Gates of Ruin (Magelands Eternal Siege, #6) Read online

  ‘I don’t know. If Corthie has any sense, he will have fled along with the others.’

  ‘But that would mean the Ascendants will have the Sextant.’

  ‘I know. We failed, utterly.’

  ‘Not necessarily. Blackrose might have destroyed it first. And there’s Belinda; who knows what she’ll do? I watched her kneel before Arete and Leksandr, but her heart isn’t with them.’

  ‘You don’t get it,’ said Aila. ‘Our worlds might already be open to the Ascendants. Right now, they could be sending soldiers to the City, and greenhides to your world. Or maybe they could use the Sextant to destroy your world? Sitting here, wherever here is, we’d never know.’

  Kelsey shrugged. ‘I’m not giving up hope, no matter what you say.’

  ‘Then you’re living in a dream world. It’s over.’

  ‘It’s not.’

  ‘Let’s see if you’re still saying that after a while being chained up.’

  Kelsey let out a low laugh. ‘Do you think I’ve never been chained up before? I was in shackles for months, for exactly the same reason that I’m chained up now – my blocking powers. People who want to hide from the gods have always wanted to get their hands on me. I survived that; I’ll survive this.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Actually, I do.’

  ‘Why?’ said Aila, a smirk on her lips. ‘Can you see into the future?’

  Kelsey’s eyes widened. ‘I told my brother to keep that a secret.’

  Aila paused. ‘Eh, what?’

  ‘Did Corthie tell you? I should have guessed he would. I hope you didn’t tell anyone else.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Kelsey? Did Corthie tell me what?’

  Kelsey crouched down by Aila, keeping her weight off her twisted ankle. ‘You mean he didn’t tell you?’

  ‘Is this about Van? If so, then no; Corthie wouldn’t say anything about why he allowed you two to go off together. So, you can relax, sure in the knowledge that he sided with you over me.’

  ‘Oh. Right. Well, I can see into the future. Corthie knows, and that’s why he was happy for me to leave with Van.’

  Aila said nothing. She could recall Karalyn saying something similar in the Falls of Iron, and she realised that if Kelsey was speaking the truth, then she could understand why Corthie hadn’t told her.

  ‘No comment to make?’ said Kelsey.

  ‘Naxor would have read it out of my mind.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That’s why he didn’t tell me. He knew that Naxor would discover it, and, well, my cousin has proved that he can’t be trusted. Are you just like Karalyn?’

  Kelsey glared at her. ‘I am nothing like Karalyn.’

  ‘Except you can block powers and see the future.’

  ‘Aye, apart from stuff like that. Also, Karalyn can decide if she wants to block someone’s powers, whereas I have no choice in the matter; it just happens. The future thing, though? Aye, we can both do that, and I know I’m not going to die here.’

  ‘What about me?’

  She shrugged. ‘I have no idea what happens to you.’

  ‘Good,’ said Aila; ‘I don’t think I want to know.’

  ‘But you believe me, though?’

  ‘I guess so. After everything I’ve seen of the Holdfasts, it wouldn’t exactly surprise me.’

  Kelsey nodded. ‘You wouldn’t have been my first choice as a fellow prisoner.’

  ‘Do you think you’re mine?’

  ‘No, but I’m the one Amalia wants. She tortured you so that I would give her the Quadrant back, and she might do it again, you know, to keep me in line. She seems to dislike you quite a lot.’

  ‘We’ve not had the best of relationships.’

  ‘Try not to antagonise her. We’ve got to lull her into a false sense of security if we’ve any chance of getting out of here.’

  Aila stretched her arms and got to her feet, Kelsey’s voice starting to irritate her. She glanced around the bare chamber, but there was nowhere to sit apart from the damp, stone floor. She walked towards the door until the chain fastened to her right wrist went taut. With her left hand outstretched, she could almost touch the sturdy wooden boards of the door, her fingers just inches away.

  Footsteps echoed from the cellar passageways, and she took a step back as the door was unlocked. Maxin peered into the chamber, his crossbow levelled at the prisoners. He narrowed his eyes at them, then opened the door more fully. The other guard, and a young man in his teens entered the chamber, carrying a wooden pallet. They placed it in the corner of the room, then left, leaving Maxin alone.

