The Assassins of Altis (13 page)

“The Mage Guild in Palandur
—
” Alain began.

“Is still trying to sort out what happened last night and whether or not that troll tore you into tiny pieces and stomped on them. You still haven’t sensed any other Mages nearby, right?”

“I did not last night, either,” Alain said, peering suspiciously out the window at a distant speck in the sky. “I do not think that is a Roc, but I will keep an eye on it.”

“Fine. Enjoy yourself.” Mari settled back, trying to relax. The city of Landfall was a long way off, but the train made excellent time over the even terrain. After the adventures of the previous night, Mari found herself dozing off, waking once after sleeping for some time, and then insisting that Alain get some rest while she stayed alert. “Yes, I promise to watch for Rocs.”

Mari glanced at the setting sun as the express train finally slowed again to pick up passengers and cargo at the big station where the roads from Centin in the north and Alfarin to the south joined with the road between Palandur and Landfall. Alain had awakened when the train stopped. She grinned at him. “I can’t help wishing I could see the expression on Professor T’mos’ face when he realizes I’m not going to show up in Empress Tesa Square. Though I think he’s going to be more disappointed at not getting his hands on you.”

Alain frowned at her. “You said something like that before. Why would this old teacher of yours have any feelings against me?”

“It’s a long story, and to be perfectly honest it sort of makes me sick to my stomach to think about it now, so if you don’t mind I’ll fill you in at some future time.”

The stop was long enough to make Mari have to fight off fidgeting. They were so close now to getting out of the Empire. So close to avoiding the death sentence mandated for anyone who entered the forbidden city of Marandur, and so close to embarking for Altis to search for the mysterious tower that might hold a lot of answers that she needed to have.

An alert would go out once she didn’t show up in Empress Tesa Square, transmitted through the big far-talkers in the Mechanics Guild Halls. But it would be a few more hours before that happened, and by then they should be much closer to Landfall. “We’ll have to figure out how to leave this train before it reaches the station in Landfall,” Mari murmured to Alain. “My Guild will have sent out word by then that I might be aboard. The train will have to slow down a lot when it reaches the outskirts of Landfall, though, so we should have plenty of chances to jump off.”

His gaze on her was intense. “Jump off? As we did last time?”

“Well, no,” Mari said. “That time the train was going a lot faster and we had to fall farther and we couldn’t see what we were jumping into. This time should be a lot easier.”

A few new passengers came into their carriage and took seats nearby as the train finally lurched back into motion, gathering speed slowly. “What were all those cops doing?” one asked another.

The question was met with a shrug. “Checking all the people getting off. Another security alert, I suppose. A lot of the police got on the train, too, did you see? In the first passenger carriage. I guess they’re looking for someone again. An escaped convict, maybe.”

The first man spoke in a lower voice. “I heard the police are looking for two people who left Marandur. There’s been legionaries and police all over the roads back east of here.”

“Really? Anyone fool enough to go to Marandur gets what they deserve.”

“Well, some folk say whoever came out originally went in a very long time ago.” The man lowered his voice as he whispered to the other.

Mari turned to Alain. “Imperial police are on the train. They’re in the front cars and moving back, looking for us.”

He nodded, looking out the window beside him. “I heard.”

“Any ideas?” she asked.

“Not at the moment.”

The train kept gathering speed. Mari gazed bleakly through the window at the landscape rushing by, then ahead to where the Imperial police were undoubtedly methodically checking every passenger before moving back to the next passenger carriage. She had seen Imperial officers conducting searches and knew just how efficient they could be. Their packs would be searched, and what was in them would ensure that she and Alain were recognized and arrested. “Hiding won’t work and fighting would be hopeless. We could overcome the cops on the train, maybe, but hundreds of others would converge on wherever the train stopped.”

“Yes,” Alain agreed.

“That only leaves one alternative.”

“I was afraid that you would say that.”

Alain waited for Mari to explain exactly what she was going to do, thinking as he waited that it had indeed been a mistake to try traveling on a Mechanic train again. Night had fallen completely, so that once they had left the lights at the Mechanic train station the inside of this coach had become as dark as the outside.

