The Healing Wars: Book III: Darkfall Read online

  “Quiet, all of you.” I stepped farther into the room, hands up. “It’s okay, Tali, you’re safe.” I scanned the kitchen. Two other knives stuck out of a block on the counter. One slot was empty. So that’s where she got it.

  “Hurt,” she said, still not looking at me.

  “Do you hurt?”

  “Hurt,” she said again. Her hands were clenched. One had blood on it.

  “Do you want to hurt someone?” I prayed not, but that’s what the Undying did. She didn’t have the armor anymore, but maybe she still felt like one of the Undying. I shivered.

  “Hurt.” She barely whispered it this time, a sob coming right after. She pressed her fists against her eyes and sank to the floor.

  I went to her, though Danello and Aylin and even Lanelle whisper-yelled for me not to. I sat beside her. Harder for her to attack me from the side.

  “I’m here, Tali. You had to do it—I understand. He was a bad person. He killed people.”

  She cried, tears rolling out from under her fists, but didn’t say anything. I scooted closer. Put one arm around her. A quiet hiss came from the doorway as if lots of breaths were being held.

  She leaned toward me, just a little. I wrapped the other arm around her and hugged her close. She sagged against me and her hands fell into her lap. No hug back, but it was a start. I fought back my own tears and stroked her hair.

  “You’re going to be okay, Tali. I promise.”

  “Don’t want to hurt.”

  “We’ll find a way to make it stop.”

  “Saints, she really is back,” a boy said. The voice sounded familiar.

  “Kione?” Lanelle gasped.

  I was just as shocked to see him and more than a little worried what Tali might do when she did. He’d been a guard at the Healers’ League, had even protected the door to the spire room Tali and the other apprentices had been kept in—the same room where Lanelle had worked. He’d grudgingly let me smuggle in pynvium chunks to save Tali and kept Lanelle out at breakfast long enough for me to heal her. He’d been even more hurt by Lanelle’s treachery. I suspected for him it had been a far more personal betrayal.

  Kione’s eyes narrowed and his hand went for the rapier on his hip. “What is she doing here?”

  “I’m here to help,” Lanelle said softly, real sadness on her face.

  “Help who? The Duke?”

  Lanelle choked back a cry. “No! I want him dead as much as you do. Probably more.”

  That I didn’t doubt.

  Kione turned away from Lanelle, but I caught a flicker of pain in his eyes. “We heard folks saying the Shifter was here, that she killed some Undying.” He leaned in a little more and stared into Saama’s bedroom. “I guess more than one?”

  “Tali killed him,” Lanelle said. I cringed. Not information I wanted folks to know.

  “Tali?”

  Lanelle nodded. “She was—”

  “Hurt badly by the Duke’s men,” I said quickly, shooting her a keep-your-mouth-shut look. “She’s pretty upset.”

  Kione nodded, but he didn’t look like he believed me. Or cared that I wasn’t telling him the truth. “Yeah, well, the general wants to see you right away.”

  “Give me a minute to calm her down.” Tali had stopped crying, but she still trembled.

  “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time. You’re needed now.”

  Doubtful. If they knew I was here already, then they also knew why. Hard to imagine my being back was a bigger rumor than the Duke’s army being on the way.

  “Tali?” I pushed her curls away from her face. Still red, but her natural blond was starting to grow back, same as mine. “We have to go see someone, okay? Can you stand up?”

  “Um, Nya,” said Danello. “Maybe you should leave her here.”

  Saama shook her head. “Oh no, she’s better off with her sister. Safer for everyone.”

  I helped Tali to her feet, biting back my anger. She’d only tried to hurt those who had hurt her or were trying to hurt us. She wasn’t dangerous. Just confused and scared.

  Are you willing to risk Saama’s life on that?

  “Where are we going?’

  Kione glanced at Lanelle. “I’ll take you. But not her.”

  “That’s not fair!” she said.

  “I’m not putting a known ally of the Duke’s in the same room with the general. You’re lucky I haven’t arrested you already.”

