Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) Read online

  Kevessa gulped, remembering the flash she’d seen through the window-glass as Tharan struck Master Dabiel with his sword. Josiah’s shout and her scream had alerted the Guildmaster, so instead of the quick kill from behind Tharan had intended, he’d wounded her in the belly. In the end she’d died anyway, but not before she’d named Elkan as her successor and charged the wizards to discover who had sent Tharan to kill her and why.

  Kevessa sighed. Master Hanion had been elected Guildmaster instead of Elkan, and Tharan had been killed before he revealed any information. If the few additional minutes of life she and Josiah had bought Master Dabiel were to mean anything, it was up to Kevessa to fulfill her final command.

  Nina zipped the window rapidly through the next little while. The ship cleared the harbor and set out for Tevenar under its own power. Kevessa was so used to the jerky speeded-up rush of people’s movements she didn’t find it particularly funny anymore. Tharan did nothing interesting, only his usual routine that Kevessa had observed many times. A few times she had Nina slow the window to listen to a conversation, but it was never anything revealing.

  The ship reached the limit of their range. Nina pushed as hard as she could, pulling strength from Kevessa’s muscles, but eventually the window dissolved into a wash of sparkles despite their best efforts. Kevessa nodded. She hadn’t expected to find anything while Tharan was aboard the ship. He had no confederates to discuss his plans with. But she’d wanted to be thorough. Now they could investigate the hours that held more promise of results.

  All right, Nina. Return to where we started and trace him backwards.

  Nina complied. Tharan swept his papers into their case, rose from the bunk, and backed out the door. Kevessa suppressed a smile. It was still amusing to watch time run in reverse, everyone charging around backwards with abandon.

  Tharan’s path intersected Captain Yosiv’s. Nina allowed the window to run forward at normal speed long enough for them to hear the conversation—a greeting, and a request for Yosiv to inform Ambassador Gevan when he arrived of Tharan’s readiness to be at his service. Kevessa hadn’t expected anything different. Captain Yosiv was firmly on their side; he would have told them about anything incriminating Tharan had said to him.

  Nina set the window running backward again. Tharan conferred briefly with a servant carrying his bags, then backed over the plank to the dock. Kevessa’s pulse quickened. She warned herself sternly not to expect too much. How likely was it, after all, that Tharan had met with someone at the last minute? His actions had obviously been plotted long before the ship departed.

  Sure enough, all the window showed was him backing through the streets with his servant. They wound through the sparse pre-dawn traffic. As the light in the window deepened to night, Kevessa had to peer closely to make anything out, but only dim light came through the porthole into her cabin, and there were enough lamps and torches along the street she could follow Tharan’s progress.

  That was odd. She’d expected him to retreat south toward the Matriarch’s palace, or perhaps inland to one of the residential areas where folk of moderate means dwelt. But Tharan was backing firmly north. Nothing lay that way except the main market, and beyond it the Dualist Quarter.

  Kevessa caught her breath. When Tharan had refused healing, even though he lay mortally wounded, his words had reminded her of things she’d heard about Dualist beliefs. They considered the Mother evil, worshipping instead the Lord of Justice. The Mother’s power was anathema to them, even though it had been centuries since it had vanished from Ravanetha. She’d raised the possibility to Master Elkan and her father.

  But Gevan had been certain Tharan had been sent by the Purifiers. Their leader, Yoran Lirolla, had threatened Kevessa in order to force Gevan to cooperate with them and prevent a wizard from coming to help the Matriarch. Purifiers also despised the wizards’ power, believing it was a counterfeit of the Mother’s true power, and that the familiars were actually demons. Gevan had persuaded everyone he must be correct, and that when they traced Tharan he would lead them to Yoran Lirolla. Then they’d have the proof they needed to discredit him and persuade the Matriarch to remove him from his position. Kevessa had almost forgotten her early suspicion.

  Now, though… No Purifier would set foot in the Dualist Quarter. They considered the Dualists almost as bad as Tevenar’s wizards. If the Purifiers ever came to power in Ramunna as they had in Marvanna, their first action would be to expel all Dualists from the country.

