His teeth flashed white. “There are many armsmen in the house, and a guard is posted to stand outside the cell holding yer friends, which is in the basement. That, I suppose, is th’ information ye were trying to trick out of me.” My anger must have shown, for his grin faded and he tossed the knife purposefully up and caught it by the handle without ever taking his eyes from me. “I have to admire ye, lass, still plottin’ to turn this moment to yer advantage when ye ought to be in despair. I’d nivver expected Misfits to show such courage and determination, nor to be loyal or clever. The stories told to us would have ye as vicious and cowardly near-beasts.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it, suddenly struck by the fact that he had not made any attempt to call for help. Perhaps he intended to take me straight to Malik, since he was in disfavor with Vos. “Maybe you should be as clever,” I said fiercely. “Of all people, Malik does not deserve anyone’s loyalty.”
Kevrik lifted his eyebrows, once again throwing the knife and catching it. I took a small step toward him anyway, growing reckless in my urgency. “You say you believe me about the demon bands? I will tell you something else that you ought to believe. Malik is a traitor—and not just to Misfits. Even now, he betrays you and Vos and all the rebels.”
The amusement in the armsman’s eyes was gone. “What are ye blatherin’ about?” he demanded.
“Haven’t you wondered why he supports Vos’s pointless plots, which any fool can tell will not gain more than the most temporary chieftainship of Saithwold? Perhaps you imagine, as some others here do, that Malik supports Vos’s folly the better to usurp his claim on Saithwold. If that is what you think, you are wrong. Malik desires vastly more than being chieftain of Saithwold. He is using Vos and Saithwold and all of you as a distraction to stop anyone from learning what he is really doing, until it is too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“To stop him,” I said, heartened by the fact that the armsman had not defended Malik. I took a deep breath. “Malik has made a pact with the Herders. Noviny saw him meeting with them down on the beach. He agreed to let a force of Herder warriors land, and he has used Vos’s activities as a way of isolating Saithwold so none of the other chieftains will get wind of it. The tainted traps laid all about the province’s perimeter and the demon bands that you and the horses wear are simply to make sure no Misfit scries in this region and learns what Malik is up to. If not for them, I could have farsought someone to warn Dardelan and the Council of Chieftains about the invasion. As it is, I am trapped here, my friends are prisoners, and soon hundreds of Herder warriors will invade. I do not know what has been promised Malik for his treachery, but you can be sure that all who aided the rebellion will be slain or given to Salamander as slaves to be sold over the seas.”
“How did Noviny just happen to witness a secret meeting between Malik and the Herders?” Kevrik asked.
“Noviny suspected him of being behind the burnings up the coast, so he went looking for proof. Since learning of the invasion plan, he has done nothing but try to get word to Dardelan. That is why he had Khuria scribe those letters to Zarak. He thought the lad would be turned away and would make enough of a fuss that Dardelan would have to send in some armsmen. He never imagined that Brydda would ease us through the blockade.”
For a long moment, Kevrik looked at me, knife poised; then he lowered it. “Most of us have believed that Malik meant to take over Saithwold. Some felt it would be a better billet to serve him, while others, me among them, dinna much like the idea of being Malik’s man but saw little else for it. Yet if all ye say is true…” He paused for a moment. “It is said that Malik betrayed many of yer people to their deaths.”
“No one has better cause than me to know it, for I was one of those who survived his treachery,” I said fiercely. “He knows me and hates me specifically, though not by the name I gave Vos, for he strove against me in the Battlegames in Sador. We Misfits lost the Battlegames and, therefore, the chance to join the rebellion as equal allies, but Malik’s ruthless tactics caused him to forfeit the respect of his fellows. That is why he is not high chieftain. He blames Misfits for that, and if you take me to him, have no doubt that you will win his favor.” I stopped, breathless, praying that I had not misjudged the armsman’s essential nature.
