Serroquette, I need you to bear a message for me.”
Aidane gathered her cloak around her. It was autumn, and there was a nip in the air. The chill she felt at the moment had little to do with the weather. “I’m not taking clients,” Aidane replied to the ghost that spoke to her from the edge of the forest. Something had drawn Aidane to wander away from their camp, and now she knew that it had been the spirit who called her. But after her last, nearly fatal assignation, Aidane was more than happy to comply with Jolie’s edict that, on the road, none of the girls would take customers, so that the group could travel without incident.
“Please, hear me out.” The spirit was a fine mist in the darkness, but as Aidane watched, the mist formed itself into the outline of a young woman. Aidane could see the ghost clearly in her mind. The woman was about her own age, just a few summers more than twenty years, and she wore a gown that looked to be several hundred years out of date. Her dress suggested that she had been merchant-born, neither peasant nor royal. Dark hair in curls framed the young woman’s face. But it was the urgency in the woman’s eyes that made Aidane listen.
Aidane sighed. “I’ll hear you. But I’m not allowed to take clients now, even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”
“I want you to take a message to Kolin.”
Aidane’s eyebrows rose, as did her suspicions. “How do you know Kolin?”
The ghost stepped closer, and Aidane could see sorrow in the young woman’s eyes. “My name is Elsbet. Two hundred and fifty years ago, Kolin and I were lovers. Haven’t you noticed how sure he is traveling through this area? Every run, he returns here. Up on the hill, you’ll find the ruins of his family’s home. That’s where he’ll shelter the fugitives tonight. I’ve seen him come time and again, but I don’t have the power on my own to contact him. Please, you have to help me.”
It had been over two weeks since Kolin, Jolie, and the others had left Jolie’s Place. The mortals in the group traveled by daylight, along a route they agreed upon each night. By nightfall, Kolin, Astir, and the vayash moru and vyrkin they had rescued out of Nargi caught up. By now, they were partway across Dhasson, northbound for Dark Haven in Principality. Each night, Kolin, Astir, and Jolie conferred in quiet tones about the next step of the journey. About three days after they had crossed the Nu River, they had met up with a group of four musicians and a peddler, all fleeing Margolan for the relative safety of Dark Haven.
Aidane glanced back at the group that sat around the fire. The musicians were playing softly. If they were practicing, it sounded good. Aidane suspected that they played to settle their own nerves, rather than to perform for their traveling companions. They were better than the usual tavern players, and Aidane liked their selection of songs. They had been friendly to Aidane without judging, or perhaps even knowing, what she was. The peddler was a solitary fellow. He’d offered to trade any of his wares for the chance to travel with the group, and he’d admitted that a few nights before meeting them he had been waylaid and robbed of his coin.
Jolie’s girls were clustered together. They never seemed to lack for conversation, and while Cefra had invited Aidane to the circle and Aidane sometimes joined them, tonight she had been restless. Now, she knew why. She turned her attention back to the ghost.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Elsbet’s ghost spread her hands, palms up. “I can tell you about Kolin, but without asking him, you’d have no way to verify what I say. Let me tell you my tale, and you can decide.”
Aidane nodded. “Go on.”
Elsbet sighed. “Kolin’s family owned the manor on the hill. My father was the most successful merchant in town. By the time I met Kolin, he had been a vayash moru for one hundred years. We met at a dance in the village and fell in love. His family had been highborn, but they had lost much of their money and standing. Kolin stayed to help with the estate. And although I was common-born, his relatives were kind to me.” A shadow crossed her face. “My father was not happy that I was seeing Kolin. He thought it was wrong for us to be together, since I was mortal and Kolin was…”
“Dead.”
Elsbet grimaced. “According to Father, yes. I refused to listen. Then Father got the idea to send me away, to make me live with my aunt near Valiquet. I was afraid that I’d never see Kolin again. We made plans to run away and be married.” She raised her eyes to look at Aidane, as if she expected to find judgment in Aidane’s expression. “Such things are legal in Dhasson, even if not everyone approves.”
“I know.” Aidane watched the ghost carefully. She’d heard the tales of many spirits who sought her services, and early in her vocation, she’d been lied to many times by ghosts who really wanted vengeance. More than once, those falsehoods had nearly gotten Aidane killed, and once, the ghost who possessed her had used Aidane to murder a faithless lover. But now, watching this ghost, Aidane heard nothing false in the story. “Go on.”
Elsbet’s expression grew sad. “I went home to gather my things. But my father found me, and he was drunk. He was angry that I had defied him, and even angrier that I was sleeping with a vayash moru. He beat me. I don’t think he actually meant to kill me, but he did. I died before Kolin rose for the night. I was dead before he could try to bring me across.”
Aidane could feel her heart pounding. “What happened?”
“When I didn’t meet Kolin as we had planned, he came to look for me. I guess he thought my father had locked me in. He found me dead, and my father was just beginning to sober up and realize what he’d done.” Her voice grew soft. “I knew Kolin to be gentle and kind, but that night, I truly understood what it meant to be vayash moru. It was as if he’d lost his mind with grief. He killed my father, and he carried my body up to the crypt on his family’s land. I saw him grieving, but I didn’t have the power to make myself heard to him.” The ghost knelt and reached out to Aidane.
“Please, m’lady, I beg of you. It’s been over two hundred years since I died. But every time Kolin passes this way, he comes to the crypt. He talks to me as if he knows my spirit remains. I know about how he travels to Nargi to free the vayash moru and vyrkin. I know that he serves Lady Riqua in Dark Haven, and that he holds a place of honor among his people. But, m’lady, every time he passes here, he brings gifts to me and places them beside my bones. He blames himself for my death.”
Aidane realized she was holding her breath. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to let me speak through you. I want to touch Kolin and tell him how sorry I am that I couldn’t return to him.” Elsbet’s eyes were wide with sadness. “I want to take my rest in the Lady. My spirit is tired of wandering. But I won’t go away and leave him alone again without saying good-bye. Please, m’lady, I can pay. There’s a mound of jewels and gold that Kolin brought to me over the years. It lies beside my dust. Take it all. Only please, give me one last night with him. I beg of you.”
“Why should Kolin trust me? I don’t think he even likes me. I got rescued by accident.”
Elsbet managed a sad smile. “I’ll tell you what you need to say. He’ll believe.”
Aidane stared back at the group around the fire. Her welcome among Kolin’s lieutenants had been grudging at best. But it had been Kolin who insisted that she be rescued along with the vayash moru and vyrkin , and it had been Kolin who had stood up to Jolie on her behalf. “I offered to pay him for rescuing me, and it made him angry,” she said softly. “If he would accept that I carry your spirit, perhaps I can offer him payment that he would accept.”
“Thank you, m’lady. Thank you.”
Aidane wasn’t at all sure that it would go as smoothly as Elsbet supposed. But she nodded. “Kolin will go up to the crypt a few candlemarks before dawn. Meet me here and we’ll… join. Then I’ll let you guide me from there.”
“As you wish, m’lady. I’ll be waiting.”
Aidane was deep in thought as she made her way back to camp. “There you are!” Cefra waved her over to a place on the log near the fire. “I thought you might get eaten by wolves. Didn’t anyone tell you it’s not healthy to wander alone at night?”
Aidane gave Cefra a reassuring smile that did not reach her eyes. “Just needed to clear my head.”
Cefra pressed a flask into Aidane’s hand. Even before she lifted it to her lips, Aidane could smell that it was river rum. “This’ll clear your head just fine. We were just listening to Ed tell us his stories.” She nodded toward the peddler, who gave a broad smile, and Aidane guessed that Ed had not only provided the rum but had a good bit of it himself.
