Heritage Of The Xandim

24

THE GRIM FACE OF TRUTH

Another day, another camp. Taine examined the remnants - not that there were many, for Esmon excelled at woodcraft - of the dismantled campsite, scrabbling with his knife blade at the patch of new-turned earth that covered the fireplace. The ashes were fresh, and still held the faintest trace of heat. Over by the river, a little area of grass had been grazed down by the hobbled horses, and he could discern both hoofprints and human footprints on the bent and flattened turf.

Rising, Taine straightened his back and returned to his own mount. Even though he had taken an extra day’s rest in Tyrineld at Cyran’s insistence, he would catch up with Avithan and his companions today - probably within the next hour or two. While they had been travelling at a careful pace through the forest, he had been hard upon their trail, but had been delayed because one of his horses had gone lame, and had needed to be left with a group of loggers. With only one horse, his pace through the forest had necessarily been slower, and he didn’t like travelling with but a single animal. Too much could go wrong. It was a relief to think that he was finally in reach of the others. He would make it on time after all. At the rate they were going, it looked as though they wouldn’t reach the border of the Phaerie realm until tomorrow.

He watered his horse and tethered it so that it could graze for a little while as he sat with his back to the trunk of a willow, and took an apple and some cheese from his pack. As he ate, his mind drifted, as always, to Aelwen. He didn’t like the course events were taking in the Phaerie city. When he’d left, Tiolani’s hatred of humans had been growing at an alarming pace. If her thirst for revenge had not abated, then the Hemifae were the next logical targets.

Including Aelwen.

Taine cursed himself for not bringing her with him when he’d made his last escape from the city. Plagued by doubts that she would no longer want him and afraid that she might come to harm in the escape through a closed border, he had hesitated, and left her behind. Now he regretted it with all his heart. But wait! The apple dropped from his hand and lay on the ground unheeded. Maybe it wasn’t too late to rectify his mistake. He would catch Esmon and tell him to return to Tyrineld. Then he would press on to Eliorand with all speed, as he had promised Cyran, but he would not stay there to risk his life again. He would quickly garner what information he could, then - whatever it took - he would persuade Aelwen to come away with him.

Suddenly these pleasant thoughts were interrupted. The quiet peace of the clearing was broken by a sound like a massive boulder rolling rapidly downhill towards him. Taine leapt to his feet with a curse. Bear!

It burst out through the trees with incredible speed, a mountain of muscle and black fur. Its ears were laid back, its eyes wild, and its jaws dripped bloody foam. Taine jumped up and down and waved his arms, making himself as large as possible, and yelled and screamed, making as much noise as he could.

The bear was supposed to turn away now. They always had before - but this one just kept coming. Taine dropped to the ground, curling in a defensive position, and let himself go limp.

Play dead when they’re coming at you, that’s the only option.

He stifled a scream of pain as the maddened creature ran right over the top of him, its powerful claws tearing at his back. It turned quickly and was on him again, its great paws battering him left and right, hitting him on his chest and side. It had the terrifying power of some huge unstoppable force of nature: a tornado, a hurricane, an avalanche. Taine’s heavy leather jerkin gave him some protection; nevertheless he felt the claws rip into his skin and the flesh beneath, while its teeth just missed tearing his face off and sank into his shoulder instead, grating on bone. Then suddenly the attentions of the maddened creature fastened on his horse, which was screaming and fighting its tether to escape. With contemptuous strength, it tossed Taine away. He flew through the air and hit a tree in an explosion of pain and darkness.

Aelwen was lungeing Corisand, making the horse move in a circle on a long line and walk, trot or canter on command. The Horsemistress had decided that some schooling would remind the animal just who was in charge, lest she become too difficult to handle altogether.

After a sticky start, Corisand was working smoothly now: stopping, starting and changing gait on command, much to Aelwen’s relief. It was nice to see something going right. Three days previously, the mare had come bounding into season - and had steadfastly, and violently, refused every stallion in the place. Worried about injuries to the precious studs - not to mention the three grooms who would be laid up for days - Aelwen had given in and left Corisand alone, but she was becoming increasingly concerned about the future of the animal. If they couldn’t ride her and couldn’t breed from her, then her fate was tied to that of Hellorin. They couldn’t keep a useless, unpredictable horse in the stable indefinitely. If the Forest Lord failed to recover, Corisand would have to be destroyed, even though it would break Aelwen’s heart to see the end of such exceptional beauty and spirit.