The highlander gave me a long look, then in one smooth movement, reached up, undid the demon band, and removed it. “The favor of a treacherous leader is a precarious thing,” he said. “Me mam used to tell me dreadful tales of monstrous Misfits who would come and eat me if I dinna heed her. I am no longer that wee lad, an’ meetin’ ye yesterday has troubled me, lass; I tell ye straight. Ye admitted to being a Misfit, but I dinna find ye evil-natured or freakish. Indeed, yer bonny and braw and clever, and in coming here, ye have proven yerself a true friend. I think we can be allies, unless ye now use yer powers to make me slit my own throat and prove me wrong.”
I drew a deep shaky breath and managed a soft laugh, hardly able to believe that I had managed to convince him. “I will not slit your throat nor even read your mind, for with these words, you have made us allies, and because of them, I will tell you the plan I have to thwart Malik. Indeed, with your help, it just might have a chance of succeeding.”
“What can I do?” he asked simply.
My gratitude was so great that I had to blink away a hot rush of tears. Only then did I realize how deeply I had feared being unable to save the others. I mastered myself and said, “First, we must get my friends out of their cell.”
“I fear that is impossible,” Kevrik said regretfully. “I could gan to the cell easy enow. It is the first in a long corridor of basement cells an’ can be reached by descending a flight of steps. I might manage to trick the guard outside their door into letting me take the prisoners by telling him Vos has changed his mind an’ wants to question them again, but the key to the cell hangs around the chieftain’s neck, an’ all men ken it. There’s no way to get it from him, save knockin’ him on the head. An’ since he has ten armsmen with him at any moment, I dinna think we will manage that very easily.”
I pondered his words. “Could you persuade the guard watching the cells to remove his demon band for a moment?”
“Probably,” Kevrik said. “But that would nowt solve th’ problem of opening the door.”
“What about the other guards? Could you persuade them to remove their collars?”
He shrugged, frowning. “I could say th’ catches on some demon bands are faulty an’ Vos wants me to check them. But if suddenly everyone lacks demon bands, it would soon be noticed an’ the alarm given,” Kevrik said.
“The bands only have to be off for a few moments. I can put a command into the mind of each armsman that will endure for some time even after the band is restored,” I said.
Kevrik blinked. “What command?”
I told him, then asked, “Is the door of the cell made of bars, or is it solid?”
“Solid,” Kevrik said apologetically, not realizing that this was what I had hoped. He went on, “But what of th’ lock.”
“I can open the lock.”
Kevrik’s eyes shifted, and he said hastily that I had better uncollar my friend. I turned to see Gahltha glaring down at me, his nostrils flared wide with indignation. With an exclamation of remorse, I turned and unclasped the demon band, wincing at the mental tirade that the black horse immediately poured into my mind. I stopped him by telling him my plan.
“No! There is too much risk to you/ElspethInnle,” Gahltha sent at once.
“This is the only way to stop Malik, and if we succeed, Dardelan and the rebels will be able to defeat the Herders and then go and free the west coast, so that I can pursue my quest. And if my plan fails, all will be lost anyway, for the Herders will reclaim the Land and Misfits will be put to the flame or made slaves.”
“What of your quest if you are hurt or killed, ElspethInnle?”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Gahltha. So many times in my life, I have put m
y quest first, but often, even when I did not think it, I discovered that I was serving it. Perhaps Maruman is right in saying that all I do serves my quest.” I swallowed a hard lump of fear in my throat. “Tell me…what happened to him? I heard that the animals were killed save for the horses.”
“Not Maruman,” Gahltha sent. “He warned me they were coming, but they were upon us before I could beastspeak Zarak or Khuria. The dogs and a goat were slain, and five milk cows with their calves. None of them saw Maruman, but he was watching. The last message he sent was that he would find you and warn you of what had happened.”
I felt a rush of relief. “He must still be out there somewhere,” I said aloud.
“Lass, it is too dangerous to stay here like this,” Kevrik said urgently, glancing across at the homestead.
I nodded and looked into Gahltha’s eyes. “Do you think the horses here will be able to find their way to Malik’s camp without riders?”
“I will lead them where you have said, ElspethInnle,” Gahltha sent. “But your plan could fail.”