“I was just tellin’ the ladies about the time I took my wagon down to Valiquet, to the palace city,” Ed said. He held his rum well, so that it gave just a slight slur to his words. Ed had the narrow, angular features of a Dhasson native, but his accent made Aidane suspect that he spent most of his time trading along the river, and that he probably spoke the river patois like a native.
“I did a good business in the city, fixing jewelry and trading new pots and pans and the like with the innkeepers and taverns.” He gave a broad wink. “But the service that was most requested was repairing fidelity rings. You know what those are?” When his listeners shook their heads, Ed’s smile broadened. “Well, now. Among the well-to-do in Valiquet, these fidelity rings were quite popular. They come apart like a puzzle, and they’re the Crone’s own to put right again. Men’ll give them to their wives without tellin’ the secret of how the puzzle’s done. Then if she strays and takes off her ring, it falls apart and odds are that she won’t be able to put it right. So he’ll know she’s been cattin’ around.”
Ed stretched. “Now fittin’ pieces together is my specialty. I fix all kinds of things. So it turns out I have a talent for figuring out these fidelity rings, even though some of them are damned difficult.” He beamed with false modesty. “Just a gift, I guess. Anyhow, after I’d done one or two, word got out among the ladyfolk, and every night, I’d have a couple of well-born ladies come looking for me ’round back of the tavern. I’d fix their rings, and they’d pay me well.” He gave another wink. “Some even paid coin, if you take my meaning.” The girls laughed at his joke, but Aidane’s thoughts remained on Elsbet’s tale.
“What happened?” Cefra asked, leaning forward.
Ed shrugged. “What do you think? Eventually, one of the husbands found out, and he came back with his friends. Nearly busted up the tavern, and I barely got down the road with my wagon in time. If they’d ridden me down on horseback, I might not have escaped, but I heard tell that the innkeeper settled them down by giving them free ale and food, and I managed to escape with my skin.” He crossed his arms. “And they say a peddler’s life is dull.”
“What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you?” It was Cefra asking, and Aidane wasn’t sure whether her new friend was trying to flirt with Ed or just looking for a diversion.
Ed’s eyes grew dark. “They say that truth is stranger than the wildest tale. ’Tis true, I fear. There’s a caravan that passes through Dhasson every year. Now, lots of caravans pass through Dhasson, that’s true. But this caravan wasn’t as big as the one Maynard Linton runs. This was a nice size, with all kinds of traveling merchants, musicians, acrobats, jugglers, and fools. Of course, there was plenty of need for a peddler, and so I made it my business to set my meanderings so that I would cross their path. Lots of tin to mend, ale to drink, and sights to see.
“Well and good until a few months ago. They were going to make a loop through southern Margolan, and I told them that was a bad idea. Told them there was plague afoot down there. But they didn’t listen.” Ed shook his head. “I knew their route, and I meant to meet up with them again. That’s when I got the scare of my life.”
Cefra’s eyes were wide, and even Aidane leaned forward to catch the tale. “What happened?” Cefra asked.
“I could tell before I ever got within shouting distance that there was something wrong,” Ed said. “People didn’t seem to be moving right. Jerkylike, as if they were stumbling. There were tents up, sort of, but not proper tents, as if a blind man who had never seen a tent tried to assemble one. I could hear music, too. Always liked their musicians. But this time, everything was off-key, slow. Sent a chill down my back. And the smell! I thought I’d come upon a charnel house in midsummer. Then I saw that there was a pile of dead animals to the side of the road.” He shook his head. “Those were the wild beasts the caravan used to charge people coin to see. Animals from all over the Winter Kingdoms, and some from beyond.” His expression was sorrowful. “Not only were they dead, but some of them”-he swallowed before he could continue-“some of them had been chewed on.”
A gasp went up from Ed’s listeners. Aidane looked hard at him, trying to tell whether he was concocting the tale, but his distress seemed genuine. “I turned around to run, and there was Venn. Venn was one of the guards I was friendliest with. Drank many a pint of ale with him, out behind the tents. Well, there stands Venn, or what was left of him, Goddess rest his soul. Lady true! I would have taken him for a corpse if he hadn’t been moving, although it was more shambling than walking. His nose was eaten off, and his eyes were sunken back in his head. He was covered with pox sores, and his skin was yellowish-white. But his eyes. By the Whore! His eyes were mad. He made a grunting noise and started after me, and I ran for all I was worth.”
“What happened to them?” Aidane couldn’t help asking.
“ Ashtenerath,” one of the girls whispered, the word like a curse. Ed nodded.
“That’s the Lady’s truth. Not dead, not really living, and nothing but rage in his eyes. Corpses that don’t know enough to lie down and die, that don’t have the peace of the dead.” Ed’s eyes were wide with fear. “But there’s worse. I’ve seen them twice since.” Ed glanced over his shoulder at the horizon, and the fear in his eyes was real. “Saw them traveling all in a line, like they used to, only it was a caravan of the damned. Horses foaming at the mouths, bones jutting out everywhere, mad with fear. Musicians playing songs from the Abyss, songs for the dead. Even their wagons looked like they were rotting away. I guess they’ll keep on going until they drop, one by one, in their tracks, or just rot into pieces.” He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. “Dark Lady take my soul! I don’t ever want to see that sight again!”
Aidane turned to look for Kolin. She spotted him with Zhan and Varren. He moved to sit near Astir and Jolie. Two of the vayash moru who had been rescued from the Nargi stood guard, and Aidane was sure that the now-healed vyrkin were also prowling the woods, both to bring down game for their dinner and to assure that the camp would not be disturbed.
Aidane watched Kolin in the firelight. His blond hair was caught back in a queue. Now that she had a chance to study his features, she could see the Dhassonian bloodlines, with perhaps some Margolan heritage as well. He was dressed plainly, as they all were, to avoid attracting the attention of robbers, but even so, Kolin moved with assurance. She had no doubt that in life, Kolin had been highborn, even if his family had not been truly wealthy. From what Aidane had overheard, it was clear that, as a vayash moru, Kolin had attained a position of responsibility and respect among the undead and the vyrkin . Even Astir and Jolie deferred to him, though Jolie never gave ground without a fight.
Kolin seemed to sense that someone was watching him, and he turned. For just an instant, his eyes met Aidane’s. He was curious, and distrustful. Aidane hurried to look away.
He knows what you are, the ghost murmured so that only Aidane could hear. Perhaps it’s crossed his mind that you could bring me to him, if only for this night. Even now, he’s not so distant as he pretends.
Aidane looked down at her hands. She thought she could feel Kolin’s gaze, even though she told herself she was imagining it. She did her best to shut out the sound of Ed’s next story and strained to hear what Kolin and the others were saying.
“-nights are getting colder,” Jolie said. “We’re going north. We won’t be able to sleep outside for too much longer.”
“We have safe houses,” Kolin replied.
“What of the new ones?” Astir asked. “The minstrels and the peddler. They’re more than we expected.”
Kolin glanced toward the group by the fire and shrugged. The musicians kept on playing, oblivious to the fact that their future was being discussed. “They’re good cover. More eyes to keep watch, and a few more men to travel with, make it a little less obvious that we’re moving the residents of a whorehouse to safety,” he said, but Aidane could hear humor in his voice and knew Kolin was gently baiting Jolie.
Jolie sniffed. “You’re just afraid that if word got out, we’d have so much business we wouldn’t reach Dark Haven till winter. We’re the most exciting thing that’s passed this way, I wager.”
Aidane heard Astir’s rich, tenor laughter. “Give it up, Kolin. You know you can’t win an argument with Jolie. You’re lucky she agreed to not dress her little peacocks in all their finery, or we’d have a line of patrons following us every step of the way!”
