The Crimson League (The Herezoth Trilogy) (5 page)

The group of five took seats, huddling by the flames. The dark-haired man removed his hat, and Kora had to stop herself from g
awking. H
e was not a man at all. She was a woman, possessed of a classic elegance, as tall as Auntie Mader with ice blue eyes and jet-black hair that tumbled down her back. Though she wore a tunic, Kora wondered how she could ever have mistaken her for a male.

“It’s time we introduced ourselves. My name is Laskenay. This is Bendelof,” she indicated the red-haired girl, “and Lanokas.”

“Actually, I go by Bennie,” said the carrot top.

Kora and Sedder introduced themselves in turn, and Laskenay asked, “Do you have any family, Kora?”

Kora’s heart rose to her throat. “A mother,” she said, “and a brother. They’re not in danger?”

“They will be. The men that got away, they were Zalski’s, and they saw you. One of them must have. They saw that jewel, saw the shield you conjured. Zalski won’t rest until he knows who you are. We’ve got to get your family to a safehouse.”

“A safehouse?” Sedder repeated.

Laskenay asked her companions, “Who’s closest?”

“Mader Zaygro,” said Lanokas at once. Kora’s heart dropped an inch or two closer to its proper place, while Sedder, in contrast, jumped up.

“Kora’s mother knows me. I’ll explain what’s going on.”

“Not alone you won’t,” said Lanokas.

“I’ll go with him,” offered Bennie. “Just give me a moment. I should probably change.” She went to the piles of clothing, grabbed a dress and a wig, and disappeared with a candle through an opening in the left wall.

The girl looked completely different when she emerged with blonde hair. She passed Sedder her candle, and he chose a brown wig. Kora thought he looked much the same, but then, she was used to his face. Laskenay gave Sedder her crossbow. “Take horses from the stables,” she directed.

Before leaving, Sedder wanted to speak to Kora. Bennie told him not to dawdle, and he and his childhood friend separated themselves, not quite entering another chamber of the cave. He launched into a story about an acquaintance, a seaman on the eastern coast.

“He told me he would sneak me on his ship, get me to Traigland, for forty gold pieces. I’ve saved eight. I wasn’t….” He stammered at the hurt expression on Kora’s face. “I hadn’t made up my mind to go. I would have told you before I went,
if
I went. I just wanted to have it as an option. With Zalski’s control of the ports, stowing away’s the only way out. Listen, with my eight pieces, if we sold a jeweler the other half of that ruby we might have enough to get you, just you, away from here.”

“I couldn’t,” said Kora. “I couldn’t take your money. Eight gold pieces…. Sedder, that must be all you have left of your life savings. I know what they pay you at that bakery, it’s a pittance. A pittance.”

“The money doesn’t matter. Listen, keeping you alive matters.”

“I couldn’t leave my family in the straits they’re in. I’d never forgive myself. I’d never see them again!”

“So you’ll join them at the safehouse?”

Kora looked away. Sedder directed her gaze back to him. “Kora Porteg, you’re going to that safehouse?”

For the second time that afternoon, Kora took Sedder’s arm to expose the wound across his wrist. “You think you’re the only one they’ve done that to? That you’ll be the last? Look, I don’t know what I’ll do, I really don’t,” she insisted. Sedder inclined his head in marked skepticism. “I just feel that sitting on my ass in a safehouse won’t be any use to anyone. We can sell the ruby, like you said, and you can go. Like you’ve been planning.”

“What good would my going to Traigland do? What the hell is in Traigland?”

“What’s here, Sedder?” He left the answer unspoken: she was here, and in trouble. He would not leave her in trouble, no more than she would abandon her family. “Are you getting on that boat?” she asked, knowing what the answer was, no matter his response.

“I’m getting your mother and that kid brother you have to safety.”

Kora wrung her hands. “Zac listens to you,” she said. “You’re the only one he listens to now. You have to make him see he can’t sneak off from Auntie Mader’s.”

“Kora, he wouldn’t….”

“He’s been leaving home at night and going places after school. He’ll want to sneak off, I’m telling you. If he leaves Auntie Mader’s and he’s recognized….”

“Is he what’s been on your mind all day? All those escapades? Kora, I’ll talk to Zac, don’t worry. He’ll see reason. He’ll understand that no matter how tempting Hogarane is, he needs to stay put.”

