Shadowborn (Light & Shadow, Book 1) (6 page)

“
Get up,” the guard said,
roughly.

I said nothing. I could be as insolent as I
liked. I had learned, and bitterly,

that apologies and pleas got me nothing. But
then he said the only words that could have moved me from
exhaustion to terror. “I said get up. The Duke is here.” Despite
the pain, I turned my head as far as I could to look at the guard.
He was smiling in anticipation. “He wants to see the thief.”

Chapter 5

I was dragged from an icy cell and hauled up
the stairs to the courtyard, to be flung in a heap at the feet of
the Duke.

“
What is this? This is the
girl?” His voice was tinged with distaste. He did not even
recognize me, but I heard a strangled exclamation that I thought
was from Temar.

“
This,” the Lady said, with
her voice like ice, “is the girl you would have had study with my
Miriel. I told you that her low birth would show itself. She has
been stealing from my libraries.”

“
My libraries,” the Duke
said. His tone was mild, but his words cutting. Then it was as if
his mind caught up with him. “From the
libraries
?”

Few things in the world were more precious
than books. I knew; I knew that Roine’s collection of herb-lore was
her most prized possession. I knew that the library at the castle
was worth a small fortune. Books were so prized that I doubted
anyone other than the mayor and the priest in the village had ever
even seen one. To steal a book was a thousand times worse than to
steal a goat, or even a piece of the fine china the Lady dined
on.

The Duke crouched down beside me, his eyes
narrowed, and I breathed, through broken and cracked lips, the
words I had been repeating for days: “I put them back.” I felt the
tears start, trickling from behind eyelids that were almost swollen
shut.

The Duke did not say a word; he stared at
me, he looked directly into my eyes and I had neither the courage
nor the will to look away. His gaze held me fast. He did not
respond to my weak defense. I had learned that he kept his own
council. Still, I feared his silence. What was he thinking? That my
words were true, that nothing was missing? Or that I was lying, and
that I should be given a thief’s punishment: losing the thumb and
first finger on my left hand?

Borne on fear and pain, I drifted; the stone
under my cheek felt as soft as a cloud. I was lying almost on my
back, and I could mostly open my left eye, so I saw that the Duke
was staring at the Lady. I could not see her, but I knew from his
expression that he had asked a question, and she had not answered
well. Now he took a step forward, over my body, and I was one of
the only ones who could have heard his hissed words.

“
I told you that I wanted
her taught. How much time has she missed because of this
folly?”

“
Folly!” The Lady’s voice
rang out before she dropped to a whisper, terrified of his anger
and yet still defiant. “She is no scholar, she is a common girl.
She stole from me—“

“
From me.” His voice was
cool, impersonal. “And borrowed.”

“
She should be punished!
And she must be removed from the schoolroom. She is no fit company
for Miriel. For the Gods’ sake, the girl wears britches
and—”

“
Go,” he said, as if he
would not even argue with her. Whatever was in his eyes, she did
not argue; I could hear the swish of her gown as she fairly ran
from the courtyard. The Duke raised his voice. “And someone take
the girl to be tended to.”

Temar was the one who took me to Roine.
Roine, who was waiting in the shadow of the great doors. Roine, who
pushed her way through the crowd of servants to Temar’s side. She
called my name, and I could only blink, whisper words. After all
this time, it seemed all I could form my mouth to say was, “I put
them back.”

She shook her head and led Temar to her
tower, where he laid me on her big wooden table and the two of them
set to checking for broken bones. The wounds, thankfully, were
minor. One shoulder had been dislocated, but the bone was back in
its place now. There were the lingering effects of a concussion,
but not severe. Whether my lack of broken bones was due to pure
luck, or because the Lady had told her servants not to hurt me
seriously, no one could say. My clothes were stripped away, the
cuts cleaned, bandages applied, and then I was laid in my little
pallet bed while Roine brewed tea with herbs to help the pain, and
Temar went to find broth to restore my strength.