“It’s not the patrons that worry me; it’s the Black Robes,” Kolin said. “In Nargi, they seemed to single out whores to kidnap. There’s more than one reason I’d like to travel without attracting attention.”
“Do you think that’s why the Nargi took Aidane?” It was Zhan speaking, and Aidane tensed, remembering that Kolin’s lieutenant had not been happy about the order to bring her with them.
“Could be.” Kolin paused, and Aidane was afraid to look up, for fear he was looking her way. “Though it might be as she said, that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He hesitated. “What do you make of her?” Aidane guessed that Kolin had turned to Jolie, and she tensed, fearing Jolie’s reply.
“Don’t know yet. She doesn’t seem too taken with herself. That’s unusual for a serroquette. I’d like to see her with the spirit on her, see if her ‘gift’ is real.”
“It was real enough for the men we ambushed,” Kolin replied. “The dead lovers got their revenge.” His voice was flat, and it was impossible for Aidane to guess what Kolin was thinking.
After that, the talk among Kolin and the others turned back to planning the route ahead, and Aidane’s attention returned to Ed the peddler’s next story just as the pudgy, blond man reached the punch line. Aidane joined in the group’s laughter, even though she hadn’t heard a word of the story. Knowing what she had promised Elsbet’s ghost, Aidane fidgeted until it was time to go to bed. She helped the other girls forage for pine boughs and make their bedrolls as comfortable as possible, with a wary glance skyward to see whether rain would wake them. Tonight, the sky was clear and the moon was bright.
Kolin and the vayash moru headed up the path toward the ruins of the house on the hill. The vyrkin, some as wolves and others in human form, stayed to guard the mortals. Ed eyed the vyrkin warily, but if he had misgivings, he said nothing. The four musicians packed up their instruments. The musicians were as odd a bunch as the rest of them, Aidane thought. Their outfits might have been fine enough to play in better taverns once, but now they were stained and torn from travel.
There were three men and a portly woman. One of the men seemed to belong with the woman; they were older than the others and had the most skill on the dulcimer and drone. A thin young man with shaggy, dark hair and a half-grown beard played the flute with skill. The fourth man, who looked barely out of his teens, carried an hourglass-shaped drum with markings that looked like runes. Tattoos on his arms and hands mirrored the markings on his drum. He got a faraway look in his eyes as he drummed, and his fingers flew in complex rhythms that sometimes stretched his companions’ ability to keep up. The musicians were jovial company, but Aidane wondered what story they were hiding, and what details they preferred to keep to themselves.
This night, the elder musician, the drone player, caught up to Ed before the peddler left the circle around the fire. “A word about that caravan you saw, if you please.”
Ed looked at him suspiciously, but did not pull away. The four minstrels exchanged glances. “We also saw your caravan of the damned.” It was the older, portly musician who spoke. “My name’s Cal. We had just closed up after playing at an inn long past midnight. It was just past second bells. We heard something like music, strange and jumbled. We went to look for it.” Cal looked to the others, who nodded for him to go on.
“You can ask my wife, Nezra,” he said with a tilt of his head toward the plump dulcimer player beside him. “We saw a caravan in the moonlight, outlined against the sky, shuffling and stumbling, just like you said. Some of them were groaning and moaning, and the horses whinnying in fear.” He shivered.
“Bez over there, our drummer, and Thanal, the flute player, thought they’d be brave and get closer for a better look. Well, they got closer, all right. Almost had their arms ripped off when two of those… those… things came after them. Pulled their cloaks right off them. They didn’t follow too long when Bez and Thanal ran away, as if they forgot what they were following. We saw the things that chased Bez and Thanal go back to the group, and they all started up again. ’Twas the Crone’s own, if you ask me!”
The musicians looked from one to the other. “We thought perhaps there was something wrong with the ale, or that Istra’s Fire was upon us, and we’d seen a vision. We haven’t spoken of it to a soul until now.”
Ed nodded. “We’d best keep an eye out. Their old route takes them through these parts, and I’ve no desire to see them again.”
Aidane dawdled by the fire, intentionally letting the others wander off to bed. “Are you going to sleep?” Cefra asked, with a note of admonishment in her voice.
Aidane smiled. Cefra was the one among all her companions who was trying the hardest to reach out to her, and Aidane appreciated the gesture. “I’m not tired just yet,” Aidane said, and it was not entirely a falsehood. “I think I’ll watch the fire die down a bit.”
Cefra looked at her as if she suspected more to the tale. “Just mind that you remember; not all the wolves out there belong to our group. It’d be a pity to be rescued just to get eaten.”
Aidane chuckled. “I’ll remember that. Really, go on. I won’t be too long.”
Cefra stretched. “I’ve had a good meal and enough river rum to take the chill off the night. I promise you, I’ll be asleep as soon as I lie down, so don’t trip over me and wake me!”
“I promise.” Aidane watched Cefra go, and then settled down, hunching forward to watch the embers glow. Before too long, the camp was silent.
We should go now. Elsbet’s voice held a note of excitement. Aidane pushed down her own uneasiness. Despite Elsbet’s assurances, Aidane was not certain about how Kolin would receive her “gift.” She rose, careful not to make noise, and she made her way toward the edge of the camp. If anyone saw her go, Aidane guessed that the two men on night watch assumed she had to relieve herself. No one called out to her, and no one moved to follow.
Inside the darkness of the forest, Aidane took a deep breath. She could sense Elsbet’s ghost nearby. Aidane closed her eyes and opened herself to the possession. Elsbet’s ghost slipped into her, and Aidane felt the familiar lurch as she gave over her body to the ghost’s control. Suddenly, the shadows seemed less dark and the forest less frightening. Aidane felt Elsbet’s excitement, which rose as they made their way through the forest. Elsbet knew the terrain, and she found a path that Aidane would have overlooked. It was long overgrown, as if no one living now bothered to visit the ruined house on the hill. Aidane prepared to lock herself in the corner of her mind where she hid during assignations, but Elsbet’s ghost kept chattering to her, telling her about how it was long ago, when Elsbet was alive and Kolin was newly dead.
Both the wolves and the vyrkin seemed to give Aidane room. If the vyrkin wondered why one of their company was heading toward the crypt, something about her tonight kept them from coming closer. Elsbet knew the way, and she led Aidane through the underbrush. There was just enough moonlight for Aidane to see the path that had once led this way. They headed up the hill, and Aidane could barely make out the outlines of the foundation of a house on the hilltop. The upper structures were long gone, but the steps to the front door remained, as did portions of the lower walls. In its day, it must have been a large house, perhaps quite grand, Aidane mused.
Over there. Elsbet directed Aidane’s attention toward the family burying ground. As was the custom in Dhasson, crypts were built to look like the manor house. They stood in front of a building that was a miniature version of an impressive home. The part of her consciousness that was still mortal became more and more uneasy as they neared the crypt. It was, Aidane guessed, a trick to turn bothersome mortals away from where the vayash moru took their shelter for the night. Elsbet was not deterred. Aidane scrambled to find her locked-away sanctuary in her mind as Elsbet opened the iron door to the crypt that had been her final home for over two hundred years.
The crypt smelled of dust and decay. A damp, loamy smell spoke of disuse. It was obvious from the leaves that had piled inside the entranceway that the crypt was long unused. Judging by the pathway, it had been decades, perhaps longer, since anyone mortal had come this way. Elsbet moved surely, although once inside the crypt, there was no light. Even hidden away in the furthest corner of her mind, Aidane fought back panic as Elsbet began to descend the carved, stone steps into the deepest reaches of the crypt.
