season avatars 03 - chaos season (15 page)

“Gwen…” Spring should never know sadness, never look so forlorn. How could Gwen stand in the center of all the lush green life and yet look like everything lovely in the world had been shut away from her? Jenna longed to embrace her, fold her in her arms until neither knew where one ended and the other began. She held out her arms—and then remembered what would happen if she gave Gwen the communion they both craved. It would barely last a heartbeat before Gwen realized why it could never be.

The full import of Gwen’s words sunk in. “Not commit to you?”
O Four, she must remember. Why doesn’t she come straight out and accuse me?
Maybe she could bluster past this moment. Jenna turned to the closest bush and force-grew an out-of-season cluster of purple lilacs. Moths who had never encountered such flowers before fluttered around curiously. Once the cluster separated from the branch, she offered it to Gwen. “How many lives have we spent hand in hand already? We’ve been together longer than any married couple. How else do I have to prove I’m devoted to you?”

She pushed the flowers away. With her hands in gloves, the link didn’t form. “Things and fancy words are all you ever give me.” Her eyes seemed bigger and darker in the lamplight. “You know what I need from you, Jenna Dorshay t’Reve. Your heart, your soul.”

At her words, hope bloomed inside Jenna’s heart.

“Not just for me. For all of us.”

Hope drooped, just a little.

Gwen pulled off a lace glove and offered Jenna her bare hand. “Jenna, I know when we first met in this life, you must have thought I was nothing more than some arrogant noblewoman who knows better than you.”

You are. I still love you, faults and all.

“But however poorly you think of me, I hope to change that. Won’t you link to me, fully, so we can truly be the sister Avatars we were born to be?”

Her jaw dropped. Gwen blamed herself, not Jenna, for their problems with the link? Either that was very noble of her or very arrogant—perhaps a little of both. It would be so easy to let Gwen blame herself, but Jenna knew that wouldn’t help for long.

I should just tell her what happened. She’s bound to find out one season or another. If I apologize first, maybe she won’t be quite so angry at me. She’ll only give me a rash instead of constant pain….

“Jenna?” Gwen’s voice quavered in the silence.

The silence. When had she last heard an owl or cricket?

The two of them exchanged looks. Jenna reached out and touched Gwen’s still-extended hand with one of her fingers.
Something’s wrong.
The brief link wouldn’t allow either of them to delve into the real issue they faced, but Jenna meant it as a symbol for later. She hoped Gwen took it as such.

Gwen tilted her head, probably enhancing her hearing to the extent her magic allowed. “Riders, maybe? Coming to the One Oak?” She straightened. “Someone must need healing.” Fixing Jenna with a we’re-not-done-yet stare, she raised her skirts and ran back blindly the way they had come.

“Wait for me!” Jenna called after her as she followed.

The gardens were on the opposite side of the estate from the entrance, so Jenna had to run past the entire house. She gasped for breath when she reached the top of the driveway. Gwen already stood there, scarcely a hair out of place. Spring Avatars could be so annoying when their magic made them appear inhuman.

Several horses were coming up the drive. They sounded as if they were being ridden instead of pulling a carriage. Although no lights shone along the approach to the One Oak, the riders didn’t carry lanterns with them. Moonlight allowed Jenna to see their shapes. There were five of them, spread apart, not speaking.

Gwen stepped forward. “Welcome to the One Oak!” she called. “Who needs healing? Is the patient here or elsewhere?”

The party halted some distance away, too far for Jenna to make out any detail.

“Who’s there?” a man with a Selathen accent said.

“Lady Gwendolyn lo Havil, Ava Spring. Do you need my services?”

Jenna tugged at her sleeve. “Gwen, they’re Selathens!” she whispered.

“That doesn’t matter. The Four would want me to heal them too.”

“Why would Selathens seek us out for healing—or any magic at all?”

“Hmm.” Gwen frowned, but she didn’t move.

“We seek the Ava Fall,” the man replied. “Where is she?”

Jenna initiated the link by grasping Gwen’s still-bare hand.
By the Four, what if Ysabel’s father is one of them? Didn’t he promise her to Salth and Sal-thaath? We better do something!

Do you believe her father would dare leave Tradetown and travel all the way here, to the center of Challen, where the Four would protect us even if our magic is unequal to the task?

