From Darkness Won Part 21

"Jibhal Hamartano would only be one hundred twenty some years old, Tristan," Sir Eagan said to Captain Loam. "Dark magic could have kept him alive this long."

"He uses gowzals," Achan said.

Altair looked at him, confused. "What are gowzals?"

"A cross between ravens and bats," Sir Gavin said. "Weak minded creatures that black knights use to wield their magic."

"Berland will help destroy these creatures, we will," Koyukuk said. "Fowl is best roasted on a spit."

Achan fought a smile. "You honor us with your offer, Sir Koyukuk." Yet even Koyukuk's eagerness to roast gowzals did not keep the Hadad-whoever was the current Hadad for the keliy-from coming back to his thoughts. The man- creature?-had killed his great, great grandfather, and perhaps Achan's parents. "What if the Hadad is watching through me right now? Shadowing me with his bloodvoice?"

Sir Eagan's keen blue eyes locked with Achan's. "Do not give in to paranoia, Your Highness. You are wise to be concerned and on guard, but no one can watch through you when your shields are up. None can hear your thoughts."

"But it's been weeks since he spoke to me, and I've lowered my shields at least once during that time. If he's not trying to see through me now, why did he stop trying?"

"He has not spoken to you since you swore fealty to Arman," Sir Caleb said. "Is that correct?"

"Aye, right." Arman was with him now. How could Achan have missed that vital difference? Arman, help me withstand this foe.

A flash of heat welled up in the pit of Achan's stomach.

FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU. THE ENEMY SHALL COME IN LIKE A FLOOD, BUT I SHALL LIFT UP A STANDARD AGAINST HIM.

Relief chased after the heat, bringing a peace over Achan. Thank You, Arman. Thank You.

The door opened, and d.u.c.h.ess Amal returned to her seat at the foot of the table. Was it Achan's imagination or did her eyes look red?

They discussed the plans to depart. Sir Eric mentioned that his brother, Captain Chantry Livna, was bringing a fleet of battleships to Armonguard, but they had not pa.s.sed Zerah Rock yet. The army would have to march south without their aid and face whatever enemy it met along the way.

When no one had further business to discuss, Achan adjourned the meeting.

He was in his chambers, making sure all of his things had been gathered, when Sir Eagan entered.

"Your Highness, d.u.c.h.ess Amal is in need of your immediate a.s.sistance."

Achan glanced past Sir Eagan and out the open door. He could see the emerald sleeve of d.u.c.h.ess Amal's gown in the corridor. "Certainly."

Sir Eagan opened the door fully, and the d.u.c.h.ess strode to the chair beside Achan's bed and sat down. She held her own hands, fidgeting. "Your Highness, please sit a moment."

Achan sat on the edge of his bed. "My lady, are you well?"

"I bring sad news. It has come to my attention that your friend, Miss Sparrow, has found herself in an unfortunate situation."

Achan's stomach seemed to slide into his boots. "What has happened?"

"She was captured and imprisoned in Sitna. Lord Levy holds her there for Esek Nathak's bidding."

"So Esek really is alive?"

"According to Vrell," Sir Eagan said.

"She contacted you, Sir Eagan?" Achan felt pa.s.sed over by Sparrow. But after all, Sir Eagan had helped her before.

"Regardless," d.u.c.h.ess Amal said, "neither of us are able to contact her now."

Achan reached out for Sparrow and found no sense of her. He forced himself to ask. "You think she's dead?"

"I know not." d.u.c.h.ess Amal's voice was barely a whisper. "I hoped to discover whether you had ever been in the dungeons of Sitna Manor. I have not, nor has Sir Eagan, so neither of us can look for her... body."

"I-I have." Achan shuddered at the memory of Myet, Lord Nathak's head torturer, flogging Achan in the darkness under the Sitna Manor keep.

"Will you look for her there?" d.u.c.h.ess Amal asked. "Tell me what you see, and I shall watch your body."

"Of course, my lady." He scooted back on his bed and lay down, eyes closed, unhinged that he had been hoping to seek out Sparrow in such a way, though under vastly different circ.u.mstances.

Arman, please let me find her. Please let her be safe.

