Thawed Fortunes
Authors: Dean Murray
Tags: #Fantasy, #sword and sorcery, #Young Adult, #epic fantasy, #YA, #ya fantasy, #thawed fortunes
by Dean Murray
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 by Dean Murray
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Va'del kept expecting the cold to stop
bothering him, but if anything, the closer they got to the Capital,
the more it bit at his extremities. He'd come to realize that truly
untiring viciousness could only be found in nature.
The teenager slowed for a moment and looked
back to make sure Jain and Cindi were still following him. Jain's
face was hidden by the elongated hood of her coat, but Va'del had
learned to read more into her posture over the last two weeks than
he would have thought possible.
While Va'del was watching, Jain went from a
state of obvious exhaustion to walking with the perky little bounce
she used when trying to convince him that she'd be fine. Va'del
shook his head in amazement. Physically Jain had been through more
than he and Cindi put together, but she hadn't complained even
once.
Satisfied that Jain was exhausted but not on
the verge of collapse, Va'del's gaze strayed to Cindi. If the trip
had been the hardest physically for Jain, Cindi had been the one to
suffer the most emotionally.
The older woman had been a member of the
Guadel, the elite group responsible for protecting the People and
serving as a court of last resort, for more years than the younger
pair had been alive. She was one of the most stubborn, opinionated
people he knew, but all those years of service still deserved
better than she'd received.
Losing a spouse to an avalanche, and then
being forced to leave their body buried under tons of snow, was
about the worst way to lose someone. Cindi hadn't complained, not
really, but Va'del had noticed that Jain practically had to force
the older woman to eat. Va'del hadn't stopped worrying about Cindi
any more than he'd stopped worrying about Jain, but he'd finally
decided there was nothing to be done but get her home. Hopefully
her friends would be able to do more for her than he or Jain had
managed so far.
When Va'del had first met Cindi, he would
have flatly refused to believe he'd ever feel anything but hatred
and resentment for the older woman. He'd had his heart set on
becoming a candidate, and then eventually a full Guadel. Cindi had
been determined to ensure that neither event ever happened, and had
done her best to build a case for why he couldn't ever be allowed
to achieve that dream.
When Jain's life had been on the line Cindi
had come through despite Va'del's doubts. Rather than insisting
that she and Va'del return to the nearest village, she'd helped him
follow the bandits back to their cave. She'd then proceeded to
augment Va'del enough for him to fight his way in and rescue
Jain.
The ability to use magic to strengthen their
husbands beyond the limits imposed on normal men was a key part of
what allowed a woman to become a Guadel. Similarly, being able to
trust someone enough not to fight the mental invasion augmentation
required was necessary for a man to become a member of that
privileged group.
For all that the ability to augment or be
augmented was a vital requirement, it wasn't the only one, and the
Guadel seemed to operate under many rules that Va'del didn't know
about in addition to the ones he had figured out.
One of the chief laws seemed to be that the
link, and the augmentation that flowed from it, was only to be
shared between husband and wives. There were occasional exceptions
allowed for those women who had chosen to sponsor a young man as a
candidate, but even that was rare.
Worry over what kind of punishment might be
awaiting them once they returned to the Capital had resulted in
several fitful nights, but he'd been unable to get a straight
response from Cindi. Each time he'd attempted to talk to her, she'd
looked at him with pain-filled eyes, and he'd choked the words back
down.
The woolly pack gurra behind Va'del bumped
him with its head as the wind picked back up, reminding him they
needed to get moving again. Gently tugging on the pack animal's
lead rope, Va'del set off down the winding trail.
The little party traveled for another color
cycle before the dark smudge on the horizon grew enough to be
identifiable as one of the two main entrances to the Capital.
Jain and Cindi, obviously on the last dregs
of their strength, stumbled into the cave entrance and Va'del
followed with a sigh of relief. This had been the worst trip he'd
been on yet. Hunger had played a factor as the provisions they'd
taken from the bandits had been less than expected, but he
suspected it had more to do with the fact that he'd been in charge
on this trip.
He'd always known that constantly battling
the environment took a lot out of a person, but adding in the
recurring worry that some mishap was going to result in one of them
being seriously injured had been more depleting than he'd expected.
Making it to the Capital meant he'd finally be able to wake up and
not still be hungry and exhausted from the day before.
The guards who emerged from the near darkness
at the first bend in the tunnel weren't the smiling, friendly pair
Va'del expected. Instead, there were no less than five
heavily-armed men, all of whom looked like they expected a dozen
bandits to come swarming into the caves at any moment.
Va'del felt himself tense up until he
remembered that nobody at the Capital knew the trio had destroyed
the bandit threat. Increased security was just a side effect of the
attacks and not anything for Va'del or the others to worry
about.
The teenager continued to think that until
Alir, a guardsman trainee who'd never liked Va'del, realized who
was approaching.
"Sir, that's trainee Va'del."
The large, stocky guardsman who seemed to be
in command of the contingent wasn't anyone Va'del recognized, but
the older man had his weapon out and pointed towards Va'del almost
before the teenager knew what was going on.
