Elyon's Blades, page 15
part #1 of The Daughters of Elyon Series
Sixteen
The following evening, Shirin was standing out on the balcony when she heard someone open and close the door leading from the hallway into the reception room. She slipped back inside the double doors, and when she saw it was Sábria, held her finger to her lips and beckoned her close. “You’re going to want to listen to what’s happening below the balcony. Did you notice Ailith teasing Terrowyn at dinner tonight?”
Since Shirin was keeping her voice lowered, Sábria did the same. “Yes. I thought Terro was going to knock her across the dining hall.”
“And did you see the shiv, Nox, staring in horror while Ailith kept pulling Terro’s tail?”
“No, I must have missed that. Nox is Lady Knight Elondra’s daughter, right?”
“Right. When I came in tonight, I noticed Nox moping around below the balcony. A few moments ago, I saw Ailith heading her way.”
It took a while for Sábria to get a feel for the newer recruits, and she wasn’t sure, given Ailith’s past rough and tumble life, whether she might come across as a bully to someone like Nox. “They’re down below?” When Shirin nodded, the two women silently stepped out onto the balcony to listen.
Ailith approached Nox, who was sitting in the shadows. She’d perched on a low wall and had tucked herself behind an overhanging bush, so she was, for all intents and purposes, invisible to the people moving through the courtyard.
Nox saw Ailith coming and glowered at her. “Go away.”
“What? Why? I ain’t done nothin’ yet.”
“Because you’re trouble, and I don’t need any trouble.”
Ailith was quiet a moment. “I think that’s exactly what ya do need, Lass.”
“What?” Nox’s irritation was evident in her tone.
“Well, I know I’m new here, but I’ve been watchin’ ya. Yer scared of old Terrowyn and Geller. Look, yer in Geller’s shift, and Terrowyn’s there, too. Sure, yer not in her squad, but yer around her enough. Fear does ya no good. It only breeds mistakes, and from what I see, a shiv can’t afford mistakes.”
“What do you know? And, of course, I’m afraid of Guardian Terrowyn. And if you had any sense, you would be too.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll beat you into the ground if you treat her like you did at dinner tonight.”
“Ach. I did that for you. Ya need to see trouble’s not th’ life endin’ thing ya think it is.”
“Did it for me? Don’t do me any favors.”
“Look, Lass. Can I give ya some advice?”
Nox scoffed and turned away so her back was to Ailith.
“Okay, then. Take care.”
Ailith started to move away, but Nox stopped her. “Wait.” She turned back and glowered. “What advice?”
Shrugging, Ailith sat on the wall, scooped up some rocks from the planter behind it, and began tossing them away one by one. “Ya need to get in trouble with Terrowyn, or Geller even. Get yer first beatin’ out of th’ way, and then it won’t be so terrifyin’ to ya.”
Up on the balcony, Shirin dropped her head into her hand, and Sábria rolled her eyes.
Nox’s mouth fell open. “Are you crazy? And become the laughingstock of the whole guard like you are? You were whipped before you were even admitted to the Temple! Don’t you think everybody knows about that? They’re laughing at you! Do you think I want them to laugh at me, too?”
“But.” Ailith held up a finger. “I hold th’ record, ya know.”
Nox just stared at her.
Up above, Shirin pinched the bridge of her nose to keep from laughing.
Nox’s voice dropped to one of complete disbelief. “What record?”
“Th’ Arch Priestess has never beaten a recruit sooner in th’ petition process than she beat me.”
“You’re proud of that?”
Ailith grinned and shrugged. “It’s a small talent, but ya need to take th’ accolades where ya can get ‘em.”
Sábria covered her face and shook her head.
Putting her hand on Nox’s shoulder, Ailith looked her square in the eyes. “Look, gettin’ whipped won’t kill ya.” She rolled her eyes, “Okay, it hurts worse than getting trampled by a pack of rampagin’ mules. I’m tellin’ ya, that Priestess has an arm like a steel hammer and a temper to go with it, so my advice to ya is to not get her angry with ya if ya can help it.” She rolled her eyes again and blew out some air. “But ya need to get Terrowyn angry enough to box yer ears or whack ya with th’ flat of her blade. Once ya realize it won’t kill ya, ya won’t be so scared of ‘em anymore.”
