Trial of Fire (48 page)

Andrew looked around as though he would get help, but everybody – even his mother – remained solidly silent. He bit in his lip for a moment, then chirped up – Aiden admired the boy’s courage – ‘Because he’s going to be able to work out what you’re going to hit next, and given enough time, we’ll end up on the wrong end of an ambush. There’s no point in fighting a war like this if your movements are entirely predictable.’

‘There is if at some point you
want
to be caught.’

Andrew came to a halt, eyes wide, but again, he didn’t back down. ‘Or … or if you want to make it look like you were following a pattern only so you could break it completely.’

Aiden could see Robert fighting hard to contain a smile, though he doubted anybody else but Jenn and Finnlay could read it. For some reason, Robert didn’t yet want Andrew to know how pleased he was. Instead, Robert nodded slowly, turning away again to stare at the forest, ending the conversation.

People took that as a perfect moment to move and soon all was activity as wooden bowls were washed off in the river and bedding was rolled out for the night. With the chores finally completed, Aiden looked around for Andrew and found him checking on the horses hobbled on one side of the camp.

‘Your questions are getting more interesting,’ he began softly, to give the boy warning of his approach. ‘Not to mention entertaining.’

‘Yes, well.’ Andrew shrugged a shoulder, turning back to the horse he was patting. ‘It never seems to make a difference. He’s never satisfied no matter how hard I try.’

‘Oh, so you want him to be satisfied?’

‘Doesn’t everybody?’

Aiden surreptitiously glanced over his shoulder to where Robert was seated beside Jenn, both of them talking and moving as though there was nothing going on between them. ‘He did say you fought well at the ambush.’

‘He lied.’

‘Oh?’

‘I … I froze. He had to save my life by killing a man. I didn’t do well at all and I wish he hadn’t said anything!’

‘But what about today?’

‘Today I did everything right, except—’ Andrew paused, then looked up to Aiden. ‘He keeps pushing me to use powers I don’t have, and then he gets annoyed when I fail. And tomorrow we’ve got another mission, and another for the day after that and you heard him tonight – one day he
wants
us to get caught. You know what that means? That he wants Kenrick to catch up with us so I can fight him.’ Andrew’s eyed turned dark, his voice quiet and hard. ‘How can I fight without—’

‘Sometimes,’ Aiden began carefully, ‘the answers are all there, right in front of us, at our fingertips the moment we need them. And other times, we don’t see the answers at all, until long after the question has become unimportant. No matter what other skills you have at your disposal, you will fight Kenrick with courage. Perhaps that is all it will take.’

Andrew turned to stare at him. ‘You don’t think Kenrick has courage?’

‘No.’ Aiden was utterly positive of this, if nothing else. ‘No, I don’t think he has any courage at all.’

*

Robert put his head back against the tree trunk, toyed with the palm full of pebbles he’d collected and began tossing them out into the darkness in front of Jenn, one by one. ‘And you’re sure it was Andrew? It couldn’t have come from anywhere else?’

‘Didn’t you feel something similar when we were under attack at Maitland? Isn’t that why you came back?’

‘Yes, but that doesn’t mean it was Andrew. But even if it is, I think you’re right – he has no idea he’s doing it. As a result, I don’t think we should say anything to him.’

‘I agree. Do you think perhaps this might be a sign that his powers are emerging?’

Robert sighed. ‘All we seem to be getting are signs, with very little substance. Whatever he has he needs to be trained to use it before he can expect any success in combat. You know that as well as I do.’

‘I remember …’ Jenn’s voice drifted off, with a smile in her tone, ‘I remember you telling me I was a sorcerer, how I wouldn’t believe you until you let me see your
ayarn.’

With a small laugh, he said, ‘Yes, I remember the headache afterwards.’

He listened to the night for a few moments, before looking aside at her, as if trying to burn her profile onto his memory. ‘Do you have any idea,’ he began softly, careful to keep their conversation private, ‘how much I hate being this close to you and not being able to touch you?’

‘And it’s so damned hard not smiling when you say things like that.’

‘Perhaps we should be mindspeaking?’

‘So people would wonder why we were sitting so close without saying a word?’ Jenn shook her head. Robert could feel the movement faintly against his shoulder, where it met hers.