"Please keep your hands away from your
weapons, trainee. Under the authority of the Council, I hereby
place you under arrest until the Council members can question you
regarding the events reported by Guadel Cindi."
Va'del felt a lifetime of respect for
authority war against the habit of command he'd picked up over the
last few days, and the inherent injustice of what was happening.
With both Jain and Cindi between him and the guards, there was
nothing they could do to stop him from drawing his weapons, but
challenging five to one odds when he was unaugmented was nothing
less than suicide.
Cindi broke the momentary standoff, shaking
herself as if to force her mind back from somewhere distant. "You
will ignore that arrest order. There have been further developments
since my last written report to the Council. You'll treat this
young man with all due respect until I get things straightened
out."
Alir laughed before his commander could
respond. "On whose authority?"
The commander shot his impetuous trainee a
look that said words would be exchanged later, but let the comment
stand.
Cindi seemed momentarily confused. "On my
authority as a Guadel, obviously."
The guards all shook their heads. "No
disrespect intended, mistress, but I know all the Guadel by sight,
and you aren't one of them. You're most assuredly not Guadel Cindi
as you tried to imply. In fact I can't think of a Guadel that you
look less like. Even if you were who you claim to be, the orders
couldn't be overridden by anyone less than someone from the
Council."
Cindi looked back at Va'del, obviously unable
to believe what was going on, and then the same realization flashed
in her eyes that had just occurred to him. The woman who'd left the
Capital nearly a month ago had looked very little like the woman
standing before the guardsmen now. She'd lost so much weight that
her clothes hung around a frame that was only slightly more than
half as big as it'd been previously. Even more drastic was the way
she'd aged since Oh'scir had died. Try as he might, Va'del couldn't
blame the captain for not recognizing her.
Something changed in Cindi's expression, and
for the first time since they'd saved Jain, some of her old fire
was back. "Fine, send one of your men for a Councilor and we'll
clear the record right now."
The Captain shook his head again, and
movement behind him revealed the presence of newly-arrived guards
with crossbows. His expression seemed to say that he wasn't going
to back down, and he was even less likely to send for one of the
Guadel to come running like some kind of errand boy. Not based on
nothing more than the say-so of an old woman and a couple of
kids.
Va'del placed a hand on Cindi's arm and
shrugged as she looked at him. "We aren't getting anywhere. There
isn't anything left but to let them take me while you get
everything straightened out."
Jain's sharp intake of breath eloquently
stated how she felt about the idea, but after meeting Va'del's gaze
for several seconds, Cindi finally nodded. "I'll get you out of
there as quickly as I'm able."
As the guards roughly disarmed Va'del and
then closed ranks around him, Cindi shot the Captain a look that
should have frozen his blood. "Treat him with as much respect as
your orders allow, or by the Powers you'll be sorry before I'm done
with you. My word on it as a Guadel."
There was a small chance the threat would be
enough to encourage the guardsmen to be gentler than they otherwise
would, but Alir's spiteful gaze indicated otherwise.
The Captain may have indeed planned on
treating Va'del with a modicum of respect, but Alir plainly wanted
him as miserable as possible. The time-telling glow sphere that
would have provided light, and an idea of how long Va'del was
imprisoned, was removed within minutes of the officer's departure.
Va'del had always preferred the darkness, but as the light
reflecting off the passageway walls grew steadily weaker he
realized he'd never really known complete darkness. There'd always
been a glow sphere nearby and even when they were covered, they
still didn't produce the kind of impenetrable shroud he was now
forced to endure.
Heat was also denied the teenager, as was
food. Va'del was able to partially slake his thirst from a trickle
of water that made its way down from the higher levels of the city,
but otherwise spent color cycle after cold, hungry color cycle
waiting for some indication he hadn't been forgotten and left to
die.
The confinement, which had started out
unpleasant, quickly became all but unbearable as physical
deprivation combined with the oppressive darkness to beat at
Va'del's reason with a force he hadn't believed possible.
After waking, cold and weak, for the second
time, Va'del realized he'd been mindlessly rocking back and forth
for several minutes.
Even if Cindi has gone back on her word,
Jain won't forget about me. I know that much, but she isn't a
Guadel. How much can she really do? She'll go to On'li and Javin,
but what if they won't help me anymore? I was warned not to do
anything to worsen relations between the Capital and the villages.
Maybe On'li decided I've brought the avalanche down on my own head,
and consequently deserve my fate.
When the soft light of a glow stone finally
made its way down the corridor leading to Va'del's cell, he found
himself suppressing tears of relief.
The massive figure behind the guardsman
holding the glow sphere gradually revealed itself as Javin, and
Va'del felt a wave of relief wash through him as he saw the
white-haired Guadel and On'li, his delicate-looking wife, who were
the closest thing the teenager had to family.
Javin was one of the quietest people Va'del
had ever met, but he currently looked angry enough that he might
have given the guardsman a tongue-lashing if On'li hadn't beaten
him to it.