A Future, Forged Page 7

  The jun stood trembling. She turned her hands over and over, her cheeks pale and sweating. Then she nodded shakily and smoothed her unmarked robe. Dallan and Neri both looked to Teya. Him frowning, Neri fearful.

  Barrod advanced, bulky, black-clad, infinitely more menacing than the jun.

  Teya shrank away. She had attacked a jun. She must be mad. The door was too far away and she still wore an oversized shirt, without other clothes or weapons. She was in the power of these people and they wanted to use her for their own ends. What would they do now they knew she was dangerous?

  ‘Wh–what did she do to me?’ Neri said. Barrod stalked closer, his sword out.

  The chair caught Teya behind the legs and her knees collapsed. Every muscle shook and her bones liquified. She could barely lift her arm. Faces blurred. Voices were distant echoes, heard down a tunnel.

  Ying shifted, putting herself between the weishi and Teya.

  ‘Don’t hurt her! It was an illusion.’

  Teya felt the younger girl shaking and regarded her in bleary wonder.

  ‘Illusion?’ Neri checked her arm and patted her clothing, her expression bewildered. ‘But the flames…they felt so real. So hot. I could smell the skin and hair burning.’

  ‘She’s scared of you, Shunu Neri.’ Tears glistened on Ying’s lashes. ‘The things Jun Grey-Saud did to her family…’ Her voice broke.

  ‘Ying,’ Teya said, the skin on her back crawling at the memory of pain. ‘I don’t need protecting. I can look after myself.’ She struggled to her feet, put the younger girl aside and stared at Neri defiantly.

  But the strength of irritation lasted only a moment and the room pitched again. She dropped to her chair and closed her eyes, hoping the room would stop spinning.

  ‘Here.’ Ying offered a sticky sweet-bun. ‘Eat. You’ve done too much. Eat it!’

  Teya shoved the bun in, chewed and swallowed. Her stomach rebelled, but she forced the food down. Ying was right. She had overestimated her strength and that couldn’t happen again. Not if she wanted to get Perrin free. She ate another bun and guzzled a glass of the too-sweet gidfruit juice, ignoring the weishi who still hovered close by.

  Strength seeped into her limbs, golden and warm.

  After a long, thick silence, Neri sat heavily, staring at Teya. She waved Barrod aside and the weishi took up his watchful stance a few steps away, his attention fixed on Teya.

  ‘It was so real,’ Neri whispered, switching to Dallan. He nodded.

  ‘And I think that’s our ticket to get close to Han.’ He considered Teya. ‘Do you think you can trick more than one person at a time? Like you faded yourself from my weishi? I’ll relax my wards to make it easier.’

  Teya perched on the edge of her seat, nibbling on a redberry pastry. ‘Don’t know. It’s a bit different when it’s not just hiding myself.’

  ‘Don’t overtax yourself!’ Ying said. ‘And be calm. Open. That will make it stronger.’

  Waving a dismissive hand, Teya projected an image of Perrin into Dallan’s mind. Dallan started and considered the empty space next to her chair.

  ‘Your brother. Hard to believe he’s not here. Neri, open your wards so she can try showing you.’

  The jun stilled, then nodded and held herself rigid. Teya grimaced, trying to seem like she was concentrating. She already knew she could put an image into the thoughts of five people at once. No need for the jun to know that.

  Neri shook her head. ‘I can’t see anything.’

  Teya slumped in her seat. ‘I guess not, then.’ The room spun but no way would she admit weakness. She drank more juice, trying to hide the shaking of her arm.

  ‘Disappointing,’ Dallan said, scratching at his jaw. ‘But not the end of the world. We’ll get you a robe suitable for a Chinshi servant. That will make you practically invisible once you’re inside. It’s finding a way to get you inside that’s the trick.’

  A soft knock fell on the door and Neri called out, ‘Enter.’

  A servant entered, dressed in severely-cut dark grey robes with copper detailing. He bowed and passed over a rolled piece of bamboo paper. ‘Message for you, shunu. Urgent from the Chinshi.’

  ‘Is the Messenger House runner who brought it waiting for a reply?’ Neri traced the blue wax seal with a fingertip.

  ‘No, shunu.’

  ‘Dismissed.’

  He bowed and retreated, closing the door. Neri broke the seal and unrolled the soft paper. She scanned the message, and swore softly.

