Wintercraft: Blackwatch (25 page)
Dalliah was a keen manipulator. She expected her orders to have some effect upon Silas, and he knew it. His refusal to react to her dominance over the situation would have told her as much about him as any other response, but he trusted her even less than she trusted him. She was too open with her information; too keen to insist that all three of them were equals when one of them was being held deliberately on the threshold of death and the other had all but been taken to that house as a prisoner. Silas kept his eyes upon her as she left the room. She was too calm. Too organised. Whatever she was planning, neither he nor Bandermain would truly be a part of it.
‘You will get used to it,’ said Bandermain, sinking down into an armchair the moment she was gone. ‘That woman is a force of nature.’
‘She has poisoned your mind,’ said Silas.
‘She has opened my eyes.’
‘You are weak, Celador.’
‘As weak as you? You came here of your own free will. I doubt she planned it any other way. The war is there ready to be won, Silas. Your country will lose. Forget about Albion. Your people have most definitely forgotten about you. Her offer sounds like a fine one to me.’
‘I have pledged my help and I will give it,’ said Silas.
Bandermain laughed, his voice dissolving into more racking coughs. ‘Am I speaking to the man of honour, or to the strategist?’ he asked. ‘I know what you are thinking, because I would be thinking the same thing in your position, but whatever you have in mind, you will not win. I do not care what you think of this girl. All I care about is getting what I have earned. Dalliah says she can cure me and I believe her.’
‘If she was going to cure you, she would have done it by now.’
‘I
have
to believe her. The only other choice is death. Three of my men died from this disease before I even realised I had it. If running a few errands for a madwoman can rid me of it, I’ll pay that price.’
have
to believe her. The only other choice is death. Three of my men died from this disease before I even realised I had it. If running a few errands for a madwoman can rid me of it, I’ll pay that price.’
‘She is not a madwoman,’ said Silas. ‘I would feel better if she was.’
‘Dalliah will not let you ruin this,’ said Bandermain. ‘That’s why you are here. To be watched. This house is your cage as much as it is mine. You will not leave. Even if you did, she would bring you back.’
‘I have no intention of going anywhere,’ said Silas.
‘Then that is one thing we have in common, at least.’
Bandermain sat back in the chair. Silas took a seat on the opposite side of the room and laid his sword across his lap.
‘It would be a mercy to kill you,’ he said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. ‘Unfortunately for you, I am feeling far from merciful today.’
‘I appreciate that,’ said Bandermain.
The two men sat, watching each other.
Silas could feel the veil still hanging within the room as Bandermain struggled for each breath. The creeping lung was a vicious disease: more of an infestation than an infection, caused by tiny insects that gradually ate away a sufferer’s lungs from the inside out. Silas had seen people die from it before and he did not look forward to witnessing it again. It was a common threat out in the Continental wilds, and there was very little travellers could do to protect themselves against it.
Perhaps Bandermain had been suspicious of Dalliah’s motives in the beginning, but now desperation had bought her his trust. Men upon the brink of death were willing to give an ear to anything that might earn them even a little more time in the living world. Bandermain’s body had become his battlefield and, with Dalliah’s help, this sickness was just another war that he fully expected to win.
Silas allowed the veil to creep steadily into his mind. If Dalliah was right and Kate had already been captured by the Blackwatch, there was nothing he could do for her. His crow would arrive too late to warn her about Bandermain’s men, but he still had to confirm it for himself. His thoughts slipped gradually into the veil, but while a connection was possible it was weak at best.
All he caught were glimpses; flickers of images seen through the eyes of his crow as it flew across the walls of Fume. He saw the towers and streets soaked with pouring rain as the bird flew on, obeying his command. He let his thoughts fly with the crow, sinking back easily into the rhythms and energies of the veil that pulsed like a heartbeat all around him. The crow reacted to his presence, soaring faster upon the wind, speeding towards its destination as Silas reluctantly left it behind.
He focused solely upon Kate and the veil gave him flashes of what her eyes could see. Blackwatch agents were advancing towards her. He sensed her fear and felt her heart racing within his own chest. Then a different feeling crept across his senses. Something had changed. His body tensed, every muscle suddenly alert, and his consciousness returned quickly to Dalliah’s room, where Bandermain was slowly walking across the floor towards him.
Silas’s blade swept up to Bandermain’s throat as he left the veil behind. Bandermain stopped walking. He had no weapon drawn and looked shaky on his feet, but Silas was not willing to take any chances.
‘What are you doing?’ he demanded.
‘You can do what she does,’ said Bandermain, wheezing painfully with each breath. ‘You can see into the veil. You’re one of them! She did not tell me that.’
‘Perhaps because it is none of your business.’
Bandermain took a shaky step back and Silas carefully lowered his weapon.
‘What did you see?’
‘Only that Dalliah was telling the truth,’ said Silas.
‘Of course she was. She has no reason to lie.’
‘She has many reasons. And most of them are on the other side of the sea, under
your
orders, collecting two young prisoners. The loyalty of your men is all Dalliah is interested in now. They have found what she wants.’
your
orders, collecting two young prisoners. The loyalty of your men is all Dalliah is interested in now. They have found what she wants.’
‘You do not know everything.’
‘What did she promise you, Celador? There are many ways to fight a war. Why are you so interested in helping Dalliah with hers?’
Bandermain turned his back on Silas and waved a dismissive hand as he made his way back to his chair. ‘Any victory … is still a victory,’ he said, slumping down. ‘She will give me … what no one else can. She can give me my life back.’
