Trial of Fire (13 page)

‘Still a little sore, but the worst has gone. Another few days and I’ll have only the scars. That’s how strong the Key is.’

Finnlay caught her arm, turning her to face him. Like Robert, she’d not aged over the last few years, but then, she was still young, yet to turn thirty-five. Her long, dark hair was still braided and kept up out of the way, leaving her oval face open to scrutiny. Her huge blue eyes told him more than he’d expected.

‘And what about the Enclave?’

She raised her eyebrows, as though he’d just asked her about the weather. ‘The Enclave?’

‘Yes.’ He gestured at the camp around them. ‘How do you feel about leaving it?’

‘Come on, Finn. How do you feel? Aren’t you glad to be finally out of the caves? You never liked living there in the first place. You always wanted your freedom back. I should think you’d be happy.’

‘I already know how
I
feel, I was asking about you. Though, by the sound of that little tirade, I don’t think I’ll pursue the question, even though that was your goal, wasn’t it?’

For a moment, there was a smile in Jenn’s eyes, then she seemed to remember why she shouldn’t. Her gaze, inexorably, returned to where Robert lay on his own, beside his small fire, in pain and in danger.

Finnlay took the hint. ‘I don’t suppose Arlie can deaden Robert’s pain at all?’

‘Robert won’t let him try, not with his close links to the Key open. Trust me, Finn, Robert really is worried about how much power there is in the Key, and how it might behave under certain circumstances.’

‘What do you mean?’

Jenn reached her bags and began putting her things away. All the others were busy with their tasks, but even so, she kept her voice low. ‘He won’t let anyone else touch him, and he only allows me because I’m already joined to the Key. You have no idea how much effort it takes for him to hold this mask. That’s why he’s brought so many of us with him. There’s no other way he can protect it. He can’t Seek, he can’t even mindspeak me, Finn. The smallest thing could jar his control. The moment the mask drops, Nash will find us, and no amount of running will help.’

Finnlay reached out and squeezed her shoulder, giving her the opportunity to take in a few deep breaths, to calm herself once more. He looked around to find only Martha paying them any attention at all, and he saw understanding in her eyes.

‘Do you remember,’ he began quietly, still watching Martha on the other side of the camp, ‘years ago when I tried that tandem Seeking? I did it successfully with both Martha and Fiona.’

Jenn looked up, speculation in her eyes. ‘Do you think you could adapt that to help Robert?’

‘When we were in Kenrick’s camp Seeking for Helen, we used a tandem connection because he wasn’t sure of her aura.’ An involuntary smile crossed his face. ‘Though I have to tell you, working in tandem with Robert is an overwhelming experience. It took him a split second to find her and nearly blew me away in the process.’

Jenn frowned. ‘But I don’t see how you can use that principle to hold a mask for Robert.’

‘Well.’ Finnlay paused, taking a few steps towards the fire. He was making this up as he went along, and he wasn’t afraid to admit it. ‘It’s not that nobody else of similar strength couldn’t hold the mask, is it? It’s that Robert doesn’t dare let anyone else have that close a connection with it. So—’

Jenn was already ahead of him, ‘So if I hold the mask, then you can use a tandem link to hold it as well, at the same time. Two of us working it would have to be at least as strong as Robert alone, and thereby split the exposure to the Key. Do you think that would work, Finnlay? Do you?’

He couldn’t ignore the hope in her eyes. ‘I think it’s worth a try, and it’s certainly something we can test before we talk to him. You feel confident enough with the mask process?’

‘It’s been a while since I made one, but if I practise first, I know I can do it. Hell, Finn, even if we can only hold it for a few hours at a time, that will give Robert enough rest to go on. That’s better than nothing. Enough to save his life.’

‘All right. Let’s ask Martha to help.’

*

Since Andrew had better night vision than Guy, he led his friend down to the stream at the bottom of the hill. They’d already filled all the water bottles ready for the morning; now they needed to take the horses down, two each at a time, let them drink and wander in the water for a few minutes, then take them back up. By the time they were finished, supper would be ready – or at least, his growling stomach hoped it would be.

