Her response was to cry louder.

  ‘I think I’ll leave soon... if you want, I’ll bring you with me, so you won’t feel any pain.’ Muresh offered.

  The old woman froze. ‘Why didn’t you escape with the others?’

  ‘There’s no point.’

  Muresh sat up in bed, a stiff shadow. He did not feel the chill on his skin after the blankets fell from his shoulders.

  ‘I am your Gramma, you know.’ the old lady said. ‘You are my grandson.’

  ‘I know. You’re not a very good one.’

  ‘They brought my daughter here, long ago.’

  Muresh didn’t repeat again that he knew. Sometimes normal people liked to talk.

  ‘We didn’t have much choice. I did think I was helping...’

  But you also knew you weren’t. My father is still alive somewhere, in Arcos, breeding shadow mages... He was surprised he didn’t really care. My mother, your daughter, is dead. Long ago. My lifetime ago.

  ‘She wouldn’t be... my daughter wouldn’t be happy with me...’

  It’s not my fault they brought her here, or that she died giving birth to me, or that you had nowhere else to go... but I won’t be angry. No, not angry, just sad... very, very sad.

  ‘Come, Muresh.’ Azana said, and gathered the little boy into her arms.

  Alarmed, Muresh said, ‘what are you doing?’

  ‘You’ll leave too.’

  ‘Leave? Why? They won’t let you take me out of Arcos.’

  ‘You’re the only one left.’ She said. ‘They’ll do whatever you say, if you pretend you’re still helping them. You and I are going to track down the other shadow mages and bring them back.’

  ‘I won’t!’

  ‘That’s called a lie, dear.’

  Muresh was too surprised to say anything else.

  Azana carried him outside and then made him stand next to her in the hallway. He heard her talking to people, men who wore candles. They were unhappy. They’d been searching the fortress. Soon they’d start searching the desert and the town, and further and further afield.

  ‘You’re too old. Why do you need to take him?’

  ‘He’s dying. It is better that we minimize the shadow magic he needs to use. If he can sense them and tell me directly, we can go after them quickly. Besides, they might come to him if they feel him.’

  The hall was dark in the night. The words came slowly to Muresh. They were gibberish at first. He had to put them together, make sense of them. Words were such a slow, inefficient means of communicating.

  ‘We’ll send guards with you. I don’t need to tell you what’s going to happen to all of us if Prince Amiri finds out....’

  ‘They can’t have gone far. We’ll go at once.’

  Muresh found himself in the back of a caravan as it began the trek across the desert. He sat up curiously. He had never been outside Arcos, never seen the desert up close. It was morning, the snow sparkling in the sun. It wasn’t too cold, he thought, in his fur jacket with the sun shining directly overhead. It was an abstract thought, devoid of any desire to do anything to make himself warmer, like pull the blanket next to him over his shoulders.

  Up ahead he saw Azana sitting at the front of the caravan, and guards ahead and behind. He wouldn’t forgive or trust Azana anytime soon, but he thought he might try and hold on a little longer. There was no need to leave just yet... I probably won’t live much longer, but maybe, if I try really hard... Asmara’s twenty...that age seemed so far away, an impossible distance. But maybe if he tried really hard...

  CHAPTER 90

  12 Jorlaff, 1353

  ‘Hey, is that...?’ Julietta pointed.

  ‘Dorian!’ Bo yelled, waving, as the red-haired sorcerer stormed past.

  Dorian stopped and turned around, a surprised look on his face.

  ‘Dorian!’ Julietta greeted him in relief, as she and Bo stood from the sunlit bench by the inn and hurried to him.

  ‘What are you two doing here?’ he asked.

  ‘Waiting for you and Asmara, of course.’ Bo said. ‘Where-’

  ‘She’s not coming.’ he said, glowering. ‘And I’m not waiting for her, I’m going home.’

  ‘Did something happen?’ Bo said, and took Dorian’s arm and guided him towards the bench.

  He and Julietta had spent the last couple of days standing out here, waiting for any sign of their friends. Julietta had been carefully using her magic to keep them warm as they sat outside the inn in the cold air. They’d decided that that small expenditure of magic was less likely to be noticed than sending a bird out to look for Dorian and Asmara.

