Queen (Brotherhood of the Throne) (24 page)

“I think so,” she said, then paused.
“If everyone stays under the tarp I only have to hide the wagon. Can we move
the horses out of sight?”

“Yes,” Dasid replied. “We’ll stake
them downwind.”

“How long will I need to keep the
spell up?”

“At least two hours, maybe more. Though
we haven’t seen one we have to assume they’ll have scouts we’ll need to hide
from as well. And Brenna,” Dasid said. “I’ll need all my energy in case we need
to fight our way through this. You’ll have to draw from Gaskain. You should
contact him and let him get ready.”

 Brenna nodded and reached out
through the old steel. After so much time denying it, the power surged to her
and she felt her awareness expanding in all directions. Quickly, before she
could be tempted to search for Kane, she focused her awareness on Silverdale.
Gaskain’s sword shone bright and she contacted him.

“
Gaskain, it’s Brenna
,” she
called.

“
I’m here
.” Gaskain’s voice came
loud and strong through the old steel.

“
I need you to be ready. In an
hour or less I will need to draw strength from you. Find a safe place for
yourself
.”

“
I’ll be ready
.”

She cut the connection. She felt guilty
for not explaining anything to him but there wasn’t time and she needed to conserve
her own energy. There was no way to know how draining the altitude would be to
her. Keeping the wagon and men invisible for hours would take a lot of power
and the more she used now the more she’d need to take from Gaskain.

The wagon was pulled up right along
the edge of the trail. Most of the men were huddled inside, covered by the tarp.
Brenna was only going to spell the wagon. The men were not to move or lift the
tarp unless they needed to fight. If that happened it meant that hiding had
failed - Brenna would drop the concealment spell and use other magic to try to defeat
Thorold’s militia.

Dasid and Wils would remain
mounted. The rest of the horses had been hidden in a small thicket downhill of
the wagon.

Brenna lifted her hand and whispered
– a small wind lifted the trampled grasses beside the wagon the soft dirt
evened out, eradicating their footprints from the trail. She then sent the wind
back up the trail, swirling it gently as far as she could. Brenna looked over
at Dasid, who nodded. She’d done what she could to erase their tracks.

Brenna walked over to the wagon and
sat down cross legged in front of it. Now she would contact Gaskain.

“
Gaskain
,” she called. “
Are
you ready
?”

“
I’m ready
,” came the reply.
“
Neemah says hello
.”

“
She made it back already?
That’s good news. I’ll let Dasid know. I’m going to link to you now
.”
Concentrating, Brenna reached out and connected with Gaskain’s sword. Gently,
she drew some of his power into her. With the link still intact she recited the
invisibility spell and pushed the magic outward to surround the wagon. When she
looked behind her the wagon had disappeared and the fall colours were muted.

“
Dasid
,” she called. “
It’s
done
.”

“
Good. Now we wait
.”

Brenna uncrossed her legs and
stretched them. It had been at least an hour and her legs felt like lead. She
tapped into the link to Gaskain every ten minutes or so for a little more
energy but even with that her breathing was becoming more labored. She reached
into her pack, pulled out one of her last libo nut and popped it into her. She
hated being weak - they couldn’t be more than two days to the coast and here
she was still suffering from altitude sickness. She leaned back on her hands,
trying to get more comfortable.

She felt them a few moments before
she heard them. A steady rumble that vibrated into her palms. Brenna sat up and
contacted Dasid and Wils.

“
They’re here
,” was all she
said. Then she drew a little more strength from Gaskain and repeated the invisibility
spell. Thorold’s men looked almost ghostly to her as they came into view, the
spell colouring the men and horses a dull grey. She tensed as they filed past
the meadow, the eyes of the men flitting from the trail to the meadow and back
again. One of their horses nickered and Brenna held her breath, hoping that
there was no response from their own horses. Nervous, she pushed more energy
into the spell, hoping to somehow muffle any response.

Then they were past. She sighed
with relief, her shoulders slumping. Another hour, that’s what Dasid had said.
Brenna lay down in the grass and reached out to the energy that she was drawing
from Gaskain. She gasped. No longer a small trickle, it was a torrent of power.
She tightened her hold on the power and tried to direct some of it back to him,
but it was no use. She didn’t know how to put energy back, only how to draw it
out.

In panic, Brenna severed her
connection with Gaskain and felt the invisibility spell waver. She pushed more
power into the spell then tried to contact Gaskain again.

“
Gaskain
,” she called. He
had to be all right, she couldn’t have taken all his energy, she couldn’t have.
“
Gaskain!
” she called again, franticly - there was no answer and she
could not locate his sword, the sword that until a few minutes ago had been one
of the brightest on her internal landscape. She searched for it again but she
couldn’t find it – it wasn’t there.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and
looked up to see Dasid kneeling beside her.

“I’ve killed him,” she whispered.
“I’ve used too much of him and now I can’t find him.”

“Too much of whom?” Dasid asked.

“Gaskain. I didn’t mean to but I
was worried about the horses and I took too much of his energy.” She looked up
and saw grief flash briefly across his face.

“Come on. You can’t do anything
about that now.” Dasid rose to his feet, pulling her with him. “The spell has
faded and we need to move out right away.”

She stood unsteadily and leaned
into him, tears in her eyes.

“We don’t know for sure that he’s
dead but Gaskain knew the risks.” Dasid placed his hands on her shoulders and peered
into her face. “Brenna, he’s a soldier. He would think it worth it if he died
to protect and save you. That’s what he pledged. Why don’t you sit over here
while we get the wagon ready to go. Pater,” he called out to the old man as he
emerged from under a tarp. “Bring a blanket for Brenna would you?”

