Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) (10 page)

To fulfill her purported reason for being here, Kevessa grabbed an armful of gowns from the tiny wardrobe and dumped them haphazardly into her trunk. Before her journey she’d never have been so careless with her beautiful, expensive clothes. Even now she had a pang of guilt for mistreating the gowns she and Mama had chosen so carefully, that Papa had worked hard to be able to afford for her. But she’d only brought a few from her extensive wardrobe, and this wouldn’t hurt them. At most it would cause a few wrinkles the servants could easily iron away.

Packing done, Kevessa plopped on the bed. “Ready now, lazybones?”

I’m ready.
Nina’s mental voice held only a trace of annoyance.

Nina leapt to Kevessa’s shoulder and settled into the position they both found most comfortable for extended working, pressed tight against Kevessa’s neck. Kevessa liked how the contact let her keep both hands free. She held out one hand with the palm open upward.
Start just as we pulled out of the dock on our way to Tevenar.

Nina sent power surging through her. A spark sprang to life over her palm and swelled into a ball. Since only the two of them needed to look into it, Nina kept it about the size of Kevessa’s head.

The shimmering gold light cleared to a rim of sparkles around the window’s edge. Within, Kevessa saw the
Verinna
being towed away from the dock by a pilot boat, the approaching dawn washing everything in cool gray light.

Now find Tharan. He’s probably in his cabin.

Sure enough, the aide the Matriarch had assigned Gevan was seated on his bunk, studying a sheaf of papers. Nina zoomed the window in close enough for Kevessa to read the small neat text.
Just a list of the trade goods we carried.
The Matriarch had sent all sorts of valuables for her ambassador to offer Tevenar in exchange for a wizard’s help. She hadn’t known food was what they needed most. Gevan had sold some of the goods to Tevenaran traders for a modest profit, but most had returned in the Verinna’s hold. As they’d boarded she’d seen the crew unloading the crates and bags, preparing to take on a new cargo of foodstuffs.

Go forward until we catch up to the last time we watched him
. All the way across the ocean Master Elkan had opened windows and observed the assassin’s actions. They hadn’t traveled exactly the same route, so there were times the ship was out of the mile or so range of a window from where it had been before, but they’d been able to see a fair amount of Tharan’s time aboard the
Verinna
. They’d found nothing to indicate he was anything but the competent, reserved aide they’d all believed him to be until he’d revealed his true purpose in a sudden flash of steel.

Kevessa gulped, remembering the flash she’d seen through the window-glass as Tharan struck Master Dabiel with his sword. Josiah’s shout and her scream had alerted the Guildmaster, so instead of the quick kill from behind Tharan had intended, he’d wounded her in the belly. In the end she’d died anyway, but not before she’d named Elkan as her successor and charged the wizards to discover who had sent Tharan to kill her and why.

Kevessa sighed. Master Hanion had been elected Guildmaster instead of Elkan, and Tharan had been killed before he revealed any information. If the few additional minutes of life she and Josiah had bought Master Dabiel were to mean anything, it was up to Kevessa to fulfill her final command.

Nina zipped the window rapidly through the next little while. The ship cleared the harbor and set out for Tevenar under its own power. Kevessa was so used to the jerky speeded-up rush of people’s movements she didn’t find it particularly funny anymore. Tharan did nothing interesting, only his usual routine that Kevessa had observed many times. A few times she had Nina slow the window to listen to a conversation, but it was never anything revealing.

The ship reached the limit of their range. Nina pushed as hard as she could, pulling strength from Kevessa’s muscles, but eventually the window dissolved into a wash of sparkles despite their best efforts. Kevessa nodded. She hadn’t expected to find anything while Tharan was aboard the ship. He had no confederates to discuss his plans with. But she’d wanted to be thorough. Now they could investigate the hours that held more promise of results.

All right, Nina. Return to where we started and trace him backwards.

Nina complied. Tharan swept his papers into their case, rose from the bunk, and backed out the door. Kevessa suppressed a smile. It was still amusing to watch time run in reverse, everyone charging around backwards with abandon.

