.
"Neither do you," Fedeles commented. "He's a good choice for you."
Kiram gave Javier and Fedeles a few moments of privacy to say their farewells while he saddled Verano and slipped his bow over his shoulder.
"You should go while there's still light," Fedeles said at last. Though the sadness remained in his expression, the hurt no longer lingered there. "Go with God."
Javier smirked and even Fedeles smiled a little.
Then Kiram and Javier rode from the academy. They passed through fields and woods, racing between long blue shadows and gold shafts of setting sunlight.
By the morning, they had crossed through ancient paths of mist and darkness to reach the Mirogoth border. That night they shared a small room in a port town, where they lay in each other's arms and, at last, slept in peace.
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