Wintercraft: Blackwatch (34 page)
The sky lightened into a mist-filled morning. The horse slowed to a steady pace, but by the time they reached the edge of Grale Dalliah’s carriage was still nowhere in sight. Silas knew the Blackwatch would be watching the main routes into the town so he took a sharp turn off the forest road, sending the horse plunging through the trees and out into Grale’s back streets.
Edgar’s grip grew weaker as they rode over a river bridge, heading for the dock, until his fingers slipped completely at a tight corner and Silas had to grab hold of his arm to stop him from sliding off. He could not afford to slow the horse, but Edgar was unconscious. His condition was far worse than Silas had thought. The dock wasn’t far. He could hold Edgar until then, but if he died before they reached it the delay he had caused by helping him would have been for nothing.
Behind Silas, in the distance, plumes of smoke and flame reached towards the sky from Dalliah’s burning house. He looked for his crow and spotted it flying high above him, matching the horse’s speed. It circled down, close enough to hear Silas speak. ‘Follow the girl,’ he said. ‘Do not leave her side.’
Edgar was slipping further from the horse and Silas had to make a choice. Stop and help him, or let him fall. The crow flew over the rooftops, heading for the ship, whose sails were already being unfurled. The carriage must have reached the dock, but the ship would not set sail immediately. There was still time.
He slowed the horse to a stop, lowered Edgar to the ground and slid down beside him. His breathing was shallow and his back was wet with blood. ‘This is not the best time for you to die.’ Silas glanced up at the ship as he rolled Edgar on to his side, and his fingers tingled with cold as the veil gathered around them, preparing to take Edgar into death. He pressed his hand to Edgar’s neck, trying to channel what little energy he could reach to help the wound heal. Nothing happened. The veil was too weak, his connection to it thin and fading.
Silas tried to concentrate, but he was too distracted. He could leave the boy and make it on to the ship before it sailed. He was all but dead anyway. Nothing would be lost. Letting him go would be the sensible thing to do, all he had to do was walk away, yet he still kept his hand against Edgar’s neck, cursing the boy’s weakness under his breath, his impatience building with every second his body remained still. Then at last, the veil answered. The blood within Edgar’s wound began to clot and the flesh knitted slowly. Edgar’s body trembled, his chest began to move and his pulse quickened to a steady pace.
Silas grabbed hold of Edgar’s shoulders. ‘Can you hear me?’ he asked. ‘Can you move?’
Edgar opened his eyes, his strength returning, as a clear bell rang from the dock and the Blackwatch ship began moving out into open sea. Silas stared out towards the ocean. He was too late.
‘Where’s the ship?’ asked Edgar.
‘Where
is
it?’ Silas struggled to contain his anger as the boat turned out to the west. ‘It’s out there!’ he said, pointing to the moving sails. ‘Where we should be!’
is
it?’ Silas struggled to contain his anger as the boat turned out to the west. ‘It’s out there!’ he said, pointing to the moving sails. ‘Where we should be!’
‘It’s gone?’
‘I should have left you to die. You were all but gone anyway. I should never have gone back for you!’
‘Don’t hold anything back,’ said Edgar. ‘Just say what you feel.’ The bloodied rags had fallen from his back, the blood had stopped and the wound was healing. ‘I didn’t ask you to come back for me. I wanted you to go and find Kate.’
‘I could have reached the ship,’ said Silas. ‘I could have stopped her. If you were not so weak this could have been over.’
‘Don’t blame me for this,’ Edgar shouted. ‘I was quite happily dying on the back of that horse before you decided to help.’ He lowered his voice a little. ‘Thanks for that.’
Silas glared at him. ‘I should kill you myself,’ he said. ‘Do you have any idea what Dalliah is going to do with Kate? Do you know what will happen if they succeed in making the veil fall?’
‘That won’t happen. Kate wouldn’t do anything like that.’
‘Kate does not know her own mind! Not any more.’
‘If you stopped shouting and thought about this for a second …’
The Blackwatch ship’s lanterns illuminated one by one as it sailed deeper into the night, with the black speck that was Silas’s crow trailing dutifully behind. Silas’s hands tensed into fists and Edgar spoke quietly.
‘I’m just saying, how far can they get?’ he said, pointing out to sea. ‘They’re right there. If you wanted to do something to the veil, where would you go?’
