Shadowborn (Light & Shadow, Book 1) (3 page)

“
Be quiet,” the Duke said,
absently. He had leaned back in his chair and was studying me,
tapping one finger against his mouth. “What do you know of
politics, girl?” I stared at him mutely. I did not even know what
the word meant. “Do you know who your king is?” the Duke asked. I
shook my head. All I knew of the King was that he was the Boy King,
young and sick, and he lived far away in the East somewhere. “Do
you know the family of your Lady?” Again, I shook my head. “Can you
read, child?” the Duke was beginning to sound impatient. I shook my
head, wide-eyed, and he sighed. “Ignorant as a
pig-herder.”

“
She can be taught,” Temar
said pacifically. He looked at me. “Child, how many rooms are there
in the Castle?”

“
Four hands and three
fingers. And the courtyard.”

“
How many guard towers?” I
held up five fingers.

“
And the one down the
hill,” I volunteered. “It’s carved into the rock so you wouldn’t
see it, but you can hide there and there’s a chain to ring the
alarm bells at the castle.”

“
How do you know that?”
Temar asked. He had leaned forward, resting his elbows on his
knees, and he was staring at me.

“
I went exploring one day
and I found it through the tunnels.”

“
Interesting. If you needed
to hide two people in the castle, where would you do
it?”

I considered this question.

“
There’s a tunnel that goes
down into the rock.”

“
What if someone found
you?” Temar asked. “How would you escape them?”

I shook my head at him. “No one would find
us. I’m the only one who knows my way down there.”

“
You can never assume that
you are the only one with knowledge,” Temar said seriously. His
face was very grave. I stared at it, and found myself surprised by
how young he was, his face smooth and unlined in contrast to the
Duke’s grizzled scowl. It was a color I had never seen as skin
before, a warm brown like chestnuts, browner even than my skin had
been from sun and dirt before my forced bath. “If some other person
had explored those caverns, they could find you. And then you would
have nowhere to run, would you?”

“
No,” I admitted
grudgingly. I knew I had given the wrong answer, and for some
reason I knew that I did not want to look stupid. Not in front of
the Lady, whom I had found I hated; not in front of the Duke, who
terrified me; most of all, not in front of Temar, whose eyes were
so unexpectedly kind.

“
There are two main things
to consider when choosing a hiding place,” Temar said. “First, you
must choose a place that no one will think to look. Second, you
must have a plan for escape if you are found.” I looked up at him,
and found him watching me steadily. “Can you remember that,
Catwin?”

“
Choose a place no one will
think to look, and have a plan to escape,” I repeated promptly. I
wanted to make him proud, and I flushed when I saw him
smile.

The Duke snorted; he was clearly tired of
this interlude. “Listen, girl,” he said, and the moment was broken.
I looked over at him. “Temar thinks you can be taught. I have my
doubts. So. You will stay here for until my next visit. Lady
Miriel’s tutors will try to teach you the rudiments of a noble’s
education: that means reading, writing, geography, history—“

“
Miriel’s tutors?” the Lady
interrupted. The Duke had only to look at her for her to close her
mouth, but her eyes still blazed.

“
You will learn all that
you can—“ his tone indicated that he did not think this would be
much “—and when I return, I will be the one to test your knowledge.
If I am impressed with your progress, you will study with Miriel
for the next year, and accompany her when she leaves for Court. If
not, you will go back to scrabbling in the mud. Is that clear?” His
eyes bored into me. I wondered if this was a nightmare.

“
Yes, sir.” He smiled; I
was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he smiled for the express
purpose of terrifying people.

“
I do not like to be
disappointed, Catwin. Be warned.”

So eager was I to be gone from his cold
stare, and the Lady’s anger, that I hardly spared a smile for Temar
as I bobbed a bow and ran out of the room. I dragged the leather
bindings out of my hair and combed it free as soon as I was gone,
shaking my head around to feel the freedom of movement again. Anna
pursed her lips when she saw me, but said no more, only helped me
out of my borrowed gown and into a tunic and breeches once
more.