Tharan’s path intersected Captain Yosiv’s. Nina allowed the window to run forward at normal speed long enough for them to hear the conversation—a greeting, and a request for Yosiv to inform Ambassador Gevan when he arrived of Tharan’s readiness to be at his service. Kevessa hadn’t expected anything different. Captain Yosiv was firmly on their side; he would have told them about anything incriminating Tharan had said to him.

Nina set the window running backward again. Tharan conferred briefly with a servant carrying his bags, then backed over the plank to the dock. Kevessa’s pulse quickened. She warned herself sternly not to expect too much. How likely was it, after all, that Tharan had met with someone at the last minute? His actions had obviously been plotted long before the ship departed.

Sure enough, all the window showed was him backing through the streets with his servant. They wound through the sparse pre-dawn traffic. As the light in the window deepened to night, Kevessa had to peer closely to make anything out, but only dim light came through the porthole into her cabin, and there were enough lamps and torches along the street she could follow Tharan’s progress.

That was odd. She’d expected him to retreat south toward the Matriarch’s palace, or perhaps inland to one of the residential areas where folk of moderate means dwelt. But Tharan was backing firmly north. Nothing lay that way except the main market, and beyond it the Dualist Quarter.

Kevessa caught her breath. When Tharan had refused healing, even though he lay mortally wounded, his words had reminded her of things she’d heard about Dualist beliefs. They considered the Mother evil, worshipping instead the Lord of Justice. The Mother’s power was anathema to them, even though it had been centuries since it had vanished from Ravanetha. She’d raised the possibility to Master Elkan and her father.

But Gevan had been certain Tharan had been sent by the Purifiers. Their leader, Yoran Lirolla, had threatened Kevessa in order to force Gevan to cooperate with them and prevent a wizard from coming to help the Matriarch. Purifiers also despised the wizards’ power, believing it was a counterfeit of the Mother’s true power, and that the familiars were actually demons. Gevan had persuaded everyone he must be correct, and that when they traced Tharan he would lead them to Yoran Lirolla. Then they’d have the proof they needed to discredit him and persuade the Matriarch to remove him from his position. Kevessa had almost forgotten her early suspicion.

Now, though… No Purifier would set foot in the Dualist Quarter. They considered the Dualists almost as bad as Tevenar’s wizards. If the Purifiers ever came to power in Ramunna as they had in Marvanna, their first action would be to expel all Dualists from the country.

In the window, Tharan backed along a road that led from one of the gates in the wall of the Dualist Quarter. Kevessa leaned in close. If that’s where he’d come from, it would strongly suggest he had been sent by the Dualists, not the Purifiers. She didn’t know why the Dualists would seek to prevent the Matriarch from conceiving an heir, since if her cousin became Matriarch and installed the Purifiers the Dualists would suffer greatly, but maybe they didn’t consider that as important as protecting themselves from corrupting power. Was the window’s range sufficient to follow Tharan all the way to the gate?

It wasn’t. A good half mile short of the wall the window stalled, and no matter how hard Kevessa and Nina pushed they couldn’t force it any farther.

Move it higher,
Kevessa suggested. Nina raised the window’s viewpoint into the air and aimed it in the direction of the wall. But when it was high enough to get an angle that showed the wall, the people below appeared no bigger than ants, and Tharan vanished among the crowds of merchants arriving to ready their market stalls for the day’s business. There wasn’t much between the last place Kevessa could be sure she saw him and the gate, but there were a few small side streets he could have come down.

Finally Kevessa called a halt.
We need Father’s window-glass. If we used it to view the window, I bet we could make out Tharan well enough to see where he came from.

Easier to find somewhere closer to the wall to look from,
Nina pointed out.
We’ll have to do that anyway to follow him past the gate. We might have to go inside the gate ourselves.

I can’t enter the Dualist Quarter without attracting a huge amount of attention. It would be scandalous for a Mother-worshipper to go in there without some pressing business; people would gossip.

I guess Master Elkan will have to continue tracing Tharan, then.

The Dualists will never let a wizard in. They hate us.

If you say so.
Nina sounded unconvinced, but Kevessa was sure she was right. She’d lived her whole life in Ramunna and knew how the people here thought.