“No.”
“Okay, then here’s what I’ll do. I’ll get her mad enough that she clobbers me, and then ye’ll see I’m still in one piece.”
“No! You’re crazy.”
“It’s not like I haven’t heard that before. Okay, how’s this? We’ll both make her mad, and we can take our licks together, aye?”
Sábria and Shirin heard Nox sigh and say, “You are crazy. Just leave me alone. I’ll earn my blades my way, and you earn yours your way if you can.”
The two women watched Nox stalk off to the dormitories. They waited for Ailith to leave as well, but when she didn’t appear, they silently returned to Sábria’s office and shut the balcony door behind them.
Shirin looked sideways at the Arch Priestess. “You know, as humorous as that sounded, Ailith isn’t half wrong. Nox is timid and frightened. I’d hoped she’d move out of that stage during her sevenday pre-training period. Well, she’s had twelve days to adjust since we postponed her starting because we decided to put her, Ailith, and Emlyn on deadnight together. And Ailith is right. She’s terrified of all of us. Almost like a little mouse.”
Sábria poured them each a glass of wine and motioned for Shirin to join her on the brightly embroidered sofa. As they settled, she thought about Nox, remembering how they’d come to accept her in the Blades. “I guess I shouldn’t have listened to her mother. But Lady Elondra is a formidable knight in her own right. She said she’s been training Nox since she was a young child, and she’s absolutely certain Nox will excel as a Blade.”
Shirin set her glass on the table and unlaced her boots. Pulling them off, she swiveled around until her back was against the sofa’s arm, shimmied her foot between Sábria and the back cushion, and then gently tugged her friend close until her head rested against her shoulder. “Hand me my glass again, would you?”
Sábria stretched out her hand and was just barely able to reach the glass. She handed it to Shirin and then rested her head on her chest once again. When Shirin slipped her arm beneath her breasts, Sábria covered it with her own.
Shirin took a sip of wine and rested her head on the cushion. “Sometimes, if a timid child has an overbearing or overachieving mother, she’s forced into a lifestyle she’s totally unsuited to. I hope we’re doing right by her, putting her into training.”
Sábria had to agree. “There are so many other positions she could fill. Healer, cook, and even tanner, for that matter. I’ll have a talk with her to let her know she doesn’t have to go into Blade training if she’d rather do just about anything else.”
On the far side of the room, a fire in the massive fireplace crackled and snapped, and the two women, who’d begun their hectic day at dawn, lounged peacefully and relaxed before finally heading to bed.
Seventeen
Ailith enjoyed training and always showed up early to Geller’s pre-shift weapons practice for shivs and for Blades with less than five turns on the job. They’d been in training a fortnight, and she felt she was getting into the rhythm of life as a trainee Blade. She buckled on her sword and headed downstairs, intending to grab a buttered roll on the way to the practice yard, only to find a hushed assembly waiting in the dining hall. People were huddled in small groups speaking quietly, and she knew immediately that something bad had happened.
As usual, Emlyn stood alone at the side of the room, so Ailith decided she’d probably be the only one who’d take the time to tell her what was going on. Emlyn leaned against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, staring down at the floor. Ailith leaned next to her and indicated the rest of the people in the room with a lifted chin. “What’s goin’ on?”
Emlyn glanced up and sighed, “There’s a sickness spreading through the Temple like wildfire. Commander Shirin and a healer ordered the gates locked and the disease warning flag run up the flagpole.”
“Shite. Why Commander Shirin and no th’ Arch Priestess?”
“The Priestess was one of the first to come down with it.”
“What are th’ symptoms?” Ailith had seen her share of illness run through the Dreyuthan army camps, and she’d lost her entire family and most of her village to sickness when she was young. She thought she might be able to help if she knew what to look for.
“They said fever, delusions, a rash, uncontrolled shaking—”
Ailith straightened and grabbed Emlyn’s shoulder. “A black tongue?”
Emlyn tried to shrug off her hand, but Ailith grabbed the other shoulder and shook her. “A black tongue? Tell me, Emlyn. Do they have a black tongue?”
Emlyn caught Ailith’s urgency and answered quickly, “I don’t know.”