“Hug them both for me. Tightly, all right? And tell them I’m sorry.”

With a squeeze of her hand he told her, “You’re not responsible for this.”

Sedder left with the blonde-haired Bendelof, leaving Kora, her knees tucked to her chest, at the fire with Lanokas and Laskenay. Less than two days ago, no time at all, she and Zacry had argued about the Crimson League. To think she was with them now, that hundreds of miles and not six or seven might as well separate her from home….

“Bennie shouldn’t be long,” said Laskenay, to break the silence. “We have horses. The owners of this l
and let us share their stable. O
ur mounts might be noticed if we tied them in the woods.”

Kora hardly heard the woman. She was thinking of the two slain soldiers, of that awful moment she had realized they would kill her, and likely Sedder too.

“Where did those men come from? The ones who shot at us?”

Lanokas told her, “Zalski has a base here, a small one he’s usin
g to plan something secretive. W
e need to discover what. We were on our way
back from searching it out. They must have
followed
us
.”

“Did you find it?”

“We didn’t. But we weren’t the only ones looking.”

“There’s more of you,” said Kora.

Laskenay said, “They should be here soon, I think.”

“You mean you hope.”

Laskenay smiled weakly. “You’re frightened,” she said. “I won’t tell you not to worry. You
should
worry. You’re in danger, and you won’t last a week if you fail to understand how real that danger is. But you should know, legend or no legend, we’ll do everything we can to protect you. In the meantime, you should cover that jewel.” Laskenay went to the clothing pile and found an orange bandana. She wrapped it around Kora’s hairline to hide the ruby, tying it at the base of her neck like field workers do to keep sweat from running down their faces. Her bound curls protruded from beneath.

“You haven’t asked to join your mother at the safehouse,” said Lanokas, once Laskenay sat back down. “Can I ask why?”

Kora stared at the fire. With Sedder gone, it was time to reveal her true intentions, to admit the actual reason, and not the flames, that a line of sweat had broken out across her forehead. “If I was in a safehouse,” she said, “I couldn’t be working to get my family out of one, could I?”

Lanokas nodded, as though he understood. “Does that mean you wish to swell our illustrious numbers?”

Kora did not want to join these rebels, not ever. She thought of Zacry, though, miserable at Auntie Mader’s. She thought of Sedder’s wrist and of Auntie Mader’s child growing up in a world more oppressive by the hour. No, Kora wanted nothing to do with the Crimson League. Somehow, though, what she wanted made no difference. She almost smiled as she imagined what Zacry would say, if he knew she had the chance to join the resistance and passed it by.

“I’m in, if you’ll have me, but I understand you might have reasons to reject the offer. I can’t say I’d be of use,” she told them. “I don’t have skills for your line of work, not one. I know how to weave. And I read and write, if that’ll be useful in some way, though it probably won’t be. There’s nothing to prove I’m the Marked One, or even that there is a Marked One.”

“We know that,” said Laskenay.

“Then you’ll agree to tell no one about the ruby.”

Lanokas said, “We won’t breathe a word. Relax, you need to relax, we won’t throw you to the wolves with that mark you have. I thought we’d made that clear.”

Laskenay added, “If you’re serious about joining, there’s an induction rite you have to go through. It’s nothing but questions, but it’s important. When Menikas returns we’ll administer it.”

“Who’s Menikas?”

Lanokas answered, “My brother. He and Laskenay lead the Crimson League. He
will
have to know about the stone, but he’s the only one. He makes decisions, distributes tasks. He could endanger you unwittingly. It’s best for me to speak with him, because he can be…. He’s an intimidating figure.”

Laskenay told Kora, “Sedder’s welcome to stay on as well, if he would like. I suspect he may when he learns your mind’s made up.”

All thoughts about Menikas left Kora. “I’ve known Sedder my whole life,” she said. “The same woman watched us when we were little. He has no ties left to Hogarane, not since his parents died a few months ago. They got ill pretty suddenly. Sedder had to sell their cottage and move to a little cabin just to pay the doctors, and the burial, and the taxes, the debts that surfaced from years ago.”

Lanokas asked, “Weapons training?”

