Trial of Fire (20 page)

‘Murdoch,’ Robert said briskly, ‘go help Finn. Make sure everyone is ready.’

As Murdoch ran back to the others, Jenn watched him go. Finnlay had everyone moving, taking care of the horses, stowing their belongings in case they needed to flee, arming everyone with the meagre supply of weapons they’d carried with them, and finding rocks and trees and anything else that would do as cover. The forest was thick along this side of the river, but forty feet from the bank, the trees thinned to open meadow.

‘We can’t survive this,’ she whispered, feeling the gloom of the morning drift inside her and take up root. She knew if she’d closed her eyes and opened her own feeble Senses, she would feel Nash drawing closer – but did she really need to
feel
that? Wasn’t the look on Robert’s face enough?

‘Listen to me,’ his voice came out laced with urgency, his hands coming up to hold her shoulders, firmly, but not hard enough to hurt her. ‘You have to promise me—’

‘What?’ She placed her hands over his. ‘That I will do all I can to get away from him? To save
myself?
Would you promise me the same thing?’

Robert breathed deeply, then began again, ‘Yes, I want you to promise me that – can you blame me? How can I know which decision I make is the one which makes the Prophecy come true? If I tell you to run, will that be your destruction? Or if I tell you to stay by my side—’

‘Robert.’ Jenn reached up and pressed her fingers to his mouth to silence him. ‘No. You can’t face him. Not like this. You won’t last a minute.’

‘Do we have another choice?’

The answer was so obvious, it made her ill. ‘Yes,’ she replied, her voice oddly steady. ‘I can face him.’ He was shaking his head before she’d finished speaking, but she forestalled his objections the only way she could. ‘Look, if I go and talk to him, he’s not going to attack you, is he? Or the others – and let’s face it, apart from perhaps holding a grudge against Finn, he’s hardly going to be interested in them.’

‘Except as bargaining tools against us.’

‘Exactly. So while I’m keeping Nash busy, you have time to do whatever you need to do.’

‘And what if you can’t get away?’

‘He has no choice.
I
wield the Key – and
he
knows it.’ When Robert said nothing, she added, ‘He doesn’t know you’re not strong enough to fight him right now, either.’

‘You don’t think he’ll be suspicious when you walk out there? No, Jenny, I can’t allow—’

She squeezed his hands tight. ‘Robert, we don’t have a choice!’

He stared at her a moment, then stepped back, turning unsteadily to take
a water-bottle from his saddle-bag. In profile, she watched him take long swallows, then wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. As he shoved the stopper in the bottle and put it away, he said, ‘Fine. You face him. I’ll tell the others what we’re doing and be ready to start another mask before we get moving. If he can still Sense the Key while he’s talking to you, he won’t panic that we’re getting away with it.’

‘Moving where?’ Jenn asked, feeling a little unsteady herself.

‘We need to give him a false trail. So once you’ve spoken to him, we’ll make it look like we’re going to run. I’ll take the Key, unmasked, and ride for a few hours. Then, when I’m a good distance away, I’ll mask the Key and double back. If you get everyone straight to the cave, Nash won’t realise his mistake until it’s much too late, and by then there’ll be no trace of us for him to find.’

‘But if he sees us—’

Robert raised his eyebrows. ‘He won’t see us. If you go now, you’ll come upon him beyond that turn in the hill.’

‘And if you go now, then—’

‘I can’t. I need a few more minutes. He’ll know we’re still here, unless …’ Robert paused and frowned over her shoulder in the direction she guessed Nash was coming from. ‘Unless you can still create an image. Like you did years ago, remember? When you made it look like Finnlay was still in that prison cell? I know this is a much more complex illusion, but if you could make it look like the whole group is with me, if Nash sees that with his own eyes – hell, if
we
don’t know how far your powers go, how can he? Then, when I go with the illusion, the others can mask their presence and Nash will ignore them. We just need your illusion.’ He brushed a thumb over her cheekbone. ‘Could you do that?’

An ironic laugh rumbled up from deep inside. ‘Sure, I can do that while I’m talking to our most dangerous and bitter enemy. Anything else while I’m at it?’

‘Yes,’ Robert whispered, and before she could ask what, he caught her, drew her behind the horse and kissed her with such urgent gentleness, it took her breath away.