In the darkness, there was a rush of air. Strong hands seized Aidane’s arms roughly. The darkness was complete, suffocating. “Why have you come?” It was a strange voice, rough and angry. But before Aidane could fight her way back to consciousness, Elsbet’s assured voice answered their assailant.
“I’m here to see Kolin. Tell him that Elsbet has come.”
The grip on Aidane’s shoulders did not loosen. She was pushed more than led down the pitch-black corridor. In the distance, Aidane could hear stirrings, as if many beings moved in the darkness. The deeper they went, the colder it became. Suddenly, the man pinning Aidane’s shoulders turned her sharply. She expected to slam into a wall, but instead she stepped through a doorway into a large, darkened room.
“Kolin. We have a visitor. A mortal. Says her name is Elsbet.”
Aidane saw a spark strike, and a candle flared into light. Kolin held the candle, and the shadows made the angles of his face more severe. He was staring at her intently, with an angry gaze. “What kind of trick is this?” Kolin’s voice was a cold growl.
Elsbet’s spirit swelled within Aidane’s consciousness. “I’ve waited over two hundred years, my love,” Elsbet said, words pouring from Aidane’s lips in fluent Dhassonian. Aidane had enough consciousness left to recognize that the voice, though it spoke from her mouth, was not her own. The gestures as her body took a tentative step toward Kolin were unfamiliar, though her body moved gracefully. “I’ve seen you come to the crypt, come to my body. I’ve seen the gifts you’ve brought to me. I wept, but you couldn’t hear me. But tonight, we can be together again.”
Kolin’s eyes widened. His face was a mixture of curiosity and horror. “Leave us,” he said to Zhan and the others. They hesitated, looking at Aidane, and then slipped into the dark corridor, leaving Kolin and Aidane alone. In the candlelight, Aidane could see that the room had been furnished like a comfortable parlor. A wide couch and upholstered chairs sat at either end of a Noorish carpet. There were other candles and lamps on a small table, but they were dusty with disuse. Vayash moru had little use for light and reason to fear the fire.
“How can I believe you?” Kolin’s voice was uncertain, wavering between disbelief and anger.
Elsbet’s spirit moved Aidane’s body another step closer, and Kolin backed up a step, wary. “The night I died, I wore a blue velvet dress,” Elsbet said, her Dhassonian accent growing thicker. “I wore the onyx necklace you bought for me. Father tore the necklace off my throat. It left a gash. He struck me with the candlestick from my room. The blow laid open my scalp, and when I fell, my forehead hit the hearth. I think I died then, but Father struck my body several more times before he seemed to come to his senses.
“You broke through the window. I’d never seen such a look in your eyes. You saw my body, and you struck Father with your open palm. It hurled him across the room. He was drunk, and sobbing, saying that he didn’t mean to go so far, but you were a wild thing.” Her voice became hushed, choked with tears. “You tore him apart. And when he was dead and you were covered in his blood, you found the necklace and you put it in your pocket. You carried me out of the room and up to the crypt, and you made a place for me to lie. You put the necklace back on my throat, and you held my body, rocking me like a child.” Tears were running down Aidane’s face. Elsbet’s voice was just a whisper. “No one was there but the two of us, my love. I was dead. If you didn’t tell the tale to anyone, then who but you and I would know?”
Kolin had not moved. Aidane had meant to lock herself away in the place within her mind where she went to hide. Don’t go yet, Elsbet pleaded. If I know Kolin, he’ll want to know that you’ve given me permission to use this body, that you haven’t been forced to it. Please, don’t go yet. Now, Aidane saw the scene as if she were detached, as if the images she saw with her eyes weren’t quite her own. Kolin stood completely still, and if it were possible for a vayash moru to be ashen, then Kolin was pale with shock. Denied tears by the Dark Gift, his expression was agonized. His grief looked as fresh as it had been on that night more than two hundred years ago. With a cry, Kolin fell to his knees and pressed Aidane’s hand against his cool cheek.
“I should never have let you go home that night,” Kolin whispered in a strangled voice. “Or I should have gone with you, to protect you. I knew your father hated me, but I never really thought he would hurt you. When you were delayed, I came to the window after I woke. And I saw you, lying there-” Kolin squeezed his eyes closed as if he were seeing the scene fresh in his memory. Elsbet moved Aidane’s hand to stroke Kolin’s hair.
“I know, my love. I know. Everything you said to me that night, everything you’ve said to me all the nights that you visited me in the crypt, I heard every word. My spirit was with you, reaching for you, but I could never touch you, never comfort you. Until now.” Elsbet knelt, taking Kolin’s face between her hands. “For tonight, we can be together once more. It’s been too long. Let me warm you. Love me, and remember.”
Kolin closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know how this is possible. I hear Elsbet, but I see Aidane. And yet, in every movement, every breath, you are Elsbet. How can that be?”
“She is a true serroquette. We made a deal, Aidane and I. I bargained with her for one last night with you, before I went to my rest in the Lady. She wished to show her gratitude. She gives herself willingly to this arrangement.”
Kolin’s eyes searched Aidane’s face. “Is this true?” Aidane knew that the question was addressed to her, and not to Elsbet’s spirit. “Aidane, if you can hear me, I must know. Is this done with your consent? I won’t force this on you.”
Aidane felt Elsbet’s spirit pull back, and Aidane moved out of her hiding place. It was odd cohabitating her body with a spirit; Aidane couldn’t remember ever doing so. It took thought and effort to make her own voice speak. “Elsbet and I have an agreement,” Aidane said, in her own voice, speaking Common instead of Dhassonian, with a strong Nargi accent. “I consent. You and Elsbet have my blessing. Elsbet can inhabit my body for two candlemarks, but no longer. Don’t waste the time you’ve been given.”
Aidane pulled back, giving Elsbet the forefront of her consciousness. Aidane’s shielding during her clients’ encounters was always imperfect. This night, it seemed especially difficult for Aidane to completely block out how the spirit used her body. She tried not to hear the long-delayed endearments, tried to ignore the urgency of Kolin’s touch. If there had been any doubt about whether the love Kolin and Elsbet shared had been genuine, the passion of their reunion left no room to question. Aidane could feel Elsbet’s grief begin to ease as tentative touches gave way to long overdue passion.
Kolin was a gentle lover. The candle had gone out, and in the darkness, Aidane knew it would be easier for Kolin to imagine that the face and form of his lover was Elsbet’s, and not Aidane’s. Elsbet returned his caresses joyously, without reservation. Aidane wondered whether in life, Elsbet had been just as uninhibited and whether she had a similar zest for living. Perhaps it had been the life that burned so brightly within Elsbet that had attracted Kolin. In Nargi, the idea that a vayash moru might take a human lover was unthinkable, let alone that they might be free to marry. But over the weeks she had traveled with Jolie and Kolin, Aidane had watched Jolie and Astir together. Their affection looked as genuine as any couple’s, and more heartfelt than most.
Now, as Kolin and Elsbet made love, Aidane could not shut out the intensity of their emotions. Elsbet was overjoyed at the reunion and the unexpected possibility to reunite with her lover. Kolin’s joy was bittersweet, tempered by the knowledge that this night would be one brief homecoming. Elsbet’s spirit looked forward to a final rest. But for Kolin, Aidane knew, after this night, his grief would continue, made fresh and new by losing Elsbet all over again.
Why do the vayash moru risk loving mortals, when we die so quickly?
Aidane heard Elsbet’s murmur in reply. Because our life and our blood warms them. They remember what they’ve lost. Kolin meant to bring me across. We were to be together, always. Except things didn’t go as we had planned.
