True Calling

That night, after Fen had gulped back the last of the honey wine, and Esten had been tucked up in bed, Taliette waited in the tower, watching the cold stars through the little window. After a while, she felt the pull of her heart calling her out from under the blankets. There was nothing to do but to follow it. She opened the door, walked away from the beautiful, awful pit, across the moonlit lawn, to the gate.

There were a lot of little mouseholes here, thin ones with bright entrances that hummed. It was risky. She had never tried any of them. If I were Layonidel, and I wanted to come in, with my army, I would make a lot of little holes like this, but was the wall still in the same place? Was this the original wall? What if the wall was wider now and she came up under a rock? Was it even a wall at all? Still, her heart was calling, and there was nothing to do about it. She picked one at random and wriggled inside. Two minutes later, heart pounding, she was in the forest, walking between the darkened trees.

"Come," whispered her heart. "The night is dark, but you are darker." It drew her onward, into the shadows.

About a mile from the ring, she heard raucous voices. Firelight flickered between the trees. She followed the draw of her heart and came upon a clearing full of Gintas’ people. A great fire burned in the middle of it. The men capered around it like wild creatures.

Hal was there, almost a head taller than the rest of them. Gintas was in amongst them too, sharing their jokes and laughing along with the rest. He held her heart in his hand. It pulsed as he spoke, seeming to resonate with his rhythm as well as her own.

Gintas gave the smallest nod of approval as she slipped, unmarked by the guards, into the clearing.

"Everyone," Gintas yelled over the din. "Taliette is here." A great roar of approval went up from the assembled crew. They gathered around her, sloshing wine and ale from pewter cups.

She stood stiffly in the middle of the group, trying to avoid the small splashes of ale as they jostled her and slapped her on the back.

"Despise them," whispered her heart. "They are beneath you. You will soar above them on wings of dragons."

She recognised most of the Barrowscale crew. Frantz supped from a small glass of something amber that glowed in the firelight; Barrel-chested Pig clutched a tankard; Flavien, with the small moustaches and the dance steps, bowed with exaggerated flourishes. She noticed that his glass contained only water. Even Hewitt was there, though he stood away from the main group, gripping his tankard in one huge hairy hand, scowling at everyone.

There were others here, too, that Taliette didn’t recognise.

"Count them," whispered her heart. "Don’t miss."

She did as it said and tallied fourteen, although they kept moving in and out of the firelight and it was hard to get the numbers right.

A narrow mousy woman with knives and an accent sidled up beside her. "You are from Barrowscale?" She asked.

Taliette didn’t reply. She had no interest in talking.

"My name is Tenisker?" the woman continued. "I am from Vintland? These are my knives?"

She sounded each phrase like it was a question, but Taliette didn’t see how she was supposed to answer.

"I’m not interested," said Taliette.

To her surprise, Tenisker didn’t leave her alone but stayed beside her. She nudged Taliette in the ribs, making a small hand gesture that made no sense.

"That one is from Barrowscale too?" she asked, motioning towards Stent, who stood in the shadows, staring at the two of them, pushing his greasy hair back from his forehead. He drank from his tankard and froth ran down his thin moustache and dripped onto his shirt.

Greasy, greasy Stent with his bristly, bristly moustache.

"Go away," she said to Tenisker.

"That one makes my skin crawl," said Tenisker, taking no notice.

"Why don’t you stick a knife in him?" she replied.

"Do you think Gintas would mind?"

Taliette shrugged and tried to maintain her cold expression, though the thought of Stent holding his guts in was amusing.

Tenisker laughed and leaned in close. "Someone should take his eyes out and wash them with soap. He looks too much and has too many thoughts in his head."

Experimentally, Taliette fitted an arrow onto her bowstring, drew, and levelled it at Stent’s chest. Her heart restrained her, but Stent ducked away anyhow, joining a group of men on the far side of the clearing.

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Then Hal came bounding over, all floppy hair and excitement like a big puppy.

"Hey, it’s good to see you," he said, grabbing her by the hands.

"I said not to come, Hal."

He shook his head, making his blonde fringe flop around. "It’s great to see you too. Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone."

She followed him around as he introduced her. Most of the new crew members had come from Laxxness, Gintas' second mansion in the North. They had travelled independently to avoid suspicion and had met up in these woods just North of the river. Hal introduced her to each man in turn. She didn’t bother to remember the names, but she did keep a count.

"It’s good to have you here," he said once the introductions were done. "I was worried you wouldn’t make it. It’s dangerous in the woods."

She thought of the trappers bleeding into the leaf mould, of the little bloody handprints on the tree trunks. She had met each challenge, and it had been easy. Boring even.

"There’s nothing dangerous in the woods, Hal," she said. "Just stupid trees and stupid people."

"Have the Aden treated you well? Did you see them? Did they give you wishes?"

She shrugged. "The Aden are idiots. I don’t know what the fuss is about. Fluffy pixie people with stupid white hair and shiny skin."

