Sons of Destiny Prequel Series 003 - The Shifter (3 page)

Opening his fingers, he showed the all-white disk to the others.

"Where do you meet with your brother, when you go into the mountains?" one of the other princesses, Anaika, asked him.

"I used to meet with him near here, but not for the last half-dozen years. These days, I leave word at a tavern in the town of Teshal, and he gets back to me within a day or two. I've never asked where Nollan lives—he has a right to make a new life for himself, even though he's been banished," Bellar added defensively.

Kenyen frowned in thought. "If I remember the map right, Teshal's nowhere near either the Nespah or Mespak valleys. It's off to the east."

Manolo, from the same Family Tiger as Kenyen, dug into the saddlebag he had brought into the cave. Within moments, he fished out a folded map. He flopped the worn parchment over his hands so that it could be seen by the others and nodded. "... Teshal isn't near either; you're right."

Ashallan looked at Kenyen and Narquen. "Do you have any questions?"

Kenyen nodded and lifted his chin at Bellar. "Did your brother Nollan ever mention Nespah or Mespak?"

"Not that I can recall." He displayed the stone again, proving his words true.

"What about the name Tunric?" Narquen asked.

Bellar shrugged. "Not that I can recall."

"Well, if you
do
recall, let us know," Ashallan ordered him tartly, the same tone of voice a mother would use on a son who had disappointed her. Considering Bellar was close to her age, her tone made him flush.

"What about this Family Mongrel, did he ever mention that name?" Manolo asked him next.

Bellar frowned in thought. "I think he mentioned it... but I can't remember much. Mostly in the last few years, we've talked about him being a tea farmer, and he'd sell me some of his tea, and I'd give him the occasional bit of news about the Family and the Clan. He's not a
bad
man."

"Your brother was listed as banished for forcing himself on a maiden," Ashallan countered bluntly. "That's hardly the actions of a
good
man."

"Well, he never committed
murder
, as far as I know," Bellar defended. "He might know something about that body back there, but if he ran with this Family Mongrel, it was probably one of the others."

"Well, we'll just have to go question him, won't we?" the other princess, Asellah Lu Nish of Family Mustang, Clan Horse, stated. She was the oldest of the female shifters selected for this expedition, but with only two shapes to her name, her greatest contribution to the group lay in herb-healing and her years of trade experience with the Corredai. "And anyone he knows."

"We'll go to Teshal, question your brother, and see what he has to say," Ashallan decided.

"Just in case he doesn't know anything," Narquen offered, "perhaps we should send a couple of us to the Nespah and Mespak valleys to scout around for this Tunric Tel Vem or Tel Wem."

"We've already spent half the summer looking, Highness," Kenyen agreed. "Winter in these mountains is supposed to be as unpleasant as winter on the Plains. I can head to Nespah, if you like, and cut down on our overall travel time?"

"And I'll head to Mespak," Narquen offered.

"One of us should also report back to Her Majesty that we've finally made some progress," Ashallan murmured. Anaika raised her hand, and Ashallan nodded. "You have a fast enough bird form, cousin; you go to the capital and let the Queen know what we're doing. As for
you
, Bellar... the fact that you held secret your knowledge of this Family Mongrel is a black mark against you. Cooperate, and you may erase it. Withhold much more information, and you may end up needing to ask your brother for room in his home."

Bellar gave her a glum look. "I
didn't
want my brother persecuted any further."

"And if he is free of further crimes, he will not be," Ashallan said, shrugging. "Those that are guilty, however, will need to be attended to properly... even if they commit their crimes in another kingdom," the princess added grimly. "It's
our
fault we didn't take stronger measures to stop their wicked ways from continuing.

"Of course, it means sending a delegation to His Majesty if there
is
something in need of prosecution, since we're officially within Correda's borders. But first we need proof there is still wrongdoing happening, and whether or not our kind, exiled or otherwise, had anything to do with it." Sighing roughly, she raked her gray-streaked locks back from her face. "We'll handle that once we have a need for it. A dead body, however incriminating, isn't enough, since we still don't know
who
hid it back there. We are here merely to make sure this so-called Family Mongrel is no longer committing crimes against women—against
anyone
—and thus bringing dishonor to the real ways and the good name of the Shifterai."

"I'd be careful, though. If one of the banished shifters perverted his powers enough to take on the identity of this dead man," the other princess of Family Lion stated, "then just asking about his name might make the name-thief wary, or maybe even chase him into hiding."

Ashallan turned her attention back to Kenyen and sighed roughly. "I do wish your brother were here. We could really use a strong
multerai
to help us with this. Whoever these murderers are, they're frightfully strong, if they feel they can imitate others and get away with it, but I guess we'll have to make do with what we have."

Kenyen hated the way she put that.
As if I'm nothing more than a straw-snake, only good for frightening little children, and only for a brief moment at that. I may not have ten or twelve or more shifts, but I am good at the things I can do.
He kept his reaction hidden, however. The only way he could prove himself was to show his competency in other areas.
I'm not helpless, and I'm not useless.
Instead, he spoke lightly, chasing the topic at hand.

"A good point, Anaika," Kenyen agreed, nodding at the young woman. "I think Narquen and I could learn whatever we need just by perching in trees and listening to the locals speak. It would take longer than a direct inquiry, but it would be safer—Bellar, I have another question."

"What else do you want to know?" Bellar asked warily.

"According to the book of Ellet Sou Tred's suffering, on two occasions a new shifter joined Family Mongrel. Both of them were marked with the Banishment scar, just like the others," Kenyen said, tapping his own unblemished forehead briefly before lowering his hand. "Did your brother ever ask you to tell anyone else about his location? In specific, other banished men?"

