Winter Be My Shield (20 page)

Sierra held Mira's gaze, but slowly raised her hands in a gesture of peace. ‘I'm going to unhitch my sled.'

‘I'll help you,' Cam said. He gave Isidro's shoulder a squeeze, then got to his feet and headed to Sierra's side.

‘Cam!' Mira said in protest.

‘Just let her go, my lady, please!' Eloba implored her. ‘You have no idea what she'll do if you try to stop her. She's a Child of the Black Sun!'

‘Kill her!' Brekan said. ‘Kill the bitch! Can't you see she's an abomination?'

‘Enough!' Mira snapped, and to Sierra she said, ‘You will leave the Wolf Clan's lands at once and never set foot in them again on pain of death. Do you swear to abide by this?'

‘Why not?' Sierra said. ‘But let me say this. It would be better for all your people if Kell never hears of this. It won't matter how loudly you protest that you couldn't keep me. If he learns you had me and let me slip away, he will want blood.'

Sierra's sled was already packed and ready to go. While she spoke, Cam had gathered the last of their supplies and was shoving it beneath the wrapper covering the loaded sled. He held the trace-line while Sierra wrapped it across her chest, took hold of the poles and turned to face the
north. The warrior she was facing shifted his grip on his spear and threw a nervous glance at Mira.

‘Stand aside,' she ordered him. ‘Let her pass.'

 

Mirasada unrolled the woodcut with shaking hands and took a single glance before letting it curl up again and shoving it back into Ardamon's hands. ‘Yes, that's her. Oh, what did that writing say? I didn't even read it —'

‘No point,' Ardamon said. ‘It's just some story Kell made up to protect his lost rabbit from the baying mobs.' He tossed it down onto the low table behind the stove and stooped to pour a measure of mead into a bowl for Mira. When he pressed it into her hands she downed it with a gulp.

‘Rabbit? You wouldn't say that if you'd seen her for yourself, cousin. She made my blood run cold. And that fool of a man who gave her away — she could have killed him for that.'

‘Really? I heard all he had is a cut to his face.'

‘A cut? Ardamon, she opened his cheek right down to the bone. I could see his teeth through the wound.' She shuddered and held her bowl out to him again. ‘Pour me another, will you? Cam's physician is going to sew him up, so no doubt we'll hear the cries soon.'

Ardamon poured her another measure and settled in his chair. ‘I should have gone with you. I'm supposed to be guarding you, after all. It was foolish of me to let you go off alone.'

‘And how were you to know? In all my days, I never thought I'd meet one of
them
. Tell me, Ardamon, what would you have done?'

He propped his elbows on the carved armrests and steepled his fingers. ‘The same as you, I dare say. The histories take great pains to point out the dangers of attacking a mage directly. Subterfuge, poison and ambush are the only way to remove them safely.'

‘That's what I thought,' Mira said, and she flopped into the matching chair, its leather-slung seat and back padded with thick, soft furs. ‘This way, she thinks she's got cleanly away.' She pulled her red braids back from her face and the beads clattered together with a musical chime.

‘I can't believe Cam knew about it all along and lied to your face!' Ardamon said. ‘Isidro, yes, he's always been the cunning one, but Cam?'

‘Don't underestimate him, Ardamon. He pretends to be as slow as an ox, but there is a reason why Leandra named him as her heir — and
why Valeria's so determined to have his head. Remember, the man who raised the Owl raised the prince as well, it's just that Isidro looks too much like his father for anyone to forget it. I only wish I could look as pure and innocent as Cam. I'd be well-nigh unstoppable if I could pull that off.'

‘It's the hair,' Ardamon said. ‘That red hair of yours makes people think you're up to something.'

Mira threw a cushion at him and Ardamon slapped it away with a grin. ‘Speaking of the Owl,' Ardamon said, ‘I saw him when you led them in. Our spies with the army are saying Severian's men are certain he's dead. It would be in our best interest if no one were to disabuse them of the notion.'

‘Shouldn't be too hard,' Mira said. ‘He's in a bad way — he wouldn't last much longer out here on his own. I must admit, after what Cam told me last time I was sure he'd be dead by now, but this works just as well …' She rolled the bowl between the palms of her hands. ‘In fact, it should work out perfectly.'