Ailith shoved away and ran to the healer’s hall but was stopped by the unusual presence of a warrior stationed at the door. “I need t’ see th’ Commander!” Her sense of urgency had her shouting at the woman.
The warrior, a grizzled veteran who’d take no nonsense from a shiv, pushed her away. “Go back t’ yer room, Shiv. Nothin’ you can do.”
Ailith pretended to turn away and then rammed into the Blade, twisting around and squeezing through a barely opened door. She raced for the stairs, shouting, “Commander!”
The Blade chased after her. “Come back here, ya poxy little shiv. I’ll beat ya senseless when I catch up to ya!” The woman had just managed to get her fingers into Ailith’s tunic when Shirin appeared in a doorway on the third floor. “Ailith, you blasted, skut-brained—”
Ailith had never heard Shirin curse before, but she didn’t let the anger stop her. She jerked her tunic out of the Blade's hand and ran the last few steps to Shirin. “Commander. I need to know. Does she have a black tongue?”
The Blade seized Ailith’s arm. “Sorry, Commander. I’ll get her out of here.”
Ailith jerked her arm out of the woman’s grasp and shoved her away. She turned back, grabbed the Commander’s tunic in two fists, and shouted at her again, “Does she have a black tongue?”
Shirin held up her hand, telling the Blade to leave Ailith alone. “Yes. Now take your hands off me.”
Now that Shirin was listening, Ailith did as she was told. “What about spots on her neck?”
“No.”
“Fowk. Look, it’s th’ Deathbell disease. It’s good there’s no spots yet. I don’t know how it came here because it’s only up in th’ mountains where me people are from. Th’ magickers can’t cure it, but I know a woman who can. I need t’ ride t’ th’ Mitrea Peaks in th’ Blacktip Mountains where I’m from an’ fetch her. I swear yer magickers can’t cure it.”
“Why would a mountain woman know more than the healers?”
Frustration had Ailith shouting louder now. “Because th’ poxy healers are too fowkin’ proud to listen to a mountain peasant fer healin’!”
An unfamiliar voice came from the room Shirin had just left. “Well, I’m not too proud.” An older woman wearing the maroon robes of a Master Healer stepped into the hallway. She wore her long, grey hair in a neat bun at the nape of her neck, and her round, dark face was weary with fatigue. “I don’t know what this illness is, Commander, and I’ll take any help I can get if it means saving the Arch Priestess’ life.”
Shirin nodded and started for the stairs with Ailith close behind.
The healer stopped them. “Wait. Do you know the timeline of the disease?”
Ailith nodded, “Aye. If they’re not treated, they’ll die in about a sevenday.” She turned to Shirin. “Th’ mountains are close to th’ border. Day and a half there, day and a half back, if I can change horses along th’ way.”
Shirin turned to the Blade who’d chased Ailith up the stairs. “If Terrowyn isn’t sick, tell her to pack for a fast, long ride and saddle two of our fastest horses.”
The woman pounded her chest and ran down the stairs.
Ailith shook her head. “I can go faster alone.”
“No, you can’t. Keavey Terrowyn is from a horse-breeding family. She knows everyone at every way station and can get you fresh horses at every stop. Now go get packed.”
Ailith started to obey and then hesitated, thinking. She turned back to the healer. “Everybody needs to always be washin’ their hands. It moves from person to person through touchin’ hands, and then th’ person later touches their mouth or nose. Wrap th’ sick ones in wet towels to keep th’ fever down. I know it’s no th’ normal, but chills are better than fever. I know this poxy sickness. It’s what killed me family and most of me village.”
Looking at the ground, Ailith tried to remember if she’d left anything out. She turned to Shirin. “Like I said, three days. On th’ third day, have three kettles of hot water boilin’ in th’ bailey. Th’ healer will need ‘em fer potion. She’ll need enough so we can give everyone several cups of it. The sooner she can get mixin’, th’ better. Ya ken?”
Shirin nodded. “Yes. Now go, Ailith, and the Goddess be with you.”
Ailith ran to her room and grabbed her coat. She didn’t bother with clean clothes because she didn’t intend to stop until she was riding back through the gates three days hence.
Terrowyn didn’t say anything when Ailith ran up and leapt into her saddle.