And just like that, his unshakable calm settled into her, like magic. ‘The illusion is easy,’ she murmured, stepping back for fear of what
she
might do. ‘The challenge will be how long I can sustain it.’

‘A guess?’

‘At least an hour, if I’m not working in some other manner. If all is well, then four, perhaps five hours. Say to midday. Will that be enough?’

‘Enough is all we have.’ Robert half-smiled at his own brief wisdom. ‘Go now. Take my horse. Say whatever you need to say to him and when you’re
done … come back to me.’ He helped her swing up into the saddle, but as she looked down on him again, she couldn’t miss the palpable fear in his eyes.

Had
he just set the Prophecy to rolling?

‘Be careful,’ she whispered, then kicked the horse and galloped away, not daring to look at him. If she did, she would turn back and their single chance would be gone. The thick forest swallowed her up, and beyond that the meadow stretched grey and shadowed, like the man she rode towards.

Only now did she open her Senses.

Nash could almost taste victory. It sat upon the early morning air like a sweet scent, ready to be savoured and enjoyed. What, in the name of the Blood, were they doing here, in the middle of nowhere? Had they thought to hide from him? If escape was their plan, surely they would have known in what direction he’d be heading; the Enemy must have Seen him just as clearly as he had Seen the Enemy.

Perhaps they had allies out here, or they had planned some sort of trap. He closed his eyes a moment and sent his Senses further out, over the gentle hills surrounding him. He swept east to west, but came upon no large body of men, nothing out of place. There was only the Key, shining and glorious in front of him, and a small knot of people huddled next to it, no doubt ready to defend it with their lives.

It didn’t matter. What did matter was that the Enemy, Ally and the Key were a hundred yards away and in a moment, he would have them all in his power.

He kept the gallop steady, not wanting to tire his horse in case a further chase was necessary, but he could
feel
the Key getting closer, could feel his men behind him, even Valena, trapped in her prison of drugs. It felt as if the closer he got to the Key, more of the world opened up to him.

His regeneration had made him powerful, but that was nothing compared to what the Key would give him – what the Ally would give him.

‘Master! Look!’

Nash pulled his horse to a stop, signalling those behind him to do the same. He stared, hardly able to believe his own eyes. There, riding towards them, was a figure he couldn’t help but recognise. She passed through the last of the forest, crossing behind a clump of trees to the north and then across an open meadow: Jennifer Ross, the Ally.

Even in the grey, predawn light, she managed to glow. Though her face was pale, her blue eyes were striking; he sat there and watched her come closer. It had been so long since he’d seen her: Shan Moss, when she’d gone looking for him, and he for her. And while their armies had fought one another, he had kissed her, and told her that one day she would come to him of her own accord.

But this couldn’t be that day – at least, not in her eyes. And if it wasn’t that day, then what was she doing?

Once more he sent his Senses over the area, double-checking that the Key was in the same place, that there was no trap or ambush here. Though he couldn’t See the Enemy, it was obvious he was still back behind the hill, with the Key and the others. He kept his men behind him and remained where he was as she rode closer, as her eyes swept over the numbers behind him, as they lighted on Valena and finally, slowly, on him. Just as slowly, she came to a halt. Close enough to talk and no more.

Her horse snorted heavily, stamping its feet, but she held the reins with a loose grip, paying it no attention. Instead, her gaze returned to Valena where it lingered as she frowned. Yes, she would wonder whether he’d found another to love. Nash wanted to laugh, to shout for the sheer joy of seeing her again, after so many years, after so much effort to find her, after the despair of his terrible wounds and the news – albeit false – that she’d been killed. After believing that he might never have her.

He realised she was staring at him, but her expression was unreadable.

‘Your wounds,’ she said just loud enough for him to hear. ‘You have recovered finally.’

‘More than recovered,’ he replied. There was no need for him to keep his regeneration a secret, especially not from her. ‘I am restored to my former strength and more. I am once again a man of twenty-five, with more power than I have ever before enjoyed. Thank you for your concern. I see you also have not aged. You are just as beautiful as I remember, more so with that fire in your eyes.’ As he was about to move closer to her, a roar from behind warned him and before he could move, a horse galloped in front of him as Valena rode straight for the Ally with murder in her eyes.

