Shrouded Sky (The Veils of Lore Book 1) (29 page)

“I will let nothing happen to her,”
Edrea said.

“I know the way,” Ren said. “Follow me.”

The emissaries did not hesitate, but hastened with him toward Chandra and the others.

“You know what you must do,” Jhon said when Ren had reached them. “Get them all out of Syddia, and you and Tiersa, too.”

Ren nodded. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the guards swarm into the room.

“There’s . . . no more time,” Jhon said. “Go. Now!”

Ren motioned them toward the door on the opposite side of the room and sprinted toward it. The emissaries followed, and Tygg and Chandra turned to do the same. But Orryn planted his feet and faced the Shield men.

“Orryn, please,” Chandra said, grabbing for his hand.

“I will not leave him here to be butchered!”

“Son,” Jhon said, now on all fours. He lifted his eyes to him. “They won’t have time for that.”

A flash of red caught Chandra’s eye and she realized the twins were unfurling toward them. “We have to go!”

“No,” Orryn said, “I—” But before he could say another word he was being forced toward the door, one arm in the vice-like grip of Gage, the other that of Dar. Tygg was at Orryn’s back, while Chandra shoved them both from the rear, her eyes glancing back at the salivating twins circling in on Jhon, and the guards now charging in their direction.

The door slammed behind them and Ren slipped his knife through the door’s handle, preventing anyone from the inside opening it, at least not quickly. In a hushed voice he ordered the group to follow him down the hallway toward a tapestry draped across the wall. He pulled it aside and gestured toward a hidden door. Clearly he had not found it by accident.

“Here,” he said, motioning them in. He grabbed a nearby torch from a bracket, then slipped behind the tapestry, allowing it to drop, and pulled the door closed behind them.

The corridor was dark and musty, its stone walls coated with moisture and patches of moss. The torch illuminated the narrow passageway in a flickering glow, not bright, but enough that they could see their feet as well as the visages of those around them. Ren’s expression held brave determination, while the emissaries looked downright murderous. Orryn appeared to be in shock, but Tygg seemed to have returned to his usual feral state. His eyes gleamed in the darkness, and his posture was like that of a stalking cat. As for Chandra, she felt mostly numb. Everything had happened so fast, so violently. Was it possible Jhon was really dead?

“This tunnel will lead us out of the city,” Ren said, though no one had asked. “It was built generations ago, in case Syddia was attacked and the Sovereign needed a means to escape past the walls. Few know of it.”

“How did
you
know of it?” Edrea asked.

“I didn’t,” Ren replied. “Jhon did.”

No one said a word.

As they made their way through the tunnel, Chandra wondered if Jhon could still be alive. Did he know they were safe, that his sacrifice had given them the time they needed? Perhaps if she tried to communicate with him, to tell him they were almost free.

“Jhon,”
she thought loudly, trying with all her might to send her mental voice through the thick walls of the tunnel and into the mind of the man who had offered his life in order to save theirs.
“Jhon, can you hear me?”

“What are you doing?”
Edrea demanded, charging into Chandra’s thoughts.

“I’m trying to see if Jhon is still alive,”
Chandra answered.

“Fool girl!”
Edrea said.
“Do you not realize if he can hear you, Marcassett can too?”

“What?”

“If he is still alive, he will have blocked all images of his consciousness from her. He has the ability to do so, but you, dear girl, do not. Which means—”

“She could know where we are,”
Chandra said, realizing.

“That, and more.”

“We have to tell the others.”

“No,”
Edrea insisted.
“No one must know you are a Mind Walker, not Orryn, not Tygg. No one, you hear?”

“But why?”

“Because I said so.”

“You sound like my mother,”
Chandra said with annoyance.

“It that such a bad thing?”

The question caught Chandra off guard, and for the first time in many days she thought of her mother and how much she missed her. “No,” she said quietly. “Not a bad thing at all.”

“What?” Orryn asked her sharply.

“Nothing,” Chandra replied, and quickened her pace.

“Is he all right?”
Chandra asked Edrea.
“Orryn, I mean.”