  In the window, Tharan backed along a road that led from one of the gates in the wall of the Dualist Quarter. Kevessa leaned in close. If that’s where he’d come from, it would strongly suggest he had been sent by the Dualists, not the Purifiers. She didn’t know why the Dualists would seek to prevent the Matriarch from conceiving an heir, since if her cousin became Matriarch and installed the Purifiers the Dualists would suffer greatly, but maybe they didn’t consider that as important as protecting themselves from corrupting power. Was the window’s range sufficient to follow Tharan all the way to the gate?

  It wasn’t. A good half mile short of the wall the window stalled, and no matter how hard Kevessa and Nina pushed they couldn’t force it any farther.

  Move it higher, Kevessa suggested. Nina raised the window’s viewpoint into the air and aimed it in the direction of the wall. But when it was high enough to get an angle that showed the wall, the people below appeared no bigger than ants, and Tharan vanished among the crowds of merchants arriving to ready their market stalls for the day’s business. There wasn’t much between the last place Kevessa could be sure she saw him and the gate, but there were a few small side streets he could have come down.

  Finally Kevessa called a halt. We need Father’s window-glass. If we used it to view the window, I bet we could make out Tharan well enough to see where he came from.

  Easier to find somewhere closer to the wall to look from, Nina pointed out. We’ll have to do that anyway to follow him past the gate. We might have to go inside the gate ourselves.

  I can’t enter the Dualist Quarter without attracting a huge amount of attention. It would be scandalous for a Mother-worshipper to go in there without some pressing business; people would gossip.

  I guess Master Elkan will have to continue tracing Tharan, then.

  The Dualists will never let a wizard in. They hate us.

  If you say so. Nina sounded unconvinced, but Kevessa was sure she was right. She’d lived her whole life in Ramunna and knew how the people here thought.

  That left them with a serious problem. If none of the wizards could get near enough to follow Tharan back, they’d never discover who’d sent him. And whoever had been willing to kill to keep wizards from coming to Ramunna was surely plotting to eliminate them now they were here. If they had other enemies in addition to the Purifiers, it was vitally important to learn who they were.

  Could she persuade her father to take them closer to the wall? The Dualist Quarter wasn’t large. If they parked the closed carriage near the gate, a significant portion of it would be within range. But Kevessa and Nina could do nothing in front of the steward, who would be with them on the return journey. Theoretically it was possible to freeze someone so they weren’t aware of their surroundings, or even the passage of time, but Master Elkan hadn’t taught them how yet. And she and Nina were both so tired Kevessa doubted they’d have the energy for something so major, let alone opening a window in addition.

  How much was left of the hour Gevan had allotted them? At least half, surely. Maybe they could slip up to the carriage without being noticed and go for a quick jaunt. If they got back in time, her father need never know.

  Kevessa was about to act on her plan when someone rapped on the door. She checked to make sure Nina’s collar and leash were in place before calling, “Yes?”

  “Miss Kevessa? It’s Fiv. Ambassador Gevan said you and Miss Nina would like a bite to eat?”

  “Oh, yes. Thank you.” Kevessa hurried to unlatch the door. Fiv was her favo
rite among the sailors. He’d taken a special interest in her from the time she first came aboard, bringing her treats from the galley or calling her up on deck to witness particularly interesting sights. He’d been equally solicitous of Nina on the trip home. Kevessa suspected he was a bit infatuated with her, but he was well-mannered enough not to make it obvious.

  Fiv carried a tray piled with bread, fruit, nuts, and a steaming cup of tea. Kevessa exclaimed in delight as she accepted it. “This is perfect. We’re missing the Matriarch’s feast, but I’m sure she can’t be serving anything we’d enjoy more.” She tossed a nutmeat at her shoulder. Nina caught it in midair and stuffed it in her cheek.

  Fiv preened at her praise. “Would you like me to take Miss Nina to the midden once she’s finished with her meal?” He offered the squirrel a grape, which she accepted eagerly. “I don’t think it’s safe for your ‘pet’ to wander around the ship with so many strangers aboard.”