  ‘This will take a few minutes,’ he said. ‘Don’t move or interfere.’

  ‘Do you know what would make me more cooperative?’ said Kelsey.

  The guard looked her up and down.

  ‘Cigarettes,’ she said.

  The other two men came back in, carrying blankets and a chair. Maxin watched them as they placed them down, then they left again.

  ‘Well?’ said Kelsey.

  Maxin shook his head. ‘Fire hazard.’

  ‘You’re kidding, aye? Fire hazard? Is this the way it’s going to be? Are you going to feed us, or is food considered to be a choking hazard?’

  ‘You’ll be fed.’

  The men returned, one of them carrying a large chamber pot, which he placed alongside the bed pallet. The other had a clay jug and a wicker basket, and he laid them down onto the floor.

  ‘That everything?’ said Maxin.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ said the other guard.

  ‘Everything except cigarettes,’ muttered Kelsey.

  Amalia strode into the room as the others left, though Maxin hung back at the doorway, keeping his crossbow trained on the prisoners.

  ‘Welcome to your new home,’ Amalia beamed.

  Aila edged back a step.

  ‘Don’t be nervous, granddaughter; if you behave, then there needn’t be a repeat of what occurred earlier. I imagine you have a few questions, so let me forestall them by telling you where we are. Have you heard of the town of Stoneship?’

  Neither Aila nor Kelsey spoke.

  ‘I didn’t think you would have,’ Amalia said. ‘There is a string of ancient fortresses along the northern coast of Khatanax, built to repel invaders from a long-forgotten era, and Stoneship is one of those fortresses. In other words, we’re as far away from Shawe Myre as it’s possible to get. No one will find us here; it’s cut off from the rest of Kinell, and ships rarely stop. I bought this place for a pittance; it was built into the old sea walls, and it’s the perfect place to lie low for a while.’

  ‘And then what?’ said Kelsey. ‘You can’t be planning on staying on Lostwell forever.’

  ‘I have no fixed plans,’ she said. ‘One must await events, before one can decide the next move.’

  ‘You coward,’ muttered Aila.

  Amalia smiled. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘You heard. You had a chance to help us all, and you ran away.’

  ‘And why would I wish to help you? You and your friends destroyed my rule in the City, and I hear it is now run by mortals. But, more than that, so much more, you murdered Marcus; did you think I would forgive or forget?’ She took a step closer to Aila, her eyes dark. ‘I swore then that I would torture you for a millennium, so perhaps you should be grateful that I have not yet started. Your presence here irked me at first, but now I can see that you will be of use to me. I cannot kill Kelsey, but I can hurt you.’

  ‘You’ve got us where you want us,’ said Kelsey. ‘There’s no need to hurt anyone.’

  The former God-Queen ignored her. ‘Do you know what else I can hurt, granddaughter? Or should I say “who else?”’

  Aila said nothing, and backed up against the wall by the window slit.

  ‘Did you think I wouldn’t be able to tell?’ Amalia went on. ‘I knew the moment I touched your skin. You have another life inside you, a tiny, fragile life.’

  ‘What?’ said Kelsey.
r />   Amalia laughed. ‘Didn’t she tell you? She’s pregnant. I could have easily snuffed out its life, but I didn’t; I refrained. Leverage, let’s call it; another reason to behave yourselves.’

  Kelsey hobbled over, and raised an arm protectively in front of Aila, who said nothing, her eyes glaring at the former God-Queen with rage and fear.

  Amalia laughed again, but it was a little forced. She turned away, and made as if she were inspecting their room.

  ‘We might go back to the City,’ she said, almost conversationally.

  ‘What city?’ said Kelsey.

  ‘The City, Holdfast girl. The place Aila comes from.’

  Aila snapped out of her shock at Amalia’s words. She hadn’t felt so scared for a long time, and she knew at once that she wanted to keep the baby, but she also realised that she was now under Amalia’s power. She would do what she had to do to protect the life growing within her, even if that meant obeying her grandmother.

  ‘You would go back to the City?’ she said.