He’ll die if he doesn’t give an Avatar to Salth, Gwen.

Gwen sighed.
That’s what comes of worshipping other gods beside the Four.
Out loud, she said, “You’ll have to introduce yourselves first and tell us the nature of your business with the Fall Avatar.”

The spokesman pulled a gleaming pistol out and aimed it at them. “This is all the introduction we need, Ava.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Magic Against Pistols

“By All Four Gods and Goddesses, how dare you threaten us?” Gwen’s voice remained cool as winter, but her hand trembled. “Put that frozen weapon away this instant.”

The pistol wavered, as if the man wasn’t sure which one of them to target. However, two of his companions pulled out their own pistols and aimed at them. Jenna’s heart sank. Avatars weren’t bulletproof. Gwen could incapacitate the men if she could touch them, but they would never allow that to happen. Kay and Ysabel weren’t here to attack with weather or magically-enraged animals. What could Jenna do with her own magic?

The horses are nervous in the dark,
Gwen told her through the link. 
I can tell by the way they shift about.

Gwen knew horses better than Jenna did, but that seemed like no help—at first. What could Jenna do with plant magic to frighten horses? She glanced up.
Of course. The branches.

Gwen tilted her chin upwards, looking every inch the imposing noble. “Threatening the Season Avatars is a crime against Challen. You could get hanged for this. Be sensible and put your pistols away…”

While Gwen continued her attempts to make the Selathens stand down, Jenna cast her awareness into the trees, seeking dead or dying branches that could be spared—an impossible task in the height of Summer and at the One Oak. A big branch hung over two of the riders. If she brought that down, it could injure both men and horses, perhaps severely. Gwen and Ysabel would object, but their safety had to come first. Perhaps Jenna should use smaller branches first before resorting to the big one.

Sending a silent apology to the tree and a promise to tend to it later, Jenna broke several smaller branches off the big one. They hit one man on his shoulders and the other man’s horse on the muzzle. With a panicked whinny, the horse bolted toward the One Oak’s stable. A couple of other horses followed it. Selathen curses filled the air.

“Get down!” Jenna pulled Gwen to the ground before she could move on her own. A shot rang out, followed by the sound of shattering glass and a feminine shriek. Jenna wondered if anyone had been hurt. Gwen needed to get to safety before something happened to her. The house would be more defensible than their current location.

“This way!” she whispered, crawling toward the front door.

“No, we’ll be exposed, and the butler won’t let us in quick enough. Go around the back.”

Praying that the bushes wouldn’t rustle and betray them, Jenna followed Gwen. When they reached the corner, the front door burst open. “Who’s there?” Dorian demanded.

Kron pushed him aside. “Your weapons will no longer work here. Surrender before the Avatars turn their magic against you.” He smiled grimly. “Or before I do.”

A couple of riders who’d managed to retain control of their mounts started back down the driveway, but as soon as they’d gone a couple of yards, their beasts suddenly halted, planting themselves firmly in place as if Kron had turned them to stone. Either Sophia or Ysabel must have spoken to them remotely. The spokesman pointed his weapon at Kron, swearing even louder.

Gwen rose to her feet, wiping the dirt off of her hands and dress as if this was an ordinary stroll in the garden. Jenna reached for her to pull her back to safety, but she strode toward the leader, every inch of her screaming fierce determination.
You frozen imbecile, you’re going to get yourself killed!
Jenna scrambled after her, desperate to protect her.

“Are you the Honored Lathatilltin, the Ava Fall’s father?” Gwen asked the Selathen.

Even in the dim light, Jenna could tell he wasn’t. He was younger, perhaps in his early or mid-twenties. He shook his head, refusing to meet Gwen’s eyes.

Sophia and Charles came out of the house, along with Dorian and Kron. “By All Four, what’s going on here?” Charles asked.

“They want to kidnap Ysabel!” Jenna said before Gwen could.

“We don’t know that for certain—”

“They came at night and shot at the house, Gwen! That’s not how you invite someone to a harvest dance!”

Sophia sighed. “Gwendolyn, send them to sleep until we can sort this out.”