They were new, the fabric soft to the touch
and not a patch to be seen. There were boots of supple leather, to
go over thick woolen socks. I had never had such finery in my life;
my fingers traced the embroidery of the Duke’s crest on my
armband.

“
Why do I get new clothes?”
I asked Anna.

“
Hush,” she said shortly,
and she braided my hair back, just as tightly.

“
Ow!”

“
Be still. Act like a young
lady for once.” She would say no more, and I left her to go find
Roine, fear beating in my temples, making my pulse pound. It was
sharp terror, the fear of looking into the Duke’s eyes, and
confusion, the fear of some new world to which I should be a
part—and to which the Lady believed I should not belong. And it was
something softer, the sense that the world was changing, and I
could not know where it would settle.

Awkward in my new boots, I clomped up the
stairs to Roine’s tower, tugging at my braid with one hand. As I
approached the door, I heard voices, and I stopped. After a
moment’s hesitation, I slipped off my boots and carried them, and I
crept up the stairs to hover outside the door.

“
But why?” It was a man’s
voice, smooth and persuasive.

“
Because I am her guardian,
and I say so!” It was Roine’s voice. “Because I know her place is
here, where she is safe.”

There was a pause. “I think you know that
she will be safe nowhere,” the man said, and I recognized his
voice; it was Temar. “Not one such as her. You have only to look at
her to see it. And I hear there are rumors about her. Rumors about
prophecies.”

“
Her mother cast her out,”
Roine explained wearily. “She said that Catwin was born to be
betrayed.” I frowned in the darkness. We had not spoken of the
prophecy, she and I, since my childhood. I had forgotten it, the
whole castle had forgotten it. Roine had not.

“
Interesting,” Temar said,
and for all his city drawl, he seemed to mean it. Then he said,
thoughtfully, “Do you know, I think you have only half the
prophecy. Why, anyone could say they had been betrayed, if they
lived long enough. Are you sure there was no more to
it?”

“
That’s all there is,”
Roine said impatiently. “But do you not see why I would keep her
here? Here, a betrayal is nothing—a young man’s promise, perhaps.
But at court....”

“
Fate will pull her where
it wills, regardless of your doings. And the fates do not take
kindly to those who meddle. Mistress, you see it as well as I do.
She is a fate-touched child, and you must know that she was born to
more than this. You know she will seek it out one day. No, you
cannot keep her safe by keeping her here.”

“
She will be safer here
than at court! Nobles playing their games, and a rebellion against
the crown—and you would have me send her to the center of it all!
No. Perhaps there is no sheltering her, but I may at least
try.”

“
You would not be prevented
from doing so—the Duke would have you accompany us when we leave.”
There was a silence, and then Temar’s voice dropped. I crept
closer. “You could still look after her. And I would look out for
her, and all of her tutors. You know that even the Duke would, in
his way.”

There was a pause, and then Temar said, his
voice tinged with something I could not name, “You’re very well
informed for a healer at the edge of the Kingdom. The rebellion is
letters and murmurs in taverns. It can never come to anything.
Whoever told you of this rebellion, you should tell them that the
Duke won a battle against the army of Ismir—and he will not
hesitate to march south in the King’s defense. But no matter.” I
could tell from his voice that he was smiling, but I did not think
it was a nice smile. “Have Catwin prepared to leave in a year’s
time. I do not think she will fail at her lessons three months
hence.”

“
You must tell your
master…” Roine’s defiance was weak, and Temar spoke over
her.

“
You know that you cannot
prevent this.” He raised his voice, “Come out of hiding, little
one.” I froze. He could not have heard me, could he?

“
Catwin.” Roine sounded
weary. “Come out, child.”

Shamefaced, I opened the door and stepped
into the room. I knew that I should not have been listening, but I
could not contain my curiosity.

“
What were you talking
about?”

“
Your safety,” Temar said.
“Roine only wants to make sure you are safe, little
one.”

