Fortress Draconis (3 page)

Hecouldn’t see what she was doing, given as how that eye had almost swelled shut, but he could feel it. His flesh tingled in the wake of her caress. Heat leaped from her hand into his face and he began to smile. He noticed itdidn’t hurt his cheek to do so, and then his right eye opened.

He looked up and saw a trace of pain pass over her features. “What? Ididn’t do it. What’s wrong?”

She shook her head.“Nothing.”

Crow squeezed his right forearm. “She used magick to heal you, and it’s not without a cost. She took the pain of your healing onherself .”

Will blinked.“But why?”

Charity smiled at him. “For what you will do, in thanks.”

“What I will do?” He frowned and looked at Crow. “What does she mean?”

The man shook his head. “It’s too soon to worry about that, Will. Just get yourself outside of that stew, thenwe’ll see if you can have the lend of a bed. Thank you, Charity.”

Will stared after her as she walked away. “Not going to have her do my leg?”

“And have you able to run?” Resolute laughed mirthlessly. “You’ll be fine to sit a saddle tomorrow.”

Amends’ head came up. “You’re not leaving tonight?”

Resolute studied his mug of ale.“Done enough for one evening.”

“But this is important. If you don’t get him there …”

Crow raised a hand to stop the discussion. “Good Amends, forgive us. Resolute would prefer not to insult me, but these old bones need sleep before I can head out.”

The red-haired Vorquelf blushed from his throat to the tips of his pointed ears. “Forgive me, Kedyn’s Crow. I meant no offense, it is just…”

“Don’t worry yourself, Amends.” Crow chuckled lightly. “I vowed to see to the liberation of Vorquellyn in my lifetime. You should rejoice that my age means that event is going to be sooner rather than later.”

“If people will let us be about our duty.”Resolute shook his head quickly, spraying a little water from the strip of white hair running from his forehead to the nape of his neck. “Now leave us alone or make yourself useful ordering up roadbread and drymeat for us.”

Amends nodded solemnly.“Of course, of course.You’ll be leaving when? Dawn?Noon?”

Crow shrugged.“Dawn if the rain breaks,noonif it doesn’t. No one wants to ride in the cold wet too long.”

“Of course not, no.”Amends tapped a finger against his lips. “Reason, Sagacity, round up some supplies for them, see if you can find clothes for the… manling.”

Two other Vorquelves left their tables, pulled on oilskin cloaks, and vanished into the night. It surprised Will that they moved so quickly to Amends’ orders, since hedidn’t look nearly strong enough to be their leader. As much as Willdidn’t like Predator, he figured Predator would have been able to whip Amends easily.

That was the way of things in the Dim, after all. The strong ruled. Predator would have been on top until someonelike Resolute decided to topple him. Marcus had been supreme until the Azure Spider went on to greater glory.After that, even Scabby Jack and Garrow challenged him.He’s got nothing —‘ceptfor me, that is.

Amends stared down at Will again, his face closing up. “I pray he is the one. Gods speed you on your journey. And good luck to you, William.”

Will looked up from his bowl, the dripping spoon halfway to his mouth. “I’m not William.” He glanced from side to side, reading shock on all three faces. “I’m just Will.”

Resolute set his mug down and cocked an eyebrow at the boy. “Will?Nothing more? Why are you blushing, boy?”

“No reason.” Will frowned and looked back into his nearly empty bowl. “I’m Will.”

“You’re certainly stubborn,Will‘’ Crow’s voice came easily, lightly, with a touch of friendliness to it. ”You’veforgotten, I think, what Resolute and I saved you from.You’ve forgotten what Resolute has trusted you with. You’ll trust us with your name, won’t you?“

Willlowered his spoon to the bowl again. “You’ll laugh.”

The man shook his head.“No, not at all.”

Will snarled and pointed his spoon at Resolute. “He will.”

“Better me laughing, boy, than having to get it out of you my way.”

That sent a shiver down Will’s spine.“Just this once.” His eyes narrowed and he waved the spoon back and forth like a dagger. “My name is Wilburforce.”

Resolute and Crow gave no sign of their reaction to his name, but Amends exhaled loudly. “Oh, yes, yes; perfect. Thus ends one debate.”

Willfrowned at Crow. “There’s a lot here you’re not telling me.”

“There will be time, on the road, to answer your questions.”

Will licked the spoon off and brandished it again.“On the road to where?”

