The Briar King (53 page)

Once Stephen couldn't make out their voices anymore, he turned Angel to a parallel path back to the monastery and urged her to a gallop.

Riding a running horse with a saddle on a trail was one thing; doing so bareback in the forest was another. Stephen gripped his knees against Angel's flanks, dug his fists into her mane, and kept his body low. Angel splashed through a stream, stumbled climbing the opposite bank, then recovered. Stephen prayed the mare wouldn't step into some leaf-hidden hole or den, but he couldn't afford to spare the poor beast; he knew to his marrow that if he didn't reach d'Ef before Desmond Spend-love, Aspar White was a dead man.

He swallowed his fear at the breakneck pace and did his best to hold on.

He and the mare broke from the woods into the lower pasture, where a handful of cows scattered from their path and the two brothers tending them gawked curiously. Once in the clearing, Angel's pace went from breathtaking to absolutely
terrifying. The two of them pounded up the hill to where he had last seen Ogre.

The big stallion was still there, watching their approach with suspicious eyes. Stephen slowed as he neared, cleared his throat and shouted, “Follow, Ogre!” in the best approximation of Aspar White's voice he could manage. He was startled by how good the impersonation was. To his ears and memory, it sounded exactly right.

Ogre hesitated, stamping. Stephen repeated the command, and the beast tossed his head before—with a steely glint in his eye—he began trotting after Angel.

Together, they raced through the orchard, whipping past Brother Ehan. The short fellow shouted something Stephen couldn't hear. Stephen ignored him; he didn't have time to go back, and there was no need to involve the closest thing he had to a friend in this mess. He had to reach Aspar. With the possible exception of Brother Ehan, there was no one else at d'Ef he could count on. The holter would never survive alone in his condition, and anyway, Stephen himself would be in danger for helping White.

They would have to flee together, and though he felt shame and failure and all of those things his father would see in this flight, he also had to admit that he was damned well ready to leave the monastery d'Ef. There was too much wrong here, too much darkness, and he wasn't equipped to deal with it. Furthermore, if the queen of Crotheny was in danger, it was his duty to warn her.

He halted Angel at the very foyer of the nave and leapt down, then rushed into the cool dark, hoping he wasn't already too late. Aspar lay where he had been, eyes closed and pale, but before Stephen was within five strides the holter's eyes flicked open and he sat up.

“What?” Aspar grunted.

“You're in danger,” Stephen said. “
We're
in danger. We have to go, and right away. Can you do it?”

Aspar's mouth pinched, probably around a caustic remark, but then he snapped his head in assent. “Yah. I'll need a horse.”

Stephen drew a deep breath of relief, surprised and gratified that the holter took his word so readily. “Ogre is just outside,” he said.

“You have weapons?”

“No. And there isn't time to find any.”

“Will we be pursued?”

“I'm sure we will.”

“I'll need weapons. A bow. Do you know where you can get one?”

“Maybe. But, Holter—”

“Go.”

Exasperated, Stephen sprinted back outside, remembering that a bow used for shooting at deer in the orchard was kept in the garden shed. He had never seen any other weapon at d'Ef, unless the butcher's cleavers counted. There must be an armory somewhere, but he'd never thought to discover it.

He nearly bowled over Brother Recard on the way out.

“Brother!” the Hanzish monk asked. “What's the matter?”

“Bandits,” Stephen improvised. “Maybe fifty of them, coming through the orchards! We'll need to defend against them. Ring the alarm.”

The monk's eyes went wide. “But why did you come in here?”

“Because I know the bandits,” Aspar grunted. “They may have followed me here. Outlawed cutthroats from beyond the Naksoks. Bloody-handed barbarians. They'll not respect your clericy. If you don't fight them, they take you alive and eat one eye while you watch with the other.”

“I'll ring the bell!” Recard said, already racing to do so.

“I'll get your bow, now,” Stephen said.

“Yah. The horses are outside? I'll meet you there.”

