There was silence for a time. Every man was on edge.
A man’s scream sounded in the night, somewhere not far away, the note one of extreme pain. Evora held her breath. The scream was suddenly cut off.
The roar was ear-splitting, so loud Evora gritted her teeth in pain. It was a cry of triumph.
Silence again.
Then the screaming began. It was the bladesinger’s voice. A sound of utter pain and torment. It rose and fell.
~
IT continued throughout the rest of the night. At times it would stop, only to start again.
One of the bladesingers stood. His face was white. "I’m going to help him."
"You’ll do no such thing," Evora snapped. "Remember your duty. There is nothing you can do for him."
Not a man had any sleep that night. They stayed silent, rigid with tension, until the dawn saw the cries ended. Until the clouded sky signalled the start of a new day.
~
SHE had wondered when it would be coming. Evora looked down at Captain Joram, an impenetrable look on her face.
"We need to turn back," he said.
"I will be giving the orders around here, Captain. And I’ll remind you of that, this once, before I have you removed from service and find a replacement."
He nodded. He wasn’t a fool. He knew he was speaking out of turn.
She softened a little. "Listen, Captain. A hard day’s march will see us in Torlac. You saw the display from the girl last night — the thief is facing the same problem we are. He will want to be in Torlac this night. One more day, Captain. One more day and we will have him."
He nodded, turning away.
Evora sighed. It wouldn’t be long before she faced open mutiny. She was so close, she could feel it. Let them be unhappy, let them continue for one day more and she would reward them when they arrived back in Altura.
Torlac lay ahead. And with it, the Lexicon.
45
There are people living in the icy north. I’ve seen them. It is cold there, so cold that your breath freezes in the air. But something told me to leave, without exploring any further, and it wasn’t the cold.
— Toro Marossa, ‘Explorations’, Page 299, 423 Y.E.
KILLIAN collapsed into the bed, groaning with exhaustion.
Ella headed directly for the tub. Steaming buckets of water lay outside of it. She looked at Killian, he seemed fast asleep but she wasn’t about to disrobe just because she thought he was sleeping.
She strode briskly to the bed. "Roll over," she said.
"What?" he said, his eyes bleary.
"Roll over. I want to use that blanket to shield the bath."
He rolled over. Ella took the blanket away from him. She looked at his body. He’d removed his shirt. All thoughts of a bath fled. The red scar down his back was puffed and angry, it crossed from between his shoulder blades down to below his waist.
"Your back! How can you keep going, it must hurt terribly!"
"It does," he admitted.
She turned to the door to their room and opened it, looking out into the hallway. A maid stood holding some towels, a surprised look on her face.
"Blessings," said Ella, putting on the accent in the way Killian had shown her. "Do you have honey and wine?" The girl nodded. "And some clean linen we could purchase? Here," Ella handed her a coin. "Please bring them up immediately."
The girl nodded.
"I think you need a bath better than me," Ella said, entering the room again.
"I just want to sleep," Killian said.
"Get in. I said get in! Do you want to get bad blood, reaching from your back to your heart?"
"Bad blood?"
Ella hoped it sounded official. "Yes, bad blood. And lesions."
"Lesions?"
She didn’t really know what lesions were. "That’s right. Now, get in the bath."
He slowly sat up on the bed. There was a knock on the door as the maid brought up the requested items.
"Thank you," Ella said."
"Blessings," the girl replied.
Ella closed the door. Killian was already in the bath.
"Trying to avoid making it even, are you?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"You saw me. I know you did," she said.
"Saw you?"
"You know. In the lake. Bathing."
"I did not."
"It doesn’t bother me," she said airily. "I would often dance, naked, in Altura. For men."
He snorted, "You would not."
"Why wouldn’t I?"
"Firstly, they don’t do that kind of thing in Altura. Secondly, you had hardly had a night out drinking before I met you, let alone dancing naked."
"Don’t you think men would pay to see me? Is that it? I’ve heard it is quite common in Seranthia for women to dance naked, for money."
"Trust me," Killian said. "It’s not a profession you would enjoy."
"Don’t you think I’m beautiful enough?"
He looked at her seriously. "I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."