She pulled the heavy furs over her and lifted the gospel. Something seemed different, and she glanced down at it. Opening it, she thumbed through the pages and heard her breath catch.
The dreams, folded so carefully into the pages, were gone.
She kept her back to her watchers, looking quickly around the clearing to see if somehow the pages had defied all logic and loosed themselves. Then, she looked to the snow around the stump. Only her footprints back and forth to it, though that meant little. A well-trained scout could run at top speed in the footprints of another, leaving little to no trace of their passing.
They're gone. But another page had been left-a note scribbled with a birder's needle on a bit of rough parchment. She read it without removing it from its place in the book: But another page had been left-a note scribbled with a birder's needle on a bit of rough parchment. She read it without removing it from its place in the book: Hail Winteria bat Mardic, queen of the Marshfolk, and hail the Homeseeker's Dream. Someone will come to you each day in this manner. Your dreams will be added to the Book.
She closed the gospel and made her way back up the trail. As the forest swallowed her, she found herself pondering the dreams. Isaak had been there, and she thought that maybe he had even quoted the Book to her, though she didn't know how that could be possible. None but the Marsh King had ever read the Book. And Tertius, of course. It had been the price he'd extracted to abandon the Great Library at Windwir and risk a hangman's noose to educate the Marsh King's daughter.
She thought of the Book and the years spent in the smell of paper, in the guttering light of candles. Mornings spent writing and afternoons spent reading, connecting the various bits that connected. Nights spent seeing the shape of things to come; a home rising for her people.
I am dreaming again.
When she passed Garyt ben Urlin at his post, she watched him stand a bit straighter and she carefully inclined her head to him, mindful of the men who followed her.
Thank you, her hands said upon the side of her coat. her hands said upon the side of her coat.
He said nothing, his own hands still upon his spear. But the look in his eye was enough for her. It was something she did not see in the eyes of those around her, something she herself had not felt often in the last year or so.
Still, Garyt had it in his eyes and in the line of his jaw, the way that he stood at the door he guarded.
Hope, Winters thought, is a contagious thing.
And in that moment, she knew what she must do.
Jin Li Tam Late-morning sun slanted into the windows lining the hall, and Jin Li Tam embraced the warmth and light upon her face. It had already been a full morning.
She'd breakfasted with Winters, practicing the Gypsy subverbal language and discussing the girl's latest dream in quiet voices. After, she'd met with Aedric briefly while walking Jakob in Ria's meditation grove. He'd lost two scouts in the caves where the birds were being diverted and had pulled his men back. But still, the bird station had been disrupted. They'd launched a handful of short-distance birds to bear word of that back to the edge of the Prairie Sea. Still, unless Aedric committed resources to actually eliminate the bird station, it would be up and running again. And though Jin Li Tam was certain Ria knew Rudolfo's Gypsy Scouts were running these operations and tolerated them in an effort to prove her trustworthiness, she was equally certain that she would not tolerate an act of open aggression, Great Mother or not.
Thinking of Ria refocused her. The Machtvolk queen's note had been brief and direct, and Jin Li Tam wondered what was planned for her this afternoon. Another school? Not likely-she'd been asked to come alone. And the children at the school were far more interested in Jakob, their Child of Promise. She was merely the means to that end.
An odd place to be.
The doors to Ria's study were unguarded, and when she knocked, she found the door was ajar. "Come in, Great Mother," Ria said, rising from behind her desk. Her face was grim, and there were circles under her eyes.
Jin Li Tam forced concern into her voice. "Are you well, Queen Winteria?"
Ria offered a brief smile. "I am very well and very tired," she said. "And I've someone to introduce you to."
They found their boots and coats waiting for them at the door, and Jin Li Tam followed Ria as they climbed the low hill behind her lodge. They walked without talking and Jin Li Tam savored it, enjoying the sound of the snow and ice crunching beneath their feet, the whisper of the wind through the trees. The air hung heavy with scents of pine and wood smoke and snow, and for a moment she was able to forget about everything but now.
At the top of the hill, a round stone building awaited. She recognized it as a blood shrine, but the guards at the door told her it wasn't the same as the others she'd seen springing up in the Marshlands.
