Wintercraft: Blackwatch (6 page)
‘You can’t do this!’ he shouted. ‘I told her you would help her, but you’re just as bad as the council! You’re treating her the way they have treated you for centuries, all because you’re afraid of what you don’t understand.’
No one responded. Many of the Skilled looked back at him as they left, their dark eyes flashing with anger. The door of Kate’s hiding place moved and Edgar saw her looking straight out at Artemis. As far as she could tell, he had not even tried to convince them that she couldn’t have killed Mina, that she would never kill anyone. Artemis saw her and turned away.
‘At least you’re ashamed of what you’re doing,’ said Edgar.
Artemis stood up. His clothes were scruffier than usual and he looked as though he had not slept for days. ‘Baltin,’ he said, ‘there is no need to send your people after Kate.’
‘The decision has been made, Artemis. I warned you this could happen. You agreed that it was right.’
Artemis wrung his hands, struggling with what he was about to say. Kate waited for him to speak up for her, to try to put right what the Skilled had got terribly wrong, and then he raised his hand and pointed directly at her hiding place. ‘She is there,’ he said.
Kate could not believe what she was seeing. Artemis could have distracted Baltin, or at least said nothing. He could have given her a chance to explain herself and maybe make some kind of difference to the judgement passed against her. Instead he just pointed at her, handing her over as if he too was convinced of her guilt.
Edgar jumped off the edge of the stage and bolted between the rows of seats towards her. ‘Kate!’ he shouted. ‘We have to go!’
But Kate was not ready to leave.
The air in the meeting hall was changing. Something was shifting within the veil. Kate heard a sound like roaring thunder, the spirits around the paintings in the ceiling looked suddenly clearer, and she felt the veil tugging at her thoughts, fighting for her attention against what was happening in the room. Dizziness overwhelmed her. The ceilling pressed down towards her and the walls leaned in. She backed slowly into the anteroom, pressing her back against the tomb in the centre of the floor. It was hard to breathe. The sound of rushing water echoed around her, her body would not move, and she heard the screech of a bird from somewhere nearby.
Kate slid down the side of the tomb and sat on the floor. Images flickered in front of her eyes: water, feathers and stone. She could smell the tang of blood and feel the rough touch of stone crushing her fingertips. None of it made any sense. She couldn’t stop it. All she could do was let it happen. She wanted to scream but her lungs would not work. Then Edgar was in front of her. He took hold of her hand and the veil pulled back. The images faded. Her body came back under her control and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
‘Come on,’ said Edgar, gently pulling her to her feet. ‘We’ll get out of here.’
‘No,’ said Kate. ‘Something’s wrong.’
‘A lot of things are wrong right now. We have to go.’
‘I think it’s Silas,’ said Kate. ‘Something has happened. I could
feel
him.’ She looked down at her hands, remembering the pressure of the stone pressing on them. ‘He’s hurt.’
feel
him.’ She looked down at her hands, remembering the pressure of the stone pressing on them. ‘He’s hurt.’
‘We can talk about that later,’ said Edgar. ‘There’s nothing we can do about it now. Are you coming?’
Kate nodded. She let Edgar pull her into the meeting hall and they slammed out of the front door side by side.
The Skilled’s cavern was dimly lit to simulate the night that hung over the City Above. The lantern light gave a warm glow to the curved ceiling of red bricks and illuminated the two long rows of houses where the Skilled lived. They had been too slow. Greta the magistrate was already standing in the street, flanked by two of Baltin’s strongest guards, waiting for her.
‘Great,’ said Edgar, keeping tight hold of Kate’s hand.
‘The judgement has been passed,’ said Greta. ‘The verdict was fair.’
‘It is more than she deserves,’ said one of the men. ‘We should hand her over to the wardens for what she has done.’
Edgar whispered to Kate without moving his lips. ‘If we’re going, we have to go now. Follow my lead.’
The two guards flinched when it looked as if Edgar was going to move. Greta took a step closer.
‘The cavern is sealed,’ she said. ‘There is no way out.’
More of the Skilled were gathering around them, their dark eyes fixed intently upon Kate. Her hands felt icy cold, and beads of water dripped to the ground as the heat of Edgar’s grip melted the frost that gathered on them as the veil closed in.
‘What are they doing?’ asked Edgar, refusing to let go.
‘It’s not them,’ said Kate. ‘It’s the vell. Something is different about it.’
‘Miss Winters?’ Baltin’s voice spoke behind her. ‘It is time to answer for what you have done. Come with us now. You can do yourself no good out here. Let the boy go.’
Kate realised that she was holding Edgar’s hand so tightly that his fingers were turning white, and she let go of him at once.
‘That’s right,’ said Baltin, signalling the two men to walk slowly towards her. ‘Edgar, stand aside, if you please.’
‘No. You can’t just take her!’
‘Don’t you see what is happening?’ said Baltin. ‘She does not have full control of her link to the veil, and that makes her dangerous. She may not even remember killing Mina. Do you want the same thing to happen to you?’
Kate’s pupils sheened with silver as they reflected the lamplight.
‘This girl has already gone too deep into things which are none of her concern,’ said Baltin. ‘The Night of Souls was … there is no other word for it, it was an abomination. The effects of the damage Kate did in that circle are still being felt across the veil. She is dangerous and always will be dangerous. We cannot allow her to make the same mistakes again.’
‘She used a listening circle,’ said Edgar. ‘It’s hardly a crime.’
