VirtualHeaven (13 page)

He drew her hands to his mouth and kissed her palms. “You
will go. I command it. Wait one sun-rising, no more.”

Kered nudged Vad’s leg with his boot. Vad shook himself
awake, groaning and plucking at his wrinkled tunic.

‘“Tis true, I look as woeful as the two of you.”

Maggie smiled. There was amusement in his tone and she
suspected that little dampened Vad’s spirits.

The men began to hone their weapons. Maggie knelt by Kered
and watched the easy, practiced motions of his hands as he whetted his knife
and his two swords—the everyday one, and the sword of Ruhtra. She was struck
again by the beauty of the engraving and its resemblance to her own work. “I
assume you expect fighting,” she said.

“We are expecting bloodshed, aye.” Kered continued at his
task.

“That doesn’t have to be,” Maggie stated emphatically.

“Why?” Vad cocked his head to the side and dazzled her with
a bright smile.

Kered looked at her belt and the weapon concealed in the
loose folds of his shirt. “Maggie, hold your tongue,” he ordered.

“No. This is life and death.”

“Aye,
your
life or death. You will keep your weapon
to yourself—for your own protection. I have no need of it,” he finished.

Vad spoke into the strained silence. “Maggie has her own
weapon?”

Kered ignored him. “You must hope that we are successful,
else you will need your weapon—returning to Hart Fell.”

Maggie grabbed his arm, alarm coursing through her. “You
have to take it. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.” The gun fell
from her waist.

Kered groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Vad
snatched the weapon up. “Nilrem’s knees. What is this?” Vad asked, crouching at
Maggie’s side. Unlike Kered, who had had to play with the gun right away, he
gingerly returned it to her.

Kered plucked it from Maggie’s hand and tucked it into her
belt. “‘Tis a weapon from beyond the ice fields. It sends invisible
destruction, but how much we do not know. Only Maggie is proficient in its
use.”

“Invisible destruction? How is it Tolemac has no knowledge
of such a thing?” Vad turned to Maggie. “Is she a witch?”

His words sent a chill down her spine.

Vad looked from her to Kered and back again. “Has lust made
you blind? Do you shelter some evil here?”

Kered lunged forward and grasped Vad’s arm, and for a moment
Maggie thought that he would strike his friend. “Maggie is not evil. You have
heard the legends of the lands beyond the ice fields—fine legends, wondrous
tales. Why would you think a weapon from there would be evil?”

Vad’s posture stiffened. “Then show me how it works.”

“Show him,” Maggie urged. She wanted Kered to take it with
him, and perhaps Vad could help her persuade him.

“No,” Kered said, turning to her. “Since only you will use
it, Vad has no need to know of it.”

“Is this the trust we spoke of?” Vad fisted his hands.

“This is not about trust. This is about danger. Maggie does
not know how the weapon works or how long it works. ‘Tis pointless to speculate
on its use. If you trust me, you will accept my word. It is a strange weapon,
and ‘tis for Maggie’s protection, and only her protection—”

“This is so stupid.” Maggie halted at the thunderous look on
Kered’s face. “I mean, you are being unreasonable. You could take it with you
and without bloodshed—your bloodshed—bring back the cup.”

“I will seek the cup with traditional weapons.”

“Many have sought the cup the traditional way,” Vad said,
then pointed out to sea, “and it is still on N’Olava.”

“That is because greedy men sought it. I seek it to bring
peace.”

“And Samoht and his cohorts will not covet it for its
value?” Vad snorted.

“Aye, they will covet the cup, but it will be safely in the
High Priest’s hands after I present it. The priests may guard it then. Samoht
will find little coin in a holy relic.”

“So, you think you will succeed because you seek the cup
with a pure heart?”

“Ah, Vad, what man’s heart is ever pure?”

Maggie stamped her foot. The two men looked at her in
surprise. “That is enough.” She pointed the weapon at a pile of brush and
pushed the red button. The pile vanished, leaving a smoking black spot on the
pure white sand.

Vad stared open-mouthed. “By the sword!” He looked at the
small gun with new respect.

“Now do you understand? You must take it. I can hide in a
cave if anyone comes. Convince him, Vad,” Maggie ordered.

“May I use it?” Vad asked, with eagerness in both his voice
and his posture. “I am an expert at most weapons.”

