The Sending Read online

  ‘I have dreamed of Matthew speaking about this beast,’ I murmured. ‘I wonder that it does not come out of its lair and rampage about the city.’

  ‘Maybe it is too well fed to bother,’ Sarn said grimly. ‘Indeed, keeping it sated may be another reason the slavemasters send miners to work in the adjacent mine.’ She drew a long breath. ‘Well, I think that is probably as much as will be useful to you in the guildmerge.’

  I frowned. ‘I take it the map will not be ready in time for the merge?’

  Sarn shook her head.

  ‘Then in that case you had better come along to the guildmerge so that you can describe the layout of the Red City.’ Her cheeks were flushed with excitement as the three of them began to pack up their papers and notes. I thanked them, adding, ‘You have done good and important work. In truth I cannot begin to imagine how you got so much from the dream-books.’

  ‘It is not only from them or from the shipfolks’ tales,’ Sarn said. ‘I had been working for some time on a compilation of stories about the Red Land when you assigned me this task after your return from Sador, along with Wila and Tomash. It was a small matter to combine the two projects.’

  ‘It is only a pity you do not have the time to extend your research to Norseland and Sador,’ I said. ‘I am sure they would have their share of tales about the Red Land.’

  Sarn’s eyes flashed and she said, ‘You speak of a matter that is dear to my heart, Guildmistress. With your permission, I would go to the Norselands and to Sador to see what else I might discover. Indeed, I wanted to propose just such an expedition at the last Farseekers meeting, but I feared that I would be judged too old for it.’

  ‘Never would I allow anyone to forbid you to go if you feel up to it,’ I said. ‘But the guildmerge might vote against it because the knowledge you gather will be too late to be useful if we have already set off for the Red Land.’

  ‘Is knowledge only a thing to be made use of, like a broom?’ Sarn asked tartly. ‘Besides, if we help the Redlanders reclaim their land, will there not be a friendship between us thereafter, so that any information we have about them and their past would still have value?’

  I smiled inwardly, thinking that she might be older but her brain was as sharp as ever. ‘You are right, and if you wish it, you may present your proposal to the guildmerge this afternoon, since you are coming anyway.’

  ‘You will give my proposal your support?’ Sarn asked eagerly.

  I nodded. ‘In fact, I will suggest that you travel with the Norselanders when they return to Herder Isle in a day or so, otherwise you will have to wait until spring to go across the strait. Unless you do not desire to go so soon.’

  Sarn’s eyes lit up. ‘Guildmistress, I would give half my heart to make such a trip, and the sooner the better.’

  I smiled. ‘Then prepare yourself to present the matter persuasively.’

  ‘I will,’ the older woman said, rising with a grunt of effort. She shot me a suspicious look and added, ‘In my youth, adventuring was not possible because of Councilcourt restrictions.’

  ‘Adventures are seldom as desirable as one imagines,’ I said mildly, and heard the bleak note in my own voice.

  Sarn had the grace to look slightly abashed. As she and the others left, I heard Tomash asking Sarn diffidently if he could go with her. I smiled as I closed the door behind them and crossed to the window for a breath of air.

  The sun still shone and the sky was a clear cloudless blue save for the faintest haze of purple-grey across the top of the mountains. I could hear laughter and chatter and the sound of birds chirping. It was an irony that now that we were to cancel the moon fair, the weather should turn so pleasant and peaceful. My mind drifted to the long, deep dream of Cassy I had experienced the previous night.

  I had always assumed I would have to locate and journey to Old Scotia to deal with Sentinel, but the conversation between Cassy and the older Beforetime teknoguilder Doktaruth made it very clear there had been two Sentinels: the experimental one developed at the Govamen complex which had been on the verge of being tested, and another Sentinel in some remote place, which was to be the permanent and completed version. If I was right in my guess that the testing of Sentinel had somehow resulted in the Great White, then it must be the experimental Sentinel that had malfunctioned. The dream answered other questions, too.