Aidane tried to draw back, giving the lovers as much privacy as she could. But always in these couplings, her consciousness was not as far removed as she gave her clients to believe. Aidane had sensed many motives from both the living and the dead lovers she had served. Few reunited with pure intentions. Some returned to cause guilt, and others came to complete old fights. Some came for revenge and others for emotional sadism. But there had been a few over the years who had lost themselves in the sheer joy of reunion. Because a serroquette was unlikely to ever win real love of her own, then Aidane accepted that these few reunions were as close as she would ever experience of anything akin to true love.
Too soon, Aidane could feel the possession waning. Elsbet felt it, too, and fear and sadness thrilled through Aidane as Elsbet knew her hold was slipping.
“So soon?” Kolin’s voice was achingly plaintive.
Elsbet reached up in the darkness to run her fingers along his cheek, down his shoulder and arm, letting her palm slide along his chest. His skin was warm, letting Aidane know that earlier this evening, Kolin had fed well. “It was chance alone that let us have this evening.” Elsbet smiled, and leaned up to kiss Kolin gently. “I’ve missed you.”
Kolin wrapped his arms fiercely around her, burying his face in her hair. “Don’t leave me again.” But even as he spoke, Elsbet’s consciousness was slipping away.
“Good-bye, my love. Let me go now, and go on. You’ve been faithful long enough.”
Elsbet’s voice grew soft, finishing in a whisper. This time, the ending of the possession was gentle. Aidane had an instant’s image in her mind of a beautiful, amber-eyed woman in the Aspect of the Lover holding out her hand to Elsbet’s spirit before the two of them walked off along the edge of a gray sea. Then Aidane was fully back in her own body, still wrapped in Kolin’s arms.
It took a moment for Kolin to realize the shift, and he pulled away awkwardly. “Aidane?” he asked, his voice shaky.
Aidane took a deep breath. In any transaction, this was the most awkward moment. Beginning the tryst was fueled by anticipation, both the client’s and the possessing spirit’s. That eliminated any awkwardness about disrobing or intimacy. But ending the tryst was inevitably awkward, as Aidane usually found herself naked in a stranger’s bed, and the living lover was forced to deal with the reality that their endearments, anger, or passion had all been aimed at the spirit of their loved one in the body of a whore.
“If you wouldn’t mind lighting that candle again, I’ll gather my clothes and go.” Aidane had found that a detached professionalism got her and the client through this phase the easiest. She made it a practice to collect her money up front, which had served her well on the nights when the lovers’ reunion was unhappy. Now, she just wanted to minimize her own discomfort and reduce Kolin’s embarrassment.
“Aidane?” Kolin’s voice was a little stronger. He released her from his embrace and moved back so that their bare skin no longer touched. “I don’t know how to thank you.” In his voice, Aidane heard loss and sorrow, but also a sense of wonder and completion.
“It was the only way I had to repay you,” Aidane murmured. She felt around for her clothing. Behind her, Kolin moved and then a candle lit, casting its glow over the small room. Kolin was still naked, and only belatedly did it seem to occur to him that Aidane was no longer Elsbet, and then he moved quickly to turn away. Aidane blushed. No matter how long she had been a serroquette and how intimate she and her client had been while the spirit was upon her, the aftermath was always uncomfortable.
Aidane coped by keeping her eyes averted and turning her back, dressing quickly. Her working outfits were designed not only for their seductive appeal but for the practicality of being easy to take off and quick to put back on. The borrowed clothes from Cefra were more conventional, made of stiffer fabric and more elaborate fastenings. Aidane strained to reach a button and was surprised when Kolin stepped up behind her to fasten it.
She turned and looked up at him. His face still held a look of pain and confusion, as if he had not yet worked through the abrupt appearance and equally abrupt disappearance of his long-lost lover. “Is it always like this for you?”
Aidane looked down, and she felt her cheeks flame. When the ghosts possessed her, no discussion or intimacy was off limits. But few clients ever inquired about the private life of their serroquette, and Aidane was sure it was because it made it easier for them to think of her merely as a vessel for the spirits to inhabit. “No, not always,” she said, embarrassed. “Not everyone is happy to see each other again. It’s nice when I can help people who really missed one another.”
“How much are you aware of?” Kolin’s eyes searched hers.
“Almost nothing,” Aidane lied. “It’s best that way, for everyone.”
Something in Kolin’s blue eyes flashed, giving Aidane to know that he understood the fabrication for what it was, and why she told it. He reached out to touch her arm. She looked up at him sharply. “I can’t do this for you again. Elsbet’s gone. I can’t channel anyone once they’ve gone to the Lady.”
Kolin still looked shaken. He always seemed so self-assured, so completely self-possessed, that it unnerved Aidane to see the naked grief in Kolin’s eyes. I always thought how wonderful it would be to be immortal. To watch the years go by like a play on a stage, to enjoy the best things forever. I never realized there was a cost. Maybe some vayash moru don’t care. Maybe they didn’t care when they were alive. But immortality means outliving everyone you love, over and over again. No wonder they say that the very old ones go mad.
“I know,” Kolin replied. “I wouldn’t ask that of you. I just want you to know that there isn’t a greater gift in the world than what you gave me, gave us, tonight. And when we get to Dark Haven, I’ll make sure there’s a safe place for you, with Jolie, or with Lady Riqua, or somewhere. I owe you that, at the very least.”
Aidane managed a smile at his sincerity. She gathered the last of her things. “That’s kind of you. But what I’d really appreciate right now is someone to escort me back to the camp. Elsbet knew the way here, but I don’t think I’ll find my way back in the dark.”
Kolin shook off enough of his mood to manage a smile. “I believe I can arrange that, m’lady.”
The camp was quiet when they arrived. Kolin nodded to Aidane in farewell before heading back toward the crypt. It was still long before dawn. Ed the peddler lay wrapped in his cloak, near his pushcart wagon piled high with a jumble of wares and tools. The four minstrels lay not far away, always their own small grouping. Astir and Jolie sat near the fire, talking in quiet tones. Astir’s arm was around Jolie’s waist, and Jolie leaned on his shoulder. They both looked up as Aidane joined them, and Jolie looked questioningly from Aidane back to Kolin, but said nothing. True to her word, Cefra had saved a spot on the pine branches for Aidane. Cefra mumbled in her sleep as Aidane picked her way carefully among the sleeping women and stretched out in exhaustion, wrapping her cloak around her. The nights had grown cold, and the farther north they went toward Dark Haven, the more Aidane was glad for her borrowed cloak.
Everything I have is borrowed, Aidane thought as she got as comfortable as possible. The pine branches smelled of balsam, as did the smoke from the fire. My clothing, my cloak, even my place with Jolie and her girls, it’s just borrowed. My lovers aren’t my own, and the things they whisper aren’t about me. She remembered the passion Elsbet and Kolin had shared, and sighed. Among the whores she knew well, most doubted that such a thing as true love existed. But as a serroquette, Aidane knew better. Even in the trysts that went wrong, beneath the anger and even the hatred, there was some form of love, even if it was twisted and starved. And there had been enough of the trysts like the one tonight between Elsbet and Kolin to let Aidane know that some lucky few did, indeed, find the kind of love that the minstrels honored in their songs. She squeezed back tears. Usually, she was good at not crying. But tonight, alone among strangers, far from home and cold, Aidane wept silently until she fell asleep.
Aidane was so tired, she almost did not hear the ghost’s call. Please, please, wake up. Wake up.