  ‘We may not have time to experiment, Dal. I asked Hassien to message me if anything unusual happened in the Chinshi.’

  Dallan nodded. ‘Good. That was the whole reason you gifted his contract to Jenna on her adult Nameday ceremony three months ago. A jiaoji-lover has better access to the Jun First than anyone else. We were lucky Hassien was willing to help. What does he say?’

  Teya listened. She had considered applying to Jiaoji House, herself. Jiaoji were well-respected and the House taught all manner of useful skills, beyond the arts of seduction. They were picky about their students, though, taking the most intelligent and preferring those who were physically perfect. Her scars would have excluded her. Besides, she couldn’t have left Perrin to fend for himself.

  ‘He hasn’t had much time with Jenna,’ Neri said. ‘Said she was polite enough, but didn’t seem to be interested in him.’ She gave a small, wry smile. ‘I think he was offended. After all, he was by far the best student out of Jiaoji House for his graduating year. He thought perhaps she was interested in women.’

  ‘But?’ Dallan prompted.

  Neri tapped the roll of paper. ‘I think we now know why she wasn’t interested in Hassien. Han Gray-Saud’s second hunlinna has died in an accident and he has proposed to Jenna.’ The jun’s pale eyes were bleak. ‘Jenna accepted. The hunli ceremony that will bind them—and put Han on the throne as consort—is set for tomorrow.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  TEYA

  ‘Khara!’ Dallan rose and paced to the window. ‘He moves fast. That’s why he invited her to visit Asalam. He wanted her out of Madina. Away from Mistress Rua at Xintou House. Away from the Jun Council. An accident.’ He spun back. ‘Does it say what sort of accident? Is there a way of proving Han’s involvement in his hunlinna’s death?’

  Teya scowled. Of course Han had killed his hunlinna. It didn’t need to be proved. He’d done the same to his first, letting her die from bloodloss then acting all broken-hearted. Everyone in Asalam knew it. But his Xintou hadn’t turned him over to the Law Mistresses for that crime, either.

  ‘Hassien doesn’t say any more about that.’ Neri read the scroll again. ‘Only that Han’s hunlinna was on the Gray-Saud estates, not in Asalam. But there’s no doubt he’s consolidating power. I did hear rumours Han intends to pledge his younger sister to Jun Second Alric Koh-Lin.’

  Dallan made a noise of frustration. ‘Of course. Alric’s not yet eighteen and his mother is Han’s cousin.’ He sat and dropped his head into his palms. ‘I’m a shazi, Neri. I should have seen this coming. Han’s been planning this for years. He’ll control of two of the three major jundoms.’

  Neri nodded. ‘And the other Jun Second, Carval Ma-Safra, is fifty-seven with no heir yet. His youngest kin-brother, Qidan Ma-Safra, has been Han’s lover for years. Every time Han is in Madina they’re practically joined at the hip. Undoubtedly, Han promised Qidan the Jun Second’s title in exchange for support.’

  Teya waited, jiggling one leg. The welter of names and titles made little sense.

  But Ying whispered, ‘And with the Jun First and both Jun Seconds in his control, Han could legalise slavery straight away.’

  ‘Not only that,’ Dallan said. ‘He already owns some of the largest rattleberry silk farms. If he runs the whole jundom, he could expand south into Jidad and take control of the massive herds of snow-deer and the yar-pine plantations Prince Fahad’s family have been nurturing these last several decades. Or north into Adhegal to control the bamboo pla
ntations.’

  Teya growled. ‘None of this matters. Who cares what Adhegal grows or where yar-pine comes from?’ She rose and held her aching right arm with her left. ‘I want Perrin. Enough talking. Get me into the Chinshi so I can do what needs doing.’

  Dallan shook his head. ‘No, you’re in no condition to take on Han. He trained in Asalam Weishi House for several years as a young man. I thought we’d have a few days for your injury to heal. Or we could get a nai-xintou to help.’ He eyed Ying askance.

  ‘Sorry, shenshi.’ Her return look held guilt. ‘I’m not nai-xintou. Micro-telekinesis is rare. There are three with the gift at the moment and they’re all out in other towns, attending to Bonded Xintou who are ready to fertilise their eggs and genetically engineer their gene-daughters.’