  I had never been able to understand, given the terrible devastation of the Great White, why the Balance of Terror weapons had not destroyed the whole world, including Sentinel. Nor had I been able to understand how Sentinel could become dormant after unleashing the Great White, and remain that way until the Destroyer woke it, if I failed to ensure it could never be used again. Obviously the original Sentinel had been destroyed, and my quest concerned the other Sentinel, which had never been wakened.

  I had always wondered why Cassy hadn’t dealt with Sentinel when she entered the Govamen compound to free the Beforetime Misfits being held there. Obviously she had known that the real Sentinel was somewhere far away. I did not know how she knew where it was, but she must have known or later worked out the location, else she could not have been able to leave her clues. It was also possible that Cassy had got one of the Misfits who possessed coercive Talent to find out its location.

  Or maybe neither she nor Hannah had known exactly where Sentinel was, but one or both of them had foreseen that I would find it.

  It occurred to me then, with a little shock, that their picture of me and my life must have been as incomplete and mysterious as my picture of their lives, for it too would have come from dreams and visions. It was a strange thought.

  9

  Guildmerge began at dusk and lasted deep into the night.

  The first thing Rushton did was to announce Dragon’s true identity, though I doubted there was anyone at Obernewtyn who had not heard by then that she was the long-lost daughter of the Red Queen, fallen or thrown from a slave ship and washed ashore on the west coast, where I had found her. I was slightly uneasy at having her identity so openly talked about, despite the fact that Ariel had left the Land. By the time he would be able to use his Talents to penetrate the minds of those travelling with the four ships, the battle for the Red Land would be joined. There was no point in fretting over it – Ceirwan had told me in the afternoon that the meal tables and halls had been abuzz with the news by midmeal but no one knew about her connection to my quest as the Seeker.

  Rushton went on now to say that since the Redlanders had sworn not to rise until their queen returned, it might be that the main task of the four ships would be to bring her safely to her people, who would then rebel against their oppressors, thereby preventing the foreseen invasion. I had been surprised to find that this was not acceptable to everyone.

  ‘The return of the queen is a legend among the Redlanders, and people don’t expect their legends to come to life,’ Garth said repressively. ‘Maybe they will refuse to accept Dragon or say the legend referred to her mother.’

  ‘The futureteller foresaw that they would rise,’ said the Coercer guildmaster Gevan, flicking a look at Maryon who sat across the dark-polished table from him, eyes half lidded.

  ‘The futureteller foresaw only that if four ships leave this Land to travel to the Red Land, the slave takers will not come here,’ said Christa, as if her mistress were not sitting beside her.

  ‘But obviously the best way to avoid an invasion is for the Redlanders to overthrow the slavemasters,’ Gevan said irritably. ‘How else could four ships prevail against the slavemaster horde? Indeed, until we knew Dragon’s true identity, I did not see the sense of the venture.’

  ‘It would be just as well if th’ lass were not th’ heart of th’ futuretelling, since no one kens where she is,’ said one of the two Teknoguild wards who had accompanied Garth, a young highlander named Fell, with fierce eyes and thin lips. The Teknoguildmaster had told me before the merge began that he meant to raise the lad up to guilden at the next choosing, to replace Jak. I was less conv
inced he was a good choice but maybe it was only his dour manner that put me off. At least in the Teknoguild there were several guildens rather than just one as in the other guilds.

  Rushton let talk dwindle, then he rose and told of the search he had initiated for Dragon, ending with the news that he had asked Dameon to bid Dell scry for her.

  ‘The fact that Dell and Maryon have seen Dragon in the Red Land along with Guildmistress Gordie of the Farseekers means that both of them will have to be aboard the ships when they depart,’ he said. There was a little buzz of surprise at this casual announcement that I would travel to the Red Land, but to my relief, no one lifted a hand to ask why I should go. No doubt they felt that if futuretellers had seen it that was reason enough. Despite the fact that this assumption served me well, I could not help but chafe at the reaction, which implied that I had no say in the matter.

  And do you? asked a dry inner voice.

  ‘Who will be master of Obernewtyn in your absence, Rushton, if you and the Farseeker guildmistress are to go on this expedition?’ demanded Roland. Beside him sat Kader, who had replaced the healer Kella after she chose to remain in Sutrium to run the Healing Centre there.