Mari leaned back and whispered in Alain’s ear. “Time to go.”

That was a bit worrisome, given the speed with which the land outside was rolling by.

Straightening herself up, Mari spoke in a tired but nonchalant voice just loud enough to carry a bit. “I think there are more seats in the next carriage, so we can lie down to sleep. Do you mind moving?”

Alain stood, pulling Mari’s pack down from the shelves that ran over their heads, then his own pack as well. “We can attempt it.”

She led the way out the rear door of their car and onto a small platform that led to the similar platform on the front of the next car on the train. Walking across the small gap between the platforms would bring them to a door leading into the front of the next car. Instead of proceeding to the door, though, Mari went to the railings on the side and looked out and over, squinting her eyes against the wind created by the motion of the train. Leaning back again, she made a helpless gesture. “I can’t see far enough ahead in the dark to spot any good places to land, and we don’t dare wait to jump anyway.”

“Jump? You said when we next jumped from a train it would be moving slowly and we would be able to see where we would land.”

“Yes,” Mari said. “That was the plan, but we had to change the plan. We’re going to jump now. Why did you think we came out here?”

“I was following you.”

“Well, follow me when I jump.” With a worried expression now, Mari hooked her leg over the railing, then brought the other leg across, holding on with both hands, her back to the railing and her feet on the narrow edge of the platform beyond the railing.

Since there wasn’t enough room on this platform for him to join her, Alain stepped across to the next car’s platform, then also stepped over the railing and hung on, balancing on the edge as the metal lines that Mari called rails rushed by below them and the wind buffeted them. Even over the rush of the wind he could hear the chugging roar of the Mechanic creature called a locomotive which pulled this train.

Alain stared down at the ground, which was moving past as fast as a horse could run. “Is this safe?”

“No!” Mari said. “Of course it’s not safe! But we don’t have any other choice! After you hit the ground, don’t get up for a little while. We want to make sure no one from the train sees us.”

“What if I cannot get up at all?” Alain asked.

“Try to fall softly!” Mari ordered. He was still staring at her, trying to figure out if she was really serious, when Mari reached out and latched onto Alain’s hand. “We’ll jump on the count of three! One…two…three!” She jumped, pulling Alain along.

He landed awkwardly, losing his grip on Mari, falling, sliding down a slight embankment and rolling over several times before eventually skidding to a halt. The last car of the Mechanic train rolled past as he lay there, the lights and noise of the entire train vanishing into the night. Dizzy and aching, Alain sat up and looked for Mari, wincing as new bruises announced their presence.

Mari lay a short distance away. He felt a moment of fear, then relief as she got her arms under her and tried to stand up, hopping slightly as her right leg seemed unwilling to bear her weight. “Ouch,” she announced.

Alain got to his feet and moved to help, flinching as his own foot protested. Just a sprain, he hoped, and not something broken. “Are you all right, Mari?”

She lowered her right leg gingerly, her face showing pain. “I think so. Walking isn’t going to be any fun for a while.” Mari gazed in the direction the train had gone. “If anyone had noticed us jumping, the train would have already braked and started back this way. Looks like we got away. Now we just have to find another way to get to Landfall.”

“Will we have to ride one of the trains again?” Alain hoped that he did not sound too aggrieved.

She looked at him, then started laughing. “You poor man. Have you ever asked yourself what you did to deserve getting stuck with me?”

“I simply consider myself to be very fortunate.”

Mari grinned, her teeth white against the darkness of the night. “Just keep telling yourself that, my love. No, I won’t make you ride a train again. At least, not anytime soon. They really are too dangerous now that we know the Imperials are checking them all for suspicious pairs of young men and women, and by the time we could try to board another one my Guild would have sent warnings out that I was traveling as a common.” Her smile faded. “Can you see anything around here?”

Alain peered around, searching the darkness and seeing nothing manmade in the night-shadowed landscape but for the metal lines the train rode on. “Nothing.”

