Jaleigh Johnson - The Howling Delve

• Название: The Howling Delve
• Автор: Jaleigh Johnson
• Жанр: Фэнтези

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His father was silent, trying to determine the best course to take. Aazen prayed he would let him act, but that decision depended entirely on how much Balram trusted his son. In his heart, Aazen had always believed his father had little faith in him, and so he was surprised—and shamefully warmed—when Balram said, "Then you will have to do it." He nodded, the idea seeming to gain merit the more he considered it. "Kall trusts you. Take my horse. Find Kall in the ruins and draw him out, away from any watching eyes. You need not be the one to slay him," he assured Aazen, squeezing his son's shoulder briefly. "Draw him away, and we will be waiting."

Aazen sat silent a long time under his father's penetrating gaze. This would be the critical test. If he gave in too readily, his father might grow suspicious. Aazen swallowed, hard and audibly in the quiet room. "No."

Balram's eyes narrowed a fraction. "No?"

"I can't betray him, Father." Aazen put a tremor in his voice, a weak, small titter that his father would not be able to tolerate. His father despised weakness. "Please don't ask me—"

The slap blurred the edges of Aazen's vision. His left eye immediately began to throb and water, but the blow had not been debilitating. His father meant only to silence him.

Obediently, he sat, teary-eyed, as Balram rose slowly to tower over him.

"I am asking you, boy," he said, his breath hot and sour on Aazen's face. "I am asking you to help me, to protect me, as I would lay down my life to protect you. Do you hate me so much that you would allow me to be taken, to be killed?" His eyes softened. The hurt crept in. The sight of it made Aazen sick to his stomach.

"No, Father!" he cried, "I don't hate you!" And that was the truth. The only person Aazen hated in that instant was himself. "No, of course not!"

"Of course not," his father repeated, his tone soothing. "You are becoming a man, a loyal son." He touched a large hand to Aazen's head and wiped the moisture away from his reddening eye. "I will bring my horse, and you will ride. Go swiftly, and do as I instructed. In the morning, all this will be a fading memory."

A memory, Aazen thought. If only his whole life could be someone else's memory.

CHAPTER FIVE

Esmeltaran, Amn

12 Eleasias, the Year of the Sword (1365 DR)

Kall swung off the horse. He seemed to fall a long way to the ground. He felt grass under his feet, and mud. In the colored twilight, he gazed up a steep hill speckled with what looked like small swaying firebrands.

The tangerine rose bushes were seasons old and thriving, planted one each in front of a dozen small headstones. The land he stood on belonged to Morel, the burial plots for servants who had died without family in his father's employ. No one passing on the nearby lane would notice the graves, but the expensive flowers—grown for the memory of twelve servants whose names would never be recalled—were sure to be marked by all.

He climbed to the steepest side of the hill, leading Haig's horse up alongside him. Letting go of the horse's reins, he dropped to his knees between two markers. He began plucking at the grass, fingers and nails raking, searching for a seam. His father had shown him the place long ago, but Kall remembered this pair of stones clearly. His father had made him memorize the names: Seth Tarin and Rose Olindrake.

Mud and grass stains covered his hands. It was no good—he'd need something to cut through. Reluctantly, Kall stood and turned to Haig's horse. He felt around the saddle blanket to the bags draped on either side. He found a knife in one.

Movement from behind set every nerve in his body on edge. Kall spun, slashing blindly with the knife.

Aazen caught Kall's arm before he could drive the blade into his neck. "It's me," he said.

Breathing hard, Kall took a long time to focus on his friend and comprehend that he was not some specter from the surrounding graves. The knife fell forgotten to the grass. "What are you doing here?"

Then it came to him in a rush—Aazen's washed-out face, his swollen eye, and the grim set to his mouth. "Your father," Kall croaked. "He—"

"I know." Aazen nodded. Kall mirrored the gesture. It was all the acknowledgment either seemed capable of giving.

"He will kill you," Aazen said. "His men are hunting for you now."

"They don't know about this place," Kall said. He retrieved his knife and started digging.

Aazen scraped dirt aside with his hands. "You don't have much time," he said. He hesitated, looking at the ground. "These won't help you."

Kall's blade found the niche he'd been looking for, and he peeled the grass back, like slipping the lid off a stubborn box. Beneath lay a hollow space lined with wood and cloth. Two bundles of tightly wrapped linen were nestled on top of this, the larger tied with a rope to be worn on the shoulders. He drew them out reverently, as he'd seen his father do when he'd first shown them to Kall.