Aidane woke groggily and sat up, drawing her cloak around her. It was late enough that Astir had gone and Jolie had taken her place near the fire, asleep. The ghost of a woman sat just beyond where the pine branches made a bed. The woman had long, straight hair that was as black as the night around her. Her skin was dark, and Aidane guessed that the ghost was Eastmark-born. She had dark eyes and features that would have been considered exotic in Dhasson or Margolan, high, angular cheekbones, a faintly almond shape to her eyes, and a narrow, thin nose. She was dressed in an expensive but provocative gown. Its fabric was rich brocade, and it glistened with pearls and gemstones sewn into the bodice. The neckline was scandalously low, revealing the curve of ample breasts, barely hiding the darker ring surrounding the nipples. Too daring for a noble woman. Too rich for a whore, Aidane thought. Then she noticed one more thing. Even for a ghost, the woman was ashen. Not just a spirit. The ghost of a vayash moru.
I need your help.
Aidane shook her head. I can’t, not tonight. I’ve already had one… client. I don’t know which of the vayash moru you’ve come for-
None. Please, I have a message for Jolie, and a warning for Lord Vahanian. You’re all in terrible danger.
Tired as she was, something about the urgency in the ghost’s voice woke Aidane like a hot cup of kerif. How do you know Jolie, and Lord Vahanian?
The ghost held out a hand to Aidane, and grudgingly, Aidane left the warmth of her spot on the pine boughs to join the ghost near the banked fire. My name is Thaine. I used to be a whore in Eastmark. It’s a long story, but one night, I got into a lot of trouble and my handler sold me to a traveling merchant, who abused me and then sold me for a gallon of brandy to a Nargi general. That was ten years ago. The general bought me as a present for his fight slave. The fighter was winning a lot of money for the general, and since slaves have no need of coin, the general rewarded him with money and brandy. A lot of brandy.
Did he kill you?
Thaine shook her head. Oh, no, he didn’t want me.
He preferred men?
Again, Thaine shook her head. No, he grieved his dead wife, and he hated his life as a slave. But he was the best fighter anyone had seen, and although he stayed drunk until it was time to fight, he earned the general enough money and glory that the man would have done anything to make his slave happier. They had a big match coming up, and the general thought I might do the trick.
Did it help?
No, the fight slave made it clear I wasn’t welcome, and he would have sent me away like he did with the others that the general tried to provide, but this time, the general said that if the slave refused me, I’d be given to the soldiers. I’d be killed. The fight slave let me stay, but he kept me from his bed. At least, until he won the match but nearly died from his injuries. I nursed him back to health. And I convinced him that while it wasn’t love, there was something to be said for warmth, and someone to hold on to during the night. He took me to his bed then, but we were never in love, not really. Allies, perhaps.
What happened?
One night, the fight slave won the biggest match in all of Nargi. He made the general a very rich man. The general told him that he could have any prize except his own freedom or the general’s commission. He asked for my safe passage to Margolan.
Truly?
Thaine nodded once more. The general even let him come along, in chains, to see that I was put across the Nu in a sound boat and reached the other side.
And Jolie’s Place was on the other side?
Yes. She took me in. I was mortal then. A year later, a man washed up on the riverbank, nearly drowned. It was the fight slave. He had escaped. Astir almost slit his throat because he wore a Nargi uniform, but I recognized him and begged Jolie for his life. Another patron, a soldier, also recognized him and offered to pay Jolie for his care.
What happened?
When he was well enough, Jolie let him mind the door. We didn’t have any problems that season with drunks. He and I became lovers again. Later, Jolie had him tend bar, and then she put him in charge of provisioning the house and taught him to smuggle on the river. In time, he was gone so much that I took another lover, a wealthy vayash moru who gave me jewelry and fine dresses and turned my head. I thought he loved me, and I left Jolie’s and went with the vayash moru , let him bring me across. But it didn’t last, and for a time, I was passed around as a mistress to wealthy card sharps and thieves, the vayash moru who aren’t welcome in the honorable broods.
That explains Jolie, but why would you warn Lord Vahanian? Why would he listen?
Thaine met her eyes. Jonmarc Vahanian was the Nargi fight slave.
Aidane gasped. I’d heard rumors that he had been a brigand, but I never thought they were true. She paused. How is it that you’re really and truly dead?
Thaine’s ghost sighed. I was captured by Black Robes. Given to them, really, by a lover who’d grown tired of me and wanted rid of the inconvenience. They murdered me to do their magic, but I’ve heard their plans. Please, Aidane, you’ve got to help me. I know Jolie will go to Jonmarc in Dark Haven, and I know he’ll give her sanctuary. He’s like a son to her. But I have to warn him. It’s more than just the Black Robes stealing from tombs. They’re part of something bigger, something from outside the Winter Kingdoms. There’s going to be war, Aidane, and right now, no one knows it. What’s coming makes the Black Robes look like children. Please, please, help me.
Aidane rubbed her eyes. We’re going to Dark Haven. But that’s another two weeks’ travel. I’ve never met a ghost that could go so far from where they’re buried. And I can only hold a spirit in my body for two candlemarks at a time.
Thaine gave a bitter chuckle. I’m not buried. My bones lie in a heap of dust just over that mound, where the Black Robes left me. But I had a patron who dabbled in blood magic, and I learned a few things. As I lay dying, I bound my spirit to the necklace I was wearing. You can carry my spirit with you if you wear the necklace. And it probably wouldn’t hurt if you took some of my dust.
Dust?
Vayash moru crumble. But you should gather the dust from my bones. Just three: my skull, my breastbone, and my right hand. That will help you hold my spirit long enough to travel to Dark Haven.
Show me.
Aidane braced herself, and Thaine’s spirit entered her. It was as gentle as possession ever was, but for Aidane, the wrenching shift of giving over herself to another entity was never completely without pain. Aidane adjusted to the presence that filled her. Thaine seemed determined but unsure as her spirit entered Aidane’s body. And while Aidane could feel Thaine’s willfulness, she did not detect any immediate threat. Thaine opened her memories to Aidane, showing her the truth of her tale. Aidane took all of it in, though only minutes passed.
Now do you see why it’s so important for me to warn Jonmarc?
Yes, I’ll do what I can to help.
Moving carefully to avoid waking the others, Aidane picked her way through the crowded space around the fire toward the large hill not far from their campsite. As they drew closer, Aidane realized that the hill was unusually shaped, too regular to be a natural part of the landscape. It’s a barrow, Thaine’s voice supplied in her mind. A very old burying place. The Black Robes were trying to awaken whatever spirits live inside.
Did they succeed?
I don’t think so. For some reason, I don’t think the barrow held what they expected. But they raised strong magic. I was terrified.
Thaine guided her surely across the uneven land. When they reached the other side of the barrow, Aidane caught her breath. A gibbet hung from a wooden framework. Inside hung a rotting corpse. The stench made Aidane cover her mouth. Runes had been painted onto the wood, and the corpse was festooned with amulets of clay and wood. At the foot of the gallows lay other bones, some animal, and some, Aidane realized as she forced herself to go closer, were human. Behind the gallows, a shallow hole had been dug into the side of the barrow, but even by moonlight, Aidane could see that it stopped before it went very deep.
There, Thaine’s voice directed. What’s left of me lies over there.
Fighting down her own fear, Aidane worked her way through the tall grass, toward where Thaine indicated. A mound of dust, like a scattering of ash, lay in the grass. It had the vague outline of a human form. Where the neck had been lay a necklace of silver with teardrops of amber and emeralds. The stones were favored by the Lover Aspect of the Lady and were popular with whores for their reputed magic to increase the wearer’s sexual attractiveness. It was a beautiful necklace, and would have cost the buyer a small fortune.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Thaine sighed. My patrons may have passed me around like a bottle of river rum, but they were wealthy, and when I pleased them, they could be generous. Immortality is a great way to get rich, for some, at least. When I’ve carried my message, you can keep the necklace, as payment for the trouble I’ve caused you. I won’t need it anymore.