“I do not know. I would have to mind meld with him to reach his thoughts, to know if he is who you hope he is. But even without it I suspect he is not all that he was, or could have been.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Jhon did something to protect you and, well, I guess you might say it took a part of Orryn away.”

Chandra almost stopped in her tracks.
“What do you mean, took a part of him away?”

Edrea sighed inwardly.
“You might as well know it, in the event you have future expectations with Orryn. After you and he consummated your relationship, Orryn begged his father to perform subjugation on him as well as you, and though reluctant to do so, Jhon knew it was the only way to save his son, and you and Tygg along with him.”

“Subjugation? What’s that?”

“It’s when a Mind Walker erases certain memories. Once done, it cannot be undone, not like melding which is only temporary. The fact is, Orryn cannot remember what happened between you, nor the feelings of affection that drew him to your arms. Tygg, too, has forgotten much, though Jhon admittedly had limited time to work on him. Your relationship with Tygg was less intimate, of course, but there was a friendship there, and it had to be erased. Jhon made every effort to do so.”

Chandra felt like she’d been slapped. So they truly did not remember her as she remembered them.
“But I remember everything that happened between us,”
she said.
“If Jhon performed subjugation on me, how is it I still remember?”

“You did not at first, but you have the gift of Knowing, so were able to break through. As for Orryn, Jhon appears to have left enough that he could work clear of the Pedant inside him. As to how much, no one can say.”

Before Chandra could respond further, the thundering of boots and the clanking of metal echoed toward them from the corridor at their backs.

“They’re coming,” Ren said.

The group picked up their pace through the winding passage, Ren in the lead, torch in hand, the rest struggling to keep up, especially Tygg, whose wounds were beginning to slow him down. But it wasn’t long before Ren shoved open a creaking door, spilling dull daylight into the corridor. They exited through the opening, clawing their way through the tangle of vines that covered the wall.

“At last they were on the other side. “Block the door,” Ren said hurriedly. He turned toward the forest and let out a low whistle. Mayra emerged from the trees, and from behind her Tiersa sprinted toward Ren, reaching him and leaping into his arms.

“Praise the Maker, you’re safe,” Tiersa said, half crying and half laughing. She smothered him with kisses.

Mayra hastened toward them, her eyes sweeping over the battle weary group. “Jhon,” she said hopefully. She looked at Ren, and he looked back, but no words were spoken.

Orryn reached his mother and drew her into his arms. “Mother,” he said, and held her tight.

Tiersa covered her mouth with her hands, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Mayra nodded and withdrew stoically from Orryn’s embrace. “Your father knew the risks, as we all did. He would not want us to weep for him, at least not here.”

Shouts and fists pounded against the inside of the door that Gage and Dar had temporarily braced with a sturdy branch.

“How many horses were you able to secure?” Ren asked Mayra.

“Six,” she replied. “Your Shield mount, found near here where you said it would be, and five from our stables. We, along with Bren and Nyal and one other servant, left through the gate that leads to the fisheries. As expected, there were guards posted. I told them I was hosting a banquet for the emissaries tonight, and wanted to make the main course selections myself. I don’t think they suspected anything. They let us through without incident.”

The door behind them gave a
thunk
and a loud
crack
. “They’ll soon be through,” Ren said.

They headed for the trees and quickly reached the horses. Ren lifted Tiersa onto one, while Mayra mounted another, and Gage and Dar two more. Gage reached a hand to whoever was near, and Chandra approached him, but Ren stepped in front of her. “No, Chandra,” he said. “You’re not coming with us.”

“What?” she cried.

“What do you mean she’s not coming with us?” Orryn demanded.

Another loud bang sounded from the door, accompanied by the muffled shouts of determined guards.

Ren grabbed Chandra and threw her onto Orryn’s horse. “Jhon left orders,” he said, grabbing the reins and tossing them to her. “And you—” He turned to Orryn. “Are to go with Chandra.”

“That’s absurd!” Orryn said. “Wherever am I to take her?”

“You must get her off the island.”

“
What?”
Orryn said, echoing Chandra’s previous question.

“No time for arguments!” Ren said. He glanced toward the wall. “We cannot risk the guards getting their hands on her. Chandra has to retrieve the Kee and according to Jhon she’s the only one who knows where it is.”

