Chapter 6

Corec stretched out in the bath, glad to finally be in a place where he could leave his heavy armor off for a few days. His mail shirt would be sufficient for walking around town.

The trip from Snow Crown to Tyrsall had been long and boring, with the only high point being that the farther south they went, the less cold it got.

There was a knock on the door and Katrin peeked in. “Hey, everyone’s ready.” She was already clean and dressed, with her hair done up.

“Now?” he asked, looking down at the comfortably warm water.

“That’s what you get for drawing the short straw,” she said, snickering.

Corec groaned. “Let me at least wash a little first.” He grabbed the bar of Valaran olive oil soap and stood up to lather his body. Katrin stood in the doorway with a smirk on her face, tapping on the doorframe as if she was waiting impatiently.

Then Shavala appeared. “Ellerie’s looking for you,” she said to him.

Corec splashed back into the water.

Katrin burst out laughing. “I already told him.”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” he said, feeling his skin heat up—from blushing, he suspected, rather than the warmth of the bath.

“Good,” Shavala said. She turned to Katrin. “Do you still want to go shopping tomorrow?”

“If we’re not needed for anything else. We don’t really have to invite Ellerie, do we?”

“The rest of us are going, so it would be a nice gesture,” Shavala said.

“Treya isn’t going.”

“Because Treya only wears those gray tunics. She says she can get more at her chapter house.”

“Fine,” Katrin said with a sigh. “I suppose I can deal with it for one day.”

Corec said, “I’ll be busy tomorrow.”

Katrin raised her eyebrows. “We’re only going to the Tailors’ Quarter. I didn’t think you’d want to come anyway.”

“Oh, no, I guess not. Pick up a couple of shirts for me, will you?”

“Sure.”

Corec waited, but the two women kept talking. Finally, he said, “Uh, Shavala?”

“Yes?” she asked him.

Katrin laughed again. “He’s embarrassed that you’re here.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s go.”

With the women gone and the door once again safely closed, Corec splashed water over himself to rinse the soap off, then climbed out of the tub, dried himself off, and got dressed.

He found everyone gathered in a private dining room the innkeeper had allowed them to use. It was after dark, but flickering lights from the oil lamps danced around the room. One lamp stood at the center of the table and two more hung from the walls.

Corec took a seat next to Katrin. “Razai is here,” he said.

“Here?” Ellerie asked, glancing around.

“In Tyrsall, not in the building. She was to the west earlier, now she’s to the east. She’s got to be in the city. I’ll try to find her tomorrow after I talk to Yelena.”

Ellerie nodded. “When you see Yelena, are you going to ask if she has any work for us?”

“Yes, but it’s not likely she’d have anything that could pay for the whole trip.”

“Do you have any other contacts here for possible jobs?”

“Bounty hunting, maybe, but from my small experience with that, it’s probably not worth the trouble.” He winked at Katrin. She rolled her eyes and poked him in the arm.

Treya said, “I could ask at the chapter house if there’s any work that Shana or Kelis haven’t already taken care of.”

Bobo raised a finger. “I’ve got some more salves and ointments and herbs I can sell off, but it’ll only come to about two gold total.”

“Are you going to the library tomorrow to look for maps?” Boktar asked. “I’d like to get started on planning our route.”

“Maps, and I still need to look for another source confirming that winged snakes can only be found in Cordaea, to make sure we’re going to the right place. Why not come with me? It would help to have two pairs of eyes.”

The dwarf nodded. As Ellerie had relaxed around Bobo, Boktar had as well. They’d begun treating him more like a member of the group rather than a man who’d stolen from them.

“We still need a translator,” Ellerie said.

“A friend of mine is concubine to a member of the Senshall family,” Treya said. “She might be able to find someone for us.”

Corec nodded. “Senshall is the largest trading house in Tyrsall. They have regular routes to Cordaea, so they must have people who speak the language. They might have some ideas about how we can find a ship, too.”

“I’ll ask.”

Ellerie counted on her fingers. “Yelena, jobs, maps, ship. Is there anything else we need to talk about tonight? What about supplies?”

Boktar said, “I’ll take care of that, but I can’t get started until we know more. First off, whether we can actually afford to go now, or if we have to wait. Then, I need to know our budget, the route, the cities we’ll be passing through, and how long it’ll take to reach them. A big question is the ship—will we need to bring our own supplies for the trip?”