  Aylin smirked. Neither Soek nor Danello came to her defense. I couldn’t fault Kione for the decision.

  “Stay here and rest,” I told her. “You’ve had a rough night.”

  “Nya, I can be trusted, I really can.” She seemed so genuine, I almost believed her.

  “We’ll see. For now, wait here.”

  We followed Kione out. Like before, people were running around with purpose in their steps. Cover nooks were being built at intersections, places where folks could hide and ambush any soldiers who got past the bridge guards.

  “They got organized fast,” Danello said.

  Soek huffed. “I’d move fast too if the Undying were after me.”

  There might be enough people to fight the leftover garrison, but not the fifteen thousand soldiers the Duke was bringing. I just didn’t see a way to defend against that.

  We crossed the bridge to tradesmen’s corner, and I spotted the hull of an overturned skiff cresting the water at the end of it, blocking the canal. The docks beyond it were well-guarded.

  Tradesmen’s corner had people working as well, mostly at critical shops like the butcher’s and the carpenter’s. Half the buildings here were brick, safer from a fire attack, but so many others would burn. Even some made of brick had wooden upper stories where the shop owner lived. Those wouldn’t last long.

  Kione cut across a trampled park where some women tended a large cookfire at the center. Folks were already starting to gather around, bowls in hand, though I didn’t smell any food yet. Heads turned toward us—then came the quick double takes I’d grown to hate. Fingers were pointed, words whispered. Look, it’s the Shifter!

  Curse Vyand and her reward posters. If only she hadn’t nailed them up all over Geveg. Everyone seemed to recognize me. How foolish to think that just the people who wanted the bounty would remember my face.

  Kione stopped at the blacksmith’s. The bay doors were open, the tink-tink clang! of the hammers rolling out with the heat from the forge. Just a regular one, though. The League had the only pynvium forge on the isles.

  We slipped inside and headed up the stairs. Windows lit the upper floor, open now to the midmorning breeze. Several tables had been pushed together, with mismatched chairs around them. One wall had maps of the city pinned to it.

  So this was Ipstan’s war room. Jeatar had had one like it, but with nicer furniture.

  A corner door opened and a man walked in. Tall, broad shouldered, a way of moving that clearly said he was in charge and knew it. Familiar, though I couldn’t quite place the face. Kione stood a little taller.

  Danello leaned closer. “Doesn’t he own Three Hooks Fishers?”

  Of course! I’d hauled fish for his boats once or twice. He owned several and didn’t sell to Baseeri. He was one of the few Gevegian businesses still in business and the closest thing we had to an aristocrat these days.

  “So you’re Nya,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  I bet he had, and most of it was probably bad. “Don’t believe every rumor you hear.”

  Ipstan chuckled. “The rumors I ignore, but what I hear from those I trust I believe. We heard what you did in Baseer. We know what you did here at the League. We need someone like you.”

  Two things I hadn’t done on purpose. And two things I’d prefer never to do again.

  FOURTEEN

  We came here to warn you the Duke’s army is on the way.” I hesitated, my guts squirming. “But we’re not staying. No one should. Everyone should evacuate while they still can.”

  “Evacuate?” Kione said. “N
ya, we need you. You’ve been back one day and already you’ve beaten the Undying and given us hope that they could be defeated. Our lookouts at Dorpstaad even told us what you did over there. We can’t win without you.”

  My guts said Ipstan wouldn’t be too pleased to hear his men talking about me like that. Even on his boats, he was a man who liked being in charge and giving orders. He was the “general,” after all.

  “I … I need to protect Tali,” I said. “She’s been through too much already.”

  “General Ipstan’s a good man,” Kione said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s the one who convinced us all to fight and got rid of the soldiers in the districts. You can trust him.”

  Aylin folded her arms. Kione wasn’t the best judge of character. He’d worked for Vinnot and the Luminary, for Saints’ sake.

  “Easy, K.” Ipstan put a hand on Kione’s shoulder. “Family is important, and you can’t fault a girl for sticking by hers.” He turned to me. “We can start with you telling me what you know about the Duke.”