“He’s a swordsman. That’s his hobby. And I’ll say this for him, when he says he’ll do something, he means it.” Kora sighed. “Look, I don’t want him risking himself. I don’t want him here. I’d lie to him about what I’m doing, but it wouldn’t make a difference. He can always tell.”

Laskenay prodded, “Is there anything else we should know?”

“Not about him. I can’t believe I didn’t mention this yet, there are jewels in Zalski’s coal crates.”

A part of Kora doubted anyone would believe her, the story was so fantastic, but she gave full details about what had happened on the road, and the two Leaguesmen seemed to accept her account. A bitter satisfaction descended upon Laskenay. “We thought there was more than coal in that shipment. The gems keep Zalski’s cronies faithful. We have associates of our own set to snag them farther north.”

“His soldiers here,” said Kora, “they’re searching for something.”

Lanokas leaned back with a long, low whistle. “Where did you learn that?”

“I saw them. They nearly got their hands on important papers.” Kora told the Leaguesmen about Opal’s father’s shorthand. “Is that what they were looking for? The
Letter’s
notes?”

“I doubt it,” said Laskenay.

“You don’t know what they’re after?”

“That’s what we came here to find out.”

Kora said, “They were pretty methodical, whatever they want…. Who’s that?”

Someone was walking to the cave, multiple someones. Lanokas jumped up. “That should be the others.”

445

CHAPTER THREE

The Crimson League

Four people tromped into the cave, talking all at once. “We found it,” said a man who could be no one else but Menikas; he had the same dark green eyes and light hair as his brother, though his face was fuller and he looked to be two, maybe three years older.

“On the other side of the forest, an old farmhouse,” said the only woman of the group. She was in her early twenties, and pulled a wrap from her wavy blonde hair.

“Who’s that?” said the other two together, staring at Kora.

“Slow down,” pleaded Laskenay. “Menikas, you found the base?”

“About three miles from the woods. Northwest. There aren’t many men there, but they’re from the elite guard. I’m sure they are.”

Lanokas said, “They’re elites, trust me. Wilhem was right. This is big.”

“Who’s the newcomer?” asked the woman. Her large gray eyes bore into Kora. “And where’s Bennie?”

Laskenay said, “She’s movi
ng Kora’s family to a safehouse
:
not alone,
though,
that’s against protocol. She’s with Kora’s friend Sedder. Kora plans to join our ranks, unless she changes her mind. I think Sedder may as well.”

The woman who had just walked in looked close to scoffing. She narrowed her eyes. “Why does her family need a safehouse?”

“That’s for Kora to say,” said Lanokas, and took the brunt of the woman’s glare.

“Who is she, how do we know she’s not a plant?”

Menikas’s voice crackled with impatience. “Zalski thinks we’re at the capital. If he wanted to plant a spy, he’d do it there. We’re not children, any of us. We don’t trust people without reason, Laskenay especially.”

The woman was not convinced. “Of course you defend Laskenay. She’ll give you the full explanation, you know she will. We all have the right to know what’s going on!”

“If you needed to know, you’d know,” Laskenay told her. The finality in her tone prevented a retort. “Kora, I should introduce you. This is Menikas,” Menikas shook her hand, his grasp firm, “Kansten,” the blonde-haired woman nodded coldly, “Neslan,” one of the other men, the only one with a beard (though it was not much) smiled, “and Ranler.” The last stranger smiled as well, but not as warmly. He and Neslan both looked about as old as Lanokas. Ranler had a shaved head, but Kora thought it suited him; it sharpened his features.

“Welcome,” said Neslan. Kora had never seen a person who looked so different when he smiled. His face looked thin, but filled out when his mouth stretched and his eyes shone. He had enough hair to make up for Ranler’s lack of it, voluminous and chocolate brown.

Menikas said, “Take a seat. We need to discuss this base.” The others gathered by the fire with decent speed, though nothing approaching military. Every eye was on their chief, who scrutinized Kora before he began despite his display of support for Laskenay and her judgment. Intimidating, Lanokas called him. Intimidating did not cover it.

“From what we saw, there are three guards present at a time, maybe four. The rest are away searching, especially at the start of the day. They switched out at ten and twelve, and have no idea that we know where they’re stationed. We can take their headquarters, no doubt of it. That should tell us what Zalski’s up to.”

“We’ll do it tomorrow,” said Lanokas. “Our group was seen. We have enough people to defend ourselves for the night, but beyond that….”