Stephen reached the shed and took the bow down from its peg, checking quickly to make sure the sinew was there and grabbing the quiver of eight arrows hung next to it. On the way back out of the shed, he noticed a swingle-blade leaning against the wall, the kind used for clearing underbrush. He grabbed that, too, and hurried back to the nave. He found the
holter outside, his face white and sweating as he tried to mount Ogre. Monks darted past him, going to the places assigned them in the event of an attack on the monastery, there to await orders from the fratrex.

The fratrex, who stood in the doorway of the nave, watched the holter mount with a frown.

Stephen approached warily. The fratrex shifted his gaze.

“Brother Stephen,” he asked mildly. “Are you behind this commotion? Why are you armed?”

Stephen didn't answer but handed the holter the bow and climbed upon Angel, keeping the swingle-blade in his hand.

“Answer me,” the fratrex said.

“Brother Spendlove is coming to kill this man,” Stephen said. “I will not allow it.”

“Brother Spendlove will do no such thing. Why should he?”

“Because he's the one murdering people in the forest, doing the blood rites on the sedoi. The same blood rites you've had me research.”

“Spendlove?” the fratrex asked. “How do you know that?”

“I heard him say it,” Stephen said. “And now he's going to murder the queen.”

“One of our own order?” the fratrex asked. “That's not possible, unless—” His eyes went wide, and wider still. He gurgled, spit blood from his mouth, and collapsed. From the shadows of the nave behind him, Desmond Spendlove stepped into the light, his men just behind him.

“Congratulations, Brother Stephen,” Spendlove said. “To spare this holter, you've killed the fratrex.”

Once again, Stephen's orderly world of assumptions collapsed around his ears.

“But I thought …”

“I know. Very amusing, to think this doddering old fool was at the bottom of anything. Did you ever think him wise?” He looked up at Aspar. “And you. I have friends looking for you. I suspect they will be happy enough with some token of your death. Your head, perhaps. And stop trying to string that bow, or I'll have you cut down right now.” He looked back at Stephen. “Brother, despite your trespasses, you can be forgiven.
Well, perhaps not forgiven, but certainly spared. You can still be useful.”

“I won't help you anymore,” Stephen said. He swallowed a hard lump of fear, but to his surprise he felt in his chest something stronger forming. “I won't betray my vows or my church or the people of my country. You'll have to kill me, too.” He raised his makeshift weapon. “I wonder if you have the courage to kill me yourself.”

Spendlove shrugged. “Courage? Courage is nothing. You'll see what happens to your courage when we cut you open. Not to kill you, mind you. Just to convince you of your worth. I'm afraid I can't merely release you to Saint Dun.”

Stephen tried to say something in return, but he faltered. Hands shaking, he raised the weapon.

“Ride away, Aspar White,” he said. “I'll do my best to keep them back.”

“I wouldn't get far,” Aspar replied. “I might as well die here as anyplace.”

“Then do me a favor,” Stephen said. “Stick that arrow of yours in my heart if they take a step toward me.”

“This is very touching,” Spendlove said. He suddenly bared his teeth, and Stephen felt something like a hot wind pass him. Aspar White gasped in agony and the arrow he was holding dropped to the ground.

“There,” Spendlove said. “And now …”

He looked down at a sudden movement near his feet. It was the fratrex, pushing himself up on his palms, reaching toward the wall of the monastery.

“Spendlove, betrayer, heretic,” the old man murmured, just barely loud enough to hear.

Suddenly cracks spidered up the stone walls of the nave, multiplying, and in an instant, with a gritting roar, the entire face of the building collapsed. Spendlove and his men vanished behind the rubble and dust.

“Ride, damn you,” Aspar shouted, even before the stones settled.

“But I—” Stephen started helplessly toward the collapsing building.

“Ride and we may live to fight later. Stay and today we'll die.”

Stephen hesitated an instant longer, then spun on his toe and leapt up on Angel's back. Together, the two men rode as if all the dark saints were at their backs.

