The False Martyr (101 page)

“
Try,” Jaret ordered.
“We’re going to hunt them. Tell us where they are, and we’ll handle
the rest.”

Chapter 55

The
43
^rd
Day of Summer

“
How long do you think we
have?” Ipid asked out of nowhere. He stood with Eia on the manor’s
highest balcony and watched the Darthur army wend its way through
the streets below. The columns of men, horses, and wagons flowed
down the city’s western arteries, feeding through the devastation
at the city’s center, over the bridges, and into a single line that
flowing down the wide road to the east.

To Ipid, the progression
seemed interminable, even as he privately dreaded its end. Already,
it had taken the entire day, starting shortly after dawn and still
progressing as the sun headed back toward the horizon. The men,
many of them simply standing as they waited their turn on a bridge,
had brought the city to a stop. A curfew had been imposed to ensure
there was no interference with the army’s progress, and the city
was lifeless beyond the invaders marching through it and soldiers
patrolling it. Even Jon and his administrators had been told to
stay in their homes. And, for once, there was little reason for the
bookkeepers and secretaries to be bustling about the estate. The
logistics of supplying the army had been arranged, the rationing
system had been fully implemented, the work crews were running
smoothly. All the planning and preparation was done. All the pieces
had been put in place, the mechanisms put into motion. Now, it was
time to reap the harvest, to ensure it all came together, to see it
through and be done. Ipid knew that he should have been happy about
that, but just the opposite was true.

“
Have for what, my dear?”
Eia asked, taking his hand and resting her head on his
shoulder.

“
Until the mobs come for
us,” Ipid answered with a sigh. “Without Arin’s army, we only have
the city watch to keep them at bay.”

Eia did not answer
immediately. She squeezed his hand and watched the sun sparkling
off the buildings, the river, and the army. “For their own sakes,
they had better wait until Arin is gone completely.”

Ipid knew that much, but
logic was not typically the motivation of riotous mobs. “Have you
heard anything more about Stully?”

“
I told you everything
last night. Vontel doesn’t have eyes or ears on him. He still
doesn’t know what happened with the escape, but Allard isn’t making
contact with him, and his household was scattered when you seized
his lands, so Vontel’s informants are worthless.”

“
So what do we think he’s
going to do?” Ipid released Eia’s hand and went to lean against the
railing, looking back at her. “Did Vontel tell you
anything?”

“
He’s been telling us all
sorts of things about Dorington, as you well know,” Eia snapped
back defensively. “That is where you told him to focus, but he has
also kept tabs on many of the governors and members of parliament.
Were you not listening at all last night?” She stepped to him and
placed a hand on his face to ensure his attention. “Though not
about Stully directly, I thought his report gave us a reasonable
idea of where things stand.”

“
Of course, my dear,” Ipid
responded absently and turned back to the city. He remembered the
conversation differently, remembered there being far less certainty
in it. Eia had told him that everything was going exactly as it
should, that Stully was controlling all resistance outside
Dorington and guiding it exactly as Ipid had requested. But that
seemed far too easy. After the disaster of his escape, Ipid doubted
that Allard Stully would be working for his interests, and Vontel’s
exceedingly limited sampling of officials did little to change that
belief.

“
If it is any consolation.
Naidi and I have been working to read the emotions of the city, to
map them if you want to think about it that way.”

“
Is that where you’ve been
going every night?” Ipid turned and looked at her.

She smiled. “Jealous?” Her
hands ran down his arms. “That is sweet. Maybe we can even use it
later. How jealous can you get?”

Ipid was not ready to go
there. Four days later, with no more than the groping of teens, Eia
had made it clear throughout the day that she was sufficiently
recovered to resume their carnal exploration of his emotions, and
he had spent the same time oscillating between desire and
fear.

“
I’m not jealous,” he said
though it was a lie, and Eia would know it. Yet it was an
emotional, not physical, jealousy he felt. He had no fear that she
was sleeping with the cripple, but knowing that they were together
left him wanting something like what she had with him, something
deeper than just the flirting and sex that seemed to define their
time together.

“
You need not be
defensive.” Eia turned his face to look into her eyes. “Naidi is
like a brother. He is of my order, has always had my greatest
respect, but even in the days before the Darthur he was nothing
more than that.”

“
What were you saying
about the city?” Ipid asked, wanting to change the
subject.

Eia smiled. “The people
hate you. They hate the Darthur. They hate the rationing and work
crews, but that hate has remained bottled. Though Captain Tyne is
keeping a great deal from you about small acts of vandalism and
sabotage, there have been almost no major events or organized
protests. Even the mess with that fool, Liano, turned into nothing.
Given the emotions we are reading in the city, Naidi and I are
fairly certain that can only be due to someone telling them to
wait, which, in turn, can only mean that Stully and Wallock are
doing as you requested.”

“
You can get all that from
‘mapping’ the emotions of the city?”

“
You’d be surprised, my
love. Emotion is everything that makes us human. Using it, I can
very nearly read a person’s mind. Including yours,” she added with
a laugh. “With something like a city, it’s more about reading the
overall mood, determining what emotions are most prominent, and how
they are changing.”

“
So you think the city
will hold?”

“
Back to where we started.
I’d guess you have a couple of weeks. It depends on Stully, but you
said he’s cautious. He can’t want the Darthur to come back, so
surely he’ll wait until Arin’s demands are met.”

Ipid let out a long breath
and turned to a topic of only slightly less concern. “How is Rynn
doing? They got the third bridge cleared ahead of schedule, so I
can only guess that he is doing well.”