‘You're still going ahead with this plan of yours, then?' Ardamon shook his head. ‘It's going to be incredibly dangerous, Mira. Once you're married, Osebian is going to flood Ruhavera with his own men and if any of them spot Cam it will all be over.'

‘But they won't spot him, Ardamon. Once we dye his hair black he'll be another Ricalani. And anyway, it won't be for long. Severian is not a well man. The diseased whores his mother employs to entertain him have seen to that. All I need is one child, maybe two, with Cam's blond hair, and then we can arrange an accident of some sort for Osebian.'

‘Presuming we all survive that long without the Akharians making slaves of us. Do you expect Cam to agree to this?'

‘Of course he will. He needs to keep his brother safe and we have the means to do that. There are plenty of isolated temples where no one will notice another priest, crippled or not, and it'll only be for a few years. When Valeria is gone and I'm regent for the young king or queen, Isidro can come out of hiding. Cam will agree in a heartbeat, you wait and see. Oh, but don't you say a word of this to him, not until I bring it up.'

‘Let me guess,' Ardamon said. ‘First you're going to make him pay for lying to you.'

‘Of course.'

The sound of voices outside made Mira sit up straighter. The sentry guarding her door was hailing the men she had summoned on her return to the camp. Ardamon rose to invite them inside.

There were three of them, all nondescript and weathered, the sort of men who would blend into a crowd and never be remembered. Mira knew the youngest was only a little older than her, though his face was scarred and spotted with frostnip.

‘Gentlemen,' Mira said. ‘I take it you have heard of the incident this afternoon?'

The men did not exchange a glance. ‘We have, my lady.'

Ardamon brought out the portrait again and the men passed it around. Mira said nothing, letting them study it in silence. She had never had to order an execution before, though she had stood beside her mother when Tarya gave the command. These men had joined her retinue for another purpose, to find Cam and discreetly let him know that Mira had left her message and was waiting for a reply. She had never dreamed that this would be the first time she had to send her men out to kill another human being.

Mira had no doubt that her clan elders would support her decision. It was the sacred duty of the clans to protect their people from sorcerers. What worried her were the repercussions if her orders were ever found out. If Kell learned of what she had done, nothing would save her, not even her position in the clan or her betrothal to the duke.

As the third huntsman handed the portrait back to Ardamon, the eldest of them spoke up. ‘You needn't say a word, my lady. We know what needs to be done. An arrow in the back will do the job and she'll never even see us. D'you want any proof that it's been done, my lady? The girl's head, perhaps?'

Mira swallowed hard. She'd butchered her share of animals, and had helped lay out the dead many a time, but the thought of receiving some grisly memento sickened her. Still, it was the custom — the huntsmen would consider their job unfinished if they didn't bring her some proof that the task was complete. ‘Bring me her hands,' she said at last. Tarya preferred the head, to be sure the men had killed the right person, but Mira had seen what a heavy and bulky bundle it made. Cam was clever and Isidro more so — if they saw it they may well guess what she had done. Hands were smaller, more easily hidden and disposed of. ‘Wait
until dark and leave quietly. The fewer people who know about this, the better.'

The lead huntsman bowed. ‘As you command, my lady.'

 

‘I simply can't believe this, Cam — you looked me right in the eye and lied to me! I thought we were friends — I thought you trusted me! I just can't believe you would do such a thing!'

Cam sighed. ‘I did it to protect you, Mira, and your men as well. If that lackwit Brekan had kept his mouth shut, Sierra would have gone quietly on her way and none of you would be any the wiser. As it is, everyone in the camp knows about her by now. You're going to have to swear each and every one of them to silence. If Kell hears so much as a whisper that she was here, he and Rasten will take Ruhavera apart stone by stone to find out where she's gone.'

Isidro was beginning to think he should have stayed in the tent Mira's servants had provided for them. Rhia had tried every trick of persuasion she knew to make him rest while Cam answered Mira's summons, but Isidro had refused to listen and now he was regretting it. He felt strange: light-headed and ill. Sierra's touch often left him feeling odd, but it had never been quite like this. His body knew it had been injured, but the absence of pain confused and confounded its response. While Cam and Mira argued, they both kept turning a worried gaze on him, too distracted for their argument to build up any real heat. For his part, Isidro just felt miserable. He was trying very hard not to think about how much his arm was going to hurt in a day's time without Sierra to ease the pain.