‘She feeds you a handful of good days and forces you to endure the bad. That is not a life. It is torture.’
‘That is what I was starting to believe as well … until you came.’
‘Dalliah will never cure you,’ said Silas. ‘No one can.’
‘I know that,’ said Bandermain, coughing again. ‘She told me there was another way. I did not believe her until I saw you … under that bridge, still alive. You are the proof. You have shown me what is possible.’ Bandermain raised his hand and Silas saw the black stitches across his cut palm.
‘Dalliah tried to bind your soul to hers,’ said Silas. ‘But she does not have
Wintercraft
. The binding cannot be performed without it.’
Wintercraft
. The binding cannot be performed without it.’
‘She believed that it could,’ said Bandermain. ‘It is only a book, after all. Books can be copied, their contents remembered. It has no true power of its own.’
‘It cannot be destroyed,’ said Silas. ‘And it always finds its way back into a Winters’s hands. There is far more to
Wintercraft
than just ink and paper. I see the binding did not work.’
Wintercraft
than just ink and paper. I see the binding did not work.’
‘There are some things even Dalliah cannot do,’ said Bandermain, closing his palm. ‘But the girl can. She will make sure of it. To live without fear of injury, sickness or death.
That
is life. You do not know how fortunate you are.’
That
is life. You do not know how fortunate you are.’
‘You would choose to live
my
life? Willingly?’
my
life? Willingly?’
‘I welcome it. I will see the end of this war. I will live to witness Albion’s fall.’
‘You have lost your mind, Celador.’
Bandermain laughed painfully. ‘If I do nothing, I stand to lose far more than that,’ he said. ‘When my men bring Kate Winters to this house, she will give me the reward Dalliah has promised. She will be my salvation, Silas, just as she was yours.’
16
Waterways
‘Edgar, don’t do anything,’ Kate whispered, as six more red-coated men poured into the room. All of them had scarred faces and fierce eyes. Their coats were old but neatly patched and their belts bristled with blades and black pouches. The leader was taller than the rest and the dagger he held was already stained with blood.
‘You will both come with us,’ he said. ‘It would be best not to fight.’
Two agents stepped forward with ropes in their hands. One of them overpowered Edgar easily, pulled him away from Kate and tied his wrists together before pushing him towards the door. There was nothing either of them could do. They were outnumbered and outmatched. Kate held out her hands and let them be tied.
‘That’s right,’ said the leader. ‘We’ll have no tricks from you, little witch.’
The Blackwatch searched Edgar for hidden weapons, found nothing, and pushed him out of the door. Kate kept quiet. They did not search her and she was allowed to walk out into the cavern at her own speed. The people who lived in that place had gathered quickly to see her and her ‘accomplice’ brought out into the light. She heard shouts of anger and surprise as the Blackwatch walked them along the front of the houses and down endless flights of steps, but she kept her head high and her eyes down.
The Blackwatch took them down to the ground and walked them into a low tunnel that echoed with the rumbling sound of fast-moving water. There they divided into groups and Kate overheard the leader leaving orders with one of his men. She caught the words ‘gathering point’ and ‘containment’ but she could not hear enough to know what they were talking about. All but three of the Blackwatch agents remained in the cavern. Kate and Edgar were left with one guard each and, once he was satisfied his orders had been understood, the leader led the four of them deeper into the tunnel.
The darkness was broken by regular clutches of fire torches and it looked as if the path had been well used before the Blackwatch arrived. The rumbling sound grew louder the further they walked; shallow steps led gradually downwards and Kate could smell water in the air. The tunnel exit opened out into a tall vertical crack in the stone up ahead, just wide enough for two people to squeeze through side by side. Kate stepped through and found herself on the bank of a fast-flowing river, one that raced so quickly that it churned up ruffles of foam wherever it touched rocks jutting out from its cave-like banks.
A row of patched-together rowing boats were lashed to metal hooks sunk into the wall, pulled high up away from the water, and beside them a huge creaking waterwheel turned with the speeding flow.
The Blackwatch did not take Kate and Edgar towards the boats. The leader lifted a lantern from the wall and turned left instead, heading to where part of the tunnel had fallen in upon itself some time in the recent past. They picked their way over a pile of fallen earth and rocks towards a boat that was larger than the others, hidden from the view of anyone standing on their side of the river.
‘Get in,’ said the leader.
The boat was of an unusual design. It was much bigger than a rowing boat, its hull was thick and heavy and its rear half was completely covered by a curved roof that sealed the deck beneath it from every direction except the front. The prow curved in to a wide point lined with wooden guardrails that were hung all the way along with leather sacks. Two interlocked lengths of wood that could have been a short mast stood bare in the very centre and there were wooden chests nailed to the floor, each one locked with a thick padlock.
Kate climbed over the side of the boat and Edgar followed her in, then both turned quickly to face the men behind them.
‘We have a long journey ahead of us,’ said the leader. ‘Sit down. Stay still, and you will see the end of this night in one piece.’
The boat jolted and scraped as the Blackwatch pushed and forced it down a cleared channel, grating it forward, shove by shove, towards the river. Water surged against the prow as the front half of the boat turned diagonally into it. Kate and Edgar sat down together on a bench that ran along the boat’s exposed left side, clinging on to the guardrail with tied hands as water rushed over the deck. Kate heard a shouted order and the three men climbed aboard, letting the pull of the river do its work.
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