I smiled but refrained from showing my teeth. ‘Of course. Haven’t I promised as much? Now go back to sleep. What else is there for your kind to do but sleep when it snows so hard?’
‘My father said that you also sleep in the depths of winter. He said that you hibernate. Why do you do that when you love the cold so much?’
I shrugged. ‘A haizda mage sleeps in shudru, deepest winter, in order to learn. It is a time when he gathers his thoughts within deep dreams and weaves new knowledge out of experience. We dream to see the truth at the heart of life.’
Nessa turned away and looked back to where her sisters were sleeping. Bryony was still tightly wrapped within my coat – only her mousy brown hair was visible.
‘What is Valkarky like?’ Nessa asked, turning back to face me.
‘It is vast,’ I explained. ‘We believe that our city will not stop growing until it covers the whole world. Not a rock, not a tree, not even a blade of grass will be visible then. All other cities will be crushed beneath its expanding walls!’
‘That’s horrible!’ she cried. ‘It’s unnatural. You would make the whole world hideous.’
‘You do not understand, little Nessa, so do not judge until you have seen it with your own eyes.’
‘But it’s a nonsense, anyway. How could a city become so large? There could not be enough builders to create such a monstrosity.’
‘Valkarky’s walls are constantly being constructed and repaired by creatures that need no sleep. They spit soft stone from their mouths, and this is used as building material. It resembles wood pulp at first, but hardens soon after contact with the air. Hence the name Valkarky – it means the City of the Petrified Tree. It is a wonderful place, full of entities created by magic – beings that can be seen in no other place. Be grateful that you will get to see it. All other humans who enter there are slaves or marked for death. You have some hope of leaving it.’
‘You forget that I also am a slave,’ Nessa replied angrily.
‘Of course you are, little Nessa. But in exchange for your bondage, your two sisters will go free. Doesn’t that make you happy?’
‘I owe obedience to my father and I am willing to sacrifice my life so that my sisters will be safe. But it certainly does not make me happy. I was looking forward to my life, and now it has been taken away. Should I rejoice at that?’
I did not reply. Nessa’s future, or lack of it, was not worth debating. I had not told her just how bad things were. The odds against me were indeed great, and I would probably be taken and killed, either on the journey or immediately upon entering the city. It was unlikely that I would live long enough to make a successful plea to the ruling council. If I died, the three girls would become slaves at best; at worst they would be drained of blood and eaten.
After that Nessa became very quiet; she went off to sleep without even wishing me a good night. Humans such as Nessa often lack manners, so I wasn’t really surprised.
ABOUT AN HOUR after dawn, the wind dropped and the blizzard became just a light whirling of snowflakes falling lazily out of the grey dome of the sky.
‘I need my coat back, little Nessa,’ I told her. ‘You will have to share what you have with your youngest sister.’
Sooner or later I would have to fight, and I wanted to be wearing the long black coat, my badge of office, so that any enemy would appreciate the strength of what he faced. I noted that it was Nessa who surrendered some of her garments to clothe the child, including her waterproof cape. They were far too big but would provide the necessary protection against the elements. Nessa would now find the conditions more difficult. I noted that Susan did not volunteer any of her garments.
As was my custom, before mounting my horse I stood in front of it and breathed quickly into its nostrils three times.
‘What are you doing?’ Nessa asked, her face alive with curiosity. She had obviously wisely decided not to fight against my wishes.
‘I am using what we mages call boska. I have changed the composition of the air within my lungs before breathing into its nostrils. I have thus infused the animal with obedience and courage. Now, if I have to fight, my mount will not flinch from the enemy that faces us!’
‘Will you have to fight? Does danger threaten?’ she asked.
‘Yes, little Nessa, it is very likely. So now we must press on and hope for the best.’
‘How much further have we to travel? Each day seems the same. I’m losing track of time – it seems like weeks have passed already.’
‘This is merely our fifth morning. It is better not to think about the rest of the journey. Just take each day as it comes.’
We left the old farmhouse behind. Soon we came to a rocky, barren area where the snow had melted. Steam rose from cracks in the ground, and from time to time the earth trembled and there was a smell of burning on the breeze.
‘What’s this place?’ Nessa asked, riding up alongside me.
‘It is the Fittzanda Fissure, an area of earthquakes and instability. This is the southern boundary of our territories. Soon we will be in the land of my people.’
We continued north across that steaming, shaking terrain, our horses even more nervous than the three purrai. The area was vast, and its shifting rocky nature would make us difficult to track. Those who pursued us from the fortress would expect me to flee south – not north to what might well be my execution – so that was to my advantage.
And soon others would be hunting us too. The dying thoughts of the assassin would have been sent out to his brotherhood. They would know who had slain him. Some would already be out there in the snowy wilderness or even close by, and they would sense my location and begin to converge on our path. The Triumvirate of High Mages might also send further assassins from Valkarky.
Out here they would try to kill me on sight. I needed to reach the city in one piece in order to win the right of plea before the council.
Only one thing bothered me. Did I still have the courage and ruthlessness to defeat my enemies? Or had I already been infected with skaiium, as my softness towards Nessa indicated?
It was not long before an enemy found me – but it was not the Shaiksa assassin I’d expected. The High Mages had sent a very different creature.
The assassin waited directly ahead of us. At first glance it appeared to be an armed Kobalos on horseback, but there was something wrong where the rider and horse joined. It was not simply that there was no saddle. There was no division between them. I was not looking at two creatures; it was one deadly composite.