Nash raised his hands to stop her with his power, but his men were already after her. Even as the Ally pulled her horse out of Valena’s way, the Malachi was brought to a stop, her bound hands caught, her horse contained. As one, they moved back behind Nash.

Valena’s recapture did nothing to silence her. ‘It’s all your fault that he’s like this,’ she shouted at Jenn. ‘Don’t you understand? You’ve made him a monster – if it were not for you – everything was always for you! It’s all your fault! I hate—’

And then she was silenced. Nash watched only as long at it took one of his men to put a gag over her mouth and then he turned back to the Ally, gauging her reaction to what she’d just heard. Jennifer, wide-eyed and extremely wary, said nothing. Nash told her, ‘Pay no attention to her. She’s a little deranged. She lost a child recently and that has unhinged her mind. I
keep her with me to take better care of her.’ Oh, how he loved picking out the truth in a lie.

Jennifer stared at him a moment, then raised her eyebrows. ‘
Your
child?’ His smile dropped a little as she continued, ‘She’s Malachi, isn’t she? Lady Valena de Cerianne, if I’m not mistaken.’

Now Nash frowned. ‘You’ve not met.’

‘No,’ Jennifer said, ‘but her beauty is much renowned amongst the Douglas men. I see their words did her justice, despite her grief.’

Nash could hear Valena continuing to struggle behind him. He looked once at Taymar and the man instantly turned and headed back to Valena. Jennifer watched as Valena was given a drug, as she fought it, as she calmed and became silent at last.

The silence drew out until Jennifer turned and met his gaze once more. ‘And that is how you would treat me.’ There was no question in her voice, only certainty.

He moved forward until it looked like she would back away. Then, his own certainty clear in his tone, he replied, ‘But I do not
love
Valena. The death of her daughter has made her unbalanced. I keep her restrained for her own safety. She would harm herself if I set her free.’ He deliberately let her see the absolute honesty of that statement; it was no lie.

‘Now is not the time,’ Jennifer said, ‘to try to make me believe that you are the very soul of kindness and generosity. Would you have me think you were good when I know you are nothing but evil?’

Nash laughed a little. ‘You once looked upon me in that light, once saw me as a friend. You did not think I was evil then.’

‘Yes, I did!’ she snapped back. ‘I just didn’t know that Nash the Guildesman was the Carlan, Angel of Darkness! You lied to me then, as you’ve always lied to me. My pain is your pleasure. You’ve killed my sister and her husband! For what? For being there? You killed their people, and so many more I can’t even count them! The depths of your evil can’t even be imagined!’

‘I did not kill your sister.’ Nash kept his voice light, knowing it would enrage her more. Oh, how he loved to see her like this! So beautiful, so utterly righteous. ‘I merely sent DeMassey down to find your son and bring him to me.’

At the sound of her lover’s name, Valena let out an anguished cry, despite the drugs, despite the gag.

Nash continued, regardless, ‘It was DeMassey and his men who killed your sister, though they told me your boy was dead as well. I see they lied to me.’ Her gaze darkened then, and for the first time in his life, he felt a
frisson
of fear. To hide it, he went on, ‘But now you come to me, of your own accord, just as I said you would.’

His brazen words were enough to bring the fire back to her eyes. ‘You should stop and count the number of things that don’t happen just as you said they would. I come to learn what you want with my son.’

Now it all made sense. The light in her eyes at mention of the boy, the whole purpose for this meeting, though doubtless she imagined it would buy her time, she would be unable to exploit it. ‘I wanted your son in order to keep him safe from the coming conflict. He is, after all, our King’s cousin. I wanted to be able to guarantee his safety for you.’

Her face paled a little, but more with anger than anything else. She stared at him a moment longer, then hissed, ‘Liar. Nothing but lies. How would you ever expect me to join you willingly?’

He laughed, softly and without rancour. ‘Why not? Here you are, and the Key is just beyond the curve on that hill behind you.’ He noted the flicker of her eyes and spread his hands in a gesture of peace. ‘Come, join me now and let us stop this open conflict. You know as well as I do that the Enemy is not what everyone thinks he is: deep down, he is plagued with doubts, he walks a fine line between working for good and using his powers for evil.’