  ‘She got her heart back and- well, she was just pretending. She doesn’t care about me, not even as a friend, or she wouldn’t have done this to me. I’m leaving.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Dorian.’ Bo said, ‘I-’

  ‘You knew! You should have told me right away, Bo! How could you keep that from me?’

  Bo didn’t defend himself.

  Julietta, a thoughtful expression on her face said, ‘so she really couldn’t feel any romantic love?’

  ‘She couldn’t even feel normal things, like you know, friendship! She said it was all dampened.’

  Julietta couldn’t help a twinge of pain. Did that mean Asmara didn’t care about her either? Mostly, she was curious. She kept remembering the way Asmara had acted, always so energetic. Perhaps she was always taking her cues on how to act from everyone else, perhaps she was always seemed so... so... active because she was trying to cover it up... She’d have to go through her notes again and see if she could make sense of everything. It was certainly an interesting condition. She wanted to ask Asmara questions too, though at the same time she was aware of the hurt she felt. It was easier thinking of questions she could ask than the pain she felt. Perhaps I don’t really know her at all. She thought as she looked at Dorian, trying to hide his hurt behind anger.

  ‘I don’t think she meant to hurt anyone.’ Julietta said cautiously. ‘If she couldn’t feel anything she couldn’t know you’d be hurt... even if she remembered being in love or hurt before, the memory would most likely have been devoid of any feeling... ’ another thing she’d have to ask. ‘She probably didn’t understand she might hurt you.’

  Dorian looked away, an unreadable expression flashing across his face. ‘Well, she’s... look, I’m going to go. You two can do what you like.’

  ‘When did you arrive?’ Bo asked.

  ‘I just got here.’ he said tiredly. ‘There’s still a few hours of daylight left. I’m going.’

  ‘Are you sure, Dorian? Perhaps we should stay the night and leave tomorrow morning.’

  ‘No... no, I’m going. I can keep myself warm with magic.’

  ‘You’ve been walking a long way.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. I haven’t been using much magic, and with a fire and my warm clothes I’ll be fine.’

  Bo sighed. ‘Alright. Julietta, maybe you should go with Dorian. I’ll wait here for Asmara.’

  Julietta hesitated and then nodded.

  ‘I don’t know how long she’s going to be, Bo.’ Dorian said.

  ‘I’ll wait as long as its safe.’

  ‘Alright. Let’s go then.’

  ‘I’ll go get my things.’ Julietta said and hurried inside.

  ‘You planning on walking all the way back?’ Bo asked once Julietta was gone.

  Dorian gave him a long stare. ‘You got something else in mind?’

  ‘If you’re willing to wait just a little I’ll go and get you and Julietta a pair of horses.’

  Dorian sighed, his face relaxing for a moment. ‘That would help.’

  ‘Do you trust me to get them on my own, or would you like to come and pretend like you speak Lakashan?’

  ‘I’ll wait here for Julietta.’

  ‘Oh, such trust! I’ll get you some supplies too.’

  In less than an hour, Julietta and Dorian began the long journey back to Mance-Jolune, leaving Bo behind in the snow-covered desert town.

  Bo awoke with a start. His room was dark, and he couldn’t say what had woken him. He sat up slowly, reached for his sword.

  ‘Bo.’ A familiar voice whispered.

  ‘Asmara?’ he exclaimed, relieved. ‘Did you sneak into my room?’

  ‘Sneak? The innkeeper told me where you were. We should get going.’

  ‘What time is it?’

  ‘A little past midnight.’

  In the darkness he couldn’t read her expression.

  ‘Dorian and Julietta shouldn’t be too far-’ he said, ‘you must have left Arcos not long after Dorian.’

  ‘The same day. I don’t want to see Dorian.’

  Bo wasn’t going to argue with her. He sat up. ‘Alright, we won’t push ourselves to catch up with them then. You don’t want to have a little sleep though?’

  ‘I don’t know how long Muresh can keep them off my tail.’

  He yawned. ‘You and Dorian both... Alright, get out of my room and I’ll be down in a moment.’

