Assassin's Quest

"All such control is an illusion," Kettle mumbled to herself. "A trap to deceive the unwary."

"King Verity is scarcely unwary, Dame Kettle!" Kettricken retorted angrily.

"No, he is not," I agreed in a conciliatory tone. "And the words were mine, not Ver … King Verity's, my lady. I only seek to make you understand that what he now does is beyond my comprehension. All I can do is trust that he knows what he is about. And do as he has ordered me."

"To find him," Kettricken agreed. She sighed. "Would that we could leave now, this very minute. But only a fool defies a storm such as this one."

"While we bide here, FitzChivalry is in constant danger," Kettle informed us. All eyes turned to her.

"What makes you say so, Kettle?" Kettricken asked.

She hesitated. "Anyone can see it is so. Unless he is kept talking, his thoughts drift, his eyes become empty. He cannot sleep at night without the Skill coming upon him. It is obvious that the road is at fault."

"While these things are so, it is not at all obvious to me that the road is the problem. A lingering fever from his injury could be at fault, or …"

"No." I risked interrupting my queen. "It is the road. I have no fever. And I did not feel this way before I traveled on it."

"Explain this to me," Kettricken commanded.

"I don't understand it myself. I can only suppose that Skill was somehow used to construct that road. It runs straighter and more level than any road I have ever known. No tree intrudes upon it, despite how little it is used. There are no animal tracks upon it. And did you mark the one tree we passed yesterday, the log that had fallen across the road? The stump and the uppermost branches were still almost sound … but all of the trunk that had fallen upon the road itself was rotted away to almost nothing. Some force moves still in that road, to keep it so clear and true. And I think whatever it is, it is related to the Skill."

Kettricken sat a moment considering this. "What do you suggest we do?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "Nothing. For now. The tent is well pitched here. We'd be foolish to try to move it in this wind. I must simply be aware of the danger to myself, and endeavor to avoid it. And tomorrow, or whenever the wind falls, I should walk beside the road instead of upon it."

"That will be little better for you," Kettle grumbled.

"Perhaps. But as the road is our guide to Verity, it would be foolish to leave it. Verity survived this path, and he walked it alone." I paused, thinking that I now understood better some of the fragmented Skill dreams I had had of him. "I will manage, somehow."

The circle of faces doubtfully regarding me were not reassuring. "You must, I suppose," Kettricken concluded dolefully. "If there is any way we can assist you, FitzChivalry …"

"There is none that I can think of," I admitted.

"Save to keep his mind occupied as best we can," Kettle offered. "Do not let him sit idly, nor sleep overmuch. Starling, you have your harp, have you not? Could not you play and sing for us?"

"I have a harp," Starling corrected her sourly. "It's a poor thing compared to my old one that was taken from me at Moonseye." For a moment her face emptied and her eyes turned inward. I wondered if that was how I looked when the Skill pulled at me. Kettle reached to pat her softly on one knee, but Starling flinched to the touch. "Still, it's what I have, and I'll play it, if you think it will help." She reached behind her for her pack and drew from it a bundled harp. As she drew the harp from its wrappings, I could see that it was little more than a framework of raw wood with strings stretched across it. It had the essential shape of her old harp, but with none of its grace and polish. It was to Starling's old harp what one of Hod's practice blades was to a fine sword; a thing of utility and function, no more than that. But she settled it on her lap and began tuning it. She began the opening notes of an old Buck ballad when she was interrupted by a snowy nose poking its way into the tent door.

"Nighteyes!" The Fool welcomed him.

I've meat to share. This came as a proud announcement. More than enough to gorge well on.

It was not an exaggeration. When I crawled out of the tent to see his kill, it was a sort of boar. The tusks and coarse hair were much the same as those I had hunted before, but this creature had larger ears and the coarse hair was mottled black and white. When Kettricken joined me, she exclaimed over it, saying she had seen few of them before, but they were known to roam the forests and had a reputation as vicious game best left alone. She scratched the wolf behind the ear with a mittened hand and praised him overmuch for his bravery and skill, until he fell over in the snow overcome with pride in himself. I looked at him, lolling near on his back in the snow and wind, and could not help but grin. In an instant he had flipped to his feet, to give me a nasty pinch on the leg and demand that I open its belly for him.