Roine would have had me rest for days, safe
in her tower, away from nobles and their fights, but the Duke did
not feel the same. The next morning, his guard came to the tower
with orders to bring me to the Duke’s study, and so Roine dressed
me and made a sling for me, and did not say any of the protests
that I saw in her face.

I did not say so, but I was glad enough to
have something to do. During the day I had been allowed in bed, I
kept my eyes trained on the wall and I repeated things to myself,
bits of knowledge I had learned from the books, a list of rooms in
the castle—anything to keep my mind from the thought of the
beatings, and the sound of my own voice: “I put them back!” Walking
provided more than enough distraction, if only I could keep myself
from thinking about why I was in such pain.

The Duke was working when I arrived, his
head bent over a stack of papers. There was only one lantern in the
room, and no fire; the Duke was economical. He looked up as I came
in, and his eyes measured me from looks to mind, in that way he had
of looking almost through a person.

“
What is the capital of
Heddred?” he asked me, without preamble.

“
Penekket. Delvard, once.
Sir.” I was fairly dizzy with the effort of walking.

“
And Ismir?”

“
Setnar, sir.”

“
What languages do the
people of Mavlon speak?”

“
Greater Common, High
Common, and Mav, which they call Fet, which means common in their
tongue.”

“
Why have the kings of
Heddred never conquered Mavlon?”

I considered; this was a trick question.
“Heddred has never conquered Mavlon, but does regard it as a
principality, on the grounds that the two royal families
intermarried and Mavlon no longer maintains a monarchy of its own.
Mavlon calls itself a free nation, but has never raised arms
against Heddred. Trade provides Heddred with iron and granite, and
Mavlon with food. The borders are not secured.”

After a moment, he nodded. “Adequate. Tell
me what else you have covered in your studies.” His eyes gleamed.
“Including the books you read from my library.”

I hesitated a moment, and decided that he
did not want an apology. There was nothing in the set of his face
to suggest that he was smiling, but I sensed that he might be, and
in any case was not displeased. “Reading and writing. History,
going back to the reign of Wulfric II, and forward to House Warden,
but only through Arthur. Algebra. Geography and trade. Noble
lineages. Sir.”

“
Why did you take the
books?” he asked, suddenly, and I was too afraid to do anything
other than tell him the truth.

“
I didn’t want Miriel to
laugh at me anymore, sir. And then I liked reading
them.”

He nodded, and his mouth tightened slightly.
“The tutor tells me that he was instructed to bring a list of your
errors to the Lady each day, and that she had you beaten. Is this
true?”

“
Yes, sir.” I trembled as
the words came out of my mouth. I was terrified that this man could
see right through me, but I thought perhaps I should have lied, and
told him that his sister would not do such a thing.

I did not need to worry. He just nodded; he
did not disbelieve me. “That will happen,” he said flatly. “Expect
it to happen. There are those who wish to see my plans thwarted;
they will act against you, as my tool.” His eyes bored into me,
entirely devoid of sympathy. “I expect you still to do every task I
set you, and do it well. As you did this time.”

Praise. I could not believe my ears. “Thank
you. Sir.”

He was already pulling his papers back
towards him, bending his head, as he said, “I will leave for
Penekket in five days. You and Miriel will accompany me.“ He did
not even look up again. “You may go.” I stood, shocked, staring at
him, but he did not acknowledge me and I did not have the courage
to speak. I backed away slowly, and just as I was about to turn to
the door, I saw Temar. He had been sitting at the side of the room,
and he was looking down at the knife he twirled between his
fingers. He would not look at me, either, and I thought that in
that moment, he looked as sorrowful as Roine always did. I
lingered, hoping that he would look up, but he did not—and I, still
terrified of the Duke, left with a little backwards glance at the
man who had changed my life completely.