“Then that means we start walking to Landfall. We’re most of the way there from Palandur.” Mari took a step and gritted her teeth. “That’s going to hurt for a while, but I can manage it. How about you?”

“About the same. Do we walk all the way?”

“I hope not.” Mari pointed in the direction they had been traveling. “Sooner or later we’ll have a chance to bum a ride on a wagon. Or maybe we’ll find a coach station and be able to ride at least part of the way. That reminds me.” Sitting down, she rummaged in her pack, finally surfacing with a small sheaf of papers. “Our new identities.”

Alain studied the papers. “You had two sets of false Imperial identification papers for us?”

Mari grinned. “I’m a Mechanic. I like to have spares handy in case I need them. And I have a nasty suspicion that the names on those other identity papers are now on the Imperial police’s arrest list.” She stood up again, adjusting her pack. “We’re a step-brother and -sister from Emdin now. Any ideas why we’re going to Landfall, if anyone asks?”

“Seafood?” Alain suggested.

“That sounds good to me. We’re off to see the big city, Landfall the Ancient, and enjoy the sea while the crowds are small at the tail end of winter and before we have to get the crops in when spring comes.” Mari gave him a questioning look. “That is when crops are planted, right?”

“As best I recall. It has been a long time since I was a boy on my family’s ranch”

“You need to tell me more about that while we walk, if you don’t mind. I’d like to know more about your childhood.” She tested her right leg. “That’s not as bad. Ready?”

“Will not the Imperials be looking for us here if they suspect we left the train?” Alain asked.

“Yeah. That’s why we’re going to walk way over to the left until we find a road going in the same direction.”

“Across the fields. In the dark.”

Mari gave him one of those narrow-eyed looks. “Do you have a better idea?”

“I was hoping you had a better one.”

“Nope. We’ve only got one choice.” She paused, thinking, as Alain waited. “There’s a common theme running through our lives these days, isn’t there?”

“I thought so.”

She shrugged, and again he could see the gleam of her smile in the night. “We can either let it terrify us or we can start seeing the humor in it, I guess.”

“At least there are no trolls tonight.”

“Exactly. Mage, it’s sometimes frightening just how much you and I are truly made for each other.” Smiling and limping, they started across the fields, searching for a road heading for Landfall.

The first night was in some ways the hardest, walking overland with minor injuries from their leap off of the Mechanic train. Alain was able to make the night pass a little faster by telling Mari some of the things he remembered from his parent’s ranch in the days before the Mages came to take him when Alain was five years old. Many of the memories he had suppressed while training to be a Mage. Now it was bittersweet to recall his parents, who had died while Alain was still a Mage acolyte. It made him feel better to share with Mari, though.

Alain tried to draw out Mari a little about her own girlhood in the city of Caer Lyn before being taken by the Mechanics, but once again Mari refused to talk about that, insisting that it was past and completely forgotten, almost yelling at Alain when he mentioned her mother. “I don’t care about her!” Mari said with a sad scowl that contradicted her words.

It was well past midnight before they literally stumbled onto a minor road going west. Already worn out from the events in Palandur the previous evening and day, Mari was almost asleep on her feet and Alain in not much better shape. They found a place just off the road where a few trees offered shelter and fell asleep in each other’s arms despite the cold.

The next morning, Mari stood looking around morosely. “I’ve been thinking. This isn’t like a little while back when we traveled south to Severun and then Marandur. Back then your Guild, my Guild and the Order were looking for us, but the Imperials weren’t. Now they are. I have a nasty feeling that any form of public transportation is going to be too risky to use.”

Alain, still seated, nodded and looked up at the sky. “We will have to pursue other methods, including avoiding the main road west.”

“Right. Do you know anything about sneaking through a countryside? I’m sort of making this up as I go along.”

“Yes, I do.” Alain forced himself to his feet, wincing as sore muscles protested. He took an odd pleasure in the look of surprise on Mari’s face. “Because I can cast fire, the Mage Guild intended that many of my contracts would be to common military forces. As a result, I received some training in military matters, including how scouts operate. I have also seen the use of scouts on a few occasions.”