Bellar gave him a sour look. "Would you like me to bring back Elder Brother Moon from oblivion, too? Or perhaps give you the secret to eternal life?"

"Answer the question, Bellar," Ashallan ordered him.

"Well, of
course
he did. He knows that if you have the Banished mark on your forehead, it's hard to find work, outkingdom," Bellar admitted gruffly. "He figured he could help them, maybe give them a second chance."

Manolo eyed Bellar, asking shrewdly, "Did he give you a special phrase or word to give to them, or tell you to have them say something specific when going to him to look for work?"

"Why would he give them a special saying?" Anaika asked, giving the older shifter a puzzled look.

"It's fairly obvious to me, and I think to Kenyen," Manolo told her, "that whatever else this Family Mongrel has been up to, they've been trying hard to avoid drawing attention to their activities. The Corredai aren't like us in culture—few outkingdoms are—but they do have laws against the beating and raping of women just as we do. Laws against brutality of all kinds, and laws against theft. Laws against murder.

"Given how much the writings said that the men of Family Mongrel enjoyed their violent, brutal ways, and how many pains they took to avoid being found or tracked by anyone, it's clear they knew their actions were illegal, and clear that they enjoyed doing them anyway," Manolo stated, returning his gaze to Bellar. "Yet it's also clear they took in new members at one point. Your brother might've joined Family Mongrel, or may have simply known about their activities. If your brother wanted to keep people away from the back of this cave, then he likely knew about the dead body bound behind these rocks, and that's the sort of thing they might've done."

"He's
not
a murderer," Bellar muttered stubbornly.

"Bellar, if he knew about that body being back there, why didn't he report it to the authorities in Correda so they could come and bury it in accordance with their traditions and contact the missing man's family?" Kenyen asked pointedly. "There are too many questions here, with many of them pointing at potentially ugly answers. So we are asking you, did your brother tell you to say anything to banished Shifterai, or give them anything, or direct them to approach him in a specific way whenever you might have the chance to point another banished man in his direction?"

"Use the Truth Stone," Ashallan added as Bellar hesitated. "If your brother is simply helping the banished to find legitimate work, then he has nothing to fear from us. All kingdoms honor the Truth, be it by stone or by wand or by spell. But all kingdoms revile murder, and we have a body behind that rock fall that was apparently bound and imprisoned and left there to rot... and your brother knew
something
about it. Something unpleasant enough he didn't want others to find this cave, nor explore it beyond those stones."

Sighing roughly, the middle-aged shifter gripped the marble disk. "Nollan told me that... that if I knew of anyone—any male, that is—who was being banished from the Plains, I was to point them into the mountains toward him, and instruct them to tell him they were looking for work."

"Anything else?" Manolo asked when Bellar displayed the unblemished stone.

Bellar shrugged. "Just that they were to be honest with him as to why they'd been banished... and that he particularly wanted me to encourage them to go looking for him if they were strong shifters, and that if I thought they'd get along with him, they should bring him a gift. But he didn't tell me what kind of gift. That's all he said on the matter."

Again, he displayed the stone, showing it was white.

Manolo eyed Bellar. "Well, whatever your brother has been up to, at least he's done his best to keep you ignorant of it. I'm not sure if that's more than a single point in his favor, since he might be concealing more crimes than those which earned his banishment, but he kept you innocent of it."

"He made a mistake, and he was banished for it. He doesn't deserve further persecution just for that," Bellar argued back.

"If he's innocent of further wrongdoing, then he won't be. We just want to ask him some questions. But first, we'll tear down the rocks and bury the body with respect," Ashallan instructed the others. "Then we'll split up in the morning."

"We'll meet in the town of Teshal at the inn after, what, two weeks? That should be enough time to look around and ask questions, right?" Narquen asked, glancing at Kenyen.

"I suggest three weeks," Manolo told the others, lifting the map in his hand. "A lot of these roads are switchbacks. Distances are longer on the ground than they might look on the map. Flying straight there would be a lot faster than riding for those of us with the forms for it, but I think the locals would prefer to deal with people wearing clothing, not just feathers or fur. Perching in a tree might be alright for eavesdropping, but you may still have to ask people questions... and if there are lawbreakers at work, hiding themselves among the Corredai, best if you look like a non-shifter while doing so. Though I'm not quite sure how someone permanently branded with bluesteel
could
hide their Banishment scars."

"Well, at least our clothes aren't that far off from what the Corredai wear," Narquen muttered to Kenyen. "We might be able to blend in a little."

Kenyen snorted, muttering back, "You should've seen the shapeless rags my sister-in-law wore, back when she abandoned her old life among the Mornai."

"Enough chatter, you two. We'll take three weeks to look around and ask questions," Ashallan told the two men. "Bellar's brother is our best lead, but your pursuits may prove fruitful. If there is more than one inn, then we'll meet at either the northernmost or westernmost inn, in that order. And if we don't hear from you within four weeks, we'll come looking for you. Hopefully we can find what we need in Teshal. When we do, we'll send messengers to you—to the northernmost or westernmost inn of each valley, Nespah or Mespak. And don't take any big chances. Neither of you have all that many shapes."

"As you wish, Princess," Kenyen agreed, dipping his head respectfully. At least, outwardly. Inwardly, he griped again.
Seven shapes is a
respectable
number of shapes for a Shifterai male—the average is five, after all, and mine are as pure as any Shifter Council has judged. What I
can
do, I do
well,
thank you.
Moving to the rock wall, he shifted himself taller and stronger, hoisting the first of the rocks from the top of the pile forming the makeshift barrier between them and the body of the man in the back.
I love my brother, I really do... but there are times when I am tired of being compared to him.