It was late, and I was tired already, but I
could not go back to Roine’s tower. I knew she would ask questions,
with her eyes if not her voice, and I did not know how to answer
them. My mind was too much a muddle. Three months ago, I had been
plucked from the life of a nobody and given the education of a
noble; in the past days, I had wondered if I would die without ever
again seeing sunlight. Now, in less than a week, I would leave the
only home I had ever known, to travel to the Court. The world,
which had seemed dizzyingly strange in the past weeks, rocked
sideways once more. I could hardly understand it myself, let alone
explain it to Roine.

So I went to the walls. The steps were a
trial, and I could not put out my hand for balance. It was coming
up on spring, but the nights were still deathly cold. The icy wind
chilled me to the bone, and at that moment I was glad of it. This
felt like home, up on the walls with cold that stiffened my fingers
and ached in my throat as I breathed in. I had a sudden wash of
homesickness, for the very place I was. I had learned about
Penekket, about the eastern plains. I knew I was going someplace
warm, green. This was one of the last nights I would have in the
place I called home.

As I struggled to the top of the stairs, I
heard a nearby clank and turned my head too quickly; the bones were
still re-setting, and pain made me dizzy. The dark figure reached
out a hand, and I recognized Aler, wrapped up warmly in a big
cloak.

“
Hello, little shadow.” He
held up his lantern. I didn’t answer, and so he only moved to swing
his cloak around me, warming me as he and I walked to the corner
tower. It was slow progress with my limp, but he made no mention of
it. In the scant warmth of the tower, more from lack of wind than
from the small brazier, he pulled out a chair for me, and sat in
one himself. I could see him looking me over, noting the bruises
and the sling but saying nothing.

At length he took a swig from his flask, and
passed it to me. I looked dubiously at it, and he said, “Drink up,
little shadow. Puts warmth in you.” I took a swallow, gasped, and
choked—my throat was on fire. Aler laughed and took the flask back,
and only smiled at my accusing stare. “Now, now, it’s none so bad.
You’re warm now, aren’t you?”

I laughed, a bit shakily, and tried to wipe
my eyes with my hand, but found that my muscles were trembling.
Laughing let out all of the emotion at once, in a rush, and I found
that the tears from coughing were soon replaced with tears I could
not control. Aler said nothing while I hiccupped and gasped over in
my chair, just patted my hand when I put it on the table.

“
Word is, the Lady gave you
a bad time of it,” he said quietly. I nodded, not trusting myself
to speak. “They say that sometimes, when a thing like that happens,
it’s best to tell it to someone. Chases the ghosts away from it.”
His voice was neutral. He passed me the flask and after a
hesitation, I sipped again, more carefully. Then I shook my
head.

“
I don’t want to tell it,”
I said. “I don’t want to remember it, ever.”

He nodded, and I turned my head away so that
he could not see my eyes. Since I had become so dubiously related
to Miriel somehow, none of the other servants would speak to me,
and Aler was the closest thing I had to a friend. I was afraid that
if I told him the truth, I would lose him, too. How could I say
that I did want to remember it, every moment of it, so that I could
give the Lady her due when the time came for reckoning?

I had underestimated him. Aler might not
have seen my face, but he knew, and he seemed to understand. He
sipped from the flask again, then handed it over without looking at
me; he was staring meditatively out into the night, along the
wall.

“
Some would say as there’s
no point in thinking on old scores,” he said. I looked over at him
silently, and he looked back. “Word is, lass, you and the Lady
won’t be staying here much longer. They say you’ll be leaving with
the Duke when he goes.”

I nodded. My homesickness had come back in a
rush and I bit my lip. Aler’s face softened a bit, but his words
were as cold as I had ever heard, even in his usual thoughtful
tone.

“
You want my advice, little
shadow? Just leave the Lady where she is. Leave her to the cold.
Let her rot here, knowing her daughter was sent away. That’s poison
enough.”

I thought of the Lady, sitting in here tower
rooms, staring out over the mountains, and I felt the most envy I
had ever known. A life of leisure, the pristine beauty of the
Voltur Mountains, a whole library at her disposal.