  I told him what Jeatar’s scouts had seen and what the Undying had said about the blue-boys herding us, keeping us pinned so we’d be easy targets for the Duke’s fireboats.

  “So we didn’t win?” Kione seemed crestfallen that they hadn’t been the tough fighting force they’d believed.

  “Of course we did,” Ipstan scoffed. “We chased them out. They’re just doing their best to hold what little ground they have left. Don’t believe a word that blue-boy said.”

  I gaped. “You think he’s lying?”

  “We beat them. They’re too scared to try to retake the isles or they would have tried by now. All they’ve been doing is sending the few soldiers they have that we couldn’t beat. That’s changed now.”

  “But the tactics make sense,” Danello said. “The Duke’s soldiers have the native population of Geveg penned in one area of the city. You need to take this information seriously.”

  Ipstan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need to do anything. You’re forgetting who’s in charge around here.”

  “You’re forgetting you have maybe a week before the Duke reaches Geveg.”

  Kione frowned and stepped closer, like he was all set to jump in and defend his general’s honor. Danello tensed.

  “Arguing about it isn’t going to help Geveg,” I said evenly, tugging Danello back. “We all want what’s best for the city.”

  Kione backed down. Ipstan took a deep breath and nodded, but he scowled at Danello once more before looking back at me.

  “People say you want to free Geveg, like we do,” he said. “They say the Duke is trying to kill you because he knows you can destroy him. You risked your life to save our Healers, you risked your life to save your sister—surely you can take one more risk and at least hear what I have to say.”

  We hadn’t found Danello’s father yet, so I could hardly say no, especially when he made it sound so reasonable.

  “I’ll listen, but my friend’s father is part of the resistance. They’ve been looking for each other for months. Could you send Kione to find him and bring him here? We can talk until they get back.”

  Danello gave me a grateful smile. Ipstan didn’t look so pleased.

  “Of course.”

  Danello gave Kione the name and description of his father. Ipstan pulled Kione aside and spoke to him a moment before he hurried off.

  “Now where were we?” Ipstan began, taking a seat at the table and gesturing for us to do the same. “Geveg is divided by more than just who controls what isle. Not everyone wants to fight. Many insisted that fighting was going to get us all killed and we didn’t stand a chance at winning. Until this morning, that is. You inspired them, Nya. They want to fight now. They believe we can win, and it’s all because of you.”

  “They just needed to know the Undying could actually die.”

  He smiled at me, but it was a calculating smile. “No, it was more than that. You’re a hero to many—all of you are—and it’s given them hope.”

  All of us? Aylin was looking at her hands, her fingers laced tightly together. Soek seemed proud and happy to be considered a hero. Danello looked skeptical. I sensed Ipstan wanted more from me than to hear him out.

  “I don’t know what you expect us to do,” I said.

  “Talk to people. In fact”—he got up from the table—“why don’t you come with me and see what we’re doing. See how prepared we are, how we plan to defend ourselves. You’ll realize we don’t need to run. We can fight back. We just need more hands to hold the weapons.”

  “I am curious,” Danello said. So was I. Even Soek nodded. We all looked at Aylin.

  She sighed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just look. We’re safe here, right?”

  “Safer than when the Baseeri were in control,” Ipstan said.

  “Okay. I’d like to see what a Gevegian army looks like too.”

  I held tight to Tali’s hand as we followed Ipstan from building to building, house to house. My guts said he wanted me to talk to as many folks as possible now in case he couldn’t convince us to stay.

  The more I saw, the more I wanted to.

  Ipstan and the resistance had been busy. Shops that had once made clothes made leather armor—chest pieces and pants, long heavy gloves, and skullcaps. Seamstresses worked on uniform tunics in dark violet. The blacksmith banged out weapons by the rackful—rapiers, swords, knives. Woodworkers sanded spears to sharp points.

  “Wow, how long has this been going on?” Danello said, marveling at every house and shop.