“If it does, then you must do your best to reach Brydda or someone from Obernewtyn who can warn the others about the invasion. You will have to jump the barricade.”
He looked at me.
He did not say that the armsmen guarding it would not hesitate to use their weapons on him. He did not say the chance of his getting by alive was so slender as to be almost nonexistent. I lay my face against his silky black neck and felt his pulse against my cheek. “Tell Zade and Lo and the other horses that I can’t uncollar them yet, because an armsman might notice. But if we succeed, they will be free of the foul things forever.”
Kevrik wanted to wait until full dark to move, but I was filled with a sense of urgency almost as strong as a premonition. Fortunately, miserable weather kept the armsmen inside, except for those who had some duty. Kevrik came and went, gradually describing the layout of the house and making the few preparations we needed, as I worked out what to do. I told him that we would use the rear entrance to the house, which was toward the back of the long wall facing the barn. I would go along the tree line until I was opposite the entrance, and when it was safe, he would signal so I could cross the grass to enter. The greatest danger would come when I was out in the open, for anyone glancing from a window would see me. Kevrik advised me to push my hair beneath the collar of the armsman’s cloak he had brought, saying I would be taken for an armsman if I acted like one.
When I was in place in the trees, with a good view of the rear door, I saw armsmen stacking firewood against the wall beside it. Kevrik went to speak to them and then went back in the direction of the barn, only to emerge fifteen minutes later in the trees beside me, panting.
“Dinna worry. They will go in when they have finished, because it is nearly time for nightmeal, an’ most men who have no duty will gan to the dining hall, which is toward the front of the house.”
“Tell me about the demon bands for the horses,” I said as we settled to wait. “I am certain the Herders created them and gave them to Malik, but why?”
“I dinna ken why, but a sevenday back, Malik rode up and gave Vos a crate of them. He said that since Noviny harbored a beastspeaker, we mun protect ourselves from the possibility that our horses might be manipulated to give messages or even to harm us. A lot of us wondered where Malik had got the bands, but none of us dared question him. One of the men asked Vos, an’ he called the man a fool. He said, of course, that they had been found in the cloister. But we searched that cloister—” He broke off and nodded to the door. The men stacking wood had gone in. I ran my eyes along the side of the building and saw that several windows that had shown light were now dark.
Kevrik went back through the trees toward the barn. A few minutes later, I saw him cross the cobbled yard to the front of the homestead and disappear inside. My heart raced with apprehension until he reappeared at the back door. He glanced about once, then beckoned. I took a deep breath, rose, and stepped out purposefully. I had retrieved my boots from the wagon, but at the back door I hastily pulled them off so I could move silently in my socks.
I followed Kevrik as he moved deeper into the house. The passages were empty, but I stayed a little way behind him, knowing that at any minute someone might step out. The rooms we passed were both unoccupied and unfurnished, but this was no surprise, for Kevrik had told me that the house had been built to accommodate the number of servants and armsmen Vos imagined he would eventually amass.
Suddenly Kevrik splayed his fingers downward in the warning signal we had agreed upon. I flattened myself against the wall and froze. I had wanted Kevrik to leave off his collar so I could reach his mind, but he said that would look suspicious if noticed, as was bound to happen when he raised the subject of demon bands.
Kevrik looked at me. “Are ye sure?” he mouthed.
I nodded, then listened anxiously as he turned a bend in the passage ahead and spoke a greeting. We had agreed that he would greet each man he met by name so I would know how many there were. One, then. I crept closer to the corner and heard Kevrik explain that Vos had ordered him to check all demon band catches, for some had proven faulty. When I heard the snick of the fastening mechanism, I shaped a delicate coercive probe and carefully entered the armsman’s mind. It took only a moment to fashion a simple block that would prevent his noticing me as I passed or noticing the others when we returned. I waited impatiently as Kevrik examined the demon band at length, obviously imagining I needed more time. At last he told the other armsman his band seemed fine, and I heard the snick of its being fastened on again.
I padded around the corner. The armsman stood looking at the wall, as I had commanded, and he did not turn as I ghosted past him, leaving an astounded-looking Kevrik in my wake.