Aidane hesitated, and then knelt by Thaine’s dust. Grimacing, Aidane reached down to take the necklace. She swallowed hard, and then fastened it around her own throat. Immediately, she could feel its magic, and Thaine’s spirit became clearer in her mind. It became easier, less draining, to carry the spirit inside her body.
Now take my bones, Thaine instructed.
Aidane steeled herself and reached for the spot where the body’s right hand would have been. She gathered a handful of the dust and put it into a pouch she made from the cloth of her apron. Thaine guided her to take a handful of dust from the center of the shape’s chest and from where the skull had dissolved. Aidane added those to the heap of ash and tied the apron shut.
I’m sorry to make you do that, but the spirit is strongest in the skull, hand, and heart bone, and since we have to travel far away, it’s the best chance that I’ll be able to make the journey.
In her lifetime of fending for herself as a serroquette, Aidane had done many things to survive that she tried not to think about. She’d traded favors for sustenance, and she’d acquiesced to demands from clients that filled her with revulsion. But never before had she desecrated the dead.
What are you waiting for? I don’t like being back here. Things didn’t go well last time, if you know what I mean. Thaine’s voice held a trace of fear. If you hurry, maybe no one noticed we’re gone.
Aidane paused, staring down at the rest of the dust that lay amid the tall, dry grass. “It seems wrong to leave you like this,” she said softly.
It’s all right. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like leaving an old dress behind, one you won’t ever wear again. But thank you.
Aidane felt the cold before she turned. It was like a frigid wind, but even here, early fall was never that cold.
Aidane! Behind you!
Aidane screamed. Ghosts surrounded her, drawn to her magic from the burying ground on the hill, and another lot long overgrown by trees and scrub. Let us in. Give us your warmth. There’s room for my spirit in your lovely, warm flesh. Please, please, let me feel a heartbeat again. Aidane could see them clearly in her mind. They were old dead, and some had lost the ability to project their image as they had been in life. Aidane saw them as they were now, rotted corpses, and bones draped with the remnants of their filthy shrouds. The spirits came closer and closer, filling the night air around her. Aidane was exhausted from hosting Elsbet’s spirit, drained from the working with Kolin, and now from Thaine’s possession. She cursed her lack of caution. She knew better than to sleep outside. She’d heard tell of serroquettes being consumed by spirits that overtook them when they were too weak to defend themselves. When she returned from trysts in the city, Aidane had always taken care not to pass by crypts or family plots. She’d worn charms to protect herself. But the charms were gone, along with the rest of her possessions. And the spirits were cold and hungry, so hungry.
Let me fill you. I can protect you from them. Thaine sounded sure, but Aidane had doubts.
Her body stiffened as the spirits fell on her, passing through her form, stealing her warmth. She screamed again, but her voice sounded distant. She gasped as another spirit passed through her. Aidane’s control was barely strong enough to keep the ghosts from seizing her mind, but she could not stop the revenants from drawing breath and heat from her with every spectral pass. They were cold, so cold. She was growing cold. But she held on, guarding that last corner of herself. If, or when, her control weakened, whichever spirit was strongest could fully possess her. She’d fought off clients who had wanted to keep her body, but never so many at once. Now, their voices were a jumble in her mind, male and female, a cacophony of accents, all begging for her life, her warmth.
If I’ve filled you, no one else can. Together, we can hold them off.
Terrified, Aidane did as Thaine urged, and felt Thaine’s warmth flow through her, felt the odd shift of another soul fill her body. Immediately, the ghosts drew back. They were angry, robbed of their prize. Aidane was surrounded by a host of spirits, some misty shapes of fog, and others glowing a faint green.
What do we do now? They’re waiting for me to tire. I don’t know how long I can let you possess me. It’s never been more than a few candlemarks. If we run back to the camp, they’ll follow. Aidane felt her fear rise up in her throat. And in the back of her mind, she knew that Thaine was frightened, too.
“Aidane! Aidane, can you hear me?” It was Jolie’s voice, from far away.
“Help me!” Aidane shouted loudly enough to hear herself over the low murmur of the circle of waiting ghosts. She didn’t know whether the spirits would be visible to Jolie or any of the others, but she and Thaine were trapped inside their circle.
“By the Whore!” It was Ed, the peddler, and he continued to curse, fluently switching from Margolense to Dhassonian and then to the river patois.
Jolie started to run toward Aidane, but Ed caught her arm. “Can’t you see? She’s spiritbound. There’re haunts all around her. They want a ghost whore, but they’ll fall on the living if they think they can take you.”
The four minstrels crested the barrow just then, and stopped abruptly. Aidane didn’t know whether or not they could see the spirits, but Astir was with them, and Aidane was certain the vayash moru could see the ghosts.
“I don’t see any ghosts,” Jolie argued.
“He’s right,” Astir shouted. “Stay back.”
“We can’t leave her there.” Jolie did as Astir bid, but even from a distance, Aidane could see that she was angry.
“I’ve got an idea.” Cautiously, Ed worked his way closer. He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out two silver talismans. They glowed in the moonlight against his skin. Mumbling to himself, Ed began to make a wide circle, with one hand in his jacket pocket. The other hand dug something out of a pouch at his belt, and as he made his circle, he sprinkled a powder with his right hand and seemed to flick something small from his left hand into the grass at intervals. Above on the hill, the musicians began to play. The tune was different from the lively tavern songs they had played earlier that night. This song was a dirge, and it sent a shiver down Aidane’s back.
What are they doing?
Magic of some kind. I can feel it. If I weren’t bound to you with the necklace and the bones, it might work on me, too. The music is a charm, and whatever the peddler is sprinkling around us is making some kind of safe area. It may not tear me from you, but it’s making me damned uncomfortable!
The ghosts gave a sudden, startled hiss. Before Ed could complete the circle, the host of revenants vanished as if pulled by an unseen hand. The musicians played a few more measures, and then lowered their instruments. Aidane fell to her knees as Jolie and Astir ran up to her. A few steps behind the minstrels, Aidane could see the rest of Jolie’s girls crowding forward. There was a rush of air, and Kolin and the other vayash moru suddenly appeared in the clearing.
“Dark Lady take my soul,” Kolin murmured, taking in the gibbet and the shattered skeleton. “Black Robes were here not long ago.”
“A fortnight,” Aidane said. For now, Thaine was staying in the background, and Aidane’s voice was her own.
“How do you know?” Astir’s voice was sharp.
“Because one of the ghosts is inside me.”
Ed started forward, holding out his amulets. In Aidane’s mind, Thaine squealed with sudden pain. Make him put those things away!
“It’s all right, Ed. This ghost I invited. Please, you’re hurting her. Put the amulet away.”
Ed looked at Aidane skeptically, but did as he was told. Kolin traced Ed’s path around the circle and bent to touch something in the grass.
“You made a circle of salt and you’ve left a trail of iron coins. How is it that a peddler comes prepared to bespell the dead?” Kolin asked. Aidane heard a wary edge in his voice.
Ed looked chagrined. “I’m a bit of a hedge witch, on the side. One of my many talents. I can’t call the dead or hear them, but I can banish them, at least for a while, if they’re not too strong. It’s just a little magic, but it earns me coin for dinner and drink when no one needs their tin mended.”
Jolie had reached Aidane, and he knelt beside her. “What are you doing out here alone at night? Are you mad?”
Aidane leaned forward, holding herself up with her hands. She was exhausted, and fought the urge to collapse. “A ghost came to me. She said she had a message for you, and a warning for Lord Vahanian.”
Jolie looked up sharply. “A ghost, with a message for me?”
Thaine pushed her way to the forefront. Aidane felt the change in her posture and her expression before words in a voice very different from her own spoke from her mouth. “Hello, Jolie. It’s me, Thaine.”