Andrew was tired. He couldn’t quite escape the feeling that he’d been in the saddle for the last two months – largely because that was horribly close to the truth. But not only that; things just kept moving faster and faster and there didn’t seem to be any way to make them slow down for a moment, so he could just get used to things. First Robert had abducted him, then the mad, secret trip to Marsay, then coming home and the Malachi attack, then … then Bella and Lawrence and then the flight back to the Enclave and now all this, the joining of the Key and Calyx and this crazy flight
from
the Enclave to some other place where— He had no idea what was supposed to happen next. And if Robert had his way, it would
never
be normal again.

‘Andrew?’

‘What?’ He blinked to find Guy tugging on his sleeve, trying to get his attention.

‘I don’t think your mother would be too happy if you let her horse wander off.’

Andrew looked across the stream where the animal was happily munching on some tufts of grass, the reins he was supposed to be holding now dangling in the water. With a whispered curse, he splashed into the stream, getting both his boots and his feet wet. He grabbed the reins and tugged until the horse reluctantly followed him back. He came to a halt to find Guy shaking his head.

‘You said we had lots to talk about, but you haven’t said a word.’

‘Neither have you,’ Andrew protested, but it was half-hearted. It didn’t matter what he wanted, only what he did. Even if he didn’t want to do it.

‘Something bad happened, didn’t it? Something aside from your aunt and uncle?’ Guy peered up the hill to where camp fires dotted the darkness. ‘Helen said you were upset about something, but you wouldn’t tell her what.’

‘It won’t help.’

‘So, tell me anyway. Then,’ Guy paused, giving him half a smile, ‘then you can complain to me about it and I can at least sympathise. That’s what friends are for, after all.’

Something inside Andrew wanted to smile, but memories tugged the corners of his mouth down.

Guy took a step closer, deliberately putting his horses between himself and the camp. ‘Is it … something about your father?’

With a frown, Andrew shook his head, refusing to even think about
that
man. ‘No, of course not! Why would it have anything to do with my father? He’s dead, and you promised you wouldn’t ask about him again.’

‘Well, I just thought that, well, with you being so quiet and everything that … well something had happened. Sorry.’ Guy didn’t move away. ‘Is it something to do with Robert?’

Andrew felt a flash of fear. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Isn’t
everything
about him?’

Without meaning to, Andrew laughed, surprising himself as well as his friend. While Guy was busy looking pleased with himself, Andrew wrapped the two sets of reins around the base of a scraggy bush and sat down on the nearest flat rock. As his friend joined him, he began to talk, his voice coming out no more than a whisper. He’d not talked about this with
anyone.

‘I don’t think it’s about Robert. But it is about something he wants me to do.’

With a conspiratorial glance over his shoulder, Guy shifted closer and whispered, ‘He picked you? Wow! Why?’

Andrew frowned at his friend, surprised at the envy he heard. But a few weeks ago, his reaction would have been exactly the same. ‘I don’t know why he picked me, except that … well, he says it’s because of my parents and my grandparents, and my ancestors way back to when nobody really cares about them any more.’ Andrew bit his lip; he sounded petulant and he could hear it.

Guy heard it too. His tone softened. ‘What does he want you to do?’

And then Andrew’s throat dried up, as though the moment he said it out
loud would suddenly make it irrevocable, as though his choice would be taken away. But Robert had said he wouldn’t have a choice. When the moment came, he’d just have to do it.

‘Robert wants me to kill Kenrick and take the throne.’

The gasp he heard came not from Guy, but from his own mouth. The words had spoken themselves, leaving him with no choice at all. Was this the kind of power Robert had over him? He needed to talk to Robert, badly, but Robert was tied to the Key, working on keeping the mask in place and in no condition to answer his silly questions.

‘What are you going to do?’ Guy asked after a moment. ‘Are you going to do it?’

Andrew was gratified to find all traces of envy gone from Guy’s voice, although now there was a touch of awe.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Kenrick’s your cousin, isn’t he?’

‘Selar was my father’s maternal cousin, and Kenrick is Selar’s son. I’m the only family he has left in Lusara.’

‘You don’t want to kill him?’

Andrew was shaking his head before he knew it, but he stopped when Guy sprang to his feet.