‘Well, we could always just tell everyone. At least that would give us a modicum of privacy.’

‘A modicum is all it would give us. Unless there are walls in this forest my eyes are unable to see.’

‘Trust me, if there were, I’d be taking you behind one now—’

‘Robert!’

He took the opportunity to laugh, and knowing she was sitting beside him laughing as well was enough for the moment to do without that privacy. And when the laughter had gone, he said, ‘You haven’t demanded that I leave your son alone.’

Jenn was quiet a moment before replying, ‘Would you prefer that I object?’

‘You weren’t happy when I took him.’

‘And what would you have done if I’d done the same to you?’

‘I just wanted you to know that I had noticed, nothing more.’

‘In that case, thank you for noticing.’

‘Is that all you want to say?’

‘Aloud, yes.’

There was a crunch of pebbles from behind as Finnlay approached their spot. He stood before them, hands on his hips, staring out into the night as they had done. Then he turned and crouched down, his expression open and entirely smug. ‘I thought I should come over and disturb the peace before anybody else noticed how much there was in this corner.’

Robert sniggered and Jenn elbowed him.

‘Do we,’ Finnlay continued, his voice a little louder, ‘have another early start in the morning?’

‘Not too early,’ Robert replied, bringing his knees up to clasp his hands around them. ‘Our next mission is not until the day after and the distance isn’t too great. Besides, I have another training session with Andrew at dawn.’ He deliberately didn’t say any more about that. The less these two knew about what he was doing the better.

‘So, it’s the water wheels at Dunfress? And after that?’

‘After that, we’ll see. It’s not a race, you know.’

‘Oh? Then what is it?’ Finnlay had a sparkle in his eye, but his question was serious.

‘Come, Finn, don’t start claiming you don’t approve of my methods.’

‘I’ve
never
approved of your methods, brother – and if you haven’t noticed that by now, then obviously I wasn’t arguing loudly enough.’

‘Oh, trust me, you were.’ Robert watched Jenn, who had her head back, her eyes half closed and studying the stars. In profile, she looked almost more beautiful than he could bear.

He tore his gaze away when Finnlay cleared his throat. Duly chastened, Robert addressed himself to Finnlay’s next question.

‘And what do you think that was all about today, with the Malachi?’

Ah, yes, the Malachi. ‘Do you think they saw us?’

‘How could they not?’

‘They definitely saw us,’ Jenn added.

‘So maybe they were running from us,’ Finnlay said.

‘Yes, perhaps,’ Robert agreed. Or perhaps they were trying something else infinitely more dangerous. Without thinking, his gaze shifted and turned, sweeping across the camp to where Micah lay on his bed, curled up on his right side so the cut on his face wouldn’t get dirty. And in the darkness, his sight, enhanced so much by his powers, could see everything so clearly.

Micah had his eyes open, and he was staring directly at Robert.

There was somebody there, in the darkness, where the flames were worst. He couldn’t see who it was, but there was danger flooding across the floor, splitting the burning boards, shaking the ground beneath their feet. He looked up, but his mother couldn’t see. Her blue eyes were pasted white, as blind as the night. He reached up to take her hand, but it was cold and unmoving. The fiery shadow drew closer and, terrified now, he began to shake her, to make her wake up, to make her open her eyes and—

Andrew woke with a gasp. He sat up, but there was no enemy sneaking into the camp, no attack happening around him. For a moment longer, his blood pounded hard through his body, then with a silent sigh, he sank back down. He rolled onto his side again to watch his mother. She lay peacefully asleep. He could see her small movements, and if he listened hard enough, he could hear her breathing.

So she was fine. She was alive. He didn’t have to worry. He didn’t have to fear.

He closed his eyes and did his best to go back to sleep.

*

‘Again.’

Andrew closed his eyes and swung the staff. Late into the swing, he finally hit the tree and the unexpectedness of the collision jarred his elbows. He opened his eyes, frowned at the trunk, stepped back and started again.

‘What are you doing now?’

‘Trying again.’

‘Why?’

Andrew opened his eyes. Robert was standing to his right with his arms folded, his gaze driving straight through Andrew the way it always did. There was no way that Andrew could read what was expected of him next.