Resolute snorted. “Does it matter to you? It’s away from here.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go.”

“It’s not like you have a choice.” The large Vorquelf smiled carefully, wrapping one massive hand over a scarred fist. “You’re going, Wilburforce.”

Crow waved away Resolute’s comment. “Think of it as an adventure, Will. Who among your friends has been to the mountains? We’ll go there, see a friend, then you can come back here if you wish.”

“I don’t know.” Will tried to keep his face impassive, but his voice rose a bit at the end, and a nervous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He swiped a sleeve over it to hide it. No onehe’d known had been out of the environs of Yslin, save maybe Marcus, and Marcus had never been to the mountains.

A fitting first adventure for Will the Nimble?

“I’ll get to ride a horse?”

“Several.”

Will nodded and scraped at the bowl with his spoon. He recalled well the tales of children snatched from the streets never tobe heard from again, but the wariness engendered by those tales faded. The kindness in Crow’s voice, the insistence in Resolute’s, and the warmth of the bag pressed against his ribs, those three things in no way suggested he’d be safe on the trip, but they did tell him he had nothing to fear from his traveling companions.

Besides, the little hint that there might be danger—and he’d picked that up from dozens of things, not the least of which was Resolute’s not telling Amends about the leaf— sent a thrill through him.He’d grown up in the roughest part of Yslin. There was nothing in the wilderness he was going to fear.

“Okay,” Willsaid . “To the mountains we’ll go.”

Resolute and Crow led the way up the stairs and along a corridor to a room at the back corner of the inn. The rain beat a steady tattoo on the tile roof, which Willdidn’t find unusual. The fact that the roofdidn’t leak did surprise him, however, as did the size of the room. It fit a big bedand a chest of drawers, with a little side table and spindly chairs in the corner. A candle burned on the table, and one of the chairs creaked mightily as Resolute sat in it.

Crow hung the wet cloaks up on the pegs behind the door,then nodded toward the bed. “Go ahead, Will. Strip those wet clothes and wrap yourself up in a sheet.Can’t have you catching a cough.”

Will,having been raised in a pack of urchins, didn’t suffer from modesty. Wet clothes flew in all directions leaving him naked, when a gentle knocking came on the door. Crow answered it, and Will smiled at Charity through the opening. The Vorquelf blushed and turned her head, handing Crow a neatly folded parcel of clothes. Crow thanked her and closed the door behind her.

He tossed the clothes onto the bed. “There you go. You’ll want to get dressed.”

Will, holding the leaf-bag in his hands, blinked and looked up. “But it’s time for sleeping, right?”

Resolute snorted. “Not going to be getting much sleep tonight, boy. Get dressed.”

Crow had crossed to the window at the rear of the inn.“Looks clear.”

Sitting on the bed, Will pulled some oversized trousers on. “I don’t understand. You told Amends …”

The man stretched. “Amends does not understand much about our kind, Will, and accepts that the white of my hair and beard means I might as well reside in a grave. It’s useful to let him and others assume I’m capable of a bit less than I am.”

“We told Amends what we wanted him to hear, boy.” The Vorquelf tossed Crow his cloak. “By now the story is circulating that we found you and that we’ll be leaving tomorrow. In themorning this place will be filthy with people.They’ll be here to see you. Most of them will want you to succeed. A fewwon’t . And a couple will want you dead.”

Crow shrugged his cloak on. “I’m not sure about the last, Resolute.”

The Vorquelf scratched at the back of his neck with a big, scarred hand. “You know there are those who think we’re fools, the two of us. They think we might anger the enemy, and that appeasing her by informing on us might be the quick way to get Vorquellyn back.”

Willpulled a dry woolen tunic on. “What are you talking about?”

The Vorquelf’s lip curled up into a snarl. “What do you know of the world, boy?”

“I know a lot.”

“Tell me.”

Will hesitated for a second,then looked over at Crow, who gave him a reassuring nod. “Well, I know that Augustus is king because he beat Chytrine’s army a long time ago.

That’swhere he found Queen Yelena.And I know the Vorks don’t have a home because Chytrine kicked them off it. I knowall about the Azure Spider and how he stole the heart of the Wruonan pirate queen, Vionna . I mean, I know more about him, butthat’s one of the best stories I know.And , and… I know that the smith down onSouth Street is carrying on with the wife of the baker onSparrow Road.“

Resolute’s head came up and his expression softened. “That’s it, that’s all you know?” He swung his left fist around and slammed it into the wall, cracking the plaster. “It’s impossible, Crow. If he’s the one …”

“Calm yourself, my friend. You know as well as I do that neither of us knew the Azure Spider was on Wruona.” The man laid a hand on Resolute’s shoulder and smiled. “If Will’s the one, it’s our job to educate him.”