  Fiv knew Nina’s true nature, of course, as did all the sailors. Captain Yosiv had impressed on them the importance of keeping it a secret. Kevessa appreciated how earnestly he was taking that duty. All the familiars had roamed the ship at will during the journey, but he was probably right that wasn’t wise now. “There’s no need for you to go out of your way. She can use my chamberpot like usual.” Squirrel dropping were small and inoffensive; sharing the chamberpot whenever it was inconvenient for Nina to run by the midden had never posed a problem.

  He shuffled his feet and grinned sheepishly. “I’ve cleaned it already, miss.”

  She certainly didn’t want to cause Fiv any extra work. Nina? Need the midden?

  I would appreciate the opportunity. Nina finished devouring a big chunk of fruit, crammed a few more nuts into her cheeks, and scampered over to Fiv.

  He scooped her up. “We’ll be right back, Miss Kevessa.” With a jaunty wave he set off.

  Kevessa sighed and settled to her repast. There went their chance to sneak off and trace Tharan further. Probably just as well. They’d never have made it back in time, and her father would have thrown a fit when he discovered she was missing. She’d have to find some other excuse to take the carriage out. Wasn’t there a jeweler in the market who sold collars and leashes? Nina’s disguise would hold up better if Kevessa replaced her improvised finery with the real thing.

  Come to think of it, she needed to use the facilities herself. There was a head the crew used not far away. She drained her teacup, set it down, and headed toward the door of the cabin.

  Kevessa! Nina screamed in her mind as the door flew open and two burly strangers burst in. They grabbed Kevessa before she could react. One of them shoved a bag over her head; the other looped a rope around her wrists. Kevessa struggled, but it was useless. She heard bumps and rustles and an occasional curse. Nina! Are you hurt?

  He threw me in a bag! Nina sounded outraged, but not in pain. How dare he! He’s always been so nice to us.

  Kevessa’s stomach lurched. Sweet, amiable Fiv was a traitor? It made sense, though. He’d known wizard and familiar would have to be separated to be captured, and had done it so smoothly neither had suspected until it was too late.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded through the muffling folds of cloth. “My father will have you arrested and executed! The Matriarch—”

  Rough hands seized and lifted her. “Be quiet, and neither you nor your little pet will get hurt.” She was deposited, then pressed to sit in a small space with hard walls all around. One of her captors shoved her head down, and darkness engulfed her. Her head knocked against a curved surface. The lid of her trunk? They must have dumped her dresses out and shut her inside.

  A sickening lurch told her they’d raised the trunk. It swayed, bumping her from side to side until she braced herself with her legs and bound hands. She drew a deep breath and screamed as loudly as she could.

  “None of that, now,” a muffled voice barked. “Fiv!”

  Nina shrieked in her mind and faintly in her ears, real pain this time. Kevessa clamped her mouth shut.

  “They want the beast alive, but they don’t care if it’s damaged. It won’t miss a few toes or a bit of that fluffy tail, so I suggest you cooperate.”

  Dear Mother, Nina, what did he do to you?

  Her familiar’s thoughts were shaky, but at least she wasn’t screaming any more. Twisted my leg. I don’t think it’s broken.

  I’m sorry! I’ll stay quiet.

  Nina’s mental voice was fierce. Scream away, if you think someone will hear and rescue you. I don’t care what they do to me.

  I don’t have any way to tell if someone’s near enough. Even if she could, Kevessa couldn’t bear to buy her safety at Nina’s expense. Their captors seemed to want her alive as well as Nina. Can you chew a hole in your bag?

  I’m trying. Kevessa heard a squawk and a muffled thump. Smash it, they just closed me in a box. A pause. Thick wood. It will take hours to chew through.