  ‘I know you think me well-travelled, granddaughter,’ she said, ‘but I have only ever been to three worlds – this one, the City, and my homeworld.’

  ‘Your homeworld?’ said Aila.

  ‘Yes. Did you think I appeared spontaneously one day? I was, actually, born to a mother and a father in a real place. However, my homeworld was a casualty of the god wars long ago, and is nothing more than a wasteland. Times would be desperate indeed, if I were to consider travelling back there.’

  ‘You’ve never been to Implacatus?’ said Kelsey.

  ‘No, and I have no desire to. The City is the only viable option. I had wanted Belinda to come with me, but it now looks as though that is well nigh impossible. So, we wait. If the Ascendants have the Sextant, then we see what they do with it. They may decide to move into the City at once, and start extracting every ounce of salve they can find. In doing so, they would need to eliminate Yendra, which would save me the trouble of having to do it.’ She crinkled her brow. ‘Or, we stay here a while, and see what transpires.’

  Aila watched her. Her right arm was hidden beneath the folds of her robes, but must be close to being fully healed. Amalia caught her glance and smiled.

  ‘If we do go back to the City,’ the former God-Queen said, ‘we can make sure your baby is welcomed into the family. Have you yet sensed whether or not the child is immortal?’

  ‘What?’ said Kelsey. ‘I thought the children of demigods turned out mortal.’

  ‘Most do,’ said Amalia, ‘but Corthie Holdfast is powerful, and his abilities may well have tipped the scales. If, indeed, he is the father?’ She laughed at Aila’s expression. ‘We’ll have to take your word for it, I suppose, dearest granddaughter.’

  Aila walked across the stone floor and sat on the bed pallet. She thought back to the two centuries she had spent under house arrest, and tried to remember what had got her through it. She would need to be patient, just as Kelsey had said, but her stomach was in turmoil, and her chest ached with anxiety. She closed her eyes as a tidal wave of emotion swept over her. Since leaving the Falls of Iron, no, since Irno’s death, her life had been cast into a wild storm, battered by events over which she had exerted no control.

  ‘Well?’ said Amalia. ‘Have you sensed it?’

  Aila shook her head.

  ‘Let me know if you do. If the child turns out to be a demigod then you may, at long last, have proved to be of some worth to me. Imagine a little Corthie by my side as we stroll through Maeladh Palace; he could fill the void left by Marcus and Kano.’

  Kelsey coughed.

  ‘Yes?’ said Amalia.

  ‘Get out of our cell; leave us alone, you creepy old hag.’

  The former God-Queen’s eyes lit up. ‘You think you can speak to me like that?’

  ‘Aye. What are you going to do, kill me?’

  ‘Oh, I daresay your blocking powers would still work if I had your thumbs removed; or, indeed, your eyes or your tongue. I shall keep you alive, of course, but in what state, who can tell?’

  She smirked at Kelsey, then walked from the room. Behind her, Maxin closed and locked the door, leaving the prisoners alone in the shadows and gloom of the cell. Kelsey crouched by Aila.

  ‘Pregnant? Wow. I didn’t see that coming.’

  Aila laughed, but it was joyless.

  ‘Does Corthie know?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I told him in Yoneath.’

  ‘I hope he got away alright.’

  ‘You know what he’s like; he thinks it’s his destiny to defeat the Ascendants. Unless Blackrose carried him off, I doubt anything would have made him leave that cavern.’

  ‘If he knew where we were, and had a way to get here, then he’d leave.’

  ‘Yes, but he doesn’t know. And now… now we’re stuck here, with my insane grandmother holding us captive.’

  ‘We’ll get out. In some ways, this changes nothing; we just have to play along and be patient. I don’t care about stealing the Quadrant from her; she’s welcome to it if she uses it to bugger off.’

  ‘Say we do manage to get out; then what? Where would we go?’

  ‘Corthie and Van will be looking for us; we have to hold on to that thought. They’ll never find us here, so we’ll have to go to them. I don’t know where, exactly, but south for a start.’