Achan found himself in an open s.p.a.ce at the foot of a stairwell that led up the southeast tower of the Sitna keep. Barred cells ran along every wall except the eastern one, which was solid stone and covered with various saws, knives, pikes, iron spiders, whips, cat tails, racks, and other torture devices. How he knew this place. Thankfully, Myet was absent. Achan did not want to see him again.

Achan drifted to the right, down the path on the southern wall. The thick smells of mildew, urine, and body odor made him gag. He pa.s.sed a cell where a man keened, rocking back and forth, clutching his side. In the next cell a man slept. In another a man sang to himself, scratching his finger in the dirt floor. Achan drifted, scanning the ground for Sparrow. A large rat chased a smaller one across the corridor.

Achan reached the end of the row and circled down the next. Two men stood in the aisle halfway down where a cell door hung open. Achan drifted closer, concentrating on the men's soft voices.

"Well, they're diseased, aren't they?"

"Even so, Reggio, she wouldn't pa.s.s out instantly if a rat bit her. There is something about this I don't understand."

"Black knights?"

"Perhaps, though I would expect to be informed before they used their magic on my prisoner. Where are those blasted men with the litter?"

"Probably stopped to drool over some woman. I declare, Father. The peasants of Sitna Manor are the most wayward bunch. You should have seen them reveling last night. You should put a stop to it at once."

Achan slowed his approach beside Lord Levy and his son, Reggio. Lord Levy was a man of medium height with small, brown eyes. He had short, white hair and a matching beard that he'd oiled into a point. Reggio, Levy's son, hadn't grown an inch since Achan had last seen him. Scrawny, brown-haired, and no older than thirteen years, the boy acted as if all Er'Rets was his to command.

Achan drifted through the doorway and into the cell. At first it appeared empty, until he realized he had glided right over a woman's body that lay on the floor near the entrance. It was Sparrow, all right. He dropped down beside her, overcome at the sight of her still form. She wore a peasant's dress of brown linen. Her hair had been braided in two short plaits. Both were frizzy. One had lost its thong and was half unraveled.

A cham raged in Achan's chest. That any man would treat a woman so. She should not have been put in a cell like a man. Though knowing Sparrow, she had likely demanded it. He hated being here without his body. He wanted to lift her in his arms and carry her from this place.

His mind raced through the things Sparrow would say if she happened upon an unconscious person. Had anyone thought to try smelling salts? She had likely only fainted. Probably saw one of the huge rats in her cell.

He reached for her mind, elated to find no shields blocking his way. Sparrow? Wake up. It's me, Achan.

No answer came, nor could Achan sense her sleeping mind. His heart rate doubled. Sparrow! Her chest rose and fell steadily. So why couldn't he sense her?

d.u.c.h.ess! I have found her. She breathes, though it's as if she isn't there. What could that mean?

d.u.c.h.ess Amal's voice whispered in his mind. That she has been stormed.

Achan glanced around the cell, looking for Sparrow's transparent mind. I will find her. She cannot be far.

Footsteps shuffled down the corridor outside the cell.

"What took you so long?" Lord Levy said.

Two men pushed their way inside and lowered a litter beside Sparrow.

"Hurry up, now," Lord Levy said. "Put her in the eastern chamber on the sixth floor. And stand guard at her door until I tell you otherwise. Let no one inside."

"Not even the healer?" one of the soldiers asked.

"He said no one!" Reggio yelled. "Are you deaf or just daft?"

"No, my lord."

The men lifted Sparrow's limp body onto the litter. Achan wanted to push them all away. He didn't want anyone to touch her. The men carried Sparrow from the cell. Achan drifted along after them. He needed to see the room they were taking her to.

d.u.c.h.ess Amal's voice came again. Your Highness, do you see her?

They are taking her body. I want to see where they go so I can bring her back to her body.

Very well. As soon as you see, return to yours.

Achan followed the men up the tower stairs. If only he could knock their heads together for the careless way they carried the litter. Sparrow nearly slid off the litter twice and her skirt had ridden up to her knees.

They exited on the sixth floor and into a s.p.a.cious chamber. Fat arrow loops looked out over the delta where the Sideros River met the sea. The guards set the litter on a bed tented in a thick sheet of burlap. They left Sparrow there and went outside, closing the door behind them.