The Horsemistress was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear anyone approaching, until a harsh voice from behind made her jump. ‘I have just been told by some upstart of a groom that on your orders, I may not ride Asharal tonight.’

She turned to see Tiolani, who, judging by her sumptuous gown of emerald velvet, had just come from a hard morning of audiences and meetings. Her eyes, as she addressed Aelwen, had an unpleasant glint. ‘Who do you think you are, to deny me the use of my own horse? How dare you?’

Aelwen signalled a groom to take Corisand away, then turned to face the angry gaze. ‘As your father’s Horsemistress, the welfare of the horses is my responsibility, and—’

Tiolani flushed darkly. ‘My father’s Horsemistress you may be, but I rule here!’

‘I am resting Asharal because he is lame,’ Aelwen continued, ignoring the outburst. ‘You rode him to exhaustion yesterday, despite my warnings—’

‘How I handle my horse is my own affair,’ Tiolani blazed.

‘When your horse is being damaged unnecessarily, it becomes my affair,’ Aelwen told her. ‘And Asharal is not the only one in trouble.’ She knew that she was being dangerously rash in confronting the girl this way, but the horses were her responsibility, and she could only stand so much of seeing them ridden into the ground. ‘You know how hard the flying magic is on our mounts, Tiolani. Once cast, it feeds upon their energy to sustain itself. Hellorin was experienced in minimising the effects, but you—’

‘Are you trying to say I don’t know what I’m doing?’ The girl’s voice had a dangerous edge.

‘I am telling you, as I have told you so many times before, that this is the wrong time of year for the horses to be working so hard. You know the Hunt never rides out in the summer. That was Hellorin’s edict, and he was right. These are the months when the horses rest, bear their foals, feed on the new grass, roll in the meadows and enjoy the sunshine. You cannot expect them to keep going indefinitely.’

The Horsemistress might as well have been talking to herself, for all the good it did. ‘The Hunt will ride out when I say so,’ Tiolani snapped. The hardness in her voice and in her eyes, which had been growing more and more marked of late, made her look like a stranger to Aelwen. ‘Never before have we faced such a threat from these accursed wild humans, and I will not rest until that threat has been eliminated once and for all. That is my responsibility, Horsemistress. Yours is simply to do as you are told, and enable these horses to fulfil their function. You have until sundown to get Asharal fit to ride, or there will be serious repercussions. Be warned.’

‘No matter how much you threaten me, Asharal is still lame, my Lady,’ Aelwen said coldly. ‘If you wish to ride out tonight, you must choose another mount.’

Tiolani’s eyes flicked across the retreating figure of Corisand who, as usual, was fidgeting and playing up the groom. ‘Very well. I will take my father’s horse. She, at least, will be fresh, since no one has ridden her for months.’

‘But you can’t ride Corisand!’ Aelwen was aghast. ‘Only Hellorin can ride her, and if he were here, he certainly would not permit this.’

‘But my father is not here.’ Tiolani’s eyes were hard: the eyes of a stranger. Not a trace remained of the unworldly, affectionate young girl that Aelwen had held in her arms as a newborn, had taught to ride, had watched growing up. She was overwhelmed by a crushing weight of sorrow. Whether or not Hellorin recovered, that demanding but delightful child would never return.

‘You will either learn to obey my orders, or suffer the consequences,’ Tiolani snapped. ‘For my father’s sake I will give you one more chance, but if you defy me once more, you will regret the outcome. Have the mare ready for me at nightfall.’ She turned on her heel and stalked away, almost knocking over the approaching Kelon as she went and leaving Aelwen fuming - and not a little afraid.

When Kelon strode over to her with a scowl on his face, she didn’t have to ask him what was amiss.

‘What’s going on, Aelwen?’ he demanded. ‘I just came back from seeing to the brood mares and found the grooms getting everything ready for the Hunt as usual - and they said that you told them to do it. I thought we agreed that the horses must rest. Is that blasted Tiolani still making impossible demands?’

‘Hush, Kelon,’ Aelwen said quickly, with a swift glance around to make sure that no one was within earshot. ‘I can’t help it. Tiolani won’t stop the Hunt. I told her it was vital that she cancel it - at least for a few days - but she refused.’

‘And I take it she was far from happy that you’d been insisting?’

‘You might say that. She threatened to get rid of me if I gainsay her again.’