"I'm going back," he said, glaring into Aazen's skeptical eyes. "If I can just get to Father . . ."

"Your father believes you have betrayed him," Aazen said bluntly. "He is allowing mine to deal with you, in whatever way he sees fit."

Kall's gaze faltered. "You're lying," he said automatically. "Father would never believe I betrayed him."

"He has no say in the matter. Father has Morel under his control. I don't know how. . ." Aazen's mind seized on his healed wound. "Magic, perhaps."

"Magic." Kall's forehead wrinkled. Magic was only a vague concept to him, little more than a fixture in the stories his father used to tell of his mother. Fantastic and sometimes brutal as the tales had been, he'd only ever listened to the parts about the woman herself, soaking up every small detail.. . .

No, Kall thought savagely, thrusting the memories away. All that had been a lie. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I'll go back and free him. I have these"—he clutched the bundles—"they have magic. Father told me. I'll kill Balram!"

The words rang out between them, and Kall sucked in a breath, watching Aazen, hearing the words and their implications for the first time.

He'd just sworn to kill Aazen's father. In one day, their worlds had shattered. Nothing would ever be the same for either of them again.

Aazen said nothing at first, only smoothed the dirt and grass back in place over the hole. He looked up as the sun dipped below the horizon. "You have to leave the city. I was sent out to lead Father's men to wherever you might be hiding. I came to warn you, but I can't stay here. When Father realizes I've put him on a false trail, he'll be tracking me." Aazen stared into the distance, as if seeing something frightening in the dark. "I can't hide for long."

"He won't forgive you. He'll beat you to death and won't know he's doing it," Kall said bitterly. "You have to run."

They had no choice. Aazen was right. If Kall went back now, without his father's aid, he had no hope. It shamed Kall to admit his fear, but stronger than that was the anger, the fury at Balram and all he'd stolen from Kall's family. Balram wanted him dead. The only action Kall could take right now to thwart him was to stay alive.

Absorbed in thoughts and plans, Kall didn't notice Aazen's silence. His friend got to his feet and started walking, out into the dark. Abruptly, Kall realized what he intended and yelled, "You can't go back. You'll die!"

Aazen paused, not looking back. "No. I don't think .. . no. I'm all he has. He cares for me."

Kall's mouth twisted. "How can he? Your father's a murderer."

Aazen said, calmly, "So is yours."

And then, as if it had been waiting, the scene in the garden broke fresh in Kall's mind. He saw his father drowning Haig as the sun shone down and insects buzzed around their bleeding wounds. He'd managed to block it out before, when he'd needed to escape, but Aazen's words conjured the memory effortlessly.

Kall put his head in the grass and vomited. Sweat dripped between his shoulder blades, but he was so cold his fingers were numb. He tried to stand, but the sickness racked his body. Aazen made no move to help him.

"You said ... you said he was under Balram's control!" Kall spat and wiped his mouth. "Father would never have killed Haig."

"Morel hates the Harpers. My father told me your father had reason to want Haig's death."

"No!"

Aazen looked down at Kall pityingly. "Get on your horse," he said. "Don't come back. Don't come after Balram. I'll have to ... to kill you, if you do."

Then Aazen went, his footsteps shuffling dully through the grass. Kall sat, frozen in shock, but he didn't call out again. He simply listened, his breath aching in his chest, as his best friend walked away from him.

Finally, his movements wooden, Kall tied the linen bundles on to his back and mounted. He pointed the horse in the direction of the city gates, picking his way in and out of sparse trees, avoiding the open fields of the cemetery wherever possible. After a dozen glances over his shoulder, he left his home behind.

The horse plodded on the road south, and when next Kall opened his eyes, he saw nothing but moonlight on grass and a row of carefully laid stones.

Kall thought he'd turned a complete circle, bringing him back to the same cemetery he'd left earlier that night. No, the stones were different—there were more here, older, and of elaborate design.

He slid down for a closer look, but the family names were none he recognized. A twisted oak overrun by tall grass and brush marked the border of the cemetery. Kall tied the horse to the tree, out of sight, and settled on the grass.

For a long time he stared straight ahead, listening for the sounds of hoofbeats or footfalls that might indicate pursuit. Hearing none, he untied the bundles from his back and clutched them tight.

His empty gaze focused on one of the unfamiliar markers. The name "Alinore Fallstone" was carved deep into the stone next to some kind of symbol. There were more words written underneath the name in a language Kall did not recognize.

He stared at the symbols, at the incomprehensible language, until the words blurred and darkness fell completely over his mind.