“I was about to,” Gwen muttered. The Selathen man, eyes wide with fear, shied away from her, but Jenna helped her hold the man’s arm long enough for Gwen to push his jacket and shirt up to touch bare skin. He slumped over his mount. The second rider dismounted and fled.

Jenna connected with oaks farther down the drive, searching for some way to impede the fugitive. The gate at the end of the road was iron, so she couldn’t affect it directly. She was unwilling to sacrifice a tree to block him, even if she could topple it in time. The gate clanged shut. Kron must have done it from a distance. If Dorian had used wind, the plants would have sensed it too.

“I’ll find the runaway.” Dorian stalked past Gwen and Jenna.

“Charles, find the butler and some servants to take care of this one and the others by the stable,” Sophia said. “The horses won’t cooperate much longer.”

Gwen remained outside until the servants brought the rest of the Selathens over to her so she could put them to sleep too. Jenna stayed with her for moral support and as a source of energy should she need it. All of the Selathens except for the leader were placed in the kitchen’s root cellar. At the butler’s advice, the leader was taken to the Spring parlor. Kay and Ysabel joined them there, with Ysabel peering past Kay at the stranger.

“I’ve seen him come to our house in Tradetown to meet with my father,” she said. “Does he have a silver watch with him? That’s the sign of a Salth-worshipper.”

“We can’t search him,” Sophia said severely. “That would be most improper.”

Kron took up a position near Ysabel. “It won’t be necessary. I can feel it from here.”

“Is it an artifact?” Gwen asked.

“Not like the ones I make. Salth has never been interested in that aspect of magic. The watch allows her to maintain contact with the bearers.” He frowned. “I’d better destroy it, just in case it has some nasty surprise bundled with it.”

Kron pulled out a silk handkerchief and draped it over his fingers. Going straight to the man’s breast pocket in his coat, he extracted the watch without touching it directly. He studied it for several heartbeats before saying, “I’d better take this to my workshop.”

“Can’t you just smash it?” Charles asked.

“When it comes to Salth and magic, I’d rather not take chances.” He glanced at Ysabel but said nothing else before leaving.

After a few moments, Jenna said, “Perhaps we should secure him before Gwen allows him to wake up.” She didn’t want to take any chances with her sister Avatars’ lives either. “Do we have rope? Or a length of cloth?”

Sophia scowled, as if she was about to state Avatars shouldn’t need such tools. To Jenna’s relief, Gwen said, “That’s a good idea. It will make it easier to touch him if I have to send him to sleep again.”

The butler and another servant tied up the man. Once they had left, Gwen darted forward to wake him. While he stared blearily at them, Sophia moved into place next to her, as if she wanted to lead the questioning of the prisoner. The two exchanged pointed glances. Jenna stepped forward to support Gwen if necessary, but Sophia gestured for Gwen to go ahead.

“What’s your name, Honored?” she asked.

Instead of answering, he struggled against the ropes. When that didn’t work, he spat out something in Selathen.

“His name is Loth Tholltin,” Ysabel translated. “The rest of what he said…you don’t want to hear.”

Honored Tholltin turned to her and yelled more Selathen. She answered in kind. As he spoke again, her cat crept in front of her, fur raised along his spine and fangs displayed.

Ysabel swayed in place. “He says my father has offered a considerable reward for the person who brings me back to Tradetown before the end of the moon. There’s also a smaller reward for any of the Avatars in my quartet.”

Jenna bristled, one hand automatically going to Gwen’s shoulder while checking to make sure Ysabel and Kay were safe. Gwen tensed as well.

“All of these frozen men need to be delivered to the Watch in Wistica at once,” Sophia said.

Gwen looked at Ysabel. “Would Kron be willing to portal them there?”

She nodded. “He’d take them straight to the deepest, darkest, dungeon.”

“Or the gallows,” Jenna said.

Another burst of Selathen from their prisoner. Ysabel listened to it without responding or translating. Her complexion paled, and she swayed again.

Gwen darted back to her. “Someone bring her a chair.” She gently brushed the hair off of Ysabel’s forehead. “Are you all—oh, By All Four!”

“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked.

Gwen looked up, her blue eyes sober. “The Honored Tholltin wants to bargain for his life—by leading us straight to Honored Lathatilltin himself.”