‘I would like to see her try!’ There was real anger in Kelon’s voice. ‘If she thinks to replace you with me, she’ll have a surprise coming to her. Because if you go, I go too.’

A shiver went through Aelwen at his words. ‘I don’t think you’d want to go where she plans to send me,’ she said softly. ‘I saw the look in her eye when we argued. It wasn’t so far from her expression in the Great Hall when she killed Ambaron.’

Kelon went very white. ‘Then we have to do something,’ he said.

Aelwen nodded. ‘You’re right. I suspect that Ambaron isn’t the only one who has been getting in my Lady’s way lately. If the rumours are true, others have disappeared in the last few days: Ambaron’s brother Jarmil; Tanoram, head weaver of moonmoth silk; Gestil the master miner; Essenda, who owns - owned - the biggest of the valley’s farms.’

‘All of them Hemifae,’ Kelon said softly, ‘and all of them in prominent positions. I had heard rumours that Lady Tiolani wanted to get rid of us all because of our human blood, but such an idea was so outrageous that I didn’t believe it. Until now.’

Their eyes met. ‘We need to exercise our own mounts,’ Aelwen said. ‘The grooms can finish getting the other horses ready for tonight.’

‘I think that’s a good idea.’

It took no time to saddle their own horses. The two of them had developed the habit of riding out lately, whenever they wanted to discuss the state of affairs in Tiolani’s court without being overheard. As usual, they rode away from Hellorin’s stables, down and around the foot of the hill to the forest beyond. Aelwen was mounted on Taryn, her black stallion, while Kelon rode Alil, another stallion, a stocky light bay with a white star on his forehead. Though Alil was a decent horse, he wasn’t particularly good-looking compared with his brethren in Hellorin’s stables and, since no one else seemed to want him, Kelon had somehow managed to turn the animal into his own mount without ever having asked for, or been granted, the privilege.

It was cold beneath the trees, with a raw, whistling wind that tossed the restless branches and tugged spitefully at Aelwen’s long braid, and the manes and tails of the horses. After they had put some distance between themselves and Eliorand, they turned away from the well-used track, taking a narrow side path that threaded its way into the woodland. The two of them rode knee to knee along the winding pathway, with the scents of greenery and earth in their nostrils, and the soft, muffled thudding of their horses’ hooves on the springy surface of decaying leaves that carpeted the ground. They chatted inconsequentially about the small doings of the stables, each of them reluctant to return to the perilous subject of their talk beside the paddock fence. It still preoccupied their thoughts, however, to the extent that when Kelon blurted out: ‘Surely it can’t be possible,’ Aelwen knew exactly what he meant.

‘How should I know? I certainly don’t find myself very welcome up at the palace nowadays.’ Her voice came out sharper than she had intended. ‘Tiolani has gathered her own clique around her.’

‘Yet for most of her life, she has been almost like your own daughter.’ Only Kelon would have had the nerve to say it.

Aelwen shrugged, trying not to let her expression betray the bitterness that she felt. ‘Well, that’s all over and done with now. My Lady doesn’t like the way I’m constantly upbraiding her for wearing out our horses with this endless Hunt nonsense. If she carries on this way, she’s going to run out of humans on which to take her vengeance - but that’s no affair of mine. It’s our poor charges I’m concerned about. At this rate, she cannot help but do them permanent damage.’

‘I agree,’ Kelon said. ‘Hunting in the summer! Such a thing has never been known, and for good reason. The flying magic is hard on the poor beasts, and they need the summer to rest. Tiolani never had the feel for horses that her father and brother had,’ he went on. ‘If Hellorin would only recover, he would never permit such abuse.’

‘Still,’ Aelwen said, ‘Tiolani may be young, inexperienced, stubborn, wrong-headed and unwise, but she has always loved her father, and Hellorin is all the family she has left. I find it hard to imagine that she’d keep him incapacitated so that she can hold on to the throne.’

‘Power can do strange things to people.’ Kelon locked eyes with her. At last they were approaching the subject that they had come out here to discuss, and for an instant Aelwen found herself shrinking from having to mention the unthinkable: that the attack by the feral humans that had slaughtered Tiolani’s brother and almost killed her father had twisted her mind in some way, and turned her against the Hemifae because of their human blood. But the time had come for Aelwen and Kelon to face the realisation to which all the Hemifae had to come: as long as they remained in Eliorand, within the reach of Tiolani’s arm, their lives were in constant danger.