‘But what about what he did to Liam? What he almost did to Helen!
I’d
kill him for that alone! How can you …’

Liam was dead, killed by Kenrick’s men trying to defend Helen. And Finnlay and Robert had rescued Helen from Kenrick’s clutches, her arm already cut and bleeding for some disgusting arcane ritual. She still woke with nightmares; she’d admitted that to him when she’d told him the story. That should have been enough for any man to want to kill Kenrick: to take revenge on a person who would do something like that to someone as sweet and gentle as Helen would be honourable—

And still the thought made him feel ill. If Kenrick were here now, he knew that he would never be able to lift a hand against him. How would killing him make what he did go away?

He was useless, not at all the kind of man Robert should be making into a king. He was too afraid, too hesitant, nothing like Robert, like what a king
needed
to be in order to rule Lusara. And despite having a mother who was Jaibir, he had completely failed to develop whatever powers they all thought he had. Kenrick was a sorcerer. If Andrew had to face him on the battlefield, the fight would be a short one.

Wearily, he got to his feet. Guy was still waiting for an answer, but Andrew had none to give. Instead, he took up the reins again. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured, then began the long walk back up the hill alone.

*

‘Well?’ Finnlay opened his eyes and watched Martha’s face. ‘Did it work?’

‘Yes, it worked, Finnlay, but I’m still not convinced you should take this to Robert.’

Finnlay got to his feet and paced up and down in frustration. Jenn closed her eyes and breathed deeply, the way she always did after using her powers. They’d always known Jenn’s powers were different to all other Salti, but they’d never had an opportunity to work out exactly how – or why. All he did know was that doing the normal things, those he took for granted, always seemed quite difficult for her, while things he couldn’t even imagine doing were as easy for her as breathing.

The important thing right now was that she could make a mask – and, even more importantly, he could help her hold it using the tandem technique he’d developed more than a decade ago. Because he’d been trapped in the Enclave and too afraid Nash would find him to use his Seeking abilities, he’d never done more work on the technique, but now, at last, he could use it for something useful.

‘Well, if we don’t take it to Robert, and he finds out, it could get violent.’

Jenn stood. ‘Don’t exaggerate, Finn. We’ll take it to Robert, Martha. We don’t have much choice otherwise. If he doesn’t get some rest soon—’

‘But you have no guarantee this will work!’

Jenn took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Thank you for your help. Go and have supper with the others. If he says no, we’ll join you in a minute.’

‘And if he says yes?’

Finnlay caught Jenn’s elbow, unwilling to wait any longer. ‘Then send a couple of bowls of broth over. It will be a late night.’

They left Martha still shaking her head at them. The rest of the camp was busy eating. He’d paused just long enough to explain their plan to Fiona, but his need was for haste; nobody was prepared to guess how much longer Robert would last before even his enormous strength failed.

They skirted the camp until they arrived at Robert’s little spot. He hadn’t moved, but his fire had died down. Finnlay built it up a little while Jenn knelt beside his brother and put her hand on his arm.

‘Robert?’

At her touch, he opened his eyes, breathing deeply as his gaze focused. With a groan, he sat, dragging the bag containing the Key/Calyx close to him without thought. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing’s wrong. We just wanted to talk to you about something.’

Robert shook his head, frowning a little. ‘This feels so strange, you know. I feel half blind not being able to use my Senses the way I usually do. Finn, we have people Seeking, don’t we?’

‘Every few minutes one of us does a scan, yes. Relax, if anyone comes near us, we’ll know.’

‘Good, good.’ Robert turned his head towards the main camp. ‘Mmn, supper smells wonderful. Who cooked?’

‘Mother.’

‘Really?’ His eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. ‘She cooks? Since when?’

Finnlay could have said a dozen different things about sons who stayed away from their mothers for eight years at a time, but Robert didn’t need to hear any of them, so he said, ‘Since Fiona got pregnant with Anna. Mother wanted to help and Fiona wanted to teach her.’

‘Amazing.’ Robert’s smile was directed at the woman squatting down to ladle food into one bowl after another.

‘Yes, she is,’ Finnlay agreed. ‘You need to talk to her, you know?’

Robert’s gaze darkened. ‘Yes. I know.’

‘Listen,’ Jenn began after a moment. Immediately, Robert’s eyes returned to her, ready and alert. ‘Finnlay’s come up with an idea that might let you get some sleep. We’ve tested it and Martha says it definitely works. Now, it probably won’t give you more than a few hours’ break at any one time, but it would be better than nothing, and certainly enough to get us to this place.’