When they approached, the guards quickly opened the door, and an old man in the long black robes of a priest met them. His sleeves were pushed up past his elbows, and his hands and forearms were covered in blood. He grinned behind a pair of thick spectacles. "My Lady," he said, "our penitent has taken the mark."
Ria smiled, and Jin saw genuine joy in it. "Good," she said. "Brother Aric, this is the Great Mother, Lady Jin Li Tam."
The priest bent from the waist. "Great Mother," he said, "I am honored to live so long as to see your coming."
Something in his voice chilled her. Or was it the way he looked at her? She inclined her head to show respect. "Thank you," she said.
He straightened himself. "I will hope to meet the Child of Promise before you return to the Ninefold Forest," he said. "Though I hope this will not be your last visit to our lands."
She smiled. "I'm sure it won't be."
The priest led them through another door, and Jin found herself wanting to retch from the smell of excrement, urine and blood that ambushed her. "I apologize for the smell," he said. "We had hoped to clean up before you arrived, but we only just now finished."
Jin Li Tam looked into the dim-lit room, suppressing the strong impulse to gasp at what she saw. She'd certainly seen violence-she'd given as much as she'd received. It had never felt right, but she'd learned from her father that feelings were simply the body's way of assuring its survival and should be subject to the rule of the higher mind. She'd assumed all violence should feel wrong. But there was a wrongness to what she saw now that turned her stomach over and broke her heart.
He'd been a man once, she knew, strapped to an altar designed to serve also as a cutting table. Now, he was a red mass of twitching, raw meat. His skin, freshly cut in the symbols of House Y'Zir, had been peeled away bit by bit. Sluggish streams of blood crept toward the catchers. The man wept quietly.
Ria approached, leaned in and whispered to him. "I am back, Jarvis."
A red mouth opened, flashing bloody teeth. "Oh my queen," the man said.
"I've brought Lady Jin Li Tam, the woman you tried to murder." She looked to Jin. "We took Jarvis off the Delta. One of our priests in Turam hosted him for a few weeks and prepared him for us. He arrived yesterday and has been most forthcoming."
The man rolled his eyes, blinking more tears and sniffling. "I am mortified by my sin, Lady Tam," he said.
Ria continued. "Jarvis is a former Androfrancine engineer and was one of Esarov's lieutenants in the civil war. He was hired to create an explosive that could be magicked, and to train a team of former Delta Scouts to detonate it."
Jin Li Tam looked at him and tried find rage for him. She could not, and it bothered her. Instead, she felt curiosity and the question slipped out. "Why?"
"Yes," Ria said. "Tell her why."
He sobbed. "I was paid to do it. I did not realize who you were, Great Mother."
Jin Li Tam forced herself to meet his eyes. "Who paid you?"
"I did not meet him. It was arranged through Governor Rothmir's offices."
Rothmir. She recognized the name and suspected it was someone she'd met during her years as Sethbert's consort, doing her father's work. She looked at Ria. "Was Erlund involved in this?" She recognized the name and suspected it was someone she'd met during her years as Sethbert's consort, doing her father's work. She looked at Ria. "Was Erlund involved in this?"
She shook her head. "We do not think so. A landed nobleman on the Emerald Coast." She smiled. "He's been sent for."
"I am mortified by my sin," the man said again.
She looked at him and tried again to find anger but could not. How is it that I pity this man? How is it that I pity this man? He had tried to kill Jakob. He had tried to kill Jakob.
Ria examined the knives that were laid out upon a black velvet cloth. She lifted one and held it up to the light. "We've learned all we can learn from Jarvis, and he's ready to pay for his sin." She extended the knife to Jin. "I wanted you to have this opportunity," she said.
Jin Li Tam blinked. "You want me to kill him?"
Ria nodded. "Of course. He participated in a plot to murder your family." She bent over him, stroking his bloody cheek. "You're ready, yes, Jarvis?"
"I am ready, my queen."
Again, Ria extended the blade, and Jin Li Tam understood the intersection she now faced. The choice she made here had significance beyond her feelings, and she willed herself to be, just for this moment, her father's daughter. This was a test, an opportunity to build trust.
Do not think. Do what must be done. Jin hesitated, then took the knife. She turned and bent over him. "You should not have tried to harm my family," she said in a low voice. Jin hesitated, then took the knife. She turned and bent over him. "You should not have tried to harm my family," she said in a low voice.