“I would,” Bobo said. “Sailors eat the cheapest slop the captain thinks he can get away with. But we’ll have to negotiate use of the galley if we want to cook anything.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Sarette asked.

“Come shopping with us tomorrow,” Katrin replied. “We’ll find you some clothing you can wear as the weather warms up.”

“I meant, is there anything I can do to help us get ready for the trip?”

“We’ll be here for a few days,” Corec said. “Rest up, and we’ll let you know if we need anything.”

“That’s everything for now, then,” Ellerie said. “Is there music tonight?”

Katrin shook her head. “It’s too late to get started now, but the innkeeper promised I could have the common room tomorrow evening.”

The meeting broke up then, with the others heading out to the common room for supper, or upstairs to their rooms.

Katrin and Shavala stayed behind with Corec. Katrin said, “You were quiet. Ellerie did most of the talking.”

“Finding Tir Yadar has always been her idea,” Corec replied. “I don’t want to interfere with that. She and I have a good balance right now. I’ll take care of the things I’ve always taken care of, and she’ll take care of finding the city.”

“Are you sure it’s not because she’s a...” Katrin glanced around to make sure no one was listening, but didn’t complete her sentence.

Corec shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’m trying to follow Boktar’s example. He’s known her longer than anyone, and he doesn’t treat her any differently.”

She smirked. “You may not want to make fun of her the way he does.”

“No, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Have you decided about coming to Cordaea?” Shavala asked Katrin.

“Shavala!” Katrin exclaimed.

“What?”

“What’s this?” Corec asked.

Giving Shavala an annoyed look, Katrin said, “I’d thought about staying behind when you left, until I realized how long you’d be gone.”

“Why would you stay? Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

“I didn’t want to worry you until I’d decided, but I just don’t feel like I’ve been helping out very much.”

“I don’t agree with that, but Katrin, you and I are together. If you stay, I stay. I’d like to go, though—I feel like I owe Ellerie that much.”

She looked up at him silently for a moment, then smiled. “You should say things like that more often. Not the part about Ellerie, but the rest of it. Anyway, I’d already decided to go. That’s why I never told you.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed the top of her head.

“I should leave you two alone,” Shavala said.

“No, wait.” Katrin reached for the elven woman’s hand. “Why don’t the three of us go get something to eat, and talk about what we’re going to do when we get back from Cordaea? Treya, too, if she hasn’t already left for the chapter house.”

Shavala dipped her pen in the ink, then stared at the page, wondering if she had the description right.

She looked over at Sarette, who was standing and staring out the window that overlooked the dark street. On their trip south, Shavala had roomed with Treya as usual, and Sarette had been sharing with Ellerie, but since they were back in Tyrsall, Treya had gone to her chapter house for the night. Ellerie had volunteered to pay full price for a room of her own, which left Shavala sharing a room with Sarette for the first time.

“Do snow beasts ever get larger than the ones we saw?” she asked the stormborn woman.

Sarette turned away from the window to face her. “That was the first time I ever saw them close up. I think they were the normal size.”

“I’ll list it as ten to twelve feet then. Are they related to ogres?”

“I don’t know—I’ve never heard anyone mention that. What are you writing?”

“When I trained as a druid, my teacher lectured me over and over again about every plant and animal she could think of, whether they could be found in the Terril Forest or not. But there are some she missed—did you know there are fish that can fly?”

Sarette laughed. “How? Fish don’t have wings.”

“They have special fins. They push themselves out of the water, then glide in the air.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“We might, once we find a ship.” Shavala pointed to the sheet of paper before her. “Snow beasts were another that Meritia couldn’t teach me about. She knew they existed, but she’d never seen one, and had never met anyone who had. I’m writing up what I know about them, and about the flying fish, and I’ll send her a copy.”

Sarette nodded, then returned to looking out the window.

Shavala recognized the expression. “Are you all right?” she asked.

“It’s strange to be surrounded by outsiders—humans, I mean—and in a city so large. At least Lanport and High Cove were smaller than Snow Crown, but this place is different.”

“Just wait until you see it tomorrow, when the city’s awake. We came in after dark, and approached from the north, but Tyrsall is built along the coastline. You can’t really understand it until you see it from the west, and realize how big it truly is.”

“Why did you come here? The first time, I mean.”