CHAPTER SIX

Esmeltaran, Amn

12 Eleasias, the Year of the Sword (1365 DR)

Balram waited at the door to Aazen's chamber. His gaze flicked briefly to Dencer, who'd found Aazen on the road and escorted him home. "Wait outside," he said.

Dencer nodded and shut the door, sealing them off from the rest of the house.

Aazen stood in the middle of the room, waiting, while Balram locked the door and slowly turned. They stared at each other for a quiet breath, measuring, Aazen thought, how much had changed since they'd last spoken in this room.

"Kall is gone?" his father asked at last. He already had the answer, but Aazen recognized what he really wanted to know.

"Kall is leaving Amn," Aazen said. "He knows that to stay is to die. Your secret is safe. I made sure of it," he added, and realized immediately that it was a mistake. He sounded too confident, too powerful, and Balram sensed it.

His father's eyes narrowed and something ugly broke on his calm, inscrutable face. "You made certain. You stood in this chamber and lied to me, took my life into your hands. . . ."

"I protected you."

"You were protecting Morel's whelp!" His father took a step forward. Aazen flinched. He couldn't help it. "You gave no thought to me."

"That's not true, Father," Aazen said quietly. "I give every thought to you, every breath of my life."

"What is it you want, Aazen?" his father asked, his tone altering to curiosity. "You could have gone with Kall. You were clever to lead me astray, more careful than I gave you credit for. I will never make that mistake again," he added, his face darkening. "Yet you returned to me."

"Yes. I want nothing from Kall."

"Why did you come back?"

Aazen would never know why, just as he had never understood the desire that clawed him from the inside. The galling need to please his father, to win approval from this man, this thing who might kill him with a misplaced blow—the need would destroy him one day. He knew that, accepted it, because he could not do otherwise.

He tried to hide the helplessness he felt, but his father saw, and he smiled—a small, satisfied expression. Satisfied because he still had a loyal son, or because he had a pawn he could twist and control? Aazen wondered. Deep down, he knew it was the latter, and for one burning instant, he hated his father as he had never hated anything in his life. Then the feeling was gone, fading to ash as Balram put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will talk more of this later. For now, all that matters is you chose to return."

"Yes, Father," Aazen said. Resignation drained the anger as it had long ago drained the fight out of him. He barely registered the change in pressure at his shoulder, the alteration from affection to purpose—his father's hand slowly turning him to face the wall.

Then there was only pain.

* * * * *

Kall awoke to the sound of a falling tree.

He scrambled up and around Alinore's grave as the sun disappeared, blotted out by the falling trunk. It struck the forest floor with a deafening thud.

Forest.. . Kall's head whipped around. Trees surrounded him, and in the distance, a cap of mountains graced the southern sky. Haig's horse was gone, and so was the cemetery. All that remained were the bundles he'd been clutching against his chest and Alinore's grave.

Wrong . . . wrong, all wrong. Was he dreaming? Then ...

"Watch out, you!" A terrific weight slammed him from behind, knocking him to the ground as another trunk fell past his vision.

"That the last of them, by the bloody gods?" shouted a second, muffled voice.

"All clear." The crushing weight fell away, and Kall saw a man peering down at him, haloed by a sea of leafy green. The man's eyes were large and startlingly blue against a dirt-smothered face, and his ears curved as if the tips had been threaded through a needle. On rare occasions, Kall had seen half-elves in Esmeltaran, but never one so large as the figure staring at him now.

"Six young oaks! Six of Nine Hells, that's what you're in for," said the muffled voice again, this time at Kall's elbow.

Kall shrieked as a head burst up from the loose dirt where only a few breaths ago a tree had swayed. A hand followed to wipe the dirt out of a black beard on a pitted, distinctly human face.

"Garavin drew the map," the half-elf said, a bit defensively.

The head and the arm weren't having any of it. "Which you strayed from by a full thirty steps! Look, you." The human's other arm burst up, spraying Kall with more dirt. He flapped a crude drawing in front of the half-elf's blue gaze. "Any more off and you'd have taken the Weir!"

As the pair continued to argue over him, Kall started to slide backward, groping for a weapon, a stick, a rock, anything.

His hand closed on a branch that had been torn away from one of the falling trees. He raised it, and fire licked along his ribcage. Gasping, Kall dropped the branch and fell back, clutching his side.

Immediately, the half-elf crouched over him, his hands probing along Kall's flank. Feebly, Kall tried to push him away, but the man only grinned and muttered, "Cease." His brow furrowed as he examined Kall's wounds. "Get Garavin," he said to his companion. "I think the boy slipped through Alinore's gate."