  Silence in her mind told her that Nina was applying her formidable incisors to the task. Kevessa dropped her head to her knees, fighting despair. Dear Mother, help us. Keep us safe. Or Nina, at least. Please…

  The lurching, swaying motion continued for a while. From beyond the wooden walls of the trunk, Kevessa heard the noises of the busy docks. Shortly thereafter she was dropped with a thud onto some solid surface. Someone shouted. A different motion began, jerky vibrations, accompanied by the rumble of wheels on cobblestone. They must have put her aboard a wagon. Where were they taking her? Would the trunk open to reveal some profane shrine of the Dualists or one of the Purifiers’ stark temples? Or somewhere even more daunting?

  Kevessa twisted her wrists against the binding ropes, little by little working them loose. Nina was clever and agile. A single moment of carelessness from their captors would be enough for her to free herself. Kevessa had to be ready. Once they touched, nothing could stop them escaping.

  * * *

  Gevan was concluding his business with the Matriarch’s steward when one of the sailors hurried up. “Excuse me, Ambassador, but a man just brought this message to the ship and asked me to give it to you.” The sailor extended a sheet of thick, high quality paper, folded in thirds and sealed with a blob of red wax. Gevan’s name was written in elegant script above the seal.

  Gevan’s stomach lurched as he took it. In the light of the ship’s lanterns he could see the wax was imprinted with the personal seal of Yoran Lirolla, leader of the Purifiers in Ramunna. His last encounter with the man had involved threats and a knife at Gevan’s throat. He broke the seal with clumsy fingers.

  Your daughter is safe in my keeping. Tell no one. Give others a plausible excuse for her absence. Come alone to my temple tomorrow one hour after sunset and we will discuss matters. As long as you cooperate, no harm will befall Kevessa.

  The Purifier’s signature was inscribed at the end of the note. Gevan’s fingers tightened on the paper until it crumpled in his grasp. The man was bold, to attach his name to such a blatant threat. If Gevan presented this message to the Matriarch, she’d have all the evidence she needed to arrest Yoran and depose him, perhaps even execute him.

  But he wouldn’t, and Yoran knew it. Kevessa was in the Purifier’s power, and Yoran could maim or kill her long before Gevan could bring official action against him. The Purifiers had spies in the palace that would inform Yoran if Gevan deviated from his instructions. For all he knew, spies were watching him right now, waiting to see how he reacted. His only hope to get Kevessa back alive and unharmed was to follow Yoran’s instructions to the letter.

  That wouldn’t be enough, of course. Gevan was sure Yoran would demand more of him when he reported as ordered tomorrow. Probably he would want Gevan to act against Elkan and Josiah. Gevan had defied him once by failing to prevent them coming to Ramunna. This time Yoran would be careful not to surrender his leverage against Gevan until the desired deed was done.

  He hated the thought of betraying the people who’d become his friends. But what choic
e did he have? If the Purifiers had captured Kevessa, they must have managed to separate her from Nina somehow. Without her familiar she’d be helpless. Only Gevan could save her.

  The steward looked at him curiously. “Bad news?”

  Gevan took a deep breath and forced his fingers to relax. “No. Just a note from my daughter. She decided to return home tonight instead of staying with me at the palace. She lives with my sister, you know. I guess she missed her aunt and uncle and cousins and couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see them again.”

  “Oh, that’s nice.” The steward smiled vaguely as Gevan folded the message and tucked it into his pocket. He shuffled his sheaf of papers and extended it toward Gevan. “If you’ll sign off on the final arrangements, I’ll get to work first thing in the morning having the ships loaded. They’ll be ready to sail before the week’s out.”

  Gevan took the papers and blindly scrawled his name where the man pointed. “I’m glad to hear it.” At least the food for Tevenar would be sent without any further effort on his part. He doubted Yoran would care about the shipments that would save innocent thousands from starvation. His target was the wizards, and the Matriarch’s child who must never be born.

  Six

  Vigorre rubbed his eyes, straightened his shoulders, and rapped on the door of the temple where Yoran Lirolla served. He’d spent a nearly sleepless night, deep in thought and prayer, but when he rose he’d consumed several cups of stimulating Girodan tea. Hopefully that would be sufficient to keep him from nodding off in the middle of this meeting.

  He tested the resolve he’d reached in the darkest hour of the night, that had finally allowed him to rest while gray dawn lightened his window. It held firm.