“That was after I’d met Corec and Katrin, but I’d planned to come anyway. I’d always wanted to see Tyrsall and the sailing ships.” She laughed lightly. “I was scared at first. Human cities are so different than Terrillia, so crowded—like Snow Crown, actually. Terrillia is spread out; people don’t live so close together. But I got used to it eventually.”

Sarette nodded. “Are there any other elves here in Tyrsall?”

“Some—more than I expected. And I saw one of your people here once.”

“Really? I was wondering if I was the only one.”

“He was near the docks, with a spear like yours, guarding a group of seaborn.”

“I wonder why he left the Heights.”

Shavala shrugged. “I didn’t talk to him, but he was the first stormborn I’d ever seen.”

“Can we visit the docks tomorrow?”

“You want to look for him?”

“No, not exactly, but it would be nice to know there are others here.”

“I like to go there to watch the ships,” Shavala said. “I don’t have any other plans, besides shopping. Maybe Katrin will go with us.”

Treya’s first stop the next morning was at the Temple of Allosur, the God of Knowledge. The courtyard garden was dormant for the winter, with only the evergreen shrubs still showing life. The priest watching the main door recognized her and waved her through without question.

Inside, she wandered through the ornate halls until she found Priest Telkin in a classroom, teaching a group of young children how to read. He shrugged helplessly and pointed to his students, so she just smiled and leaned back against the wall to watch.

Priests of Allosur often served as itinerant teachers, bringing bits of learning to children whose parents couldn’t teach them themselves, but if these students were being taught within the temple, they had to have some connection to the church. They were too young to have already been identified as potential scholars and priests themselves, so perhaps they were children of the clergy.

When Telkin broke the class into small groups to practice on their own, Treya joined him in wandering around the room, helping the students who needed help. It brought back memories of her own first attempts at reading, back in the Three Orders orphanage in Four Roads.

Finally, Telkin dismissed the class and turned to her. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Treya. Unfortunately, you came on a bad day. I’m afraid Bishop Lastal is away on business of his own.”

“Actually, I came to talk to you this time. Do you remember when I asked you about healing?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be of more help.”

“No, I think the problem was that I was asking the wrong question. I shouldn’t have asked you how to heal; I should have asked what can be healed. When I was up north, I had to help a little girl dying of freezing sickness. I had no idea what to do, but, somehow, it came to me. If I hadn’t tried...”

“Ahh, I see your point. If you don’t know what’s possible, you may never think to attempt it.”

“Yes, and not just with healing. You know that one of my blessings is healing, and another helps me fight. I think I have more. We were attacked by men under the control of some sort of demonic spell, but I was able to stop them and cleanse the spell from their minds.”

Telkin looked shocked. “You’re certain of that?”

“As certain as I can be. We brought one of them back with us, if you’d like to talk to him. Despite trying to kill us, he was an innocent victim.” She left out what she’d done to Des and Arnol. That had been divine magic too, but she wasn’t sure what Telkin would think of it.

“Banishing a demonic spell is an impressive skill. I don’t have that blessing myself, but there are other priests here...” He thought for a moment. “We should gather any of the blessed who are here at the temple, and see if we can discover which blessings you’ve been granted. Perhaps you can even learn from my own blessing of protection.”

Treya nodded. Godborn or not, maybe now she could find out more about who she truly was ... without having to speak to Bishop Lastal again.

“Corec!” Venni said with a wide grin, grasping his hand. “Come on in.”

She showed him into Yelena’s elegantly appointed public room, which was called a study but which doubled as a library, the walls on either side lined with massive bookshelves.

Yelena was short, with long, black hair. She was a stark contrast to Venni, her wife, who was tall and blonde. Both women appeared young, around Corec’s age, but they claimed to be over two hundred years old, attributing their long life to the warden bond. Yelena was wearing a simple tunic and leggings this time, unlike the expensive dresses he’d seen her in before. The tunic was still bright red, though, matching the warden runes she kept hidden from almost everyone.

Yelena’s husband Sarlo was in the room too, leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on one of the desks, his fingers laced together behind his head. He appeared older than the women, having been bonded later in life.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” Corec said. Yelena’s quarters were in the heart of the ducal palace, so he’d had to send a messenger to her, then wait for the man to return with an invitation to visit.

“Thank you for holding to our agreement about notifying me when you’re in Tyrsall,” Yelena replied, sitting down behind her own desk. “What brings you back?”