That left them with a serious problem. If none of the wizards could get near enough to follow Tharan back, they’d never discover who’d sent him. And whoever had been willing to kill to keep wizards from coming to Ramunna was surely plotting to eliminate them now they were here. If they had other enemies in addition to the Purifiers, it was vitally important to learn who they were.

Could she persuade her father to take them closer to the wall? The Dualist Quarter wasn’t large. If they parked the closed carriage near the gate, a significant portion of it would be within range. But Kevessa and Nina could do nothing in front of the steward, who would be with them on the return journey. Theoretically it was possible to freeze someone so they weren’t aware of their surroundings, or even the passage of time, but Master Elkan hadn’t taught them how yet. And she and Nina were both so tired Kevessa doubted they’d have the energy for something so major, let alone opening a window in addition.

How much was left of the hour Gevan had allotted them? At least half, surely. Maybe they could slip up to the carriage without being noticed and go for a quick jaunt. If they got back in time, her father need never know.

Kevessa was about to act on her plan when someone rapped on the door. She checked to make sure Nina’s collar and leash were in place before calling, “Yes?”

“Miss Kevessa? It’s Fiv. Ambassador Gevan said you and Miss Nina would like a bite to eat?”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.” Kevessa hurried to unlatch the door. Fiv was her favorite among the sailors. He’d taken a special interest in her from the time she first came aboard, bringing her treats from the galley or calling her up on deck to witness particularly interesting sights. He’d been equally solicitous of Nina on the trip home. Kevessa suspected he was a bit infatuated with her, but he was well-mannered enough not to make it obvious.

Fiv carried a tray piled with bread, fruit, nuts, and a steaming cup of tea. Kevessa exclaimed in delight as she accepted it. “This is perfect. We’re missing the Matriarch’s feast, but I’m sure she can’t be serving anything we’d enjoy more.” She tossed a nutmeat at her shoulder. Nina caught it in midair and stuffed it in her cheek.

Fiv preened at her praise. “Would you like me to take Miss Nina to the midden once she’s finished with her meal?” He offered the squirrel a grape, which she accepted eagerly. “I don’t think it’s safe for your ‘pet’ to wander around the ship with so many strangers aboard.”

Fiv knew Nina’s true nature, of course, as did all the sailors. Captain Yosiv had impressed on them the importance of keeping it a secret. Kevessa appreciated how earnestly he was taking that duty. All the familiars had roamed the ship at will during the journey, but he was probably right that wasn’t wise now. “There’s no need for you to go out of your way. She can use my chamberpot like usual.” Squirrel dropping were small and inoffensive; sharing the chamberpot whenever it was inconvenient for Nina to run by the midden had never posed a problem.

He shuffled his feet and grinned sheepishly. “I’ve cleaned it already, miss.”

She certainly didn’t want to cause Fiv any extra work.
Nina? Need the midden?

I would appreciate the opportunity.
Nina finished devouring a big chunk of fruit, crammed a few more nuts into her cheeks, and scampered over to Fiv.

He scooped her up. “We’ll be right back, Miss Kevessa.” With a jaunty wave he set off.

Kevessa sighed and settled to her repast. There went their chance to sneak off and trace Tharan further. Probably just as well. They’d never have made it back in time, and her father would have thrown a fit when he discovered she was missing. She’d have to find some other excuse to take the carriage out. Wasn’t there a jeweler in the market who sold collars and leashes? Nina’s disguise would hold up better if Kevessa replaced her improvised finery with the real thing.

Come to think of it, she needed to use the facilities herself. There was a head the crew used not far away. She drained her teacup, set it down, and headed toward the door of the cabin.

Kevessa!
Nina screamed in her mind as the door flew open and two burly strangers burst in. They grabbed Kevessa before she could react. One of them shoved a bag over her head; the other looped a rope around her wrists. Kevessa struggled, but it was useless. She heard bumps and rustles and an occasional curse.
Nina! Are you hurt?

He threw me in a bag!
Nina sounded outraged, but not in pain.
How dare he! He’s always been so nice to us.

Kevessa’s stomach lurched. Sweet, amiable Fiv was a traitor? It made sense, though. He’d known wizard and familiar would have to be separated to be captured, and had done it so smoothly neither had suspected until it was too late.