The Edge of Shadow, page 30
part #5 of The Kin of Kings Series
The answer to this, Sanya announced to everyone. “Gayla knew exactly what my father was doing to my sister with his experiments. She knew that he killed her! She didn’t say one thing to her father to stop mine, even when he began experimenting on me. Gayla needed to be punished. I stabbed her in the stomach and let fate decide whether she would live or die. She must’ve had a slow and painful death for the message to get to you only now, Crea! She must’ve been in terrible pain, and you deserve the same!”
What was she doing? Anger had taken control.
“Sanya…” Basen wiped away a tear. “I can’t help you now. You should’ve told me this earlier.” Anger crossed his face with his next breath. “My mother would’ve been killed because of your actions.”
Realizing that this would be the end, Sanya felt a sudden peace as she took the tiny money pouch from her pocket. She tossed it to Basen but could say nothing to explain, or Crea would hear and seize it back.
It didn’t matter. Basen understood as he opened it to find the three acrowns. “You were going to leave.”
“Only once this was over.”
“Come out, Sanya,” Crea demanded.
“You will let the rest of my party go first and will not follow them. Then I will come out.”
“Fine. None of you will be harmed except Sanya. It’s her I want.”
Alabell stood in front of Sanya, seemingly unsure what to do. Eventually she grabbed Sanya in what felt to be an angry embrace. Juliana cried, staring deeply into Sanya’s eyes as she walked past her. Sanya felt a burst of empathy, of complete understanding of her pain. Pushing all of these feelings to the surface were needles of guilt, breaking through the blanket of emotion and causing physical pain.
“It’s all right, Juliana,” Sanya said. “I figured this day would come.”
Basen stood in front of Sanya with a mixture of anger and sadness as his lips pressed together tightly. “I wish I’d known the truth earlier. About everything.”
“Don’t blame yourself. My choices have led me here.”
“Come on,” Alabell said as she pulled Basen toward the door. She opened it for them and walked out. Juliana followed. Sanya put the last shackles around her wrists and came out to face Crea. The woman looked as if she’d been waiting for her dinner for too long and now that it had finally come, her anger had ruined her appetite.
Sanya spat in her face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Basen said only one thing when they returned to headquarters. “Give me some time.” He locked himself in his room. It was clear they could retake the Academy today and save Sanya, but was there any way to do it without eventually losing the war? He raced through each possible outcome. In the basement outside his quarters he could hear Alabell telling everyone what had happened. He blocked it out as he paced around in thought.
He always came back to the same conclusion. Yes, they could attack the Academy to free Sanya and take back the school if they wanted, but it would cost them their advantage of position and surprise. Ulric would become aware that they could get their armies out of the forest through a portal, as there was no other way around the enemy camp on the northern side of the forest. Every city would be searched for other rebels. Citizens would be questioned and possibly hurt or killed for information. The only way to get Sanya and keep everyone alive would be to first gather everyone loyal to the rebels and take them all to the Academy. Then this would turn into a war of numbers, a war they could not win.
Someone knocked. “Basen?”
He let Alabell inside.
“Have you come up with something?” she asked.
“No, and we’re running out of time. It won’t be long before Crea kills her. She’s probably being tortured right now.”
“Basen, this might feel impossible to accept, but Sanya chose to sacrifice herself.”
“Yet I keep thinking about what I would do if it were you instead, and there would be no hesitation to go back with an army.”
“I wouldn’t want you to if it meant losing the war. Would you want me to come for you?”
He let out his breath. “No, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up on her yet.”
“All right. Take as much time as you need.”
She left him with his thoughts. If he could just get Sanya out of the Academy then they wouldn’t need to retake it. He could go back with a small team and break her out. But it would be clear Basen could make a portal when betrayers chased his group back to the mage training grounds and watched him disappear into one. Still, he had to try.
He flung his door open and stalked out into the basement. Basen needed to get in contact with the team in the forest. He would teleport to the Slugari colony and look for them…but he had no idea where they were.
Would Cleve and Vithos even be willing to risk everything to retrieve Sanya?
No, they most definitely wouldn’t. Would anyone else be willing to help? Only if Basen forced them to, which he couldn’t bring himself to do.
He felt tears wet his eyes. He forced a smile as he watched his father reunite with his mother. No one would know that his tears were not for his family but for Sanya. She had suffered every day since this began, and if she was still alive, she would be in terrible pain until her last breath. He'd been feeling more pity for her than anger, as she seemed to be completely hopeless. This had finally pushed him over the limit of emotion he could handle.
“Basen, let’s not let Juliana suffer in chains one moment longer.” Henry didn’t even notice they’d come back with one fewer.
“We’ll get them off right away.”
*****
Juliana eagerly offered to help Millry feed so many mouths just after Henry finished explaining everything he and Basen had set up. His mother gave Basen a kiss, told him she was proud, then put herself to work. She looked as if she was trying to smile, but there was no doubt in Basen’s mind that her guilt about not saving Sanya from her father was the cause of her tears.