Aelwen sighed, recalling that morning’s confrontation with Hellorin’s daughter; remembering the flat, hard, uncompromising look in the girl’s eyes. Human, it said. Tainted. Her heart breaking, she thought of the girl who had once been like her own daughter; of all her beloved horses that she had nurtured for so long; of her comfortable, pleasant little house close to the stables; of her grooms, who might have started out as mere human slaves, no better than animals, but were now skilled, cheerful, important and valued members of her stable, with self-respect and a role in life. She had trained every single one of them, listened to their problems, shared their sorrows and triumphs. Even they were part of her family.

Kelon, as usual, seemed to know what she was thinking. ‘Aelwen, there’s no way out,’ he said. ‘She has her eye on you now. You’ll have to get ready to run, and you should leave this place as soon as you possibly can. It just can’t be helped.’

Looking at his dear, seamed face, Aelwen thought back down all the years they had been together. How many thousands of days had they worked side by side, rearing and training Hellorin’s stable of splendid beauties? How many long nights had they sat up together, talking quietly throughout the peaceful hours of darkness, waiting for foals to be born? It seemed as though he had always been there beside her, steadfast and sensible, as necessary to her as her own right hand.

Maybe it was time she faced up to the unthinkable. Taine must be dead. Were he not, then surely he would have come back for her before now? He was so clever - surely he would have found some way to send her a message, at least. The alternative . . . Well, she couldn’t bear to consider that, either. Had he forgotten her, found someone else to love?

It didn’t matter. She would never stop loving him. That, however, did not preclude her from including her dearest friend in her escape - especially when his safety was also very much at stake.

Aelwen took a deep breath. ‘We will have to get ready to run.’

For an instant she saw a bright flash of hope cross Kelon’s face, before his expression returned to its normal, serious mien. ‘But Aelwen,’ he protested, ‘what about the horses? If we’re both gone, who will take care of them?’

‘Kelon, if I could, I would take every single damn one of those horses with me. The thought of anyone else trying to care for them twists me up inside. But what can we do? We won’t be able to look after them if we’re dead - and with Tiolani in her current state of mind, that’s exactly how we’ll end up if we stay. You have to come with me. You’re Hemifae too, and however we try to conceal it, you’ll be implicated in my escape. How much longer will she keep you alive?’

This time, the hope brightened and stayed. ‘Of course I’ll come,’ he said.

Aelwen looked away, trying not to see. Am I being cruel? she thought. She knew that by including him she was raising false expectations. But such complications were trifling in the face of the danger. Right now, all they should be worrying about was survival. There would be time later, when their lives were not at stake, to deal with all the rest.

‘If we’re going to escape, then it had better be tonight,’ she said. ‘If we leave just after the Hunt has set out, we won’t be missed for several hours.’ She sighed. ‘I wish they didn’t have such an advantage over us with the flying magic. No matter how far we travel on the ground in that time, Tiolani should soon be able to track us down.’

Kelon nodded glumly, his brows knotted in a frown. ‘The sooner we can leave the better, but we’ll be taking a dreadful risk. They’ll hunt us down from the air, so unless we can find a really good place to hide within a few hours’ riding distance from Eliorand, we’ll be caught for sure.’

They rode back in silence, deep in thought. As they left the woodland behind and headed up towards the stables, they were no nearer a solution. Then, just as they were passing Corisand’s paddock, Kelon’s expression suddenly cleared and he pulled his mount to a halt. ‘I’ve got it! The perfect solution - at least I hope it is.’

‘Tell me,’ Aelwen demanded, catching his excitement.

A grin slowly spread across Kelon’s face. ‘I know a way for us to steal some of Tiolani’s flying spell. Once all the horses have gone up to the palace courtyard for the Hunt, we’ll follow them with our own beasts and hide them just inside the tunnel mouth.’ He was talking fast with excitement. ‘You’ve seen Tiolani’s flying magic in action. She lacks the control over the spell that her father had. The enchantment extends much further, and it’s very diffuse round the edges. Instead of having proper boundaries, it continues to spread until it eventually fades away due to a lack of targets. So if we hide our horses inside the tunnel mouth, when she casts the spell we should be in range.’

