The Seeker (48 page)

Brydda nodded triumphantly. “I thought as much, though I think there is more to your story than that. But it is enough to know we fight the same fight. It is my aim to rid this land of the Herder Faction and its tyranny. I have many allies who think as I do, and for now we oppose the Herders in a thousand small ways. But the time is not too distant when we will challenge them openly.”

I was filled with excitement, for his words were almost identical to Rushton’s, except Brydda seemed to think the Herder Faction worse than the Council.

He continued. “The message I wait for is to ensure there are no Herders waiting for me in Sutrium. It is too dangerous for me here now, so I will go elsewhere and harass them anew. Sutrium. They will not expect me to be so bold.”

Reuvan came in, grim-faced. He bent and spoke into Brydda’s ear.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Your friends are gone,” Reuvan said.

I sighed in relief. “They will have gone outside the city when I didn’t come back. That was what we planned.”

Brydda said, “Reuvan means they have been taken prisoner. I have allies who let me know who has been taken by the Herders and the soldierguards. It seems your friends were among today’s intake.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“Rumor says the boy was a runaway Herder novice,” Brydda went on.

“No!” I whispered in horror. “Where have they been taken? Who has them?”

“The Herders,” Reuvan said. “They’ll have been taken to the cloister for interrogation.”

“I have to help them,” I cried.

Reuvan shook his head. “No one escapes the cloister cells. There are priests everywhere and killer dogs. And the place is built like a labyrinth.”

Brydda scratched his head. “Only a madman would attempt such an impossible rescue.”

There was a commotion at the door, and a girl entered. Weary and travel stained, she half staggered into a chair. “You are the messenger?” Brydda asked.

The girl nodded. “Sutrium and all the other branches are safe. It seems he died before they could make him tell any more.…”

Brydda’s shoulders slumped. “I should be glad.…”

I did not wait to hear any more. Taking the chance offered by the momentary confusion, I slipped into the street.

It was dark and very cold, the moon obscured by clouds. I shivered and wished I had not left my coat on the cart. I had delivered my message, I thought bitterly, but at what cost?

When I had gone a safe distance from Brydda’s hovel, I stepped into a darkened doorway and closed my eyes, sending my mind to the other side of town. My mind played back and forth, seeking Jik’s familiar pattern. It seemed ages before I spotted a dull glimmer at the farthest edge of my reduced lowland range. I sent a farseeking probe gratefully.

“Elspeth?” Jik’s thoughts were faint.

“Jik, are you in the Herder cloister?” Lightning flashed, making it a strain to communicate at such a distance.

“Yes,” he sent.

“What about the others?”

“I’m on my own in a cell. Kella and Pavo are here somewhere. Avra is in the stable,” Jik sent. I was filled with loneliness and apprehension but realized Jik was empathising his own emotions to me.

“What happened?” I asked.

“One of the priests recognized me from Darthnor. I tried to tell them Kella and Pavo didn’t know about me, but I don’t think they believed me. They want to know how I got here and how I made it look like I died. They want to know where I’ve been and if I had help. I’m scared. I think they mean to take me out to Herder Isle.” Jik’s terror spilled over into my own mind, and for a moment, I saw his nightmarish vision of the interrogation methods awaiting him.

“I won’t let that happen. I’m coming,” I sent, but the contact had begun to fade.

I found myself slumped in the doorway, gritty water seeping through the knees of my trousers. Sweat was freezing on my cheeks, and my teeth were chattering violently.

I had meant to try farseeking Darga as well, but that would have to wait. I needed to reach the cloisters as fast as I could and get Jik away from there. Get him away, or erase his mind, a darker voice reminded me. I shuddered and walked faster.

I was limping badly by the time I reached the area of the city nearest the cloister, certain that all Kella’s good work on the scars had been undone. It was not hard to tell which building was the cloister. Set apart from the other buildings, it had its own high wall. Branches of trees and leaves visible at the top told me there was a garden inside. I made my way carefully around the perimeter, looking for a weak point. There were two small gates, barred and guarded, and one larger gate, open but heavily guarded. The contact with Jik
had left me too depleted to coerce a guard, let alone more than one. Somehow I had to get in without being seen. I decided I would have to climb over the wall.

Leaning against it to gather my energy for the climb, I realized a dog was pacing on the other side. He had sensed me and was about to bark. I sent a quick greeting, and his urge to bark diffused into curiosity.

“Who/what are you?” It was a dog named Kadarf.

“I am a funaga. I mean no harm. I want to come over the fence and visit a friend,” I sent. Fighting a wave of nausea, I gave his mind a coercive push. I climbed the fence with the help of a spindly tree growing by the wall. Sitting on the top, I could see the Herder cloister through the trees, a dark, squarish building with few windows and no visible doors.

At the foot of the wall, a muscular, brindled dog watched me slither awkwardly to the ground. He bore a strong resemblance to Darga, and I remembered how the townspeople had eyed him warily.

I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind for Jik. When I farsought him, he almost overwhelmed me with a wave of emphathised terror.

“Elspeth!” Jik sent. “They’re taking me to the Herder Isle tonight!”

“I’m right outside. Now, how long before they come?”

Jik made a concentrated effort to control his panic. “In … in an hour, they said. But that was a while ago. Is Darga with you?”

I sent a gentle negative. “I was delayed at the inn and sent him back to the cart, but you must have already been taken. He’s a smart dog. Remember when he disappeared in the Druid camp? He’ll turn up.”

I left Jik for a moment to locate the others. Kella and Pavo
were in a cell together, and I let Kella know I was coming. Avra was in a stable near the perimeter of the grounds.