Neslan groaned. “We’ll have to leave Hogarane.”

“We’ll head to Yangerton,” said Laskenay. “Back to Yangerton. It’s as far as we can go on a day’s ride. We should leave in two groups; we won’t need everyone to attack the base. What do you think, Menikas?”

“Smaller groups, less attention, that’s what I think. I’ll go after the guards with Lanokas, Ranler, and Kansten.”

“We should take Kora,” said Lanokas. Laskenay agreed.

“She’ll be more of an asset than you think.”

Her crimson shell. Despite the fire three feet away, Kora found herself shivering. “You want me to take part in…?”

“Kansten can ride to Yangerton with my party,” said Laskenay. Kansten’s heart-shaped face turned red.

“You’re letting this, this stranger go to the base? Instead of me?”

“I am,” said Laskenay.

Menikas’s lips grew thin. “You realize how absurd this suggestion is?” said the chief.

“It must seem odd,” Laskenay conceded. “I have my reasons.”

“So tell us what they are!” Kansten cried. Against his better judgment, perhaps, Menikas defended Laskenay once more. Kansten said nothing else about the subject. In fact, she sat in silence while the others joked and ate of cornmeal and potatoes from the food stores. Kora kept just as quiet, as she had never felt so awkward in her life. She tried to forget what bonded these people and what awaited her the next morning; she listened to their chatter, glad of human company but longing for Sedder to get back. He and Bendelof returned after the meal.

“They’re safe,” Sedder told Kora, pulling off his wig. He and Bendelof (also wigless) took seats next to her and portions of cornmeal. Kansten, too hungry to put off lunch any longer, cooked a potato. When Menikas stared with exasperation at yet another stranger infiltrating his ranks, Laskenay pulled him away from the rest of the League. Sedder said, “Interesting fellow, isn’t he?”

“He’s in charge,” said Kora.

“He’s not a bad sort,” Bendelof assured them. “He’s just intense. Don’t know if he always was, but since I’ve known him he’s been that way.”

“He wants to know what’s going on,” said Kora. “Sedder, my Mom….”

“She sent her blessing: that the Giver shower you with everything you need. That you never forget a mother’s love, and take it in account in all you do.”

“That’s just as much a guilt trip as a blessing.”

“I told her you were joining the Crimson League,” he admitted. “She needed some explanation for why you aren’t with her. I couldn’t let her imagination run wild. She’d think you were dead.”

“And Zacry?”

“He swore not to do anything to worry her. He called you a twit and said to punch Zalski for him if you see him.”

Kora’s blood ran cold. “Like I’ll ever meet Zalski.”

Bendelof said, “Your family’s lovely, they really are. I’m glad I got to meet them. It’s good they know the Zaygros, isn’t it? They’ll feel less uncomfortable that way, tucked inside.” 

Eventually, night fell outside the cave. The fire burnt to embers, but Neslan and Ranler still stacked eight or ten decent-sized stones in the entrance to block the glow. Laskenay placed candles in a circle around the red-hot ash. “It’s time for the induction,” she announced. She looked at Sedder. “Kora’s asked to join. We could use your aid as well, if you’re willing to give it. If not, we can part ways in the morning. I can’t let you leave before then.”

Kora braced herself for Sedder’s response, trying to convince herself she was not to blame for his decision, that his reasons to stay or leave were his own business. He left her no choice but to fail dismally when he replied, “If Kora’s in, so am I.”

“Stand in the circle, both of you.”

Kora and Sedder did as Laskenay instructed. Shadows flickered on the faces of those near the candles, wavering in the glow, making them seem almost like hallucinations. Kora tried not to look at them but at Laskenay, who stood apart, cloaked in semi-darkness. Her voice echoed in the stillness.

“Do you swear allegiance to the Crimson League?”

The inductees said, “I do.”

“Do you agree to follow orders given by its leaders?”

“I do.”

“To fight to restore the royal family?”

Kora had to wonder how distant a cousin of the dead king the League wanted to restore, but along with Sedder, she said, “I do.”

“To kill only to defend yourselves, a League member, or an innocent?”

“I do.”

“Do you swear to protect our locations, our identities, and our objectives with your lives?”

“I do.”

“Do you understand that with betrayal of the League, your life is forfeit?”

“I do.”