“What do scouts do, exactly?” Mari asked.

“They seek to travel and see all about them without themselves being seen.”

“Ah.” Mari grinned. “That sounds like just what we need. What do we do first?”

Alain thought about it, making sure he remembered important details. “We are on a less-traveled road already. If the enemy
—
that is, the Imperial security forces
—
are actively searching for us, they will have checkpoints at intersections of roads.”

“Oh, sure.” Mari nodded, then couldn’t stop a yawn born of too little sleep. “Excuse me. That makes sense. They can’t cover everywhere, but occupying intersections offers the best chance of intercepting anyone using the roads. We just have to keep our eyes out for intersections and avoid them without being obvious about it.”

“It would be best to avoid roads altogether,” Alain cautioned, “but that would make our journey much harder, and since this land is divided into many farms we would have to deal with many fences and many landowners who would question our presence.”

“Much harder and a lot more time,” Mari agreed. “We’ll stay with minor roads, hitching or paying for rides when we can, and walking when we can’t.”

#

It took over a week of hiking and occasional rides in passing wagons. Every time they approached an intersection Mari discreetly pulled out her far-seer and scouted ahead, allowing them to spot Imperial checkpoints early enough to evade them without being seen themselves. Unfortunately, that usually meant avoiding riding on wagons, since dodging checkpoints would arouse the suspicion of drivers. By the time they sighted Landfall, Mari was wondering how much longer her boots would hold out.

Mari timed their arrival at the Imperial checkpoint outside the south gate to coincide with a rush of travelers. The officer they met eyed their new identification papers briefly, shoved them back at Mari and gestured to the next traveler.

Not far inside the city gate a small park beckoned, with few people in it at this time of the day. Mari sat down on a badly weathered stone bench under an ancient tree, pulling off her boots to rub her feet. “Ow, ow, ow. I am so tired of hiking.”

Alain sat down next to her, nodding wearily.

Mari leaned back, closing her eyes. “I suppose I should be grateful. All of this walking must be doing wonders for me. I’ll bet my legs must look great.” She glanced over at Alain and grinned. “Not to mention my rear end. Am I still distracting when you watch me walk from behind?”

“Very distracting,” Alain said. “I will be happy to evaluate your legs, if you wish.”

“I bet you would. You’ll see them someday, Mage, and a lot more besides.” Mari stretched, thinking happily of the upcoming sea voyage, on which any walking would be limited to going around the deck. “I’m probably looking forward to that day more than you are.”

“I doubt it.”

She laughed. “All right. We won’t have any trouble finding the waterfront. I vaguely remember it from a few years ago when I came here from…my first Guild Hall.”

“In Caer Lyn,” Alain said.

“Yes,” Mari replied, hoping the sudden frost in her tones got through to Alain. She stood up abruptly, her good mood vanished.. “We should go check the sailing schedules.”

Alain’s voice held a sigh of resignation. “All right.”

Her disposition lightened a bit on the way, partly because she felt guilty for snapping at Alain and partly because she was finally getting a chance to see a bit more of Landfall the Ancient, supposedly the oldest of cities. Many of the buildings showed ample signs of age in the weathering of their stone or in their old designs. Many of the trees were very old as well, with wide trunks, gnarled bark and expansive spreads of branches. The streets of Landfall were wide and straight, a perfect grid varying only occasionally to accommodate terrain or some special building.

Special buildings such as the Mechanics Guild Hall. Mari saw it in the distance, where the Guild Hall rose next to the same river that flowed downstream from Marandur and Palandur, and felt the same mix of yearning and anger at the thought of what she had lost and the lies she had been told.

Alain stayed silent the entire way. Though he never talked as much as Mari did, she had slowly learned to sense different qualities in his silence. Sometimes it was the quiet of someone lost in his own thoughts, an intriguing silence, and sometimes Alain would be wordlessly enjoying her presence, which was a nice silence. But this silence loomed like a fortress in which the gate had been sealed, as Alain drew into himself because he thought he had been wronged.