As perhaps they were.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A MEETING

CAZIO RESTED HIS HAND on the pommel of Caspator and leaned against a pomegranate tree. The girl in the pool saw him, and with an audible gasp sank suddenly to her chin, which was disappointing. Though he'd only been teased by the view of her slim white body in the water, her neck had been shapely enough, and now even that was hidden.

He smiled and picked at her pile of clothes with the tip of his sword.

“Thank you,” he said, in a carrying voice, directing his face at the sky. “Thank you, Lady Erenda, patroness of lovers, for granting my wish.”

“I am not your wish,” the girl snapped angrily. “You must leave immediately, whoever you are.” She spoke with a lilt as foreign and exotic as the color of her hair. This girl was growing more interesting all of the time. Of course, she was also the first girl he had seen in weeks, since he and z'Acatto had accepted the hospitality of the countess Orchaevia. The countess preferred male servants, and the nearest village was a full day's walk. But here, only a league's ramble from the mansion, he'd happened on a bit of luck.

“And I am not your slave, lady,” Cazio replied. “I do not answer to your orders.” He waggled a finger at her. “Anyway, who are you to know what I do or do not wish? As I was walking along, just now, I said to our lady Erenda, ‘Lady, this world is full of ugliness and pain. It is a dismal domain of woe, and my trials have taught me to despise it. As a result, I, Cazio Pachiomadio da Chiovattio, who once loved life, now
weary of it. Lady Erenda—’ I prayed this. ‘—if you could show me but one instant of the most perfect beauty imaginable, just a single glimpse, I could find the strength to forge on, to bear the burdens a man such as myself is fated to bear.’ Only a moment later I heard the sound of this water, saw this pool, and in it the answer to my prayer.”

That wasn't entirely a lie. He had been hoping steadily for female company, but hadn't actually addressed the lady of love, at least not formally.

The girl frowned a little deeper. “Are Vitellian girls more stupid than the usual sort? Or do you think me dense because I am from another land?”

“Stupid? Not at all. I can see the intelligence in your eyes. You have, perhaps, been careless, to bathe in a pool frequented by highwaymen and other scoundrels of low repute, but I'm certain it's only because you don't know the area.”

“I'm learning it quickly enough,” the girl replied. “I've been here only a few moments and already I've met someone of ill repute.”

“Now you try to wound me,” Cazio said mournfully.

“Leave, so I may dress.”

“I cannot,” Cazio said regretfully. “My heart will not let me. Not until I know your name.”

“My name? My name is … Fiene.”

“An intriguing name.”

“Yes, and now you have it, so begone.”

“A musical name. Already my heart is singing it. From what distant land comes that name, lady?”

“Liery, you graceless oaf. Will you go now?”

Cazio blinked at her. “You're smiling at me, Fiena.”

“Fiene. And I'm not. Or if I am, it's because you're so absurd. And it's pronounced Fee-en-uh.”

“Don't you want to know my name?”

“You already said. Cashew, something like that.”

“
Ca
-tsee-oh,” he corrected.

“Cazio. Cazio, you must leave now.”

Cazio nodded and sat down on the gnarled root of a willow.

“Certainly I must,” he agreed. It suddenly struck him that the pile of clothes was a habit. “Are you a nun?” he asked.

“No,” the girl said. “I found one and killed her and took her clothes. What do you think, you lout, with the Abode of Graces right up the hill?”

Cazio looked up and around. “There's a coven nearby?”

“On the other side of the hill.”

“A whole house full of women as lovely as you? Lady Erenda must indeed be pleased with me.”

“Yes, you'd better hurry and court them,” Fiene said. “They're all quite naked as I am.”

“It would be a waste of time,” Cazio said, trying to sound mournful. “I've already seen the loveliest of them. I'd have to go up around that hill just to come back here. Which raises a question—why
are
you here? Something tells me you aren't supposed to be.”

“Are you a highwayman?” the girl demanded suddenly. “Are you a rogue?”

“I am at your command,” Cazio answered. “If you want a rogue, I can certainly be that.”