  ‘Not your fault.’ Dallan grimaced.

  There was a long silence until Ying spoke timidly. ‘What about Mistress Rua? Can she help? She must know what’s going on.’

  ‘Han thought of that, too,’ Dallan said. ‘A flitter-bird message arrived this morning from my sources in Madina. Mistress Rua left Madina two days ago to attend an emergency mediation between two juns disputing land allocations in Jiali, to the east. She’ll be well out of telepathic range of even the strongest Xintou House mistress. By the time she gets a flitter-bird message—assuming she ever gets one—and returns to Madina, the hunli ceremony between Han and Jenna will be done.’ He growled. ‘I can’t believe he caught me so offguard. I thought we’d have more time to plan before he moved.’

  Teya glared. ‘What was your plan before you met me?’

  He shrugged. ‘I was going to try killing him, myself. I trained at Weishi. The same time as Han.’

  ‘And did you ever beat him in a fight?’

  Dallan emitted a reluctant laugh. ‘No. And we haven’t seen eye to eye for a long time. He never lets me near without his weishi close by. He’s not stupid.’

  ‘So we don’t have any choice,’ Teya said. ‘Once Gray-Saud is on the throne, your precious Jun First will last less time than his first and second hunli partners did. He’ll kill her, declare himself Jun First and make his kin-son the new Jun-Heir.’

  ‘You’re not ready,’ Dallan said. ‘Casting illusions in a safe room or against people in the street with no wards is one thing. Going into the Chinshi and up against people like Han when you’re under pressure and frightened is another.’

  ‘I’ve done it before,’ Teya said bitterly. ‘And been frightened every day of my life since I was ten. It’s never stopped me from using my gift.’

  He laid a hand on her injured shoulder. ‘Did you use it yesterday when that Migong mob attacked us?’

  ‘Well, no, but—’

  ‘That’s what I mean.’ He tapped his temple. ‘When you’re scared, logical thought goes out the window. You need food and healing. Plus time to practice breaking wards and throwing illusions under pressure. Otherwise you won’t be able to when you’re panicking or angry.’ He regarded Ying, who nodded. ‘And I know Ying has told you xintou gifts work better when you’re calm and open.’

  Teya rose and stalked around the room, touching things blindly. He was right, of course. She knew how hard it was to cast an image when she was scared. But what choices were there? And it wasn’t his decision to make. He and Ying and Neri had no authority over her. Nor did they have to be there, in the room, knife-in-hand. The blood would, literally, be on her hands.

  And if she were caught, Dallan would disavow her. As would Ying. Of course they would. Dallan had a family to protect. Ying had a career ahead of her and a jun to shield.

  Unaccountably, tears blurred the room and Teya had to take a deep breath to fill the sudden emptiness in her chest. She was just tired, still. That was all. She could do this. She’d been hoping—these last five years—for a chance like this.

  She returned to the table. ‘We don’t have time for training and practice. I’m fine. I’ve eaten. And I have done it under pressure before.’

  Flames, screams, pain, anger. Such rage.

  She lifted her chin. ‘Get me that uniform. We need to go. Today. I’m not taking the chance that Perrin might get murdered or sold to slavery. Take me now or I’ll go on my own.’

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  DALLAN

  ‘Stop fidgeting,’ Dallan muttered. ‘You sure you’re alright? Did you eat enough?’

  One step behind him, Teya stopped twisting the hem of her black-and-silver Zah-Hill servants’ tunic, thrust her hands into the sleeves and swore at him. Dallan repressed a laugh. The girl had guts, he had to give her that. If only he could be certain of her loyalty and her ability to handle the stress. She was the linchpin of a very shaky plan and she was untried, her aims entirely on retrieving her brother. If this failed there might not be another chance.

  But she was right. There was no time to spare.

  ‘Fade yourself,’ he said as they approached the Chinshi’s enormous front gates of timber and iron. ‘And stay out of sight of one of the guards so you only have to trick one at a time.’

  She huffed a faint laugh but shifted beside him so the guard on the door’s northern side couldn’t see her. The one five feet away ignored her.

  Dallan addressed him. ‘I’m here to see Han Gray-Saud. Tell him Dallan Johnston wishes to see him.’