  ‘The Empath guildmaster will serve as chieftain of Obernewtyn Shire, as it will be styled after the moon fair. Linnet, Gevan and you, Roland, will act as Dameon’s councillors and the coercer-knights will serve as his armsmen. Of course Ceirwan will serve as guildmaster of the Farseekers in the absence of Elspeth Gordie.’

  When Rushton called for a break so that food and drink could be brought in rather than all of us trooping off to the kitchens for nightmeal, I leaned over to ask Ceirwan,‘Did you know Rushton meant to go ahead with the moon fair?’

  Ceirwan sat forward. ‘Dardelan is determined to formalise Obernewtyn’s status as a settlement afore Rushton leaves, an’ he wants it done during th’ moon fair so that as many people as possible will witness it and carry the word to the rest of the Land.’ He broke off to accept a mug of mead and a slice of bread and cheese from a tray carried by one of Javo’s helpers. Then he went on. ‘Dardelan reckons those who have nowt yet dared reveal their Misfit powers will gain courage from knowing there is a whole province where Misfits have their own chieftain an’ live in peace.’

  ‘I thought the idea was to ensure that there were Misfits in all provinces of the Land,’ I said. ‘Will this not make us a target for hatred?’

  ‘No more so than Zarak’s da in Saithwold, or Kella, who is now mistress of the Healing Centre at Sutrium,’ Ceirwan said. ‘Then there is Oldhaven in the west. From what Garth told me, I think the high chieftains want enough Misfits in positions of power for those with a prejudice against us to think twice.’

  ‘I understand from Zarak that Misfits are still being specifically targeted by the robber gangs,’ I said.

  ‘Aye, an’ so we will go on being targets so long as there are renegade Hedra an’ soldierguards to fan th’ flames of hatred an’ prejudice towards us. Speaking of that, Dardelan believes ordinary peaceable-seeming folk must be working secretly with the gangs, feeding them information about the movement of Misfits for their attacks on our kind to be so unerring. He is going to use a spy to see if he can learn who is at the back of it.’

  ‘A spy,’ I echoed flatly.

  ‘It would not be like Domick,’ Ceirwan said.

  I said nothing to that. It was impossible to think of Domick without grief and guilt. We had sent him to spy on the Council soon after Rushton had claimed Obernewtyn, and the doing of it had damaged the coercer, estranging him from us and from Kella, whom he loved. Eventually it enabled Ariel to use him against Rushton, and I sometimes wondered if a part of Rushton had not been glad of the pain Domick caused him, because it would expiate some of the guilt he must feel at the part he had played in the destruction of a man who had been one of his first allies and closest friends at Obernewtyn.

  ‘No good can come of spying,’ I said. ‘It is not only what happened to Domick that makes me say so. Look at poor Noviny. According to Zarak he never truly recovered from spying on Malik’s men. Rushton should have spoken against any sort of spying when Dardelan proposed it.’

  Ceirwan rested a hand on my arm. ‘He did, Guildmistress. But it was one of Dardelan’s staunchest armsmen who proposed the idea an’ volunteered for th’ task. Dardelan merely accepted his proposal.’

  A tray of small pies was offered and I took one and bit into it. It was delicious and had a spicy flavour that made me wish I had taken two, but the tray had been carried off and Rushton was urging everyone to return to their seats. Javo’s people filed out as Rushton called the merge to order and then he asked me to present the research my guild had undertaken into the Red Land. I did so, asking Sarn to answer questions and elaborate when it seemed necessary, and to describe the map. There was some talk afterwards about most of the things we had already discussed that morning, except that Garth rose to say that some of the books brought back from Herder Isle contained maps, and might be of some use if they could be orientated. Sarn asked him to have them sent to the Farseekers hall and she would have Tomash see if there was anything in them, for maps were his passion.

  Sarn then farsent a silent enquiry, and when I assented, she proposed a limited farseeker expedition to the Norselands for the purpose of adding to her research into the Red Land. As I had expected it was swiftly pointed out by Gevan that the information would be of little use to those who had already left for the Red Land, but Sarn answered him much as she had done me, and when the vote was taken, her expedition was approved. She sat back in her seat, her face flushed with triumph.