“Yes, you take it,” Maggie said, holding it out. Her
calculation was correct. Kered’s huge hand swept in and snatched it off her
palm before Vad even came close.

“I will hold it.” With ill-grace, Kered bent over his
weapons. “You win this skirmish, Maggie. ‘Tis a triumph that may see you dead,
but you have won—for now.”

Her palms were as sweaty as her brow. Maggie fanned her
shirt in the heat and watched the red sun. She held her hand horizontal to the
horizon as Kered had taught her. One finger width still remained until the sun
disappeared—one-quarter hour. The loneliest and longest evening would finally
be behind her. She nursed the small torch behind the rocks. Kered had said to
wait until the sun was completely below the horizon.

At the time they had agreed upon, she flitted from pile to
pile, setting each bundle of dry sticks ablaze. Out of breath, she sought shelter
in the cave where the horses were tethered. To fill the time, she tried to
braid her hair, but her hands were shaky and the leather thong broke. Muttering
a curse under her breath, she opened Kered’s pack in search of another thong.
She fell back on her heels in shock. There lay the gun, the gun he’d promised
to take—and use. She ran to the cave entrance and stared out across the
amethyst sea to the isle.

In her heart, she knew he’d left it for her, so she could
protect herself in case they didn’t return. All her dreams came to haunt her in
her exhausted and nervous state. The blood on his body glistened anew. The
bonds that held him now held Vad, too. Was this what the dreams had meant? Had
they meant capture by the N’Olavan guards? Had they meant torture for daring to
try to take the cup?

Feeling utterly helpless, Maggie sank to the sand. They had
three swords and assorted knives. They had no idea of the number of guards and
archers they would find.

Windsong nudged her shoulder. Through brimming eyes she
looked at the stallion. He seemed to reproach her for her lack of faith. She
stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms about the horse’s neck and hugged him as
if he were Kered.

“Tell me what to do,” she whispered. Even now the guards
could be killing the man she loved. Windsong nudged her again. Her foot
stumbled against Kered’s pack and its contents spilled at her feet.

With shaky hands, Maggie stripped off Kered’s shirt. She
stood shivering and nearly naked in the chill, dark cave and pulled on Kered’s
black breeches. She wrapped her belt about her waist and rolled the
water-stiffened leather about her ankles. All Kered’s shirts were white. Vad’s
pack held even brighter finery. There was little choice. She slung the fur
cloak about her bare shoulders, then tied her boots about her neck. Lastly, she
rubbed soot on her cheeks.

The tide was out. The four orbs cast a net of silver sparks
on the sea, a sea so dark it lay like ebony glass before her. The shining moons
magnified the glowing sandy path that lay between her and the isle—and Kered
and Vad.

Maggie stepped carefully into an ankle-deep pool of purple
water, gripping the gun as if it were as precious as a life preserver. She
strode purposefully toward the isle, always at the dark, watery edge of the
sandy path. It was like trudging along the edges of a shallow sandbar. At one
point, the shore dropped from beneath her feet, and she almost screamed aloud
as she flailed about in the depths, regaining her balance, yet losing her
boots. She stood in silence and watched them float away in the direction of the
silent isle. Nothing stirred. She looked back. The fires lit along the shore
beckoned her, but she knew that no one tended them, that no one was there to
help her.

Sweat soaked her body as she struggled on. She felt exposed,
bathed in the lambent light of the orbs as she walked. Occasionally, the path
rose up from the water and lay glistening beneath her feet. Steeling herself,
she would step away from safety and holding the gun aloft, sink into the black waters
and swim clumsily along until the path sank again to a more concealing depth.

As she drew near the rocky isle, Maggie floated off the
shoal with a clumsy crawl. Hampered by the weight of the cloak, she swam into
the shelter of shadows edging the shore. Her feet touched pebbles. Her thighs
trembled and her calves knotted as she crawled along an overhanging bank. The
pebbles glowed like opals in the silvery shimmer of one of the orbs. A scent of
wood smoke reached her.

The blood pounding in her ears made listening difficult.
Finally, her heart calmed and the gentle lapping waves and rustling of leaves
was all she heard. Then it came to her. A man shouted. More men joined in. She
couldn’t hear their words, just recognized their panic. Throwing aside her fears,
she crept into the foliage in search of the men she now knew were under siege.