Achan scowled at the door. The brutes hadn't removed the cover from the bed or lifted Sparrow off the litter. Achan hovered over her, staring at her face. How badly he wanted to touch her cheek. Her ivory skin, usually l.u.s.trous, was milky, almost greenish. He worried that her blood had stopped flowing. Her chest still rose and fell. There must be something more he could do. She looked so stiff and awkward, one hand caught under her back.

Your Highness? Have you arrived? the d.u.c.h.ess asked.

I have, my lady. They threw her on a dusty bed. She looks so uncomfortable. Her dress is twisted around her legs. You're sure there is no way I can move her?

Not without your body, no. Come away, Your Highness.

But Lord Levy is going to come. I should stay and hear what he has to say. Maybe I will learn something- No. You must come back now.

Achan tensed. He didn't want to leave Sparrow alone with these people who intended to harm her.

Please, Your Highness. We must hurry if we are to bring her mind back from the Veil.

Of course. Sparrow still needed him, but not here. She was out there, drifting, alone. Frightened.

He opened his eyes to find the d.u.c.h.ess staring down at him. He took a deep breath. "Do you think she knows about the Veil? About what can happen there?"

d.u.c.h.ess Amal shook her head slightly. "I know not."

"Macoun Hadar might have taught her."

She pursed her lips. "Perhaps. It matters not to fret over it. We must go and look for her."

Achan wanted to pace, but he needed to enter the Veil and look for Sparrow. "How will I know where to look?"

"Message her."

"I tried. I couldn't find her mind."

"I suspect that was because you focused on her body and her mind was not there."

Achan closed his eyes and sought Sparrow's mind. This time he sensed her. And her shields were down! Sparrow? You must return to your body.

h.e.l.lo? Her voice sounded far away. Confused. Is someone there?

Sparrow. It's Achan. You've been stormed. Return to your body right away.

Who are you?

Achan. Achan Cham.

I cannot see you, Master Cham. Where are you and why do you jest? It is a lovely day. I cannot imagine it would storm.

Sparrow! Achan tried to enter her mind, to see through her eyes, hoping to hear her thoughts, but he was unable to see anything. How could that be?

He growled and looked at d.u.c.h.ess Amal. "She's not herself. She called me Master Cham, and when I mentioned her being stormed, she thought I was talking of rain."

The d.u.c.h.ess sighed and closed her eyes.

Sir Eagan set a hand on her shoulder. "Nor must you fret, Nitsa. We will all reach for her and, in time, convince her to return."

d.u.c.h.ess Amal's eyes flashed open, wild with fright. "We must not. Only one person should speak with her. Too many and she might close us out. If her memory is gone... If she does not know what bloodvoicing is..."

Achan knew too well how frightening it was to suddenly hear voices and not know why. "I will talk to her."

d.u.c.h.ess Amal's eyes filled with tears. "But I do not think you are ready, Your Highness. I should be the one-"

"But you don't know Sparrow at all, my lady. And Sir Eagan has only known her a few weeks. She was closest to me. I should be looking for her."

A tiny sob escaped d.u.c.h.ess Amal's lips. Achan did not understand why the d.u.c.h.ess was so upset over a missing stray girl she'd never met. She knew Achan cared for Sparrow, and clearly Sir Eagan had brought the matter to the d.u.c.h.ess's attention. Perhaps she was simply a compa.s.sionate woman.

Sir Eagan gripped the d.u.c.h.ess's hand and turned her face to his, looking into her eyes. "We will find her, Nitsa. But we will not decide this now. Since Achan has already spoken to her, he will keep messaging until we decide how to proceed. All right?"

She nodded, a calming breath restoring her regal posture and demeanor. "Of course you are right, Sir Eagan."

"And now we must go." Sir Eagan helped d.u.c.h.ess Amal stand. "The army is waiting for the prince so it can depart."

Achan scowled. "I cannot leave when Sparrow is lost!"

"You will have nothing to do but search, Your Majesty," Sir Eagan said, "for you will not be riding a horse. And I will ride with you should you wish to enter the Veil, but we must move south today. You understand that, do you not?"