  Asmara left and Bo quickly got dressed and packed his carrysack. He met Asmara downstairs. The inn took money in advance, so he didn’t have a bill to settle. They could leave right away.

  Bo stepped out onto the street. The air was cold and crisp and the dark night sky was studded with stars. It was a beautiful night.

  ‘Come on.’ Asmara said, and started walking.

  They didn’t get far before a voice called them. They stopped and turned as a shape lumbered out of the darkness.

  ‘Asmara...’

  ‘Which one is it now?’ she demanded, her voice tense.

  ‘Guy...I’m sorry, it’s important.’

  ‘Hurry up.’

  ‘The young shadow mages left the same night you did. Can you stay and meet them? I haven’t planned much more than getting them out of Arcos.’

  ‘How many are there?’

  ‘Six children. Muresh isn’t with them.’

  ‘Is he-’

  ‘Don’t worry. Just worry about the ones coming to you.’ and then the man yawned. He muttered something in Lakashan and stumbled off into the darkness.

  ‘Are you ok with this, Bo?’ she asked.

  Bo nodded. ‘Isn’t that why we came here?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess it is.’

  Neither of them had magic to keep them warm, so they went back inside the inn to wait. They sat by a window, near the fire. Hours later they spotted pinpricks of light on the dark, snowy plain, the lamps of an approaching caravan. They quietly stood and slipped out of the inn. They headed down to the edge of town to wait. Bo stamped his feet and rubbed his hands to keep warm. Slowly, the caravan approached and five small children climbed out.

  ‘Sir,’ Bo said in Lakashan to the man leading caravan. ‘I’d like to purchase your caravan.’

  The two haggled, the man not showing the slightest concern at the children emerging from his wagon.’

  The deal was completed and Asmara and Bo set off, the five young shadow mages crowded into the back of the wagon, wrapped up tightly in warm furs.

  ‘Where are we going to take them?’ Bo asked.

  ‘I don’t know... I don’t know if we should leave them in Mance-Jolune.’

  ‘Let’s worry about getting out of Lakasha first.’ He looked back at the six faces peering up at him. He smiled, and they smiled back. ‘We might have some problems, we’ll have people after us...’

  ‘Don’t worry about that.’ one of the children said, a young girl.

  ‘Yes, we can fix that.’

  Asmara turned back around. ‘No,’ she said, ‘you can’t.’

  Realistically, Bo didn’t see how they’d be able to leave Lakasha without the shadow mages’ help. He didn’t say that and instead said, ‘what if they have candles?’

  ‘We’ll bring others to help us.’ another young shadow mage said.

  ‘You can’t!’ Asmara repeated.

  ‘We will. We will use our power until we die. We’re sorry it will make it hard for you-’

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ she said quickly, sounding contrite, ‘I’m worried about you, you’re too young-’

  ‘We’re going to use our power anyway, and we will make sure we’re safe. We will try not to hurt anyone. We don’t want to hurt anyone.’

  ‘But-!’

  ‘Asmara.’ Bo put a hand on her arm. ‘You and I will do our best to stay safe. We can’t stop them, so let’s just focus on what we can do.’

  Asmara nodded slowly. ‘We’ll keep them safe...’

  Asmara, Bo and the children left Kurak before dawn, half a day behind Dorian and Julietta and not far ahead of Muresh.

  CHAPTER 91

  12 Jorlaff,1353

  The messenger quivered under the heavy gaze of the King of Mance.

  ‘Duke Dashiell will meet me in the mountains.’ Theuder repeated slowly.

  ‘Y-yes, your Majesty.’

  The King stood before his tent, his heavy boots encrusted with ice and mud. His fur-lined cape was thrown back over his shoulder, revealing his gleaming breastplate. A bead of sweat slid down his neck and melted ice puddled in the dips in the frozen earth. The four braziers cornering his makeshift court were doing their job too well.

  So he declined to come here, to my camp, as ordered.

  ‘Return to the Duke and inform him we will meet tomorrow at midday.’

  The messenger nodded and scurried off.

  Theuder entered his red and white striped tent, a scowl on his face. Another day wasted. The armies of Belcanon were sorely needed in Dartham. Not that he had any intention of admitting that to his cousin. That he’d even come down here was bad enough. He’d expected Dashiell to lose his nerve long before now.

