'I'm here as you told me to be.'
'Did I tell you to announce it to the whole fucking valley?' Zhia snapped. 'Forgive me for omitting the order to stay sober and not be seen doing something supposedly impossible!'
Nai glanced around guiltily. He couldn't see the empty flagon; he must have knocked it off the ledge as he dozed.
At least 1 didn't attract any guardians, he thought with a small sense of relief. She really would have killed me then. A gust of wind whistled over his body and he pulled his leather coat tighter around himself. He didn't respond to Zhia's words, knowing anything he said would only further enrage her.
'I didn't show you this spot just so you could announce it to everyone present; for your sake I hope you didn't risk it for no good reason.'
'No Mistress,' Nai said quickly, glad for the chance to change the subject. The snarl of an infuriated vampire had done wonders to clear his head. 'There is news: Lord Styrax's men took the Fist this afternoon.'
'I know that,' she scoffed. 'He does like to show off. The foolish boy has been playing with daemons again; he got five of them to incarnate and smoked the garrison out. I felt it happen all the way back to Byora. Tell me what he's doing in the library.'
'The library?' Nai looked confused. 'Negotiating the surrender of the quarters, you know that.'
'So far from his troops, in a place where he can't use his greatest weapons? Don't be stupid. However wrecked it may be, the Litse Army in Ismess is far larger than the guard he brought – Styrax remains vulnerable all the time he is in here even if he does have his wyvern somewhere nearby. Is he planning on staying more than a day?'
'I believe so,' Nai said hesitantly. 'I overheard him talking to General Gaur earlier; I got the impression he had some research to do here. He was warning the general to keep an eye on Kohrad.'
'Anything more?'
'He gave me a project: to walk the perimeter of the valley and mark the places where I could feel energies in the air.'
There was silence for a few moments. Nai half-turned to look up at the cliffs behind him and was rewarded with an icy blast of wind whipping past his eyes.
'If you find any, be sure to tell me also.'
Nai nodded, though he was unsure what to make of the order. There was a trace of the vampire in the air: her delicate scent, so faint it could almost be a memory evoked by her voice. Zhia's understanding of magic far surpassed what Nai could learn in his lifetime – it might be that when he returned in the morning, this ledge would just like the rest of the valley. Perhaps magic could be driven a little way into the perimeter from outside; or perhaps energy simply surrounded her like a diving beetle's bubble of air.
'Is there anything else, Mistress?'
'You're the one making the report,' she said, drily.
'Ah yes, of course. Knight-Cardinal Certinse is giving the orders in Akell; he arrived a few weeks ago.'
'Specifically here, or passing through to Embere?'
'I do not know.'
Zhia paused. 'I hear he's got four or five legions with him; that's more than he'd need to take over Akell; Sourl doesn't have the guts to rebel against his superior. I can't believe he'd pull so many troops out of Narkang lands just for that, and that man is ambitious. More likely he has some grander plan that requires actual tangible control over the Order, rather than just official control. The best way to do that is with Raland's goldmines, and Telith Vener is in control there these days. He'll have accepted Certinse's authority over the Order when Certinse was in distant parts and Duke Nemarse ruled Raland, but not now.' She paused to think, but Nai could tell by her tone that Zhia was satisfied with her logic.
'Anything more?'
'There is some sort of magical link between the duchess's bodyguard, Sergeant Kayel, and our friend Major Amber.'
'Curious, I saw nothing of that through Lady Kinna's eyes.'
'It is very faint – it is like each carries an echo of the other in their shadow. You would only notice it in the presence of both.'
'Kayel and Amber,' Zhia mused. 'That's an interesting twist.'
'You know Kayel?'
'Only through Kinna's eyes – but clearly he's far more than a bullying sergeant. Keep your eyes and ears open. I want you to stay here as long as Styrax does. Make yourself useful in whatever manner you can, and report to me an hour after dusk each day -understand?'
'I do.'
'Good.' She hesitated a moment and her voice softened. 'Nai, this is more important than you can begin to imagine. You will have to trust me that your safety is best served by keeping me informed. Now go, before you are missed.'