‘Because I didn’t do it right the first time. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?’

‘Why didn’t you do it right the first time?’

‘I don’t know. I just—’

Robert moved forward and snatched the staff away from him. Without pausing, he closed his eyes, turned three times and immediately swung at the tree, hitting it squarely six times in a row. He then turned again, stepped to his right, turned a second time and again struck the tree right on the mark. Done, he opened his eyes and tossed the staff back at Andrew. ‘Always know where you are. Your surroundings are going to change, everything in your life is going to change. If you don’t know where
you
are, you’ll just get lost every time you turn around. Now, try again and this
time, know where you are.’ The words emerged with a fine edge to them, spoken in the early morning before even the birds had awoken. Dawn was about to break, however, and although they were some small distance from the camp, their privacy and quiet wouldn’t last much longer.

How was he to know where he was? What did that mean? And what was the point in trying? Even if he did get it right, Robert would never say so, would never deign to praise him. He’d just come up with some new task even more impossible and still expect Andrew to do as he was told.

‘Are we going to wait until Caslemas before you make another attempt?’

Andrew grunted and got back into position. ‘I was just working out where I was.’

‘Oh?’ Robert murmured. ‘And where would that be?’

Andrew didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and tried to remember where the trunk was. This really shouldn’t be that hard considering it hadn’t moved.

And then he saw it, bright red flashing in front of his eyes, even though they were closed. It flashed again and before it could move, he swung, hitting it squarely. He swung again, hitting it from the other side. Triumphant, he opened his eyes and turned to Robert.

‘And what, you’ve killed it, have you? With those two blows?’

‘Damn it,’ Andrew tossed down the staff, ‘you’re never satisfied! Nothing I do ever pleases you!’

‘Why are you trying to please me?’

‘What?’ Andrew stared at him disbelieving. After everything – he could ask a question like that? ‘You’re the one who keeps testing me, keeps giving me all these skills I have to learn. And why? So that when I fight Kenrick I will have a better chance at winning?’

Robert came closer, his voice low and menacing. ‘Would you rather I stand by and let you get killed?’

‘I’d rather I didn’t have to fight him at all!’

With one eyebrow raised, there was mockery written all over Robert’s face. ‘Don’t you get tired of repeating yourself? I certainly do.’

Fury flooded through Andrew then, making his heart pound dangerously. He wanted to lash out, to hit Robert, to wipe that smug smile off his face, to stop him from
pushing
all the time – but if he did—

He bit his tongue, forcing it back so he could swallow his fury down.

‘See,’ Robert continued, shaking his head, ‘that’s the part I find so difficult to master. I always find it much easier not to get angry in the first place, but to be honest, to get angry and then not do anything about it is simply a waste.’

‘You want me to get angry?’ Andrew gaped at him. ‘Why? So you can
laugh at me? So you can tell me exactly how bad my swordsmanship is when I lose my temper? Why am I listening to you?’

‘Because I know more than you do.’ With that, Robert turned and picked up the staff. He held one end and swung the other slowly, turning until it pressed against Andrew’s stomach. ‘You need to stop asking me questions and start asking them of yourself. For instance, why do you want to please me? Surely you should be pleasing yourself. And another – why do you try so badly? Every test I give you ends in failure. Is that because you’re afraid to succeed? Or is it that you go into it expecting me to be disappointed? And lastly.’ Robert pressed until Andrew stumbled back and fell onto the ground; he then dropped the staff and stood over Andrew like a nightmare. ‘Lastly, what is it about fighting Kenrick that scares you so much, eh? Is it really because he’s your cousin?’

‘I don’t want to—’

‘Don’t,’ Robert silenced him. ‘I’m not forcing you to fight him, Andrew. You’re free to go any time you like. But I don’t see you running away.’

Stunned, Andrew couldn’t move for a moment. Then Robert stepped back. ‘Go and help prepare breakfast. We’ll practise again tomorrow morning.’

Andrew scrambled to his feet, his face red with – he didn’t know what. He grabbed the staff, his fingers clenching around it. He wished he could break it in half, wished he dared swing it and, and … But Robert would kill him if he tried. Robert would break
him
in half. There was one weapon he could use, though.