14. Arienne
14
ARIENNE
Arienne had been afraid her long, exhausting day might cause her to oversleep, but she woke up just as the sun went down as she’d intended. She felt well-rested. It was cold outside the covers, and she dressed quickly. For six years, she had worn only her school robes. Summer robes for the summer, winter robes for the winter… Her new tunic and trousers were still stiff and a bit uncomfortable, but she supposed she would break them in with time. She rubbed the leather patches that covered her elbows and knees.
It was snowing outside. Not the best day to begin a journey. Not the best season, in fact. But it wasn’t like anyone could set a convenient date to leave their old life behind. This was her destiny, so to speak. It made her a little sad thinking of this.
Eldred had remained silent after Arienne had talked down to him. It was better this way. She wanted to stop hearing about his penchant for killing people, to say goodbye to the past six years in peace.
There was a knock at the door. She froze, unsure of what to do, until she heard Cain’s voice.
“If you’re still inside, let me in.”
She withdrew the bolts and opened the door. Cain was standing there, the pair of spectacles on his face. A forced smile was on it as well.
“You’re still here. I’m glad. You should wait until later in the night before setting out.”
He was wearing a new coat. It was black.
Arienne nodded. “That’s my plan. Thank you for the clothes and the bag.”
This man had bought her clothes and also a meal at Lukan’s. The money she’d brought with her from the school was in the sleeve of her old robe. The very robe she had left behind while running away from Duff. The few silver coins Lukan had given her were the only money she had.
Her cheeks flushed. She hoped he wouldn’t think she was taking any of this for granted. She had intended to repay him, before she realized that she had lost the coins. Though even a brick of solid gold wouldn’t be enough for most people to aid a runaway sorcerer.
“I’m sorry. I thought I had money to pay you back, but I don’t.” She bowed her head. How pathetic she must seem to him.
Cain didn’t answer. He went over and sat in one of the two chairs in the small room. Arienne sat down opposite him.
“When I first came here to the Capital,” said Cain, “I was twelve. I couldn’t speak the language. The man I came with had left me to fend for myself… If my—” His voice faltered for a moment. “If Fienna hadn’t helped me then, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
“Who is she?”
“A woman, about five years older than me… And kind. Feigere. Arleshe. You remind me of her a little.” Arlandais had crept into his Imperial.
“Your girlfriend?” She immediately regretted asking him.
“No.”
“Just a friend then?” Why did her mouth insist on asking these questions, she wondered.
“Yes. She died. I’m trying to find out who killed her.”
Arienne nodded. There was no tea to sip or biscuit to nibble to punctuate the silence. But this was not an easy topic of conversation to maintain.
As if reading her mind, Cain changed the subject. “Have you thought of where you might go?”
“Anywhere. I’m a sorcerer, so… I think I can manage wherever I go.”
That was not true. She did not know any sorcery that could protect her, especially from the dogged manhunt of the Office that would inevitably ensue. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell Cain that she needed even more help, for the fear that he might give it.
Eldred was still silent. She was glad he wasn’t whispering to kill Cain before he could sell her out to the Empire.
“Well, it’s just that some years ago I had a friend who was hired to help a runaway sorcerer… I’d assisted him with it. I think I understand what’s involved.”
Oh. She nodded.
“It was about five years ago, but the runaway never showed up… If you don’t have a route in mind, I can tell you what we had planned for that boy back then.”
She nodded again.
“The most important matter is to leave the Imperial heartland as quickly as possible. Four days at sea and three days across Ledon on foot will bring you to Arland. But there are clearance procedures on the docks before boarding, and records are kept… If you walk the eastern roads instead, you will arrive in about a fortnight. The road isn’t that dangerous either. It took me twenty days to walk from Arland to here. I was very little then, and slow.”
“I haven’t decided if I want to go back to Arland…”
Cain shook his head. “If you speak such perfect Imperial outside of the heartland, you will attract attention. Unless you speak a third language fluently, hiding in Arland will be the safest for you. What’s more…” He smiled. “I went to Fienna’s funeral today and heard a very interesting story. There’s someone claiming to be a princess of Arland who is fighting the occupying legion there. They say she was sent by the dragon and wields a flaming sword.”