‘Kelon, you’re brilliant - absolutely brilliant!’ Aelwen felt excitement bubbling up inside her. ‘As soon as the Hunt leaves, we’ll fly away ourselves in a different direction, keeping low above the treetops. Before the spell wears off, we’ll be far away - and since they will be expecting us to have escaped on foot, they’ll never imagine we could travel that distance, and they’ll be looking for us much closer to the city. This could work, Kelon, it could really work. We might have a fighting chance to get away after all. Presuming that your wonderful plan works and we do escape, shall we head for Tyrineld and throw ourselves on the mercies of the Wizards?’

‘I think that’s our best option,’ Kelon agreed. ‘In fact, it’s our only option.’

‘Come on, then,’ Aelwen said. ‘Let’s not waste any more time. We’ve lots to do to get the horses ready for the Hunt tonight, not to mention putting together all the stuff we’ll need for our escape. Sunset will be on us before we know it.’

They went out of the stable, leaving a stunned and horrified Corisand behind them. Aelwen and Kelon were leaving? Tonight? But now that Hellorin was gone, they were the only ones she could tolerate and trust. There was no alternative. Somehow, she would have to find a way to escape, as soon as possible. It they were heading for Tyrineld and the Wizards, she wanted to go with them, but as the hours wore on she found no inspiration. Hellorin valued his horses highly. He had made every possible effort to safeguard against their theft or escape. All too soon, the sun was dipping towards the horizon, and she was no closer to a solution.

When Kelon came for her, she couldn’t have been more surprised. Driven by curiosity, and the hope that he might reveal more of his and Aelwen’s plans in her hearing, she let him put a halter on her with unaccustomed meekness, and suffered herself to be led from the far paddock that she had occupied for so long, leaving the mares and their foals looking curiously after her over the fence. She was taken up to the main stable block, which was bustling with the frantic activity that always accompanied the preparations for the Wild Hunt. But surely they couldn’t mean for her to join the Hunt?

Apparently that was exactly what they were intending. She was so aghast that she actually let Kelon lead her into a stall and tether her, and he had started to groom her before it occurred to her to take any action. Corisand was furious. Why, without any warning, had she been brought in from the paddock? Why was Kelon grooming her so carefully? And why the saddle and bridle? Hellorin had not recovered - she had been listening very carefully to the talk around the stables, and if there had been any change, she certainly would have heard. That could only mean another rider - but these stupid Phaerie should know perfectly well that the Forest Lord was the only one who could ride her! Who else would dare to attempt such a thing? Corisand came to the conclusion that it could only be Tiolani, and this . . . this . . . travesty was the upshot of the girl’s visit to the stable that morning. It did not take her long to discover that she was right. Out of earshot of Aelwen and Kelon, she overheard the lowly human grooms making wagers about Tiolani’s continued good health, using what scanty items they possessed. From their talk, it was clear that the Hemifae were not the only ones who feared Hellorin’s daughter.

‘I hate that bitch. She gives me the shivers, the way she looks at us all. For two pins, I reckon, she’d have us all dead, like those poor buggers in the forest.’

‘Bet you my gloves that she doesn’t last more than a dozen heartbeats tonight.’

‘What? That long? I bet you my belt with the brass buckle that our Corisand’ll have her on the ground in five.’

‘Whose heartbeats? Yours or mine?’ Corisand heard laughter.

Five heartbeats, eh? she thought grimly. She’ll be lucky if she lasts that long.

When she was almost ready, Aelwen joined Kelon in her stall. Though they spoke in very low voices, Corisand strained her ears to listen above the stable’s raucous din.

‘What about the horses?’ he asked her.

‘They’re in the smaller stable,’ she replied. ‘They’re ready to go. Let’s get this lot moving out, then we’ll follow at a distance, so they won’t hear us coming behind. You take Corisand out for Tiolani, and I’ll wait in the tunnel mouth with the horses. I only hope this works, Kelon.’

‘It’ll work. It has to.’

In that moment, a flash of inspiration came to Corisand. This was her own chance to escape - and even better, it was on the same night as Aelwen and Kelon intended to flee Eliorand. Her mind raced, as a whole treasure chest of possibilities opened before her. Why, if she thought this through, she might even be able to find a way to cause a distraction to help them get clean away! Somehow, it made her feel a great deal less alone to know that the two Hemifae would also be making a run for it. Maybe she could even find them, and play the dumb horse for a while longer while she let them take her with them to Tyrineld. If anyone could free her from this imprisonment in her equine form, surely it must be the Wizards.

In the fading daylight, the Windeye’s excitement was like a blazing beacon - but its fire could not burn brightly enough to wipe out the shadows of her fear.