“I canna believe it worked,” Kevrik whispered when he caught up with me. A faint unease in his expression told me he was wondering if I could tamper with his mind as easily. Then he flushed, and I guessed he was wondering if I was reading his mind now. I made no comment, because although his fears were scribed clear upon his face for anyone to read, if I tried to allay them, he would regard my awareness as proof that I had invaded his mind.
“How long does it last?” he asked when we had gone around another bend in the passage.
“About half an hour, as long as nothing happens that opposes the suggestions I have put into his mind.”
“Like an alarm being given?”
“That still might not cause the block to crumble, but if we were in the process of creeping past at the moment an alarm went…”
“I see.” Kevrik sucked in a breath of air and blew it out. “I suppose—” He stopped because we heard voices and footsteps around the next bend in the passage. Kevrik strode quickly ahead, and I heard him greet two men and explain in an authoritative voice that Chieftain Vos wanted all demon band clasps examined as some had proven faulty. There was a little silence, and then I heard the men remove their bands. One of them made a bawdy comment about Kevrik’s skill with his hands, and as Kevrik responded in kind, I slipped into the minds of first one and then the other. When I glided around the corner past where they stood with Kevrik, momentarily blank-eyed, they turned to the wall.
He joined me a few moments later, his face pale. “I am nowt sure I can take too much of this, lass. I keep expecting someone to see ye an’ shout an alarm.”
Despite his anxiety, we managed to negotiate the passages without difficulty, leaving three more armsmen coerced behind us. The worst moment was when we encountered a group of five men. When Kevrik spoke their names, I began to sweat. It was not the number of men that troubled me, but the fact that five were enough to produce an amorphous group mind that had also to be coerced. Knowing the notorious instability of group minds, I instructed each man to hand his demon band to Kevrik and then to forget that he had done so. Having the armsmen unbanded meant that I could check on their blocks and refresh them if they began to crumble. There was the risk that the absence of the
bands might be noticed, but I had no choice. I kept control of their minds and made them all turn to the wall as I passed so that no matter what happened, they would not remember my face. When Kevrik joined me a few moments later, he held out the bands with a questioning look. When I explained, he thrust them atop a high shelf we passed.
At last we reached the steps leading to the basement cells. Kevrik descended and I followed, grimacing when the stone became slimy underfoot. But I was less concerned about my socks than the knowledge that there was only one way in and out of the cells; if an alarm was given now, we would be trapped. My blood churned with a mixture of nervousness and excitement that I welcomed, knowing it would sharpen my responses.
Kevrik touched his finger to his lips as he reached the bottom of the steps, and I stopped and listened. I heard him greet the armsman guarding the cells and was relieved that there was only a single man. Kevrik offered his tale, but the armsman refused to remove his demon band.
“Not with them freaks so close!” he expostulated. “Maybe this is just what they’ve been waiting for.”
“Dinna be a fool,” Kevrik said jovially. But the guard insisted he would wait until Chieftain Vos himself came to give the order. There was a bit more arguing, followed by a great thump and silence.
“Ella!” Kevrik hissed. I went down and saw a tall armsman crumpled on the ground at Kevrik’s feet.
“He would nowt be reasonable, so I had to knock him on the head and take off his band,” Kevrik said, his accent thickened by agitation. “Can ye make it so that he won’t remember what happened when he wakes?”
“I will have to wake him to coerce him, which will require physical contact.” I wrinkled my nose as I laid my hand on the armsman’s thick and none-too-clean forearm. I inserted a coercive probe into his sleeping mind and made him wake. When his eyes flew open, Kevrik started back with a gasp of alarm, but the guard only lay glassy-eyed and placid, his gaze fixed on the pitted rock wall of the basement passage as I had coerced him. I was able to make it stronger than the others because I was touching him. Finally, I restored his demon band. When I rose and stepped back behind Kevrik, the armsman yawned, rose to his feet with a guilty expression, and then walked away from us to the far end of the row of cells, rubbing his jaw absently.