Jolie’s eyes widened, and Astir turned, looking at Aidane with suspicion. “That’s not possible. You’re vayash moru.”
Thaine gave a bitter laugh. “Oh, even vayash moru can die. You were right, Jolie, about Reev. He tired of me after a while, when he’d brought me across and I wasn’t warm anymore. It didn’t go well after that.”
“How did you find me?”
“Sheer luck. I was kidnapped by the Black Robes, and they murdered me here. I didn’t know what to do, so my ghost stayed here. Then I heard you make camp. I couldn’t believe it was really you, but when I saw you, I was sure. And I knew I had to warn you, warn Jonmarc.”
Jolie shook her head. “Jonmarc’s moved on, Thaine. He’s a lord now, happily married, with babies on the way. You’ve no claim on him. Not anymore.”
“You’re not listening. I don’t want Jonmarc. I’m dead, remember? I’d heard that he’d become a lord, and if he found someone to love, I wish him well. It was never going to be me. I know that. I’d also heard that he was Lord of the Undead. That’s why I need to warn him.”
“Warn him about what?”
“Before the Black Robes killed me, I heard them talking. There’s something big coming, bigger than just the Durim wanting to bring back Shanthadura. They’ve been told that there’s a war coming, a War of Unmaking. It’s supposed to destroy everything, so everything can start over.”
“What’s that got to do with Jonmarc?” Jolie looked skeptical. “Martris Drayke perhaps could fight such a thing. But Jonmarc?”
“It’s not just about magic,” Thaine said, pleading for them to understand. “There’s a real war, and the Black Robes were talking about ships, ships landing in Principality, maybe even in Eastmark. Ships with blood mages and a dark summoner.”
Astir laid a hand on Jolie’s shoulder. “Jonmarc is liegeman to King Staden, and Princess Berwyn’s champion. If there’s war coming, he’s sure to be in the thick of it.”
Jolie made the sign of the Goddess to ward away evil. “Is this the message you want me to take to Jonmarc?”
“No. There’s a plot, a conspiracy. It’s supposed to happen soon, at the Feast of the Departed, in Principality City. I don’t know exactly what they plan to do, but I got a good look at the Black Robes without their hoods. I can identify them. I’ve got to get Jonmarc to take me to Principality City.”
“Lady Carina may not care for that idea.” Jolie’s voice had a warning edge.
“Don’t you understand? This isn’t about me, and it’s not about trying to win back an old lover. But with Jonmarc’s position, he might be able to stop this. Please, you’ve got to believe me.”
Kolin was watching her, and the look on his face was uncertain. Aidane knew that Thaine’s expressions and gestures were completely unlike Elsbet’s, or her own. Thaine moved with a sure confidence that was stronger, more dominant, than either Elsbet or Aidane. He stared at her as if he were thinking about Thaine’s warning. Finally, he nodded. “I believe her. And I think it’s something Jonmarc needs to hear for himself. Let him decide.”
While Aidane had been talking, Ed and the musicians had begun gathering branches. Ed took a handful of rags from one of the bodies on the ground and wrapped it around a long, sturdy stick, and then soaked it with river rum. When he pushed it into the campfire, the torch burst into flame. Cal did the same. Bez, Nezra, and Thanal began dragging the bodies to a central pile. Aidane and Cefra went to help, and a few more of Jolie’s girls did the same when they realized they meant to make a pyre.
“I figured your friends would just as soon we handled the fire,” Cal said with a half smile, directing his comment to Kolin. “We’re not long past the Moon Feast; no one will notice another bonfire.”
Kolin nodded. His face was stony. “Yes. Burn them. Burn it all.”
Ed and Cal readied two pyres to burn the bodies, while Jolie and the others followed Kolin’s instructions to cleanse the area and dispel the spirits. It had taken more than a candlemark, and Aidane was exhausted. Just as they were about to return to camp, a wolf’s howl sounded, followed by another.
Kolin frowned. “Those are the sentries. They’ve seen something they didn’t like. Everyone, stay close.”
There was a blur of movement and a rush of air, and one of the vayash moru who had been on night watch appeared next to Kolin. “Something’s coming on the road, but I’ve never seen the like,” the guard reported. “Men and broken wagons and lamed horses, like some caravan of the damned. Don’t know what they are, but the vyrkin thought at least some of them were ashtenerath, and I agree. Thought you should know.”
In the distance, a sound carried in the darkness. Faint, discordant music filled the night air. “Sweet Chenne. They’re coming.” Ed the peddler had gone completely ashen. “We’ve got to break camp and get out of here. Now!”
“They can’t hurt the vayash moru, but the rest of us have to get out of here.” Ed pointed, and the group turned to follow his gesture. A long row of shadows was visible on the next rise, just before the road turned toward their camp. From the horses and wagons, it looked to be a caravan, but as Aidane stood, her eyes widened. Even from a distance, she could tell that something was very wrong.
The clouds drew back and in the moonlight, they could see the travelers. Their wagons were broken and shabby. The tarpaulins that roofed the largest of the wagons were tattered and full of holes. Lamed horses so thin that their bones bulged from their skin struggled to pull the ruined wagons. Shuffling along with the wagons were men, or what used to be men. They walked with uneven gait, lurching from step to step, and a stench more foul than the gibbet’s odor reached the watchers, even from a distance.
“ Ashtenerath,” Astir murmured.
Kolin grabbed the peddler by his collar. “What more do you know of this?”
Ed’s eyes were wide with fear. “They used to be a caravan from Eastmark, one of the most popular in Dhasson. But plague fell on them, only it didn’t kill them. Not completely. What’s left isn’t quite living, but not really dead. They wander by night, and if you cross their path, the plague will take you, too. They wander like that until they die, or just fall apart, or maybe, they’ll wander like that forever. But if you’re not going to get out of here, let go of me! I’m not staying.” Ed struggled and kicked.
“What are ashtenerath?” Aidane hadn’t thought she had the energy left to be afraid, but watching the shadowed caravan move toward them, she felt fear stir anew.
“They’re men-or they were men-who’ve been changed by magic or plague,” Kolin replied, never taking his eyes from the lurching figures. “Their minds die but their bodies keep on moving. They’re violent and unstable.”
“The peddler’s right.” It was Cal, the portly dulcimer player, who spoke. “Whatever they were, they’re good as dead now. We need to leave. Now.”
“They’re coming!” Bez pointed toward the ghastly caravan.
Kolin turned to Jolie. “Gather up everything you can carry from the camp and run. Take the cross roads north, so you’re going a different road than the caravan. Wait for us outside the next town. We’ll find you after sunset.”
“What about you?” Jolie asked, looking from Kolin to Astir and to the other vayash moru.
Kolin drew his sword. “We can’t catch plague. If they come after you, we’ll hold them off. If they don’t, we’ll catch up. Now go!”
Jolie grabbed Aidane’s hand and pulled her along as the vayash moru made a line to block the progress of the oncoming caravan. Jolie’s girls were whimpering with fear and some were chanting charms against evil, but to their credit, they kept their heads and did not scream. Aidane fought down both her own fear and Thaine’s apprehension. More quickly than Aidane thought possible, they had gathered what little they had left at the camp and made their way down the road, in the opposite direction from the caravan.
Aidane cast a glance over her shoulder. The v yrkin had joined the vayash moru, some in human form and others in their wolf shapes. As they ran, Aidane could hear the low, warning growls of the wolves.
Jolie’s expression was resolute. “Come on. We’ve got to get you and Thaine somewhere safe. If you’re right, then you’ve just become the most dangerous woman in Dhasson. Astir and Kolin can take care of themselves. But the Winter Kingdoms might not survive if we don’t make sure you get to Dark Haven. Now, run!”