‘Oh, for the love of light, Isidro, just sit down,' Mira said at last, propelling him towards her carved and padded chair. ‘You look as if you're about to keel over. And ye Gods but you're cold. Fenari, pour him some tea.'

Cam hooked his thumbs into his sash and stared down at Isidro with a frown. ‘You're not going to be able to keep up this pace much longer, are you?' he said, and turned to Mira. ‘We're going to have to find somewhere safe to hole up for a few days and let him rest.'

‘No time,' Isidro mumbled. ‘Rasten is behind us, remember?'

‘Lord Rasten?' Mira said. ‘What are you talking about?'

‘Whoever spotted me in the village sent a dozen or so soldiers after us,' Cam said. ‘Sierra killed most of them, but a handful escaped. They'll
have reported back by now and there's been no snowfall to cover our tracks, so we have to assume that Severian has men on our trail. Sierra was certain that Lord Rasten will be among them.'

‘She's got more means of knowing that than any of us,' Isidro said. He caught Cam's gaze over the rim of his tea-bowl. ‘Tell her about the Akharian forces heading this way.'

‘By the Black Sun, Isidro —'

‘The Akharian legions?' Mira said. ‘Oh, we know about them.'

‘What?' Cam burst out. ‘Then why is this the first we're hearing of it?'

‘Because we only got the word a few weeks ago and you've been camped in the middle of nowhere where I haven't been able to get a message to you,' Mira said. ‘When War-Leader Dremman led the Wolf's contingent of warriors to the king's muster the king had him posted to the rear of the army with some nonsense about guarding supply lines —'

Cam frowned. ‘That's odd.'

‘That's what we thought. We'd expected him to use our men as crow-fodder, hoping uncle would be killed so that Osebian can take over as War-Leader for the clan once we're wed. Well, our spies in the king's camp have ferreted out the real reason. With the army encamped at Chain-of-Lakes, the Brokeridge Pass has been left unguarded. The legions can march east into Wolf Lands with no one but hunters and herders to stop them. If they enslave our people and take them back to Akhara, they'll have saved the king and his cousin the trouble of clearing the Wolf Lands — then they can move in another shipment of Mesentreian settlers.'

‘Dear Gods,' Cam said.

‘What are you intending to do about it?' Isidro asked.

‘Dremman has defied the king's orders to hold his assigned position,' Ardamon said. ‘He and the Wolf warriors are marching back to defend our lands.'

‘Now there's a move with guts behind it,' Cam said. ‘And everyone will get to see them when he's hung, drawn and quartered. How does your war-leader expect to escape a charge of treason?'

‘The king doesn't have the power to carry it out,' Mira said. ‘All Ricalan knows Severian and the queen favour the new southern lords over the clans, but if Dremman is punished for defending our lands when the king clearly intended to let the Slavers overrun them, it could quite
likely be the shifting stone that triggers the rockfall. If the Wolf falls, every clan in Ricalan will know it could be them next. They'd all turn against him, and Severian can't afford that, not when he needs every man he has to defend his southern holdings.'

Cam stared at her incredulously. ‘You really think that Severian and Valeria are going to look the other way while the Wolf flouts a royal command?'

‘They don't have a choice,' Mira said. ‘The king can't destroy us without destroying himself.'

‘And your betrothal?' Cam said.

Mira sighed. ‘Unfortunately, it stands. Valeria thought it a victory when she forced us to sign the contract but when the tables turn it will give us the advantage. Our clan is still the most powerful in Ricalan and if they break it they'll never have a chance to bring us to heel. As much as I hate the idea of having Osebian for a husband, that marriage contract means we have the Angessovars by the throat.'

‘And what of the Akharians?' Isidro said. ‘What's their goal? Slaves?'

‘It must be,' Ardamon said. ‘There's nothing else here that would have any value to them. With no warriors to defend the villages, they're easy pickings. But the war-leader and the army are due to return in ten days. There is a second muster under way and they'll be gathering men as they march north to meet the Slavers. Dremman is too far away to aid us against anyone following you, but if we can meet up with the men at one of the mustering points we'll have numbers enough to give them pause. The nearest one is Terundel. It's still a good few days away — we will have to ride hard.'