"You met them then? You made friends?"

"You shouldn’t have come, Hal. I don’t want you here."

She saw the hurt in his eyes, but she didn’t care.

"I came for you," he said. "Gintas gave me the option of staying at Barrowscale, but I wanted to come down and lead the crew. Make sure you were alright."

Something inside her snapped, just a little. Not broken, just a small sharp twinge in her chest.

"You should go home."

"I can’t go, Tal. I’m leading the crew now. Who else is going to do it? Hewitt?"

"Brock could lead."

"Brock doesn’t want to lead. He likes his comfortable life too much now. This’ll be his last take. Anyway, why would I leave?"

"I want you to walk away Hal. Just go somewhere else, I don't mind where, just not here. I don't like you. I don’t want to see you." She tried to force him with her words. To change the inside of him, but she could not.

"Look," he said. "I have to go see to some things, but once all of this is done, we’ll talk, alright? I trained you. I’m not going to leave you here by yourself on your first mission."

Then he was gone, off among the other mercenaries, checking gear, slapping backs. She watched him walk. She wanted to run after him, to crush him into the ground, to stick a knife in him, to break him until he was safe, but she didn’t. She stood perfectly still, wearing her mask of cool amusement, while her heart hammered in her chest.

The evening wore on. The men began to dance. They looked like red apes capering around the fire. Someone handed her a cup of wine, but she didn’t drink it.

----------------------------------------

It was a relief when Gintas called her aside. She walked with him into the darkness, away from the press of the dance, until they reached a second smaller camp. It was quiet here. There was no fire, but there was a tent, and a lamp burned on a folding table.

"You all set?" he asked in an undertone.

"All set."

"You know what you have to do?"

"Something bad."

"You know how to hear me?"

She stared at him blankly.

"I would have thought you might have worked it out by now," he said.

He lifted his hand to his mouth, the hand that held her heart, and whispered something into it.

"I thought you might have worked it out by now," whispered her heart.

"It was always you?" she said. Perhaps it had been obvious from the start. It just seemed so mundane, "I thought maybe it was destiny or something, but it was just you, making me into what you needed me to be all along."

He smiled, but there was melancholy in his eyes.

"There's no destiny is there?" she said. "It's all just people doing things to each other."

"I have done you harm, and I apologise," he said. "Your mother would not be pleased with me, but there will be compensations. The boy, Llandred, is handsome, no? He is the key to a kingdom, a fortune, and the real power of the Undarkn'd Flame which burns forever beneath the White City of Erin. He will rule all the worlds, and you will rule by his side. Even the Shadow Gates will fall. Even the kings that sleep beneath the mounds will bow to you."

She shrugged. "He’s alright, I guess."

He laughed his short, barking laugh. "Heh, I can never tell if you’re being serious."

He held up her heart again. The colours flowed across the surface. She fancied she could see movement within, circling round and round beneath the glass.

"Have you heard of a false flag?" he asked.

She shrugged. None of it meant anything anymore. "It's when you pretend to be one thing, but really you're another."

"The Aden boy won't leave, so we have to give him a reason to go. To put it another way, we have to destroy his reasons to stay. There is a vessel next to Layonidel's wound. You will board it with him and set sail. I will meet you on the other side. Remember, this operation is costing me a fortune, so don't screw it up."

"I don't care anymore."

"Something is coming that none of us can fight. You must make him leave immediately. It must look natural. Tomorrow, you are the saviour of men."

"Fine, whatever."

"You are going to need to do a lot of killing," he said, ignoring her. He took her by the hand, just as he had before. "I release you from all the bindings I have placed on you, and I lay a new one on you instead. The Lady Llaneth, mother of the Aden boy, must not be harmed. Her life is your life. Her pain is your pain. If she dies, so do you."

"Hey, that’s not fair," said Taliette.

"Relax, it’s only for today. "Keep her safe for me, please. There are few truly precious things in this world, and she is one of them."

She relented. "She's the woman in the tower, right? I never met her. Sure, I’ll try to keep her safe, but you’d better tell your guys not to touch her."

"If any of my people touch her, I’ll cut his balls off and make him eat them."

"That won't help me much," she said, but then she caught a glimpse of the spark in his eye, and she liked it. He was still dangerous.

"We should get back soon," he said. "You’ve no binding now, so you can break a few heads if you want. Please don’t stick a knife in Stent, though. He’s a greasy sod, but he looks the part, and he’s handy with a dagger."

She turned to go.

"Hold up," he said. "I’ve got some better wine here and a proper glass. Do you want a bit?"

Taliette nodded. Gintas produced a dusty bottle and a couple of sparkling crystal flutes from inside his coat. He popped the stopper, and poured them both a civilised measure.

"Just like old times eh?" His smile was grandfatherly. "You were always my favourite, you know? Your father was a fool."

She sipped his wine, took the arm he offered her, and together they walked back to the clearing.