“The Kee?” Edrea said, her eyes darting between them. “That is what this is all about?”

“But I thought it was here,” Dar said.

“As did we all,” Edrea said.

“I go with the Imela,” Tygg said, stepping forward.

Ren did not argue. “You and Orryn must get her back to Sister World,” he said.

“Sister World?” Chandra couldn’t believe it. Since landing in this place she’d wanted nothing more than to escape. Now she wanted nothing more than to stay. “But I don’t want to go back!” she said.

“We have no choice, Chandra,” Tygg said. “The stars are shifting and—”

Edrea gasped. “Shifting?”

“Yes. Time grows short.”

“Are you able to ride?” Orryn asked Tygg.

Tygg nodded, and Orryn leapt onto his horse and settled behind Chandra, while Tygg mounted another. Orryn took the reins.

Ren hurried onto his horse and took his place behind Tiersa in the saddle. “Safe journey,” he said, and kicked in his heels.

“We’ll be fine, son,” Mayra said to Orryn. Then she commanded her horse in the direction of Ren and Tiersa.

Gage mounted and looked down at Orryn. “Ye’ll find us in the clan seat of Stonehold,” he said. “If the Basyl lands is where Jhon wanted yer family to be, then that’s the place ye head after, hear?” He reached down and grabbed Edrea’s hand, pulling her behind him into the saddle. “You, too, Tygg. If ye wish to come, ye have a place with the Basyls.”

“Thank you,” Tygg said, “but Adjo is my home.”

“You know that will be Marcassett’s first target,” Edrea warned him. “If you or your people are ever in need of sanctuary or aid, remember the Three realms are your allies.”

“I am grateful.”

“Chandra, you take care,” Edrea said, wrapping her arms around Gage’s thick waist.
“And remember: Use what you Know, but be discreet.”

“I will,” Chandra said.

Dar and Gage spurred their horses, and the emissaries galloped into the forest.

Suddenly the door in the wall burst open and a host of Shield swarmed through.

“To the coast, Tygg!” Orryn shouted, and the horses bolted.

Chandra held tight as Orryn raced the horse through the forest. The pounding of hooves vibrated through her very bones, while the sound of those crashing through the underbrush at their backs told her Tygg was not far behind. For a long while the forest was an endless blur of green and blue and gray, until at last they plunged down a gulley and clambered onto a sunlit road on the other side of it. The horse hit the road hard, kicking up clods in its wake, but Orryn spurred it on, commanding it full speed.

They soon reached a fork in the road. Chandra caught sight of the others disappearing to the right, but Orryn jerked the reins, steering the horse sharply to the left.

“Where are we going?” Chandra asked over the thundering of hooves.

“To the elementals graveyard,” Orryn answered.

Graveyard?
She twisted her head, risking a look at him. “What the hell, Orryn?”

But Orryn did not reply. He shouted at the horse and leaned his body forward, forcing her to bend with him as the horse increased its speed.

The scenery began to change, morphing from towering trees to towering rocks. The smell of the sea hit Chandra’s senses, bludgeoning her with fear. The last time she’d seen the sea, she’d barely survived a storm that had left her wounded and her father dead. An ominous feeling swirled in the pit her stomach, and the thought of leaping from the horse seemed preferable to going anywhere near the water. She closed her eyes and clung to the pommel, knowing such a stunt would likely get her killed. But even if there had been no risk of it, there was little chance of her leaping or falling from the saddle. Orryn had one arm grasped tightly around her waist, as he had throughout much of the ride. Maybe he didn’t want her to leave any more than she did, she reasoned. Unfortunately, the speed of the horse told her his goal was to get her off the island sooner rather than later.

The road gradually became a trail, until it stopped altogether. Orryn pulled tight the reins, halting the horse at the lookout point of a high cliff. “We climb down from here,” he said, dismounting. He lifted Chandra off and planted her on her feet.

Chandra turned her eyes to the horizon, seeing only blue upon blue, sea upon sky, and the occasional flash of whitecaps drawing close to the shore. The sun was easing low in the west, and the dull roar of waves could be heard crashing against the rocks below.