She responded with relief to my probe, and I realized she had been afraid we would abandon her. Quickly, she outlined the arrangement of the stables. I told her Kella and Pavo would come to get her shortly.

Returning to Jik, I was glad to find him calmer. “I’ve found Kella and Pavo. I’m going to free them first, because they’re on the top level, and they can free Avra,” I sent.

“If the Herders come for me …,” Jik sent fearfully.

“I’ll get back in time,” I sent.

“Promise you won’t let them take me to the Isle,” Jik urged.

“I promise,” I sent.

I looked down at Kadarf and probed him to locate a lesser house door. Following me, Kadarf stretched himself outside the door to wait.

Inside was a short hall branching in two directions. I took the left way, leading to Kella and Pavo, noting the other way would bring me to stairs leading down to Jik’s level. Passing numerous closed doors, a slight farsense probe was all I needed to warn me if anyone was coming.

My limp had grown worse, but there was no time to rest. Turning warily into another hall, I jumped at the sound of voices, but no one was visible.

I could hardly believe I was creeping through a dread Herder cloister. I would not have imagined I would have the courage, but Jik’s fear of being taken to the Isle and my own fear of having to erase his mind spurred me on. I stopped abruptly, realizing I had found them. A brief straining, and the lock clicked. Kella and Pavo looked up, relief flooding their faces.

“There’s no time to talk,” I said, forestalling their questions. “I’ll take you to an outer door. There is a dog there who will lead you to the stables where Avra is kept. Avra said you can get out of the stable to an exercise yard, and from there to the street. Leave at once, and get straight out of the city. You might have to bribe the gatekeeper. Head for Murmroth until the lights of Aborium dim. Camp on the beach. I’ll find you. Now let’s hurry.”

“I will slow you down,” Pavo said faintly. I was shocked by his ravaged face. He seemed to have aged years in a few hours.

“Help him,” I said to Kella brusquely. She looked hurt at my tone, but some of the dazed horror had faded from her eyes.

Moving back down the hall, I was puzzled to note how awkwardly Pavo moved. Had the disease begun to affect his limbs? Then I saw a bloody streak on one ankle and understood. He had been interrogated.

For a second, I was overwhelmed by a black tide of hate. This dissolved into fear as my senses warned that a priest was approaching. There was no door near enough to offer refuge, and the hall was long and straight with no turnings. Neither Pavo nor I was capable of running fast enough to get back inside the cell before he came round the corner.

Desperation gave me an idea.

“Get close to the wall and face it. Don’t move, no matter what happens,” I whispered. I blew out the candles on either side of us, throwing our hall into shadow. Flattened to the wall in the dimness, I mustered my strength and sent out a fine coercive probe. I let it mesh with the priest’s mind. The alignment was perfect, and for a time, I simply mirrored his thoughts about the power-hungry manipulations of an
ambitious senior priest. Then, gently, I began to exert my own force beneath the conscious level and into the semiconscious region of the mind.

My brother, Jes, and I had played hide-and-seek as children, and I had always won when he searched, no matter how bare the boundary we set, because I could make his mind look everywhere but directly at me. Our only hope was that this child’s trick would work on the priest.

He came around the corner, and Kella quivered with fright. I willed her to be still as he came nearer. It would only work if we were completely motionless. Pushing the priest’s mind fractionally, I made him turn his head absentmindedly to the opposite wall where the candles were extinguished. He passed us looking steadfastly the wrong way, entirely unaware of us or my subtle coercion. I did not dare release him until he had turned the corner, then I slumped back, exhausted.

“He didn’t see us,” Kella whispered incredulously. “How could he not?”

“Quickly,” I snapped.

Outside, I bade Kadarf take them to the stables and prevent their harassment by any other dogs. I did not stay to see them go. Time was running out for Jik. Nearly hobbling now, I sent my mind ahead to let the boy know I was coming.

To my dismay, he was not alone. There were two priests in the room with him. I was too late!

Agitation made me careless and Jik perceived me. “Elspeth?” His mind groped for mine. I was filled with remorse at the terrible duty that lay before me. I dared not let them take him without erasing all of his knowledge about Obernewtyn. No matter how brave he was, in the end they would make him talk, just as Brydda’s friend had been made
to talk. But I knew I had neither the heart nor the strength for such an operation.

I had another idea.

Hobbling back into the garden, I called to Kadarf. He followed me back to the fence and watched me struggle to climb it. “I’m sorry you are going,” he sent.

I waved a brief salute, then dropped to the path on the other side of the wall. Kella and Pavo were nowhere in sight. I hurried around to the ornate double gate Kadarf said was used for most coming and going among the priests, praying they would bring Jik out that way.

I waited, sitting cross legged in the shadows beneath a bush to give my feet a rest. It was some minutes before I saw any sign of life. One of the guards brought a large cart out and harnessed up a white horse. Then a group of priests came out, carrying boxes and parcels. Peering from my hiding place, I saw Jik between them, looking small and frightened. My heart ached for him, but I turned my mind resolutely to the horse. My only hope was to create some sort of diversion to give Jik the chance to run.

Suddenly a hand touched my arm. Whirling, I stifled a scream of fright as I looked into Brydda Llewellyn’s face.

“How …,” I began, only to be interrupted by the sound of horses and a carriage.

Frantically, I tried to collect my thoughts, but I was too slow. With a cry of despair, I saw the carriage draw away and knew I had failed. I had a brief glimpse of Jik sitting upright among the grim-faced priest masters.

Then he was gone.

17