Basen spent the rest of the day getting information to his officers in preparation for tomorrow. By now, Basen knew his enemies almost as well as they knew themselves. He knew which soldiers were expected to patrol which districts of each city, who would be guarding the walls at different times, and who was sent out to the forest to provide supplies or fresh troops. He was aware of who had horses and even what kind of soldiers were in each spot: mages, archers, or swordsmen.
There was one key piece of information still lacking. Where were the enemy psychics? There were only two ways to find them. One was listening to the soldiers discussing their psychic comrades rather impolitely in bars, taverns, brothels, and even while strolling around the city. Basen doubted these men had been told to keep their mouths shut about each other because they chatted and gossiped like Academy students. The other was for Basen’s ally psychics to put themselves close to their enemies and feel for the manipulation of energy. However, no psychic could be manipulating energy at all times, so there was a lesser chance of locating them this way. Thus, they relied on the first method. They’d confirmed only a few psychics, but from what Sanya had told Basen, this number was likely to be correct because psychics were extremely rare in Greenedge, the previous home to most of these intruders.
Basen assumed there had to be at least one psychic in the castle with Ulric at all times to act as a lie detector. Two psychics have been confirmed to be with Rockbreak in the forest trying to flush out hiding rebels. These psychics would be of some concern but not compared to the psychic general in charge of the capital’s walls. Basen had asked Sneary for more information about this general, and Sneary eventually came to give Basen a report that included absolutely nothing about him.
“No rebels have been able to get near him without risking detection, and he has no visible weaknesses,” Sneary said. “He has all his meals brought to him on duty, and he sleeps in his private house close to the southeastern edge of the wall.”
“How did he get a private house?” Most of the soldiers slept at inns for free.
“Ulric has purchased houses in strategic locations for some of his higher ranking officials.”
“At a fair rate I assume?” Basen asked sarcastically.
Sneary frowned. “Many of the citizens have been displaced.”
“They’ll be able to go home soon enough.”
“I have a team ready to kill the general tonight.”
Basen thought for a while. “No, there’s a chance they might fail. We don’t know yet how strong he is. Don’t disturb his sleep. Kill the degenerate soldiers as we’ve discussed.”
“It’s not wise to leave him alive.”
Basen almost told Sneary that his mind was made up, but it would just spark an argument. Sneary had never taken the subservient role as Basen had wanted.
Henry came through the cellar doors, probably to give his report on this district. “Sneary, Basen tells me how successful your team has been spying on our enemy general and officers.”
“Without him,” Basen said, “we would be fighting blind through most of the capital tomorrow.”
Henry shook Sneary’s hand. “Thank you for working with my son. I know he can be stubborn at times.”
“We were just discussing the psychic general,” Sneary grumbled.
“He will die with the rest of them,” Henry said.
“He’s said to be smart,” Sneary said. “He has the potential to ruin our plan if we don’t kill him during the night.”
Basen gave his father a look to show he disagreed. Fortunately, Henry had learned to trust Basen’s judgment during this time.
“The only way this is going to work,” Henry said, “is if we follow Basen’s plan. It’s too late now to alter a single detail.”
This wasn’t exactly true, however Henry spoke with such authority that Sneary didn’t argue.
“Fine.” The warrior instructor gave Basen a defeated look. “He will live through the night.”
“And it will be his last,” Basen vowed.
When Sneary left, Basen thanked his father. “I wonder if he doesn’t trust me or if he just doesn’t like to be told what to do.”
“No one likes to be told what to do.”
“That’s not true. We gladly accepted orders from Terren, and your men have turned to you for guidance since joining you in Trentyre. But when I give an order, I often need to explain myself.”
“Because you’re young and you speak as if it’s a suggestion.”
“To my ears, I’m demanding.”
“You’re too nice. When you want your men to follow your command with loyalty instead of reluctance, sometimes you need to talk to them like the dog you want them to be in that moment.”
The cellar doors came open with a crash. Mage Trela flew down the stairs. “I only have a moment before I have to return. Annah is sitting in a tavern near the castle, but not for much longer. I spoke with her.”
“In front of guards?”
“No one saw.”
“What’s she doing?”
“Ulric believed her and Reela when they told him they would join him. Annah has been walking around the city and speaking to citizens to find out their mood.”
“What? Their mood?”
“Yes, Ulric feels as if this war has already been won. Now he’s interested in pleasing the people. He believes all the rebels still alive are in the forest or have left Kyrro. Annah is waiting for me to return to tell her what to do. I said we’d find a safe route for her to get here without any uniforms seeing. She believes some of them are waiting to see if she runs. It’s her first time out of the castle, and it might be her last when she tells Ulric that everyone despises him. Basen, this could be our only chance to help her.”
Basen knew Annah; she frightened easily. She must’ve infected Trela with this fear or filled the mage with guilt because Trela wasn’t seeing the risk anymore.
“What did she say about Reela?” Basen asked before delivering the bad news.