Brenna let herself be steered to
the base of a tree. She sat down and felt a blanket being wrapped around her
shoulders. The meadow was bright with the late afternoon sun but she didn’t
feel it. Instead she felt cold, totally numb. How could she have used Gaskain
so thoughtlessly, how could she have taken his gift and trust and so misused
him? Now he was dead because of her. She was no better than Thorold. Using
people for her own ends and discarding them when they were no longer useful.
Silently, Brenna sat. Eventually they came and helped up onto the wagon seat
beside Pater. It was nightfall before she paid any attention to her
surroundings.

They would reach the coast the next
day, Dasid said, but Brenna hardly cared. For the past two nights she’d lain in
her bedroll and searched and searched for Gaskain but she hadn’t found him. She
knew why. He was dead - she’d killed him and she hated what she’d become. Duke
Thorold’s blood ran in her veins and no matter that she’d told Beldyn
otherwise, she now knew she couldn’t escape it. Once they reached Langemore she
should simply disappear. It would be a blessing to the people of Soule - far
better than being ruled by her.

“Brenna,” Dasid said.

Dully, she looked up to find him
standing over her with a plate of stew in his outstretched hand.

“Have something to eat. Then we
need to contact Kane.”

Brenna took the plate from him, set
it down in front of her and watched Dasid head back to the fire.

She’d been placing her bedroll
farther from the fire each night and tonight there were a good twenty paces
between her and the flames. But she didn’t feel cold. She didn’t feel anything.
She pushed the stew around on the plate before picking a chunk of potato from it
and flinging it into the darkness.

She’d learned the first night that
if it didn’t look like she’d at least eaten a little that both Dasid and Pater
would stand over her while she ate. But she felt no hunger and food tasted like
dust in her mouth. All she could think about was how much like Duke Thorold
she’d turned out to be, how she’d become so willing to use people and discard
them when she was finished with them. It went against everything she had ever
learned from her mother. If she’d had the energy she would have taken both the
coronet and the mortar and pestle and buried them deep in the forest. Let them
wait for the real prophesied one because it wasn’t her, she had too much of her
grandfather in her.

“All right lass,” Pater said as he
sat down beside her. “Dasid and I, we know yer hurtin’ cause of what ye think
happened to Gaskain, but yer needed here.” Pater gently took the plate of stew
from her and placed it on the ground. She felt one callused hand on her chin as
he tilted her head to look at him.

“It’s not yer fault, Brenna. Gaskain
knew what might happen and he agreed anyways. He was Brotherhood, like me. I’d
be proud to give my life to help save yours. Besides, we don’t know fer sure
he’s dead.”

“I know he’s dead,” she said. “I’ve
looked and looked for him and there’s no sign of him. I killed him.”

“Well, if he is dead, ye didn’t
mean it and ye can’t change what happened,” Pater said, turning her head back
to face him. “And he knew the risk. I’ve come to tell ye that Dasid’s gettin’ a
little worried about Kane.”

Surprised, Brenna sat up
straighter. Kane, what if something had happened to Kane? She’d been so
distraught about Gaskain that she’d forgotten to contact Kane.

“He didn’t want to tell ye ‘cause ye’ve
been so upset but it would help ease his mind if ye were able to reach Kane tonight,”
Pater said. “What do ye say, are ye up to it?” Brenna nodded numbly, already
reaching out to Kane. There, he was calm - he must be safe enough. She let her
awareness flow into his sword and smiled in spite of herself when she felt him
respond.

“
Brenna? Are you all right
?”
Kane asked. “
I was worried when you didn’t contact me
.”

“He’s all right,” she said to
Pater. “I’ve found him.”

“
I’m fine. We’ll reach the coast
tomorrow. How about you
?”

“
Eryl and I are safe for the
moment
,” he said and her heart lurched. “
We managed to minimize the fire
so that only a few buildings were lost
.”

As soon as he said the word fire,
Brenna was plunged back into her vision. Once again, she stood on a rooftop
watching the city burn.

“
The Crooked Dog, it burned,
didn’t it
?” she asked him.

“
Yes, just like in your vision.
No one was hurt badly and only a few buildings were lost. Brenna, I thought you
knew, I thought you sent me your vision so I could change things
.”

“
I don’t remember
,” she said
softly. “
But I’ve had this same vision a few times
.”

“
Whether you remember it or not,
you sent it to me and we acted on it and changed things
,” Kane said and she
could hear the smile in his voice. “
But we think Thorold knows I’m in Kingsreach
now - he won’t stop until he finds me
.”

“
Then get out Kane, get out now
.”
She felt panic rising at the thought of what Thorold would do to him.

“
A few more days, a week or two
at the most
,” he replied and there was such confidence and strength in his
answer that she relaxed. “
We still have some tasks to do, and I need to wait
until the gates are less well guarded. Now, if you have enough energy, I need
you to find Dasid. I have some information to pass along to him
.”

Kane leaned back against the wall,
his hand fingering the hilt of his sword. Something wasn’t quite right with
Brenna. He’d felt it immediately and Dasid had hinted at it, but it was difficult
when the person you needed to discuss could hear your every word.

“So how’s our girl?” Eryl asked
from where he lay on the pallet. “She got everything under control in Langemore
yet?”

“They’ll be on the coast tomorrow,”
Kane replied absently. “And they had a near miss on the trail with some of Thorold’s men but Brenna used magic to keep them hidden. I think she might be doubting her
abilities. She seemed distant tonight.” He thought back to her greeting. She’d
seemed relieved to hear from him but tired and lethargic.

“She’ll step up, no need to worry
about Brenna on that account,” Eryl said. “She’s probably just a little
homesick, is all.”

Kane smiled. “I hope you’re right.
I’d hate for her to have doubts and not tell me about them.” He leaned over and
pulled his boots off before he put his feet up on the bench. “Blow the lamp out
will you Eryl?”