‘In our world, it should be,’ said Baltin. ‘She opened a listening circle, exposed a crowd of innocent people to the dangers of the half-life and interfered with the fates of thousands of tormented souls. If sheer luck had not allowed her to contain the shades in that circle the consequences would have been unimaginable.’
‘But she
did
contain them,’ said Edgar. ‘She didn’t open the circle. Da’ru did. If Kate hadn’t taken control of it who knows what would have happened. She helped people that night, something the Skilled haven’t done for a very long time.’
did
contain them,’ said Edgar. ‘She didn’t open the circle. Da’ru did. If Kate hadn’t taken control of it who knows what would have happened. She helped people that night, something the Skilled haven’t done for a very long time.’
‘As I said. Luck,’ said Baltin. ‘It could have all ended very differently. Do not forget the blood that was shed because of her. Wardens and a councilwoman all slain within an active circle. Do you have any idea what could have happened if Kate had lost control?’
‘Those deaths weren’t Kate’s fault!’
‘Perhaps not, but it doesn’t change the fact that those circles are instruments of great unknown power. Even the Skilled do not yet know the extent of their influence upon the living world. Kate’s actions were reckless, and we may only now be beginning to see the consequences. She tore a gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead; one larger than any that has been seen within living memory. An act like that has far-reaching effects. Who knows how many are yet to suffer for what she has done?’
‘Rubbish!’ said Edgar. ‘Kate didn’t harm anything or anyone and you’re all crazy to think that she ever would.’
‘That’s enough,’ Baltin said sternly. ‘You are a guest in this cavern, Mr Rill. Remember that.’
Edgar was about to argue, but a flicker of doubt crossed Kate’s mind. What if Baltin was right? What if she had done something wrong? What if she was dangerous? Kate knew too well how close the hundreds of people in the city square had come to death on the Night of Souls. She had seen the current of death with her own eyes, she had watched it claim the life of the councilwoman Da’ru and she had helped do its work. Baltin was right: if anything had happened to the gathered people that night she would have been responsible. She could not risk anything like that happening again.
Kate stepped forward and turned to Edgar. ‘I’m going with them,’ she said. ‘It’ll be all right.’
‘No, it won’t. They won’t let you out again. They’ll keep you down here. Kate!’ But Baltin’s men were already surrounding her.
Two of them held Edgar back as Kate followed Baltin down the cavern’s main street, heading towards a small building that was off limits to anyone except the one who held the key. The locks on the door were stiff from disuse. Baltin swung open the door and stepped inside the candlelit darkness, signalling for Kate to follow.
Inside was a single room that the Skilled used as a lockhouse. Someone had been in recently and prepared it for her arrival. There was a bed next to the door, a long table stacked with old books that looked as if they had come from someone’s dusty attic, and a row of shelves that ran all the way round the circular wall, holding four lit candles, already burned halfway down.
‘For your own sake, I suggest you get used to this place,’ said Baltin, his voice echoing dully round the room. ‘You can do no harm in here, and you shall remain here until we decide upon a more permanent solution.’
‘I haven’t hurt anybody,’ said Kate, as Baltin positioned himself between her and the door. ‘I didn’t kill Mina.’
‘This is not just about that,’ said Baltin. ‘We all knew what you were, even before you did. You may think you have not hurt anyone, but the veil does not lie to us. It warned us about you four years ago and it says that, given time, you will. I have people to take care of here. They trust me to do what is right, and this is right. Do you really think Mina would not have done the same once she had learned everything she could from you?’
‘Mina welcomed me into her home,’ said Kate. ‘She trusted me, just as she trusted my parents. They gave their lives to help the Skilled. Do
you
really think I would break that trust?’
you
really think I would break that trust?’
‘Children are not their parents,’ said Baltin. ‘You may be right about Mina, but look what happened to her. The veil warned us about your … unique capabilities. I respect your family, I always have, but I would be a fool to ignore that warning now. I cannot afford to trust you, Kate, and since you agreed to be brought here, I do not think you even trust yourself. You will have regular meals, but no visitors until we decide what to do with you. Beyond that, I can promise nothing.’
Baltin left the room, leaving Kate standing there alone. He turned the locks tight and rattled the door after each one to make sure it was sealed. The moment the last lock slid into place, he and his men walked away and silence fell hauntingly in the room – the kind of silence that suggested that someone was standing close by, trying not to breathe.
Kate picked up the nearest candle and held it up. She felt as if someone was watching her. Her skin prickled, and it was only then that she noticed the trails of frost veining her arms. The veil was closer than usual in that place and it made her uneasy. ‘This is it,’ she told herself aloud, sitting down on the bed. ‘This is what you have to look forward to for who knows how long.’
A deep whisper circled round the room in answer to her words, and Kate shivered. She dared to reach into the veil a little and saw the shadowy forms of shades standing against the walls like statues carved into the stone. Seeing them so clearly no longer scared her, and their presence gave her some small comfort as she sat there on her own. If Baltin wanted her to stay out of the veil, locking her away was not going to do any good. He had to have known that. Sitting there in the silence, Kate could not help thinking about what kind of permanent solution he and the magistrate had in mind.
4
Bandermain
‘Wake him up.’
A voice trailed sluggishly through Silas’s mind as he tried to piece together what was happening to him. Rope bit into his blood-soaked wrists, and the smell of damp earth was overwhelming. He was in a cellar, tied to a chair and unable to move. That was all he could be sure of without opening his eyes. His mind, taking that as a command, tried to lift his eyelids. One of his eyes was badly swollen and the lid would not budge. The other was sticky with blood, but as his eyelashes pulled apart he took in all the details of his surroundings in a single blink.
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