Zhia released the stream of magic and sighed, feeling the energies dissipate into the night air. She sat, high up on the cliff, motionless, untouched by the howl of wind, almost as if she were encased in a glass bubble. The piece of rock she sat on was roughly oval, and some ten yards across, the only flat piece of ground in the desolate environment of Blackfang's upper reaches where it was impossible to travel even fifty feet in any direction without having to climb.
Nothing protruded above the outer ring of cliffs. Within, the surface of the mountain was a jagged wilderness protected from the worse of wind erosion. There were occasional small tufts of grass and patches of moss clinging precariously to the rock, but they were few and far between. Not many birds braved the treacherous gusts and lack of food to nest here; it was a desolate, inaccessible place.
It was a useful place to lurk unmolested.
'You heard?' she said after a long pause. She had abandoned her usual silk dress in favour of more practical hunting breeches and tunic, though they were decorated with embroidered sprays of blue flowers. Her long-handled sword was slung across her back, housed in a leather scabbard etched with a pattern that echoed that on her clothes. Furthering the image of martial readiness, her abundant hair was fastened back with long silver pins set with sapphires.
'I did,' Koezh replied from the small cave behind her. 'How far can you trust him?'
'Not at all.' A small smile crept onto her lips and she turned to give her brother a look. 'He's as honest a man as I know, but with no allegiance except to himself.'
'So if he finds anything as he walks the perimeter, he'll tell Lord Styrax.' Koezh sounded weary. 'There can only be one reason why Styrax has given him such orders. Whether he knows exactly what he's looking for or not, he knows the dead space is not natural.'
Zhia agreed, 'He's guessed halfway, and he'll stumble upon the rest.'
A light flared inside the cave, illuminating its cramped interior. Koezh sat upon one bedroll looking at the glass sphere which emitted the light. A small hamper and a few thick leather-bound books were piled beside it. Zhia's bedding was piled against the opposite wall.
The vampire looked grave. 'So all we can do is wait.' He gestured to the few belongings beside him. 'It's been a long time since we played camp like this.'
He was ready for battle, dressed in a full suit of ancient black armour, except for the helm and gauntlets, which lay on the rock floor next to him. His hate-filled sword was suspended on a pair of thick iron pins that he'd driven into the rock above his bedroll. Without the ward surrounding her, even Zhia would have found it uncomfortable to look at the weapon Aryn Bwr had instilled with the fury and grief of his heir's murder.
'It has been millennia,' Zhia replied with a slight edge to her voice, 'and I for one see no reason to repeat it now. It will take him days of research before he can make his move. If you wish to camp out, Prince Koezh, that is entirely your prerogative.'
'We cannot know how long it will take,' Koezh replied with a tone of infinite, infuriating patience. 'You don't know how far along he starts, and we cannot lake any risk. He is not a man we can buy off or threaten as we did Deverk Grast; even if he knew the whole story he would still go through with it. We cannot risk anyone taking possession and we cannot trust the guardian to stop him – quite aside from the destruction it would unleash upon the innocents of Ismess.' He gestured towards her bedroll. 'All this you know, so come and sit with me.'
Zhia scowled, falling into long-abandoned habits of the younger sister but well aware that her brother was right.
'Even if we hand it to him later, we must be sure first,' she admitted, joining him inside the cave. The icy gusts tore at her clothes for a brief moment while she exchanged one ward for the other. 'I reserve the right to blame you for a poor night's sleep, however.'
Koezh inclined his head. 'Mother always said one must always accept a lady's blame. I believe the principle holds true even if one suspects it is misplaced anger.'
'Your meaning?' Zhia asked coldly.
Her brother smiled. 'Avoiding a certain young man seems to have put you on edge. It's all very sweet. Shall I sing to you to help you sleep?'
'If you do I'll cut my throat and you can wait by your damn self,' she snapped, turning away from the laughter on his face.
'Suicide by petulance; a lesser-know joy of immortality.'