  Aila nodded, keeping her eyes on the stone floor. Her initial annoyance with Kelsey had passed, and she was glad that the young Holdfast woman had remained positive. Aila’s thoughts, in contrast, were dark and bleak, and she felt as trapped as she had in the City.

  ‘What Amalia was saying,’ Kelsey went on; ‘about the possibility that your child might be immortal; was that true?’

  ‘I don’t know. No quarter-god in the City was immortal, but no mortals there have any powers. Many quarter-gods had some sort of a power, a vestige from their demigod parent, but none that I know of had self-healing at a level that would allow them to live forever. But I think Amalia was picking up on something, something I can feel myself. I didn’t want to admit it in front of her, but I have a suspicion she might be right.’

  ‘What do you mean? Can you sense it?’

  ‘I think, maybe; I don’t know. Sometimes, it feels as though there’s another self-healing power working within me, but I might be wrong. True or not, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the baby away from Amalia.’

  Kelsey’s eyes widened. ‘Wow. Corthie might have fathered a god.’ She chuckled. ‘He probably won’t be surprised; after all, he already thinks he is one.’

  Chapter 2

  The Noose

  A lea Tanton, Tordue, Western Khatanax – 17th Tuminch 5252

  Leksandr raised his hand, and the trapdoors under the row of condemned prisoners opened. Their bodies fell a few feet, then jerked on the nooses with a sickening noise. Feet spasmed and twitched, while damp patches spread across the lower parts of their clothes as they swung from the line of gallows, each corpse silhouetted by the bright sunshine striking the rear yard of the Governor’s residence.

  ‘That’s the last of them,’ said Arete; ‘the basement of the residence is now clear.’

  Leksandr nodded. ‘And the final tally?’

  ‘Out of the three and a half thousand members of the merchant class arrested by Lord Renko, just over seven hundred have been executed, while another eight hundred died of mistreatment or disease. The remainder have been returned to their homes.’

  ‘To go straight back to work, I hope? Thanks to Renko’s misguided policy, the city is teetering between starvation and insurrection. His actions brought the economy to its knees.’

  Arete shrugged. ‘They have been ordered to resume work immediately, but many are complaining of exhaustion and sickness. On the other hand, perhaps Alea Tanton has too many inhabitants, and a cull would do the place some good. I estimate that there are at least half a million economically inactive mortals living in the slums who are nothing but a drain on resources. Perhaps we should allow t
he collapse of the economy to run its natural course.’

  Leksandr turned to Belinda, who was sitting next to them on the wooden platform that had been erected in front of the gallows. ‘Your opinion, Third Ascendant?’

  Belinda frowned.

  ‘Why are you asking her?’ said Arete. ‘The old Belinda might have been an experienced ruler, but this new one knows nothing about the hard choices we face.’

  ‘It depends on what you want to achieve,’ Belinda said, ignoring Arete’s comment. ‘If you care about the long term future of Lostwell, then we should take every practical step to alleviate the famine, and do all we can to assist the poor and unemployed in the city. If, however, you only care about keeping Old Alea secure for long enough to find Kelsey Holdfast, or to activate the Sextant, then it makes no sense to do anything to help the mortals.’

  Leksandr raised an eyebrow. ‘Succinctly put. See, Arete? Belinda has a talent for cutting straight to the heart of the matter.’

  Arete rolled her eyes.

  ‘Do you care about Lostwell?’ said Belinda.

  Leksandr shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. ‘Lostwell has no future. Its oceans are poisoned, and the land groans under earthquakes and volcanoes. This world is doomed. Thousands of years of conflict have brought it to the edge of destruction, and barely a twentieth of its landmass remains inhabitable. Within a few decades, at best, they will have used up all of its freshwater, and timber supplies, and they are running out of everything else. On top of that, the climate is getting drier and hotter, thanks to the indiscriminate use of god powers during the wars. Once we have achieved our objectives, I would be tempted to put this world out of its misery.’

  Belinda kept her face expressionless, despite the turmoil she was feeling. ‘Could it not be fixed?’

  ‘What for?’ said Arete. ‘It would be far quicker, and easier, to create a new world to replace it, if we manage to get the Sextant to work. And if we don’t, then, does it matter? There are plenty of other worlds.’