City of Blaze (The Fireblade Array) (55 page)

“I thought I might spend some time in the library.”

Morghiad stopped fiddling with her hair briefly. “You know the very ancient army records and city plans are kept there?”

Artemi laughed. He seemed to use any opportunity to educate her about running Cadra these days, and it wasn’t subtle at all. Of course she’d be happy to help him with the workload, but it led her to think he might marry her and make her his queen. Artemi
would
not allow herself to hope for anything like that. She would be perfectly happy as his steward when required. “I know what you are trying to do. Perhaps I will have a quick peek at them.”

“Good. Have a look at city folder
thirty-four A
.” The kahr stood from the bed and walked to the bath in the next room. “I have to meet with the council in the practice hall.”

That was his name for the men he trusted to rebuild Calidell’s government once Acher was gone. She disliked being excluded from it, and she disliked him keeping secrets from her. Artemi was coming close to losing patience over it. “Morghiad, I have never questioned why you keep these plans from me. And I’ve never doubted that you’re doing it for the right reasons...” She felt his river of emotions thicken with tension. He came to stand at the doorway as she spoke. “...but, if you need my help, I’d be better placed to offer it if I was better informed. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The kahr looked at the floor for a long, uncomfortable time. His mind was working hard. “I will tell you everything soon, you have my word. And I will need you.” He turned back to the bath to fill it from the giant brass taps.

Artemi felt just as frustrated as before. Insufferable man! In some ways he was still made of rocks! She threw her legs out of the bed and landed with a modicum of grace on the floor. Looking out of the nearest window, the sun had retreated behind a thick layer of heavy cloud. It was going to be a grey day. Even the sprinkling of yesterday’s snow had melted into a dark sludge on the dull stone. She felt her mood darken with it.

Morghiad slid his hands across her. His approach had been utterly silent. “I will upset a fair few people with what I am about to do, but it is for the best. I am sure of that.”

“Are you worried it will upset me?”

He paused briefly. “Yes.” The word came out almost as a croak.

Artemi turned to him. What in Achellon was he planning? “I see. Well, it is lucky you have such a pretty face for a man. Otherwise, your punishment for upsetting me would be much worse.”

He smiled thinly and kissed her forehead, before leading her to the bathing room. The bath was full of wisp-root scented soap, cut through with limegrass perfume. They climbed into the hot water together and began their somewhat lengthy ablutions.

The guards were waiting outside by the time she’d donned her green scarves. Her attire seemed such a normal part of the routine, though some of the soldiers would still tease her about it. Artemi hoped that would never stop. She needed to keep her feet firmly on the ground, and wearing small strips of cloth was not normal! Morghiad embraced her briefly before leaving for his meeting, cloak swishing behind him as he faded into the gloom of the hallways. Artemi was glad to see that Neleum was amongst her men today; he was a very sweet man with a naughty grin. Actually, if it weren’t for his very dark brown hair and eyes, he would be much like Silar. There were two other soldiers she recognised and two unfamiliar faces. They introduced themselves as Cydia and Laothoe. Eupith was conspicuously absent from the group, since a lieutenant normally accompanied her and it had been his turn. Neleum offered her a yellow snapdragon with a courteous “My queen,” and Artemi couldn’t help but smile at it. Two years ago she’d made the mistake of uttering that Morghiad wasn’t the sort of man to give a girl flowers. She hadn’t meant it as a jibe or complaint; he found plenty of other ways to lavish her. But it had become a joke among the men to provide her with a flower every time they guarded her, as if she hadn’t received enough by now! She slid the snapdragon into her hair. Wherever did they get these things at this time of year? “Let’s head to the library, boys.”

