Both men looked chastened, and nodded. ‘Good,’ Jardir said. ‘Make sure the other Sharum and dama know this as well. I will not repeat it.’

Inevera went immediately to her Chamber of Shadows when the audience was over. After the scene with her parents, she had wanted nothing more than to have some time alone with her husband, but it was not to be. The usual mass of courtiers and petitioners were lining up to make their pleas before the Skull Throne, and she had no patience to sit through it all.

She had hoped to save the blood taken from Abban’s kerchief for the right moment, but with his power – and boldness – growing, she could no longer afford to wait. She had not known Ahmann had given the khaffit warriors of his own, and it explained much. Still, she could not believe any kha’Sharum a match for her eunuch Watchers, trained by Enkido himself. They had killed Damaji’s wives in their beds while the men slept beside them.

Hasik had deserved his fate, and so, perhaps, had her Watchers, if they had been fool enough to be caught. But still the trend disturbed her. Already, the khaffit had tried to supplant her. How long before he attempted to strike at her again?

She had leached the blood from the cloth while it was still fresh, storing it in a sealed vial. She took this now, pouring it over her dice. ‘Almighty Everam, give me knowledge of Abban asu Chabin am’Haman am’Kaji. Can he be trusted to serve the Deliverer? Will he continue to strike at me?’ She felt the dice grow warm as she shook, and then cast them to the floor, staring at the brightly glowing symbols.

As always, she was prepared to follow their guidance, but she was not prepared for the answer.

– The khaffit is loyal to the Deliverer. Your fates are intertwined. Harm to one is the same as harm to the other.—

30

My True Friend
333 AR Autumn

Arlen breathed deeply, unused to feeling so afraid.

‘Sure you need to do this?’ Renna asked.

Arlen nodded. ‘Ent got excuse to put things off any longer. Hollow’s recovering, and they know what to expect now. Rojer’s Jongleurs are spreading word wide through the duchy, and folk will come from all over when they hear we won. Defences’ll be stronger by the next new moon than they were on the last. Equinox is just a fortnight away, new moon ten days after that. I’m gonna do this, need to do it now. Ent got time to ride all the way to Rizon. I’ll be careful. Won’t let myself be pulled into the Core.’

He turned to Renna before she could reply, seeing in her aura that he had misunderstood the question. ‘You weren’t asking about me skating so far. You ent sure I should go at all.’

Renna gave him a look that matched the annoyance in her aura perfectly. ‘That Jongleur’s mind-readin’ act of yours is startin’ to give folk the shivers.’

‘It’s not mind reading,’ Arlen said.

‘Heart reading, then,’ Renna said. ‘Makes you hard to talk to, way you glance at a body and know everything they’re feeling, even better’n they do themselves.’

Arlen laughed. ‘Creator, if only it were so.’

Renna looked away, staring up at the stars so he could not see her face – as if that could hide anything from him now. ‘Like you’re in my head sometimes, way that demon was …’

‘Ent like that, Ren,’ Arlen said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. ‘You see the same things I do with your wardsight. Reckon everyone with the sight does. Look close and it can tell you all sorts of things about a body. Just figuring it out myself, and I cheated a bit, stealing some of the language from the mind demon we met when I was in its head. Soon I’ll be able to teach it to you, one way or another.’

‘Not sure I like the sound of that,’ Renna said. ‘Love you, Arlen Bales, but my head’s my own place. Ent lookin’ to share it with anyone.’

Arlen nodded. ‘Honest word.’

She looked at him, her aura amused. ‘Don’t think you’ve tricked me by changing the subject. You sure this trip is a good idea? This is what you want?’

Arlen shook his head. ‘All I ever wanted was to kill demons. Didn’t want to war with Krasia. Didn’t want Miln making flamework weapons. Didn’t want to be the corespawned Deliverer.’

He sighed, feeling so very, very tired. ‘But it seems the world means to make me one, like it or not. All because Ahmann Jardir thinks the Creator speaks to him.’

Renna tilted her head, regarding him. She’s trying to read my aura, he thought, surprised at how disconcerting it was. He felt a rush as she pulled a wisp of magic through him, Knowing.

‘You still love him, even now,’ Renna said. ‘Like he’s your brother.’

Arlen shrugged. ‘Never had a friend like that in my life, and I’ve had a few. He was proud, and casually cruel in the way of Sharum. We argued plenty, but there was no one else in the world I wanted to guard my back when night fell.’ He shuddered suddenly, feeling goose pimples rise on his skin though the night was not cold. ‘At least, until he stabbed me there.’

‘And you think throwin’ him off a cliff is the answer,’ Renna said.

Arlen shrugged again. ‘Don’t know, Ren, but I can’t leave things the way they are. For everyone’s sake, we’ve got to make a change. Got to do something the minds won’t expect.’

‘Worried about you skatin’, too,’ Renna admitted.

‘Me, too,’ Arlen said, taking another deep breath. Renna reached out, taking his chin in her hand and pulling him into a kiss. ‘Love you, Arlen Bales.’

He felt some of his tension ease, and smiled. ‘Love you, Renna Bales. You keep the Hollow safe while I’m gone.’

Renna nodded. ‘And you come back quick.’

‘Swear by the sun,’ Arlen said, and dissipated.

Immediately Arlen felt the call of the Core, the source of all magic, begging to be explored. Faint fractions of its power drifted up all around him in paths, and he took the nearest of these, making sure to keep his sense of direction even as he passed through layers of soil and stone. He sensed a path heading southwest before breaking to the surface, and took it, skating along as quick as a beam of light.

He materialized a moment later on the surface and looked about to get his bearings. He knew the place, perhaps a dozen miles from the Hollow.

Not enough, he thought. Need to go deeper.

Again he slipped beneath the surface, this time dropping so far down that the call of the Core became more than just a seductive song. It filled his senses, bright and beautiful, pulling at him like flame drew a moth. A tendril of his being began to drift that way, wanting just a taste of its infinite power. It would be so simple to just …

No! He had no head to shake, but he pulled his incorporeal form together and quickly sought another path to the surface, riding the current southwest.

He materialized a moment later under a cloudless sky, and quickly realized he had overshot his target. He did not know precisely where he was, but he knew well the cold clay flats of the Krasian desert at night.

He turned a circle, tasting the magic on the wind until he knew where he was. Less than a day’s ride from the weapons cache he had left outside Anoch Sun. He made a note of the path. Visiting the lost city again before the minds could destroy it on the next new moon was important, but not his goal this night. Again he dropped down a path, this time skating northeast.