“We’re planning to sail to Cordaea, but I also needed to speak to you. I’ve got a few questions, and I was hoping you might know the answers.”

“Oh?”

Corec considered where to begin, and decided to start with the easiest question first. “You said Three was to the southeast, right?” he asked Sarlo. “Could she be in Cordaea?” The First had claimed that Three knew how to banish the binding spell.

Sarlo glanced at Yelena, who nodded. He swung his legs off the desk and stood up to walk to the bookshelf behind him, which held a globe. He spun the orb, then stopped it and closed his eyes.

“It’s possible,” he said after a moment, opening his eyes again. “The southern part of the continent, or perhaps an island in that direction, or some other land beyond Cordaea. She’s outside my direct range, so I can’t tell you more than that.”

“You’re still looking to find a way to end the bond?” Yelena asked. “Or is this something different?”

“I promised some of the women I bonded that I’d keep looking.”

“And yet, even before you asked about Three, you’d already said you were planning to go to Cordaea.” Yelena waited, staring at him intently.

“Do you remember Ellerie, the nilvasta woman? She’s looking for an old city that used to be somewhere in Cordaea. Since we’re going there anyway, and Three is in the same direction, I figured I should find out more.”

“An old city?”

Corec hesitated. How would Ellerie feel if Sarlo found the city before her? And yet, if Sarlo could find it, it would be silly not to ask. “A place called Tir Yadar.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “Tir? One of the Chosar cities?”

“Chosar?”

“Chosar, or Ancients, or first peoples, whatever you want to call them. They all mean the same thing, or close enough.”

That wasn’t what Bobo had said, but Corec couldn’t remember the details well enough to ask. “Yes, I suppose. Ellerie knows more about it than I do. Do you know where it is?”

Sarlo shook his head. “I can’t help with that.”

Yelena said, “The Tirs are either warded against scrying or they simply no longer exist at all. That’s why so few have ever been found. You’re likely wasting your time.”

“There’s one in the Storm Heights.”

She leaned forward in her chair. “Snow Crown is a Tir?”

“No. There are ruins farther south in the mountains. The stormborn have been exploring them.”

“They’ve kept that quiet, but that’s not a surprise. They don’t talk to outsiders much.”

“They know about wardens, too.”

“What? Who told them?” Yelena’s expression wasn’t a happy one.

“They say they’ve had stories about wardens for as long as they can remember—mostly children’s tales. And a warden named Leonis visited them a hundred years ago.”

“Leonis ... Leonis ... it sounds made up, but masculine. A man?”

Corec nodded.

“It’s not a seaborn name, and I doubt the First has been doing any traveling. That’s got to be Four. I knew he was north of Larso at one point. It’s easy enough to reach the Storm Heights from there.” She stood and paced back and forth behind her desk. “What have they heard about us?”

“They knew I was a warden, and they know a little about how the warden bond works. I couldn’t answer many of their questions. I didn’t tell them who you are, but they’d like to talk to someone who knows more than I do.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Yelena said firmly. “I suppose I should be thankful, now, that they don’t speak much with outsiders. There aren’t many written references to wardens, but I hadn’t considered the idea of stories passed down orally.”

“They don’t mean us any harm.”

“We’ll see.” She sighed. “Was there anything else?”

“Yes—have you ever heard of Prince Rusol of Larso?”

“Second son of King Marten, now the only son? What about him?”

“He’s been sending men to kill me. We think they’re affected by some sort of demonic magic, but none of us know much about that sort of thing. I was hoping you could tell us more.”

“I haven’t been to Larso since before Marten’s father was born,” Yelena said. “Describe this demonic magic.”

“The men who attacked us, their eyes glowed red, and they acted like feral animals. They don’t speak, and they don’t seem to understand when anyone else speaks, but after Treya freed them from the spell, they claimed there was a voice that told them what to do. This was the third time they came after us—once in the free lands, once south of Circle Bay, and now west of the Storm Heights.”

“Treya is the priestess?”

“Yes. That’s why we think it’s demonic magic. Ellerie said divine magic could break a demonic spell.”

Yelena tapped the side of her cheek thoughtfully. “That’s true. I have experience with demons, but none recently, other than that business in High Cove. I don’t allow them to enter Tyrsall. But yes, it could be demonic magic. Demons have ways to compel others to their will. Why do you think the prince is involved?”