“
Naidi says that he is the
best of the students we have taken from this side of the mountains.
He has a natural talent to use his gift, and that is why he is
here. With Rynn as the face of our order and Naidi managing the
flow of emotions, they have reduced the number of accidents
considerably and rebuilt the trust of the workers. Overall, it
seems they are having great success.”

“
That much is evident, but
how is he doing?”

“
What do you mean? I just
told you, he is doing very well.”

“
You told me that he is
advancing in his studies and performing his duties, but how is he
doing as a person? Is he happy?”

“
You saw him.” Eia nudged
him with her hip. “Didn’t he seem happy? He even told you that he
finally feels that he has found where he belongs. Do you deny his
words?”

“
No.” Ipid could not
decide what he thought. Certainly, Rynn had seemed happy, well
cared for, even focused and enthusiastic, but it didn’t sit well
with him. He could not imagine his son’s best friend using the
powers of the Exiles, being trained as one of them, drawing on the
emotions of others to create their terrible magics.

“
You do not like the
thought of him joining our order.” Eia tried to sound offended but
could not hide a smirk. “You think we’ll turn him into some kind of
monster.”

“
No,” Ipid started, but
Eia had hit the issue exactly, and there was little point in saying
otherwise. “Yes, that is my concern. His parents entrusted him to
me when I took him with us to Randor’s Pass. And I cannot help but
feel that I have failed them . . . and him.”

“
I understand,” Eia said
to Ipid’s surprise. “The boy is like a son to you, and no matter
your beliefs, it is hard to let children find their own way. If I
had a child and she chose to subvert her freewill and become one of
your Weavers, I would be horrified. You must feel much the same way
about Rynn . . . and Dasen too.”

Ipid considered that.
Hadn’t he been opposed to Dasen even joining the Church, let alone
the cultish Weavers? Was this any different?

“
At the same time,” Eia
continued, “the young can only flourish if we let them go. They
must learn from their decision just like you and me. We honor
freewill above all else. If Rynn did not want to be part of our
order, we would not force him. Because we have learned from the
folly of our ancestors, we would take certain actions to ensure
that he did not use Hilaal’s gift, but we would not force him to
remain, to be trained, or to be part of our community.”

“
And Dasen? Is the same
true for him?”

Eia sighed long and deep
then turned away to look out over the city. “We have to find him
before we worry about that.”

And when you find him?
Ipid thought.
He was almost certain now that Dasen had escaped to Liandria –
given the resources he’d deployed to finding his son, there was
almost no chance that he remained in the Kingdoms – but in only a
matter of weeks, the Darthur may control that country as well.
Already the Empire was pledge to them, so where could Dasen
possibly go? How could he keep himself from the te-am ‘eiruh? Ipid
looked at Eia standing so close to him – lover, confidant,
companion – and wondered why he so dreaded his son becoming like
her.

Chapter 56

The
44
^th
Day of Summer

“
What is the matter with
you?” Garth dropped his wooden sword and stepped back. “You are
distracted, are barely trying. You’re going to get
hurt.”

“
I’m sorry,” Teth said
through pants. She was distracted. Even as she apologized, her
thoughts were on Dasen, on what Lareno was turning him into, where
it would go, and how it would affect her own plans. What’s more,
she had promised the Tappers that she would talk with Garth and
still hadn’t found a way to do it. And the longer she waited the
harder it seemed to get.

Garth looked at her in
disgust. “Stop. There is no point in this.”

“
No, Garth. I don’t want
to stop. That will only make it worse. I need this to clear my
head. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get there yet.”

“
Do you want to
talk?”

Teth desperately wanted to
say yes, but her eyes went to the crowd that shared the courtyard
with them. Ever since Deena Esther had performed her first
“miracle”, they could not go anywhere without a crowd gathering to
watch and whisper. In four days, she and Dasen had gone from
curiosities to the center of almost every conversation. And even
though he had done nothing out of the ordinary, the brother of the
Order’s chosen seemed to be almost as big a draw as the
miracle-worker herself. Teth hated it, hated the attention, the
scrutiny, the fact that it would make it that much harder to escape
the trap that had been laid for her and Dasen.

Yesterday, her frustration
had boiled over such that she’d tried to drive the gawking,
gossiping crowd off with a training sword. Garth had stopped her
before she could hurt anyone but thought it better to stick to the
inn today. It had only a small effect on the crowd or her mood.
Despite the mid-morning sun pounding directly into the courtyard,
the acrid smoke from the kitchen’s fires that seemed to be trapped
between the walls, and stink from so many hot bodies crammed into
such a small space, the onlookers showed no signs of dispersing.
Teth fought the urge to run from them, to escape the smoke, heat,
and stink and just be alone.

“
Come,” Garth grabbed her
arm and lead her out of the courtyard.

“
Where are we
going?”

Garth didn’t answer. He
led her into the inn and down the hall past the Tapper’s residence
to what appeared to be a blank wall. He produced a key and unlocked
a large door that had been painted the same color as the walls
around it. The door was concealed not secret, and Teth had been
through it enough times to know what secrets it concealed, but her
heart raced nonetheless.

With a quick look back to
ensure that none of their audience had followed, Garth opened the
door and pushed Teth into the darkness of the inn’s storeroom. She
stumbled and fell against a dwindling stack of flour sacks – the
storeroom was decidedly diminished since their first visit. The
door clicked shut, casting the room into darkness. There were no
windows and no lamps burned. The only light was that which filtered
beneath the door at Garth’s back and the great sliding one on the
room’s far side. Teth sprawled against the flour sacks, recovering
her balance, then braced herself for whatever the Morg had planned.
Her eyes darted, muscles tightened, hands rose.