“
And Temar has assured me
that you will be,” Roine said.

I looked from one to the other of them, and
marveled at the strange world of grown-ups. They were telling a
story, a story that fit with the words I had heard, and yet it was
not the right story. Only a moment ago, they had been fighting; I
was sure that what I had heard was a fight. Yet now there was no
crack in their unity, not a flicker in their expressions to betray
the lie.

Later, I would remember that moment, the
concern on Roine’s face and the easy smile on Temar’s. I would
remember that although their expressions fit with their story,
their eyes were a blank as polished jet, and I would think that
perhaps I should have known the tell-tales of betrayal hanging in
the air.

But how could I have known? Here was the
woman who stood in a mother’s place for me, the woman who had fed
and clothed and nurtured me all my life. Here was Temar, the young
man who had singled me out and made something special of me and
defended me to the Duke, the man for whom I had the easy adoration
of a young child. How could I have suspected either of them—I, who
knew nothing of betrayal and intrigue, who could not have dreamed
the loyalties they held?

And so I, foolish child that I was, put it
out of my head, especially when Temar bent forward to look into my
eyes.

“
Catwin, I have a task for
you,” he said, and he smiled. “A little test, just between the two
of us.”

“
What is it?” I piped, as
if it mattered. As if I would not have said yes to anything he
asked of me. I took a moment to drink in the details of his face:
he was clean-shaven, with a smooth line to his jaw, and
dusky-skinned. His hair was cut short, and it fell fine and soft
around his face, as dark a brown as hair could be without being
black. His eyes were a true black, set above high
cheekbones.

“
I want you to follow the
Duke’s party every day that we are here,” he said, and he smiled.
“I want to you to learn as much as you can, and every night I will
come and ask you what you have seen and what you have heard. You
must not let anyone notice you as you do this.” Roine drew a
breath, as if she would speak, but when I looked to her she only
smiled at me; it did not reach her eyes.

“
But why?” I asked. “You
know everything the Duke does, you go with him
everywhere.”

“
Yes, that’s true. But I
want to see what you can learn. Try to make sure that even I do not
notice you.” I swallowed down a multitude of fearful questions, and
nodded. Temar

smiled at me. “Well, then, I will be back
tomorrow. Good night, Catwin. Good night, Mistress.” Roine nodded
to him, and it seemed as if he was gone in a moment.

Temar always moved quickly.

“
I’m glad you’re coming
with us to court,” I said, cautiously, to Roine. It was no lie—even
knowing that I might not go, were the Duke not sufficiently
impressed with me, even knowing that our departure would be over a
year hence, I was grateful beyond words to know that Roine would
come with me. But she came swiftly across the room to take my hands
in hers.

“
Neither of us are going,”
she said, her voice low and urgent. “I will not let them take you
away. It is to put you in the gravest danger—the Duke can do as he
wants with Miriel, but he shall not have you.”

“
But you said to Temar—“ I
protested, and she cut me off.

“
I let him think what he
would. But, Catwin, believe me when I say that the court is no good
place to be.”

“
Well, what do I do, then?”
I challenged her. I was angry—singled out by Temar one moment, and
the next moment denied the opportunity to make him proud. “Do we
just run away tonight? Do I go to my lessons with Miriel’s tutors?
Do I follow the Duke about?”

Roine chewed her lip, she was impervious to
my anger. “Yes,” she decided. “Do that for now. We don’t need to
run away tonight. We can find a way out of it before the Duke comes
back next time.”

Chapter 3

The Duke left two days later, having
concluded his usual business of hearing petitions, settling
disputes, and overseeing his holdings. He took his duties very
seriously, I learned, and when he worked on the business of his
estates, he applied himself wholly to it. When he listened to the
disputes of the peasants, his eyes were fixed on the petitioners,
his brow furrowed; his expression said that he would not take
kindly to being troubled for a little matter, but I saw that he
listened to each dispute fully, and decided fairly, even against
his own soldiers and retainers.