Энтони Райан - Queen of Fire

Vaelin felt the faintest flutter of humour as he saw Kiral carefully avoid his gaze. Is he answering a wolfʼs call? Or a catʼs?

“You will be welcome,” he told him, resuming his stride. “Please be brief in your farewells.”

The journey through the mountains was rich in grim sights testifying to the destruction wrought by the Witchʼs Bastard. Murdered tribespeople littered the heather, burnt settlements became a common sight as did the bodies of Volarian soldiers lashed to wooden frames, the flesh of their backs flogged down to the spine. From the frequency of such sights it was clear the red men had led a reluctant army, displaying little imagination in maintaining discipline.

“Even Tokrev wasnʼt so cruel,” Astorek said as they neared a row of a dozen flogged men, a cloud of crows rising from the frames as they approached.

“I found his cruelty more than sufficient,” Vaelin replied. He spied a settlement ahead, charred and mostly ruined but still possessing some intact roofs. “Weʼll shelter there tonight. Lord Orven, scout the hills in a five-mile radius. Victory or no, this remains enemy territory.”

Erlin came to his fire when the night had grown fully dark. Vaelin had sat apart from the others since the march began. The Sentar were rich in new stories and, though he barely understood a word, their evident relish in recounting the battle roused him to unwise anger. This is what they came for, he chided himself. Another story, the Mahlessaʼs gift to her bravest warriors is the chance for a richer tale.

“Astorek and Kiral are missing,” Erlin said, sinking down opposite him, hands spread to the warmth. “Havenʼt seen either since nightfall.”

Vaelin glanced at the blackness beyond the part-tumbled walls of the dwelling he had chosen, a place he would have shared with Dahrena, as Kiral and Astorek now shared another. “I suspect theyʼre safe enough.”

“She told me of a compound she carries,” Erlin said, face tense as he stared into the fire. “Some ancient Lonak concoction that can instill pain, enough to bring a man to the point of death if used in sufficient quantity, or purge him of an unwanted soul.”

Vaelin nodded. Lyrna and Frentis had left him in no doubt of the power contained in the Mahlessaʼs compound, though he had yet to see it for himself.

“The Ally had a gift,” Erlin went on. “The nature of which we do not understand, but it was powerful enough to bring down an entire civilisation. A gift he may well bring with him should he be drawn back from the Beyond.”

“I know,” Vaelin said. “But we have come to a point where I believe we have little option but to trust the words of the seer. You will touch the black stone in Volar, but it will not be you.”

“How do we know it will end this? How do we know it wonʼt simply make him stronger? You saw him in the memory stone, he wanted to touch it.”

“But he also feared it, enough to have it secreted away for centuries.”

Erlinʼs hands trembled as he held them to the fire, Vaelin frowning at the grin that played over his lips. “Iʼm afraid, brother. All these years, so much seen and heard and tasted. And yet I still want more. My nameless wife was often heard to call me selfish, usually before she threw something.”

“You have saved many,” Vaelin reminded him. “Two of them children who grew into the brave people who ride with us now.”

“Just more selfishness, Iʼm afraid. If I saved enough, I imagined they would eventually fight the war for me, bring down the Ally, and spare me the trials of battle.” He gave Vaelin a sidelong glance. “What would your queen do, if she were presented with this particular dilemma?”

“She would act for the good of the Realm.”

Erlin grunted a laugh. “You mean she would have had me tied in a trice and force-fed the Mahlessaʼs compound until the Ally was safely caged in my flesh. Should you prevail in this struggle, donʼt you worry what she might become? Iʼve seen many a monarch, brother, but none like her.”

“She is not the Ally. Nor will she ever be.”

“Are you so certain? You saw him in the city he built, the way his people loved him. And yet somehow his power grew to a point where it became absolute, and there was no one to stop him.”

“Lionen stopped him. He killed the Ally and sent him to the Beyond.”

Erlin lowered his hands, drawing them back to cross his arms. “We could wait, delay until we reach Volar…”

“His creature still has possession of a body in Alpira. If we delay, it might die, and the Ally could send it for you.”

Vaelin watched Erlinʼs face for a moment, seeing the faint tic below his eye, the bulge of his jaw as he clenched his teeth. No notion of how many years heʼs lived, witness to every wonder this world can offer, subject of myth and legend, now just a scared man shivering in a ruined hut.

“If it should come to pass that you canʼt get him to the stone,” Erlin said, “I require your promise you will not kill this body. You will use the compound to return him to the Beyond.”

“You have it. I will preserve you.”

“Me?” Erlin bared his teeth in what might have been a smile. “I doubt there will be any me left when heʼs done, brother.” He rose, still hugging himself tight and moving away with a stiff gait, his parting words little more than a whisper. “Give me tonight. Weʼll see it done in the morning.”

He had Alturk see to the binding, the Lonak made strong rope and the Tahlessaʼs knots were unlikely to loosen. “Room enough to breathe only,” Vaelin told him as he drew the rope tight around Erlinʼs chest.

Kiral came forward as Alturk finished the final knot, Erlin wincing with the strain as he knelt, chest roped from shoulders to waist and his arms secured behind his back. Kiral took a deep breath as she undid the stopper on the flask. “I…” she began, crouched next to Erlin, her voice faltering. “This will… hurt. Iʼm sorry.”

He gave an impatient bob of his head. “So Iʼm told, my dear. Best get it done quickly then.”

She rose, placing a thin reed into the flask. “One drop to cast them out,” she said in a murmur, presumably reciting a lesson from the Mahlessa. “Two to draw them in.”

Erlinʼs eyes flashed at Vaelin as she stepped closer. Words were irrelevant, the meaning clear in his moist gaze. Do not forget your promise.

Kiral drew the reed from the flask, the tip gleaming with something dark and viscous, then lowered it so two drops fell free to land on Erlinʼs exposed skin. Vaelin had expected screams, but instead Erlin stiffened, teeth clenched together and neck bulging, his face transformed into a red mask of purest agony. After a second he collapsed, writhing on the ground as foam bubbled from his mouth, legs drumming the earth. The convulsions continued for a full minute until Erlin finally lay still, all animation seeming to seep from his limbs, his head lolling slack on his shoulders.

For a moment Vaelin was certain he had killed him, that this great design had been revealed as the desperate ploy of a grieving fool… But then, Erlin blinked.

He rolled upright, remaining on his knees, sparing a brief glance at the ropes that bound him before raising his gaze. His expression was curious, inquisitive, lacking malice or anger as his eyes tracked across them, lingering on Vaelin, whereupon he smiled. It was a genuine smile, warm, even appreciative, as was his voice when he spoke, Erlinʼs polyglot accent moulded into something stronger, the tone deeper, “Thank you.”

He closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky, smiling yet wider as the air played over his skin.