The walk wasn’t a long one, and soon they entered the vast archive of Calidell’s knowledge. Brown, tan and beige-backed books arched over the newcomers like great fingers of ancient, wrinkled leather. The stacks stretched over two levels in the vaulted chamber; with a thin brass rail guarding the upper gallery, and apparently preventing the tops stacks from collapsing to the floor below. Large fireplaces lined one side of the room, shedding their warmth upon the nearby flagstones. Metal gratings had been placed in front of these hearths to protect the books, but they gave the red flame-light a shuttered feel. The smell was musty and thick. Artemi imagined the vents weren’t often opened here. She wandered over to the records section. Green-backed folders lay in slightly disorganised piles around red files and a waterfall of grey ones fell from the third shelf; the whole section appeared to be undergoing reorganisation. She picked up one of the tattered grey files. It detailed army reconnaissance from the first millennium PD, nothing to do with city plans. Artemi flicked through the nearest green folder: it just seemed to contain lists and lists of names with their locations. Probably some ancient census data or intelligence. The red files held what she was looking for; layer upon layer of house plans and schematics. Artemi tried to make sense of the categorisation system. Thirty-four A... She could feel her guards looking at her with curiosity, but couldn’t explain what she was looking for until she read the contents.

Artemi located thirty-three A and thirty-four B, but no thirty-four A. Perhaps Morghiad had just meant to wind her up about it and the damn thing didn’t even exist. She hadn’t detected any mirth in him when he’d said it though. “Can anyone see a thirty-four A?” The men might as well have something to occupy them. The six of them trawled the racks for a while without success, even checking to see if it had been misplaced amongst the other folders.  Artemi scanned the nearby tables. It wasn’t there either. She looked to her left; a diminutive man with long, pale hair stood at the end of the stacks. His light blue eyes spoke of millennia, truly the oldest eyes she’d ever seen; older than Koviere’s.

He bowed in her direction. That was odd; no one outside the army bowed to benay-gosa! Irritatingly, Neleum nodded with approval at the small man’s salutation. “Can I help, my Lady Artemi?” His voice sounded like old wood rasping on stones.

“Do you know where we might find thirty-four A of the red files?”

The man gave her a small but knowing smile. “I’m guessing kahr sent you looking for that. I keep it in my... special collection. If my lady and her attendants would follow me?”

The soldiers certainly wouldn’t appreciate being called that! She followed the old man through a shadowy labyrinth of shelving. “Might I know your name?” she enquired, almost tripping over a pile of giant leather-bound tomes.

“Dorlunh, my lady,” he said as he walked unfeasibly quickly.

They reached a small, enclosed cave of dusty books in which the man apparently lived. “Good lad, that kahr,” Dorlunh said as he dug through a pile of papers, “Keen eye for detail.”

Artemi heard Cydia blow through his moustaches behind her.

The old man pulled out the mysterious red file and handed it to her.

“Thank you, Dorlunh. May I take this to read in the main chamber?”

He nodded. “If my lady could bring it back to me once she is finished?”

“Of course.” The wielder worked her way through the stacks to a broad and well-worn oak table. Her guards spread themselves around the bay, looking relaxed in spite of their readiness. The file flopped open in front of Artemi. A collection of grey, broadsheet plans sat folded and layered on top of each other inside. There didn’t seem to be anything remarkable about them at first glance. Artemi opened the top sheet out across the desk. There was some notation across the top in old Calidellian, which she didn’t understand very well. One of the words was ‘tenshigha’ which Artemi recognised as ‘exit.’ The other words were a mystery. She whispered them aloud in the hope that the sound would elucidate their meaning: “Gorans te an’h tenshigha fullun n’awbroth.” A stomach-wrenching headache hit her with full force, causing her to hiss in surprise. Some of the men jumped as if she’d been hit by some unknown missile. “It’s just another blasted headache. I’ll be alright.” Images of men in odd purple uniforms flashed up before her, running with gritted teeth. There was a vast waterfall, taller even than the walls of Cadra. And then there were swathes of mud in heavy rain; they looked a bit like the plains outside the city. The pain was subsiding very slowly. These headaches always seemed to come with peculiar images she could not explain. They had been far less frightening than others she’d seen. In some of them it was almost as if she’d observed her own death. Dimly she felt Morghiad begin to relax. The poor man had to suffer through these attacks whenever she did. He was lower down in the castle, doing some sword practice. What sort of council meeting involved sword practice?