  “It started after Nya killed the Luminary and exposed what the Duke was doing to our Healers. To our children. We couldn’t let that happen again.” Ipstan turned to a group of people making boots. “Geveg for Gevegians!”

  “Geveg for Gevegians!” they called back. The words were passed down the street, voice after voice picking up the cry.

  “This is our city,” Ipstan said. “It’s time we determined our own destiny again.”

  “Our home is worth fighting for,” I said.

  Aylin looked away, biting her lip.

  All three of us had said those words not long ago, sitting outside the farm of a family who’d risked everything for each other. So much had happened between that promise and now. So much lost.

  How much found?

  Renewed hope, like Ipstan said. Renewed purpose. The Gov-Gen was gone; a lot of Baseeri were gone. Things had changed. Enough to drift luck in our favor?

  “What kinds of defenses are you setting up to keep the fireboats away?” If the Duke really was planning to burn us out, they would be the biggest problems. With their catapults, they could launch fire rocks without ever setting foot on land.

  “We made our own fire rocks.”

  Impressive. Fire rocks weren’t easy to make, requiring a white-hot forge and a mixture of pitch and who-knew-what-else to keep them burning. But fling one onto a boat or house, and they burst apart with a sticky flame that set everything it touched on fire. Well, everything that would burn.

  “Took some doing to get enough catapults for the boats, but what we couldn’t buy, we stole, and what we couldn’t steal, we made.”

  The Duke had bigger catapults and launched fire rocks heavy enough to splatter across multiple houses. A few solid hits could destroy an entire block.

  Unless our boats sank theirs before they got in range.

  “What about pynvium weapons?” Aylin asked in a quiet voice, as if reluctant to show any interest. “The Duke will have a lot of those.”

  Ipstan grinned, but there was an edge to it. “We have something special to counter those. I think you’ll be very impressed.”

  Ipstan took us to a warehouse where a dozen women and children sat at long tables, grinding seeds. Baskets of red-veined plants sat in the middle of the table, the pungent, earthy aroma making my nose itch.

  “These are our poison makers,” he said proudly. “I recruited every herb grower I could find.”

  Shiverf
eet raced down my back. Poison. He was actually making poison.

  “Are you insane?” Soek burst out. “Do you have any idea how deadly that is?”

  “Why do you think we’re using it? We need to take out soldiers as fast as we can just to survive. Blades tipped with this mixture can kill in minutes, and a well-thrown spear can hit outside the range of a pynvium flash.”

  Danello raised one finger. “Um, isn’t that a good thing?”

  “Not if someone on our side accidentally cuts themselves,” Soek said, his cheeks an angry pink. “Or someone misses and one of those spears is picked up and used against us.”

  “You can’t cure poison,” I added when Danello still looked confused. “It’s the only ailment that ever scared my mother.”

  Water vipers killed their share of fishermen and leaf pullers every year. So did two kinds of spiders commonly found in crops. Both farmers and fishermen knew that a bite from any of them meant a long and painful night if they were lucky, death if they weren’t.

  “I know it’s risky,” Ipstan said, “but we’ll need every advantage we can get.”

  Just like they’d need every weapon they could get. If he was willing to do this, what else was he willing to do to win? Was he also after the girl who shattered the League, crumbled the palace, broke the Undying? Was that what he really wanted from me?

  I didn’t want to be that girl.

  Or that weapon.

  “We’re being extremely careful with the poisoned weapons, don’t worry,” Ipstan said, steering us out of the warehouse. “Only those trained to use them will be allowed to carry them. We’ll be taking additional precautions as well, like marking them in red so it’s clear which weapons are coated.”

  Maybe that was what the heavy leather gloves were for. A way to protect the arms and hands when you carried one of those spears.

  It turned my stomach, but it would take only a few spears to make the Duke’s men terrified of getting close. Seasoned troops understood pain, had little fear of it, knowing a Healer stood close by if they got hurt. But poison would make even a commander run.

  “Let me show you the other warehouse.” Ipstan headed for a row of buildings with multiple guards posted at all the entrances, and more on the street corners leading up to it.