Sean Russell - The Shadow Roads

They were led through a pair of large doors made of yakawood, the planks wider than any A’brgail had ever seen, or even heard of.Inside was a long chamber with windows opening out to the world beyond.

“You are in the Chamber of the Rising Moon,” their guidesaid. His look was suddenly solicitous. “Is it true you are the daughter ofLord Carral Wills?”

“It is true, yes.”

“But we had heard you died in an accident.”

“It was no accident, and I did not die,” Elise said, a greatweariness coming into her voice.

The man made a small bow and backed away quickly. “I willsend you water for washing, and food and drink. The elders will come shortly.You have arrived unexpectedly, and they must be found and decisions made aboutwho will attend you.”

They were left alone in the room, which was both elegant andspare, the decorations understated and strange to A’brgail’s eye, for theartistic sensibilities of the Fael were different from the other peoples of theland between the mountains. Columns were narrow at their base and spread asthey rose, seeming to whirl up to the curving beams overhead. Opposite the longbank of windows that looked out toward the east, tapestries hung over the stonewalls, their colors rich and deep.

“They must curtain these windows to protect the tapestriesfrom the morning sun,” he said, thinking aloud, but Elise barely acknowledgedthat he had spoken.

Even the scenes in the tapestries seemed strange to him,filled with disturbing images, completely unlike the tapestries he knew thatdepicted legends of courtly love or famous battles.

Elise, it seemed, sensed his bewilderment.

“Vision weavers!” she said, as though it were an answer to aquestion. She glanced over at A’brgail, and his face must have registered hisconfusion. “These are the work of vision weavers. That is why they look likedreams or nightmares.”

For a moment more she gazed at the strange images, thenslumped into a chair and stared out listlessly toward the eastern horizon. A’brgailfollowed her example, finding the chair soft and welcoming.

A few moments later he was wakened by the sound of doorsopening. Two young men and a young woman hurried in, bearing trays: water forthem to wash themselves and platters of steaming food. A’brgail didn’t knowwhich he needed more, but decided that it would only be polite to first washhimself as best he could.

Elise did not wait to be asked, but plunged her face into abasin like an old campaigner. If the Fael were surprised by this, they did notshow it. Their dark faces remained masks of politeness. A’brgail was impressedby how far the goodwill toward Car-ral Wills would stretch.

A’brgail retched terribly, bile welling up and burning histhroat. Hands seemed to be supporting him while another struck him gently onthe back.

“I think he’s done,” a voice said.

The knight tried to open his eyes, but the world wasreeling, and he closed them again. He was lowered to the floor, where he laystill a moment, his position awkward. His hands seemed to be restrained, asdid his feet.

“Be wary. If she does the same, we’ll have to cut the gagoff.”

A’brgail was not sure how long he lay still, or even if hewas conscious the whole time; but when he opened his eyes again the worldseemed to have stopped spinning, though his vision was blurred.

“What’s happened to me?” he asked.

No one answered a moment, then a woman’s voice was heard. “You’veeaten something that didn’t agree with you.”

“Why are my hands bound?”

“Because of the company you keep.”

A’brgail twisted around, trying to see the source of thevoice, but his eyes came to rest upon Elise, who appeared to be chained to astake, a gag tied over her mouth, and a pyre at her feet. Fael men stood bywith flickering torches. Even with his vision blurred, A’brgail could see thatthey were frightened. No, they were terrified.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said, trying to muster his energy.

“It was not our people who made this mistake,” the womansaid. She came and crouched down before him.

“She wakes!” a man said quickly.

The woman reached out and touched A’brgail’s brow, as thoughshe tested him for fever. “We will deal with you by and by,” she said gently.

Elise was given some time to recover, and when she had doneso, A’brgail watched her struggle against the chains, veins standing out on herneck.

“I don’t think even you will break such chains,” thewoman said. “I am Adalla. This is Idath,” she said, indicating an older man. “AndTannis.”

A young woman nodded. Adalla regarded Elise a moment, hermanner determined, but there was kindness in her face. A’brgail would not havewanted her judging him-she had an air of disinterest about her that suggestedleniency was not something she indulged.

“I will remove your gag,” she said, “but be warned-if you beginto mutter or speak words we don’t recognize, these men will set the pyre aflameand you, and the thing you bear, will be turned to ash. Do you understand?”

Elise nodded.

Adalla signaled, and the young woman named Tannis removedher gag.

“This is not the usual Fael hospitality,” Elise said darkly.

“For which we will make no apology,” Adalla said, pacingback and forth before Elise. “We know who you are and what you’ve done.” Shenodded to the young woman. “Tannis is an accomplished vision weaver. Sheforesaw a woman making a bargain with Sianon, just as she and her sister sawthe return of Sainth and Caibre.” She turned and retraced her steps, handsbehind her back, head bent as though she watched every step she took. “Butthen, as often happens, her visions became unclear. Tannis saw Elise Willsbecoming the defender of the peoples in the land between the mountains. Shealso had a vision of Elise Wills falling, her shadow taking up the swordagainst us, carving out a kingdom of her own, and making war-perpetual, brutalwar.” She stopped pacing and stood gazing at Elise. “Two visions. One will betrue. One will not. If we set you free, will Elise Wills fight to defend us, orwill the shadow inside you triumph and plunge the land between the mountainsinto a century of war?”

Elise closed her eyes. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

“Lady Elise,” the woman said with feeling. “That answer willnot gain you your life.”

“Lady Elise will never give in to Sianon,” A’brgail calledout. “I am sure of it.”

Adalla answered without looking at him. “Men would givetheir lives to gain Sianon’s favor. We can’t trust your word, man-at-arms.”

“But I have traveled with her, watched her risk her life forothers-a thing Sianon would never do.”

“I will gag you if I must,” Adella threatened, and the Knightfell silent, frustration and anger boiling up inside him.

“Perhaps you should burn me,” Elise said, meeting Adalla’seye. “I didn’t know when I made this bargain what it would mean. What it wouldmean to have her memories … Sianon traded her heart for the love and utterdevotion of those around her-”

“But have you done the same, traded away your heart?”

Elise’s eyes closed again, and tears appeared, tremblingamong her lashes like a drop of rain in a spider’s web. “All I know is that Ifeel as though I did these things, sacrificed my loved ones without remorse,sent legions to their deaths. She once had a meal interrupted by the news thatone of her armies had been destroyed-to the last man. She finished her supper,then spent the night with a lover, as though nothing had happened. I am sinkingbeneath the weight of these memories, of my own remorse and self-loathing. I amliving a nightmare. Death might release me. I might welcome his cold embrace.”Elise broke down then and began to sob, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.