A stone’s throw from where she knelt stood a temple. Four
gleaming marble pillars shone in the orb-glow. Two guards stood alertly at
their posts. Maggie knew which direction to take, for the guards both peered
anxiously off to her left.

Stealthily, she made her way through the lush foliage. It
snatched at her cloak and slipped along Kered’s leather breeches. Her feet
hurt, but she didn’t have time to tend them. The smell of wood smoke grew
choking, and her eyes began to sting.

Men garbed in black and purple uniforms ran about trying to
put out small fires in the dense woods. Maggie assumed that Kered and Vad had
set them. Quietly, she waited. The panicking men were making little headway
with the flames. Grateful for their noisy efforts, Maggie slipped unnoticed
past them deeper into the woods.

Maggie halted as she heard the clash of swords up ahead. She
peered through the leaves and gasped as she saw Kered fighting four swordsmen.
Vad circled and tried to engage two of them to draw them away from his friend.
The guards, clad like devils in black, flitted from Vad’s sword, eluding his
efforts, and melting away to reappear from another direction.

Vad’s gleaming hair and the flash of orb-light on Kered’s
sword were all too easily seen. Their enemies were dangerously hidden as they
moved between tree trunks to keep Kered in the clearing and themselves
partially shielded. The clash of metal on metal anchored her to her tree and
yet, she had no clear target at which to aim.

Although Kered had but two men to worry about, as Vad once
again protected his friend’s back, the two guards fought with a ferocious
strength that frightened her. She raised the gun, then lowered it. Vad had
stepped between her and Kered’s foes. She winced as a guard’s sword flicked a
line of blood across Kered’s arm.

A hand grasped her cloak and flung her to the ground. The
gun slithered from her fingers into the leafy mold beneath her feet.

A tall, bearded guard stood over her, a sneer curling his
lip. “A woman.” He spat. The spittle hit her face and anger heated her temper
to boiling.

With a hard jab of his boot, the guard kicked her onto her
back. She screamed as pain exploded in her shoulder.

Maggie heard an unearthly roar. Sure that Gulap was
pouncing, she curled into a tiny ball, expecting claws. Kered leapt over her.
With one sweep of his sword, Kered disarmed the hovering guard. Maggie’s
attacker groaned as Kered snatched him off his feet and heaved him into the two
guards who had pursued him. The men lay dazed in a pile of arms and legs
attempting to extricate themselves.

Maggie stifled a shriek of fear as Kered grasped the guard
on the top of the pile and flung him toward Vad. Vad’s two opponents, still
hesitant to attack him, cowered away from their flying comrade. Kered kicked
Maggie’s attacker just as he’d kicked her, flinging him ignominiously onto his
back, the sickening crunch of breaking bones sounding like brittle twigs
snapping. Kered stepped astride the prostrate guard, pricking the epaulettes on
his shoulder with the point of the sacred sword and piercing the white skin
beneath the man’s uniform. “So, Captain, you have made a grave mistake. I could
easily kill you. Call off your men or die,” Kered ordered.

“Stand off,” the guard screamed as blood soaked his uniform.
The other guards froze like statues with weapons drawn, wary looks on their
faces. Vad used his sword to keep the other guards upon their backs.

“Have your men throw down their weapons—now,” Kered
commanded. The captain ordered his men to disarm with an ill-concealed hatred.

Maggie struggled to her feet. Her shoulder ached, but she
could flex her fingers and lift her arm.

Kered did not take his eyes from the man at his feet as he
commanded her. “Get into the trees. There are many more soldiers about.”

“My gun,” she whispered, going down on her hands and knees
and plucking it from the leaves.

“Do as I say.” Kered bent and slowly disarmed the supine
guard of his remaining weapon, a long, tapered dagger. “We seem to have
captured the leader. Vad, gather their arms and secure them.”

Vad moved about the clearing collecting swords and knives,
then thrust the bouquet of weapons into Maggie’s arms. She dumped them into a
pile in the black shadows beneath a tangled mass of tree roots.

“You will never take the cup,” the guard at Kered’s feet
snarled as blood ran down the side of his throat.

Kered glanced about as Vad swiftly tied the hands and feet
of the disarmed men. “It seems your men will do naught to stop us,’’ he said.