“Do you hold your word to be your honor?”

“I do.”

“Then step from the circle and join your brothers.”

Kora felt rooted in place by Kansten’s skeptical glare, by Menikas’s searching eyes. “They don’t look at Sedder that way,” she thought. “They don’t doubt him,” and stepped through a gap in the candle ring. Sedder followed. Laskenay shook their hands warmly, while the other Leaguesmen followed suit, even Kansten, who muttered, “It’s good to have some help.” Her words failed to mitigate the distinct impression that she wished Kora miles away.

* * *

The cave, it turned out, had more than just a second chamber off to the left. There were five in addition to the main one, each sloping down as the caverns progressed inward and underground. When time came to sleep the women went off to a chamber in the back, the men to one closer to the mouth. There were blankets to spare, even some extra pillows, so that Kora lay down just as comfortable as anyone else: meaning the uneven floor dug into her back, making her toss continually, like Kansten and Bendelof.

It took Kora hours to fall asleep. When she finally dozed off she dreamed she sat in a dungeon, her wrists shackled to the wall. The lieutenant who had whipped Sedder that morning walked up to her, his lips curled.

“Are you ready to speak?”

Kora’s voice was only a gargle, so she resorted to shaking her head as definitively as she could.

“I thought you might need some persuasion,” said the lieutenant. He looked over his shoulder and signaled someone to come forward. A masked stranger, also in uniform, stepped from the shadows, dragging Zacry with him, his sword against the boy’s throat. The lieutenant spoke triumphantly. “How’s this for incentive?”

Kora pulled against her shackles. Zacry’s terror-stricken eyes bore into his sister’s.

“Tell what you know about the Crimson League or he dies. You have to the count of three.”

“I’ll talk!” she screamed. “I’ll talk.”

The lieutenant nodded grimly. “Kill him anyway,” he directed.

Kora woke in a cold sweat as Zacry’s blood pooled at her feet. The ground was so hard, she thought for a moment she actually was in a dungeon. Then her panic subsided, her memory came back to her, and she knew she would sleep no more that night. She crept from the chamber and toward the front of the cave. Right away she saw a beam of moonlight, a single thin beam, and knew that someone had removed the top stones that blocked the entrance.

That someone was Lanokas, sitting near the ash pile. He stared into the night, or early morning now, a blanket wrapped about him to fend off autumn’s chill. A few feet away stood the pitcher he had gone to fill from the nearest well after dinner. He waved his hand at it with two swift, steady motions. It rose into the air and flew toward him.

“You’re telekinetic,” Kora whispered.

Lanokas jumped, glancing over his shoulder. He nearly spilled the water. “You’re awake,” he said.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I just…. I couldn’t sleep.”

“You had a long day.” Lanokas motioned for her to take a seat beside him, near the remnants of the fire. Kora settled herself to the ground while he waved two glasses over from the wall and filled one for her. He offered the blanket as well, but Kora felt feverish, her heart racing as though she had run the distance between the cave and home. Home…. She mustn’t think of that. She used her bandana to wipe her moist forehead.

“Are you a sorcerer?” she asked.

“Not even close. A true sorcerer, who can use incantations…. They’re rare these days. Magic degraded through the centuries.”

“I’d heard that before,” said Kora. “But I’ve never met anyone with powers, powers of any kind.”

“I’m telekinetic, nothing more. It takes just as much energy for me to move something by magic as by hand. I couldn’t send a four hundred pound boulder hurtling through the air, for instance, like Zalski could do with a chant, but arrows, spears, rocks…. It’s been useful, my ability. Saved my life on multiple occasions.”

Kora latched on the topic of magic with gusto, to distract herself. “How could Zalski move something that large? Don’t incantations take energy?”

“Energy of a kind. A sorcerer
is
a sorcerer because he has a separate energy source, called Lin. If you’re not born with Lin you’ll never have it, and if you are it’s weak, at least at first. It builds through use, almost like you develop stamina when you run habitually. Stamina’s the best analogy I can think o
f.
Lin isn’
t physical like blood or muscle, you see. I
t’s more a condition of the body. The stronger your Lin, the more powerful a spell’s effect will be. You could say a sorcerer’s magic, theoretically, knows no limit, since from what we’ve found there’s nothing to drain or block the use of Lin.”

“You’ve done your research.”