Then she did what needed doing.
When she was finished, she washed his blood from her hands in a silver basin they brought to her. She did so with her back turned and swallowed at the tears that threatened her.
Putting her coat back on, she followed Ria back to the lodge in silence, and when she took Jakob from Lynnae's arms, she crushed him to herself and stifled her sob in his blankets.
We are all mortified by our sins from time to time, she thought. she thought.
Chapter 15.
Rudolfo.
Rudolfo paced the command tent and tried to force his anger into something he could manage. Outside, a break in the snow gave shivering recruits time to establish their somewhat more permanent quarters with timber felled by a group of loggers arrived out of Paramo, seat of the Third Forest Manor. It wasn't optimal work for the front end of winter, but Lysias had maintained that war did not wait for weather and neither should an army in training. So now, the sounds of saws and hammers filled the morning air.
And now, the last major wagonload of supplies from the Seventh Forest Manor was arriving. Future supplies would trickle in much more slowly now, though already crews of recruits were dispatched to drag heavy plows over the wagon trails to try to keep them clear.
Rudolfo stopped his pacing and forced himself to breathe.
It had been bad enough sending his wife and child into Ria's lands. Now he had word from Charles that he and Isaak made their way north with that last wagon train to follow the mechoservitors into the ground, and the thought that the most lethal weapon in the known world might stroll casually into Ria's hands raised a panic in him that his mind could only translate into rage.
I cannot let him leave. Isaak carried Y'Zir's Seven Cacophonic Deaths in his memory scrolls-a weapon that could leave the Named Lands desolate if the wrong hands were to lay hold of that spell. For Isaak to so suddenly and without a word make this decision and abandon his work in the library was an ambush Rudolfo had not expected, and everything within him whistled third alarm to this new development. And yet, how could Rudolfo stop his friend? Isaak carried Y'Zir's Seven Cacophonic Deaths in his memory scrolls-a weapon that could leave the Named Lands desolate if the wrong hands were to lay hold of that spell. For Isaak to so suddenly and without a word make this decision and abandon his work in the library was an ambush Rudolfo had not expected, and everything within him whistled third alarm to this new development. And yet, how could Rudolfo stop his friend?
By forbidding it, he thought. he thought.
He heard footsteps approaching and listened for the low whistle at his tent flap. When it came, he returned it and a breathless lieutenant entered. "The caravan is here, General."
Rudolfo nodded. "Very well. Send Charles in first once they've been assigned quarters."
He forced himself to sit at his cluttered table, forced himself to sip at the lukewarm firespice that he'd barely touched, feeling the heat of it as it traced its way down his throat and into his stomach. He'd found himself spending more time with the stronger liquor of late, less interested in the fruit wines that had been his preference for so long before. He told himself it was the cold, but he knew it wasn't. It was the dulling of an edge that had become too sharp for him, and an easy way to find sleep at the end of a long day spent worrying.
He reread Jin's coded message about the bird station and what they had gathered so far about the conspiracy on the Delta. He'd conferred with Lysias about the man Jarvis, and saw with little surprise that there was no love lost between them.
"He was ever of questionable character," Lysias had told him. "Choosing his loyalties based on the size of one's letter of credit."
It was a solid lead in the investigation, but he found himself wondering how deep and wide the conspiracy went and whether or not that weed could be dug out. Of course, his own garden was choked as well. They'd not found more shrines, and though his scouts carefully watched the one nearby, there had been no further activity there since his visit. His borders were breached to the west by evangelists, to the east by magicked runners he still couldn't find and to the south by this latest development.
He moved papers about for the better part of an hour, his eyes burning from lack of sleep and the words all blurring together into one that he finally spoke aloud. "Why?"
Just as he asked it, the lieutenant was back with Charles. Rudolfo looked at the man and saw his own weariness reflected back in the arch-engineer's face and eyes. He gestured to a chair. "Please sit," he said.
"Thank you, Lord Rudolfo." Charles sat, and the officer who escorted him slipped back out of the tent.
Even his voice sounds tired. Rudolfo pointed to the bottle of firespice. "It's been a cold ride north, I'm sure," he said. "Would you like a drink?" Rudolfo pointed to the bottle of firespice. "It's been a cold ride north, I'm sure," he said. "Would you like a drink?"
