David Drake - Godess of the Ice Realm

And on a bad day, I wish I could… But recently the days are rarely that bad.

"More direct than that, I don't know," Ilna continued. "But there's something I can do in the north and nothing that we know of here. That's a reason to go."

"Yes," said Garric, "it is."

He cleared his throat. "What do you want from me?"

"Lady Liane," Ilna said, passing over Garric's question. "As you know I've become the guardian of an orphan, Lady Merota bos-Roriman. The journey isn't one I'm willing to subject the child to."

Ilna let the humor of a thought reach her lips in a smile. She went on, "Merota has seen worse, and sometimes through my mistakes, but I'm not happy about it."

She cleared her throat. The other three in the room were as still as statues, their expressions carefully blank.

"Merota has servants and a tutor, of course," Ilna said. "But I would be in your debt, Lady Liane, if you would act as family to the child while Chalcus and I are away. My own life would have been very difficult without my brother's presence, and-"

"I'm honored," said Liane. "I'm honored beyond words. I can't be you, Ilna-"

"I dare say you'll be better," Ilna snapped, waspish despite herself. "For her, probably for anybody. Merota's a lady, after all, and what can I teach her about that?"

"I can't be you," Liane repeated softly. "But I hope I can show Merota as much strength and character as any onebut you could, Ilna."

"Thank you," Ilna said. "I'm in your debt."

She turned, and from behind her Liane said, "Which means you would do anything you could to help me, Ilna, just as you would have done no matter what I'd said a moment ago. As I have never doubted."

Ilna looked back to Liane and Garric. The humor struck her and she laughed-as many times before-because laughing was the choice she found acceptable.

"I'm not good at a lot of things," Ilna said. "I probably haven't told the two of you how lucky you are to have one another, and how lucky Chalcus and I are to know you both. You and Tenoctris will do what can be done for my brother, and Chalcus and I will see to things in the north."

"Yes," said Garric, "I'm quite sure that you will."

And before Ilna was quite sure how to react, Liane stepped forward and embraced her. She wasn't any taller or bigger boned than Ilna herself, and the muscles under her silk garments were just as firm.

Whatever happened with Cashel or the Rua, Ilna was sure of one thing: Liane would look after Merota as well as anyone alive could do.

Across the valley dawn had begun to touch the peaks, but the hillside above Cashel was still in darkness. A breeze rustled the leaves of the stunted birches, sounding like distant water.

"Mistress," Cashel said. "It's going to be light enough to see our footing soon, and I think we ought to be on our way."

He'd gone hungry for longer than this, but an empty stomach isn't a good companion on a cold night. He thought of asking how far was it to Lord Bossian, but he didn't suppose it mattered; they'd get there when they got there…

The shimmering cocoon twitched, then split open as Kotia sat up with a worried look on her face. "How late is it?" she demanded, then stared up at the sky. "Oh, Demons of Hell! I never thought I'd sleep so long! He'll be on us soon, I'm sure of it!"

Kotia hopped out of her shelter and gathered it into a bundle with a few quick movements. She popped the tiny bundle into her satchel again.

Cashel wished Ilna could see the fabric; she'd be fascinated, he knew. That was the worst thing about travel. Cashel was seeing wonderful things, but his friends weren't around to tell about them.

"I can take that," Cashel said, reaching for the satchel. It didn't look heavy, but he was so used to carrying Tenoctris' paraphernalia that the words were a reflex when he was around a female wizard.

"No, you fool!" Kotia said. "Didn't you hear what I said? He'll be on us in a moment! You'll have to fight!"

"Well," said Cashel as he surveyed the landscape, "we may as well start walking until he comes. Which direction is Lord Bossian, mistress?"

He didn't see any sign of a trail. The forest of birch and larch-whose needles were beginning to turn bright yellow-was sparse enough that it wouldn't be an obstacle, but the slopes were steep and there was a lot of loose rock. The girl might dance over it with no problem, but Cashel knew that unless he was careful his weight would start a landslide that could take him with it. Maybe the other side of the valley…

He looked to the west, and as he did so there was a glint of vivid red light from the peak opposite. The sun reflecting from mica in the granite, Cashel thought.

The glare lit the whole opposite slope, then shrank again to a vivid dazzle. It capered on the peak for a moment, then flashed like lightning to an outcrop halfway to the valley floor. A clump of waist-high larches, stunted by the poor soil, exploded into flame.

"He's coming," Kotia said. Her voice had lost its edge of anger. "Now he'll kill me."

"Get into the cave," Cashel said, starting his quarterstaff into a slow spin in front of him. The broad ledge in front of the cave was the closest thing to flat ground anywhere in sight. "I won't be able to look out for you when things get moving."

Kotia said something, protested probably, but Cashel wasn't listening any more. He didn't want to clip her with a backswing of the staff, but there wasn't time to argue.

Kakoral flashed to the base of the valley, momentarily out of Cashel's sight among the slender willows. Steam gushed with a sound like rocks cracking.

Cashel placed hand over hand, spinning the staff gradually faster. The ferrules began to blur. He wondered if the demon would leap over him to the slope above and attack from behind. If the fool girl hadn't gotten into the cave, she'd be in serious danger…

The demon flared into view on the slope just below Cashel. He didn't move. There was nothing and then he was there, hunching forward; red and orange like light glinting from jewels, not the warmer color of fire. He stood in a tangle of wild roses; they shriveled away from his clawed feet.

"I am Kakoral!" he said. "I've come for my daughter!"

"If you mean the girl Kotia," Cashel said, speaking in the rhythm of his spinning quarterstaff, "then she's with me now."

The demon was the size of a man when he first appeared-rangy, tall despite his stoop, and with arms so long that his knuckles struck sparks from the ground. His form was of light, not flesh. In the blazing shimmer as Kakoral moved, Cashel glimpsed buildings and forests and spider-limbed monsters.

"With you?" Kakoral thundered. "Did my daughter tell you what she has done?"

"I don't care what she's done," said Cashel. He wasn't shouting, but his voice came out as a husky growl. "Go away and we won't trouble you!"

Without moving, Kakoral was suddenly the height of the peaks which hedged about the valley. His legs were the trunks of great trees, and his clawed fingers reached down from the heavens to pluck Cashel out of the way.

Cashel brought the staff up and around, still spinning. A buttcap smashed into the demon's index finger with a blast of azure wizardlight. To Cashel the shock was like hitting the side of a cliff, but he was used to that. He let the impact reverse his sweep from sunwise to widdershins, punching the other end of the staff into Kakoral's thumb.

The demon gave a great crackling roar. He was man-sized again, glaring at Cashel with a face like a burning skull. Diamonds of blue wizardlight dripped from the ferrules of the spinning quarterstaff and bounced across the landscape before slowly dissipating.

"She is mine," Kakoral said. "She ate the flesh of her mother, and for that I will have her!"