“Crow, in another lifetime I couldn’t teach him enough.”

“It’s not that dire, Resolute.” Crow looked over at Will. “What do you know of thesullanciriV

The youth shivered. “Everybody knows about them. Everybody thought they were heroes but that’s not true. They wanted to have King Augustus use his army to take over the world, but he chased them off, all ten of them, the treacherous dogs. They ran away and went to Chytrine and fed her their souls. She gave them magickal powers and everything. They’re led by the Norringtons, father and son, just as they were led back in the time of the war. All of them are there except the one who betrayed them.”

The Vorquelf nodded slowly. “Do you know their names?”

“Heard a couple, maybe. Ganagrei, Nefrai-kesh—he leads them. Not good to mention them because you might bring them.”

Crow nodded. “It’s wise to be cautious.”

“Well, I’m wiser than they were, that’s for sure.” Will snorted. “The traitor, Hawkins was his name, he was the one who talked them into leaving Augustus. He fooled them all, you know. He lured them north, sabotaged their mission, then lost his nerve when he met Chytrine and she wanted to reward him for his work. He ran away, then tried to cover up for his evil. King Augustus had once called him a friend, but he banished him. I heard a story that he threw himself into theCrescentSea , killing himself before others could hunt him down. He serves Tagothcha, shooting harpoons into ships with a magick bow, dragging them down.”

The youth smiled. “I bet he killed himself because you two were hunting him. He knew he couldn’t escape justice, right?”

Crow’s face closed and Resolute’s fist hit the wall again, but not as hard. Still, little bits of plaster rattled to the floor. Both of them seemed numbed by what he had told them. The ferocity they’d showed in combat, the confidence they’d displayed talking to Amends, had drained away. Crow suddenly looked old, the fire in his eyes dulled.

“Was I wrong?”

Resolute’s eyes had widened in the sort of dismay a child experiences when a cherished myth is exploded.

Will shivered. “Um, you asked. I told you, but youasked?

Crow recovered himself first, and nodded slowly. He kept his voice even and warm, despite the little bit of a quiver that echoed through his words. “You should understand, Will, that Resolute and I lived during the time of the last war with Chytrine. What you have told us does not match our memories. For the past quarter century, we’ve been looking for a way to fulfill a prophecy and defeat Chytrine. We’ve been so focused on what we were doing, we’ve missed how the history has changed.”

“What do you mean it’s changed? Chytrine is this evil woman who wants to take over everything.” The youth frowned. “She has all these monsters fighting for her, and thesullanciri, of course, and weapons like dragonels. The other armies didn’t kill her because she ran from King Augustus, and she’s been waiting to avenge herself. But you know that because you’re heroes. You two stop her. I have heard your stories sung by lots of minstrels.”

Resolute growled as his eyes narrowed. “A song is entertainment, boy, not a recitation of facts. It might make us heroes here in the Dim, but that means nothing in Hightown or the rest of the world.”

“What I told you isn’t right?”

“History’s a mosaic, boy, bits of the truth mixed with lies. Lies people had to tell, so they wouldn’t be afraid.” Resolute rubbed at his fist, brushing plaster dust from it. “Augustus did defeat an army and win a queen. That’s true. The rest of it, though … wishful thinking.”

Will picked up the leaf-bag and rubbed it. “What does that history have to do with me? Why would someone want to kill me?”

Crow held up a hand to forestall Resolute’s comment. “There are some things we cannot tell you, Will—until we know you need to hear them. It could be you’re just a thief who stole a leaf….”

The youth smiled.“ ‘Just a thief who stole a leaf,’ I like that rhyme.”

The man chuckled just a bit. “No surprise there, I think. If you are the person we hope you are, then we will eventually be able to explain everything to you. If you are not, a chance comment could doom the person whois the one we want. Do you understand?”

“I think so.” Will nodded and shoved his feet back into wet boots. “It’s like the story of the twin princes. They couldn’t let the one who had been raised away from the castle know who he was because folks wanted to kill him.” His head came up. “You’re not saying I’m a prince or anything, are you?”