Charles surprised him by accepting, and Rudolfo poured a small metal cup half full of the thick, spice-scented liquor. The old man raised his and Rudolfo followed.
"To brighter times," the old man offered.
"To brighter times," Rudolfo repeated.
They sipped, and the Gypsy King forced himself to wait quietly. Finally, he could wait no longer. "What in the Hidden Hells is happening, Charles?"
Charles blinked, and Rudolfo registered the surprise on his face at the sudden and uncharacteristic outburst. "You mean with Isaak?"
"Yes," Rudolfo said. "With Isaak."
Charles sighed. "I am not certain."
Rudolfo leaned forward, feeling the small table bend beneath his weight. "You made made him. Surely you have some speculation? He's left the library in the care of the others and intends him. Surely you have some speculation? He's left the library in the care of the others and intends what what exactly? And why?" exactly? And why?"
Charles paled, and Rudolfo was pleased that his tone induced such a response. "He intends to follow the other mechoservitors into the Machtvolk Territories. He is deciphering their dream along with notes hidden in Tertius's volume on the Marshfolk prophecies."
The dream. He'd heard reference to it that night in the forest when the four mechoservitors had approached seeking safe passage. He'd heard other references as well. That it was coded into a song-one he actually sang to his infant son, one his own mother had sung to him and his brother when they were very young. "How did he come by this dream?" He'd heard reference to it that night in the forest when the four mechoservitors had approached seeking safe passage. He'd heard other references as well. That it was coded into a song-one he actually sang to his infant son, one his own mother had sung to him and his brother when they were very young. "How did he come by this dream?"
He knew the answer already but wanted to hear it from Charles directly. The man made no excuse and no attempt to cover the truth. "I installed it in him after the explosion at the library."
Rudolfo's eyes narrowed. "Why would you do this without discussion with me?"
Charles raised his eyebrows. "I was not aware that discussion was required, Lord."
"He is the most dangerous weapon in the world," Rudolfo said in a low voice that betrayed his anger. And he is my friend, And he is my friend, he didn't say. "I have strong interest in his safety." he didn't say. "I have strong interest in his safety."
"As do I," Charles answered.
Rudolfo continued, feeling the interruption in the tingling of his scalp. "Anything that might alter his normal functions is of concern to me. I should have been consulted on this decision. Ultimately, I am responsible for him as the inheritor of the Order's holdings and the Guardian of Windwir."
Charles inclined his head. "I would argue that ultimately I I am responsible for him as the one who made him. But arguing this point would be fruitless. I failed to consult you; I intended no disrespect by this." am responsible for him as the one who made him. But arguing this point would be fruitless. I failed to consult you; I intended no disrespect by this."
Rudolfo did not expect his fist to come up and then down upon the table. When it did, they were both surprised at the resounding noise of it. "Damnation," he shouted. "This is not about respect respect. He carries the Seven Cacophonic Deaths of Xhum Y'Zir within him, and now this dream that has worked its way into your mechanicals at Sanctorum Lux has worked its way into him." He felt the anger in his scalp again and forced himself to breathe in and out before continuing. "The others exhibited strange behavior as a result of this dream. Now he is, too. That library has been his home for nearly two years, and the work there has been his very soul."
"People," Charles said slowly, "often change direction."
Rudolfo opened his mouth to say Isaak was a machine, that he wasn't a person, but even as he started to speak, he knew it wasn't true. He'd seen Isaak as a person from the very first day he met the sobbing metal man. He'd dressed him in robes. He'd given him a name. He'd welcomed him into his family.
He is my friend.
He remembered the anxious days waiting for Charles to finally declare him functional again. He recalled vividly the sense of overwhelming relief when he'd learned the metal man had somehow absorbed the worst of the bomb blast, shielding his wife and son from an explosion that would have surely killed and buried them without the metal man's intervention.
Rudolfo sighed and forced himself to make eye contact with the old man. In those brown eyes, he saw the same two things that hid behind his anger: fear and love.
Charles stared back and let the silence hang heavy for a full minute before speaking. "I apologize for not discussing this with you, Lord Rudolfo. He asked for this dream, and under the circumstances, I felt it was my duty to grant his request and protect his privacy. I do not know what this dream is up to, but my surest path to discovery is to monitor him-and the others-and learn what I can."