Artemi pushed the images aside. She had to focus on whatever this ridiculous pile of plans was supposed to reveal to her. The main drawing showed a circular structure within a square one. Along the edge of the square were cross sections of what Artemi supposed were walls. The thickest wall curved very gently on one side and the other ones seemed to be marked out for windows and doors. Sat squarely in the middle of the thickest wall was an arrangement of machinery and levers, either side of a gate. It was a plan of the castle’s entrance courtyard, she realised, and it demonstrated how much broader the open area had once been.  The circular structure within it was unknown to her, though. Perhaps it had never been built, or had since been removed. Artemi moved on to the next plan. It described an elevation view of the courtyard walls and floor. There appeared to be some sort of ramp descending from underneath the courtyard, and it led to a high-ceilinged tunnel. Upon opening the next plan Artemi realised exactly what she was looking at. A hidden escape tunnel. The entrance was now somewhere inside the buildings that lined the courtyard, but the exit must have been several miles into the plains. And it wasn’t a narrow tunnel, either; but wide enough to get several horses down, riding abreast. She replaced the plans in their folder and closed it. Perhaps it was time to locate this tunnel entrance.

Dorlunh took the file back with barely contained excitement. He appeared to appreciate having someone to share the secret with. Before long she was treading the halls with her personal guard again; out of the warm embrace of the library and into surroundings of cold, hard stone. She didn’t tell the men about the tunnel, and they were well-trained enough not to ask. For some reason Morghiad had striven to keep it secret and she did not want to be the one to break his security. The group reached the ground floor of the castle, heavily shaded at this time of day. “Could you check that the nearby halls are clear?” All men nodded and immediately took up their positions, eyes alert and ready. They knew she was about to wield. Artemi leapt into the flames, but was stopped short of embracing them.

Neleum had grabbed her by the arm. “The king approaches.”

The other men immediately circled around her once more and, still out of sight of the old king, she made as if to walk to the left corridor. They quickened their pace. The last thing she wanted was a conversation with that man leering at her and claiming that it did not matter whether he or Morghiad sired her children. She shuddered at the thought.

A noise behind them made the men pause. She turned her head. Dratted king! However had he caught up with them? Artemi had no choice now. She’d have to stop and bow and be polite in their exchange. Several women in red followed closely behind him. As much as the other benay-gosa had grown to dislike her, she was relieved to see them there.

“Good day, Artemi,” the bearded man boomed.

She curtseyed deeply. “My king.” She would be glad not to have to honour him with that title for much longer.

He smiled back at her in a way she did not like. “I have need of your guardsmen to accompany me. Apparently there has been word of an eisiel in the city.”

She could sense the men becoming anxious around her. If there was an eisiel, she needed to get to her sword quickly. “Of course.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cydia’s whiskered mouth tighten. “Which of them will you take with you?”

“Oh, I’ll have them all, girl.”

Neleum grunted quietly, and all of the man maintained their positions. They had sworn to protect her, after all. Then again, the king was their ward just as much as she was. “As you wish, my king. I’m sure I will have no trouble finding replacements.” She said that more for the soldiers’ benefit than the king’s.

He suppressed a small smile. “That won’t be necessary. And I’m not blind to my son’s affection for you. Why don’t you have my most trusted man, Hegard, take you back to your rooms? He is a very good swordsman, I assure you.”

The ponytailed, tree-like man stepped forward and inclined his head. Artemi was not sure why Morghiad had taken such an immediate dislike to the man. True, his expressions were somewhat sneering, but no worse than any she’d seen from Jarynd. She smiled in acceptance of her new protector.

Hegard was quiet as they walked briskly back up the stairs, so she tried to engage him in some sort of conversation. “I understand you hail from Forda?”

He raised his eyebrows a little. “A small village called Hamarr, close to the border.”

That name tickled something in her memory, and she felt another headache coming on. Artemi gritted her teeth in spite of it.

“But I have travelled all over since then,” he continued. “Are you alright?”

Searing daggers of pain seemed to penetrate every part of her skull. “Fine,” she managed to squeeze out between breaths.

Concern tinged his voice. “You do not look fine. You should rest. Come.” He led her into one of the nearby empty guest rooms and shut the door. Hegard led her to the window to observe her more closely.