Ailith didn’t see Commander Shirin, who was standing on the far side of Terrowyn’s mount, until she was in the saddle. She surprised the Commander by jumping off the horse and pulling her to the side. “Commander. I mean it when I say th’ Deathbell never leaves th’ mountain. Th’ Dreyuthans kill mountain folk who come down from th’ crags with any of th’ symptoms. It’s that deadly. Did anyone ask to be let into th’ Temple and then grab th’ Priestess’ hands askin’ fer a blessin’?”
Shirin thought back to the arrivals of the past few days. “Yes, a woman seemed fixated on Sábria.”
Ailith’s brows pulled down into a scowl. “Then ya ought to be askin’ that pidge who sent her t’ give th’ Priestess th’ Deathbell. Ya ken?”
Anger so intense it startled Ailith flared in the Commander’s eyes. “I understand. Now go.”
A Blade pulled the massive lever to the side to unlock the gate, and once Ailith had remounted, the two women spurred their horses into an all-out gallop.
Ailith was impressed with Terrowyn’s riding ability. She knew they kept horses in the Temple stables, and she hoped her extra duties would one day include working with the horses or simply cleaning their stalls. Terrowyn had never been particularly friendly to her, but then, she wasn’t friendly with anyone except maybe Geller, the Commander, and a few of the older Blades. It didn’t surprise her that a veteran warrior wouldn’t have much to say to a brand-new shiv. So they rode in silence down the hard-packed road leading to the border.
Just as Shirin had predicted, Terrowyn was able to get fresh horses at every wayside station they came to. Their first problem came when they arrived at the Dreyuthan border. The guard there refused them entry without the proper paperwork.
Ailith was arguing with the man when a familiar voice called out, “I’d recognize that voice anywhere. If it ain’t our Ailith comin’ back fer a visit.”
Jumping from her horse, Ailith ran to the man, grabbed his shoulders, and spoke barely above a whisper, “Sergeant Ahern. Yer here because th’ Goddess sent ya by all that’s holy. I need to fetch Cori Lesfur, and ya don’t want to know why.”
Ahern happened to be a mountain man himself and knew the only reason Ailith would be at the border on a lathered horse fetching healer Lesfur was because someone had the Deathbell disease. And Ailith was right. No one in Dreyutha should know why she’d come. “Come with me, both of you.”
He led them to the stables and provided them with fresh mounts. Filling their skeins with water, he also tucked a bag of dried fruits and oatcakes into each saddle bag. “I’ll stay on duty until ya get back. Goddess smooth yer way, Ailith.”
Another half day of galloping at a breakneck pace saw them riding into the tiny mountain village of Wilder. Ailith dismounted and stopped the first lad she saw. “I need Cori. Where is she?”
The healer must have heard them ride up because she stepped out onto the porch of one of twenty or so cottages, wiping her hands on a towel. “I’m right here. It can’t be Ailith, can it?” A trim woman in her mid-sixties with two long, grey braids framing her weather-lined face greeted Ailith with a smile.
Ailith ran to her. She didn’t waste any time with polite chit-chat. “Aye, ‘tis. Cori, I’m livin’ at th’ Goddess’ Temple in th’ Cibían Empire now. The Arch Priestess an’ others have th’ Deathbell disease.”
Cori rocked back on her heels. “Yer crackbrained, Ailith. It never leaves these mountains.”
“It did. Have ya had any outbreaks anywhere lately, say th’ last sevenday or so?”
“Oh, aye. A few days back, but we got it stopped. But….” She paused and narrowed her eyes, “We did have one lass go missin’ early on. We had th’ notion she’d gotten th’ crazies like they get, ya know, and got lost in th’ mountains somewhere.” She ground her teeth. “Ach. Does th’ Priestess have th’ black tongue?”
“Aye. Ya need t’ come, Cori. Please.”
“An’ th’ spots?” When Ailith shook her head, the healer pursed her lips and nodded, “I’ll get me bag. Jonah, saddle a horse fer me, quick like. And move these saddles to fresh horses. There’s a good lad.”
The boy, who was used to the healer riding off at a moment’s notice, ran for the stables, and Cori disappeared back into her cottage. She reappeared a short time later with two bulging saddlebags slung over her shoulders.
