When they arrived at the cave entrance, Tyen decided to risk a question.
“How do you feel about the rebels using your world as a base?”
Brev stopped halfway down the stairs and turned to stare at Tyen.
“How’d you know this was my home world?”
Tyen attempted to shrug, but the heavy pack prevented his shoulders from moving. “The rebels haven’t been in this world long enough for you to know your way around the market so well. Some of the stallholders knew you, and not because you’ve bought their goods a few times before. One even asked after your family.”
Brev scowled and turned away. “You noticed a lot.”
“I didn’t have much else to do,” Tyen replied as they continued into the cave. “So are you going to answer my question?”
The man slipped off the pack and swung it onto a sled. “The Raen has allowed the market to continue. That means lots of people travelling to this world. That means it’s a good place to hide.”
Tyen chose a sled and eased out of the pack. “But would that change if he knew this world was harbouring rebels?”
“It’s not. Nobody outside the base knows we’re here,” Brev replied.
“So he wouldn’t punish people if they didn’t know about us?”
The man’s brows lowered. “I don’t know.” His gaze flickered up to meet Tyen’s, then away. “What do you think?”
Tyen shook his head. “I have no idea. I grew up in a magically poor world. We’d never heard of him. I didn’t know much about him until several days ago. People have told me terrible stories about him.” He shuddered. “I know risks must be taken, and sacrifices made, but surely the fewer lives we risk the better.”
“Trouble is, it’s easier to hide where there are lots of well-used paths in the space between worlds, and lots of other minds,” Brev said. “That means being around lots of people.”
“Yet we aren’t around lots of people out here. I worry that, if the Raen is as powerful as they say, he could sense all the minds in our base at a distance. But we’ll need more sorcerers if we’re going to defeat him.”
“The cave isn’t going to hold many more.”
“Unless we…” Tyen shook his head and let the sentence remain unfinished.
Brev passed the fold in the wall, pointed his sled at the tunnel, sat on the seat, then turned to look at Tyen. “Unless what?”
Tyen grimaced. “Something I suggested when I arrived, but the others didn’t like it.”
“Oh? What is that?”
“To move the families somewhere safer.”
Brev’s eyebrows knitted as he considered that. Then he nodded. “Not so much food to gather, too. Why don’t you suggest it again?”
“They won’t listen to me.”
“Not yet, they won’t. But they will eventually, when they decide you can be trusted.” He straightened and propelled his sled forward.
Following behind, Tyen ventured another look into the man’s mind. Well, he didn’t kill me off and pretend the Raen found me, though I suppose he could still try pushing me into the rift, the man was thinking. But he seems nice enough–worrying about our safety and all. Has some good ideas, too…
If the rest of the rebels were so easy to sway, Tyen would have the families sent to safety in days. He doubted they would be, though. Brev did not speak again, but this time the silence wasn’t frosty. When they arrived at the cavern the man gave him a list and instructions to unpack the bags and make piles of supplies for each of the recipients. Tyen took note of the names of the women and men who came to collect their purchases. Finally only a few piles were left.
Brev pressed a sack into Tyen’s hands. “These are for Ayan’s wife. She’s at the other end of the cavern. It’s a bit of a walk and it’s getting a bit late, so skim your way there.”
“Skim?” Tyen asked. “You mean go into the space between a little?”
“Yes.”
“But we aren’t supposed to go between the worlds from here.”
“Not to leave the world, but going a little way so we can travel to another part of the cave faster only creates small loops.”
Tyen hefted the sack over his shoulder, then pushed away from the world only so far that his surroundings faded a little. Skimming along the cavern, he followed the curved wall to the far end, where he returned to the world and delivered the supplies to a woman distracted by the challenge of getting a brood of eight children to go to sleep.
He pushed out of the world again, speeding back to Brev. When he arrived the man looked down at Tyen’s leg and his eyebrows rose.
“You have a stowaway.”
Looking down, Tyen found a pair of round eyes gazing up at him. A girl about four cycles old was clinging to his trouser leg.
“Hello,” Tyen said. “I’d better take you back to your mother.”
He took hold of the child’s hand and returned to the other end of the cave. As he appeared, Ayan’s wife, who had been casting about with an expression of annoyance, sighed with relief.