“Ulric is having her teach psyche to him a few hours a day. She spends the rest training in the castle. He wants her to go out and hunt rebels, but she’s convinced him to let her stay for now as it’s the only way to keep teaching him. I have to get back to Annah.”
“She has to go back to the castle,” Basen insisted. “She won’t want to, but it’s the only way to keep her safe and to keep all of us from getting caught. We need her there with Reela. This is the perfect opportunity to explain what she’ll have to do. Go back and tell her about the febeetles tomorrow.”
Trela’s brows hung low above her squinted eyes. “Basen—”
“I know she wants to come back here with you, but she must return to Ulric and tell him whatever she needs to say to remain in the castle tomorrow. Tell her I was going to send someone in with this message before this chance presented itself. We haven’t forgotten. We will keep her safe.”
“She’s terrified.” Trela seemed surprised that Basen showed no empathy.
“That’s nothing new for her. We need bravery from everyone. Go,” Basen ordered. “And Mage Trela, you can’t tell her any more details than she needs to know. Just mention the febeetles. That’s all. If Ulric loses trust in her and she’s questioned by a psychic without Reela to help, she could tell him everything. All of us would be killed tomorrow. I know she can be brave for one more day.”
“All right.” Trela moved quickly up the stairs for a woman in her middle years.
“That was better,” Henry said.
But Basen felt as if he’d eaten a worm.
*****
Alabell helped Basen transport sacks of food and flasks of water into the Slugari colony. Basen held open the portal as she tossed in everything they needed to give to Cleve’s group in the forest. Basen walked toward the portal when they were done. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Take care.”
There had been more episodes of his mind splitting, but none like the first. Whenever he felt himself drifting into what he thought of as the dream world, he pinched his leg to keep hold of reality. When that didn’t work, he reached out for Alabell’s hand. She always stabilized the tilting.
Cleve and his group were already within the cavern when Basen arrived. There was a woman with them who Basen had never met. She looked to be at least a few years older than Terren had been, probably close to forty. Basen hardly noticed how short she was until Cleve came to stand beside her.
“This is Quessa Polken,” Cleve said. “My cousin.”
“This young man is your leader?” Quessa asked Cleve in disbelief. She looked Basen up and down and seemed unimpressed. Didn’t she see the portal he’d stepped through to get here? Who in god’s world was this woman?
“He’s done very well,” Cleve said. “Quessa was hired by Annah’s parents to find and protect her until they can determine what to do.”
“Now I’m trying to figure out how much I can tell them,” Quessa grumbled. “You’ve gotten her into a mess that, if I got her out, will create more of a mess.”
Basen had forgotten Annah came from wealth. He wondered if any other parents had sent people like Quessa for their children.
“You can’t tell her parents anything yet,” Basen said. “She’ll be returned to them safely by the end of tomorrow.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you, but they’re paying me a lot of money to make sure she’s safe, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Cleve jumped in, “She could at least check on Annah and Reela in the castle.”
There were a few hundred people behind the Polkens, some of them Krepps. They rifled through the supplies and ate, but slowly, no doubt to listen. Basen noticed them quieting before he spoke. None of them would say it, but they all had to know that letting Quessa into the castle was too big a risk.
“If a psychic questions her,” Basen explained, “everything would be ruined. The best way to protect Annah would be to fight with us and ensure we win.”
“Cleve told me what you hope to accomplish tomorrow. Your chances are slim,” Quessa argued. “Take me back to the capital with you and I’ll go into the castle before it’s time to attack to keep Annah safe.”
“And Reela,” Cleve added.
“If Reela is the same woman I remember, she won’t need much protection.”
“Annah doesn’t either,” Basen argued. “Her parents don’t know the psychic soldier she’s become. I won’t bring you back to the capital if you’re going to demand to enter the castle before the attack. There’s too great of a chance that Ulric will see your presence as a threat. He must die for this war to end.”
“You underestimate me,” Quessa challenged. She had the expression of an old, impatient woman getting in back of a long line. “I’ll fight you for it.”
“For what?”
“Quessa,” Cleve chided.
“I’ll fight you for the portal. For whether I go or stay.”
“You’re half mad,” Basen remarked.
She drew her sword. “If you’re not going to fight for it, then you’re taking me back with you or you’re staying here with us.”
“Quessa!” Cleve bellowed. “Put away your weapon.”
She didn’t. He placed his hand on Basen’s back and guided him away from the group to speak in private.
“You’re right, she is half mad,” Cleve agreed. “But believe it or not, she also knows how to be subtle when she needs to be. She won’t take any risks that could hurt us. She cares too much about Terren to lose her opportunity to avenge his death. I’m sure you can find a way to coordinate with her.”
Oh, her behavior was partly about Terren. It made more sense now.
“She doesn’t seem very cooperative,” Basen observed.
“She’s only like that when she disagrees.”
“And how often is that?”
Cleve glanced back at her over his shoulder. “I’ll be honest. I’ve only seen her a few times in my life, so I don’t know. But Reela knows her better than I do. She’ll know how to handle Quessa once they meet in the castle, so long as Reela has already been warned about the attack.”