‘Fume,’ Silas said at once.
‘And are you saying that in this whole town there is not one person who will rent us a boat? This can’t be over. I’ve been stabbed, threatened, chased, and I pretty much died right over there. Now I’m stuck here with you and the Continent are planning to invade Albion. You might want to stand here and beat yourself up about all this, but I am not going to let an ocean stop me from helping Kate. If I have to swim across the bloody thing myself I will!’
Silas smiled wryly. ‘But a boat would be easier,’ he said.
‘So let’s find one and get out there!’
Silas looked down at Edgar. ‘The wardens would have liked you. You would have made a fine recruit.’
‘Thanks … I think.’
‘If you insist on staying alive, you can at least make yourself useful,’ said Silas. ‘Sell the horse, quickly. We have an ocean to cross.’
Kate stood on the deck of the Blackwatch ship, looking back towards the Continent as the land slowly slipped away. Dalliah was busy giving her final orders to the crew and the great sails heaved above them, carrying them back through the freezing sea towards Albion’s shores.
‘You will be back home soon.’ Dalliah had walked up beside her. ‘You will feel better as we draw closer to Albion. The veil will welcome you back again and any confusion you are feeling will pass.’
Kate said nothing.
‘Fume is not what you believe it to be,’ said Dalliah. ‘It was never meant to be a city, nor was it ever a simple resting place for flesh and bones. Its purpose is far greater than that.
Wintercraft
will open your eyes. It will reveal to you the truth that lies beneath the stones, exactly as it was meant to do. The circle you opened on the Night of Souls was only the first key in a far greater lock. It is up to us to open the others. Do you understand me, Kate?’
Wintercraft
will open your eyes. It will reveal to you the truth that lies beneath the stones, exactly as it was meant to do. The circle you opened on the Night of Souls was only the first key in a far greater lock. It is up to us to open the others. Do you understand me, Kate?’
Kate looked at Dalliah, her silver-tinged eyes reflecting the light of the moon.
‘Good.’ Dalliah turned her away from the ocean and led her towards a cabin at the back of the ship. ‘You may rest now. And try not to think about anything that has happened before today. None of it will matter soon.’
Kate walked into the cabin alone and Dalliah locked the door behind her.
Wintercraft
felt heavy inside her coat. She took the book out, sat down on the narrow bed and placed it beside her. Just touching its cover made her head feel a little clearer, but the clouded feelings did not completely pass. She carried it over to the tiny cabin window and opened the glass, bracing herself against a blast of icy wind as she looked back towards the Continent, unable to shake off the feeling that she was leaving something important behind.
Wintercraft
felt heavy inside her coat. She took the book out, sat down on the narrow bed and placed it beside her. Just touching its cover made her head feel a little clearer, but the clouded feelings did not completely pass. She carried it over to the tiny cabin window and opened the glass, bracing herself against a blast of icy wind as she looked back towards the Continent, unable to shake off the feeling that she was leaving something important behind.
Something outside the window caught her attention: a black shape gliding just above the waves. Kate looked closer. There was a bird out there. A crow, shadowing the ship, with motes of frost speckling across its beak. The crow looked up at her and called out once, before lowering its head and settling back into its steady flight.
‘Silas,’ she said quietly, but she could not remember why the name mattered. Whenever she tried to concentrate upon it, the memories slipped away.
She watched the crow for a while as the ship cut swiftly through the icy waves, but something about its presence made her feel empty inside. Eventually, she closed the glass against it and lay down beside her book, trying to fall asleep.
The world outside the cabin was cold, the sea dark and empty, as ghosts of ice drifted secretly by the window in the night. Kate dreamed of fire, of daggers and blood, her spirit caught in a dark place created by Dalliah to keep her thoughts locked in. The dreams were not enough to help her free the memories that were sealed within her mind. She was too tired, and she no longer trusted her own thoughts. All she knew for certain was what Dalliah had told her. The ship was carrying her towards a fate laid down for her by her ancestors long ago. She had a responsibility to uphold. She knew she had important work to do, and she would not turn her back upon it. She would not let her family down.
That thought kept Kate company upon the long journey, and she hugged the book close as the sun began to rise across the sea. She did not see the crow settle upon her window ledge, or hear it tapping on the glass. Dalliah had set her mind adrift upon the veil, and out there on the ocean all Kate felt was completely and powerlessly alone.
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