  Then someone asked if it was true that the moon fair would go ahead, despite the date of the expedition to the Red Land being brought forward.

  ‘It will take place as planned,’ Rushton confirmed. ‘It will be run across three days, beginning on darkmoon night and ending at dusk three days later. I know some of you are concerned about the timing, but Obernewtyn has issued its first invitation to the whole of the Land and I believe it cannot be rescinded without harm. And why should it be when most of the preparations are well enough in hand not to hinder what needs to be done for the expedition? Like Dardelan, I believe it is important for outsiders to see how things are done here in an atmosphere of tolerance, celebration and merriment that does not affect our efficiency. It is my desire that those who have attended will speak of what they see and hear and experience in the days to come with pleasure and admiration and maybe even a little envy, and you can be sure that will only improve the reputation of Misfits throughout the Land. Aside from all else, a choosing is overdue and performances have been planned for the occasion which deserve to be seen and heard.’

  ‘When will Dardelan come up?’ Zarak asked.

  ‘He will arrive on darkmoon but the three chieftains required by the Charter of Laws to establish a province and invest a new chieftain will arrive on darkmoon eve. One of them will be our own Khuria. The ceremony of investiture will be held during the opening ceremonies on the first night of the moon fair. Another reason for completing the formalities to make me a chieftain is that it will require four chieftains and a high chieftain to start the process to make Oldhaven a shire. As soon as I am officially a chieftain, I will be able to propose it and ask that Dell be invested as Oldhaven’s chieftain. The formalities can then be undertaken in our absence.

  ‘Unfortunately Dardelan will probably have to ride back to Sutrium straight after the investiture, but we will send as many of the supplies we have promised for the expedition as are ready to be transported to the lowlands with him and his armsmen.’

  ‘Which other chieftains will come up?’ someone asked.

  ‘Elii of Kinraide and, from the Westland, Rolf of Halfmoon Bay,’ Rushton said.

  I drew in a little breath of pleasure at the thought of seeing Rolf, who had helped me rescue Domick from the Herder Faction. His appointment as chieftain of Halfmoon Bay had been well deserved, though it had startled him greatly and
he had argued against it to begin with. By all accounts his people were well satisfied with him, though I did not doubt the less honourable chafed under his insistence on fairness and equality. I knew Elii, too, though I had never been sure if he recognised me as one of the orphans he had long ago guided on dangerous expeditions to collect whitestick. He had been a hard, strange youth but he had kept all of his charges safe when other guides had not and by all accounts he was a good chieftain of Kinraide.

  The talk shifted to the robbers who preyed on travellers, as Rushton explained that another reason for sending our tithe down to the lowlands with Dardelan was to ensure its safe arrival in Sutrium. ‘No matter how the robbers may lust for the supplies we send down, they would not dare to attack wagons escorted by twenty or so armsmen and two chieftains and a high chieftain.’

  ‘Two chieftains?’ someone echoed.

  Rushton nodded. ‘Chieftains Rolf and Elii will travel back down the road with Dardelan but Khuria will stay on a little longer at Obernewtyn.’ Rushton cast a look at Zarak who managed to look pleased and mortified in equal measure as Rushton continued. ‘As to the safety of those who undertake the long journey to Obernewtyn, Dardelan has agreed to have armsmen patrolling the main road throughout the moon fair.’

  There was a little clamour of talk but I raised my voice to ask, ‘Is Radost connected to the robber gangs as we have heard rumoured?’

  The sound of talk faded as people stopped to hear what Rushton would say, and he gave me a look in which something flickered that made my heart pound. But he said calmly enough, ‘Radost may be behind them. Certainly they were never so organised or so focused upon Misfits before his escape from the Councilfarm. But if so, it seems likely that he has been getting information about travellers from ordinary folk who do not like the rise of Misfits in the Land or who fear him and his cohorts. From what Dardelan has been able to ascertain, the information is coming from Sawlney.’