  The weishi raked him with a cold, sneering inspection. He rapped on the gate and the smaller door, inset into the larger, creaked open. The weishi passed on the message and Dallan stepped through, with Teya close by. She shuffled around keeping Dallan’s larger body between her and one of the two guards inside. The weishi ignored her and waved Dallan into the main entrance.

  Dallan surveyed the twin bloodsandstone towers that dominated either side of the courtyard. Three hundred years they’d stood. Asalam was the second-oldest city on Kalima. A monument to the tenacity and vision of the colonists who’d left Earth in search of an ideal world with freedom for everyone. He set his jaw. Their dream had been realised for five hundred years. No power-hungry despot was going to destroy it. Not if he could help it.

  Once they were inside the central building, set between the towers, Dallan relaxed a fraction. Now Teya would blend in and she’d only have to cast illusions once she got close to Han.

  He guided her into an alcove beneath the sweeping staircase and bent to catch her eye.

  ‘Right. Now it’s up to you.’

  She dragged her awed gaze away from the huge steel sculpture of a colony ship that dominated the entrance to the Chinshi palace proper. Her cheeks were pale. One hand rested on the Johnston steel dagger, sheathed at her hip, beneath the tunic. Her fingers flexed, so tight on the handle their tips turned white.

  ‘It’s ok, Teya.’ He tried to sound reassuring. ‘You can do this. I’m going down to the prison cells and see if I can find Perrin.’

  ‘How will you get him out?’

  He lifted one foot. ‘Lockpicks in the heel of my boot. Old trick I learned from my father, who was a bit of a rogue.’

  Teya raised a dubious brow but said nothing.

  ‘Here. Take this and go that way.’ Thrusting a roll of bamboo paper into her hand, he directed her toward the stairs. ‘Act like you belong. Head high. Shoulders back. Ask the first servant you see where Han Gray-Saud is. Tell them you have a message to deliver in person. They won’t question you because of the uniform. When you find him, hide until he’s on his own.’

  He quashed doubt. This had to work. ‘Then kill him, hide the knife under your uniform and run out of his room, screaming for help. Once the chaos starts, get out, ditch the uniform and make your way home.’

  ‘You mean the Qin-Turner house?’ Her lip curled. ‘That’s not my home.’

  Dallan sighed. ‘Sorry. Yes.’

  ‘You promise you’re going to get Perrin out?’

  ‘I promise.’ The ticking of boots on stone made him glance around. ‘Go. Before anyone comes.’ When he looked back she was gone. He waved through the place she had been, but
it was empty.

  He turned to the southern tower. The prisons were in the base. Question was, what excuse did he use to see who was in there?

  #

  TEYA

  Teya retreated from Dallan and faded herself. He checked where she had been, then marched toward a door beside a massive tapestry covered in strange, unrecognisable animals. Should she follow him, to make sure? She hesitated, then ghosted in his wake. He rapped on the door and spoke to the weishi behind it.

  ‘I’m here to see one of the prisoners,’ he said, his tone haughty and bored.

  ‘No admittance by order of the Jun First,’ the weishi said.

  ‘I have her permission.’

  The weishi considered Dallan for a long, harrowing moment. Teya held her breath in as the men confronted each other, neither backing down. He wasn’t going to let Dallan in.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  TEYA

  She settled her heart, stretched out a thought and found his wards. Nowhere near as strong as Neri’s or even Ying’s. Easy. She wormed an illusion into a crack in his ward. Now he saw a note in Dallan’s hand. An order to allow entry.

  The weishi started, frowned, then shifted aside, opening the door. ‘Five minutes.’

  Dallan vanished within and Teya let out a huff. He was a hmar. How would he have gotten in without her? He probably would have left and said he couldn’t. That would be typical.

  She stalked away, holding the steel dagger still tucked beneath her tunic. It didn’t matter. Once she killed Han Gray-Saud, she could get Perrin herself and get out of here. Maybe her mother, too. Her breath hitched. Would her mother even remember her? Did she still care? Or had the new baby replaced both her children in her love?

  Teya found her steps faltering and paused halfway up the grand staircase. She’d been so focussed on finding Perrin and killing Han she’d never considered the possibility of seeing her mother again. Helva Connor probably thought both her children were dead in the fire lit by Gennar Gen-kin on the day Gray-Saud kidnapped her. Of course she must.