Arland’s last king had died some years before Arienne was born. He had left no progeny from what she could recall, but had a daughter been hidden away all this time? Arienne imagined a young woman wearing a golden crown and shining armor, riding a dragon as she held aloft a fiery sword. In Arienne’s imagination, the princess resembled herself.
“If she continues to do well, the Empire will be too busy to concern itself with a mere rogue sorcerer.”
That made sense; what few runaway sorcerers there were would benefit from the Empire having something other than them to occupy its attention.
Cain named a string of passes, roads, inns, and villages, where she should go and where she should avoid. Arienne committed all of them to memory. It seemed that the sorcerer Cain had mentioned had also tried to run away to Arland or Kamori. Since that was five years ago, she knew why he likely hadn’t shown up—he must have been that skeleton in the basement of the Academy.
“Thank you.”
“And…” A shadow crossed his face. “Not to say I expect a favor in return, but I do have some questions for you.”
Arienne straightened her back, her face attentive.
“How strong is a Class Four Power generator?”
“They’re fairly uncommon. Any number lower than five is military grade, I should think. There might be a few in important buildings or very large factories.” She had learned as much in school early on. It felt odd to think this was extraordinary knowledge to ordinary people.
“Is there a place one can be used without the help of a sorcerer-engineer?”
“Even the weakest Power generator requires the skill of a sorcerer-engineer. They need one to forge the control chains, distribute the Power output, and design the machines that would use it. The generators are useless on their own. Worse than useless. They’re dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
“With a Class Four, even a relatively stable one, you could blow up a large house if you aren’t careful.”
She could recite the precise Power output range of each class, but she doubted Cain would understand what they implied.
Cain was silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought.
Arienne became curious. “Why do you ask?”
“This is a secret. Perhaps an even more dangerous secret than your flight.”
“Are you going to share it?”
“That’s why I’m here.” Cain looked very serious.
“Why with me?”
“Because someone other than myself should know this. Preferably someone who knows about such things better than I do.” Cain bent closer to her and whispered, “In an empty house near the docks, someone has stashed away a stolen Class Four Power generator.”
Arienne gasped. “A military Power generator? Who would do that? How? ”
It occurred to her in a flash that she herself was, in fact, doing what she was so surprised at, as she was stealing Eldred, a Power generator, and herself, a future generator, from the Empire. She understood why Cain would share this with her, even if he didn’t know the full extent of Arienne’s actions. He needed to tell someone who would never go to the Office of Truth with this.
“It must be the rebels in Arland or Kamori… You know Dehan Forest, yes? The woods on the border of Kamori and Arland? The generator seems to have been stolen during a rebel ambush there. I found it, but I don’t know how it would be used.”
“Why were you looking for such a thing in the first place?”
“I wasn’t.”
Arienne thought quickly. Hiding a Power generator itself was easy; hiding a facility that used a Class Four Power generator would be like hiding a windmill. Maybe in a remote mountain it would be possible, but not in the Imperial Capital, where there were millions of eyes and ears. The best one could do with a stolen Power generator would be to lock it away from prying eyes.
“There is one use for it.”
Arienne was startled by Eldred’s voice suddenly speaking in her head.
“There is one very good use for a Power generator within the Capital. Unravel these bandages.”
Arienne peered into the room of her mind. The withered lips that had been exposed were smiling. A smile that seemed to say, I will give you what you want, if you do this one thing.
She wanted to help Cain. But to do so, she needed to share a secret of her own.
“I also have something I want to show you. But you must prepare yourself.”
She spoke calmly, but she couldn’t help the beating of her heart.
Cain looked at her. “What is it?”
Arienne unraveled the bandage until Eldred’s desiccated head was revealed in the room of her mind. His eyebrows were missing, and his eyes had deflated and were sunk deep in their sockets. He had no nose to speak of anymore. Eldred’s mouth was little more than a ripped gash that revealed two rows of yellowed, sparse teeth.
Using the bandage, Arienne made a circle in the air that was large enough for a person to step through. Violet fragments of light kaleidoscoped inside. At the same time, in the room on the third floor of Lucretia’s house, an identical ring appeared, the inside of it swirling with the same deep violet patterns. Cain looked surprised and bewildered.
“Step inside.”
Even as his feet hesitated, his hand was already reaching into the ring, reappearing inside the room in Arienne’s mind. Arienne watched Cain as he ran his fingertips along a leg of his spectacles, hesitating only a moment before stepping into the ring.