  The next morning the King set out with his retinue into the mountains to the meeting point above the Drosgl pass. His workers and messengers had cleared the path with their frequent travel back and forth.

  The way was steep and icy. Theuder was soon puffing. As he was nearing the meeting point he slowed his pace. He would not arrive red-faced and panting.

  When he arrived he found the Duke of Belcanon waiting for him.

  ‘King Theuder, I see you received my message.’ Dashiell greeted him without warmth. ‘If you will join me, my servants have set up a fire in my tent.’

  Theuder followed Dashiell into the dark warmth of his forest green tent. A brazier lent a reddish glow to the interior. Theuder stripped off his gloves and heavy coat. They were alone.

  ‘What is this, Dashiell?’ Theuder said, anger in his voice.

  ‘Winter has been hard. When spring comes my armies will be free to march.’

  Two months away. That was far too long. ‘Dashiell.’ Theuder said warningly.

  ‘My niece will not fight, Theuder.’

  Dashiell’s gaze did not waver. Theuder had known him a long time. He couldn’t remember Dashiell ever questioning him before, even when boys. Dashiell was his inferior in every way. He was shorter, his shoulders weren’t so broad, he was quieter, he was only average with a sword. Even if they had been social and political equals Theuder would have dominated him, of this he was sure.

  ‘You play a dangerous game.’ Theuder said, his voice low.

  ‘It is within your power to end it.’

  He’d expected Dashiell to crumble. This impassive man was a stranger to him.

  So be it. You have sealed your fate. ‘Very well, Dash,’ he said, suddenly smiling, ‘you’ve made your point. I withdraw my request for Lady Emerré’s assistance.’

  Dashiell frowned slightly, but he nodded.

  ‘I expect the pass to be cleared within the week.’

  ‘Her husband, Theuder.’

  ‘I don’t know where he is. Rumour has it he left her for another woman.’

  Dashiell held his gaze for a long time. Theuder returned the cold stare.

  ‘Very well.’ the Duke said finally, ‘I will have my sorcerers make another attempt at clearing the pass.’

  ‘I’m sure it will go smoothly.’

  Theuder soon left the Duke’s mountain camp to return to the Mancian side of the mountains. He took a carriage back to Manus that night. The trip was long, and it gave him plenty of time to brood.

  It was a terrible shame his cousin had proved himself so treasonous. A worse shame he couldn’t do much about it now. Dashiell’s fate was sealed, but while the war raged he still needed him. He would have to watch him closely to ensure the promised men were sent to Dartham.

  And in four months Lady Emerré would join the war effort, whether the Duke of Belcanon liked it or not.

  CHAPTER 92

  13 Jorlaff, 1353

  Asmara sat in the back of the wagon with the five shadow mages. Bo sat at the front, driving.

  The road rose slowly through the mountain pass. Once on the other side there would probably be no more snow. Bo was looking forward to that. He pushed the shaggy beasts as fast as he safely could. They didn’t know how much of a head start they’d get. Even bundled up in warm clothes, the children could clearly be distinguished as shadow mages. The shadows beneath their hoods were too deep and dark. With the shadows and their heavy clothing, it was difficult to see any identifying features.

  ‘You don’t need to know our names.’ a flat voice answered Asmara. The children spoke in heavily accented Manunian. Bo decided not to think too much about how they all spoke it.

  ‘It will just upset you when we die.’

  ‘And you think not knowing your names will help?’

  ‘We think so.’

  ‘Tell me your names.’ she insisted firmly. She sat in the back, one of the children sitting unresisting on her lap.

  The children fell silent. Though they did not speak, Bo had the distinct impression they were conferring among themselves.

  ‘Tell me.’ Asmara said. ‘Please.’

  ‘We are Amina, Lahela, Gabor, Ukrit and Palmira.’ three of the children finally answered.

  ‘No,’ Asmara said, her desperate sadness cracking her voice, ‘no, tell me each one of you, your own names. I’m Asmara, that’s Bo. Your friend Muresh... he was left behind. My... Bo’s friends, Julietta and... and Dorian, went ahead of us. Tell me your names.’